Chapter 215
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Ruler of Steel - 2
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"Ugh— L-let go of me!"
The one screaming so desperately was the Necromancer.
"Hey, you bastard. Stay still unless you want to lose a few more teeth."
The man writhed and whimpered, tangled in the white chains Emilia Müller had created.
But he dared not try to break them.
They were forged from ‘Holy Light,’ making it nearly impossible for a dark-affiliated Player to escape on their own. The more he struggled, the deeper the chains dug into his body.
"Gah!"
With the Necromancer effectively neutralized, the ghosts and undead under his control came to a halt.
The battlefield fell silent.
Soon after, Lee Hyun-wook flew down and landed beside them.
And as he slowly raised both hands…
*Vwoom— Vwoom— Vwoom— Vwoom—*
Dozens of Moglays lined up above his head, their tips all aimed, of course, at the Necromancer.
‘No more delays. I’ll kill him now.’
Following Lee Hyun-wook's will, the Moglays began to descend toward the head of the kneeling Necromancer, like an executioner's blade.
*Vwoom— Vwoom—*
Each was a massive metal chunk weighing tons, and their mere presence, hovering in the air, produced an eerie hum… It felt as menacing as a pack of predators closing in with low growls.
"Aaaaaahhh—!"
The Necromancer, like a lone herbivore surrounded by a pack of wolves, buried his face between his legs and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Just then—
「Stop—!」
A roar echoed out, freezing the entirety of Seoul.
It was a voice thick with authority.
And its owner was, of course, the Demon King.
Far in the distance, the Demon King's castle, which had remained motionless within its black barrier, began to fly rapidly in their direction.
‘…He’s quite flustered, too.’
Until now, the fiend had been floating above Seoul, sending out his minions to buy time while he focused solely on the ‘soul harvest.’
But now, he had abruptly halted that painstaking work and was rushing over, as if scrambling out barefoot in a panic.
It made sense. The Necromancer was the Demon King's primary weapon.
‘…Gordon Price, whether in his human form or as the Demon King, always used the Necromancer to get things done.’
In short, he was on the verge of losing the core asset that had secured his victories. If that happened, he couldn't plan for the future… He had to change the situation, no matter what.
"One step closer, and this one dies."
Lee Hyun-wook’s voice wasn’t loud, but the Demon King must have understood, as the approaching castle slowly came to a halt.
To buy time for the Gauss Cannon to approach and shoot down the castle, Lee Hyun-wook held the Necromancer hostage, preventing the Demon King from getting any closer.
He might even be able to bring down the castle in one fell swoop.
「I have a proposal for you.」
The Demon King, seemingly in a hurry, made an unexpected offer.
「How about we stop this fight and make a deal?」
In other words, he wanted to cease hostilities and negotiate.
At those words, Lee Hyun-wook scoffed.
"Ha— I was wondering what you were going to say… What a transparent ploy."
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head as if there was nothing more to see.
「Wait. You’ll change your mind once you hear me out.」
Gone was the solemn dignity he had shown the world until now; the Demon King was practically groveling, pleading like someone clinging to another’s pant legs.
A cynical smile touched Lee Hyun-wook’s lips.
"I doubt it. I have nothing to gain from you. How could we possibly make a deal?"
This was, in all likelihood, a stalling tactic.
He couldn't afford to provide any excuse that might, even by the slimmest of chances, allow the captured Necromancer to escape.
And, with the Gauss Cannon now in range—
Lee Hyun-wook dropped his left hand without hesitation.
But then—
「The truth of this game—!」
In that fleeting moment, the Demon King's shout flew through the air—that single, powerful statement made Hyun-wook’s Moglay stop just inches from the Necromancer’s forehead.
"Hic— Sob— Sob—"
The Necromancer finally burst into tears.
"The truth… of this game…"
Since that was one of the ultimate goals Lee Hyun-wook himself was pursuing, he had stopped the Moglay without thinking.
Sensing that his gambit had worked, the Demon King spoke again, a strange hint of a smile in his voice.
「You, too, must have received a ‘Main Quest.’ Hmm? Am I not right?」
Main Quest was the name of the mysterious quest that had appeared before Lee Hyun-wook when he surpassed his past life’s metal control.
Its contents…
[Main Quest]
- A second chance at life, a duty, a destiny…
Congratulations! You are excellently carrying out the opportunity of a second life.
Thus, you have been granted a destiny that can lead to the ‘Conclusion.’
Witness the core elements of this world and take a step closer to the truth!
1) Track down the ‘Black Gate’ open somewhere in this world.
2) Eliminate the ‘Dimensional Travelers’ who will arrive from your past life—the first world. (2/3)
3) Encounter ‘■■■’, who knows the truth of this world.
