Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: THE END
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Kankun and Adora's showdown.
If it came down purely to raw power, Adora would win in a landslide.
She had mastered death, conquered it, and ascended beyond it.
She shattered walls and transcended limits to claim a supreme position.
The presence of Adora that Park Chan-woo had witnessed up to this point far surpassed even the aura he possessed when he reached max level in the past.
In a word...
'A transcendent being.'
The Witch of Death, Adora, had become a transcendent.
What was a transcendent?
It was an unknown realm beyond human reach.
No matter how madly they yearned and stretched out their hands.
No matter how they twisted their bodies and thrashed desperately.
No matter how endlessly they prayed, hoped, and dreamed...
Humans, whose limit was level 99, could never become 'transcendents.'
That was humanity's curse.
As long as they clung to their humanity, they could never go further.
Park Chan-woo was one of those who had tasted that frustration.
So he knew better than anyone.
About transcendents.
How utterly overwhelming they were!
Kankun's enlightenment in the Heart Sword?
Overcoming fear, physical reinforcement?
Such things could never reach the realm of 'transcendence.'
The two were already on different levels entirely.
Adora, having conquered death, arrived on the 10th floor in an instant.
Kankun, on the other hand, showed up long after.
Just the difference in speed made it crystal clear who was stronger and weaker.
But there was definitely a variable.
'Adora's feelings toward Kankun will play a huge role as a wildcard.'
Adora wouldn't kill Kankun.
Kankun, meanwhile, would desperately try to kill Adora.
That difference in mindset could shift the battle's flow.
It wasn't impossible for Kankun to triumph over Adora.
However...
Once the fight began, the outcome was somewhat disappointing.
Because Kankun fell right into Adora's trap.
'Kankun's lost.'
Kankun's attacks wouldn't reach Adora.
Park Chan-woo was certain of it, and that certainty soon manifested as reality.
'Nine shields. And the curse hidden within them.'
It wasn't just defense.
Adora had created nine shields and simultaneously set up nine spells.
She had cleverly hidden them to activate only when all nine shields shattered.
Those nine shields were sacrifices for unleashing black magic.
The idea of using spells as sacrifices to cast another spell struck Park Chan-woo as refreshingly novel.
'She prepared black magic on the premise that all nine shields would break. If Kankun hadn't shattered them all, Adora would have taken massive damage instead.'
Park Chan-woo's body trembled faintly.
It was intricate and exquisite.
The process of countless formulas converging into one result was akin to art.
Adora wasn't just a master of death; she was a genius in magical interpretation as well.
He had never seen a witch wield black magic like this.
Confident that Kankun would destroy all nine shields, she laid the conditions and crafted the sacrifices herself to unleash powerful black magic.
Had Kankun's assault failed, Adora would surely have become the black magic's sacrifice and suffered severe damage.
At least an arm would have been blown off.
The nine shields had been precisely designed and generated based on an assessment of Kankun's power.
How incredibly complex a process this black magic entailed!
'So what black magic did she unleash?'
Park Chan-woo was utterly captivated by Adora's artistry.
He couldn't tear his eyes away.
He had no clue what black magic required such elaborate preparation.
Soon, Kankun's body halted right before Adora.
But this was far from a simple 'stop.'
'Ah!'
Park Chan-woo let out an involuntary exclamation.
Black magic was, after all, just another strand of magic.
Mages pointed fingers, claiming it defied truth, but like how mages offered mana, formulas, and incantations as sacrifices to cast spells, black magic was merely a special form that demanded immense sacrifices.
Black magic simply simplified magic's complex processes, revealing a more one-dimensional, destructive side.
Yet the magic wielded by a transcendent was on another level entirely.
The moment he realized the nature of Adora's black magic...
Park Chan-woo's eyes began to shine.
'Wish! It's a Wish!'
It wasn't ordinary black magic.
It was a 'Wish'—the magic that manifested phenomena.
Magic had three 'tiers.'
Not simple ranks, but distinctions born from more complex processes.
They were divided into three tiers accordingly.
The first tier was the magic commonly used by mages.
The second was the miracle 'Wish' that transcended magic to alter reality.
And the final tier was the incomprehensible 'Absolute Magic.'
Even all mages and ancient dragons typically ended their lives within the first tier.
Those who reached 'Wish' were countable across all worlds, and as far as Park Chan-woo knew, the only monster capable of 'Absolute Magic' was the transcendent dragon Sepiro.
Yet the spell Adora had just used was unmistakably a 'Wish.'
Miracle-inducing magic!
The magic interpreted the user's intent and desire on its own, then brought about phenomena.
If ordinary 'magic' was something a mage could cast through laborious effort, a 'Wish' was magic casting itself according to the mage's will.
What else could that be but a miracle?
...The magic was manifesting automatically.
Surpassing ordinary magic's bounds, myriad phenomena intertwined, linking Adora and Kankun.
'Beautiful.'
Park Chan-woo was overwhelmed by the sight.
Magic was invoking magic.
The magic was interpreting and adjusting to Adora's desires on its own.
Adora's desire was simple.
Reconciliation with Kankun.
And for that, the 'Wish' halted Kankun.
And furthermore...
It sought to present a way for Kankun to quell his rage.
