Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Tower of the Gods (1)
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A shadow is the manifestation of existence.
It is the proof of existence itself.
The moment Park Chan-woo accepted Chronos, Chronos could perceive Park Chan-woo's condition more meticulously and in greater detail than anyone else.
The presence of the outer god Charpham, the holy grail of the Demon-Sealing God, the absolute seal of death, and even the heart of the Transcendent Dragon.
Nothing about it was surprising.
Even possessing just one of those would be enough to call someone an "anomalous existence."
However, there was one thing that was utterly incomprehensible.
'Did he steal the heart from the Transcendent Dragon Sepiro himself?'
Even thinking it, it was absurd.
Such a thing was impossible.
A fragment, maybe—but sneaking up on the true body of the Transcendent Dragon and carving out its most vital organ? That was beyond imagination.
The being that had slain the great Tenth Lord, the "Lord of the Void."
Even the one called the strongest lord had been erased by the emergence of the Transcendent Dragon.
And it wasn't just the "Lord of the Void."
When the Transcendent Dragon appeared, the entire Abyss held its breath.
The Transcendent Dragon's influence was enough to make even the lords of the other twelve races yield.
Even the outer gods within the "Great Rift" avoided the Transcendent Dragon alone.
There was its overwhelming power, of course, but...
'The absolute magics surrounding the Transcendent Dragon. As the name implies, magics that cannot be broken, that prevent even approaching—those terrifying spells...'
The Transcendent Dragon was protected by countless impenetrable magics.
Even Chronos had given up trying to approach it.
Over endless ages, it had never been detected by anyone, but instinct told it as much.
That getting close to the Transcendent Dragon would mean instant discovery.
Thus, the mystery.
How could a human possess the heart of the Transcendent Dragon?
And keep it perfectly sealed away, hidden from all, no less!
If not for its own authority as the Shadow Reaper, it never would have known.
'An honorable one acknowledged by the transcendent. Yet tied to countless slaughters.'
This, too, was a contradiction.
There were far too many inconsistencies.
Of course, to ascend to the "Hall of Fame," one needed power just as great—and even more lives taken as karma.
The problem was karma itself.
Unnecessary killing inevitably eroded one's karma.
But to Chronos's eyes, this human's karma was vast.
Vast, yet shadowed by the traces of countless souls as well.
'Billions... no, even more.'
Chronos turned its gaze.
And there, the shadows of the dead souls appeared.
From outside, it had seemed like hundreds of millions to billions, but peering inward revealed it had been an illusion.
There were many.
Too many.
'Insane...!'
Impossible to count.
...Chronos was a reaper.
Born amid the shadows of countless reapers.
Reapers upheld the Abyss's rules, but above all, they were closest to "death" itself.
Thus, Chronos could see the death within others—the shadows of the souls they had slain.
It had encountered plenty of "slaughterers" until now.
A thousand?
Ten thousand?
Ridiculous.
The Abyss overflowed with those who had razed worlds, killing by the billions.
Yet among them, this human was undoubtedly number one.
'Just how many deaths is he tied to?'
Perhaps even if all other slaughterers combined their kills, they still wouldn't match this one man.
As if he had killed the entire Abyss once over—an unlistable number of shadows now encircled Chronos.
It could never be called honorable.
'...A lump of errors.'
An error of the Abyss.
The emergence of something contradictory opened Great Rifts.
The stronger the error, the greater the rift.
Chronos had witnessed Great Rifts open many times.
Each time, it had identified the "error" responsible.
For example... the Blue Devil that opened the third Great Rift.
The Blue Devil wielded "Primal Flame," which could not exist in the present world.
That resulted in the Great Rift.
The fourth was due to "possession."
A witch with powerful possession abilities had possessed someone from a world the Abyss hadn't reached yet, opening the rift.
The fifth Great Rift was also caused by a witch.
A witch with precognitive vision of the future.
Her reckless twisting of the futures she saw had torn open a massive rift.
Thus, causing the "impossible" was an error.
But...
'Too many errors.'
To Chronos, the errors this human carried were incomparable to the previous ones.
He simply shouldn't exist.
Chronos thought.
If such a being could exist...
There was only one possibility.
'A regressor...!'
Someone who had turned back time.
But even that didn't explain everything.