The alluring promise of revealing the game’s conclusion, and its truth…
‘The Demon King, Gordon Price, experienced this too? Then does that mean he also regressed… No, that can’t be. If so, he would have anticipated my regression and acted accordingly, but there’s been no sign of that.’
The fiend continued.
「…That Main Quest. The specific details might differ slightly, but I, too, once received and completed it. And its meaning is singular.」
"..."
Lee Hyun-wook silently stared at the Demon King's castle.
Its massive eye stared back at him.
「It means that you… are the test subject in this dimension who has garnered ‘their’ utmost attention.」
At that, Lee Hyun-wook frowned.
"...An experiment? What do you mean by that?"
He had heard a similar answer when he interrogated the second Dimensional Traveler, ‘Blood Lord’ Ricardo Oliveira.
That the purpose of this game was some kind of experiment, and that it seemed to be about creating a Transcendent…
But Ricardo Oliveira didn't seem to know anything more than that.
「This game is the experiment, and we are the test subjects.」
Lee Hyun-wook had already suspected as much.
He asked a question based on the information he had gathered so far.
"...An experiment to create a Transcendent, is that it?"
Transcendent. That title seemed to be the final reward for clearing this game as a Player.
And what that meant was…
「Haha— You catch on quick. Yes, transcendence… becoming a god.」
A god.
This absurd and shocking story was now being heard by the entire world.
He could hear the members of the White Tree Guard, standing behind him, murmuring.
"What? A g-god… Do things like that really exist?"
"But… it's hard to explain all this without a divine power."
「Yes, gods exist. Who else could have created this game, this impossible, and in some ways, miraculous phenomenon?」
When the ‘game’ was first imposed upon the world and began to dictate events with its fantastical phenomena… modern science collapsed, unable to offer any explanation.
People’s attention then turned to religion, once dismissed as superstition, and countless religious groups began to offer their own interpretations… each claiming that the god they believed in had sent down a trial.
Indeed, it was impossible to interpret the nature of this game without considering a divine being, an absolute power.
‘Since this phenomenon can't be explained with human knowledge, it’s only natural to resort to the easy answer of a god.’
Lee Hyun-wook asked a more fundamental question.
"…Are you saying this game is the process of becoming a god? If so, why would the beings who created this game, the gods, want to create new ones?"
「Well, I’ve only met them once myself. In any case, for some reason, they are selecting beings equal to themselves from among us humans. This game is both an experiment and a contest, and the Dimensional Travelers and I… are, to put it simply, the preliminary qualifiers.」
"...So, you destroyed one dimension to become a ‘Quasi-Transcendent,’ and now if you destroy our dimension, you’ll become a Transcendent, a god?"
「Correct. Which means you, too, will eventually walk this path.」
Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but pause at that.
‘The path I’m walking… is the same one the Demon King walked?’
He had believed he was forging his own path by his own will. But on the other hand, he might have been manipulated all along by the massive turning point that was his ‘regression.’
‘Am I just another piece on the game board after all…?’
Seeing Lee Hyun-wook seem to hesitate, the Demon King seized the opportunity to tempt him.
「So, listen… I will guide you on the path to transcendence. I will impart my knowledge to you, so follow me and receive the gods’ choice. That is your best option.」
At that, Lee Hyun-wook let out a small laugh.
"...In the end, you're just telling me to destroy this world?"
「Yes. That is the conclusion you will face anyway. To become the final victor in this experiment of killing and being killed. So… if you and I join hands and reach the ‘ending,’ I will become a Transcendent, and you will become a Quasi-Transcendent. In other words, we both win.」
The expressions of Emilia Müller and the White Tree Guard, who had been listening to the conversation, hardened.
They stared at the back of Lee Hyun-wook’s head, their faces filled with tension. Emilia Müller stepped closer and asked in a low voice.
"You're not actually… believing that nonsense, are you?"
Lee Hyun-wook thought for a moment before speaking.
"...To be honest, I believe some of it."
He knew the Demon King's words weren't a complete fabrication.
"What? What does that…?"
"My experiences align with what he's saying. I can't explain everything, but it's true."
"S-so you're not going to accept his offer, are you? No, I shouldn't worry! The man I know wouldn't do something like that…"
But Lee Hyun-wook couldn't answer.
He thought.
If what he said was true, if an absolute being had truly chosen him and wanted him to walk the path of a Transcendent… to destroy a world…
‘…Can I resist that will?’
「Hey, Steel Rain, don’t overthink it. You can’t resist anyway. You either follow the route set by this system to its predetermined ending… or you get deleted. It’s one or the other.」
"Deleted…"
「Deleted. It means you’ll be disposed of as a failed experiment.」
Lee Hyun-wook lifted his head and looked around.
