<875 – The Possibility of the Opponent (10)>
Mahabharata felt like she was possessed by a ghost.
The Oknodie who had come with her from the Academy emerged not from beside her but from the isolation facility ahead.
As if excited by a strange expectation, the nervousness that had hastened her footsteps like a light walk had vanished.
All that remained was a wounded beast, transcending immense sadness and frustration into a state of desperate rage.
Numerous hypotheses arose in her mind in an attempt to understand this incomprehensible phenomenon.
One theory suggested that Oknodie had never been at the Academy, and only her lingering thoughts wandered here like a specter seeking someone to help her.
Another theory posited that Oknodie had always been a fantastical creature, with different versions living in everyone’s minds; what stood before her was the most despairing form of Oknodie cultivated by the Foundation.
Yet another idea proposed that the transcendent Oknodie had cast off twisted fragments of time and soul, which were immediately consumed by an even stronger shard, resulting in this vile entity’s emergence.
Perhaps Oknodie was a child who crossed over from a parallel world, leading to save her crisis in that dimension, only to vanish before the contradictions of existence in her original world.
Maybe all the Oknodie she had seen until now were mere avatars of ‘that thing,’ which had utilized her for escape and discarded her once she served her purpose.
‘Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’
Hypotheses regarding Oknodie’s abuse were innumerable and had been pointed out time and again.
Jonnas the Butler.
Maid Reap.
Despite their professorial duties at the Academy, their love and care for Oknodie could just as easily be seen as a model garden created for a game.
Why had they failed to notice that fact?
Because even the culprits were oblivious to it.
Isn’t it possible that they couldn’t even imagine witnessing Oknodie—who had come with them until now—vanish like a mirage before their eyes?
‘The truth can be whatever it wants, as long as my violence insists on its own answer.’
The body of Mahabharata surged dramatically through Dragonization.
Then it coiled tightly with a crack, compressing further into something more powerful.
Simultaneously manifesting Giantization and Body Compression, the unique trait of Dragonization unfolded.
The Dragon Guardian entered a state of serious battle readiness.
The mana that had been centered around Oknodie lost its unidirectional flow and formed a clear boundary of territory.
“I find myself in an uninvited visit, but as your professor, I cannot simply leave in front of a child in need of counsel. Would you mind stepping aside?”
“That child must become the Demon King. I could part with any child who resides with you, but ‘this one’ cannot be relinquished.”
To Mahabharata, the statement from Man’s Representative resonated deeply.
Though that person had recognized the differences between Darknodi and Oknodie, in Mahabharata’s ears, it sounded as if the Oknodie at the Academy was a lie, and this one was the true Oknodie.
The original soul of the weak Oknodie, which had once stirred up the campus.
And the thesis regarding the existence of a separate soul of the foundation’s successor, now recognized as the soul of the foundation’s heir, neatly pruned to the chairperson’s liking, gained even more strength.
If the Foundation could play with the soul of a child to such an extent, then there are surely ‘severed souls’ somewhere.
The embodiment of those ‘abandoned souls’ is right there.
Holding a fragile nature yet unrescued by friends.
Unable to receive the love of Jonnas and Reap.
Tortured in the Foundation’s cruel research facility.
Only endless despair and pain continued.
A child, pure and dark mana, born from the darkness that surged from deep within—a being no different from the dark spirit is right there.
The reason why the Oknodie who entered the Academy had such high purity of dark mana lies in the ‘source of darkness’ right there.
It was truly a sad tragedy.
Beyond the hatred or contempt towards the deceased chairperson, she felt fear toward the pure embodiment of evil.
What did he regard his child as, anyway?
How cruel must one be to whittle down a child’s soul repeatedly to create such a tragic embodiment?
Yet the chairperson, who should bear responsibility for it all, was dead.
The sole occurrence remaining was the Man’s Representative’s ambush, who had realized his plans, trying to abduct and manipulate that wretched soul, the ‘Darknodi.’
The overflowing aura of magic awakened dark realm-like techniques, raising the rank of the soul trapped by magic to the level of the Four Kings.
Left Eye: Eye of Stagnation
Right Eye: Eye of Instant Death
The pitch-black eyes stained with darkness and the color of death shook her senses, but the immense responsibility engulfing Mahabharata allowed her to pull out the soul undergoing digestion, evading instant death.
Separation of Spirit Body
“I told you, didn’t I? It’s still too early for you to lose your mind, being called a minor evil dragon.”
It was a child who came to her asking for help, not someone else.
Once capable of living a happy life amidst everyone, Oknodie’s sacrifice came from sensing her own tormented soul and crying out for help, ultimately vanishing.
For that sacrifice, Mahabharata absolutely cannot lose this battle.
“Crush it. Underling of the Evil Dragon.”
The Man’s Representative unleashed his remaining divine power towards Mahabharata.
Darknodi had already begun walking the path of awakening to become the Demon King.
That was a monster of such extraordinary quality that it could challenge the Demon King’s throne merely by breathing and moving time.
