10th Iteration (3)
10th Iteration (3)
The 10th Iteration and the Tower Master of Purgatory, who had descended into the Vessel.
Either one was just as dangerous, but I still wasn't confident I could completely finish off the Tower Master of Purgatory's main body.
On the other hand, the 10th Iteration had manifested semi-permanently. A catastrophe where that thing got out into the world had to be avoided at all costs.
It had to end here.
Thanks to Hong Jin-seon joining the battle, I was able to focus on the 10th Iteration.
'But I can't drag this out too long.'
The full combat capabilities of Tower Master of Purgatory were still an unknown variable.
Especially the flames of Hellfire, which were more ferocious and vicious than the Calamity Flame. Even as the head of the Calamity Flame family, it was still incredibly dangerous.
I had to finish the 10th Iteration as quickly as possible and go help Hong Jin-seon.
- Senior Disciple
Flapping my wings, I headed toward Daera.
Her gaze, which had been pouring down lightning without touching the Blood Sea, shifted to Lee Ha-yul. Her blue eyes scanned Lee Ha-yul's complexion and then went down.
Daera's expression twisted murderously. Fury seeped from her trembling lips.
"Y-you, what the fuck happened to your arm?"
Her gaze was fixed on my right arm. The Calamity Flame was still ignited upon it, and the skin was horribly scarred, as if it had been scorched dry.
Its condition had worsened compared to earlier. It was unavoidable, with the Calamity Flame that had released its safety limits and the Hellfire flickering together.
[It's fine. I can recover it later.]
Honestly, I wasn't sure. Because last time, the right arm that burst open after using Samjong had simply grown back and vanished.
"Even if you can recover, still...!"
[I'm sorry. But first, I need to resolve that.]
I spoke while shaking my right arm, which was slowly losing sensation. Daera clamped her mouth shut and silently averted her gaze.
The Calamity Flame and lightning were pouring down, narrowing the range, but the Blood Sea was also continuously expanding, locked in a power struggle.
At the center of that Blood Sea was the 10th Iteration, clutching its head, which had not been destroyed by the previous attack, in agony.
"...That thing, is it related to you?"
Daera's eyes were nailed to the 10th Iteration's face. A face drenched in blood and distorted.
And a face quite similar to the one beside her.
[Yes, it's someone related to me. I have to resolve this. So, Senior Disciple. I'm sorry, but I need your help.]
At the earnest voice piercing her ears, Daera pressed her lips together.
A junior disciple she had only known for barely ten days.
It had been a short time and I hadn't heard the full story in detail, but I could tell that Lee Ha-yul was a person with many complicated circumstances.
Right now, there was no time to listen to all those complicated stories. Chewing her lip, Daera turned her head.
"Hoo... What's the plan this time?"
[Please reduce the Blood Sea from the opposite side. I'll go inside, finish it quickly, and come back.]
Daera silently conjured lightning. Nodding at the sensation that stung his skin, Lee Ha-yul flapped his wings.
His sharply accelerating body shot across the Blood Sea. It was similar to before. The 10th Iteration was at a speed difficult for it to react to.
- Kwang!
He was blocked. It wasn't that he hit but failed to break it. He hadn't held back his strength.
His fist, coated thickly in Calamity Flame, was stopped by the blood-red armor. Crunch! The armor formed from hardened blood cracked apart.
The 10th Iteration was specialized for anti-giant and anti-army combat, but that didn't mean it was entirely without methods for anti-personnel combat.
True Blood Expansion Ability
Blood Tide (流血漂杵)
Grrdle! The surrounding Blood Sea was absorbed into the 10th Iteration. Some seeped in to boost its physical abilities, and some wrapped around its exterior, forming thick armor.
"...You..."
From within the crude blood helmet, a voice cracked like splitting wood echoed.
"...Are you, the Real one?"
Its reason had returned to some extent. The gleam in its eyes inside the helmet stared at Lee Ha-yul. This wasn't good news. I really should have crushed its head with that earlier attack.
More than that fleeting thought, Lee Ha-yul pondered the question about being the Real one.
The Real one. It was a sudden question, but considering who was asking, it was easy enough to understand.
[...Yes.]
Crunch! Instead of a reply, teeth clenched inside the helmet. The armor, which had been melting under the pouring Calamity Flame, trembled violently.
- Kwarururu!
As if expressing the manifester's emotions, the Blood Sea churned roughly.
