Chapter 479
Chapter 479
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Last Parade (10)
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BOOM!
“Block it! Block that monster, I said!”
“Fifty wall-mounted siege cannons that can flip a magic train in one shot! If we can just tie its feet down, we’ll pulverize it—argh!”
CRUNCH! SPLATTER!
“H-how the hell are we supposed to block that...? Where are the knights? The Shard Knights?”
“You goddamn soulmancers! Quit standing around and do something! If the front lines get shredded, you’re next—n-no, stay back! Stay back!”
SQUISH!
The man screaming in desperation couldn’t comprehend it.
How the monster’s hand, which had been on the walls just moments ago, had covered his face.
How that massive body had soared through the densely packed buildings of the fortress city.
“Gahk!”
Why he was still alive after being attacked by a monster that crushed buildings like cheese.
“Ornamental helmet. Protected position. Loudmouth. Commander, huh? Centurion? Chiliarch?”
“Agh, agagah!”
“Uniforms all over the place made it a pain to find you. Is this all your troops? Where are the knights? Where’s World and Warlord?”
CRUNCH—
“Grahhh!”
There was no time for leisurely interrogation. The commander’s jaw crumpled in the giant grip, blood and teeth spilling out in a torrent.
“G-go, send word qu-quickly...”
“Shut up. Whether you’ve got ten thousand scrubs or a million, walls or the whole city turned into barricades—think any of that can stop me?”
The monster, Hyde, pointed with his free hand to the gaping hole punched clean through behind him.
He had broken through a coastline plastered with dozens of warships, crewmen, iron stakes, and magic traps with no room to spare. He had scorched the walls with sticky crimson blood, then charged straight through dozens of stone-hewn buildings in a single rush to crush the enemy infantry commander in his grasp.
“If I wanted, I could turn you all into fertilizer. Only reason I’m holding back is that 220-year-old pact forcing me to conserve power.”
“Th-that grhuh—”
“Tell me, and I’ll let you go.”
Drip, crackle.
The tighter his fingers clenched, the louder the commander’s screams and the heavier the blood flow.
“H-heh, heh.”
“...Making this harder than it needs to be.”
Incredibly, his contorted face from the pain was filled with ecstasy.
“You... hurry, Magnus... the ‘god’! Descend upon this world, ‘god’—!!!”
SQUELCH!
The commander, who pronounced only the word “god” perfectly clearly, trembled in agony yet clung to my arm as if determined to drag me down with him.
‘Deification.’
‘Inconsistent uniforms.’
Religious or ideological contagion. Or those enthralled by the power waging war on the world itself, or the greedy ones coveting its scraps.
Information on these ragtag soldiers flashed through my mind like sparks, but it vanished the moment the commander lifted his head.
The fanatic’s eyes met mine. And deeper within, something watching me also met my gaze.
Ah, so that’s how you’ve been looking at me.
“Hello, darling.”
.
.
.
.
DING-!
Instead of a reply, a sound like taut metal wire snapping pierced my eardrums.
Something that shouldn’t exist or be heard inside the game.
[Unknown NPC ‘Hyde’]
The system alert Professor had drilled into my ears endlessly.
Suddenly, the world went silent, as if I’d been left alone in it.
Thump—
Thump—
In the alien quiet, only my heart raced to announce its presence.
[____DELETE.]
-Thud
And then it stopped.
SPLOOSH!
While my consciousness was isolated, my body left in the world bloomed spectacularly.
A spear of words pierced my spine, filling veins and nerves. Whatever was inside spilled out in equal measure.
Skin, muscle, bone—every bond making up my form severed and scattered.
Thud!
“The monster’s down! The Great Origin has wielded His power!”
“Pour out the curses! We’ll bind its soul and present it to Lord World!”
The soulmancers who’d hidden until now, watching our allies’ slaughter for an opening, unleashed every spell and curse without hesitation.
“Krkhkhkh! Lord! Looord!!!”
The commander who’d baited the monster with his own body laughed in utmost bliss amid the waves of violence crashing down on us both.
‘I’m done for.’
No matter how monstrous, capable of facing armies alone—even it couldn’t withstand a soulmancer’s curse striking the soul regardless of physical or magical defenses.
Even if some sly sorcery freed the soul, the barrage of artillery and high magic raining on the now-soulless body had already exceeded the level to raze a small city. No need for such thoughts anyway—the Great ‘World’ had personally claimed the monster’s breath—
“—or so you thought, as you embrace death like a martyr.”
“Ugh, wha...?”
“You always smiled like that. You.”
I shook my head furiously, as if peeking into the afterlife. As if I could shake off the lingering horrific sensation that way.
“H-how... Worl’s po-wer...?!”
“How? How, you ask...”
.
.
.
.
“After 200 years of practice, your acting’s still lousy.”
The man in my grip stared in confusion, his half-crushed face leaking blood and brains from his nose.
