Chapter 445
Chapter 445
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 445
Chapter Title: Racial War (84)
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Chiiik—
The door to the passenger car slid open, and a familiar voice rang out.
"Alright, alright! We're almost at the final battlefield, 'Avici Hell Station'! Is everyone ready? The rules here are super simple... but oh-so brutal! Heh heh heh!"
It was the host, Hoot.
With his signature sleazy grin, he unfurled a parchment inscribed with the rules.
But before he could even begin his explanation, Zero's icy voice cut him off.
"If you interfere with the Racial War one more time..."
"...Pardon?"
"I'll report it directly to your superiors."
In an instant, the smile vanished from Hoot's face.
His eyes widened in bewilderment.
"Wh-what do you mean? I've always respected the sacred rules of the Racial War and maintained strict neutrality! And superiors? We hosts don't have any superiors!"
Hoot jumped in exaggerated shock, gesticulating wildly to protest his innocence.
But Zero pierced through his act with a gaze like he was staring at a bug.
"The Transcendent, Amalgam of Balance."
"...!"
Hoot's body went rigid.
Transcendent.
Beings who had existed in the Transcendent Abyss since time immemorial.
They were already there when the Abyss first stirred to life—a land the demons could never conquer.
No lord dared touch the territory of the Transcendents.
Transcendents only allowed those they personally approved into their domains.
Lil the Transcendent was one such being.
And the Amalgam of Balance was a Transcendent as well.
By rights, Transcendents were forbidden from intervening in the mortal realm.
They were beings who lived solely within their own domains in the 'Transcendent Abyss.'
There, they were immortal and invincible.
Perfect gods ruling by their own laws.
But if they stepped beyond those domains into this Abyss, even they could die.
"Some Transcendents intervene in the mortal realm in other ways."
Zero's gaze shifted back to Hoot, who was now pale and trembling uncontrollably.
"Like this scum and the other hosts."
Only then did it dawn on everyone.
The hosts weren't neutral administrators.
They were mere pawns carrying out the will of the Transcendent known as the Amalgam of Balance.
Zero knew everything.
The moment that realization hit, Hoot felt true terror for the first time.
Before this being who saw through all his secrets—even his master's existence—he was nothing more than a naked worm.
Creeeak.
A smile crept across Zero's lips.
"I know that you took Sepiro's request in the 'Earth Station' and tried to offer humanity's warriors to Ataraxia as sacrifices."
"Hiiik!"
A beastly scream burst from Hoot's mouth.
He collapsed to the floor, shaking violently.
'How... how does he even know that...!'
He couldn't deny it.
Thinking about it...
'This guy's a Sepiro too!'
The being before him was Sepiro as well.
How could Zero, his other half, not know about the secret pact he'd made with Sepiro?
But they'd sworn a secret oath.
'Damn it all!'
This was death.
By naming the Transcendent Amalgam...
He'd know where it was, too.
The Amalgam wouldn't forgive his transgressions.
"Sp-spare me! I'll do anything! Please, just let me live...!"
Hoot groveled pathetically, kowtowing on the floor.
Zero looked down at his desperate form with emotionless eyes.
Then, he made an utterly unexpected offer.
"Fine. I won't kill you."
"...Pardon?"
"If you hand over your 'God's Droplet.'"
"...!!!"
God's Droplet.
Hoot's heart plummeted.
The supreme treasure bestowed directly upon him, the top administrator, by the Creator Amalgam.
A miraculous relic that could perfectly purify any curse or heal any wound with just a single drop.
In this endless train of unknowns, it was his one and only insurance policy.
No crude elixir could compare to the Creator's legacy!
And now, he had to give it up?
'This guy's worse than a demon!'
Hoot wailed inwardly.
But he had no choice.
In the end, with trembling hands, he pulled a small glass vial from the deepest pocket hidden in his robes.
Inside floated a single drop of iridescent, rainbow-hued liquid.
Tears streaming down his face, he handed the God's Droplet to Zero.
Zero accepted it without a moment's hesitation and headed straight to the sleeping Park Chan-woo.
He trickled the droplet into his mouth.
Hwaaaaa—!
In that instant, a blinding golden light erupted from Park Chan-woo's body, filling the entire passenger car.
His divinity, depleted from summoning Azathoth, was reconstituting within that light—more radiant and perfect than before.
'You fool.'
Park Chan-woo had shouldered far too much alone.
The 'Lucid Dream' that grew his comrades at the cost of his own erasure.
Azathoth, the primordial chaos that shook the Abyss's foundations to break Sepiro's vow.
Even saving the dead dragon's soul and forging it into a new god.
