“Cough, huff…”
The blood I had swallowed erupted from my mouth.
Grasping desperately at my fading consciousness, I attempted to swing Frey. But Frey, firmly caught in Jong-eon’s grip, had no intention of coming free.
Letting go of Frey to summon it again and grabbing the hilt would not buy me enough distance to evade Jong-eon’s strike.
There was no way to pull it out with strength or push through.
The suffocating situation forced my judgment.
Of course, Jong-eon didn’t allow me the time to think.
Intuition screamed. Instinct rang the alarm. A chilling sensation stabbed at my abdomen. At that moment, Jong-eon’s knee crashed into my gut. My collarbone felt sharp pain. Jong-eon’s elbow shattered it. My ribs throbbed. Jong-eon’s fist crumpled my ribs. A relentless barrage of blows continued to pummel my body.
With every strike that hit, I barely managed to move my body and avoid vital points, but pain was unavoidable. The agony reigning over my body turned my mind blank.
My knees buckled. My consciousness faded. My senses dulled, and even the screaming of my intuition quieted down.
Even then, I somehow managed to parry and deflect the great sword Jong-eon swung at me. But it seemed I had reached my limit. I could no longer feel my hands. I couldn’t tell if my knees were bent or straight. In a situation where I couldn’t even distinguish if I was alive or not.
Zing— A tingling sensation traveled from my right to my left along my neck. It felt like my throat was being sliced open. I had to block it.
I raised my arms.
But nothing rested in my hands.
A chilling breeze grazed my neck, sending shivers down my spine.
At that moment.
A warm, almost hot energy flowed from my left pinky, enveloping my entire body.
That energy invigorated my body that had reached its limit. It knitted my shattered bones back together. It healed my torn skin and forced my fading consciousness to cling to life.
I knew what this energy was.
I knew who was using this divine power that embraced my body.
Rubia.
Rubia.
Rubia.
I summoned her name in my mind.
I whispered it aloud. I engraved it in my bones.
Crack— The sound of chains echoed in my head.
“Ha.”
A chuckle escaped from Jong-eon’s lips.
Yet still, a hurricane of killing intent bore down on my neck.
I steadied my breath. I recalled Jong-eon’s fluid movements from moments ago when he had effortlessly parried my attack. Could I do that? Of course, I could.
Because ‘I’ had done it.
I can do it too.
What if I fail?
As long as I don’t die, Rubia’s divine power will heal me.
I softened my waist. My feet slid forward. I placed my right hand on my waist.
Taking a clean breath, I pulled back my fist.
Thunk— Thunk—
As sharp energy felt around my neck.
I extended the fist I had pulled back to its limit.
BOOM!
The sound of thunder reverberated from directly in front of me. The sound seemed like it would stretch to the horizon but soon settled in one spot. I immediately summoned Frey and gripped it tightly. I spread my senses.
There stood Jong-eon, blood trickling from the corner of his lips, smiling brightly.
“I didn’t expect this.”
The blood that ran along his lips was absorbed back into his mouth almost instantly. His torn clothes repaired themselves. The tattered cloak absorbed the surrounding darkness and returned to its original state.
After finishing all the healing, Jong-eon grasped his great sword and looked at the divine power surging around my body, studying the ring from which it emanated.
“Rubia.”
It was hard to tell if he was referring to the owner of the divine power or the name of the ring.
Jong-eon shook his head and smiled. He gripped his great sword.
“Now I can finally give it a go.”
Jong-eon stepped forward, replicating his earlier movement.
I too, replayed that moment in my mind and moved accordingly.
Jong-eon’s foot touched the ground.
My foot struck the ground.
One step.
As our steps advanced simultaneously.
CLASH!
Our great swords collided.
*
On Jong-eon’s face, a deepening smile appeared as he exchanged blows with Noah.
It was no surprise.
He could feel Noah’s attacks becoming increasingly sharper with every moment. With each exchanged strike, each blow Noah made, he grew stronger.
Even with the aid of divine power, the growth was astonishing.
Yet, Noah had not dealt a wound that surpassed Jong-eon’s sword. Previously, the critical hit he landed was merely a result of Jong-eon’s momentary carelessness.
Hence, Jong-eon, keeping every potential scenario in mind, had never allowed Noah’s sword to land a hit.
But he also couldn’t land a fatal blow on Noah. It was a close call, but Noah parried every attack that came for his vital points.
When he did receive a serious wound, the divine power emitted from his ring would heal him, leaving his condition parallel to Jong-eon’s.