Park Chan-woo was dying to know what method would allow Kankun to reconcile with Adora.
And how the 'Wish' would interpret it.
Soon, the result appeared.
Puk!
...Something pierced through his chest.
The Heart Sword. The blade Kankun had enlightened to—with his help—had pierced his heart.
Amid the sharp pain, Park Chan-woo felt a strange emotion.
'...Was I the key?'
Kankun had poured his hatred onto him instead of Adora.
As if wishing her to engrave the same feelings within herself.
The sorrow of losing his tribe to annihilation, precious beings gone.
It seemed the 'Wish' had interpreted that Kankun's emotions would be resolved through his death.
Judging him to be Adora's precious existence.
Strength ebbed away.
The sensation of his body collapsing.
Adora's gaze upon him.
He opened his mouth one last time, looking at her.
"Beaut...iful..."
Not death.
The Wish, and the witch wielding it, were truly beautiful.
...He had wanted it desperately too.
Adora stared blankly at Park Chan-woo's collapsing form.
The Wish, a spell she had naturally invoked after conquering death.
The magic had manifested according to her desires.
As the Wish halted Kankun, Adora pondered briefly.
Was shaking hands now the right move?
How could she convey that the tribe's annihilation wasn't her intent?
In that instant...
Her fleeting hesitation birthed an irreversible outcome.
"Taste... the despair... I felt, witch!"
Kankun shouted.
Blood trickled from his mouth, his halted body forcibly moved.
His head throbbed like it might burst from momentary overload, but he had to say it.
He wanted her to feel the despair he had endured too.
"......"
Adora wasn't looking at Kankun.
Confusion dwelled in her eyes, fixed on Park Chan-woo.
Why had this happened?
Because of that moment's doubt?
Or because she had entrusted everything to the Wish?
"Must... save him..."
Adora murmured softly.
She had to save him.
He couldn't die here.
Adora turned.
And approached Park Chan-woo.
But she didn't know how to save him.
Turn him into an undead?
No, that wouldn't count as living.
Adora knew death well enough, but life? Not at all.
Adora slowly reached out.
Park Chan-woo's body was cooling rapidly.
—Beaut...iful...
His final voice echoed in her ears.
What was beautiful?
His own death?
Or her, Adora?
Adora didn't think herself beautiful.
So it couldn't be that.
"What... should I do..."
Everything was chaos.
Adora couldn't collect her thoughts.
As a result, her 'death' began spreading throughout the tower.
Hwaaaaaah!
"Urk!"
"Gahk!"
All who stepped into the 'domain of death'—
Lim Chang-yul, Kim Byung-han, the Seoul Alliance, everyone left in the tower.
Thud!
Thud!
They lost consciousness and collapsed simultaneously.
The silver lining: they weren't dead yet.
Because she craved life over death.
They had merely fainted, swept by immense mana.
Kyuu!
It was right then.
Fluffy burst from Park Chan-woo's embrace.
Adora froze at the divine beast's presence.
Soon, Fluffy licked the pierced chest.
Then...
Whoosh!
A flower of light bloomed.
"Flower... of Life...?"
Kankun murmured blankly, repeating the name.
The Flower of Life.
The miracle not of a warrior—that human warrior who granted him enlightenment, helped him conquer death—had wielded it.
The thing he thought had vanished.
"Wait..."
Kankun realized something was wrong.
His body was free once more.
Clang!
He set his sword on the floor.
Step, step.
And slowly walked forward.
Reaching him, he removed Park Chan-woo's helmet.
"......"
Kankun's expression hardened.
The face inside was unmistakably that of the human warrior he knew.
"...Warrior. Why are you... here?"
Hadn't he left the tower?
Kankun's mind grew tangled.
He never dreamed the one Adora cherished was the human warrior who enlightened him.
Much less that he would kill him with the Heart Sword.
"...My chest... aches as if it's tearing apart. Is having emotions... this painful?"
"......"
When Adora asked, Kankun couldn't respond.
Only then did he understand.
That the witch had emotions too.
And...
"Then... I'll discard... my emotions again. Then it won't hurt like this."
...That the witch intended to abandon her emotions once more.
To save Park Chan-woo, using them as sacrifice.
The 'Wish' read Adora's desire.
If the Flower of Life combined with 'Wish' to work a miracle, surely even death could be undone.
Moreover, Park Chan-woo wasn't fully dead yet.
Merely heading toward certain death.
Shiiiiiik!
The 'Wish' reacted to Adora's emotions.
Seeking to turn her desire into reality.
The 'Wish' descended upon Park Chan-woo's body.
Working a miracle to pull him back from death.
But...
The miracle didn't happen.
No—it couldn't.
The 'Wish' realized that reviving Park Chan-woo required more than a mere miracle.
Something vaster, stronger, more overwhelming.
Adora learned the Wish's will.
"...I offer it."
For Park Chan-woo's life, Adora sacrificed the 'Wish' itself.
This meant losing the 'Wish.'
She would never use it again.
Yet she resolved to save him anyway.
Soon, radiant light bloomed from Park Chan-woo's entire body.
"Th-this...!"
Kankun startled, stumbling back.
...In that instant, phenomena beyond miracles.
Incomprehensible events no words could describe began unfolding through Park Chan-woo's body.