Chapter 439
Chapter 439
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 440
Chapter Title: Beyond the Rift's Crack
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Everyone beyond the crack in the rift was staring at me, their emotions raw and intense.
They pounded on the crack with their fists and tried using mana, desperate to close it somehow, but it was all futile.
The rift, manipulated by divine power, possessed a strength that even Cruas's own power couldn't shatter.
"Kim Sun-woo... are you serious?"
"...Sun-woo. You have some backup plan this time too, right? Right?"
Yoon Ha-young's voice trembled with sobs, and I fell silent for a moment.
A backup plan...
I turned to look at the massive black sphere hovering above Cruas's head.
If there was one means left to me, it was the suit from the demon realm that reduced incoming damage by 90%.
If that ability activated, I could probably survive even a direct hit from most spells.
But that sphere was different.
It contained enough mana to obliterate all of Seoul. No amount of damage reduction could let my body withstand it.
If there was one more means left to me...
"...Sun-woo?"
With no response, she called my name again.
I forced a smile toward her.
"Sorry."
Yoon Ha-young's eyes widened in shock.
Tears soon streamed down her reddened cheeks.
I didn't want to give them false hope.
I'd thought the same before—if I disappeared, I didn't want them wasting time searching for me pointlessly.
"...Sorry? Sun-woo. What does that mean?"
I didn't answer.
"Please... please..."
Then a desperate voice rang out again.
I turned to see Choi Seo-yoon staring at me, her face drained of color.
I'd spent a long time with her, but I'd never seen her face etched with such despair and fear.
"Sunbae-nim..."
Seeing her like that stirred the emotions I'd barely held back. But I bit my lip hard and endured.
If this truly was my end, I wanted to leave them with only good memories of me to the very last.
And I wanted to show them clearly that I had no regrets about this choice.
"I've only ever been grateful to you. And...
There were so many things I wanted to say, but they wouldn't organize in my mind.
There were definitely words I absolutely wanted to tell her.
"Please... Sunbae-nim..."
"Kim Sun-woo."
This time, Lee Seo-jun called me. His eyes brimmed with sorrow.
Time had passed, and he seemed somewhat composed compared to the others.
"...Is this your choice?"
"Yeah. No regrets. So let me end this on a good note."
Lee Seo-jun's face twisted.
Amid the whirlwind of emotions, he seemed to reluctantly accept the situation, slowly nodding.
I turned back to Cruas.
The black sphere he had manifested was nearly complete now.
That meant I had little time left.
I scanned the faces of the others one last time. Shin Young-jun, Yoo Ah-ra, Ha-ryeong...
And in the distance, the Flame Lord and Sword Ghost, Yoo Ah-yeon, and the association's wizards...
I wanted to say goodbye, but time wouldn't allow it.
[Countless people owe you a debt in their hearts.]
[Reward: 10,000 points acquired.]
Wuuuuuum!
As Cruas's spell completed, a massive roar echoed from above.
The black sphere began plummeting toward the ground.
Watching it, I thought:
...So in the end, I'm dying as prophesied.
['Sacrifice' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 10,000 points acquired.]
"No. No. No..."
The black sphere descended right before my eyes.
My vision darkened gradually, and an intense mana aura enveloped my body.
Feeling it, I slowly closed my eyes.
[A major change in the future has been detected.]
[Karma increases by 8.]
Shuuuu...
The ensuing horrific pain... The black mana swallowed me, and my body began to burn.
Bodily sensations faded bit by bit, and faint voices echoed from beyond the rift.
"No... No..."
"Aaaaah!"
This was enough.
In the end, I'd chosen death myself...
But I would never regret this decision.
Wuuuuuum...!
A message appeared before my eyes.
[Special effect 'Demon Realm Suit's Blessing' activates.]
Flash!
Amid the excruciating pain, I slowly opened my eyes.
A pure white space where nothing was visible.
A mysterious, unfamiliar world like something out of a dreamscape.
I tried to move, puzzled, but felt no sensations beyond the agony in my flesh.
