Chapter 213 - Episode 28. Rupture (7)
Chapter 213: Episode 28. Rupture (7)
──────
The Seventh Site of the 《Abyss》, Epoche.
Leaning against the terrace of the central palace, 〈Edmund〉, Yu Seolha looked down at the Site’s exterior and recalled a passage from the book she had been reading until moments ago.
「This is a place where time has stopped. Gods, souls, and everything else. As its name suggests, it is a place where beings weary of life gather after giving up judgment.」
It was a passage from 『Assuring Despair』, written by Pierre, the God of Madness.
Pierre, the God of Madness.
An eccentric god who had spent his life helping low-grade gods in the Abyss.
Any god who had spent even a little time in the Abyss would know his name. His books, 『101 Tiny Tips for Beginner Gods』 and 『Hymn to the God Complex』, were required reading for novice gods trying to survive.
『Assuring Despair』 in particular was Pierre’s final book, a work about Epoche, the Seventh Site. According to what had been passed down, Pierre discovered this Seventh Site and suffered soul extinction.
For reference, the final sentence of the book read:
「Where the hope of the 《Abyss》 sets.」
Yu Seolha gazed out the window and pondered the meaning of that final sentence.
In the quiet scenery, scattered conversations between souls tickled her ears. The souls talking were two men, each advanced in years.
“Hey, you know it too, right? The Abyss is completely wrong now.”
“It is. Completely wrong.”
“What’s going to happen to the world?”
“It’s finished.”
“The world will end soon.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Then goodbye.”
“You too.”
The two men parted ways. Five minutes later, they met again in the same place. Then they began talking.
“Hey, you know it too, right? The Abyss is completely wrong now.”
“It is. Completely wrong.”
“What’s going to happen to the world?”
“It’s finished.”
“The world will end soon.”
“Yes, it will.”
“Then goodbye.”
“You too.”
They exchanged the exact same conversation, then parted in the same way they had five minutes earlier. Another five minutes passed, and the two men appeared in the same place again.
“Hey, you know it too, right? The Abyss is completely wrong now.”
“It is. Completely wrong.”
······
A conversation repeated without end.
Listening in on it, Yu Seolha felt an indescribable sadness. Only she could feel some emotion that both the speakers and listener had lost long ago. Perhaps it was an ancient despair. Or perhaps the shadow of a word that had once been called despair.
The Seventh Site, Epoche.
Every being living in this place was like those two men. Like patients suffering from short-term memory loss, they lived the same moments over and over again.
Epoche.
The gods’ Alzheimer’s, where they suspended judgment on all things and rejected the future.
Gods who had remained sane for too long and developed severe problems in their memory circuits confined themselves here, unable to go anywhere else. Most of the gods here had few Followers left to care for them, and almost no faith left to sustain themselves.
A place where gods waited only for their coming soul extinction while living among fragments of the past.
That was the Seventh Site, 「Epoche」.
Yu Seolha opened the final page of 『Assuring Despair』 on the table.
Epoche. Where the hope of the Abyss sets.
It was Pierre, the God of Madness’s final sentence, and the final sentence Yu Seolha had to deny.
She had come here to find the Abyss’s “last hope,” a hope that had not yet set. For that single thread of hope, she had been staying in this central palace for three months already.
Is it time?
Yu Seolha headed to the central palace’s audience chamber.
Someone sat upon the throne in the audience chamber, where white dust had settled everywhere.
White robes that looked, at a glance, like burial clothes. He was a pale man from head to toe, like an invalid who had not seen sunlight in a long time.
Just as Yu Seolha’s brow creased slightly, his bloodless lips moved.
[O······ O! O!]
“······.”
“It has! Been a long time, Seolha.”
“What do you mean, long time? We saw each other yesterday. Do you have to start the same way every time?”
“Still! It has been a long time.”
“You said that yesterday too.”
[I am! Glad to see you again.]
“I feel like I’ve heard you say that over a hundred times in the last three months.”
[Is! That so.]
“I’m going to get a neurosis. How long are you going to keep repeating the same things?”
The man did not answer. His lips moved strangely, as though he was smiling and crying at once.
Yu Seolha did not smile.
“Nameless, are you at least trying to imitate the people here? You do not have Epoche.”
She knew the man before her. No, few in the Abyss would not know him.
The 《Abyss》 called him by the following epithet.
Nameless, the God of Madness.
He was one of the Eight Divine Thrones and ruled Epoche, the Abyss’s Seventh Site.
I need Nameless’s strength.
Right after leaving 「Rupture」 and parting temporarily from Cheongheo’s “Guides of Destruction,” Yu Seolha had come straight to this Site.
At present, Nameless was the only being with power great enough to oppose 「Rupture」.
Yu Seolha was certain.
With his strength, even this unfavorable fight would be worth attempting.
