Chapter 184 : Original
Chapter 184: Original
Just as I was about to turn around at the somehow familiar sniffling sound, a voice stopped me.
“Don’t turn around.”
“Master?”
“Don’t answer me, you rotten bastard! I barely managed to hide my presence. Aren’t you going to save those hostages?”
At the irritable voice, I slowly shook my head.
If they used Yoo Yi-seo and Seo Da-hee’s lives as hostages to approach the Gate, everything would be over.
Seeing me hesitate, Serphin covered her mouth with one hand and cackled.
“This is why Heroes are so very weak. Even with the fate of the world at stake, you can’t move because of the hostages right in front of you. What a comedy.”
“I’ll tear those fucking bitches apart!”
Robo, with half of his upper body blown away, burned with rage as he glared at Helena and Eunha.
His body was slowly regenerating again.
The Master’s voice rang out once more.
“For now, just listen. What I can do is take advantage of their carelessness to rescue the white-haired girl and the brat. In other words, you lot have to hold those rotten bastards back while I create an opening and get out of there. Can you do it?”
Drawing their attention wouldn’t be difficult.
The problem was that we would have to keep the High-ranking Executives occupied while he escaped.
After briefly running a simulation through my head, I nodded.
I had no idea how the Master had approached while concealing his presence not only from us, but even from the High-ranking Executives.
But if neither they nor the others had detected him, then his plan wasn’t impossible.
What mattered was speed and timing.
We had to make sure Pandemonium’s High-ranking Executives didn’t notice Yoo Yi-seo and Seo Da-hee being taken away.
And even if they did notice, we had to create enough of an opening to block their attacks.
“I’ll move first. Once you’re ready, draw their attention.”
After that, the Master’s voice disappeared.
Yoo Yi-seo and Seo Da-hee were floating behind the Demonic Humans.
First, I had to buy enough time for the Master to approach them.
Serphin, now completely full of herself, looked at me and spoke.
“Still hesitating? The traitor who interfered with our great undertaking and abandoned the organization, hesitating because of a couple of women.”
Park Siwoo and the others looked at me.
“What do we do?”
They also seemed shaken by the presence of the hostages.
While calming them down, I sent them a signal with my eyes.
After how much coordination we had built up during the first trial, even if I couldn’t convey anything complicated, they could at least understand that a signal meant to attack.
Before long, they nodded.
I handed Wol-ah over to Eunha and slowly raised my hand.
Serphin took it as a sign of surrender and burst into laughter.
“Very good. That look on your face as you accept your fate. No matter how much you struggle, you can’t stop the prophecy. So you’d better not try anything pointless.”
With those words, Serphin pulled Yoo Yi-seo toward herself from midair and seized her by the neck.
As though she would snap it the moment we tried anything.
They slowly began approaching us.
But there was one thing they had overlooked.
I hadn’t raised my hand toward the sky to surrender.
Fwoosh!
A hole opened in the sky, which had been dyed black by Demonic Energy.
Through it, an enormous crimson-burning sword could be seen.
The Greatsword of World Annihilation.
Normally, using a technique of this scale would have exposed me immediately, but thanks to the Leader of Pandemonium covering the sky in Demonic Energy, I had been able to gather power without being noticed.
For an instant, the faces of the High-ranking Executives stiffened, and their gazes turned toward the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
Now was the chance.
The momentary opening created by the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
Dan Chun-woo moved.
The instant his foot stomped against the ground, time began splitting endlessly apart.
They seemed to notice something was wrong, but by the time they realized it, it was already too late.
Only Dan Chun-woo could move within the time of Mu-a.
Before long, Dan Chun-woo stood before Serphin, and his sword severed her arm.
All of this happened in less than a single second.
As the flow of time returned to normal, Yoo Yi-seo, who had been caught by Serphin, collapsed toward the ground.
Dan Chun-woo caught her and threw her toward us.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
A scream burst from Serphin’s mouth.
She clutched her severed arm, her face twisted in agony.
Mu-a was Dan Chun-woo’s Ultimate Technique.
It was probably unbearably painful.
Mu-a was not some simple technique that slowed time and cut the opponent.
It was the pinnacle of swordsmanship, a technique imbued with the will to absolutely cut down its target.
In other words, wounds inflicted during Mu-a could not be healed.
Kugugugugu!
Along with a violent tremor, the Greatsword of World Annihilation descended toward them.
At that moment, roots surged from the ground and blocked the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
But that alone was not enough to stop it.
Kobal’s body transformed into a giant tree, amplifying his power.
That was enough to neutralize them.
All that remained was rescuing Seo Da-hee and Dan Chun-woo.
“Awooooooo!”
Robo, who had already recovered part of his body, let out a howl and charged toward Dan Chun-woo.
That was dangerous.
Dan Chun-woo had exhausted his stamina from the side effects of Mu-a.
Even an injured Robo’s attack would be lethal.
“Die!”
He gathered Demonic Energy into his claws and swung them, sending crescent-shaped blades flying.
Just as the claws were about to cut through Dan Chun-woo, a spear filled with starlight flew like a meteor.
Clang!
Robo’s attack was blocked by Park Siwoo’s thrown spear.
At that moment, the Master, who had been hiding his presence until now, finally revealed himself.
