Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: The White Duke's Magic
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As time passed and the battle dragged on...
The synchronization rate climbed steeply.
Mana consumption decreased, but in its place, Park Chan-woo's mind began to merge with the summon's—becoming one.
However, as a side effect, he was suffering from intense 'mental corruption'.
Mental corruption.
Just as the name implied: being tainted by the summon's psyche.
All the summons called forth by a summoner were inhuman entities born from the Abyss.
By nature, beings that had lived or existed in the Abyss differed from humans in every conceivable way.
The problem was that to forcibly control a summon, the summoner had to delve into the realm of the mind to exert dominance.
—Become one.
Azos faithfully obeyed his summoner's command.
He released all control over himself and accepted Park Chan-woo's mind.
Reaching each other's depths, they replicated one another's techniques with perfect fidelity.
Park Chan-woo's swordsmanship.
His prowess as a warrior.
Even his noble, pure spirit—he inherited it all.
—My lord's skills surpass my own.
Azos was awestruck.
He had originally been a warrior of Valhalla.
Though specialized in war and combat, with mastery over the art of killing, his knowledge of martial techniques stood out even among warriors.
Yet Park Chan-woo's swordsmanship was even more systematic.
It was swordplay honed relentlessly to allow the weak to triumph over the strong.
Forged without surrender, filling every gap, advancing ceaselessly.
He possessed no special gifts or talents, overcoming them through sheer effort.
He was a sword itself—constantly clashing, wearing down, sharpened to a lethal edge and discarded.
Thus...
—I learn. My lord's techniques, my lord's spirit.
Azos was deeply moved.
Carving his own path and walking it.
Not a mere shortcut, but a way uniquely tailored for survival.
Azos yearned to be further inspired by his mind, his soul.
They became one.
Park Chan-woo's and Azos's minds intertwined inseparably.
Their psyches soon reached the domain of the soul.
Unique mana patterns quivered finely, merging ever thicker.
Mana consumption vanished entirely.
For the summon and summoner had become wholly unified.
Transcending mere summoning, they achieved perfect oneness.
All thoughts, all wills, all actions as one.
Deeper still, they touched the abyss, the profound depths.
—You wish to become one with me? Foolish.
Then 'Charpam' awoke.
The colossal entity of negativity, which could only awaken by switching control, opened its eyes.
Becoming one.
Assimilating.
Charpam knew full well what that entailed.
It was a level of corruption no human could endure.
No matter that Park Chan-woo bore the 'Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God'—mind and soul had their limits.
Azos, reborn through magic as a loyal servant from the start, might feel no resistance.
But Charpam was different.
—I've already repaid your kindness. Didn't I kill Khan for you?
He had repaid the grace of being drawn from the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.
Without him, Park Chan-woo could never have slain 'Conqueror Khan'.
Of course, he'd sensed it before, but to think he'd be this foolish.
Unification leading to 'mental corruption' was beyond Charpam’s control.
Even if Charpam yielded, the moment of deep connection would corrupt Park Chan-woo with his soul, transforming him into something else entirely.
—Stop.
Charpam rejected the mental assimilation.
He didn't enjoy the sensation of mingling with another.
Besides, if Park Chan-woo's mind became corrupted, who knew what entity would emerge.
Charpam was born at the boundary of dimensions.
The Great Harm Beast, White Duke.
It would likely become something between Azos, reborn as a shadow of dimensions, and Charpam, who wandered the dimensional borders.
In other words...
—You'd become a demon. You fool.
Nothing existed in between but the demons of the Abyss.
The thick shadows of the Abyss.
The ravenous beasts prowling it.
—Why won't you give up? It's just one defeat, isn't it?
Charpam couldn't comprehend Park Chan-woo's driving principle.
A loss in this Abyss hardly counted as his true defeat.
Merely losing the 'Champion' title.
He could reclaim it later, stronger than before.
Yet Park Chan-woo refused to yield.
He tolerated not a single defeat.
Why?
It wasn't death, nor even his own personal loss.
Just operating through a borrowed summon's body!
—I said stop, you fool!
It's coming. The minds are blending.
Utterly repulsive, uncomfortable, infuriating.
No being had ever dared intrude upon his psyche before.
Not even 'that one' who sealed him in the Demon-Sealing God, nor the God itself, could touch Charpam's mind.
Yet this madman was attempting it through Azos as a conduit.
Was he insane?
He surely knew the catastrophe of mental corruption.
How could a mage stake his mind and soul to escape a single defeat?
At the same time, the White Duke Charpam realized.
As Park Chan-woo's mind seeped in bit by bit, he understood why.
—You refuse to retreat any further? You hate it that much? Defeat? Looking back?
