Chapter 77

Chapter 77.

“How many can you handle?”

Yeriche’s voice trembled when she saw Scathach’s true body drawing closer.

A hard-counter Boss against Han Seol-ah, one that had once driven the Republic of Korea to the brink of destruction all by itself…!

And now there were two of them.

“I can kill all the other Monsters before they reach the fortress. As for Scathach…”

Han Seol-ah calculated coldly.

How strong am I right now?

Watching the back of the one ahead of her, the “Apostle,” Han Seol-ah’s Frost Magic had improved tremendously.

She possessed talent so great that even Frozen described it as “genius.”

Given enough time, Han Seol-ah was a genius capable of opening a new horizon in Frost Magic.

However, she lacked absolute time.

Frozen gave a cool-headed assessment.

[You are still not enough to deal with both of them.]

“…I will take one.”

Han Seol-ah adjusted her grip on her staff and steeled her resolve.

“Now I understand why the Special One… no, why the Apostle told us to ‘hold out’ instead of ‘win.’”

When the situation reached its limit, Yeriche’s voice instead became calm.

“The other one… we will hold it off somehow.”

Scathach’s roar grew clearer and clearer.

***

I made up my mind.

Had I not been thinking about this since before I came in?

That I would not sacrifice anyone.

I carefully moved the hand holding Star Severance and thrust it deep into the center of the Outer God’s strangely beating heart.

A bizarre sensation came through my fingertips, as if I were pushing through soft mud.

[You have damaged the Outer God’s heart.]

A red status window blocked my vision.

“Bullshit.”

The status windows sent by Outer Gods were all like this.

An ominous red that called blood to mind.

The status windows of this world each had their own unique “color.”

If speaking in terms of gods, there was the Supreme God.

There was “gold,” the most powerful color, which guided people regarding the fundamental rules of the world.

Below that were ordinary red-series “warnings” and “notifications.”

Status windows related to the Tower were blue or green.

On the other hand, status windows related to Outer Gods were a sickening, sticky blood-red that made me nauseated just by looking at them.

“Get lost.”

I ignored the window blocking my sight and carefully pushed the sword in.

SQUELCH—GRIND!

The black heart made an unpleasant sound as it gushed dead, mud-like black blood.

At that moment.

[The Outer God looks down upon you.]

RIIIIING—!!!

“Ghk.”

Every sound in the world evaporated, and a chilling tinnitus that seemed ready to tear my eardrums apart slammed into my ears.

It was a violent sensation, as if someone had pulled out my brain, crushed it, and shattered my sense of space in every direction.

The divinity beyond that distant dimension had merely cast a single glance my way, yet my body felt as though it would break apart.

“F…uck!”

Using Star Severance, which I had driven into the heart, like a staff, I clenched my teeth so hard that blood seeped from my gums and endured it.

RUMBLE…

Along with the sense that something enormous and ominous was writhing beyond the sky, a terrifying gravity that seemed ready to snap every bone in my body slammed down on me.

I felt as if I would cough up blood and be crushed into the floor at any moment.

But with veins bulging on the hand gripping the sword hilt, I forced myself to withstand this too.

It was the Outer God’s curse.

Its servant, created by sending down its heart, was being brought to death, so it inflicted an equally certain death upon the one who had caused that death. It was an absurd curse.

At this rate, the moment I killed the heart, I would die from the curse as well.

This curse could not be blocked or avoided.

After all, it was a curse sent down by a divine being known as an Outer God.

If such tricks worked, it would not be a divine being.

Instead, there was a method that would let me avoid dying.

I had to offer a scapegoat in my place.

On the previous Floors, when I had killed Outer Gods’ hearts, there had been plenty of scapegoats around me to offer up.

But the 94th Floor was a battlefield created by the twisted and tangled clearing methods of the 90th Floor range…

A battlefield where there was only me.

Killing the heart in a place like this?

That was the same as saying I would commit suicide.

From the beginning, I had no choices other than “escape” or “failure.”

‘This damn Tower.’

So, while preparing to climb the 94th Floor…

I had carefully selected the personnel to assign to the Defense Team.

And I had laid all sorts of groundwork on them.

…So they would “happily” sacrifice themselves in my place.

Of course, one might think it would have been easier to bring that sacrifice with me on the Offense Team from the start.

But the Tower’s environment was not that lenient.

There was no Hunter who could accompany me while withstanding the gravity and poison of the 94th Floor’s offense zone.

Before I could even transfer the curse, the scapegoat’s body would have been destroyed first.

That was why the scapegoat absolutely had to be sent to the Defense Team.

Here, there was the first obstacle.

The Outer God’s curse would fall upon “me,” who belonged to the Offense Team.

Naturally so. I was the one who had destroyed the heart.

