Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Your Name Is, You Are the Seed of Hope (1)
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0.
When Do Ye-jin came to her senses, everything had changed.
Where was this place?
She looked up at the sky first.
Uh…… auroras……?
Alien auroras twisted and danced in the starry sky…… as if they were alive and sobbing.
What.
What…… what……?
Do Ye-jin panted for breath as she whipped her head around.
It was bizarre. Terrifying.
A primal horror sent her heart racing madly.
Just where…… is this……?
It was the eternal, barren, rotting snowfields of the Eonfrost.
The beings watching Do Ye-jin in these cosmic snowfields.
The primeval demons…… laughed with spine-chilling savagery.
「HIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE……」
「HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA……」
Demons that devoured light and darkness.
Evil spirits that raped the concepts of life and death.
?…… AIJ…… Ё……ぢ……
Mixed in with the monotonous piping sounds echoing out…… came hair-raising wails.
I want to run.
I want to escape.
To some deep abyss in a distant corner of the universe untouched even by the hands of the stars…….
「What a truly pitiable existence.」
Just then, 'something' guffawed.
At that laughter, the mountains and rivers shuddered in resonance. No, for a moment, it felt like providence itself had twisted.
「How could one with the essence of a god live like mere livestock?」
Then.
The demigods devoid of emotion, sensation, or humanity danced merrily before that 'something.'
Dong…… dong…… dong…… dong……
The wicked drumbeats began to echo ominously.
Uh……?
By the time she finally regained her wits, Do Ye-jin was laughing madly.
What.
Am I…… going insane……?
「Thy father and mother abandoned thee, and the world abandoned thee as well. Thus it was, and thus shalt thou know.」
As the 'something' descended from its jade throne.
Dongdongdongdongdongdong…… the drumbeats turned into a frenzy, and the piping and wails sharpened piercingly.
「But I, Sherashul'Toruiak, shall never leave thee alone. This is the sacred covenant I bestow, a new eternal life.」
The world prostrated itself at those words.
Space churned in nightmare, time froze in the snow…… consciousness…… thoughts…… faded to white…….
「Look back upon thy worthless life.」
Her entire body grew ice-cold.
Only after feeling that chill did she realize…… when had I…… knelt in the snow……?
「What was there in thy life thus far? Only the abyss.」
Indeed…… it was so.
Hong Byeong-gyu, Yoon Geon-woo, Cha Seung-hyeon. Seo Hwa-yoon, Do Su-jin…… and even Kim Baek-jun and Ryu Hyeon-ji proved it.
「Dost thou not know the reason? 'Tis because thy essence is the abyss that dyes the entire world in despair.」
And.
And…… again…….
Everyone around me…… dies. Everyone falls into despair.
「The tree of despair bears naught but the fruit of despair.」
Midway, she faltered briefly as she recalled her promise with Shin Tae-yeop.
- This will happen over and over. As long as thou mixin' with humans like a mongrel.
Saitonan's earlier sneer shattered that hesitation in an instant.
「Yet such as thee, I shall personally remake into a new creation.」
Her body rose as if enchanted.
It was cold. Even as her whole frame shivered like an aspen, the girl began stepping forward.
「Behold, the old has passed, behold the new has come. Come…… closer.」
One step.
Another step. Yet another.
Then the Absolute of Ikhilas, the Absolute Sovereign, the Supreme One shook its humanoid illusion and howled with laughter……
……Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……
……Do Ye-jin's flesh shattered into thousands, tens of thousands of pieces, and her soul froze into the eternal abyss───
───Plop.
In that single instant.
Something warm touched both her ears, and deep into her heart.
「No, Arishiel.」
It was warmth.
Memories sealed within her soul.
The warmth that had always embraced and caressed Do Ye-jin so tenderly in those memories…….
「Thou art the seed of hope.」
It lasted but a single instant.
Just one instant.
But in that one instant, the fragments of memory clicked together like puzzle pieces, and her breath caught.
Ah……?
Ash-gray hair that gave a lonely yet exalted impression.
Eyes large and clear, just like Do Ye-jin's.
In the…… thousands, tens of thousands of memory fragments…… always laughing or crying for Do Ye-jin's sake…….
This woman's identity lay locked in her subconscious.
No, she knew it.
But instinct refused to accept it.
But…… but why……?
This touch.
This voice.
This tearful longing, as if yearned for all her life……?
「Really…… so…… I missed you so much…….」
1.
「PHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
At last, Despair charged ferociously.
Pulverizing all things to dust.
The temple pillars crumbled one by one with thunderous roars, and the marble floor cratered the instant its feet touched down.
Hmph…… still just a mongrel.
Saitonan chanted the highest incantation permitted only to gods toward [Ice Ring Illusion].
「Tremble in the frigid air.」
In that moment, protrusions writhed up from Shealzbel's maw, forging into pale harpoons.
「Halshashikan'na.」
Over a dozen harpoons launched straight into Arishel'rab's body……
Tattattattattattattang───!
……only to bounce off powerlessly. Arishel'rab dragged her dark-blue gaze long and slammed into Shealzbel.
「Relyin' only on brute strength, eh……? Inherited overwhelming divine power from the Mother God, is that it?」
But Shealzbel didn't yield easily.
Five tentacles lashed out swiftly.
They coiled around Arishel'rab's body, halting her just before collision.
「Let's see just how much divine power that Edelweiss passed down to thee.」
For some reason, Saitonan's tone rang hollow. Like a voice laced with envy.
“Heo Cheon-gyeom!”
It was around then that Shin Tae-yeop burst into the chaotic sanctuary.
“Shin Tae-yeop……?!”
“Hey, hey! Careful, careful! Above! Above your head!”
A pillar collapsed straight onto Heo Cheon-gyeom.
