Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Unbreakable Dawn, Holy Flame Cemetery (3)
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3.
“Hmm… I’ll give you credit for catching me off guard.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong was walking through the heart of a rotting, putrid world.
A city where everything had decayed.
A stench so foul it numbed her nose.
Every step she took, the asphalt road clung to her combat boots like sticky mud.
“Jeong Ha-kyeong. To think you’d come find me on your own two feet.”
And there, in the middle of that road.
A silver-haired beauty in a suit stood propped on a long parasol.
[Baladon’s Top Manager].
Jeong Ha-kyeong swallowed dryly, then opened her mouth.
“You know why I’m here, right?”
“Of course I do, you pathetic little shit.”
An overwhelming presence crushed down on her like it would pulverize her entire body. Jeong Ha-kyeong gritted her teeth and endured.
“Didn’t I tell you, you little shit? To keep watching Kim Baek-jun from up close. And you just up and leave? ‘Yeah, go ahead, leave’?”
“……”
“Wow, this little shit. You don’t even get what I’m saying.”
[Baladon’s Top Manager] strode over and tapped Jeong Ha-kyeong’s forehead with her parasol.
“Let me make it clear. If you’d stayed by Kim Baek-jun’s side, he wouldn’t have died.”
“What…?”
“I would’ve protected him. Even if it wrecked your body in the process.”
So… that’s how it was.
Jeong Ha-kyeong groaned in pain. But… that was all in the past now.
“So you’re saying if you took over my body, you could wield that much power? Enough to save Kim Baek-jun.”
“Amusing.”
[Baladon’s Top Manager] flashed a dismissive smile.
“Jeong Ha-kyeong, you seem to think I’m some worthless bitch not even worth Kim Baek-jun’s dick…”
Jeong Ha-kyeong flinched.
What the hell, this bitch. Can she read minds too?
“Well, I get it. How could I blame you when I look this cute?”
[Baladon’s Top Manager] winked.
“……”
“……”
“…………?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong unwittingly made a disgusted face.
“Laugh. Don’t fuck up the mood, you little shit!”
Laugh?
It pissed her off to no end… but she was the one begging, so she’d play along.
“Hahahahahaha.”
She burst into soulless laughter.
Surprisingly, it seemed to lighten the mood… and the bitch cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, ahem. Glad my humor landed well.”
What the fuck.
This bitch is ridiculously simple-minded, isn’t she?
“Now, back to business… The power you’re using is pathetically weak.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong cursed inwardly.
That’s ’cause you, the owner, are so damn weak, right?
“You’re barely using even 10% of my power.”
10%?
Isn’t that a bit too much bluffing?
“Well, yeah. You don’t even know how to use the power of the Abyss.”
“How to… use the power…?”
[Baladon’s Top Manager] suddenly pointed around with her parasol.
“Do you know where this is?”
“No clue.”
“Doesn’t it feel familiar? It’s your mental world.”
My… mental world?
[Baladon’s Top Manager] grinned wickedly.
“Wonder how many seconds it took to rot this place completely?”
“……?”
“Less than a second. By now, your physical body’s starting to rot too.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong felt thin goosebumps rise on her skin.
“What happens if it rots completely?”
“You become half-crippled. No recovery possible.”
“Fuck this, I asked for power, not to get my body mangled!”
[Baladon’s Top Manager] suddenly turned icy cold and smacked Jeong Ha-kyeong’s mouth with her parasol.
“Shut up and listen. Collapsing a mental world is a feat only gods ranked 30th or higher can pull off.”
She pointed at herself with her thumb, feigning holiness.
“And I am the First Servant of the Raging Ancient Abyss Sovereign.”
She declared it proudly.
“Fourth of the Thirty. Goddess of Sin and Judgment, Shalluan.”
A brief silence fell.
“……”
“……?”
“………!”
Oh, right. She told me to laugh.
Jeong Ha-kyeong clapped half-heartedly and let out soulless laughter.
“Hahahahaha── Ack!”
But she couldn’t keep laughing.
What the…? In that instant, Shalluan used some bizarre force to slam Jeong Ha-kyeong face-first into the ground.
“This little shit’s laughing now?”
You told me to laugh earlier…?
This one wasn’t a ‘laugh’ order either?
“I was planning to take your body someday anyway…”
Shalluan sighed and switched back to polite speech.
“But even if it worked, you’d turn into a cripple soon enough. In your terms… a disposable tool.”
“Just do it… As long as you crush those Nowon-gu bastards with that power…”
As Jeong Ha-kyeong muttered through her rage, Shalluan tapped her crown with the parasol and laughed.
“Who the hell’s giving orders here? Kim Baek-jun died because of you, so I had to scrap my plans.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong clamped her mouth shut, her expression darkening.
“You want power for revenge? Fine. I’ll give it to you. And teach you how to use it.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong couldn’t believe her ears.
This bitch… is agreeing just like that? Shalluan snapped two fingers.
“But there are two conditions.”
4.
“First, pick out five weapons.”
“Weapons? From where?”
“Where else?”
Tersia spread her arms, gesturing to the Beacon Keeper cemetery.
“From the tombs of your predecessors, of course.”
Weapons from the tombs…?
Just like when the [Owner of the Broken Dawn] trained me?
“The essence of the power is the same… but each one holds unique strengths tailored to its owner’s fighting style.”
Unique strengths?
Tersia held up five fingers.
“You’ve heard the Dawn Sword has five forms, right?”
“Yes, definitely…”
“Those five forms were all mimicked by the 100th generation inheritors, drawing from the memories and authorities of their predecessors to make them their own.”
So that’s… what they were?
The words of the [Owner of the Broken Dawn] suddenly flashed through my mind.
