Chapter 106: Face-to-Face Confrontation (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 106: Face-to-Face Confrontation (7)
An apocalypse is a phenomenon.
It cannot be placed on the same level as the Corps Commanders or false gods I defeated in the past.
The former were individuals, and the latter were colonies.
An apocalypse has no physical vessel—no 'body' to speak of.
They manifest solely by borrowing the will of the Counterforce to destroy this universe. Because the false gods needed to manipulate the world, total annihilation wasn't their ultimate goal. Though they leaned heavily toward exterminating humanity anyway, but regardless.
I can't stop this alone.
Slash!
I swung my sashimi knife, slicing straight through the ray of light fired from that giant's eyeball. Without stopping, I reached out my hand and grabbed the air.
Rumble! Rumbbbbble!
The clouds churned. Lightning carved tree-root patterns across the ink-black sky. Beyond the dark clouds, it felt as if something massive was groaning.
“Sword Control.”
Thousands of sashimi knives pierced upward into the clouds.
In a fraction of a second, they burst back out, trailing half-charred Daixo tags like dangling tails.
“Thunder Fold.”
The swarm of sashimi knives, drenched in electricity, began pecking away at the light rays. High in the dry sky, a game of tag began between the apocalypse's rays and my sashimi knives.
“Haa-ah!”
A battle cry.
Abel swiftly severed and scattered the remnants of that energy with her sword. Elegant. Her blade work was so precise it was beautiful. Nothing to add, nothing to subtract. It was a sword dance worthy of being called perfection itself.
With my Thunder Dragon giving her wings, she looked like nothing short of a 'Sword Spirit.' Even those who hadn't managed to flee were staring at her, entranced.
“Damn it!”
A beam Abel couldn't cut down in time fell toward the ground. People were right at the impact point.
“Switching out, My Lady!”
A brilliant yellow flash shot past Abel's shoulder. It was Rachel.
“The best defense!”
Rachel spun her Sky-Piercing Halberd like a windmill.
“Is offennnnnse!”
A silver circle deflected the trajectory. The apocalyptic beam couldn't break through the immense kinetic energy moving at blinding speed.
“Let's go!”
“Yes!”
Leon and Medea charged toward the areas where the beams poured down relatively thick. Indeed, the Hero and the Sage possessed movements that were at least a cut above the rest.
Nephilim Leon.
Angel's wings.
The Sword of Good and Evil, Balmung.
Leon fluttered through the gaps in the hail of beams like a butterfly. Then, at the right moment, he struck the beams like a bee with Balmung, gathering strength before blasting them away with a full swing.
Swoooooooosh!
Ryozo shot arrows with perfect timing, interfering with the lasers fired by the giant eyeballs. She didn't possess miraculous physical abilities like Abel or Rachel.
Thus, Ryozo was creating the optimal combat environment for her comrades—weaving a net across the sky, one tilted entirely in favor of her allies.
“Inescapable Net.”
The technique name whispered on Ryozo's lips was by no means an exaggeration. Once an arrow left her hand, it was guaranteed to disrupt a beam at least once.
As Ryozo pulled the bowstring against her lips, she glanced at me. She drew a gentle arc with her mouth.
Even in a dire, desperate crisis, Ryozo smiled.
Whenever she looked at me, she always smiled.
“Ever since my cadet days, there were only two scores on my target: 10 and 0.”
“……”
I took comfort in that.
Even if the world, the universe, the Counterforce—
Even if the past denied me.
“Back then, I shot with the mindset that missing meant death. Though of course, I never missed.”
“……”
You and all of you validate me with your smiles.
“Random question, but do you know what my secret was?”
You must know. That the cause of this calamity lies entirely with me.
“When I aimed at the target imagining it was the Archery Saint's face, I hit it every single time. A markswoman's basic requirement being an unshakable mind like a calm mirror? Nonsense.”
“…Ryozo…”
“In the end, shooting a bow is about pouring your emotions into it. That’s how it differs from a gun. When I shoot, I always picture the face of the person I hated most back then on the target.”
