Chapter 317
Chapter 317
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 317
Chapter Title: Sepiro (3)
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Park Chan-woo had dreamed and created a dream.
Absolute Magic.
The 'Wish' born from it was meant to protect everyone.
He hadn't recklessly broken the seal, but it was unexpected that Sepiro had left behind his heart.
He'd thought everything would be sealed away again.
"……."
He opened his eyes.
The world came into view.
...This wasn't inside the Great Rift.
The 'death' that had been gnawing at him was gone too.
This was the fourth night.
The place that had now become the witches' night.
He remembered everything.
Even what Sepiro had done upon opening his eyes.
Having accepted it all, he thought.
'I am Park Chan-woo.'
He was not Sepiro.
The lump of heart Sepiro had left behind.
The memories lingering in that lump were confusing him.
But Park Chan-woo held his ground.
He'd never thought of the heart Sepiro left as a 'gift' in the first place.
'Damn bastard.'
The guy had called it a gift, but this was another kind of trial.
He hadn't just handed it over.
It was so very like Sepiro.
The bastard was simply enjoying the whole process.
He was intensely curious how Park Chan-woo would handle the heart he'd left behind.
'Dragon's mana-.'
It wouldn't merge.
It wouldn't fuse.
The mana he possessed and the mana in the heart operated separately.
'Is he making me choose whether to remain human or become a dragon?'
Park Chan-woo looked around.
The war was still raging.
Dragons and witches were locked in a fierce stalemate.
As a human, Park Chan-woo couldn't stop this war.
Only as a dragon like Sepiro could he do it.
Damn Sepiro had set it up that way.
Huuu.
He took a deep breath.
He decided to play along with the scheme.
"Enough."
The dragon's mana flinched.
The mana emanating from Sepiro's heart enveloped the entire night domain in an instant.
The dragons stopped.
Naturally, the witches halted as well.
Park Chan-woo put on an arrogant expression.
The same bored demeanor Sepiro always had when regarding the world.
"I've lost interest."
He said it was no longer amusing.
It had dragged on interminably.
Even the real Sepiro would have said the same.
"Lord Sepiro! Give us just a little more time, and we will exterminate these cursed witches!"
Shuraphim, the leader of Despair, replied in a regretful tone.
But Park Chan-woo didn't budge.
"There's nothing more foolish than persisting in something that's lost its appeal. Isn't that right, Black Witch?"
"……I fully agree with you, Sepiro."
"Hand it over yourself."
"……?"
"I'm telling you to hand over your heart of your own accord."
"That…… you're proposing this now, Sepiro?"
Even the Black Witch, who had agreed thinking it was a call for peace, was taken aback.
It wasn't a war where one side held a clear advantage.
It was evenly matched.
Calling to end the war like this meant 'let's end it peacefully.'
But Sepiro had spat out that obvious statement with an entirely different meaning.
Surrender on your own and hand everything over?
What could be more humiliating than that?
She could never accept it.
"You will accept it. I gave you 'this night,' but I never said I gave you my magic."
Park Chan-woo looked up.
The moon in the sky above.
It was a phenomenon created by Sepiro's Absolute Magic.
Just as the Black Witch had excluded him from the 'Abyss,' Sepiro had excluded that magic from the night.
Her avatar had merely possessed it temporarily while being sucked into the Great Rift.
'Can I do it?'
Honestly, even Park Chan-woo was half-doubting.
That 'Absolute Magic' hadn't been created by the Sepiro now residing in his heart.
The Sepiro of the past. The Dragon God who still existed.
Could he wield what that one had made?
'I have to.'
It was decisive proof.
He stirred the heart's mana.
Soon, transcendental knowledge began assaulting his mind.
All sorts of magic he couldn't have known before surged within him.
From them, he pulled out the needed spells, combined them, and grasped the magical formulas woven into the Absolute Magic and the existence of the 'Wish.'
'Absolute Magic, Ultimate Illusion.'
He learned its name.
The pinnacle of Absolute Magic.
'Return.'
He reached out his hand.
Then, the moon began to shrink.
Eventually, the diminished moon settled into his grasp.
"……!!!"
Horror dawned in the Black Witch's eyes.
To manipulate that was proof positive that this human was Sepiro.
He had touched a phenomenon only Sepiro could create and control.
But.
Even so.
"…I cannot yield it."
She could not hand over the Black Witch's heart. Her very existence.
Not even if it meant the total annihilation of all witches. Her resolve would not waver.
"Instead, I propose a contest."
"It'll be some boring bet, no doubt."
"If we witches outrank you dragons in the Interracial War standings, hand over that 'moon.'"
"Oh ho. And if we win?"
"I'll give you my heart."
