Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Origin (3)
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"I was hoping we could settle this with words."
I spat out dark crimson blood as I addressed Azazel. The tentacles behind her back were sharpened to points like spear tips.
In the original story Possessed into an Idle Game that I wrote, Azazel would wait endlessly here in this monastery for the protagonist Kang Si-woo, who never showed up, until she finally lost her mind.
Having contracted with an Outer God and grown powerful enough to tear through time and space itself, she would eventually capture Kang Si-woo and make him hers—that was the latter half of the novel I'd penned.
Though I never finished it due to the hiatus.
'Can I even beat Azazel as I am now?'
To be honest, it felt damn near impossible. Outer Gods, called eldritch beings beyond the stars, cast their shadow across countless tales.
That's why I'd recruited Biwol and Verdandi to stand against her. I figured the Heavenly Demon and the Hero could take on even an Outer God.
"Talk? Do we really need that between us? We're both servants of Outer Gods, aren't we?"
Azazel chuckled softly as she eyed me. Her rainbow-hued eyes scanned me up and down.
She'd probably use this to glimpse the future. Every possible clash of moves and counters laid bare before her.
"...The same Outer God? What the hell are you talking about?"
To buy even a little time, I played along with Azazel. The Outer God I'd assigned to her was named Morgidian.
A god of ghouls who devoured only corpses and spared the innocent, so long as they posed no threat.
Unlike other Outer Gods, it had a merciful streak—something I'd added because I found it uniquely compelling.
But then,
"Outer God. You won't pretend not to know Morgidian, will you?"
An Outer God dwelling in me as well?
If that were true, I'd either be mad or dead by now.
"Dwellers of the abyss beyond the cosmos, gods utterly beyond human comprehension."
Outer Gods were incomprehensible by design. Unlike the gods of myth, their influences defied understanding.
They knew no good or evil. No emotions. No common sense or morality.
'Terror from the unknown, that's what they are.'
I bit my lower lip, staring at the writhing black tentacles. They were but a fragment of the Outer God's body—like a human's fingernail, expendable if severed.
Yet those tentacles could rend space and time, stealing souls on contact.
"Exactly. Don't you have some inkling? Have you not offended such beings... or perhaps earned their favor?"
Azazel slowly raised the tentacles behind her as she spoke, like a priestess interrogating a sinner.
"......"
Truth be told, I had my suspicions.
That devoted fan from my nightmare who dragged me into this world. The only one who'd followed all three of my stalled serials to the end.
Could a mere human even pull someone into a world like this?
"Even if that's the case, what does it matter to you?"
I feigned ignorance on purpose. Outer God or not, as the author who created this world, I had responsibilities.
This was the world I'd built with Seolhwa, my first love. Her final legacy after she passed.
"Oh, it matters a great deal. It's likely why those two girls you keep with you aren't turning on each other."
Azazel narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the pair, who felt almost like daughters to me and Seolhwa.
"A demon king born under an ill-fated star, and a hero blessed by the gods themselves. Are such destinies mere dust before the great ones?"
"You can even glean that from dreams? Impressive."
"...Well, I couldn't quite peer into yours."
Azazel sighed deeply, preparing to strike as I closed in.
Her hands clasped in prayer looked innocent enough, but the tentacles on her back sharpened into blades keener than any forge could craft.
"Enough, now. For the sake of my love—get out."
Her voice grated like nails on stone, her entire body radiating disgust at me treading on her sacred memories.
"Azazel, a love forever unrequited isn't love—it's obsession."
I offered her that advice. No one knew the line between love and lingering regret better than I did.
After she died, I'd twisted my dream of being a novelist into grinding out web novels to honor her dying wish.
"Nonsense."
"We'll see who's right soon enough."
The spark didn't matter.
The gap in strength didn't matter.
Fights between the love-maddened were always like this.
A rabid dog's frenzy to protect what it cherished, heedless of its own life.
Fall Down Style Swordsmanship, First Form
I invoked the legendary swordmaster's technique from Azazel's original story.
Fall Down, said to have felled even the moon from the sky.
He was a character from the original game who'd begged me to take him as a disciple during my western travels, all to extend his lifespan.
Just as I'd done for Biwol, I conjured an ice sword, held it low, crouched, and lunged forward.
And then,
Crescent
I countered her tentacles with a piercing thrust. Aura traced a razor-sharp arc from the ice blade's tip.
Clang! Claaang—!
The clash rang out like steel on steel. Sparks flew between her iron-hard tentacles and my sword, forcing Azazel back a step.