Beaded sweat sprinkled into the air, glittering in the light. Ryozo turned her gaze to me.
“Geomma, you always wear an expressionless face, but I can read what’s behind it. You’re swinging your sashimi knife as hard as you can, yet you’re still agonizing inside.”
…Haha.
“Seriously… I really can’t beat you.”
“Geomma.”
My face was reflected in her clear eyes.
“You just do what you think is right.”
“Ryozo.”
“We’ll cover your back.”
Instead of taking my hand, Ryozo nocked another arrow onto her string.
“If you keep trying to do everything by yourself, just know that the next face I picture on my target won't be the Archery Saint, but you.”
That definitely couldn't happen.
“Thank you. That snapped me right back to my senses.”
Ryozo dismissed it coldly.
“Don't throw 'thank you's around so easily—not to me, not to anyone else. I—no, we—were inspired by your confident self, and that's why we're sticking by you to the end. Don't feel sorry to anyone, either. If you think it's right, just go for it. Leave the calculations to me, the cleanup to Abel, and we'll handle everything else.”
“……”
“You are...”
Another arrow sped through the air.
“…our pride.”
Those words pierced my chest like an arrow.
* * *
Thanks to the Heavenly Sword and his party taking control of the situation, Hawaii suffered relatively light damage from the apocalypse.
However, it was merely relatively light; not everyone was safe.
“Aaaaagh!”
People hit by the rays writhed in agony. Their eyes went completely slack layer by layer as they clawed at the ground.
“Kh, ugh! I-It hurts…!”
Blood bubbles boiled up over the skin of those struck by the beams. Before long, a mark formed on the spot. No, since it was engraved in blood, calling it a blood-stigma would be more accurate.
“…I-It doesn't… hurt…”
Those who had been screaming in pain stood up with bewildered expressions. They clenched and unclenched their fists.
“My body… I feel power surging through it?”
“Power… yeah, it's power. I think I know what kind of power this is.”
Purple halos of light flowed along their bodies.
“Magic power.”
The person who muttered that snapped his fingers. A ball of fire coalesced in his palm.
Fire Ball.
It was unmistakably a fire-attribute spell's fireball.
“I-I can use magic?”
“Me too!”
“What is this? What's going on!”
The people's expressions were strange.
They seemed confused, yet their cheeks twitched so violently that the muscles beneath their eyes quivered. They were rejoicing with expressions of indescribable ecstasy.
“So this is that Golden Age we heard about earlier.”
As soon as someone murmured this, they sprinted like an arrow. Toward the light rays. Their pupils were tightly shriveled with madness.
“You fools! If you get hit by those rays, you can use magic! Suffering a few seconds of pain is totally worth it!”
“N-Now that you mention it…!”
“Damn it! I need to get hit more!”
“Fuck! Throw rocks at the sky or something! Stop destroying the beams! You guys are already strong, so of course you're stopping them, but we're absolute nobody scrub-lords who need to get hit more!”
The atmosphere was turning bizarre.
They resented the heroes who were fighting for their sakes. Watching the entire situation unfold, Welter was dumbfounded.
“What on earth is happening…”
In an instant, the masses were stained with greed. They were practically drooling.
One thing was for certain.
Those light rays were dangerous.
They were only managing this well because Kang Geomma happened to be in Hawaii by stroke of luck. This phenomenon was undoubtedly taking place across the entire globe. Things were guaranteed to be worse elsewhere, not better.
Bump.
Someone brushed roughly past his shoulder—a person running to get struck by the beams. Welter grabbed the back of the man's neck and slammed him down onto the sandy beach.
“Kh, grrr! Let go! Let go of me!”
“Those aren't human eyes anymore.”
A foul stench reeked from the man's eyes.
“Saintess.”
“Hold on. I'm thinking.”
Even while the rays rained down incessantly, Yoo Se-in rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought.
“Damn it.”
She clicked her tongue.
'Impatient bastard, for an apocalypse.'
