Chapter 381
Chapter 381
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 381
Chapter Title: Racial War (20)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The wind stirred up by the Sylph warriors was no mere gust.
It swirled with the ferocity of razor-sharp blades slicing through flesh, instantly encircling Humanity's representative team and forming a massive wind barrier.
Though it appeared transparent, the mana condensed within threatened to pulverize anything it touched.
"Wh-what is this...!"
Reaper Johnson shouted toward the wall of wind, his face drained of all color, but his voice merely echoed hollowly inside the barrier.
Adriana involuntarily took a step back, while Han Min-oh stared at Sylphia in utter disbelief.
Just minutes ago, they had believed her to be their one and only ally.
A betrayal cloaked in the pretext of Adora's "betrayal"—an utterly deceptive stab in the back.
"Queen Sylphia! What is the meaning of this?!"
Lee Hyuk-soo bellowed at Sylphia beyond the barrier.
He struggled to maintain his composure, but his fury and bewilderment were impossible to hide.
He had only tossed out the card of Adora's "betrayal" to test Sylphia's reaction.
This immediate, outright hostile response was far beyond anything he had anticipated.
Sylphia still hovered elegantly in the air.
The playful spark in her blue eyes was nowhere to be seen.
Cold and ruthless—the gaze of a predator staring down at its prey.
"You ask what this is, human?"
Sylphia's voice drifted in on the wind.
It was laced with mockery and contempt.
"You are already sacrifices with a purpose assigned. From the beginning, Adora—bearer of the 'Star's Will'—was the key. Through her, we sought to fully inherit the legacy of Transcender Lil and use it as the foundation for our Sylph tribe to usher in a new era. However..."
Sylphia's gaze shifted to the empty air.
As if she could see Adora standing there, even though she wasn't.
"That foolish creature squandered her own opportunity. So you who remain have no choice but to become sacrifices for a far greater existence, as originally planned."
"A greater existence...?"
Lee Hyuk-soo's brows furrowed tightly.
It was completely unforeseen.
Sylphia let out a mocking chuckle.
"Sacrifices offered to the great Dragon Tribe. Your blood and souls will soothe their rage and bring even greater glory to our Sylph tribe."
Sylphia's words were a shock.
She had intended to exploit humanity from the start. Adora had merely been a pivotal variable in that scheme—there had never been any trust or sense of alliance toward humanity itself.
Now that she believed Adora had "betrayed" them, she discarded humanity without hesitation in pursuit of bigger gains.
Or perhaps it had all been a lie from the beginning.
"Ugh... So you deceived us right from the start!"
"Foolish humans. Haven't you figured it out yet? You have incurred the wrath of the great 'Dragon Tribe.' A massive 'bounty' has been placed on your heads."
"A bounty...?"
A low groan escaped Lee Hyuk-soo's lips.
The word "sacrifice" had been shocking enough, but "bounty" implied a far more direct and widespread threat.
It meant humanity had been marked as "prey" for every predator in the Abyss.
Reaper Johnson's face didn't just pale—it turned a sickly blue.
"Wh-what bounty are you talking about?! What the hell did we do?!"
Sylphia snorted derisively at Reaper Johnson's outburst.
"What did you do? Your very existence offended the Dragon Tribe. Your existence itself is the crime."
Lee Hyuk-soo's mind raced.
Park Chan-woo's grudge against Dragon God Sepiro.
Had that escalated into a bounty on all of humanity?
Was Dragon God Sepiro at the center of it all?
Sylphia pressed on with her mockery.
"Humans are like moths plunging into flames. Blissfully ignorant, staking everything on some fleeting glimmer of hope, only to court your own destruction."
"Then what about the connection Han Shin spoke of?"
Queen Sylphia sneered.
"Do you still believe him?"
Her words flew like a poisoned arrow, embedding deep in Lee Hyuk-soo's chest.
His eyes shook violently. Slowly, very slowly, he turned to Han Shin.
"Han Shin... What the hell is this?"
