Chapter 209 - Episode 28. Rupture (3)
Chapter 209: Episode 28. Rupture (3)
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Jaehwan, Runald, and Karavan boarded the Destruction in turn. Since they were not being chased this time, they had time to introduce themselves.
“Brother Karlton!”
“Runald, it has been a long time.”
Karlton and Runald, who already knew each other, clasped hands in greeting.
Cheongheo and Karavan, on the other hand, were creating a strange tension beside them.
“Who are you?”
“You saw me before, old man. I told you I was Ignis’s Vicegerent. Don’t you remember?”
“So you really were Ignis’s Vicegerent?”
“I even showed you this flame mark before!”
“This does not look much like a flame. Your way of speaking seems different too.”
Cheongheo looked quite flustered, and understandably so. Karavan felt different from when they had last boarded the Destruction together. He had recovered some of his first World Force, and his soul had risen in rank through training with the Longevity Clan.
Runald, meanwhile, looked as though his eyes would pop out every time he was introduced to another Companion.
“Cheongheo? You’re the Lustful Immortal-nim?”
“There is a misunderstanding behind that title...”
“Is it true Sirwen-nim from SirwenTV is here too?”
“Ahem, that girl is in the cockpit right now... But didn’t you see her before?”
Perhaps Jaehwan thought the pointless conversation would never end if left alone. He finally spoke.
“Old man, how did you find this place?”
“It has been so long since you saw me, and that is the first thing you ask?”
Jaehwan gave Cheongheo a bitter smile at the hint of hurt in his voice.
From 《Chaos》 to the 《Abyss》. There had been many trials Jaehwan could not have overcome without Cheongheo. Cheongheo had followed him even after suffering enough to die several times. Jaehwan had no choice but to acknowledge it now.
“Sniff! You brat!”
Unable to hold back his tears, Cheongheo leaped up and hugged Jaehwan. Jaehwan stared down at him for a moment, then quietly pushed him away with one finger.
He had no choice. Karlton and Runald were silently standing in line behind Cheongheo.
Karavan looked at Runald.
“Why are you lining up?”
“Aren’t we all taking turns hugging him?”
Cheongheo told Jaehwan what had happened in the meantime.
How they had been separated in the passage to the Abyss opened by Catastrophe, and how the Allies had eventually continued their expedition while waiting for Jaehwan.
How they had encountered hundreds of mid-grade gods and dozens of high-grade gods, getting beaten around from place to place.
How they had built the airship Destruction at the 「Artisan Association」 of Fifth Site with Sirwen’s help.
How they had searched every corner of the Abyss to kill particularly vicious mid- and high-grade gods in order to raise their World Force.
How that had earned them the terrifying nickname, the ‘Guides of Destruction.’
How they had acquired several Parts belonging to old gods, though not Parts of the Three Ancient Gods, allowing the Allies’ Unique Worlds to develop by leaps and bounds.
How they had heard news of Jaehwan near 〈Caspion〉 by chance several months ago, then followed his trail into the Hechinold Auction House...
Two years and three months. Short if one called it short, long if one called it long.
Cheongheo did most of the talking. Jaehwan listened.
‘They have all grown stronger.’
Feeling the energy naturally leaking from the Allies, Jaehwan understood how hard they had worked during that time.
Cheongheo and Karlton in particular now possessed enough World Force to rival most top-grade gods. They had not earned the name ‘Guides of Destruction’ for nothing.
“It will be fun fighting me now. You will be surprised when you see my Unique World. Heh heh.”
“Really? That will be fun.”
Their words were violent, yet held no hostility.
Watching the scene shaped by trust and solidarity, Runald found himself enjoying a rare sense of peace.
“Oh, you are here?”
Sirwen appeared from the cockpit and greeted Jaehwan. Jaehwan gave a small nod.
Runald and Karavan, who only then got a proper look at Sirwen, stared wide-eyed. Circumstances had prevented them from seeing her clearly last time, but the appearance of a 《Little Brother》 idol truly was remarkable. Even Karlton was one of the most handsome men in the entire 《Abyss》, but Sirwen’s beauty was so dazzling that “overwhelming” suited it perfectly.
