Chapter 326: Fall. (END)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 326: Fall. (END)
Give me a break, seriously.
It was already a miracle that I’d managed to withstand the onslaught of Calamity-class Villains on my own until now, and now I had to watch my back too?
Well, fine. Honestly, it was my own fault.
I’d walked straight into a death trap to save someone who was hell-bent on killing me. If that wasn’t the definition of stupidity, I didn’t know what was.
The rift between us was far too deep for her to suddenly be moved by a gesture like this and change her mind.
From her perspective, I could actually understand why she felt that way.
A villain who destroyed the world and then ran away claiming to be “repentant” suddenly does a 180 and starts spouting nonsense about making everyone happy and wanting to be happy himself?
If I were her, I’d want to kill me too.
“That’s why I understand you.”
“…What?”
“So, if possible, I’d like you to try and understand me, too.”
“You lunatic.”
Understanding was one thing, but I had no intention of just handing over my life. I had to either run or resist.
But the moment I tried to flee, those Calamity-class bastards would target Yu-na again. In reality, my only choice was to fight back.
I could see exactly what kind of picture that Evil God was trying to paint here.
Either I’d fall into despair and go on a rampage by stacking reinforcements until I broke, or I’d meekly accept a fatal blow from Yu-na. Or, conversely, I’d kill Yu-na with my own hands once again to survive, shattering my own soul in the process.
The God was trying to cloud my judgment, making me believe there were only two choices so that I wouldn’t even realize I was making the wrong one.
Don’t make me laugh.
I have absolutely no intention of picking from the options you’ve laid out, nor will I step into the hell you’ve crafted.
First, I had to remove the hostage who was causing the most trouble.
“Hey! Yu-na!”
“Don’t you dare call my name…!”
“Take her! Purple Gold Red Gourd…!”
“…What?”
The vengeful girl charging at me dropped to her knees, trying to resist the sudden vortex that appeared to swallow her whole.
Of course, she wouldn’t be able to withstand a Mythic-grade artifact boosted by my reinforcements.
Maybe if she were the Yu-na from her prime, it would be different, but for some reason, she seemed weaker than she had been before her regression. In her current weakened state from fighting me, there was no way she could hold out.
But the moment her body began to lift off the ground—
“I’m a little surprised.”
Slimy black hands manifested, snatching her out of the air. The power of the Purple Gold Red Gourd was forcibly neutralized.
“The Authority of the Creator. You haven’t forgotten it, have you? I’ve been quietly playing the voyeur lately, so my reserves are quite overflowing.”
…Lately, my own Authority hasn’t even been answering me. Then again, even if it did, I couldn’t possibly compete when the difference in our total capacity was this vast.
“So, is this the end? Can I assume I’ve finally crushed all your hopes?”
“No, not even close.”
I still had plenty of tricks up my sleeve.
Even if I had to use every last trump card I possessed, I would never accept the absurd choices you’ve forced upon me.
I won’t sacrifice anyone else, and I won’t let myself be sacrificed either.
Great Sage Descent.
As the Innate True Qi within my body rapidly drained away, the true master of the Ruyi manifested in this world.
“Aigoo, kiddo. I thought you were going to overexert yourself alone again, but you called for me sooner than I expected.”
Believe me, I wanted to call you right away, but this technique drains a ridiculous amount of Innate True Qi every time I use it.
“…What can a mere fake spirit summoned through an artifact possibly do?”
“Oh, indeed. You’re not wrong. I am nothing more than a residual thought lingering in an artifact.”
Even facing the countless black hands reaching for her, Sun Wukong remained utterly composed.
“But you know, the same applies to you.”
Maintaining her confident stance, she slowly raised her hand. With a snap of her fingers, a massive lotus flower bloomed in the void, beginning to intercept the encroaching hands.
“The Authority you wield isn’t exactly perfect either. If I’m up against an unstable Authority, then even a residual thought in an artifact should be able to hold its own, don’t you think?”
“…With such pathetic Taoist magic.”
