Chapter 399
Chapter 399
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 399
Chapter Title: Racial War (38)
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The reactions of real humans on Earth watching this wondrous yet bewildering spectacle were nothing short of explosive.
Not only Minister Park Sang-min and his staff in the underground control room of the Abyss Safety Bureau, but billions of people around the world were plunged into a shock that seemed to halt all thought.
Soon after, they were swept up in overwhelming joy and awe, mingled with an inexplicable unease on one side.
"Th-this... what is this... a dream or reality...?"
In an ordinary household in Seoul, South Korea.
Mr. Kim, who had been holding his breath watching Lee Hyuk-soo's resurrection, Park Chan-woo's divine majesty, and the appearance of yet another Sepiro, muttered in a trembling voice.
His wife, Mrs. Park, was already clasping her hands together, shedding silent tears, while their son Cheol-min gaped at the screen, unable to look away.
"Dad, did that guy really bring back Hyuk-soo hyung? And that dragon... why did it suddenly turn nice? And that uncle who just popped up... who's he?"
Mr. Kim had no answer to his young son's innocent questions.
He simply couldn't believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.
News channels worldwide had long since abandoned regular programming for emergency broadcasts.
Abyss experts, religious leaders, and even SF writers from every country were mobilized, pouring out analyses and commentary on this unprecedented event, but no expert could provide a clear answer.
"The situation unfolding in the 'Earth Station' is so shocking that it demands a complete reevaluation of all our existing data on the Abyss."
"A god has descended to save us humans!"
A trembling voice from an Abyss scholar broadcast across the airwaves.
Following that, zealots passed by, screaming at the top of their lungs.
SNS and online communities were a molten furnace of festival and chaos intertwined.
"The true Messiah! Definitely humanity's savior!!"
"What the hell is that 'Wish' power? Is that what divine authority looks like?"
"Ataraxia got on its knees! The dragonkin are done for!"
"Wait, is it really on our side? Or is this an even more vicious final boss?"
"This is straight out of a myth war. What are we supposed to do now?"
"What if it's not a savior?"
"It's not gonna kill us all, is it?"
Excitement and cheers blended with hidden anxiety and fear in one place.
And.
"Please... I beg you..."
Lee Hyuk-soo's mother, Kim Ji-yeon, still leaning against the bed in the intensive care unit, gazed at the screen while shedding endless tears.
Her son's return to life, and the existence of the prophet who made it all possible.
Her prayers had been answered in the most dramatic way imaginable.
But in one corner of her heart lingered a mother's primal anxiety: whether a being with such immense power would truly stand on their side, and if her son Hyuk-soo could really be safe in that dangerous maelstrom.
She could only clasp her hands and pray repeatedly for the prophet's mercy and her son's fortune.
The same moment.
The series of events in the 'Earth Station' were far too shocking and beyond common sense.
The resurrection of a dead hero, the descent of a new god, the purification and submission of an ancient dragon, and finally, the emergence of a being identical to their arch-nemesis, Dragon God Sepiro.
All these sights were transmitted live to the interior of the Eternal Train and each species' special viewing rooms, creating ripples of immense magnitude.
The reactions among the higher league species inside the Eternal Train were sharply divided.
When the briefly interrupted broadcast resumed, the desperate war situation they last remembered had completely reversed.
A golden divine figure had appeared just before humanity's utter defeat.
At his gesture, the dead Lee Hyuk-soo was revived, and the rampaging Ataraxia bowed its head.
That alone transcended their common sense by leaps and bounds.
But now, Park Chan-woo had chanted the enigmatic spell 'Absolute Magic Sepiro', and the spear of light that pierced Ataraxia had transformed into the form of a new 'Sepiro'—a miracle beyond miracles.
"Is that... is that even possible?"
Confusion erupted.
There had never been a similar case, without doubt.
It wasn't creating a new god; it was producing an entity identical to an already existing absolute being, a phenomenon utterly beyond everyone's comprehension.
"Imitation? No, that mana quality... it's no different from the real Sepiro. If anything, it seems purer."
"Imitation is impossible. A being like Sepiro is bound by the laws of the Abyss."
Everyone fell silent for a long while.
They could only blankly stare at the two overwhelming existences facing each other on the screen: Park Chan-woo and the new Sepiro.
Then, a warrior from one species spoke up.
"What are the dragonkin going to do now?"
"If the real Dragon God Sepiro sees this, he might spit blood and collapse. To have another self created by a magic named after him—what greater insult could there be?"
"Even so, Sepiro himself can't participate in the Racial War."
As the words suggested, this situation was the worst-case scenario for the dragonkin.
The emergence of a new self-proclaimed Dragon God was headache enough, but now another Sepiro had appeared at his hand.
This went beyond a mere balance of power; it shook the very legitimacy and dominance of the dragonkin to their core.
"But... is that thing human?"
"No way."
The higher species warriors muttered lowly while gazing at the screen.
Since the enigmatic being claiming to be Dragon God had subjugated Ataraxia, massive waves would surely crash across the entire dragonkin race.
