Chapter 429
Chapter 429
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 429
Chapter Title: Racial War (68)
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Park Chan-woo raised his head.
A massive throne, and upon it sat an overwhelming presence.
The master of the Colossal Evil.
This was his first time seeing the figure in person.
The one who had ignited the Great War and led everything to ruin.
That was how history recorded it.
True to his name, the sheer presence of the being surpassed all imagination.
He merely sat there.
Yet that existence alone seemed to make the surrounding space-time scream and twist in agony.
Countless demons, inheritors of the master of the Colossal Evil's authority, stood arrayed in all directions.
Their numbers easily surpassed hundreds of millions.
Reaching this far was nothing short of a miracle.
...So this was the 'aura' of one of the great Nine Monarchs.
But Arcana did not yield even before this crushing pressure.
Arcana was already a battered wreck.
He had barely managed to reach this point, standing before the master of the Colossal Evil in a state where death could come at any moment.
The master of the Colossal Evil sneered.
"Haha! Do you want to end the war? Then go tell your master to bow his head before us."
"Dragon God Sepiro has no interest in this war."
"Ridiculous. The bastard who started the war has no interest in it?"
"......"
"You know nothing, it seems. Well, he's the sort who only cares about himself, so he wouldn't bother telling you his plans."
"What on earth are you talking about......"
"Tsk tsk. Poor puppets who don't even realize they're being manipulated. Sepiro isn't the noble being you think he is. However."
The master of the Colossal Evil regarded Arcana with interest.
"You're a little different. You've partially escaped Sepiro's chains."
Chains.
The absolute faith in the 'Dragon God' that all dragons possessed.
This matched the memories Park Chan-woo had seen through Arcana up to this point.
The master of the Colossal Evil smiled faintly.
"Let's make a wager. If you win, I'll do everything in my power to end this war. But if I win, you're mine."
"...What's the wager?"
"I'm curious if Sepiro would take an interest in you once a proud dragon falls to corruption."
"You mean to corrupt me?"
"Exactly. I'll turn you into a 'Bone Dragon'."
"......What?"
It was madness to turn a dragon into an undead.
No one in their right mind would suggest such a thing.
To make a dragon undead, it had to be done while it was still alive.
In other words, the dragon had to consent.
"Unprecedented in dragon history, isn't it? Don't you think that's enough to pique Sepiro's interest?"
"Nonsense."
Park Chan-woo could no longer stand by silently.
Not while watching this dragon of hope become 'undead' once more.
Not while seeing a future where it crumbled in solitude across eons!
He stepped in front of Arcana, facing the master of the Colossal Evil head-on.
"Sepiro isn't that merciful a being."
Park Chan-woo's voice was low, but it was enough to draw the gaze of the monarch on the throne.
For the first time, the master of the Colossal Evil's eyes turned to Park Chan-woo.
He scanned Park Chan-woo from head to toe before speaking with evident intrigue.
"Ho, and who might you be, little one? Daring to interfere in my wager."
"Sepiro only takes interest in things that benefit him directly."
Ignoring the question, Park Chan-woo continued speaking to Arcana.
"Do you think he'd spare a glance for a single fallen dragon? He'd just mock your despair and replace you with a more valuable pawn. That's the true nature of Dragon God Sepiro."
Park Chan-woo's words pierced the truth Arcana had desperately tried to ignore.
Sepiro had always been that way.
A being who built his achievements on the suffering and sacrifices of the dragonkin.
"......"
Arcana's eyes wavered.
The master of the Colossal Evil watched the scene with evident delight.
"You speak intriguing words, little one. As if you've seen through Sepiro's innermost thoughts."
"At least better than you."
Park Chan-woo shot back.
"You're just dancing to Sepiro's whims."
For the first time, the smile vanished from the master of the Colossal Evil's face.
Park Chan-woo pressed on relentlessly, revealing the most fatal truth.
"I know this war is nothing but a rebellion you Nine Monarchs started to usurp the sovereign. Haven't you already made a deal with Sepiro? This war will end soon enough anyway. Don't insult a noble dragon with your pointless games."
In an instant, the oppressive pressure crushing space exploded outward.
The master of the Colossal Evil's rage boiled over, as if tearing space-time apart.
But Arcana reacted even faster.
"......Is that true?"
Arcana asked Park Chan-woo in a trembling voice.
That Dragon God Sepiro had joined hands with their demonic enemies?
"It's a lie. Lord Sepiro would never do such a thing."
Arcana answered himself.
The flame of blind faith reignited in his eyes.
Arcana turned back to the master of the Colossal Evil.
"Very well, Lord of the Colossal Evil. I accept your pathetic wager."
"Arcana!"
Park Chan-woo shouted, but Arcana was resolute.
"If what you say is true, then my life means nothing. But if it's a lie... I will win this wager and personally execute all of you who have sullied Lord Sepiro's honor."
