Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: The Next Stage of the Avatar
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"Av...atar...?"
A slurred speech, a gruesome voice.
It sounded like multiple voices merged into one.
Male-like, female-like, child-like, and elderly all at once.
Lee Hyuk-soo stared intently at the man called Balzac, his body tense.
Jet-black eyes.
His face was covered in surgical scars.
Ripped and stitched wounds bulged unevenly across his entire face.
Though hidden by his cloak, his neck was also full of scars, as if someone had hacked him apart.
It was grotesque enough to make anyone grimace instinctively.
Yet he made no effort to hide it.
"Wa...ter...? Av...atar...?"
Thump! Thump!
Lee Hyuk-soo's heart pounded wildly.
A warning from his instincts.
Run away.
Balzac—that guy is a monster!
Every cell in his body screamed.
This wasn't just about raw power.
It was an utterly alien presence, something that shouldn't exist in this world.
'...Is that even human?'
It had a human form, but it wasn't human.
It couldn't be called human.
A cloned doppelganger, perhaps?
No, it was far from that.
...What should he call it?
Fused.
A 'chimera' born from ominous things merged into one.
Above all, looking at that face, patches of skin forcibly transplanted from others looked awkward and mismatched.
Human. Not human.
A composite, grotesque abomination completed by forcibly linking countless beings...
'Chimera.'
Like the 'chimera' from Greek mythology—a single entity possessing traits from numerous genetic sources.
Grind!
Lee Hyuk-soo clenched his teeth hard.
His feet wouldn't move easily.
The moment he heard Balzac's voice, his entire body went limp as if paralyzed.
That was when it happened.
"You're... not an... avatar."
Balzac said with emphasis.
Lee Hyuk-soo was not an avatar.
The surrounding avatars erupted in chaos.
"What?"
"He's not an avatar?"
"Ah~ I was really looking forward to it."
"The Savior Lee Hyuk-soo is actually an avatar! How fun would that have been!"
"But how did he even know about this place if he's not an avatar?"
This place, the Abyss of 'Earth 666', was only accessible to creators.
Creators sent their contracted avatars to enter the Colosseum.
Even stumbling upon it while climbing Bukhansan wouldn't grant entry due to restrictions.
At the same time, the avatars snickered.
"Anyway, whatever. Should we kill him?"
"He was already a thorn in our side. That bastard's been hunting avatars lately, right?"
"He's seen our faces, so we have to kill him."
"If that jerk posts our faces or names on the 'Abyss Safety Division', we're screwed."
"Ah, they have a kill list or something?"
They were all avatars.
Lee Hyuk-soo had seen all their faces.
They couldn't let him go back alive.
If Lee Hyuk-soo survived and reported this to the 'Abyss Safety Division', or if he personally launched an 'avatar hunt', they could die at any moment.
The 'Abyss Safety Division' was aware of the threat posed by avatars.
They just turned a blind eye on the surface.
Because they lacked the manpower to stop them.
However, the avatars knew.
That the Abyss Safety Division was secretly compiling lists like 'Avatar Roster' and 'Super-Awakeners'.
There were already several avatars embedded within the Abyss Safety Division.
Thus, avatars called the 'Avatar Roster' the 'Kill List'.
Because they were certain the Abyss Safety Division would eventually hunt down those listed.
So.
"Kill him!"
"Don't even think about going back alive!"
"It's Savior hunting time!"
...Crazy bastards.
Avatars' thought processes were definitely not those of normal people.
They were missing a few screws.
He'd encountered quite a few avatars lately, but these gathered here were the worst of them.
Above all, the content of their conversation was quite shocking.
'Do avatars have their own network?'
Avatars were communicating.
Weren't they the type to avoid revealing their identities at all costs?
...But that prejudice had been shattered long ago.
Over a hundred avatars had banded together to occupy Bukhansan.
This wasn't a unique phenomenon here.
Avatars were uniting.
Forming factions.
If they kept growing in numbers and became uncontrollable...
Grind!
Lee Hyuk-soo clenched his teeth hard.
Sensation was slowly returning to his immobile body.
'Shadow Asphyxiation.'
Whoosh!
Black mist spread from Lee Hyuk-soo's sword.
A shadow fog that asphyxiated and killed all living things it touched.
"Gah! Cough!"
"What the—where'd he go?!"
Lee Hyuk-soo hid his body within it.
But the small fry avatars weren't his target.
'That one is especially too dangerous.'
...Balzac.
He had to kill him.
Leaving him alive would breed enormous disaster.
It looked as if a massive monster had clawed across one side of Bukhansan.
Lush trees lay toppled everywhere, scattered in disarray from being slashed.
Amid them, body parts of former avatars littered the ground here and there.
"Fuck, what the hell..."
"Monster bastard. Ptui!"
"Did we lose him?"
The remaining avatars scowled.
The clash had lasted only about ten minutes, but over thirty avatars had died in that time.
"As expected of the Savior."
"His reputation isn't empty."
"Ah, my finger!"
The surviving avatars shook their heads.
