Chapter 306: Glutton [1]
Chapter 306: Glutton [1]
My brain is coming undone.
My limits are expanding.
Un-ho tries to stop me, but it’s no use.
The emotions that have already burst forth are overflowing, beyond all control.
I tried so hard to prevent this.
It was all for nothing.
“Ha-ram-nim! Get a grip! Can you hear me?!”
…Yes, I can hear you.
Even if I’ve gone berserk, I haven’t lost so much control that I’d recklessly blow everything away.
What I destroyed was, strictly speaking, everything within the reach of my senses.
Baek Si-hyun probably wasn't within that range.
If she had been caught in it, I wouldn't be able to brush it off with a "probably," but still.
And so, I squeezed fragments of reason out of my rampaging emotions.
I looked around.
What remained was a massive vertical pit stretching beyond the horizon.
All that was left was a tiny patch of land where I, Un-ho, and Han A-bin’s corpse stood.
It floated precariously like a small island in a vast ocean, but it would likely collapse soon.
The only reason it held together now was because Un-ho was supporting it with magic.
So, I gently picked up A-bin’s body, ignited a flame with my hammer, and took to the sky.
The moment I left, the last bit of earth began to crumble.
With the sound of falling stones, the final piece of land vanished.
All that remained was an endless Abyss.
And….
“Un-ho….”
“Yes….”
Though rage and madness shook my head, both Un-ho and I spoke with voices that sounded half-dead.
Everything reflected in our vision was simply too bleak.
“Why… hasn’t the fog disappeared?”
“….”
Inside The Hole, the place where we were quietly flying—the fog had cleared here, allowing us to see far into the distance.
But beyond that, at the very edge of our vision, the dark fog still sat heavy.
And through the fog, the faint, hazy light of green trees peeked through.
Was this forest always this vast?
That’s impossible.
A hallucination? No.
Maybe if it were just me, someone vulnerable to mental or sensory interference, but there was no way Un-ho wouldn't have noticed.
And above all else.
The last bit of warmth still lingering in A-bin, whom I held in my arms.
The scent of death wafting from her.
They told me this was reality.
Spatial manipulation.
This was possible.
Just as the Curator had done.
Just as the Star Race had done.
One simply had to mindlessly expand the space.
However, there was a question even then.
The Curator had lowered the density of internal matter to achieve it.
The Star Race had repeated the same space to fill the void.
Then, why?
Why was there an endless forest in this place?
If the density had been lowered, there was no way I wouldn't have noticed.
If the space were looping, an anomaly should have occurred due to the massive amount of land I’d blown away with my hammer.
And yet.
This forest still existed.
The Enemy’s presence still existed.
Nothing was over yet.
Despite my fury.
Dammit.
Dammit.
Dammit.
“You son of a bitch!”
I screamed with all my might, but only a heartless void answered back.
Nothing changed.
Rage overflowed. Reason began to be stained.
“Un-ho, prepare the next spell. No matter what. I’m going to tear this son of a bitch apart. Every last bit. Everything.”
I pleaded with Un-ho, my partner.
For the next step.
To find the target of my vengeance so I could burn my rage.
No answer came back.
An ominous chill settled on my neck.
I whipped my head around.
Un-ho was there.
He hadn't disappeared.
Fortunately.
It was just that there was a hole bored straight through his forehead.
With his eyes quietly closed.
A hole was just… there.
“…Huh?”
Understanding couldn't keep up.
A coldness descended upon my burning rage.
At this incomprehensible situation.
At this endless obsession.
What is this?
I denied it.
This is a hallucination.
This isn't reality.
There’s no way something like this could happen.
I tried to deny it, but.
Click.
I heard the sound of something opening.
The function of a Magical Girl that Un-ho had held for me.
The Key Un-ho possessed that limited my power.
This was an undeniable reality.
Un-ho, too.
Was dead.
Even though he was right beside me.
The questions multiplied.
My face contorted.
