Chapter 101
Chapter 101
The set of scissors he'd given Nari as a gift when they made their contract. There were times she used the halves one by one, but she'd never used them simultaneously until now.
The "Scissors' Grip" was on an entirely different level from the "Nightmare" he'd activated back at Wargod's domain.
Only then did the Lord of Chaos realize that the Shin Bitnari standing here hadn't brought one half of the scissors with her at all.
[The user can't move their body!]
[The user's nightmare is vividly materialized. You can't escape on your own!]
The Lord of Chaos laughed after confirming the effect.
"Nari. You still can't defeat your older brother with just this. I'm a Constellation and you're an Incarnation, so your nightmare can't even come close to touching mine. So."
"I know."
Shin Bitnari looked at him and grinned.
It was a smile that belonged to "Lude." The relaxed smile of the strongest. It was the very thing he'd first taught her.
"Right. That is why I'm just going to give up."
"...What?"
Only then did the Lord of Chaos feel the atmosphere change. Nari looked up at the empty air. The space above was filled with cameras. Nari looked into the lenses and smirked.
[Relinquishing the initiative of the dream!]
[The initiative is transferred! :: Shin Bitnari -> The Crawling ◼◼]
[The nightmare of The Crawling ◼◼ is being played!]
"Wait."
"You know. Having lucid dreams all the time wasn't any fun."
Nari's spirit energy surged and completely covered the Gate, and soon the scene transformed. The door vanished, and the stairs disappeared. When he looked around, Nari had vanished at some point. What appeared before his eyes was a vast sandy desert with two suns.
It was a familiar place. It was that era when they were still living peacefully.
Suddenly, sand dust swirled. Amidst the howling sandstorm, a faint clanking sound was heard.
Clank. An army of Constellations, led by angels wearing Holy Flame armor and bearing wings, approached him from the far distance.
The Lord of Chaos stared forward, still pinned by the scissors.
"Is it playing the memories from back then...?"
As if the Lord of Chaos's monologue couldn't be heard, an angel holding a sword glowing with flames spoke.
"Hearken, Constellations of the Outer Universe."
Right. Burning in that fire really hurt. The Lord of Chaos looked up while harboring those thoughts.
Valkyries riding winged horses were flying down from the sky. Beside them was the Ark of the Sun God, and behind them were the gods of Olympus.
They descended, staining the sky black, looking exactly as they did on that day.
"Your very existence destroys the order of the world, so we'll execute you here."
Their habit of spouting obvious nonsense hadn't changed either.
"It is a pity, but this alone can't plunge me into a nightmare. This is something I've reflected on over and over again."
The Lord of Chaos mocked himself self-deprecatingly. The events of a day he'd already revisited countless times couldn't even become a nightmare.
Just then, the clear ring of a bell was heard.
"I've thought about it once more."
Kang Hana, holding a fan, stood before him.
"What? No. Back then you, the Constellations on your side, weren't there..."
"I truly think your kind isn't needed in this world."
She smiled as she looked at the Lord of Chaos. Upon hearing those final words, the Lord of Chaos froze for a moment and then laughed as if he'd lost his mind.
"Ahahaha, haha!! Hahaha!!! Yes, this is certainly a nightmare!! This is quite a masterpiece!!"
After laughing for a long time, the Lord of Chaos looked at the army with fierce eyes. He grinned again, his mouth tearing open to his ears. He muttered in a hoarse voice.
"Fine, come again. I'll engrave it in your minds once more. The pain when the flesh is torn, the shock when the mind is ransacked, the sound when the bones break. I'll remember every single thing again!!"
At those words, the Constellations rushed toward the Lord of Chaos.
Even as his entire body was being shattered, the Lord of Chaos's laughter didn't stop. In the process of dying and regenerating over and over, he screamed like a demon.
"The more we're persecuted, the stronger we become!! We'll one day rise again, rise again to devour you all!!"