If the battle had continued, most of them might have died.
The reason Lee Hyuk-soo couldn't press the fight was entirely thanks to one man.
"Lord Balzac! As expected, incredible!"
"Handling that Lee Hyuk-soo like a child, wow!"
"The champion spot is as good as yours!"
As if they'd never scowled, smiles bloomed on the avatars' faces.
Balzac.
He had reduced Lee Hyuk-soo to a wretched state.
Balzac spoke with an expressionless face.
"Hun...gry."
"Ah!"
"Sorry, Lord Balzac!"
"Come on, gather the corpses!"
"'Mealtime'!"
The avatars began piling the scattered corpses in front of Balzac.
This was Earth, not the Abyss.
The dead left bodies behind.
Soon, the corpses piled up like a mountain.
Flutter!
Suddenly, the cloak covering Balzac's body billowed.
From within, countless 'tentacles' emerged.
As the tentacles poured out and latched onto the bodies.
Squelch! Squelch!
They sank teeth in and absorbed bodily fluids.
The drained body parts withered black and soon turned to dust, scattering around.
After about thirty minutes, the pile was cleanly disposed of.
"More... needed. Offerings."
Balzac said.
He needed offerings.
More corpses to become champion.
"Cough!"
Descending Bukhansan, Lee Hyuk-soo vomited a mouthful of blood.
Black blood staining the ground.
He struggled to steady his reeling mind.
'Not human.'
It was impossible.
A non-human existing outside the Abyss?
A monster straight out of the Abyss operating openly on Earth.
Questions abounded, but one thing was certain.
'Can't kill it.'
It was an immortal being that couldn't be killed.
That monstrous regenerative ability...
He'd slashed and tried to asphyxiate it with 'Shadow Asphyxiation', but it regenerated in an instant.
And that wasn't all.
'Attacking it rebounds the same damage to me.'
That's why.
The reason Lee Hyuk-soo had to flee.
The damage mirrored back like a curse.
On top of that, its instantaneous regeneration made it a natural counter to a warrior type like Lee Hyuk-soo.
Couldn't kill it head-on.
Unless he had a powerful spell that could pulverize its entire body in one go...
Even then, he couldn't be 100% sure it would die.
'Where did a guy like that come from?'
An avatar.
Turned monster through contract with a creator.
In other words.
That form was crafted by its 'creator'.
...For what purpose?
What was in Bukhansan?
He didn't know, but leaving it be threatened the nation's very existence.
Avatars were humanity's cancer.
No need to elaborate further if freaks like that were emerging.
As the prophet said, they all needed to be exterminated.
'Can't do it alone.'
Lee Hyuk-soo took a deep breath.
This incident was too big for one person.
...He'd have to join forces with the 'Abyss Safety Division'.
They probably needed a full-scale 'avatar purge' too.
Over the past few days.
Park Chan-woo had achieved five more consecutive wins.
But he couldn't just be happy about it.
'The number of avatars entering has drastically decreased.'
Things had changed.
The number of avatars entering the Colosseum lately had noticeably dropped.
There was only one plausible explanation.
'Someone's controlling Bukhansan.'
Who?
For what purpose?
No single individual could control it, so a faction was involved.
Regular awakeners didn't even know there was an Abyss on Bukhansan, so the culprits had to be avatars.
'Meaning avatars are forming factions.'
The picture was coming together.
Faster than expected.
In the past, avatars only factionalized after the interspecies war.
After the strong ones were mostly wiped out, avatars began to rise.
Yet here they were, factionalizing and occupying Bukhansan after just a couple of months.
This Abyss, created by him and Adora, had likely acted as a catalyst.
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
Maybe he should check out Bukhansan himself.
Swoosh!
In that instant.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Suddenly, entrants flooded into the Colosseum like a tidal wave.
At least 150 of them.
The incoming avatars sneered at him the moment they saw him.
"Hey, champion! Let's have a go!"
"We brought tons of gifts just for you!"
"Heh heh!"
This group looked worse off than other avatars.
They were probably the ones occupying Bukhansan and blocking other avatars from entering.
But soon, Park Chan-woo had to tilt his head.
Swoosh!
...An incredibly 'peculiar presence' made itself felt.
His gaze shifted to the last entrant, the one they called 'Balzac'.
At the same time.
Ding!
Innumerable challenge requests.
This was one of the Colosseum's systems.
Anyone had the right to challenge the champion.
However, all challengers against him had died.
Even avatars valued their lives.
Overwhelming skill gap.
Not many avatars would stake their lives on certain death.
Yet these 150-odd avatars were disregarding their own lives.
'Brainwashed.'
Park Chan-woo eyed Balzac steadily.
That was the one.
The existence that had brainwashed them all, erasing the emotion of fear.
...Strange.
Human, yet not human.
Park Chan-woo knew what it was.
He couldn't help but frown.
'A half-human half-demon has already appeared?'
The next stage after a regular avatar.
Half human, half demon.
...It seemed one of the powerful creators was seriously gunning for the champion position.