Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: The First Fork in Destiny (6)
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Under the crimson-cracked sky, the northern ridge of Seolga was beyond devastation—it could no longer even be called a battlefield.
Half the ground had completely caved in, forming a deep chasm, while the other half was frozen solid white by the rampaging energy of the eternal frost, hard as stone.
And at the center of those two catastrophes, three beings still faced each other, holding their breaths: the Lord of Destruction Azator Harmegion, Seol Ye-eun, and Yoon Seo-jun.
“…Let's end this soon, humans.”
Azator murmured as he invoked the authority of destruction once more.
“The fun ends here.”
His pitch-black mana was already twisting the surrounding air itself.
Just standing nearby sent waves of heat that made bones ache and veins burn.
Seol Ye-eun bit her lip and raised her hand.
A chilling cold spread from her heart to her fingertips.
“Haa… haa… Chairman, we need to finish this fast. In this state, three spells are my limit.”
Her face was deathly pale, deep shadows under her eyes.
The price of borrowing the eternal frost's power was steadily breaking her body down.
“Understood.”
Yoon Seo-jun replied curtly.
The Heavenly Apex sword in his grip trembled faintly.
“I'll go forward, so… handle the back.”
“…Understood.”
Her voice quivered thinly, even her breath.
Yet the cold rising from her hand was condensing sharply enough to blanket the entire battlefield.
Pzzt—!!
Red flames erupted across Azator's entire suit of armor.
The destructive mana morphed into waves crashing toward the two.
“Glacier Formation—Curtain of Snow Scatters!!”
The barrier unfurling from Seol Ye-eun's fingertips took the form of a dispersing blizzard.
Unlike ordinary barriers, scattering ice particles collided with each other, dispersing the impact.
However—
Kwaaaang—!!!
The first two layers of the barrier held.
The third cracked.
The fourth tore apart like an explosion.
And the moment the fifth shattered—Yoon Seo-jun was already moving.
“Draw Sword Style—Absolute Azure.”
A single streak of sword light.
The instant that light slashed across Azator's entire field of vision—
Clang!!
With a massive impact, Azator's frontal armor shattered violently.
Blood and pitch-black destructive mana sprayed out behind it.
“Grrr… A mere human dares…!!”
Azator's eyes turned blood-red.
“Chairman! Dodge!”
Before Ye-eun's shout even arrived—Azator concentrated destructive authority at his fingertip and swung lightly downward.
Domain of Destruction—Formless Slash.
An invisible slash hurtled toward Yoon Seo-jun at hypersonic speed.
Shwaang—!!
“Damn…!!”
Yoon Seo-jun instinctively sensed the attack and rolled backward to evade, but failed to fully dodge—his shoulder tore deeply.
Blood gushed like a fountain.
“Kuh… ugh!”
Seol Ye-eun barely controlled her trembling hand and raised it again.
“Ice Strike Spear…!!”
Dozens of ice spears flew toward Azator simultaneously.
But Azator merely swung his arm once.
Kwaaaang—!!!
Half the ice spears shattered in midair, the rest melted and fragmented.
“Ye-eun, fall back!”
“No time to… retreat…!”
Even as her legs shook like aspen leaves, Seol Ye-eun raised her hand again.
Pzzt—!!
Cold ice pillars erupted across the entire ground, exploding at Azator's feet.
“…!!”
In that gap, Yoon Seo-jun raised his sword high and charged again.
“Draw Sword Style—Sky Cleave.”
The blue sword light stretched across nearly the entire battlefield—severing Azator's left shoulder completely.
A mere human had sliced the Lord's body.
For the first time, Azator's face twisted.
“A human…!! A lowly creature…!!”
Even with one shoulder severed—his authority barely diminished.
No, destructive mana leaked more fiercely from the wound, beginning to rampage.
The air scorched.
Snowflakes turned red.
The ground ruptured, cracks spreading dozens of meters.
“Chairman!! Stop it now—or we're dead!!”
Seol Ye-eun screamed.
Yoon Seo-jun knew too.
The next wave would shatter Seol Ye-eun's body to pieces.
“Ye-eun… time to wrap this up.”
“Already prepared.”
Seol Ye-eun clasped her hands.
The eternal frost's energy surged one final time between them.
Ice flowers bloomed.
Snowflakes scattered like starlight.
Yoon Seo-jun drew a deep breath.
“Never thought I'd fight a foe like this after retirement… but it's a fitting battle to stake the Chairman's seat on.”
“Same here. Enjoying a fight like this, even in retirement.”
The moment their brief exchange ended—their auras exploded simultaneously.
Preparing their final strikes.
Azator sensed the humans gathering everything for their last attack and lightly raised his hand.
“Domain of Destruction—Abyssal Collapse.”
With those words, the entire terrain turned red.
The atmosphere crumbled, the ground boiled, mana lost control and rampaged.
Seol Ye-eun raised her clasped hands overhead.
“Glacier Formation… Final Form…!”
An ice storm surged from her entire body.
Blood streamed from nose and mouth, but her mana never wavered.