This world. To him, it was his second world.
The half-destroyed city of Seoul… but in this life, it was a place he had protected, and a place he could continue to protect.
He looked at the city and opened his mouth.
"By the way… do you know this, Gordon Price—"
At that moment, a silence fell.
The large eye of the Demon King's castle wavered slightly.
「…What?」
It made sense. The fiend had never told anyone who he was. To have his old name spoken… he would naturally be stunned.
「You, what… did you just call me?」
Lee Hyun-wook looked up at the Demon King's castle.
"You said if I don't walk the same path as you, I'll be deleted?"
「…」
"If that's the case, I've already been deleted once."
His left hand rose…
"And it was by you—"
In that instant—
*Stab—!*
The Moglay, imbued with the power of the holy sword, sliced off the Necromancer's head, then spun and split his body in half… Without even a final scream, the Necromancer died instantly.
「—No!」
The Demon King's shriek shook the entire world—
Simultaneously, from the lower part of the castle, numerous tentacles shot up and fired beams of light in unison.
*Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!*
The beams tore the city to shreds. Towering skyscrapers buckled, and buildings collapsed one after another.
"...But I wonder, how did it get restored like this?"
Lee Hyun-wook had been deleted. But he was restored.
It was something he still couldn't explain…
‘Perhaps, what the being called God wants isn't the kind of depraved ending the Demon King is championing.’
Thinking this, Lee Hyun-wook used a skill.
A vast amount of mana erupted from his body, blanketing the area.
At the same time, a system message appeared before everyone's eyes.
- Warning! A ‘Steel Zone’ is being initiated in this area!
This was the third skill of Lee Hyun-wook's ultimate ability, <Lord of Steel>. It created a ‘Domain’ where he could exert unlimited control over metal within a certain area for a certain time.
In other words, limits no longer existed.
‘—I can feel it. Every piece of metal nearby, every single one, I can feel it perfectly.’
He slowly closed his eyes.
His senses reached everything within a two-kilometer radius.
The rebar embedded in the thick concrete, the copper wires of the high-voltage cables running beneath the ground… and all the various fixtures and objects scattered inside the buildings, all of their metallic components…
He sensed every piece of metal within this space.
‘And…’
He slowly opened his eyes.
‘…I can control all of it, without exception.’
*Woooooo—*
Meanwhile, the Prydwen, which had been on standby behind a building, rose into the air, with the Gauss Cannon mounted beneath it.
- *Ksshhk*— Gauss Cannon ready to fire!
Drawing power from the Prydwen, the area around its rails glowed blue with heat, and then—
*Tza—aa—ang—!*
A single projectile, a Moglay, was fired.
A streak of light was drawn across the sky to the Demon King's castle.
The space along its trajectory buckled from the shockwave.
Buildings that had miraculously survived the battle so far swayed, and all their windows shattered and flew through the air.
Crushing those shards into even finer dust, over a hundred Moglays began to charge toward the Demon King's castle.
The Moglay fired from the Gauss Cannon struck the castle—and the black magic barrier tore apart. Through the opening, Moglays began to slam into it one by one.
When the Shockwave followed, the massive castle was pushed back, crashing into the rooftop of a building.
*CRASH—!*
「Ugh— Are you saying that I… killed you before?」
"Yes, you did…"
Lee Hyun-wook's body slowly floated into the air.
At his gesture, Moglays embedded themselves all over the Demon King's castle where the magic barrier had broken, sending spurts of blood-like fluid into the air.
Finally, the Demon King released his ‘Sky's Castration,’ and the red chains that had sealed the sky began to break.
Following that, he created a black portal in the sky.
*Gwo—o—o—o—*
「…Lee Hyun-wook, I don't know what nonsense you're spouting, but if you know me, you should know that I won't be broken this easily. I will make you regret this.」
The fiend offered a parting threat, as if planning for the future.
But Lee Hyun-wook had no intention of accepting his farewell.
"Back then, when you killed me, do you remember… what you said to me?"
Lee Hyun-wook tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.
At that moment, a shadow began to rise behind him… something immeasurably huge, soaring into the air.
The shadow completely engulfed the area.
"—Huh? Wh-what is that!"
"Heh, what an incredible sight…"
*Rumble—rumble—rumble…*
They were the buildings that had collapsed during the battle.
Chunks of rebar and concrete, each weighing tens of thousands of tons…
Shedding pieces of concrete, they rose one after another, lining up behind Lee Hyun-wook.
"You mocked me, said that if I had been just a little stronger, I could have dropped buildings on your head like meteors…"
The buildings soared higher, following Lee Hyun-wook’s hand—
"Well—your words have become reality."
Like meteors, they began to plummet toward the Demon King's castle.