Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Savior of Seoul (12)
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A deep night that would later be called the "Night of Sorrow" by those who weren't chosen.
Bae Jin-cheol arrived at the National Seoul Memorial and clashed with the resurrected spirits.
They weren't the patriotic heroes who had bravely given their lives for the country in the past. They were restless undead, revived by cursed dark sorcery even in death.
Gr... uh... er... uh...!!
Bae Jin-cheol's magic set the undead ablaze. It was powerful enough to ignite the deep, dark night.
"Return to the earth!!"
True to his title as an archmage, he unleashed a variety of spells. From earth-element magic that bound their feet, to wood magic using tree roots, rock magic with boulders, and more—he wielded the terrain itself to fell the revived undead.
Gr... ah... ah...!
Kwachik!!
The undead were no match for Bae Jin-cheol. They were crushed, shattered, burned, and crumbled to dust.
But there were simply too many of them. Far more than he could have ever imagined.
'Here...? Am I going to retreat here? No matter what, I have to... I have to take them down!!'
Yet Bae Jin-cheol didn't flee. He steeled himself, vowing to fight to the death rather than run.
"I am an archmage!!"
Kwagwagwang!!
The limits of his body, mind, and mana closed in. He was far beyond normal, in no state to even joke about. He could collapse at any moment.
Still, Bae Jin-cheol fought on against the undead.
"...I... win...!!"
He battled to the very end. Because this time, there was no retreating.
So he fought with everything he had.
Pung! Pububung!!
There were moments when, without his artifact, he nearly died. Even then, Bae Jin-cheol didn't run.
He fought himself to the bitter end.
Huk! Heuk! Huk...!
Only when his breath rose to his throat and sweat soaked his clothes completely did dawn break.
A single ray of light shone upon Bae Jin-cheol. In that instant, he transcended his limits and awakened.
I... am...!
"An... arch... mage...!!"
He had risen from the rock-bottom 1st grade (★☆☆☆☆☆) to 2nd grade (★★☆☆☆☆).
It was nothing short of a miracle—a triumph of humanity. Needless to say, Bae Jin-cheol was overjoyed from the bottom of his heart. At the same time, he was certain: he could do this.
And on that day...
Most players contracted with constellations below the 3rd Hierarchy awakened. From 1st grade to 2nd.
"Why? Why? Whyyyyy?!! Kill me, please kill me!! Kill me!! Kill me, kill me, kill me, kiiiiill me!!"
Her madness-stained visage was more pitiable than frightening. Lee Sang-hyun gazed at Medusa and pondered.
'Nameless thought to me and spoke. Interpreting that... it means there's a way to solve this just by thinking.'
Considering all the hints he'd received so far, it was clear this was a problem solvable through thought alone.
So Lee Sang-hyun reflected on what he might be missing and what information surrounded him.
'Prometheus, frozen time, gray, pristine white temple, Medusa, blood that won't flow, and immortality...'
Kieeeek!!
Kwang! Kwagwang! Kugung!
'Immortality... maybe...?'
Lee Sang-hyun's thoughts halted abruptly.
Because calling Medusa truly "immortal" felt imprecise.
'Not immortality so much as...'
Lee Sang-hyun swung his sword, severing Medusa's neck.
Seogeok!
Her head separated from her body and fell. Yet she didn't die—reappearing elsewhere.
'Not regeneration or resurrection, but restoration... restoration...?'
In that moment, various thoughts converged into one.
Frozen time, the undying Medusa, blood that wouldn't flow.
'What if Medusa isn't undying... but rewinding to before death?'
The idea of "restoration"—repeating life—flashed through Lee Sang-hyun's mind.
"Kill me, kill me, kiiiill me!!"
"......"
That explanation fit the phenomenon of her not dying even when killed, reappearing unrelated to her corpse.
'If Medusa is looping her life... immune to time's flow... that makes sense.'
Lee Sang-hyun's imagination leaped forward.
'The reason this city is named Prometheus... like the myth where an eagle eats his liver by day, only for it to regenerate by night, trapping him in eternal torment... could that be it?'
It felt a bit forced, but somehow plausible.
"Die!! Die already, you bastard...!! Dieeee!!"
"......"
If that was truly the case...
How could he free Medusa from this Prometheus-like eternal suffering?
How...?
How on earth...?
Dokun...
The answer to the puzzle was surprisingly close at hand.
If she looped because time was frozen, and blood wouldn't flow because of that, then making the blood flow might restart the stalled time?
"......"
It was an absurdly speculative leap.
But Lee Sang-hyun felt certain. To move frozen time, he had to make Medusa's blood circulate.
"Medusa."
Lee Sang-hyun spoke to the frenzied charging Medusa.
"I know a way to kill you."
"Die!! Die!! Diiiie... huh...?"
Medusa's raging fury paused. For a fleeting moment, a dazed expression crossed her face.
"...Liar. Don't lie. You think I'd believe that nonsense...? Where do you get off...?"
"No harm in believing, right? You said dying was your wish."
"......"
