Chapter 760: Those Who Refused Ascension (2)

[Those Who Refused Ascension]

Its size was incomparably enormous.

Although in the past, it had not been especially large compared to the other immortals, now it possessed a size second only to that yellow dragon.

The reason was simple.

That thing had been on the earth from the beginning.

It devoured the enemies that attacked the earth.

And it also devoured the falling stars that had dropped down to the earth, increasing its size.

By the number of stars that descended, its size also grew bloated.

Its scales, once beautiful as jewels, became rough, and its streamlined body grew sharp like armor.

But conversely.

That viciously transformed appearance was the very hope of this war.

'The martial hall’s Master is growing stronger.'

The more he devoured the enemies, the stronger he became.

The number of stars had no end.

But as his power grew stronger, little by little, the balance of power tilted toward their side.

Those stars from the outside were not without restrictions either.

They were not beings that could truly ravage this land infinitely.

So, if that thing devoured even a few more of those stars.

If, by doing so, it shifted the balance of power even slightly more toward their side...... perhaps they might be able to win.

That was why.

The immortals of the heavens turned their eyes away from it.

Devouring others and increasing one’s own size.

There was no way such a thing could be possible without any price.

It was a matter of the mind growing more and more clouded, of having to shed tears of blood in the pain of losing oneself.

Although it had to be absurdly painful.

Because there was no other way.

They decided to turn their eyes away from that pain.

......And because they turned their heads like that.

They failed to see it.

The single dragon they had believed to be their hope.

The gaze of that dragon, wounded amid the fierce battle and wandering in search of the next enemy to swallow.......

-Grrrk.

Every now and then.

Was turning toward them.

***

“.......”

At Woojin’s words, I opened my mouth blankly.

This was a world that would have been difficult to save from ruin in the first place.

But.

Even so, the way that ruin came about was clearly important.

I had heard a rough account of the process by which this world was destroyed.

But for some reason, Miho had not properly told me that final part.

Only now could I understand why.

'For the sake of the Master’s honor.'

The being that placed the final period on that ruin.

The fact that it was not an invader from outside, but their own Master.

She must not have wanted to reveal that.

“......At the very least, we, the disciples of the martial hall, were free from those teeth. That must have been the final line Master could not cross.”

The ruin their world experienced.

Its final process had not been caused by the enemies.

The wounds from battle.

The enemies devoured to recover from those wounds.

And after devouring far too many like that, the one who lost himself...... was their Master.

“But it was clear that even that final line would not hold for long. The one fortunate thing was...... when the emperor of the heavens was devoured, perhaps thanks to the influence of that being who was practically the symbol of reason itself, Master regained his reason for a very brief moment.”

“.......”

“With that last remaining reason, Master headed here to the Dragon Heaven Pavilion. After that, he put his own body right there.”

Cheonsan, where the martial hall stood.

The mansion at the center of the pavilion located at the highest point of that mountain.

The gigantic hole in the middle of it.

“After forcing his body into that hole, he sealed himself.”

I looked down below.

Deep within.

There, an absurdly dense purple energy was surging.

“What exists below is no longer the Master we knew. That is why we came to call that existence by another name.”

“Another name?”

It had swallowed countless stars.

When it had swallowed all those stars.

An incredible number of stars were drifting inside it.

“Mirinae.”

“.......”

“It means...... a river of stars that has swallowed countless stars.”

Only then.

I understood why Mirinae’s instinct had grown stronger than reason after this world’s seal was released.

Mirinae had said it was because of its wound...... but that was Mirinae’s misunderstanding.

'From the beginning, it sealed itself with the scraps of reason it had left.'

When the power of this world reinforced that seal, reason had at least taken the lead.

But as the power of the seal weakened, that instinct grew stronger and stronger.

Because the final thought held by that remaining instinct was the pain coming from its own wound, it had simply mistaken the wound as the cause.

'The countless forms I saw...... At first, I thought Mirinae was simply a being that originally had multiple personalities.'

But.

At that time, I had misunderstood only because I did not know Mirinae’s true nature.

Thinking about it, Mirinae and the other beastkin were beings born in the same world.

'There’s no way only Mirinae would be some special race like that.'

Those things probably had not been Mirinae’s personalities from the beginning.

Their true identities were likely.

'......The countless stars and immortals he devoured.'

The personalities of the beings devoured by Mirinae.

They had not been fully digested, and had remained inside it like dregs.

'Good grief, just how many did he eat?'

Even the ones I saw while listening to Mirinae’s advice numbered in the dozens.

The personalities that appeared when I fought in that pavilion numbered at least in the hundreds.

Among all those personalities, I could not tell which one was the original Mirinae.......

No, which one had been the martial hall’s Master.

However.

'I can guess one of them.'

Among all those personalities.

There was one identity I could roughly infer.

'That old man.'

The Mirinae who had first invited me into its own space.

And even after I reached this place, causing that instinct to begin running wild.

The old man who had maintained reason to the very end and warned me that I must not approach it.

'......They said Mirinae briefly regained reason when the emperor of the heavens was devoured.'

No.

It was not only that.

The personalities beside that old man, those relatively untouched by the dark energy.

