Chapter 27
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: 26. Azidahaka
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Meanwhile, outside, Choi Si-woo was holding onto Yoo Eun-ha's body, which had turned pitch black.
If things continued like this, she might go berserk. Or worse, she might already be dead.
Her heart wasn't beating. Probably because her heart had been devoured by the core. If that was the case, there was no way to tell if she was alive or dead.
"Yoo Eun-ha?"
Snap out of it! Choi Si-woo! Focus on the enemy in front of you!
"She's... she's dead again! Yoo Eun-ha is dead!"
You said you wanted to become a girl, and now that the person you like is like this, you're getting all emotional? Think rationally! If you fall too, this world is done for!
He couldn't afford to collapse here, not after finally regressing.
The Divine Sword's constellation was desperate to bring Choi Si-woo back to his senses, but it seemed like memories from before the regression were holding him back.
The constellation wanted to intervene right now, but that was impossible.
In this state, forcing a 100% sync was out of the question.
"That crazy bitch. Who would've thought Yoo Jin-seok's little sister would make such a reckless choice. Fine. She'll go berserk soon enough. Maybe I'll kill two Divine Sword users with my own hands."
Kim Jae-su raised his spear high.
Hey, Choi Si-woo!
Clang!
Just as the monstrous Kim Jae-su's spear tip was about to pierce Choi Si-woo's throat, Han Su-ji, the red-haired spear wielder blazing like flames, stepped in to block it.
"Master!"
"Well, well, who do we have here? My cute little disciple. I raised you well, but you're still just a half-baked failure who can't beat two Divine Sword users or even Yoo Jin-seok's sister."
Han Su-ji was horrified by the sight of her master turned monster.
What the hell was that? He was always creepy and annoying, but she'd believed in him as the one who'd cared for her and raised her as his successor. To become a monster... Now she'd be tagged as the disciple of Monster Kim Jae-su instead of the legendary spear master. What a nightmare.
And above all...
Now, how would Yoo Eun-ha see her?
Would she be ignored or despised as a monster's disciple?
That thought fueled her rage even more. No matter what, Kim Jae-su shouldn't have made such a insane choice, not even for her sake.
"Did you really have to go that far and become a monster?!"
"Foolish girl. In this world, power is everything. How many do you think can beat me now?"
"And yet you'll run before Yoo Jin-seok shows up!"
Her words struck a deep nerve in Kim Jae-su.
Yeah. He'd lost to Yoo Jin-seok multiple times before, leaving him with trauma.
Even now, enhanced as a monster, he wasn't confident he could win against Yoo Jin-seok.
"You little bitch! I spoiled you because you're my disciple. Today, I'll thoroughly educate that half-baked body of yours!"
"Have you ever heard of 'the green stick sprouts anew'?"
Han Su-ji ignited flames along her Flame Spear.
Kim Jae-su clicked his tongue seeing her wield the Flame Spear so freely.
Should never have given it to her.
But even so, the spear he held now was no slouch compared to the Flame Spear.
It was a demonic spear forged from the scales of an S-rank monster, the Dragon. In terms of durability alone, it wouldn't lose to the Flame Spear.
Whoosh—Boom!
Just as the master and disciple were about to clash, a massive arrow flew toward Kim Jae-su and exploded.
He'd already deflected it with his spear, but with enemies multiplying, his irritation was inevitable.
"Who the hell is it now?!"
"You turned Yoo Eun-ha into that... and Choi Si-woo... uh? Yang? Whatever, I can't forgive you for turning them into that!"
Choi Si-woo's cadet uniform was torn in places, revealing glimpses of skin, which was different from before, so Reina brushed him off and aimed her bow at Kim Jae-su.
"You're all coming at me, huh? Fine. Today, I'll kill every last talent from Hansung!"
S-rank villain Kim Jae-su charged at Yoo Eun-ha's heroines.
A flood of memories poured in.
Not the hundreds of repeated loops.
Much further back. My life. Born by someone's hand, killing the world's creatures, performing sorcery to sow chaos among humans and make them slaughter each other, reveling in the cruelty.
I appeared in various forms, killing countless people.
Back then, I existed as an evil dragon, not human.
Cunning and intelligent, I avoided direct action, inciting people to kill instead.
Early on, I took dragon form and killed directly.
Eventually, it grew tedious, so I assumed the form of an approachable woman, sowing confusion to make them kill one another.
I was little more than a beast, utterly faithful to my instincts.
Killing people, watching them kill each other, deriving sexual pleasure from it.
"Urk!"
"Looks like you've remembered what you did, huh?"
"No fucking way."
Vomit rose again.
"Even as a nun, masturbating while watching people kill each other..."
"Stop. Don't say any more."
I didn't even want to think about that time.
Was that really me? No. It couldn't be. I refuse to accept it in every sense.
No, forget that—ten billion dead. How could I accept that?
The author watched me silently.
Her eyes held no emotion whatsoever.
"What."
