Chapter 215 - Episode 28. Rupture (9)
Chapter 215: Episode 28. Rupture (9)
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Watching the enemies approach from afar beyond the audience chamber window, Nameless looked down at their left hand. The hand that had clashed with Jaehwan’s World Force was burned black.
It was the first wound Nameless had suffered since becoming one of the Eight Divine Thrones.
Nameless could not remember how long it had been since encountering an opponent capable of injuring their soul form.
Without a word, Nameless raised their head and looked toward the sky. A faint “moon” hung in their sky. Yet it did not always take the shape of a moon.
To some, it was a star.
To others, it was the sun.
And to some, it was an “eye.”
Big Brother.
《Abyss》 called the thing that was a star, sun, moon, and eye all at once by that name.
No one knew its true form. One thing was certain: a chosen few among the Awakened Ones could see that 《Big Brother》.
To Maiad, it was a star.
To Buddha, it was the sun.
The form in which 《Big Brother》 revealed itself reflected each Awakened One’s personal impression to some extent.
The moment Nameless realized Maiad saw it as a “star,” Nameless understood that Maiad had no intention of opposing 《Big Brother》.
The same was true of Buddha.
From the beginning, neither had seen 《Big Brother》 as a negative image.
Nameless asked themself a question.
Then what did they see?
Nameless smiled bitterly.
Whether it was a star, sun, or moon.
The core members of 「Rupture」 all cried for 《Big Brother》’s downfall while acknowledging its necessity. With people like that gathered together, there was no way a true revolution could take place.
What they wanted was not the destruction of the System in the end, but another System.
Nameless clenched and unclenched their left hand once more.
A stinging pain returned vividly, and a fragment of an old emotion Nameless had lost long ago flared bright within them.
The feeling from before 《Big Brother》 had appeared to Nameless as a star, sun, or moon.
Nameless saw the afterimage of 《Big Brother》 reflected in Jaehwan’s eyes.
That vicious image had left a deep impression on Nameless.
An Awakened One who could still see 《Big Brother》 that way existed. What a strange thing.
It truly was strange.
Pierre found the small spark that had suddenly appeared in their heart unfamiliar.
To feel this way just because someone had not given up on this world.
‘Good. You found the answer, Seolha.’
Nameless quietly laughed with an unfathomable smile.
* * *
Dust churned across the plains.
Soldiers emerged one after another from beyond the massive portal. Vicegerents of gods, from low to high rank, were appearing.
Every one of them wore an exhausted, sickly expression. Their faces showed that they did not know whether this advance was the will of the gods, their own will, or the will of some vast history.
No, they did know.
They knew it was no one’s will.
They knew this war was endlessly empty, and that its end could never be measured.
Still, they had neither the peace of mind nor the knowledge needed to put that emptiness into words and discuss it. They were nothing more than captives of this long war. They fought as captives, and in the end, they died.
Even so, the advance could not stop.
At the forefront stood the Awakened Ones of 「Rupture」. Indomitable warriors who had fought on the front lines of every battle and brought down countless Sites.
「Rupture」’s ideology was so pure and firm that it could move even its enemies.
What the majority believed became truth, and truth became power.
Power, in turn, shaped the world.
Only 《Abyss》’s final Site remained. The completion of the world was slowly drawing near.
“Is that it?”
Great Lord Jerome asked.
Third Division Commander Imai answered.
“Yes.”
The appearance of Epoche, the Seventh Site, came fully into view.
Jerome carefully studied Epoche’s quiet landscape before speaking in a flat voice.
“So it really is the Site of losers.”
“...”
“I heard the Divine Throne ruling that Site was once a member of 「Rupture」. Were you unable to recruit them?”
“They’re no longer part of 「Rupture」.”
Jerome chuckled at the slightly subdued reply.
“Is that so? It seems your vaunted, blood-soaked Unique World is not perfect after all. That makes two key deserters already.”
Imai cursed quietly under his breath but did not show it. Starting a brawl with a Great Lord here would ruin everything.
Watching the soldiers advance toward the Seventh Site’s city center, Jerome asked, “Will you charge in immediately?”
“No. We will wait a little.”
“Why?”
“Nameless is no ordinary god. Once reinforcements arrive from the Second Site...”
Great Lord Varkant, who had been watching the conversation, interrupted.
“Hmph. So what if some god is strong?”
“You do not know Nameless well.”
“There are two Great Lords on our side. No matter how strong a Divine Throne is, they cannot defeat us. Besides, we have...”
Varkant trailed off while looking toward Jerome.
He was known as The Strongest Darkness.
The Lord of Darkness, Jerome, standing beside them was considered the strongest even among the Great Lords of the twelve zones.
He had swiftly ended the war in the 《Great Realm》 that had broken out because of Jaehwan. He had also played the most important role in sealing Catastrophe once again.
