[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
Chapter 10
【Heat Ray】
I quickly turned to counterattack, but my opponent was one step ahead.
Crack
He grabbed my wrist and twisted it outwards.
Compared to my pri, his physical strength was insignificant, but with my current strength of 200, I couldn't resist being dragged along.
Ziiiing!
The heat ray I managed to fire only cut through a harmless tree.
Thwack
He covered my face with his palm.
Through his slender, firm fingers, I saw him open the warehouse door.
Thud!
I was kicked from behind and tumbled into the greenhouse.
Splash!
Tsssss!
The miscellaneous illusions covering the floor vanished, replaced by a calm, dark expanse of shallow water stretching endlessly.
Ahead, I could see the white marble, temple-like warehouse.
Creak
He closed the door and entered the warehouse.
"I knew you wouldn't die so easily, Baekya."
"Na Jeongwon."
"You just shot a ray ray at , didn't you? I was surprised at how weak it was. Honestly, even while grabbing your wrist, I was only thinking about dodging a direct hit."
I bounced back up and glared at Na Jeongwon.
A laurel wreath-shaped halo mixed with li green and brown.
Gray hair, neatly trimd into a comma shape, that turned white in the light.
Softly drooping eyes with a strangely determined air, and a tear mole.
A lean body clad in a loose-fitting knit cardigan over a crisp shirt and cotton pants.
A magic staff with a few green leaves still clinging to it.
This guy, with an aura reminiscent of a young teaching assistant in botany, was one of the self-proclaid 'regressors' who ca to kill along with Cheong Siyeol.
Several questions flashed through my mind.
How did he know I was alive?
How did he know I frequented this particular warehouse out of my many?
And who cursed you?
But 13 years of struggling against an entity that imposed rules regardless of human will had taught sothing.
"Endure the pain."
I could only get the answers I wanted after beating my opponent half to death.
At the very least, I needed to be in an advantageous position to get a proper answer.
In my weakened state, even Law of Light wouldn't be potent enough to shatter the curse binding Na Jeongwon.
So.
【Hellfire (A )】
【Ignores all of the enemy's defenses and status effect resistance.】
【*Insufficient mana to maintain the skill.】
Whoosh!
I ignited the flas of hell in my right hand.
Crack
Mana drained from , making feel like my heart was being squeezed.
Just maintaining the fla made my legs tremble.
But I had succeeded in summoning Hellfire, and Na Jeongwon took a step back, either in tension or reflex.
"Your temper hasn't changed."
"I spent a month slowly dying with my heart pierced by the Chronos’ Hand. And I was hunted by my most cherished disciple and beloved colleagues. You should have expected this kind of reaction."
"Endure the pain, he says. How kind of our Sun."
"You can scream, you know. No, actually, I'd prefer it if you did."
"But can you even fight ? It looks like you'll collapse from mana exhaustion if we exchange a couple more pleasantries."
"Yeah. Let's roll around together. You, engulfed in inextinguishable flas, and , gasping for breath from mana depletion."
Thwack!
In the next mont, both of us kicked off the ground simultaneously.
Black water splashed beneath our feet.
【Fla Arrows】
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
I transford the Hellfire into several small arrows and fired them in a fan shape.
【Wall of Ice】
Boom!
He countered by raising a massive ice wall from the ground.
Hiss!
The ice wall lted instantly, creating a thick fog of steam.
Whoosh!
Dozens of ice arrows shot out consecutively from the parting steam.
【Form of Fire】
Whoosh!
I transford my body into flas, letting the ice arrows pass through harmlessly.
"Ugh."
The timing was perfect, but the elental matchup was unfavorable.
Summoning Hellfire had left my mana reserves dangerously low.
'Oh, Star.'
【"How dare that insignificant insect touch my contractor!"】
【"At this point, I'll ignore the Aitel System's restrictions. I'll descend directly into your body..."】
【Your Constellation, 'Sunny,' is enraged.】
'There's no need for that. Just lend the power of Hellfire one more ti. I'll finish this in close combat while in the Form of Fire.'
* * *
Baekya, who had been maintaining a distance of over dozens of ters, charged towards Na Jeongwon, leaving a cot-like trail in his wake.
Whoosh!
Though his speed had decreased due to his drastically reduced stats, his nimble footwork and exceptional sense of distance remained unchanged.
He was close enough to see and react to his opponent's ranged attacks.
And close enough to engage in close combat within a single breath if he wished.
That was Baekya's main strategy, making him a formidable opponent at any range, like a demon.
"That would have worked back then."
Na Jeongwon, with a faint smile on his model-student-like face, slamd his staff down.