Yet persuading him had proven harder than expected. For three months now, Yu Seolha had done nothing but accumulate stress while dealing with Nameless as he played dumb.
“Phew······.”
After taking a deep breath, Yu Seolha decided to be patient. This was not something that could be resolved in a day or two. She had prepared herself for that from the beginning.
“I told you yesterday, and I told you today, but I’ll say it one last time.”
[Any! Time.]
“「Rupture」 has joined hands with the Great Lords and begun conquering the Abyss. You know that, right?”
[I! Do.]
“So far, three Sites have fallen. The Third Site, Tropical Night. The Fourth Site, Syndrome. Even the Fifth Site, Ragnarok. According to information I just received, the Dragon God’s Second Site, Naraka, which held out until the end, is also on the verge of defeat.”
[Is! That so.]
“What do you mean, is that so? Do you not understand what is happening right now?”
Her frustrated voice echoed through the empty audience chamber.
“Where do you think 「Rupture」’s next target will be? Right here, your Seventh Site!”
[They! Will not come.]
“Why? Why do you think that?”
Nameless did not answer.
Yu Seolha gave a small laugh and asked, “Ah, is it because you used to be a member of 「Rupture」?”
“······.”
“No. It would be more accurate to say you were one of 「Rupture」’s founders.”
Three beings had created the first 「Rupture」.
Maiad, the Commander, and Buddha, the First Division Commander.
Then there was one more.
That was the god before her, Nameless.
[They! Will not come.]
“No! They will. They will destroy your Site and take you back to 「Rupture」.”
“······.”
“Why are you so indifferent? You felt disillusioned with 「Rupture」 and ran away too. Isn’t that why you wanted to fight against 「Rupture」?”
[No!]
“Then why did you leave?”
[Just! Because.]
Yu Seolha pretended not to hear that answer.
A being who discarded his name when he left 「Rupture」 and became “Nameless.”
Yet he remained so powerful that he still reigned as one of the Abyss’s Eight Divine Thrones.
That was Nameless.
“We need to form a united front immediately. I have forces. A few gods and Awakened Ones who opposed 「Rupture」. Survivors of the 〈Hachenold Catastrophe〉. I even made contact yesterday with the Divine Throne of the Second Site, which is still fighting. If you join forces with us, then even 「Rupture」 will not be able to...”
[No! Meaning.]
“It does have meaning!”
Nameless slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
“Strange! Seolha.”
“What is?”
[You! Why are you trying to oppose 「Rupture」······ O! O! O!]
“Why are you suddenly doing that?”
Nameless huffed for a moment, then began writing in the air.
「I cannot speak more than ten words at once.」
“Was that so?”
Yu Seolha paused to think about whether Nameless had ever spoken more than ten words at a time.
“Then just write it. It’s frustrating.”
「You! Why are you trying to oppose Rupture?」
“Do you have to emphasize the beginning even when you write?”
Nameless ignored Yu Seolha and continued writing. Unlike his clumsy speech, Nameless had beautiful handwriting.
「Regardless! Of whether they unify the 《Abyss》 or join hands with the Great Lords, 「Rupture」’s goal remains the overthrow of 《Big Brother》. You have! No reason to stop them.」
Yu Seolha froze.
Nameless’s words had followed a pattern of conversation she had not heard in the past three months.
Nameless was asking a new kind of question.
Feeling both strange anticipation and unease, Yu Seolha answered.
“The Commander cannot defeat 《Big Brother》.”
Nameless immediately noticed something in her certain tone.
「Is it! “World Appraisal”?」
“Yes. The 「World Appraisal」 you transmitted to me.”
「You! Know that Setting is not perfect.」
“Even so, it is usually right.”
Nameless seemed to contemplate something for a long time.
「That! Explanation is insufficient.」
“Insufficient?”
「Even if! The Commander cannot defeat 《Big Brother》, that is not a reason for you to leave 「Rupture」.」
“······.”
「The Commander! Is one of the few beings who can see 《Big Brother》. As things stand! He is the only one who might be able to reach 《Big Brother》······」
Nameless, who had been staring quietly at Yu Seolha, stopped writing.
A strange laugh escaped his lips.
“Another! Hope, you have seen.”
“······.”
“Who is! That hope?”
“That is not important. What matters now is stopping the Commander and 「Rupture」. Reducing needless sacrifices.”
[Needless! Sacrifices.]
Nameless’s expression changed subtly.
[Human! Words.]
“I was surprised too, but I’m still human.”
[Funny!]
Nameless gave a quiet laugh, apparently truly amused, then began writing again.
「I too! Know that the Commander cannot defeat 《Big Brother》. I also! Possess “World Appraisal.” Perhaps! Rather than defeating 《Big Brother》, he will choose to become the nominal ruler of this 《Tree of Illusion》.」
“What? You knew? Then why······!”