“Hmm, I can’t hear you over the sound of a loser who can’t even break through ‘pathetic Taoist magic.’”
It looked like she was dominating, but the situation hadn’t actually improved that much.
We were still overwhelmingly outnumbered.
Sure enough, the Evil God, her expression visibly contorted, gave a signal. The Calamity-class Villains who had been observing the situation began to close in.
“It’s always a pleasure to see my junior learning new tricks every time we meet. It would be even better if you’d just convert to being a villain, though.”
The gravity field of the villain who manipulated gravity bore down on us, but Sun Wukong began to neutralize the crushing force with her mana.
“I’ve got you now. Give me back my Astrape, you little brat…!”
Next, blue lightning struck from above, but Sun Wukong formed a hand seal. A cloud manifested instantly, swallowing the lightning and transforming into a thundercloud of its own.
Then, a giant who had enlarged his body threw a punch, which she parried by striking back with her other hand while maintaining her seal.
The martial prowess Sun Wukong displayed was truly magnificent.
To face four disasters alone—how could it be anything less than amazing? The problem was that this was her limit.
To be precise, it wasn’t Sun Wukong’s limit, but the limit of the version of her I had summoned.
She was maintaining the lotus shield, neutralizing the gravity field, blocking lightning, and engaging in close-quarters combat all at once.
While such feats might be trivial for Sun Wukong’s true self, she couldn’t wield her power recklessly as long as there was a limit to the mana and life force I could supply.
Sun Wukong maintained a defensive posture with a slightly displeased expression, seemingly worried that switching to the offensive would place too much of a burden on me.
“…How annoying. If I’d known you’d hold out this well, I would have brought the other disasters too.”
Wait, there are more disasters left?
I’d never even seen that giant bastard before today.
…If we’re just going to get overwhelmed by staying on the defensive, wouldn’t it be better to go on the offensive while I still have some stamina left?
“Don’t even think about it. If you want to live a ‘normal’ life for as long as possible among those you cherish so much, you need to conserve every bit of strength you can.”
Sun Wukong’s expression was incredibly serious.
Looking at her face, the advice the God of Trade had given me suddenly flashed through my mind.
She had said that even in the best-case scenario, I would die, and in a negative one, I would become a madman who hurts everyone around me.
To make matters worse, she said the most negative outcome was possible, but she wouldn’t even tell me what that entailed.
In truth, I had a vague fear of it, so I tried not to overdo it as much as possible. But if you asked if I had been conservative with my power until now, the answer was no.
My body didn’t hurt right away, and I hadn’t felt the reality of the side effects.
However, seeing Sun Wukong conserving her strength out of consideration for me made the fear feel real for the first time.
“Even so.”
“Even so, what?”
“I can’t just sit here and take it. I won’t say I’m fine, but if there’s no ‘best’ way, I have to at least choose the ‘next best’ thing. Am I supposed to just watch as things spiral toward the absolute worst?”
If I couldn’t completely stop what that Evil God wanted, I had to resist as much as possible.
“Listen well. There’s something you’re misunderstanding.”
“Pardon?”
Sun Wukong began to lecture me, looking at me as if I were a complete idiot.
“First. If there really were no other way, I would have switched to the offensive long ago, whether you told me to or not.”
The shield looks like it’s about to shatter any second, so what is she talking about…?
“Second. Don’t go assuming on your own that the ‘best’ way is impossible. I have my reasons for acting like this.”
Just before the lotus shield completely collapsed, the cloud that had absorbed enough lightning scattered bolts of electricity, pushing back the black hands and the other villains all at once. It created some distance, but it didn’t seem like a particularly meaningful action.
It was commendable in the sense that she hadn’t consumed much power by reflecting the enemy’s attack, but it was obvious they would attack again immediately.
“And finally, third. You should have a little more faith in the seeds you’ve sown. This isn’t a miracle, nor is it just incredibly lucky timing. It’s simply that among the seeds you planted while preparing for every possible contingency, the one with the best intuition arrived first.”