Ice White Divine Art, Sixth Form: Ice Killing Leg
I channeled all my qi into my right foot, condensing frigid energy, then slammed a kick into her exposed flank. The unguarded spot froze solid.
"Urk...!"
A dull ache like being hammered by ice washed over her. Azazel grimaced, glaring daggers at me.
Azazel couldn't help but panic. She'd followed the hero Kang Si-woo and met countless champions in her time.
'That's definitely the swordsmanship of the Swordmaster I knew...!'
A character from the original game in Han Do-hyun's game-possession web novel Possessed into an Idle Game.
Fall Down, an SSR—no, ★5—character. A limited-time powerhouse, indispensable for any party.
How could he wield that technique?
The dull vibration through her tentacles and the biting pain in her side gnawed at her thoughts.
—Azazel, get your head in the game. His stamina's weak. Drag it out, and you win for sure.
Morgidian assessed the fight once more.
It noted Bing Yeon's ragged breaths and trembling hands whenever he unleashed qi or aura, the dark blood he spat while enduring pain.
"B-but...! How can I when he's this strong...!"
—Focus on defense. With my divine body linked to you, you can block attacks like that easily.
He wasn't wrong, really.
Azazel hosted an Outer God, while Bing Yeon had barely stepped into peak mortal realm.
But,
—Your lack of real combat experience is your weakness, Azazel. He knows it and keeps varying his moves. Mixing kicks into swordplay is part of that.
She'd always trusted Hero Kang Si-woo, staying in the rear to boost morale, heal wounds, or reattach limbs with holy power.
She lacked the instincts honed on the edge of death—the ability to read habits, breaths, and exploit flaws.
Boom—!
A fist struck without a millimeter's error.
Ice White Divine Art, First Form: Ice Shattering Fist
Ice Shattering Fist, the first form of Ice White Divine Art, plunged into her solar plexus. The impact left her staggering.
"What's wrong? Where'd that confidence go?"
Her blurred vision and sluggish thoughts couldn't track Bing Yeon anymore.
"H-haha... No choice, then. I'll have to borrow ■■■■■'s power—"
Three Powers Sword Technique, Second Form
Mount Tai Pressing Down
Shlick—!
Before Azazel could finish, the black tentacles shielding her were sliced clean.
"What the—his reaction speed...!"
Clasping her palms summoned Morgidian briefly, but now that avenue was cut off. Azazel sighed in dismay.
Could someone with blocked meridians everywhere really move like that?
Azazel doubted her own eyes. She'd thought her stamina superior.
"Never reveal your options to the enemy. That's my first lesson for you."
Bing Yeon severed her remaining tentacles, weaving punches and sword strikes to shatter her guard.
"Playing teacher now?!"
Thud. A tentacle pierced dimensions, aiming for Bing Yeon's blind spot. It grazed his sword arm.
"Went for the sword arm, huh. Good instincts."
"Only way you'll give up and leave. I'll reattach it later if you want—find another healer to fix it proper."
Bing Yeon smirked at her display. A saintess with no business in close quarters, yet growing before his eyes.
That sight let him play his hidden card—one he'd never considered proposing otherwise.
"Azazel, don't you want to see that man Kang Si-woo?"
"I owe you no answers."
Clap! Her palms met, shadows cloaking the space as something writhed down from the ceiling.
The Outer God Morgidian.
God of ghouls, Great Old One who craved corpses.
Bing Yeon shuddered at the sight. Death crawled over his skin like insects.
"...There's this event called the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly. It's eastern by tradition, but this year's prize is special enough to draw western kids too."
Just before all life drained from him, Bing Yeon revealed a setting from the originals to Azazel.
A crossover, blending characters from different tales in a shared world.
All the worlds and characters he and Seolhwa built had ties, something author Han Do-hyun had always dreamed of attempting.
Kim Huhl from Diamond Fist King.
Ziegfried, the later hero from Must Kill the Hero.
Kang Si-woo, player from Possessed into an Idle Game.
An episode uniting those protagonists: the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly, featuring young disciples from every sect.
"The man you're seeking, Kang Si-woo—he'll probably show up."
"...What?"
And the prize? The Ten-Thousand-Year Extreme Blood Treasure, brimming with ultimate yang energy.
"Join our sect, and you'll qualify as a junior disciple, Azazel."
Bing Yeon's final safeguard to heal his Absolute Vein Blockage.
"What do you say? Take a chance and become my disciple?"
With that, Bing Yeon cleaved the descending tentacles and flashed Azazel a grin.