Chapter 514
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 514
Chapter Title: Awakened Abyss (4)
Park Chan-woo also realized something.
To confront the Abyss, simply wielding greater power wasn't enough.
The Abyss was an existence of nothingness that erased all power and concepts.
It was an absolute matchup that could never be overcome through a clash of strength against strength.
So.
'I need to match its stature.'
He had to change the very stage of the battle.
Not this hollow stage governed by the Abyss's laws, but a new one ruled solely by his own laws.
Hwaaaaaah!
The four scattered pieces finally resonated as one perfect whole.
This was on an entirely different level from the previous 'Fierce God Descent.'
Park Chan-woo didn't suppress or drive out the ferocious beast dwelling within him.
Instead, he fully 'accepted' all its destructive instincts and malice as part of himself.
His vessel, perfected by surpassing five masters in the Tower of God, was more than capable of containing even a Fierce God.
Kurrrrrrr!
Centered on Park Chan-woo, the Fierce God's roar echoed.
And at that moment.
The colossal form of the Abyss, vast enough to blanket the entire Abyss, began to shrink rapidly as the 'Domain of the Fierce God' unfurled.
The infinite existence, like an endless ocean, dwindled to a mere few meters.
The Abyss's power hadn't weakened.
'Our statures have matched.'
Now, at last, a proper fight could begin.
With statures aligned, the battle commenced.
Soon, a jet-black aura rose from the Abyss's entire body, as if condensing every curse and grudge of this world.
The aura enveloped its form in an instant, forging massive armor.
It was a grotesque shape, as if freshly crawled from hell.
But Park Chan-woo saw through to the essence beyond that overwhelming exterior.
'A crystal of endless curses.'
The Abyss had become the world of 'Yin' itself.
An absolute domain of negativity that rejected all light and life, craving only eternal descent and annihilation.
But.
"...That world."
Park Chan-woo gave a bitter smile.
"Is one I know all too well."
His journey had begun there, after all.
Minus 99 level.
The extreme place where existence itself was denied.
That long tunnel of despair, where he had to walk alone in the darkness without a single point of light, using only his own will as a lantern.
Ironically, the only one who could fully understand and confront the Abyss here in the Abyss.
Was Park Chan-woo alone, the one who had experienced that hell firsthand and crawled back out alive.
The primordial Abyss that had existed since the beginning, and the new Abyss forged by fate's cruel plunge into the depths, clawing its way back.
Two bottomless pits finally collided head-on.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The Abyss moved first.
The figure clad in dark armor charged at Park Chan-woo like a black meteor.
The Sword of Despair in its hand traced a pitch-black trajectory toward the Fierce God's heart.
Just slicing through empty air made space scream and tear.
That strike carried not just black aura.
Hundreds of millions of layered curses flew with it—curses that would corrupt the soul upon contact, make wounds eternally unhealing, and erase the very reason for one's existence.
But seeing that sword, Park Chan-woo felt a strange familiarity.
It was all too familiar.
That sword's path, the flow of power, even the cold killing intent within.
'Adora.'
Park Chan-woo realized.
The Abyss was mimicking 'Adora.'
Fragments of her battle memories, untouched by the Spring of Oblivion in the deepest recesses of her soul.
The Abyss had dredged them up, reconstructing them into the most efficient techniques of slaughter.
A cold, precise sword dance focused solely on ending the opponent most surely.
"...That sword."
Park Chan-woo murmured softly.
"Can't cut me."
No one knew Adora as well as he did.
Her next move, her openings, even her breath.
Kang!
He met the Abyss's strike head-on with Baal's sword.
Kurrrrrr!
Even this closed world of 'Primordial Darkness' couldn't withstand the impact, cracking in places and showing signs of collapse.
The world of destruction called the 'Domain of the Fierce God' and the world of annihilation called the 'Abyss' clashed, each staking their existence to erase the other.
Kakakakakang!
They collided.
Vast flows of power surged ceaselessly.
Park Chan-woo's heart surged too.
'So this is what such a world is like.'
This was the true 'fight' he had so longed for.
After transcending all stats in the Tower of God, he had never once met an opponent worthy of pouring everything into.