How.
Yes, how does one survive a being with power rivaling Creator Gedroits himself—a thing named ‘System’ from the start?
“...Half my life spent thinking about me, the other half about you.”
Splatter—
From the flattened ruins of buildings reduced to rubble in one focused assault, the monster rose.
DING-!
[System Call: ￦UnknownNPC ￦HIDE >DEL]
SPLATTER!
DING-!
[System Call: ￦UnknownNPC ￦HIDE >DEL]
Crackle-crunch!
Holy shit. System commands, really.
“If you’re gonna go down that easy, cough, I’d be offended...”
Bones twisted, muscles tore.
Blood from shredded guts filled my throat,
DING-! DING-! DING-! DING-!
But my pulped body kept collapsing and rising endlessly, enduring.
“A whole lifetime. Multiple lifetimes, all prepared for this moment.”
A sword blazing with white flames. Everything dangling precariously from it was my past, offered up for this instant.
How much effort. How much help.
Clink!
The blue gem firmly bound to the sword’s hilt blazed like it would burst.
“Ottman. Essence from the water mage who became part of the sea. Its effect—”
BOOM—
WHOOSH!
“—as you can see down there by the coast, absorbs magic—and releases it. Big or small, the sea’s one mass, he said. You saw it last time, right?”
A geyser erupted from the sea behind with a thunderous boom.
This near-magic immunity was Ottman’s preparation for Hyde—a magic illiterate facing a near-archmage like Professor.
Of course. Would a mage like Ottman wait ages just to empower a single current?
“Soul magic? Sure, it straddles the magic realm halfway. Meets the conditions, ignores physical and magical barriers, strikes the soul directly—the tech you twisted into something freakish rummaging through the world.”
“So, I gripped the sword.”
Notum urged the mage’s path on me repeatedly. Even begged for soulmancer or shaman as a fallback.
With Professor’s water magic talent, plus experiences crossing life and death, born from the unconscious—my potential for mage greatness was immense.
Yet before impossible plans, despite desperate miracles dozens of times, I chose aura over magic that wields miracles—because aura’s trait of completely isolating oneself from the world was necessary.
“If magic extends the will, aura condenses it.”
Carve yourself down, down, down until not even a needle fits—that’s the aura knight’s soul. Always ‘complete,’ regardless of power highs or lows. The nemesis of soul magic.
Aura. The unconscious ‘impulse’ that forced my wanderings, the separate appendix named ‘Hyde’ inscribed in the world’s book—that was my bulwark and core against the system bent on thwarting me.
DING-! DING-! DING-! DING-!
“And your absolute power. Those system commands—for them—”
DING-!
[System Call: ￦UnknownNPC ￦HIDE> DRIVERQUERY____]
[____Error>High influential resource]
“A sword worshipped by the entire empire for 700 years. And my 220 years of life, prepared.”
System commands.
Word of power. Magic only dragons—burdened with vast data piles for world management—can wield.
In GG’s world, built from data souls’ beliefs and common sense, one dragon’s belief outweighs one individual and surroundings combined—hence the ‘phenomenon.’
The instant a dragon recognizes healthy commoner ‘James’ as ‘dead,’ it overrides his family and friends’ combined ‘he’s alive’ beliefs. The world revises reality.
Thus, kings, heroes, high priests resist word magic easily. Recognized on national or world scales.
“Wandered the world for 200 years. Knowing who I was or not.”
“All those people met, histories I altered, footprints etched worldwide—can’t just ‘delete’ them with one command. Too tangled now.”
.
.
.
.
『...Indeed.』
『And on top, that body forged devouring countless lives. Reason enough to charge alone?』
The presence spying through others’ eyes responded.
“Ah, this was an unintended gift. Turns out prep wasn’t just mine. Thanks to it, breezed here—but I’d have arrived anyway.”
『Is that so.』
Crack, creak—snap!
The human body couldn’t contain such vast existence. From the twisted, slumped form, a bizarre voice pumped up like bellows lungs emerged.
『...Certainly. Petty incidents rooted like weeds, not easily erased.』
Grind. Snap, crunch!
『Then, erase everything entangled.』
『Objects, humans, cities, the land you crossed. Every grain of sand.』
“Yeah, you could. The you after all this ends.”
“Then now? You’ve tried till your tin can’s rust flakes off—what’s the result?”
.
.
.
.
『...West Empire mutants. Strongly recognize you, the group dominating current West Empire territory.』
“There’s more. Windhall mages. Finally held their lost patriarch’s funeral, spreading word they’re free of wanderlust—wind mages broadcasting everywhere.”
『...A virus, of sorts.』
The system calculated easily. Mutants’ traits: exponential short-term growth. Queen-shared thoughts mean ‘Hyde’ mutant recognition explodes too.
