Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Easter Egg (002)
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The Red Soul Jar trembled violently, and soon the ritual began.
Dagon pressed both hands firmly against his forehead, closed his eyes, and murmured softly.
It was just like staging a shamanistic rite.
Though not flashy, Dagon was a demon.
A demon conducting a ritual with such decorum for someone else.
Even Park Chan-woo was seeing this for the first time.
Woooong-!
The jar shook and rose into the air.
Then, the gold ornaments Dagon had offered as sacrifice began to evaporate inside the jar.
The sacrifice.
The preparation needed to summon the Soul Reaper and guide Balzac's soul to the right place.
Park Chan-woo watched the scene silently.
'The Soul Reaper who oversees the Abyss can only be called by demons.'
The Reapers enforced the Abyss's rules.
Among them, the 'Soul Reaper' held an extraordinarily high rank in the Abyss.
By estimation, far above even the Reaper of Oaths in hierarchy.
However, only demons could summon it using the 'Red Soul Jar' as a medium.
And the reason Park Chan-woo was having Dagon perform this ritual for Balzac was simple.
'Balzac. I connected with his mind, if only briefly.'
As synchronization rose and he deployed his unique domain, he glimpsed Balzac's psyche.
His past, his grievances, his deep hatred for demons.
'If Balzac hadn't held onto his sanity, I couldn't have killed the immortal curser, Lord Arvanil, directly.'
Balzac had refused to become a puppet right up to the end.
He had clung to a shred of his mind even on the verge of becoming a True Demon.
It showed just how elevated his mental fortitude had become.
He could keenly feel the vicious cruelty of Lord Arvanil, who had turned such a remarkable man into a half-human, half-demon.
If Balzac had let go of his mind, he wouldn't have been able to slay Lord Arvanil.
Thus, he wanted Balzac to suffer no more in the afterlife.
No other motives.
Just repaying the favor he'd received.
Kaboom! Boom!
Lightning struck in the dry sky.
Whoosh!
Soon, dark clouds gathered, and rain poured down like mad.
Shhh!
In that moment, the 'Soul Reaper' revealed itself.
Smaller than typical Reapers, the Soul Reaper swung its scythe and placed the 'Red Soul Jar' atop it.
"Bal... zac."
The Reaper spoke for the first time.
Kaboom!
A massive bolt of lightning crashed into the 'Red Soul Jar'.
Balzac's shattered, crushed soul, wandering the Abyss.
Park Chan-woo watched the spectacle quietly.
It was his first time witnessing the 'Soul Ritual' directly.
Frankly, it was overwhelming.
He couldn't do anything but watch.
Though he'd seen many Reapers, none exuded such grandeur as the 'Soul Reaper'.
'A Reaper that can speak.'
Reapers couldn't speak.
Speaking implied free will.
But Reapers moved solely by the Abyss's rules.
Thus, they lacked self-awareness to speak.
Yet it spoke.
Even if only calling a name.
Proof, as expected, that the 'Soul Reaper' outranked the 'Reaper of Oaths'.
The world of Reapers was wondrous.
Demons of the Abyss, the Twelve Races, all lived within those rules alongside the Reapers.
Then.
"You...?"
"...?!"
Suddenly, the Soul Reaper thrust its scythe toward Park Chan-woo.
Dagon's eyes widened beyond compare.
'W-what? Why is the Soul Reaper pointing at Lord Sepiro?'
The Soul Reaper only called the name of the soul to be summoned.
It showed no interest or curiosity in others.
Yet it did.
As a demon merchant, Dagon had witnessed many 'Soul Rituals'.
It was a form of business.
Demons buying Red Soul Jars for rituals were mostly Lords, with good reputations.
To make connections with the high demons gathering around, the merchant guild dispatched multiple merchants.
His heart would swell each time, but he'd never seen a scene like this.
The Soul Reaper questioning someone other than the ritual's target.
"Who...?"
...Who are you?
It showed doubt.
What did it mean?
But it made no sense for the Soul Reaper not to know who the target was.
The Soul Reaper read souls' names.
Their true names.
Even the 'true names' dragonkin hid so preciously.
Thus, dragonkin feared the Soul Reaper.
So how could it not know the name of someone with a soul?
Yet now, the Soul Reaper pointed at Park Chan-woo and clearly tilted its head.
'Insane...!'
In this unprecedented event, Dagon froze.
