Chapter 331
Chapter 331
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 331
Chapter Title: Creator Park Chan-woo (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In the proper sequence, the moment Park Chan-woo chose the third fragment, he should have fallen into a state of egolessness, losing himself entirely.
But his sense of self had reached a state of perfection through countless trials and triumphs.
Especially after his encounter with Dragon God Sepiro, his ego had been further strengthened.
The Inexplicable Fragment?
No matter how much the situation was guided by that fragment, erasing the fully matured ego of Park Chan-woo was even more impossible.
Thanks to this, he achieved the hidden piece and absorbed all the fragments.
'So I can absorb the fragments directly myself.'
It was somewhat expected.
Having entered as a challenger, he had no doubt that the same system applied to him as to the other divine beasts.
Turning the impossible into the possible was his specialty, after all.
Park Chan-woo took one step closer to the truth.
The mystical mana emanating from the Inexplicable Fragment flowed through his veins, perfectly merging with his ego.
The ego he had forged by overcoming countless trials and finding his own path was now fusing with this transcendent mana, ushering in an entirely new realm.
The will of his inner self became even clearer, while a profound insight connected to the order of the universe awakened simultaneously.
In this process, Park Chan-woo gathered all his experiences and enlightenments into one, finding the 'clue' to be reborn as a deeper and more powerful being.
'Transcendent, Lil. I think I can finally fully comprehend the remnants she left me.'
Mana has stages.
He recalled Lil's words.
—The first stage is 'Awakening.' The second is 'Flow,' and the third is 'Condensation.' These are the basic three stages of mana that form magic. You have already passed 'Flow.'
—From the fourth stage onward, they are the advanced stages: Resonance, Creation, and Dominion. From the seventh stage, they enter the 'Transcendence Stage': Transcendence, Divinity, and Genesis.
Under her guidance, Park Chan-woo had reached the fifth stage, 'Creation.'
He had even attained the sixth stage of dominating mana, but after that, there had been no progress.
Even when Sepiro yielded some of the mana in his heart, he hadn't comprehended it.
It wasn't a matter of the quantity of mana.
This meant he had remained stuck in the advanced stages.
He hadn't truly reached transcendence.
But he had grasped the key to it.
Dominating mana and thereby achieving a completely new transcendence.
The foundation for stepping onto the path of a true archmage lay here.
The Inexplicable Fragment.
These fragments, which gathered all the impossibilities, were the clues to transcendence.
'I see.'
Now he understood why he hadn't entered the seventh stage.
Up to the sixth stage, domination of mana, he could simply follow the previous system.
It was the final stage reachable by walking the established path.
But from the seventh stage, the realm of transcendence, he had to create and walk his own path.
He had to complete an entirely new framework and system.
In other words...
'I create my own truth.'
Creating truth itself.
But this alone wasn't enough.
With this level of the Inexplicable, he couldn't create his own truth.
'Sepiro seeks to defy by dominating truth. But Lil sought to go along with truth.'
Their paths were vastly different.
Each had created and dealt with truth in their own way.
Park Chan-woo pondered.
A way that was neither of theirs, but his own.
'I...'
Deconstruct truth and create it anew.
Exist by rules outside the standards.
'Become truth.'
He decided to become truth itself.
Signus gazed at Park Chan-woo with trembling eyes.
Even as the divine beasts progressed through the fragments' trials one by one...
Park Chan-woo had stopped at the first stage.
At first, he worried that he had lost himself completely in a state of perfect egolessness.
But soon, seeing him absorb the fragment, he realized that wasn't the case.
The problem was that he remained in that spot without moving.
There was no time limit to proceed to the next stage after completing the first choice, but at this rate, catching up to the other divine beasts might be hopeless.
Signus stamped his feet in frustration.
Was it right to leave Park Chan-woo, his father, behind like this?
'...you said strategically.'
This was the wilds.
The Abyss, where one had to struggle for survival.
Park Chan-woo wouldn't want him to stay here motionless.
Signus looked around.
The divine beasts of the enemy faction were already advancing far ahead.
And not just them.
More divine beasts were continuously entering.
'They've decided to fully conquer this Creation Abyss as well.'
Time was running out.
This place was a field of competition.
Even his father, Park Chan-woo, was an enemy here.
Signus steadied his breathing.
He wasn't without worry, but...
—Are you that destroyer Signus's child?
It was then.
Suddenly, a divine beast spoke to him.
It was a newcomer, much larger than the others.
A strangely shaped divine beast with a pitch-black body marked by several moons.
—Do you know me?
—Is there a divine beast who doesn't know you? Mutt.
—...?
Mutt.
