Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 312
Chapter Title: Black Witch (6)
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This was the moment when he had tried to 'regress'.
The time when he offered everything to the God of Offerings in a desperate bid to turn back the clock.
When he had seized control of one of Sepiro's hearts and offered even that.
...
It was the 'memory' engraved directly into Sepiro's heart.
The heart had returned to the past alongside him.
Right now, Park Chan-woo was dreaming Sepiro's 'dream'.
The dream of one who had never known want.
The one and only being who had grasped everything from birth, capable of anything.
Even in a life of utter boredom, he had looked upon Park Chan-woo and deemed him an 'interesting human'.
"Impressive, human!"
Sepiro was amazed.
By the 'magic' that pierced his heart.
His body, the pinnacle of magic mastery, had been pierced by mere basic magic.
Who could have imagined such a thing?
Of course, he hadn't bothered with any real defenses either.
A frail human who seemed like he might blow away in the wind.
He had climbed the Dragon God Temple looking all determined, like some last-ditch suicide squad, but reality was even more hopeless.
Sepiro had figured he'd realize the gap and prostrate himself, begging for mercy.
'I thought he'd plead for his life, but instead... he attacks me?'
It was ridiculous.
Clearly, these humans were heading here to beg him.
Humanity wished to become slaves to the dragons.
To be kept as pets, clinging to the scraps of survival.
Their situation was that dire.
Honestly, it wouldn't have been strange if they went extinct right then and there.
So the Dragon God Sepiro had left them alone.
Slaves who volunteered themselves—what they might offer was intriguing.
But then...
He attacked.
Out of nowhere.
Sepiro could have blocked it, but he didn't.
It was basic magic, and he was curious.
What gave him the guts to do that?
Did he want humanity to perish?
"I'll grace you with the title of 'Archmage.' Brag about it wherever you go!"
He even praised him.
Because it was that entertaining.
Wasn't it?
A worm he'd thought utterly harmless had suddenly bitten him.
And it carried a 'venom' the other worms lacked.
A freak.
This human before him was definitely different.
Analyzing the magic only made it more astonishing.
How could it be...
'No talent at all.'
Zero points as a mage.
He couldn't even handle ultra-high-tier magic.
His understanding of mana was pathetic, and his analytical skills were worthless.
Yet he'd honed basic magic to its absolute limit to reach this point.
Basic magic was 'basic' because it was already perfect, needing no refinement.
But he'd altered it.
...Meaning there was something there.
A being who possessed something even Sepiro couldn't comprehend.
One who fixed the unbreakable mold.
'A glitch in magic itself.'
He wielded magic unknown to Sepiro.
That made him a true 'Archmage'.
Despite having no talent for magic, Sepiro acknowledged the human as an Archmage.
That's why.
"Human. What's your name?"
"...Your mom."
He flipped him off while gasping for breath.
Great personality too.
A will that refused to bend, even in the worst situation.
Living eyes that burned bright against an unbeatable foe.
It wasn't arrogance from bursting one of Sepiro's hearts either.
'He has a plan.'
What could it be?
The human was utterly convinced he could win.
Of course, it might just be baseless confidence.
But no one could dare be arrogant in Sepiro's presence.
......Actually, he knew.
He'd seen that the human's scheme targeted the heart itself.
But he pretended not to know.
More precisely, he'd matched his 'level'.
Right now, Sepiro was fighting at the human's—no, Park Chan-woo's—level.
Impossible to discern more from a human's level.
That made it even more fun.
He wanted to crush him harder.
Make him despair utterly.
'I'll show you.'
Clap!
Sepiro clapped his hands.
At the same moment, twelve suns rose above his head.
Magic beyond the Ten Commandments.
But Sepiro wasn't going all out.
It was magic fully feasible at the human's level.
He just lacked the talent to cast it.
He simply didn't understand magic properly.
What would the human do against this overwhelming gap?
"God of Offerings! I offer everything I possess, and the Dragon God Sepiro as well!"
An unexpected reaction, as always.
Sepiro was puzzled by the offer of himself as sacrifice.
Then it clicked.
'Domination Magic.'
The heart the human had 'burst' hadn't actually burst.
He'd dominated it, making Sepiro feel as if it had.
'How?'
He pondered briefly.
Domination Magic outranked even the 'Twelve Suns' he'd just unleashed.
They should have been on the same tier.
Plus, the human had boasted he could never use ultra-high-tier magic.
'Ah. Not his own ability.'
He realized it wasn't innate to the human.
This 'Domination Magic' had been developed by something else the human possessed.