Reaper Johnson, Adriana, Han Min-oh, Aurum, and Yoo Jin-seo too.
Every team member's gaze locked onto Han Shin.
The anger and fear that had been aimed at Sylphia twisted into fresh suspicion and betrayal, now directed at him.
Han Shin remained utterly expressionless.
No panic, no rage, no sense of injustice crossed his face.
Just a hollow gaze, as if he had transcended everything—or cared about nothing at all.
He merely toyed with the leaf flute he had pulled from his bosom, offering no response.
His silence spoke volumes.
"Answer me, Han Shin! Is what Queen Sylphia said... true?"
Lee Hyuk-soo's voice cracked.
He didn't want to believe it.
Slowly, Han Shin finally spoke.
"It's true."
"...You sold us out?"
His voice trembled pitifully.
The agony and betrayal of being backstabbed by a comrade—at this do-or-die moment for all of humanity—defied description.
Han Shin met Lee Hyuk-soo's gaze with those emotionless eyes and replied.
"In exchange for my safety, and on the condition that I join the Sylph tribe, I brokered the alliance with them."
His words struck like daggers, plunging deep into the hearts of every remaining member of Humanity's team.
So that was it.
The "alliance" with the Sylph tribe had been built on Han Shin's betrayal from the very beginning.
For his own survival, he had plotted to offer up all of humanity as sacrifices. Approaching Lee Hyuk-soo had been part of that plan, positioning himself as the bridge to the Sylph tribe.
The one ally they had trusted above all others was, in truth, the most insidious trap.
"You... you worthless cur worse than a dog...! Worse than any traitor!"
Reaper Johnson's face flushed beet red.
He looked ready to charge at Han Shin and tear him limb from limb right then and there, but Sylphia's wind barrier held him fast.
His rage devolved into impotent screams at the empty air.
Adriana's legs buckled, nearly sending her crumpling to the ground.
"Brother... why...!"
Han Min-oh glared at Han Shin with raw resentment.
Even knowing Han Shin, he had never imagined such a vile betrayal.
Lee Hyuk-soo muttered under his breath.
"...You swore a pact with me. You definitely couldn't betray humanity."
"What is the justice of humanity?"
"What?"
Absurdity dripped from Lee Hyuk-soo's sharp retort.
Talking about the pact's binding force, and now bringing up "humanity's justice"? What kind of nonsense was this?
Han Shin continued staring at him with those dead eyes.
"What do you base your 'humanity' on? Being born on the same planet? Or just having similar forms?"
"What are you..."
"I swore not to betray 'humanity.' To me, 'humanity' means every living, breathing being. I draw no distinctions between them. Human, beastfolk, Sylph tribe—even demon gods. They're all just entities struggling to survive in their own ways. The only difference between them is who is stronger and who is weaker."
In that instant, Lee Hyuk-soo realized.
Han Shin meant every word.
He believed this twisted logic of his to the core of his being, as absolute truth.
To him, the pact to protect the specific race called "humanity" could be bent and twisted within his expansive definition of "all living beings."
He hadn't betrayed "living beings," so in his mind, he hadn't broken the pact at all.
This was the loophole Han Shin had exploited in the "Reaper's Pact."
A ruthless self-justification no human could comprehend or stomach.
No, it went beyond mere justification. Han Shin had been wired this way from birth.
Weaker than him, or stronger.
That single criterion governed how he treated humans—every living thing.
"Such... such insane logic doesn't exist!"
Lee Hyuk-soo cried out in anguish.
His sword hand shook uncontrollably.
"The pact didn't mean that! You know it too!"
"That's just your standard, Lee Hyuk-soo."
Han Shin replied coldly.
His gaze seemed to drift into the distance.
"In the Abyss, power is justice. I simply align myself with the stronger lifeforms to secure my own survival. The weak get absorbed or culled by the strong—that's the natural law of this world, isn't it?"
His words carved deeper than any dagger into Lee Hyuk-soo's heart.
Han Shin shrugged and stepped beyond the barrier.
The wind barrier did not restrain him.
