Chapter 198
Chapter 198
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Han Cheon-seong vs. Apostle Azazel - Perfected Power (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
***
Immediately after projecting multiple invisible spears, Azazel was certain of Cheon-seong's death.
All the conditions were now in place.
She had deployed her domain to slightly delay Anastasia's detection of the invisible power, and by projecting numerous invisible spears, she had prepared a surefire way to kill the human.
‘I’ve grasped the full extent of the power this human can manifest.’
That was why, even as she watched him react to the surging invisible spears and swing his own, a smile was all that graced her lips.
He couldn't block them with that. It was laughably insufficient.
At best, he might parry a single invisible spear. If he somehow managed to block the second one, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
And even if he did block the second spear, his arm would be torn off in the process.
Therefore, there was no way he could block the third.
'I imbued them with that much power—'
That was the moment the thought crossed her mind.
*Swoooosh—*
Suddenly, the spear Cheon-seong was about to use to face the invisible spears veered off its path.
For a moment, Azazel wondered if he had given up on life, but then she saw it.
She witnessed a bizarre phenomenon where a massive blue spiral erupted explosively from Cheon-seong's center.
*Shhhwoooong—!*
*Ssssk!*
The blue spiral burst forth in a brilliant, scattering explosion, and the surging invisible spears were swept up as if in a great storm, cleaving through empty air.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The invisible spears, having lost their target, plunged into the ground one after another.
“…”
Immense disbelief filled Azazel’s eyes as she watched.
‘What in the world is that power…?’
In her centuries of existence, she had seen countless humans evolve their traits.
She had also faced an innumerable number of humans who unleashed even greater power when overcoming a crisis.
But. The human in her sight now was fundamentally different from them.
It was like the invisible spears—impossible to deflect, evade, or block.
It wasn't a power a human could overcome, even if they advanced to the next trait.
Yet now, a storm from a blue spiral, on a completely different level than before, had erupted, scattering a faint afterglow into the air and enveloping the human.
—A powerful, blue afterglow.
The massive current of the blue spiral, so vast it seemed to erase even the light that permeated the space, carved countless afterimages into the air, creating an overwhelming presence from illusions that shouldn't exist.
It felt paradoxical.
The fact that this was not some kind of trait evolution.
It was a fundamentally different power.
*Chwaak!*
Suddenly, with a deafening boom, the blue spiral's current, which had been scattering a massive afterglow, began to shrink rapidly as if being sucked inward.
As the spiral that had been erasing the world's light gradually vanished, the human who had disappeared within its current slowly came into view.
“Hah... hah...”
His breathing was ragged.
Through the black hair floating in the air, the human’s strange, glowing eyes met hers.
Golden eyes that held an even more intense presence within the light.
It was a completely different, alien sight from the blue glow his eyes had held before, and Azazel froze.
*Ch-ch-chik!*
*Saaaah—!*
Azazel’s gaze was drawn blankly to the spearhead, where the spiral raged so intensely it seemed to tear the very air apart with a deafening roar.
She could feel that the magnitude of his power was incomparably greater now.
And so, Azazel had no choice but to recall it.
‘Could it be….’
As she thought, only one possibility came to mind.
The absolute power that humans could only obtain upon reaching Trait Level 7. Known as a 'skill,' it granted them another power that was beyond all standards.
And that was a power the human before her should never have been able to possess.
Yet, this human had now perfected that power, as if to prove her wrong. The very essence of the power dwelling within him was fundamentally different from the incomplete force he had shown against Leteia.
...In that short time, not even a month later, the human before her had reached it.
A growth that transcended traits, a power beyond what he was ever meant to have…
*Ch-ch-ch-ch-chik!*
The human, wielding a spear that held a spiral emitting an even more eerie roar, began to scan his surroundings with blazing eyes.
His intent was clear—he planned to end this the moment he parried the invisible spears, just as before.
So Azazel changed her mind.
‘I have to kill him.’
He must be killed here. And she had to ensure this human's existence would not hinder them in the future.
He was on a different level from the other keystones.
The human she had presumed would become a future keystone was growing at an unbelievable rate. It was an absurd speed of growth, even considering the finite lifespan of a human.
She blankly raised her hand toward her heart.
—The source of invisibility.
She completely erased the heart that contained her unique property. She even abandoned the thought of killing him while remaining invisible.
*Sssk.*
Her form, which had vanished through light refraction, slowly took shape and appeared in his vision.
“...!”
