Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Closed-Door Training (5)
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A shudder.
The creepy sensation running down his spine made his silver fur stand on end.
‘What is this.’
It was strange.
No matter how much he thought about it, no matter how he replayed it in his mind.
It didn't make any sense.
‘How—how is he still moving?’
Riak himself knew better than anyone how immense the shock of death was.
There was a time when he was deeply engrossed in his own training.
He had asked Vega to deploy her Sanctuary for him.
Back then, it was Vega who had sparred with him.
‘Even for me... twenty times was my limit.’
Even Riak, who prided himself on having mental fortitude second to none, had been paralyzed with fear after experiencing twenty consecutive deaths.
Death entails a pain beyond imagination.
No.
In the first place, when your organs are crushed and shattered bone fragments tear through your flesh, how could you possibly remain sane, death be damned?
‘And yet.’
Why.
After experiencing death more than twenty times.
How could he be smiling so brightly?
“What? What are you spacing out for?”
*Scraape.*
He dragged his spear along the floor, approaching step by step.
Though his head burned as if it were on fire.
Though his legs trembled as if they would give out at any moment.
“—We're not done yet, are we?”
He moves.
Clinging to the fraying thread of his consciousness.
Forcing strength into his quivering legs.
One step.
And another one forward.
“……!”
*Flinch.*
Riak stumbled backward, his eyes wide.
In this very moment.
He was completely overwhelmed by a frail human he could defeat with a single finger.
‘This is.’
He bit his lip, his face pale.
His clenched fist trembled faintly.
This couldn't be explained away with a simple phrase like ‘he has a strong will’.
This.
‘He's not sane.’
It was madness.
Transcending will, even surpassing conviction.
A madness that was almost pure.
“Keuk!”
His instincts screamed at him.
Telling him to flee this place at once, that he must not face this human.
All his senses wailed in alarm.
“Nonsense…!”
Ignoring his instincts’ warnings, Riak raised his fist.
Just as he was about to charge toward the staggering human.
*Vwoooom!!*
The silver aura that had enveloped the temple vanished.
““Ah.””
Oh-jin and Riak’s voices overlapped.
Their gazes naturally turned to where the goddess stood, glaring at them with an angered expression.
[Did you not hear me say to stop?]
“I-I apologize.”
Riak bowed his head.
“……”
Oh-jin looked somewhat disappointed as he fiddled with the spear in his hand, but he soon nodded.
“Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.”
He apologized cleanly.
[Haa. Truly… you and Riak are just alike in your recklessness.]
Vega sighed and walked over.
She lightly pinched Oh-jin’s cheek and continued.
[Such a naughty child you are. How much more do you intend to make this one worry?]
She asked playfully, but her voice was trembling slightly.
It seemed she had been genuinely worried about him.
Oh-jin smiled wryly and bowed his head.
“I’ll be more careful from now on. For real.”
[You must promise?]
Vega cautiously held out her pinky finger.
Where did our goddess even learn something like this?
“Yeah. I promise.”
Though how long a swindler’s promise would last was anyone’s guess.
[Fufu. I shall trust you.]
Seeing the goddess’s bright smile, any thought of lying completely vanished.
‘I did get a bit too heated this time.’
From the halfway point, he had been fighting while half out of his mind.
So desperately that it made Riak recoil in fright.
‘But is it really that surprising?’
The fear and pain of death were certainly immense.
To the point he worried his mind might be burned completely white.
However.
‘Still, it felt bearable.’
It was definitely painful, agonizing even.
But wasn't it just a problem that would end if you ‘endured’ it?
‘I don't get what all the fuss is about.’
If he could make it end by just bearing it, he could endure it with a smile as many times as it took.
After all, until now, he’d had far more problems that wouldn't end no matter how much he endured.
“Promise, my foot!”
Ha-eun approached with an angry expression.
She glanced at him pinky-promising with Vega, then yanked his ear hard.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
“Honestly, who does he think he is, always…!”
It seemed she was seriously angry.
“I said I’m sorry.”
“…Hmph.”
She let out a deep sigh as if she didn't even want to talk to him.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
The memory of Oh-jin being torn to shreds by Riak’s claws made her heart sink.
“Perfectly fine, as you can see.”
Oh-jin shrugged and answered playfully.
Ha-eun’s expression softened slightly.
“But I am a bit tired.”
Perhaps because all the tension had left him at once.
A sudden wave of fatigue washed over him.
“Nunna, sit here for a sec.”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“Hurry.”
Song Ha-eun tilted her head and sat down.
*Flump.*
He collapsed onto her lap.
“Wh-What do you think you're doing!”
Ha-eun’s face flushed as she yelled.
“Pfft.”
But this is the charm of my dear nunna—scolding me one second, then adjusting her posture to make it more comfortable for me to lie down.
“I’m just gonna sleep for 10 minutes.”
“Y-You…! You little brat…!”
Ha-eun trembled, raising her fist.
But only for a moment.
“…Hmph.”
Looking down at Oh-jin, who had fallen asleep and was breathing softly the moment he closed his eyes, she slowly lowered her raised fist.
“I swear, I can’t with you.”
With a gentle smile, she lightly flicked his forehead.
[Hmm.]