“Eternal Myriad Snows!”
The sky blanketed white.
Yoon Seo-jun thrust Heavenly Apex high.
Blue light exploded across the blade.
“Draw Sword Style—Heavenly Apex Slash!!”
“Good, come at me!!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!!!!!
Red destruction, white myriad snows, blue sword light tangled across the battlefield, igniting an apocalyptic explosion.
Snow tore away, destructive mana extinguished, blue sword light soared to the heavens, slicing clouds and bursting.
And at the center— the three beings collided like beasts tearing into each other.
When the explosion that raged for seconds finally halted, dust cleared, blizzard dispersed.
There—Yoon Seo-jun stood still.
But not unscathed.
His abdomen to shoulder gaped deeply.
Entrails half-exposed, blood dripping onto the snow blanketing Seolga.
“Kuh… ugh… Are you… alright… Ye-eun…?”
Despite fatal wounds that should have killed instantly, he never let go of his sword.
Opposite him—Azator stood.
Left shoulder completely severed.
At his chest center, Heavenly Apex Slash's blue light still burned.
Fatal to the Lord's heart.
A wound that forced even a Lord to kneel.
“Human… to think… you'd come this far…”
Azator glanced at his wounds, blood overflowing his mouth as he murmured.
And—the two beings, almost simultaneously, thud.
Collapsed.
Seol Ye-eun, witnessing their fall in her final moment of consciousness, tried to raise her hand for another barrier.
But the instant her mana circuits fully severed—
“Ah…”
Her body softly toppled backward.
A collapse light as snow.
Mana exhaustion.
Unconsciousness.
The battlefield fell silent.
One pillar of the Lords' battle—had completely halted.
And shattering that silence—like vibrations rising again from underground beneath Seolga.
A chilling shockwave rang out massively once, then—for a brief, truly brief moment, the world seemed to freeze.
“……What was that just now.”
Panting heavily, I glanced toward the distant upper ridge center.
The absurd scale of destruction, ice, and blue sword light erupting from there.
Sophia glanced the same way, then gritted her teeth.
“…Looks like the Chairman and Ye-eun used their final shot. We need to hurry and end this side too…”
Colorful mana gathered again at her staff's tip.
That instant—
“Looking elsewhere mid-battle? Quite leisurely, humans.”
Raes Belkuel's voice dropped right above our heads.
“Above…!”
Before I could finish—a red slash struck down at us.
Kwang—!!
“Kuh!”
An ice wall protruded, deflecting the slash at an angle.
It was Seol Yu-bin.
Her lips curved up slightly as usual, but her eyes were ice-cold.
“Fight while looking here, Lord of Comparison.”
“……Hmph.”
Raes narrowed his eyes, glaring down at the three of us.
His pitch-black armor was a mess of slash marks and ice burns everywhere.
Conversely, none of us were unscathed.
My left arm had lost half its sensation from overuse of ice magic,
Sophia was covered in minor wounds, her robe torn in places.
Yu-bin was breathing raggedly too.
But—we were still holding.
The Vow of No Retreat on me forcibly kept my body going.
“Yu-bin sis, how much mana left?”
“Two spells at 7th circle or above?”
“Plenty.”
Sophia grinned.
“Make that guy kneel before our mana runs dry, and we win.”
She raised her staff high.
That moment, Raes's shadow stretched long over us.
“Fine, I'll acknowledge you a bit.”
Red mana rippled again from his toes.
“For reaching this point while enduring lord-level killing intent.
However—it's over now.”
Raes's aura sharpened chillingly, unlike before.
“Coming again!”
Sophia gritted her teeth.
“Authority of Comparison—Silent Exaltation Stage.”
Step.
Raes advanced one step toward us after activating his authority.
That instant, a bizarre sensation gripped my heart.
My power didn't visibly drop, but my body's center felt slightly off-balance.
Conversely—Raes's sword pressure grew heavier.
“This time, all three of you. I'll recognize you as beings comparable to me.
You'll fall bit by bit, while I rise.”
“Damn… group debuff? Each one's ridiculously OP.”
A quiet curse slipped out.
Yu-bin stepped beside me and murmured low.
“It's fine though. I've kinda figured it out fighting so far.”
“What?”
“That ability… the more he uses it, the more it eats at him too.”
Sophia’s eyes widened.
“No wonder every time he used it, his mana flow felt subtly off… Basing it on himself means more comparison targets twist his own circuits!”
“Chattering to the end, huh.”
Raes raised his sword.
“Doesn't matter. This fight ends soon anyway.”
“That's… our line.”
I raised my pistol.
Star mana and all were scraping bottom.
Still—this one shot would suffice.
“Sophia.”
“Yeah.”
Short breath.
We recalled the pattern we'd synced many times.
“Hit with your strongest spell. Need to shatter that outer shell.”
“Already ready.”
Blue mana poured from Sophia's staff.
Raes's gaze flickered unpleasantly for a split second.
“Disgusting power… Thought that familiar scent was holy magic? You human wielding it?”
“Haa… Arkin Lowe before, and now so many know holy magic?
