Chapter 196
Chapter 196
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: The Fake (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The man had witnessed the end of the world.
The sight of everything returning to nothingness had instilled in him a terror unlike any he had ever known.
Every single cell in his body trembled in fear, and in the end, like a beast sensing danger, the man fled to the farthest reaches possible.
But the disappearance of the world meant there was nowhere left to run.
The man was of the Evolv tribe.
The Evolv were a race that had existed in a world before the current civilization, unrecorded in any history books.
Similar to humans in many ways but different in others, the Evolv had conquered the continent with their immense power—only for that race to go extinct, leaving just this one man behind.
By the hands of the 12 Gods.
They had appeared out of nowhere. Never once emerging during the continent's 10,000 years of history, they had shattered all existing faiths and descended upon the land.
Their goal was singular.
World Reset.
It was the act of extinguishing all life without leaving even the tiniest spark behind.
In other words, resetting the world entirely.
The man kept running. Fleeing despite knowing the end was inevitable was utterly pointless, but his desire to live burned far stronger.
In the midst of his flight, he stumbled upon a cave.
The cave appeared untouched by any hand, preserved in its primal state.
There, he found a gem.
A gem glowing with a purple hue.
Caked in moss and looking filthy, the stone itself showed no signs of the ravages of time.
He grasped it. In an instant, the gem burrowed into his body.
Startled by the sudden event, he soon felt a tremendous power surging within him.
It was a dark power manifesting in shades of purple.
The man honed this power of darkness endlessly within the cave. The Evolv were a race that evolved to suit their environment; securing food, clothing, and shelter posed no challenge.
The cave was a place the 12 Gods' eyes rarely reached. Part of him wanted to live out eternity there, but even that had its limits.
-Rat. Hiding in a dump like this, huh?
The god who introduced himself as the God of Plunder and Violence tried to kill the last survivor on sight.
But the power of darkness stood against the god's might, leaving the deity's face stricken with shock.
-How do you have that power?!
The man had no idea why the god reacted that way.
What mattered was that this god, who had crushed all life like ants, couldn't kill him easily.
That realization filled the man with confidence, but it was mere futile thrashing.
-I don't know how you got your hands on that power, but I'll give you credit for mastering it.
Before the assembled 12 Gods, the man was nothing more than a bug.
His polished power of darkness meant nothing to them.
He thought death was inevitable.
Then, the one who seemed to be the leader among the 12 Gods made him a proposal.
-Would you like to lead a new world?
He wasn't told the reason.
They simply commanded it.
The man harbored a stronger thirst for life than anyone, and he wasn't the type to refuse an offer of survival.
-Very well. Paint the blank canvas of the world in your own colors, then.
-From now on, your name is...
-Gav.
-Illidan.
And so, the man's name became Gav Illidan.
"But I was discarded!"
He still didn't understand why.
He had completed his own empire and enjoyed 900 years of prosperity.
The sudden appearance of a divine apostle was incomprehensible to him.
"That bastard tried to kill me outright."
The apostle was overwhelmingly powerful.
Gav had no choice but to flee. Not just with the power of darkness, but thanks to honing the Evolv racial traits to their limit, he managed to evade detection.
During his years in hiding, he pondered endlessly.
Why had he been suddenly discarded? Why him?
The gods' thoughts were unknowable, so no matter how much he mulled it over, it all amounted to mere speculation.
"Then I met him."
Gav's eyes clouded over with a murky purple glow.
Jamie dodged the onslaught of attacks raining down and asked,
"Him?"
"This kingdom's founding king."
The ground turned black and began sinking like sand.
Jamie leaped upward, drawing his sword.
The acceleration magic from Scud lightened his body.
"Welton Style, Form 10."
His form blurred.
Gav lost sight of Jamie for a split second.
And what appeared was a silver blade slicing right in front of his face.
He jerked his head back, barely dodging the sword.
But Aftershock was a two-part strike coming off-beat.
"Gah!"
His face split open in a straight line.
Fortunately, with half his body liquefied, he avoided instant death.
"This is just the beginning."
The voice came from behind.
Gav whipped around, extending his arm.
Four swords sliced through his arm.
Three swords pierced his chest and back simultaneously.
Five swords shredded his neck and head.
Gav's pupils trembled.
In his eyes, Jamie had multiplied into twelve.
A magic linking teleportation spells with sword strikes.
Previously, he could only manage four, but upon reaching 7th class, he succeeded in extending it to twelve.
"I'll carve you up until only your mouth is left."
"Don't... get cocky!!"
Gav's body began turning into mist.
Jamie furrowed his brow and assumed a defensive stance with his sword blade forward.
"Your body is mine!!"
The mist exploded.
The immense force sent shockwaves rippling outward across a wide area.
Jamie exhaled shortly as he eyed the oncoming blast.
Then, he slowly thrust his forward-held sword toward the explosion.
The moment the flames touched the blade's tip,
A magical convergence unfolded.
The blade began absorbing the 'Mist Explosion'.
The sword's body turned pitch black.
Jamie gripped the hilt with both hands, swung the sword in a wide arc, and raised it high.
