Chapter 367: Episode 69 – Archangel Hunting (3)
This was a part of an ancient memory.
– Scribe, for how long am I supposed to repeat this war? A war that doesn’t have any victors....
The times when he threw that question out, or how many times he asked it – he couldn’t recall them.
– Michael, there’s no need to ponder too deeply about this.
The Metatron of his memories would always return the exact same smile. For several hundreds of years, or maybe even for thousands of years.
Metatron continued to carry that grin from the far side of time that Michael couldn’t even remember anymore.
– Please, focus on hating the ‘Evil’ in front of your eyes, instead. That is your ‘scenario’.
‘....My scenario.
Just how long have I been hunting down the demons?’
Michael, for a long time now, could no longer remember his birth.
[The power of ‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ is going berserk.]
His memories were always incorrect, incomplete. All he could remember were the final words of the Demon Kings dying at his hands.
– How lamentable, oh, the pitiful disciple of <Eden>. Do you really need to go this far?
That was from the master of the 21st Demon World.
– Uwahahahahat!! You are now the same as us! Finally, Metatron has gone mad!!
And that was from the master of the 9th Demon World.
– Which ‘number’ Michael are you?
And finally, from the lips of the master of the 4th Demon World.
Past the faces of the Demon Kings with names he’d forgotten, he could see the dead Archangels, his comrades, that fought alongside him.
– Michael, you must regain yourself. Please.... This, this is wrong.
An Angel and a Demon, that’s what he was.
Faces breaking down like debris scattered away in tens of thousands of puzzle pieces, before gathering back together to create one giant form.
‘Good’ and ‘Evil’, in conflict against each other for eternity itself. And Metatron’s face, the one who had managed to endure all those years, continued to carry the exact same smile for thousands of years.
– You need to be careful about one thing. When using this power, you must never....
[The power of ‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ is going berserk!]
All of his memories were swept away in one go; Michael was enveloped in horrifying pain akin to his head being ripped to tiny shreds.
Aaaaaaaaah-!!!!
All ‘Good’ in the world cried out in sorrow. From the blades of grass to trees; from small insects to every type of ‘Good’ living in Creation fell into a state of sorrow and cried out in grief.
[You have directed a fatal attack at an opponent on the side of Absolute Good!]
[Fable, ‘Evil that destroys Evil’, is roaring out in bitter sadness!]
[You have broken the taboo!]
[You have been handed a terrible penalty!]
A grey-coloured angel covered in blood was smiling at Michael.
*
The moment I bit into the [Fruit of Good and Evil], the view of the world changed.
[You have consumed a forbidden ‘Star Relic Fruit’.]
[You are currently a ‘Demon King’.]
[The power of ‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ has whispered the secret of the ‘Absolute Good’ to you.]
As the ginormous storm of magical energy raged around me, my ears were inundated by the continuous stream of messages.
[You have experienced all facets of ‘Good and Evil’!]
[You have achieved an impossible accomplishment!]
[You have acquired the Possibility of a brand new Fable!]
[<Star Stream> is stunned by your accomplishment.]
[<Star Stream> is pondering what your second Modifier should be.]
I felt the sensations of being a Constellation, the one I couldn’t feel for a long time after becoming a Demon King, once more.
[‘Demon King Transformation’ has been cancelled.]
[<Star Stream> has completely restored your constellation.]
I saw a beautifully sparkling star high up within the pitch-black sky above. That was my star.
[‘Angel Transformation’ is activating.]
My body began to glow brightly after receiving the starlight. The feathered wings dyed in black morphed into pure white ones, and the demon’s horns growing on top of my head withered away. Warm, pure energy filled up the entirety of my Incarnation Body.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t permitted enough time to relaxedly enjoy the ‘Status of an Angel’. The [Judgement Field] had shrunk down around me and had begun crushing my body.
Kwa-dudududuk!!
My new wings were crushed and folded as I felt this horrifying pain. My arms and legs, that couldn’t endure against the pressure of the compacting space, got crushed helplessly.
[Great Fable, ‘Torch that swallowed the Myth’, is protecting you.]
[Great Fable, ‘Demon World’s Spring’, is protecting you.]
I was able to barely hold on against that enormous pressure, powerful enough to almost crush me in an instant, with the aid of my Great Fables.
[‘The 4th Wall’ is protecting your mental state!]
[Probability of 2nd generation is weakening the ability of ‘the 4th Wall’!]
It felt like several bolts of lightning were going off in my head. I thought that I’d blackout at any given moment, and my vision darkened before reverting back a few times, too.
However, I endured. I simply had to. So that I could grasp that one and only chance soon to be coming my way.
「As the price for being strong against ‘Evil’, the ‘King of Corrupted Angels’ possesses one weakness.」
The power of the [Judgement Field] crushing and wringing my body was gradually weakening. The only weakness of this frightening monster capable of destroying all ‘Absolute Evil’, was....
「The ‘King of Corrupted Angels’ cannot attack an opponent leaning towards the ‘Good’ spectrum.」
If he broke this rule and attacked ‘Good’, then....