Like it had experienced ascending to the position of a Demon King multiple times before, it formed a magical instrument with incredible swiftness and began to tame it without any trial and error.
It was a miracle impossible to achieve without following the fate designated to transcendent beings such as dragons.
Vaccine Flood
Effect: Destroys the mental state of the target with the overwhelming divine power emitted by the hundred gods.
So let’s smash it.
Mahabharata.
The underling of the evil dragon who had lived for more than a millennium.
“Do you really think that small fry chased out of the continent could defeat the words of the victor in this match?”
To the students, she seemed like a good-natured professor, but before attending the Academy, Mahabharata had also journeyed through the world alongside the Dragon Principal in an age of savagery.
What would be the soul she had gathered and ‘digested’ into her own?
Divine Awakening
Incarnation Descends
Long ago, when the Temple of Demigods and the Temple of Vaccines were engaged in a brutal divine competition.
The limbs that grew by devouring the blood, flesh, and souls abandoned by the evil dragon Omoshiroi—who had bitten and killed the fallen gods as the only transcendent being in the world—were none other than her.
“Did you think you could surpass me, the one who has been digesting the souls of a hundred dead gods for a thousand years?”
The overflowing divine power firmly blocked the vaccines trying to penetrate Mahabharata’s interior.
The vaccine’s soul, rising like a fish caught in a net, pleaded for mercy.
That entity had hidden within it power great enough to reach the realm of intermediate gods, capable of rivaling the main twenty-four divine classes at any moment.
If the sword is drawn, it must be for the sake of cutting down the enemy.
As per the words of the hundred gods, the spirit and body of a being not to be trifled with were already destined to meet a definitive end.
“Spare me. I will reveal the secrets of the main twenty-four gods!”
“I will transfer all my points to you. Is this not an opportunity to acquire divine power without loss of strength?”
“Do you not desire the treasure hidden in the Middle Realm for future endeavors?”
Even amidst many temptations, Mahabharata cruelly asserted that none of it was worth a moment’s thought.
“All divine authority belonging to this world resides with me, ‘Mahabharata,’ and anything that I do not possess is not possessed by anyone in this world.”
All you can give me, I have; what I don’t possess, no one in this world possesses, so who could possibly tempt her?
Omoshiroi, merely due to the annoyance of managing affairs, had permitted the authority to be transferred, and as his assets and trivial trophies from the old gods piled high, was there any reason not to compare it with the whole world?
The dragon’s treasure.
The evil dragon’s riches.
The byproducts of transcendent beings.
Having enjoyed all of that, Mahabharata manifested the splendor of bursting and slaying the souls of over a hundred fallen gods using her mental power.
“!!!”
The Man’s Representative sensed it.
Like Darknodi, Mahabharata was also a being where sheer numbers would not work.
Moreover, unlike the restricted possibilities of transcendence that he or Darknodi had shown, she had stepped into an immense realm, forcefully opening the door to transcendence and venturing into it beyond half.
She was like a balloon filled with air.
Even though she could soar to the heavens by tethering a single string to the ground, she did not rise.
Whether it was compassion for humanity or loyalty toward the principal was unknown.
For whatever reason, it only mattered that it resulted in the protection of Darknodi and the thwarting of the awakening of the Demon King.
“The target of the attack has been misidentified.”
The divine beings bound to the Man’s Representative were released once again.
As Mahabharata’s eyes wavered at the foolishness of using the same move twice, the divine powers that had aimed at her rapidly changed direction and inhabited another entity.
“ROOAAAAAAAAAAAR!!”
The foolish spirits who had been forced to evolve due to Darknodi’s deceit were now aimed at snatching away the mythological creature’s body, devouring the weak-souled beings, not even able to utilize half of their robust potential.
As Mahabharata prepared her powers to crush the swift counterattack of the mythological creatures, her inner turmoil only deepened.
She was not the target of their gaze.
The ones aiming for the reclaimed body were the gods.
Mahabharata’s ‘weakness.’
Darknodi was oblivious to Mahabharata’s anguish.
Hence, as the mythological beings possessed divinity with their arbitrary growth and they gazed at her without a hint of hesitation, Darknodi hid behind Mahabharata.
Then, with both hands full of ominous spheres, she prepared to launch her attack.
As Mahabharata defended her, taking on the assault of the mythological creatures, her resolve to protect Darknodi surfaced.
But she knew it was impossible to escape now, as the memory of the Oknodie that had chattered beside her came flooding back.
Diligent.
Kind.
A child loved by many.
With such a noble spirit of sacrifice, she had guided her way even at the cost of abandoning her own life to save another soul.
‘It’s unfair.’
It felt almost cruel that the face of Oknodie would spring to mind now.
If that thought crossed her mind, escape wouldn’t be an option.
With a bitter smile, the power that pooled in both her hands unfurled.
In the form of protection.
Mahabharata stood guard before Darknodi, absorbing all the attacks from the mythological creatures.
