Chapter 112: Doting Fool (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 112: Doting Fool (1)
Silver trails crossed the sky over Seoul. Citizens stared blankly upward, as if witnessing a shower of comets.
Even after experiencing the anomaly at Jamsil Tower—later dubbed the Eye of Sauron—the citizens of Seoul couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the sight of dozens, no, hundreds of silver comets.
Just as Kali Yuga tilted his neck, reflexively trying to look up at the sky...
He flinched.
The wall of human flesh he had constructed out of magicians was collapsing.
The magicians had snapped back to their senses, escaping the euphoria Kali Yuga had inflicted upon them.
The dense human wall began to shake loose, the people falling away like corn kernels off a cob.
"S-Save me...!"
"Because of that damn Smurf...!"
Screaming, they plummeted toward the ground.
Kali Yuga looked down at those who had been his thralls with a bewildered gaze. Not only was the human wall collapsing, but how had they broken free of his control in the first place?
His confusion lasted only a split second.
────────!
The flying sashimi knives rushed at him once more. Kali Yuga frantically threw himself behind a building to take cover. The Sashimis sliced through the structure as if it were a block of soft tofu.
No sooner did Kali Yuga feel a sharp bite at the crown of his head than he saw it: the building he had used as a shield was sheared cleanly at an angle. The upper floors sloughed off as another barrage of Sashimis stormed toward him.
A chill ran down Kali Yuga's spine. But he had no time to freeze up. The sashimi knives pecked aggressively at him.
"...Haha."
Balor Joaquin let out a dry laugh.
"Look at him putting on all those airs."
He couldn't see his disciple very clearly because the boy was backlit by the sun. Balor Joaquin had to shield his eyes with the side of his hand. It was an avant-garde entrance reminiscent of a deity.
However, that foolish disciple of his didn't seem to have noticed them yet.
"Yeah. You're doing fine."
Can't be looking away when you have an enemy right in front of you. He certainly hadn't taught him that. Well, he had run a raw fish restaurant, but regardless, he hadn't taught him such bad habits.
Anyway.
"Let's see your skills for the first time in a while."
This was a kid who had been hailed as the nation's best swordsman after wielding a blade for merely twenty years. And another ten years had passed since then.
Evaluating how remarkably Kang Geomma had grown was the duty of a true master. Restraining his smile, Balor Joaquin glanced at the Sword Emperor.
"Even if we jump in, we'll only get in his way for now."
"I agree."
"If you can't help, not getting in the way is a master's virtue. Still, we're not exactly nobodies, so sitting back in the nosebleeds feels wrong."
Arrrgh, aaahhhhh!
The magicians were on the verge of being smashed to pieces. Balor Joaquin and the Sword Emperor hovered in midair, observing the situation. Balor Joaquin sighed.
"Let me handle them first."
"I agree with that as well."
To call it poetic justice felt a bit harsh; the magicians had been tossed aside by Kali Yuga before they could even enjoy anything.
"That being said..."
The Sword Emperor lowered his posture and muttered softly.
"Forgive my presumption, but..."
Why bring this up now?
"...The Heavenly Sword is my disciple."
Why insist on bringing this up now?
"What?"
Balor Joaquin, who had been on the verge of springing forward, was flabbergasted. The Sword Emperor added:
"Regardless of the circumstances, the one who last taught the Heavenly Sword was me."
"Is that what matters right now?"
"Yes. It matters. It matters very much."
Sparks flickered in the Sword Emperor's golden eyes. It was an old man's petty pride.
His grandson-in-law had been this old man's pride for ten years. At first, he had almost resented him for taking his granddaughter, but regardless...
"No matter if you are the Hero of the Origin, that is one thing I cannot concede."
At present, the Sword Emperor was a blindly devoted, doting fool—to a degree that made his granddaughter shudder...
Episode. Doting Fool
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
One falling magician closed his eyes tight.
Then, feeling support against his back, he cracked his eyes open. A black-haired man was holding him princess-style in his arms. It was Balor Joaquin.