“Come out!”
I stepped off The Hammer I was riding and swung it.
Before I knew it, I was in the forest.
With the dead Un-ho draped over my neck.
Holding A-bin, who was growing cold in the fog.
“Hahahaha… Hahahaha.”
I couldn't help but laugh.
The scent of death seeped into my body.
The barrier that had held firm through any situation.
It crumbled down at the death of my comrades.
This can’t be happening.
Just yesterday, we were laughing and talking.
Just a moment ago, we were joking around.
This isn't even a battlefield.
We weren't kids who had to brace ourselves for death and exchange desperate goodbyes, hoping to see each other alive tomorrow.
We were just… normally… leaving as if on a trip.
So.
What the hell is this?
Why is everyone dying here?
I wasn't prepared for this, not this time.
If I’m not prepared for someone to be cut away…
It hurts.
“Right. This… can’t be reality.”
I denied it.
As proof of that denial, I destroyed the forest.
Unleashing the infinite power Un-ho had left behind.
Denying reality.
Destroying reality.
That this was mere escapism.
I knew it myself.
Even if the thoughts dominating my brain were of denial.
Somewhere deep inside.
Sitting atop a mountain of skulls from the endless deaths I’d witnessed, overseeing everything.
As an Awakened, I knew.
I knew what I had to do next.
Revenge.
Sacrifices do not return.
If so, I must move forward.
Because the dead cannot speak.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
I must open my mouth in their stead.
Because the dead cannot move their hands.
BOOM!
The forest before me vanished.
I must move my hands in their stead.
That is how I move.
Giving voice to the wishes of the dead.
Spewing the power they left behind.
I am their proxy.
And so.
I swung my hammer.
* * *
The nightmare does not end.
The forest disappears.
What does it matter?
The forest stretches on infinitely.
It’s not restoration or regeneration.
If I keep destroying, I might eventually connect with the other scars I’ve left behind.
The massive holes I’ve made.
The holes meet each other, growing in size.
I still haven't found Baek Si-hyun.
She doesn't register in my senses.
I didn't kill her.
The moment I swing my hammer, the fog is blown away, opening up my senses to the area I struck.
So, Baek Si-hyun… at least she didn't die by my hand.
That is likely the reason I can keep going.
How much land have I blown away?
How much fog have I scattered?
When I look to the left.
Now, nothing remains.
There is only an infinite vertical pit stretching forever.
But when I look to the right.
A new forest greets me.
Does this forest have an end?
Where is my enemy?
How far does this agony go?
And so.
BOOM!
I swung my hammer.
The forest to the right is blown away.
A new hole is formed.
Since nothing happened.
I set off again to find a new forest.
To do what I must.
To catch my enemy.
Clutching A-bin, whom I will bury in the Hero’s cemetery.
With Un-ho’s corpse, whom I will lay beside her, draped over my neck.
Staggering, without a single thought.
I destroy everything.
Everything I see.
My thoughts are becoming simple.
Only three things are necessary.
Is that a forest over there?
Is Baek Si-hyun in the range I just blew away?
Is The Enemy in the range I just blew away?
Among those. Two.
Are utterly meaningless.
They are nothing but flawed conditional statements that never connect.
Perhaps, forgetting those things.
Will be the day my last shred of reason vanishes.
Thinking thus, I swung my hammer.
Again. And again.
* * *
Time passed.
The bones around my neck clattered.
The person in my hands gave off the stench of rot.
Even so, I continued my work.
Now, I don't even know what I’m doing.
I just keep breaking things.
Something in my senses, something peculiar.
Something I haven't encountered before is caught.
It doesn't matter.
I exist only to destroy.
And so, I gathered my strength.
Toward something emitting a red power.
Toward something far off that likely hadn't even perceived me.
And the moment that power was about to be discharged.
“Stop, you idiot.”
Along with a crimson light.
I heard a human voice.
With that, I heard nothing more.
I felt nothing more.
