Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Episode 27. Apocalypse, The Ball Where Death Dances (5)
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If Prototype X hadn't been removed. If Morning Star had been able to link the demonkins' minds together. Wei Lian's situation would have been immediately relayed to Noah and Izel Halifa.
But since that hadn't happened, Wei Lian placed his hand on the special communication artifact at his waist.
But his waist was empty.
"Looking for this?"
The regressor held up a long stone tablet.
Hatred and despair surfaced on Wei Lian's face simultaneously. It was the only equipment that allowed communication with entities outside the room in a partitioned dungeon, so Wei Lian fully grasped his predicament.
"......"
He gripped the curved sword and approached Wei Lian.
The bastard was breathing raggedly and laboriously. His organs had all burst from the massive impact. The demonkin barely lifted his trembling head to glare at Yoo Ji-tae.
But his remaining eye was unfocused.
"Why... why the fuck... why are you doing this."
A voice as if squeezing out his last drops of life.
"......"
"When did I ever wrong you, you fucking bastard."
Yoo Ji-tae approached him and thrust the curved sword into the ground.
"What do you think this is about?"
"......You must have some grudge against me. Right? If it's you, Yoo, that girl I kidnapped for new drug development back then was a Yoo... was it her? Because of her?"
"Wrong."
Wei Lian looked at Yoo Ji-tae with lifeless eyes.
"I have no grudge against you."
"What...? You crazy bastard......"
If it were long ago, maybe there had been one. But now, no emotion worthy of being called a grudge remained.
There had been a moment in the 7th round when he'd been annoyed because of Wei Lian. But in the end, he hadn't suffered any losses.
There was no reason to feel vengeful or resentful.
"Want me to be honest?"
"......"
"I have goals. You're in the way. So I'm going to kill you."
"......Fuck, what bullshit... You call yourself human after that?"
Yoo Ji-tae smiled faintly.
For the first time in a very long while, he felt a trivial doubt.
"If there was a human somewhere who could ruin your plans. And that future was certain to unfold, what would you do?"
"I'd rip out their guts and strangle them...... But you're not human, are you...?"
"What even is that 'human'?"
"......"
"They're obstacles. Conversations don't work. Even shoving a knife in their face, they stubbornly resist. That's pretty much how you lot are. Pathetic. Miserable. Spouting endless tedious crap."
"......"
"Even a day or two is annoying enough, but I had circumstances forcing me to put up with you for quite a while. So what choice did I have?"
Looking back, he'd killed plenty of innocent humans too. Reasons varied. In the way. Annoying. By mistake. And so on... If actions defined a person, then he wasn't human.
And Yoo Ji-tae didn't deny it.
"Huh?"
"......"
"What should I have done?"
The man trapped in time didn't try to define himself.
He'd just done whatever it took to survive.
"......Cough."
Understanding the meaning in the regressor's words as a demonkin, Wei Lian went blank. He stared into Yoo Ji-tae's eyes, then chuckled, coughing up blood.
His breathing shallow, his laughter came in short, staccato bursts.
Soon, the laughter and breaths ceased. Wei Lian began to assess the situation. Yoo Ji-tae. The communication artifact in Yoo Ji-tae's hand. The direction of the Azure Dragon House tents far away. And the interior of the partitioned dungeon covered by subspace barriers. And something moving away beyond it.
"Everything's fucked...... Cough......"
Soon, having resolved himself, Wei Lian spoke in a calm voice.
"The heart......"
Realizing his grand plan had failed,
"My bones are tough, so you'll need to stab properly."
Wei Lian abandoned himself without regret.
"How old are you, miss?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty?"
Before the dungeon entrance closed.
Riding psychokinesis across the empty air of the 'room', Rihwa spoke to Bom.
"You're so pretty. In all my years, I've never seen a girl as lovely as you."
"Thank you."
"Your voice rolls like glass beads...... You'll be loved a lot."
Bom smiled.
Due to the battle formation changing arbitrarily, Rihwa had to go block Izel Halifa.
Izel had left first. She was probably riding her puppet toward the boss room via another room.
So to intercept Izel, they needed to move a bit faster.
An unfamiliar dimension. Without coordinates mapped in her mind, even the Green Dragon couldn't teleport inside the dungeon.
While flying comfortably via psychokinesis, Bom suddenly went blank-faced for a moment.
Bom snapped out of it and looked at the old woman.
Something was off. It didn't match what she'd read with Providence.
So Bom decided to ask.
"Granny."
"Hm?"
"...If it's rude, you don't have to answer."
"I'll do that. Ask away."
"What happened between you and Izel Halifa?"
Rihwa smiled at Bom. Wrinkles deeply etched around her eyes from years lived.
"Back in my day...... I was like you, miss. Such a pretty girl."
"Really?"
"Kidding. Not as pretty as you. If I were, I wouldn't have become a superhuman—I'd have been an idol."
"Hehe......"
"Still, I was quite popular. All the neighborhood boys would peek around our house just to catch a glimpse of my face."
"Ah."
"Back then, I was so stingy about showing myself. Thought it'd wear out or something. Acted all high and mighty."
"......"
"There was this persistent guy courting me. Short. Ugly. He'd come to the nearby park alone every day, and if I even went to the convenience store, he'd bow from afar, too scared to approach."
"...Lovable?"
"Exactly. Didn't sit right with me. I liked confident older guys."
"Aigoo......"
"Am I being too sappy?"
"No? It's fun."
If anyone saw, they'd be shocked. Rihwa rarely talked about herself. Even members of the Cheonyeon Association close to her knew little of her past.
"Hehe, a kind heart too—that's cheating......"
Yet Rihwa felt an astonishing comfort from this mysterious girl.
