Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Rise in Fury, O Thou
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Several hours later.
The storm that had raged through had finally calmed.
For now, the matter of that "esteemed Lady Yoo Je-a" was postponed until after we survived.
Cooperation with Metatron took absolute priority. In the heat of battle, we couldn't have this angel shouting, "Esteemed Lady Yoo Je-a! Your rear is in danger!"
Besides, that title only served to plunge Metatron into gloom. Her pride was too strong to endure it. So we'd let it slide for now. But someday, I'd train her properly, Metatron.
"Thank you. You do have a flexible mind. Ahem!"
Metatron coughed awkwardly, as if she'd barely escaped with her life, desperately trying to reclaim the dignity that had flown far away.
It only made me feel sorrier for her, but I held my tongue. Some things couldn't be undone—clinging to them or letting go both hurt.
She was rank one, after all. I couldn't completely shatter her dignity, and obsessing over it now was pointless.
Right, the aphrodisiac had been the decisive blow.
She said it was a magic item she'd crafted herself with her rank-one skills to keep it from others.
As I glanced at her chest with a hint of pity, Metatron's face turned sorrowful.
"Don't you think I wanted it gone?"
"......"
Better stop there. Her HP was already at zero.
"Ahem!"
She cleared her throat needlessly to lighten the mood and asked.
"Metatron."
"Speak."
"In the last phase, you said you'd fight alongside me. I figured you'd handle support roles only, but you said even that was beneath you."
"Is that so?"
Metatron smiled, as if she knew where this was going.
"So when I said you're just a human good only as a shield, you claimed you had the perfect means."
"Indeed."
Metatron nodded as if she understood.
With irrepressible anticipation, I asked her. I'd come here not just to defy fate, but out of a desperate, unspoken wish.
Ten years of longing.
More than anyone, I wanted to be a Hunter.
My hyena-like recklessness—unseemly extravagance—was my protest to the world. Yet no angel would accept me.
But.
This irregular, wandering angel without a holy order—Metatron.
"So I'm asking: you offered to fight together because you have a way to empower me, right? To make me..."
My heart pounded wildly; I bit my lip lightly.
Suppressing the bursting desire and feigning calm wasn't easy.
"...a Hunter?"
A desperate, heartfelt question.
But the answer that came back was utterly hollow and heartbreaking.
"No, impossible. You lack the qualifications to become a Hunter."
Thud.
I collapsed weakly. In my desperation, I'd stood without realizing. My legs had no strength. What expression had my face worn before the answer? Her gentle tone must have reflected that. But I had no room for shame.
"Hahaha..."
Only empty laughter escaped.
So that's how it was. Even Metatron couldn't make me a Hunter.
This body! Was Yoo Je-a truly that worthless?
I bit my lip until it bled. Veins bulged on my clenched fists, threatening to burst.
It hurt.
The pain tore my heart into a thousand, ten thousand shreds.
Yoo Je-a, you pathetic piece of trash. Utterly useless waste.
The vicious self-reproach continued.
Words I'd never tolerate from others poured cruelly onto myself. I didn't hesitate to wound my own heart. As I tore at my insides alone, a cool touch caressed me.
Metatron placed her small hand on my tightly gripped fist and spoke calmly.
"Don't hurt yourself like that."
Looking up, Metatron smiled with maternal kindness. Where had I seen this smile? Puzzled, I recalled the statue of Mary from the few times I'd visited church as a child.
Metatron smiled like the Holy Mother, stroking my cheek. Her cool touch extinguished the fire raging in my heart like summer rain.
"I don't know what stories you carry or what pains you've endured. But one thing I do know: the disqualification from being a Hunter is excruciatingly painful, isn't it?"
"......"
"You're indeed disqualified as a Hunter. You can never become one."
In her warm voice, I decided to accept reality.
Ten years.
It was time to give up.
"Haa..."
A light sigh.
I tried to lay down that burden of the heart.
But in that instant, a blazing hot hand like wildfire lifted me up. The once-cool hand now burned like molten iron from a furnace.
Metatron raised me from my slump.
And commanded me.
"But you—become my incarnation now and rise in fury."
What did that mean?
To my bewildered expression, Metatron intoned strongly.
Her words carried power; I couldn't resist.
"Never wear the face of a loser again. You want to be a Hunter? I'll place you higher than any Hunter. I, Metatron, will grant you a position forbidden to all humans. None of my siblings have ever bestowed this on a human—not because they wouldn't, but because they didn't know. Only I, Metatron, throne of angels, know this dharma treasure. With it, I'll set you higher than all."
"Why someone like me..."
"Didn't you say? Sui-el read your fate. You're destined to plunge a sword into the hearts of kings. How could I not favor such a human specially?"
Metatron spoke with conviction toward me.
"Shed your inferiority. Whatever your past, you'll become a being of wondrous greatness. You're the highest among humans and the one who'll receive the boundless favor of the highest angel."
I was completely overwhelmed by Metatron's presence.
The blushing girl was gone. She was an archangel, surpassing all angels. Though she'd lost her power, her rank and grace remained.
"Kneel, you. Accept the contract with me from now on."
In the solemn atmosphere, I knelt on one knee like a knight receiving dubbing. Metatron placed her palm on my forehead like a priest baptizing and blessed me.
