Chapter 412
The Star of the Martial God, Tuseong.
[It has begun.]
Martial God, who had somewhat sorted out the administrator's interference and returned to Tuseong.
[Dongbang Sak, you did well.]
He said with satisfaction while looking at Dongbang Sak, who was kneeling before him.
"I merely carried out your orders."
[The timing of Taiji's activation was very appropriate... This time, you shall be rewarded.]
Dongbang Sak's Taiji.
The power he had implanted in the owner of the abyss was not simply to allow Taiji's Lost Soul to take over the giant's body.
It was more like a trap designed to activate at a crucial moment, using the giant's body as fuel.
[This time, you can make considerable progress...]
When Martial God, who thought Seong Jihan was already finished upon seeing Taiji, was feeling satisfied.
Step. Step.
"Did you call for me?"
Ashoka politely walked to where Martial God was.
[Then Dongbang Sak, you may withdraw and rest.]
"...Understood."
Martial God, who gave Dongbang Sak the order to leave as Ashoka arrived.
Swooosh...
As Dongbang Sak's form was completely engulfed in darkness and disappeared, he slowly began to speak.
[Now, when Seong Jihan disappears into Taiji, I will ignite the Sacred Flame on that land.]
"Are you planning to send Pythia?"
[Yes. She will become the Sacred Flame and gather strength. Once that is done.]
Flash!
In the darkness, two red lights flickered intensely.
[Immediately activate the Golden Wheel. We must return before the administrator's surveillance intensifies.]
"...I will do so."
After eliminating Seong Jihan, he intends to return immediately.
As expected of Martial God.
Safety first.
[From the next cycle, we must start by eliminating Seong Jihan first.]
"..."
Furthermore.
At his words that from now on, he will start by removing the variable called Seong Jihan itself.
Ashoka felt suffocated.
'Seong Jihan was the only one who created variables in this infinite regression... If he disappears, will the next turn even come?'
In a world that had been endlessly repeating, the only one who had brought the situation this far was the current Seong Jihan.
If such an existence disappears from now on, will humanity have no choice but to continue being sacrificed until Martial God rises as the 'permanent administrator'?
As Ashoka was inwardly lamenting like that.
[And...]
Martial God, who was looking at the screen, said quietly.
[If, by any chance, though it's unlikely, he survives Taiji. Immediately activate the Golden Wheel.]
"You're not planning to retrieve the power of the Lowest?"
[Yes. Even if I lose power, I will avoid this cycle.]
"If Seong Jihan manages to win, the value of the power he holds will be immense..."
[Eliminating the possibility of my defeat comes first.]
Defeat.
With the numerous relics rising in Tuseong's sky.
And the power contained within them, he spoke of 'defeat' while looking at Seong Jihan, who hasn't even become a constellation.
A snake that is so cautious to the point of looking like a coward, unworthy of the name Martial God.
'But... that makes it even more tricky.'
If Seong Jihan wins, it's a regression. If he loses, it's also a regression.
Ashoka bowed his head to Martial God.
"...I will follow your orders."
This.
Perhaps the hidden dagger will have to be drawn out earlier than expected.
'Unless there's a special variable.'
Then his eyes soon captured the screen Martial God was looking at.
* * *
"...Weren't we supposed to hear the plan?"
Seong Jihan frowned as he looked at the Taiji spinning around in the giant's thousands of eyes.
In a state of confrontation where they couldn't break through each other's regeneration.
He was the one who first suggested talking instead of settling it with the Taiji Sword, so why is he doing this?
However.
[Kuk... This power, I can't control it...!]
The opponent was even more flustered than Seong Jihan.
"You can't control it?"
[Yes...! Somehow, Dongbang Sak didn't simply grant Taiji. Still, I thought this power was perfectly under my control...]
Ssss...
Perhaps the Lost Soul is desperately trying to suppress Taiji, the void is fiercely spewing out.
And that attempt was partially successful, with Taiji disappearing and red eyes being revealed in some of the thousands of eyes.
One.
Wiiiing...!
The Taiji he failed to control in time was gradually growing larger as they clustered together.
It began to devour the body with eyes embedded in it.
'...At this rate, it will self-destruct.'
The giant being consumed by its own Taiji.
If such a situation unfolded in a BattleNet game, he would have kept his distance and waited for the opponent to die on their own.
'But it doesn't seem like it will die alone, that's the problem.'
Seong Jihan examined the abyss.
This space, which had remained intact even after Seong Jihan and the Lost Soul's bloody battle.
Since Taiji appeared, it was rapidly collapsing.
As the purple haze disappeared like that, what could be seen above was the blue sky of the real world.
The ground on which Seong Jihan and the Lost Soul stood was rapidly rising, filling the cracks.
"Oh... The cracks are being filled..."
[Wh-What, the abyss space itself is collapsing... This kind of thing...]
And as they came out, the voices of Yoon Seah and Seong Jiah could be heard.
Seong Jihan quickly headed towards where the sound was heard.
Some distance away from the cracks of the abyss, Yoon Seah and Seong Jiah were looking this way with surprised eyes.
"Sister, go home with Seah as soon as possible."
[...Okay, Jihan.]
"What about uncle?"
"I have to take care of that guy first."
"...It looks somewhat dangerous, wouldn't it be better for uncle to avoid it for now too?"
"If we leave that alone, it will easily devour the entire Korean Peninsula?"
"Th-The Korean Peninsula?"
"Yeah, so get out of here for now."
As Seong Jihan gestured for them to leave quickly, Seong Jiah wrapped Yoon Seah around her waist and flew away at a tremendous speed.
Indeed, a constellation.
She's fast as expected.
Meanwhile.
- What??
- The Korean Peninsula?
- No... Isn't that too big of a scale?
- No, if you think about it, it's the power that annihilated humanity... That thing...
