Chapter 56

Chapter 56. The Black Human

The colossal form of the Sphinx smeared apart as if paint bleeding across a canvas.

The Pyramid's massive stone blocks crumbled away like a sandcastle.

The air tore open, and black smoke came billowing out.

Mayon.

The Aberration of ancient Timal Mythology.

A black shadow that fed on humanity's fear and nightmares.

"Eek!"

Park Hayan flinched in shock and stumbled backward.

She remembered it clearly.

That sweet yet spine-chilling voice of temptation that had tried to imprison her in eternal despair.

"Boss! Wh-what the hell is that thing?!"

Park Jihun drew his longsword and shouted.

But the creature had no intention of fighting.

WHOOSH—!

The black smoke coiled like a serpent and tried to shoot skyward.

It's trying to run.

Aberrations are inherently supernatural beings.

They are creatures that feed on the unknown and the mysterious.

The moment their identity is exposed and their True Name is spoken, their power weakens dramatically.

That's why they always turn tail the instant their name is called.

But.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I tightened my grip on Abriel.

FLASH—!

The Holy Sword's blade spewed forth blinding white light.

I hurled the Holy Sword with all my strength toward the gap in the rippling space, the hole the black smoke was trying to escape through.

WHOOOOSH—!

Abriel shot forward, tracing an arc of light.

The Holy Sword pierced straight through the fleeing Mayon's tail -- no, through the central core of the black smoke.

SQUELCH—!

CRACK—!

"KRAAAAAAGH!"

A scream bordering on a death rattle shook the Demon Realm.

The black smoke thrashed and flailed in agony.

But it couldn't escape.

Abriel's holy power had anchored itself into the space, binding Mayon tight.

Sacred chains coiled around the black smoke, winding tight and dragging it down to the ground.

"It burns! I'm burning alive! AAAARGH!"

Mayon screamed.

To him, a being born of darkness and nightmares, the light of a Holy Sword housing an Archangel was no different from acid.

I walked leisurely toward where the creature thrashed and writhed.

"Urgh...... spare me, spare me......"

The black smoke clumped together, forming the shape of a person -- no, the hideous face of a demon -- and pleaded.

I seized the nape of the black smoke as if grabbing the creature by the scruff of its neck.

"An Aberration from Earth."

I looked down at it with cold, sunken eyes.

"What are you doing in the Demon Realm?"

Mayon's eyes -- no, the two gaping holes that served as eyes -- shook wildly.

"Why are you playing gatekeeper in this Incomprehensible trial?"

"Th-that's......"

"Answer only what I ask."

I flicked Abriel's hilt.

Holy power erupted once more, searing Mayon's body.

"KRAAAGH! I'll talk! I'll talk, so please!"

Mayon trembled violently with terror.

The creature couldn't even look me in the eye.

"H-how can a mere human...... form a contract with an Archangel and wield a Holy Sword?! Don't tell me -- you aren't human?!"

Horror bled through its voice.

A contradiction that even an Aberration couldn't comprehend.

Transcendent power dwelling within a human body.

I let a faint smile slip.

"I'm the one asking the questions."

"Eek......!"

When I glared, the creature hastily opened its mouth.

"A-a contract! I formed a contract! With the 'Incomprehensible being' coiled up in the deepest reaches of this Demon Realm...... at its very edge!"

"An Incomprehensible being?"

"Yes! That being summoned me! It heard my voice across dimensions and called me to this place!"

Mayon continued, trembling violently.

"It proposed a deal. In this labyrinth of hallucinations, it told me to judge the souls of the challengers. If I trapped them forever in nightmares...... it promised to give me 'sacred fire'!"

Sacred fire.

I knew what that was.

The pre-Common Era, the Timal age.

The reason Mayon came to be called the black devil was tied to that very 'sacred fire.'

The story went that Mayon had been cast out and became a devil after trying to steal the fire possessed by his brother 'Gugulang,' who was known as the God of Light.

"If I could just obtain that fire...... even an Aberration like me could gain a tangible form and become the 'Nightmare King'!"

Mayon cried out as if lamenting the injustice.

In other words, blinded by greed, it had crawled all the way to the Demon Realm of its own accord.

But threaded through the creature's voice was a terror far deeper than greed.

"B-but that wasn't the only reason......"

"......?"

"I couldn't refuse. The moment I heard that being's voice...... it felt as if my very soul was being crushed. It was so horrifying, so terrifying...... I didn't dare even think of defying it!"

Mayon's eyes twisted with fear.

Aberrations are beings that feed on fear.

Human dread is their sustenance.

And yet, something had made even Mayon -- a creature that devours terror -- tremble to the marrow of its bones.

'So that thing is at the end of this place.'

I tightened my grip on Abriel.

Incomprehensible.

An abyss beyond understanding.

The thing coiled up in its depths.

'But why Mayon, of all things?'

Questions chased each other's tails.

Why had that being gone out of its way to summon Mayon -- an Aberration born of Earth -- across the walls of dimensions and into this place?

The Demon Realm should be teeming with high-ranking demons and illusionists.

Why specifically choose a nightmare from Earth?

I looked down coldly at Mayon.

"What is that being's name?"

"I-I don't know! I don't know either!"

Mayon shook its head desperately.

"It has no form, no name! Only a colossal voice that reverberates through my mind as if it would tear it apart...... AAAARGH!"