It had sent signs continuously, but from the Apocalypse's perspective, it was still in the preparation stage. It had disguised itself as a mobile game, after all. The plan must have been to gather users and manifest when the time was right.
But its foot had been completely caught off guard. Kang Geomma had forced the catastrophe forward when Blessing of the Apocalypse M 2nd had been released for less than a month.
'Because of that, its scale was reduced, but that's as far as it goes.'
She was someone who remained utterly nonchalant no matter what happened, but right now her pupils sank deep and dark.
Just then, Welter felt a chilling aura. Turning his head, a red light cast down above them.
“……!”
Sure enough, the rays were raining down on the two of them as well.
However, because the Heavenly Sword's party had split them two or three times already, the beams themselves were relatively thin.
'Still, the speed of these rays is too fast!'
At this rate, one of them would definitely get hit.
“If someone has to be struck...”
Welter threw his body without hesitation.
He threw his arms around Yoo Se-in to shield her.
“Welter!”
The red light fell over the side of her face as he covered her.
“Kh, uuuuuugh…!”
The agony Welter experienced vibrated straight through to her. Thick veins bulged on his neck.
“O Outer God, Isi… Please look down upon me! Protect the Saintess…”
Even while being torn apart by pain, Welter prayed. Then he buried his forehead into Yoo Se-in's shoulder.
…….
“Hey.”
She shook him.
“……”
“Welter.”
“……”
“Get up!”
Gasp!
Welter quickly raised his head. After blinking a few times, clarity returned to his eyes. By all appearances, he was in the exact same state as before he got struck by the beam.
What about magic?
Snap.
He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened.
“……”
Th-This is!
Welter suddenly pressed his hands together in prayer.
“O Outer God, thank you for watching over me!”
“Watching over you, my ass.”
“…Pardon?”
Confused by Yoo Se-in's sharp retort, Welter looked bewildered.
“Well, I guess it's not entirely wrong. You being safe after getting hit by that beam is probably thanks to what's engraved on your cloak.”
“On my cloak…?”
The cross-shaped emblem drawn on his wrinkled cloak.
“Cain's Mark?”
“Someone already claimed you first, so even if a latecomer tries to mark you, it doesn't stick.”
“I-Is that possible?”
“Kali Yuga is an apocalypse cut from a different cloth than Ragnarok before it. It's an apocalypse focused more on being a 'phenomenon.'”
“I only suspected it without proof, but you proved it with your own body.”
“Th-Then, Representative…”
...Wait? Was I a sacrificial lamb?
“Yup.”
Arrrrrrgh!
This fake Saintess, seriously!
“Still, thank you, Bishop Welter.”
“Ah.”
“Your sacrifice provided a crucial clue to overcoming this apocalypse. Well, it ended up being a fake melodrama, but at least you didn't get carried away by that wave of madness over there.”
“Would it kill you to just give me a compliment without ruining it?”
“Yes. It would.”
“God damn it…”
“Ah-ah. Is a clergyman supposed to be cursing like that?”
“Forget it. You throw around 'fuck' and 'shit' every chance you get, Saintess.”
Welter dusted the dirt off his cloak with a pouting face.
“…Anyway, shouldn't we understand the full picture before we can resolve this, Saintess?”
“I suppose so.”
“Looking at your face… you have a plan, don't you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
Hope hooked on one corner of Yoo Se-in's mouth. Welter replied while keeping a lookout around them.
“Very obvious.”
Kang Geomma's party was drawing all the attention. Isolated from the madness, the two bought a brief moment to confer.
“Explain it simply, Saintess.”
“How much influence it can exert—that's Kali Yuga's goal. And how far we can restrain it—that's the core difficulty of this battle.”
A contest of strength.
Yoo Se-in continued.
“That's probably why it approached through a mobile game. It has the highest accessibility. It intended to slowly seep in and encroach upon reality with it.”
“Then why did it suddenly transition from the game into reality?”
Yoo Se-in thought for a few seconds before speaking.