Listing Lord Sepiro's greatness would require ten mouths, but even the Soul Reaper reacting like this was beyond imagination.
Adora froze too.
The witch knew well what kind of being the 'Soul Reaper' was.
Regardless, Park Chan-woo answered without a care.
"Please take good care of Balzac's soul, Soul Reaper."
He bowed his head.
Calmly, as if the Reaper's question meant nothing.
Indeed, his name was irrelevant here.
What mattered was Balzac.
That Balzac's soul ascend to heaven without suffering.
"...Bal... zac."
After a brief pause, the Soul Reaper called Balzac's name again.
Uncovering Park Chan-woo's identity wasn't its duty.
Then.
"He... re... fused... it."
It uttered something strange.
Park Chan-woo frowned.
"Refused what?"
"He... with... you... to... stay."
Whiiiir!
A black hole-like rift formed around the Soul Reaper, and it vanished completely.
The sky cleared, the rain stopped.
As if by magic.
Everything returned to normal.
But not quite unchanged.
Crack!
The Red Soul Jar shattered.
Then, faint smoke leaked out, circling around Park Chan-woo.
The soul of True Demon Balzac.
He chose to remain in this wretched world.
In the Abyss, by Park Chan-woo's side.
The man who had endlessly begged for death amid torment—why had he suddenly changed his mind?
—Please ensure no one else ends up like me.
Balzac's voice echoed.
Brighter than before.
Unjustly turned into an avatar, then half-human half-demon, fully toyed with as a True Demon.
He had every reason to harbor deep resentment toward the Creators.
"Is that enough?"
—Yes. That's all I ask. Save those like me. No—ensure people like me never appear again.
He held no grudge.
He just wanted to save others.
Now he understood.
Balzac.
Why he could become a True Demon.
'A beautiful soul.'
He had some inkling of the conditions for becoming a half-human half-demon.
Those with shining souls.
Corrupting them into half-humans half-demons.
But Balzac had stepped into True Demon territory.
Not something Creators could just make—it was the final form, right up to the brink.
"Understood."
Park Chan-woo nodded.
He would make it so.
He didn't want owners of beautiful souls turning into demons either.
In that instant.
Shwooo!
Whoosh! Swish! Whiiiing!
Suddenly, clusters of light began falling from the sky.
Not just one—multiple beams.
"W-what is this? These lights?"
"...A rift has opened in the Abyss."
As Dagon asked in shock, Adora answered.
She was the master who created this Creator's Abyss.
Of course she could sense a hole punched in her own Abyss.
But what she couldn't comprehend was that 'rifts' held no light.
Yet these light clusters falling from the sky clearly poured from the rift.
Moreover, they madly swarmed around 'Balzac's' soul.
"...I've never seen light like this in the Abyss. It's beautiful."
Dagon soon lost himself in awe.
A demon entranced by light.
Ridiculous, but that captivating.
Adora watched silently too.
Tap.
Park Chan-woo stepped forward.
Something invisible to Dagon and Adora was visible to him.
'Who are you?'
Before Balzac's soul stood a figure made of light.
Human-like, yet utterly alien.
Soon, the light figure raised a hand.
Instinctively, Park Chan-woo reached to grasp it.
Whoosh!
In a flash, the light figure vanished.
Instead, Balzac's soul transformed.
The light clusters merged into one, emanating even greater radiance.
And.
Balzac's soul became a 'Light Egg'.
A single egg of light gently settled into Park Chan-woo's palms.
Ding!
That day.
On the second night.
While everyone focused elsewhere, some Creators sensed it.
Destroyer Cygnus.
The worst monster to demons who had destroyed hundreds of Creator Abysses, toyed with and devoured Lords.
They had caught the fearsome Divine Beast's presence.
If it had contracted with a frail human, it must be weakened, unable to exert full power.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
No idea why it made such a choice, but they could seize it via a 'low-grade Abyss'.
A Divine Beast bearing an egg.
It piqued their interest even more.
Capture Cygnus, seize the egg too—no more fearing rifts.
No worry of their Creator Abysses being destroyed.
On the contrary, immense gains through it.
The Creators who realized this secretly pooled their power.
As quietly as possible, ensuring no leaks to the outside.
But as with all demons, eternal secrets don't exist.
They never imagined the info leaking to a few demon merchants would reach Park Chan-woo via Dagon.