Chapter 277
Chapter 277
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: Blood-Stained Despair, A Single Choice (9)
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***
*CRACK!!!*
Not content with merely piercing Vermian’s body, the golden spear slammed him into the ground.
It was a blow that even Vermian, who had tried to prepare for it, had never anticipated.
“Keuk…!”
Eyes wide, Vermian stared blankly at the spear that had pierced his heart.
A sharp pain radiated from the wound. The pierced flesh was agonizingly slow to mend.
Excruciating agony surged from the wound. An attack that previously wouldn't have registered as damage now carried absolute power.
*'How could this be...'*
This was his innate domain. Within it, any wound should have healed easily.
His body, having merged with Leteia and transcended humanity, would normally recover from ordinary injuries before he could even register them as wounds.
But what was unfolding before him was far beyond his comprehension.
...The golden energy imbued in the spear was severely hindering his body's regeneration.
And that meant the word Han Cheon-seong had uttered, 'Release,' was true.
“Guuuh!”
As Cheon-seong violently twisted the spear piercing his heart, Vermian’s mind reeled.
—!
Just as the golden energy erupted continuously, threatening to completely destroy Vermian's body, his eyes began to change amidst the horrific pain.
“How are you still alive…?”
Cheon-seong, who continued to pierce his heart while uttering cold words, was shrouded in confusion.
The vital point of an Apostle in human form was its 'heart.'
That was why he thought it was over the moment he pierced the heart, but it wasn't.
Even now, with its heart pierced and taking ever-increasing damage, the Apostle did not die; it maintained its existence.
The bizarre phenomenon where the power dynamic between them had completely reversed did not last long.
—!
Just as Cheon-seong was about to split Vermian's body in half with the spear's blade.
*Fwoosh…!*
Darkness erupted from Vermian’s body like an explosion, forcing Cheon-seong to narrow his eyes and create distance.
—!
As the golden energy enveloping his body painted the space and allowed him to instantly pull away, Vermian, who had immediately risen, blankly clutched his face with eyes now devoid of reason.
"Kuhuh..."
And as a sound that could not be described as human escaped his lips, the dark space changed drastically.
The darkness shrouding his body could no longer completely conceal his true form.
A fully revealed human body. His chest, with a gaping hole from the spear, was a gruesome sight.
“...”
Just as Cheon-seong narrowed his eyes and tried to pour more power into his spear, Vermian suddenly began to emit a darkness from his entire body, incomparable to before.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!
A complete darkness spread out from Vermian as if to swallow the entire space.
As even Vermian's body was hidden by the absolute darkness, Cheon-seong hesitated, his spear poised to strike.
“...What the.”
The speed at which the darkness spread.
And it was expanding as if swallowing the surrounding darkness.
...At this manifestation of power, completely different from before, Cheon-seong's face turned pale.
Cheon-seong's resolve—that he could and must kill Vermian, that he had to finish it as quickly as possible—changed in that moment.
—!!
In the instant the golden energy swiftly embroidered the space, Cheon-seong swept up Karite's form, which lay in the faint darkness.
He tried to escape the gushing darkness somehow. But even after moving, he couldn't get very far.
He couldn't distance himself much from the Apostle's domain in the first place.
*Thud!*
Landing on the ground, Cheon-seong... unconsciously glanced at the hand gripping his spear.
“...”
He could only manifest that same power one more time.
He should have pierced through the erupting darkness and aimed for the Apostle, just as he had moments ago, but he couldn't.
If he were to target the Apostle, there would be nothing he could do for Karite, left defenseless in the domain of darkness.
He might be able to withstand the darkness somehow, but Karite, on the brink of death, would surely be swallowed by it.
“.....”
As the viscous darkness flooded his vision even now... Cheon-seong realized.
The moment he surged toward the Apostle with his thrown spear, Karite would be engulfed by the darkness and die.
"..."
Endless rage, hatred, and the faint reason coexisting between them already knew the answer.
No matter how much indomitable will he manifested, no matter how he forced an incomplete Release to fight a miraculous battle.
Reality only gave him a cold answer.
Even if he could kill the Apostle by throwing his spear, he couldn't save Karite.
But if he didn't kill the Apostle, he couldn't escape its innate domain.
...No matter what he chose, the conclusion was the same.
—Karite would die.
Therefore, even the choices available to him were predetermined.
