章節 581: CHAPTER 739
[T.L: punisher87]
[My ko-fi link:- https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 ]
Unfathomable actions, incomprehensible words. And a weak look that was incomprehensible.
His legs felt weak, as if they were about to give out. Young Rosa had no trace of any chaos.
She truly was a human.
[What is happening?]
"Jin, this... human is... the evil god."
"12th flagbearer, we must kill her immediately!"
Even the late arriving allies stared at Jin and Rosa, with their eyes wide open.
Octavia, on the verge of fainting, aimed her staff at Rosa.
Hedo lowered the staff with his hand.
"Captain of the Spectres, I am not sure how the situation has unfolded, but Jin has the right to judge."
Cough...!
Jin remained focused on the empty space, saying nothing, but when Rosa coughed up blood, he flinched and locked eyes with her again.
Is this person truly not the evil god?
If this is the evil god's plan, what could she possibly hope to gain by going to such lengths?
'Just to confuse me, it is excessive. If all of this is the evil god's cruel joke, she should have caused chaos and directly struck me and my allies after confusing us.'
However, Rosa, who had broken free from the chains, never attacked Jin even once. The invincibility displayed by the young Rosa couldn't even pose a threat to the group.
On the contrary, Rosa had even protected them while the other members fought the former patriarch.
Moreover, just before breaking free from the evil god's control, the former patriarch had stabbed Rosa instead of Jin.
That meant the evil god had tried to kill itself. Or its own alter ego.
'...alter ego?'
Suddenly, a single assumption flashed through Jin's mind.
What if the dying Rosa right now is a fragment that broke away from the evil god?
As Jin guessed, the young Rosa, who didn't want to be corrupted until the end, was a manifestation of the deepest essence of the evil god, which had once shone the brightest.
Now, in front of Jin's eyes, the dying Rosa was the true identity of that manifestation.
Initially, Rosa had no knowledge that she had originated from the evil god. She perceived herself as a completely separate entity from the evil god.
However, Rosa was aware that she was a twisted existence. This world was not the one she remembered.
Why did she end up trapped in the evil god's chains? Where were Chiron and the other knights of the clan? What was she doing right before being trapped?
Rosa couldn't remember any of it.
No matter how much she appeared to be human, in the end, she was just an unconscious entity separated from the evil god. It was only natural that she had no memories of what happened right before being trapped.
Young Rosa's memories were frozen on a certain day when she was twenty-three.
The day the evil god had longed for the most.
'It seems I am an existence that shouldn't be here, twisted and distorted. Moreover, that knight named Jin, who is probably my son, and everyone else, they all refer to me as the evil god.'
So, does that mean the dark monster that had bound her was her own future?
For some reason, the thought that this could be nothing more than a terrible nightmare never crossed her mind.
With great certainty and swiftness, she understood the situation she was in.
"Hahaha."
Rosa let out a hollow laugh mixed with a metallic sound.
Conflicting emotions surged within her.
She had too many questions. Why did she become such a monster? How was Chiron doing? how many children did she have? How much had the clan been endangered because of her?
From the pierced chest, the chaos spread throughout her entire body like poison.
"Jin, a little closer... Can you show me your face?"
Jin didn't answer and silently stared at Rosa for a few seconds.
"As you can see, I have suffered a fatal wound. It was inflicted by the evil god-controlled knight. It is proof that I am not on her side. Moreover, I could not pose any threat to you and your companions even if I were unharmed. So, release your guard. I don't have much time left."
Rosa concentrated her last bit of strength and spoke with a steady voice.
In the end, Jin knelt down and bowed his head towards Rosa.
As he suppressed his despairing heart and looked up again, the appearance of the young Rosa was both unfamiliar and familiar.
"You're handsome... It feels like my and Chiron's faces are precisely mixed. If you're the 12th flagbearer, are you the youngest?"
"There is one more person."
"Then, combined, we make thirteen? It seems Chiron and I were better than I imagined. What happened to him? I hope I didn't harm Chiron as well."
"He is alive and well."
"In that case, Chiron must be fulfilling his mission elsewhere. You, taking over Chiron's role, have taken on the task of defeating the monster I have become and reclaiming the clan..."
Every time Jin heard the pronoun "you," his brow furrowed.
Rosa faintly smiled while observing that expression.
"Your expression alone shows how terrible of a mother I was. As the hostess of the clan, I must have been the worst in history. It's not like there haven't been villains who crossed the line and committed immorality in Runcandel's history, but among them, I am the only one who became the evil god... or so it seems."
Young Rosa belonged to a completely different person from the Rosa that Jin remembered.
The latter was a demon who would do anything to ensure the prosperity and survival of the clan.
On the other hand, the Rosa before him, who was smiling bitterly, had eyes that were clear and deep, so much so that she could be said to be more suited to Hairan than Runcandel.
"Rosa."
"Speak."
"Why did you do it?"
To Jin's question thrown with malice, Rosa pondered for a few seconds.
"I lacked the qualities and qualifications to become the hostess of the clan."
"No, you were the acting matriarch that everyone revered before becoming the evil god. No one considered you inadequate to lead the clan in my father's place, and the clan members made every effort to gain your approval."
Rosa shook her head. She was losing strength due to bleeding.
"You were the acting matriarch who even enemies and people who despised you couldn't help but acknowledge. I was the same. Until you made a pact with the prophet and became the evil god. Until you became a monster who said that even if the whole world was destroyed, as long as the flag of Runcandel remained, nothing else mattered," Jin said.
"I said those words... and the things I am doing now."
"Through the power of chaos."
Rosa placed her hand on her injured abdomen and spoke.
The spreading chaos, like a tumor, was permeating her entire body.
"Yes."
"So, the reason I became a monster is clear."
It was the result of giving up the struggle.
Rosa spoke with a composed voice.
"I stopped fighting because I was tired, because I couldn't see the path anymore, or because I felt that I had done enough. Becoming the evil god must have been the easiest and most tempting path. Perhaps... among all the paths I have walked before becoming the evil god, it was the most alluring and effortless one."
Transparent tears rolled down Rosa's cheeks.
Remorse for a future she couldn't remember, self-loathing, and despair that the gruesome future had already occurred were chilling her inner self.
Against the real Rosa who had become a monster, there was nothing she could do.
Jin closed his eyes tightly.
"I am going as the clan's 12th flagbearer to make her pay for that. If you have any last words for the evil god, let me know."
"Please... let death not be a comforting escape. Let my wretched soul and body remain trapped somewhere, suffering endlessly, even in death. Let me... be by its side... always, desperately. Above all else, I sincerely..."
The group held their breath for a moment. Rosa's curse, pouring all her heart toward herself, weighed down on the people.
"I will convey it."
Rosa's remaining breath reached its limit.
Jin decided to be by her side until her death.
While Rosa's consciousness repeatedly faded in and out, she spoke to Jin.
"Jin, do you... have a lover?"
"No."
"In the past..."
"I don't know."
"Anyone who loves you… or you love anyone?"
"Why are you asking these things in this situation?"
"Because... you're handsome... like Chiron. I... liked that handsome… Chiron."
Jin couldn't help but burst into laughter.
The children of Chiron and Rosa had never had the memory of engaging in such ordinary and pointless conversations with their parents.
"More than that... there is no one who is handsome or stronger than him... besides Chiron, I haven't had any relationship with anyone else."
"What about Father?"
"If he is still wandering in the Black Sea, then maybe... Chiron, unlike me, is still continuing the struggle."
Rosa exhaled a handful of hot breath.
"Jin... my son, I'm sorry."
Definitely, stop me.
With those words, Rosa took her last breath.
Everything she spoke until just before her death were words that the Rosa Jin remembered could never say.
'Okay, I'll do it.'
Jin silently replied in his mind as he gently closed Rosa's eyelids.
Just as the deceased Rosa regretted an unknown future, Jin was bidding farewell to a mother from a past he did not know.
Silence hung in the air for a while.
"...The deceased Rosa was likely a manifestation or soul that separated from the evil god," Jin said, and the group nodded in agreement. They had also speculated the same while listening to their conversation.
[Perhaps the evil god itself did not desire this or it was an unforeseen separation. I have no memory of experiencing anything related to the hostess when I was bound by the evil god. Furthermore, it was the hostess who was attacked at the last moment through this former patriarch.]
Alpen, who had been kneeling beside Rosa's lifeless body, lifted the unconscious former patriarch and spoke. Neither Jin nor Alpen knew his true identity.
Young Rosa's body was becoming tainted with darkness. The tumor of chaos that had originated in her chest was rapidly growing.
Jin conjured a small flame on his palm.
It seemed he needed to take care of the body before it deteriorated any further and leave.
However, as Jin was about to drop the flame, he suddenly raised his head in surprise.
Unexpectedly, the voice of the evil god reached his ears.
[I wonder how it feels to witness the extinction of my remaining trace of humanity, my youngest. I did hope to see you personally putting an end to it... but this isn't bad either.]
[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 & https://bmc.link/punisher87 ]
[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]
章節 582: CHAPTER 740
[T.L: punisher87]
[My ko-fi link:- https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 ]
The group immediately pointed their swords in all directions. The form of the evil god was not visible, only the eerie voice reverberating through the vast darkness.
[What did it say to you? Although the curse, so unusual and long, clearly conveyed the grudge against me, I couldn't hear anything else,] it said.
Jin stared silently into the empty air.
"A monster doesn't need to know what humans talk about amongst themselves."
[Is that so? Are you saying that you felt this impurity, which was separated from me, as a human?]
"At least she was much closer to being human than you."
[Hehe, I don't know what you discussed, but it seems like the impurity, which was my last trace of humanity, has shaken your heart. Seeing that you were conscious of this corpse as soon as you heard my voice...,] it continued.
"Stop speculating. Show yourself and stop talking..."
Zzaaaack...!
In the instant Jin said those words, the young Rosa's corpse suddenly tore apart, flesh and bone fragments scattering in all directions.
The reason for the rapid expansion was the chaos attached to the corpse.
As the evil god had said, Jin had felt a strange emotion during his brief encounter with the young Rosa.
If she had remained as she was, with her pure and strong spirit, if she hadn't become an evil god, how would things have turned out... That's what he had wondered.
Perhaps that's why.
It was quite shocking when Jin witnessed the young Rosa's corpse being torn apart without any physical form.
Externally, he showed no expression, but he couldn't deceive the evil god.
[Such a sight is hard to bear, isn't it? If you had received the gift I intended to give last time, you wouldn't have to feel such useless emotions…]
It was a story about the prelude battle between Jin and Rosa that took place in the inner world.
The young Rosa's corpse had been completely torn apart, and the proliferated chaos had even swallowed up scattered pieces of the corpse like a leech.
Then, the chaos began to take on a definite form.
In an instant, a massive and dark silhouette was forming.
It had a quadrupedal posture resembling a beast.
Sinister pupils emit a disturbing light, claws and fangs larger than a human's, dark fur that seemed to absorb all light. It closely resembled a beast, a predator, in existence within the human world.
A black leopard.
The alias that symbolized Rosa in her human days.
The creature exhaled rough breaths as it looked down upon the group.
Jin clenched his teeth as he met the gaze of the black leopard.
"Now that you've abandoned your last trace of humanity, is it time to discard the alias you used in your human days? It's oddly nostalgic, clinging to your human days. Perhaps, deep down, you regret becoming the evil god and unconsciously engage in such despicable actions," Jin remarked.
[If there's one thing I regret, it's giving strength to Joshua instead of you. If I had recognized your true self from the beginning…]
The evil god's voice trailed off, followed by a sinister laughter that lasted for a while.
After about ten seconds, the evil god's voice no longer reached them. Instead, the black leopard advanced with determined steps, casting its shadow.
[Grrr…]
The black leopard circled around the group while keeping its gaze fixed on them.
Despite the heavy movements of its bulky body, no sound of footsteps could be heard.
The situation was far from favorable. Due to the fierce battle with the former patriarch, most of the group was injured to some extent.
Among the group, only Jin and Bianca were capable of fighting with their usual or similar level of power.
Octavia, in particular, was completely unable to engage in combat.
During the battle, the group had to protect her and the unconscious unidentified former patriarch.
As a result, the group briefly contemplated their strategy, but Jin had already made up his mind.
"Bianca, protect the others."
Jin intended to face the black leopard alone.
"Are you going to fight... alone?"
"Yes."
"That... How strong it is... I have no idea... It might be dangerous."
"If I find it too dangerous, then you can help."
"Well, um... Okay."
Bianca wanted to advise him to reconsider, but she stopped herself when she saw Jin's determined gaze.
Even she felt a chilling presence that made her spine shiver.
The accumulated anger towards the evil god and the frustrations of fighting against the former patriarch under unfavorable circumstances were exploding all at once.
"I'll destroy it."
As Jin muttered those words, the black leopard launched its attack first.
Its foreleg distorted space as it descended upon Jin's head.
Rather than avoiding it, Jin faced it head-on.
A shockwave spread, causing the ground to sink in a large semicircular shape.
But what the foreleg struck was not Jin, but the ground.
Just before the foreleg made contact, Jin swiftly sidestepped and swung his sword.
At that moment, the swing of the sword left a lingering trace above the momentarily paused foreleg of the black leopard.
It was an absurdly long and perfectly straight line, as if the entire space had been cut through.
After a while, as the afterimage disappeared, a hefty, solid object fell from the black leopard and rolled on the ground.
Thud!
The fallen object was the right foreleg of the black leopard, which had just swung towards Jin.
[Grrr!]
The fallen foreleg melted like water, creating a sticky puddle of murky aura.
Normally, the severed part should have regenerated instantly, but Bradamante was already imbued with a hazy Eternal flames.
The injured limb of the black leopard relentlessly attempted to regenerate, but the attached Eternal flames slowed down the process.
[Grr... Kahaak!]
The black leopard swung its remaining left foreleg, pushing Jin back.
