Chapter 59: Apostle (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: Apostle (1)
A little over two weeks remained.
There were two key things I needed to focus on during that time.
First, increasing my personal combat power.
If, by some chance, an Apostle appeared as I’d seen in the Trial, my means of inflicting direct damage would be limited.
Of course, the Apostles were currently pouring their power into resurrecting the Evil God.
Their energy was slowly seeping out through the rifts, so they wouldn't be able to use their full, original power.
Nevertheless, they were still formidable beings.
After all, in the world line I had witnessed, I died without even being able to properly face a weakened Apostle.
Fragments.
In the end, the key was how well I could utilize the Fragments.
Acquiring additional Fragments would be difficult.
Even if I obtained Fragments through the growth of the heroines—Yu Hana, Cheon Yeo-wool, and Kang A-rin—it would still be a struggle to face an Apostle.
It wouldn't be easy for me either, but ultimately, I had no choice but to become stronger.
The me in the Trial could resurrect upon death, but the me of today could not.
If I failed, it was over.
A single moment of carelessness would lead to death, so I, too, had to train without a moment's rest.
The second was Yoon Chae-ha's growth.
If I was still alive after the operation, the Exchange Match would take place. Therefore, it was only right that I help Yoon Chae-ha grow as well.
I found a way to kill two birds with one stone.
During a mentor-mentee session.
After the instructor's theory class ended, Yoon Chae-ha hesitated for a moment before calling out to me.
“Um… by any chance…”
I turned my head to look at her.
“What is it?”
She started to say something, then trailed off, fidgeting.
Strangely, she only ever acted this way in front of me.
She was supposed to be a confident person who always spoke her mind.
She bit her lip, then spoke cautiously.
“The technique you used when you caught Medusa… can you show it to me…?”
Only then did I realize what she wanted to ask.
It seemed the biggest reason she had transferred to Gaon was Catenaccio.
It was highly likely that Yoon Chae-ha wanted to see the technique and analyze it.
I had wondered what the deciding factor was, and now I knew.
I took a short breath.
This was perfect timing.
I needed to practice Phalanx, a variation of Catenaccio, anyway.
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Alright.”
“Really…?”
Her eyes widened.
A mix of anticipation and surprise flickered across her face.
Normally, asking someone to demonstrate their technique was considered rude.
After all, those skills were the personal assets of each hero.
But I didn't care.
“On one condition.”
Yoon Chae-ha stared at me intently.
I added slowly, my voice firm.
“Now that you've seen it, you're not going home until you can copy it.”
Her eyes flashed.
Her face, which should have stiffened, instead lit up with life.
“…Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
At my words, she clenched her fists as if in eager anticipation.
She looked like a child who had just discovered a fascinating new toy.
We headed to the training grounds.
We entered a private training ground located deep inside.
Yoon Chae-ha followed close behind me, looking around.
“I’m starting.”
I said, walking toward the center.
Yoon Chae-ha gave a brief nod and stood opposite me.
I gathered all my strength in my legs and shot into the air.
I wove my clones and thrust toward a single point.
And then, right there.
The trajectories of the clones and the spear overlapped in an instant.
Phalanx.
CRACK!
A shockwave that seemed to tear the very air apart.
As the spear's strike swept through the empty air, the wall cracked and a vortex of dust erupted.
Although the training ground had a self-repair function, it seemed I had surpassed its threshold.
I landed back on the ground.
Only then did I notice Yoon Chae-ha across from me, breathing heavily.
“Hah… hah…”
Even as she gasped for air, her vermilion eyes were still burning.
It meant she hadn't missed a single moment of my technique.
I imagined just analyzing it must have consumed an immense amount of mana.
Her eyes shone.
“That… at the end… was that a variation…?”
The tips of her fingers trembled slightly.
“Yeah.”
I answered curtly.
The moment the word left my lips, Yoon Chae-ha caught her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow.
Even so, a faint smile played on her lips.
She raised her hand and began to trace the spear's trajectory in the air.
As if trying to perfectly replicate the scene she had just witnessed.
I watched her for a moment before getting up.
Yoon Chae-ha was already lost in a world of her own.
*
Late in the evening, or rather, early in the dawn.
Cheon Yeo-wool was checking the private training grounds one by one.
“Where on earth is he?”
The person she was looking for was, of course, Jung Hae-in.
She had something to give him and had waited at the dormitory entrance for a long time, planning a surprise, but he never showed up.
After waiting for hours, she came to a single conclusion.
She had to find him.
She was well aware that Jung Hae-in was a training maniac.
If so, it was obvious where he would be right now.
Cheon Yeo-wool started her search from Training Ground A. By the time she had checked up to Training Ground C, a sense of anxiety crept over her.
“…If he’s really not even here.”
And finally.
Training Ground D.
She pulled on the doorknob.
Clunk.
“…?”
The door wouldn't open.
Cheon Yeo-wool’s eyes narrowed.
It was rare for a training ground to be locked at this hour.
Thump, thump.
A sound came from within.
She pressed her ear to the door to listen more closely.
What she heard were the mixed voices of a man and a woman.
“What the…!”
The man's voice was, to her despair, Jung Hae-in's.
There was no reason to hesitate. Cheon Yeo-wool forced the training ground door open.
The moment she opened it, a blast of hot air exploded out of the sealed space.
