Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Even 13 Regressions is Bullshit
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* * *
“Mother? Mother?”
No matter how much of an idiot Imir was, he couldn’t fail to notice his mother turning into a pile of ash right in front of him.
Not to mention that the master of the lightning was Ju Gonghyeok.
“Experiment 75, Yuri Granat.”
Her icy cold eyes turned toward Ju Gonghyeok.
The tension was thick in the air, as if she’d lunge at him any second.
Ju Gonghyeok spoke calmly.
“Don’t be fooled. Yuri Granat.”
Ju Gonghyeok flicked cigarette ash onto the scorch mark left by Dr. Yelena.
“This is not your mother.”
He had to strike first before it was too late.
In a war of words with a child, the one who speaks first has the advantage.
“Then?”
“It’s a fake.”
He had to exploit the child’s escapist mindset.
Ju Gonghyeok continued nonchalantly.
“When we first met. That fake didn’t recognize you at all, did she?”
“That’s... correct.”
“And did you hear what she was about to say just now? She was going to call you the mistake of her life.”
“That can’t be.”
Imir’s expression showed no sign of wavering.
Crack—
But the moment she replied, the nearby grass froze over.
It wasn’t conviction—it was pure emotional denial.
Crack.
Ju Gonghyeok stepped forward over the frozen ground and patted Imir’s head.
“Then, it can’t be. So, what was that woman just now?”
“Ah.”
Imir let out a gasp as if realizing something.
“A fake......”
“That’s right.”
Ju Gonghyeok’s wretched face twisted into a broad grin.
Imir had denied her own mother herself.
Once the rationalization was in place, all he had to do was provide a suitable reason.
“There’s no mother in the world who hates her own child.”
“Father’s words... are correct.”
Excitement and anticipation returned to Imir’s face.
“Then, Father, where is my real mother?”
“Hmm...... I heard the news from the agency and came.”
He had to provide an alternative. This was the crucial part.
Ju Gonghyeok averted his gaze from Imir with a regretful expression.
He paused dramatically, then let out a long sigh before answering.
“Your mother, Dr. Yelena Granat, is dead.”
“Dead?”
‘Yeah. She just died.’
He hid the truth right in front of him and spun a lie.
“A few years ago, some hunter killed your mother and fled to Babel, they say.”
“Mother? Dead?”
“It was during the 6th Great Summoning, eight years ago already. You might have even crossed paths once.”
Imir wasn’t really listening.
She hung her head, mumbling to herself.
“Why, Mother?”
To a child, parents are their entire world.
To Imir, her mother was everything.
Even if it was just her own delusion.
“Why is there no mother in this world?”
Imir despaired. She had lost everything.
From that despair, a new avatar awakened.
[A new possibility sprouts from Yuri Granat’s psyche.]
[Yuri Granat’s despair influences the avatar.]
[Avatar『Conquest Pale Knight (SS)』descends upon her body.]
The first horseman of the apocalypse, heralding the world’s end, now stood beside Imir.
The worm-eaten crown and armor crawling with maggots symbolized disease conquering the world.
Imir showed no joy at the arrival of her new avatar.
Instead, she muttered weakly.
“I wish this world would just perish.”
Crunch—
Ju Gonghyeok slammed the blade of his prosthetic leg into the ground.
He’d almost just blown Imir’s head off with the knife embedded in his knee.
If not for his severed arm, he’d have reflexively splattered her brains across the ground.
‘Phew, almost killed her again.’
It wasn’t time for the kid to die yet.
Hero Uno and Conquest Pale Knight—SS-rank avatars weren’t shoved in there for nothing.
He whispered to Imir, now kneeling powerlessly.
“When it’s time to go, we’ll go, but we have to avenge your mother first, right?”
“......”
“Think of the borscht she made for you. Recall the last words she said to you.”
Decades had passed, and none of the Uchilishe agency’s seals worked properly from the start.
All that remained was her trust in her mother, Yelena Granat.
“Our agency will help you with your revenge as much as possible.”
“......Understood.”
Imir nodded faintly.
Weeeeng—
Sirens of police cars and fire trucks echoed.
A sudden lightning strike and swirling frost in the suburbs had drawn attention.
“Don’t go into Babel’s entrance. Wait here.”
“Understood. I’ll go into hiding until then.”
The Uchilishe agency was an organization that conducted illegal experiments and assassinations.
They were experts at covering tracks after a kill.
Two days since arriving on Earth.
Imir had one day left on her 3-day escape coin.
Marcus, who’d received a lifetime escape coin, was dead, and Ju Gonghyeok had five days remaining.
“Before returning to Babel, shall we sweep everything clean?”
Lebanon’s Jupiter Temple.
The temple built by ancient Romans for Zeus—that’s where Ju Gonghyeok landed.