If Shin Tae-yeop hadn't thrown himself to shove her aside, she might have died right there.
“Get your head straight, you idiot!”
The sanctuary was so uproarious that Shin Tae-yeop had to cup his hands into a megaphone to shout.
Heo Cheon-gyeom panted for breath.
This guy…… how did this guy get all the way here? Shin Tae-yeop demanded.
“Where's Do Ye-jin? Ryu Hyeon-ji? Where are they?!”
“……Over there.”
“Over there?”
Shin Tae-yeop looked toward the spot shrouded in thick dust clouds…… and his eyes went wide.
“What…… Do Ye-jin…… how did she become a subordinate……?”
She shouldn't have been in a state to use 《Subordination》……? Shin Tae-yeop gulped dryly as he supported Heo Cheon-gyeom.
“First, let's get out of───”
──────Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Just then, Shealzbel hurled Arishel'rab across the sanctuary.
An absurdly massive frame.
As it tumbled across the floor, the temple shook as if about to collapse, and dust billowed thickly.
「Light dwelling in the frosty heavens.」
Shealzbel gaped its maw.
A searing pale flash emanated from within. Around it, pure white lightning crackled.
「Toruin'alimos.」
The moment Saitonan's incantation ended.
The flash erupted into a blinding beam. A primal polar miracle.
Jjejejejejejejeje────!
Everywhere the light passed.
All things—no, every concept itself—froze solid.
Flames, light, dust, even scents.
Even the crumbling temple pillars froze in place, halting the collapse for an instant.
“D-Did we get it……?!”
Shin Tae-yeop turned and muttered blankly, prompting Heo Cheon-gyeom to yell in disbelief.
“You lunatic, whose side are you on?!”
“Ah, you don't know? This [Did we get it?] is a magic spell.”
“What?”
“Chantin' it ensures nothin' gets got. Reverse it for ally protection too.”
What kinda bullshit is this guy spewin'?
Utter nonsense…… yet absurdly, Arishel'rab was unscathed.
Just before the absolute tundra's light reached her.
She spread her wings, leaping to touch the high ceiling, then dove straight at Shealzbel.
A shockwave-like roar.
Amid the blinding aftershock whirlwind…… somehow, the boys caught sight of it.
「SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA………….」
Arishel'rab's ferocious dragon head.
The alien carapace being crunched between its triple fangs.
“That……?”
“Isn't that the snail shell?”
As Shin Tae-yeop said, a huge chunk of Shealzbel's carapace was visibly shattered.
「Even a mongrel like thee can wield this much power with divine might.」
Saitonan's voice leaking from within…… held more amusement than killing intent.
「Hahahahahaha……! Rampage all you want, but how long canst thou maintain thy ego in that state?」
2.
「Really…… so…… I missed you so much…….」
The first to react to the ash-gray woman's tearful smile was not Do Ye-jin.
「Ah, how trite…… Now thou pretendest to be human?」
As Sherashul'Toruiak sneered coldly, the ash-gray woman countered with an icy smile.
「May I not?」
「Ye who ruined a world for thy desires—fitting for thee to impersonate humans?」
「Unfitting, indeed. But is it fitting for the Absolute Gods who incited it for sport?」
The ash-gray woman replied politely, but her tone was edged. Sherashul'Toruiak answered instantly.
「Fitting.」
「Why?」
「All that Absolute Gods do is good. If we deem it fitting, even the universe's annihilation is fitting.」
As Sherashul'Toruiak finished speaking, it thrust out its palm.
In that instant…… no way.
The dimension where the ash-gray woman and Do Ye-jin stood froze into a blue prison. Then.
「Noisy men are just my type I hate. Right?」
The ash-gray woman raised her left hand.
On her ring finger gleamed a dark-blue flickering gemstone ring.
「Shall we leave this to Daddy and talk just us two?」
……It shattered into pieces in that instant, unleashing an unbelievable absolute miracle.
「No…… this is……?」
Even Sherashul'Toruiak let out a startled gasp.
「Thou…… where hast thou been hiding all this time?」
That abyssal power…… was pure might incarnate. Stronger than any abyss Do Ye-jin had seen during the hunt.
「Come forth! To mock me again───」
It melted the Absolute God's frozen dimension in one breath, exploding in dark-blue flash.
What……?
It was blinding.
So dazzling that Do Ye-jin had to shield her eyes with both hands.
The next moment, the world fell silent.
How long did that last? Slowly raising her eyes from fear…… a blood-red horizon filled her vision.
Where……?
<Edelweiss>……?
「Hello, Arishiel.」
And.
In the center of her vision.
The ash-gray haired woman smiled gently.
「How old art thou now? Last we parted, thou wert this small…….」
Her smile trembled faintly as she measured the size of a five- or six-year-old with both hands.
「Now thou art a proper young lady…….」
Do Ye-jin felt stabbing sorrow and terror in that voice. She stepped back involuntarily.
“Who are you?”
The woman chuckled, “Hee.”
It was strange. Grotesque. Wasn't it exactly like Do Ye-jin's own laugh?
「Who might I be? Curious about my human name? Or the divine name the gods bestowed?」
“Quit messin' around! Who the hell are you! Where is this!”
The woman flinched at the yell, then smiled apologetically.
「Sorry…… got too excited. Let me introduce myself. My name back as human was Chris Myers.」
Chris…… Chris what……?
Brushing aside Do Ye-jin's stunned reaction, the woman dropped an even greater bombshell.
「The name bestowed by outer space is Arishel'rab. As thou knowest, it means [Rampaging Despair].」
A truly shocking fact.
But compared to the explanation she gave next, choking back sobs…… it was hardly disconcerting.
「But most importantly…… Arishiel, I am…… thy mother, who birthed and raised thee…….」