[Chapter 213]
[Unbreakable Will (4)]
Mana reverses.
It must be controlled.
Bae Su-bin tried to grasp the mana escaping her control.
"...!!"
But the more she tried to grasp it, the more the mana ran wild.
Internal organs thrashed about on their own.
It felt like her heart would burst.
Eventually, Bae Su-bin fell to her knees.
Curled up, she tried to calm her mana circuits in the midst of pain.
No, consciousness...
It feels like my mind will fly away.
Her head was shaken.
Biting her lip hard was useless.
Even though pain greater than that continued to heat up her body, she couldn't do anything about her fading consciousness.
"Devotee Bae Su-bin! Get a hold of yourself! Open your eyes quickly!!"
At that moment, Ilya urged her.
Bae Su-bin, whose eyes opened at that voice, was barely able to gather her wits.
As a price, she had to vividly feel pain that made her mind fly away.
"Kuk...!!"
She'd rather lose consciousness.
She wanted to let go of everything.
But she couldn't rely on the weakness rising from within.
It was clear that the moment she was devoured by this pain, she would become a monster.
If that happened, she would end up harming clan members with her own hands.
"Don't... laugh..."
She absolutely couldn't do that.
Rather than that, she would ask clan members to kill her before she became a monster.
"My, you're enduring quite well? But it's just a matter of time. When you become my slave, I'll use you as a stepping stone."
Beelzebub prattles on from over there.
Right after, she was jointly attacked by Ryu Yeon-hwa and Mok Min-ho.
Yet she was still cackling even in a situation where she was being defeated.
She wasn't afraid of death.
She was determined to toy with people until she died.
She must be crazy.
To such a person─
─I can't lose.
Bae Su-bin gripped her body tightly.
She who gripped herself tightly enough to tear her body staggered to her feet.
Then she who brushed off Ilya's healing magic manifested her internal mana.
She deliberately stimulated the uncontrolled mana circuits further.
The internal mana that escaped her control blazed up from her body.
"No, quickly suppress the mana! If you don't..."
"I know that too. Don't stop me."
Ilya tries to dissuade her.
Bae Su-bin brushed off her hand.
Pandora Clan members fighting in front sent worried looks her way.
She smiled through the pain.
She took a step forward.
Just taking one step caused internal mana to leak profusely.
"I absolutely can't stand looking pathetic."
"Devotee Bae Su-bin..."
"Suppress it? Don't be ridiculous. You think I'll do what that bitch wants?"
She hated losing even if she died.
And she hated being looked down on even more than that.
So Beelzebub had touched a nerve.
What? Become a slave?
Ridiculous words.
Words deserving immediate death.
Bae Su-bin glared.
By then, Ilya seemed to have given up.
She stopped healing magic and cast magic to not feel pain.
The pain lessened just a tiny bit.
To this, Bae Su-bin further encouraged the runaway mana circuits.
──!!
If it can't be controlled, give up.
If the flow is fierce, entrust your body to it.
No, make that flow run wild.
Rather than suppressing the mana runaway, fully accept the runaway.
Pssht!
Backlash came.
An arm changes to a monster's arm.
Soon it returns to normal.
Then this time, half her head suddenly transforms into a monster's.
Even that returns to normal.
Her body that accepted the runaway was in a state of transforming into something else.
Whoosh!!
Whatever happened to her body.
Bae Su-bin advanced to the front line.
She converts mana to flames.
Every time she breathes, flames spew from her nostrils.
Just like that, she cloaked in flames immediately cast magic.
Raging Inferno
Flames that rose from the ground.
The flames became streams of fire and burned Beelzebub's monsters.
"Are you planning to kill as many monsters as possible while you're still human? You really have a killer personality."
"Yes, and I'm going to kill you too."
"You have nothing but your pride is really something. I don't like women like that."
"I hate those who act high and mighty just because of their face the most. Maybe if you were really that beautiful. But you're not much."
"...Are you done talking?"
"Why, did that hit a nerve?"
"You talk big for someone who's about to become a monster."
Beelzebub's tone lowered.
She twitched her eyebrows.
Bae Su-bin saw that she was upset and split her mouth.
At that moment─
"─...!!"
Her whole body transformed into a monster.
A monster revealed in the flames.
It was a fly-type monster.
But it was far from the monsters Beelzebub had been controlling.
The being taking steps in the flames was a demon-type monster.
