Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Episode 27. Apocalypse, The Ball Where Death Dances (2)
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"Before that."
Ri-hwa cut him off.
A subdued voice. A gaze that seemed to peer even deeper.
"There's something we need to address first."
"Go ahead."
"Young man, are you on humanity's side?"
The old woman spoke in a firm, restrained tone.
This was the question from a veteran who had endured three wars since the New Genesis.
He knew what kind of life she had lived. What values she held as a soldier. While taking a sip of liquor, he replied in a serious voice.
"Yes. I'm on humanity's side."
Only then did the old woman's stern expression soften.
She probably wasn't truly relieved at heart. As long as his identity and origins remained unclear, Ri-hwa would stay vigilant.
Still, their ideologies aligned, so there was no room for discord.
"Do you have data on the Melishia Ballroom?"
"Think I'd come without it?"
"Display it."
Minamoto silently expanded the hologram display. A precise map of the S+ grade dungeon, the Melishia Ballroom, floated in the air.
The Melishia Ballroom was a rare 'segmented' dungeon. It consisted of fields of a certain size, each connected to the next by rifts.
It was like moving from room to room, so English-speaking regions often called it a 'Room type' dungeon.
The map showed roughly 180 rooms. Even the smallest were the size of two or three soccer fields combined, and the largest rivaled Yeouido Island. It was enormous.
"We need to focus on three targets."
"Wei Lian, Izelle, Noah... right?"
"No. Wei Lian can be ignored."
"Why? Isn't he the main guy? Isn't the whole thing set up just to fatten him up?"
"That's true. But Wei Lian only gains power once the entire plan is in place. What we need to worry about while following the raid team is Izelle, Noah... and Melishia."
Melishia.
The boss of the dungeon 'Melishia Ballroom.'
At the same time, a monster possessing absurd magical power for an S+ grade dungeon boss—something Lair authorities didn't know about.
To put it in perspective, it was nearly thirty percent of an adult dragon core. Mana on the level of SS+ grades.
The cultists knew this and chose the Melishia Ballroom as their target.
"The boss room will become a living sanctuary, and Melishia a living altar."
"The sacrifices..."
"Yes. The cadets."
"These fucking bastards."
The curse slipped out through gritted teeth. Minamoto's mana flickered unstably. She was genuinely furious.
"So, what then? You want me and Ri-hwa to take Noah, she takes Izelle, and you handle Melishia?"
It was BM's question. He shook his head.
"You three need to handle Noah."
"What? So you're saying you'll face the dungeon boss and that crazy mad scientist alone?"
"No. I'm planning to take on all three: Noah included."
"What...?"
"Just buy me time so no casualties occur. In sequence, that's how it has to be."
"If it's Izelle Halifa—"
The old woman spoke up then.
"She's a girl who knows how to make puppets brilliantly. Soul Separation is tricky to counter, so she won't be easy to kill."
Soul Separation
This referred to skills and blessings that allowed body-swapping.
"That won't be a problem."
Yoo Ji-tae glanced at Bom.
"This one will handle it."
"Yes," Bom nodded.
"How?"
"I have a blessing that disrupts Soul Separation."
"Disrupts Soul Separation...? You have such an incredible blessing, miss?"
Minamoto looked shocked.
It was a lie. In truth, it was even more incredible. Bom had the power to correct things that defied providence.
She had neutralized Hasegawa's puppets with it before. Since Hasegawa's puppets were originally Izelle Halifa's creation, it would work the same way.
It was like using a bazooka to swat a mosquito.
"I might be able to help with that too. In catching Izelle Halifa, that is."
Ri-hwa clasped her wrinkled hands.
"Ah, didn't you fight that old hag once before?"
"I did. She was a real pain. Want to see it for yourself, young man?"
The old woman looked up at Yoo Ji-tae with clear eyes.
Then she pulled down the chest area of the red hood she wore.
Below her neck was a grotesque mechanical device.
"If need be, put this old body to use. I know how to stop the machinery—learned it the hard way."
Though she said it lightly, Yoo Ji-tae knew the truth.
The being that had burned her entire body during the East Asia Great War was Izelle Halifa.
There was a reason why Ri-hwa, who had been living in complete seclusion, had shown herself here.
"Understood."
But there was no reason to let emotions drag Ri-hwa into facing Izelle. They would decide slowly based on the situation.
Thud. BM set a vodka bottle on the table.
"Then the biggest problem... is Noah."
Everyone except Bom had lived through the East Asia Great War era.
They knew how strong and bizarre a cultist Noah was. Minamoto spoke up.
"You said you'd handle a calamity-grade yourself."
"Yes."
"You know what Noah was like during the Great War."
"I do."
The answer came too easily.
Minamoto scowled and displayed photos and videos on the screen.
Collapsed buildings and landmarks. Corpses of the dead. Survivor testimonies. 'My friend suddenly stabbed me with a knife... I, I had to... to survive...' An African superhuman youth burst into tears during an interview.
"5,423,775. 70,315,424. 51,130,271,230."
"..."
"Know what these numbers mean? Deaths from Noah's influence. Area covered by Noah's influence. Damage caused by Noah alone. Units are hectares and dollars."
"..."
"Not hearing this for the first time, right?"
"Of course. I know."
"Yet despite that massive damage, there's no info on Noah. Just that hundreds of superhumans in his domain suddenly went mad and attacked friends, comrades, families. So we classified Noah's ability as mental manipulation—"
Yoo Ji-tae waved his hand, cutting her off.
"Enough. No need for unnecessary explanations."
"...Unnecessary?"
