1056 Episode 66. The Wolf That Swallowed a God (4)

Poseidon stared at the fierce battle unfolding before his eyes. The vision visible through the terminal left by the Master of Sky Walk—'Hermes'. Two wolves with scattering beast fur were stretching their fists toward each other.

Boom—!

Every time their fists crossed, it felt like the universe was undergoing an earthquake.

Rumbleeee!

A battle of attack and defense that made even Myth-grade Constellations hold their breath. Poseidon unconsciously gripped the trident stuck in the floor. His story was wavering. The heart of the ancient sea was beating with a tremor.

A landscape that only those who can risk all their stories solely to reach ■■ can paint. If it were in the past, he also would have jumped into that landscape. Engaging in a life-and-death struggle by risking all his stories, he would have entrusted his incarnation body to the blood-splattered festival of stories.

But now, he was old. The spear that draws the boundary of the sea. That was the modifier calling him today. Thus, all he could do now was childishly draw a line of his own and vent his anger at the enemies crossing that boundary.

As if deeply resentful of that fact, Poseidon picked up the cup containing soma and moistened his throat. Although he drank a holy fluid sweeter than any alcohol in the world, the aftertaste lingering in his mouth was bitter.

His only consolation was that he was not the only 'Myth-grade Constellation' watching that landscape. Not only he and Odin, but there were still Constellations of the Round Table surviving in this world. Stars hiding like parasites somewhere in this battlefield, waiting for the Great Destruction to arrive.

At Poseidon's question, Odin slowly raised his head. His single eye flashed with a sharper blue light than usual.

Ragnarok. The world's Great Destruction. The final battlefield of <Asgard>.

Even at Poseidon's words, which were strangely mocking, Odin made no reply. Perhaps displeased with such an attitude, Poseidon opened his mouth again.

Indeed, even now, faint sparks were flying from Odin's incarnation body. Just by staring at the landscape, Odin was being drawn to that story.

Odin stared blankly at the landscape, then slowly blinked his eye and retorted.

Poseidon knew well what the heads of each 'Great Nebula' had been doing. The repeating and reproducing of 'Giant Stories' solely to maintain the power of Myth-grade Constellations. For that purpose, highest-tier gods like Odin resurrected Constellations to be used as scapegoats time and time again. And they let those stars die on the 'fake stage' they created.

Odin glared at Poseidon for a moment, then spoke.

Death. Watching Odin's expression stiffen, Poseidon continued to ask.

Putting down his cup before he knew it, Poseidon stood up from his seat, grasping his trident. Then, he spoke to Odin, who was still sitting down, as if shouting at him.

It was then that a roaring sound was heard. The Monkey King, who was quietly sitting cross-legged and meditating; the Black Flame Dragon, who was closing his eyes as if bored; and the Mass Production Maker, who was listening to the argument between the two Myth-grade Constellations with interest, all looked at the same empty space at once. The same system message popped up before their eyes.

The 'Mass Production Maker' opened his mouth.

When dawn comes, 'King of Hell' Snow White will visit this place. In addition, the great disaster 'Wolf That Swallowed a God' appeared just a moment ago. But was that not enough? This time, a 'third great disaster' had announced its appearance.

The Mass Production Maker looked back at their fallen commander. The blonde man embraced in Jung Heewon's arms had a grim expression, perhaps because he was fighting a hard battle.

It was impossible to know what kind of existence the new great disaster was. Only one thing was certain.

As if that fact was strangely exciting, the Mass Production Maker sneered and looked around at the stars in the situation room.

*

"It's coming."

Along with Yoo Joonghyuk's warning, an explosion erupted before his eyes. In the midst of the raging story of the 1,864th round, the great disaster's fist flew in.

Boom!

Yoo Joonghyuk was pushed back with a massive impact. The story of the 1,864th round overflowed into the air as fragments. Looking at that story, I was certain.

