Chapter 556: Awakened Chaos
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 556: Awakened Chaos
The Black Knights Rosa had dispatched to inform Cyron of the situation before the second battle began never reached him.
No matter how fast they traveled, reaching the depths of the Black Sea in just two days was an impossible feat. But more importantly…
Cyron’s expedition had already entered the domain of the Five Kings of the Black Sea. This meant they were completely severed from the outside world.
The domain of the Five Kings was not a land in the human world; it was a massive subspace created specifically for them.
The sun never rose there, and no shadows or footprints were left upon the black earth. There was no distinction between day and night—only an endless, all-encompassing darkness.
The only thing to eat was the occasional monster that lunged out of the gloom to ambush the party—creatures more accurately described as the "residue of chaos."
Cyron, Luna, the former and current Black Knights, and one talkative legendary monster walked across that deep, black land.
[Ugh, these creepy, tasteless things… Everyone! Dinner is served. I tried my best to cook them, but with ingredients like these, the flavor is still a bit… Eek! I’m sorry! Please don’t hit me!]
Ozdok cowered with exaggerated gestures as he handed out bowls filled with monster cuisine—dishes he had fashioned using his own powers.
It was true that Ozdok had been beaten by Tuben and the knights after his capture. Since then, however, he had behaved so well that the beatings had become practically nonexistent. Thanks to Cyron recognizing his utility, he was now treated as a legitimate member of the expedition.
Though his recollections were incomplete, Ozdok’s memories of the Black Sea were undeniably helpful. Without him, it would have taken much longer to locate the domain of the Five Kings.
Thus, Ozdok was merely joking. Unfortunately, no one responded to his pathetic attempt to lighten the mood.
[Ha, haha… Please, enjoy your meal!]
Ozdok stood up and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Luna and the knights sat down and silently chewed their portions. The sound was like that of predators crunching through the bones of wild beasts.
Ugh… this is suffocating. How many days has it been like this? Dammit.
Ozdok swallowed a sigh as he watched them eat.
He did not eat the food he prepared. To begin with, meals were meaningless to him unless they consisted of gold.
But there was another, more important reason Ozdok did not consume the monsters: the residue of chaos.
After entering the domain of the Five Kings, he had begun to recall things about the energy known as Chaos. Ozdok was slowly recovering his ancient memories.
Once Chaos latches onto a life form, it never lets go. Not until the subject becomes a completely maddened monster…
Temar Runcandel.
He remembered the rumors that even the man who was the Patriarch of Runcandel a thousand years ago had been consumed by Chaos and turned into a monster.
Chaos was a power that any living being, not just humans, had to avoid at all costs.
They must have all accumulated a fair bit of Chaos by now. They won't go crazy and kill me, will they? Seeing as they have no trouble eating and fighting, maybe they're okay for now…!
All Ozdok could do was watch their reactions and pray that such a thing wouldn't happen. Just as he suspected, Luna and the knights were preoccupied with repelling the Chaos accumulating within them.
In this land, one had to struggle against Chaos every single moment to survive, even when not in combat.
[Ahem! Anyway, this Ozdok is a bit worried. No monsters have attacked us since the day before yesterday, so food might become an issue. Dear me, it’s not like we can just go out and look for them.]
"Ozdok."
[Eek!]
Ozdok jumped. The one who had called his name was none other than Cyron.
Since entering the domain of the Five Kings, the entire expedition had become taciturn as they focused on repelling Chaos, but Cyron was the most extreme among them. He rarely uttered even simple directions or commands and had reached a point where he hardly seemed like a living person.
[Gah! My apologies, Great One. That was unbecoming of me.]
"You are doing well."
Ozdok’s eyes widened at Cyron’s unexpected response.
Not knowing how to reply, he bowed his head deeply. He wondered if anything more remarkable had ever happened in his nearly two thousand years of life.
I-I was praised!? By the Great One! Me, Ozdok!
Cyron truly believed Ozdok was doing a good job.
Constantly cracking jokes in this horrific realm, nonchalantly making meals out of monster corpses, and occasionally humming to himself. For a human, maintaining common emotions here was, strictly speaking, impossible. Ozdok’s behavior was providing significant help to the knights in their struggle to repel the Chaos.
He was making sure they didn't forget their own humanity.
When I return, I must give the youngest an even more generous reward.
Cyron’s gaze shifted toward the darkness beyond.
The reason Ozdok was worried about the lack of monsters, and the reason his daughter and the knights had fallen silent for days while they focused their minds… it was all because of what lay waiting where his gaze was fixed.
The Five Kings of the Black Sea.
The time had finally come to face one of them.
