Chapter 229 - Episode 30. Lone World (4)
Chapter 229: Episode 30. Lone World (4)
──────
“What?”
Runald spoke again to Sirwen, who had asked him to repeat himself with a blank look.
“He put on Clothes right in front of me.”
Jaehwan was not here. Someone had to take his place.
As Runald watched the Allies fall one after another, he recalled a sight he had once seen in the 〈Metaverse〉.
An old temple that served the Metaverse Six Gods.
The lonely Prayers of the Dolls that had lingered there.
One day, Jaehwan would destroy this world.
One day, people’s Prayers would remain as hollow verses, just like those of the Dolls.
It was a terribly lonely and desolate sight, yet strangely, it gave Runald courage.
Compared to destruction, the fear before him was nothing.
Ominous eyes looked down at the boy from the sky.
Against the backdrop of a destroyed world, a Gigantes came charging toward him, its engine roaring.
Runald cast off the fear carved into his soul and clenched his fist.
He could not remain weak forever. He would not run away either.
Was he not the only Follower of Destruction in this world?
‘Jaehwan-nim, please give me strength.’
A golden current began rising from Runald’s naked body.
* * *
Papapapapap!
Rays of Stabs flew in from every direction.
Silver particles burst wildly into the air.
“Ghk!”
Buddha was surprised to hear such a clichéd groan escape his own mouth. Until now, he had always been the one hearing that sound, never the one making it.
As silver fluid surged from his mouth, Buddha admitted that he had completely underestimated the man before him. If he had met this man before Maiad, perhaps their plans might have changed.
No matter how he looked at him, Jaehwan was a young soul who had not even lived for two thousand years.
How could such a soul possess this much power?
Even Buddha, who had endured thousands of reincarnations, could not fully gauge the countless years Jaehwan had overcome.
Given a little more time, even another hundred or two hundred years, the man before him might surpass Maiad.
‘But not yet.’
World Force rose from Buddha’s body. It was the sum of every realization Buddha had gained through countless reincarnations. As tension blanketed the battlefield, a smile touched Buddha’s lips.
‘Even if he defeated Jerome.’
No matter how strong this green young brat was, there was no way he could overcome the years Buddha had lived.
As if reflecting Buddha’s confidence, his World Force began soaring without limit.
Nine billion... ten billion... eleven billion.
Buddha looked at Jaehwan with an arrogant expression. Grass flattened around him, and tiny creatures possessing World Force had their souls burst apart and died. At this point, Jaehwan should have been close to suffocating from World Pressure alone.
Yet Jaehwan’s presence did not change.
If anything, he watched Buddha’s transformation with curious eyes.
It did not take long for the doubt on Buddha’s face to turn into shock.
“You... that eye?”
A serpent spun fiercely within Jaehwan’s left iris.
An Ouroboros devouring its own tail.
It resembled the serpent shape embedded in Buddha’s eye.
The difference was that Jaehwan’s Ouroboros had completely caught its tail, while Buddha’s had not.
“So you were the one Ignis’s Vicegerent mentioned. You were the one who obtained Gestalt’s Eye.”
“...”
“How did you obtain that? Even after tens of thousands of years, I could not...”
Frustration and rage mixed together, and deep disbelief appeared in Buddha’s formerly calm eyes.
This young brat had caught the serpent’s tail that Buddha had failed to grasp throughout his entire life? That could not be true.
Then Jaehwan asked, “You use 「Reincarnation」, do you not?”
Buddha’s eyes wavered for an instant.
Did this bastard know about his 「Reincarnation」 as well? Then again, if Nameless had told him...
“That is why you could not obtain it.”
“What?”
It made no sense.
“What do you mean?”
Come to think of it, when Buddha first developed 「Reincarnation」, La-Hamad had said something similar.
If he used a shortcut, he would never be able to obtain 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
“You will never catch the ‘tail.’ More precisely, you have become unable to catch it.”
It was still impossible to understand.
That ambiguity only deepened Buddha’s anger.
Even if his inability to complete Ouroboros had something to do with 「Reincarnation」, there was no reason to be lectured by some green young brat.
“Insolent fool.”
The enormous palms of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara charged forward. Buddha’s strongest technique, the one he had used to defeat Karavan, was being unleashed.
A thousand palms arranged in the shape of a Buddhist swastika.
The ultimate secret of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara, forcing every soul into the chain of karma.
「Dharma Wheel」.
A mass of World Force exceeding ten billion flew at Jaehwan as though to crush him. It was slow, but it covered every direction. There was no avoiding it.
Jaehwan did not evade. He took his stance.
Paaang!
Jaehwan’s Ouroboros spun faster and faster. The World Force that surged afterward shook the battlefield like a jet stream.
‘What kind of World Force is that?’
Eight billion...
Nine billion...
Jaehwan’s World Force soared in an instant.
A slightly pained expression crossed his face when it passed ten billion, but only briefly.
Eleven billion...
Twelve billion...
Jaehwan’s World Force was already approaching Buddha’s.
