Chapter 149
Chapter 149
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Final Reward
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The final battle began with the deployment of Aorum's domain.
The face of Yoo Jin-seo, the nine-tailed fox who had been awaiting the outcome, drained of all color.
'Was my judgment correct after all?'
No matter how much she called herself a nine-tailed fox, it wouldn't be easy.
Aorum was a fox evolved to the utmost by the "Creator of the Burning Border."
'That guy's... a disaster.'
Just thinking about him made her sick to her stomach.
Aorum had been blessed with shining talent from birth, comprehending a hundred things from learning just one.
With the creator who recognized him pouring in every contingency and enhancement, it went without saying that Aorum's combat prowess grew explosively by the day.
But the most terrifying thing about him wasn't his raw power.
'Eyes that discern an opponent's weaknesses just by looking.'
Aorum called them the "Eyes of Enlightenment."
But to those on the receiving end, it was simply hearing their unknown flaws straight from his mouth.
Knowing them didn't mean they could be fixed or overcome.
Only Aorum could do it.
Only that guy, with his boundless, heaven-sent talent.
So even for a nine-tailed fox, it wouldn't be an easy fight.
On the contrary...
'I might have just given him a stepping stone to grow.'
The stronger the opponent, the more Aorum realized his shortcomings and grew steeply.
Watching him evolve in real time only filled her with pathetic despair at her own incompetence.
...Maybe I should have gone in and fought alongside her.
Her mind swirled with all sorts of thoughts when—
Rumble!
The ground shook.
"The barrier...!"
"It's breaking!"
"Everyone, fall back!"
The foxes wielding holy swords cried out in panic.
Aorum's domain was collapsing.
And that meant only one thing.
'...The fight's over.'
...Yoo Jin-seo's fate was sealed.
If Aorum won, he wouldn't forgive Yoo Jin-seo for arbitrarily swapping the scenario and protagonist.
Since she'd flipped the board on her own whim, he'd act on his.
She stared at the crumbling barrier with a tense expression.
And before long.
"Ah...!"
"...!!!"
Yoo Jin-seo let out an involuntary gasp of shock.
The other foxes' eyes began to shake wildly as well.
Because.
"Aorum...!"
He was alive.
Aorum was dead.
To be precise, the "Demon Race Aorum" had died.
Aorum was a fox, a nine-tailed fox to begin with.
Not something that could be killed by a holy sword.
The previous four trials were merely spirits pretending to be demons, set to be reverse-summoned after ten strikes from the holy sword—that was all.
However.
'I definitely died.'
If that sword hadn't been a hastily made holy sword for the trial but Park Chan-woo's real one, he would have died when his head was severed.
The holy sword was a no-grade tool crafted solely for use in the Fox Den.
Generously, it barely qualified as "Rare" grade trash.
There was no way Aorum would die from having his neck sliced by something like that.
Yet it was as good as death.
He'd lost in a pure contest of skill.
It was his first defeat, but Aorum acknowledged it.
'There are skies above skies...'
Just as there was a real sky above the Abyss's fake one.
He humbly accepted the vast gap between them.
Especially that overwhelming talent—it wasn't something he could possess just by coveting it.
So he gave up.
Broke through the barrier and walked out on his own.
Then, to those staring at him tensely, he said,
"I lost."
He'd come out just to say that one word.
To the still-bewildered crowd, Aorum added one more thing.
"It's your victory."
"W-Wait. Then where's Lord Park Chan-woo...?"
Yoo Jin-seo asked in a trembling voice.
Aorum brushed his neck back and opened his mouth.
"Isn't he right behind me?"
Sure enough, far off in the distance stood Park Chan-woo.
But something was off.
Why had the loser emerged reciting his defeat instead of the victor?
"Then why... did you come out alone, not Park Chan-woo?"
"He's reviewing the game as the victor."
"Reviewing?"
"Ah, what a monstrous bastard."
Park Chan-woo sat with his eyes closed, reviewing the battle.
Reliving his fight with Aorum, igniting his talents anew and making them his own.
Aorum chuckled.
What endless greed.
A lump of insatiable desire, forever craving more.
'What did I just hear?'
'For even Aorum to call him a monster...'
'Unbelievable, even seeing it with my own eyes.'
The foxes who witnessed Aorum's words were inevitably stunned.
Who was Aorum?
A genius who deemed everyone inferior except himself.
For him to admit his own defeat and shortcomings.
Yoo Jin-seo pointed her holy sword at Aorum and asked,
"...So what happens now? Is the 'Fox Den' saved?"
"It'll vanish."
"Vanish?"
"Along with this Fox Den, I and all the foxes will cease to exist."
"...What?"
Yoo Jin-seo's face hardened.
Aorum shrugged.
He was dying anyway.
All the foxes would die with him.
It had been decided the moment the Fox Den was cleared.
Without creator status, they had no choice but to crumble to dust once the Fox Den disappeared.
Having lived only in the Fox Den, they couldn't adapt to the outside environment.
Once the Fox Den vanished, the area would revert to Earth, and the result would be death.
They couldn't survive in a non-Abyss domain.
Not without creator qualifications.
"Th-That... can't be..."
