◈ Episode 550. Karma (1)
His momentum did not break.
“Is that bastard seriously insane?”
Leoni muttered in disbelief.
“How can he even charge in like that……?”
Lee Hoyeol.
He had entered a realm that even they—who had gone beyond being on a different level and stepped into the domain of the Anomalous—could not dare approach. Leoni was thinking to herself. Perhaps……. he might have reached a level that even the Arcana Continent Chronicle system could not measure.
In that sense.
The gap in strength between Hoyeol and Gaiber?
It was obvious it would not even amount to an egg striking a rock.
It was an entirely objective judgment.
“R-Retreat!”
Even the forces that had followed Gaiber were already fleeing in droves. Not only the paladins of the order that served the God of War, but even the members of the Bohemian Guild.
Clop, clop.
That was right.
Now, only Gaiber remained.
Gaiber rode his horse forward, alone, toward Hoyeol.……
Slide.
Perhaps because the ending was so obvious.
The Holy War Alliance unknowingly loosened their grips.
Nam Taemin opened his mouth.
“It looks like there’s even less need for us to step in now.”
Leoni nodded silently.
The musclehead was right.
No matter how you looked at it, Gaiber.
That fool would never be able to reach Hoyeol.
But.
‘Even knowing that, why is he doing it?’
She could not fathom it at all.
Bohemian had been the top guild of the European Union both before and after the Cataclysm.
Likewise, as the guilds were both based in Europe.
Leoni, the guild master of Berserker, had often crossed paths with Bohemian.
That meant she knew the man named Gaiber well.
‘Aside from his pointlessly high level.’
Gaiber was one of the ordinary players.
He valued immediate profit, cared nothing for grand causes or justifications, and placed himself and his guild above all else—a perfectly ordinary type of human being.
‘There’s no reason for someone like you to charge in prepared to die, is there?’
Commander-in-chief.
Hoyeol had now become an existence like the sun.
Because he could not be approached.
It meant that if one tried to reach him, one might vanish without a trace.
Even if she conceded that he might not have known until now.
At this moment, could he not tell just by looking at Muon?
“Ah……?”
“Aaah…….”
“Uuuugh…….”
The enormous gate.
The paladins of Muon who had crossed the line Hoyeol drew.
They had become wrecks, unable to even speak properly.
He must have seen it all clearly.
“You really made up your mind to die, didn’t you……?”
Yet far from slowing down, his speed only increased.
‘Damn it.’
Leoni gritted her teeth and turned her eyes away from the sight.
Whatever the reason, he was a player she knew.
She had no desire to watch his end, nor would it be pleasant.
“…….”
Grit.
The moment she quietly ground her teeth.
“All units, prepare to advance.”
“……
Huh?”
For some reason, Nam Taemin opened his mouth.
‘Advance? All of a sudden?’
It was not only the Giant Alliance.
All at once, the sound of horns rang out from the Holy War Alliance as well.
That, too, was a signal for the entire army to advance.
“Why?”
What is it?
There’s no reason to overreact this much, is there?
As stated, this was a battle with an obvious outcome.
Muon, with the goddess’s revelation gone, the saint driven out as a witch, and even its paladins and priests rendered powerless. The one who had jumped into such a war situation was Gaiber, merely a single player.
However.
“!”
Leoni’s senses, honed through countless battlefields and crises, were telling her.……
Shing.
Like an automatic reflex, Leoni raised the twin swords at her waist.
It was the moment she completely turned her body.
Nam Taemin rolled his shoulders, which cracked audibly.
“That Gaiber bastard definitely seems to have something.”
“What do you mean, something? What kind of bullshit are you……?!!”
She did not want to admit it.
But this time, too, Nam Taemin was right. A radiance so bright it made her frown pierced her eyes. It made her trail off. It was light. An intense light was bursting out from behind Gaiber.
Soon, a roar began to fill her ears.
Dududududu.
It was the sound of hooves.
The pouring radiance gradually took on form.
Legs sprouted, and the shape of people emerged.
Cavalry.
It was not the paladins of the order or the members of Bohemian who had fled earlier returning.
Sssss.
They were different from Gaiber’s forces, which had been utterly shabby compared to the Holy War Alliance.
