Chapter 225 - Episode 29. Fallen Star (5)
Chapter 225: Episode 29. Fallen Star (5)
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“This is the worst.”
“...”
“I’m sorry to say this to everyone, but I don’t know what to do anymore.”
Before the assembled Guides of Destruction, Yu Seolha lowered her head in despair.
Cheongheo, Karlton, and the other Allies looked at one another.
Even Yu Seolha looked this dejected.
“News has come in that Karavan was defeated. So was the Dragon God Droyan.”
“Are they dead?”
“The Dragon God’s annihilation has been confirmed. Karavan escaped with severe injuries, then all contact was lost.”
No one was terribly surprised. They had expected this news and had been preparing themselves ever since they lost contact with Karavan.
Karavan was not even their most pressing problem.
“As you all know, the situation is dire. It is one thing that every other Site has fallen to 「Rupture」, but even within the Seventh Site, our forces are dwindling. Things will only worsen with time. They will not improve.”
Yu Seolha was right. Nameless’s Seventh Site, the 《Abyss》’s last stronghold, had recently been losing strength little by little.
It was because of the Lost Ones who had lost their gods to Deus Ex Machina’s 「Plausibility Destruction」.
Jaehwan had been using 「Cognitive Dissonance」 to restore each of their links, but even that had its limits.
Some Followers refused to return to the gods they had once believed in. They left the Seventh Site and threw themselves into 「Rupture」 of their own accord. It was only natural. Everyone had watched the 《Abyss》’s strongest god vanish. How could they possibly remain sane?
Perhaps Yu Seolha’s gloom had affected them, because darkness had also fallen over the Allies’ faces. It did not suit the Guides of Destruction, who had charged ahead recklessly until now.
Sirwen broke the silence. “You all look like it is already over. Are you giving up without even trying to fight?”
Yu Seolha’s voice turned sharp, as if the words had struck a nerve.
“Are you asking because you really do not know? Big Brother is dead.”
“So what? What does it matter whether Big Brother exists or not? Big Brother is one thing. We’re another.”
“That is not true, dream demon girl.”
Cheongheo stepped in as if to mediate.
“Big Brother’s death does not simply mean the end of an era.”
“Then what does it mean?”
“Well, that is... To explain it...”
Cheongheo could not continue right away. He had stepped in dramatically enough, but now that he had to explain it, he looked troubled. Cheongheo had never been particularly good with words to begin with.
“If it is all right, may I say something?”
“Huh? Who are you?”
“Ah, I am...”
At Sirwen’s question, a man standing in the corner with a crutch strode forward.
“My name is Yoonhwan.”
After the battle against Jerome, Yoonhwan had volunteered for the Guides of Destruction. His body had not yet fully recovered, so combat was out of the question, but having belonged to 「Rupture」 until recently, he knew more about its current movements than anyone else there.
So this was Jaehwan’s friend.
Sirwen had almost snapped, What kind of pretty-boy is this? But she barely remembered that this pretty-boy was Jaehwan’s close friend.
If Jaehwan had rushed off to save him without a second thought, they must have been very close.
Sirwen opened her mouth.
“All right. Go ahead.”
Yoonhwan nodded and spoke.
“I believe the Guides of Destruction have now lost their cause.”
“Our cause?”
Yoonhwan gave a faint smile.
“To explain that, I need to take a slight detour. Is that all right?”
“No, it is not. Just get to the point and finish.”
“Pweee-yoooook, Pong.”
Several people gaped at Yoonhwan’s words. Sirwen could not even manage an expression.
Is this bastard making fun of me?
Oddly enough, Yoonhwan’s incomprehensible remark changed the mood in the meeting room. Rather than continuing at once, Yoonhwan met the eyes of each Ally looking at him, one by one.
For some reason, those who met his gaze could not look away.
Sirwen frowned.
What is with this atmosphere?
Sirwen did not know it, but Yoonhwan’s ability had been steadily trained ever since his days in the 《Tower of Nightmares》, until it had finally blossomed into a Setting.
An ability that easily drew attention to himself and shifted the mood.
A manipulation-type Setting.
「Pweee-yoooook, Pong」
For some reason, this Setting did not work on Sirwen. Growing even more irritated, she snapped at him.
“Is that your point? Pweee-yoooook, Pong? Do you want to die?”
“Are you ready to hear a longer story now?”
Annoyed, Sirwen looked around as if asking for help. Yet, surprisingly, everyone around her was focused on Yoonhwan’s next words. As though he had expected it, Yoonhwan began to speak.
“You all know what 「Rupture」 has done in the 《Abyss》 recently. They began a Holy War without warning, illegally invaded Sites, and slaughtered countless Vicegerents and Followers. Sirwen, you also know very well what happened as a result.”
Since the conversation had already begun, Sirwen reluctantly answered.
“「Rupture」 became the public enemy.”
