Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Remnants of Light, Survivors (1)
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1.
“Ji-won. Take Tae-yeop back. Keep him safe.”
I issued clear instructions.
A method I’d learned during my police days, the most effective way to handle a panicked crowd in an inexplicable crisis.
“Y-Yes, hyung!”
Park Ji-yeon, who had been standing there dazed, snapped into action and supported Shin Tae-yeop. He let out a short groan.
“Lead Hunter uncle…….”
“You did well. Rest now.”
At the edge of my vision, I could see the arrow piercing clean through Shin Tae-yeop’s side.
I whipped my head around for a moment.
The arrows were supposed to be lightning-guided…… How was Shin Tae-yeop still alive?
“That sword…… Where did you get it?”
A young man’s voice.
When I turned, a tall figure wearing a crow mask was glaring at me.
Crossbow.
Demons under his command.
From those fragments alone, I knew immediately.
So you’re the one……
The aura he commanded was on a whole different level from Bartferrot’s.
“Does that matter?”
“It does. It’s a treasure that shouldn’t be in the hands of an ugly creature like you.”
Taunting me?
I lowered the visor of my [Goean Valley Helmet] and assumed a combat stance. My vision remained clear nonetheless.
“I’ll show mercy. Hand it over, and I’ll spare your life.”
“That won’t be possible. It’s not mine to begin with.”
“You know well. It belongs to the Light. Not you abyss dwellers.”
This wasn’t just conversation.
Talk was a means to buy time. A moment to meticulously probe each other’s momentum.
A cold silence descended.
This wasn’t mere silence either. Our read on each other’s momentum was complete—it was time to blueprint the kill.
A stopwatch ticked in my mind. 3…… 2…… 1……
[Unique skill, 《First Liberation: Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 activated!]
There are times when a single clash reveals an opponent’s full strength. The fight with that guy back then was one such instance.
Back then, I had charged in with footwork in a single breath.
0.1 seconds.
The time it took to close into the greatsword’s fatal range right in his face.
That’s how it should have been……?
His reaction speed was miraculous.
As my greatsword came slashing down, he parried it with the gauntlet on his left arm while precisely aiming his crossbow at my brow.
But this wasn’t my killing move.
[Exclusive skill, 《Swordwind Lotus》 activated!]
The chaos storm embedded in the [Goean Valley Helmet] unleashes in an instant.
The ultimate technique that shreds everything within a 3-meter radius of the caster with razor winds.
I had him…… or so I might have thought.
The problem was that his second move was also a killing blow.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
My left hand that had swung the Dawn Sword down.
In that left palm, a black sphere spun madly. Then he shouted.
“Minions and soldiers of the Void! Rise now and devour all the abyss! I, Roheiritz, the First Apostle of the Void, command you!”
In that instant, a horrific scene unfolded.
“Wh…… What?!”
Countless faceless demons crawled out from that sphere, charging to overwhelm me.
Of course, it didn’t go that way.
Instead, 《Swordwind Lotus》 tore through their bones mercilessly with a barrage of slashes. The issue was that they served as meat shields, deflecting my killing blow.
It all happened nearly simultaneously.
Roheiritz and I kicked off the ground, widening the distance between us.
That’s when.
He pulled the trigger on his crossbow.
I spun like a top, batting the arrow away with my blade, and landed in a roll.
This guy…… he’s strong.
Amid the thrilling tension making my heart shudder, that was my first thought.
A strength on another dimension, comparable to the Subordinates.
Even a typical ‘old one’ would’ve been finished by that combo just now.
One mistake…… and I’d be the one dying.
As he gathered his momentum to counter my footwork, he spoke.
“You…… Who the hell are you?”
“……?”
“To wield the power of Light and the power of the abyss at once…… Impossible.”
“The power of the abyss?”
“Don’t play dumb! You think I wouldn’t recognize the abyssal authority you just used?”
This was the power of the Subordinates.
If anything, it was more accurately the power of nightmares……?
“No idea what you’re talking about.”
I said that as I steadied my offense, then froze for a moment.
“Do you know the Dawn Sword’s previous owner?”
