Chapter 477
Chapter 477
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 477
Chapter Title: Creeping Chaos
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"We shall follow your will."
Shaiden was the first to declare his allegiance.
But Hecate remained cautious.
He agreed with Park Chan-woo's idealistic vision, yet he didn't overlook the hidden practical issues lurking within it.
"Just one question."
Hecate's deep voice cooled the heated air in the conference room once more.
"Do you truly intend to accept all of them as allies?"
His question pierced the most sensitive part of the grand principle Park Chan-woo had proposed: the protection of the weak races.
"The Abyss is home to countless races. Among them are the cunning, the habitual betrayers, and even those harboring irredeemable malice. If we take them all in simply because they're weak, wouldn't that be like sowing the seeds of massive chaos rather than forging an alliance?"
His concern was utterly realistic.
Unconditionally protecting every weakling might be noble, but it could also be foolish.
That goodwill could turn into poison, endangering the entire alliance.
Park Chan-woo answered as if he had been waiting for the question.
"Of course. The alliance will have tiers."
Hecate's eyes gleamed with interest at his words.
"My alliance consists of two concentric circles."
Park Chan-woo drew two overlapping circles on the table.
"The innermost circle is the 'Core Alliance.' Its members are solely our four races: humans, dragons, duskborn, and giants."
Satisfied smiles spread across the faces of the two clan lords.
"These four races will be the pillars and heart of the new order. All major decisions will be made through our consensus. We'll share our secrets and knowledge, operating on absolute trust akin to a blood oath."
Then he pointed to the larger outer circle.
"The outer circle is the 'Protected Alliance' for all other weak races. They receive our protection but are obligated to follow our decisions. We'll guarantee their safety, but core information and technology sharing will be restricted."
It was a delicate balance between mercy and pragmatism.
Embracing all, yet establishing clear hierarchy and order within.
"And if any member of the Protected Alliance disrupts our order or plots betrayal..."
Park Chan-woo's eyes flashed coldly.
"Then, in the name of the Core Alliance, we will deliver merciless 'judgment.'"
Only then did Hecate burst into satisfied laughter.
"Kahahaha! Excellent! Compassionate, yet never soft!"
Now he could fully trust this young god.
Park Chan-woo was an idealist and, above all, a coldly realistic pragmatist.
Thus, the framework of the greatest alliance in the new era was complete.
But it was merely the beginning.
Discussions on the new era continued endlessly.
"How should military training between Core Alliance members be conducted?"
"To what level should we allow technology transfer to humans?"
"What name shall we give this new alliance?"
Countless agenda items piled up on the table.
Sometimes fierce debates erupted; other times, they marveled at each other's wisdom and found common ground.
The sun set, the moon rose, and dawn broke again.
Abyss Security Headquarters.
The corridor outside the conference room was thick with icy tension.
Humanity's elite warriors, including Lee Hyuk-soo, and key Security Bureau agents led by Minister Park Sang-min stared at the firmly shut conference door from afar, spending the night wide awake.
No one could leave their post.
No, they couldn't.
Behind that door, the future of humanity—not, the entire Abyss—was being decided.
"...It's already been a full day."
Reaper Johnson muttered as he rolled his stiff neck, gazing at the morning sun rising outside the window.
Exhaustion dripped from his voice.
No sounds came from within.
The conference room was sealed with perfect soundproof barriers, leaving them utterly clueless about the conversations or atmosphere inside.
That silence only amplified their anxiety.
"What on earth... are they talking about in there?"
Han Min-oh bit his lip anxiously.
His mind raced with worst-case scenarios.
What if negotiations collapsed and war resumed the moment that door opened?
Or if humanity was forced into an alliance with brutally unfavorable terms?
"No need to worry."
Han Shin broke the uneasy silence.
Leaning against the wall with arms crossed in his arrogant pose, his voice carried a strange certainty.
"Park Chan-woo is in there."
All eyes turned to Han Shin.
"No clan lord could trick him into a bad deal. If anything, those giants and shadow blobs are lucky not to lose everything."
Han Shin's words were as gruff as ever, yet laced with a deep trust he himself hesitated to admit.
The others' expressions softened slightly too.
Right—Park Chan-woo was inside.
The one who always found answers in any crisis, turning the impossible into reality.
But Lee Hyuk-soo's heart wasn't at ease.
He sensed what others couldn't.
'The Prophet... is burning himself even now.'
Park Chan-woo was always overwhelming, yet precarious.
Like a candle burning itself to illuminate the world.
Lee Hyuk-soo intuited it.
Park Chan-woo wasn't just negotiating with those two great clan lords.
He was staking everything to convince and lead them, his soul wearing down bit by bit in the process.
