Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Perfect Scenario
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The vast sky of the Abyss.
High above the horizon, Signus leisurely gazed down at the ground below.
'This is an Abyss without a Creator.'
No one was watching Signus as it freely roamed the skies.
The current 'Fox Den' had no owner.
Of course, even if the owner, the 'Creator of the Burning Boundary,' were present, it probably wouldn't be an issue.
'Non-Existence. Father's absolute magic has been passed down to me as well.'
Signus shared its soul and life with Park Chan-woo.
Likewise, several of Park Chan-woo's 'abnormal statuses' were shared.
One of them was Non-Existence.
As long as Signus didn't reveal itself, no one could detect its flight—an absolute magic.
But the problem was that it wasn't the only one passed down.
'Limited Time? What is this?'
It was something even the traits of the Great Sanctuary and Mother's knowledge couldn't decipher.
Everything else was clear at a glance, but only 'Limited Time' remained unreadable.
However, the doubt didn't linger long.
'It's Father's trait. It must be something good.'
To Signus, its father, Park Chan-woo, was an object of blind faith.
Though it had inherited the traits of the Absolute Sanctuary, the Sanctuary was more of a concept than a biological father.
More precisely, it was the 'qualification of the direct lineage.'
Divine beasts weren't ordinary creatures, so Signus regarded only Park Chan-woo as its father.
'Anyway.'
Gulp!
'Looks delicious.'
One other certainty was that this Abyss was Signus's prey.
An ownerless Creation Abyss—how easy it would be to devour.
But it couldn't devour it right away.
Devouring a Creation Abyss required certain conditions.
One of them was clearing the Creation Abyss.
Once Park Chan-woo reached the end of the 'Fox Den' and defeated Aorum, Signus would be able to forcibly consume this place.
How sweet it would be.
Just imagining it made saliva pool in its mouth.
"Father. A bit to the right diagonal from there. Yes. Right there."
Shiiiiek!
Puuk!
The translucent wraiths floating in the sky were pierced one by one.
By now, Park Chan-woo had crossed more than half of the cliff's cloud bridge.
Now, only Park Chan-woo remained on the cloud bridge.
He was resolving everything alone, as if scripting a myth.
Of course, no one imagined Signus was above him.
No one could fathom a special divine beast capable of surveying the entire Abyss and freely flying through its skies.
'Not a single miss?'
'That's impossible even for us.'
'How can he hit wraiths that are barely visible?'
'What the hell is he?'
The Holy Sword wielders.
Even the powerful foxes were stunned by what was unfolding.
The cloud bridge allowing passage over the cliff was nearly complete.
Yet watching it still felt utterly unbelievable.
That distant sky.
The pitch-black Abyss heavens invisible to the naked eye.
Hitting a wraith somewhere in there with one shot was difficult even for seasoned foxes.
And that included the nine-tailed fox Yujin-seo.
'......Wraith extermination has a time limit. If the cloud bridge isn't completed in time, challengers must be sacrificed to build it.'
The first trial concerned the challenger's own faith.
Never turn back, just press forward, and you'd survive.
But the second trial was about 'distrust.'
As time passed, the wraiths vanished, leaving the cloud bridge 'incomplete.'
There was only one way to cross an incomplete cloud bridge.
'Select ten challengers and push them off the cliff.'
That would generate one section of the incomplete bridge.
There were a total of fifty floating wraiths.
A hell that could kill up to five hundred challengers and sow mutual distrust.
The worst place, where you chose sacrifices, shoved them off, and crossed using the deaths of those you'd selected.
That was this place, the 'Sky of Wraiths.'
'......I've never seen a fully completed cloud bridge before.'
It was the first time.
Since the Fox Den was created, no one had ever perfectly built the cloud bridge to cross the cliff.
It wasn't something you could do even if you wanted to.
It wasn't just about archery skill.
Yujin-seo's eyes trembled slightly.
'Unless he can see that Abyss sky...... the Creator's domain.'
No Creator allowed beings in their Creation Abyss to peer beyond the sky.
That was the Creator's territory.
All they could see was the 'fake sky' permitted by the Creator.
The wraiths floated above that fake sky.
So, you couldn't see them even if you wanted to.
It was only natural you couldn't hit them without knowing their positions, no matter how well you shot.
Yet he hit them.