Time was relative, people said, but irreversible.
You could slow its flow, but turning back time that had already passed was impossible.
'I've heard rumors that Sepiro was researching time-related magic...'
Chronos shook its head inwardly.
It was certain.
Such research could never succeed.
No matter how far magic reached toward the divine, it couldn't shatter the universe's most fundamental law.
And if an error that massive occurred...
'The Abyss could end.'
...An unprecedented Great Rift would open.
If he truly was a regressor, he had to die.
Eliminating discovered errors was a reaper's fate.
Chronos, too, was a reaper—it couldn't leave a human with such a massive error alive.
However.
Suuuuuuh!
The "seal" on the heart constricted Chronos's soul.
And then.
'Wh-what are you doing? Stop!'
Chronos's shadow began getting sucked into the heart's seal.
Chronos's inspection of his "aptitude" took less time than expected.
Just over five minutes, at most.
Then, emerging from the shadow, Chronos lightly opened its mouth.
Clap clap clap clap!
"You pass. Splendidly so."
It was a genuinely pleased voice.
"What did you check?"
He had felt it sweep through his entire body like seeping into his shadow, but there was no way to know exactly what criteria Chronos had used to assess his aptitude.
When asked, Chronos shrugged.
"I witnessed the shining talent of an excellent human. You have more than enough capacity to accept me."
A thoroughly vague answer.
Park Chan-woo didn't press further.
Chronos then spoke in a deeply solemn tone.
"My name is Chronos. I am a spirit that governs shadows and a reaper. From now on, I shall reside in your shadow—tell me your name."
"Park Chan-woo."
"Park Chan-woo. A typical 'spirit contract' relies on the summoner's power, but the contract I offer operates solely on my own abilities. Thus, it unleashes greater power, but I cannot manifest often as a result."
It was a higher contract, but with pros and cons.
Normally, spirits couldn't exceed the spirit user's capabilities.
Outside the spirit realm, they were sustained only by the spirit user's mana.
But Chronos meant to sustain itself with its own mana in this world.
That immense consumption meant it couldn't appear frequently.
"So there's a limit on the number of times."
Clap clap clap clap!
"Correct. The number of times I can fully exert my power is three. If you prefer otherwise, we can revert to a 'spirit contract,' though you won't access my true power then."
"You're making me choose?"
"I shall respect your will, excellent human Park Chan-woo!"
He stroked his chin for a moment.
A spirit contract would allow summoning until death.
The issue was that Chronos's power would be greatly diminished.
Park Chan-woo glanced at Lil.
"Didn't you say learning 'magic' requires a spirit?"
Needing a spirit meant maintaining a contract with one.
A one-off contract would be pointless.
—...Shadow spirit. Does the count increase once expended mana recovers?
Lil turned to Chronos instead.
"That it does, but my mana doesn't recover through ordinary means. Forcing recovery via the contractor's mana would lead to mana depletion and a twisted death."
—Then it doesn't matter.
Lil nodded.
She then addressed Park Chan-woo.
—The reason a spirit contract is needed is for 'mana filtration' through the spirit. In that process, the spirit's mana recovers as well.
...Indeed.
Now he understood why spirits were essential for learning magic.
"Then additional contracts with other spirits shouldn't be a problem, right?"
—Of course, you could contract additional spirits, but the mana filtration process won't be as smooth as with the 'first contract' spirit.
The first contract.
The purest bond. Differences were inevitable.
The choice was entirely Park Chan-woo's.
Soon, he decided.
"Stick to the original plan."
Clap clap clap clap!
"As expected of a bold and excellent human."
Chronos spoke with a chuckle.
Still, it wasn't without inner doubts.
'Something feels off.'
It had entered his shadow to test his aptitude.
Confirmed his talent, even detected the outer god.
Park Chan-woo remained fine after accepting it.
That proved sufficient aptitude.
Yet it felt like an eternity inside, but only five minutes had passed outside.
It felt like something was missed.
...What could it be?
After pondering briefly, Chronos shook it off.
There couldn't be anything in Park Chan-woo to confuse it.
It was a shadow spirit and reaper.
It would have noticed any anomalies.
"Then let's proceed with the 'shadow contract' right away."
Chronos began the contract with Park Chan-woo.
Two days later.
The world faced another cataclysm.