A term for a breed born from the crossbreeding of various species.
Signus couldn't comprehend the word.
—You're famous as the divine beast that devours miscellaneous Creation Abysses. I hear your guardian is a Creator—is that true?
The rumors had spread even among the divine beasts.
The tales of following Creator Adora and devouring Korea's miscellaneous Abysses.
They had mistaken his guardian for Adora upon seeing him and called him a 'mutt.'
But now, that wasn't entirely wrong.
His father, Park Chan-woo, the Creator of Arrogance, was here.
Having a Creator as guardian was accurate.
—And what's that got to do with anything?
—To acknowledge prey as your guardian—don't you have any shame?
—Why feel shame if it's not prey?
—Hah, you don't understand reason. You, grown by eating all sorts of trash, can't beat me, 'Kallinan.' I've grown by eating only prime prey. Just give up.
Prime prey.
Meaning he had eaten good land.
—I don't know what you ate to grow, but I think I grew up eating plenty of good stuff under an excellent guardian.
—Looks like your pride is hurt.
—...?
Signus tilted his head at Kallinan's words.
His pride wasn't hurt at all.
He had simply stated the facts.
Park Chan-woo was an impeccable guardian.
He had provided not just Creation Abysses, but entire territories filled with all sorts of mysteries as food.
Adora, Ataraxia, and the other dragons had taken care of Signus too.
To the dragons, having a divine beast right beside them must have been quite novel.
Even the demon merchant Dagon fetched anything he needed immediately.
Thanks to everyone's care, the still-young Signus had grown up 'well.'
Park Chan-woo's mindset had been passed to Signus, so he considered them all within the category of 'family.'
—I'll say it again: you can never become a Sanctuary. With a Creator as your guardian, no one will accept you.
Kallinan clicked his tongue and ended with that, challenging the trial.
The world of divine beasts was similar to others.
Just bigger and with different prey.
Signus glanced at Park Chan-woo once more.
'I'll go ahead, Father.'
Then, he quietly moved to the next stage.
Outside the Creation Abyss.
Gazing at the entrance leading from the rift's interior into the Creation Abyss, the divine beasts conversed in serious tones.
—I don't know how they made a Creation Abyss inside a rift, but...
—The Creator is the enemy.
—Prey.
Anger rippled through them.
Prey had dared to bare its teeth.
The problem was that failing to resolve it quickly could mean losing the entire rift.
—We change the plan. All in agreement?
—Put all enemy faction members inside and make them clear the trials.
—If the level limit doesn't match, they can just shed parts of themselves.
—Spit out the eaten Abyss, you mean?
—Resolving it comes first, even if that's what it takes.
—Agreed.
The divine beasts' decision-making proceeded swiftly.
They chose the most rational way to solve the issue.
Changing the arena for the showdown to crown the new Sanctuary.
That Abyss inside would become the field of the final battle.
And moreover...
—...We can't just sit back and take this.
—We'll move on our own.
—How?
—I read the Abyss's origin. It's the Creator of Arrogance.
—Arrogance... That name rings a bell.
The divine beasts pondered.
They couldn't just stay passive after being bitten by prey.
If it had bitten them, they had to dismantle everything connected to it.
No one knew Creation Abysses better than divine beasts.
They might not understand the internal structure, but tracing the origins of the fragments that formed it was easy.
—I've eaten an Abyss related to Arrogance before.
—Yeah, if it's the Tower of Arrogance, I have too.
—Tower of Arrogance... Whose is it? Where did it appear?
—A witch.
—The Black Witch?
The divine beasts nodded at once.
The Tower of Arrogance was the first structure built in new Abysses.
Ancient divine beasts who had eaten such territories immediately recalled the 'Tower of Arrogance.'
They knew well who was connected to it.
—Didn't the witches live in the most unpalatable depths of the Abyss?
—Seems they moved recently.
—To the realm of night.
—The realm of night— you mean near where the great rift opened?
—Ah, that's where the previous Sanctuary vanished.
The divine beasts put their heads together.
It couldn't be coincidence.
If it was all connected...
There was only one answer.
—Does that mean the Black Witch destroyed the previous Sanctuary and is now after the rift too?
—That's how it looks.
—A mere witch?
—What a joke. How much do they look down on us!
Divine beasts didn't interfere directly in Abysses.
At most, they devoured Creation Abysses.
But there was an exception.
Wrath.
When enraged, a divine beast would destroy an entire Abyss.
Not even the Twelve Races could stop a divine beast's wrath.
Even demon lords feared it most.
Yet a mere witch had provoked the entire divine beasts.
Their conclusion was unanimous.
—We'll devour the night.
—All in agreement?