Toward the villains charging at me—specifically, toward the massive giant and the one controlling gravity—
“…You damn bastards.”
Something like a massive tiger lunged forward.
It was the fierce voice of a man, sounding almost like a growl.
“Where are your business ethics? Trying to have all the fun without waiting your turn?”
His tone was somewhat playful, but his attitude was anything but.
This man, who had seemingly arrived as an ally, was someone I truly hadn’t expected at all. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of him.
“I happen to have a debt to repay, and I promised to keep watch over this area.”
The War Demon, Seo Tae-ho.
The S-rank Villain I had planted as a guard dog around the Academy had made his entrance.
“It means this is purely the result of your own efforts.”
“You lot! Stop ganging up on a kid and fight me instead…!”
However, as expected, none of the disasters were intimidated or even wary of him.
The aura emanating from him was impressive, but he was only an S-rank.
The disasters wouldn’t recognize him as an equal.
In a situation where they held an overwhelming advantage, he was just one more insignificant enemy.
That’s likely what they were thinking.
As the gravity user gave a signal, the half-baked lightning villain stepped forward to block the War Demon.
“Mister, I know you’re decent, but you need to know your place. There are plenty of people in this world stronger than you.”
“You brat.”
The half-baked Zeus, glaring at Seo Tae-ho as he slowly clenched his fists, shrouded his body in blue lightning as if to say such things were meaningless.
“What use are techniques or fighting? What does it matter if you’ve trained your fists? With a trash-tier martial talent! Do you really think you can punch lightning!?”
To someone who had become lightning itself, a muscle monster was nothing more than a toy to play with. Thus, the arrogant fool failed to realize his mistake.
The mistake of thinking that such a physique, such an aura of erupting mana…
Could ever be possible ‘without talent.’
“Stop yapping.”
I wasn’t Seo Tae-ho’s comrade.
But fortunately, Seo Tae-ho seemed to like me quite a bit, and at the same time, I still seemed young enough from his perspective.
A villain trampling over a child—this was an act of evil that Seo Tae-ho would never tolerate, and it was also the catalyst for him to manifest his own talent.
Now, the War Demon would become an existence that could no longer be called a ‘War Demon’ because he was no longer enjoying the fight.
He would explode with his talent, calling forth power from a realm that could face even a Calamity.
That monstrous form that had held back both me and the Sword Ghost alone… yet, because he restrained himself and didn’t use his power for his own desires, he wasn’t a Calamity. He was a man far too upright to be called a villain. This was his true sincerity.
“Die.”
Lightning shot toward Seo Tae-ho, and he caught the flying bolt with his bare hand.
“…Huh?”
Toward the ‘Zeus’ who stood dazed by the bizarre sight, Seo Tae-ho grinned savagely as the aura he emitted began to grow exponentially.
Common sense dictated that a human hand cannot catch lightning.
Since lightning is energy, not a solid, one might be able to block it with hands coated in mana, but catching it was not a trick that could be performed so easily.
However, the hand currently gripping the lightning was no longer human, so such common sense didn’t matter.
Starting from his palms and spreading across his body, armor that looked like scales began to envelop him, and a mechanical-looking tail and wings began to sprout.
This was the talent of the War Demon, Seo Tae-ho.
The strongest of the Phantasmal Species.
Dragonization.
The stage between rampaging as a full dragon and merely using a dragon’s aura.
A state where one becomes a humanoid dragon, clad in armor made of dragon scales.
Dragon Armor.
It was his strongest form, seen only when he was truly intent on annihilating an enemy.
The dragon arm that had caught the lightning yanked the blue bolt toward him. Zeus, unable to even resist, was dragged forward, and into his face—
“W-Wait a second…!?”
“Shut up.”
The strike of a humanoid dragon slammed down.
The power was immense, carving a crater into the earth, but perhaps because of that, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
…How am I going to pay for the repairs around here?
“From now on, no one will be able to lay a finger on him.”
Honestly, this was the first time he actually looked cool since we met in this timeline, but… is there going to be anything left of the surroundings?