Chapter 216 - Episode 28. Rupture (10)
Chapter 216: Episode 28. Rupture (10)
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Fragments of the exploding fortress flew toward Yoonhwan.
The forces of 「Rupture」 were pouring in with unstoppable momentum.
He had run with all his strength, yet he had still arrived later than 「Rupture」, which had taken a portal straight here.
Watching the fortress collapse and sparks burst through the air, Yoonhwan swallowed.
He had to hurry.
If he wanted to be of any help, if he wanted to tell them the information he knew...
‘Damn it.’
Yet it looked as though Yoonhwan's efforts would end in failure.
The instant he let his guard down, unfamiliar presences closed in around him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yoonhwan knocked aside the incoming blades and spun around in haste.
Enemies emerged from the darkness. They were Rupture's pursuit squad, without question. He recognized some of their faces.
"Stop! Please, stop! I do not want to hurt you!"
No one listened to Yoonhwan.
Their eyes held no sympathy. These Awakened Ones showed no hesitation in their attacks.
It could not be helped. Like Yoonhwan, they had all gone through the 〈Great Disappearance Simulation〉.
Most of them had also belonged to 「Rupture」 longer than Yoonhwan had.
Once Yoonhwan realized they had no intention of compromising, he gritted his teeth and focused his mind.
Even if everything ended here, he could not retreat. He had always lived that way.
「Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood」
The aura of his Unique World flowed from his entire body, and World Force began surging around him.
Crimson World Force covered his white blade.
That power was why 「Rupture」 was chasing Yoonhwan. Rupture would never stand by and allow the strength of an Unique World they had created to leak into the outside world.
Whoooosh!
World Force surged like a wave and swept away several Awakened Ones. A few flew through the air with cries of pain. The pursuit squad's momentum faltered before the fierce sword force.
It was the opportunity Yoonhwan had barely regained.
"I'm sorry."
Yoonhwan swiftly turned around.
But he could not leave.
"Stop, Yoonhwan."
Cold World Force from Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood flew at him with the voice.
Deflecting it was almost pure instinct.
Yoonhwan spun twice through the air. Only after burning through a considerable amount of World Force did he barely manage to block the attack. The wrist holding his sword ached as though it had broken.
That World Force was far greater than his own.
Division Commander level? No. It was not that powerful.
Then this World Force was...
"Stop this and come back with us."
"Seoyul?"
It was Han Seoyul, commander of 「Rupture」's Fourth Battalion.
Yoonhwan did not know what to say.
Why? How could you? Both questions were useless.
At that moment, Yoonhwan understood everything. Why Han Seoyul was stopping him, and why Rupture had specifically assigned her to this pursuit squad.
Yoonhwan bit down hard on his lip.
He knew his efforts would be futile. Still, there were times when he had to say something.
"Seoyul."
Her name felt strange on his tongue after so long.
He wanted to speak to her as he had long ago, when they had climbed the Tower together.
He could not explain why he was standing here now, or exactly what he was moving toward. Even so, Yoonhwan wanted to tell her something.
"You know. This isn't right."
His voice was utterly exhausted after the long pursuit.
It was a voice like a flame that could go out at any moment.
More than anyone, Yoonhwan knew words like these could not persuade anyone or make anyone understand.
Yet perhaps it was a miracle.
Seoyul answered.
"I know too."
"What?"
"I said I know."
Perhaps this was the first real conversation they had shared since joining 「Rupture」.
Their first true conversation after overcoming the deep trauma of the past.
As Yoonhwan looked into Seoyul's eyes, he realized that she had felt something too.
"That is why I came after you."
"What does that mean...?"
Yoonhwan hoped.
Maybe things would turn out better than he expected.
Maybe the rightful doubts he held would reach a proper answer.
Maybe the world was more honest and fair than he thought...
"Let's return to Rupture together."
Her next words woke Yoonhwan from that illusion.
"I heard it from the Division Commanders. They said you were having dangerous thoughts."
"..."
"They must have told you already, but I will say it again. They know, and I know. Everyone knows. Everyone knows perfectly well what is right and what is not."
"Stop."
Seoyul continued.
"Listen to me, Kim Yoonhwan. Have you already forgotten what happened in the Tower? You cannot accomplish anything where you are going. Just as we could never clear the Tower, no matter how hard we tried."
Her words tore painfully through Yoonhwan's chest.
So she had kept thinking about it too.
Yoonhwan remembered her death.
Seoyul had died on the Seventy-Sixth Floor.
"There are things that a Sense of Justice alone cannot accomplish."
Memories of the Tower surfaced one after another.
The memory of climbing the Tower with Jaehwan after only the two of them remained.
And the dream they had never achieved.
His head throbbed.
"Justice without power is useless. Ideals without hope are meaningless. You know that better than anyone, don't you? Even after going through all that, do you still not understand?"
I don't know.
Yoonhwan did not understand things that difficult.
Still, even Yoonhwan knew one thing.
"Seoyul."
"...?"
"Do you know how high I got?"
Seoyul hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No."
"I reached the Ninety-Eighth Floor."
Seoyul seemed faintly surprised, then frowned.
"No matter how high you got, in the end you too..."
"Jaehwan was on the Ninety-Ninth Floor with me."
For the first time, Seoyul's expression shook visibly.
It was the first expression like that Yoonhwan had seen from her since coming to the 《Abyss》.
He did not miss that opening.
"You remember too, don't you? How hard we struggled to reach that place. How many deaths we overcame, and how much time we endured."
"..."
