Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: This World's Happy Ending: The 7th Subordinate Conquest Battle (1)
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0.
Emotional Support AI.
Schrubbiel oh, oh, online.
Um…… then, I'll retrieve and output the requested縁 (karma) data.
“Seskari.”
“Kerak?”
“Should we run away with Mom?”
“Kerak, Keshiros?”
“Anywhere. Where should we go? The Rain Archipelago? Hm…… an uninhabited island would be nice too…… anywhere is fine…….”
1.
“What are you doing right now?”
The face that suddenly popped into Shin Tae-yeop's view belonged to Do Ye-jin. Shin Tae-yeop jumped in surprise.
“Hey, man! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“Hmph. It's your fault for ignoring me even though I've been calling you since earlier.”
Kyunghee Palace Garden.
In this place where a gentle breeze rustled the trees quietly.
“So what is that?”
Shin Tae-yeop had been sitting against a large tree, scribbling in his notebook. Do Ye-jin snatched the notebook away.
“Hey, hey, you'll rip it!”
No, what.
They say fools have great strength…….
“Wow! You draw really well. What's this? A dragon?”
“Not just any dragon—it's an ice dragon.”
“Ice dragon? Is that different from a regular dragon?”
“It's covered in frost.”
That drawing was.
Of a baby dragon perched on top of Shin Tae-yeop's head.
“How does it cry?”
“It cries 'Shyrak, shyrak'.”
“You're kidding? There's no way a dragon sounds that funny.”
That drawing.
Shin Tae-yeop gazed at it again, filled with a distant sorrow.
- Get out of the way, Seskari.
- Shirak! Shirak! Shirak!
- Don't make excuses. That guy has to die.
It was.
A lost delusion.
A memory he could not recall.
- Stop it, Roheirits. Leave that child alone.
The memory was shrouded in fog.
He couldn't recall the owners of those voices at all.
- Miss……? This one's an outsider. A subordinate of the Abyss.
- It's true he's an outsider. But he's not a subordinate of the Abyss.
- How do you know?
But why?
The reason why that baby dragon's form was so vivid.
- Ice dragons are the most sensitive to the Abyss among dragonkin. Just touching the Abyss would stain their bodies pitch black.
Ever since the Cheonun Hyoja-dong conquest battle, this pictorial memory had intensified.
- Look at Seskari. It's sitting on that boy's head, but it hasn't changed color at all, has it?
Seskari…….
The creature had a body like a deep blue crystal.
Eyes clear like a winter lake.
It was too young, so its wingbeats were clumsy and it couldn't breathe frost yet…… but it was utterly lovable.
- Final boss Seskari.
A sudden unknown memory echoed.
- The striker for that conquest battle was Shin Tae-yeop—you.
Right away, an intense headache crashed over his mind.
- The method to slaughter that ice dragon. No need to explain it again, right?
He had to kill it?
Shin Tae-yeop barely gasped for breath.
“No…… need…….”
“Huh? What did you say?”
It was then that someone came running this way. It was Park Ji-won.
“Hey! Park Ji-won! Over here! Come check out this drawing!”
Do Ye-jin waved cheerfully.
But since Park Ji-won's face was pale as a ghost after rushing over, Shin Tae-yeop couldn't help but be flustered.
“Big trouble, big trouble.”
“……What?”
“Your big sis just got back…….”
Park Ji-won caught his breath after saying that much. Do Ye-jin's face lit up for a moment.
“Why is that big trouble? It's good news.”
“No joke, it's seriously big trouble! They say Kim Baek-jun hyung went missing after getting attacked by subordinates!”
“What……? No way.”
Kim Baek-jun?
The lead hunter stronger than anyone? The next moment, Shin Tae-yeop couldn't believe his ears.
“And they say Jeong Ha-kyeong noona…… got caught up in it and died.”
“It's a lie, right?”
“No! I didn't hear the details, so I can't say more…… but it's total emergency right now. The full assembly council has been called!”
