Chapter 41 - Episode 7. Master of Gorgon (3)
Chapter 41: Episode 7. Master of Gorgon (3)
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The Sole King wore a strange expression at Jaehwan's words, mingling interest, puzzlement, and rage.
[You said you would kill me?]
A presence that could topple mountains and make the earth tremble.
[Me?]
Cheongheo could not even think of standing. The pressure alone rendered an Awakened One like him unable to move.
When humans met someone a little stronger than themselves, they became jealous. When they met someone far stronger, they despaired. When they met someone overwhelmingly stronger, they felt awe.
But what happened when they met someone who could not be described by the word strength?
A being beyond their comprehension. A being whose very existence was so vastly different that it was utterly incomprehensible.
That was when humans felt fear.
Standing before the boundless fear of the unknown, humans finally realized that they were nothing more than insignificant fragments of this uncertain world.
Cheongheo knew that well. Because he knew it, he could not understand this situation.
How could this man remain so calm before something so incomprehensible?
The Sole King silently studied Jaehwan.
Even watching their confrontation was difficult for Cheongheo. Still, he could not just stand by. He gathered every ounce of strength and sent a Push. Even if he lost the Fortress Lord, he could not let Jaehwan die here for nothing.
[You brat! This is madness! That isn't something you can kill or do anything about!]
Without a word, Jaehwan took his Stab stance.
[That... That is not that kind of being!]
"Old man."
Cheongheo trembled as he looked at Jaehwan.
"Don't be afraid."
It was neither an expression of confidence nor certainty.
Just a calm statement of fact.
"Because I can win."
A strange sound came from somewhere. Its pitch was so odd that Cheongheo only realized after a moment that it was laughter.
The Sole King was laughing.
[You are the first interesting one I have met since that dream demon who came here nine hundred years ago.]
Cheongheo knew which dream demon he meant.
The legendary dream demon who had led the Abyss Expedition nine hundred years ago. A mythical being who had seen the end of the 《Tree of Illusion》.
Yet even Mulack had been unable to do anything to the Sole King.
Of course, Mulack had faced the Sole King's true body back then. What stood before them now was only an incarnation of the Sole King that had descended through the Fortress Lord's body.
Still, Cheongheo was certain.
Not even the Hall Masters of the Ten Halls of Chaos could face that incarnation. The Sole King was that kind of being.
[Come at me as much as you like, foolish Awakened One who still possesses a human heart.]
A faint glow shone from the Sole King's hand. Then a dark, translucent blade appeared, like black mist.
「Void Sword」.
Cheongheo gripped his trembling shoulders and barely managed to calm himself.
A dreadful weapon that had turned half the expedition into Deadmans in an instant at the entrance to the Abyss.
To think he would see that weapon again...
Then both swords moved at once. The white world shook violently.
"Ugh!"
The blast of wind struck Cheongheo full in the face, sending him rolling across the ground.
The Sole King spoke.
[I have seen eyes like yours before. You are one who seeks to go to the 《Abyss》.]
Cheongheo was startled.
That brat wanted to go to the Abyss?
He had known Jaehwan was a mysterious brat, but he had never imagined he harbored such intentions.
[Are there still those who seek to reach the end of this world?]
Ignoring the Sole King, Jaehwan readjusted his grip on his sword.
The real Stabs began.
The Sole King met it with admiration. Cheongheo realized that their clash of blades was allowing them to enter another world. A world Cheongheo could never understand was about to open wherever their swords met.
[This is not enough. You are still inferior to that dream demon from nine hundred years ago.]
The Sole King's movements gradually accelerated.
Jaehwan had not landed a single attack on the Sole King yet. The Sole King moved far faster than Jaehwan's Light Stab.
Jaehwan focused his momentum into Dokbul. A technique that condensed the power of a million stabs into a single strike.
Normal Stab.
Yet the Sole King was already gone from the path of the Normal Stab, which distorted even space itself.
A chilling sensation swept over him.
Jaehwan twisted his waist almost on instinct.
It was nearly a miracle that he had avoided the attack. The ground a handspan away had been horribly split apart.
Cold sweat beaded across his forehead.
The part of Jaehwan's shoulder grazed by the Void Sword was turning black.
[Contamination is an illness of time.]
Using 「Doubt」, Jaehwan quickly examined his shoulder. Then he was startled. Time was flowing rapidly through that shoulder alone. Decades? Perhaps even hundreds of years had passed.
So that was the principle behind Mutation.
