Chapter 225
“Your caliber is indeed damaged. That filthy star of yours has gotten even filthier,” Taidzu remarked.
“Chwik! Arinchar! So you were involved with that human! Chwik! Foolish coward!” Bodonchar screamed.
The energies of the two stars in the sky clashed. They were both grey, but the star above Taidzu was spherical while the one above Bodonchar was spiky like a sea urchin.
“Chwik! Do you seriously think you’ve weakened me enough to beat me? Keh! I will show you that not all Recorders are the same!”
“Your death is already recorded in the Akashic Records! Your demise was written in permanent ink that is causality from the day you betrayed me!”
Bodonchar and Taidzu charged at each other. A giant white heroic soul, about fifteen meters tall, made of Battle Force, rose from behind Bodonchar. Its tusks reached his forehead.
[Activating Unique Skill: Solho’s Heroic Soul.]
One could count on the fingers of one hand the number of heroic souls with such extraordinary history and power.
“You stabbed your brother in the back for that measly heroic soul?!” Taidzu shouted.
“Chwik! You call it measly?! This is all that matters!” Bodonchar shouted back.
Taidzu did not have a heroic soul because he had not inherited one from anyone. In exchange, white tusks about five centimeters long, made with Battle Force, sprouted from his mandible like bamboo shoots. A white aura also enveloped Taidzu’s fists.
“Die!” Bodonchar shouted as he swung down his Wolf Fang Scimitar, and Solho’s Heroic Soul did the same.
Taidzu did not fall back and blocked the attack with his fists. He grunted as he opened his fists like an eagle’s talons and grabbed the Wolf Fang Scimitar.
[Activating Unique Skill: White Eagle’s Talons.]
Taidzu’s fingers sank into the Wolf Fang Scimitar.
“Bastard!” Bodonchar yelled, moving Solho’s Heroic Soul to thrust its sword at Taidzu’s head.
The attack was so large that it seemed difficult to evade. Taidzu quickly released the Wolf Fang Scimitar and leaped into the air. The strike from Solho’s Heroic Soul destroyed the plains, forming a giant pit, and muddy water splattered everywhere.
“Haaaaah!” Taidzu screamed as he released mana and Battle Force.
He opened his hands and repeatedly slapped the air rapidly.
[Activating Unique Skill: White Wave Slap.]
Hundreds of white palms engulfed Bodonchar like a tsunami alongside the rumbling of thunder.
“Chwik! Not a chance!”
Solho’s Heroic Soul, wielding a scimitar, spun like a top, forming a white tornado. The dark world was instantly dyed in white.
***
“Chwik! What a battle! So, this is a fight between World Rankers!” Tasha shouted as he reached for his sword at his waist, wanting to join the battle even though it would surely end in his demise. He mumbled disappointedly, “Chwik! If only it weren’t a Battle of Heroic Souls!”
The Battle of Heroic Souls was between two people—if anyone interfered, they would be infringing on the covenant. The orcs surrounding the area screamed.
“Whoooaaa! Bodonchar! Bodonchar!”
“Abkai! Abkai!”
“Chwik! Master Taidzu is holding his own against him!”
They could barely see the battle aside from the white light because it was so fast, but they could tell that it was a ferocious battle. The surroundings were soaked due to the heavy rain, but the rain around Bodonchar and Taidzu had evaporated, making it seem like a waterproof barrier shrouded them.
“Chwik! What do you think, Seong-Hwi? Who do you think has the upper hand? Chwik! I think they’re evenly matched. That aside, Master Taidzu is amazing to have polished his powers to this extent without a heroic soul!”
Seong-Hwi remained silent.
“I realized from my battle against Master Taidzu that his punches are on another level! Chwik, I could instinctively tell that I could never block it!”
Seong-Hwi continued to say nothing.
“Chwik. Seong-Hwi?” Tasha said, turning to the silent Seong-Hwi, on the back of the terrified Ibiso, blankly looking up at the sky. “Chwik? What are you looking at, Seong-Hwi?”
Tasha could understand if Seong-Hwi were so focused on the battle that he was in a daze, but he was simply staring at the clouds. Just then, a thunderous clash echoed, shifting Tasha’s attention back to the battle, not wanting to miss even a second of it.
***
Ah... Seong-Hwi thought, feeling like he had an epiphany, as light from two dots reflected in his eyes. Stars...
He could see two stars—one was spherical, and the other was spiky.
Unique caliber... The power of stars... The ticket to accessing the Akashic Records...
