Chapter 76 - Episode 11. King of Chaos (7)
Chapter 76: Episode 11. King of Chaos (7)
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“Because there were only ten of them.”
Only ten.
Only ten people could reclaim their lives.
“The existence of these Fruits does nothing to help 《Chaos》.”
The moment Cayman saw the 「Fruits」, he knew they would become seeds of conflict.
The disappearance of the 《Palace of Rebirth》 would not solve everything. 《Chaos》 would lose its center once more and fall into confusion over a mere ten 「Fruits」. Those who coveted the lives before their eyes would betray and suspect one another without restraint. The dreadful hope that at least ten people could regain their lives would hold back the Abyss Expedition.
《Chaos》 would never be saved.
“Life has no meaning unless one seeks it for oneself.”
His voice was calm, though it could not have been an easy decision.
What did it matter if he was an Awakened One? He was still human.
No one present could easily imagine the storm of emotions that must have swept through Cayman’s heart in that brief moment. Yet Cayman overcame it.
It was not something just anyone could do.
Still, it was something someone in 《Chaos》 had to do.
That was why Jaehwan had brought Cayman here.
Someone who could choose despair for himself, then long for true salvation within that despair.
Without a word, Cayman glanced at Jaehwan’s eyes.
A man whose thoughts could not be read. Decisive, sometimes excessively self-righteous, yet someone whose depths could not be fathomed even over a thousand years.
Someone Cayman trusted more than anyone.
Cayman knew it. Jaehwan must have known from the beginning that Cayman would make this choice. More precisely, he must have believed in him. There was a profound sense of fulfillment in being trusted by someone he trusted.
As though repaying that trust, Cayman took hold of the final Fruit. It slowly rose into the air. The last Fruit, the final seed of discord, was meeting its end.
At that moment, Jaehwan’s expression changed. The air around them grew cold, and time seemed to slow.
Amid a chilling premonition, only Jaehwan spoke.
“Move, Cayman!”
Cayman staggered, and a sound like a leather drum being struck shook the air.
The Fruit had barely risen when Cayman’s body flew away like a kite with its string cut, slamming straight into the inner wall of the Pavilion of Pleasure. A terrifying storm of spiritual power raged through the hall.
Cheongheo, who grasped the situation a moment too late, swept away the oncoming aftershock and shouted.
“Cayman!”
This was no time to worry about Cayman. It took everything Cheongheo had just to withstand the spiritual power crashing into him.
A voice filled with terrible rage came through the storm.
“You vermin dared touch the 「Fruit」?”
It was a suffocating voice.
Cheongheo immediately knew who they were.
They had finally come.
The ones who had chased him through the streets of 「Manticore」 ten days ago.
A Lord who wielded the powerful transcendent-grade skill 「Storm Wings」 at will, an absolute powerhouse ranked within the top thirty Lords of the Darkness Zone.
Warlord, Typhoon Lord Kanael.
A Warlord, the second rank among the three commander ranks, had finally appeared before them.
“Be careful, kid. All three of them came.”
The other Lord behind Typhoon Lord Kanael was unmistakably Silent Lord Magito.
A swordsman said to cast every being who crossed blades with him into eternal silence. He was Silent Lord Magito.
The Typhoon Lord and the Silent Lord. Those two alone were already overwhelmingly difficult opponents.
Yet they were not the end of it.
Behind the two Lords stood the strongest person in the current 《Palace of Rebirth》.
Even among Warlords, this one’s presence was on an entirely different level. It was strength that felt as though it had come from another world. The terrifying pressure made it hard to even breathe.
Cheongheo’s body trembled. Simply meeting his eyes made Cheongheo’s heart drop in fear.
Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam.
Aside from Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, and the seven Generals, Samyeong Garam was known as the strongest Warlord in the Ninth Zone.
This was only Cheongheo’s second time seeing Samyeong Garam in person, but Cheongheo had heard plenty of rumors.
Eighteen hundred years ago, in the 《Great Realm》.
The 944th Eastern War.
