Episode 10: Calculations of Revenge / Chapter 175: An Impeded Sky

TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk

Woong-

At first, it was a low reverberation.

Naro’s karma reached the ‘wall of laws’.

While it was only slight, the wall vibrated, and a tiny crack appeared, enough for a needle to pass through.

Crash!

‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ burrowed into this crack. Then, the brilliant silver trail, which followed behind it, permeated the crack.

Yet, it was fruitless.

While its vigor in trying to burrow through was intense, it burrowed in at the pace of a turtle.

{I unknowing sent my strength as well because Naro’s telepathy was so desperate… But I feel like it was a waste of strength.}

The warriors of the punitive force shook their heads as they saw ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ gradually slow down, unable to completely pierce through the wall of laws.

From the beginning, it was a logically impossible task.

Completely different laws applied in the space the transcendent warriors were fighting. No matter how much strength they gathered, it was no use if the laws changed.

‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ looked like it had almost stopped.

Everyone thought,

‘This is the end.’

However, this was the beginning.

Riip!

They heard the sound of something ripping.

The Weapon of Sentiment ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’, which contained her earnest wish to protect Ryu Hyunsung, was born from Lee Jinhee’s dream that hoped people would live smiling and cry seldom.

‘Choi Hyuk’s Imprint’ could slash anything in accordance with Choi Hyuk’s vow, and ‘Baek Seoin’s Premonition’ could sense all danger in accordance with his intuition. ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ was a sword that was created to fulfil Lee Jinhee’s wish.

Following her wish, ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ gathered the nearly overflowing power within it into a single point and exploded.

Crack, crack!

Web-like cracks spread from the sword.

Ting!

With the weakest piece of the blade flying off as the signal, ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’ exploded brilliantly.

Whooong!

The wall of laws was gradually erased from the outside.

It was a phenomenon similar to Choi Hyuk’s ‘First Sword’.

As the condensed power exploded all at once, all the order and laws were erased. A new sky opened up.

This wasn’t an explosion made of flames.

Earth’s blue sky with cirrus clouds spread out from the smashed ‘Lee Jinhee’s Dream’. An autumn sky opened up in the dark, vast universe.

It was a sky Ryu Hyunsung could fly through. The figures of the head wolf and Choi Hyuk could be clearly seen in this sky.

{Grr…}

The head wolf growled, thinking this was unexpected. However, he still disregarded Ryu Hyunsung.

The wolf’s decision was the same. While it was surprising that they had pierced through the wall of laws, the wolf still thought that Ryu Hyunsung couldn’t inflict a wound on him. Being able to inflict a wound on him, the key individual of this fight, was a completely different matter from being able to overcome the wall of laws, which was a by-product of their fight.

The wolf simply focused on Choi Hyuk, the one who was incomparably more dangerous than that mayfly. The wolf opened his mouth with the intention of ending this fight. It was the first time his canines were exposed during the fight. The moment he opened his mouth, Choi Hyuk was already in it. The wolf’s black throat rushed forward while devouring even space itself. Chilling canines.

“Good job.”

Choi Hyuk smiled as he gazed at this despairing scene. The head wolf’s maw shut on Choi Hyuk, devouring him headfirst.

Twing!

It was at this moment when the wolf felt a stinging sensation run down his spine. At first, it only stung a little, almost like a mosquito bite, but soon, a cold blade ripped into his flesh.

‘Advance’. Ryu Hyunsung’s sword, which contained the fate ‘Advance’, pierced into the wolf’s skin and embedded itself in his flesh.

An effective attack.

However, it wasn’t fatal. It was to the point where the wolf could ignore it and finish crushing Choi Hyuk.

Rather than being in pain, the wolf was thoroughly shocked. The wolf had believed so strongly that it was impossible for Ryu Hyunsung to inflict an injury on him that he momentarily thought that a third-party, another transcendent warrior, had joined the fight.

Flinch.

The wolf was so shocked that his body trembled. The wolf unconsciously moved his karma and flung Ryu Hyunsung, who was clinging on his back, away.

This was the opportunity Choi Hyuk had been waiting for.