Kwaddeuduk! The surroundings filled with thorns. Twice as fast as before. Too close to dodge. The Calamity Flame, which I had poured out after reading the precursor, burned the thorns away.
It couldn't burn them all. The thorns that pierced through the Calamity Flame and ambushed him were blocked with Aura and the Sky Wing Feather.
"Why, why...!"
An attack came from the front as well. A spear of thorns that the 10th Iteration fished out from the Blood Sea. The sharp spearhead flew straight for his neck.
'Close combat?'
Feeling a moment of doubt, Lee Ha-yul drew Jeonghwa and swung it. The Crystal Orb flashed, and the stored White Night formed a spearhead and crescent arc.
The surging golden spear blades cut through the shaft of the thorn spear. Sseok! The 10th Iteration's face twisted.
"Aaaagh—!"
Letting out a scream, the 10th Iteration lunged forward. The severed thorn spear and the melted armor had already been restored.
Kwang! Jeonghwa and the thorn spear clashed. The result was similar. The blade of the thorn spear was crumpled.
The 10th Iteration didn't care in the slightest.
It simply raised its momentum as if to kill, thrusting its spear at Lee Ha-yul, slashing at him. If that wasn't enough, it even resorted to punching and kicking.
Though the movements were close to a brawl, its physical ability and skill were so outstanding that the aftermath was severe.
Shockwaves from each collision shook the surroundings.
The ground didn't just crack like a spiderweb but collapsed, and chunks of rock swept up in the aftermath turned to dust.
"Why! Only you...!"
Lee Ha-yul's face twisted at the 10th Iteration's voice. Though hidden by the helmet, the face inside was clearly Observed.
Kwang! Lee Ha-yul's head snapped back roughly as a fist slammed into it. Entangled with Jeonghwa and the thorn spear, he was hurled into the Blood Sea.
"Only you! Why am I...!"
My head was numb. My neck ached as if it were about to tear off. The sounds boring into my ears stirred my chest.
Clenching my teeth, Lee Ha-yul drove his fist forward. Thorns sprouted from the 10th Iteration's armor.
Kwadeudeuk! The fist pulverized the thorns. Other thorns were blocked with Aura and the wing feather.
Not all were blocked. Puk! They stabbed into various parts of his body. The pierced areas instantly blackened and died, the dead blood melting his body away.
Kwang! The fist that broke the thorns and never stopped slammed into the 10th Iteration's chest.
"Keok!"
The armor crumpled inward. The shock burrowing into its chest made it retch a mouthful of blood.
That wasn't all.
Hwareureuk! The Calamity Flame spreading from the fist engulfed the 10th Iteration. The armor melted like chocolate, and the flames that burrowed through the armor scorched its flesh.
The Blood Sea filling the entire area? It couldn't function properly right in front of the pouring Calamity Flame and the ceaselessly striking lightning.
"Kkeueueue...!"
Bloody foam bubbled up from the horrific pain. Reflexively, it reached out its hand.
It was countered instantly. The attack clawed uselessly at the empty air, and a fist slipping through the gap slammed into its chest.
Kwang! Its chest caved in, and it was pushed back. In that interval, the ambushing fist struck its jaw again and punched down to pin its chest.
I had to retreat.
My reeling reason gave a unified command. Trading blows at close range with a Calamity Flame Manifestor was disadvantageous.
On top of that, the opponent's skill far and easily exceeded its own.
The 10th Iteration's specialty was not anti-personnel or close-quarters combat.
It was to seize the environment with the Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood, and pour out Piercing Thorns from all directions within the Blood Sea.
And thus, by repeating its manifestation, it would expand the Blood Sea.
From the expanded Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood, it would spawn Bloodless Insects (無血蟲) to increase its army corps, and wear down any opponent poisoned by Blood Corrosion (溶血) after being grazed even once by an attack, bleeding them dry.
Beyond that, expansion abilities. Blood Marrow, Red Blood, Shattered Bone Bursting Blood, Iron Blood Monstrous Form, Death Blood...
It had many methods. It just needed to step back and apply pressure. Even if not that, first, it had to get away from this spot.
It just had to go out into the Real world, not the fake one.
"Keu, aaaaaah—!"
But it didn't retreat. It dragged its creaking body forward. Lee Ha-yul also drove his body forward.
There was no reason to retreat.
Lee Ha-yul had no time to spare, and Lee Ha-yul didn't want to step back.
"Me too!"
