Chapter 610: Purifying Chaos (14)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 610: Purifying Chaos (14)
Once again, Jin stood before the Gate of Chaos.
As always, the brothers of the Pluto Tribe watched, their gazes shifting between Jin and the gate.
“His fate will be decided today.”
“Whatever choice Brother Jin makes, we shall follow him with all our hearts.”
Jin looked at Ban, who stood with an expressionless face. Within her calm eyes lingered the same profound loneliness he had felt over the past two days while staring at the Gate of Chaos himself.
“I’m going in.”
As he stepped through the portal, the void-like darkness of Chaos greeted him.
Usually, the massive form of Chaos would be visible immediately upon entry. Every encounter had begun with a battle, forcing him to dodge a powerful swipe of a forepaw or a devastating tail whip.
But now, Chaos was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it was because it had lost its strength, or perhaps there was another reason.
So, Jin walked forward aimlessly.
He walked slowly for about an hour.
For the first time since entering the domain of Chaos, Jin realized that this dark space actually had an ‘end.’
An impenetrable wall of blackness began to appear in the distance. At first, he thought it was a point leading to Chaos’s subconscious, much like in Gliek’s abyss, but it was simply a dead end.
It was like being blocked by a wall; he could go no further. Even when he slashed at it with his Spirit Sword, no rift opened. It was indestructible.
Walking along the wall, he finally saw it in the distance—the huddled form of Chaos.
Chaos stood up as Jin came into view, appearing even smaller than when he had last seen it.
While it still maintained the form of a dragon, it was so round and small that it almost looked like a baby rabbit. It was a size that wouldn't even fill a person's palm.
Furthermore, the destructive power it once possessed could no longer be felt. When it had been struck by Jin’s Spirit Sword Supreme Technique, it had lost nearly all its strength.
[Hmph, brat. I hate that arrogant look on your face, already intoxicated by the scent of victory.]
Jin’s face remained expressionless.
“The Fighting God told me something outside. She said it wasn’t that you couldn’t kill me, but that you didn’t because you were afraid of being even more alone. Is that true?”
[What does it matter? You’re going to kill me now anyway.]
Jin unfastened his sword and set it down beside him. Then, raising his hands to show he had no intent to harm, he sat down ten paces away from Chaos.
“You never know. My mind might change depending on your answer.”
[Hmph! Are you acting so relaxed because you know you can handle me even without a weapon?]
“You certainly have a twisted way of looking at things.”
[How else am I supposed to look at it? My life is ruined because of you! I was supposed to become one with you and hatch perfectly, but your brothers ruined it by pulling me out. We could have just lived our separate lives after that, but you kept coming at me, hell-bent on killing me.]
“Isn’t that natural, considering you stole my power?”
[Those monstrous brothers of yours only took your side. They ignored all my pleas!]
“The problem would have been solved if you had just returned my power.”
[If I gave it back, I’d have no use left, and I would have been killed by you and those monsters! Would you have even thought about talking to me like this then? Besides, you keep saying I ‘stole’ it, but this is my power!]
A brief silence followed.
“You said just now that your life is ruined. Is that because you lost all your strength? Or is it because you can't leave this place on your own once you've entered?”
[……Wait, how do you know I can't leave by myself?]
“The Fighting God told me. She said your inner thoughts were conveyed to her every time I opened a rift.”
Chaos’s eyes widened. It had been completely unaware of that.
[Ha! Really? So she knew everything. And yet she just stood by and watched while you kept trying to kill me? Incredible.]
Chaos grit its teeth, looking indignant.
“She is my sister. It’s only natural for her to classify you as an enemy.”
Jin shrugged.
He looked back at the dark space he had just traversed. There was nothing but pitch-black darkness, and even that was a plot of land so small one could reach its end in just an hour’s walk.
Realizing that this was all that was permitted to Chaos, he felt a deeper sense of pity.
The reason the Fighting God kept staring at the gate with such lonely eyes was likely because she felt this creature's solitude so poignantly.
Jin, too, had been able to read its inner thoughts when Chaos was outside. Even back then, when he was filled with nothing but rage toward it, he had felt a flicker of pity.
For some reason, it reminded him of Shuri—his Red Jade Cat, who had lived alone for nearly a thousand years, abandoned in a desolate thorn forest in a corner of the Black Sea.
Let’s let it live.
Jin came to a conclusion.
“I suppose you can't read my thoughts right now?”
[You're probably thinking about how to finish me off.]
“Quite the opposite. However, there are a few things that concern me.”
[What?]
“First, I heard you are the First Chaos that originated from the Witch Heluram. And I was told that the First Chaos possesses particularly unpredictable traits.”
[Who the hell is Witch Heluram?]
“What?”
[I don't know anything about that. I just woke up inside you.]
Chaos had no awareness of being the ‘First Chaos originating from the Witch.’ That was why it had consistently perceived Jin’s power as ‘its own.’
Chaos believed it was born from Jin, not the Witch.
“Then why did you react so sensitively to Spirit Energy?”
[It’s an instinctive fear. I don't even know how I could exist within someone like you who possesses such a thing.]
In a sense, Chaos was a kind of ‘seed.’ Heluram’s power had simply taken root within Jin, like a seed germinating.
To Chaos, it didn't matter who had sown the seed, nor was it curious.
Its original goal of consuming Jin and becoming one was, from its perspective, merely an instinctive process of growth.
When Chaos explained this, Jin couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
“That’s a hard story to believe.”
[Whether it’s a lie or not will be revealed as soon as we go outside. Your monster sister will be able to read my mind.]
“You're not just saying this as a trick to get out, are you?”
[You really don't trust me, do you? Right to the very end! I fled here in the first place because I was scared of your monster brothers and because you kept getting stronger by resonating with them. I’ve lost all my power now; what could I possibly do even if I went out? I have no cards left to play, thanks to you!]
It didn't sound like a lie.
True, it was terrified of my brothers even when it still had its strength.
Jin nodded.
“Fine. I’ll take you outside. What do I need to do?”
[You just have to open a rift…… Are you serious?]
“I’ve regained my strength anyway, so I don't really have a reason to kill you. My personal grudge has been settled to some extent. There is one final problem remaining, but for the sake of the Fighting God, I can endure that much.”
[……For the sake of the monster sister?]
Screeeech—!
Jin drew his Spirit Sword and opened a rift.
“Let’s go.”
Chaos stood before the rift, but it hesitated for a moment.
[If I go out, won't your monster brothers hate me?]
“Who knows. If you want to stay here, feel free.”
[No, no. I’m going, I’m going.]
Soon, as Jin and Chaos emerged into the training ground, the members of the Pluto Tribe widened their eyes in surprise.
“That’s the First Chaos?”
“It’s gotten so tiny!”
“He said he wanted to give it a chance. It seems Brother Jin has finally decided to let the fellow live.”
“Since it’s come to this, let’s give it a warm welcome. It actually looks kind of cute.”
“Oh, Brother Jin! Well done! I was actually worried you might kill the little guy. Nice to meet you, I am the 5th Fighting King, Boras! I’ll need your help with a few research projects moving forward, so it would be best if we got close quickly, wouldn't it?”
Startled by the unexpected hospitality, Chaos hid behind Jin’s back. Jin also noticed Ban’s brow furrowing slightly.
She could read Chaos’s inner thoughts again the moment they returned to Laprarosa.
On the other hand, Jin could no longer hear Chaos’s heart.
“Come closer.”
Ban reached out her hand toward Chaos.
Chaos glanced at her warily before cautiously climbing onto her palm.
It kept calling them monsters and saying how much it hated them, but it’s like a gentle lamb with Sister Ban.
The one final problem.
When Jin had mentioned that just before leaving, he was referring to the black spots remaining on his body.
He suspected that they would disappear if he killed Chaos, but he had spared it for Ban’s sake.
He had done it because he had seen her looking so sorrowful.
Ban had felt Chaos’s solitude as if it were her own, feeling a sense of kinship along with her pity—a kinship born from being trapped in a dead world, unable to escape alone.
That was why she had looked at the Gate of Chaos with such lonely eyes.
On her hand, Chaos seemed to be speaking continuously to Ban through its inner voice. Ban occasionally nodded as she replied.
“……I see. So doing that will remove Brother Jin’s spots? Understood. Brother Jin.”
“Yes, Fighting God.”
“I shall take this child under my care now.”
Jin did not question Ban.
The fact that she had made that choice meant she was certain that Chaos could never threaten him or the brothers again.
Black energy, like Spirit Energy, began to flow from Chaos’s body.
The energy swirled around Ban before being absorbed into her Heart of Light.
As Chaos’s energy permeated Ban’s Heart of Light, the spots that had spread across Jin’s body like tumors began to fade and disappear.
It looked like a sort of contract, but from Chaos’s perspective, it was a relocation.
‘But how could you be so cold? You were reading my inner thoughts the whole time.’
‘That was because you tried to harm Brother Jin.’
‘In the end, you only decided to accept me because I could be of use to that damn brat.’
Ban stroked Chaos’s head and replied.
‘It wasn't only because of that.’
And Chaos was reading Ban’s heart as well. It felt the sincerity of how much she had pitied it, ever since its inner thoughts were first conveyed through the rift.