Vega watched the two with a complicated gaze.
After a moment lost in thought, she sighed and turned away.
[Riak.]
“Yes, Lady Vega.”
[How was it, experiencing a real fight? Do you understand my words now?]
“……”
Riak firmly shut his mouth and slowly nodded his head.
“…I understand. To my very bones.”
The explosive growth he had shown in that short battle.
Even for a Regressor, his wondrous talent for creating skills on the spot during combat and his exceptional sense for freely handling the stigma's magic were astonishing.
He had watched over many Awakeners on Vega’s behalf, but none possessed talent as overwhelming as Oh-jin’s.
[Fufu. Indeed. His talent is outstanding enough for even you to acknowledge.]
“……”
Riak chewed on his lip.
‘No.’
He forcefully swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
‘That’s not what’s important.’
Exceptional talent.
It was bound to be shattered in vain once it hit a ‘wall’.
Just as it had been for him.
But.
‘What’s truly frightening about that human is.’
*Stagger, stagger.*
The image of Oh-jin pushing himself up, even after dozens of deaths, came to mind.
‘That man is insane.’
For example.
Suppose there was a person who plunged their hand into boiling oil and just cackled as if nothing was wrong.
Could you describe that person with words like ‘has great patience’ or ‘has a strong will’?
‘A will bordering on madness.’
That.
That was the true terror of the man named ‘Oh-jin’.
“Why…”
Riak clenched his fist tightly.
“Why… why couldn't I be that insane?”
In the distant past.
After Vega granted him a piece of her soul and revived him as a transcendent being.
He had devoted himself to training desperately for Vega, who had saved him.
To protect her from the darkness of the ‘Black Heaven’ that the stars had prophesied.
He had struggled through hundreds, thousands of sleepless nights.
But.
‘In the end, I couldn't break through the wall.’
For over a hundred years, he had stagnated, unable to achieve enlightenment.
He fell into such great despair that he no longer even dedicated himself to training.
‘My will was lacking.’
That will of Oh-jin’s, bordering on madness.
If he had possessed that, he would not have ended up stalled so pathetically.
[Riak?]
“No, it is nothing.”
He shook his head with a bitter smile.
“……”
Riak looked back at Oh-jin, who was dead asleep on Ha-eun’s lap.
‘This is my defeat.’
He couldn't surpass him in talent or will.
He had even lost his reason to petty jealousy and run rampant.
A complete defeat.
There were no excuses left for not acknowledging him.
*Thud.*
Riak dropped to one knee before the sleeping Oh-jin.
“O, Star of Revolution.”
He bowed his head respectfully.
“I beg of you—please protect the light of Lyra from the darkness of the Black Heaven.”
He pleaded in an earnest voice.
***
Another month passed like that, and by the time it was his third month in the Sanctuary.
“I should probably head back soon.”
Oh-jin said, a hint of regret in his voice after finishing a sparring session.
Riak narrowed his eyes.
“Head back?”
“Yup.”
“Hmph! You’ve only just managed to last a little over five minutes, and you’re already planning to neglect your training!”
Riak spoke brusquely, but his voice was also tinged with a deep sense of disappointment.
For better or worse, he had grown quite fond of Oh-jin over the past three months.
“I started at a three-second knockout. Five minutes is a lot of progress, honestly.”
“So what! That's barely longer than the time it takes for cup noodles to cook!”
“Huh? You know what cup noodles are?”
“I saw you eating them before and tried some myself.”
“Dammit, no wonder a few were missing.”
“They were delicious.”
“You little…!”
The two had become close enough to trade playful jabs.
Oh-jin smiled wryly and shrugged.
“Can’t stay here for a thousand years, you know.”
It was about time he started paying attention to the Association.
‘And my training efficiency is starting to drop off anyway.’
No matter what tricks he used, there was a limit to how much he could grow by just sparring with Riak day in and day out.
He needed real combat.
A real fight without the safety net of ‘resurrection’.
“Grrr.”
Riak crossed his arms with a sullen expression.
“Heh. What’s this? Sad to see me go?”
“Wh-What!”
Riak shouted.
“Don’t be ridiculous, human! A true warrior knows no loneliness!”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.”
“Grrr!”
Oh-jin chuckled and packed up the various things he had accumulated over the past three months.
A sleeping bag, a pillow, various instant foods, and even cooking utensils.
“Here. I’ll leave you a few cup noodles. Eat them when you’re bored.”
“……”
Riak accepted the cup noodles, his mouth set in a firm line.
“…Human.”
“Yeah?”
“……”
Riak’s lips moved for a while without a sound, then he quickly turned his head and muttered in a small voice.
“…Th-Thank you.”
Sparring with Oh-jin had given him the will to challenge the ‘wall’ once more.
It had given him courage.
How could he not offer his thanks?
“Pffft!! Huh? What was that~? I can’t hear you~?”
“Grr, Grrr!! Youuu!”
Riak’s silver fur bristled as he bared his sharp teeth.
Oh-jin clutched his stomach, bursting into laughter.
‘Alright, shall we head back?’
He had reached a level where he could at least protect himself.
Now.
“It's time to let them know who the Apostle of Lyra is.”
The time had come to face the world with his head held high.