Cheongheo cackled and snapped at her.
“You little brat, why are you acting shy now? You were singing that boy’s praises just an hour ago.”
“When did I ever?”
“Brat, when you caused trouble at the auction house, you should have seen how worried that Dream Demon was-”
“Shut up, you old fossil.”
Sirwen glanced at Jaehwan and parted her lips several times before closing them again.
She wanted to talk to him too. It was not as though she could not bring something up if she truly wanted to. She could talk about the young Jaehwan she had met in the 《Uncanny》, or about Godfather Mulack.
Yet unlike Cheongheo, who noisily chatted away, or Karlton, who smiled kindly, Sirwen could not simply insert herself into this atmosphere with easy familiarity.
Unlike Cheongheo and Karlton, she had never been Jaehwan’s Companion to begin with. If anything, she had been closer to an enemy than a Companion.
Sirwen was the Dream Demon who created the Tower, while Jaehwan was the Awakened One climbing the 《Tree of Illusion》 to put an end to cultivation.
She was realizing it again. The feelings that had swelled within her however they pleased over the past two years and three months had never been hers to have.
Jaehwan had brought her all the way to the 《Abyss》 solely because he intended to use her. There would be nothing strange if he suddenly cast her aside.
The bond that had grown without Jaehwan around belonged entirely to Sirwen. She was in no position to call that unfair.
Why was a Dream Demon like her floundering in this sort of emotional game?
Jaehwan spoke to Sirwen as she lowered her head and hesitated for a long time.
“Thank you.”
A calm voice without any rise or fall. The moment she heard it, Sirwen felt an emotion she could not understand at all.
It felt unfair.
Why was a Dream Demon like her so overwhelmed by emotion at this moment?
Why did those few words make her feel as though some part of this world had forgiven her?
“Why are you smiling?”
“I am not smiling.”
Looking at Jaehwan’s unchanging face, Sirwen realized it once again.
He was still Jaehwan. No matter how many years passed or how much the world changed, he was Jaehwan.
If he was Jaehwan, then she only needed to be Sirwen.
After taking a short, deep breath, Sirwen spoke.
“I came expecting you to be naked, but you are not now?”
She thought it was a fitting topic to tease him over, but Jaehwan replied in a serious voice.
“I am naked even now.”
“What?”
“I said I am naked.”
Sirwen quickly looked Jaehwan over from head to toe.
No matter how she looked, Jaehwan appeared to be wearing a leather coat. She wondered whether he was naked underneath, so she examined him more carefully, but he was wearing an old T-shirt and combat clothes beneath it.
“You are joking, right?”
“I am naked. It is difficult to explain.”
“That is right. If I had to put it into words, Jaehwan-nim is in something like an Ouroboros state.”
Sirwen raised an eyebrow at Runald’s words.
“Ouroboros?”
“Ouroboros.”
Jaehwan stared at Runald for a moment, then seemed to remember something and lightly grasped Runald’s shoulder.
A leather coat slowly appeared around Runald’s body. It had the same design as Jaehwan’s.
Sirwen asked in surprise, “What was that? How did you do it? Is it a control-type Setting?”
“Similar, but different.”
The clothes Jaehwan had just created were manifested through 「Gestalt’s Eye」, one of the Three Divine Artifacts. He could now create and erase clothes whenever he wished.
By obtaining 「Gestalt’s Eye」, Jaehwan had completely moved beyond the simple concepts of “wearing” and “taking off” Clothes. That was why he had said he was “naked” despite wearing clothes. Explaining something that complicated one detail at a time would be tiresome.
Sirwen muttered blankly, “What on earth happened while you were gone...?”
“There are complicated matters involved, Dream Demon lady. If it is hard to understand, you may simply think of it as a control-type Setting.”
Karavan spoke with a lecherous grin as he carefully covered his lower body. Unlike Jaehwan and Runald, he was still naked. Karavan had been flexing every muscle in his body since earlier, proudly displaying his masculinity.