Because there was nothing left to destroy.
I stopped my actions.
Wait.
After a brief moment, when the sensation of things to destroy returned.
“Good. The destruction has stopped. Hah, dammit. Why did I have to come out only after becoming such an un-cute, rotting corpse?”
A voice was heard.
From the rotting corpse I was holding.
Along with a massive Otherworldly Power.
Enemy. Enemy. Enemy. It’s The Enemy.
I immediately threw the corpse aside and prepared to strike it down with my hammer.
I had a recognition that the corpse was important.
But destroying The Enemy was more important.
“Hah. Having such a rigid mind is also a problem to consider. Even in such a broken state, you don't reassemble yourself and just move exactly as you decided. Still, since you’re not an enemy right now… ‘Calm down.’”
Riding the voice, another’s emotions flowed into me.
Stagnant, heavy emotions filled with Otherworldly Power.
Submerged in lethargy, I let go of my hammer.
“Good. This worked. Emotional synchronization. I used to use it a lot before I fell. Hmm. Then next. ‘Be rational. Because there is hope.’”
Dark emotions surged in.
Delicate calculations where every conclusion led to destruction, surrounded by Otherworldly Power.
A maddened hope that everyone would be happy because of it.
Because I couldn't empathize with those emotions at all.
“That’s insane….”
I opened my mouth to refute it.
With my own thoughts.
“Yeah, it is insane. I know. Good. Are you coming to your senses now?”
Was it because I managed to say those words?
My crumbling reason was rapidly restored.
My recovery ability, finally noticing the abnormal state of my body, pieced my past self back together.
My broken brain regenerated and simultaneously regained its reason.
Soon, it allowed me to recognize the identity of the one who had spoken to me.
A corpse with blood-colored hair.
Wearing a black-stained, frilled nurse uniform.
“Han A… A-bin…?”
Standing there was Han A-bin, though her outfit and appearance were slightly different from what I knew.
Revealing a skeleton where the flesh hadn't quite all fallen off.
My disciple reached out a hand made of nothing but bone toward me.
I almost took that hand.
But soon, I realized who the owner of that smile was.
Moving with writhing blood.
Spreading the emotion of black happiness.
The one with the twisted smile.
“Happiness. Drop.”
The moment I realized it.
Everything came back.
My reason, my emotions.
What I had been doing all this time.
And so.
I summoned The Hammer I’d dropped back to my hand and put some distance between us.
“How did you reappear? Did you take over A-bin’s body the moment she died?”
That was likely it.
I had anticipated that possibility.
I just didn't expect her to emerge in a place like this without any precursor.
“That’s about right. Now, first….”
“Then die.”
BOOM!
I immediately struck her head.
She had raised a bone-only arm and was striking an excessively idiosyncratic pose.
She couldn't show any reaction to my hammer.
Her entire upper body was crushed by The Hammer, vanishing into a single lump of meat.
Regret that I had mangled A-bin’s corpse flickered through me.
But it couldn't be helped.
I already had no answer for The Enemy of my current story.
I couldn't afford to let another O-Rank Monster, a global threat, loose here.
Therefore, I raised my hammer to crush the remaining lower body before she had time to regenerate, but.
“No, wait a second, you crazy boar! Are you even an intellectual?”
Though still in the form of a corpse, Happiness Drop, restored in an instant, spat out those coarse words.
Tsk. Is the Otherworld Erosion still lingering?
Maybe giving A-bin that staff was the wrong choice.
Thinking thus, I swung The Hammer down.
Happiness Drop failed to react this time as well, but.
‘Hey, I can save A-bin and Un-ho, you know?’
The short telepathy she spat out.
Became a shield stronger than anything else.
Creeeeeak.
I stopped The Hammer, which was filled with massive power.
At the cost of breaking both my arms.
“…What did you say?”
“Exactly what I said. I can save them.”
She smiles.
Wearing that twisted smile that had stained so many others after her fall.