Chapter 522
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 522
Chapter Title: Giant's Wail
A ruined world where even the flow of time had come to a halt.
A single day in the real world could feel like an entire year here, or slip by like the blink of an eye.
Lee Hyuk-soo had lost track of how long he had been swinging his sword.
Amid the screams of hundreds of millions of vengeful spirits, he wielded his blade like a dancer lost in rhythm.
The battle pushed his body and mind to their absolute limits.
Every time he broke through one barrier, another loomed higher, only to reveal even greater despair beyond.
The Lion King showed no mercy.
He dragged forth Lee Hyuk-soo's deepest traumas, manifesting them as illusions.
He recreated the most agonizing memories of defeat and gave form to the fragile anxieties buried in his heart, blocking his path with them.
Lee Hyuk-soo had to cut down his master, Park Chan-woo, countless times. He knelt and wept before his mother's apparition. He despaired amid the final screams of perishing humanity.
Yet he never stopped.
Just as Park Chan-woo always had.
He embraced every despair he faced, making it a part of himself.
He did not turn from the pain, did not let sorrow consume him, did not kneel to fear.
Instead, he melted all those negative emotions into his sword, forging them into a denser, heavier power.
At last, Lee Hyuk-soo's blade pierced through every illusion, severing all despair.
It then plunged into the Lion King's gaunt ribcage, the core of his very existence.
"...Kuh!"
Lee Hyuk-soo vomited blood and collapsed to his knees as if tumbling to the ground.
His bones felt crushed, his muscles torn—a pain that wracked his entire body.
It was the price of pouring every ounce of his strength and will into that single strike.
Gulping ragged breaths, he looked up at the Lion King, whose chest was pierced and utterly still.
...Did I win?
Really? Me?
【...Well done.】
A massive hand slowly rose, coming to rest on the shoulder of Lee Hyuk-soo, who heaved harsh breaths.
【You... you are worthy of inheriting my world, everything I have.】
As if proud.
As if amazed.
【You have the potential to surpass even me.】
The Lion King's gaze briefly shifted to Park Chan-woo, who had silently watched it all from behind Lee Hyuk-soo.
【Though you choose to remain in another's shadow, your fate does not end there. My successor.】
Words spoken as if meant for Park Chan-woo to hear.
Yet he had seen it.
The infinite potential slumbering in Lee Hyuk-soo's soul.
Currently eclipsed by the brilliant light of Park Chan-woo, the colossal sun—but destined one day to become an independent sun, illuminating a world of his own.
A vessel so vast that even Park Chan-woo, king of the new era, could not fully contain it.
Lee Hyuk-soo had yet to grasp the full depth of those words.
Lost in agony, he could only stare blankly at the ancient king who had acknowledged him.
【My era... is now over.】
The Lion King carefully lifted the faintly glowing crown from his head with both hands.
The instant his fingers released it...
Kwarrrrrr rumble!
The roar of the world's collapse accelerated once more.
The final anchor holding this realm together had vanished.
The earth screamed as it split apart. Gray tears poured from the sky like rain.
Ruins lost their gravity, floating into the void before crumbling into particles of light.
Everything crumbled, dissolved, and began hurtling toward a single center.
Lee Hyuk-soo.
The Greatsword of the Lion King in his grip greedily devoured the energy of total annihilation.
Hundreds of millions—no, billions—of vengeful spirits, dormant in this world for eons, flowed into the blade like a mighty river.
The sword wailed as if screaming, unable to bear the weight. It began merging with Lee Hyuk-soo, starting from his hand and spreading through his body.
Sizzle—!
As his flesh burned, a sword-like pattern branded itself onto the back of his hand.
-We stake everything on you.
-Our final king, our new hope.
-We shall become nameless birds, wandering new worlds at your side.
The last voices of the ruined world echoed directly into his soul.
Unable to bear the immense weight, Lee Hyuk-soo lost consciousness and collapsed.
The Lion King watched over his fallen successor until the end.
His colossal skeletal form was already dissolving into motes of light.
Gathering his remaining strength, he extended the crown in his hand toward Park Chan-woo, as if passing it on.
【When the time comes... set my successor free.】
Park Chan-woo understood the meaning.
Lee Hyuk-soo would not remain his eternal knight, forever chasing his shadow.
His vessel had already outgrown the confines of humanity.
One day, he would set forth on his own path, to claim his own kingdom.
Park Chan-woo had foreseen all those possibilities.
So he nodded quietly.
At that affirmation, the Lion King finally smiled in peace.
【...Thank you.】
With those final words...
Shaaaa—!
His existence faded into a handful of light, vanishing into eternal oblivion alongside the ruined world he had loved.
Now, atop the empty wasteland, only Park Chan-woo remained—along with the fallen Lee Hyuk-soo and the fragments of Ragnarok, bereft of their master.