It was the aging of a soul unable to endure time.
The cause of contamination was time itself.
Jaehwan expelled a portion of his aged soul through his skin. The contaminated remnants scattered into the air.
The Sole King muttered in surprise.
[You should have become a Deadman from a single graze... What an extraordinary soul.]
The Sole King's satisfied smile vanished the next moment.
[But that is all.]
More Void Swords burst from the Sole King's body. There were ten of them.
Jaehwan did not retreat.
Ten consecutive Normal Stabs.
Dark flashes tore through the air. The Void Swords and Stabs collided head-on. Dokbul let out a fierce cry.
[For a toy made by that dream demon, it is impressive.]
The elongated blade of a Void Sword grazed the outside of Jaehwan's thigh. He simply cut away the part of his soul where contamination was beginning to spread.
His opponent was astonishingly powerful.
The more they fought, the less Jaehwan could gauge the limits of the being called the Sole King. No matter how often he used 「Doubt」, he could not see the enemy's weakness. Since 「Doubt」 did not work, 「Understanding」 was useless as well.
The only thing Jaehwan knew was that the being before him had lived for a length of time he could not begin to comprehend.
「Selflessness」
A powerful aura radiated from Jaehwan's body.
The white world Cheongheo had created was being erased, transforming into a new world.
Cheongheo's body convulsed once more as he watched the change.
The power of true Awakening.
Every Awakened One possessed their own 「Unique World」.
The form of that world was made concrete through the keywords they received when they Awakened. The stronger the Awakened One, the more beings they could draw into their Unique World.
A Unique World reflected an Awakened One's ideal.
The white world Cheongheo had created, the 「White Engraved World」, was no exception. Cheongheo's ideal of remembering those who had vanished had created such a world.
And Cheongheo had only one thought upon seeing Jaehwan's world.
This is hell.
This bastard has been living in hell all this time.
A world made from hatred and rage toward the world.
A world that had erased every other world.
Countless blades were embedded in the earth below. Hot lava flowed between them. A horrifying eye floated in the sky like a moon. Flocks of crows pecked at the eye, and the blood pouring from it flowed into the lava.
[Is this your ideal? Astonishing. How very interesting.]
Excitement rose in the Sole King's voice.
At the end of the world, sword met sword.
It was an exchange of blows, yet also a fierce debate.
Whenever their swords moved, Jaehwan felt something strange.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
Neither of them spoke a single word, yet thousands of exchanges passed between them each time their swords met.
[You who have realized the worthlessness and transience of life, yet refuse to abandon your hatred.]
The Sole King did not hide his admiration.
[Over hundreds of thousands of years, I have occasionally seen beings who built their own ‘worlds.’ Each of them carried a question as they climbed toward the top of this tree.]
As Sole King Catastrophe knocked aside the incoming Stabs, the Sole King continued speaking.
[What answer do you seek there while embracing such a world? What, exactly, is your question?]
Jaehwan did not answer.
Amazingly, Sole King Catastrophe looked as though the meaning had gotten through anyway.
[Is that so? This world itself is your question.]
Dokbul and the Void Sword collided once more.
[Destruction? Annihilation? Or Extinction? It doesn’t fit!]
The speed of the stabs was getting faster and faster.
[Fall. That’s the only name that suits this world.]
At last, the Stabs reached their limit.
[How arrogant. Is a mere human questioning the value of the 《Tree of Illusion》's existence? Are you asking, through your own world, whether the 《Tree of Illusion》 deserves to continue existing?]
Jaehwan drew a breath.
"I have no idea what nonsense you're talking about."
[What?]
Instead of answering, Jaehwan stabbed forward with Dokbul with all his strength.
The world let out a thunderous roar.
The culmination of more than ten billion Stabs.
His Hard Stab unfolded.
A storm of light that pierced through the world swept forth.
When the storm passed, the Fortress Lord's emaciated body remained. Flesh had been gouged away, exposing bone. Unable to withstand the impact, the left arm and right leg had vanished.
[...I see. So it is not a question.]
Anger seeped into the Sole King's voice.
[You arrogant fool.]
The powerful strength of a Deadman restored the injured Fortress Lord's body. The severed arm and leg regenerated, and the wounds across the body healed in an instant.
It was an ability beyond anything that could be called miraculous.
Then, in the next moment, the Sole King was startled.
Jaehwan, who should have been before the Sole King, had disappeared.
Something snapped behind the Sole King.
[...What in the world...?]