Settings said it's supposed to be rare.”
My joints screamed nonstop.
Body begging to collapse right now.
“Huu… Just a bit longer.”
Pulled the trigger.
Bang—!!
Raes twisted, raising his sword.
A normal bullet would've been blocked by that simple motion.
But this bullet grazed his sword aura, shattering into fragments.
Those shards flew at Raes simultaneously.
“Sophia!”
“Chain Lightning, sevenfold.”
Seven lightning chains burst from the golden magic stone at her staff's tip.
Kwakwakwaku—!!
“Kuh, kuuugh!!”
Raes let out his first small scream.
Ice shards bloomed in gaps of his pitch-black armor, mana circuits snapping from within.
“Now!”
Yu-bin shouted.
Ice bloomed flower-like at her feet, instantly reshaping the terrain.
“Ice Dominion·Snow Flow Thorns!!!”
The ice beneath shattered upward.
Each fragment turned into sharp frozen thorns, shooting up at Raes from below.
Ground became spears.
Snow became blades.
Raes's evasion paths sealed.
“Ha…! Such tricks—!!”
He swung his sword down.
Red sword aura destroyed many thorns.
Not all.
A few pierced his leg armor, skewering knee and thigh simultaneously.
Puk—!! Puk!
“Kaaaaah!!”
His stance crumbled.
Raes's body tilted sharply.
That instant, Sophia extended her hand again.
“Voltage Impact!”
Lightning judgment struck Raes's upper body.
His crumbling posture crushed more pathetically.
No chance to right his sword, his torso forced forward.
Then—
“Yu-bin sis!!”
“Got it!! Glacier Spear·Segmented Form!!!”
A massive ice spear fell from the sky.
…No, it fragmented mid-fall, raining down.
Dozens of glacier shards bombarded Raes-centered.
Kwagagang—!!!
White flashes and red fragments scattered everywhere.
An explosion blinding everything briefly.
At the center, tangled snow, ice, blood, pitch-black mana—I panted, raising my pistol again.
[Target: Lord of Comparison Raes Belkuel's combat capabilities have temporarily plummeted dramatically.]
[Vow of No Retreat (S): Detects the wavering presence of evil defined by the world.]
“Haa… haa… Not… over yet… just a bit more…”
My body felt heavy.
Leg sensation halved.
But—I didn't fall.
The Vow of No Retreat forcibly pushed me from behind.
Dust slowly cleared.
Within, Raes revealed himself.
Condition—pitiful.
Leg armor shattered, ice embedded in abdomen and shoulders.
Pitch-black blood streamed from his mouth.
Still, he stood.
“…In comparison.”
Voice cracked, but his eyes unextinguished.
“Humans… your struggles were, by a tiny bit… beyond expectations.”
Pitch-black aura rose from his body again.
All three of us tensed simultaneously.
“Still holding out…?”
“Freakishly tenacious, this lord-level demon.”
“Hyun-sol, one more big hit and I'm done.”
Sophia and Yu-bin's breaths were thinner than before.
Same for me.
One more clash, and one side would end for good.
Then.
Kuuuung—!!!
From below our feet, beyond Seolga.
A massive vibration from deep underground shook the entire ridge.
“What… again?”
Suffocating pressure slowly crawled up from underground.
A foreign pulse even making the lord here glance back briefly.
Raes's pupils shook faintly.
His gaze turned—deep into Seolga, toward the eternal frost's ice palace.
“…Ha.”
A short laugh escaped.
“Now it's clear. This fight… isn't just our little party.”
He glared down at us once more.
And slightly withdrew his sword.
“No way—you're not thinking of fleeing?”
Yu-bin gritted her teeth.
Raes sneered.
“Cowardice and tactics differ, human. I am the Lord of Comparison. This battlefield's victor is already compared thoroughly.
Azator lost to humans, and the remaining two lords… no further need anyway.”
He wrapped pitch-black mana around himself once more.
Mana rippled, distorting surrounding space.
“Today's bout ends here, humans.”
“……”
“But don't forget. Next time we meet, I won't repeat this comparison.
Then… I'll strip everything from you, showing comparison's end where only I remain.”
With those words—
Kwak.
Space tore like fabric, a pitch-black crimson rift opening.
Raes stepped one foot in.
“Wait…!”
I instinctively reached out, but too late.
His final glance down at us lingered.
The next moment, the rift closed.
At least here, the Lord of Comparison Raes Belkuel had fully withdrawn.
“…Huu.”
Strength drained; I dropped to one knee.
Sophia slumped beside me, Yu-bin panting far rougher than usual.
“We… survived.”
Sophia smiled.
Blood smeared her lips.
“Not yet.”
I stood shakily on trembling legs.
The underground vibrations grew larger.
A pulse utterly unlike the eternal frost's energy.
“Something's… wrong.”
Yu-bin sensed it too.
True to Seolga's ice-blooded heir, her body quivered at the rising underground aura.
“The ice palace is crying.”
“Meaning?”
We met each other's eyes.
“Yeah, the ice palace is gonna rampage.”