Chapter 199
Chapter 199
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 199
Chapter Title: Chronos
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―…
Lil hardened her expression as she stared into the depths of the 'door'.
The instant the voice rang out.
Bang!Bang!
The five evil spirits dissolved into smoke and vanished.
'Those Fallen Ancient Evil Spirits were all puppets?'
Their presence had undoubtedly felt real.
She stood at the pinnacle of magical power.
There was no way she could mistake the unique 'negative mana' of evil spirits.
Yet what puzzled her even more was Park Chan-woo.
'I didn't notice it, but he did…'
It wasn't mere suspicion.
Park Chan-woo was convinced there was something genuine lurking inside the 'door'.
He had sensed what she could not.
It had been perfectly concealed.
Soon after.
Creak—
A scraping sound echoed from the floor as something emerged from within the 'door'.
Lil's face grew even graver upon seeing it.
Because.
―Reaper…?
Its form was straight out of a nightmare—like a reaper incarnate.
A skeletal figure draped in a black cloak, a massive scythe slung across its back.
It was indistinguishable from the archetypal enforcers of the Abyss's laws.
「How did you notice me?」
The reaper asked Park Chan-woo, curiosity lacing its tone.
"Just had a feeling."
He couldn't very well admit he'd detected the mana fluctuations.
Clap clap clap clap!
「You're the first being to spot me. Well done.」
The reaper clapped once more.
He had masked himself behind those Fallen Ancient Evil Spirits.
Across countless eons, this human was the only one to uncover his hiding place inside the 'door'.
Not even the Spirit Kings knew he existed.
「I am Chronos, the spirit of 'shadows' and reaper both.」
―Lies. Reapers can't possess an ego like yours.
Lil shot back.
Reapers with egos weren't unheard of, but nothing like this one—a fully realized individual.
Reapers existed to enforce the Abyss's order, stripped of emotion.
Any ego substantial enough to declare a name and converse as a distinct entity was purged.
「I'm no ordinary reaper. I'm a spirit. And a reaper.」
―A spirit born from 'shadow' who became a reaper?
「Only possible because I'm so exceptional.」
―...So it spawned from a reaper.
For something like Chronos to exist, that was the only explanation.
Clap clap clap clap!
「Exactly. A transcendent. Reapers are the Abyss's very shadows. I was born from their shadows—a spirit dwelling in a realm no one knows, no one senses, yet undeniably real.」
That was why he'd hidden behind the evil spirits.
A shadow revealed only to those who noticed it.
That was Chronos's rule.
And now, the astonishment.
A mere mortal—not even an immortal, burdened with mortal karma—had pierced his veil.
It defied explanation as "just a hunch."
「You've found me, so I'll grant you a chance to form a contract with the magnificent me.」
"Pass."
「…Hm?」
Chronos tilted his head at the unexpected refusal.
This human knew full well his stature dwarfed ordinary evil spirits.
The audacity to reject him was staggering.
"Chronos. I'll give you a chance to contract with me."
…Absurd.
A normal reaction would be tearful gratitude and kneeling.
Instead, the human flipped the script.
The intent was clear.
A contract was a game of nerve.
The terms decided dominance.
The human aimed to claim superiority over a shadow spirit and reaper.
No trace of reluctance.
An attitude that said refusal changed nothing.
Clap clap clap clap!
「Outstanding. To think this Abyss holds a being who exceeds even my expectations.」
This was entertaining.
The most amusing human in eons.
He'd orchestrated countless scenarios through his evil spirits, but never this.
Anticipation swelled.
How thrilling would the experiences be under contract with this one?
But he couldn't yield so easily.
「Here's a proposal. I'll test if you can bear my 'shadow'.」
"How?"
「I'll enter your shadow. Fail to accept me, and you'll die—become my evil spirit.」
"Sounds fair. And if I succeed?"
「I'll become your shadow. Far superior to any common spirit pact. No need to summon; my power will sustain me.」
Spirits faltered outside their realm.
They drew scant power—barely ten percent—through a summoner's mana.
