Chapter 295: Emptiness is Form (1)
Chapter 295 Emptiness is Form (1)
It was a terrible thing to die. Even more so if ‘alone’ was added as a qualifier. Also, if the name ‘Yoon-seok’ were out in front of it, it would be even crazier.
“Passed? What do you mean..?”
With the non-healing condition under the Lady’s Commandment, he cut out his heart with a knife and stabbed his head. And when the rigid state of {Immortal} was activated, he waited and repeated the same thing once more. Only then could he die once. However..
“What does that mean..?”
“It is literal.”
The reason why Yoon-seok decided to accept Eltas as his teammate today wasn’t simply because the process of dying was painful.
‘It’s an essential skill.’
The present Yoon-seok and Yoon-seok at that time were different. b Immortality} disappeared, but {Transcendental Muscle} was created. Simply put, the process towards death became several times more cumbersome. Well, it would only delay him, but.. historical
‘How long will it take?’
The problem, as always, was time. Even if he died, it was meaningless if five minutes passed while he tried it. That was the reason why Yoon-seok trained his second technique to reach the ultimate goal of cutting the Dimensional Muscle in the first place.
“..Do you mean you’ll spare me?”
Yoon-seok nodded.
“By the way, how many powers do you have?”
“There are thirteen including general powers.”
‘Thirteen, huh..?’.
“Get up.”
Yoon-seok raised Eltas from his knees. And after briefly explaining what passing meant, he took out a contract and asked for his understanding.
“Please understand that I have to write a contract.”
“..Of course. But can you believe it?”
Eltas could use tricks on the contract. Since it brought it up, it seemed unlikely he would try again. Still, it would be nice to be certain.
Instead of answering, Yoon-seok opened up his powers.
[The power of the challenger Eltas Raiden is sealed within the area by the Lady’s Commandment.]
His mana was drained like crazy in return. Yoon-seok hurriedly wrote down the items on the contract and handed them to Eltas.
“You just need to read it and sign it.”
The contract contents weren’t much different from the format that became the standard with Sharon Aphlan. However, Item 3, related to compensation, disappeared, and Item 2 was slightly changed.
This rule applied not from the start of the Queen Battle but from now on. It was a slavery contract that must be obeyed forever if Yoon-seok didn’t use the Last Bastion item.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s a formal phrase prepared just in case. It’s temporary, but aren’t we going to be teammates?”
Eltas looked at his female colleague and presumed to be a lover. Then, he wrote his name in the signature column with a determined look.
[The contract has been established.]
Just in time, Yoon-seok ran out of mana, and the Lady’s Commandment ended.
Yoon-seok smiled brightly.
“Then I will give you the first order.”
“..Didn’t you say it was a formal phrase?”
“That was then.”
Again, the contract should be well written.
“It’s nothing much to ask for. You just have to earn time by hunting hard with your teammates for the rest of the time.”
“If that’s the case, okay..”
Was he nervous about receiving a ridiculous order? Hearing the contents, Eltas exhaled a sigh of relief. However, Yoon-seok hadn’t finished yet.
“Oh, and you can’t use the Time Shop until I say.”
“The Time Shop.. can you tell me why?”
Eltas asked with a more serious look. The reason was simple. As Henigus said, time was precious.
“Maybe there might be a way to earn it?”
To collect 2.4 billion T, he had to work hard from now on. Did Eltas understand what he meant belatedly?
“..”
Seeing Eltas, who couldn’t speak, Yoon-seok summoned Yongyong. Then he said goodbye to them, leaving the command to go around and hunt with those people.
“Let’s go, Yongyong!”
“Yes! Father!”
Yoon-seok, who flew up on Yong-yong, went to another area with a satisfied smile.
* * *
How long had it been since he broke up with them?
[You have acquired 1T.]
[You have acquired 0.8T.]
[You have acquired 0.56T.]
As the number engraved on his wrist gradually increased, the macro seemed to have started working. Yoon-seok was relieved.
“Anyway, where should I go now?”
Yoon-seok wandered around the ruins with Yongyong, contemplating his next destination. Where in the world could he find the Heavenly Buddha and Henigus? He had acquired a new ability (a colleague) by chance, but now he felt sluggish.
‘Still, the massacre seems to have stopped for now.’
He wandered all over the place, but nothing came of it. All he had to do was get used to the topography of the Space and Time Prison. From what he could tell, this place was divided into a total of twenty small districts and one central district, which was the capital level, and there were still quite a few seemingly intact areas. Well, they were empty ghost towns because everyone had evacuated.
‘There are no clues as I hoped.’
What about Cheon-ma or Lee Su-yeon? Seeing there wasn’t much contact, it was clear they hadn’t found the healing specialist but had they made any progress? Most likely, they had. After all, Lee Su-yeon started with a rough guess.
‘Let’s go out first.’
He looked through all the areas of the underground city, but he couldn’t find anything that concerned him. However, if Yoon-seok thought about it, the Space-Time World wasn’t only the underground city. Just like the place he started at, a wider world spread out aboveground. Yoon-seok didn’t know why it existed, but all the monsters came from there.
‘Maybe there’s a secret up there.’
As soon as he stepped out through the tower, Yoon-seok was greeted by a gloomy purple sky.
‘Is it a jungle?’
Coincidentally, the point he arrived at was the same as he entered through. The only difference was the crowds of monsters.