"Even so, it's just one heart."
Controlling one heart wouldn't change the outcome.
But the human bared his teeth in a grin.
"It's enough."
Enough, even knowing he couldn't kill Sepiro?
Soon, the meaning dawned.
"One is enough to make you go berserk."
Rumble!
The Dragon God Sepiro's body swelled violently.
The heart's mana expanded wildly, rampaging out of control.
Probably thought it was his only shot at victory.
'Thirty seconds, and it'll recover.'
Time seemed to slow.
No more games now.
He reconnected the mana flow and regenerated.
Reset the heart to normal.
In that moment, a sudden realization struck Sepiro.
'He wants to seal me!'
Amusing.
What good would sealing him do?
Sepiro's body was soon drawn into the 'Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God'.
'So that's what he meant by offering me as sacrifice.'
But did he really think he could contain him?
No seal capable of holding Sepiro existed in the Abyss.
Countless beings—even great lords—had failed.
'Just like back then.'
The Ten Lords.
The Lord of the Void had wagered he could seal Sepiro.
Failed, and paid with oblivion.
But...
Something nagged at him.
'The Lord of the Void. Did his authority pass on?'
The power to manipulate essence and souls.
Only the Lord of the Void could trap him in the chalice.
Without wielding essence itself, sealing a being like Sepiro was impossible.
For Sepiro to enter the chalice meant the human—Park Chan-woo—could manipulate 'essence'.
Not the chalice's power itself.
The Lord of the Void's authority had transferred to him.
...What an absurd coincidence.
But it had gone too far.
If this wasn't coincidence but inevitability—the Lord of the Void's scheme...
'Just the pathetic thrashing of a loser.'
Sepiro unleashed his true form.
The Transcendent Dragon emerged, dooming humanity.
At that instant.
The voice of another being echoed.
The God of Offerings.
He instantly understood what they planned next.
And what lay inside the chalice.
'Spacetime Regression?'
Everything clicked, igniting mad curiosity.
The true purpose of this 'Chalice of the Demon-Sealing God' became clear.
This was...
'......Beyond the Great Rift.'
Not of the Abyss.
It had come from beyond the Great Rift.
For humans, it was like a 'nuclear switch'.
A chalice containing the power to destroy the world.
A treasure that, reversed, enabled 'spacetime regression'.
You couldn't craft it on demand.
For the first time, Sepiro shuddered.
'A being superior to me exists beyond the Great Rift.'
First time ever.
He couldn't fathom who made it or why.
Not the Creator.
No creation god would make such a 'absolute error'—a power to annihilate worlds and twist spacetime at will.
And furthermore, was it coincidence that this human... 'Park Chan-woo'... possessed it?
He pondered.
Sepiro thought with full power.
About the chalice's true use.
What did twisting spacetime aim to achieve?
Park Chan-woo's hope? Wish?
Humanity's salvation?
Mere side issues.
A bomb for the Abyss's destruction?
Detonate it here to end everything?
'I see!'
Sepiro gasped in admiration.
He'd grasped the full intent.
The opposite.
'This human, Park Chan-woo, was forged as a weapon to destroy what's beyond the Great Rift!'
Not the Abyss.
The other side.
The world beyond the Great Rift!
Whether world, entity, or concept, he didn't know.
But a matter of time.
Once the set time passed, it would happen naturally.
And one more certainty.
'Let's go together. I'm dying to know too!'
This human would reach it eventually.
So Sepiro stayed still.
Even though he could escape, he allowed himself to be offered as sacrifice.
He dreamed.
Sepiro's dream.
He relived every moment of the fight from the bastard's perspective.
"......"
What a clown.
He could have won but didn't. Could have escaped but didn't.
Extreme narcissism.
And curiosity drove it.
In the end, that choice let him return to the past.
Allowed him to fight reality again.
'Sepiro's heart.'
Now, he had three hearts inside him.
One his own, the other two Sepiro's.
Especially the one that regressed with him was sealed.
Releasing this heart's seal might end Park Chan-woo entirely.
He could be consumed by Sepiro, reverting to the pre-regression Sepiro.
A bomb Sepiro had hidden, just for that possibility.
But Park Chan-woo also realized.
If not now, no chance.
Everyone would die.
Screams echoed from outside the dream.
Better to become Sepiro than be swallowed by the curse and await doom.
Squelch—.
Blood flowed.
Mana surged through his body.
The ultimate use of the Absolute Magic 'Dream'.
Fueled by countless 'wishes,' it would unseal Sepiro.
And now, Park Chan-woo had released the heart's seal.