Chapter 292: Hero of the Origin (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 292: Hero of the Origin (3)
Balor Joaquin’s gaze lingered for a long time on the spot Kang Geomma had just vacated.
“They say children grow up in the blink of an eye.”
He pushed himself up with a hollow laugh. His speech slurred, and his body swayed.
‘Ah, I suppose I drank too much.’
He staggered toward the kitchen until his feet finally tangled up. He reached out to catch the wall, but unfortunately, he leaned toward his missing arm. Just as the man who was once called the Hero of the Origin was about to tumble embarrassingly onto the floor—
“Didn't you drink a bit too much?”
A youthful voice sounded. Someone caught his remaining arm from behind. Despite the sudden appearance, the former Balor Joaquin—now Ho Ak-hyeon—merely flinched for a moment. He was not overly flustered.
“So it seems. Seeing my boy after so long put me in such high spirits that I lost track. I apologize for troubling you.”
Instead, he curved his lips into a gentle smile as he spoke.
“Then shouldn't you two have shared a drink? You had enough time for that. Ah, or was it because he's still a minor?”
“What does it matter if he only looks underage on the outside? Inside, he's in his forties. Besides, the lad was a notorious drinker. If we had shared a table, he might have drunk me under the table, so I poured my own.”
“It really is amusing. To think the man known as the Hero of the Origin becomes so helpless whenever he drinks. If the demons had known this seven hundred years ago, they might have beaten you. All they had to do was disguise alcohol as water and render you dead drunk.”
“Your jokes are rather mischievous.”
Ho Ak-hyeon grumbled softly. The other person's soft laughter washed over his back.
“…Is this matter your doing as well?”
“You said it yourself earlier. I am a being entirely detached from personal will or intent.”
Behind him, the unseen speaker shook their head.
“And didn't you add that I'm just an incompetent bystander who only observes?”
“I didn't go quite that far.”
“Hahaha. Just a joke, just a joke.”
The person chuckled and patted Ho Ak-hyeon lightly on the back. Even then, Ho Ak-hyeon did not turn around. Like a stone statue, he kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.
“May I ask one thing?”
“Ask away. I'll tell you everything, except for what I don't know.”
A cheerful response. Ho Ak-hyeon let out a low chuckle to himself.
‘As if there could be anything in all creation that this entity does not know.’
Before Kang Geomma appeared out of nowhere, he hadn't been surprised precisely because of this being's revelation. Furthermore, this being had subtly hinted at the true nature of the situation and its solution.
‘This entity is one who knows all.’
They intervene in nothing. Because they know everything, they lack interest in anything. It is only those of low divinity who desire to intervene, interfere, and flaunt their influence.
Compared to them, this being simply watches from a realm infinitely above.
‘Depending on the person, one might call it negligence.’
Ho Ak-hyeon thought so as well. Even so, he spoke up, hoping for a small whim from this omnipotent bystander.
“At the end of all this... what will happen to that child?”
He had tried his best not to show it in front of Kang Geomma. But the layers of anxiety building up tightened around his chest.
‘I've delivered this entity's words, at least.’
What came after, he did not know. Only God knew.
“There's a thorn in your words. Joaquin, that's not what you really want to say, is it? Isn't what you actually want to say, 'Please look after Kang Geomma'?”
“Haha. Well now, I was foolish. To think I dared try to deceive you.”
Ho Ak-hyeon readily admitted it.
“However, yes. You are correct. I am asking if you could kindly look after the lad. His mind may be a bit twisted and his temper fiery, but he is not fundamentally corrupt. It's merely that his surroundings were harsh, so his head became a little broken.”
“It seems to be a bit more than 'a little.' Then again, I suppose if I grew up under such parents, my mind would go bad too. Domestic violence was a daily occurrence, the father was a habitual offender, and the mother was a drug addict, wasn't she? There's no trash quite like them.”
A clicking sound of the tongue echoed. Ho Ak-hyeon voiced a slight complaint.
“They were your creations as well.”
“Oh, come now.”
“I know. You 'merely observe,' do you not?”
“You sound like you have quite a grudge against me. But didn't you punish Kang Geomma's parents in your own way?”
“I did.”
“What did you do?”
To ask when knowing full well—a sick sense of humor. Ho Ak-hyeon answered without hesitation.
“I killed them.”
“Amusing. The man once called the Hero of the Origin, killing people out of personal feelings.”
“A hero is one who does not tolerate injustice, not necessarily one who practices righteousness. As you know, in our world, those who deserve to die, die. On the other hand, the legal system on this side is rather slack. Bastards who deserve death walk around openly.”
Ho Ak-hyeon's gaze was firm.
“So I killed them. Because by my standards, they were scoundrels who deserved to die. If you call it vigilante justice, I have nothing to say in my defense. But since then, I have never killed anyone swept away by emotion. This one thing I can swear on your name.”
“Swear, nonsense. I understand. Just as Kang Geomma felt alienated from the common sense of that world, you too were still unfamiliar with the morality and order of this side.”
“You could put it that way.”
“Anyway, okay.”
The being passed Ho Ak-hyeon and headed toward the door. A back trudging along with hands shoved in pockets. Even Ho Ak-hyeon was seeing a fragment of his appearance for the first time; previous revelations had been announced merely as voices in dreams.
“There's something I'm curious about. If you answer this, I'll keep an eye on Kang Geomma for you. Consider it... like a little bribe under the table?”
He spoke right before turning the doorknob.