Park Chan-woo reached out toward the floating crown.
As he claimed it, the "Age of the Wolf" embedded at its center shot toward him with a ferocious howl.
Fwooooosh!
The Ragnarok armor enveloping his body—"Fierce Winter" and "Sun and Moon"—resonated in unison, welcoming the new piece.
A jet-black wolf emblem etched itself over the silver-white armor, fusing the three fragments into perfect unity.
Ding!
By the time the system messages faded, the ruined world had reverted to perfect nothingness.
An endless void.
Park Chan-woo approached Lee Hyuk-soo.
He lay unconscious, but his breathing was steady.
A deeper pulse of life now enveloped his entire body, stronger than before.
He was merging with the hundreds of millions of stories now etched into his soul.
When he awoke, he would stand at a realm incomparable to his former self.
Park Chan-woo easily hoisted Lee Hyuk-soo onto his shoulder.
The most trusted sword, with whom he would usher in a new era.
His growth was Park Chan-woo's own.
Together with Lee Hyuk-soo, he followed the beam of light extended by the World Tree back to reality.
Now, only one piece remained.
The fourth fragment of Ragnarok: "Giant's Wail".
Park Chan-woo knew exactly whose hands held it.
His new ally, the most steadfast and boisterous race in the Abyss.
"Guess I need to meet Hekate."
The giants.
And their lord, Hekate.
The giants' world, Jotunheim, lived up to its name—everything was immense.
Mountains pierced the heavens. Rivers flowed as vast as oceans. Even the trees forming the forests were thicker and grander than the pillars of the Dragon God Temple.
Amid this colossal landscape, Park Chan-woo chuckled at how small he felt, like a speck of dust.
"What brings you here?"
Hekate asked.
Implying it wasn't the time for visits, with war preparations in full swing.
"Straight to the point."
So he cut right to it.
"I'm here for 'Giant's Wail'."
A scoff of disbelief crossed Hekate's face.
He rose from his throne.
His massive shadow engulfed Park Chan-woo like a tidal wave.
"Ha! Here to take it? The audacity of you humans! Why should I hand over our giants' ancestral relic, passed down from our progenitor, to the likes of you? If anything, you should offer up those Ragnarok fragments you have! That armor belongs to the giants by right. It's no trinket for a puny vessel like you!"
His roar shook the earth.
But Park Chan-woo didn't flinch under the overwhelming pressure.
Instead, he looked up at Hekate with intrigued eyes.
"Do you really think humans are weak?"
"Of course!"
Hekate nodded without hesitation.
Arrogance mingled with unshakable conviction in his gaze.
The eyes of one who believed raw power was the world's sole truth.
"Your human race is frail beyond measure, Park Chan-woo. You're the sole exception—every other one I've seen is worthless."
Park Chan-woo listened silently to the assessment.
Hekate continued.
"War is at our doorstep. Demons could batter our walls any moment. And yet, only our giant warriors will bleed out on the front lines? In this unequal alliance, we may have to reconsider."
This was his true sentiment.
Months of interaction had only impressed upon the giants the humans' frailty.
Dragons taught magic, duskfolk shared stealth arts—but humans' clumsy mana control and fragile bodies seemed pathetic in their eyes.
To power-worshipping giants, humans weren't comrades to entrust their backs to; they were burdens to protect.
"Then let's make a wager."
Park Chan-woo said.
"Humans can fell a force of 100 with the strength of 1. If I prove it, hand over 'Giant's Wail'."
Hekate's eyes narrowed.
Impossible.
Power gaps were absolute.
Overcoming 100 with 1 defied the iron law of strength he had upheld for eons.
Yet this human had always wrought miracles beyond reason.
"...Fine."
Hekate accepted the gamble eagerly.
A chance to crush this arrogant human's nose and claim all of Ragnarok!
"Prove it, and 'Giant's Wail' is yours. Fail, and every Ragnarok piece you've gathered becomes mine."
The bet was on.
Hekate summoned one of his warriors.
"Hekarim."
The giant who had led them in the racial war.
His prowess was proven.
"You called for me, great Hekate?"
Hekate addressed the arriving Hekarim.
"If a pure human defeats Hekarim using only human strength—no aid from you—I'll gladly surrender 'Giant's Wail'."
"Understood. I'll be back."
Park Chan-woo headed to Earth.
Who to bring?
A human who could beat Hekarim...
Pure power? None.
Lee Hyuk-soo came to mind, but absorbing the Lion King's power would take time.
Hanshin?
Would that uncontrollable brute even listen?
Besides those two, one name surfaced.
'Han Min-oh.'
Han Min-oh's technique.
A counter that turns enemy strength against them—there's a chance.
Of course, not in his current state.
'Time to train him in attributes.'