In that manner, the Lord of Chaos repeated the cycle of being torn apart and restored. Within the situation that repeated more times than could be counted, his power gradually lost its luster.
[Irregular Gate :: 'Gatekeeper of the Void' has been cleared!]
And on the ground outside the Gate, Jeong Suho stood atop a crane, barely maintaining his balance, holding a sniper rifle that was still steaming. His eyes were glowing with a bright blue light.
His gaze was fixed on the Gate humming in the sky above South Korea. As its size gradually shrank and then completely vanished, he let out a deep breath.
"N-Nari... What would've happened if I, if I'd failed."
He didn't even have time to question Ah Nan, who'd sought him out for the first time in years without any explanation. Jeong Suho was appalled by the large scissors he handed over and the words he delivered along with them.
However, Nari knew him well, and he knew Nari well. He was the best marksman in South Korea. Therefore, the nature of the request was obvious.
There were no specific details to the request, but Jeong Suho quickly read Nari's thoughts and asked the crane operator for help to prepare the sniping.
'Identifying an enemy outside the Gate that can't be seen with the eyes, and sniping with precise timing.'
It was the thing most needed in the current situation. And since Nari didn't doubt for a second that he could do it, wasn't that why she asked?
In that case, he had to do it.
"I... I'm glad I didn't... miss the prey I lost once before."
[Trait :: 'A Born Hunter' is activating! The location of the prey previously lost is being relayed in real time!]
Fortunately, the opponent he'd "directly aimed at" before appeared as only one person, so he knew exactly whom to snipe.
The timing of the shot was possible because the Goddess told him. Stuffing the scissor blades into a sniper rifle... was quite a fresh experience since it was his first time doing it.
"Still, how should I put it, um… Yes! It was, it was fun. That's all that matters."
It was fun. Having summarized the entire situation with that single sentence, he smiled brightly while looking at the vanished Gate.
"...!"
It was then. Something was falling from the last shimmering cluster of light. Jeong Suho reflexively jumped from the crane and caught the falling figure.
"N-Nari!"
The one who appeared through the vanished Gate was Shin Bitnari.
"...You really... y-you did it."
He smiled joyfully and rested his forehead against the unconscious Nari's forehead. They were falling steeply from the sky toward the ground.
Just then, the magic crystal he'd placed in his pocket glowed, and a demon carrying red magic power arrived. The owner of the magic crystal that sought them out was none other than Min Jaeyoon.
The demon's magic power pushed them up into the air, slowing their falling speed.
"Huh? Oh, um, t-thank... you."
At the same time, an orange glow spread across their cheeks. Feeling this, Jeong Suho took his forehead away and looked at the sky.
The long night had finally ended and the sun was rising. Seeing that, he smiled faintly and spoke.
"N-Nari. Do you know? Some time... has passed since you went in there. I waited up there for several days without moving an inch."
Though she wouldn't hear him, he continued to speak. He quietly talked while stroking the forehead of Nari, whom he held in his arms.
"So, the thing is. Yes, it's January 1st. We turned a year older. I... honestly still don't really know what's going on."
The dark end of the year finished and the New Year dawned. Jeong Suho actually didn't know what exactly had happened.
He'd never heard an explanation of the circumstances from her, and he still didn't know her secret that Kang Ihyun or Ah Nan seemed to know.
But even so, Jeong Suho vaguely knew that Nari had made a very big decision.
The door of that Gate was the door to Nari's room during her middle school years, and the carriage Nari rode didn't contain any evil energy.
Nari had clearly overcome even her own evil-aligned spirit energy. Surely, something incredible must've happened to her over those few days. He smiled while looking at Shin Bitnari.
Soon, the sun rose completely. Jeong Suho, holding Nari, slowly landed on the Sanctuary building.
"We protected last year safely. Nari. This time, let’s have a normal year..."
Then Jeong Suho fell silent. Was it okay to say this?