Yoo Jin-seo trembled with rage.
Was it all a lie?
But looking back...
"In a sense, it is the 'salvation of the Fox Den.'"
Right.
Park Chan-woo had spoken of saving the Fox Den, not the foxes.
He hadn't said anything wrong.
The creator Abyss had indeed been cleared.
A place that might never have been cleared had finally met its end.
One could call that salvation.
But...
"I lost. So I plan to meet my death quietly."
Aorum declared.
Drawing a line: don't interfere with his death.
A call for all foxes to accept this end.
Of course, no fox would easily embrace death, but the opponent was Aorum.
A monster among monsters that even all the foxes together couldn't handle.
...It was then.
Whoosh!
Shoo-shoo-whoosh!
People were being forcibly returned.
To the places they'd been before entering the Fox Den—their home, Earth.
Soon, all thousand challengers had successfully returned.
Only foxes remained.
Before long, another message appeared before them.
Rumble!
The sky was crumbling.
The Abyss domain was meeting its end.
"Ah..."
"No...!"
The foxes screamed.
They never imagined their fate would end like this.
Yoo Jin-seo bit her lip and glared at Park Chan-woo beyond.
Eyes filled with resentment and hatred.
In the end, it was all lies.
He'd approached with this intent from the start.
If she'd known, she never would have gone along.
Swish.
Park Chan-woo opened his eyes and stood.
Yoo Jin-seo glared daggers at him.
'If you have a mouth... say something...'
An excuse would do, even if it wasn't salvation for the foxes.
Anything at all.
Then.
"Cygnus."
Park Chan-woo uttered Cygnus's name again.
"Devour it all."
Vwoooom!
In that instant, blue light emerged from the sky.
A beautiful glow so dazzling it hurt the eyes, as the Abyss domain was rapidly sucked into Cygnus's body.
Like a black hole.
Then, with heavy eyes, Park Chan-woo looked at the foxes.
"I'll let all of you live."
"Hm? It's impossible to save us. We're beings tied to the Fox Den's end."
Aorum voiced his doubt.
But Park Chan-woo thought differently.
Vmmm!
A golden warp gate shimmered into existence in the air.
The land of Valhalla.
"Live in my Abyss."
"...Impressive. But it's the same. We're foxes born and raised in the 'Fox Den.' We can't adapt to another Abyss."
"It's no ordinary Abyss. It's the 'Night Domain' I took from 'Moon Lord Aheta.'"
"...Aheta!"
She'd heard the name.
No being in the Abyss was unaware of "Moon Lord Aheta."
One of the most famous creators.
And he'd seized that land?
"The 'Night Domain' is designed for all Abyss lifeforms to thrive. You should adapt easily."
All of Aheta's 'Night Domains' were among the most valuable territories in the Abyss.
Valhalla's land included.
It would serve as a fine habitat for the foxes.
"...Why save us?"
"Call it a whim."
Park Chan-woo replied lightly.
Through his clash with Aorum, he'd reached a higher realm.
He'd also learned Aorum had a purer mind than expected.
An ancient ascetic.
Naturally, he'd inherited the name of an arhat.
Yoo Jin-seo hadn't fallen yet, and as long as Aorum lived, she wouldn't stray easily.
'I can make another creator Abyss.'
He couldn't just pass up the chance to duplicate Coins.
Moreover.
Fwoosh!
A fireball rested atop Park Chan-woo's hand.
"F-Fox Fire...!"
"It's Fox Fire!"
The foxes instinctively knew upon seeing it.
The origin the foxes had lost long ago.
That was "Fox Fire."
"I'll return it. It's yours to begin with."
Park Chan-woo slowly approached Aorum and extended his hand.
"......"
Aorum gazed at the Fox Fire with trembling eyes.
...Not just sparing them, but returning the Fox Fire too.
Longing for Fox Fire was natural for foxes.
And he was giving it back without conditions.
'Far more of a monster than I thought.'
Utterly beyond judgment.
Aorum was genuinely awestruck.
Thud!
Aorum dropped to one knee.
"...I, Aorum, will regard you as my new master."
He'd changed his stance.
The foxes were aghast.
Aorum had never shown such deference even to the "Creator of the Burning Border."
He often scorned others, but never revered.
Yet now, Aorum knelt and uttered "master."
"M-Me too! I'll follow!"
"Become our creator!"
The foxes hurriedly knelt.
If Aorum accepted him as master, he was master to all foxes.
But one fox didn't kneel.
...Yoo Jin-seo.
She wore a complicated expression.
But her hesitation didn't last.
Salvation.
Because he'd kept that word.
Yoo Jin-seo slowly.
Thud!
Dropped to her knee and said,
"...We shall serve you. Our new master."
The foxes began settling into the land of Valhalla.
And Adora, the creator, immediately set to work building a "creator Abyss" for them.
Afterward, Park Chan-woo returned home and checked his rewards.
'5-Star Platinum Box.'
It was a first.
Getting a 5-Star Platinum Box in his hands.
And that wasn't all.
There was one more special reward.
Park Chan-woo checked the floating message again.
A real "Hidden Piece" had dropped.
Park Chan-woo smirked at the message and said,
"...What a generous Fox Den."