Chapter: 87. Divine One’s Descent (1)
The spot where the refugees and the Association had left.
Only me and the Thunder God remained to guard the place.
To fend off the attacks pouring toward the ship.
The last two heroes stood on the shimmering, radiant sandy beach.
“Last chance!”
The enemies from the Otherworld who had gathered on the beach and were hurling magic and debris were being driven away, as the sun began to rise over the coastline.
Boom.
The echo and vibration of a massive water buffalo collapsing.
With the giant monster crashing down onto the sand, we finally relaxed and gazed out at the sea.
Aboard the transport ship, people from the Association and civilians leaving Hokkaido.
Maybe it was the urgent situation, but the residents of the distorted contaminated area had all boarded without leaving anyone behind.
Given the significance of the incident, they would be exposed to the media, and there would probably be social discussions about it. Whether they would be accepted back into society was up to them.
The sea dyed yellow in the rising sunlight. I turned my head from the ship floating above and looked at the lone remaining hero.
“Why didn’t you leave with them?”
Drenched in sweat, reflecting the sunlight and sparkling. The Divine One smiled widely at me before turning her head and speaking.
“I still have things to do.”
Splash, splash.
The bright yellow beach. On this sand stained with the blood of corpses, she quietly walked into the ocean.
One step. Another step. Silently moving away from me.
Backlit by the rising sun, she looked strangely sad.
“Haram.
It’s the Black Marauder.”
“I don’t care if you want to call yourself that. To me, you’re still Lee Haram. That tone, those actions, the way you fight… there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize you.”
It was a question I had asked several times during this incident. She opened her mouth, confident in my identity.
“Please don’t talk about being a Clone Monster or some boring story. I’m not someone who can’t tell the difference. I’ve seen you for years; it can’t be wrong.”
Indeed, being close to someone who knows me well is dangerous.
Splash, splash.
She spun on one leg, turning her whole body towards me.
Knees bent, she took stance and extended both hands toward me.
Her battle stance.
“Why did this happen?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No need to play dumb; there’s nothing here. It’s just the two of us.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? There’s the internet, and television too. I know everything about you, the Black Marauder incident, the things you’ve gone through. Everything.”
I didn’t say a word.
“You’re choosing to stay silent, huh? That’s fine. I’ve got a pretty good guess. So by your words, you caused this incident for the sake of justice, right? Perhaps to instill a sense of crisis in the Association? Or maybe to raise your profile as the allegedly righteous monster of the Black Marauder? Or perhaps both?”
I remained silent.
I feared she might deny me.
“Haram. If you keep silent, I’ll have to explain the truth of this incident.”
She nodded and approached me. Just as I was about to respond.
“Oh! I heard a question. Sorry, let me ask again. Was this the will of Lee Haram, or the will of the Black Marauder?”
It seemed I had to answer.
“For the will of Lee Haram.”
“Good. Then I’ll tell you what the Black Marauder did, without mentioning your name.”
“Could you keep your mouth shut?”
Upon my question, she shook her head, without a hint of hesitation.
“No. For me, this is a story that crosses the line—if I were to speak in Black Marauder’s style…”
A brief breath. Her lungs expanded.
“It doesn’t align with my sense of justice.”
“Justice, huh. It’s funny hearing that from you. Weren’t you the one who reacted most violently to the events we faced?”
“I was.”
“You said you know everything about me, then you must know why I’m doing this, right?”
“I do. It’s probably annoying to see the son smiling after Donghoon died.”
“Do you really think I move with such trivial emotions? I?”
“Of course, you’re different now. But perhaps that’s how it all began.”
…What’s wrong with that? Beginnings are always simple. The underground, the definition of justice now. Was that wrong?”
“No, it wasn’t wrong. Just…”
“Just what?”
“Someone died. Ordinary people who were living their lives.”
“Are you talking about the people from the Association?”
“Yes.”
“People from the Association, heroes, me, and you—all of us knew we could die. What does it matter that they died?”
My heart twisted.
“That’s your definition, Haram. My sense of justice is different.”
Of course.
Justice isn’t absolute.
My justice is Lee Haram’s justice.