Their identities were probably the remnants of beings who had originally been immortals.

The immortals were beings who had polished martial arts, overcome instinct, and ascended.

Because they were such beings, even inside the frenzied Mirinae, they must have been able to remain as rational personalities.

“......This is the end we experienced.”

Woojin spoke while breathing with difficulty.

“I do not know why you returned to this martial hall again. Judging by the ominous energy I can sense outside, I suspect there may be something requiring our help.”

“Well, it’s something similar.”

“Believe what I say. No matter how mighty the ominous thing outside may be, it cannot be as terrifying as the being inside here...... that evil dragon that swallowed countless stars and immortals. So.......”

Woojin squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth as if steeling his resolve.

“......Please go back.”

And.

At that exact moment.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

“......!”

The hole where purple light was swaying.

A massive shock came surging out from that hole.

***

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A gigantic energy leaking out from inside the hole.

That energy created an enormous shock.

However.

Despite that gigantic energy, I stood before it in complete calm, without feeling any pressure.

That was only natural.

“Cough.......”

Because the place that shock was directed toward...... was not me, but someone else.

The man barely enduring that shock with both hands clasped together.

It was Woojin.

“Go, back......!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM......!

“There is nothing you want in this place......!”

The more he told me to go back.

The force pressing down on Woojin grew even stronger.

'Mirinae’s instinct is angry.'

Mirinae’s instinct wanted to escape that seal and survive.

If it remained trapped in that seal, then in the end, the wound he had suffered in the past would only spread until he met death.

“Please, at least let our Master’s final moments.......”

What Woojin was saying now.

“End honorably......!”

Was no different from asking me to grant Mirinae a quiet death.

And.

As I looked down at Woojin, I thought.

'I can understand why those beastkin tried to stop me.'

For a moment, I had wondered why they were so intent on blocking me from going to their Master.

But the thing below that hole was only what had “once” been the martial hall’s Master.

Now, rather than that, it was closer to an evil dragon that had indiscriminately swallowed the last survivors of its homeland, the immortals, and even the lands themselves.

If it died while still sealed.

Then it would be according to the intent of the martial hall’s Master, who chose to seal himself at the final moment.

If it died inside the seal, Mirinae could die as their Master.

But the moment it was released from that seal.

It would once again begin acting as that evil dragon, Mirinae.

For the sake of their Master’s honor, the beastkin must have wanted to prevent that at all costs.

......Yes.

Except for one beastkin.

'Miho sent me here.'

I had heard that Seohwan lost consciousness before his Master became Mirinae.

But Miho had not.

She must have understood what state her Master was in just as well as the other senior brothers and sisters.

Naturally.

She also would not have wanted her Master’s end to be running wild as an evil dragon.

And yet, the reason she made a different choice from the other senior brothers and sisters was...... well, it was simple.

'Miho expected something else from me.'

After all.

The other senior brothers and sisters probably did not think their Master’s death was the best possible ending either.

If there could be some other ending, they would have wanted to choose that.

But.

They had seen Mirinae devour everything.

They had seen the evil dragon grow gigantic as it swallowed stars and immortals with absurdly overwhelming power.

It was that enormous a being.

Guiding the end of such a being in another direction?

They must have thought there was no way something like that could be possible, and given up on it from the start.

Yes.

Because it was so impossible.

It was something the others had given up on from the beginning, thinking there was not even a possibility.

Miho herself had probably once thought the same as them.

'That woman...... sent me here because she thought I might actually be able to do that ridiculous thing?'

And yet.

Miho sent me here.

Thinking that perhaps I could do something the other senior brothers and sisters had not even considered possible.

'Good grief.'

A hollow laugh escaped me.

It was absurd enough to make me wonder just how much she expected from me.

“......Sorry, but.”

But how should I put it.

Thinking about it.

There was a member of my unit who trusted me that much.

“After coming this far, turning back would be kind of wrong, wouldn’t it?”

“......You!”

At least making an effort to live up to those expectations.

Isn’t that what a commander should do?

SPOT!

I lightly kicked off the ground and launched myself forward.

FWOOOOOOOSH!!!

My body.

Fell into that hole filled with purple light.

***

Thud.

The fall did not last very long.

Thanks to arriving at the bottom faster than I had expected, I was able to land without even rolling across the ground.

'This place is.'

Inside thick darkness.

A world where nothing could be seen, trapped in purple mist.

Even with my [Dark Vision], which had become closer to a vampire’s thanks to [Berserk], it was difficult to make out the scenery around me.

Ssssk.......

If sight was not working, then the next thing I could use was touch.

I moved my foot slightly.

And felt the sensation of a solid floor.

A solid floor, but not a flat one.

It was oddly curved, and not very comfortable to stand on.

'This is, how should I put it.'

And.

Only after I swept over that floor a little more and examined its shape.

Did I understand what this floor was.

“Scales?”

Gigantic, glossy scales.

Perhaps this place was.

“Mirinae’s.......”

And.

The moment I realized the identity of the place I was standing on.......

No.

The identity of the “being” I was standing on.

{So you finally came.}

With a long, ripping sound.

Thousands of long, slit pupils began staring at me.