"Oh my."
What a handsome man.
Balor spoke deadpan.
"Hold tight. Things are about to get fast."
His tone was entirely that of a middle-aged uncle, but the magician didn't care. As soon as the magician wrapped his arms around Balor's neck, Balor accelerated.
"Uwaaagh!"
Balor Joaquin darted between skyscrapers like lightning. At a speed barely visible to the naked eye, he scooped up the magicians midair. Before long, magicians were stacked like a mountain in his arms.
He rescued every last one. Setting them down in a deserted park, the survivors staggered before throwing up their guts—a side effect of motion sickness and forcibly awakening their mana.
"Bleeaaargh."
Balor Joaquin scowled.
Having run a pub, he had dealt with drunkards to the point of nausea. They had gone wild when turned into magicians, and now they were vomiting right in front of him—he wasn't about to look at them fondly.
Just as Balor Joaquin turned to leave, a female magician wiped her mouth and caught his sleeve.
"E-Excuse me."
"..."
"Please give me your number, your contact info!"
To a spewer?
"If a phone number is too much, at least tell me your name!"
"No."
He made to walk away coldly.
'Hmm.'
Pausing to think for a moment, Balor Joaquin turned back. He tossed a word toward the female magician, whose outstretched arm was trembling like a fly's leg.
"Balor Joaquin."
"..."
A silence fell.
"Believe it or not, it's your choice."
"Balor..."
"Hm."
"Balor... Joaquin... as in?!"
Because it was a mythical name, her brain suffered a moment of cognitive dissonance. The man who introduced himself as Balor Joaquin pointed his index finger toward the sky.
"You see that kid up there?"
The Heavenly Sword, Kang Geomma.
"I am his master and father."
He made a point to emphasize this to a total stranger.
"Remember this. That kid's master and father isn't some Sword Emperor whatever. It's me."
"...A-Ah, yes."
Even as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Yet despite his shame, Balor Joaquin added, "Me, I tell you! Me!"
The female magician nodded dubiously.
* * *
At the same time.
=Damn it...!=
Kali Yuga thought as the wind roared against him.
Things had gone wrong somewhere along the line.
In truth, he hadn't made a mistake. It was simply that the existence known as Kang Geomma was an unknowable anomaly transcending all expectations.
Slash!
A Sashimi knife finally caught his heel. Bleeding from his seven orifices, Kali Yuga kicked off the air.
He was an apocalypse. Physical pain was nothing to him. It was the psychological pressure that choked the breath out of this embodiment of destruction.
The End of Days.
Kali Yuga was vague dread materialized into tangible form. In short, he was terror itself.
And yet...
S-shhhk!
Every time a Sashimi knife thrust toward him, Kali Yuga gasped. Just meeting that boy's glare sent a chill tightening around his hips. An Apostle upholding the will of the Counterforce, the sum of all fear and the taboo of humanity... was terrified of this black-eyed human.
=Are you truly... trying to rebel against the Counterforce...?!=
"What are you babbling about?"
Spat Kang Geomma, kicking off a cloud. He wasn't moving at near-light speeds as before. Fortunate amidst misfortune, Kali Yuga gained just enough time to react.
And yet.
Slash—!
A single strike collapsed Mapo Bridge. Kali Yuga hastily fled. A second sword strike followed instantly.
Kali Yuga sprinted, shoving cars aside with his body.
He would die.
Every single strike spelled death.
Strictly speaking, the concept of death did not exist for an Apostle of the Counterforce. However, an 'end' did exist. If the concept the Apostle symbolized were destroyed, that apocalypse would be erased from the universe then and there.
The conditions were stringent, and erasing a taboo was nearly impossible. Or so it should have been—until he faced Kang Geomma's strikes.
=If I am cut, I will be erased.=
The instant his neck was severed by those Sashimis, he would cease to exist. Thus, he had to dodge by any means necessary. Kali Yuga, the embodiment of the Apocalypse, was desperately struggling to survive.