“Because discussions about Kang Geomma kept circulating inside Blessing of the Apocalypse M.”
Yoo Se-in was a total forum dweller. She knew online communities inside and out. Whenever rumors or topics about Apocalypse M surfaced, mentions of Kang Geomma always circulated alongside them.
“Kali Yuga's original strategy was likely to diminish Kang Geomma's influence.”
“Because that way, it would be stronger when it actually descended. Is that right?”
Yoo Se-in nodded.
“It was strange. From an apocalypse's perspective, it directly contacted 'villains' who should be utterly insignificant, and used them to approach politicians and rulers.”
“That's right. Extremely petty.”
“Watch your phrasing.”
“Just keep talking.”
“…Anyway. Despite hatching various sinister plots, people refused to let go of their trust in Kang Geomma. Kali Yuga grew impatient.”
“So it needed something that would definitively capture their hearts.”
And that was the mobile game.
“Yet even inside the mobile game, it was nothing but praise for Kang Geomma. It realized this wouldn't work anymore. That's why it suddenly popped up out of nowhere under the pretext of an official service launch.”
“How petty for an apocalypse.”
“That's how the truth of all creation works. If physical strength is high, mind control power is proportionately low. In this case, it's the exact opposite.”
Ragnarok tried to punish this world through violence. In fact, it was an apocalypse that pushed Kang Geomma hard. If Kang Geomma had faced it alone, this universe would have been destroyed.
Kali Yuga was the latter. Its physical strength was crude, but it was an expert in mind control. When enticing villains and politicians failed, it tried to entice the general public to brand Kang Geomma as a dangerous element.
'When that failed, it simply stamped its mark onto the people.'
Submerging them in the momentary pleasure of magic, it stripped away people's reason. That was the mark of a slave.
'Hilarious.'
To avoid being stamped with the slave's mark...
You needed the Stigma of the Sinner.
“Saintess. Does that mean members of the Outer God Cult are safe?”
“If they're faithful, maybe. Or maybe not. I don't really know either. This life is only my second apocalypse.”
“Ah, right.”
“For now, we have two tasks.”
Welter adopted a grave look.
“Bishop Welter, at your service.”
“First, we have to make people perceive this phenomenon as a 'game.' The moment they think it's complete reality, the apocalypse and reality will fuse to an inseparable degree.”
“What should I do?”
“Go into Gehenna right now.”
“Yes.”
“Bring all the magical beasts into the Human Realm.”
“Underst—pardon?”
Did I mishear?
“What does a game need to have?”
“Players. And……”
Ah.
“Monsters.”
“There's no time to explain further. Just drop Kang Geomma's name and they'll come crawling in terror. Tell them to moderately subdue the people and they'll listen.”
Majin were utterly terrified of Kang Geomma.
“Understood for now... for now.”
“Second, we create a new game inside this reality. From Kali Yuga's perspective, um… it would be a 'bug.'”
“My head is starting to hurt.”
How can you make someone who can't even do multiplication solve calculus, Saintess?
“We need to raise the prestige of the character 'Kang Geomma' higher than that entity scattering magic around. Then the host will crawl out on its own.”
“Isn't that why those giant eyeballs popped out—to completely block that from happening?”
“Exactly.”
“Then what do we do?”
“That's……”
Yoo Se-in's voice grew quiet.
“…Something we'll have to think about.”
In that instant.
“There's a cliché like this.”
Someone suddenly intruded into their conversation. Yoo Se-in and Welter glanced over.
“Rather than 'I am a great being,' saying 'I was recognized by someone' has a far greater impact. You can trust me. I've designed games before, so I know a lot about this field.”
A man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops approached. Yoo Se-in's black eyes widened as she faced him.
“H-H-How…”
“Even more so if that 'someone' is the Hero of the Origin.”
The black-haired man.
“Wouldn't that raise my son's prestige quite nicely?”
He munched thoughtfully on his ice cream.
– Face-to-Face Confrontation. End.