"Mist Explosion!"
As he slashed straight down, the fused 'Mist Explosion' shot forth in the form of a slashing wave.
"Petty tricks!"
Gav slammed his fist into the ground; it crumpled, erecting a massive barrier ahead.
The slash failed to pierce the barrier.
Gav smirked faintly, preparing his next attack.
That was his mistake.
"You've got a tough body to kill."
The barrier blocked Gav's view, and in that instant, he lost sight of Jamie.
"Watching that weird demon king follower last time gave me an idea."
Jamie perched atop the barrier, gazing down at Gav and holding up three fingers.
"What are... you...!"
Gav fully liquefied his body to escape.
If he could just seep into the ground, he could flee this place.
"Impossible."
Purple eyes flashed menacingly.
Black chains erupted from the darkness, beginning to bind Gav.
Gav struggled to break free, but the more he did, the tighter the chains constricted around his flesh.
"Gaaargh!"
"The first king, a sorcerer... I thought you'd be something special. But you're nothing."
"You bastard!! Release me!"
"Why should I listen to the guy who tried to steal my body?"
As Jamie picked at his ear and retorted, the fully bound Gav snarled,
"You'll regret this, you brat."
"You're the crazy one. Wouldn't stealing my body be more regrettable?"
"Grrrr! Release me!"
"Shut your trap."
Jamie stomped on Gav's face repeatedly with an irritated expression.
Once it was half-smashed, Gav finally quieted down a bit.
Jamie conjured a chair and sat, propping his sword beside him as he interrogated Gav.
"So. What did you do after meeting the founding king?"
"......"
"If you won't talk, I can make you."
Dominating the mind of a neutralized foe was no great feat.
Then Gav began to laugh.
"Kuhahaha!"
"Lost your mind?"
"You don't know."
"Know what out of nowhere?"
"The terror when the world returns to zero..."
Madness gleamed in Gav's eyes.
The first king spoke.
"The sight of everything vanishing before your eyes, and the overwhelming loneliness of being the only one left! You don't know!"
"......"
"So I waited. For the right moment. For the chance that would eventually come."
Jamie’s eyes darkened coldly.
He glared at Gav, urging him to continue.
"Then, about 500 years ago, I met the founding king. Interestingly, he knew things I didn't. From that, I inferred the truth. This world has looped countless times! And there are others like me, stepping into newly reset worlds!"
"What did the founding king say?"
"He speculated there was once a tremendously powerful sorcerer long ago. Not from my era, but far earlier. Tens of thousands of years prior. Yes, the world where the original owner of this power I gained lived."
"Did the founding king know that secret?"
"He didn't know much either. Just the fact that such a world and such a being existed. Nothing concrete. But we met, and together we drew closer to deeper truths. Still, there were clear limits. So we made a pact."
"You'd aid the kingdom until finding a sorcerer highly compatible with you?"
"......Sharp one, aren't you? Yes. If I could obtain a perfect body, I could help more efficiently. Even after his death, I thought I'd uncover more truths through the Kingdom of Seldam. The founding king said that would grant humans a bit more freedom."
Gav's face grew wistful, reminiscing about that day, then twisted into mad laughter.
"Kekekekekeke! Foolish fool. Such a foolish fool!"
"Foolish how?"
"I cling to life. Secrets? Human freedom? Shut up! Why did I make a pact with him and stay cooped up here for 500 years? Simple!"
The space rippled.
Cracks formed in the chains binding Gav, snapping with sharp cracks.
"To be acknowledged again. To be recognized by Them and become the master of the new world!"
Gav's body began to swell enormously.
This space was his illusory domain from the start. Everything he'd suffered from Jamie was an act.
None of his attacks had truly landed from beginning to end.
"You're my finest ingredient. If I can fully claim this body harboring the same power as mine, I'll survive the impending 'World Reset'."
"......The World Reset is coming?"
"Kuhuhu. Foolish human. The World Reset cycles every 10,000 years. And that cycle is nearly complete. Just a few decades left. Extinction of the species is nigh."
Darkness pooling across the floor bubbled up, slowly engulfing Jamie.
"You're fortunate. You'll become part of me and savor the new world."
"That's all?"
"What?"
"Is that all you have to say?"
"What nonsense is this?"
"Good enough."
Jamie rose from his seat.
Though sticky darkness clung to him, it didn't hinder his movement at all.
Gav stammered in shock,
"H-How can you move?"
"How?"
Jamie's purple aura deepened.
The writhing darkness flinched and slowly receded from him.
"M-My power, why is it...?"
Gav panicked as his power slipped from his control.
Jamie said,
"Because it's not yours."
"What?"
"This power..."
Jamie looked up at Gav.
On that youthful face, Gav saw another superimposed.
A man with black hair.
The man's eyes burned with a deeper purple than any other.
"Who... who the hell are you?"
"Me?"
Jamie extended his hand forward.
All the darkness trembled in response to his fingertips.
He curled his lips and said,
"The greatest black sorcerer in history."
"Nooooooo!"
The darkness swallowed Gav whole.