Thump
Ripples spread across the black water, and thorny vines sprouted beneath Baekya's feet.
"But not now."
【World Tree's Mistletoe】
Tssss!
The thorny vines, said to have been used by ancient shamans to communicate with ancestral spirits through their smoke— tightly coiled around Baekya's body, even in its intangible, fla-like form.
Thud!
Imdiately after, Baekya reverted from flas back to his human form, accompanied by the recoil of being expelled from the elental world.
"Cough!"
Blood spurted from his throat as mana backflowed.
Na Jeongwon leaned on his staff and approached Baekya.
Thud
His footsteps carried the weight of an ancient tree, and a green light flickered in his eyes.
"Even with the unfavorable elental matchup, did I seem that weak to you? I'm the 'Fairy King.' Rank 3 in Korea, Rank 5 in the world. I haven't even summoned my spirits yet."
"Ugh."
"I was incredibly surprised to learn of your resurrection. But it seems you didn't return with your original strength."
The World Tree's Mistletoe grew profusely, entwining Baekya's limbs and neck.
Baekya's face turned red, then black in an instant.
Na Jeongwon muttered.
"Even the sun can't resurrect twice, can it?"
Baekya, gasping for air, asked.
"Now, what will you do? Will you set the world ablaze, starting with this country?"
"Can you tell what you an?"
"I'm asking the sorcerer who cursed Na Jeongwon. You must have planted so kind of bug inside him to maintain a curse on an S-rank Spirit Summoner. Answer directly. Are you... an international terrorist chosen by the Black Hole Constellation?"
"Is that what you think?"
"Or perhaps an enemy within the Tower? A high-ranking official in the Awakened Support Agency trying to eliminate ? Or maybe even a great demon from within the Gates."
Na Jeongwon scoffed.
"You truly only see what you want to see. Just like before, even now."
Baekya sneered.
"Are you still acting even after coming this far? If you wanted to kill while I was consud by the despair of being betrayed by my comrades— you failed. I trust them. It seems you haven't corrupted all the Rankers yet, so at least one of them will beco a new hero. And that person will kill you and lead this country back to the dawn."
Baekya's eyes, shining like molten steel in a furnace, were filled with unwavering conviction.
"So kill now. I never thought I'd die twice. Having experienced it once, it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be."
He kept his eyes wide open, as if trying to find sothing beyond Na Jeongwon until the very end.
Na Jeongwon gritted his teeth, as if disgusted by his attitude, and then swung his staff.
The vines wrapped around Baekya's neck loosened slightly.
"Let ask you just one thing."
“If you're looking for the Awakened Support Agency's secrets, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.”
"...What were you planning to do once you regained your forr strength?"
Baekya couldn't comprehend Na Jeongwon's question.
But the duty of the one called the Sun of Humanity remained the sa, then and now.
"Clear Gates when they break out, climb to new floors of the Tower."
"And?"
"Train promising juniors, weed out the rotten ones."
"And?"
"If I can, I'd also respond to support requests from overseas."
"And then?"
"I'd have to think about institutional and social asures to prevent Awakened from abusing ordinary people. And conversely, improve the perception that ordinary people have of Awakened, where they try to shift all responsibility for security onto us. And get rid of the politicians who engage in shady dealings in the middle."
"Ultimately?"
"I'll climb the Tower. I'll reach the end and find out why this is happening to us. I need to know. What's up there. Why this is happening to us."
Baekya was powerless, his hands and feet bound.
Na Jeongwon could strangle him to death with just a little more force.
But his voice still carried the unwavering conviction of soone who believed they were right.
"...!"
The light in Na Jeongwon's eyes wavered.
The 'World Tree's Mistletoe' binding Baekya also montarily weakened its grip.
The Hunter who once reigned at the world's summit didn't miss that opportunity.
Baekya enveloped his entire right hand in flas and tensed his arm.
【Hellfire (A )】
"Aaargh!"
His five fingers curled like sickles.
Veins, like IV tubes, bulged on the back of his hand.
The mistletoe binding his wrist smoked and burned.
Snap!
The mistletoe finally broke.
Baekya's hand, heated like iron in a forge, flew towards Na Jeongwon's chest.
Crack!
Its trajectory aid precisely at his heart.
But there was an insurmountable gap in physical strength between an S-rank and a D-rank.
Na Jeongwon desperately leaned back.
His light brown knit cardigan and crisp white shirt were ripped apart by Baekya's fingers.
Rip!
He gritted his teeth with a look of frustration.
"Until the very end..."
A green light blazed once again in his eyes behind his dislodged glasses.
