Chapter 510: Episode 98 – Have you protected all that you were supposed to protect (3)
That was an old promise.
⸢”I’ll finish your story for you.”⸥
I couldn’t keep that promise during the 1863rd turn.
[Your ■■ has begun shaking unsteadily!]
I pushed myself up while gripping the [Unbreakable Faith] tightly. The hilt of the sword that accompanied me from beginning till now through almost all the scenarios, could be felt in my hand.
The tip of the sword touched the ground and sentences began rising up. Sentences that I had never seen before.
⸢He was more curious about the end of this world than anyone, and...⸥
⸢And more than anyone else, he wished for this world not to end.⸥
My last Fable had begun.
“....Kim Dok-Ja?”
I removed Han Su-Yeong’s hands covering my ears.
Her eyes were trembling. My reddened appearance was reflected in her irises. A lengthy wound was running across my cheek; wings were torn, and the Demon King’s horn was broken. I was truly in a mess.
And Han Su-Yeong believed in such a mess of a man until now and came this far.
[Have you made up your mind?]
The Dokkaebi King in the centre of all the exploding sparks asked me.
The beings from the 999th turn, the ‘Outer God Kings’, were doing whatever they could to fight back. The battle so far had been evenly matched, but judging from the direction of the storm of the Probability’s aftermath blowing in, it should be the 999th side falling into a disadvantage in the end.
“That’s right.” I replied to the Dokkaebi King. “I shall cross the ‘Final Wall.’ And then, meet the one behind it.”
The culprit of all these tragedies, the ‘Most Ancient Dream’.
“I’ll meet that guy, and stop all of this world’s tragedies.”
The ‘Dokkaebi King’ grinned as if he was satisfied with my decision.
[Indeed. Very good. That’s eminently possible when you become my successor. Now, come this way. Hurry, and inherit the <Star Stream>’s will....]
“I never said I’ll take you up on your offer.”
I activated [Way of the Wind] and the [Lightning Transformation] at the same time.
This world’s fastest movement technique was soon enveloped by the pure-white electrical energy, transforming my body into a single streak of light beam. With the fastest speed I could ever produce, I shot past both the Dokkaebi King and the Outer Gods.
The destination I chose was the deepest part of the [Final Wall].
[You....!!]
I heard the stunned voice of the Dokkaebi King. I also saw the sentences dashing across above the [Final Wall] in the distance.
⸢The place where the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’s last scale, and Uriel’s last feather, had fallen.⸥
I roared out in panic and dashed towards that very sentence.
⸢The place where Persephone’s last teardrop had fallen.⸥
I needed to stop those sentences from finishing. Even if I saw the end of this world, I must never let those words come to an end.
Perhaps he had realised my intentions, the Dokkaebi King was shouting out in sheer astonishment.
[No, stop! You are not a permitted being yet! You can’t even touch that Wall, let alone cross it!]
Tsu-chuchuchut!
The moment he was finished, the storm of the Probability’s aftermath suppressed my entire body. The sparks exploded with enough force to utterly crush my Incarnation Body right down its atoms, and for a moment there, the inside of my head blanked out from the pain.
[The ‘Final Wall’ is rejecting your approach!]
The Wall was rejecting me.
It was stopping me from touching its sentences, to change them, and even from crossing over it. As if I couldn’t even be permitted to reach it at all.
In an instant, the words on the Wall widened the space, and retreated to a far-off distance.
⸢Those sentences weren’t Kim Dok-Ja’s.⸥
Powerful gusts of wind knocked me off my feet. I was like some words cast out to the distant empty blankness, miserably rolling on the ground towards my rear. Then, my back collided with something while issuing a loud ‘thud!’
“You idiot! You think you can achieve something by rushing out all alone??”
It was Han Su-Yeong. I replied to her with a grin.
“I wasn’t rushing forward alone.”
The <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s members were running towards us from behind.
I didn’t want to lose anyone. I simply couldn’t afford to lose anyone.
“Dok-Ja-ssi! Keep running!”
Jeong Hui-Won, her [Hour of Judgement] activated, rushed towards us while scattering the reddish glow from her eyes.
Yi Hyeon-Seong and Yi Ji-Hye were positioned either side of her, while Yu Sang-Ah and the kids were right behind them. Meanwhile, Jang Ha-Yeong and our masters were taking up the rear of the group.
