Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Master of the Void
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……Master of the Void.
The very words were a contradiction.
Void meant non-existence, nothingness, emptiness.
How could the master of something that didn't exist possibly exist?
But Park Chan-woo could feel it.
The tension in Destroyer Signus's tone.
More precisely... the trembling of its soul.
'It recognizes the waves as a soul.'
There was another surprising fact.
It had precisely defined his current actions as "mixing souls."
This meant Signus was a spiritual being capable of sensing souls.
"Find another nest."
Park Chan-woo said coldly.
Leave this place.
Find another nest and hatch there.
【I cannot do that.】
Signus refused.
An answer that naturally furrowed his brow.
"Is it that you can't, or that you won't?"
【I cannot.】
"Why not?"
【...Because I laid my egg the moment I fell near Valhalla's territory, I couldn't find a proper nest.】
He understood what it meant.
During the second night, the black dragon Ataraxia had bored a hole into the Abyss and invaded.
A "rift" had appeared between that hole, and by coincidence, it was where Signus was laying its egg.
In the end, Signus had tumbled down with its egg and hastily settled in Han Min-oh, the only suitable thing it found to use as a nest.
'The butterfly effect.'
……It was too coincidental to be mere chance.
If he hadn't returned from the future and conquered the "Tower of Pride," the "Black Witch" wouldn't have sent Ataraxia, and Signus would have laid its egg in its desired location.
A small flap of a butterfly's wings had brought a typhoon.
【'Master of the Void,' it's not too late. Stop the 'soul assimilation' now. Do not anger me, Signus.】
Destroyer Signus warned.
Yet for a being called "Destroyer," it sure talked a lot.
In other words, what Park Chan-woo was doing posed a threat even to it.
It was tense.
There was no way Signus, who had lived for eons, would fear something like Park Chan-woo's soul.
There was only one answer.
'It thinks I can fully destroy the egg.'
It was struggling to protect the egg.
Park Chan-woo's actions were proof that even Signus couldn't stop him.
This place was Han Min-oh's world to begin with.
Han Min-oh had accepted Park Chan-woo without resistance.
He hadn't rejected their waves from mingling.
He had entrusted his life and soul—everything—to Park Chan-woo.
With the nest's ownership now belonging to Park Chan-woo, all Destroyer Signus could do was screech threats noisily.
He pulled it up little by little.
Half a step closer.
From here on, it was completely uncharted territory.
Not even he knew what would happen.
—Useless fool.
—If only you'd inherited even half of Han Shin's qualities!
—You'll never even reach the tip of Han Shin's toe.
Trauma appeared.
It was Han Min-oh's inferiority complex.
His envy and jealousy toward his older brother, Han Shin.
And his longing—it began to feel as if it were his own.
【Master of the Void, if you come any closer, your soul will be destroyed!】
Guuuurrrrumble!
The world shook.
Signus's rage reverberated through the foundations of the earth.
Signus's immensely powerful mana waves struck Park Chan-woo.
And even amid this, the egg was hatching.
If he let it fully revive, Han Min-oh would die.
Likewise, he would die too.
Signus wouldn't let him live.
'Now that I've come this far, I can't back down.'
Half a step, further.
He needed to get a little closer to reach the egg.
The egg, which hadn't yet properly formed its soul or mana waves, would shatter the moment he touched it.
Just one more step.
But as he inched closer, his mind was wearing down bit by bit.
Park Chan-woo's form began to blur and fade little by little.
They were merging.
He was being devoured by Han Min-oh's world.
Yet Park Chan-woo didn't stop.
【Let's make a deal. If you back off now, I'll grant whatever wish you desire.】
Signus said urgently.
It was the promise of a divine beast and destroyer.
It would surely grant even the most outrageous wish.
But doing so would kill Han Min-oh.
Park Chan-woo had decided to save Han Min-oh.
Once decided, he would save him no matter what.
【Are you really going to sacrifice your soul for a mere human?】
Normally, he wouldn't risk everything to save someone else.
Betting it all on something uncertain was foolish.
……But why?
Perhaps it was because the high assimilation rate had broken his mind.
Or maybe he'd been moved by Han Min-oh's actions.
A man with the same blood as Han Shin, yet walking a completely different path.
If Han Shin had possessed even a fraction of Han Min-oh's temperament, the future might have changed.
At the very least, it wouldn't have become that hopelessly bleak world.
That was why.