Twenty-four Warlords and eighty-five Lieutenant Generals died in that great battle. The Warlord who achieved the greatest feats there was Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam.
A third of all casualties had died by Samyeong Garam’s hand. A Warlord among Warlords, who slaughtered eight Warlords and twenty-six Lieutenant Generals. An extraordinary Warlord said to rank among the five strongest in the current 《Great Realm》.
Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam, ranked ninth in the Ninth Zone by pure combat power, had finally revealed himself.
* * *
Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam surveyed the hall with an indifferent gaze. It felt as though a storm swept through the Pavilion of Pleasure wherever that gaze passed.
Everyone in the hall thought the same thing.
So this was the power of one of the 《Great Realm》’ greatest Warlords.
It was only one person’s gaze, yet it carried the pressure of tens of thousands staring at them at once.
The first to meet Samyeong Garam’s eyes was the Dream Demon Sirwen. A brief gleam passed through the Dark Fragrance Lord’s eyes.
“Mulack’s adopted daughter.”
Cheongheo reflexively lifted his head. He had not known Sirwen was a Dream Demon connected to Mulack.
Sirwen bit down on her lip before speaking.
“Darkness must be desperate if they sent you.”
Over the two thousand years she had lived, Sirwen had occasionally seen Lords equivalent to Generals.
Generals, the closest aides of the Great Lords of the twelve zones.
The highest dignitaries of the 《Great Realm》, commanding warlord-scale forces and capable of overturning a settled battle with a single stroke.
Dark Fragrance Lord was not one of those Generals.
Still, among the living Warlords, Samyeong Garam was undoubtedly the closest to becoming one. Everyone in the 《Great Realm》 thought so. Perhaps in another hundred years, Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam would surpass the limits of a Warlord and rise to a General’s position.
In truth, Samyeong Garam already carried the bearing of a General.
“Are you trying to climb the 《Tree of Illusion》 like your father?”
The Dark Fragrance Lord continued, calmly watching Sirwen.
“Those born from dreams shall return to dreams. What a pitiable race you are.”
“...Watch your mouth.”
Mulack’s name must have struck a nerve. Sirwen, who rarely lost her temper, had rage filling her eyes.
Could she win?
Her emotions boiled, but her reason remained cold. Sirwen knew the true extent of Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam’s strength.
She had taken part in the 944th Eastern War as an Apprentice.
A spectacle of black flames crossing the battlefield.
Hundreds of corpses lay scattered wherever those flames passed. The 944th Eastern War was dubbed Black Flame after Samyeong Garam’s unique skill, 「Black Flames」.
She had expected this from the moment she agreed to Jaehwan’s request. It was the price of knowing the secret of Eight Gates of Hell.
She had foreseen this battle from the beginning.
“Will you fight? Watching a Dream Demon’s little performance might be entertaining.”
At the Dark Fragrance Lord’s dry provocation, spiritual power gathered in Sirwen’s hands.
Magic.
The Dream Demon’s innate combat technique was about to shine.
“Wait.”
The brief command carried weight, and the Dark Fragrance Lord’s gaze shifted.
Without realizing it, Sirwen followed that gaze. Jaehwan was checking Cayman’s condition in the corner.
Cayman’s breathing was barely there. His face had gone deathly pale, and it would not have been strange if he stopped breathing at any moment.
It was only natural.
Cayman had exhausted all his spiritual power subduing a top-ranking Lieutenant General, then suffered an attack of that magnitude. It was fortunate he had not died.
After carefully laying Cayman down, Jaehwan slowly rose.
“I’ll handle them.”
His deep, steady voice made their hearts tremble. It felt as though a great mountain had risen.
Sirwen blankly watched his dependable figure for a moment before coming to her senses. No matter how Jaehwan looked, metaphor and reality were clearly different things. Besides, these were Warlord-class Lords.
It’s too much. Not alone.
She wanted to say that, but the words vanished the instant she saw Jaehwan’s face.
He could make that expression too?
A pressure greater than even the Dark Fragrance Lord’s swept through the hall.
The meaning of that expression was painfully clear.
Jaehwan was angry.