The information Kang-San had given him swirled inside his head, but no matter how much he replayed Kang-San’s words, he felt like a key factor was missing. What mattered most was what he was feeling right now.
Seong-Hwi sensed the unknown aura releasing from the two stars and thought, It feels... familiar.
The two auras supplemented each of Bodonchar’s and Taidzu’s attacks. Bodonchar swung his scimitar, and the spiky star infused its power into the attack.
Taidzu will die from having his upper body separated from his lower.
Seong-Hwi could see it. Taidzu would lose this battle—it was deemed so. However, Taidzu struck the air, creating a white fist that deflected Bodonchar’s scimitar and flew toward Bodonchar’s heart. The attack was infused with the power of the spherical star.
Bodonchar will die from having his heart pierced.
Seong-Hwi could also see the scene vividly—it was deemed so. However, Bodonchar moved Solho’s Heroic Soul to block the attack. Every moment felt like a premonition, intertwining to form the future. It was like peeking into the possibilities of countless futures in still frames. Seong-Hwi was already accustomed to this sensation.
This feeling is... way too similar to... the power of my Destiny Force.
Destiny Force was a form of premonition—hope for the future, optimistic certainty, and the like. Like how artists receive inspiration or theologians reach a state of epiphany when they sense a divine presence, Destiny Force awakened Seong-Hwi’s mind and emotions.
Hence, even when Seong-Hwi sometimes logically knew that a bottomless cliff was ahead of him, he stepped forward without hesitation, certain that invisible stairs were present. As a result, Seong-Hwi was still alive—the invisible stairs had been present.
I... already experienced my unique caliber... And not just once!
Seong-Hwi closed his eyes and recalled memories of the past. He could hear a goblin’s crackly voice—it was Jazathura.
“You will pay for the sin of standing against Humilitas with your life!”
Jazathura had thrust his scimitar at a straw doll’s heart, and Seong-Hwi was filled with a certain premonition—a strange sense of certainty.
Back then, I... was certain that I wouldn’t die. It was deemed so.
His certainty was correct. Seong-Hwi survived, and Jazathura died. Next, he heard the voice of Steel King Bafor.
“Please... Please save my daughter.”
When I pulled the Bachtasha-rank Chaos out of Lilar’s body... I felt the power more clearly compared to when I fought Jazathura.
It was an absolute void—the sea of genes—the feeling of swimming in his mother’s amniotic fluid. Seong-Hwi had grabbed a golden ring, activating Orbis Repulsio, and managed to separate Ajingya from Lilar.
And this sensation was concretized when I helped give rise to Elementum!
Back then, he had done it with the sole thought that he needed to backtrack the copies and reach the master copy. He didn’t know how to do it, but knew that he needed to, and that he had already done it before, like a sense of deja vu. As a result, he entered the sea of genes and successfully pulled out the Harmony Rainbow from it.
Was the place that I called the sea of genes... connected to the Akashic Records?!
If that were the case, it would make sense that he was able to use the race skills of goblins, angels, fairies, and perhaps more in the future.
Lee Kang-San called the Akashic Records the memory of the world and the library of destiny!
It was a transcendental library containing records of the past, present, and future. Such a library would naturally have records of countless skills like Sorcery Reversal, Orbis Repulsio, and Harmony Rainbow.
I only thought the ancestral traits of each race were being awakened, but that wasn’t all!
Seong-Hwi had been using his unique caliber—his star power—without realizing it.
Come to think of it, it was the case when I ingested the Fruit of the World Tree!
He recalled the most recent memory of the sensation. The thought of unavoidable death had instantly flashed in his mind when he saw the Fruit of the World Tree, which he had yet to absorb fully. However, his Destiny Force moved on its own, generating a premonition, certainty, and hope deep inside him. It was not logical in the slightest, but he was hit with immense optimism that everything would be okay, and a feeling of deja vu.
All this time... I’ve been using Destiny Force simply as fuel.
Seong-Hwi had used his secondary force as a required stat for his unique skills, Symbol Embodiment and Borrowing Destiny, and to convert it to the secondary forces of other races via the Wings of Evolution. However, he realized that Destiny Force set him apart from the others and was the key to realizing his unique caliber.
A boundless epiphany flashed in his mind, and Destiny Force overflowed inside him. He outstretched his arm in a daze—he didn’t know why, but he believed he had to—in the direction where Bodonchar and Taidzu were fighting.
***
Giant explosions echoed in a place that could no longer be called the plains. Hills and pits had formed everywhere. Bodonchar and Taidzu panted heavily as they glared at each other in the middle of the terrain. Solho’s Heroic Soul behind Bodonchar was now around ten stories tall, but Bodonchar couldn’t express luxury at all.