"Then one day, he mustered courage, approached, and handed me a little note. Had a letter and his photo inside."
Rihwa rummaged at her waist and pulled out a small notebook. Leather faded, whitened in spots.
Inside was a faded Polaroid of a man.
"Who uses Polaroids back then...... Weird kid. Plain face. No good family. Short. Not even Taiwanese like us. Translation artifacts were expensive. His Korean was halting. Never dreamed I'd marry him."
"Oh my?"
"Yup. Somehow dated, somehow had a kid. Regret it now. Should've met someone better! Or whatever."
Hehehe. The old woman laughed as if joking.
"Or stayed single...... When I got pregnant, who knew he'd die."
"......"
"Izel Halifa's unit. I had just awakened, and Izel was just some nobody demonkin."
"......"
"But so scary...... I tried hiding in the wardrobe, but my belly was huge—couldn't with my husband. So he hid me inside and locked it from outside."
Like reminiscing, Rihwa's gaze drifted far.
"But that vicious bitch finished up and set the apartment on fire. So hot. Thought we were done for."
Hehe, the old woman laughed.
"My body's all mottled and ugly, right? Told people it was burns from the East Asia Great War. Truth is different. From way younger."
"......"
"Tech can remove burns now. But I kept them. Didn't want to erase memories. Every morning in the mirror, I think about it. And wait."
"......"
"Even in the Great War, after it ended, retired and searched with fire in my eyes—but no luck. ...Guess this day finally came."
Bom sadly grasped the old woman's hand.
The old woman's gaze pierced the subspace barrier to somewhere beyond.
"Today must be the day I finally kill that bitch......"
"......"
Room 67 was the shortest path from Room 39, where Noah would be.
This room was filled with dry soil and rocks, like a wasteland. BM arrived first and waited for Noah.
"......"
Chronic alcoholic BM craved booze. He'd promised colleagues sobriety at the hideout but issued empty checks. After 15 hours sober, his fingertips trembled.
Still, he endured.
"Hey, Noah's here."
Because the enemy was right in front of him.
His voice transmitted via walkie-talkie artifact to Minamoto heading to the boss room, Izel Halifa, Rihwa and Bom tracking them, and Yoo Ji-tae.
"What're you doing? Standing there like an idiot."
He'd looked like an ordinary young man earlier, but now he'd ditched the human disguise. The neat, stylish suit didn't fit the dungeon. A refined middle-aged gentleman faced him.
"You're busy. Go on through."
BM continued.
"Don't think you'll let me pass easily."
"Yeah. Didn't plan to seek you out and fight. But now, can't avoid it."
"You're that BM?"
"Yeah."
"Heard the name before."
"Honor."
"They say under heaven there's Oscar Blanc, and under him, you."
That old man's name wasn't one he wanted to hear. As BM grumbled inwardly.
"Sleep well last night?"
Noah said something out of left field.
"Sleep?"
"Humans sleep and dream."
"......"
"What dreams did you have?"
BM's head tilted crookedly.
He pushed up his sunglasses and scratched his ear.
"What bullshit."
"A being's thoughts project into the unconscious, manifesting as dreams during sleep."
"So?"
"Wonder what flavor your 'under heaven' dream has."
"...Crazy bastard."
Despite his casual retorts, BM tensed.
During the Great War, Noah-related incidents mostly happened at night.
Dreams. Mostly occur while humans sleep.
Yoo Ji-tae had said this man 'could become a god.' But skipped details. Probably had reasons.
Still, 'could become' meant not yet.
If just demonkin, no need to overthink.
"Cut the crap. Let's fight."
Shedding (S)
BM's body began to change.
Like demonkins drawing out their true forms.
BM began extracting the 13 chimeras within him.
Winged Dragon Wings (AA)
Bone-spined wings emerged,
Ahiria's Curse (AA+)
Baron Ahiria's demon arms on both arms,
Sky Horn (AA-)
Five horns sprouted from his forehead.
Plus, a massive tail from his waist. Skin covered in armor-like hide.
Operating all 13 chimeras, mana erupted from BM's body, enough to shake the entire massive room.
"Unique...... Not local chimeras."
Noah, from another world, recognized them.
"Details later. Like you said, short on time."
Gray energy extended from Noah's body. It began dyeing the world, soon covering the entire room.
Then Noah reached out. Subspace tore in the air, a sword descending into his hand.
In the world blanketed monochrome, his sword alone held color.
'Dream-Eating Sword'
A level 4 artifact. Treated as a national tactical weapon.
"Today, you'll have nightmares."
As Noah moved.
"......!"
Sensing something, Noah's eyes widened.
Instantly, color returned to the monochrome world, vanishing like black smoke.
"...What?"
Scowling Noah ignored BM. He touched his ear, radioing someone.
"Wei Lian, find Wei Lian. Hurry—!"
Noah's bellow echoed across the wasteland.
Demonkins waiting in nearby dungeons rushed to Room 39. Long sewer-like dungeon. Heading to the tent cluster, they found Azure Dragon House cadets passed out.
"......!"
All had long been mentally eroded by Wei Lian's magic.
If all cadets were unconscious?
"Fuck...!"
Cursing, the demonkins searched for Wei Lian. His demonic energy still lingered nearby. He had to be close.
Where? Who? Wei Lian had to live. The entire grand plan was for him.
When they found him, they could only freeze stiff.
"Th-this......"
"Fuck......"
Subspace walls blocking Room 39 everywhere.
High up, in the center of the invisible wall, as if floating mid-air.
The curved sword pierced Wei Lian's chest, embedded in the subspace wall.
"......"
Seeing black blood trailed down the wall, the demonkins were speechless.
Wei Lian was dead.