"Are you saying all of that meant nothing? Do you truly mean it? That all of it was useless and meaningless?"
Seoyul bit her lip.
"I know what you mean. But..."
"No. You still don't understand."
Yoonhwan spoke as if making a declaration.
"That is why you are still standing there."
Seoyul fell silent.
An emotional storm churned behind her tightly closed lips.
Her eyes had wavered at Jaehwan's name.
Yoonhwan thought that perhaps there was still hope, not only for himself, but for her as well.
He made his final gamble.
"Just kill me. If you really want to take me back to Rupture, take my corpse."
It was a gamble with his life on the line.
A gamble that she still had even a little human feeling left in her.
Seoyul remained silent. It was a sentimental silence that did not suit her cold nature.
"You think I can't do it."
World Force ignited over Seoyul's keenly sharpened sword.
She spoke in a venomous voice.
"How many times do you think I have killed you?"
Goosebumps slowly rose along Yoonhwan's arm.
Only then did he remember something he should have realized long ago.
The woman before him was not the Han Seoyul he knew.
Out of a total of 520 simulations, she had completed 518 to the very end. She had cast away everything to grow stronger, killed every memory she had, and as a result become the strongest among Rupture's newcomers.
That was the Seoyul standing before him now.
Seoyul smiled at the rigid Yoonhwan.
"Don't act righteous. You killed me too."
It was true.
Within the simulations, he had killed Seoyul before.
"You are a hypocrite."
Seoyul's sword expanded, pouring out crimson World Force.
「Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood」
A rain of blood fell from the sky.
Yoonhwan fought with all his strength to deflect the blood-red World Force. Silver spilled from his mouth.
"Before I came here, the Fifth Division Commander told me something strange."
Blood gleamed across Seoyul's blade as she took a light breath.
"They said there was one man you never killed until the very end in the simulations."
"..."
"Would that change anything? It just means you killed everyone except that man. You are the same. You are a Rupture Awakened One in the end. So do not be so disgusting. Stop acting like you alone are righteous, like you alone have nothing to be ashamed of."
Seoyul's sword cut Yoonhwan's thigh, then slashed his waist.
Silver poured out.
Yoonhwan thought she was right.
Maybe he was someone who had no right to speak of justice. Maybe he was an ugly human being, endlessly cowardly and endlessly hypocritical.
But...
If he let go of everything and abandoned every concern, if he gave up being human...
What would remain for him after that?
Each time Seoyul's World Force struck him, Yoonhwan's entire body was crushed like tofu.
Within his fading consciousness, he kept searching for something.
I...
In his wandering vision, Yoonhwan remembered someone's name.
Then he saw someone's back.
It was a vision too clear to deny.
Looking at it, Yoonhwan whispered softly.
“Are you still climbing the Tower?”
The one memory he had never let go of, even when he had abandoned everything.
The back of the man who had made Yoonhwan believe that he too was human.
‘I wanted to become like you.’
Seoyul's sword broke through the vision and flew toward him.
Its sword force was sharp and merciless, as though severing all ties with the distant past.
A melancholy silence fell.
Within that pitch-black darkness, Yoonhwan felt his life draining away. Silver gushed from his waist, stealing his vitality. The shadow of death deepened around him.
It had been long and brutal.
But it would finally end.
Stillness fell, as though every soul had stopped breathing.
A sword dropped with a cold metallic ring.
A woman's voice reached him.
But then...
Why am I still not dead?
Yoonhwan slowly opened his eyes and saw Seoyul.
The composed Seoyul was staggering backward in a daze.
She looked as if she had seen something she never should have seen.
Even if the world were collapsing, Yoonhwan did not think she would have made that expression.
"Attack him!"
With a fierce cry, the pursuit squad waiting behind Seoyul rushed toward Yoonhwan.
Dozens of Rupture Awakened Ones charged at him in a crimson tide.
Then, in the next moment,
the tide split apart.
Rupture's formidable Unique World was collapsing helplessly.
It was a sight that made the name Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood seem meaningless.
Countless Awakened Ones burst apart.
Pitch-black World Force surged in from somewhere, covering the sky in darkness.
As Yoonhwan watched the crimson wave break apart without resistance, a strange feeling came over him.
Why did seeing that sight make him feel relieved?
With that scene as the last thing he saw, Yoonhwan slowly collapsed to the ground.
The image of a man filled Yoonhwan's eyes as he fell.
His tightly gripped shoulder hurt.
Without realizing it, Yoonhwan let out a hollow laugh.
This had to be a vision. Otherwise, how could...
How could Jaehwan be here?
If it was not a vision, then this was the afterlife.
Perhaps he was still inside the 〈Great Disappearance Simulation〉.
If not, then this was the past...
"Yoonhwan."
The voice brought Yoonhwan back to reality.
A reality so clear that no one could deny it.
His throat tightened, and no words came out.
Jaehwan. It was Jaehwan.
"You've been through a lot."
They were only a few words, but Yoonhwan understood.
Jaehwan's Unique World filled the sky above.
The end of the world they had dreamed of.
The ultimate sight Jaehwan had refused to give up on, even after all his Companions had returned.
Yoonhwan used his last strength to move his lips.
Jaehwan, you...
"Yeah, that's right."
Only then did Yoonhwan feel at ease.
Every Tower surely has a final floor.
At that moment, the door to the world he had wanted to reach so badly opened before him.
Yoonhwan's weakly raised fingers brushed Jaehwan's face.
With a faint smile, Yoonhwan closed his eyes.
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