Craaaaack!!
The absolute Stigma [Judgement Field], capable of crushing a Demon King to death, began splintering into pieces. Like a moth escaping from its cocoon, I destroyed this barrier and spread out my wings.
Michael squatted down on the ground and grasped his head with both of his hands while screaming at the top of his lungs.
[Demon King, ‘King of Corrupted Angels’, is writhing in great pain!]
This was my only chance.
“Anna Croft!!”
As soon as my words resounded out in this forest, a blonde woman ran towards the rear of Michael. Her eye was now dyed in that crimson hue. She had seen something through [Precognition] and was now in full sprint while unleashing all of her Status.
Meanwhile, I gathered my remaining strength into my two legs and dashed forward as if I was falling over. Now, normally, killing Michael with only this much combined firepower was impossible, even if he had been rendered defenceless like right now.
However, the story would be different while we were on this island.
[Character, ‘Anna Croft’, has activated ‘Physical Sword Aura Lv.9’!]
As if we had a prior agreement, she unleashed several strands of powerful energy from the tip of her shortsword like clockwork. I unsheathed [Unbreakable Faith] with my tattered right arm.
[Fragment of a Fable, ‘Right Arm of a Pitiful Sword Master’, has activated!]
I had no clue that a Fable acquired through the special attribute of [Lamarck’s Giraffe] once upon a time would come in handy like this. (ED: Lamarck’s Kirin → Lamarck’s Giraffe. TIL this is a real thing.)
[Probability of 2nd generation has reinforced your aptitude!]
The explosive magical energy of [Purest Sword Force] extended by over ten-plus metres from the tip of [Unbreakable Faith]. (TL: “White Pure Star Energy” → “Purest Sword Force”)
I managed to barely hold the sword level as it sunk about half-way into the left side of Michael’s neck. Almost at the same time, Anna Croft’s shortsword sliced into the right of his neck.
A fountain of blood shot up into the air and Michael’s severed head flew up.
[You have killed the 176th Incarnation Body of ‘King of the Corrupted Angels’.]
[You have acquired a Myth-grade Fable.]
[<Star Stream> is stunned by your accomplishment!]
[You have brought the ‘Fake Revelation’ to reality.]
[You have achieved an unbelievable accomplishment!]
[You have acquired an ungradable Fable.]
[You have acquired the Fable, ‘Architect of Revelation’!]
As the stream of messages cascaded down, my barely-maintained consciousness finally let go and scattered away.
*
When I reopened my eyes, I found myself all alone within a white space. A single sentence was floating up in the empty air.
「The being who consumed the ‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ will face the truth he had been avoiding.」
‘....Where am I?’
Before I had a chance to ask that, images suddenly popped up on the left-hand sidewall. Those were scenes from ‘Ways of Survival’.
It depicted Yu Joong-Hyeok and his companions clearing out various scenarios. That was the world of ‘Ways of Survival’ where I didn’t exist. The companions who didn’t buckle under all sorts of hardships and continued to defeat their enemies... existed there.
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ speaks to you. ‘That story was your life, wasn’t it?’]
I nodded my head. Indeed, that story was my life. I grew up while reading those events.
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ speaks to you. ‘However, this is also definitely your life, too.’]
The right-hand sidewall rippled and a new screen appeared there. It now showed a boy, around 15 years old. He was looking at a computer monitor while inputting something with the keyboard.
– What will happen to Joong-Hyeok next? Is he going to die again?
This was back when Yu Joong-Hyeok was going through his 164th turn. I was in the 3rd year of middle school, and in love with Yi Ji-Hye back then. And I was busy typing a comment. (TL: Lee Jihye → Yi Ji-Hye)
– Argh.... Really... I’d like to stop chomping on the sweet potatoes now, please. (TL: Sweet potatoes = Korean slang for being frustrated/stifled)
And then, when Yu Joong-Hyeok was going through his 488th turn. I was in the 2nd year of high school, around the same age as Kim Nam-Woon; again, I was typing a comment within the screen.
...
....
......
As Yu Joong-Hyeok went through more and more regressions, I too, grew older and older. While reading about his deaths, my beard began sprouting. I graduated from high school while spectating on his sacrifices.
And again, as I read his story....
– Wouldn’t it be fine for him to just die during this turn, instead?
....Wait, did I ever write a comment like that before?
– The story is going down the drain, so maybe it’s time to go back? ㄱㄱ
Now, it was Yu Joong-Hyeok’s 662th turn.
I was a university student by then, still typing away on a keyboard.
– Joong-Hyeok is going to die again, yes?
The words I committed to record were in full display here. All those words that I spat out under the excuse of being hurt by life and exhausted by living itself, they were coming back inside my brain.
– Please, can you skip the earlier scenarios? It’s getting repetitive.
....I couldn’t say anything, not anymore.
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ speaks to you. ‘That is the total worth of the story you told as if it was your entire life.’]