The Divine One’s justice is the Divine One’s justice.
Some justices mix together, following mutual agreement. However, some justices can’t find an agreement, and when such justices meet…
“Then, we simply stop it with force.”
She.
I.
Smiled.
Our hearts aligned.
What remained was the downfall of someone.
Snap.
Boom.
On the sandy beach, deserted by everyone, we both charged at each other.
The shockwaves from the impact sent sand flying in all directions, and before the grains could land on the ground.
With a somersault in mid-air, I concentrated all my strength into my legs.
Magical girl style, activate!
Crash.
My legs, filled with all my might, slammed into the sandy shore, causing the sand to soar into the air or compress and form a massive crater.
I wondered if the Divine One was caught up in the shockwave, but things didn’t go that easily.
It’s fine. I hadn’t expected the Divine One to end with such a shockwave anyway.
What mattered in this action was creating a narrow combat space within reach.
Snap.
Small foreign objects reacted to the sparks, scattering through the air as I attempted to trace back the Divine One’s electrical pathways.
“There you are.”
Towards the location where the premonition tinged ominously, my body moved faster than words.
The hammer swung wildly. A human-shaped bolt of lightning began to form at the anticipated spot.
Snap.
A giant flash and electrical sound confirmed the destination, and the hammer swung directly toward its head.
Simultaneously, I detected a short projectile flying toward my chin.
I couldn’t dodge it.
Recognizing the attack through accelerated cognition, I saw no way out— an exquisite counter.
In that brief moment of exchange, my gaze clashed with the Divine One’s.
Smirk.
We both grinned at each other.
Not a bright smile, but one where we widened our pupils, gritted our teeth, and cracked our lips in a menacing grin.
Yet to us, it was a natural smile. Like a reflection in a mirror, blooming amid the heat of battle.
Even as we launched attacks capable of killing each other, we laughed.
Perhaps we were already crazy.
The hero who kills for justice. The hero who kills a loved one for the sake of justice.
Knowing each other’s hearts, yet neither of our attacks ever stopped. Targeting each other’s vital points, fighting to protect our own justice.
Thanks to the bump on my chin, my head was forced upwards.
I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again; my field of vision shifted. I couldn’t see the Divine One.
Was it a brief concussion? How did my attack fare?
Looking at my stance with the hammer, I seemed not to have lost.
I quickly expanded my senses but felt no subsequent movements…
Snap.
I swung the hammer toward the premonition.
Crash.
Her palm and my hammer collided, the sound of a failed follow-up attack ringing out.
“Damn it.”
Snap.
I missed.
Normally, I would have to chase after the Thunder God quickly, but I dropped my hammer and shook my head.
“Are you done yet?”
In a moment.
Her face appeared in my vision.
Covered in blood, her face contorted in pain.
Though the hammer hadn’t directly hit her, it must have inflicted enough damage to smash her forehead.
Snap. Bang.
I felt her attack hit my hammer again as I detected the premonition.
She had definitely slowed down.
“You, who could not defeat me with your first strike, have lost, Thunder God. Let’s end this neatly.”
Though she had Retired and seemingly regained some strength, it was tough right now.
“Can you completely unleash Divine One’s complete thunder? Or, are you going to use the Thunder Spear that utterly wrecks the nerves?”
Snap. Snap.
Sparks continued to erupt between the sands, yet no new attacks came in. Perhaps she realized the evident difference in power.
“Give up. The battle is already over…”
“It hasn’t ended.”
I heard her voice.
Above the crater made of sand, the Divine One stood at a distance as far from me as possible.
Her beautiful golden hair was stained red with blood, and a part of her forehead’s skin had been torn away.
Blood seeped along the wound, causing her to close her left eye as if she could no longer endure the flowing blood.
“I will stand beside you. I will never fall short.”
Crackle. Crackle.
Was she starting to exhaust her strength?
Her words stuttered, and her hair, which had always shone brightly, began to flicker and lose its light.
…Is she giving up?
That’s enough already.
“There’s still more. Clearly, this is something that can’t happen.”
In that moment, her face lifted.
