Chapter 250: No Limits.
Chapter 250: No Limits.
The source of my power is emotion.
In a way, you could call it an infinite engine.
After all, its conditions are far simpler than the stress that fuels my master, the Heavenly Demon Sword God.
However, as time passed, this became a curse rather than a blessing.
Because I was unable to control that power.
For someone like me, to whom everything is converted into strength and applied as a baseline... it was a burden.
And so, I learned how to control it.
I learned how to measure an opponent’s strength.
I learned how to dull my senses.
I learned how to manipulate my strikes with precision.
I even implanted a concept in my mind to sever any stimulus beyond a certain threshold.
Yet, even then, my power began to defy common sense.
So, I blocked the very root of it: my emotions.
To prevent my hands from reaching a point of no return.
I cut everything away.
Even in situations where I could have died.
Even when I stood before The End—the source of all emotion.
I did not release the final, ultimate seal.
Because I didn't know how far my power would reach.
And then.
Time flowed on.
Irreversible regrets piled up.
One fell away.
And now, another has just fallen.
Not by my own hand, but by the hand of another.
If so, what meaning is there left in holding back?
No, there is a meaning.
Because my hands are meant to protect.
Even if all they know how to do is destroy.
Because that is what I decided.
But.
It should be fine now, shouldn't it?
Just this once, it should be okay.
"Right, Un-ho?"
I tossed the question to one who could not answer.
To my other half, who I knew had been severed from all connection.
There was no reply.
And so.
Because no answer came to stop me.
Because there was no one left to hold me back.
I let everything unravel.
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
Rage wells up inside me.
Emotions that have accumulated for decades, never once fully expressed, now surge forth.
No, is that right?
I have expressed them before.
In that tomb, under that dark touch.
I was already broken back then.
* * *
Vrooooooom.
The Hammer in my hand emits a sound like a frenzied engine.
The Hammer is gorging itself on a massive amount of mana, swelling its power.
Just like when I faced Dam.
No, it’s a bit different. The Hammer is consuming less now than it did then.
Perhaps because this isn't a single decisive strike, The Hammer is regulating itself for the battle to come. Or perhaps I am the one regulating it.
I can't be sure, but one thing is certain: this is a level of mana I have never experienced before.
Back then, all my mana had vanished in an instant.
But now, it’s different.
With all limits released, an endless supply of mana is being pumped out.
It’s as if the bedrock blocking a well has been shattered.
No matter how much The Hammer draws, the mana continues to overflow.
"Hahaha, isn't this fun?"
"…%$###…."
No answer comes back.
Or rather, an answer does come, but it’s in a sentence I cannot understand.
It doesn't matter, though.
It’s not like I need someone to talk to.
"Even with all this, it still feels lacking compared to what Zess gave me."
Just what kind of existence is The End?
Even after breaking through my limits, I still haven't reached it.
"%&&@@@."
Ahead of me, the purple storm twists.
"Even so."
Thump.
The Hammer glows a scorching red.
Unable to cool its own heat, it begins to incinerate its surroundings.
Flesh burns.
The crimson flesh covering the earth emits a pungent, acrid stench as it chars.
"I think I can at least beat down the bastards responsible for this mess."
I intend to become Dam.
Burning the unquenchable flame that blazes within me.
No matter what the result may be.
I will move forward, wherever this flame leads.
Whirring.
An endless sound seizes the world.
The infinite weight of The Hammer finally makes me feel the sensation of it being 'heavy.'
With this, the warm-up is complete.
I opened my mouth to address my opponent and took a step forward.
"Hey. Par."
"^%$&$."
What is he saying?
It doesn't matter.
"I didn't dislike you."
I meant those words sincerely.
Par’s nature was similar to mine.
And Par had never shown us any true malice.
Par was simply someone being swung around by a power they couldn't control.
Someone being manipulated by someone in this world without even knowing it.
"But you see."
Even so.
The blood on Par’s hands is real.
Blood for which I must have vengeance.
"Someone has to take responsibility."
That is what revenge is.
Blood is something that cannot be gathered back once it has spilled.
You can reclaim spilled water if you use every means at your disposal.
But blood...
Once it leaves the one who holds it, it loses its meaning.
Blood cannot be gathered back.
And because of that, the price of blood is so incredibly high.
Even when humans know rationally that revenge is meaningless, they carry it out anyway.
"You know it too."
Boom!
I lunged off the ground.
The earth shatters beneath me.
I leave behind cracks and irreversible scars.
The speed of my charge is slower than usual because of The Hammer’s weight, but the sense of mass is on another level.
With every step, the ground is destroyed and shockwaves erupt.
The weight of The Hammer slows down everything in the vicinity except for me, its master. It pulls everything toward its center.
This is the fundamental power of our world.
Even if the physical foundations are warped by Otherworldly Power.
As long as I am holding this hammer.
At the very least, the laws of our world still apply.
And so.
This charge...
It is slow, yet it is not slow.
As Par, standing before me, throws a punch...
In the stretched-out flow of time.
I swing The Hammer to meet the incoming fist.
Thud.
Infinite weight collides with the fist.
An existence fixed in space, nullifying physical force. Earlier, had I wondered if that was total nullification or partial?
The answer was revealed right here.
The purple storm Par possesses nullifies all physical force.
Even if that force comes from my hammer.
However, while it may nullify the force, that doesn't mean it can prevent the catastrophe that follows.
"Get lost."
Crack. Cra-crack.
A black hole appeared.
Unable to withstand my power, space itself was punctured.