“Bastard! Chwik! If it weren’t for the attack last night, you’d already be...” Bodonchar mumbled as he gritted his teeth, frustrated that he couldn’t settle the battle quickly due to the Holy Blood of Degradation.
“Ahahaha! It’s your own fault for allowing the attack! That’s what you taught me, isn’t it?!” Taidzu mocked.
“Chwik! You dare defile the Battle of Heroic Souls?!”
“Why don’t you say that after you take off that armor wrapped in Chaos Mana?!”
The two grey stars resonated with one another, tensing the atmosphere.
It’s time to bring it out!
They both thought the same thing; it was time to use their trump cards that would end the drawn-out battle once and for all.
“HERE I COME!” Taidzu shouted, acting first.
He leaped as he straightened his arm like a spear and infused it with the power of his star, Tusk.
[Activating Star Power: White Tusk.]
A white tusk wrapped Taidzu’s arm, making it look like a lance used for jousting.
“This will pierce that armor of yours!” Taidzu shouted with certainty.
The White Tusk, which he had been polishing his whole life, would surely penetrate Bodonchar’s annoying black armor and end his life. Bodonchar moved Solho’s Heroic Soul, swinging down its giant scimitar, to counter Taidzu’s thrust. However, the White Tusk ripped Solho’s Heroic Soul to shreds, and Taidzu, who looked like he had become one large tusk, flew toward Bodonchar’s heart.
“IT’S OVER!” Taidzu shouted.
However, Bodonchar smiled unsettlingly, his tusks getting further apart.
“Chwik! You fell for it!” Bodonchar shouted as an unsettling aura poured out of Bodonchar’s spiky grey star, Betrayal.
[Activating Star Power: Shadow Betrayal.]
Bodonchar’s shadow rose from Taidzu’s long shadow that extended behind him and swung its scimitar at Taidzu’s head as if reconstructing the memory of his betrayal.
“GAHAHA! I’LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR SURE THIS TIME!”
Bodonchar’s star power used his enemies’ shadows, which they never suspected would betray them. Taidzu sensed the attack coming for his neck. It contained an immense amount of causality; his death was practically already written in the Akashic Records. Taidzu suspected he would need to use White Tusk’s full power and most of the causality held by his star. He did not even need to guess what would happen to him after that.
“I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!” Taidzu shouted, giving up on evasion and pouring all the power of his star into White Tusk.
“Son of a bitch!” Bodonchar cursed, his expression frozen.
He had expected Taidzu to dodge with the risk of taking damage, but did not expect him to have Bodonchar accompany him to the afterlife as well.
Now that it’s come to this, I can’t dodge either! Bodonchar thought.
He was caught in the same dilemma. If he dodged, he would give Taidzu the upper hand in the continuing battle.
I’ll trust the Black Insect Armor!
Bodonchar decided to gamble everything on this clash. The shadow’s scimitar reached Taidzu’s neck, and the White Tusk reached Bodonchar’s heart behind the chest plate.
Just then, something that nobody had expected occurred. A star—no, it was more of a faint silver spark than a star—flickered.
“KURGHHH!”
“ARGHHH!”
Taidzu’s White Tusk bore a hole through Bodonchar’s chest, but Bodonchar’s shadow missed Taidzu’s neck, slashing his back instead.
“Chwik... What... in the...” Bodonchar mumbled, his eyes widening in disbelief.
“That... was...” Taidzu groaned as he turned to look at Seong-Hwi on a centaur’s back, lowering his arm in a daze.
***
[Activating Item Skill: Shadow Control.]
[You interfered with a fixed future using the power of ■.]
[The Readers review the probability.]
[Consuming enormous amounts of causality.]
...
[The Regulator detects an act of cheating.]
[You are not an official Recorder.]
[The Regulator declares an erase on Cheon Seong-Hwi.]
...
[The Eraser acts on the declaration.]
[Penalty: Delete]
...
[■■■■’s Demon disburses the price of causality instead.]
[The causality stored in the ■■■ is released.]
[Canceling penalty.]
...
[You made a decisive contribution to the defeat of the Recorder of Betrayal.]
[Eternally recording this feat in the Akasha.]
[200,000,000 Karma obtained.]
[Causality accumulates within ■.]
...
The cold raindrops soaked Seong-Hwi’s hair, and Seong-Hwi’s eyes slowly regained their light.
“What... just...” Seong-Hwi mumbled once he awoke from his trance, reading the incomprehensible Akasha Messages.