"Sigh. No need to blame yourself like that. I created Azidahaka to begin with. I'm the one responsible for over ten billion massacres. Strictly speaking, the Great Cataclysm was my fault too."
That's that, and this is this.
I couldn't just brush off such horrors easily.
"Then why bring back these memories?"
"You can feel it too, right? That era and you are completely different. You're just Yoo Eun-ha, who inherited Azidahaka's power and memories. The past where you killed people? By that logic, everyone who was a killer in a past life would be tormented."
That's different from this case.
The scale of the slaughter is on another level. I burned multitudes alive with my breath and plunged them into chaos with magic.
I committed all sorts of evils to kill them.
"Even so."
"Heh. Fine, since you've made it this far after hundreds of loops, I'll give you one more unique ability. I was planning to tease Azidahaka more and withhold it, but whatever."
"What? Can you just give and take abilities like that?"
"I'm not omnipotent, you know. I'm squeezing out every last bit of energy to give our little dragon a gift."
Little dragon? That pisses me off. Makes me feel like a pet dragon.
Whether she read my mind or not, she started scribbling in her notebook.
Moments later, a quest notification appeared in the air.
[Quest Objective: Talk to the Author]
🎁 Reward: Unique Ability
[Quest Completed]
[Reward: Composure]
Unique Ability: Composure. It activates when you're confused or your emotions override your rationality against your will.
Definitely better than before.
"Do you have to go through the game system every time? It makes me question if this is a dream or reality again."
"Staying here alone gets boring. Gotta do something like this."
Come to think of it, this place was the author's—Yoo Eun-ha's—personal space.
It resembled the room of the real Yoo Eun-ha. But stark white like me, and somehow the all-white vibe grew on me.
So this was like a mental world, existing in the unconscious.
If so, no need for me to take the forefront.
I wanted to live, but I didn't want to hijack someone else's body.
"The original owner of this body isn't you anyway? I can just vanish."
"No. That's..."
She smiled awkwardly, looking troubled.
Ah, I get it. She's like that too.
"You're doing this out of responsibility, right?"
Responsibility for creating me. For letting ten billion die and even causing the Great Cataclysm. Maybe she couldn't show her face like this.
I'd killed dutifully, more thoroughly than any mythical evil dragon, while she created me on a whim.
If she'd made something helpful instead, it might've brought peace without the cataclysm.
To my question, she turned her head and muttered.
"Not wrong. The dead reincarnate in the wheel of life, but you were just my creation for fun, acting on instinct—I merely commanded it."
"If that's the case."
"That body isn't human anymore. With Azidahaka's power, it's practically immortal. But I'm a creator with pride; I can't inhabit a monster's body. I like lounging here."
"Ugh, you're so annoying."
She outright called me a monster!
No, by human standards, I was one.
Greater aptitude for demonic energy than mere mana.
"Joking aside, I'm not omnipotent. Creating a world, moving my creation to another— it drains so much power. I need time to recover."
"What about the final battle?"
"It might change based on causality. The world before Choi Si-woo's regression follows the original. An SS-rank rampage from Yoo Eun-ha's body affects the other world, triggering a second cataclysm—tectonic shifts, hordes of SS-ranks, ending with capturing the demon. Got it?"
"Yeah."
Was that how it went? If the author says so.
Little Dragon just nods obediently.
"That future's gone now. The pre-final villains, the Sins, might become the ultimate ones if they grow stronger. I'm leaving it alone so I don't mess it up more."
"Greed's in China, right?"
Of all places, one Sin was in China right now.
Not appeared yet, probably hiding and building power.
No telling how strong later, but now I needed to fully awaken and fight.
"Kim Jae-su's rampage has the association in ruins. The rest is up to Yoo Eun-ha."
"Yoo Eun-ha is you. What should I call you? Author? Doesn't fit. Arrogant as it sounds, you're the god who made Azidahaka—call you by name."
"Fine. When it's just us, we'll use real names."
Oh, and one more thing.
"What's this tattoo on my stomach? Some yin gate or whatever pops up. And these piercings on my ears and here."
What kind of tastes lead to decorating your own body like this? The ear ones are pretty, so I'll keep them.
"You did that to yourself as a nun. Even as a guy, you only read comics with those tags online. Customized it to your tastes? You lewd little dragon."
"Be honest."
She rolled her big, cute eyes and answered cautiously.
"Sigh, half-serious. You did it as a nun, and it might've been an artifact sealing some power. You see what you want to see. Anyway, that 'yin gate' on your stomach? Look closely—it's Azidahaka's rune."
That wasn't me. The one who massacred ten billion? Definitely not me.
But the rune looking lewd? Blame the creator, Yoo Eun-ha.
"My women, huh."
"Isn't that right? They're all fighting Kim Jae-su thinking you're dead."
Still with Kim Jae-su? Hasn't Choi Si-woo gotten stronger?
He needs to awaken enough to beat him.
"Time to go."
My women—gotta protect them.
"Ah, don't overdo it and wear your bones out."
"...I'll try."
If the women let me. A little friction won't wear my bones.
At least for now...