Only then did Buddha truly realize what kind of power Jaehwan possessed.
‘Is that the 「Cognitive Dissonance」 I have only heard of?’
Cognitive Dissonance, the unique Setting of 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
It was one of the representative Settings used by Gestalt, who had possessed no Followers.
A Setting that made one’s own Clothes into one’s Followers.
The loneliest and most solitary World Force in existence, growing stronger as the total amount of Clothes resonating with the main body increased.
「Fall」.
Jaehwan’s world-destroying Stab tore through the thousand palms in every direction. Its destructive force was enough to inspire fear, even though Buddha knew he could return to life through Reincarnation.
Buddha gritted his teeth and swung both hands. In the blink of an eye, the Stab had already reached his face, and a flash filled his vision.
Kwoooooong!
Thousands of Stabs swept away everything Buddha possessed without leaving even a scream behind.
It was a sight that could only be called total annihilation.
Then, after a moment.
Crack, crackle.
A rift formed in the air. Space was peeling away like the layers of an onion.
It was precisely where Buddha’s World Force had vanished.
Space split apart like a lotus blooming, then opened wide with a blaze of light.
“Huff. Huff.”
Buddha emerged from the petals, staggering like a newborn. After taking exactly seven steps, he vomited amniotic fluid with a gurgle, rubbed his eyes, and muttered, “It truly feels disgusting.”
It was a miracle where not even a dead body, but a dead soul, returned to life.
No god in the 《Abyss》 had ever possessed such a Setting. Resurrection denied the great cycle of birth and death, and it was a power capable of shaking the foundation of the 《Tree of Illusion》.
Yet Jaehwan’s expression did not change much as he faced that miracle.
“So that is 「Reincarnation」.”
“That is right.”
“Still, something is strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are not the one I fought just now.”
Buddha’s eyes slowly widened at those words.
Anyone could see that he was Buddha. His appearance and the World Force he gave off were the same.
Even so, Jaehwan was saying that he was not ‘the Buddha who died a moment ago.’
After hesitating, Buddha asked, “How did you know?”
“Your presence is different.”
Jaehwan stared closely at Buddha’s body before continuing.
“You are a different set of Clothes. Another set of Clothes has taken control of the soul.”
“...”
“That is not Reincarnation. The one who was ‘Buddha’ until a moment ago is already dead.”
Buddha’s body trembled.
He had undergone countless reincarnations and defeated innumerable powerful enemies through them, but Jaehwan was the first to notice the secret of 「Reincarnation」.
Unique Setting, 「Reincarnation」.
The moment Buddha used Reincarnation, his previous persona was extinguished as a Sacrifice.
What was born in its place was one of the countless sets of Clothes waiting in the depths of his consciousness.
A new set of Clothes inherited the memories of the previous Buddha and awakened within the lotus. He used himself as a Sacrifice to give birth to another self.
That was the secret of Buddha’s 「Reincarnation」.
“You are not Buddha. The Buddha you once were died long ago.”
Jaehwan’s words pierced Buddha’s chest like an awl.
It was something every one of the countless Buddhas who had died had considered at least once.
Could continuity of the self truly exist just because continuity of memory existed? He inherited those memories and possessed the same appearance, but did that alone make the previous Buddha and the present Buddha the same person?
In truth, Buddha knew as well. Each time Reincarnation occurred, his personality changed in subtle ways.
Something essential buried deep within him was being worn away little by little with every repetition.
“Shut up.”
Even so, Buddha could not accept it. The moment he did, Buddha could no longer be Buddha.
The reason Buddha, who repeated Reincarnation and death, could remain Buddha was simple.
“I am Buddha. Buddha, the invincible god who has never once been defeated.”
He was Buddha. He believed himself to be Buddha.
Buddha’s World Force covered the sky and swept across the earth.
The resentment of tens of thousands of years. World Force born solely from the desire to escape the fear of death.
Kukukukukung.
Buddha’s World Force poured down like a waterfall, settling into the palms of 「Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara」 before becoming a thousand palm strikes.
Buddha was certain.
His path was not wrong.
Even if he ceased to be Buddha at the end of this path, he would never be defeated. Countless other Buddhas who returned to life would take revenge for him.
Jaehwan’s eyes turned cold as he faced the army of World Force rushing toward him.
“It might be worth testing how many times you can return to life.”
Overwhelming killing intent rose from Jaehwan as he silently deflected the palms.
Buddha’s soul trembled ominously before the power of 「Fall」 that coiled around the world.
Fear.
It was an emotion Buddha could not accept.
‘I am afraid?’
The fear of death, or soul extinction.
A sensation he had forgotten for far too long.
Before the thousand flashing blades behind Jaehwan, Buddha felt a dreadful sense of deja vu. It was a vision of his future selves dying in misery.
As though driving a wedge into that premonition, Jaehwan said, “If you have practiced Ouroboros, you must know as well. Clothes are...”
Jaehwan’s Dokbul let out a roar.
“Never infinite.”
Buddha screamed and charged forward.
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion