[Chapter 213]
[Unbreakable Will (5)]
Incheon Metropolitan City, Bupyeong-gu.
Regulus Clan and Bupyeong-gu's clans finally defeated Mastema.
"Whew, we barely subdued him. Using subspace was quite tricky, but fortunately we had Hye-rim."
Regulus Clan Lord Gu Yeon-su.
He approached Mastema who had collapsed like a rag.
Park Hye-rim followed him.
Mastema had excellent power in brainwashing magic and space magic.
They had to be prepared for any possibility.
She was still wary of him.
"My miscalculation. I didn't know you could control subspace. From there, my plan was completely twisted. Indeed, it's not for nothing that you've been a Twelve Seat for over 20 years."
Mastema laughed weakly.
However, contrary to Mastema's words, Park Hye-rim had also suffered major injuries.
Her mana was almost depleted.
If she pushed herself any further, she might cause a mana runaway.
"Of course. I'm not called <Holy Mother> for nothing, you know?"
Nevertheless, Park Hye-rim didn't show weakness.
She forced herself to act strong.
Mastema saw this and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"It was a good fight. I hope you live a life without regrets from now on. Now kill me."
Mastema was quite a strange Mine for a terrorist.
Gentlemanly, and wishing for the enemy's glory.
Gu Yeon-su and Park Hye-rim couldn't help but feel complex emotions towards Mastema.
But he was a Mine.
A Mine that had to be killed.
Nine Dragon Style
Heavy Rain
Gu Yeon-su raised his sword.
He swings the sword down towards Mastema.
Pierced by the sword, he disappeared becoming mana with a peaceful face.
"I guess this is what they call a soul stone."
Where Mastema disappeared.
Park Hye-rim found a small orb there.
It was a soul stone.
Gu Yeon-su confirmed the soul stone and sighed in relief.
Mastema had really disappeared.
"We should quickly inform the Mana Management Organization that he's been eliminated. Does anyone know what happened to the other Mines?"
"We just received contact. They say Abaddon, Samael, and Beelzebub have been subjugated."
Gu Yeon-su was curious about the situation on other battlefields.
At that time, Navigator Cynthia spoke.
Abaddon, Samael, Beelzebub.
Adding Mastema, half of the Seven Devils had been subjugated.
However, the Mines that hadn't been subjugated yet were troublesome.
This much damage was caused just from facing Mastema.
"Ah."
"What's wrong?"
It was then.
Cynthia paused.
Her face hardened.
Gu Yeon-su sensed that something bad had happened.
His prediction was correct.
"They say <Sword Empress>-nim has passed away."
""""..."
"While fighting Armageddon..."
The defeat of the living legend, <Sword Empress>.
People couldn't say anything at the shocking news.
They were dumbfounded on the spot.
"<Sword Empress>-nim is gone..."
Gu Yeon-su muttered softly.
How strong must Armageddon be to defeat a living legend in the world?
The fear he felt was only momentary.
He couldn't become depressed like his clan members.
"We're returning to the Mana Management Organization promptly. This is no time to be leisurely."
""""Yes!!""""
"I have a feeling the terror won't end today."
Gu Yeon-su decided to leave.
Clan members struggled to their feet.
From now on, they had to walk back.
It would be a hard journey for the injured, but there was no choice.
"..."
Meanwhile, Park Hye-rim stared blankly at the soul stone.
A soul stone she was seeing for the first time in her life.
She murmured softly while looking at the light of the soul stone.
"Is this Mastema's soul stone? The light of the soul stone is weaker than I thought."
☆
Seocho-gu, Seoul.
The area was utterly miserable.
People were roaming the streets as if intoxicated.
They throw off their clothes and rub bodies with members of the opposite sex whose eyes meet.
"Showing such shameless sights in broad daylight on the main street. Vulgar things. But that suits you. No different from pigs and dogs."
"Kuk..."
"So how is it? Seeing the people you care about with their eyes rolled back in desire."
"Haah, Lilith-nim!!"
"Please, just once to us...!!"
"Shut up, you pigs and dogs."
People enchanted by Lilith's magic.
It wasn't just ordinary people.
Her magic was too powerful.
People fell under the magic the moment their mana resistance lowered.
As a result, even Seocho-gu's players and Donghae Clan members were caught up.
Donghae Clan Lord Kim Seong-min.
He shuddered seeing his clan members disarming themselves at will and walking to Lilith like dogs.
"It seems to be my victory. What can you few remaining do? "
""""..."
"So I'll give you a chance."
Click click.
Lilith walked towards Kim Seong-min with a haughty face.
"Kneel, to me."
"..."
"Beg me to withdraw, kneel."
Lilith looked around.
Kim Seong-min's gaze also swept the surroundings.
People shedding tears and giving in to lust were coming into view.
Clan members with strength drained from their eyes were coming into view.
It was a sight too hard to look at.
On the other hand, reality was cruel.
The strength of himself and the remaining clan members was no match for Lilith.
Fighting would only increase damage to the surroundings, resulting in a dog's death.
"So kneel. Kneel and kiss my shoes. Then I'll just touch you and withdraw."
Therefore, Lilith's proposal sounded extremely sweet to him.
A sweet temptation.
Kim Seong-min finally put down his sword.
Lilith cackles.
He was about to prostrate himself on the ground.
It was then.
"─What?"
Lilith suddenly frowned.
As if she received some contact.
She spoke to the air.
Then she sighed.
"You're lucky. I wanted to show an S-rank Clan Lord submitting to me, but withdrawal orders came down."
Lilith expressed regret.
She entrusted her body to subspace that appeared behind her.
"Well then, pigs and dogs. Comfort yourselves well thinking of me. See you again."
Lilith disappeared.
Kim Seong-min slumped to the ground.
People under her magic were soon waking up.
"Kyaaaaaaah!!!"
"Clothes! Wh-Who took my clothes...!!"
"Who are you! Who are you to me...!!"
"Hehehehehe..."
The streets were engulfed in chaos.
People freed from the magic.
People still dazed though freed.
They mixed and caused a commotion.
Screams and cries spread everywhere.
People who regained their senses all checked their state and despaired.
Then they lost their minds to deny reality.
Lilith had left deep wounds in people's hearts and left.
☆
Guri City, Gyeonggi-do.
The situation of Blaze Clan facing Mammon wasn't good either.
"Tsk, that's really..."
Twelve Seat <Yama> Kang Hyeon-cheol.
He clicked his tongue.
Mammon was utterly despicable.
Mammon, who remodeled Guri City into a pandemonium, sent out demon-type monsters and turned the surroundings into a wasteland.
Kang Hyeon-cheol, who arrived in Guri City belatedly after Mammon caused trouble, had to deal with monsters massacring innocent citizens first.
After dealing with the monsters like that and heading straight to the top floor of the pandemonium─
"─Hello, you came! Then goodbye! I'm off to another pandemonium! Take care!"
"Again, you bastaaaaard!!"
Mammon toyed with the players and left for the pandemonium next door.
In the end, the players had to attack the newly created pandemonium.
"Damn it..."
Still, Kang Hyeon-cheol was somehow able to catch Mammon.
But in the process of attacking the pandemonium over and over, his stamina was rapidly bottoming out.
Kang Hyeon-cheol cut off Mammon's shoulder and now panted heavily as if he could no longer hide it.
"I'll acknowledge that you're amazing. But there's a limit to what a human body can do. Do you think you can face me with that body now?"
Mammon snickered.
Kang Hyeon-cheol raised flames.
"That's something you find out by trying."
"You're really persistent. You still had that much strength left? This is why I don't like humans. You don't know how to give up and try to grasp at straws somehow. When you're in despair, you should just stay quiet, why try to grasp hope like fools? Such irrational bastards...kek...!!"
With all his might.
Kang Hyeon-cheol closed the distance in one breath.
He swung his sword.