Yoo Joonghyuk said, releasing his arms that barely blocked the great disaster's fist.

"It seems the guy has come to his senses."

"No, he's still not in his right mind."

"How do you know that?"

"Would Yoo Joonghyuk in his right mind be muttering only 'Kim Dokja' like that?"

"....."

"It seems his story has been manipulated."

I calmly examined the great disaster's story once again. No matter how much it was Snowfield Kim Dokja, he could not turn the Yoo Joonghyuk of <Kim Dokja's Company>, who had already lost his stigma, back into a 'regressor'. It was natural. Just because Snowfield Kim Dokja could use the authority of the 'Oldest Dream' did not mean he had truly become the 'Oldest Dream'.

Probably, that Yoo Joonghyuk is currently in a state where he believes himself to be the 'regressor of the 1,864th round' due to the authority of Snowfield Kim Dokja.

I didn't know why Snowfield Kim Dokja did such a thing, but for us right now, it was a rather troublesome situation.

Hearing my words, Yoo Joonghyuk nodded and said.

"I don't quite understand what you mean, but if he's out of his mind, it'll be easier to deal with him instead."

"Well, perhaps that 'Yoo Joonghyuk'—"

The Yoo Joonghyuk of the '1,864th round'. I clearly remembered when his attribute was first marked as the '1,864th round' in the main story.

He had lived as the Yoo Joonghyuk of the 3rd round throughout the main story, only to awaken in the battle with the 'Secretive Plotter' and obtain the memories of the '1,864th round'. Although in that battle, the 'Secretive Plotter' held back to some extent, and there was the effect of 'Stage Transformation'—he was the only Yoo Joonghyuk who had ever defeated the 'Secretive Plotter', who could be called the strongest in all this universe.

"He is probably almost the strongest Yoo Joonghyuk in the entire universe."

And right now, the ones opposing him are merely the Yoo Joonghyuk of the 41st round and a half-baked Kim Dokja.

"If I defeat him, I will become the strongest now."

"Are you confident?"

"If I keep stabbing, we'll get through it somehow."

"That sounds like something Mr. Jaehwan would say."

"If a hundred stabs don't work, a thousand; if a thousand stabs don't work, ten thousand."

"Has even your brain become identical to Mr. Jaehwan's now?"

Of course, if it were the 'Monarch Slayer' Jaehwan, he might deal with the Yoo Joonghyuk before him in that manner. But that was only possible for a crazy Mr. Jaehwan.

"First, we must buy some time."

I looked at the great disaster pressing his temples in the midst of the aftermath. No matter what kind of Yoo Joonghyuk he was, his role on this stage right now was the 'great disaster'.

The important thing is to use the effect of this stage. And for the effect of the stage to be maximized, a prerequisite was needed.

Call it the intuition of a writer, or a reader. The event that will satisfy the condition will occur soon. Because that is the 'Ragnarok' I know. The important thing is for Yoo Joonghyuk and me to survive until that condition is satisfied.

"From now on, it's up to you."

I spoke while picking up and quickly processing records discarded throughout the battlefield, like scooping soil from the ground.

"Only one blow is needed. Can you land a clean hit on the disaster?"

The opponent was indeed the worst adversary we could ever meet. Nevertheless, Yoo Joonghyuk nodded calmly.

"It is possible."

Yoo Joonghyuk gripped his Dark Heavenly Moon Spear. A powerful story was condensing on his spearhead. Subsequently, the moment the great disaster noticed our existence and revealed his status toward this side—

"Then let's begin."

Yoo Joonghyuk ran. And my record accompanied his running steps. With every step he took, our story was loaded.

Suddenly, the moment I first met the Yoo Joonghyuk of the 41st round came to mind.

At that time, Yoo Joonghyuk had called me 'Cheon Inho'.

Rumbleeee!