Would he throw his spear at a faint possibility, kill the Apostle, and survive alone?
Or would he use the energy in his spear to block the encroaching darkness and prolong his life with Karite, if only for a moment?
Reason dictated the answer between the two choices.
That he should throw his spear at the slim chance and finish the Apostle for good.
—That there was no way to save Karite anymore....
“......”
In that fleeting moment of thought, a change came over Cheon-seong.
A deeply twisted smile appeared on his lips.
His eyes took on a look of near emptiness, as if he had transcended his grim reality, as if he had no lingering attachments to anything in the world.
*Rustle.*
Then, looking down at Karite, whose heart was beating faintly, Cheon-seong slowly nodded. In that moment, he decided.
*Grip—!*
He tightened his grip on the spear and swung it with all his might.
*BOOM!!*
Not by throwing his spear at Vermian to settle the score, but by slamming it into the ground where he stood, unleashing his final power.
■■■■■■■■■—!!
The golden energy imbued in the spear erupted brilliantly, beginning to swallow the entire area.
*Chiiiiik!!!*
Soon after, the immense darkness that surged forward crashed against the golden domain created by the slammed spear, endlessly dissipating as if bursting apart.
He knew the most correct, the most realistic answer he should have chosen, yet he did not choose it.
Even knowing the answer was that if he couldn't save Karite, he should at least survive to kill the Apostle....
Cheon-seong made a completely different choice.
And Cheon-seong, staring blankly at the scene, exhaled vacantly.
“It's done......”
Everything was over.
Even if he could have killed the Apostle by throwing his spear, he felt that everything was already over.
Perhaps everything had already lost its meaning the moment this mysterious Apostle he knew nothing about had appeared.
The burning rage, the hatred, the obsession—they all slowly faded away.
*Chiiik!!*
Even now, he could see the golden-hued spear burning endlessly, completely blocking the encroaching darkness.
But the spear wouldn't last much longer. Having poured even the golden energy that enveloped his body into it, he felt completely drained.
*Rustle.*
“......”
Gazing carefully at the unconscious Karite in his arms, Cheon-seong managed a faint smile.
He had no regrets about the decision his heart had made at this crossroads.
Looking at Karite, he felt nothing but sorrow.
—If she hadn't acted with him,
Then at least she wouldn't have had to be in a place like this.
His choices had driven Karite into even greater danger, and this was the result.
“...I should have at least properly told you that I liked you.”
Knowing Karite couldn't hear him, Cheon-seong spoke sorrowfully.
*Chiiik!*
Even as the golden light of the spear plunged into the ground faded by the second, he had already let everything go, so he felt nothing.
Rather, in the little time he had left.
Cheon-seong was now looking back on himself.
"......"
He had thought he didn't hold Karite in his heart. That even though they had formed a deep bond, he had chosen to take responsibility for her out of necessity, given their circumstances.
But looking back, it wasn't about taking responsibility for her.
He was filled only with the regret that he should have properly answered her feelings when she came to him.
...His attempt to have her with an uncertain attitude was, now at the end, even more regrettable.
Maybe that was why he made this choice.
Even if he could have survived alone by killing the Apostle....
He'd rather choose to die together.
A smile leaked out as Cheon-seong's eyes gradually became transcendent.
Thinking about it, all his past anguish and worries.
As the moment of death drew this near, it all just felt futile.
The times he'd spent agonizing, choosing, and hesitating felt like a waste.
It would have been better if he had answered their feelings more properly.
It would have been better if he had just lived as his heart desired....
Watching the erupting darkness and golden energy, Cheon-seong blankly clasped Karite's hand.
*Clasp.*
...To his touch, her hand was too cold.
That hand, so much colder than when he had held it just a few hours ago... strangely made his heart ache.
"..."
He knew it was a foolish thought.
That dying together wouldn't change anything, that it might have been better to kill the Apostle and at least get revenge.
...But his heart wouldn't let him do that.
Amidst his deep thoughts, the end finally came.
*Snap!*
The moment the golden light vanished completely and the spear was swallowed by darkness, its shaft shattered at once.
Against the darkness that even a reinforced spear couldn't withstand, Cheon-seong... held Karite and gently closed his eyes.
Just as he was dyed in his own darkness before the encroaching one could swallow him.
—————————!
That a completely different light had streaked across the space.
He did not see it.