"Luna."
"Yes, Father."
"The battle will begin soon. If you cannot endure it, hide behind me."
Luna knew well that Cyron, her father, was the one most affected by this terrible Chaos. Not just her, but all the knights knew it.
Unlike the others, Cyron had been fighting Chaos even before entering this subspace, and on a scale Luna and the knights couldn't even imagine.
For the first time, Luna felt pity for her father. No, perhaps she had felt sorry for him for a long time.
Only after coming to this land did she begin to understand her father and her own feelings toward him.
"I will ensure that isn't necessary."
A faint smile touched Cyron’s lips at Luna’s answer.
The knights set down their bowls. As they moved to stand beside Cyron, they lightly patted Ozdok on the head or shoulder.
Then, as if on cue, the darkness before the expedition grew even deeper. Ozdok collapsed to the ground, his legs having given out.
The… The King of the Black Sea…!
One of the Five Kings of the Black Sea was unleashing a massive surge of Chaos toward the expedition. Ozdok couldn't even breathe under the weight of that energy, but the knights all stood tall and faced it head-on.
Screee…
Barisada slowly slid from its sheath. As radiance began to spread from the blade, the Chaos that had been surging like a tsunami came to a halt.
Cyron was the only one in the expedition who had directly battled the Kings of the Black Sea before.
He knew who the countless eyes staring down at them from beyond the darkness belonged to.
"Kial. It’s you."
Kial. The name of the first King of the Black Sea the expedition encountered. Soon, the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of eyes, all focused on Cyron alone.
[Cyron Runcandel. You have managed to come all this way, dragging that heavy fate of yours…]
A dark, chilling voice echoed throughout the entire subspace.
Compared to Kial, the monsters from the deepest parts of the Black Sea and the residue of chaos they had killed in this subspace were mere dust—even those that had posed a challenge to Luna and the former Black Knights.
Cyron did not answer, instead slowly beginning to walk toward Kial. With every step he took, the Chaos pressing down on the expedition was pushed back.
[Judging by your demeanor, you haven't come to accept the proposal we made back then.]
The proposal. Kial and the other Kings of the Black Sea wanted Cyron to become a being like them.
[Do you wish to meet the same end as your progenitor?]
"Then and now, my task is to cut you down, not to become a mere fragment of a broken object."
The Origin Stone.
The Five Kings of the Black Sea were all fragments of the shattered Origin Stone. And unless under special circumstances, the Kings could not be near one another.
This was because the will of the gods who had shattered the Origin Stone still remained.
Therefore, the Kings of the Black Sea desired only one thing: a medium that would allow them to merge once again without restriction. Someone who could sever the will of the gods that remained like a brand upon them.
Someone exactly like Cyron.
[You should know better than anyone that your wish cannot be fulfilled, you fool—]
Suddenly, Kial blinked and stopped speaking, seeming profoundly flustered.
Not only him, but Cyron also flinched. He had felt the same sensation.
What they both perceived at the same time was another King of the Black Sea awakening.
Not in this subspace, but in the human world.
Cyron’s face contorted, while Kial let out a dark laugh, his many eyes narrowing.
[Finally… I’ve found him. You were outside, my brother, Gliek!]
Gliek, Kial, Nirgand, S, Morganiel.
Of the Five Kings of the Black Sea, Gliek was the only one Cyron had never met personally, and the other Kings had also been unaware of his whereabouts.
He was the White Stone of Hairan.
The fifth fragment of the Origin Stone.
Cyron swung his sword at the jubilant Kial, who let out a shriek of joy even as his body was slashed.
*
Pazzzzt—! Ch-ch-ching…!
Upon entering the Inner Castle, the first thing Jin and his companions saw was Dante's seal—and the entire interior—encased in the massive, sturdy ice of Ten Thousand Ice.
The second thing they saw was that very ice being brutally shattered by a black power.
Talaris had been guarding the Inner Castle since shortly after the second battle began, but even she could not prevent the seal of Chaos from breaking.
"Lady Talaris!"
"Palace Master!"
Blood trickled from the corner of Talaris’s mouth as she fell toward the group. The black power released from the seal showed no sign of stopping even after crushing the Ten Thousand Ice, and it spread out in all directions.
The Inner Castle, which Ron and the knights of Hairan had fought so hard to protect, vanished without a trace in an instant.
In that moment, Jin couldn't help but recall Talaris’s words.
—In a way… it might be a relief that Zipple’s main force is coming and Runcandel is on standby nearby. If the Chaos of the White Stone awakens, they will have no choice but to fight it, whether they like it or not. Because if it isn't them or us, no one else can stop it.