It was the last remnant of a dragon's pride, blooming amid despair.
Before a false truth, he was staking everything to prove the real one.
Park Chan-woo realized.
'A predetermined future cannot be changed.'
In the Tower of the Gods, he had saved Arcana's soul.
But that was after everything had ended.
The Arcana before him now had not yet reached that future.
He stood on the fated path where he must become a Bone Dragon and suffer for eons.
No matter how loudly Park Chan-woo proclaimed the truth, he could not break Arcana's will.
No, perhaps Arcana already knew.
He knew Sepiro's whims and arrogance better than anyone, yet he refused to deny that he was the dragonkin’s god.
Deep down, he wanted to believe until the very end.
That their god would never abandon them.
Park Chan-woo quietly stepped back.
This was a battle he could not interfere in.
A being willingly walking into ruin to uphold his convictions—a noble resolve.
He had no right to stand in its way.
The master of the Colossal Evil rose from his throne with a satisfied smile.
"Very well, dragon of despair. I shall personally shatter that noble pride of yours."
The wager began.
Park Chan-woo changed his mind.
He had to save this dragon.
There was only one true path to salvation.
'Draw Sepiro's attention.'
He needed to create a real 'miracle'.
The Great War was far more brutal and horrific than imagined.
Countless lesser races perished without even mounting a proper resistance.
Their lands burned, their histories plundered.
Especially the dignity of the so-called Twelve Sovereigns was beyond imagination.
The mere act of their movement made dimensions scream, and their authority erased and rewrote laws.
It was easy to see why their mere appearance could trigger great rifts.
But Park Chan-woo sought only Sepiro.
Where on earth was Sepiro amid this massive war?
'Most likely with the Lord of the Void.'
But the Abyss was too vast, and the battlefield too chaotic.
Pinning down the positions of two transcendent beings was nearly impossible.
That was when it happened.
Kuuuung-!
The Origin Spirit Arcana at Park Chan-woo's side began moving on its own, defying his will.
The dragon's head pointed precisely in one direction, like a compass.
The mana core resonated violently, crying out to Park Chan-woo.
-I can... feel it... there.
The essence of Origin Spirit Arcana was 'hope'.
And its mana core was linked to the main body's heart—Arcana's.
At the very moment the main body Arcana was wagering against the master of the Colossal Evil and plummeting into the depths of despair.
Paradoxically, Origin Spirit Arcana had detected the faintest, most desperate wave of 'hope' blooming from that despair's end.
The one being who could end all this tragedy.
Dragon God Sepiro's location.
In an instant.
Kwaaaaa!
A wall of crimson hellfire blocked their path like a barrier.
Beyond the flames, tens of millions of demons revealed themselves.
And at the forefront of that army stood a demon god clad in red armor.
"The Red Knight, Zepar."
Park Chan-woo murmured the name softly.
One of the demon gods who had participated in the Racial War.
He had come to greet Park Chan-woo, leading his forces here.
Zepar raised his red spear, pointing it at Park Chan-woo.
"To come here of your own accord to die—perfect timing."
Zepar's voice burned hot and arrogant, like hell's brimstone.
"This is the boundary between illusion and reality. Here, all these demons are as real as can be. No matter what pathetic miracles you pull off, you can't handle this many."
The tens of millions of demons behind him roared in unison, unleashing their killing intent.
Heaven and earth trembled under their malice.
"I am Zepar, the Red Knight who serves the Lord of the Colossal Evil. Foolish human pretending to be a god—die here."
It was an overwhelming number.
Even Park Chan-woo couldn't handle them alone.
By seeking the master of the Colossal Evil, Zepar had detected him.
Walking into the enemy's lair of his own volition—what else could be expected?
Park Chan-woo closed his eyes briefly.
He hadn't failed to anticipate this.
But he hadn't expected quite this scale.
Then Zepar raised the red spear high.
A sinister black energy that warped space rose from the spear tip.
"This is the 'Spear that Pierces Errors,' bestowed directly by the great Lord of the Colossal Evil."
Madness gleamed in Zepar's eyes.
"A true monarch's spear, made to annihilate anomalies like you that defy the laws!"
Shuuuuk-!
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Zepar hurled the spear with all his might.
The spear tore through space-time, tracing a pitch-black trajectory straight for Park Chan-woo's heart.
There was no dodging it.
It wasn't flying toward him.
The 'result' of it piercing was predetermined first, with the process following—a causality-reversing attack.
Not mere physical投掷, but the concept of 'annihilation' itself.
Origin Spirit Arcana desperately twisted to shield Park Chan-woo, but the spear passed through its body like an illusion.
An absolute authority that ignored all defenses and laws, seeking only to destroy 'errors'.
But.
"Come forth, Tsarpham."
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!