‘I should have released Lynn here.’
Unable to contain his regret, Yoon-seok climbed into the sky, riding on Yongyong. As he calmly looked down, the thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘But where the hell did they come from?’
It didn’t seem like they were created here, seeing thousands of monsters slowly moving in one direction.
‘Is there something over there?’
“Yongyong.”
“Yes!”
After that, as he rode Yongyong and followed that direction for a while, a vast snowfield unfolded before his eyes. Next was the desert and the sea, in the precise route he passed over after first arriving in the jungle.
‘Is it possible that they’re instinctively marching in the direction of the hole I made?’
He wondered if that could be the reason, but Yoon-seok decided to check it to the end. There was nothing else to do other than this. Soon after, Yoon-seok, who arrived at the volcanic zone, smacked his lips.
“Khieeeeek!”
Numerous monsters here were entering the underground city through the sinkhole Yoon-seok created.
‘They were coming through the hole.’
Disappointment crept in, but it was only a brief moment to think that he wasted his time. Yoon-seok squinted his eyes and tilted his head.
‘Wait, if I follow them the other way, I’ll know where they’re coming from, right?’
He didn’t know what kind of place would be after the volcanic area. However, the monsters kept coming from the same direction.
‘Maybe there is something.’
Yoon-seok’s enthusiasm began to spring up again. There was no guarantee that there would be the Heavenly Buddha or Henigus at the beginning of this procession, but.. at least the secrets hidden in the Space-Time World might be there.
“Yongyong, are you tired of carrying me? Let’s change places.”
“Yes, Father!”
Yoon-seok took Yongyong, who transformed into a human form, in his arms and started running through the sky. He said that to Yongyong, but the reason was that he wanted to satisfy his curiosity as soon as possible.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The same went for the Heavenly Sword Cave in Moorim. The Space-Time World seemed to have been created by someone, but who the hell created it and for what purpose? Well, if he were lucky, Yoon-seok would find out soon.
“..?”
Yoon-seok’s foot was caught as he passed along the road. At some point, the jungle became an alpine zone.
“..Did someone come here?”
There were only a few mountains with peaks left, and most of the terrain was destroyed. Traces of pitch-dark scorch marks were left all over, and deep craters were carved through the earth. This couldn’t be the work of monsters.
Not only had he never seen them fighting between themselves, but he hadn’t seen one capable of this.
“Father! Look over there!”
Yoon-seok turned toward the place Yongyong pointed. A palm mark marked the mountain’s surface, which was only half remaining.
“The Heavenly Buddha’s attack?”
It was so impressive that he could recall it. One of the Heavenly Buddha’s main weapons fired mana in the shape of a palm..
“..”
The radius was exactly as big as this.
* * *
Yoon-seok smiled.
‘It seems I have come to the right place.’
It couldn’t be a coincidence. It was the Heavenly Buddha. Then, who did he fight here to leave these traces?
This was also self-evident. It must be the kid whom he’d been looking for so much. It seemed the kid’s goal was to reach the Heavenly Buddha.
‘Then is it better to call her here?’
He didn’t know about Henigus, but handling the Heavenly Buddha alone was a bit much. So, he wondered if it would be better to join Cheon-ma and then return, but..
To contact her, Lee Su-yeon had to contact him first, and he didn’t know when she would.
‘It’s not certain yet, so let’s go alone for now.’
Yoon-seok asked Yongyong to visit Cheon-man and deliver his words. He was a little worried about Yongyong being left alone, though.
“Can you do it?”
“Yes!”
Yongyong responded cheerily. Well, he would be good enough to run errands after becoming this big. Soon after, Yoon-seok sent Yongyong and continued his tracking.
‘Is the kid running away and that Lowly Monk following him?’
Passing through the alpine area, grasslands appeared, followed by glaciers. It wasn’t as intense as before, but traces of their battle could be found everywhere. Judging from the situation, it looked like a chase was going on..
‘The ranker who died earlier is not Henigus, right?’
He didn’t know for sure, but Yoon-seok sped up, hoping the situation wasn’t over before he arrived. And finally, he faced a cliff that stretched endlessly along the horizon.
‘Is this the end?’
He could see nothing beyond the cliff. Like the edge of the world beyond the sea people believed in before they discovered the Earth was round. Yoon-seok slowly moved to the cliff’s edge, compelled by this strangely overwhelming view.
He looked down and saw an endless line of monsters climbing the cliff.
‘Does it mean I must go down from now on?’
Yoon-seok, who threw himself down the cliff without hesitation, kicked off the air to pick up speed.
And how long did it take?
[You don’t have permission to enter.]
[!#ball@%*!@$transfer@#$.]
Broken text appeared, and his vision darkened. Not only that, but his senses quickly began to dull. For a moment, he was taken aback.
But as the light slowly penetrated his retinas, the figures in front of him became vividly colored. Everything was still blurry, but..
‘Why the hell am I here..?’
Intuitively realizing where this place was, Yoon-seok looked blankly to the sky. The sunlight pouring in from the blue sky was dazzling, and the air surrounding him was cool in his lungs.
“Khiek. Khiek!”
As soon as he lowered his head, Yoon-seok saw an orc frozen in front of him.
Just like the day everything started
[Welcome to the Arena, the ordeal of Duels.]