Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Conclusion of the Star Seeking Light Once More
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Clang! Ka-clang—! Clang!!
The shockwaves from Choi Eun-ha's hammer clashing against Arkin Row's scythe caused the fortress pillars to vibrate wildly, kicking up clouds of dust.
Golden aura flowed from the hammerhead, tracing a circle as it swung. Black demonic energy unraveled like threads from the scythe's tip, slicing through that circle.
One side relied on weight and straight lines, the other on curves and openings.
The differences became clear with each head-on collision.
Choi Eun-ha advanced one step with every downward strike. Arkin Row twisted one inch closer into her guard with every glancing blow.
"Like that human just now, you refuse to yield as well. Why? Is there something worth dying to protect?"
"There is. I owe a ridiculously expensive life debt, you know? And to someone way weaker than me."
She spun the hammer briefly to brace her wrist, then slid her toes forward, diving into Arkin Row's side with a lateral strike.
She pressed down on the incoming scythe at waist height with her hammer shaft, deflecting its path, then slammed her shoulder into him like a battering ram.
From a distance close enough to feel each other's breath, Choi Eun-ha swung her hammer once more.
Boom—!
Yet even as he was pushed back, he split the lingering afterimage of the phantom scythe into three strands, erasing that brief opening in an instant.
Shallow, soundless wounds in the air grazed her skin.
Blades as light as feathers, but sharp enough to eventually sever a throat if they accumulated.
But against such a threatening assault, Choi Eun-ha chose rotation over retreat.
Pivoting on one foot, she coiled her body half a turn, hiding the hammerhead behind her back before snapping it down vertically onto Arkin Row's crown from above.
Kwachik!
Arkin Row deflected the attack more easily than expected by angling his scythe, but
the impact cratered the floor, golden cracks spiderwebbing outward.
Even the deflection twisted his wrist with a creak.
He furrowed his brow and drew another formless scythe from the shadows.
The two shadow scythes crossed like scissors, plunging toward her flanks.
Slice—! Swish—!
"Kuhk!!"
Her clothes tore, blood spurting from her arms.
Blades too fast to track with the eyes shredded her body.
But Choi Eun-ha clenched her teeth, gripped the hammer shaft short for ultra-close range, endured the strikes, and clung to Arkin Row.
At scythe range, it had the clear advantage over her hammer, but up close, its swing arc was restricted.
She exploited that gap, hooking the hammer around the scythe's neck to twist its angle, then kicked his shin to collapse the distance.
"Annoying. Stay back, human."
"No thanks?"
She took a short breath and synchronized her aura with her heartbeat.
Thump—, thump—.
As the beats grew stronger, the golden light intensified, and the ground jolted with every leap.
Arkin Row lowered his stance and swept a wide arc with his scythe.
The air was sliced, crescent blades flying forth.
Choi Eun-ha didn't watch them with her eyes but felt them through the tremors in her arms, parrying half a beat late but precisely.
Clang! Ka-clang—!!
"Kuh..."
Arkin Row's shoulders heaved.
At the center of his chest, the hole left by Kang Hyun-sol's 3rd-circle holy magic, Spark of Divine Rekindling, still gaped, panting open.
Blood-black demonic energy tried to seal the wound, only to tear apart upon touching the golden aura.
"Damn... this embers should not—"
"Embers can still ignite if you don't stamp them out properly."
She bent at the waist, tensed her grip, and unleashed a triple strike.
High—mid—low, then braced once more.
The moment scythe and hammer clashed in midair again, the battlefield fell briefly silent.
Whoever yielded first. Whoever slipped first. Whoever faltered first.
Arkin Row frowned first.
He tried to shake off the locked weight and activated the phantom scythe once more.
This time, not head-on—from beneath his feet, dozens of scythes erupted upward.
A whirlwind of severing blades climbing ankle—knee—thigh.
"Like hell!!!"
Choi Eun-ha's movements faltered momentarily.
"It's over."
The scythe blades whirled in the air, surging toward her neck.
Just as dozens of scythes seemed poised to rip her throat,
the golden aura shining on the hammerhead condensed to a point, and the tendons in her wrist bulged.
"—Endure."
Instead of retreating, she advanced two steps.
The scythe grazed her jaw, blood spurting.
But those two steps created distance.
And distance forms trajectory.
The hammer prepared to fall.
Arkin Row realized it.
Shadows bloomed like flowers, scythes multiplying in layers.
"Step in and die."
"Then—"
Choi Eun-ha inhaled deeply.
"—I'll smash through."
Aura spiraled from her entire body, tracing a helix.
Unique patterns emerged one by one on the hammerhead, encircled by golden light.
Golden Wheel Hammer · Falling Star Descent
[Ultimate Skill]
In an instant, the entire battlefield bleached white.
Kwaaaaaang—!!!!
The central hall's dome shattered to pieces, debris and demonic energy erupting outward.
Arkin Row's layered scythes crumbled to powder.
Chained trajectories snapped, burned, and extinguished upon touching the golden aura.
The golden weight crushed his shoulder, plunging into the hole in his chest.
The shockwave of Falling Star Descent radiated outward, toppling the fortress's stone pillars simultaneously.
In the vortex of dust, light, and black shards, the hammerhead finally smashed the ground to a halt.
Arkin Row's body twisted grotesquely before he collapsed to his knees.
The scythe slipped from his hand, clinking— as it rolled across the floor.