2.
「DurCIIELLRA…… to the last dragon's mission, now rest.」
After subjugating the first winged dragon.
The so-called normal ending route progressed without issue.
Five bell towers, five winged dragons.
They were positioned in a pentagram centered around the [Bottom of the World].
「To the dragon's mission, rest.」
I could ride the first winged dragon to find the others.
「To the dragon's mission, rest.」
And by showing them the stigmata, I succeeded in making them all submit.
Current time, 21:30.
Exactly two hours had passed…… I lifted my head from my wristwatch.
This place was the center of that pentagram.
The five winged dragons were singing dirges from their respective bell towers.
「Aribes…… Diblriaaaa…… TarH…… LIIIIOONNN…….」
Everything was just as Paul had said. I spoke.
“Thanks to you, we succeeded.”
“Seskari. He's not that easy an opponent.”
Paul pointed out sternly.
After I succeeded in pioneering the route, he had joined me, bringing along Jeong Ha-kyeong, who was now five years old.
“I know. I faced him briefly earlier…… Do you perhaps know the subjugation conditions?”
“It's inherently untouchable.”
“What do you mean?”
Paul set Jeong Ha-kyeong down in a safe spot. He said it was a place untouched by the boss battle.
“It's because it's an illusion of Seskari created by the winged dragons.”
An illusion?
In other words, it had no physical form?
“That's right. It's the winged dragons projecting Seskari's old form onto the barrier.”
Uh…… complicated.
I blanked out for a moment, then asked,
“The point is, the main body is separate, right?”
“Yeah.”
With that answer, Paul gestured toward the ground with his chin.
“Right below here, in the [Bottom of the World], devouring the Abyss.”
I swallowed dryly.
If the clone was that strong, how much stronger would the main body be.
“……How strong is it?”
“The clone is nothing. That's why it's the final boss with such abysmal clear probability.”
The winged dragons' dirge continued even now.
「SHIBEE…… JeRAhika…… TERRRRCIIAAAAA…….」
When that dirge ended.
Paul said the barrier would lift, and the entrance to the [Bottom of the World] would open.
“You'll definitely need help.”
I gently stroked the limp hand of the unconscious Jeong Ha-kyeong, then looked up.
“Will you help?”
“That was my intention…… but I'm too old and worn out now. I don't even have the energy to draw out the strength for a single strike against the ice dragon.”
“Paul…….”
“Going with you would just be a burden.”
He couldn't help.
Even if he said I had to fight alone, it was fine. Paul had opened the path to save Jeong Ha-kyeong for me.
“So now.”
As I thought that.
“Kill me, and take my blood crystal.”
I had to doubt my ears.
“But just once, you'll be able to wield Le이블헤in's black flame with your innate power.”
“……What does that mean?”
“Le이블헤in is the absolute god who rules the star of black flame. It's also the being that chose me.”
Why?
What? How?
The boy commanding his own death was calm and detached.
“That wasn't…… what I asked…….”
Before that detachment, I felt my heart ache.
“Why…… go this far to help me?”
“It's not helping you. This is my final atonement.”
“Atonement to…… whom……?”
Then a sad smile formed on Paul's wrinkled lips.
“To the [Master of the Broken Dawn]?”
“No. Atonement for once being blinded by desire and slaughtering one world, countless lives.”
Someone.
Had destroyed one world for their own wish. And now, was destroying my world.
But Paul…….
This boy…… no, this old man…… wasn't he too different from such evil?
“Berkenxia…… only that power can grant rest to the souls eroded by outer space.”
Paul pointed at the Dawn Sword with his finger, then added,
“I know this won't absolve me. But…… can you show mercy to this old evildoer?”
The Dawn Sword trembled faintly.
What that mercy meant…… was obvious.
“So that this old, weary soul can go greet the dawn…….”
3.
“We couldn't find even a trace with 《Thousand-Mile Eyes》.”
The full assembly council officially began with Mun Ji-hyo's statement.
