Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: The Inflector
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Zero One stared into Baek Do-hyun's eyes, and memories came flooding back. It was an involuntary rumination, unpleasant and nearly irresistible, like the chime of a music box unwinding after being wound tight.
The memories projected the past. In a vampire king's palace, Zero One wore outdated attire unlike his current style—a rustic black robe and pointed hat, just like the other mages.
A vampire seated on the throne looked down at him.
"We monstrosities shouldn't meddle in human history. We're imbalanced beings of immense power, harmful to intelligent life. We must avoid interference as much as possible and let them live their lives on their own..."
"So what are you saying we should do?"
It was the first time Zero One felt such intense rage.
He couldn't understand how someone with power equal to his own could spout such irresponsible nonsense.
"I am the king. A king only rules and governs his subjects."
"If that's your stance, we'll have to settle this with strength."
The majestic battle that shook heaven and earth lasted three days.
Zero One emerged victorious. It was his first time facing a true rival in a fight to the death.
Zero One looked down at the man who called himself the Progenitor. What emotions had he felt back then?
Relief at defeating an uncontrollable foe, no doubt.
He must have mocked the enemy's stubborn refusal to yield, even in death.
And the thrill of victory in a life-or-death struggle.
But the strongest emotion...
It had surely been regret at the loss of the only being equal to him.
The memory cut off there. Returning to the present, Zero One gazed at the impudent young monstrosity who called him a "defeatist."
He wasn't the Progenitor of old. Judging by his actions so far, unlike that rival, he seemed upright rather than wicked.
Unlike the "evil" ancient Progenitor, this young one leaned toward "good."
Unlike the old Progenitor who lived solely for himself under heaven and earth, this young Progenitor knew how to live for others.
Something deep inside Zero One began to boil.
Was the emotion stirred by this sharp insult the same rage as before?
No.
Zero One recognized it. It was the same feeling from his first clash with the Progenitor on the battlefield.
Yes. This was ecstasy. Zero One's lips curved higher than ever.
They arced like a crescent moon.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Your plan is outdated."
Here, Zero One and I spoke only the truth.
So the words I uttered now were close to my genuine thoughts and feelings.
They weren't insults meant to provoke him.
This arrogant, audacious statement was my heartfelt truth.
"Humanity can't win against the Dimensional Beasts. So you'll abandon non-interference and massacre humans to reduce the rifts..."
It might sound like cold, realistic pragmatism at first glance, but it rang like the excuse of a loser.
"It's the kind of thing someone says after giving up before the fight even starts."
Zero One quietly smiled, locking eyes with me.
I returned the smile.
"And it's an incredibly arrogant attitude."
"Me, not Dracula? I'm curious why."
"You're forcing your views on everyone as if you're above them all."
Innumerable Dimensional Beasts awaited beyond the rifts, outnumbering humanity by far.
At their core were demigods, incomparably stronger than even Han Cheong-ah now.
And in ten years, a flood of Dimensional Beasts would inundate the Earth.
This was a foretold future, an unchangeable fate.
The battle between Dimensional Beasts and humanity was unfair. Without awakening as a Psyker, wounding their tough barrier fields was impossible—Dimensional Beasts were simply superior to humans.
History had proven it. However.
"You saw the landscape beyond the rifts and gave up on fighting the Dimensional Beasts, but I haven't."
And.
"Even if every human saw that landscape, assuming they'd all give up like you is a massive delusion and arrogance."
History proved this too.
Like nations that lost their land yet fought endlessly against invaders, staking their lives without surrender, humanity had chosen to battle the impossible time and again.
Humanity had already lost to Dimensional Beasts once. But they hadn't given up; their resistance birthed the miracles of "Psykers" and "Hunters."
Humans either surrender or adapt in despair. Some weep, but others bite back.
Zero One's human reduction scenario castrated the free will of those who would "bite."
"You claim to want to see humanity's end, yet you're contradicting yourself. Aren't you?"
Guide.
His ark could save sixty million, but only sixty million.
"You see everyone as foolish creatures beneath your feet. That's why you push your human reduction scenario unilaterally, without consulting any humans."
The arrogant one was Zero One.
He treated his own thoughts as absolute truth, not even considering others' opinions—an utter villain.
Of course, I saw myself as similar in this regard. I was stubborn too, unyielding in my choices like a lone general.
But at least I knew how to listen to others.
Even if I only pretended to.
"Your plan is outdated, and so are you. You're so immersed in this 'observer' role-play that you try to control and dominate humanity—"
A retard obsessed with elitist chosen-one ideology.
Even without saying it, the meaning got across.
"Puhahaha!"
Zero One burst into boisterous laughter.
It was so loud my ears hurt.
Until now, he'd been the picture of a refined gentleman, but in this moment, he transformed into a beast.
His gaze, brimming with hostility, poured over me.
I bared my sharp vampire fangs in response.
"That's how you guide people. Keep building your ark diligently, convinced it's inevitable fate."
I would do as I always had.
"I'll bend fate. Using everything within my reach, I'll smash your plan and the Dimensional Beasts."
I am the Inflector.
The one who would overturn this story from beginning to end.
I forge my own destiny. I won't let Zero One's pathetic scenario dictate my fate and ending.
"You're the Inflector."
The final boss of this story nodded.
I closed my eyes. Zero One and I seemed destined to run parallel, never meeting.
"One last question for Dracula."
"Ask away."
"Why did you decide to bend fate?"
It was a simple question.
I grinned fiercely and answered.
"Because no matter who— this guy or that— they all strut around with their 'endings,' and none of them sit right with me."
"..."
Zero One's face lit up with satisfaction. Then his smile faded.
Our conversation ended. What followed was a declaration.
"I'll trigger a supervolcano. Yellowstone in the American Northwest should produce the impact I'm expecting—more effectively than two thousand nuclear warheads. The sudden climate drop will bring blizzards and famine, killing countless people."
"I'll also raise the dead in this world. Corpses will gradually rise across lands, starting the purge of humanity."
Zero One pointed to the society's headquarters with a finger.
The tallest skyscraper in Seoul.
"I'll watch everything from the top floor of this city, biding my time."
He stood, looking down at me.
Like a lofty king on his throne, he issued his command.
"Try to stop me."
Having revealed all his plans, Zero One's gaze was insufferably arrogant.
It meant I was the clear challenger—an impulsive side I'd never seen in the original story.
This wasn't the meticulous Zero One at all.
My words and actions must have stirred something deep within him.
"This is fun."
Adrenaline began surging through my body.
Zero One's behavior had apparently awakened something deep inside me too.
Like my first fight with Lee Gyeo-ul, or with Kang Chang-su, I started heating up.
Zero One seemed to feel the same ecstasy.
A all-out battle was always thrilling.
And so, from that day, the battle with the final boss began.
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