Kali Yuga ripped a building out like pulling a radish and hurled it. Kang Geomma swung as he ran. With a flash of his Sashimi, the massive projectile was carved into chunks.
The sheared cross-sections were seared yellowish-brown. It proved just how intense the knife skills were to generate such friction in the air.
Could that even be called knife work? Strangely, he wasn't using any magic at all. It was as if he were deliberately ignoring magic.
Yet he was stronger.
Was that why he had gotten stronger?
Relying solely on his Sashimis, Kang Geomma was incomparably sharper than when he mixed magic into his fights. He sliced and chopped without holding back.
Aftermath? Screw that. Property damage? If anyone complained during an apocalyptic disaster, he intended to give them a heart massage using his killing intent.
"All I need..."
I am Kang Geomma.
All I need to do is slice. Everyone around me has endlessly encouraged me, telling me that's all I have to do.
Abel had said:
—Your sword is my ideal.
Rachel had said:
—Your power is not just physical, but mental.
Ryozo always says:
—Don't think about anything else.
So that's what I did.
I ranged across Seoul, hacking apart whatever was in my path. Kali Yuga hurled gigantic debris like sling stones. I unleashed a frenzy of blades.
I repelled it all. All that's left to do is charge at him. Don't think about anything else, Kang Geomma.
"You..."
I will cut you.
If I cut, you will be sliced.
The gravity that bound my limbs has lost its hold. In the lightened air, I stride freely to my heart's content.
=Damn it!=
Kali Yuga turned pale.
=I need to at least buy time to flee—=
Another attack erupted. This time, as he darted across Yanghwa Bridge, Kali Yuga ducked flat to the ground. Twang-twang-twang! The steel cables connecting the bridge tower snapped, losing their tension.
He barely evaded it. But his pride as an apocalypse was sliced away along with the strike.
He couldn't go on like this. Running away like this would lead to death. Even if it lacked the dignity of an apocalypse, Kali Yuga decided he had to live.
Hoooonk...!
Headlights surged into his vision. It was a subway train crossing Yanghwa Bridge.
Kali Yuga blocked the train with one hand. Crushing its front, he hurled the train with all his might. The passengers inside tumbled like bugs in a tin.
The train shot upward at an angle. Kang Geomma surged forward. His thrust-out Murasame met the train.
=Yes...!=
Before he could even rejoice, Kali Yuga—already bluish—turned a sickly indigo.
S-s-s-slid...
The subway train was smoothly halved. The Sashimi did not touch a single hair on the passengers; it sliced only the scrap metal.
A sudden state of weightlessness. Just as the citizens let out bewildered gasps, Kang Geomma grabbed the train and dumped the passengers out right above the surface of the Han River.
Not a single citizen dropped from a safe distance into the water died. The Han River's water temperature rose—in a positive sense.
=H-How is such a thing even possible...?!=
Kang Geomma flashed past Kali Yuga.
A bright blue arm slid off his side. Looking down at the arm tumbling at his feet, Kali Yuga stared blankly. So... is this my arm?
=U-Uh.=
Kali Yuga's lips trembled. Kang Geomma had no intention of listening. He spread his energy perception. A wave radiating out from him formed a translucent barrier. Its scope covered the entirety of Seoul.
Not enough. He expanded it further. Fully utilizing the Divine Blessing of Transfer, my energy perception encompassed the entire Korean Peninsula in a single breath.
"Hey you."
He suddenly spoke up.
"Do you know how many Daixo stores there are in South Korea?"
=What kind of bull...=
Ignored. I wasn't asking for an answer anyway.
"There are 1,519 in total."
Snap.
He flicked his fingers.
The fragments rolling on the street trembled violently.
"How many sashimi knives do you think are inside all those stores?"
Then, at last, they began to throb and heave.
=...!=
Stars formed in the sky.
Their number...
"I don't know either."
I have no clue either.
"Let's count them together."
=Y-You son of a bitchhhhh!=
Kali Yuga charged frantically.
"Die."
But he could not reach me—could not reach us.