Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Illuminate the Dawn on This Land, 'Exalted One' Subjugation Battle (7)
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17.
Hunting the 'Exalted One'.
Perhaps it was the bizarre weight embedded in those very words.
Tension. Fear. Urgency.
Every negative emotion set my heart pounding.
Calm down.
In this operation, not the slightest mistake could be tolerated.
- There must not be even the smallest error.
Right before the mission began.
Those were my words as I gave the final briefing on the plan.
- Ye-jin goes in first as the subordinate to lure the 'Exalted One'. Im Yong-gon, you wait on Arishel'rap's shoulder.
At that moment, she had sobbed silently.
It was originally a role I should have taken. A death I should have accepted.
But just like Kim Gye-sang that day.
Im Yong-gon had drunk the cup in my place. And he had said this.
- So you're saying I just have to yank her out of its skull before Arishel'rap gets completely devoured and toss her outside?
- ……Yes.
- And Jeong Ha-kyeong, you snatch Do Ye-jin with Super Acceleration and take her to the safe zone.
- ……Yeah. That's right.
- Then what are you hesitating for? Let's get started.
Im Yong-gon had flipped down his tin helmet like that. Heading to his death, yet more detached than anyone……
- Kim Baek-jun.
At that moment, Im Yong-gon placed a hand on my shoulder. Incredibly gentle.
- Your seniors must be truly proud of you.
I swallowed the sob rising in my throat.
- Unlike some worthless junior.
I wanted to know more.
I wanted to ask more.
About my parents. And about the man named Im Yong-gon.
But now, I never would.
Forever.
23:59:00.
In that instant, an inky blue flash engulfed the world.
「PAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
When the flash cleared.
The subordinate Arishel'rap stood firmly on the ground with both feet planted.
23:59:05.
Im Yong-gon swung his iron hammer through the air, and black flames erupted savagely along its path.
Then, he slammed it down onto the ground with all his might.
──KAAAAAAAANG!
The explosive sound of metal tearing the earth.
In that moment when my eardrums rang.
Cracks spiderwebbed massively across the ground…… and from those fissures, black flames gushed up like an oil field.
Truly…… goosebumps.
It was overwhelming firepower that left me speechless.
The black flames' hellfire.
It devoured the six-lane road…… the structures on both sides…… and even the alleys beyond, turning everything into a superheated inferno.
No, it was no surprise.
Before, when the hunter was actually an Apostle named Paul, his power had incinerated existence itself.
23:59:20.
In an instant, the black flames had consumed the entire 200-meter radius urban area.
- There's only one reason I'd push myself this hard.
The safe zone was solely.
The center of the black flame fissures where Im Yong-gon and Do Ye-jin stood.
- To keep it from leaping at us from the front or sides.
- …………?
- In other words, I'm sealing off any ambushes. If it wants to hit us, it'll have to rise up from below.
I shuddered and sighed.
Im Yong-gon…… he had already exceeded the limits of his unique ability with that alone.
It was clear even from here.
His legs trembling slowly, but with great effort.
23:59:25.
Yet instead of collapsing, he climbed onto Arishel'rap's shoulder……
He still had it.
The task he had to complete.
23:59:30.
……Kugugugugugugugugugugugugugugugugugugugu……
Finally.
The ground itself overturned completely as a colossal presence began to approach.
It had taken the bait.
The sluggish serpent, Barpakh'tika.
Ping───────!
《Three Iron Heartstrings》.
Jeong Ha-kyeong's unique ability.
Those trap wires had been spread throughout the urban area.
The moment the violent earthquake hit.
They pulled taut, pinpointing exactly which direction it was coming from.
Stealth was now meaningless.
23:59:40.
「ASRIIIIIIIIIISHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!」
Arishel'rap pounded its chest in provocation, and the serpent's charge grew even fiercer.
……Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwa……
The ground quaking as if it would crumble.
At that moment, I gritted my teeth.
I barely kept my exhausted body from falling, steadying myself.
Not yet.
My turn hadn't come yet.
23:59:45.
In a single instant.
The moment the earthquake stopped as if it were a lie.
The moment cracks spread like a web across the ground in a 50-meter radius centered on Do Ye-jin.
Im Yong-gon struck the back of Arishel'rap's head with his iron hammer.
18.
[Unique ability, 《Flame Essence Strike》 activated!]
Black flames surged from the impact site.
They incinerated the very existence of Arishel'rap's occipital region.
[Stop.]
The Holy Apostle's voice resounded in my mind.
[You are mine.]
The intense will in that voice.
Empowered by transcendent force, it began crushing Im Yong-gon's body.
[Such a meaningless death is not permitted.]
My limbs trembled wildly.
My swollen heart pounded sluggishly…… thump…… thump…… thump…… once a minute.
[Warning: Overuse of unique ability has pushed body to limit]
My eyes stung from the cold sweat pouring endlessly from my face.
Not yet.
I forced my arms forward.
Faster, farther, stronger. Faster, faster, faster, faster.
Arishel'rap.
Inside that massive being's brain.
Do Ye-jin curled up like a fetus there.
[Warning: Overuse of unique ability has pushed body to limit]
I thrust both hands into the brain matter.
The grotesquely slimy sensation. Amid that mucus…… farther…… farther…… finally, I succeeded in grabbing the girl's armpits.
[Suffocating]
The weight of death crushed my lungs.
[Why do you not obey my words?]
Now I had to pull Do Ye-jin out. And throw her to Jeong Ha-kyeong.
[Warning: Overuse of unique ability has pushed body to limit]
But my strength…… I didn't have the energy…… not even that much……
- What's your name?