However, Jin effortlessly sliced it off in one swift motion.
Once again, the sound of a solid impact resonated as the foreleg hit the ground.
With both forelegs gone, the black leopard couldn't maintain its balance properly.
In just two moves, it became evident that Jin had an overwhelming advantage in close combat, a fact that surprised both the black leopard and the allies.
Of course, the allies believed that Jin would have the upper hand, but they never expected him to overpower the monster so easily.
'Surely, the evil god didn't create this creature solely to defile the young Rosa's corpse. There must be some threatening element to it.'
Jin's gaze shifted to the fallen forelegs of the black leopard.
He observed bubbling puddles composed of sticky black aura, resembling a potent acidic solution.
'Is the ground being corroded?'
Throughout their descent into the inner world, Jin and the group had learned a few facts about this space.
First, as Alpen mentioned, once they descended, they couldn't ascend again. Second, the internal structure was constantly changing.
And third, the chaos that composed the subspace was nearly indestructible, making it almost impossible to demolish the building-like structure.
If it were possible, they would have simply destroyed everything and descended without encountering the guardians on each floor.
However, the puddles left by the melting black leopard's body were different.
They were dissolving the chaos walls that even Jin's Shadow Sword couldn't penetrate, turning them into a sugary liquid.
As a result, Jin momentarily ceased his attacks and examined the puddles.
In the meantime, the black leopard regenerated its forelegs, but they were far from perfect. The limbs were grotesquely formed, with only the skeletal structure remaining, and Eternal flames blazed along the severed parts.
Crunch, screech!
The black panther continued to attack with its front paws, screaming in agony due to the torment of Eternal flames.
Jin deliberately avoided the attacks, as it seemed unwise to strike down the creature before understanding the effects of the puddles.
However, the problem was that Eternal flames had already caused cracks in its regenerating parts.
Whenever the black panther missed its strike, the cracks widened, and its flesh and bone-like substances scattered in all directions.
Like the initially fallen front paws, they melted the ground upon contact.
Near Jin and the black panther, numerous large holes had already been created.
Inside those holes, an abyss of unknown depth, as seen when they descended to the lower levels of the inner world.
Like pieces of burning paper, the holes that appeared on the ground continued to widen.
Merely a few seconds had passed, yet the destruction had already expanded to the vicinity of his allies, who were positioned further behind.
The nature of these holes remained unknown. Whether they connected to the lower levels of the inner world or if they were traps from which they shouldn't fall into.
What was certain was that falling into those holes was exactly what the evil god desired.
Due to this, Jin ceased the battle and considered leaping towards his allies and an area not yet affected by the formation of holes. However, a chasm had already formed between him and his allies, making it impossible to jump across.
'How did this happen so suddenly!?'
With each passing moment, the Eternal flames clinging to the black panther had grown larger and more imposing.
It was no longer a black panther but rather a mass of flesh engulfed in blue flames.
Every time it moved, the flesh would splash out, instantly dissolving the space between Jin and his allies.
'The black panther wasn't created solely for combat. The evil god anticipated that I would use Eternal flames right away and prepared this trap!'
In other words, this situation was a means for the evil god to circumvent the Eternal flames, a warning of the dire consequences that could unfold if Jin continued to use it in battle—a warning of falling into an even more precarious situation.
For now, Jin created a path with his ice magic and leaped toward his allies.
If the ground continued collapsing at this rate, there would be no way to avoid the fall.
Therefore, it was better to stay close to his allies.
"Grab onto me!"
As Jin crossed the final ice path, he barely managed to grab Hedo's outstretched hand.
However, by then, over 90% of the ground had already melted away. Even the black panther that had been pursuing Jin had already fallen and was no longer visible.
In the end, the group found themselves tightly clinging to each other, waiting for the fall.
[When we fall, make sure not to let go of each other's hands. If it connects to the lower level, even a momentary release could result in us getting separated.]
As Alpen spoke, the group nodded in agreement, and as the last remaining section of the ground disappeared, they began their descent.
Thud...!
Unlike before, the fall ended abruptly.
Upon landing, the group heaved a sigh of relief upon confirming that they were all still holding onto each other's hands.
However, as they looked around, they quickly realized that this was not a situation for relief.
"...How many are there?"
Black panthers were swarming in all directions. At a glance, there seemed to be hundreds of them.
In the center, they could spot the fallen black panther that had descended with them.
And it was going berserk, in agonizing pain, transferring the Eternal flames that clung to it onto the other black panthers, much like spreading a contagious disease.
The group instinctively imagined what would happen next.
From now on, all of those black panthers would dissolve the ground with Eternal flames exposed.
If they couldn't stop it, there was only one thing waiting for them.
An endless fall.
[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 & https://bmc.link/punisher87 ]
[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]
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