"Trust me. You want to die as badly as I want to kill you."
Medusa blinked at his words. Suspicion and envy of the mortal still lingered on her face.
But she didn't refuse. If she could die—if she could truly die... she wanted it.
"...Please. Kill me."
So Medusa accepted Lee Sang-hyun's offer.
Lee Sang-hyun steadied his breath and focused his mind.
"......"
Medusa's heart was precisely behind her right breast, hardened solid along with her blood.
Lee Sang-hyun extended his right hand, pressing down on her right chest. Then overlaid his left hand atop it.
"Here we go."
Medusa's face twisted with mingled hope and anxiety. Her eyes brimmed with ineradicable distrust.
Lee Sang-hyun quietly closed his eyes.
Dokun.
His heartbeat echoed loudly.
Dokun... dokun...!
The heartbeat swelled like ripples on a pond's surface, growing louder and faster.
Dokun! Dokun!!
The pulse filling his body flowed through his hands into Medusa.
...Dokun.
Medusa's heart was rock-hard, her blood congealed like thick jelly.
...Dokun.
Lee Sang-hyun used his heartbeat to stir her blood.
......
At first, nothing. But gradually, with greater force, it began to move.
Twitch.
"Wh-what...?"
Ignoring her reaction, Lee Sang-hyun focused solely on "circulation."
The jelly-like, clotted blood started to flow bit by bit. Simultaneously, her heart filled with "sound."
...Dokun. ...Dokun. ...Dokun.
The blood pierced clogged vessels, descending downward, then surging back up from the extremities.
...Dokun.
Blood that had sunk to her long tail's tip returned to her heart. In that instant, Medusa's heart beat.
..........Dok.........un..........
Faint, barely audible without straining—but unmistakably a heartbeat.
'A little more...!!'
Lee Sang-hyun heightened his focus.
Dokun...!! Dokun...!!
The heartbeat, several times stronger than before, passed into Medusa.
And...
...Do...kun... do...kun......
The heartbeat began resounding throughout her body.
Lee Sang-hyun withdrew his hands and stepped back. Her once-raging heart had calmed like a subsiding storm.
"......"
The Medusa reflected in his eyes was no longer ash-gray. Color returned to her face; her eyes gleamed blue.
Life—vitality—bloomed across her form.
Dokun...! Dokun...!
Her once-rigid heart now pulsed vigorously, as if never dormant.
"Ah...! Aah...!!"
Medusa couldn't hide her shock at her revived heart.
"My... my heart...! Tears...!!"
Tears of joy flowed clear and pure. She rubbed them, rejoicing over and over.
Then a single tear dropped to the floor.
Weeeing!
That droplet sent ripples outward—ripples spreading from the temple across the entire city.
'...It's done.'
As Lee Sang-hyun predicted, stalled time began to flow.
The gray climbing his ankles vanished; long-unfelt moisture tingled faintly.
The ripples spread rapidly.
Ung... uuung...!
Finally, they reached the city's edge. Crashing against the gray fringe like waves...
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun said nothing. He simply watched Medusa quietly.
"Ah, aah...!!"
Medusa's body was disintegrating. Time, long frozen, now rushed forward, crumbling her at breakneck speed.
Yet no despair or sorrow marred her face.
"Fi... nal... ly...!"
Only relief at last finding rest.
"...By... your... side......"
In that moment, envy of mortals and resentment toward her sisters vanished forever.
Medusa embraced death with genuine joy.
Aaaaaaah......
............
......
Lee Sang-hyun watched her until the end.
"......"
Freed from eternal life, Medusa crumbled to dust and scattered on the free wind.
'It's over.'
Lee Sang-hyun exhaled the breath he'd held.
A golden key materialized where Medusa had vanished.
Lee Sang-hyun reached out and grasped it.
'Now, what's left is...'
Suddenly, an earthquake struck.
Deudeudeudeuk!!
The intense quake, hard to stand through, pierced the entire city.
Medusa wasn't the only one who couldn't defy time's flow. The gray-shrouded city—Prometheus—began collapsing under the torrent of time.
'The door...?'
Rushing out of the temple, Lee Sang-hyun searched for the door first. He judged he had to escape before the city fully crumbled.
But no door appeared. Everywhere he looked, only the disintegrating city. Even his sharpened senses couldn't detect one.
'No door...?'
No door on the floor or ceiling.
Deudeudeudeuk!!
Meanwhile, the city neared total collapse. With no choice, Lee Sang-hyun raced back to the entrance he'd come through.
Kuung... kung... kuwoong.
Buildings tumbled down. Houses caved in completely; statues powdered. Even sturdy gravel roads turned to dirt and crumbled.
The entire city shattered like a sandcastle.
Su... aa... ah... ah......
By the time Lee Sang-hyun reached the entrance, everything was gone. The massive temple, the ancient city—all vanished like a mirage.
'...Is it really over?'
As that question arose...
The "devil" appeared.
The eagle that devoured Prometheus's liver—like the devil that stole Medusa's time.
And that devil was the "door" itself.