And so, in the midst of the hundreds and thousands of exchanges.
Drops of blood splattered into the air.
“Ha haha!”
Jong-eon’s blood.
Though it was merely a shallow wound that grazed his cheek, it healed instantly, leaving no trace. Yet, the fact that he had been pushed back for the first time amidst a prolonged exchange made Jong-eon smile.
Of course, the current power he wielded was not Jong-eon’s full potential.
He hadn’t intentionally withheld his strength.
Having dealt with numerous enemies and powerful foes in the world he once lived in, it had become a habit to conceal his full abilities while striking with surprise.
That didn’t mean he had taken Noah lightly.
The intent to kill was clearly reflected in Jong-eon’s sword.
Thus, Jong-eon’s smile, the blood floating in the air, carried even greater significance.
The short laughter he released echoed in the emptiness, the reverberation of that laugh faded, and Jong-eon pondered.
Noah had grown stronger. Enough to be capable of facing the legendary heroes, enough to confront Cartia itself.
The reason he could grow so strong wasn’t solely due to the preparations made by Rubia and himself.
In the intersections along that path, at every pivotal moment that could have changed everything, the choices Noah made played a significant role.
Of course, there were times when luck was on his side.
But if that good fortune persisted, it would no longer be called luck.
It would become the result of what Noah had built himself.
Even I, and Rubia, who was smarter and more meticulous than me, would have been awed by such change.
What could have made her so strong?
There was no need to ponder for long.
The first was, to save Rubia.
The second was, to make Rubia smile.
The third was, to keep the promise made with Rubia.
The fourth, fifth.
And by the sixth, his friends would enter the equation.
After surpassing twenty, the salvation of the world could finally include the reasons behind her newfound strength.
In return, he would willingly offer his life.
You, too, would likely do the same.
I certainly would.
But that’s not enough.
It can’t end up that way.
If it does, he could never reach his destination.
Better yet, by plunging my blade through Noah’s heart, and once again piercing Rubia’s heart, restarting the world would be the right choice for everyone.
Right…?
Is that truly the right choice for everyone?
Yes.
That’s the right choice.
For me, at least, it’s the right choice.
The path I have walked is a path cloaked in hypocrisy.
Releasing a chuckle, Jong-eon swung his great sword wide, shaking off the relentlessly clinging Noah.
Noah, pulling back to create distance, caught his breath.
Jong-eon too, regained his stance while wrestling with the thickening darkness that attempted to dominate his rationality.
If Noah were to fail in reverting the world for the first time; if he used only my strength, not that of the Nameless One, to turn back time,
would I be able to remain as myself?
Even now, so shaken, could I hold on without changing?
I don’t know.
I don’t know, but it must be done.
For Rubia.
If I could just save her,
if I could just make her smile,
I will.
I will tread the hypocritical path, time and again.
Jong-eon finished his thoughts.
He made his choice.
The atmosphere shifted in an instant.
Noah sensed the creeping darkness that spilled from her body.
The hand gripping Frey trembled. Even with Rubia’s divine power behind him, his instincts screamed not to let Jong-eon’s sword touch him.
Still, he stepped forward.
Even if this body were to burn and vanish,
even if it were to be erased from everyone’s memories,
to save Rubia,
to bring a smile to her face.
He raised his head and aimed his sword at the now-decaying Jong-eon.
At that moment.
Scrape!
From the empty air, resonating throughout this world itself, the sound of chains reverberated.
“I’ll tell you something.”
The chains connected. To Jong-eon’s body. Perhaps they were chains that had always been there from the beginning. Jong-eon aimed his great sword at it.
“If you don’t wake up from now on.”
Crack— the chains snapped.
The sky turned red.
The ground stained red.
Above it, a black sun rose.
A completely darkened black sun.
Jong-eon’s excited sigh escaped.
Behind her, towering mountains of corpses piled high. Beneath her feet, rivers of blood flowed.
A nauseating horror beyond words. Jong-eon raised his great sword against such a hellish sight.
“Really, just die.”
Noah, trembling but steadfast, raised his great sword. He unleashed his capacity within. He squeezed every ounce of strength he had left. Without doing so, he had no confidence to withstand that strike.
Gathering every last drop from the ground, everything that Noah had became entwined with Frey.
The light of the Open Heaven inherited from Cartia.
A light aiming to open a new sky radiated in that red world.
Seeing it, Jong-eon smiled subtly.
A smile laced with deep regret.
Finally, Jong-eon swung his great sword.
Noah swung Frey.
*
Frey shattered.