The viewers watching Seong Jihan's BattleTube were startled by the story that Taiji would devour the entire Korean Peninsula.
They just turned on BattleTube as usual because Seong Jihan was broadcasting.
Suddenly, this might become their last broadcast in life?
- I thought the Earth would be fine since they were fighting in that dark space, but suddenly it became our problem, wtf??
- I'm in Seoul, can I survive if I go to Busan? Hahaha;
- We'll probably get sucked in before that -_-
As human viewers fell into a panic like that.
[...I thought I had made the Taiji implanted in me my own, but it wasn't at all. It was nothing more than a time bomb that could be triggered at any time...]
The voice of the Lost Soul, exhausted by Taiji, flowed out.
[Seong Jihan. At this rate, this body will merely become an energy source for the Taiji Sword...]
"It seems so."
Seong Jihan replied like that while looking at Taiji, which had already taken over more than 70 percent of the giant's body.
Even the red eyes that he had barely managed to restore were spinning around again.
At this rate, it seemed like this guy would also become the Taiji Sword itself.
[...We must prevent that from happening.]
"How do we prevent it?"
Should I summon the Taiji Sword to block Taiji?
However, looking at the opponent's Taiji, Seong Jihan judged that it would be like a joint self-destruction.
'The two Taiji Swords will resonate with each other and sweep away not just the Korean Peninsula but an even larger area...'
If it was inside BattleNet or within the abyss space, he would at least try summoning the Taiji Sword.
But in the real world, if something goes wrong, countless victims could emerge, so it had to be considered as a last resort.
But if not the Taiji Sword.
"At the moment, no way to prevent it comes to mind... Unless you willingly die by my hands."
[That would be the case.]
"...What?"
[...I was wrong. I thought I had sufficiently taken control of Taiji, but I wasn't. At this rate, even if I escaped from here, I would have collapsed on my own along the way.]
Swoooosh...!
The earth split and the atmosphere distorted.
The sky and the earth were slowly being sucked into the Taiji inside the giant's body.
The giant's flesh was collapsed even faster.
[Your sense... was correct. Indeed, the 'me' who always makes the optimal choice.]
"You believe it now?"
[Yes. How is it now? Does that sense still tell you not to merge with me?]
When they devised the escape plan.
Seong Jihan, who did not enter the giant's body but chose to fight because of his 'sense'.
The Lost Soul asked him how that sharp sense of his was now.
Seong Jihan looked at the giant's flesh collapsing into Taiji.
Unlike an hour ago when they could have stably merged.
It was a precarious situation where if he tried to devour it, he himself would likely be caught up in Taiji.
"...Now, it's telling me to take it."
Seong Jihan's sense was greedily telling him to devour it.
As if reassured by those words.
[Good. Take it.]
The giant's flesh crumbled and the wooden head fell in front of Seong Jihan.
[Break the head and dominate the Lost Soul there.]
The weakness of the owner of the abyss, the head.
He voluntarily gave it to Seong Jihan.
If he broke this, will the Lost Soul be annihilated?
"..."
[What are you doing? Quickly, break it. You... need to bring the key to your sister, don't you?]
Seong Jihan's gaze turned to what used to be the giant.
Although he was being consumed by Taiji.
Only a small part of his chest was desperately trying not to let the eyes spin.
Inside it was the key to Seong Jiah, which he had made into a 'spoil'.
The key to returning from the statue state to the original form.
Even while his whole body was being consumed by Taiji.
Was he enduring it somehow to protect that?
"...Yes. Hold on a bit longer. I will put an end to it."
Swish.
Seong Jihan approached the giant's head that had fallen to the ground.
The head, which seemed like it would be sucked into Taiji at any moment, was larger than Seong Jihan.
'I'll write the annihilation code here and.'
Chiiiik!
The destruction code drawn on the wood.
Then the giant's head split open weakly.
Inside it, a red sphere enveloped in the void was revealed.
As Seong Jihan brought his hand closer.
Fwoooosh...!
The sphere instantly burned his hand.
[Stat 'Red' increases by 1.]
[Stat 'Red' disappears by 1.]
Then, as the stat Red went up and down, it showed a fluctuating appearance.
'To perfectly control this, I need more Red.'
Looking at his burning hand, Seong Jihan instinctively realized.
The red sphere in front of him was the core of the owner of the abyss.
If he completely dominates this, he can minimize the giant's Taiji.
'...But I lack the ability to do so.'
Although he had grown a lot.
To perfectly control this, more power was needed.
'...Still, even with the current stats, I can partially manipulate it.'
To the extent that Seong Jihan judged it possible was about 30 percent.
But even with this level of control, which is not even half, if utilized well, the damage caused by Taiji can be minimized.
It's fortunate at times like this that North Korea has been devastated.
However.
"Can you make Sister's key again? With my current abilities, it's not easy to even block Taiji."
[...It probably won't be easy. Because it was a constraint made with the body of the owner of the abyss.]
"Is that so?"
If that guy said it's not easy, it's really difficult.
Seong Jihan frowned.
To block Taiji and secure the key.
Currently, the only way was to completely dominate the red sphere.
At that moment.
[Constellation 'Witch of the Void' sponsored 10.21 million GP.]
[I like it now, so don't worry about it and break it with the key intact!]
As if she had heard the conversation between Seong Jihan and the Lost Soul.
Seong Jiah sent a sponsorship through BattleTube.
A message saying not to worry about herself.
"You like being in a statue state with the lock on?"
Seong Jihan smiled at the sight of that.
"You know I don't really like to listen to you, Sister?"
With the current abilities, he had no choice but to choose one or the other.
But if he pushed himself a little.
He could choose both options.
"Inventory."
Seong Jihan took out the black seal box containing the red administrator's hand.