But I had to send this curse to someone on the Defense Team.

How should I do it?

…The method was simple.

“Phew.”

I closed my eyes.

The more I concentrated, the more I felt the time surrounding me gradually slow down.

The intervals between my breaths stretched infinitely longer.

The Outer God’s madness surged in as though it would tear apart my mind at any moment, but instead of resisting by force, I relaxed my body and endlessly sank my inner consciousness.

CRUNCH!

As a price, my body slammed pitifully into the floor, but my inner self at this moment was as tranquil as a clear mirror and still water.

In other words, I had reached the state of a Clear Mirror and Still Water.

Using Star Severance, which I had thrust in with exquisite precision so the heart would not die instantly, as a medium, I sent Internal Energy flowing into that still-bizarre pulse.

My power seeped into the Outer God’s heart like ultrafine dust settling inside the alveoli.

And through that Internal Energy…

I found the line connected to the Outer God’s heart on the “opposite side.”

‘This is it.’

It was hard to express in human language, but if I had to compare it, it was a strange point of connection, as though two holes were tied together by one string.

I found the spatial coordinates connected to the Outer God’s heart on the “opposite side.”

Once I figured that out, the rest was simple.

I firmly memorized those “spatial coordinates” so I would not forget them, then pulled out Star Severance.

In slowed time, I could see black blood slowly gathering in the sword wound Star Severance had left behind.

Before the Outer God’s curse rushing toward me could strangle my neck, I raised Star Severance above my head and explosively drew up my remaining Internal Energy.

All that remained was to sever the “spatial coordinates” I had just found in a single slash in order to pass the curse on.

I poured in my Internal Energy.

WHOOSH—!

Internal Energy blazed like fire along Star Severance’s blade.

It was a beautiful golden light.

The realm where energy burned like flame along the blade.

…It was the technique I had named “Sword Energy.”

Because Internal Energy, the purest and most refined power of all, wrapped around Star Severance, there was nothing in the world it could not cut.

Its power had been proven when it had easily bisected the Outer God’s shell in a single slash.

However, what I was about to do from now on was impossible with Sword Energy alone.

To cut an abstract concept like space, I needed power that transcended Sword Energy by an unfathomable degree.

I needed a stronger strike.

Pour in more Internal Energy?

Until there was enough?

Unfortunately, doing that would not make it any stronger.

Cutting the physical body of an Outer God.

That was the upper limit of Sword Energy.

I had to cut something beyond that.

Something that surpassed physics.

…For example.

The true body of a divine Outer God.

That could not be cut with Sword Energy.

I needed something beyond it.

And in the genre world I had used as reference, naturally…

There existed a realm beyond Sword Energy.

Energy stretched in all directions like flame. It was sharp, but ultimately an ephemeral power that scattered into the air.

I confined it.

Like a blacksmith tempering iron, I hammered the energy and compressed the Internal Energy, creating a solid net.

This was the process of forging the energy extending from Star Severance and layering a blade made of energy over it.

CLANG! CLANG!

It felt as though the sound of hammering came from far away.

‘…What is this?’

Originally, I should have had to focus all sorts of things, such as my mind, strength, and soul, for ages, struggle like hell, and even then I might not have succeeded…

But before I knew it, the forging was complete.

‘…’

Thinking about it calmly, the sensation was surprisingly similar to the timing minigames I had repeated countless times when crafting weapons in Lost Honor.

It was as if…

“Ha Seong-un” had been trained for this very moment.

‘It feels unpleasant, but I do not have the luxury to think about the System’s intentions.’

Lost Honor was always a strange game.

For now, I had no choice but to accept it at that level.

I set aside my doubts for a moment and focused on Star Severance before my eyes.

Between Star Severance and the forged net…

A “space” had formed.

Now, into that space…

I pushed Internal Energy.

KRRRRRSH!

The compressed Internal Energy screamed.

The enormous amount of Sword Energy trapped inside the net collided with itself, trying to burst out.

It was a rampage that seemed ready to blow off its master’s wrist at any moment.

I suppressed that repulsive force.

Not through strength…

But through perfect control.

I stopped it at a single point.

Stillness and correctness.

The moment my will touched the blade…

The rampaging energy suddenly stopped as if it had been a lie.

The energies fit together perfectly without a single gap and no longer shook.

It was a perfect stillness, as though even the sounds around me had been swallowed by a vacuum.

‘It is a shame there is no master here to be amazed by this.’

If that old man, the Martial God of China, saw this, would he cough blood and collapse?

Golden flames poured anew from Star Severance.

The flames could not flow outward, and trapped by the forged net, they began to swirl inside the space.

Without stopping…

I continued to push in Internal Energy.

HMMMM—!

Star Severance trembled and rang.

The energy blade wrapped around Star Severance also quivered.