Sirwen asked, “Come to think of it, who is that?”
“My name is Karavan. I am Ignis-nim’s Vicegerent.”
“Ah.”
Sirwen answered absentmindedly, then urgently asked again.
“Wait, Ignis?”
“Heh heh, that is right. It seems you recognize the name.”
Karavan looked triumphant at Sirwen’s reaction.
“How could I not know Ignis?”
“Ahem.”
Karavan’s face brightened further.
As if trying to make up for all the indignities he had suffered, he looked down at Runald with a smug expression.
‘Look, kid. This is the dignity of Ignis-nim’s Vicegerent, one of the Seven Divine Thrones, no, the Eight Divine Thrones.’
Even Cheongheo and Karlton, directly across from him, were whispering about Ignis.
Runald frowned and pouted.
“The Eight Divine Thrones must really be impressive.”
“Hmph. It is too late to recognize it now, brat.”
“You are still naked, though.”
Now that he thought about it, everyone had been naked in the Forest of Madness, so he had not paid attention. Yet outside, it felt strange to see everyone wearing clothes.
Even Jaehwan and Runald, who had been naked with him, had gotten dressed. Under Sirwen’s gaze, which held a peculiar contempt, Karavan’s shoulders rapidly shrank.
Whether Ignis was one of the Seven Divine Thrones or the Eight Divine Thrones, none of that dignity would survive while he looked like this.
“Hey, Jaehwan. Put clothes like that on me too.”
“That is impossible. You are not my Follower.”
“Only Followers can do that?”
“For now.”
As Karavan considered whether he should abandon his god just to escape a moment of shame, Runald giggled.
“What is wrong with being naked? Until a few days ago, you were going around saying nakedness was the ultimate truth.”
“...”
“You look cool, just like the Naked God. We even sang together. Long, long ago, there lived a Naked God.”
Jaehwan had looked cool when he sang that song. Why did it feel so irritating and humiliating when this little brat sang it?
As Karavan trembled with a red face, someone draped a coat over him.
“If you do not mind, please put this on.”
It was Karlton.
“Oh, thank you. You are a good person.”
Karavan was deeply moved.
At first, he had been slightly wary because Karlton looked like a pretty boy, but it turned out that pretty boy was the kindest person here.
Karlton smiled warmly.
“It is nothing. If you are Ignis-nim’s Vicegerent, you must be having a difficult time right now.”
“Huh?”
A brief silence fell.
Karavan asked, “Difficult? Me?”
“Did you not say earlier that you were Ignis-nim’s Vicegerent...?”
“That is true, but.”
Despite Jaehwan’s help, Karavan’s link to Ignis had not fully recovered. The link connecting his World Force and Setting remained intact, but the link allowing direct communication with his god was incomplete.
Karavan looked at Cheongheo’s Allies, who were whispering among themselves.
Could they have been surprised not because he was Ignis’s Vicegerent, but for another reason?
Karavan briefly explained the situation.
For some reason, his link to his god had been severed. It was now recovering, but direct communication with his god was still impossible.
Though Karavan’s explanation was rambling and completely disorganized, Karlton somehow understood it.
“So that happened to you.”
Karavan thought this pretty boy might be sharper than he looked.
The pretty boy kindly began to explain.
“Then you may be surprised by what I am about to tell you.”
“What is it? Did something happen to Ignis-nim?”
“Nothing should have happened to Ignis-nim personally, but in a sense, an even greater problem has occurred.”
“A greater problem?”
“If I remember correctly, the Site ruled by Ignis-nim was Third Site, ‘Tropical Night.’ Is that right?”
“Yeah, that is right.”
Karavan felt as though he was being drawn further and further into the pretty boy’s pace. He could not grasp the point of this conversation.
Why bring up the Site all of a sudden?
“Wait. Don’t tell me-”
A terrible premonition passed through Karavan’s mind.
Karlton’s calm voice became quiet despair in Karavan’s ears.
“One month ago, Third Site, ‘Tropical Night,’ was conquered by the 「Rupture」 and vanished from the Abyss.”
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