“That is right. The entire 《Abyss》 could condemn 「Rupture」 because of that. They had committed acts of evil too obvious to deny.”
“So that is our cause? Rupture did bad things, and we are supposed to punish them?”
“Simply put, yes.”
“Then it is still valid. The fact that those bastards invaded Sites has not changed.”
“Logically, yes. Emotionally, it is different. Sirwen-nim, you have worries too, do you not?”
“I don’t have any.”
At Sirwen’s words, Yoonhwan’s gaze openly fixed on one spot. Everyone around him turned to follow his gaze.
Jaehwan, who had been polishing Dokbul some distance away, looked up at that moment.
When their eyes met, Sirwen reflexively raised her voice.
“What are you trying to say...!”
“Let us begin by assuming that Sirwen-nim has a very serious worry. A worry so serious that you cannot even tell anyone else about it...”
“Hey!”
Sirwen’s face turned red, then pale.
“How about putting it this way? Sirwen-nim dislikes me. Is that right?”
“To the point that I want to kill you.”
Yoonhwan smiled as if he had expected that.
“Of course you do. I am a turncoat who belonged to 「Rupture」 until just recently. But what if someone like me offered Sirwen-nim important help?”
“I do not need your help...”
“For example, what if I helped Jaehwan and Sirwen-nim elope together?”
“What?”
Sirwen stared blankly for a moment, then let out a shriek.
“What are you talking about!”
“Ah, I am assuming that Sirwen-nim has unrequited feelings for Jaehwan. I should have explained that first, but since you like getting to the point, I began with the most important part.”
Sirwen could not say anything in the face of Yoonhwan’s shamelessness. Her lips only moved soundlessly.
“Anyway, under that assumption, no matter how much you dislike me, if I bring Jaehwan and Sirwen-nim together... would Sirwen-nim’s view of me not change?”
“That...”
“Please answer simply, yes or no. It is only a figurative example.”
“Under that assumption... I suppose it would.”
“What would? Would you be grateful to me for bringing Jaehwan and Sirwen-nim together?”
Sirwen hesitated for a long time before answering as though she no longer cared.
“Yes.”
Yoonhwan clapped his hands in satisfaction.
“That is the point.”
“What point?”
Sirwen felt as though she had been completely toyed with.
She quickly glanced toward Jaehwan. He looked completely unaffected. Cheongheo and Runald were snickering.
Sirwen shot them a fierce glare.
“The feelings Sirwen-nim now has toward me are similar to the feelings the 《Abyss》’s Vicegerents have toward 「Rupture」. They are grateful.”
Only then did Sirwen’s expression grow complicated. Her two thousand four hundred years of reason were finally returning. Beneath the long, roundabout comedy lay the core of the conversation.
“The 《Abyss》 is grateful to 「Rupture」?”
“That is correct.”
“Like me?”
“Yes.”
“Even after Jaehwan... no, after 「Rupture」 did all that to them?”
“It is difficult to understand, but yes.”
“That makes no logical sense.”
“That is what I said earlier. It makes no logical sense, but emotionally, it is understandable.”
After a brief pause, Yoonhwan drove home the final point.
“The fall of 《Big Brother》 is that great an event. Great enough that it no longer matters what 「Rupture」 has done to the 《Abyss》 until now.”
Sirwen’s eyes sank into deep thought.
Thinking about it, it was understandable enough.
Nothing in the 《Abyss》 had ever been as terrifying as 《Big Brother》.
The being that ruled the System and laid the foundation for all Settings.
The being that could slaughter everyone in the Abyss whenever it wished, whoever they might be.
A dictator that could reduce every soul’s life to nothing but coincidence.
That was what 《Big Brother》 had been.
Yet 「Rupture」 had freed the 《Abyss》 from that fear.
Karlton nodded.
“So that is what you meant by saying we have no cause.”
“That is right. 「Rupture」 is no longer the Abyss’s enemy. It is the Abyss’s hero.”
The sight of a falling star crossed Sirwen’s mind.
Yoonhwan continued.
“The banner the Rupture Lord has raised recently is strengthening 「Rupture」’s position even further. The Rupture Lord claims that by unifying every Unique World in the Abyss into a single one, they can create a world without Holy Wars.”
“That cannot possibly be done.”
“Many believe that impossible story. There are even reports that some Sites conquered by 「Rupture」 are much better places to live now. It is surely propaganda, but still.”
Goosebumps rose on Sirwen’s skin without her realizing it.
「Rupture」 had defeated 《Big Brother》. If that was true, perhaps it really had done something good.
But could defeating 《Big Brother》 justify everything that had happened until now?
It felt strange for Sirwen to think this way. Before she met Jaehwan, she had barely cared about questions like these. She was a dream demon, after all, a member of a species forced to endure the contradictions of cultivation.
Even so, Sirwen said this.