There was no way they wouldn't be shaken.
An elder of the Heavenly Clan—one of the Twelve Species—narrowed his ten eyes, trying to analyze every movement, but even discerning the origin was impossible.
"Too perfect to call a newborn god, too fresh to call an ancient one. That existence..."
"It wasn't a god to begin with."
"Then?"
"......"
Silence continued.
If even the Heavenly Clan, said to perceive origins best, was like this...
The chaos among the other species was beyond words.
However, the demons were somewhat different.
The Demon Kings and Demon Gods.
They viewed Park Chan-woo's appearance from an entirely different perspective.
Especially two Demon Gods, who watched with evident interest.
The Red Knight Zepar spoke.
"Definitely an 'anomalous existence'."
And Frenzied Belled nodded as well.
"The Master of Great Sins has commanded: correct all existing anomalies."
Frenzied Belled was a Demon God who served closest to the Master of Great Sins.
Truly existences that were 'madness' incarnate.
To them, 'anomalies' were nothing more than prey to be hunted.
Moreover, they had been granted new weapons from their 'Great Lord' to eradicate anomalies.
"Do you agree to 'human extermination', Gremory?"
Zepar asked Sorrowful Gremory.
The Lord of Great Sins had issued the command to correct 'anomalies', and to them, all phenomena caused by that 'anomalous existence' were blatant 'anomalies'.
Though their followed Great Lords differed, as demons, their 'greater purpose' had to align.
To maintain demons' reign as lords of the Abyss, they could not tolerate 'anomalies'.
Exterminating humanity itself would be the surest method.
Gremory slowly raised her head to meet Zepar's gaze.
Her face was utterly cold.
"Do you agree?"
"I'll watch a bit more."
"Why?"
"Because the Master of Giant Evils and the Master of Great Sins are not the Great Lords I follow."
Zepar followed the Master of Giant Evils, Belled the Master of Great Sins—both Demon Gods.
They had participated in the 'Racial War' under orders from their great lords.
Undoubtedly related to the recent 'Great Rift'.
Their obsession with eradicating anomalies stemmed from that as well.
But Gremory was different.
The 'Great Lord' she followed was neither the Master of Giant Evils nor the Master of Great Sins.
There was no reason to align with them.
"...I can't understand. Gremory, are you saying you'll stand by and watch that 'anomaly'? The other species are doubting us. They think we demons can no longer hunt 'anomalies'."
Frenzied Belled pressed with an irritated tone.
His bloodshot eyes flashed toward Gremory.
His intent to pressure her by invoking demons' 'greater purpose' was obvious.
Gremory showed no agitation under Belled's mad gaze.
On the contrary, her eyes grew even colder as she met his.
"Belled, your choice of the word 'hunt' sounds terribly inappropriate."
Her voice was low and quiet, but the chill within it was enough to momentarily freeze even Belled's madness.
"Do you truly believe we can hunt that 'anomalous existence'? Or is it just childish greed to test the performance of the new weapon bestowed by the Master of Great Sins?"
At her blunt question, Belled's face twisted ferociously for a moment.
But he couldn't retort easily.
The power displayed by the existence on the screen—and the other Sepiro it created—was beyond even madness-soaked Belled's casual dismissal.
Gremory summarized.
"We mustn't approach rashly. That existence is an anomaly beyond our common sense."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"We need to observe more. Now that an unknown 'Outer God' has appeared and nullified the Great Lord's attack."
She advised tempering hostility.
Meaning, charging in to hunt could unnecessarily complicate things.
However, Sorrowful Gremory had another reason for reining them in.
'Park Chan-woo.'
She knew.
Who that being wielding the brilliant golden mana was.
He had spoken words defending the honor of Andariel—Gremory's distant demon brother despite being an enemy—and pointed out Aheta's error in the 'Third Night'.
Thus, she had said the same words to him twice.
-Human who knows honor. We shall meet again before long.
Human who knows honor.
And this was already their third encounter.
Not yet directly clashing, but their face-off seemed inevitable.
Though far from the 'friendly circumstances' of before.
He was certain.
The system message was concise, but its implications were far from light.
The interior of the Eternal Train and each species' special viewing rooms fell silent as if doused with cold water.
All eyes and attention turned instantly to the system message floating in the air.
All tickets of the 'Earth Station'.
The very tickets that Ataraxia had first secured, then agreed to distribute to other species.
Now, they had all been transferred to the being whose identity was unclear until moments ago—and now officially recognized as 'humanity's 10th warrior', Park Chan-woo.
This went beyond mere ticket transfer; it effectively declared the winner of this 'Earth Station' round.
And that victor was neither the dragonkin nor any other powerful species—it was 'humanity', on the brink of total annihilation just moments before.
More precisely, a single human named Park Chan-woo.
"Wh-what is this...!"
The most vehement reactions came first from species closely allied with the dragonkin.
They had been promised a share of Ataraxia's secured tickets or expected safe passage to the next station under dragonkin protection.
But this message meant all those plans had gone up in smoke.
And above all, the most crucial point.
"That thing's really human...?"