Sylphia flashed a satisfied smile and lightly patted Han Shin's shoulder as he approached.
"Splendid, Han Shin. Your insight pierces straight to the heart of the Abyss's truth. Unfettered by sentimental bonds, guided solely by the logic of power. That is the mark of a true strong one."
She gazed down at Lee Hyuk-soo and the human team like insects and proclaimed.
"55 minutes remaining. Until your end."
55 minutes.
The countdown to their execution.
The island's safe period had that much time left.
Lee Hyuk-soo ground his teeth. The taste of blood flooded his mouth.
'If we can't turn this around in 55 minutes, we'll truly end up as Dragon Tribe sacrifices—or dead by their hands.'
Han Shin's betrayal cut to the bone, but there was no time left to curse him.
They had to survive, no matter what.
For Park Chan-woo's return if nothing else. And for the team members still pinning their hopes on him.
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
Lee Hyuk-soo roared until his throat was raw.
Desperation and unyielding resolve to rally his comrades filled his voice.
"It's not over yet! We've got 55 minutes! We'll shatter this barrier and break out in that time!"
At his shout, Reaper Johnson jerked his head up.
"Damn straight! We ain't dyin' like this! Time to show that traitor bastard and that crazy queen what for!"
Everyone sprang into action.
They had to break the barrier and escape.
Sylphia watched Humanity's team with utter disdain.
"By all means, thrash about. Foolish humans. I'm quite looking forward to just how pathetic your final struggles will be."
She exuded total leisure.
Absolute confidence that the barrier would never yield.
Sylphia covered her mouth as she spoke.
"Even if you somehow slip the barrier, there's no hope for you. Every tribe on this island will be gunning for you alone."
Her icy voice rang out, intent on crushing even the last flicker of hope from the trapped humans.
She wasn't wrong.
With the Dragon Tribe's bounty in play, this chaotic archipelago was little more than a vast hunting ground for humans.
The Sylphs had simply made first contact with Han Shin and seized the opportunity.
...The barrier was unyielding.
Even as Aurum and Yoo Jin-seo poured everything they had into it, it refused to crack.
"10 minutes left."
Time marched on relentlessly.
In 10 minutes, the assaults would begin.
How long could they hold out against the Sylph warriors?
'Damn.'
What slipped from Lee Hyuk-soo's lips wasn't a curse.
It was a sigh heavy with despair, self-recrimination, and anxiety over the dwindling time.
45 minutes. For that entire stretch, they had flailed inside the wind barrier like caged birds, but the outcome was devastating.
Aurum's spirit arts, Yoo Jin-seo's holy power—both utterly impotent against the impregnable prison of wind.
The team's mana was scraping bottom, their faces etched with profound exhaustion and despair.
"Cough, cough! Is it... really over...?"
Reaper Johnson wheezed raggedly as he slumped to the ground.
His once-boisterous voice was reduced to a rasp, the light fading from his eyes.
Lee Hyuk-soo clenched his fist until his nails bit into his palm.
The physical pain paled against the crushing weight of the hopeless reality before him.
Adora. If only she were here.
No—if only he had been just a little stronger.
If only he could have lived up to Park Chan-woo's expectations, even a fraction.
'Not yet. Not yet.'
Lee Hyuk-soo shook his head fiercely.
He couldn't give up.
Never abandoning hope, no matter the moment—that was Park Chan-woo's lesson.
He scraped together his very last drop of mana.
Desperation blazed in his eyes.
Boom!
He swung Baal's sword.
Struck the barrier. Struck it again.
Blood streamed from his sword hand.
Boom! Boom! Kwaaang!
Each time Baal's sword hammered the wind barrier, Lee Hyuk-soo's body shuddered violently.
Mana had run dry long ago.
Sheer willpower and stubborn grit alone fueled his swings.
His sword hand was a mangled, bloody mess, sensation long gone; wrenching pain shot from his joints up his arm to his shoulder.
His breath burned in his throat, lungs on the verge of bursting; his vision blurred again and again.