Moreover, even as they watched.
Those cavalrymen were increasing exponentially.
Nam Cheolmin’s briefing came through.
-“At least ten thousand……. No, they’re still increasing in real time!”
The knowledge of the Arcana Continent Chronicle told them.
“Gaiber doesn’t have an ability like that.”
It was not something like a skill.
No matter how much he had been buffed by an emergency update.
It was impossible for a mere player to use a skill like that.
Then the answer was clear.
The players’ vision flickered.
[The army of the Pantheon joins the war.]
In other words.
“The gods have returned……?”
It meant someone had been defeated.
*
Drip, drip, drip.
“You’re still lacking, half-wit.”
The God of War.
As he lightly shook the tip of his spear, blood scattered across the Pantheon.
The light in his sanpaku eyes turned cold as it fell upon the nine corpses.
Their limbs had been torn apart.
Their torsos had been pierced through.
Their appearances were truly gruesome.
“Honestly, how can you be this stupid? You were doing so well all this time, so why did you change your mind? Fine, you were born a half-wit, so I’ll understand that much. But why did you keep acting like an idiot even after the Pantheon opened?”
Step.
The God of War approached the fallen Shadow God. His excessively massive frame was closer to that of a giant than a human. The Shadow God’s gaze swept over the nine former Shadow Mercenaries sprawled across the floor.
‘This is an unexpected turn of events.’
He barely managed to open his mouth.
“You’re still a monster.”
The God of War did not particularly deny it.
“That’s not exactly wrong. It took a little time, though.”
His gaze, revealing not the slightest hint of emotion, swept across the Pantheon.
The vast Pantheon took a long while even just to scan with the eyes.
It could not be dyed with the blood of only nine people.
“In any case, I was in the middle of killing almost all of them.”
That was right.
The Pantheon dyed in blood.
The gods’ revelations, abruptly severed.
All of it was because of the massacre the God of War had carried out.
The God of War wore a displeased expression.
“By the way, you really are as unfriendly as ever, aren’t you? If you had just played along a little, divinity or whatever aside, you could have set foot in the Pantheon long ago. Why, even beasts lower than you managed to set foot in the Pantheon just fine, didn’t they?”
“……
You’re probably the only one who would call divine beasts ‘beasts.’”
“Divine beasts, my ass. What are those bastards who can’t even talk supposed to be?”
His tone was as if he were conversing with an old friend he had not seen in a long time.
However, the amicable mood did not last.
Because the God of War had a cause.
The God of War asked.
“Aren’t you curious? Why I did all this.”
He was curious, but he had no strength to ask such a thing.
But perhaps he had been too engrossed in killing and being killed.
It seemed he, unlike himself, had missed conversation.
Even without an answer, he continued speaking on his own.
“Because everything is already over anyway.”
“……?”
“This world, that world, and the other worlds as well.”
This world, the divine realm.
That world, the Arcana Continent.
And if he meant other worlds…….
Was he referring to the Demon Realm or the adventurers’ world?
The God of War raised his enormous foot.
Press.
“Ugh.”
When he stepped on the Shadow God’s head, the wounded body collapsed flat against the floor. The Shadow God’s face was flushing as if it would burst, but the God of War continued speaking without even casting him a glance.
“Because that is the ‘True Truth.’”
……
True Truth?
When the Shadow God flinched.
The God of War shrugged.
“Is it because you’re a half-wit that you can’t understand right away? Well, fine. It has been a long time since you set foot in the Pantheon. You might not be able to understand. I shall mercifully explain it to you myself.”
Slide.
When he took strength out of his leg, color finally returned to the Shadow God’s face.
“The True Truth. That is…….”
For the first time, a strange light entered his previously numb gaze.
“The final destination of the Anomalous.”
The Anomalous.
The authority manifested when two completely different entities became wholly one.
However, the concept of “completely different” was different from the ordinary meaning.
‘……
They must be so completely different that even their worlds differ.’
The Shadow God, retracing the words with his muddled head, flinched.
The True Truth.
The end of the Anomalous.
This world, that world, and other worlds that had already ended…….
He began to understand what those words meant.
“Don’t tell me…….”