The creature suddenly clutched its head and began to scream.

BZZT—! CRACKLE—!

Mayon's body, composed of black smoke, twisted grotesquely.

"Wh-what the--?!"

Park Jihun recoiled in shock and stumbled back.

Park Hayan likewise gathered her spirits and assumed a defensive stance.

Something was surging up from within Mayon's body.

It was neither the light of the Holy Sword nor the demonic energy of a Dream Demon.

A deeper, more ominous darkness, as if it would swallow everything whole.

"N-no! Spare me! I was wrong! AAAAAAARGH!"

Mayon shrieked toward the sky in utter desperation.

But even that scream was being devoured by the pitch-black darkness.

I analyzed what I was seeing.

'That's not self-destruction.'

Some colossal force was reaching out from the depths of the Demon Realm, forcibly twisting and tearing the creature's soul apart.

'The Incomprehensible. It's trying to kill Mayon.'

The word struck my mind again.

Perhaps 'Incomprehensible difficulty' wasn't just a label.

......Perhaps it was the Incomprehensible itself.

That nameless being was personally reaching out to annihilate Mayon.

Why?

Simply because it failed its mission?

There had to be a reason it was trying to erase Mayon so frantically, without leaving a trace.

From the look of things, Mayon held a critical key to this trial.

As though keeping the creature alive would expose something disadvantageous to the being behind it all.

"KRAAAAAAGH! I'm burning! My very existence!"

Mayon's screams teetered on the edge of oblivion.

The black smoke scattered, and its core was on the verge of shattering to pieces.

I withdrew Abriel and stepped close to Mayon.

The oppressive weight of the darkness crushing the creature prickled my skin, but Abriel's holy power deflected it.

"Do you want to live?"

I asked dryly.

"P-please! I'll do anything if you spare me!"

Mayon nodded frantically.

Pride, dignity -- none of it mattered anymore.

Even an Aberration, when faced with the prospect of true annihilation, was nothing more than a frail creature begging to be saved.

I turned my head and looked at Park Hayan.

"Park Hayan."

"......Y-yes!"

"Form the contract."

"......!"

Park Hayan's eyes went wide.

She flinched and took a step back.

A contract with Mayon.

To her, Mayon was a nightmare made manifest.

The horrifying monster that had gnawed at her soul by showing her visions of her parents' death.

Her body trembled finely.

Her spirits, agitated by her anxiety, flickered and dimmed.

"Don't be afraid."

I spoke firmly.

"This is the thing that brought you nightmares. But in the end, it's just another type of spirit."

A vile spirit, grown by feeding on darkness and fear.

That was Mayon's true nature.

"Overcome it and dominate it."

I looked straight into her eyes.

"You can do it."

Those words.

You can do it.

My voice, brimming with conviction, embedded itself in her ears.

Park Hayan's trembling stopped.

She bit down on her lip.

Hard enough to draw blood.

And then, slowly, she nodded.

"......I'll do it."

She stepped forward.

The fear that had filled her eyes sank away, and in its place, a resolute will blazed to life.

The seed of the Spirit Monarch.

That transcendent talent was finally beginning to bloom in the crucible of crisis.

Park Hayan extended both hands and released her Mana toward Mayon's scattering black smoke.

FLASH—!

Pure white light and pitch-black darkness collided.

A spirit contract.

The ritual of binding each other's souls had begun.

"Grk, nngh......!"

Mayon resisted on instinct.

But it was better than being torn apart by the Incomprehensible being.

If it wanted to survive, it had no choice but to grab the leash Park Hayan offered.

That was when it happened.

RUMMMBLE—!

The Demon Realm's earth shuddered.

The sky tore open, and crimson lightning crashed down.

A colossal will attempting to interfere with the contract.

The 'Incomprehensible' was enraged.

"SCREEEEEE!"

"Kill them! Tear them apart!"

Grotesque wails burst from the surrounding red sandstorm.

Hundreds of demons erupted from the ground and tore through the air.

Demons far larger and more ferocious than the ones the Succubus had commanded in the Pyramid.

They surged toward us, intent on ripping us to shreds.

"Park Jihun!"

I shouted.

"Yes, Boss!"

Park Jihun adjusted his grip on the longsword and answered.

But even his voice was trembling ever so slightly.

Before the overwhelming numbers and the malevolent demonic energy, human instinct was sounding its alarms.

"Guard Park Hayan."

"......!"

"The Sword Saint's soul I gave you. Listen to what he tells you."

Park Jihun's eyes wavered.

He looked down at his own sword.

Garsia, the ruined world.

The final hero who had guarded that place alone and resisted to the very end.

That noble, unbreakable fighting spirit now dwelled within Park Jihun's soul.

"Don't be scared. You're someone who'll become greater than anyone."

At my words, Park Jihun swallowed hard.

And then.

SHING.

The aura emanating from his sword changed.

It was no longer the shallow bloodlust of a neighborhood thug.

Heavy, sharp, overwhelming Sword Aura.

"......Just leave it to me, Boss."

A cold blue light settled in Park Jihun's eyes.

The Sword Saint's soul was synchronizing with him, awakening.

He stepped in front of Park Hayan and stood like a wall.

A towering barrier that would not let a single demon reach her.

"I'm counting on you."

I turned my head.

And then I strode forward without hesitation, straight into the tide of the oncoming demon horde.