“What?”
Roheiritz shrugged dismissively.
“Not close friends. But if you’re asking if I knew him, then yes.”
He broke his crossbow open at the middle.
Loaded an arrow, tensioned the string, then flipped it back—and astonishingly, it was ready to fire.
“On the last day of this world, I fought alongside him.”
In that moment, it felt like I’d been struck in the head.
“……What?”
The Dawn Sword was a symbol of hope passed across worlds…… Not an impossible story.
But…… could this be?
That’s when Roheiritz raised his crossbow, and I kicked off the ground.
My foot sank deep into the floor.
The explosively amplified leg strength closed the gap in an instant. My heart dropped then.
……What?
Something gripped both my ankles from below, crushing them like they’d shatter.
Looking down…… demons.
You bastard…… The crossbow aim was a feint. This was the real move?
Fine. So that’s how it is.
Time to try that combo technique I’d thought of before, here.
[Unique skill, 《Second Liberation: Holy Dawn Sword》 activated!]
As the Dawn Sword’s blade began emitting a crimson lotus glow.
[Exclusive skill, 《Shadow Ambush》 activated!]
Cha-Ratevil’s authority unleashes.
My body gets sucked into my shadow.
「HIAAAAAAAAAAA……」
Cha-Ratevil’s laughter.
The suffocating sensation of sinking into a swamp.
This place was the shadow’s abyss, severed from the present world.
Even in this mad underworld, the Holy Dawn Sword blazed brilliantly, protecting my mind.
I took my stance.
The ultimate technique I’d practiced thousands, millions of times in that twilight paradise.
Simple, yet the most powerful.
I twist my torso, draw the sword back. Take a deep breath, step forward.
[Exclusive skill, 《Shadow Ambush》 expired.]
My body returned to the present world.
The shadow’s abyss vanished, color returned to my vision. There it was again.
He had retreated five paces back.
Impressive guy.
He sensed the danger and pulled away in that split second. But it’s futile.
My sword reaches that far.
Immense humanity concentrated on the dawn blade. The moment I moved to release it.
“Wait! Stop!”
An unfamiliar woman’s voice.
Roheiritz, about to evade and counter, halted at her words.
Seeing that, I froze mid-thrust as well.
……What?
From down the passage, two women in hooded cloaks were rushing over frantically.
“Why are you here……?”
Roheiritz asked in surprise, and the one who’d shouted “wait” replied.
“You call that a question? You’re the one who just wrecked the entire city.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“Whatever. That’s not why we’re here.”
The second woman said that, stopped beside Roheiritz, and stared at me.
Caucasian?
The face visible under her hood was a typical Western beauty.
Let’s make a realistic assessment.
Now it’s three otherworld Hunters?
This isn’t good.
I should’ve finished Roheiritz just now.
Right then.
The second woman panted as she alternated glances between me and the Dawn Sword.
“Ahh…… Finally…… Finally…… You’ve returned to this land…….”
To my shock, she broke into sobs and knelt.
“Blade of Light…… Chosen of Berkenxia.”
Berkenxia?
I was stunned by the sight.
Roheiritz and the first woman looked flustered too.
“The successor? That guy?”
“Gayneib……? That’s what you meant, miss? He reeks of the abyss.”
“I don’t understand it either.”
The woman called Gayneib continued steadfastly.
“You know you can suddenly use miracles, right?”
“Yeah. That’s what you said, miss.”
“The moment I arrived here, I felt it…… Roheiritz, Byronica. Without the presence of Light…… If he were a subordinate of the abyss, could he use miracles?”
Roheiritz and the woman named Byronica stared at me blankly.
Byronica let out a hollow laugh, then knelt as well.
“Ah…… Byronica, daughter of Galeb, beholds the return of Light.”
A deception tactic?
Is this what it means to have your mind in chaos?
As I considered that possibility, the Dawn Sword began to blaze brilliantly.
This light……?
No way. It’s the exact same light as when I reunited with Shin Tae-yeop.
Could it be?
Doesn’t this mean…… these people were comrades of [Broken Dawn’s Master] too?