The karma gathered in the wolf’s canines to chew Choi Hyuk had suddenly dispersed and the muscles in the wolf’s jaw relaxed slightly.

Choi Hyuk swung ‘Choi Hyuk’s Denial’, which had simply been in his hand, with a ripping sound.

Goong!

Just then, the warriors of the punitive force and the Blue Manes heard a skull-splitting sound. They were so surprised that they patted their heads. However, what was split was the head wolf’s skull, not their own.

The wall of laws that obstructed their view of Choi Hyuk and the head wolf’s battle closed widthwise like a TV turning off.

The single horizontal line was Choi Hyuk’s sword strike.

…

It was as dark as a powered-off TV. They couldn’t see anything as though everything had disappeared.

Splash!

The head wolf’s blood endlessly flowed from the gap in space. Like ink dropped in water, the wolf’s blood spread out and created a nebula.

Defeating the wolf’s fate known as the ‘Second Coming of the Blue Manes’, which he had declared to the universe, the nebula made of blood was the only trace that remained. It was the birth of a celestial body known as ‘Wolf’s Head’.

“Huu…”

Choi Hyuk, who appeared in space completely soaked in wolf’s blood, let out a sigh. The dead wolf’s karma and fate permeated into him. His fate known as ‘Never losing, Slashing without Fail, and Denial’ proved itself once more and became stronger.

{Grrr… Was I too conceited…?}

Even though the wolf had his skull split in two and blood endlessly flowed out from it, for some reason, he could still hear his voice. Perhaps the Net of Fate had been restored at some point, but he could understand his words without issue. Not only that, he also could also sense the wolf’s memories and emotions that shined like a kaleidoscope.

In the beginning, when foreign existences invaded, the Blue Manes faced them. However, while the Blue Manes were fighting with their lives on the line, the other species ignored their pleas for help as though it wasn’t their problem. In the end, faced with the risk of extinction, the previous head wolf chose to be taken to do forced labor under the foreign existences. The previous head wolf took responsibility for his decision and committed suicide. After burying his death in his heart, the wolf became the new head. The other species, who had ignored their pleas for help, now fervently charged at them when they defected. Their previous days in which they had to do whatever they could to survive…

{How regretful… Yet, I lost. I was simply weak. So this is the end… Oh warrior, I have one request.}

As though he wasn’t paying attention, Choi Hyuk showed no reaction to the head wolf’s heartbroken will. Still, the wolf couldn’t help but speak.

{It’s fine if you only take one. It’s fine if it’s a newborn pup. It’s fine if it grows up brainwashed by the alliance and lives for the alliance. It’s fine if our species is disgraced for generations. Only… Only, please don’t let my species die out… I request you, oh warrior.}

Choi Hyuk didn’t speak for a moment.

Then, turning his back on the completely dead head wolf, he gave a short reply.

‘Sorry, but if it’s revenge, I’ll do it for you.”

{Ah…}

The head wolf no longer had the strength to continue speaking. Leaving only a bitter sigh, the wolf disappeared forever.

Choi Hyuk raised his voice and ordered the punitive force,

“The Net of Fate has been restored! I will access the Net of Fate and make the laws in this place advantageous for us. Don’t leave a single mutt and kill them all!”

“Woaaaah!!!”

It was a slaughter. It was a complete reversal from when the head wolf first appeared. The wolves’ teeth didn’t reach the punitive force no matter what they did, and the punitive force could wield their weapons however they wished and they would still slash the wolves’ flesh.

The young wolves that fled elsewhere lost their way and ended up facing the punitive force.

“Yelp!”

“Yip!”

“Grruah! You cursed bastards of the alliance!”

“Please! Please! Just this child! Euaaah! Grrrrk!!! Ahhh!!”

None of their curses, threats, or pleading worked.

That day, the Blue Manes faced extinction. The blood flowing from their bodies mixed with the head wolf’s blood to create the enormous Wolf’s Head nebula.

**

“Ryu hyung! Ryu hyung! Hey! Ryu Hyunsung! Come to your senses, huh?”