Without a single miss.
Honestly, she had planned to handle this trial herself.
Even if Park Chan-woo was the final piece of the hidden piece, the 'Creator of the Burning Boundary' wouldn't allow prying into its domain.
'Has the Creator of the Burning Boundary...... granted permission to peer into the skies?'
It was a being that never yielded an inch.
It had spent its life exploiting and toying with the foxes.
She had never once been allowed even a glimpse of the real sky.
Far in the distance.
At the end of the cloud bridge, too far to see, the 'Celestial Spirit' and 'Wraith Knights' appeared.
That was the second reason the Sky of Wraiths was so vicious.
'He can't handle it alone.'
The problem was that retreating even a step allowed the Celestial Spirit to erase sections of the bridge.
Rebuilding required shoving ten challengers off the cliff.
The original scenario involved retreating halfway and defeating the Celestial Spirit.
Typically, more than half the challengers perished on this 'Wraith Bridge.'
......What about Park Chan-woo?
'Can you write a new scenario?'
The Wraith Knights floating in the sky.
With tattered cloaks billowing and long scythes in hand, they resembled grim reapers.
'Those are spirits too.'
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
They were definitely spirits summoned by Aorum.
Yet there were quite a few, and each one was a high-level entity.
'Mid-tier spirits?'
With knowledge from the future, he knew how absurd this was.
Contracting multiple spirits was not recommended.
It doubled the mana required for summoning, and the more you added, the harsher the contract conditions became.
Spirit mages usually maintained contracts with just one powerful spirit.
When contracting a higher-rank spirit, they dissolved previous ones first.
But Aorum apparently didn't follow that.
Given the number of spirits contracted.
'Aorum must have abilities specialized in spirit summoning.'
Or perhaps foxes themselves were tied to spirits.
-Swooooooo!
-Shaaaaaaa!
The Wraith Knights approached, cloaks flapping wildly.
The Celestial Spirit was nowhere to be seen.
Where was it?
"Father. The Celestial Spirit is right beside me."
Signus spoke then.
Apparently, the Celestial Spirit's summon point was near Signus.
He pondered briefly.
The Celestial Spirit and all Wraith Knights could only be struck by the 'Holy Sword.'
'Just need to hit ten times.'
The condition to dispel demons was simple.
Exactly ten strikes with the Holy Sword.
When eliminating Hwaryeong, he massacred the zombies first, then struck nine more times.
After a moment's thought, Park Chan-woo hurled his spear.
Shiiiiiieeeek!
......He tossed the Holy Sword high from below upward.
And Signus precisely caught the soaring Holy Sword in its mouth.
Park Chan-woo flashed a smile.
'Strike ten times. Signus.'
"Wh-what?"
"He threw the Holy Sword like that?"
"Is he insane?"
The foxes were dumbfounded by the unprecedented sight.
It wasn't just throwing the Holy Sword—it was practically discarding it.
Was he planning to flee?
"But why isn't it falling?"
"How far did it fly?"
Questions arose naturally.
Because the Holy Sword tossed into the sky still hadn't fallen.
No one knew where it had been thrown or where it went.
To them, the Abyss's 'real sky' was invisible.
'......What is he planning?'
Even Yujin-seo was at a loss.
She had elevated him to protagonist, and now he throws the Holy Sword.
The unimaginable action made her hands tremble.
'Aorum has already noticed the protagonist switch.'
No overt moves yet, but it surely knew.
Before it acted, Park Chan-woo needed to rally as many as possible as the protagonist.
Only then could he oppose Aorum.
But who would trust and follow him after seeing him discard the Holy Sword?
She barely suppressed a sigh.
How much time passed after that?
The message appeared out of nowhere.
At the same time, the 'Wraith Knights' screamed and vanished.
Everyone froze.
The foxes' shock was beyond words.
"......What?"
"Perfect Scenario?"
"......Did something like that exist?"
It was a message even they had never seen.
Perfect Scenario?
They'd never even heard of such a thing.
To them, saving everyone was never an option.
......Right now, a new scenario was being written before their eyes.
'......This is what a hidden piece is?'
Yujin-seo's pupils shook violently.
She couldn't believe it.
No, she didn't want to.
......Everything she'd done in her life.
Her fate as a saintess leading challengers to hell.
All of it......
Felt utterly denied.