Chronos claimed self-sustenance, independent of mana.
―Impossible. Spirits are mana incarnate. Outside their realm, they scatter and fade.
Mana's fundamental nature.
Leave its world, its vessel—it dissipates.
Bodiless spirits existed solely in the spirit realm.
Contracts merely loaned a summoner's mana for brief excursions.
Spirits couldn't stray on their own.
If they could…
―...Unless you mean an evil spirit contract?
Lil's voice turned grave.
Evil spirit pacts diverged from the norm.
They seized everything: body, mind, soul.
Possession, pure and simple.
If that's what he proposed, she'd eradicate Chronos on the spot.
Clap clap clap clap!
「Sharp guess, but incorrect. Not a spirit contract—a reaper's contract.」
―Reapers can't bind to specific souls.
「I'm the exception. I hold the right to contract as one's 'shadow'. Never exercised, mind you.」
A reaper's contract.
Lil's wary glare lingered.
Any foul play, and she'd strike.
Chronos was a walking contradiction.
「Human. Ready to embrace my shadow?」
"Let's do it."
Park Chan-woo replied with casual ease.
Truth be told, he was fascinated.
A duel with an Abyss anomaly: spirit and reaper.
It felt like delving into uncharted magic.
A step into the unknown.
Shoooo!
Chronos's form unraveled, merging into Park Chan-woo's shadow.
A shadow is a mirror.
Proof of being.
Entering it meant peering into every secret.
'Oh ho! An Outer God!'
The moment he seeped in, presences assaulted him.
Chronos marveled at the colossal Baekgyeong Charpam.
A human hosting transcendents and Outer Gods!
An improbable mismatch.
But not the whole story.
Chronos probed from the base upward.
Until he reached the head.
'The Demon-Sealing God's Chalice? Ah, the next Void Lord.'
Void Lord.
Fake master, true owner elsewhere.
The chalice's bearer was a proxy, impeccably concealed.
Yet to hold it marked one of exalted talent.
Chronos pressed on, exclamations trailing, into deeper layers.
Mere exploration was this exhilarating?
'Hm?'
The deeper he delved, the more surprises erupted.
Outer Gods and chalice were staggering enough.
'Something's sealed here.'
At the heart, Chronos paused.
A distinctly odd entity sealed within the human heart.
Crafted to defy rash tampering.
Likely unknown even to its host.
'Inevitable absolute death.'
From the surface, it screamed 'death itself'—sealed away.
Yet more lurked beneath.
'Like another being's heart.'
It masqueraded as human, but wasn't.
A heart from an existence vast beyond measure.
Sealed alongside absolute death!
…Not to be curious would be a lie.
But.
'Best not touch that.'
Chronos tamped down his urge.
One misstep, and even he might taste 'death'.
As he retreated cautiously—
Crack!
Black hands lashed from the heart's seal without warning.
The seal itself seized him.
'Craving me?'
Chronos thrashed free.
A seal like this? Unprecedented.
Self-aware enough to ensnare him!
Tremble!
Chronos reeled in shock.
His essence was draining away.
A trifling seal overpowering one even Spirit Kings couldn't touch.
Yet peculiarly, it halted after subduing him.
Instead.
A voice whispered: stay silent.
Guard this secret.
Or be devoured.
Absurd. Infuriating.
Yet Chronos nodded.
The presence upon contact with the seal.
Far from 'death'.
Something immensely mightier.
One of the great nine lords… or greater.
Unquestionably a heart pulsing with tsunami force.
No ordinary organ.
Chronos sensed linked hearts beyond; this was the vital core.
But no single heart wielded such gravitas alone.
'Ah…!'
Realization dawned, sending shivers through him.
He knew its owner.
Dragon God Sepiro!
One of his hearts?
Chronos shook his head inwardly.
Half right. Half wrong.
Worlds apart from the false hearts embedded in Dragon God Sepiro's 'puppet'.
This was…
This heart was.
'…The Heart of the Transcendent Dragon.'