Chapter 339
Chapter 339
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 339
Chapter Title: Bankruptcy (5)
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Destroyer Signus.
A monster that had shattered hundreds of created Abysses, toyed with their lords, and devoured them—a nightmare to demons.
She was a divine beast who had lived for tens of thousands of years, and Signus's mother.
He could tolerate the insults calling him a "mutt."
But he couldn't bear her name—the one he had inherited—being sullied.
Countless trials and endless walls were fine.
But now, Signus's patience was nearly spent.
'My successor, my mother, Destroyer Signus.'
He couldn't allow this pathetic creature to defile her name.
Signus had also inherited his mother's final memories.
Back on Earth, during the chaotic "second night," she had crashed near the night's domain in an unexpected accident.
To survive with the body carrying him and ultimately give birth to him, she endured humiliations unimaginable for a divine beast.
She even accepted the disgrace of hastily nesting inside a human body—specifically, that of "Han Min-oh."
A divine beast nesting in a human.
Unprecedented, but a mother's love for her child held a mysterious power that endured every adversity.
Signus felt through her memories just how heartbreaking and desperate her heart had been then, and how earnestly she had entrusted him to his father, Park Chan-woo.
Yes, he had known all along.
His father, Park Chan-woo, was human.
Though he wielded powers that wrought miracles and shattered common sense, his essence was far removed from a divine beast.
From the perspective of pureblood divine beasts like Kallinan, Signus was nothing more than a "mutt."
But thanks to that very "mutt" identity, Signus had experienced countless things no other divine beast could.
Paradoxically, the heart no pureblood divine beast could possess had forged an even stronger spirit.
Unyielding perseverance.
The strength to overcome any hardship.
Even the adventurous spirit to challenge the impossible.
-Thank you. Thanks to you, I've made up my mind.
The arrogant pureblood divine beast who insulted his parents.
And this trial blocking his path.
Without hesitation, Signus reached out and seized the option called [Death].
It wasn't his own death.
It was the death he would grant to overcome this trial—and to the being obstructing his way.
Krunch.
The moment he grasped it, something deep within Signus locked into place with a solid sound.
A sensation as if his very existence mutated to another dimension.
His eyes grew deeper and darker, and the eerie aura enveloping his body blazed more ominously and powerfully.
For the first time, he felt the urge to kill someone this badly.
But Kallinan wasn't the only problem.
-I will become the Rift King 'Sanctuary' and set this twisted world right.
-What? Puhahaha! What a clown!
Kallinan's mocking laughter.
And finally, the space shifted.
The trial arena resembled a desolate ancient battlefield.
Shattered colossal pillars littered the ground, mingled with the bones of unidentified beings.
The sky was dyed in an ominous blend of blood-red and violet.
-I'll purify this place with your filthy blood and move on to the next stage, mutt!
Kallinan roared and lunged first.
Pure platinum divine power erupted from his body like an explosion.
The majesty of a pureblood divine beast.
The space around him warped under his authority, forming hundreds of gleaming spears in the air.
Each spear condensed destructive energy capable of piercing stars.
Kaboom!
With Kallinan's shout, hundreds of platinum spears rained down on Signus like a storm.
The thunderous roar as their tips sliced through space was deafening.
So powerful it seemed to tear the battlefield's atmosphere apart.
A merciless strike meant to obliterate Signus in one blow.
Facing the onslaught of spears, Signus didn't close his eyes as before. Instead, he stared straight at Kallinan.
There was no flicker of unease in his dark, profound eyes.
Only cold resolve.
Boom!
Just before the hundreds of spears struck, the eerie aura around Signus expanded explosively.
It wasn't a mere shield.
A void of darkness that reduced all to nothingness.
The platinum spears lost their light upon contact, vanishing silently as if deleted from existence.
Like snowflakes cast into a blazing sun.
-I-Impossible! My full-power attack blocked so futilely?
Kallinan's eyes widened in shock.
His all-out strike had crumbled to dust before the mutt.
Instinct screamed danger as he tried to retreat, but it was too late.