The severed mistletoe regenerated rapidly.
But Baekya didn't give up, not even at the very last mont.
"Yes, until the very end!"
He struggled, tearing the vines binding his left hand with his burning right hand.
He saw an opening to strike Na Jeongwon's heart.
Just a little faster, please.
If he could just sever these vines and land one blow on his chest, maybe, just maybe, he could escape.
That's when Baekya saw it.
'Huh?'
On Na Jeongwon's chest, exposed between the torn cardigan and shirt, a pocket watch symbol glowed with a magical blue light.
Suddenly, Cheong Siyeol's words ca to mind.
'I'm not the person you used to know.'
'My colleagues and I have returned from the future. We are all regressors.'
'And you, in the not-so-distant future, will beco the worst Awakened, betraying humanity and setting the world ablaze. I... I couldn't bear to let you be rembered that way!'
Baekya had consistently dismissed those words until now.
They were nonsense.
It was a typical repertoire of scamrs in the era of the Aitel System.
They weren't words he, who had even served as the president of the Awakened Association, could trust.
Gnash!
He gritted his teeth.
The question burst out involuntarily.
The question he had repeated countless tis during the month he was hunted and the few days after his resurrection.
"Na Jeongwon!"
Na Jeongwon, who had stumbled, regained his balance by thrusting his staff into the shallow water.
"Why did you kill ! Why?!"
Na Jeongwon was an opponent who could summon spirits and kill him at any mont.
"Why did I kill you?"
But instead of doing that, Na Jeongwon gave the sa answer he had repeated for the past month.
"In the previous tiline, you rode the Sun Chariot across the sky, burning everything, and summoned the great demons of the Fla Realm from your sanctuary, leading them into war!"
Baekya tore the mistletoe binding his left hand.
'Shut up.'
The thorny vines were ripped away, leaving a stinging sensation in his palm.
"Shut up with your nonsense!"
"Hong Baekya!"
"I'm a first-generation Awakened who awakened at the age of 12 in Aitel's first tutorial. I've closed eleven Grade 1 Gates so far. I've killed five ancient dragons and three great demons."
“You were unstoppable. It took Cheong Siyeol, who reached the 99th floor countless sacrifices, to turn back ti itself!”
"I started climbing the Tower when no one else dared! Thanks to my achievents, this country is so stable. The number of tutorial participants has increased, the proportion of high-ranking Awakened has risen, and those damn Gates have decreased!"
"Do you know how many Rankers died by your hand? Do you know what happened to those who trusted you until the end?"
"I was the one who took the hand of a middle school Spirit Summoner, who had nothing but a weak body and dying parents, and led him to the Spirit Realm of Aitel. I was the one who brought him all sorts of elixirs so he could be chosen by a Constellation."
The middle school Spirit Summoner from back then raised his voice in front of the Awakened, who was the strongest in the world even then.
"Tell why I would lie to you, even in this situation!"
The Awakened, who was the strongest in the world even then, now moved his hand, bound by the mistletoe, towards his ankle.
"Shut your damn mouth... and get out of Na Jeongwon's body! You damn criminal!"
Na Jeongwon once again grew the mistletoe.
"Please, just listen to ! You stubborn overpowered bastard!"
Baekya's limbs were once again entangled in the mistletoe vines.
He retorted with determination.
"Kill painfully! I don't negotiate with terrorists!"
Na Jeongwon trembled all over.
He took a few deep breaths, trying to compose himself.
After wiping his flushed face a few tis, he continued.
"I believe everyone deserves a second chance."
"...!"
Baekya raised an eyebrow.
Those were Na Jeongwon's signature words.
He said them when he tried to expel all the low-ranking students from the Awakened Academy.
He said them when he tried to kill all the Hunters who didn't respond to the Gate outbreak summons.
He said them every ti he wanted to deep-fry the politicians who tried to put leashes on Hunters.
If the sorcerer knew this and used it, it was in poor taste. But if not...
Na Jeongwon spoke in a firm, unwavering voice, as if overcoming his fear with conviction.
"Even if that 'everyone' is you, Baekya."
Baekya looked at Na Jeongwon's chest, exposed between his shirt.
The pocket watch symbol on his white skin was still glowing blue.
He called out to his Constellation.
'Oh, Star.'
The answer was shocking.
【"It's not fake."】
【Your Constellation, 'Sunny,' is silent in surprise.】
It felt as if Chronos' Hand had pierced his heart once more.
Na Jeongwon spoke, emphasizing each word.
"You betrayed humanity in the previous tiline."
Baekya asked in a voice that seed ready to crumble at any mont.
"Why would I?"
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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