Golden flames were filling the empty space.

RUMBLE—

The flames gathered, tangled, and merged.

Because they could not burst outward, they pooled and pooled inward.

They compressed.

The flames that had been shining gold began to turn black like the night sky once they passed the critical point.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE—!

The energy compressed to its limit flashed intermittently yet threateningly, like lightning inside storm clouds, as though it would explode the instant it was touched.

It looked like a cluster of stars in the night sky.

Bind and confine it into a net, then halt it at a single point.

Only then did energy finally cross the wall of matter and become aura.

Sword Energy Becoming Aura.

A cluster of stars made from Sword Energy.

Its name was Sword Aura!

“Heh…”

To compare it to something, this was a martial arts ultimate technique.

Blood trickled from my mouth.

A feeling of exhaustion, as though my insides had been emptied out, covered my whole body.

With trembling hands, I raised Star Severance.

‘I will cut it.’

Then, slowly but surely, I swung it down.

CRAAACK—!

The moment that primal, intense will made contact, the net binding the energy exceeded its limit and shattered into pieces.

At the same time, the sealed cluster of stars in the night sky poured explosively forward, as if releasing all the violence it had been suppressing.

KWAAAAAA—!!

A pitch-black trajectory stretched out and devoured the darkness.

The Outer God’s heart, which would have deflected ordinary Sword Energy, was erased soundlessly without even resisting.

That was not the end.

CRACK…!

Along with a chilling rupturing sound, a black fissure was drawn across empty space.

Beyond the physical body, even the abstract concept known as “space” that existed beyond it…

Was perfectly bisected.

And through that gap…

I saw Cheol-su’s face right beside the Defense Team’s core.

“Kim Cheol-su!!!”

Cheol-su reflexively looked back at me.

His eyes widened in shock, but immediately afterward, firm resolve settled into them.

Then Cheol-su jumped into the gap in the severed space!

***

Cheol-su had not forgotten Ha Seong-un’s words that, after some time passed, the core would swell greatly and a new Gate would be created.

That was why, even after raising and reinforcing Earthen Walls and establishing a defensive position, he had never taken his attention off the core for a single moment, even if all he could do was support the battle from afar with B-rank Divine Power.

As he protected the core and watched the battle before him, Cheol-su felt as though his insides were burning black.

Han Seol-ah, Yeriche, and Lee A-un, who were facing Scathach…

All of them were desperately shaving away their own lives.

‘Seong-un, hurry. Everyone is almost at their limit!’

“Aaaaaah!!!”

Yeriche let out a blood-boiling cry and unleashed Divine Power.

Scathach’s tail, swung with enough force to shatter the Earthen Wall, cut through the air.

To block that tail, which swung like an iron mace, Yeriche shoved her own body into its path.

BOOOOM!

Rather than physically blocking it, it was closer to using her body as a shield and taking the hit in place of the fortress wall to protect it.

“Grrrrgh!”

The impact was so heavy that it nearly crushed her body, which she had reinforced firmly with Divine Power.

Yeriche gritted her teeth and suppressed the beast-like scream that was about to burst out.

Even amid the pain of her bones and flesh being crushed, Yeriche did not collapse.

Rather, with vicious tenacity, the massive Divine Power dwelling throughout her body restored her flesh in an instant.

“You are nothing special, Scathach!”

Over her shout, half bluff and half defiance, a small voice followed.

[You are doing well, insect!]

Cheol-su did not know how such a tiny body could perform techniques like that…

But Ratty swept across the battlefield at an invisible speed, cutting, deflecting, and redirecting the icicles pouring in from every direction.

Thanks to that small but reliable escort constantly drawing attention, Lee A-un was able to stand in place and fully concentrate.

Occasionally, fragments of icicles Ratty had destroyed flew over and made cuts here and there, but Lee A-un did not seem to care at all.

The skin all over his body split apart, and blood poured out in gushes.

It was the price of forcibly drawing out an extreme power from within his body to shape Spirits.

Because Yeriche did not even have enough Divine Power to use for strengthening and healing herself…

Treating Lee A-un had become solely Cheol-su’s responsibility.

Even though Cheol-su poured healing into him without resting for a single moment, Lee A-un’s wounds showed no sign of healing.

Whenever a wound seemed about to close, his raw flesh would tear open again, and instead of blood, pitch-black Spirits would pour out in swarms.

The Spirits that appeared that way repeatedly flew toward Scathach, clung to him, exploded, and vanished.

“Heh…”

‘…Hmm. His mind has not broken, has it?’

Then, whenever Lee A-un’s life force was being consumed faster than Cheol-su’s healing could keep up and a crisis came, Yeriche, who was watching the party window, would pour in her S-rank Divine Power with perfect timing and barely pull him across the line between life and death.