“Take this with you! It’s the last Life and Death Pill!”
Yi Seol-Hwa couldn’t come with us because of Gong Pil-Du, so she threw the pillbox at us, instead. I took a [Life and Death Pill] out right away and swallowed it. My wrecked Incarnation Body began recovering rapidly.
[Stop!!]
Along with the Dokkaebi King’s cry, bizarre-looking creatures revealed themselves from among the contexts of the paragraphs recorded on the Wall. They were ‘Outer Gods’, too – beings that hadn’t earned Fables worthy enough to be recorded on the Wall.
[[■■■!!▪▪▪ ▪▪▪ ▪▪▪!!]]
Not all Outer Gods followed their kings. There definitely existed some that chose to become the Dokkaebi King’s underlings despite possessing great powers themselves, and voluntarily worked as the slaves of the scenarios.
Kwa-kwakwakwakwa!!
[Stop them! If you do, I shall record your Fables on the ‘Final Wall’!]
Our martial art masters discovered tentacles rushing in from all directions and unsheathed their weapons.
“Leave this place to us.”
The Breaking the Sky Saint’s [Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship] and Kyrgios’s [Purest Sword Force] combined into a single ray of light, and engraved their sentences over the Wall.
[Great Fable, ‘The 1st Murim’, has begun its storytelling!]
Two greatest experts of Murim stopped the tentacles and a desperate struggle soon ensued. Unfortunately, the time they could buy was only for a fleeting moment.
There were simply far too many ‘Outer Gods’ flooding out from the ‘context’ the Dokkaebi King had opened up.
[All Fables of <Kim Dok-Ja Company> are emitting bright light!]
We couldn’t afford to waste the time our masters bought for us. The Wall’s surface recording Uriel’s and the Great Sage’s Fables had already grown that far away.
There could only be one answer. We needed to approach it fast than its retreating speed. But, how could we....
It was right around then a certain paragraph floated up on the [Final Wall].
⸢To think that a ‘Green Zone’ is located on a wall... To begin with, people were responsible for attaching the concept of ‘rooms’ on it, weren’t they.⸥
I abruptly looked down at the floor we were standing on.
The floor itself was another type of ‘Wall’, laying in a different direction. And our footprints were left engraved on the Wall we ran on. The Fables we had compiled were floating up on the footprints we left behind.
⸢”By the way, Dok-Ja-ssi, what are you so focused on reading just now?”⸥
⸢It was the moment when my life’s genre changed.⸥
⸢”The number of people remaining in the subway cabin is twelve. And there are only three insects inside the net.”⸥
⸢One world was dying, while a new world was being born. And I was the sole reader who knew the conclusion of this world.⸥
It was from the first scenario. Back when we were trying to escape from the subway.
⸢Please select your backer. Your chosen backer will become your trusty sponsor from now on.⸥
⸢[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ is disappointed in you.]⸥
⸢[Constellation, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is amused by your choice.]⸥
Those were from the Sponsor Selection. Starlights were illuminating our feet.
We began running again. The Fables created the path we should be running on.
⸢”Is it true that you’re monopolising the food?”⸥
⸢”Stand up, everyone. The scenario has just begun, after all.”⸥
⸢”An arrogant tenant showed up, I see.”⸥
⸢”Hyeon-Seong-ssi, do it now. Destroy everything, please.”⸥
Past the battles of Geumho and Chungmuro Stations, and...
⸢”I’m the... ninth quitter.⸥
⸢”....My apologies, but, may I inquire what your name is?”⸥
⸢”I’m Yu Jung-Hyeok.”⸥
The memories from the battles of the ‘Capture the Flag’ and the life-and-death struggle of the prophets were remembered next.
⸢”What an amusing thing this is. All this history belongs to the past, yet why have you all gathered in this place once more?”⸥
⸢”That bastard is nicknamed the tyrant king. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or woman, you’ll be taken as a concubine if you’re pretty enough, and if you’re not, either you’ll be killed off or become his slave.”⸥
⸢”In that case, Dok-Ja-ssi, you’ll end up as a slave if you get caught.”⸥
⸢The top dog among the Seoul’s Seven Kings was, of course, the Conquering King Yu Jung-Hyeok.⸥
We greeted the Gwanghwamun’s ‘Battle of the Kings’, and...