- All the weapons in the Beacon Keeper cemetery are other forms of the Dawn Sword.
Ah… so that means?
“You want me to choose the weapon I’ll inherit.”
“Exactly. Our 101st is sharp-minded—I like that.”
Tersia.
She’s the type to praise you even if you trip on the street.
“But… I haven’t mastered all the Dawn Sword’s forms yet…?”
Dawnlight · Divinity · Divine Spirit.
And even Berkenxia.
First · Second · Third Liberations, and the Final Liberation. I still hadn’t learned the Fourth.
“Yes. You were supposed to learn them step by step… but then you got an overwhelmingly powerful ally midway.”
She means Do Ye-jin?
Well… Do Ye-jin is a creation of the Nightmare Lord, so it’s no surprise Tersia knows.
No… wait a second.
I ventured a cautious question.
“Will I… eventually get my own Berkenxia someday?”
Was it too boyish a question?
Tersia smiled at me like a gentle mother.
“Of course. Once the succession is complete.”
“………………!”
“I can’t wait to see what form the 101st’s Berkenxia takes.”
What’s this.
I’m feeling weirdly good…?
“Enough chit-chat. Go on, choose. Everyone’s watching.”
Everyone’s watching me?
Is this like those old army stories, where it’s “who’s handsomer, him or me?”?
“Uh… um…”
Think, think.
Racking my brains desperately, an answer came.
“I’m just not that discerning. Couldn’t you pick some great ones for me, Tersia?”
Deflect responsibility.
Make it seem like I’m handing the choice to her.
“Hmm… using your head, eh, 101st? But that’s cheating.”
“…Shit.”
“No need to agonize. These 99 are the ones with the strongest spirits among the 2,600-plus Beacon Keepers.”
Two thousand?
2,600?
There were that many Beacon Keepers?
“When Berkenxia shattered, the spirits of those with weaker souls were all devoured by Yotiatos…”
Tersia murmured sadly, then fell silent.
Did I poke a beehive…?
I quietly began selecting weapons. First up.
Dawn Sword.
No matter the authority or power, this is my main weapon.
Even just Dawnlight and Divinity’s might is plenty, and there’s still one more succession power left.
Now…?
Yeah, that one looks good too.
Next, I picked up a greatbow.
Twilight Bow.
I’m not after one-shot kills.
I chose it because I realized I need ranged support.
This… a magic circle (魔方陣)?
Next wasn’t a weapon.
It was pure white gauntlets.
But with intricate magic circles etched on the backs.
White Law Palms.
“That’s the 99th’s power.”
“The 99th… the 100th’s predecessor? Or…”
“Your predecessor, yes. But… things were urgent, so no direct Berkenxia succession.”
“Then… how did you fight?”
“I used fragments imbued with Time Regression power.”
So that’s why it’s gauntlets, not a weapon form? What to do?
No. I’ll take it.
Predecessor of the [Owner of the Broken Dawn]. There must be meaning in this coincidence.
“Next, that one.”
I pointed to Tersia’s immediate right.
Stuck there was a great scythe.
During the entrance exam, the [Owner of the Broken Dawn] had used it masterfully.
“101st. You’ve got a good eye.”
Tersia smiled suddenly.
A purely beautiful smile that could stop any man’s heart.
“No way… that scythe is yours, Tersia…?”
Tersia drew the great scythe.
Then… a brilliance so dazzling it could blind erupted.
What the hell is this…?
Way more intense than when the [Owner of the Broken Dawn] used it—dozens of times over?
“Yes. Moonlight Scythe. My Berkenxia.”
Holy shit… such luck?
There was one weapon I really wanted, and it was Tersia’s!
“Nice!”
I clenched my fist and cheered without thinking. Tersia smiled happily too.
“As thanks for upholding the First Generation’s dignity before the descendants, here’s some info the 101st will love.”
Tersia pointed to the grave across from hers. I froze.
No… why does that look like that?
On that tombstone, a sword and shield crossed and stabbed into the ground.
Weird.
The hilt and base were sleek straight lines of splendor… but the blade was just a stump, and way too short.
It looked just like… a broken wooden sword.
And a round shield.
Silver rim with intricate relief engravings that were breathtaking… but.
The shield’s face… was a mirror.
A mirror shield reflecting the twilight world… shining forlornly in the dust winds.
“Isn’t that… a mirror?”
“Correct.”
“What the hell can you… block with that?”
At my question, Tersia gave a serene smile.
“101st. That sword and shield are what the 100th mimicked as his main Berkenxia.”
What?
The [Owner of the Broken Dawn]…?
Meaning… the original owner of 《Final Liberation: Berkenxia》?
“Because he’s the inheritor who triumphed over the Outer Universe… and the undisputed greatest among us.”
Greatest inheritor?
A shiver ran up my spine.
He beat apostles of that Outer Universe like Tersia did?
Monsters like the latest rate?
“Who… is this person?”
“Baptized Talorden upon inheriting Berkenxia.”
I approached as if entranced and gripped the hilt.
In that instant.
The space above the grave shimmered like heat haze… revealing someone sitting there.
“True name Liam. The baptism from Geldharia means… [Knight of the Mirror].”
Handsome man with ash-gray hair.
Stoic yet kind smile.
Unlike Tersia in mourning garb, clad in ornate silver and brass medium armor, fully armed.
“The Second Generation inheritor, my direct successor, and the first to liberate Tarhye Rondel’s power.”
Tarhye Rondel too…?!
My heart pounded with awe.
Maybe my stare was too intense.
Liam rose from the grave and warmly patted my shoulder with a smile.
Like an old friend.
Tersia watched the heartwarming scene with a grin.
“And he says he wants to help me teach the 101st.”