"Yoo Je-a, you are one who harbored the flame of passion for ten years and suffered. You simply endured, waiting for that pain to fade. Your plight was like a walking wounded, and hope appeared and vanished repeatedly, tormenting you with deceitful illusions."
How did she know me so well?
As doubt arose, I realized a mental connection with Metatron was strengthening.
My emotions flowed into her. Hers poured into me.
"No angel could change you. But through meeting this body, you've become like a newborn child who can be anything. Now you'll gain the power you desire. Let courage shine in your heart like sunlight. With it, raise your sword against those threatening this land. As my incarnation, manifesting my power, you'll pierce your enemies' hearts."
Now I understood.
My wandering, misguided fate had found its place. I knew what I was born to do, what I was.
I'd never truly begun until now.
But now, meeting Metatron, I'd become a man astride his mission.
"Be reborn now with my blessing, Metatron's. You shall become a warrior who regards victory as naturally as the air we breathe daily. So rise now and declare yourself to the world."
Strength entered my knees.
As I stood fully once more, I had become an entirely different being.
The world I'd seen until now differed completely from the one before me.
Grooooar! Boom!
A surge of power erupted, and with an explosion, the buildings and barriers surrounding us flew away.
Standing at the center, I declared.
"With a flick of the armored sleeve, great deeds are done."
Hearing my proclamation, Metatron looked slightly surprised, then smiled brightly.
"Indeed, a manly declaration fitting one who pierces kings' hearts. Arrogant, but it suits you."
"With a flick of the armored sleeve" meant brushing an enemy away with one's sleeve. It signified defeating weaker foes effortlessly. "Great deeds are done" meant doing as one pleases.
In short, it was saying I'd crush all enemies easily and do whatever I wanted. Metatron seemed satisfied.
"Now you and I are bound inseparably. Do you acknowledge it?"
"Yes. From now on, we'll always see each other, no matter how far apart we are."
On this day, she and I were joined.
In the past twenty years, no angel and no human had formed such a unique bond.
***
"You. That was pretty cool earlier, but wasn't it a bit too blatant?"
Several hours later, our excitement had settled, and we conversed calmly. Around us lay hordes of massive monsters, slain and sprawled, resembling a battlefield.
All were the vicious beasts from Boramae Park, felled by my hand. As Metatron's incarnation, able to wield a portion of her power, my body itched like someone eager for a new car's test drive—I couldn't hold back.
The barrier had shattered anyway, so I charged the nearby monsters. This was the result.
"Blatant?"
When I asked back, Metatron wiped the blood from my face with her handkerchief.
"'Flick of the sleeve'—doesn't that mean you're basically becoming a munchkin?"
Busted. I'd packaged it in fancy words on purpose.
"And 'great deeds are done' is the same. Doing whatever you want? That's just saying you'll lord it over everyone, isn't it?"
Ouch.
Busted again. I'd made a grandiose declaration to mask my worldly desires, but fooling this angel was impossible.
As I couldn't reply, Metatron looked incredulous.
"Good grief, my incarnation's grand declaration is about being a munchkin and lording it over others! Should've left you alone."
"Yeah, leave me be."
The fantasy novels I loved were all about munchkins lording it over everyone.
What's wrong with me trying it too?
"How did such a vulgar soul become my incarnation? Pathetic. Tsk tsk!"
Saying "Shut up, fake boobs!" here would make her screech like a pterodactyl, so no.
After all, she was the source of my power.
I must respect and revere her with all my heart.
So what was the Incarnation System?
Simple.
In game terms, it was like a hidden class—one of a kind across the entire server.
This world wasn't a game, but for understanding: meeting Metatron, looping time, bearing the fate to snipe kings, and other absurd conditions unlocked the "Incarnation of Metatron" hidden class.
The limit: only one across the server.
Obtaining it was absurd to begin with.
As her incarnation, I received a strong infusion of Metatron's authority. Strictly speaking, not a full physical incarnation—just her power descending. Ultimately, I could reach two-thirds of her.
Of course, that was after full growth; problems abounded now.
My origin, Metatron, had lost her power, and I was merely Incarnation Level 1.
The road ahead was long.
This incarnation system belonged to the game system angels created.
Other angels didn't even know it existed—only Metatron did.
She now remembered every situation from the time loops where we'd met. The mental resonance from the incarnation system let her recall it all.
As expected, an extraordinary being.
Recalling time loops mentally, without being the subject, was nearly impossible.
"You. Instead of dawdling, pull up your status window."
"Should I?"
With the game system, I could now summon a status window like Hunters. And use every Hunter system.
Hunters were inferior to me.
Anything Hunters could do, I could too.
But things I could do? Hunters couldn't.
This was the true position of superiority... no, the perfect spot to pursue "great deeds" with noble intent.
Truly, I'd risen from the very bottom to the very top. Though I was still Level 1, needing to grind hard.
"Status window."
Murmuring softly, my status window appeared in the air like in a game.
============================ Author's Notes ============================
*Hyena-like recklessness (호행난주胡行亂走)—Ho from barbarian, haeng from walk, nan from chaos, ju from run. Recklessly rampaging and acting wildly.
*Metatron uses many difficult words as a character trait.