The undisputed greatest Vicegerent of 《Big Brother》, and the strongest Great Lord no one could challenge.
Jerome opened his mouth.
“Hmm, no. The Rupture fellow is right. We should wait a little.”
“Huh?”
Varkant looked puzzled by Jerome’s words. Jerome chuckled and added, “It seems a little amusement has appeared. It would not be bad to watch before we begin.”
Jerome’s gaze was fixed on the outskirts of the Seventh Site.
Imai looked in that direction as well.
A moment later, his face stiffened.
Jerome smiled.
“I told you, you Rupture people are truly entertaining.”
* * *
What was the greatest number of people a human could kill without going mad?
Ten?
A hundred?
Or a thousand?
Yoonhwan believed he could not know that number. After all, even he had not yet found the end of it.
Though no one was bleeding, the thick stench of blood filled his nostrils.
Yoonhwan could never forget the moment he had first undergone Awakening.
〈Great Disappearance Simulation〉.
Within the virtual simulation, Yoonhwan encountered countless people.
People he had climbed the Tower with.
Some had betrayed him. Others had lost their lives before he could grow close to them. Still, they had all once climbed the Tower for the same purpose.
Walkers who climbed the Tower to protect humanity.
Inside the simulation, they were no longer Companions. They swung their swords at one another. Some even rushed at Yoonhwan.
Watching humans charge at him with clear hostility,
“Ahhh!”
Sometimes, he screamed.
“Please. Please.”
Sometimes, he begged.
“Fuck!”
Sometimes, he raged.
And eventually, he fought them.
He killed.
Killed again.
And killed again.
Even knowing the beings in the simulation were “virtual entities,” Yoonhwan felt something inside him twist strangely whenever he killed one.
It felt as though the shell of the world he had known until then was shattering to pieces.
Morality and ethics. Everything represented by names like justice and values. Every one of those frames broke apart within Yoonhwan.
Only madness remained where everything had broken.
That madness spoke.
“The ‘human’ you believed in is a remnant of the System. Nothing more than a shell called ‘humanity’ forced upon you.”
To cast off the shell of humanity by endlessly repeating the most unethical transgressions one could commit.
To transcend the pettiness of the System that had surrounded him.
The 1,954 simulations made that possible.
Kill, kill, and kill again...
Then, at some point, Yoonhwan stopped.
‘No. This is not right. This cannot be right.’
Yoonhwan stopped killing when he saw a friend running toward him.
The friend he trusted more than anyone.
The person closest to the strongest sense of justice Yoonhwan could imagine.
That friend was rushing toward Yoonhwan now with a sword in hand.
‘If gaining power means going this far.’
Watching that friend, Yoonhwan gritted his teeth.
‘Then I would rather not become an Awakened One...’
His friend’s blade pierced his stomach.
That was the 1,954th time.
1,954 memories, too terrible and too cruel.
His surroundings warped, and the scene collapsed.
Yoonhwan woke from the dream with a sharp scream.
“Gasp!”
Every part of his body hurt as though it had been torn apart.
He barely pushed himself up and looked around. He was in a desolate wasteland. The outline of a massive Site was faintly visible in the distance.
‘Did I pass out for a moment?’
Yoonhwan carefully checked each of his injuries.
He could still walk.
He could still fight.
He could still feel the killing intent of pursuers targeting him nearby.
‘They caught up this quickly?’
A week ago, Yoonhwan had left 「Rupture」 after his final conversation with Adel at the Fifth Site. He had quickly left the battlefield, and once he had, he avoided acting in any way that would arouse suspicion. He had not even used massive portals so that no one could trace his route.
Even so, Rupture’s pursuit squad had caught up with him in an instant. It was as if they knew exactly where he was headed.
This was completely different from Yu Seolha’s case.
The first 「Rupture」 had been as strict about leaving as it was about joining. Thorough extermination of traitors. That was why 「Rupture」 had maintained such tight security until now.
‘If only I can meet Division Commander Yu Seolha...’
Without Adel’s words, Yoonhwan might not have taken such a risk. He might have hidden somewhere safe and waited for an opportunity.
But he could not.
The moment he heard that Yu Seolha was at the Seventh Site, the place Yoonhwan had to go was decided.
Yu Seolha and the Guide of Destruction were the only force opposing 「Rupture」.
Yoonhwan wanted to know.
He wanted to hear the thoughts of someone who had left 「Rupture」 before him and survived.
He wanted to ask.
‘Why did you leave Rupture?’
‘Was it for the same reason as me?’
‘Do we still have the right to ask what is right and what is wrong?’
How long had he staggered onward like that?
At last, the landscape of the Seventh Site began to enter Yoonhwan’s sight.
But his joy lasted only a moment. Soon, despair settled over his eyes.
‘Am I too late?’
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