A demon in the form of a fly.
It was Baalzeboul.
"Wow, amazing? I didn't expect you to transform into a 3rd rank overrank... I take it back. It would be a waste to use you as a stepping stone. You're my most beautiful..."
"Don't act so high and mighty."
The demon chuckled.
Bae Su-bin's mind was still intact, transformed into a monster except for her left eye.
She squeezed her remaining consciousness, trying to control the monster's power.
──!!
It reverses.
Monster tissue returns to human tissue.
The phenomenon spreading from the left eye returns her to normal.
On the other hand, horns sprout from her head, and her pupils turn red.
"You, you couldn't...!!"
"Yes, I could, bitch."
Demon wings sprouting from her back.
Red gauntlets covering her arms.
Bae Su-bin wearing a uniform like a long one-piece dress retorted confidently.
The staff in her hand changed too.
The tip of the staff becomes pointed like a spear.
"Did you think I would submit?"
She successfully completed Mineification.
Bae Su-bin, reborn as a Mine, spoke while cloaked in flames.
─Gehenna Blast
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared under Beelzebub's feet.
Beelzebub tried to break the magic.
It can't be broken.
Every time she tried to break it, the magic became more complex.
And that's not all.
"...!!"
The same magic circles were appearing everywhere she perceived.
Those magic circles target only her.
The magic circles flashed.
"Fall to hell."
The magic circles activate.
Pillars of fire rise.
Dark red flames soar to the sky, not just driving away clouds but completely vaporizing them.
Countless huge fireballs fall from magic circles created in the air.
The ground becomes lava.
Beelzebub trapped in black pillars of fire falls into the lava.
"Kyaaaaaaah!! Wh-What is this...aaaaaaah!!"
Her screams disappeared, buried by the sound of the ground exploding.
"Queen my ass.... If you're a queen, I'm a queen too. Queen of the singles."
Here, Bae Su-bin proved.
She was reborn as a perfect being through Mineification.
Furthermore, she faced Beelzebub and settled the match alone.
As a result, hell opened.
""""..."
Unquenchable flames.
Heat that seems like it would melt everything.
She stood alone in the extreme heat and flames.
All beings that didn't submit to her met annihilation.
Proving completeness alone.
A witch standing lonely in the world.
But not feeling lonely.
Accepting solitude as natural.
"Talking big and losing, loser..."
The lonely queen.
People who witnessed Bae Su-bin's divine rank couldn't help but think of those words.
☆
At that time, Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do.
Samael was chuckling even facing his death.
"How about it? Can you kill me?"
Lee Do-jin bit his lip.
It was an extremely difficult situation.
If he kills Samael, a disturbance will occur.
But he couldn't not kill Samael.
In the end, should he try to persuade him?
There's no way that would work.
Lee Do-jin fell into a dilemma.
Samael liked seeing that.
"There's no better chaos than wavering. How about it? If you let me go alive, I promise not to cause disturbances in Namyangju. No, I can even promise to leave Korea like this."
Samael proposed.
Lee Do-jin was conflicted.
Should he submit to Samael?
It was when he was hesitating.
"─Don't worry about such things."
"...
Twelve Seat
Pricis Memory appeared.
Lee Do-jin was flustered seeing her suddenly space move.
Pricis Memory didn't seem to mind his reaction.
"I came because the Silla Clan Lord told me."
"Then the headquarters..."
"We'll have to hope
She gave a bitter smile.
It was an opportunity to kill one of the Seven Devils.
They couldn't let a Mine they had caught slip away so futilely.
So she took the risk and moved to Namyangju.
Tap
She tapped the ground with her staff.
Waves spread centered on her.
Pricis Memory smiled brightly.
"With this, it's over."
"What?"
The one who answered wasn't Lee Do-jin.
Samael asked incredulously.
Pricis Memory kindly answered the Mine's question.
"I temporarily stopped the flow of mana spread in the area. With this, even if that Mine dies, mana won't be stimulated and cause disturbances."
"How is that possi...cough...!!"
"Then there's nothing to hold back."
At Pricis Memory's answer.
Samael shouted while coughing up blood.
At that moment, Lee Do-jin moved his sword.
He thrust Mistletoe into Samael's mouth as he shouted.
Divine Punishment
Samael can't even resist.
Blue lightning falls.
Lightning split into thousands of branches concentrated on him.
────!!