"That's what it means to be human, monster. Do you think you would have been born into this world if your mother gave up while giving birth to you?"
"That's why I gave up on humans. How shitty must it be to be born into a world you didn't even want to be born into."
"Shut up, I'll show you clearly what's even shittier."
A man who doesn't tire even when tired.
The only time he tires is when the flame in his heart goes out.
Kang Hyeon-cheol was such a being.
He spewed fierce flames.
☆
<Sword Empress> Hwang Jin-hee oxidized.
She left a small world for Eun-ha to stand in the darkness and disappeared becoming mana.
Whoosh!
With her disappearance.
The world where Eun-ha was standing was shaking unstably.
Eun-ha concentrated his mind.
He created his own world by tracing the power of myth she left behind.
A world where he couldn't take even one step.
He desperately holds onto the door trying to close to maintain the narrow world.
However, a door forcibly opened without a key inevitably closes.
The door of myth closes.
Eun-ha's world is eroded.
It's swallowed by Armageddon's myth.
It was then.
"Cough...!! Jin-hee, you.... You finally made a crack in my myth."
Armageddon coughed up blood.
He spits out black mana and blood, and the world that was turning black returns to him.
He's reclaiming the myth.
Then the world returned to normal.
Eun-ha, who protected his body in the huge world, almost fell forward when the pressure suddenly disappeared.
...I couldn't do anything.
He put strength into his feet that stepped forward.
He supported his body.
Even that made Eun-ha feel intense pain.
A feeling like his feet were pierced by something.
A stronger backlash came from forcibly opening the door of myth with a body that had already experienced backlash.
On the other hand, Eun-ha blamed himself for not being able to help <Sword Empress> and just staying still in the recent battle.
The battle between <Sword Empress> and Armageddon.
Eun-ha couldn't intervene with those who had reached the realm of gods.
His existence felt as small as dust in there.
It was all he could do to barely prevent being swept away by the aura they emitted.
"My, I used too much power too. To think even a new human body has to bear the price of myth, how ironic. I wonder if this price can't be avoided unless one becomes a true god, tsk..."
Nevertheless, Eun-ha didn't despair.
Behind him were people he had to protect.
If he fell, it would all be over.
That thought kept him standing.
Armageddon looked at him and smiled.
"But what I gained is no less than the price I paid. Yes, for example─"
Armageddon exerted his aura.
He emitted black mana outside his body, manifesting myth on a very small scale.
─Myth Manifestation
End of Evil
In the world where black mana wavered.
Some form appears.
A woman wearing black uniform.
It was <Sword Empress> Hwang Jin-hee.
"..."
Eun-ha was at a loss for words at that sight.
He could sense it.
Armageddon had become stronger.
"I can freely handle all dead beings. Especially <Sword Empress> who died to my myth, I can handle even more freely."
"..."
"Too bad, kid. You must have been not giving up, thinking there would be a sliver of hope even in despair, but now you've come to face despair like this. Yes, I am your despair."
"..."
"Can you win? Though I've consumed a lot of power too, it's not like I can't face you."
Armageddon expands the world.
The speed of expanding the world is slow.
But Eun-ha couldn't bring out the strength to drive away the world extending from him.
He's out of strength.
He can't even manifest mana.
In the end, the only thing he could rely on was his own body.
"Hooh."
"Ugh..."
Then something amazing happened.
Though he staggered.
Eun-ha was able to stand proudly in Armageddon's world.
Armageddon's mouth opened.
He flashed his eyes through his broken sunglasses.
"That's a bit surprising. How can you stand intact in my world? Unless you manifest myth... Is that body the cause?"
"..."
"A body that can withstand myth... No, that's not all. You're enduring my myth in that state? That's impossible."
His heart cries out in pain.
The gift activates.
That gift protects Eun-ha.
Eun-ha suppressed the pain and put strength into the sword in his hand.
"Only dead beings can step into my myth. Living beings cannot step into my world without manifesting myth. In other words─"
Meanwhile, Armageddon pondered quietly.
