Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Myth
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Dimensional Wanderer Zharpham.
Originally, Park Chan-woo had no intention of awakening him.
【Call me. Wake me!】
Throughout the summoning of Azos, Zharpham had chattered noisily.
Urging him to switch summons.
To use him instead of Azos.
Perhaps because he'd been trapped for so long, he was quite the talker.
However, Park Chan-woo had no plans to summon Zharpham at all.
'Answer me. Why were you sealed in the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice?'
Until he knew the reason. Until he understood Zharpham fully.
He had no intention of touching it recklessly.
Zharpham's existence was more dangerous than he could have imagined.
The mana pattern of the creature when it first appeared carried an ominous aura unlike anything he'd ever seen.
Moreover, it had absorbed his unique mana and made it its own.
Wasn't it just like a parasite latching onto mana itself?
If it could cling to intangible mana and wield it as its own, then it could just as easily latch onto him and become a threat.
In short, Zharpham was a 'dangerous bastard'.
【One of the Demon-Sealing God's former masters. That's all I can say!】
By linking his mana, Park Chan-woo could converse with Zharpham through thoughts alone.
But Zharpham refused to give a straight answer.
Yet...
'One of the Demon-Sealing God's former masters.'
In other words, there had been countless owners of the Demon-Sealing God before him.
He'd half-expected as much.
The Demon-Sealing God surely hadn't first come into his hands.
But what surprised him was that the offerings from those previous owners were still inside the chalice.
'All the offerings were stored inside the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice?'
【Not all of them. As far as I know, there are eight or nine more like me. The rest wander forgotten in the realm of 'nothingness'.】
The realm of zero, perhaps.
It seemed to exist for sure.
One of his many hypotheses had been confirmed.
However, the idea that beneath that realm lay a world of negatives inside the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice was hard to swallow.
'Zharpham. What exactly are you?'
At this point, curiosity was eating at him.
About Zharpham.
Who had sealed him in the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice wasn't all that important.
But the title 'Dimensional Wanderer' piqued his interest to no end.
【I remember being called the 'Great Sea Beast', 'Lord White Whale' Zharpham, drifting between dimensions. My other memories are gone.】
Not an ordinary name by any means.
Given that it wandered between dimensions, he could only guess it was something akin to a divine beast.
Divine beasts lived within the rifts of the Abyss, after all.
The Abyss constantly expanded, connecting all dimensions, so the gaps between them screamed 'rift'.
And the name 'White Whale'.
It literally meant a white whale.
He'd never heard of a divine beast taking the form of a white whale, but it wasn't too far off.
Divine beasts were indeed sea monsters that even the lords of the Abyss feared.
They overturned the board the moment they appeared with overwhelming power and terrifying size.
If Zharpham's true nature was a divine beast, then everything so far made sense.
Azos going berserk under the pressure of its immense presence was understandable.
'There are eight or nine more like you inside here?'
One Zharpham was already mind-boggling enough, yet there were more in the chalice.
Eight or nine, no less. When he asked incredulously, Zharpham replied nonchalantly.
【Yes. Hate to admit it, but they're stronger than me. Something strange slipped in recently too, but including that, it's nine.】
Meaning Zharpham was the weakest among them.
From their conversation, Zharpham seemed to have a strong sense of pride.
For such a creature to admit its weakness, just how powerful were the others?
But the conversation didn't last long.
Khan.
The moment he appeared, there was no more leisure for chatting with Zharpham.
Then Azos split in half and was reverse-summoned.
【You can't win with the likes of Azos.】
【Let me win it for you. Let me kill it!】
Zharpham grew even noisier.
A choice had to be made.
With his mana restored, whom would he summon?
The reliable Azos, or the uncertain Zharpham?
'One minute left.'
No time to agonize.
Defeat here meant the end of everything.
The conqueror Khan would slaughter Park Chan-woo and Lee Hyuk-soo, then rip open the Abyss indiscriminately to conquer Earth.
Humanity wouldn't survive that.
He needed a gambler's throw to turn the tide.
And so, Park Chan-woo summoned 'Zharpham'.
'Full mana release.'
Not just a simple summoning link—he threw open all his mana in a blaze of glory.
To the extent that Zharpham could touch Park Chan-woo's unique mana.
Zharpham, bursting into the outside world, let out a cheer.
【...Full mana release? Aren't you scared? You know I could devour you?】
Though cheering, Zharpham sounded puzzled.
He knew Zharpham had latched onto Azos, absorbed mana, and driven it berserk—yet Park Chan-woo opened his mana without hesitation.
'Do whatever you want with it, White Whale Zharpham.'
But Park Chan-woo spoke calmly, without a hint of fear.
He felt like he understood the creature's heart.
Even why Azos had rampaged.
It just wanted to show itself.
To let everyone know who and what it was.
If Zharpham had willed it, Azos would have rampaged and self-destructed instantly.
But now he got it.
It hadn't because Zharpham didn't want that.