Signus took a single step, folding space itself, and appeared right before Kallinan.
His hand slowly reached for Kallinan's chest.
No immense power emanated from it.
Yet Kallinan felt absolute terror, as if his very existence was being erased from its roots.
-You... What the hell are you...!
A faint smile touched Signus's lips. Not the leisure of victory, but the cold detachment of an executioner.
-I am Signus. The one who will stand above you all.
The instant Signus's hand pierced Kallinan's skin like paper, Kallinan's consciousness plummeted into infinite darkness.
A end he couldn't comprehend or resist, delivered by the hand of the mutt he had scorned.
'Our ranks are different.'
Kallinan realized instinctively.
It wasn't just a difference in power.
An insurmountable qualitative wall separated him from that mutt Signus.
Despite enduring the same trials and growth, their outcomes were worlds apart.
How could this be? He, a pureblood divine beast, to a mere mutt...!
And moreover.
The scene invading his consciousness was unbelievable.
-W-Wish!
A divine beast—no, a being called a mutt—was using 'Wish'.
Divine beasts could wield mana, but magic that directly interfered with the world's laws was beyond them.
This defied divine beast common sense. Impossible.
Kallinan's awareness faded.
-S-Stop! What the hell are you doing...!
Because he clearly understood Signus's ability.
This wasn't simple death. Fundamentally different from destruction or annihilation by force.
The void darkness from Signus's fingertips erased not just Kallinan's flesh, but his soul—and every foundational qualification as a pureblood divine beast.
True 'erasure'!
Beyond killing the individual, it seemed to wipe his existence from the species's history and lineage.
Tampering with the species's origin, severing its links.
Stripping away the authority all purebloods possessed.
-The Sovereign's Authority! Aaah!
Impossible.
How could one erase the authority engraved in the soul!
Thus, the divine beast Kallinan died.
Without pureblood authority, he no longer qualified for the succession battle.
His divine beast aura vanished, his essence regressing.
-You're nothing now.
-N-No!
Kallinan's body was forcibly expelled.
A punishment worse than death.
He could never enter a rift again.
He would wander the Abyss as a mortal, breathing his last in despair.
This was Signus's true authority.
Revocation of qualifications!
-...I will become Sanctuary, Father.
Signus vowed not to hesitate any longer.
The three evil gods clashed.
A shockwave that shook the entire Abyss.
As every being watched their battle.
Chui, barely squeezing through the gaps of 'Chaos,' could only stop and stare blankly at the 'Vessel of Chaos.'
"...Are you Taebaek?"
Taebaek.
The one who ruled Mount of Practitioners after the Heavenly Demon Cult vanished.
A monster created by the immortals of the Heavenly Realm.
But the god's vessel before him now was fundamentally different from the Taebaek he had seen.
-I am the one who grants wisdom at the end. Another beginning.
The master of the cradle raised his head.
But he was no longer the wise god from before.
A horrific hybrid formed by twisted divinities merging into one.
Countless divine voices writhed within, resounding as a dissonant cacophony or a chorus of madness.
"I didn't know. But I understand now. I know everything. Now it's clear. Why we gods were made to suffer in this world. Why the Abyss's demons wouldn't leave us alone!"
Brr rumble!
The Vessel of Chaos vibrated violently, warping the surrounding space.
Chui's mind reeled from the bursting divine power.
Yet he couldn't move.
This divine power was leagues beyond the Taebaek in that 'egg' he had seen before.
Countless gods fused as one, unleashing power in a scream.
"This Abyss."
And it spat out one truth he had realized.
"Is a hell and a prison."
"A prison for whom, exactly? For you gods, by any chance?"
Chui asked.
He had to.
If the gods' favored one spoke truth, it was worth hearing.
Was the Abyss a prison made to torment the gods, or did it hold another meaning?
Brr rumble!
The transcendent divine entity shuddered again.
Soon, it voiced another truth.
"Park Chan-woo."
With the familiar message chime.
After a long time, Park Chan-woo opened his eyes.