She inhaled reflexively.
Sniff.
One was a scent that pleased her—Jung Hae-in's. But the other was the grating smell of some bitch she'd never smelled before.
Cheon Yeo-wool’s face hardened.
Late at night, a sealed training ground, a man and a woman alone.
The temperature was high, the air strangely humid.
For a brief moment, an unpleasant thought flashed through her mind.
Her heart sank, and she instinctively rushed inside.
But the scene before her was enough to make her stare blankly.
Jung Hae-in was standing there, swinging his spear, and a yellow-haired woman was waving her hands in the air like a lunatic.
What is this….
Just then, Jung Hae-in seemed to notice her presence and turned his head.
“Cheon Yeo-wool?”
She quickly composed her expression. Composed and elegant.
And then.
“There you are!”
She waved enthusiastically and smiled brightly.
*
At the edge of the world, a place humans could never reach.
Beyond that boundary, a forbidden space that had existed since the beginning of time, yet was known to none.
At its center stood a cracked and crumbling temple.
And in the heart of that temple…
The Round Table.
Only ten seats existed here.
The Ten Apostles.
They were the agents of a god's will, the chosen adjudicators.
Only they were permitted to sit in this sanctuary.
And, at the lowest end of the Round Table.
A woman lay with an indifferent expression on a bizarre bed made of human figures stitched together with red thread.
Mines, in postures that looked ready to collapse, bore her weight.
"What the hell did they want to talk about? Calling us here and still not showing up?"
Tap, tap. Her fingertips moved, as if in boredom.
Her voice was laced with irritation.
It was then.
One of the Mines supporting her legs like a bed began to tremble violently.
“Gaaah!”
In an instant, the bizarre bed collapsed.
As the Mine’s body gave way, her legs dropped.
“S-Sorry…!”
The Mine immediately fell to its knees and curled into a ball.
However, she smiled gently.
“It’s okay~”
Her hand slowly moved toward the Mine’s head.
And then.
CRUNCH!
With a single gesture, the Mine's head was blown clean off.
“Next~”
At her indifferent call, another Mine emerged from the darkness and propped up her legs.
“You're splattering blood. You wanna die?”
A man watching from the side spoke in an annoyed tone.
His eyes glowed pure white, suppressing his anger.
“Sorry~”
“Hah…”
The man let out a short sigh.
“Why call a meeting over killing a few bugs?”
At his words, a low laugh echoed from one side of the Round Table.
"Haha… Still, since The Great One has summoned us personally, there must be a clear purpose, don't you think?"
A white Apostle with no eyes, nose, or mouth.
A faint ripple emanated from where his mouth should have been.
“Shut up, Blag.”
“Yes, yes.”
A red-eyed woman sitting beside him said curtly.
The three of them had received an Oracle from The Great One a month ago.
—Eliminate the bugs.
What The Great One had ordered was the annihilation of a certain human organization.
To the three of them, the Oracle was absolute.
Even so, they privately thought that sending three of them was overkill.
They were swords far too great to be used for catching bugs.
A single Apostle on the move could easily erase an entire city.
Thud.
Just then, the massive central door swung open.
A colossal shadow stepped toward the Round Table, trailing a pressure so immense it seemed to distort the air itself.
He walked in slowly and uttered a single word.
“An Oracle.”
The gazes of all the Apostles focused on him in an instant.
The one who opened his mouth to deliver the Oracle was the Third Seat of the Ten Apostles, Belial.
“So you’ve come?” the red-eyed woman muttered, a hint of interest in her voice.
Belial, however, did not respond.
He simply opened his mouth slowly.
“The Great One has spoken— The flow has been broken.”
In that moment, the atmosphere around the Round Table shifted.
“Therefore, the targets of execution have also changed. It will not be the bugs, but the humans.”
That single statement sent ripples through the entire space.
“Humans?”
“Aren't they just bugs in the end?"
A low sneer came from the end of the Round Table.
Belial ignored all their reactions and cleared his throat once more.
"Therefore, you must annihilate them."
“…This is the Oracle from The Great One.”
Tears of blood began to stream from his eyes.
"And from now on, I will convey my personal opinion as Belial, the Third Seat of the Ten Apostles."
He clenched his fists, his hands beginning to tremble.
"The plan of The Great One—"
"for reasons we, the lowly, can never comprehend, has been broken."
The Apostles shifted slightly.
Even they had not expected this.
The plan of The Almighty One was broken?
"However."
Belial’s lips trembled.
"The Almighty One foresaw even this and has granted us one last chance."
One Apostle clicked his tongue.
"Huu… We are grateful…."
A woman sitting on the opposite side of the table clasped her hands and murmured softly.
“Furthermore.”
"To think The Great One would endure the World's Suppression Force to grant a boon to us, who cannot even wield our full power."
The Apostles’ gazes grew sharper.
"For our incompetence—"
Belial wiped away his bloody tears and gave a bitter smile.
"I, Belial, cannot help but lament this."
And then.
He spoke slowly, but with conviction.
"Eighth Seat, Ninth Seat, Tenth Seat."
"The number of Apostles originally planned for the execution was three—."
I correct myself.
The final words he uttered changed the expression on every Apostle's face.
“The number of Apostles for this Oracle's execution….”
“Is five.”