Not otherworld Hunters?
Only then did I lower my sword for the first time. I voiced the question that sprang to mind.
“Who…… the hell are you people?”
2.
His consciousness faded into haze.
Shin Tae-yeop clung desperately to his dimming mind.
I need to help too……
Watching Kim Baek-jun fight Roheiritz, he repeated it in his head.
Because the scenes kept overlapping.
Someone he couldn’t remember…… fighting alone until they died.
- Believe in my stubbornness and wait for me.
It echoed again.
It kept echoing. Echoing over and over.
- I’ll bring the dawn of the whole world and come find you, everyone. It’s a promise.
Dawn of the whole world.
Dawn of the whole world.
Dawn of the whole world…… I have to wait for it……
With that thought, Shin Tae-yeop finally lost consciousness.
3.
“I can heal them.”
Gayneib’s hands clasped demurely. A sphere of light flickered above them.
Light leaking from the sphere bathed Heo Cheon-gyeom and Shin Tae-yeop’s wounds…… and astonishingly, the injuries began to heal.
It seemed a completely different principle from Star Cloud Liquid.
This was something called a miracle, apparently a magical element in this ruined world.
“It’s not magic. Magic is what the Black Sun created imitating miracles. Miracles are the true works of Light.”
I rubbed my temples.
I’d already removed the [Goean Valley Helmet] and tucked it under my arm.
“Sorry. I don’t follow.”
With a sigh, I turned to Roheiritz.
“How many did you kill?”
“Does it matter?”
“Doesn’t it?”
I shifted my gaze.
To Shin Tae-yeop with the arrow through his side. To Do Ye-jin and Heo Cheon-gyeom, battered head to toe.
And I thought of the 6th Hunting Squad he’d massacred.
The blood spirit stones from the northern Hunters I saw on the way were his doing too.
“After seeing all this, how could I possibly forgive you?”
The problem was, judging by everything so far, this man was an acquaintance of [Broken Dawn’s Master]……
“We had no choice but to be hostile.”
Byronica jumped in to defend him hastily.
“The one who destroyed this world…… was an outsider just like you. Reeking of the same abyssal stench.”
……What?
“You’re saying they had similar features to me?”
East Asian?
There were countless worlds, and just as these people had Western features, there could be ones with Eastern ones.
That tooltip flashed in my mind then.
My god.
No way. The identity of the nameless demigod……
“Yes. Exactly the same.”
So they saw us as invaders and struck back?
A throbbing pain hit my head.
A world where justice wasn’t simple or clear…… That’s where I was.
“This kid would know best.”
Then Gayneib stroked the head of the unconscious Shin Tae-yeop.
“He was an outsider too. But unlike ‘him,’ he fought for our world.”
Of course…… I thought.
If they were comrades of [Broken Dawn’s Master], then they were Shin Tae-yeop’s comrades too. I said.
“He has no memories. He only said he suddenly gained control of flames. He’s not the type to lie.”
Gayneib let out a soft groan.
“Of course. But still…… How is he alive?”
Her last words were directed at Byronica, who shrugged. Roheiritz answered instead.
“I thought it was necromancy…… But I sense nothing in his body. No abyssal grudges.”
“That’s why it’s weird…… How…… And he feels even more full of life than when we last met.”
“What, did he turn back time or something? If he looks younger, doesn’t that mean he survived by rewinding time?”
Roheiritz shut down Byronica’s absurd guess.
“Reversing a world’s time…… Even the Absolute Gods can’t do that.”
Absolute Gods? The five Absolute Holy Apostles?
“But if we piece the story together, that’s the only explanation.”
No one knew the answer to Byronica’s words. Gayneib stood.
“Why not discuss the details with our lady of the house?”
“Lady of the house?”
Roheiritz and Byronica nodded at Gayneib, as if deferring the explanation.
“Lady Dragon Xerinia.”
Her voice held reverence as she said it.
“She was the mate of the dragon Salarakas, who sealed the abyss, and the mother of the last ice dragon, Skesari.”
What was the reason for the massacre they were carrying out on the master’s home planet? Was it truly the master’s command?