As if instinctively sensing danger, stories streamed incessantly from the disaster's entire body. The 'Black Heavenly Demon Sword'. The weapon that accompanied him through the scenarios of the 1,864th round roared violently in his grip. A technique known to both me and Yoo Joonghyuk was unfolding from his sword tip.

Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship. Absolute Technique. Breaking the Sky Meteor Strike.

Sword qi that tore the sky flew toward Yoo Joonghyuk with a fearsome momentum. Yoo Joonghyuk avoided the baptism of sword qi by a hair's breadth. Our history flowed from his shoulder, which the sword qi grazed.

It was not a grand history. It was not the history of <Kim Dokja's Company> loved by countless Kim Dokjas, nor the story of 'Ways of Survival'. Nevertheless—

This was our story.

It was purely the story of the 41st round.

The story of a world that was not written, and thus could not be read.

We started from a snowfield where there was nothing and finally came all the way here.

As if to destroy that history, the great disaster's sword moved.

Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship (破天劍道). Secret Absolute Technique (秘傳奧義). Meteor Slash (流星斬).

The secret technique that killed Indra, the Lokapala of <Vedas>, unfolded from the great disaster's sword tip. Against the great disaster's sword strike that brought down the stars of the sky, Yoo Joonghyuk also thrust his spear.

Soul-Slaying Divine Spear (滅魂神槍). Secret Absolute Technique (秘傳奧義). Fall of Ten Thousand Stars (萬星墜落).

Two techniques created to bring down the stars of the night sky clashed. The moment the two stories collided with a dazzling flash of light, I saw the face of the great disaster.

Why was it, at that moment, the great disaster looking at us—

Perhaps because of that. I suddenly felt that I should not use this method on the 'Wolf That Swallowed a God'. But it was already too late.

The moment the flash of light flickered in the air, the left arm of the 41st round's Yoo Joonghyuk, severed by the Meteor Slash, flew through the air.

"Yoo Joonghyuk!"

But Yoo Joonghyuk did not back down. As if he had known from the start that his arm would be severed, he charged forward, penetrating the trajectory of the Meteor Slash to the end. Finally, the Dark Heavenly Moon Spear—pierced the disaster's flank.

As if a predetermined poison was spreading, the record I crafted was infiltrating the great disaster's story.

The great disaster, pierced by the spearhead, staggered and clutched his head. I was also hearing the voice echoing inside his head.

As the keyword of 'Regression Depression' activated, Yoo Joonghyuk's expression began to crumble. His story, carrying a distant history, began to weigh him down like a broken dam.

The knees of that noble great disaster slowly began to buckle.

He stared blankly at the sky for a moment, then reached out with empty eyes. And in the next moment, stories exploded from his entire body.

"Yoo Joonghyuk!"

I shouted that name without even knowing which one I was calling. In the next moment, the screen shattered, and something pierced through the space-time of the Record Archive and popped out.

The hand of a regressor who had repeated scenarios for a very long time. I struggled, caught in that strong hand. The character who had always been described in the story was speaking to me.

The owner of the hand pulled me as I was. Along with a feeling as if the world was being erased, I was sucked straight to the outside of the 'Record Archive'.

Tzztzztzztzz!

I could not tell what was happening. Along with a feeling as if the surroundings were turned upside down, I gasped and opened my eyes. As if everything had been an illusion, the hand that had choked my neck was nowhere to be found.

Instead, what was visible before my eyes was a room so white it made my eyes smart. As I slowly raised my head—

Yoo Joonghyuk was looking toward this side with his characteristic cold gaze, but he was not looking at me. In that instant, I realized something and turned back. There stood my brother, whom I knew well.

Snowfield Kim Dokja.

Yoo Joonghyuk glared at Snowfield Kim Dokja with burning eyes, then looked back at the empty 'coffin' lying behind him. Only then did I realize. This was the memory of the 1,864th round's Yoo Joonghyuk.

This was the first proper conversation between the 1,864th round's Yoo Joonghyuk and Snowfield Kim Dokja.