Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Ch. 157 .｡.:✧ Imperfect Resurrection (1) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I had one last escape route, staying in this world without reaching the ending. Avoiding Draken and the Heavenly Kings, staying away from the main heroines, and living a peaceful life.
Draken’s arrival and the world’s end were a thousand years away, a lifetime away. Or so I thought.
“Ten years…!”
But that escape route had just been closed. I had considered running away with Cornelia and living a quiet life in the countryside, but that was no longer an option.
In ten years, this world would be pulled into Draken’s world, dragged across dimensions by an unimaginable force. There would be nothing I could do then.
If Draken descended upon this world, I could at least put up a fight, but I had no chance of defeating him on his home turf. It would be like fighting a boss with invincibility cheats enabled.
“There’s no escape.”
If I ran, this world would be destroyed. I had been complacent, thinking that a thousand years was a distant future, but now that the end was only ten years away, the weight of responsibility settled upon me.
I had created this world, my actions had accelerated its demise. I had brought about the end of all life, all laughter, all joy.
The thought made me breathless, my mind reeling. This wasn’t just a game anymore. There were no more regressions.
I asked myself, had I lived this final life to the fullest, without regrets?
Yes. I could say that with absolute certainty.
My only regret was not being able to confess my feelings to the main heroines, not being able to approach them, even after they forgave me for remembering the regressions.
‘Perhaps the reason I’m trying to kill Draken…’
I had thought I was trying to defeat him to go back, but when had I stopped thinking about what I would do when I returned?
It had become a matter of pride, a stubborn refusal to let all my suffering be for nothing. But now, I had a new purpose. A reason to stay and defeat Draken.
I would fix my mistakes. I would take responsibility for all the harm I had caused through my regressions. I wouldn’t run away. I would stay and fight.
‘I can see the path forward.’
My vision cleared, my frozen body began to move, and a warmth spread through my chest.
I had overcome Yerina’s chilling resentment.
Crack!
I crushed the dungeon core in my hand. The dungeon plunged into darkness, and the chill vanished.
“This isn’t a crisis, it’s an opportunity.”
The ten-year time limit didn’t matter. I had been planning to confront Draken within two years anyway. It was just a little more pressure, it didn’t change my plans.
In fact, Draken withdrawing his power was advantageous. Ordinary monsters, who didn’t rely heavily on his power, hadn’t been significantly weakened, but the Heavenly Kings were different.
Belphegor and Luna must have suffered a major blow.
If I was going to strike, it had to be now. I had to attack before they could recover.
They must be panicking, but they would be putting on a brave face, never expecting me to realize their power had been diminished. And all the Heavenly Kings had a way to communicate with Draken, a way to travel to the other world.
If I could take that away from them, it might give me an advantage against Draken.
I had to attack now, or very soon. The problem was, I didn’t even know where they were, or how to find them…
“That’s not a problem anymore.”
I had someone to ask. I opened my bag, revealing the black mana stone, Kali’s True Soul. Kali’s soul.
[Accumulation: 59,800/62,500]
It was almost at full capacity. Now that I knew it was a soul, I knew what would happen when it reached its limit.
“Woo…?”
I looked at Nameless, the small spider tilting her head curiously. I needed to borrow her body for a bit.
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“Gasp…!”
The girl’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up, taking a deep breath.
Kali. The Great Druid Kali had been resurrected.
“…?”
She looked down at her body, confused.
It was a human body, a young girl with long blonde hair. It resembled her younger self, but the amount of magical power she possessed was far too low.
“What is this…?”
She tried to remember, but a sharp headache made her stop. She couldn’t remember anything. It was as if her memories had been sealed.
“You’re awake.”
Kali flinched, pulling the blanket over her head. She looked around for a weapon, but there was nothing. She could only wait helplessly as footsteps approached. The door opened, and a man entered.
“Those eyes… you’re Kali. The soul transfer was successful.”
“Child… do you know me?”
“Don’t you remember me?”
Kali shook her head. Yoo-jin sighed in disbelief.
He had cast a simple spell on Nameless’s mind, blocking access to her memories, so Kali could only access the memories stored in the mana stone. But for some reason, those memories were incomplete.
‘Was there data loss during the processing?’
Tay had refined Kali’s True Soul, removing unnecessary parts and optimizing it for the transfer.
Thanks to that, the transfer to Nameless’s body had been smooth, but it seemed some memories had been lost in the process. It was to be expected. A pure soul didn’t contain memories.
“I am…”
How should he explain this?
As he hesitated…
“You’re… my comrade! You’ve been replaced! I died and was resurrected. You resurrected me… right?”
“…”
He took her words as a cue and changed his plan. He had intended to threaten the weakened Kali for information, but now that she mistook him for a comrade, there was no need for that.
Undecided gave him a look, surprised by his casual identity theft, but he ignored her and continued.
“Where’s my body?”
“It was destroyed. Your current body was created from the remaining fragments.”
“I see… You must be a skilled necromancer. To be able to resurrect someone from just a few fragments.”
Necromancy?
Yoo-jin knew nothing about it. Nameless’s body was a vessel created by Luna’s Resurrection. He had simply transferred Kali’s soul into it, a simple procedure. But Kali didn’t know that. He decided to play along, pretending to be a skilled necromancer and her comrade. Nameless, with her dulled senses, wouldn’t be able to see through his lies.
“Here, drink this. Hot chocolate. You’ll need a lot of calories now that you’re in a human body.”
“Okay…”
Yoo-jin handed her the hot chocolate he had made for himself. Kali accepted it cautiously, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and sipped it. Yoo-jin inwardly rejoiced. This was much easier than he expected. He could extract more information by pretending to be her comrade. Solra, being just a candidate for a Heavenly King, hadn’t provided much useful information, but this was a chance to learn about the Heavenly Kings’ and Draken’s weaknesses.
“Are you sure you don’t remember anything? Tell me anything you can remember.”
“My name… and that I was the Great Druid… And that I serve ‘Him’… And that Belphegor and Luna were my comrades… Ah! You took the remaining spot.”
“That’s right.”
“Other than that… I remember trying to do something with the World Tree, but… ugh…”
She didn’t seem to be lying. She really had lost her memories and didn’t recognize him. Yoo-jin took her hand, which was clutching her head in pain.
“It’s okay. Now that you’re resurrected, you can regain your strength. I’ll help you.”
“How…?”
“Your body is currently scattered all over the world, being studied. I’ll retrieve the fragments and put you back together. I can locate them with my ‘eyes,’ so don’t worry.”
“Oh…!”
“And don’t contact the other Heavenly Kings yet. There are imposters impersonating Belphegor and Luna. You won’t be able to see through their disguises with your human senses, so don’t even think about contacting them alone. Trust me, and I’ll arrange a meeting with them.”
Yoo-jin quickly fabricated a lie. He didn’t want her meeting with Belphegor, as it would complicate things. He made her dependent on him. He would extract the information he needed, then turn her back into a mana stone. He didn’t need to worry about the consequences. But there was one thing he hadn’t anticipated.
“Human child…”
“Call me Mijung.”
“Mijung… I have a question… may I ask?”
“Anything.”
“Were… we… lovers… in the past…?”
Kali’s imagination was running wild.
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