[An arrogant brat.]
The one who stepped forward was not the Dark Fragrance Lord.
A Lord with transparent skin, dressed in a black robe that reached his ankles. The 《Great Realm》 called him Silent Lord Magito.
“Oh? What’s gotten into you, Magito?”
Typhoon Lord Kanael looked deliberately surprised, as though it was unexpected for Magito to step forward himself.
Some exchange passed between them, and Kanael soon let out a low chuckle.
Looking at Jaehwan, Kanael spoke.
“What, have you already heard Magito’s voice? You really are unlucky.”
Only then did Jaehwan realize that the voice he had heard belonged to the Lord in the black robe.
“That’s unfortunate. No one who has heard Magito’s voice has survived.”
Silent Lord Magito.
The reason the word silence was attached to his title was simple. No one who had heard his voice had ever survived.
Jaehwan spoke.
“Then I’ll be the first.”
Before Magito could respond, Jaehwan’s sword was already moving. Magito’s sword followed a beat later, taking up a defensive stance.
The urgent sound of blades scraping rang out. Jaehwan’s eyes changed when he felt the weight behind Magito’s blade. A single exchange of sword strikes was enough to tell him.
He was not an enemy Jaehwan could not fight.
But neither was he an enemy Jaehwan could subdue with ease.
Magito smoothly evaded Jaehwan’s sharply unfolding Stab, then counterattacked.
Bluish, crescent-shaped spiritual power gathered around his blade.
Yet Magito hurriedly withdrew his spiritual power at Jaehwan’s next Stab.
Hard Stab.
Originally created for fighting large forces, Hard Stab had been refined for one-on-one combat through two thousand years of training. It narrowed the striking range and drastically increased the density of spiritual power.
Swoooosh.
A brilliant flash shot from the tip of Dokbul.
It was too fast to follow with the eyes, but Silent Lord Magito still evaded the Stab.
“You exceed the rumors.”
Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam, who had silently watched the battle, murmured as though to himself.
Flutter.
Magito had barely avoided the flash, but his prized black robe had been completely reduced to rags.
That was not all. A long scar had also appeared across his right forearm. It was difficult to call it a fatal wound, but it was still a humiliating injury for a Warlord.
Silent Lord Magito’s transparent skin turned corpse-blue.
Kanael, who had been watching, burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! What are you doing, Magito? You can’t even subdue one little bug?”
[Shut up, Kanael.]
Fortunately, the Warlords did not seem to intend to join forces.
It made sense. Lieutenant Generals might be different, but Lords at the level of Warlords would never fight together.
They were people who would choose death over continuing a petty life. Beings completely bound by towering pride. That was what Warlords were.
Yet because of that pride, they still did not know the danger closing in on them.
Dark Fragrance Lord. Was he an eleventh-stage Adapter?
Jaehwan looked at Dark Fragrance Lord, who stood behind the others with his arms folded as he watched the situation. The two Warlords before him were strong enough, but the true enemy was that one.
Jaehwan could tell instinctively. Dark Fragrance Lord was stronger than the other two Warlords combined.
At least twice as strong, perhaps even more.
Crackcrackcrack.
Jaehwan and Silent Lord Magito clashed once again.
Even with Selflessness activated at full power, Silent Lord Magito easily kept up with Jaehwan’s movements. Doubt and Understanding continuously absorbed information, but Silent Lord Magito’s weakness was not easily found.
Silent Lord Magito and Typhoon Lord Kanael were tenth-stage Adapters.
Judging from what Doubt showed him, they were roughly equal to Jaehwan when he had first ascended to Chaos, or perhaps a little stronger.
He would not drag this out.
Now was his only chance. He would end it in one stroke while they underestimated his strength.
Terrifying spiritual power concentrated in Dokbul.
Perhaps because it had completely adapted to Stab by now, Dokbul let out a fierce sword cry. A storm of flashing light erupted from it.
The only Stab that surpassed Hard Stab unfolded from Jaehwan’s fingertips.
World Stab.
A sound like space being torn apart rang out.
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion