Chapter 224
Chapter 224
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 224
Chapter Title: Completion
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The dragons of the Sloth Clan had all gathered together.
They dropped everything they were doing, utterly absorbed in the phenomenon unfolding before their eyes.
"……."
They held their breaths.
All they could do was watch in shock and awe.
For the human had finally completed the Heart of Despair as a mana core.
In this short time?
He converted a dragon heart into a core!
All by himself?
Impossible.
It was something that would take even all the dragons charging in a considerable amount of time, yet he had pulled it off single-handedly.
However, a dragon heart was on another level entirely from a mana stone.
The total volume of mana it handled and its dense concentration...
If a mana stone was a handful of water, a dragon heart was like an endless ocean.
Even countless golem creators wouldn't dare handle a "dragon heart" lightly.
One small mistake, and you'd be sunk into the depths.
If it went berserk and you died instantly, you'd be lucky.
If the heart's mana exploded, dozens of kilometers around it would vanish in an instant.
That's why they had scoffed at his claim of doing it alone.
...Drakan was right to wake us.
His skill in handling mana circuits is impressive, at least.
Does he have some authority related to core creation?
But what about fission? Core fission is a completely different field.
He can't surpass our theories.
Half in doubt, half in belief.
They had acknowledged from the start that this human was an "anomaly."
His finesse in handling mana and circuits surpassed even many dragons.
He was a human who violated the rules of the Abyss, after all.
But that was it.
Creating a core and fissioning it were entirely different matters.
Turning a heart into a mana core?
A few dragons from the Sloth Clan could manage that feat.
It would take more time, but it wasn't impossible.
However, "core fission" was impossible.
Their theory had been proven wrong just a few hours ago.
In a situation with no answers, could he find one?
"……!"
The dragons' eyes widened.
The mana core began to fission.
One core split into two.
The two cores then split into four.
......It was an unbelievable sight.
Forcing a fission would destroy the core.
Whether splitting it physically in half or carefully cutting it with mana, the result was the same.
And yet...
It looks like the core is dividing on its own.
The core itself is splitting apart.
How?
No physical force, no mana interference.
The mana core writhed and moved of its own accord.
The split core masses then regenerated, returning to their original forms.
Splitting into four was astonishing enough.
How many will it reach?!
Insane. It's fissioning further?
The four cores became six.
The six cores became eight.
"Wait......"
One dragon unwittingly opened its mouth and was immediately silenced.
All the other dragons glared fiercely at it.
But they understood why.
As the mana core fissioned...
It's evolving.
It's greatly assimilating with the mana core.
Does that mean the human is becoming a dragon?
The human was changing too.
Not just his appearance.
A massive transformation was occurring inside him as well.
But at the center of the change was the "mana core."
The Heart of Despair.
The tale that it had assimilated with the heart of Arcana, the leader of the Despair Clan long ago, meant in other words that this human was connected to dragons.
Drakan's pupils trembled violently.
The one who fissions dragon hearts.
But it didn't end there.
The eight cores split further.
......Nine.
The fact that it could increase meant he had already experienced it.
Since he himself possessed nine hearts, he could fission a dragon heart up to nine.
And beings with more than nine hearts were exceedingly rare even among dragons.
If any existed...
...The Primordial Dragons!
They would be the dragons said to have existed since the "beginning."
Dragon ranks were mostly divided by age.
Young dragons and fully grown adult dragons.
Ancient dragons over a thousand years old, and ancient dragons over ten thousand.
Above them were only the "Primordial Dragons" who had existed since the dawn of dragons, and Dragon God Sepiro.
However, the Primordial Dragons only communicated with Sepiro.
Ordinary dragons couldn't even see them.
It was said they possessed at least nine hearts, had comprehended the truths of the universe, and wielded "Absolute Magic" that reached the pinnacle.
Ten.
Ah.
Drakan finally understood.
Why Ataraxia had exalted this human as "His Greatness."
Why she had frantically woken him.
This human wasn't human.
He was a dragon of origins, hiding himself with Absolute Magic.
However.
Drakan soon realized even that wasn't the case.
Twelve?
There was only one dragon with twelve or more hearts.
The one residing in the Dragon God Temple.
"That one."
And yet.
The core's fission didn't stop there.
......Thirteen.
It reached thirteen.
Now it was certain.
The human before them.
This being's true identity was...
............Dragon God, Sepiro.
Dragon God Temple.
Sepiro slowly opened his eyes.
He was scanning the entire Abyss with his vision to find the one who had stolen his heart and caused the "error."
In the midst of that.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Sepiro's hearts began pounding wildly.
An instinctive reaction.
Simultaneously signaling some change.
All these phenomena stemmed from his missing heart.
In other words.
"Fissioning it? You dare fission my heart?"
Someone was fissioning the heart that had been stolen from him.
It was the Dragon God's heart, no less.
He had taken the heart from the main body, so his greed must have been great.
But.
"Haha! Think you can handle it?!"
Sepiro laughed genuinely.
Desires too vast led straight to ruin.
Even if the fission succeeded, he would lose his ego, his soul destroyed.
No matter the outcome, he couldn't claim Sepiro's heart.
Yet it was intriguing.
A massive stimulus in his boring daily life.
This level of "major error" was something he had never encountered since his existence began.
He slowly looked down at his chest.
One empty heart space.
That one was reacting somewhere.
What else could this phenomenon mean?
Sepiro smiled.
"Found you."
Park Chan-woo was in a realm of infinite enlightenment.
Understanding magic and mana, the meaning of fission and evolution.
At the center of all this enlightenment was a single truth.
Level!
Humanity had received the "blessing" of splitting levels from 1 up to 99.
But his starting level was minus 99.
Below zero.
A world below the minimum correction value that shouldn't exist.
So, from where should he begin his fission?
My origin.
He had to find the first point.
The essential starting point.
The fundamental reason I became level minus 99.
Was it because he offered everything to the God of Offerings to regress to the past?
No.
It wasn't that simple.
He slowly recalled.
Right before regressing.
He had definitely placed "Sepiro's avatar" in the Demon-Sealing God's chalice.
Dragon God Sepiro had hurriedly come in his massive transcendent dragon form and erased him along with humanity.
But what if he wasn't erased?
I became the offering.
The dead couldn't become offerings upon dissolution.
But the God of Offerings had said.
The deal was complete, the contract fulfilled.
Sepiro's every avatar and Park Chan-woo's body along with all possibilities had been consumed as the "offering."
In other words.
His beginning, his origin, his essence was...
......Inside the Demon-Sealing God's chalice.
Ah.
After all this time, it was inside the Demon-Sealing God's chalice.
Not lost.
Not gone!
It was definitely inside the chalice.
With enlightenment, he descended below the negative realm.
Nothing else was visible.
But far away, at the end of the negatives.
I see it......!
He saw it.
His body.
His essence, fissioning and evolving.
......Existing in the level -99 realm.
It slept as if dead, but that was undoubtedly his "origin."
Leveling up was slow. The required experience was unusually high. The reason...
At first, he hadn't understood.
Why level -99 needed so much experience.
There had to be a reason.
Every result has a cause.
Until now, he hadn't found it.
Because my essence inside the chalice was sharing the experience with me.
It wasn't for one person.
He was growing stronger together with his essence.
The moment he reached level 1.
He would naturally become level 99.
No, perhaps...
Even higher.
After completing all fissions, he might be reborn as the ultimate perfected form.
With his current negative level, he couldn't fission and evolve, but his essence continued advancing even now.
In a word.
It will be complete.
It could be completed.
If he overcame the deadline and achieved level 1.
He could break free from past limits and truly transcend.
Park Chan-woo's body was transforming.
It distorted this way and that, gradually oscillating between "dragon" and "human," then stopped the moment the core fissioned into thirteen.
And then.
It returned?
The cores merged back into one......?
What just happened?
...What on earth occurred?
The dragons could only tilt their heads as if seeing an illusion.
It had clearly reached thirteen, yet now it was one again.
Soon, Park Chan-woo opened his eyes.
His body had returned to its previous state.
Human form.
Exactly as Park Chan-woo had been.
However, the change wasn't entirely absent.
"The core fission is complete."
"......But didn't it merge back into one?"
Drakan's tone had changed.
As he asked more deferentially, Park Chan-woo replied with a small smile.
"The body needs to be ready. The moment it settles into a suitable vessel, it will fission, evolve, and complete itself on its own."
"...You're saying the core will fission by itself?"
"Exactly. Arcana will rise on her own."
"......!"
Drakan's body flinched.
But this was enough.
Drakan understood his words immediately.
Their theories and methods had been proven wrong.
"Everyone, move quickly. We must complete the 'main body.'"
"Understood!"
The dragons of the Sloth Clan sprang into action.
They formed the exterior with dragon bones and scales, connecting joints with spirit stones.
With the finest spirit stones and top-grade ones, they crafted an "artificial heart" to house the mana core.
Seven more days passed.
"......It's complete."
A giant god.
No, an Origin God had been completed.