Not even.
A realm he had never experienced before.
The primordial arena that opened only when perfect power met perfect foe.
He was thrilled.
Pure exhilaration.
Park Chan-woo twisted his sword.
Seok!
A chunk of the dark armor on the Abyss's shoulder tore away.
Black fragments scattered, vanishing into the void.
The first effective hit.
But the Abyss felt no pain.
The torn armor instantly regenerated from the Abyss's darkness, counterattacking even more ferociously.
Park Chan-woo didn't yield.
No, he was enjoying the fight.
'More! Stronger!'
The instincts of Fierce God Baal roared.
Park Chan-woo didn't suppress that destructive urge.
Instead, he fused it with his own will, refining it into even more precise and potent power.
Leaping while shattering the ground, swinging his sword while tearing space.
Destruction for destruction's sake.
Wherever his sword swept, the Domain of the Fierce God thickened, encroaching on the Abyss's void.
Park Chan-woo wondered.
How far he could go.
What was possible.
What landscape he would face if, in this moment, he poured out everything without reserve.
He had similar experiences in the past.
On the final day of the Racial War, temporarily reaching 'Zero Point' by borrowing humanity's faith and the power of racial relics.
The fleeting instant where he transcended all laws, reigning like a god.
But that had been a mere stopgap, borrowed power.
Fragile as a castle on sand, vanishing like a mirage when the blessing ended.
But now was different.
The five 'transcendences' achieved in the Tower of God were wholly his.
True accomplishments forged through countless failures and regressions, a vessel completed by his soul that no one could take away.
He hadn't reached level 0 yet.
But his current self was more complete and powerful than that 'Zero Point' state.
Like a great tree rooted in solid ground, he could unleash his power freely from an unshakable foundation.
The Abyss was the perfect opponent to test that power.
Park Chan-woo no longer relied solely on swordsmanship.
Five glowing seals materialized in his left hand's empty space.
Stamina, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Magic Power.
The stigmata of the five masters resonated with his will, imbuing his sword with their respective authorities.
Stamina piercing the earth with life's cycles, Agility whipping like a storm, Intelligence piercing all things' truths, and Magic Power weaving and amplifying them all.
"Don't fall yet, Abyss."
He called out softly.
"Until I show you everything I have."
Park Chan-woo decided to test all his limits.
The empty space where the thrones of the great six sovereigns stood.
A heavy silence unlike any before descended.
They all held their breath, watching the spectacle unfolding in the 'Primordial Darkness.'
The clash of two primordials—a war from the mythic age.
After a very long silence, one sovereign muttered in disbelief.
The other sovereigns could offer no reply.
The Park Chan-woo in their eyes was not the 'Park Chan-woo' they had known until now.
Utterly different from his appearance in the Racial War.
Back then, he had been awe-inspiring, no doubt.
Borne by humanity's faith, descending like a god and forcing even Dragon God Sepiro to submit—a miracle.
But there had been something precarious about it.
His power was immense, yet it didn't seem entirely his own.
As if a child borrowing his father's armor.
And they had seen it.
How unstable his divinity was, how his existence stood on a fragile sandcastle.
So they feared him, yet also looked down on him.
But.
The being now fighting the Abyss on the screen.
The Lord of Black Glory uttered the word unwittingly.
Yes, that was 'completeness.'
Not borrowed power, but unshakeable strength built purely from his will and effort.
His very body was a perfect transcendent being.
'Stamina' unyielding even against the Abyss's infinite void.
Pure 'Strength' meeting the clash of worlds head-on.
Transcendent 'Agility' defying the flow of causality.
Sharp 'Intelligence' piercing the Abyss's essence and exploiting its flaws.
And boundless 'Magic Power' binding it all, amplifying into infinite energy.
The way he wielded that immense power was incomparably more mature and natural than in the Racial War.
No hesitation, no waste—pouring out all his strength in the most efficient, destructive manner.
No precariousness. No awkwardness.
As natural as flowing water.
If that were true.
...It meant he had achieved all those miracles in the Racial War while holding back his power.
And in the scene that followed.
Park Chan-woo's majestic form transcending limits.
All the sovereigns could only gasp in shock.