Chapter 77 - Episode 11. King of Chaos (8)
Chapter 77: Episode 11. King of Chaos (8)
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Rays of light scattered, and the world shook.
The secret essence of Stab slew everything in its path as it surged forward. Dark energy flowed from the air, which had been torn apart like paper. Jaehwan’s Unique World was unfolding.
Silent Lord Magito’s face tightened at the sudden shift in the attack. The enemy he had assumed was no more than Lieutenant General-class had revealed unexpected Combat Power. It was a blow he could never block without using his strongest skill.
Silent Lord Magito urgently shot out a hand and prepared his strongest swordsmanship skill.
But Jaehwan did not allow him to use it.
The moment he used World Stab, Jaehwan had made up his mind. This time, he would not hold back. He would not measure his own strength or test the enemy’s Combat Power.
Crushing Execution.
The instant World Stab reached Magito, Jaehwan had already prepared a second Stab.
World Stab, Two Consecutive Strikes.
“What the...!”
The Silent Lord finally opened his mouth and shouted at the earth-shattering power. It was the first time his silence had been broken in centuries.
The rift, now twice as large, shook the world as the upper half of Pavilion of Pleasure collapsed completely.
Cheongheo and Sirwen, caught in the aftershock, hurriedly carried Cayman behind Jaehwan.
“That little bug-”
Typhoon Lord Kanael watched Silent Lord Magito get swept away by the storm, then charged forward in fury. He had intended to do nothing but watch, but the situation had become serious. Even a prideful Warlord could not stand by while a Companion was defeated right before his eyes. The outcome had already been decided.
He caught the flying Magito in his arms and shouted.
“...Forgive me, Magito! I’ll fight in your place!”
Golden wings rose from Typhoon Lord Kanael’s shoulders. The tremendous wind pressure they created wrapped around Silent Lord Magito.
“Damn it...”
Silent Lord Magito groaned in frustration. Still, he could not condemn Kanael’s decision. They were carrying out a mission, not fighting a duel.
Since they had crossed the 「Narrow Gate」, dying here would not mean true death. Even so, they could not avoid damage to their souls.
Soul damage took a considerable time to recover from. Setting pride aside, Kanael’s assistance was not a loss for Magito.
Then.
“Watch out, Kanael!”
Jaehwan’s Dokbul erupted once more.
World Stab, Three Consecutive Strikes.
“Graaah!”
Typhoon Lord Kanael resisted the storm of Stabs and used his Ultimate Technique. 「Storm Wings」, the transcendent-grade skill that had made Kanael the Typhoon Lord, unfolded in a radiant glow. As befitted one of the finest wind-attribute skills, it momentarily slowed the flashing storm of Stabs.
Enemy or not, Kanael was genuinely impressed. This was the first time a mere bug, not even a Lord, had struck him with such overwhelming force.
He could use an attack this powerful three times?
Kanael did not know.
The attack was not over.
World Stab, Four Consecutive Strikes.
The four consecutive World Stabs displayed power on an entirely different level from the previous attacks. It was more than pouring oil onto a fire. It was like detonating a nuclear bomb on top of another nuclear bomb. Scattered debris turned to dust and mixed into the storm.
Jaehwan’s Unique World rippled through the warped space.
Kanael flinched as he met the black eyes visible beyond the world.
“With something like this, with only this-”
The golden wings Typhoon Lord Kanael took such pride in were torn to shreds. Silent Lord Magito had now been driven into a situation where he needed to preserve his silence.
Kanael’s silver hair had become a wild mess as he resisted with everything he had. Infinite Circuit spun taut within the Warlord.
Spiritual power collided with enough force to burst.
Almost there.
Jaehwan poured the last of his strength into his tingling right hand.
World Stab, Five Consecutive Strikes.
For an instant, it felt as though the world had become a vacuum.
A world where even screams had vanished.
Sound that had become inaudible, as if everyone’s eardrums had burst.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
Unable to withstand the pressure, the Typhoon Lord and Silent Lord were launched into the air. Their Spiritual Pressure was barely perceptible as they were flung away like insects with their wings torn off. The impact had been strong enough to destroy their Infinite Circuits.
Two Warlords had been defeated without a chance to fight back.
Black aura continued to flow from the countless fractures in the ground. It clung together and began to paint a scene like an abstract artwork.
A Unique World.
Everyone stared blankly at the emergence of that distant world. Cowardly Lord Laika, still bound hand and foot behind Jaehwan, was among them.
Laika felt a blazing shudder when he met Jaehwan’s eyes shining in the darkness. Only then did Laika realize it. That man had kept him alive from the beginning so that he could show him this moment.
《Chaos》 was never to be taken lightly.
They were a force that even the Lords of the twelve zones could not easily face when fighting seriously, souls that could never be conquered without the Lords throwing away everything they possessed.
Laika trembled as he looked at the eyes watching him from within the burning darkness.
Jaehwan’s quietly moving sword severed the Pineal Threads of the two Warlords. The Warlords writhed in pain and curled up like bugs. Those mighty Warlords had been reduced to that state.
Of course, it was not over.
The climax of this confrontation still remained.
Jaehwan’s slow yet crushing Unique World gradually expanded, closing in on Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam. A Stab shaped by the world’s darkness shot toward Samyeong Garam.