Kwaaang!
Shattering a UNESCO World Heritage site, Ju Gonghyeok’s body burrowed 100 meters underground.
There was an empty space beneath the temple.
Jars lining the walls contained zigzag bronze ornaments.
Those were probably called Jupiter’s lightning.
“GET.”
He tossed them into his inventory without hesitation.
Another clone was at the Hermopolis Museum in Egypt.
= It reeks. Over there.
Ra-Djehuty pointed to one side of the museum.
Ju Gonghyeok walked over casually, smashed the glass, and pulled out the exhibit.
It was an ancient clay calendar plate.
= Definitely something that devoured a few innocent priests. It’s soaked in ritual symbols.
Ra-Djehuty stroked the feathers on his chin.
= This city has an aura similar to mine. Fascinating place.
“It’s a parallel dimension, so they’re slightly different but similar.”
The gods varied slightly, but each dimension shared commonalities.
Hermopolis was a place where Ra-Djehuty had been worshipped religiously.
If a related hunter held it...
[Acquired ‘Calendar Plate of the Moon God, Djehuty (S++)’.]
[Commencing ability value calculation.]
[Commencing trait calculation.]
It transformed into a meaningful item like this.
“Let’s scrape everything up like this.”
The Vatican’s relic storage was in chaos.
Some monster had broken in and was snatching relics preserved for over a millennium.
[Internal Sephirot Expansion – Form the fifth vessel of the Sephirot with holy remains.]
[Stage 5. Entering Tiphereth. The angel governing Tiphereth is Raphael, granting the authority of ‘Healing’...]
[Additional Expansion – Form the sixth vessel of the Sephirot with ancient holy relics.]
[Stage 6. Entering Geburah. The angel governing Geburah is Khamael, granting the authority of ‘Destruction’...]
[Upon opening the 6th stage vessel, all ability values are fixed at SS-rank.]
[The six authorities of the Sephirot are slightly enhanced.]
Golden halos shone successively above Ju Gonghyeok’s head.
Nathaniel, now a seraph angel, bowed repeatedly.
- Sorry. Sorry. I’ll leave in a bit.
Not just the Vatican—cathedrals and temples of all faiths worldwide were being looted by Ju Gonghyeok.
‘Temples left untouched must not be blessed.’
Spouting shameless nonsense, he filled his inventory with relics.
Having carried out the great pillage that would go down in human history, Ju Gonghyeok returned to Babel.
All awakened on Earth would be dragged into the angels’ planned 12th Great Summoning, without exception.
The angels had adjusted Babel and Earth’s time flow so even the youngest awakener, at 8 years old, could participate in the 12th summoning.
When that time came, not a single hunter would remain on Earth.
* * *
Outside Babel was land.
A massive, unstable dimension enveloping Babel, formed from dozens of dimensions.
It was here that Ju Gonghyeok had shattered the 88th floor of Babel and clashed with the Demon King in their final battle.
On the barren land outside Babel, at its entrance, Ju Gonghyeok stood.
Imir was crouched beside the entrance, as promised.
“Shall we go in?”
“For Mother’s revenge?”
Imir looked up from her crouch.
“Little human, do you take me for a fool too?”
A thick voice, completely different from Imir’s usual tone.
No—more precisely, this was the original ‘Imir’.
The one speaking now wasn’t ‘Yuri Granat’, but the avatar ‘Imir’.
“The avatar runt is out?”
“I can’t allow that.”
Imir’s lips curled up to her ears.
“This body will soon be mine. You’ll have to face me eventually.”
“So what? Think I’m scared of you?”
“Who knows. Little human. I’ll become neither human nor avatar.”
Imir leisurely tilted her head.
“Truly not afraid? Human.”
It made no sense for an 8-year-old to lead Titanomachy, a city of giants filled with demons and shattered personalities.
Inside Yuri Granat lurked a hidden presence.
The personality of the avatar ‘Imir’.
‘A normal hunter wouldn’t let an avatar take over like this, but...’
Before entering Babel, Yuri Granat had devoured countless avatars.
She repeated experiments to strengthen them and transplanted organs from other hunters.
In the process, she gained powerful avatars, but her mind began to be gradually eroded by them.
The fate of a human who repeatedly devoured avatars.
‘Not even worth calling it ‘Imir’.’
It was a mix of countless avatars.
They just called it Imir for convenience—a separate entity blended from innumerable human consciousnesses.
“Imir, or mongrel, I’ll say it one last time.”
“Hah, mongrel? That’s too mu—”
[Avatar 『Game Master(?)』manifests.]
[Avatar 『New Sun God, Ra-Djehuty (SSS)』manifests.]
[Avatar 『Victory Fighting Star, Great Sage Equal to Heaven (SSS)』manifests.]