"I know Noah's ability. I know how to kill Noah."
"What is it?"
"Noah isn't a mental manipulation superhuman. It's similar, but fundamentally different. Far more dangerous. Far more troublesome power."
"What is it?"
"Noah can become a god."
It was an absurd statement.
What was a god? What did it mean to become one? What powers did gods have? Did they have limits? It was an answer that left her unsure where to even start questioning.
So she skipped the preliminaries.
"How do you kill him?"
"Even if I told you, you couldn't understand. Even knowing the method, you couldn't replicate it."
"..."
Minamoto's cat-like eyes narrowed.
"What the hell... Fuck. With that attitude, how can I trust you?"
"Minamoto. Enough."
BM cut her off.
"Taking his side because he's an acquaintance?"
"Get a grip. If he walks away, who's gonna regret it?"
"...Me."
"Exactly. Go to a bank if you want trust."
Minamoto ground her teeth.
She wasn't stupid; she knew. This situation wasn't 'cooperation' from the start. Yoo Ji-tae was just 'helping' her. Mutually beneficial maybe, but she was the one who needed it.
"I apologize for my rashness."
"Fine. Watch your mouth. Before I rip your jaw off."
It was a habitual phrase, but something occurred to her, and she glanced at Bom.
She seemed to have been watching the whole time. Bom gave a little eye greeting.
Fortunately, no sign of shock.
"...Tch."
Minamoto had no lingering grudges. She brushed it off casually.
The meeting lasted about two hours. Minamoto, BM, and Ri-hwa fully grasped the situation and countermeasures.
"Aigoo, this old cripple's in for a rough time. Heh."
Ri-hwa chuckled. It was the only grumble from the meeting.
Anyone could die there. Yet not one of them feared death.
The meeting ended like that.
"I have a question."
The end of the 5th cycle.
In a dark building, Yoo Ji-tae and Noah faced each other.
The top floor of a building littered with corpses. Tentacles, fur, manes, claws, horns. The dead were all monsters in human skin.
He couldn't yet wield killing intent in physical form. In one hand, a level 5 artifact sword. In the other, a level 5 artifact mana gun.
"Why's a guy about to die so curious?"
Yoo Ji-tae's gaze was low. Noah, in a suit, lay sprawled on the floor, black blood oozing from his mouth and nose.
He had done that to him.
"Heh heh..."
Having finally killed a 'calamity-grade' he couldn't even touch through the 4th cycle, Yoo Ji-tae felt great anticipation for the first time in ages. Slaughtering Noah's minions had brought intense pleasure.
Now, it was time to place the final period.
"Child. Why did you start hunting cultists?"
Instead of answering, Yoo Ji-tae pulled the trigger.
Thud—.
Warping space, a dark blue beam shot out. It severed Noah's arm, pierced the rooftop wall, and flew hundreds of meters away in a clean pillar.
Yet Noah was laughing.
"Nothing you've lost to me."
Thud—.
This time, the other arm. Black blood and mana poured from Noah's body like a burst dam.
"Why get so excited? It almost makes you look like..."
Yoo Ji-tae shot the leg.
"...the victim."
The other leg.
Even reduced to a limbless torso, Noah kept laughing and talking. Despite his body dying by the second.
"You've suffered at the hands of me and the cultists... right?"
Click—
Finally, Yoo Ji-tae aimed at Noah's head.
"You've dreamed of killing us cultists for a long time."
"..."
"But sadly, you can't kill me."
"Think you'll live with a hole in your head?"
"Of course. This body survived dimensional storms. Even torn to shreds, I didn't die."
Originally, Noah was from another world.
Different from returners.
He wasn't human from Earth to begin with.
Thus, he had weapons unavailable on Earth.
And the abyss unreachable on Earth reached him.
"I am eternal. Immortal. Omniscient, omnipotent. Who dares kill me?"
Yoo Ji-tae pulled the trigger.
Thud—.
The shockwave shook space. The dark blue beam engulfed Noah's body, then blew away the upper floors of the high-rise.
Only then did Yoo Ji-tae sense something wrong. Despite slaying such a powerful cultist—clearly an 'enemy'—he felt no pleasure.
No thrill at all.
The next moment, the beam he fired began reversing.
He tried to dodge, but couldn't. His body moved on its own. Noah's vaporized head reformed in midair, and the mana bullet returned to his gun barrel.
"As long as your desperation doesn't surpass mine, you can't kill me here. This is my world—"
Was the world's time rewinding?
The 5th cycle Yoo Ji-tae couldn't easily comprehend what happened.
"Here, I am god."
It was absurd, incomprehensible.
But Noah's words were true.
He wielded god-like authority.
To kill Noah on Earth took hundreds of days of nonstop battle. Yet he couldn't due to a fundamental issue.
He changed his thinking. He planned to keep Noah away from the dragons. He succeeded in blasting away the entire Eurasian region, pushing Noah outside the rift.
A half-success.
So when the 5th cycle ended, seeing the world reduced to ash by adult dragons, the regressor made one resolve.
If he faced Noah next cycle, prepare in advance to kill him properly.
"..."
Fortunately, there was one method only Yoo Ji-tae could pull off in this world.
Even he, whose mind was already frayed, thought it quite mad. So as the 6th cycle began, opening his eyes on a gray city road amid skyscrapers, Yoo Ji-tae laughed hollowly.
Just before completing preparations for the grand deed.
He let out a deep sigh once more. Through repeated regressions, he'd done all sorts of insane things to kill cultists. Never dreamed it'd come to this.
But he had to do it.
It was his life.