From somewhere then.
From the distant horizon of memory.
- Im Yong-gon?
A familiar voice drifted in.
For some reason, even in my death throes, I knew exactly who it was.
- Yi-yeol! What a badass name. Right, honey?
Senior Park Mi-kyung.
- Im Yong-gon, you bastard.
Next came.
Not a scolding, but a gentle teaching voice. Senior Kim Jae-shin.
- Did you become a firefighter because you're scared of fire?
Recalling those two.
Recalling the smiles they wore.
- Isn't it to save people?
In the chill of encroaching death.
A handful of miraculous strength emerged. Truly small and feeble, but it was strength nonetheless.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa………”
Im Yong-gon let out a shout.
And he dragged Do Ye-jin from the mucus, from despair into the world.
- Yong-gon.
My senses half-numb.
But I felt the ground beneath Arishel'rap's feet shaking as if it would collapse.
Barpakh'tika had come.
[Warning: Overuse of unique ability has pushed body to limit]
No time.
And he had no strength left.
- You looked cool today, you rascal.
Senior Kim Jae-shin's dying words flashed in my mind.
My chest ached bitterly. Because I'd never once lived up to those words.
- Now is the time to let that life bloom.
But right now.
Perhaps right this moment.
The final chance to become the man those words deserved.
- Can I…… become a great firefighter like you seniors?
To his seniors and their son.
The last chance to be a junior and senior they wouldn't be ashamed of.
“……Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Im Yong-gon finished his shout.
And with the final handful of strength in his fleeting life, he hurled Do Ye-jin toward that world, toward life.
- Of course.
At the end of his life.
In that final moment as nightmare descended.
- You can do it, for sure. I'm not saying this to just anyone.
The man who had admired heroes in his youth.
And followed the heroes he met in his prime smiled relievedly and said.
- No, Yong-gon, I think you'll be a better firefighter than us?
Senior Kim Jae-shin.
Senior Park Mi-kyung.
How did I do……?
At least…… at the end, I became a junior you wouldn't be ashamed of, right?
19.
23:59:47.
Beyond the shattered skull bones, the brain.
Inside it, Do Ye-jin huddled with her knees drawn to her chest.
23:59:49.
Im Yong-gon forcibly dragged Do Ye-jin out of Arishel'rap's brain.
Do Ye-jin, soaked in mucus, pulled free. In that instant. Im Yong-gon threw her toward Jeong Ha-kyeong.
It was a fight in the blink of an eye.
And in that blink-of-an-eye battle.
Im Yong-gon, the man who had been my parents' junior and disciple, defeated this mad world.
23:59:51.
Jeong Ha-kyeong caught Do Ye-jin and used Super Acceleration to swiftly escape the collapsing site.
23:59:52.
The ground swelling like waves.
In the midst of that natural disaster, the exalted existence began surging toward the starry sky.
In a single instant.
Devouring Arishel'rap's shell.
Devouring Im Yong-gon into its massive abyss maw.
“Ah…… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…….”
A cracked scream tore from my throat.
Hot tears streamed from my eyes. Right then.
[Unique ability, 《Final Liberation: Berkenxia》 activation conditions met]
The Dawn Sword began to blaze.
More precisely, the Rin characters engraved on the blade began emitting radiance in sequence.
Thanks to combat memory.
I instantly comprehended how to use 《Final Liberation: Berkenxia》.
23:59:55.
I gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high toward the sky.
Look at me…… Look at me.
At that moment, truly.
Had I wanted to aim at the stars.
To strike at the stars laughing down on this world's nightmare.
Then, a miracle occurred.
The remnants and echoes of light scattered across the world, fleeing the darkness.
One, two, three, four, five.
Another one. Two. Three more. Then four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Ten. And again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again.
Lights flew in from every nation like fireflies one by one…… and in the next moment, they were all sucked into the Dawn Sword's blade.
The crimson of dawn.
The gold of life.
Those two brilliances.
Those dazzling colors of miracle.
They danced radiantly around the blade, merging into a violet blade…… growing…… growing ever larger, illuminating the world blindingly.
Heavy…… So heavy.
This. This very thing.
Was this the weight of the dawn that illuminated the world every day. The weight of the dawn we took for granted in our daily lives.
Ah……!
This was…… the weight of the Creation Gods' love.
- When shaping the world, the Creation Gods are said to have spoken thus.
Before that tearful weight.
Gaineib's tale of creation came vividly to mind.
- Wishing grace and peace upon all the world, and truth and justice to fill it.
珍 is grace.
頌 is peace.
璨 is truth.
誾 is justice.
薰 is love.
The meanings of those five characters.
Interpreting the sincere love of the world's creators contained in them.
- Let there be light upon this land.
The blade illuminating dawn across the world was now complete.
The blade ascending to the distant heavens.
In its light, dawnlight pierced the crumbling paradise.
「SHUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!」
The 'Exalted One', Barpakh'tika.
The sluggish serpent shrieked eerily and viciously, twisting its trajectory midair.
I would never, ever miss.
In that instant.
In that split-second moment, I.
Gripped dawn's hilt with all my heart and soul.
Toward the darkness eroding the world.
Toward the nightmare devouring the world.
Chanting the Creation Gods' prayer, I swung and slashed mightily.
“Illuminate the dawn on this land.”
Truly, truly, truly.
Praying for grace and peace, truth and justice filled with love, for dawn to break upon this pitiful, wretched world.
“Tarhye Rondeul.”
珍, 頌, 璨, 誾, 薰