No, not the full assembly council.
It was the first council in <Association> history without an Association President or even their chief of staff in the seat.
“Any questions for 5th Reconnaissance Squad Leader Mun Ji-hyo?”
Interim Association President Choi Uk said.
A silence mixed with anxiety and shock.
Half the council members still couldn't accept that the Association President was missing.
“If 《Thousand-Mile Eyes》 can't find him…… how about searching with Ji-won's 《Bloodline Tracking》?”
Shin Tae-yeop opened his mouth, shattering the uncomfortable silence. Reconnaissance Chief Lee Seong-mi shook her head.
“That won't work either.”
“Why not?”
“It's a thousand-ri cliff. 《Bloodline Tracking》 can see the fall, but not where it lands.”
Murmurs of confusion.
Choi Uk neatly summarized the situation.
“In short, to find Kim Baek-jun, we have to go down that cliff ourselves.”
Silence descended again.
Then, the one who clicked their tongue sharply was 2nd Hunting Squad Leader Go Hoon.
“That's absolutely impossible. But what can we do? We can't all go down there.”
“……?”
“What's the <Association>'s hunting policy? When there's a knowledge gap, we avoid group action, right?”
Shin Tae-yeop furrowed his brow.
Irrefutable logic…… Samcheong-dong was unknown territory now. It was right to say the <Association> had zero accumulated knowledge.
“That was the policy.”
Then, the one who smiled scornfully at Go Hoon was Seo Hwa-yoon.
“But this is a special situation. The Association President is missing.”
“Hm? Do you think it's right for all the council members to rush off and die just because the President did?”
“Who said he died?”
“It's been six hours since he went missing. If he's alive, he'll come back on his own.”
“What?”
“Who's the Association President? The strongest hunter here, isn't he?”
Go Hoon shot up from his seat.
Go Hoon scanned the room and continued in an inciting tone.
“We're not like the Association President. One solid hit and we're done for.”
“…………….”
“With the President's survival unclear and zero intel on the area? That's suicide.”
“……………!”
“<Association> is a democracy. I propose this: as always, we gather intel first, then search.”
The room grew noisy.
Council members started chattering or whispering among themselves.
“……It's definitely dangerous.”
“……He might be dead.”
“……If he's alive, he can make it back alone, right? He's that strong.”
Completely done for…….
Shin Tae-yeop slumped powerlessly against the backrest. Choi Uk calmly observed, while Seo Hwa-yoon wore an incredulous expression.
Go Hoon's words were perfect logic.
Impossible to refute with any argument.
“What if both are alive? What then?”
The next moment.
All eyes in the room focused on the source of the voice. Shin Tae-yeop didn't even need to turn his head.
The voice belonged to the person right next to him…… none other than Do Ye-jin.
“Were you sleeping? Didn't you hear?”
Go Hoon sneered dismissively.
“I said if they're alive, they'll come back on their own.”
“What if they need help despite being alive.”
“Who? The Association President needing help? He's a lead hunter, lead hunter! You think that's possible?”
“How do you know it won't happen this time.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
While Go Hoon shut his mouth in flustered panic, Do Ye-jin pressed on relentlessly.
“Why are you all like this? You really think this is right?”
“………….”
“You all forgot? Really?”
“…………?”
“Uncle Kim Baek-jun! Whenever someone was in danger, in these situations! Those situations! He never once asked about that stuff!”
“……Kerak?”
“Just…… let's keep moving to find the land where dawn rises…… to a place without the Abyss…… just that…….”
(A woman's sobbing)
“Stop…… stop licking…… Mom won't cry…… it's okay…….”
“Aieha, Idel bichia Prbicia Sirblliona, Orbiozio Tarhye Londell.”
“No…… Mom said no…….”
“Aieha.”
“I said no! If you do that…… you'll…….”
“Idel Rijianu. Yurishiaana Pilmis Aieha dea Coumios. Kerak. Kerak. Kerak.”