He drew a conclusion.
"─You're no different from a being that has already died once. Is it because you became near death once with Ye-gyeong? No, that's not a dead state... I really don't know what the reason is."
"..."
"But it doesn't matter. I will kill you and take everything you have."
"Who, would let..."
"You tried hard. You did well. But the opponent was too strong. Now accept your defeat and rest."
Hwang Jin-hee walks out.
She points her sword at Eun-ha.
It was then.
──!!
Darkness shrinks back and flees.
Silver-white light drives away the darkness.
The world returns to normal again.
"Let's stop here."
"Hooh, this is unusual."
A woman coming down from above the crater.
She used her gift to disperse the myth.
"What brings the Fairy to a place like this, this was completely unexpected."
"We were short on people. So shouldn't even the head of state come out?"
Fairy Im Ga-eul.
She stepped forward as if protecting Eun-ha.
☆
"The head of the country coming herself, don't you value your life? Or have you changed your mind and come to submit to me?"
"I'm afraid not, it's neither. I just came to protect the Pandora Clan Lord that <Sword Empress>-nim tried to protect with her life."
With Im Ga-eul's appearance, new reinforcements arrived.
Some of them came down into the crater and escorted her.
She ignored their presence and looked straight at Armageddon.
Armageddon asked.
"That child? What do you think a dying child can do?"
"Yes, I believe he can. <Sword Empress>-nim must have had her reasons for trying to protect him like this. So I don't want to see the Pandora Clan Lord die like this."
"So you came in person? You could die by my hand, you know?"
"Of course, that could happen. But if I die by your hand here, wouldn't that ruin the picture?"
Im Ga-eul smiled brightly.
A face without a trace of fear.
Armageddon closed his mouth seeing her smile.
Right after, he flinched at her words.
"I'm not sure what your goal is... But what you want is fear, isn't it? But if I, the head of state, die by your hand here, will people really just be afraid?"
"..."
"Some people would be scared. However, my death might also trigger riots. Because people gripped by fear sometimes throw away even their own safety to fight against that fear."
"You're saying fear can only be sustained if safety is guaranteed. Yes, that's right. The picture probably wouldn't be good. What I want is not to kill you, but for you to submit to me."
"So withdraw at this point. Haven't you shown enough for today? On the contrary, we've lost a lot."
"Hmm... But I can just carry out my goal without killing you. Do you think I'll agree to a deal?"
"Wouldn't you need to recover your body after using so much power? That's not just you. What about your comrades?"
Armageddon's eyebrows twitched.
He seemed to have noticed something.
Im Ga-eul informed him.
"I just received word that Samael, Beelzebub, and Mastema have been subjugated. Though Lilith and Mammon are still issues, we should be able to handle them if we deploy more forces."
"...I see. So three died while I was focused on battle."
"Yes, your losses are considerable too, so that's why I'm saying to withdraw at this point. You wouldn't want a war of attrition where one side is completely wiped out, right?"
"That's true."
Im Ga-eul tries to persuade Armageddon.
Armageddon was almost convinced.
But he wouldn't budge on the important part.
"But killing the kid isn't a difficult task for me. Do you think you can face me? Fairy, though your gift is certainly threatening to me, you who can't fight are no match for me."
"That's right. If you set your mind to it, you could probably look for a chance to kill me."
"So take the humans who came with you and withdraw. I will kill that kid and take his son."
Armageddon's will wasn't broken.
Im Ga-eul sighed.
By then, Eun-ha tried to pass by her to fight Armageddon.
The part about taking Noh Yu-seong had stirred his heart.
"Fairy-nim, please step aside. I'll handle that guy, instead Fairy-nim should..."
"No. Stay still."
At that moment, Im Ga-eul spread her arms.
She blocked Eun-ha's path.
Eun-ha stopped walking.
Im Ga-eul asked Armageddon without looking back at Eun-ha.
"Is that really what you want?"
"What?"
"Is killing the Pandora Clan Lord who can't even fight like this what you really want?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said you want fear. And you said you would stand at the highest place in people's consciousness by defeating <Sword Empress>-nim."
"..."
"So has your plan succeeded? Do you think people will really tremble in fear and think there's no one left who can defeat you? Really─"
Im Ga-eul was a former actress.
In the past, she loved acting and really enjoyed being on stage.
She really liked receiving people's attention.
Therefore, she could roughly understand Armageddon's thoughts.
Armageddon wants attention.
"─Do you think today's stage was a stage you're satisfied with? Do you think the stage where you defeated <Sword Empress>-nim will be the best stage?"
"What are you trying to say?"
So Im Ga-eul decided to use Armageddon's heart.
She declared while shaking off Armageddon's pressure with silver-white mana.
"I'll prepare an even more splendid stage for you. A stage that all the people of this country will see."
"...!!"
"Isn't that what you want? To show your greatness in front of all the people of the world. Not just causing petty terror like this."
"Hmm, that's quite an appealing story. But how do you plan to prepare that stage? You're not saying you'll let me cause terror..."
"Of course not. As the Fairy, I absolutely can't allow that."
"Then what kind of stage..."
"I'll prepare a stage for you to have a life-and-death match with the Pandora Clan Lord. I think that's enough, what do you think?"
"..."
"In a world where <Sword Empress>-nim and <First Sword> are gone, the only symbol people can rely on now is <Crimson Lotus Sword>. That's something even <Thunder God> or <Yama> can't do."
"So fight that guy and spread my true value to the world?"
"Yes."
"Hehe, what should I do..."
Armageddon looked at Eun-ha.
Eun-ha put strength in his eyes, trying not to lose to his gaze while enduring the pain.
This is an opportunity Im Ga-eul created.
He couldn't miss it.
He couldn't show weakness.
"Alright, good."
And finally, Armageddon decided to accept Im Ga-eul's proposal.
Only then did Im Ga-eul feel relieved.
Eun-ha was also inwardly relieved.
"Then when will we do it?"
"Well, shouldn't we wait for the Pandora Clan Lord's body to recover?"
"Are you planning to delay for a long time using that as an excuse? That won't do."
"But the Pandora Clan Lord..."
"Can't you just treat him with an elixir?"
"...Alright. One month."
"That's too long. Make it 2 weeks."
"...Pandora Clan Lord."
"Yes, Fairy-nim."
"Do you think you can recover your body within 2 weeks?"
Im Ga-eul's gaze was still directed at Armageddon.
Eun-ha had only one answer.
"Yes, Fairy-nim. 2 weeks is enough."
"Okay, let's make it 2 weeks from now."
"How will you prepare the stage?"
"Since strong people besides the Pandora Clan Lord will participate in the battle, a wide place would be good..."
"I'd prefer a high place if possible."
You sure have a lot of requests.
Im Ga-eul swallowed the words she wanted to say and fell into thought.
"Ah."
Then her eyes fell on the N Seoul Tower in the distance.
"How about the N Seoul Tower observatory? The top floor observatory that hasn't been opened yet might be better."
"Hooh, that's not bad. Alright, let's do that. The time?"
"Let's make it morning."
"Will many people watch at that time?"
"We'll issue a movement restriction order that day, then have people watch the broadcast from home. Wouldn't that work?"
"Yes, good. Then I'll suspend terror until the time you promised."
Armageddon tapped his staff.
Subspace appeared behind him.
Lilith and Mammon appeared.
Armageddon turned his body.
He heads towards the subspace where they are.
"You're lucky, kid."
Before the subspace closed.
Armageddon chuckled looking at Eun-ha standing with the Fairy.
"You've gained two weeks of time. I hope you recover your body well during that time."
The subspace closes.
Armageddon disappeared.
Clench
Eun-ha clenched his fist.
2 weeks.
He has to recover his body by then.
And─
─I have to manifest myth.
He has to find his own myth.
Without that, he won't be able to face him.