For the first time, Samyeong Garam, who had watched the battle without the slightest reaction, uncrossed both arms.
It was an attack no Lord could easily face.
Or at least, that was how it appeared.
Yet for some reason.
“You’re strong.”
Jaehwan’s sword, which had torn through the air and split the world, astonishingly stopped right before the Dark Fragrance Lord.
Then something that defied all common sense occurred.
“The power to destroy a world through pure physical force alone.”
The Dark Fragrance Lord reached out and caught Jaehwan’s Stab in midair. The compressed storm of light writhed painfully in the air.
“But it’s lacking. You have the might, but not the stature. It is like placing a sword in a child’s hands.”
That was not all.
Crack.
Jaehwan’s Unique World was losing its momentum. It looked as if the Unique World itself recoiled from the Dark Fragrance Lord.
The Unique World that had rushed at the Dark Fragrance Lord gradually lost strength. Then the rifts in the world began to mend.
World Stab was losing its power.
“A Unique World that has not opened Creation is no different from a crude illusion.”
The Unique World caught on the Dark Fragrance Lord’s fingertips dispersed.
Surprise flickered across Jaehwan’s face. No enemy he had encountered until now had demonstrated such an ability. Whenever the Dark Fragrance Lord approached, Jaehwan felt the pressure around him rise.
One step, then another.
His body grew heavy, and every hair stood on end. It felt as if the world around them revolved around the Dark Fragrance Lord.
As though someone else’s Unique World were unfolding.
...A Unique World?
The Dark Fragrance Lord spoke.
“Those who know little believe that Unique Worlds are permitted only to Awakened Ones.”
The implication was that Adapters could awaken a Unique World as well.
But that could not be true. Jaehwan’s 「Doubt」, which read the world to its limits, told him so.
That was not a Unique World.
As though answering that 「Doubt」, the Dark Fragrance Lord spoke again.
“But every being possesses their own world, even if it is not personal.”
The world of adaptation gathered firmly around the Dark Fragrance Lord.
Something different from spiritual power. It was like the essence of the world itself.
Gooooo.
An eleventh-stage Adapter. The strength of a Warlord closer to a General than anyone else.
Jaehwan crushed Dokbul’s hilt in his grip as he resisted the Dark Fragrance Lord’s Spiritual Pressure, amplified dozens of times over.
Other than Sole King Catastrophe, Jaehwan had never met anyone with an aura like this.
It was like-
The power of one who carried the world on their back.
A demigod of the System had descended before him.
「Doubt」 issued warnings without pause, while 「Understanding」 admitted its own helplessness. This was power on a completely different level from those first two.
For the first time, Jaehwan thought this.
If things went wrong, he might lose.
He had started this fight knowing that possibility.
Jaehwan’s destination was not 《Chaos》 or the 《Abyss》.
He was headed for the top of this 《Tree of Illusion》.
The place where everything had begun.
If he was going to kneel here, he would never have been able to reach that place to begin with.
From the right temple to the right ankle, half of Samyeong Garam’s body burned black. It was the transcendent-grade skill, 「Black Flames」.
Jaehwan could tell. That was not an ordinary transcendent-grade skill.
A monstrous form, half human and half demon.
The unprecedented unease he felt from that half of Samyeong Garam’s body.
It was a stature beyond the concept of a skill.
“We need to run.”
Sirwen muttered.
“Demigodification... They said the Dark Fragrance Lord was Warlord-class, but that was wrong.”
The instant Sirwen witnessed the Dark Fragrance Lord’s transformation, she was horrified.
Dark Fragrance Lord Samyeong Garam.
A Warlord among Warlords? No.
Every rumor circulating in the world was wrong.
It had already been eighteen hundred years since she had last seen the Dark Fragrance Lord. Even then, Samyeong Garam had been stronger than the current Typhoon Lord or Silent Lord. Assuming Samyeong Garam had not grown stronger over those eighteen hundred years had been foolish.
She could read the solid world wrapped in black flames.
Lieutenant Generals and those below handled spiritual power. Warlords used the explosive spiritual power supplied through Infinite Circuit.
Then what did Generals use?
“Be careful! That bastard is already General-class!”
Sirwen’s voice was swallowed by black smoke and faded away.
The Dark Fragrance Lord’s flames warped space, creating a new space.
“I suppose neither of us needs any interference.”
Jaehwan looked around. The essence of the world remained unchanged. The space had warped abnormally, but it was not anyone’s Unique World.
This was an ordinary System world made of numbers and data.
As though Samyeong Garam had read Jaehwan’s thoughts, the Dark Fragrance Lord said,
“Awakened Ones only try to destroy this world.”
Black flames exploded from the Dark Fragrance Lord’s fist.
“That is why you do not know. This world, too, is someone’s Unique World.”
Burning black flames aimed straight for Jaehwan.
The moment he drew in a breath, his body was flying through the air. Pain throbbed in his lower abdomen, and his vision blurred. It had been a long time since he had failed to evade an attack coming straight at him.
This was the world of adaptation, the System’s true power.
Right. This was what fighting was like.
Jaehwan wiped the silver blood from his lips and rose.
Now the real fight began.
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