[...You're still alive. What a tenacious life. O Chaos.]
A familiar will echoed from somewhere. Cruas's.
I looked up to see Cruas, consumed by chaos and transformed into a white dragon, curled on the ground.
His body was slowly crumbling into dust.
...What? Am I still alive?
As if answering my thought, Cruas spoke.
[...Yes, you are alive. But not truly. The demon realm suit's blessing is merely prolonging your life for now. Death is imminent.]
...So the blessing spared me instant death.
Indeed.
In this state, I won't last much longer.
No miracle after all. Then a sudden question arose.
If I'm alive, this should be the mortal world. So where is this?
['The Void.']
The Void?
[A world of nothingness where nothing exists. A temporary phenomenon that occurs when a rift swallows massive mana.]
The Void. A concept unknown to me. Well, meaningless now.
[Let's have a final conversation, we who are both dying.]
What conversation?
[I want to know why you made this choice. Though the situation forced your sacrifice, hadn't you resolved to die even before?]
Sharp insight.
As he said, I'd entered the battle prepared for mutual destruction.
Fighting in berserk state, throwing my body into it—that resolve made it possible.
Had I not, the fight itself wouldn't have happened.
[If you were going to choose death yourself, wouldn't it have been better for everyone if you'd done it from the start?]
I scoffed inwardly at that.
If so, I'd just die alone like a dog. I couldn't stomach that.
[...What?]
Cruas's incredulous reaction came. Soon, he chuckled lowly.
[You won't die alone... Heh. The wicked malice unique to humans.]
Truth be told, beyond that reason, I also wanted to protect those around me.
I'd known eventually Cruas would target Lee Seo-jun's life.
As if reading my thoughts, Cruas spoke.
[You think you're doing something righteous, but you're not.]
His abrupt words puzzled me.
[The human you tried to protect holds the potential to bring great harm to this world far in the future.]
Curiosity suddenly stirred.
Why had Cruas targeted Lee Seo-jun's life?
[The reason is simple. He is a human who has already experienced death once.]
I knew that already.
Lee Seo-jun had died once at Jin Cheon-woo's hands.
To complete Jin Cheon-woo's 'immortality' plan.
[...The body of a human who has experienced death becomes material for 'immortality,' and 'immortality' becomes material for 'godhood' beyond that.]
Material for godhood...
Cruas continued.
['Immortality' is different from my 'Immortal Fate.' Your summon's 'Immortality' is the same. 'Immortality' is an absolute power that no force can shatter.]
He explained the difficult concept.
[True 'immortality' cannot be killed even by your 'chaos.']
[What do you think would happen if an immortal being appeared in this world?]
I hadn't considered it.
In the original story, Jin Cheon-woo never achieved 'immortality.'
[A great chaos would erupt... The immortal would instantly reign at the world's pinnacle... No being, not even apostles or divinities, could stop him...]
He continued. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed to feel his life's end approaching.
[The fixed fate... the world's laws exist precisely to prevent the birth of 'immortality'... If fate intervenes, 'immortality' won't be born...]
[But... your existence is breaking the world's laws... If an 'immortal' is born in this world now, it will be irreversible...]
Cruas fully crumbled into dust and vanished.
The king of calamity beasts, born with immortal fate, lost all power and perished.
I stared blankly into the white void, lost in thought.
An immortal being.
I now understood why Cruas targeted Lee Seo-jun.
To preempt the seed of world chaos. And to thwart the 'Jin Cheon-woo' plot hidden behind it.
At the same time, I began to grasp what Kim Chang-hyun had wanted from me.
...So that's why.
Shuuuu...
Consciousness faded gradually.
All energy scattered within my body,
and I felt like I was floating high in the sky.
Eyelids drooped as if overcome by sleep.
Memories flashed through my mind like a dream.
...I'm dying now.
It wasn't scary like before. At some point, I'd accepted this.
What comes next? Will my existence simply vanish?
I...
Amid the blurring consciousness... I slowly closed my eyes.