A reckless melee without any real plan. The 10th Iteration, which had been pushed back helplessly, gritted its teeth.
The figure it was face-to-face with right before its nose.
It could tell immediately who it was. It felt like looking into a mirror.
At the same time, it was different. Not identical.
Black hair and white hair. Tall stature and short stature.
The insufficient fake and the complete Real one.
"If I had been the Real one like you! I could have done more, more...! I could have done better!"
A lame excuse came out, directed at no one in particular. Within that excuse, an undeniable jealousy oozed out profusely.
"Me too...! Really...!"
If I had been the Real one, if I had a better environment, if a whole soul had settled, if I hadn't had the awareness of being fake.
Much more...
"Heu."
The fist that had been swinging like crazy stopped at some point. The strength I'd barely managed to hold onto slipped away.
The body of the 10th Iteration, which had been struggling to move, crumbled.
It was a golden opportunity. To make up for my earlier mistake, I had to blow away his head and body entirely right now.
[......]
Lee Ha-yul hesitated. He couldn't put it into action. His fist, charred black just like in the past, trembled faintly.
At that sight, the 10th Iteration let out a hollow laugh. Shaking his head while gasping for breath at the sensation stabbing his lungs.
"...It's a lie. It feels like I could have done better."
The 10th Iteration prided himself on having grown well.
Unlike most of the previous Lee Ha-yuls, he didn't bother living kindly. Rather, he committed evil deeds.
He even used people up if necessary.
After all, weren't they fake? He used them for growth, making the excuse that they would vanish meaninglessly whether he killed them or not.
Having grown like that, he fought the Tower Master of the Dead, and died.
That fact was endlessly despairing.
Was it a close fight? Did I have lingering regrets? Was it a disadvantageous fight? If I had done better, could I have won?
"No... I don't think I could win..."
It didn't seem like he could win at all.
Even after going that far, he didn't think he could win.
So he didn't run away. He didn't head towards the Real world he so longed for.
He wanted to know if the Real one he could instinctively recognize could win.
Listening to the quiet murmur, Lee Ha-yul bit his lip.
[...I'm sorry]
"What are you sorry for..."
Blood filled his vision, which was gradually sinking into blackness.
Lee Ha-yul's face was reflected there.
Covered in burns and blood, the dragon's blood seeping in, his complexion was slowly dying.
"Sorry, for throwing a fit for nothing. You got really hurt because of me, and you missed the Tower Master's incarnation too."
The 10th Iteration, with a bitter smile, twitched his hand. The dragon's blood that had entered Lee Ha-yul's body lost its power and disappeared.
"...Can I ask you just one thing?"
A voice on the verge of death. Lee Ha-yul's mouth opened and closed for a moment, then he quietly nodded.
[...Yes...]
"What time is it now?"
[It's still 200 years... right before my 2nd year at Siyoram]
"Ha, heuha ha... crazy..."
At that answer, the 10th Iteration let out a laugh. Just before the 2nd year at Siyoram. It was an unbelievable answer.
"You, you... are different, I guess."
Indeed, a fake and the Real one are different. It was a difference he had no choice but to acknowledge.
The 10th Iteration parted his lips.
There were so many more things he wanted to ask.
So why was I a fake? Who created the fake world? How many more were there after me?
"...It's hard now."
He didn't ask. Shaking his head, the 10th Iteration reached out his hand. The blood sea, which hadn't completely vanished yet, concentrated in his hand.
It was an action that might have been an attack, but Lee Ha-yul didn't stop him.
Finally, all the blood gathered in his hand. The compressed blood became a deep red jewel.
As the 10th Iteration held out the jewel with difficulty, Lee Ha-yul carefully accepted it.
"My ability is lacking, so I can't do much for you. At least use that however you see fit."
[Thank, you. Thank you]
A voice trembling faintly. It wasn't something you'd normally say to someone you were fighting to the death with just moments ago.
It couldn't be considered acting. The emotion contained in the voice was too blatant.
'His skill, his potential, even his personality is far better than a fake... no, that's the wrong thing to say.'
There were many with excellent character among the fake Lee Ha-yuls too.
After the 8th, it was just that the 9th and 10th, who hit their limits, were particularly pathetic.
That fact was truly laughable.
The moment he closed his eyes, his consciousness faded.
A sensation similar to when he was killed by the Tower Master of the Dead came over him.
But unlike then, unbefitting of him, it was peaceful.