In that way, by a narrow margin, a miraculous formation was established in which three Hunters fit together like gears and held out against one Scathach.

‘…Impressive. Truly.’

Was Scathach not a Boss entity that had nearly destroyed the Republic of Korea all by itself?

It was enough to call this a miracle.

And then.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

What was even more astonishing was that Han Seol-ah was single-handedly pushing back the remaining Scathach.

It was a completely different sight from the despairing battle when Scathach had once descended upon the Republic of Korea as a Break Boss, and she had been helplessly forced to do nothing but endure.

Although she had grown by leaps and bounds after meeting the Apostle, the very fact that she was landing such fierce effective attacks one after another on a “Frost Immunity” Demonic Beast that was a perfect counter to her in terms of compatibility was a talent outside the standard.

‘I do not know how she is landing effective attacks on Scathach, who has Frost Immunity, but still.’

Each time Han Seol-ah’s magic struck, Scathach screamed in pain and busied himself retreating again and again.

The problem was that the damage…

Was insufficient.

There was no decisive strike that could kill Scathach.

Of course, after pushing Scathach back, she seemed to be preparing a powerful strike…

But the cunning Scathach did not wait for that spell to be completed.

However, it was only a matter of time.

From the middle of the battle onward, Han Seol-ah had changed her strategy, using sharp restraining spells to bind Scathach’s feet and divert his attention while preparing the formula for a lethal Grand Magic behind them.

If that spell was completed, she could kill one Scathach…!

The moment Kim Cheol-su became certain of that—

CRAAACK—

“?”

The core he absolutely had to protect suddenly cracked with a splitting sound.

‘What is this? Is the core swelling?’

The instant he tensed, recalling Ha Seong-un’s warning, the core did not swell. Instead, it split completely in half.

And from between those split surfaces, an abyssal darkness far too alien and bizarre to be called Mana began to gush out.

‘He said I had to… jump in, right? Is this the sign that a new Gate is opening?’

But that was not it either.

It was merely something like black mud, bubbling as it dirtied the floor.

Just looking at it, it appeared so ominous and dangerous that it made his breath catch.

It was also somewhat different from the sequence Seong-un had described.

‘Is this right?’

As Cheol-su hesitated, he heard Ha Seong-un’s voice.

“Kim Cheol-su!!!”

“!”

Kim Cheol-su immediately jumped into the split heart.

At that moment.

A terrible gaze touched Kim Cheol-su.

“Keuk!”

Cheol-su’s heart stopped as if it had been a lie.

His blood vessels froze, his vision blacked out, and his soul was about to leave his body.

THUMP—!

The Authority of the Immortal Vestment activated.

His stopped heart resumed pumping, seized Cheol-su by the collar as he cooled into death, and forcibly dragged him out of the swamp of death.

“Hah! Haaah…!”

The moment he swallowed a scream and snapped his eyes open, Cheol-su realized that he was helplessly falling into a distant abyss.

He could not tell where he was falling or how far.

Perhaps, in the gap between twisted dimensions, his body had merely been turned upside down and was floating in empty air.

“Hah! Haaah!”

In that strange sensation where even the flow of time could not be felt…

[?!]

Cheol-su sensed that the enormous being above the sky was startled.

It was strange, but he sensed it clearly.

[!!!]

Then that being took its eyes off Cheol-su.

“…What was that?”

CRUNCH! CRACKLE!

The small dimensional gap Cheol-su had barely slipped out of suddenly trembled and shook.

Then an invisible, merciless force grabbed the gap and began tearing it open without restraint.

With a sound like a stretched dimensional membrane ripping apart, it burst open helplessly.

Soon, beyond the torn cross-section of space, something formless, darker and stickier than the pitch-black abyss, bubbled into view.

Something…

Something “incomprehensible” that seemed as though it would contaminate his mind just by being seen, something that could not dare be defined…

Was crawling out.

The moment Cheol-su felt that—

[Outer God-■ looks down upon the 94th Floor…]

[Unauthorized Access]

[Warning: Leave Immediately]

Golden messages and red messages flashed one after another.

[Warning!] [Warning!]

Warning messages stuck densely to the body of the invisible “enormous thing” like seizure notices.

Because of that, Cheol-su could faintly make out its form.

It was shaped like a whale.

An unbelievably enormous whale.

And attached to its entire body were countless tentacles…

That “tentacled whale” did not seem to care about the System’s warnings at all and was focused solely on tearing space wider.

[Warning. You are violating the agreement.]

Then—

A brilliantly shining golden message blocked the whale’s path.

Perhaps the whale could not ignore this message alone, because it paused for a moment.

[L e e A - u n]

…?

It spoke…

The name of one Hunter.

CRAAAAACK!

Along with a terrible sound, space tore apart.