As if he had sensed her presence in that brief moment, the image of the human kicking off the ground and shooting toward her like a storm was captured in her eyes like an afterimage.
The human, unleashing the power of a mighty skill, shot forward at a speed that far surpassed her estimations.
A power that felt threatening, even considering she was in a clone.
*Chak!*
In an instant, the human reached her like an afterimage, and she watched the spearhead he thrust forward with fierce intensity.
*Ch-ch-ch-ch-chik!!*
The intense current of the spiral, now shimmering colorlessly, having lost even its blue light. Instantly understanding the nature of his power, she converted all the force she had cloaked in invisibility and met his attack head-on.
The power that was most threatening because it was unseen.
She now transmuted it into a mighty force that could not be blocked even when visible.
She reached out without hesitation toward the seemingly unstoppable spearhead surging toward her.
She paid no mind to the power she had so heavily relied on to remain hidden from Anastasia.
‘It will be over in an instant.’
She didn't care if her clone died in the process of killing this human.
*■■■■■■!!!*
The spearhead they met with immediately raged violently, and she felt it trying to pierce through her hand in a single motion.
However, it was not something she couldn't block.
No matter that the human had obtained the absolute power of a skill, it was still a power that had not yet surpassed its limits.
*Ch-ch-ch-ch-chik!*
Forcibly halting the spear, from which power was bursting forth like an explosion, she extended her other hand.
“What are you doing…”
Horror bloomed in the human’s golden-tinged eyes as he realized it too late.
It was already too late for him to escape me.
The human’s spear, unleashed with a skill, was now firmly fixed in her hand. There was no room for him to retreat.
*Saaaah—.*
In that moment, her hand was already moving.
Carrying a power so immense it would instantly obliterate the human’s body upon contact…
***
—Spiral Spear.
The power, fully awakened upon reaching the level of a skill... gave me an unparalleled, almost chilling sense of omnipotence.
The absolute gap between myself and the apostle, which I had felt just from the pressure in the air weighing down on my existence.
My spear now held the power to cast even that aside. I could feel the immense force contained within its tip.
It was so ecstatic that for a moment, I forgot the extreme pain that had wracked my entire body.
*Ch-ch-chik!*
The spear, shrinking in size as it endlessly circulated, held an even greater power. It was a spear, yet it had transcended the very concept of one.
I even felt confident that I could shatter a great castle wall before me in a single blow.
‘I can do it.’
With this much power, I could even kill the apostle I was facing…
…
*Ch-ch-ch-ch-chik!!*
The hand holding the spear would not move.
The powerful spiral current roared and thrashed violently in the apostle’s hand, but in reality, it had been stopped by her single hand.
...I couldn't understand it at all.
‘This immense spiral power…’
Was blocked so futilely. The apostle before me had revealed herself in the form of a female human.
My spear was caught in the apostle's slender, defenseless hand, unable to advance.
“What are you doing…”
Even as I spoke, the feeling of omnipotence that had filled my heart, as if I held the world beneath me... plummeted as if from a cliff, and I felt an extreme sense of emptiness.
It truly... was such a mighty power.
It had far transcended my own Trait Level 5, reaching Trait Level 7, a level my future self might have attained.
This power, which I should have only been able to awaken then, was now, in this moment, entirely in my hands.
The spear, forming a spiral and circulating endlessly, held a power that was nigh-infinite.
It was a power so great it had given me the conviction that I could face any force…
It should have been…
“…”
The sensation of time stopping came over me once again.
Through it, I could clearly see the apostle's hand slowly reaching for me.
It was too late to escape, even if I let go of the spear.
Could a pure white hand reaching for my heart feel so terrifying? I stared blankly, my mind empty.
‘I’m going to die.’
As I faced my death, my heart was so full of a bitter emptiness that no other thoughts could enter.
I had struggled, my body had become this battered, and at the end of it all, I had obtained a great power.
And yet, I couldn't escape.
It was as if death itself had come to me like destiny, whispering in my ear.
No matter how strong my will, no matter how much I tried to overcome reality, this was the limit of the power I was given…
*Tuk.*
It was the moment I thought the apostle's hand had touched my body.
*Pshshshshk—!*
A dissonant, shattering sound, so intense it seemed to break space itself, echoed violently.
“…”
My vision shifted abruptly, and I couldn't even comprehend what had just happened.
"I was late."
But at the distant and gentle voice that reached my ears…
A small ripple spread through the heart that had been stained with bitter emptiness.