「What I! Am saying is that there is no need to stop it.」
“What?”
「Unless! Big Brother is defeated and the System is destroyed, nothing changes. And! 《Big Brother》 is a monster even Ancient Gods cannot defeat. I do not know! What “hope” you saw, but it is impossible. No one! Can defeat 《Big Brother》.」
The despair written in that neat handwriting was so immense that Yu Seolha unconsciously took a step back.
Nameless continued to write.
「Whether! The Commander, the Eight Divine Thrones, or anyone else. The superficial! Master of the 《Abyss》 has always changed. Everything! Is only part of one enormous system of circulation. A great slaughter! In the 《Abyss》 is not happening for the first time. It is only! A passing phenomenon.」
“So you are saying we should just watch it happen?”
「Nothing! Will change anyway.」
“It will change! If we do not give up, we can change it! It is not too late! We can stop 「Rupture」 and build our strength again. If we build our strength again and challenge 《Big Brother》, then...”
Yu Seolha was startled by the sound of her own voice. She had not known such passion still lived within her.
When, and where, had she, who had always been consumed by pessimism, found this hope again?
Yu Seolha knew the answer, but tried not to think about it.
Nameless was smiling.
「Your! Seven hundred years must have been shorter than I thought, Seolha.」
“······.”
「But! Once you live for tens of thousands of years, you will understand. There are despairs too old! To long for change.」
“Damn it. You sound just like my friend.”
Yu Seolha recalled Adel, the friend she had last seen when she left 「Rupture」 not long ago. Adel had worn the same eyes Nameless did when he rejected her offer to leave 「Rupture」 together.
Nameless’s expression was strange.
「A! Friend.」
“Hm?”
Nameless smiled lightly at Yu Seolha’s confused face.
「I too! Had a friend who spoke words like yours.」
“Me? You mean me?”
「There was! A friend who said exactly what you are saying now, Seolha. Back then! I was also very good at speaking.」
Nameless had a friend?
Yu Seolha silently focused on Nameless’s story.
「One day! A Dream Demon came to find me. We! Got along quite well, and wanted similar worlds. He was! A unique friend. Despite being! A Dream Demon, he criticized “cultivation,” and treated himself like a sinner for creating Towers.」
“A Dream Demon who criticized cultivation?”
「He too! Said things much like you do now. That as long as one did not give up! This world could change.」
Suddenly, Yu Seolha thought she knew who that Dream Demon was.
「He was! A Dream Demon, but stronger than any god I knew. He was! The only being in this 《Abyss》 to gather two of the Three Divine Artifacts.」
Two of the Three Divine Artifacts.
Was that Dream Demon truly so powerful?
Yu Seolha could hardly believe it.
「It! Is natural that you would not know, since this is almost unknown. Hundreds! Of years ago, he had the same goal as Maiad does now. Then! He left alone for the “Nest,” where 《Big Brother》 resides.」
“And? What happened?”
「You! Already know, do you not? It happened! Nine hundred years ago. I have never! Heard that he returned. And! The world did not change.」
Yu Seolha felt she could understand the depth of Nameless’s despair.
Even a being who possessed two of the Three Divine Artifacts had failed to hunt 《Big Brother》.
This aged god had abandoned all hope the moment that Dream Demon failed.
「If! 《Big Brother》 cannot be defeated, then it makes no difference who becomes the master of the Abyss. History! Is like that. Things! Like this are nothing.」
His voice could crush even sound hope, and Yu Seolha’s strength left her.
Who could defend their hope before despair accumulated over tens of thousands of years?
Before such a vast perspective and boundless insight, her hope felt painfully insignificant.
Nameless was right.
No matter who ruled the 《Abyss》, nothing would be solved unless the System itself was destroyed.
History repeated itself.
And she was no more than a tiny firefly who lived briefly and passed through that distant history.
“But······.”
Still, she was human. She existed here as a human, and stood here as a human.
So she had to defend herself.
Yet she could not find the answer to what she should say.
That was when an explosion sounded outside the central palace.
Overwhelming World Force pressed down upon the entire palace.
Yu Seolha’s face turned pale.
There was only one possible source for World Force of this magnitude.
“Damn it, do not tell me they are here already.”
It was much faster than expected. She had heard the Second Site would soon fall, but she thought it would take longer for them to reach the Seventh Site.
Yu Seolha drew her unique weapon, 「Thunder Goblin」.
The next moment, the audience chamber doors burst apart, and a man and a boy appeared.
“Wow, I have never seen Jaehwan-nim open a door with his own hands before!”
It was the loud voice of an excitable boy.
Yu Seolha’s expression was a sight to behold once she saw the man’s face.
“You, you······ How are you here?”
He was someone who could not be here.
No, someone who should not be here.
Why was that man here?
“It has been a long time.”
Her answer stood before her.
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion