Chapter 740: Beyond Destiny (12)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 740: Beyond Destiny (12)
The party immediately leveled their swords, their blades pointed in every direction.
The Evil God was nowhere to be seen. Only a somber voice, vibrating through the vast expanse of darkness, continued to speak.
[What did that thing say to you? Its pathetic, lingering curse was delivered clearly enough, thanks to its blatant resentment toward me, but I could not hear the rest of your conversation.]
Jin stared silently into the void.
“There’s no reason for a monster to know what passed between humans.”
[What passed between humans? Oh, dear. Are you saying you perceived that impurity cast off from me as a human?]
“She was certainly much closer to being human than you are.”
[Heh heh. I know not what you discussed, but it seems the impurity that was once my final shred of humanity has shaken your heart. I see you have been mindful of that corpse ever since you first heard my voice…]
“You’re making wild assumptions. Stop babbling and show your—”
Riiiiip!
The moment Jin spoke, Young Rosa’s corpse suddenly tore into pieces, scattering flesh and bone. The spirit energy that had been dwelling within the body had violently expanded, blowing it apart from the inside.
Just as the Evil God had said, Jin had felt a strange emotion during his brief encounter with Young Rosa.
If she had become my mother while keeping that pure and resilient heart… If she hadn't become the Evil God… What would it have been like?
Such thoughts had crossed his mind. Perhaps that was why.
Jin was significantly shocked to see Young Rosa’s body torn apart beyond recognition right before his eyes. He didn't let it show on his face, but he couldn't deceive the Evil God.
[Oh my, is it hard to watch? If you had accepted the gift I tried to give you last time, you wouldn't have to feel such useless emotions…]
The god was referring to the skirmish between Jin and Rosa that had taken place in the Inner World previously.
Young Rosa’s body was torn so thoroughly that not even a shape remained. The multiplying spirit energy then began to devour the fragments of the corpse scattered about, like a starving ghost. Soon, that spirit energy began to take on a definite form.
In an instant, a massive, dark torso took shape. It was a form similar to a quadrupedal beast, with sinister eyes emitting a blood-red glow, claws and fangs larger than a human torso, and dark fur that seemed to suck in all light. It looked remarkably like a predator that existed in the human world.
A Black Panther.
The alias that had symbolized Rosa during her time as a human.
The creature exhaled a ragged breath and looked down at the party. Jin met the Black Panther’s gaze and let out a mocking laugh.
“Now that you’ve discarded your last bit of humanity, is it time to discard the alias you were called by in the past? You seem strangely obsessed with your human days. I wonder if, in truth, you regret becoming the Evil God, and that’s why you subconsciously keep performing these grotesque stunts.”
[If there is one thing I regret, it is giving power to Joshua instead of you. If only I had recognized sooner that you were the real deal…]
The Evil God’s voice trailed off into a bizarre cackle that echoed for a long moment. After about ten seconds, the sound ceased. Instead, the Black Panther began to prowl forward, casting a long shadow.
[Grrr…]
The Black Panther slowly circled the party, its eyes fixed on them. Despite its body being heavier than a dragon’s, its footsteps made no sound at all.
The situation was not good. Most of the party members were severely injured from the fierce battle with the former patriarchs just moments ago. Among them, only Jin and Bianca were capable of fighting at or near their full strength. Octavia, in particular, was in no condition to fight at all. Once the battle began, the party would have to fight while protecting her, as well as the mysterious, unconscious former patriarch.
The party briefly considered their options, but Jin had already decided on a course of action.
“Bianca, you protect our allies.”
Jin intended to face the Black Panther alone.
“You’re… fighting alone?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t know how strong that thing is. It might be dangerous.”
“If it looks like I’m in danger, help me then.”
“O-oh… Alright.”
Bianca wanted to tell him to reconsider, but she stopped herself after seeing the look in his eyes. A murderous intent so thick it made even her spine go cold was radiating from him. His rage toward the Evil God and the frustration of having to fight at a disadvantage to save the former patriarchs were exploding all at once.
“I’m going to crush you.”
The moment Jin spoke in a low voice, the Black Panther struck first. Its forepaw distorted space as it descended toward Jin’s head.
Jin didn't dodge; he met it head-on.
A shockwave spread, and the floor sank in a massive semicircle. However, the forepaw had only struck the floor, not Jin. Just before the paw connected, Jin had used his footwork to step aside and swing his sword.
That single strike left a sword mark across the Black Panther’s stationary forepaw—a ridiculously long and perfectly straight line, as if space itself had been sliced apart. A moment later, as the afterimage faded, a heavy mass fell from the Black Panther and rolled across the floor.
Thud!
What had fallen to the ground was the Black Panther’s right forepaw—the very one it had just swung at Jin.
[Kuaaaagh!]
The severed paw melted like water, creating a murky puddle of spirit energy. Normally, the severed part should have regenerated instantly, but Bradamante was already imbued with the faint glow of Eternal Fire. The Black Panther’s wound tried to regenerate incessantly, but the speed was sluggish because of the clinging Eternal Fire.
[Grrr… Kahaaa!]
The Black Panther swung its remaining left paw to push Jin back. But Jin glared and sliced through that one as well in a single motion. Once again, a paw fell to the floor with a heavy thud.
With both forepaws gone, the Black Panther couldn't maintain its balance. In just two exchanges, it was revealed that Jin held an overwhelming advantage in simple close-quarters combat. It was something neither the Black Panther nor Jin's allies had expected. Of course, his allies thought Jin would have the upper hand, but they hadn't expected him to overwhelm the monster so easily.
The Evil God wouldn't have created this thing just to desecrate Young Rosa’s corpse. There must be some element that poses a threat.
Jin’s gaze fell upon the severed paws of the Black Panther. He saw the puddles of murky black spirit energy bubbling. They looked like a highly acidic solution.
Is it burning through the floor?
While descending through the Inner World, Jin and his party had learned a few things about this space. First, as Alphen had said, once you go down, you cannot go back up, and the internal structure is constantly changing. Second, the spirit energy that formed this subspace was nearly impossible to destroy completely, unlike an ordinary building. If that were possible, they wouldn't have bothered fighting the enemies guarding each floor like gatekeepers; they would have just destroyed everything on their way down.
However, the puddles left by the Black Panther’s melting body were different. They were dissolving the walls of spirit energy—which even Jin’s spirit sword couldn't pierce—as if they were made of sugar.
Jin paused his attack to examine the puddles. In that brief interval, the Black Panther managed to regenerate its forepaws, though they weren't in perfect form. The wounds regenerated into hideous shapes that looked like bare skeletons, with Eternal Fire flickering in every crack.
Crunch, screeech!
The Black Panther began to batter at Jin with its forepaws again, screaming in agony with every movement due to the pain of the Eternal Fire.
Jin focused solely on dodging. He felt he shouldn't rashly cut the creature until he figured out the effect of the puddles. The problem, however, was that the Eternal Fire had already caused cracks in the creature’s regenerated parts. Even when the Black Panther missed its swings, the cracks widened, and bits of its flesh and bone splattered in all directions.
Every piece dissolved the floor, just like the first severed paws.
Dozens of large holes were already opening up near Jin and the Black Panther. Inside them, an abyss of unknown depth stretched out—the same sight they had seen every time they descended to a lower floor. Like burning paper, the holes in the floor continued to widen.
Only a few seconds had passed, but the erosion had already reached the area where his allies were standing. He couldn't be sure what the holes were—whether they led to the lower levels of the Inner World or were traps they must not fall into. What was certain was that, either way, falling into those holes was exactly what the Evil God wanted.
Jin considered stopping the fight and running with his allies to a space where holes hadn't formed yet, but an impassable abyss had already opened up between him and them.
When did this happen?!
With every passing second, the Eternal Fire clinging to the Black Panther grew larger. The creature now looked less like a panther and more like a mass of flesh engulfed in blue flames. Every time it moved, those pieces of flesh splattered, dissolving the path between Jin and his allies in an instant.
The Black Panther wasn't made for combat in the first place. Did the Evil God prepare this trap expecting me to use Eternal Fire immediately…!
In a sense, this situation was the Evil God’s countermeasure and warning against Eternal Fire. A warning that if he continued to use Eternal Fire against the god and its army, an even more dire situation would unfold—a warning that he would fall.
Jin quickly created a path with ice-type mana and ran toward his allies. If the floor was collapsing at this speed, there was no way to avoid the fall. In that case, it was better to stay with his comrades.
“Grab on!”
Jin crossed the final bridge of ice and barely managed to catch the hand Hedo reached out. But by then, more than ninety percent of the floor had already melted away. Even the Black Panther that had been chasing Jin had already fallen out of sight.
Ultimately, the party had no choice but to cling to each other and wait for the fall.
[Everyone, do not let go of each other's hands when we fall. If this leads to the lower floor, even a brief separation might cause us to lose each other.]
As soon as the allies nodded at Alphen’s words, the last remaining bit of the floor gave way, and the party began to plummet.
Thud…!
Unlike before, the fall ended in an instant. As soon as they hit the ground, the party sighed in relief, confirming that they were all still holding hands.
However, as soon as they looked around, they realized they were in no position to be relieved.
[…Just how many of them are there?]
Black Panthers were swarming everywhere. At a glance, there seemed to be hundreds of them. In the center of the pack was the Black Panther that had fallen with them.
And that creature, driven mad by pain, was spreading the Eternal Fire clinging to it to the other panthers—like a contagious plague.
The party naturally imagined what would happen next.
From now on, all those Black Panthers would begin to dissolve the floor as they were consumed by the Eternal Fire.
If they couldn't stop it, only one thing awaited them.
An endless fall.