For some reason, despite everything around us shining brightly in the sunlight, her face looked like it was shrouded in shadows.
“Haram, do you know? I can hear voices?”
It felt strange.
It was not a far distance. A distance that could be covered by just one step, with my feet hitting the ground in under 0.1 seconds.
Yet, I couldn’t approach her. It felt as if the original pressure was hindering my movement.
I shouldn’t move. It felt like a direct command to my brain.
“Maybe this is what corruption is. Everyone has gone through such a process.”
Rumble.
The space trembled, and massive Otherworld’s Power began to converge.
It was a sight I had never seen before.
A concrete black aura poured in from all directions, beginning to gather above the Divine One’s head.
I must stop it.
I don’t know what that is, but I can’t let it disgrace her.
I heard strange whispers.
‘You must not move.’
My brain started to command.
My body wouldn’t move.
A peculiar feeling as if my very will wasn’t being communicated to my body.
“What of it.”
I knew countless ways to move my immobile limbs.
Nerves, muscles, brain. If everything made of blood and flesh betrayed me…
I can move.
I am a being made of spirit.
Magical Girl.
The moment I thought that my mana started swirling frantically within me.
If my body wouldn’t move, then move it with mana.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Millions of times, I repeated that. I wasn’t able to use even the basic spell for physical enhancement.
I manipulated all the mana and all the flow manually. As it became second nature, I kept going.
That was the essence of my Physical Enhancement.
Not magic, but something primitive.
The mana that entered my legs forcibly twisted my muscles to make me move.
I lifted my foot. It was as if I were a baby taking my first steps.
Moving solely with pure mana without using my muscles was a first-time experience, so I couldn’t help myself.
Boom.
Despite barely stepping forward with all my might,
Rumble.
With a strange noise, part of the Otherworld’s Power that had been gathering toward her shifted toward me.
A multitude of hands and arms made of darkness sprouted from the empty space, restraining me.
They wrapped around my limbs. Shadows gripping my entire body.
I felt an overwhelming power.
It might be a force even stronger than a 0-Rank Monster. Such restraint had stopped me.
“Let… me… go!”
I swung my arms, shattering my restraints.
The bindings that clung to me transformed into black particles and vanished into the air.
Suddenly, my body moved unnaturally smoothly.
This time, I didn’t focus on the flow of mana. It flowed naturally and moved my body.
Was my consciousness simply recognizing the urgency of the situation and unlocking latent abilities?
But such contemplation mattered little right now. I must save the Divine One.
“Divine One!”
One step forward.
Rumble.
Restraints began to reappear again.
I took another step, releasing its hold.
Gradually, the gaps between my steps began to narrow.
Whether she perceived me as a threat, the restraints bearing down on me grew stronger, yet couldn’t stop my power and crumbled. Up until the moment I reached right in front of the Divine One.
“I want to stop you, Haram.”
From the sky, a black candy fell into her mouth.
“I think I understand why people swallowed this.”
Still, the black sphere remained in her mouth. It was glistening with her saliva, rolling along her tongue.
“This is the last option. For those who wish to gain something even at the cost of giving up their origin.”
“If you know that, don’t swallow it!”
I reached out toward her mouth.
Just before my hand touched,
“Sorry.”
Gulp. Her throat made a small sound.
Without a doubt, it was.
“I will give up everything. I will stop you. It’s the only way I can stand next to you.”
The flash of black lightning.
The shock from her body.
(Time does not linger at high places…)
The voice of Otherworld Invasion came to me slower than my pain.
This was something I had experienced countless times.
Clearly, it was a speed acceleration of her attack, quicker than my cognition.
Crash. Snap. Crash. Snap.
I ignored the continuing pain.
“THUNDERRRRRRRR!”
With all my strength, I kicked the ground.
A ridiculous action. Instead of counterattacking, I let my rage take over and blasted the surroundings.
But it worked. Her attack ceased, and slowed down by the resistance of the sand, the Divine One enveloped in light locked her eyes on me.
She stepped into view.
11 years ago. Still, she had. The black colors had not yet
matured, mixing with that cloudy yellow.
“It’s Round 2, Haram.”
Snap.
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