"What nonsense. You think using something you're obligated to give anyway as betting stakes makes any sense?"
"……I'll tell you the whereabouts of Transcendent Lil."
"Hm."
He stroked his chin.
But inwardly, he was shocked.
Transcendent Lil had vanished.
The one Park Chan-woo called his master had exhausted every possibility and timeline available to a Transcendent and disappeared.
She'd left him countless gifts and departed without farewell.
p>Chronos had said she could revive in the 'Creator's Domain,' but he didn't know where that was.
Even 'Sepiro' seemed not to know.
'If Sepiro doesn't know, hardly anyone does.'
Chronos said the higher Transcendents would know, but would they really if even Sepiro didn't?
Yet the Black Witch claimed she did.
Even more astonishing was that 'Sepiro' himself was searching for Transcendent Lil.
He was certain from skimming the guy's memories.
"No falsehood in those words, then."
"She was sealed in the Transcendent's ancient tome but vanished. Now she's in the 'Creator's Domain.' And I alone know where that is."
"I could just dissect your head right now and find out."
"Do you think I'd tell you?"
She absolutely wouldn't.
Park Chan-woo smiled.
"……Intriguing. I accept your proposal."
The deal was struck.
Everything would be decided by the Interracial War rankings.
Park Chan-woo looked around.
The most urgent matter was Adora.
She was being consumed by death herself.
She who'd played the decisive role in driving out Sepiro.
It was Adora who'd pulled him from the Great Rift.
What would Sepiro do?
How could he save her without raising suspicion?
"I'll take all the 'errors' from this place."
"……."
"What? Do these 'errors' rightfully belong to you too?"
"……."
The Black Witch's lips trembled.
It was humiliating.
She wanted to study those 'errors' as well.
Especially the ones born from the Great Rift's emergence.
Irreplaceable treasures.
Strictly speaking, though, they weren't the witches'.
They didn't belong to 'this night.'
Nor were they Sepiro's, for that matter.
……But refusing—who knew how this capricious bastard himself would react.
"Clean them up yourself until I return."
"…Where are you headed?"
"To the 'Hidden Treasure Warehouse.'"
He had to take what was his.
Besides, there was treasure there that could save Adora.
As long as Aheta or the Demon King of Upheaval hadn't touched the 'Hidden Treasure Warehouse,' it should still be there.
"Lord Sepiro. We await your return."
Shuraphim spoke on their behalf.
The one loyal only to Sepiro.
Many dragons were like Shuraphim.
To command them, he had to prove himself Sepiro utterly.
"Do as you please."
"Will you ascend to the Dragon God Temple?"
But something nagged at him.
Whether he could go to the Dragon God Temple.
Whether the Transcendent Dragon would stay put.
'As long as it doesn't abandon the avatar sucked into the Great Rift, the Transcendent Dragon can't move.'
Sepiro's true avatar.
It was still inside the Great Rift.
At least until that avatar fully dissipated, the Transcendent Dragon wouldn't have the bandwidth for elsewhere.
And even after dissipation, it needed time to create a 'new avatar.'
If it abandoned everything to reveal its 'Transcendent Dragon true body,' the other Twelve Races wouldn't sit idle.
The problem was, ascending to the 'Dragon God Temple' meant fully taking on the role of 'Sepiro.'
It meant ruling all dragonkin.
Becoming the Dragon God itself, but carrying a time bomb.
If exposed even slightly, the dragons would eradicate all of humanity.
And that wasn't all.
The Transcendent Dragon might notice.
Sepiro was whimsically arbitrary by nature.
Impulsive, never planning ahead.
The moment it caught on, it might drag out its true body to kill him, or start crafting a new avatar hastily.
Or it might not care at all.
It wasn't the type to thirst desperately for the Dragon God seat.
In short, no clear answer.
Having sorted his thoughts, he said.
"I will ascend to the Dragon God Temple."
Declaring he would rule the dragons.
That was his decision.
Hidden Treasure Warehouse.
The final piece of the Baal Set remained there.
With the Demon King of Upheaval dead and all his 'games' surpassed beyond limits, he rightfully earned the right to claim 'Baal's Shoes.'
However.
Park Chan-woo hesitated.
Only one treasure could be taken from the warehouse.
Since he hadn't killed the Demon King of Upheaval himself, that part hadn't counted toward his score.
The forced end of the 'fourth night' via the Great Rift had influenced it too.
'Baal's Shoes or the Blessing of the Goddess of Life?'
Baal's Shoes were a rank lower in priority.
But the Goddess's Blessing was the only way to save Adora.
Nothing else could drive out that death and reaper.
'Saving Adora comes first.'
He gave up the Baal Set and chose the 'Blessing of the Goddess.'
That was the moment.