The unconscious Seo Da-hee was slung over his shoulder.
He had rescued her while we drew their attention.
The Master reached Dan Chun-woo in an instant and tucked him under one arm.
He was astonishingly agile and strong for his age.
The Master’s shoes emitted light.
His movements became even faster than before.
Black mist rapidly chased after him.
A pathetic last-ditch effort to reclaim the hostage somehow.
Kwaaaaaaaa!
Helena’s Dragon Breath pierced through the black mist.
Its power was tremendous after she had gathered energy for so long.
The Master finally reached us safely and exhaled roughly.
“You rotten bastards…… Making an eighty-year-old man work this hard!”
“Have you forgotten that this was your plan, Master?”
I looked at the Demonic Humans who had lost their hostages.
“Now your only trump card is gone, isn’t it?”
Serphin glared at us, her beautiful face twisted grotesquely.
With one arm severed, she looked utterly furious.
“Devil Knight…… Devil Knight! You filthy traitooooor!”
“You’re out of room to maneuver now. You know it too, don’t you? At your level, you’ll never reach the Gate.”
“Shut up!”
Black mist exploded violently from her body.
That was?
I shouted toward the Master.
“Take the injured and get out of here right now! Hurry!”
That technique was Serphin’s trump card.
It manifested the Domain of Dreams into reality, and within that space, she possessed an absolute advantage.
The laws of the space swallowed by the black mist began to be rewritten by Serphin.
The ground overturned, and Heaven and Earth reversed.
My senses became disoriented, and Serphin’s nightmare tried to invade my mind.
I called Eunha over and asked her to escort the Master.
Just as she was about to lead the injured and the Master away,
the Master grabbed me.
“Wait. Take these.”
He began pulling something from his Subspace pouch.
Park Siwoo and the others widened their eyes when they saw them.
“Those are?”
“The weapons you commissioned from me.”
Even in this urgent situation, I couldn’t help but have my gaze stolen by the weapons.
The weapons he pulled out were a sword, a spear, and gauntlets.
They were for Helena, Park Siwoo, and Eunha respectively.
As though entranced, they each gripped their new weapon.
“Wow…….”
“There’s no time to explain how to use them. You’ll understand once you try.”
With those words, he left the battlefield with Eunha and Dan Chun-woo.
With Dan Chun-woo and Eunha gone, Park Siwoo and Helena suddenly had to each take on a High-ranking Executive alone, but there was not a trace of darkness on their faces.
The High-ranking Executives had already consumed a considerable amount of stamina in the previous exchange, while our side had just received new endgame equipment and had instead powered up.
Park Siwoo and Helena were breathing excitedly, as though they wanted to test the power of their weapons immediately.
But the choice Serphin made was unexpected.
Her eyes gleamed ominously.
“You’re all dying with me. Right here!”
With those words, her power gradually began increasing.
A chill ran through me at the sight.
Don’t tell me that crazy bitch intended not only to burn away her own life, but to detonate the entire Domain of Dreams itself?
Their goal wasn’t merely the revival of the End, but his complete revival.
For that, keeping the High-ranking Executives alive was an essential condition.
But under the current circumstances, their chances of turning the tide were close to 0%.
In other words, Serphin was trying to sacrifice herself for the revival of the End.
I shouted toward Helena and Park Siwoo.
“Don’t let the other High-ranking Executives escape!”
If they got away, things would become troublesome in all sorts of ways.
This war wouldn’t end just by killing the High-ranking Executives.
The true enemy was the End, who would appear after their deaths.
Mana began gathering at Helena’s Sword Tip.
It was sucked in at tremendous speed, like a vacuum cleaner.
A Dragon Breath was completed in an instant, and Helena exclaimed in surprise.
“To charge Dragon Breath this quickly……!”
The Dragon Breath then fired toward the fleeing Kobal and Robo.
But Serphin had no intention of simply watching it happen.
Her most horrific nightmare manifested within the Domain of Dreams.
The moment I saw it, I was shocked.
“That technique is……?”
Mist spread from a black point.
A tremendous gravitational force acted upon space itself.
There was no way I could ever forget it.
It was the Heavenly Demon’s secret technique.
Had she reproduced it by burning away her own life?
The Dragon Breath aimed at the fleeing Robo and Kobal had its trajectory twisted by the Heavenly Demon’s secret technique.
A Divine Technique close to an Authority, one that seized the axis of space itself and shook it with overwhelming force.
There was no resisting it.
The others and I were gradually dragged toward a single point.
Park Siwoo, gripping his new spear, looked at me.
“I’ll stop Serphin. So, Seongwoo, you catch the ones trying to escape.”
A faint radiance began flowing from him, his expression resolute.
“Can you really do it?”
“Maybe not before I got this weapon, but now I can.”
With those words, brilliant radiance erupted from him.
Origin (原).
Having become a star itself, he hurled his body toward the black point where Serphin stood.
A brilliant star falling toward a black hole.
Kwaang!
With a violent explosion, the Domain of Dreams began collapsing.
At the same time, a blue message window filled my vision.
【The death of an Avatar of the End has been detected.】
【The Fragments of the End are returning to their master.】
【Corrosion Rate has increased by 20%.】
【Current Corrosion Rate: 40%】