Zero, who followed after Ryu Hyunsung, was successful in recovering Ryu Hyunsung, who was flung far away after being hit by the head wolf. After avoiding Choi Hyuk’s fierce attack that didn’t care for Ryu Hyunsung’s safety, he was barely able to drag him outside.

Lee Jinhee came rushing towards them as soon as they got out.

Her hands trembled, her shoulders shivered, and her eyes fluttered.

Like someone out of her mind, she grabbed Ryu Hyunsung and cried.

“Wake up!!!”

Held and shook by Lee Jinhee, Ryu Hyunsung opened his eyes.

However, his eyes weren’t focused.

“Ah… Nice to see you…”

Whether he was seeing Lee Jinhee or something else, the tears that pooled his eyes dripped.

“When we see each other again, let’s spar and then go have some chicken skewers. Heu… You know that I like fast food.”

Ryu Hyunsung smiled while licking his lips. It seemed his eyes saw his past college friends who he had trained with.

“Guardian! Guardian! Quickly do something!”

Lee Jinhee’s face was soaked with tears.

Bae Jinman placed his hand on Ryu Hyunsung’s forehead before gravely shaking his head.

Even a healer of the Speckled Light Tribe in the punitive force, upon examining Ryu Hyunsung’s condition, dimmed sullenly.

{I don’t know how he did it, but… He used a power he shouldn’t have been able to… Already the karma in his body is dispersing like sand, and his fate has been wiped clean as though it has completed its duty.}

Hearing what the healer of the Speckled Light Tribe said, Lee Jinhee furiously shook her head.

“There’s no way. No! Ryu Hyunsung! Look at me! Do you see me?!”

Ryu Hyunsung’s eyes were still not in focus as he mumbled to his friends who had already died.

Sadly, the words he was saying in his comatose state weren’t of his dying wish. Instead, they were his determination to live on.

“I… will live diligently. Even if I look back, I’ll move forward. When we see each other again… Heu, I’ll probably be a bigsho…t.”

Ryu Hyunsung’s last words weren’t audible. Starting from the tips of his fingers, his body turned into ash as it collapsed and spread out into the universe.

“Ha… Ha! Ah…”

Almost convulsing, Lee Jinhee snorted in short bursts of deranged laughter before trembling and then fainting.

Bae Jinman quickly approached her. His face was serious.

Lee Jinhee’s karma weapon, which was no different from a companion to one’s soul, had shattered. Her body was a mess as well. It wouldn’t be odd if she died right now. The only reason why she was awake until now was purely because of her concern for Ryu Hyunsung.

“I will evacuate Director Lee Jinhee. Please settle the matters regarding Ryu Hyunsung.”

Bae Jinman lifted Lee Jinhee and left.

Yip, yip!

Yelp!

The universe was filled with sounds of wolves being slaughtered.

Bae Seoin blankly observed Ryu Hyunsung’s death and Lee Jinhee fainting.

With hollow eyes, he saw Ryu Hyunsung turn into specks and disappear.

‘Huu… Let’s first collect his body.’

Baek Seoin decided to gather the dispersing specks when Choi Hyuk leaned his forehead on his shoulder.

Choi Hyuk, who looked completely exhausted, didn’t even raise his head as he asked,

“… Did Ryu hyung die?”

“… Yes.”

Choi Hyuk wordlessly raised his head slightly before ordering,

“Leave… his already dispersed body… Let’s use this.”

Because collecting the body that had already dispersed as specks seemed like it was disturbing the deceased’s rest, Choi Hyuk proposed an alternative.

In the hand he stretched out were fragments of the Sword of Calling ‘Ryu Hyunsung’s Commemoration’.

“Let’s hold a funeral at the Tower of Warriors.”

After handing the sword fragments to Baek Seoin, Choi Hyuk turned his back.

Looking at his back, which seemed awfully small, Baek Seoin bit his lips. His eyes shined with resolve.

“Leader.”

A sharp voice. When Choi Hyuk turned around, Baek Seoin’s eyes were filled with extreme resentment as he said,

“I think I found a way.”

“… What?”

“A way to gather all the Exalted Wings in one place.”

Black flames ignited deep within Choi Hyuk’s bitter eyes.