“That is wrong.”
“It is. It is wrong. But small justice has already been trampled underfoot, while the greater cause has been achieved in the end. Who in this age would dare judge the Rupture Lord?”
No one there failed to understand what 「Rupture」 and the Rupture Lord had done.
Killing Big Brother was surely the 《Abyss》’s greatest achievement. To ignore that achievement and hold the Rupture Lord accountable for those wrongs, someone with convictions nobler and more sublime than the Rupture Lord’s would be needed.
In other words, a being with a steadfast world that would not be shaken even by the fall of a star.
“So what are we supposed to do? Give up here?”
“No.”
Yoonhwan smiled.
“We need to find someone who can hold the Rupture Lord accountable.”
At those words, everyone looked in the same direction.
The answer had been decided from the start. After all, they had gathered there because of one person.
But then...
“Huh? What? Where did that bastard go?”
“What? He was here just a moment ago.”
“Jaehwan-nim? Jaehwan-nim!”
Their answer had vanished somewhere.
* * *
The Eighth Site, 〈Caspion〉’s fortress.
The Rupture Lord’s office.
Kasim was giving a face-to-face report to Maiad, who stood silently looking out the window.
Maiad’s complexion was pale, and their face was covered in patchy stubble. Recently, Maiad had been growing noticeably thinner.
Suppressing the sympathy that suddenly rose within, Kasim continued.
“The number of Lost Ones joining the main force has increased explosively. At present, the number of Lost Ones recruited at each Site is...”
In short, so many Lost Ones were pouring in that managing them had become difficult.
After listening to the report for some time, Maiad answered in an exhausted voice.
“Use the 〈Great Disappearance Simulation〉 to screen them. Purge those without talent.”
“May we do that?”
“Have we not always done so?”
“That is true, but...”
Kasim hesitated before answering.
“Understood.”
With those words, Kasim left the room. Kasim’s steps were far heavier than usual.
Kasim did not know why. Everything was going well, so why did Kasim’s heart feel so heavy?
“Fourth Division Commander-nim?”
“Oh, Adel.”
Following a recent organizational restructuring, Adel had become an assistant to the Division Commander. They began walking toward the outer corridor together. Adel brought up electronic documents on a screen and spoke.
“The troop reorganization you ordered has been completed. We can march on the Seventh Site as early as tomorrow.”
“I see.”
“You do not look well.”
Kasim gave a bitter smile and shook their head.
“When you say something like that, you always have an ulterior motive. Is there something you want to say?”
“Well, if you will permit me, I have something to say.”
“Say whatever you like. You are an assistant to the Division Commander now. As long as it is not about leaving 「Rupture」, I do not mind.”
At that sad joke, smiles appeared on both Kasim’s and Adel’s faces.
Adel spoke.
“People have been talking among the agents recently.”
“Talking about what?”
“Some agents are wondering why the 《System》 has not disappeared after Big Brother was defeated.”
“You know as well as I do that not everything disappears just because a god dies.”
“That is not all. The 《Little Brother》 network is still intact, and they say no particular changes have been observed in the 《Great Realm》 either. That may be why the agents’ mood lately has been...”
Kasim raised a hand, stopping Adel there.
“Adel. Is that really the agents’ curiosity, or is it yours?”
“To be honest, it is both.”
The corridor had ended, revealing the fortress’s outer view. Stars shone in the black night sky, lights that had come from a distant universe.
Adel silently looked up at that sky. Somewhere in that distant universe lay Adel’s hometown, and Kasim’s hometown as well. And 《Big Brother》... must have been there too.
Kasim spoke.
“Adel.”
“Yes.”
“Did I not say this before? The world will not change simply because one star has fallen.”
Kasim was looking up at the sky as well.
It was not only Kasim. Recently, everyone in the 《Abyss》 had been looking at the sky more often.
As if they had only now realized that a sky existed above them, people looked up at it again and again. It was as though, if they kept looking, something would appear there someday. Or as though they were waiting for something to appear.
Looking at the sky with Kasim, Adel asked.
“Do you know something, Division Commander-nim?”
“No. I am only an ordinary Awakened One. How much could I possibly know?”
They looked at the sky in silence for a while. They were surely looking at the same sky, yet for some reason, it did not feel that way.
Adel felt a little lonely.
What could possibly be in that sky?
What had they done wrong? Or what did it want from them, for a world like this to exist?
What did the Commander truly want in a world like this?
“I do not know anything, but there is one thing I am certain of.”
Kasim added in a lonely voice.
“Rupture’s war begins now.”
* * *
The next day, news that all of 「Rupture」’s forces had marched toward the Seventh Site, 〈Epoche〉, struck the Abyss.
For reasons unknown, the fortress in the Eighth Site where 「Rupture」 had been stationed exploded almost at the same time.
The Abyss’s final war was about to begin.
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