⸢”That’s why I will not sit down on the ‘Absolute Throne’.”⸥
....And, I destroyed the [Absolute Throne].
⸢”However, I won’t permit anyone else to sit down on this throne, either.”⸥
Every moment had been a battle against adversity. Not one scenario was easy, and we always had to risk our lives and fight the odds.
All these tragedies had become a story in the end. And we were running with that story.
Fables untangling endlessly like a ball of threads soon formed a single image. That image soon morphed into a white tiger. A white tiger sporting noble whiskers and stripes was now running beside me.
[Fable, ‘King of a Kingless World’, is seeing you off on your journey.]
The ‘King of a Kingless World’ – my nativity Fable was seeing me off.
The white tiger created the path we must tread on and roared out loudly, before coming to a sudden stop – as if the road from here on wasn’t its to create, its yearning eyes chasing after my path.
[Fable, ‘One Who Opposes the Miracles’, is seeing you off on your journey.]
Before long, my second Fable taking on the figure of a blue hawk was flying above my head. It was the Fable I earned by killing the Returnee Myung Il-Sang who descended as the ‘Calamity of Questions’.
[Fable, ‘One Who Scorned the Storyteller’, is seeing you off on your journey.]
Our every Fable was enabling us to run on the [Final Wall].
The expressions of my companions also changed as their own Fables appeared. Yi Hyeon-Seong hesitantly looked behind over and over again, while Shin Yu-Seung couldn’t hold it anymore and broke down in tears.
⸢This was the road they had lived on, and the story they need to finish.⸥
[Fable, ‘One Who Hunted the King of Disasters’, is seeing you off on your journey.]
The Fable I earned by hunting the shadow of ‘Yamato no Orochi’ back in the [Peaceland]; a gigantic shadow of a snake was supporting the road we were running on.
Every single one of them was a precious story to us. We lived all those moments to their fullest and that’s why all of us were here now.
Tsu-chuchuchuchut!
Our Fables lost their strengths and collapsed as the storm of aftermaths grew harsher and harsher.
[Fable, ‘One Who Murdered the Outer God’, is seeing you off on your journey.]
A Fable resembling a massive squid protected us from the aftermath’s storm.
[Fable, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, has begun telling its last story.]
With every ounce of energy I could muster, I wielded the [Unbreakable Faith]. We shook off the incoming ‘Outer Gods’ and dashed towards the [Final Wall].
The Fables of the Constellations were still telling their stories in the distance even now.
⸢The ‘Flame of Conflagration’ fell out from Uriel’s hand. In that last moment, she looked up at a certain star shining in the night sky. And then....⸥
It was still not too late. Uriel, the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, and even the Great Sage, they were all still alive.
This story could be changed.
[The ‘Final Wall’ is not permitting your approach!]
We only had to go a little bit further.
[‘Access prevention process’ has been initialised.]
And then, our steps came to a halt.
Right before our eyes stood thin, transparent walls layered one after another. Each wall was made up with incredible density.
We struck it several times, but its sturdiness couldn’t be broken through the powers of individual Fables.
We could now see the ‘Outer Gods’ ignoring our masters and rushing towards us. The Dokkaebi King seemed to be relieved now as he shouted something at us, too.
I ignored them all and looked up at the night sky.
⸢All the stars of the universe had dimmed, but that didn’t mean every single of them did.⸥
A ripple-like thing spread out from a certain spot in the night sky. The first one to realise what was going on was Han Su-Yeong. She rubbed her eyes hard and muttered out.
“He’s way too late!”
The front section of a train could be seen dashing towards us. Surya’s sun train was rushing in our direction as the ark’s debris could be seen bouncing off its hull.
[Constellation, ‘Supreme God of Light’, is incarnating into the Final Scenario’s location!]
[Apologies for my tardiness, Demon King of Salvation.]
He had finally attained the Status of a Myth-grade, and arrived in this stage by crossing the night sky.
“Not at all. You are just in time.”
[Great Fable, ‘Demon World’s Spring’, has begun its storytelling!]
Finally, the condition for the ‘Beginning/Gi(起)’ had been satisfied.
[The ‘Stage Transformation’ is activating!]
<Episode 98. Have you protected all that you were supposed to protect (3)> Fin.