But he didn't stop.
'Don't give up. Until the very last instant, if there's even the tiniest chance, never give up.'
Park Chan-woo's voice echoed in his ears like a hallucination.
The creed that had lifted him in every desperate crisis.
'...Even if I die, I won't break.'
He gripped the fracturing sword even tighter.
Baal's sword responded to his raw desperation, faintly exuding black aura as it howled at the barrier.
But the wind barrier stood firm.
An absolute shield that permitted not even the slightest fissure.
"M-Master... please, stop...!"
Han Min-oh's anguished plea came from behind him.
It was thick with worry for Lee Hyuk-soo—and the resignation of someone who had already given up.
The other team members averted their eyes, unable to watch, or stared blankly into nothing.
To them, Lee Hyuk-soo wasn't some tragic hero. He was a pitiful moth battering itself in futile rebellion.
"Such pointless toil..."
Beyond the barrier, the sneer curling Sylphia's lips only deepened.
Arms crossed, she watched Lee Hyuk-soo's frenzy with the leisurely appreciation of a play's grand finale.
Han Shin stood beside her, still expressionless, though something subtle seemed to flicker deep in his eyes.
Boom!
Once more, Lee Hyuk-soo's sword crashed against the barrier.
This time, the cracks along the blade widened dramatically, the weapon trembling on the brink of shattering.
Lee Hyuk-soo's knees buckled slightly, but he clenched his jaw and hoisted the sword high once more.
'One more time... just one more...!'
His final, all-in strike.
With desperate momentum that wrung out his last vestiges of life force, Baal's sword plunged toward the barrier.
It was then.
With a piercing clang!—
......Baal's sword shattered into fragments in Lee Hyuk-soo's hand, scattering into the air.
At the same instant, his body pitched forward, limp as a snapped thread pushed past its limit.
"......!"
Despairing silence filled the barrier.
Lee Hyuk-soo braced himself on the ground with bloody hands, gasping hoarsely.
His vision was a total blur, his ears ringing.
Utter exhaustion washed over him, every sensation fading away.
"...Even if I die...... I won't... break."
Even as consciousness slipped, Lee Hyuk-soo kept moving.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dull thumps of flesh and bone against the wind barrier echoed miserably inside.
In place of the broken Baal's sword, his fists and kicks pelted the barrier without respite.
His scabbed knuckles burst open anew, spraying crimson; his feet were shredded as if sliced by invisible blades.
But he didn't stop.
No—he couldn't stop.
His mind was already half-gone.
His body moved on nothing but primal, desperate instinct.
Each collision sent bone-shattering agony ripping through him, but an even greater despair refused to let him go.
"Master... please... please stop!"
Han Min-oh sobbed, clutching at Lee Hyuk-soo's leg.
But Lee Hyuk-soo shook him off and, staggering, drove another fist at the barrier.
There was no focus in his eyes.
Only the singular fixation: shatter the invisible wall before him.
Thud.
The limp punch didn't even connect properly—it slid off, sending his body tumbling forward.
Thump.
At last, Lee Hyuk-soo's movements ground to a complete halt.
He stayed propped on bloody hands, utterly motionless.
Only faint breaths proved he still clung to life.
"Truly, a heart-wrenching effort, human."
There wasn't a shred of feeling in her voice. Indifferent as if appraising a roadside pebble.
"But now... the time has truly run out."
Sylphia slowly raised her hand.
Her blue eyes gleamed with chill finality.
"Commence the final feast... Hm?"
It was then.
Queen Sylphia cocked her head.
And looked at Lee Hyuk-soo, who had risen again.
An utterly unkillable human, that much was clear.
But soon, shock flooded Sylphia's eyes.
Because Lee Hyuk-soo's presence was entirely different from before.
"Wait, you...?"
Shwaaaaa!
Orbs of light bloomed around him.
At the same time, the Sylph warriors and Queen Sylphia alike could only gape in horror.
"Wh-Whish?"
"H-Ha, but what the hell is that number?"