Hard Stab was a technique created to face an army. It was not efficient against a powerful individual. From the start, Jaehwan had never intended to kill the Sole King with Hard Stab. It had only been a feint to buy time.
This was a being he could not kill. Even if he used a technique stronger than Hard Stab...
The more powerful the force Jaehwan used, the more it only damaged the Fortress Lord's soul.
The Sole King had descended here through the Fortress Lord's soul. The Sole King's true body was not here to begin with, so Jaehwan could not kill the Sole King.
There was only one way.
Sever the link between the Sole King and the Fortress Lord.
On the hundredth floor of the Tower, Jaehwan had cut the Line connecting Beastrein's soul and body. He believed this would be possible as well. This time, the connection between soul and body had only become a connection between two souls.
While the Sole King was preoccupied with blocking Hard Stab, Jaehwan turned all his concentration toward 「Doubt」.
Then, amid the Sole King's endless darkness, he saw a faint Line.
[How do you know that technique...?]
For the first time, the Sole King's voice held shock.
[...Could it be, a technique of the Rupture?]
The Sole King's power, which had been parasitizing the Fortress Lord, was slowly withdrawing. As the aura of the Deadman faded, the Fortress Lord's injured soul was returning.
The descent was being released.
Sole King Catastrophe glared at Jaehwan.
[You who live through destruction. I will wait for you at the entrance to the 《Abyss》.]
The Fortress Lord's soul collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Jaehwan let out a deep breath.
Was it finally over?
It had been a gamble with no certainty of success. His opponent had been that powerful. If they had fought head-on, even Jaehwan could not have guaranteed victory.
He had to grow stronger.
Stab alone was not enough. To climb to the Abyss and face enemies like that, he needed new techniques.
New techniques better suited to fighting powerful individuals rather than armies...
After confirming that the Deadman's aura had completely vanished, Jaehwan turned toward Cheongheo.
"Hey, old man."
Cheongheo lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious. It was not just him. Yulhen and the others were unconscious as well.
That was when he heard someone's Push.
[You... Could you come here for a moment?]
Jaehwan gripped Dokbul again.
"You're not dead yet?"
[I am not the Sole King.]
The faint Spiritual Pressure of a life about to fade.
Jaehwan immediately knew who it was.
"Fortress Lord?"
[I had become a Deadman, but I watched you. That spirit you showed in facing the Sole King... I am truly grateful.]
The Push continued with difficulty.
[I do not have much time. I am sorry, but I have one request. If either Cheongheo or Yulhen is nearby, could you call them over...]
"Both are unconscious."
The Fortress Lord's soul sighed. After seeming to ponder something for a moment, the Fortress Lord called to Jaehwan.
[Could you come closer?]
Jaehwan approached the Fortress Lord. With the last of the Fortress Lord's strength, the Fortress Lord grabbed Jaehwan's wrist.
Jaehwan pulled his wrist back in annoyance. Yet the Fortress Lord's hand did not move at all. It did not feel like the hand of someone whose body and soul were fading away.
[Perhaps... Perhaps the time has come for Gorgon to change as well. Please accept this.]
Jaehwan felt powerful energy flow into his body.
It was the Fortress Lord's spiritual power.
But it was not ordinary spiritual power. A black snake pattern appeared on Jaehwan's left arm, where the Fortress Lord's spiritual power had seeped in.
[I sense a familiar aura from you. Memories I miss are coming back to me.]
Perhaps the Fortress Lord had sensed something from Jaehwan. In the Fortress Lord's final moments, the Fortress Lord wore a satisfied smile.
[Please, do not forget the human heart.]
The Fortress Lord scattered into dust.
The black snake pattern carved into Jaehwan's left arm writhed as if it were alive.
Cheongheo's voice came from behind him.
"...My god."
Cheongheo stared blankly at Jaehwan's left arm.
Yulhen, the Anti-Evil Squad Commander, and the others within the Inner Fortress were regaining consciousness one by one.
Jaehwan's black snake gave off a faint silver glow.
"Th-that is...!"
Jaehwan had no idea what was about to happen.
The Inner Fortress officials, including Yulhen, approached Jaehwan one after another and began to kneel. One became two, two became three. Ten, twenty, thirty...
Even every other official who came running to see what was happening hurriedly bowed upon seeing Jaehwan's left arm.
All of Gorgon was kneeling before Jaehwan.
At the head of the crowd, a man spoke.
"Yurhen Chiver greets Gorgon's new Fortress Lord."
Footnotes:
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