It was simple, unyielding resolve.
Unyielding, unbreaking, forging ahead stubbornly.
Park Chan-woo's psyche embodied that alone.
As if correcting a life spent fleeing regrets in haste.
I don't get it.
From what Charpam sensed of Park Chan-woo's life, there were no great turning points.
Even compared to other humans, he stood at the pinnacle, able to have it all—why such deep regrets?
All or nothing.
Park Chan-woo's mindset and actions were utterly extreme.
Abnormal.
Eccentric, discordant.
Even the White Duke Charpam was left speechless.
—Mad bastard.
Was that why?
Because he saw in him a kindred abnormality?
A grin!
—...You're starting to grow on me.
Charpam smiled.
The being who denied his difference, sealing him in the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.
Locking him away eternally to preempt the danger of a dimension-devouring Great Harm Beast.
Most memories lost to endless imprisonment, but not 'that one'.
The one who despised, persecuted, and hated him solely for being a Great Harm Beast.
But this one? What was he?
Park Chan-woo. This guy didn't even care about Charpam.
He wasn't even on his radar.
His goal was singular.
Victory!
Had such a one ever been master of the Chalice?
...Certainly not.
—Fine. Go wild as you please. Whether your mind corrupts or your soul falls—I won't care!
That made him like him even more.
Firmly deranged.
Charpam expanded his mental domain.
Opened the door and welcomed Park Chan-woo.
In that instant...
He was of the same kind.
A being like himself, fallen into half-human, half-demon.
"Delicious... it'll be."
His appetite stirred.
He knew instinctively.
A terrifying existence, but devouring it would allow him to evolve.
To grow stronger.
Balzac thrilled with excitement.
Since becoming half-human, half-demon, he had suffered endless hunger.
Eating incarnations—still, his belly never filled.
But now, finally, satiety seemed within reach.
The match began.
The final showdown.
The Nameless Man who had overwhelmingly crushed over 150 foes.
However, Balzac had grown stronger with every sacrifice's death.
Not mere brainwashing—he had devoured the very deaths of the incarnations.
This fight would be his victory—
Riiip!
"Hm...?"
His skin tore open.
In an instant, a mere fraction of a second.
Something razor-sharp had grazed past him.
Balzac's neck was half-severed.
Then...
His curse-like authority, Chain Damage, took effect.
Moreover, 'Instant Heal' activated, rapidly closing the wound.
An attack that failed to finish him was nothing but a shackle.
"Die... huh."
Balzac was certain of victory.
The foe's blade hadn't reached his life.
Conversely, his curse had struck home.
Riiip!
Nameless Man.
No, Park Chan-woo's neck bore a long gash, skin splitting open.
The main body, linked to Azos's shadow, suffered the same damage.
But...
Swoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the wound vanished.
At 1,000% synchronization, shared abilities weren't limited to techniques.
Park Chan-woo's magic manifested alongside them.
'Healing magic like mine?'
Balzac tilted his head.
No healing magic could surpass Instant Heal.
Yet such vast, rapid healing!
Splat!
Balzac panicked.
It wasn't invisible.
Not untouchable.
But far too fast.
Impossible to counter.
Balzac's skin sliced, muscles exposed, bones cleaved.
An endless loop.
But healing had limits.
Scars remained from treatment.
Never fully vanishing.
That was why Balzac's body was covered in wound marks.
However...
'That guy's magic isn't healing. It's regeneration!'
It wasn't healing.
Park Chan-woo's was 'Super Regeneration'.
Literal restoration, flawless renewal.
A step beyond mere healing.
'It's crumbling. Healing can't keep up.'
Balzac's body screamed warnings.
The countless 'lives' he had devoured were flickering out.
Conventional methods wouldn't catch him.
Haaaaah!
Countless incarnations' lives and souls poured from Balzac's body.
In an instant, a skull-shaped domain of 'domain magic' unfurled around him.
Swoosh!
Swoooosh!
Myriad hands erupted across the domain, seizing Park Chan-woo's ankles.
"Got... you."
The rat-like speed halted.
Finally caught.
Domain magic backed by a hundred deaths.
None could move within without his permission.
Now he could finally feast.
Flutter!
Balzac's cloak billowed.
Instantly, countless 'tentacles' lunged for their prey.
But...
Crack!
Crack!
The tentacles nearing Park Chan-woo.
Froze solid, as if by prior agreement.
And not just that.
"What...?"
It was encroaching.
His domain.
The great curse enveloping the domain.
Was being overwritten by another domain magic.
How, with a hundred incarnations sacrificed for this domain?
Craaaack!
The domain itself began to freeze.
And then...
Charpam's domain, the White Duke's world, revealed itself.