People mostly say they're ordinary, but that "ordinariness" was far too expensive. At least it was for Jeong Suho and Shin Bitnari.
A person who had much to hide in order to appear ordinary. Would the day ever come when even this could be recognized as "ordinariness"?
Therefore, Jeong Suho decided to give her this New Year's greeting.
"I was right after all. Nari. You're a truly special and wonderful person in this world."
* * *
The Lord of Chaos opened his eyes with a start. He was soaking in a bathtub within Nari's deep inner world before he knew it. And Nari, who was watching him from in front, spoke.
"You're not going to cancel the contract halfway, right?"
The Lord of Chaos looked at Nari and nodded. Nari let out a deep sigh.
"What's it that you people really want?"
"What?"
Nari stood before the Lord of Chaos. Black bubbles were boiling from the wound on his arm, which was hanging outside the bathtub. Nari spoke to the Lord of Chaos again.
"I watched your nightmare from a third-person perspective."
Nari looked at the Lord of Chaos. He didn't waver even when the Constellations declared war on him.
The moment he began to waver greatly was when Mom appeared.
Nari reflected on the words Mom had said in his nightmare.
"Did you meet my mom?"
"...."
"Right, I know you won't answer. Then, is what you want to be recognized by my mom?"
Even in a state where all his strength was completely gone, he laughed bitterly at those words.
"Don't talk nonsense. Do you think anything will change just because a mere Incarnation recognizes a Constellation?"
"Then, what's it you really want?"
"Didn't I tell you? Nari. What we want is revenge. It's telling them clearly that we're here, and devouring everything they enjoyed."
After hearing those words, Nari slowly stroked the Lord of Chaos's wrist. The wound healed in an instant. Nari continued her words to the Lord of Chaos, who was staring at her.
"I'll get revenge for you."
"Then. You shouldn't have thrown such a tantrum from the start."
"However, I won't do it in the way you want."
Nari's black eyes looked straight at the Lord of Chaos. Previously, she was afraid of the darkness writhing inside the Lord of Chaos's pupils, but that was no longer the case.
"Don't be ridiculous, I don't believe those words anymore."
At Nari's words, the Lord of Chaos violently splashed the bathwater onto the floor. A sizzling sound was heard as the floor corroded.
The Lord of Chaos pressed his hand to his forehead at the situation before his eyes, which was completely opposite to a few years ago. He spoke while gritting his teeth.
"Shin Bitnari. If you waver, I'll urge destruction at any time. Do you think what you realized now will last until the end? Do you think there'll never be another moment when you wish for the world to be destroyed?"
"I know, honestly I'm not confident."
Nari laughed awkwardly. The heart was something that broke very easily. It was even easier for someone who'd experienced being shattered into pieces once before.
If he continued to urge destruction from her side, she couldn't guarantee that such a thing wouldn't happen again. Therefore, there was only one choice.
"And I don't think you're going to give up either. So."
Nari took a piece of paper from her inventory and slowly tore it in half. A ripping sound occurred, and the Holy Flame that was glowing brightly on the seal gradually vanished. The Lord of Chaos frowned.
"What... are you doing?"
"A loophole in the contract. You said you'd destroy the 'land I'm stepping on.'"
Nari felt someone firmly grasping her heart. She felt a vivid sensation of her own place being prepared in a hot pit of fire far away.
The face of one person came to mind. She'd decided to go back. He'd probably be very sad. But he was a kid with many good people around him. And.
"Because after I resolve everything, I'll definitely come back."
Riiip. As the completely torn paper fell from Nari's fingers.
[Shin Bitnari (Party A) has violated the Oath of the Sacred Flame!]
[Shin Bitnari (Party A) is falling into Hell!]
"I'm sorry. So. Let's just be ex-friends for a while."
And finally, her Incarnation-exclusive trait evolved.
[You saved the world by sacrificing yourself! Your trait is evolving!]
[Incarnation-Exclusive Trait :: 'Messiah of Despair']