The tips of my fingers began trembling.
On the left wall, Yu Joong-Hyeok and his battles; and on the right wall, there was me, staring at Yu Joong-Hyeok. And right in the middle wall, the scenes of me glaring at the stars in the sky played out.
「”Enjoy the show while you can. The fee for your entertainment shall become your lives in the end.”」
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ speaks to you. ‘Do you really have the qualification to tell ■■?’]
My own words continued to float up above the screen.
「”Yu Joong-Hyeok, I know the ‘future you don’t know’.”」
「”Hey, Joong-Hyeok, we can save this world. You know this, right?”」
「”I’ll finish your story in your stead.”」
My voice, sounding so brazen and with not a speck of hesitation in it.
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ speaks to you. ‘You, who have deceived the entire world by relying on the story only you know, and lived until now.... Do you possess the right to be saved?]
From some place deep in my chest, I thought I heard something break. The whole world seemed to be shaking in my eyes.
[‘The 4th Wall’ is glaring at the ‘Fruit of Good and Evil’!]
[‘Fruit of Good and Evil’ is startled and is shrinking back.]
Tch-chuchuchuchut!!
A storm of Probability swept up my surroundings. As I stumbled and faltered about, someone’s voice cried out to me.
「(.....Dok-Ja-ssi! You need to move, now! Michael is still....!)」
*
After I opened my eyes again, I found myself leaning against a cavern wall.
“....I was going to abandon you if you didn’t wake up in the next minute or so.”
A blonde woman was looking down at me. Bandages were tightly wrapped around my belly and chest areas, and there were some crushed herbs applied to my thigh that had suffered a penetration wound.
Warm liquid then flowed into my mouth. It tasted bitter, acrid.
I quickly regained my wits and after discovering the identity of the liquid, nearly got scared out of them again. Because... Anna Croft had cut her palm open to feed me her own blood.
“What the hell are you....?!”
She used her other hand to calm me down and explained herself without a hint of fluster.
“I possess the attribute [Elixir Maker]. My blood possesses the same medicinal effects as all the elixirs I’ve consumed so far.”
“....But, drinking a lot of this blood will place me under your control.”
“That happens only when your Status is lower than mine.”
She stemmed the blood flow from her palm and turned her head away.
It was nighttime already. I couldn’t sense any presence or movements. I sucked in several slow but deep breaths and asked her.
“What happened to Michael?”
“.....He’s dead. No, I’m not sure whether to call him dead or not....”
“By any chance, did his Incarnation Body get enshrouded in a blackish fog?”
“....How did you know that?”
I wish I could explain to her, but this crippling pain assaulting my head prevented me from easily recalling the contents of ‘Ways of Survival’. I was pretty sure that Michael wasn’t dead. To be more specific, he did die, but would revive again.
There were ‘two moons’ up in the sky outside the cavern, the symbol of Fables from the 2nd generation. I must’ve drank a fair amount of her blood, because under the pale blue light, Anna Croft’s complexion was just as pale and wane.
“Why didn’t you abandon me and leave?”
“I thought that, by saving you, I’d earn a Fable like [Prophet who Pays her Debt] or some such.”
She probably knew very well that such a Fable wouldn’t get created so easily. Suddenly, I was overcome with this sense of rejection to this whole idea in my head. The Anna Croft I knew was not like this. The woman I knew was definitely a cold-blooded type of a person who, for the sake of her cause, would not hesitate to sacrifice even her most precious comrade.
That was supposed to be the case, but....
“You should be able to move again in a few hours.”
However, was the information I know of her, everything there was to know about Anna Croft?
「Anna Croft is an Incarnation of ‘Absolute Good’.」
....I couldn’t be sure why I was thinking up such things. Maybe, it was possible that I began thinking about lots more things after consuming the [Fruit of Good and Evil].
I spoke as if I was sighing. “We should part ways around here. You must’ve collected all the words necessary for your Modifier target, after all.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, but will you be fine?”
“Not sure who should be worried about who here. Even if you don’t look after me, let me assure you, I won’t die. These injuries weren’t severe enough to kill me.”
“No, if you were left alone, you would have been dead.”
Not ‘could have died’, but ‘dead’, straight up. And I knew the precise moments when Anna Croft would say something like that.
“But, you shouldn’t have been able to see my future?”
“....Until recently, yes, I couldn’t.”
[Exclusive skill, ‘Lie Detection Lv.7’, has activated!]
[You have confirmed that the applicable assertion is the truth.]
“Starting from yesterday onwards, I could see little bits of your future. Some ‘things’ past an indistinct, faint wall....”
....She could see my future?
“What did you see?”
“....It’ll be better if you don’t know.”
“Just say it.”
Anna Croft’s [Eye of the Great Demon] again emitted a crimson light. She then spat out a soft sigh before slowly opening her lips.
“Twelve hours from now, you will die at the hands of the ‘Conquering King’, Yu Joong-Hyeok.”
< Episode 69: Archangel Hunting (3) > Fin.