Chapter 405: Growth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 405: Growth
[Customizing due to the influence of the collected Seat of Sorrow and Despair.]
[Please check the new option.]
[Seat of Wrath]
[You can obtain the Seat of Wrath by consuming your collected emotions. The Seat of Wrath you obtain will appear before you in a completely new form.]
The explanation was incredibly simple, and incredibly vague. There was no description of what benefits obtaining the Seat of Wrath would bring, or what advantages it offered. I couldn't help but be reminded of how incredibly unhelpful the system here was, including that goblin in the item shop. I was in a situation where I couldn't tell if it was more advantageous to acquire the Seat or to proceed with customization. Letting out a sigh, I slowly began to sort through the situation once more.
Jotting down a few notes would probably help me organize my thoughts.
The primary advantage of a Seat lies in its customization. The undead fellow, the Fallen Prince, hadn't customized himself, but Ha Yuri had created wings and a halo, and I myself had made a tail and the Sage's Eye. Perhaps the Fallen Prince had focused more on strengthening his existing body rather than creating new parts.
But that wasn't all.
Beyond that, each Seat possessed its own unique power.
As I recalled the power of each Seat, the information began to file itself away in my mind as if I were taking notes.
[Seat of Sorrow]
[Enhancement of physical abilities using the Sword of Sorrow, Gram.]
This was the ability I could utilize with my Seat. I didn't know if it was because I lacked talent or because this was the kind of power I desired, but it was a fitting ability for me, someone who frequently used a weapon as a medium. I couldn't be sure if someone else would gain the same ability if they were to wield the Seat of Sorrow, but considering the powers of the others, I thought it was unlikely.
I didn't know the exact details, but the Fallen Prince's ability was this:
[Seat of Wrath]
[Frost that freezes all.]
Hating the living, he had wanted all living things to freeze. He didn't want anything that lived to move any longer. It was highly likely he had gained that ability for that very reason.
The ability Ha Yuri possessed was holy power.
[Seat of Pride]
[Infinite Holy Power]
Ha Yuri had wanted to become a god. Although she, too, relied heavily on her Holy Sword, her style was distinctly different from mine.
If I had to rank them, I would say that the ability Ha Yuri used—the infinite holy power—was slightly better than the powers of the Fallen Prince and myself.
To obtain this power, Ha Yuri had placed a penalty on herself. Unlike my method of storing and accumulating emotions, she could instantly convert the faith of her believers into holy power. This ability ultimately became her downfall, but she was so strong that I considered my victory a miracle.
Of course, I was strong in my own right, consuming all my emotions in an instant using Gram. My body would return to its original state once I deactivated the transformation, but the mechanism I was currently using suited me better than Ha Yuri's method.
Having sorted through my thoughts, I muttered to myself.
“I suppose I can break it down like this.”
Has the Seat of Pride… not been unlocked?
It probably wouldn't be. The Seat of Wrath was unlocked because I had finished off the Fallen Prince myself. I had thought it would be impossible to obtain a Seat by having one Seat absorb another or by killing its wielder, but seeing the Seat of Wrath again like this felt quite strange.
Ha Yuri surely still possessed her Seat. As they say, human greed knows no bounds. The thought that I might be able to obtain the Seat of Pride if I dealt with Ha Yuri did cross my mind, but I quickly dismissed it.
There’s no need for that.
The amount of sorrowful emotion required to obtain the Seat of Wrath was already immense. For some reason, killing Ha Yuri felt a little unsettling, and even if I did kill her right away, I didn't think I'd be able to use it immediately. I felt that Pride didn't suit me.
Although the Seat of Pride still remained within Ha Yuri, it was incredibly faint, and she no longer harbored any feelings of becoming a god. It probably wouldn't cause any major problems if I just left it alone.
For now, I had to deal with the problem right in front of me.
If the Seat of Wrath I could obtain was the same frost as the Fallen Prince's… no, if I could obtain a completely new ability…
Acquiring the Seat takes priority over getting wings.
The wings weren't urgent. I couldn't fly perfectly like Ha Yuri, but I could remain airborne for long periods. Even considering the various other potential functions, it seemed that taking this gamble was the right choice.
[Will you consume emotions to obtain the Seat of Wrath?]
Of course.
The moment I thought of accepting the Seat of Wrath, an unfamiliar power began to flow into me.
“Fuck.”
I don't know why these processes are always so agonizing, but an immense pain began to wash over me.
It was less a physical agony and more a mental one. Memories from the past began to flood into me, one after another. This must be what it feels like for your brain to hurt.
If the emotion of sorrow were a color, it would be black. The Seat of Wrath that began to enter me was colorless. The blue hue I had seen when the undead fellow used it was nowhere to be found.
