Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: More than word (2)
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Han Cheong-ah's hollow eyes stared at me.
An attack flew in without sound or warning. Wind like a slashing blow came hurtling toward me.
My transcendent senses immediately detected the danger. I deployed my ability.
Crack, craaack! A frigid shield formed along the path of the incoming slash.
For someone like me who could manipulate heat—this rain-soaked place was a favorable battlefield brimming with cover.
Thick ice blocked the slash.
Another slash came flying from a different angle.
Once more, the thick ice blocked it.
The slashes began coming in endless waves. In mere seconds, winds capable of effortlessly slicing through a human body assaulted me hundreds of times over.
All of it was within my predictions.
A polar blast swept in. Even the moisture in the air froze solid. The coldest shield in existence protected my body until the winds finally died down.
Shh, shhh, the shattered ice crystals rained down onto the ground.
I observed Han Cheong-ah's body, exhaling a puff of white breath.
Through the insight of a True Ancestor, her frail form was currently shielded by a Barrier Field.
It was a Barrier Field so sturdy it couldn't even compare to Lee Gyeo-ul's or Yubyeol-ha's.
The Barrier Field of Han Cheong-ah, now awakened as queen, didn't melt even under the heat of a sub-stellar blaze. A true invincible shield that permitted no intrusion upon the user's body.
To administer the sedative, I first had to deal with that Barrier Field somehow.
"────────♬" Aria resounded.
At the same moment, light began gathering in Han Cheong-ah's hand.
Light sources illuminating the area swirled into motion.
Like an event horizon, all the light converged into Han Cheong-ah's hand and vanished.
Lonely darkness descended upon the area.
This must be what it feels like falling into a black hole.
As if to flaunt the absolute power of a queen, Han Cheong-ah slowly advanced toward me.
However, the True Ancestor's sharpened senses pierced even the darkness.
My senses of smell, hearing, and touch guided my path through the pitch-black abyss where I couldn't see an inch ahead.
Even with my vision blocked, I deflected every incoming slash.
Step, step.
Step, step.
Likewise, I advanced toward Han Cheong-ah.
"────────♬" Aria resounded.
Han Cheong-ah's body accelerated.
With speed incomparable to Kang Chang-su's, she launched a punch at me.
I twisted my head to dodge the fist, and a ferocious wind roared, rattling my eardrums.
Follow-up strikes poured down—blows powerful enough to shatter buildings.
The True Ancestor's body dismantled them one by one. With minimal, restrained movements, I evaded the attacks.
"────────♬" An explosion.
"────────♬" A tidal wave.
"────────♬" Lightning.
"────────♬" Gravity.
"────────♬" Sound.
"────────♬" Strikes of every form under heaven assaulted me, bent on choking out my breath.
But if she thought such attacks could bring me down, she was sorely mistaken.
True Ancestors are strong.
Unreasonably so—far beyond what an incomplete Dimensional Beast queen could handle.
Without loyal minions at her command, the queen had no way to defeat the progenitor.
The darkness lifted.
Han Cheong-ah's delicate hand couldn't fully absorb the light of the brightly blazing sub-star.
The newborn little star bathed the area in its glow.
The scene resembled a fading sunset, giving the illusion that Han Cheong-ah and I were alone in the classroom after school.
"……."
Han Cheong-ah opened her mouth. Before the next Aria could resound, I took immediate action.
This isn't a music room. Busking in a public place without city hall approval is illegal, you know.
I combined blood magic with my ability.
The unknown powers complemented each other's weaknesses and maximized their strengths, working a miracle.
A blizzard blanketed my vision in white.
The ultra-low temperature storm began stripping away all heat.
Molecular motion halted, and even the atmosphere froze.
This space, arrived at heat death, felt as if time itself had stopped.
If Han Cheong-ah were witnessing this scene in real time, she surely would have said something like this.
"Mahāpadma."
Borrowing the name of the hell even hotter than blazing inferno hell, where the body turns redder and skin bursts like lotus petals.
I slowly extended my hand toward Han Cheong-ah's frozen Barrier Field.
Warmth melted the Barrier Field.
The crushing force from the union of extreme cold and intense heat crumbled Han Cheong-ah's fortress-like Barrier Field.
"Dummy."
A great nickname came to mind. When Han Cheong-ah wakes up, I have to tease her with this.
Smiling, I pulled her into an embrace and carefully administered the sedative.
Before Han Cheong-ah's eyes could slowly close, I invited her into the illusion.
It was time to complete the painting.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ This place was incredibly comfortable.
Warm, cozy waves gently enveloped my body. It felt just like soaking in a bathtub.
With my eyes closed like this, I felt like I'd become a fool.
I was happy without doing a thing. No negativity like pain or sorrow existed here.
If heaven or paradise existed... yes, this would be it.
Savoring bliss, I kept my eyes closed.
No fool would ever walk out of paradise on their own two feet.
As long as the gods permitted it, I would stay here forever.
"……."
I had a feeling I'd forgotten something important.
It wasn't just that I felt like a fool—I might actually have become one.
A pebble plopped into the serene lake.
Like ripples spreading from small waves, a corner of my heart stirred faintly.
My mind felt unsettled.
I should be happy just like this. I didn't need to think at all.
So why was I trying to open my eyes...?
It felt like this had happened once before, long ago.
I was trapped inside a round egg.
That place had been just as warm and cozy as this one—a paradise.
Back then, I broke out of the egg and stepped into the world.
Why did I break the egg that time?
It had been comfortable and warm, so why did I choose the unknown outside?
I surely didn't know what pain or calamity awaited.
"……."
Unconsciously, I opened my eyes.
A sliver of light poured in through the crack in the dark sphere.
Only then did I remember why I'd broken the egg and emerged into the world.
Because I'd seen a color that wasn't black.
What poured through the crack was white light.
To me, trapped in the egg, that light was so beautiful it compelled me to reach out—a radiant treasure.
The first stimulus, or perhaps one I'd felt in ages.
I had chased that light.
I'd yearned for that miraculous flash and shattered the egg to pursue it outward.
"Ah...".
This place might feel comfortable right now.
But even after realizing what kind of world lay beyond, where that light streamed in—could I still call this 'paradise'?
I pounded the shell from inside with my fist.
Having lain still for so long, my strength wouldn't come easily.
Still, I didn't give up and kept pounding the shell from within.
One minute, ten minutes, an hour... countless hours passed.
The shell was incredibly tough. Maybe I was just ridiculously weak... but not even a scratch appeared.
Huuu... what should I do?
Breaking the shell was grueling work.
The image of the light from the crack slowly faded from my mind.
I was starting to want to give up. Wasting energy on a hopeless task felt pointless.
The moment I tried to close my eyes again—
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Someone was tapping on the egg from outside. It didn't seem like they were trying to break it.
Who could it be? Curious, I tapped the inner wall of the egg.
Then the tapping from outside stopped.
Hmm... I tilted my head at their inscrutable actions.
When I stopped tapping, they started again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
It was like the polite knock of a gentleman.
When I tapped again, their knocking faded; when I stopped, it resumed.
Ah! It took a little time, but I understood their intent.
They were cheering me on with their knocks.
'Don't stop.' 'Don't give up.'
That's what they were saying. Or at least, that's my personal guess.
Huuup! With someone cheering me on, stopping now would be rude!
I kept pounding the egg relentlessly.
I had no idea when this thick shell would break, but I hammered away through the endless time.
...
...
And finally.
The egg that had confined me shattered into pieces.