Why Park Chan-woo placed his hopes on Han Min-oh.
【Master of the Void, do you wish for my wrath to sweep over all humanity?】
Signus's threats continued.
A declaration to wipe out every last human.
Those words only provoked Park Chan-woo's fury even more.
Humanity reduced to dust by a single word from the Transcendent Dragon Sepiro.
How much despair had he felt?
How much hopelessness?
A lifetime of effort and hope had crumbled meaninglessly at that creature's word.
Signus had uttered words it should never have spoken.
【It's too late already! This human cannot be saved.】
【Even if you destroy the egg, he cannot survive!】
Too late?
Indeed, the wave connection was far too thick.
It was already linked to his very life force.
Destroying the egg would destroy Han Min-oh's soul and life along with it.
Was it impossible?
Did he have to give up like this?
No, there was a way.
If the egg devoured the nest while hatching, he just needed to provide another "nest."
'Destroyer Signus gave me the hint.'
It had clearly said it.
Are you going to sacrifice your soul for a mere human?
Not destroying the egg itself, but replacing the life force it needed as nourishment.
Of course, it would have to be a life and soul with potential equal to or greater than Han Min-oh's.
'...I could replace it with myself as the nest.'
Park Chan-woo.
Become the nest itself and relocate the egg.
At least then Han Min-oh could live.
But he couldn't be certain his potential surpassed Han Min-oh's.
He needed something more reliable.
Park Chan-woo shifted his gaze.
He raised the assimilation rate, pressing forward more forcefully.
However, the target of his mana waves was not the divine beast's egg.
【You dare try to 'assimilate' me? Foolish, Master of the Void!】
Signus sneered.
If he tried to connect souls and assimilate, the winner was obvious without even seeing it.
Master of the Void.
The most fundamental being capable of manipulating souls.
He didn't know why it existed in a human body, but that made it an incomplete form.
The fact that it couldn't even properly handle a single human's waves was proof of how meager the soul power it possessed truly was.
At first, he couldn't believe it.
The power to manipulate souls was permitted only to the Master of the Void.
However, as far as Signus knew, the "Master of the Void" no longer existed.
【Even so, it's an incomplete power. The power you wield cannot be called that of the true 'Master of the Void.' Ah, yes. Now I understand.】
He had been half-doubting.
But now that it had drawn near, he could tell for sure.
This one was not the Master of the Void.
【It seems the talent of the great Ten Lords, the 'Master of the Void,' has been scattered across the Abyss. You've merely come upon that power by chance.】
In the distant past.
The Abyss had ten masters.
They were called the "Great Ten Lords," each one a terrifying, super-dimensional monster.
Among them was one called the most powerful lord.
That was the "Master of the Void."
The Master of the Void possessed countless absolute authorities.
Each authority was so transcendent that even the other lords avoided it, or so the tales went.
For example, it could read, forcibly destroy, or absorb the essence of existence and unique mana—forces beyond even the other "Great Ten Lords."
But the Master of the Void's greatest authority was the power to manipulate souls themselves.
Just like this fool.
【Of course, a vanished existence wouldn't reappear. For that power to be passed to a lowly human like you—how laughable.】
If the true Master of the Void saw this scene, it would probably beat the ground and wail.
How foolish it was.
Signus regained its composure.
It seemed to be trying to connect souls with him to find a way out.
But how could a mere human soul invade Signus's soul?
The moment they connected, it would crumble without a trace.
And soon.
The connection formed.
In that instant, Signus inwardly tilted its head.
'What is this?'
There was something strange mixed in with this human, Park Chan-woo.
Beyond the talent of the Master of the Void, there was more.
Something immensely vast, immensely sinister, and immensely ominous.
In fact, the "soul power" typically used by the Master of the Void was merely one among the many talents Park Chan-woo possessed.
That was why it was odd.
It far exceeded the limits a human body could contain.
Moreover, none of them matched each other.
They were powers that didn't harmonize.
Yet they had gathered, forming this human called Park Chan-woo.
Soon, Signus even scanned Park Chan-woo's memories.
And was stunned.
【You've... regressed time! You bastard!】
This was an existence that shouldn't be.
It had done what must never be done, what should never be done.
It had to be erased.
If this thing existed, the Abyss itself might collapse just from that.
Smirk!
That was when.
Suddenly, Park Chan-woo smiled.
And slowly opened his mouth.
"God of Offerings, I offer Destroyer Signus as sacrifice."