His chest wound glowed red like a star-scorched brand, then golden cracks spread from within.
"...This, weight... what in the world—"
Before his words finished, the golden aura exploded outward from within his body.
Fwoom—!
His back split open, shadows fluttering skyward like birds before scattering.
The last sight in his eyes was a human woman standing with a golden halo at her back, not yielding an inch.
"To fall so easily... Had I known, I should have refused that one's command...."
"Die already."
Choi Eun-ha panted as she raised her hammer.
And struck once more, quietly.
Thud.
Arkin Row's body toppled limply to the side.
A moment of silence.
Dust rained down.
She caught her breath raggedly with her shoulders, then turned her gaze to Kang Hyun-sol, collapsed at a distance.
He still clung faintly to consciousness.
His heart beat slowly but surely.
"Thanks to you, we won. You did great."
Choi Eun-ha carefully scooped up his limp form and stepped toward the new gate that had appeared at the fortress's heart.
'Where... is this?'
I clutched my throbbing head and rose.
My last memory was landing a massive blow on Arkin Row before blacking out completely.
After a moment of disorientation, I surveyed my surroundings to grasp the situation.
The first things I noticed were the fishy smell and the saltiness.
The ground was wet.
Rain-soaked asphalt, weeds poking through cracks, shards of broken glass.
"...Where the hell—"
Raising my gaze, a rust-eaten, reddish-brown sign came into view.
Faded white letters remained.
Wolmido Culture to Chinatown Entrance → Incheon Port Dock 1
My heart skipped a beat.
Incheon.
No way... this is Incheon?
I slowly scanned the area.
Peeling red street tree guards, a weathered sign reading 'Shinpo-ro', a 'Toward Dock 1' sign creaking in the wind.
An overturned city bus sat in the road's center, windows shattered.
Faded route numbers clung to its side.
Incheon Station, Dongincheon, Wolmido.
And then.
The world shook as if flipping once more.
People began running in unison toward one direction.
Screams, metal tearing, concrete crumbling—thunderous roars overlapped from somewhere.
I whipped my head around reflexively.
The scene changed.
No, time changed.
The same road, same signs.
But the sky was blackish-red.
"Hyun-sol—! This way! Over here!!"
A woman's voice.
I froze.
At the alley's end.
A slender-shouldered woman clutched a young boy as she ran.
The child was barely ten, knees scraped and crusted with dried blood.
The man following had thick forearms.
One hand gripped a rusty metal pipe, the other pushed his wife's back.
"Dad... scary... I'm scared...."
"It's okay, Hyun-sol. Mom and Dad are here. Just a bit more—just a little further and the rescue team will—"
In that instant, an enormous black shadow appeared on the road.
Black scales writhed as if inverted, and two long, thin fingers extended into the air.
Then its eyes opened.
A chill raced down my spine.
The man reflexively raised the pipe.
"Run—!"
The woman hugged the child tighter and turned.
In that moment, a tentacle-like blade descended silently from the air.
I shouted.
"Ah...."
Sound came from my mouth, but it didn't reach the people of this time.
Only then did I realize what was happening.
The past. Ten years ago, the day of the first Apostle Descent.
That boy called Hyun-sol was probably the original owner of this body, and the two protecting him were his parents.
"Ah... don't... please... please—!"
The woman shielded the child, turning her back to it.
The first slash tore off the man's shoulder.
The second ripped the woman's back and arm together.
Blood scattered like flowers in the air.
"Mom—!!"
The child wailed.
Her arms slackened, but she never let go of the boy in her embrace.
The marks her fingertips gouged into the asphalt stood out vividly.
Traces of holding on to the end.
The man staggered up and swung the pipe again.
The unidentified entity narrowed its eyes in amusement, continuing the assault.
The entity spoke.
Not words, but noise carrying clear meaning.
"Weep. Scream. Delight me with the sound of your roots tearing. I am Rakmael, the god who feeds on despair."
With its voice came the sound of the man's chest hollowing out.
Flesh ruptured after.
"Dad!!!!"
The child's scream tore the sky.
That scream lingered identically in the depths of my memories.
Thanks to it, I remembered.
I was there then.
The Republic of Korea's... worst incident in hundreds of years, the third Apostle Descent with the highest casualties in history.
Rescue sirens approached.
Armored vehicles' white lights sliced through the alley as they charged.
Rescuers with riot shields burst in, firing smoke grenades and dragging the child away.
"Don't let go! This way! Kid first!"
"Dad! Mom!! No— no!!!"
The child flailed his legs, pounding the rescuer's arm futilely.
With the powerless fists of one who couldn't give up.
Beyond the smoke, the eyes in the air gazed down at me, the child, one last time.
The moment our gazes met, my stomach churned violently.
As if I might vomit right then.
Back then, I—ten-year-old me—screamed exactly there.
"I'll kill you—!! With my own hands no matter what!! No matter the cost!!!"
The scene tore apart again.
Sounds cut off.
Darkness.
And deep slumber flipped once more, ejecting me from the dream.
"I'll definitely kill you!!!"
My breath caught, torso heaving.
I screamed, hands groping the floor.
Something soft met my touch.
Breath returned.
My heart began beating again.
But that name lingered on my tongue.
Slowly, very slowly, I uttered it.
Ten years ago, the lord who ruined my life under Incheon's red sky.
"...Lord, the god who feeds on despair, Rakmael."
I ground my teeth.
My throat cracked, blood mixing in.