[Avatar 『Thunder God Zeus (SS++)』manifests.]
Ju Gonghyeok’s mightiest gods looked down on Imir.
Each radiated terrifying brilliance and presence.
“Mongrel, please just shut up and curl up quietly when I let it slide, okay?”
“......”
“It’s not because I’m scared of you—it’s because you’re not worth the hassle. Keep pissing me off like this, and you never know what might happen to your half-baked mongrel god body, right? Got it?”
Imir shrugged her shoulders.
“Oops, picked the wrong fearless human.”
“No reason to be scared.”
‘I’ve been devoured by an avatar I tried to eat before.’
He swallowed a sneer.
From the start, the reason it hadn’t shown itself was fear of Ju Gonghyeok.
It tried to seize control by preying on fear of the unknown, but he wasn’t the type.
“Avatar runt, go back in now. Say goodbye to the kid before we meet again.”
Imir retreated with a twisted smile.
He had several ways to chew it up.
Unlike other hunters, Ju Gonghyeok had the GM.
System-external entities like that could be half-destroyed then devoured, rendering them helpless.
‘The problem is devouring it kills Yuri Granat.’
Nothing would be left, just trouble.
Ju Gonghyeok looked down at the unconscious Yuri.
With her mother gone, Yuri Granat’s personality was on borrowed time.
Soon, her avatar’s personality would swallow it whole, birthing a completely different monster.
“Well, just use her well until then.”
Ju Gonghyeok hoisted Imir over his shoulder and entered Babel.
The stone gate, laughably, slid open like automatic doors.
A single angel awaited amid the moss-covered stone walls.
“Ah! Hello! Long time no see!”
It was Nariel, Azazel’s junior from the 2nd floor.
She bowed deeply.
“Sorry for the rudeness last time!”
“Yeah, me too.”
Her polite, courteous demeanor prompted Ju Gonghyeok to bow back.
Originally, Azazel should have come as his handler.
Since she didn’t...
“Azazel’s subbing again?”
“Ah, well, it’s not that Azazel hates seeing you, Mr. Ju Gonghyeok, she just has a headache and is busy with work...”
Azazel had gotten mad and sent a sub again.
Ju Gonghyeok couldn’t help but chuckle at her flustered state.
“Fun. Let’s meet again when you have time.”
- Hey. That chaebol heir pickup line doesn’t work on my junior angel.
“Ah, Senior Nathaniel! I heard you resurrected!”
Nathaniel waved lazily from his lying position, annoyed.
- Yeah, yeah. Send him up quick.
“Yes! Where to? 5th floor? Or the 40th floor where the fierce battle’s raging?”
Ju Gonghyeok shook his head at Nariel, who held her staff ready for teleportation.
“Nah. I’ll go on foot.”
“Huh?”
Six white wings sprouted from Ju Gonghyeok’s back.
[Sephirot 6th stage vessel unlocked.]
[All ability values temporarily fixed at SS-rank.]
Ability values just shy of the Four Heavenly Kings were applied.
If he absorbed the 200 red coins left by Cluesti and hit SSS-rank in two stats, he’d truly reach Four Heavenly Kings level.
The Sephirot unlock stirred flashes and gales in the stone chamber.
Nathaniel gaped in disbelief.
- Uh, Master Ju Gonghyeok? Do you know what you’re doing?
“Just unlock the authority, slave.”
[The authority of Geburah’s angel, Khamael, 「Destruction」activates.]
[Angel Privilege – Authority of Element Imbuement (SS) activates.]
[Khamael’s authority imbued on item ‘Vulcanus’s Right Arm’.]
[Trait ‘Right Arm of Ruin’ applied.]
Ju Gonghyeok’s prosthetic arm surged with an ominous blue aura.
“Mr. Ju Gonghyeok! Mr. Ju Gonghyeok! Don’t! I’ll send you!”
“I said I’m going. Nathaniel. Leap prep.”
- I’m out.
[Sephirot 6th stage Geburah.]
[Dimensional Leap Magic 「Herald of Dominion」manifests.]
A three-dimensional magic circle and runes encircled the arm of destruction.
“Going.”
Ju Gonghyeok slammed his right arm down on the stone floor.
Crack—
The floor that should have shattered merely cracked.
But it wasn’t physical damage to the stone.
The dimension itself had fractured.
Kwajijik!
The surrounding space shattered like glass.
No up, down, left, right—no direction or sense remained as darkness swallowed Ju Gonghyeok.
The dimension collapsed, but the leap magic would connect to the next.
Pale-faced, Nariel shouted urgently.
“Where are you going, human!”
From the darkness, Ju Gonghyeok’s faint reply echoed.
“Basement level 1.”
To Babel’s basement level 1—Ju Gonghyeok plummeted.