The massive rift at Seoul's center twisted, engulfed in blinding light.
Moments later, intense mana energy concentrated at its core and shot into the sky.
The light spread warmly, as if consoling those left behind.
The rift devoured mana and became 'the Void.' This phenomenon meant return for anyone trapped inside was impossible.
"...It's over."
The king of calamity beasts and the demon king had vanished.
Two entities that terrorized humanity for so long were gone together.
It should have been cause for joy, but no one celebrated.
Kim Sun-woo's final act was clearly for humanity's sake.
And.
"...Ah. Aah."
Those close to Kim Sun-woo couldn't escape the shock.
Yoon Ha-young collapsed to the ground, shedding endless tears, while Choi Seo-yoon stared vacantly at the sky's light with unfocused eyes.
Yoo Ah-ra glared at the ground, her face contorted.
Lee Seo-jun bit his lip, seething with unprecedented rage.
"...Kim Sun-woo."
Kim Sun-woo had vanished with the rift.
He'd shouldered everything they all should have borne alone.
Lee Seo-jun still couldn't process it. How had this happened?
"You really..."
Beside him, Ha-ryeong gazed at the light with a grief-stricken face.
In the less-than-half-year they'd known each other, the loyalty he'd sworn to the king as his subject was genuine, making this situation bewildering for him too.
"Ha-ryeong."
Then a woman's voice came from behind Ha-ryeong.
Seon-hwa, one of Demon King Kim Sun-woo's close aides.
Ha-ryeong turned to her.
"The king's divine power. Did it perhaps pass to you?"
"...The king's divine power?"
At her words, everyone's gazes turned to them.
Ha-ryeong met their eyes and shook his head.
"It wasn't passed to me."
"...I see. It wasn't passed to me either. What's going on?"
It was a sorrowful moment over the king, but this anomaly needed investigation.
The divine power not passing on could mean the king might still be alive.
"...Then maybe Elder-nim?"
"Probably not. No succession mana was detected."
Ha-ryeong felt doubt at this bizarre phenomenon.
The moment the king died, succession should have occurred.
The lack of succession meant...
"...Could the king have survived?"
"Maybe."
At those words, light returned to Choi Seo-yoon's eyes, which had been blankly fixed on the sky.
"...Compass."
Choi Seo-yoon urgently spoke to Lee Seo-jun.
"We can just check the compass."
"...Compass?"
"The king's succession not happening means Sunbae-nim is alive. We can find him with the compass."
Yoon Ha-young, Yoo Ah-ra, and Shin Young-jun's eyes wavered briefly.
It wasn't wrong.
If Kim Sun-woo was alive, they could locate him via the [Compass of Bonds].
—...The Compass of Bonds?
—Is that the relic I'm thinking of?
Murmurs arose around them at the mention of the Compass of Bonds.
Its effects were already known worldwide.
And. Lee Seo-jun glanced at Choi Seo-yoon, Yoon Ha-young, Yoo Ah-ra, and Shin Young-jun, then nodded.
They dashed off somewhere. Their bodies were wrecked from the long battle, but they pushed through the pain.
Soon, they reached their destination: the back mountain of the Magic Academy.
Behind them were demons and some association members.
Ignoring them, Lee Seo-jun dug into the dirt.
"...Found it."
The 'sealed storage box' holding the Compass of Bonds.
Lee Seo-jun calmed his pounding heart, extracted the box from the earth, took a small breath, and slowly opened it.
...Please.
Creak.
The box opened, revealing the hidden Compass of Bonds.
And the moment he checked it.
"...Ah."
A short gasp escaped.
The compass's glass face was cracked entirely, without a single intact spot.
Everyone present stared at it, gripped by deep unease.
But they clung to hope.
Even with cracked glass, injecting mana might make it work normally.
Lee Seo-jun gripped the compass and infused it with mana. Choi Seo-yoon, confirming it, collapsed in shock, her eyes losing focus.
"...No."
The compass showed no reaction whatsoever.