Yet it couldn't hold back.
Because Zharpham's presence was simply too vast.
Park Chan-woo changed his mind.
One emotion he'd sensed from conversing with Zharpham: loneliness.
A feeling Park Chan-woo knew all too well.
Without the God of Offerings, that solitude would have crushed him.
...Zharpham, emerging from the Demon-Sealing God's Chalice.
Just like the God of Offerings had taken him in, it felt like Zharpham was asking for the same.
In that case, showing trust first was better than suspicion and rejection.
【Haha! Fine, I'll show you exactly who I am!】
Whoosh!
Zharpham shouted excitedly in unison.
Soon, the shadows began to coalesce into a sphere.
Whirrr!
It settled atop Park Chan-woo's hand.
The horrifying mana amplified endlessly.
Azos's stockpiled bonus stats converted to mana.
On top of that, Zharpham's presence merged with Park Chan-woo's mana.
'...Divine power release.'
Zharpham handed control of it to Park Chan-woo.
A reward for the trust shown first?
Whatever the case, Zharpham had opened his heart somewhat.
"Wait. That's not mana... divine power?"
Khan's expression hardened in an instant.
He could tell at a glance it wasn't ordinary mana.
When mana's purity exceeded 100%, the lords of the Abyss called it 'divine power'.
And the concentrated might before Khan's eyes had purity enough to warrant the name.
"Even so, you can't kill me. I am eternal and immortal!"
Khan regained his composure.
If divine power could kill him, Aheta would have done it first.
But even Aheta couldn't kill Khan.
Sealing was all she managed.
This time would be the same.
Yet it was undeniably threatening.
Fwhoosh!
Khan's form vanished.
Unlike anything shown before, he moved with desperate urgency.
In that instant.
KABOOOM!!
Park Chan-woo unleashed the divine power gathered in both hands all at once.
Restoring spent mana takes time.
It inevitably required time to draw in the Abyss's mana and convert it to suit the body.
Yet that human had 'intentionally' restored his mana.
Astounding.
He'd seen cases of storing mana in specific gear or tools for recovery, but even that took considerable time.
Disrupting recovery was simple if he willed it.
But in a single moment.
In the blink of an eye, he'd filled his mana completely.
Khan had never witnessed such a thing.
'Last gasp desperation.'
Impressive, but not enough to warrant true caution.
Even with mana restored, he'd just resummon Azos.
He didn't know how the human challenger had turned Azos into a shadow warrior with 'magic', but the challenger's total mana pool was nothing special.
He couldn't cast anything beyond that.
...Or so he thought.
'What?'
Something unexpected happened.
Not Azos, but Zharpham.
A name he'd never heard spilled from the human's lips.
However, the summoned entity's appearance was similar to before.
'The mana's quality is slightly different.'
Blood-red glowing eyes.
Faint red auras embroidered across the shadowy form.
Same exterior, but the mana's quality and shape were clearly different.
A completely different entity from Azos.
The sense of presence differed vastly too.
...How to describe it.
Something immensely vast lurked behind the shadow.
A monster of a type and scale he'd never seen.
And that being was now confined within that tiny shadow.
As he met the shadow's eyes.
'Urk...!'
A chill ran down his spine for some inexplicable reason.
This sensation was a first.
No lord of the Abyss, not even Aheta, had ever made him feel this way.
Something was off.
It defied all common sense.
Not a divine beast, not an Abyss demon, not one of the Twelve Races, not a witch or anything else—something entirely other.
That was the moment.
The shadow vanished, and overwhelming divine power gathered above Park Chan-woo's hand.
'It can use divine power?'
Few beings could wield divine power.
Mana purity couldn't exceed 100%.
To make it possible required profound understanding of mana's essence, enlightenment, and the power to interfere with the world itself.
True 'godlike' ability.
But this human challenger was far from godhood.
Utterly lacking.
Even Khan hadn't reached that realm yet.
For the first time, Khan's mind raced with urgency.
...He had to kill him.
Before the divine power fully unleashed.
But.
KABOOOM!!
Too late.
No matter.
He'd take a heavy blow, but it wouldn't truly kill him.
Yet.
'What?'
Park Chan-woo wasn't aiming for Khan.
He targeted the palace.
Khan's palace.
"This palace is the source of your life. Isn't it?"
Because he'd realized the entire structure was 'Khan's life'.
The reason Aheta could kill Khan over and over yet never finish him.
Park Chan-woo smiled.
Khan's face twisted upon seeing that smile.
How?
How could a mere human know something even Aheta didn't!
"N-No...!"
As the palace crumbled starting from the throne, Khan couldn't budge.
In his prime, Park Chan-woo's head would already be gone.
But after eons of sealing, he was weakened.
With his heart-like palace collapsing, mana drained rapidly.
The divine power touched the palace, annihilating it outright.
As the palace vanished, Khan's body began to crumble too.
Soon enough.
...When the palace dissolved without a trace.