That reality weighed heavily on Lee Hyuk-soo's chest.
The powerlessness of being able to do nothing but wait gnawed at him.
'Please... please stay safe, Prophet.'
Time continued to flow.
A day passed, then two.
Some of those waiting in the corridor collapsed into exhausted sleep; others paced restlessly, unable to quell their anxiety.
The entire world held its breath, awaiting the outcome of this marathon summit.
And finally, after a full three days...
Kiiiek—
The heavy conference door creaked open.
Everyone in the corridor shot to their feet as if on cue.
The first to emerge were Giant Clan Lord Hecate and Duskborn Clan Lord Shaiden.
Deep fatigue from three days of intense debate etched their faces.
But beyond that weariness shone smiles blending satisfaction and anticipation for the new era—emotions unseen before.
They gave a light nod to Lee Hyuk-soo and the others in the corridor before silently vanishing back into the rift from which they'd come.
Last came Park Chan-woo.
His steps seemed a touch heavier than usual.
Yet his eyes were clearer and deeper than ever.
He offered his worried comrades the faintest, but unmistakable, smile.
That was enough.
The summit had succeeded.
And a week later...
The greatest, most wondrous change in human history began.
Gigantic gates reopened in the skies over Seoul.
But this time, it wasn't a hostile invasion.
Emerging from the gates were each race's 'elites.'
Hundreds of dragons with gleaming golden scales descended with dignified wingbeats, settling into designated training grounds.
Duskborn warriors slipped silently from the shadows, dispersing across city rooftops.
Giant warriors marched out, shaking the earth, and lined up in vast parade grounds under Security Bureau guidance.
They had come to uphold their promise.
To impart their knowledge and techniques to humanity.
Initial chaos and friction arose.
Arrogant dragons tsked at humans' clumsy mana control; giants sighed at their frail bodies.
But all differences and prejudices began melting away under one name: Park Chan-woo.
Dragons taught human Awakened the fundamental principles of magic; giants shared the most efficient body-tempering methods; duskborn revealed how to wield the Abyss's shadows.
Humanity entered its most explosive growth period ever.
Everything brimmed with hope.
Except for one person: Park Chan-woo himself.
At the pinnacle of the Dragon God Temple, Park Chan-woo sat upon his jade throne, gazing down at the landscape unfolding below.
A new era was sprouting on Earth.
Racial barriers crumbling as they learned from and exchanged with one another, growing stronger together—the world he had dreamed of was becoming reality.
Hope filled every face.
But Park Chan-woo's heart lay submerged in a deep, cold abyss untouched by that hopeful light.
Death was approaching.
The death sentence etched as the price of regression.
His time was running out.
200 days.
Within that, he needed to rise from level -25 to level 1—a total of 26 levels.
Fail, and he dies.
Humanity's savior. The dragons' new god.
Despite all those glorious titles and feats, his fate was chained to the absolute deadline of 200 days.
Now, he had to choose.
In this limited time, what to prioritize.
The first path.
The one the Black Witch revealed: seeking Transcendent Amalgam in the Creator's Domain.
There lay clues to rescuing Transcendent Lil and the last Creator Beast.
Claiming them would bring his divinity near perfection.
The key to unraveling the Abyss's primal secrets and victory over the coming Destroyer.
But that path was perilously uncertain.
No guarantee Transcendent Amalgam would aid him; no one knew the dangers in the Creator's Domain.
One misstep, and he'd waste his 200 days, gaining nothing before death.
The second path.
Focusing solely on leveling up.
He already knew the answer.
The fastest, surest place in the Abyss to gain levels.
'The Tower of God.'
There, he could exploit his negative level penalty in reverse, growing at unimaginable speed.
But choosing that meant shelving Transcendent Lil and the Abyss's core issues for now.
Prioritizing his survival over the greater cause.
Was that the right choice?
As his heart wavered precariously at this fork...
"You look troubled."
A playful voice, yet piercing as if seeing through everything.
Park Chan-woo turned to find the God of Offerings, in her little girl form, beside him.
She perched on the railing, swinging her bare feet as she looked up at him.
He nodded silently to her question.
She let out a snicker.
"How foolish."
Mockery, yet tinged with affection.
"You've always been like that. Putting others before your own life."
She hopped down and approached him.
"Don't you think it's time to look after yourself?"
For the first time, the God of Offerings' eyes turned deadly serious.
"...The Destroyer is coming. Slowly, but surely creeping closer. You're the only one who can stop that massive chaos, Park Chan-woo."
"Heading toward the Abyss through the Great Rift?"
"The Destroyer will drag everything beyond the Great Rift along with it."
"...What's beyond the Great Rift?"
Her smile vanished.
"Things too immense to bear."