“That’s right. That very ‘don’t tell me.’”
The God of War.
“When two completely different worlds collide and transform into one complete world. Furthermore, when that one complete world mixes with another world and is reborn as yet another complete world. When that cycle repeats.”
He wore an entranced expression he had never shown before.
“That is the True Truth.”
The Shadow God muttered.
“You’re insane.”
“You may rejoice, half-wit.”
“……
What?”
“You just gave the same answer as the gods.”
As if it had been a lie, the strange light vanished from his pupils.
The Shadow God’s instincts warned him.
This fellow harbored an exceedingly dangerous ideology.
Therefore.
‘……
I need to draw out more information.’
If not for himself, then for that person.
“Becoming one is the True Truth? According to you, what exists at the end of that cycle is only one thing. What you’re saying is no different from saying everyone must die for the sake of one.”
“You understand quickly.”
The spear pointed at the Pantheon.
“That is why I killed everyone except myself, is it not? And at this very moment, am I not moving my troops to take the life of the man who will seize both worlds visible over there?”
The man who would seize both worlds.
The Shadow God could sense it intuitively.
He was speaking of that person, Hoyeol.
The God of War waved his hand first.
“There is no need to explain his greatness. I know it well enough. Did he not knock on the doors of the Pantheon not long ago? With a frail human body, no less.”
He was not called the God of War for nothing.
Inside his head were tens of thousands of strategies and tactics. That meant he had no arrogance when it came to assessing an opponent’s strength—the first step in establishing military power and tactics.
“He is a man who even devoured the kings of the Demon Realm, who had already swallowed dozens of worlds. To achieve victory against such an existence, it is only natural that this side must also take risks. That is why I slaughtered them all.”
Slide.
The God of War raised not the right hand holding his spear, but his left.
In his grasp was the [Winged Comb-Pattern Horn].
The Shadow God recognized what it was.
“A sacred relic…….”
A sacred relic.
An object even the omnipotent gods of the Pantheon could not carelessly touch.
In a way, it was said to possess power even more omnipotent than a god.
“So even a half-wit recognizes it.”
The God of War raised the corner of his mouth.
“That’s right. It is an omnipotent horn that can command the soldiers of the Pantheon. Shall I tell you its more precise effect? Wherever light exists, the soldiers of the Pantheon will rise infinitely even if they fall, fighting until they annihilate the enemy.”
Even so, the God of War was not arrogant.
“It will not be easy to overcome. But I do not think I can bring him down with merely one sacred relic. As the Arcana Continent proclaims, he is great. Thus, I placed another sacred relic in my servant’s hands.”
The Heavenly Sword, Excalibur.
The Shadow God was not curious about what effect Excalibur possessed. The horn; it must be a sacred relic with authority certainly greater than that.
But that was not the key point.
He squeezed out his strength once more and asked.
“……
Karma.”
Focus returned to the Shadow God’s eyes.
“How much karma did you gain by killing the gods?”
“A wise question, half-wit.”
“……
Answer me.”
The God of War shrugged.
“You have not yet forgotten the nature of sacred relics that obey karma. And it seems you have diligently accumulated karma on the Arcana Continent. Enough to bark at me with such confidence.”
However, how unfortunate.
“Do you think the karma of killing gods would be light? If you want, I will tell you. The karma I have accumulated approaches approximately one thousand. Yes, if I kill you, half-wit, I should reach exactly one thousand.”
Press.
Once more, he put strength into the sole of his foot.
To trample the Shadow God’s body and his mind alike.
All the way down to the floor.
And yet.
“……
Is that so. Then that is enough.”
His attitude was not proper.
It was a response that deviated from the countless strategies and tactics in his head.
The God of War unconsciously ground his teeth.
“Reveal your scheme.”
“My scheme?”
“Speak.”
Slide.
The Shadow God raised his head.
He was smiling bitterly.
“That is something you should have planned for.”
“……
What?”
“You made a mistake, God of War.”
A mistake, I did, before an enemy?
Even more unbelievable words followed.
“You overlooked that person’s karma, his deeds, the weight he bears.”
“……
What did you say?”
“That is the reason for your defeat.”
.
[Karma: 4,173]