“Why did you specifically choose the sashimi knife when you came to this world? Because of that, Kang Geomma ended up using nothing but sashimi knives on the other side too.”
“…It wasn't for any grand reason.”
Ho Ak-hyeon scratched his forehead with his thumb.
“When I first fell into this world and collapsed from starvation, this was where I managed to get a meal. That's how I ended up working here somehow, and eventually stayed to bury my bones... That's all there is to the story.”
“Hold on, listening to you, you were just like Kang Geomma. Is that why you took him in?”
“I cannot say that didn't influence me.”
“How human of you.”
“I was human to begin with.”
“Now I see who Kang Geomma learned from as he grew up.”
Ho Ak-hyeon gave a low cough.
“That's a bit...”
“Haha, even your way of speaking is identical. Anyway, that was a long-standing question, so thanks for answering. I feel like a weight's been lifted.”
“……”
“Got something more to say? You look like you do.”
“I ask just in case... but do you have a name?”
“Of course I do.”
As the entity turned his head slowly, Ho Ak-hyeon's blinking eyes widened. The man who was always stoic was now startled to his core.
“G.M.”
The entity—the Outer God—pulled his cheek back into a grin.
“Or by another name, Geomma.”
“……?!”
Ho Ak-hyeon reached out an arm. Even though it was his intact arm this time, his hand grasped only air. The drunkenness caught up with him late, and his eyelids slid shut.
As his consciousness sank into the depths, a gentle voice lingered in his ears.
“Thanks to the academy you founded, the Kang Geomma just now was able to remain a 'human' rather than 'me.' Across every single worldline, this is the sole exception. It's your masterpiece. You may take pride in it, Hero of the Origin.”
Rattle.
The scenery outside the shop came into view. A lake. Infinite sashimi knives were thrust into the water's surface like memorial stones. It was the Divine Domain in which he resided: the Lake of Swords.
“Did you know? The universe is shaped like a donut. People call that a 'loop.'”
He shrugged and said,
“You can pretty much think of it like that.”
One final word.
“Thank you, Father. I really wanted to tell you this.”
Leaving Balor Joaquin behind, he exited the shop. Vision blurred, and the Hero of the Origin sank into a deep sleep.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, the surrounding scenery was no longer the universe. It was what had been the universe.
Celestial bodies and galaxies severed in half, drifting along. Slash marks carved wildly across space. It felt far too absurdly massive to be mere traces of a fight, making it hard to comprehend.
The commonly used expression, 'astronomical.' A term used when one cannot quite grasp the scale of something—that was precisely what the sight before my eyes was like.
The space representing infinity within human cognition had become a shredded mess. While I was reuniting with Boss, it had gone beyond repair.
‘The one who made it like this...’
I stared blankly down at my hands. Clutched tightly were two sashimi knives. Murasame and Ten-Thousand-Year Frost, their blades heavily damaged, wept mournfully.
‘Was it me?’
It was utterly ridiculous. Hacking the universe to pieces with sashimi knives—did that even make sense? What was funnier was that I could breathe. Ignorant of science as I might be, even I knew one couldn't breathe in outer space.
‘I really am not human anymore.’
That was what the current situation implied. Of course, it wasn't just me. Over there, Leon, the hero who had been reduced to rags just like this universe, was the same.
“Haa... haa...”
His breathing was ragged. Leon's right arm joint was bent backward, and his left arm holding Balmung was the only thing relatively intact. Several holes were pierced through his abdomen, gushing black fluid sprinkled with stardust instead of blood. It was a miracle he was even alive.
“Put an... end to... this.”
Leon gasped out a mutter.
I stared at Leon for a moment in silence. He unsteadily raised Balmung. A dark aura seeped into the blade, squirming like blood vessels.
“Geomma, you have to kill me.”
Leon's voice was desperate.
“Only then will all of this end.”
It wasn't a provocation. He truly wanted me to put an end to him. That was what my intuition, attuned to the full expanse of the universe, conveyed. Piercing through the true motives of an eighteen-year-old boy was trivial.
I let out a deep sigh.
That was right. Leon had gathered the False Gods into his own body. It was not to claim power, but to lock them away. He had turned his physical body into a prison to detain them. The reason he went this far was singular.
“…You intend to die along with them.”
For that purpose, Leon sided with Kuarne and betrayed humanity. To bear all the evil and sins of this world on his own shoulders...
Leon said nothing. Deep darkness flickered in his blackened left eye. His right eye was also already half dyed murky. The lingering thoughts of the False Gods were likely trying to erode him.
A sudden feeling of awe washed over me. Keeping his sanity in that state with a teenage body was a miracle. Perhaps it was thanks to his 'Miracle Blessing.'
Even so, Leon's actions could not be justified. He had unleashed Sword Energy blindly at the heroes, and ultimately killed the Archery Saint, Saki Kojima.
Regardless of his noble cause, it was an indelible sin. He had to pay for his crimes. However, that price should not be his life.
The exchange rate didn't match. The one to punish him shouldn't be a blade. It should be humanity.
I closed my eyes. Slicing time into tiny fractions, I prepared for Leon's attack. Then, I focused on the voice within. At that moment, another part of me, Lycan, responded.
—An absurd idea, going back to the Age of Myth.
I asked.
‘Can we do it?’
—I've never done it before, but I might as well try now.
Lycan's spiritual body stood side by side with me.
—Faster than light.
A flash of lightning illuminated the ink-black universe.