The Hole grew, spiderwebbing with cracks.
The purple storm caught in it showed panic for the first time, trying to escape the rift.
But the space, once broken, began to suck in everything around it in an attempt to repair the world.
Par’s storm was no exception.
Whoosh.
A wind blew.
A gale born from the restoration of space.
It caught the heat of The Hammer and became a searing wind, scorching the surroundings.
It began to burn everything.
The world stained dark red.
The single fairy collapsed within it.
Par, who had lost the half of their body sprouted with purple existence, stared at me blankly with eyes that had halfway regained their color.
"&&&^%%%."
They uttered something.
I couldn't understand it.
Perhaps the Otherworldly translation was broken.
But I could guess the meaning from his expression.
It was likely something along the lines of 'I'm sorry.'
I wanted to have one last conversation.
But my job doesn't end with Par.
"I'm sorry."
I raised The Hammer and brought it down.
Boom.
A massive weight is transmitted to my hands.
The sensation of destroying something.
I wished it could end with this.
"But of course, it won't."
Four figures appeared.
Lina, who cast a blue barrier between Par and me.
The Waiter, who appeared behind my back, though I didn't know what he was doing.
A tiger on the other side, monocle on his eye, puffing on a pipe.
And a fairy with pure white wings, presumably Ronia’s true form.
They surrounded me, watching.
The culprits behind this entire situation.
"So, all the actors have gathered, I see?"
I sneered, tapping The Hammer against my shoulder.
That simple action sent out a shockwave that split the ground and created new fissures, but they were the Captain and the Guardian Corps for a reason.
Not a single one of them wavered from the shockwave.
Though their clothes fluttered in the wind.
"…&%^% Please $$ withdraw that power."
Lina spoke.
Still with that expressionless, calm voice.
That was what stoked my rage.
"Hahaha. 'Withdraw it,' she says. Why? Because this is a power that can kill Par?"
No, is it a power that can kill you all?
But you see.
"Someone is already dead. And it wasn't an accident; it was an attack with clear murderous intent."
Why didn't you deal with that?
Why didn't you react?
You're beings who can block my attacks. You're beings who can block a strike from this hammer right now.
So why didn't you intervene?
"$@ I will explain that. # You will be able to understand…."
"Explain? Explaaaaain? Oh, so will that bring Un-ho back to life?"
"…That is not something we are in a position to answer—"
Boom!
I swung The Hammer immediately.
I’ve heard this kind of talk so many times before.
Explanations that never deviate an inch from expectations.
We didn't know it would happen.
It was unexpected.
It wasn't intentional.
It's not something we can answer at our level.
Sentences that aren't even worth listening to.
And so, The Hammer I swung rode my rage and blew everything away.
The Guardian Corps, Par rolling on the ground.
Ronia.
Even the Otherworld Erosion Par had unleashed.
It blew everything away, reclaiming the brown earth and overturning the land.
A hammer swung without restraint, desiring only destruction.
I believed everything in the vicinity—perhaps the entire park—would be razed.
But the shockwave did not leave the interior of the crater.
Because of the barrier created by three members of the Guardian Corps.
"I wondered what was going on since I was called out for the first time in a while, and it turns out a monster has appeared."
"He is weaker than an Avatar, so I wouldn't call him a monster."
"Bushi-nim was likely evaluating his existence itself. An Avatar’s power contains much that is unnecessary, so it isn't pure combat strength. But that man..."
The three of them tossed out comments as if evaluating me.
"Hey. Do you really have time for that kind of talk?"
The moment the Waiter turned his gaze toward the tiger, I had already leaped off the ground and reached him.
"If you want to chat, do it when it's over."
Though you might not be able to because you'll be dead.
Boom!
I slammed The Hammer down instantly.
A strike of pure extremity, where neither technique nor form could be expressed due to the weight—only the power of rotation existed.
The Hammer’s force momentarily faltered the moment it touched the yellow barrier the Waiter had hastily conjured.
Creeeeeak. Screeeech.
Black spots followed the trajectory.
Fractured space trailed The Hammer, clawing at the world.
Thump!
That impact became a Second Wave, shattering the barrier.
"…I stand corrected. His pure physical force is already beyond that of most Avatars."
The Waiter maintained his posture even as his barrier was pierced, speaking calmly.
From what I could perceive, he was the start of all this.
I wanted to strike him dead.
But my limit—physical force—prevented it.
My limitation of only being able to attack an airborne target once.
"You son of a bitch!"
And so, I cursed the receding figure as I fell back toward the ground.
The rage inside me grew even larger.
Rage toward the world, toward The Enemy moving out of reach.
Toward everything that existed around me.
And.
Rage toward myself.
I chewed on that anger, gritting my teeth.
And when I could no longer endure it.
【Will shall manifest as power.】
Something inside me answered.
Thud.
A foothold appeared.
I didn't care what had happened.
All that mattered to me.
Was that I had gained the power to leap again.
And the single fact that my enemy was before me.
"Die!"
Crrack!
The foothold beneath my feet shattered.
But it didn't matter.
The foothold had withstood my full strength.
It had fulfilled its purpose.
And so, I reached the Waiter.
The Waiter looked at me with a strangely distorted face and opened his mouth.
"…I will go first."
Who was he talking to?
Me? Or his comrades?
What did it matter?
Whoosh.
The Hammer swung.
The infinite hammer, imbued with unfathomable power.
Crunch.
Flesh flew, and the tailcoat was stained red.
A single corpse plummeted toward the earth.
Now, there is no turning back.