Her world-scanning eyes saw wind mages’ letters spreading globally—not Felix Drixiel’s magic, but personal wind spells to mages everywhere. All about the gracious ‘red mutant,’ joyfully retold in taverns worldwide realtime.
Even she, holding most of the world, would need time to wipe these traces.
『Kept friendly tribal armies for that. Let Astrad’s power run free for that.』
“Half calculation. Half, my personal take after 200 years on sentiment alone.”
I’m sentimental, true—but not idiot enough to toss given power purely on feels. Especially prepping 220 years nonstop for a do-or-die fight where even all-in might barely suffice.
“Don’t drag it out testing, System. You know. Gotta settle this side first to end it all.”
『...』
“Every second of my given time lived for this moment. Magic, soul arts, your enthralled millions or billions—nothing works.”
Lived for this moment.
Solely this. Companions, lands to stay, possessions, pleasures—all cast aside, solely this.
“If you’re the self-perfected god for this moment.”
Crunch!
“I’m the weapon forged these 220 years for today’s you.”
The self-honed monster declared at the man-shaped sphere.
“Come down, World. Unless you beat me senseless and drag me out, your task ain’t done.”
0.1%. Or 0.0001%.
My world share. 220 years’ traces plus Lionel in hand—barely that.
But resisting system command, body shattering—proves my share merits numeric notation.
Through that shattering sky, what the system receives—world, authority, something unknown.
As I exist, it stalls at endless 99.9999...%. System’s task can’t hit 100%.
Tsssk—
...Step. Step.
“ Clever, Irregular Hyde.”
The perfectionist AI hating variables couldn’t tolerate it.
Space split; the world’s sole master near-descended.
Beauty like a master sculptor’s perfect human.
Silver bob, symbolizing duty, fluttered in the fierce sea wind sweeping the clearing.
“Hard to get a face-to-face. Quite the 220-year epic confession.”
“Time invested doesn’t guarantee relations succeed.”
“Well, well. Joking now. Learned from Professor?”
“In many ways. Long efforts understanding him.”
“...To claim him.”
“Yes. Head to toe. Every scrap of his tiny consciousness.”
The system. No—the world in system’s form stepped forth. Each step warped space, scattered it, reconstituted.
‘This is the system.’
My foe. World.
“So. Feelin’ like doing it now?”
Terrifying.
That boundless vastness.
“Simply realized can’t end it like this.”
Terrifying.
Failing my role against that might.
“Why? Flaw in your perfect plan?”
“No. Just recalled another task, lower priority.”
Snap!
Finger flick echoed in ruined city clearing.
Whish—
THUD!
“I’ve a weapon prepped for moments like this too.”
“...Grr.”
The revealed being ripped open my chest, baring hidden turmoil starkly.
‘Deliberate. Showing on purpose.’
Long anticipated, but rage boiled at summoning him like a dog with a snap.
Bragging. Just as I declared I’d stop it all, so does he.
What I crave—human Professor’s freedom—fully in his grasp.
No matter my rampage, system won’t yield Professor’s self.
Flutter, flutter—
Familiar build atop a toppled building at an angle.
Height like my human days. Build like my human days.
Tattered cloaked hood like mine.
Backlit habit considering rank.
Flutter!
Cape billowing in sea wind revealed radiant fragment armors filling within.
His flesh matched, seamless.
“Irregular Hyde. Shall we exchange greetings?”
“Will you? Greet back nicely?”
“I’ll nod, at least.”
“Ptooey.”
Yeah. Handed it all over. Truly all.
That unbreakable Professor, my indomitable will.
His blabbermouth shut tight.
Most flesh swapped for colored fragments.
Leaping at one system gesture—everything.
....Hoo.
“Gonna lose it. For real.”
Just facing him shook 200 years’ steel resolve.
Future visions always dredged this unwanted scene.
Worst. Very last. Professor in system’s clutches, forgetting all, charging to kill me.
Then, what strat?
What prep, means, to turn it?
Sleepless nights pondering, agonizing.
....Crunch!
Conclusion always same.
‘...I trust.’
Didn’t think. No calc, prep, contingency.
Thus, trusted harder.
‘Absolutely not just handed over, Professor.’
No evidence, no odds recalled—just trusted.
Impossible he left nothing.
If I could think it, you surely did too.
Sole part unconsidered in lifelong plan. No intent to consider.
What trapped-in-perfect-trap-from-start Professor should’ve prepped.
Not my part. Yours.
“Irregular Hyde. Certainly included as control for player ‘Professor’s’ variables, key data collection target.”
THWACK!
On that trust alone, charge the foe.
[System, Call]
[____Nine Circles. Meteor Swarm]
Our world’s god summoning stars with a gesture.
KABOOM!
As many shining body fragments. Data souls, Gedroits’s game history’s strongest—all their powers, toward my death.
“Kill me. Show your stuff.”
Faced with one sword holding all I had.
In world-shattering storm, white flames scattered perilously.
Pitifully, intensely.
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