Every miracle came with a price.
His divinity couldn't bear the weight of it all and had nearly crumbled to ash.
'The God's Droplet should restore him somewhat.'
Of course, he'd learned Hoot had it thanks to Park Chan-woo.
It was the very item he'd sent Kim Byung-han to steal in the first place.
But with the stations shortened, Kim Byung-han and the other helpers never had a chance to arrive.
Zero had no choice but to intimidate Hoot himself.
Frankly, bullying a mere host like Hoot bruised his pride.
'Rest and recover.'
Of course, it would take time.
This wasn't a mere wound or curse—it was the erosion of his very existence.
Full recovery would require no small amount of time.
Zero's gaze shifted from the sleeping Park Chan-woo to the awakened human warriors and the leaders of the five allied races standing with them.
Tension for the final battle gleamed in everyone's eyes.
Zero spoke.
"We'll end this war before that guy wakes up."
All eyes focused on him.
His words meant they wouldn't borrow Park Chan-woo's power even in the final battlefield.
They would fight without their strongest weapon.
Hekarim of the Giant race asked, utterly baffled.
"Our Sovereign isn't participating? With that overwhelming power, why?"
It was the question on everyone's mind.
But Zero sneered, as if he'd been waiting for it.
"It'd be boring."
"...What?"
"If this guy joins the war, it'll be too boring. This battlefield would turn into a one-sided massacre in an instant."
Zero's gaze turned to the leaders of the five races.
"Then you lot wouldn't be needed at all. Is that what you want?"
"...!"
It was an arrogant, irrefutable threat.
Your presence here is only because Park Chan-woo is asleep.
Your value is valid only in this moment.
The warriors, their pride trampled in humiliation, had no choice but to shake their heads.
Their Sovereign's command was to 'aid humanity.'
If Park Chan-woo solved everything, they'd be reduced to spectators, failing their orders.
They had to participate in this war.
To prove their worth and fulfill their Sovereign's command.
Just as Zero intended, they became his perfect pawns, with no choice but to move.
Kiiiiiiiek—!
As if signaling the end of the long journey, the Endless Train finally ground to a halt with a heavy groan.
At that moment, Hoot—who'd been trembling under Zero's chilling glare—blurted out desperately, as if he'd been waiting.
"A-alright! We've arrived at last! The final battlefield before the terminus, 'Avici Hell Station'!"
His voice strained to mimic his usual jovial tone, but it cracked faintly at the edges.
He'd been robbed of the God's Droplet.
"...The rules here are super simple... but oh-so brutal! Heh heh heh!"
Hoot began his rote explanation.
"The goal is simple. The race holding all ticket types must reach the 'Altar of Annihilation.' Offer every ticket there, and the gate to the 'Terminus' will open."
The Terminus wasn't reachable by train—it was through the altar.
The rules, astonishingly, were just that.
But in that simplicity lay the cruelest intent.
Humanity alone held all the tickets.
This final battlefield was a massive hunting ground where every race in the Abyss targeted one sole prey: humanity.
It wasn't originally designed that way, but humanity's monopoly made it so.
Finishing his explanation, Hoot added in a quavering voice.
"W-well then... good luck."
With that, he fled like a ghost.
All the train doors swung wide open.
Beyond lay only darkness and fog.
Nothing visible even a step ahead.
"Brace yourselves."
Zero addressed the warriors.
"The moment we step through these doors, we'll be scattered. And every enemy in the Abyss will move to hunt us down."
The warriors silently gripped their weapons tighter.
"But you're not alone."
Zero raised his hand, drawing a complex magic circle in the air like an intricate equation.
A silvery-white light etched a small mark like a brand on the back of every allied warrior's hand.
"It's a linking spell to track each other's locations. Even if we're scattered, link up with the nearest ally and stand against the enemy."
He scanned the group one last time.
"I'll be the last one out. I'll read the flow of the entire battlefield and command you all."
Zero's gaze first fell on Adora.
She nodded and, without hesitation, threw herself into the chaos.
Following her, Lee Hyuk-soo and the other human warriors, then the Giant race, Heavenly race, and the rest of the five-race warriors plunged one by one into the final battlefield.
The last war had begun.
Adora stood alone on some unknown expanse of land.
But before she could get her bearings or check the mark Zero had given her...
Familiar yet ominous auras enveloped her from all sides.
"Long time no see, sis."
"Kyarruk. Didn't you miss us, sis?"
"I missed you soooo much!"
Seven little witches, who looked just like her childhood self, surrounded her.
Only then did Adora realize.
'...I got played.'
The drop locations weren't random after all.