* * *
- Kkureureuk...
The body of the 10th Iteration, who had quietly closed his eyes, melted away into blackness.
Once even the black liquid pooling on the ground disappeared, only the straw doll and the fragments of the ruined artifact remained on the floor.
And the blood-red jewel left in my hand, too.
'......'
My chest felt tight. Part of it was due to my injuries, but the psychological reason was far greater.
Biting my lip, I carefully placed the straw doll on the floor into my subspace.
The observation conducted by the five Tower Masters. Its purpose was to convey as much information to me as possible.
That was all.
When running a prediction to grasp the path and damage of a typhoon, no one considers the damage of the people manifested within that virtual world.
But it happened. Within the virtual world, a being realized that itself, and the world, were fake.
Who could have predicted it? That an AI would arbitrarily be born in a virtual world and realize the truth.
A truly absurd case. It was something theoretically impossible, but a victim was created.
The 2nd Iteration, the 5th Iteration, the 10th Iteration...
- Teobeok-teobeok...
"Junior Disciple."
As I stood there blankly, a presence approached. It was Senior Daera, who had been greatly suppressing the blood sea.
"It's over, I see."
[...Yes]
As I answered while wiping my eyes, Senior Daera, not knowing the circumstances, silently and gently stroked my hair.
The touch, careful not to graze the wound on my head, made my eyes tingle for no reason.
One more presence approached. It was my father-in-la... no, Hong Jin-seon, who had been handling the Tower Master of Purgatory.
"Son-in-law, are you alright?"
"...Son-in-law?"
Hong Jin-seon, who had approached, frowned upon seeing the wounds covering my body, and Senior Daera blinked.
Hong Jin-seon shook his head as if ashamed.
"I'm sorry. I let that parasite get away. I kept holding onto him, and he suddenly blazed up and disappeared."
[Sadness]
[Yes... I sensed it too]
[You don't need to feel sorry towards me]
The Tower Master of Purgatory, Hong Yeon-jun, who had been held by the unexpectedly powerful Hong Jin-seon, suddenly vanished as if burning up.
I tried to block it with the Authority of Space, but it didn't work.
'Was that the Tower's Authority...?'
To be precise, not an individual Authority, but a common Authority held by the Towers. Thanks to deploying Observation, I could read it to some extent.
'Still, he must have expended quite a bit of power.'
From what I could sense, it seemed he forcibly summoned a vessel inside the Reverse Side to the Tower from a location not close to the Tower of Purgatory.
It must have taken an immense amount of power, but it seemed he could act so arrogantly because he had that kind of insurance.
"Son-in-law, I don't know where this is, but I think it'd be best to leave this place soon."
"Uh, uh... Yes. That's right, Junior Disciple. If we stay like this, monsters will swarm in again."
"...Junior Disciple?"
Puzzlement settled on Hong Jin-seon's face. Before the two could exchange more words, I nodded and gripped my staff.
- Huljjeok... Keueung...
[Yes... we need to leave soon]
I raised my staff. First, I cast a simple healing spell on the two of them, and the Authority of Space I had been preparing manifested.
I bored a hole through the wall of the Reverse Side.
It was impossible before, but now that I'd collected information on the Reverse Side, it was possible.
The transfer location was... a place slightly away from the entrance.
- Uuuung...!
The Authority of Space enveloped Senior Daera and Hong Jin-seon. The two of them floated up.
"Huh? Huh? What's this? Ah! Junior Disciple? What are you─!"
"Son-in-law? What is this..."
[I'll follow right after]
The two people stared at me with wide eyes. Before they could break through the Authority, I brought my staff down.
Tung! The Authority manifested. The two figures disappeared.
"Hey! Junior Disciple, you son of a─!"
The sound of Senior Daera shouting something was cut off. I gently relaxed my shoulders, which had hunched at the sudden yell.
'...I have to send them out anyway.'
From now on, I had to trigger an outbreak in the Reverse Side.
If the two of them were inside the Reverse Side, they'd be swept up in the outbreak along with the monsters and expelled to the entrance.
If that happened, it would be extremely dangerous.
For reference, I had intended to send Senior Daera out before approaching the core anyway.
Because it's hard to bore a hole and send someone out near the core.
I kicked off the ground towards the core of the Reverse Side and pushed mana into my left arm to warm it up.
- Uuuuung...!
The Proof of Protection, which I had conserved for this moment, let out a great resonance.