Heh…
Instead, what I heard was a voice.
- What is wrath, to you?
“What…”
- I asked, what is wrath, to you?
My head felt like it was about to split open. The voice echoed relentlessly, reverberating through my brain. The scenery had already changed. It was a white space, with nothing to be seen, nothing at all. I couldn't tell if my consciousness had been transported, like when using the item shop, if my entire body had been moved, or if space itself had been distorted.
More than that, I was curious about the identity of the voice.
“Who are you…”
- I am Wrath. Sorrow.
“What is this…”
I couldn't see the exact form of the Seat of Wrath. But I could clearly feel that something was in front of me.
This was different from when I obtained the Seat of Sorrow. I had never had a conversation like this with it, nor had I ever seen it directly. I stared at the presence before me and began to speak.
“The Seat of Sorrow…”
- A strange question. Are you not Sorrow itself?
“I see…”
I was at a loss for words. The Seat of Sorrow and Despair had perfectly fused with me. I was the Seat of Sorrow and Despair. I couldn't help but be reminded once again that my current form was merely borrowed. Hearing its bewildered tone, I realized I had asked a foolish question and let out a slight smile as I spoke.
“If I accept you, what will happen to you?”
- I will live on by becoming you.
“Are you okay with that?”
- I do not know what you mean to say. I was born to become this. Do you perhaps think of me as a living, thinking being?
“Something like that.”
- I am not one who lives, nor one who thinks. You need not worry.
“But you are speaking.”
- It is a little different from that, Sorrow.
I slowly began to examine it. Using my magic power did nothing. My eyes couldn't perceive its form. Looking at it, I spoke again.
“I see. You truly are a mass of emotion. Am I the same?”
- You and I are different. You have created a form, a being that breathes and lives. You are different from me, who is formless. This conversation is pointless. I will ask again. What is wrath, to you?
I felt like I could resolve this immediately, but this was a chance to speak with a Seat itself. It was only right to ask the questions I was curious about.
“Before that, I have a few questions. What about the Fallen Prince?”
- The wrath he conceived was ‘freezing.’ Is the wrath you conceive the same?
“That’s not what I meant.”
- He is dead. I am curious as to what you were asking.
I nodded at its words. There was no residual consciousness of the Fallen Prince in the being before me. The wrath I had absorbed was different from the wrath he had possessed.
“Did you ever speak with him?”
- Until I was separated from him, he was wrath itself. Have you ever spoken with sorrow?
“No. In that case, the sorrow I conceive is…”
- To overcome and grow stronger. You keep asking strange things.
Its voice was tinged with confusion, but I nodded at its words. It is incredibly difficult to look back on oneself. The idea that what sorrow desired was to overcome and grow stronger felt a little unfitting, but I didn't think it was bad.
“Do the other Seats also use weapons as a medium for their power?”
- They do not. It is a matter of reliance. You possess two such things.
“Heh…”
I never imagined that a conversation with it would become a time for self-reflection. For instance, strengthening my body with the power of the Seat was the emotion of wanting to overcome and grow stronger. Using the Sword of Sorrow, Gram, as a medium was the emotion of wanting to rely on something.
My feelings about sorrow were manifested in two abilities. I didn't know if this was a good or bad thing, but in the end, I decided it wasn't bad.
- Sorrow and Despair are strange. There is no time, Sorrow. What is wrath, to you?
No more questions. At its words, I began to carefully contemplate my own idea of wrath. Understanding an emotion like pride was difficult, but wrath was something I naturally understood.
The rage I felt towards the western city, towards Shin Duk-ho, towards Ha Yuri. The rage I felt towards the crazy bitch who killed Ragia. I began to gather all the instances of wrath I had felt throughout my life into my heart.
It was different from the Fallen Prince's, which felt like it would freeze everything.
It wasn't cold. It was searingly hot.
I began to feel a wrath burning inside me like an active volcano.
- Is that it, Sorrow? The wrath you conceive?
I didn't answer, merely nodding.
As I nodded, the formless being began to slowly take shape.
- It is hot. The wrath you conceive is incredibly hot. It is different from his, but it is not bad.
Fire. What was forming before my eyes was a fire that looked as if it would burn the world. As I stared at it with wide eyes, a great flame began to pour into me. I instinctively raised my arms against the fierce wave of fire, but it approached me with incredible ease.
“Aaaaaargh!”
The heat was so intense it made me scream. It felt as if I was becoming one with Levatain. Not the cold wrath of the Fallen Prince, but the hot wrath I conceived of continued to pour into my body.
- I will become you and live within you, Sorrow.
“I welcome you.”
- The wrath you conceive.
“What.”
- It is…
“……”
- A flame that seeks to burn the world.
Hearing that final voice, I lost consciousness.