The world flashed.
Samael was hit directly by the magic and disappeared.
☆
Another myth within myth.
Their number was five.
Myths derived from the myth of eternal immortality had no relation to each other.
They were just forcibly derived by the myth controlling the dead.
"Mana existing in the world has accumulated memories since the world opened at the beginning of time. If those memories exist, I can summon even the souls of living legends."
"..."
"Doesn't it seem like a real god?"
Hwang Jin-hee couldn't say anything.
She was fading away.
After burning the soul maintaining her existence to face Armageddon, she lost all her power.
"It was quite an enjoyable match. I too didn't know how much influence my myth had."
"..."
"Thanks to you, I roughly learned while manifesting myth. Yes, my theory wasn't wrong. There can't be a stronger power than this in terms of being able to freely handle dead beings. It's good, very good. Kkulkkul."
Armageddon spoke looking down at Hwang Jin-hee who had finally fallen to her knees.
Players called living legends stood by his side.
In contrast, no one stood by Hwang Jin-hee's side.
She was alone.
"Jin-hee, that's your end now. You who said you would create a world pursuing justice have finally met death, crumbling before my justice."
"..."
"And I have broken your justice and made my justice stronger. Do you know what this means?"
"..."
"Living legends died at this moment today! Because of you. The authority of living legends deeply engraved in the world is now over. Now even if you manifest myth, you won't reach me. Never."
That's what a clash between myths is like.
A fight betting the life established so far.
Losing that fight means not just the annihilation of one myth, but the denial of that person's life and ideology.
Conversely, the winner's myth is elevated to a higher dimension and gains stronger power.
Armageddon elevated his myth to a higher dimension by defeating Hwang Jin-hee.
At the same time, it also became a form predicting the downfall of 'living legends' supporting Korea.
Living legends had gathered their myths into one to rebuild the world from destruction.
The collective term for myths.
That was living legends.
However, with Hwang Jin-hee's defeat, a myth of higher rank took its place above their myths equally connected to her myth.
Armageddon's myth, eternal immortality.
"You can't defeat me now. Even if Seong-un uses an elixir to completely heal his lost arm, it would be useless. His myth will still be lower ranked than mine in the end!"
"..."
"That's not the end, Jin-hee. Don't you feel the mana in the world stirring now? As you were defeated, humans watching our fight have started to waver. It means their fear is giving me power!"
"Ah..."
"You were the symbol of this country!! But that symbol is crumbling before my myth. The world will be reorganized into a world for me, for new humans from now on!"
A small, small world.
Hwang Jin-hee felt it too in the world barely maintaining existence.
Mana is being reorganized.
Living legends.
Armageddon's myth was trying to rise above that.
It's over.
The moment he stands above that, people's will would be broken.
...It's my fault.
I was too complacent.
I underestimated Armageddon's myth.
Also, I didn't expect he would use my myth.
My defeat will be recorded in this world and implant the perception that humans cannot defeat Mines.
No─
─Whoosh!!
It's not over yet.
The tentacles trying to encroach on her world were startled by suddenly appearing flames and retreated.
"
"..."
Seeing those flames.
Seeing Noh Eun-ha.
Hwang Jin-hee's eyes widened.
Her thoughts cleared.
No... there isn't nothing above living legends.
There was just one thing.
It was right before her eyes now.
A man cloaked in embers and lightning stood staggering.
"Hooh, do you think you can face me with that body? But it's strange. It should be impossible to stand in my world without manifesting myth... No, you have manifested myth."
"Yes, I saw and copied."
"But it's still clumsy. Your current state is just forcibly opening the door and holding onto a door trying to close. You haven't found the key yet."
Pandora Clan Lord Noh Eun-ha.
What was he being called by people of this world?
The successor of living legends, perhaps surpassing living legends, the myth of this era.
"Haha..."
When her thoughts reached that point.
Hwang Jin-hee couldn't help but laugh.
Once she realized that, she couldn't just sit here like this.
She struggled to her feet.
She felt Noh Eun-ha and Armageddon were conscious of her.
She staggered forward.
She placed her hand on Noh Eun-ha's shoulder.
"
"Stand aside, this is my fight."
Hwang Jin-hee took a step.
One step is heavy.
It's Armageddon's world.
She created space for herself to step into there.
Armageddon was puzzled.
"Jin-hee, you're already finished. This is nothing but a meaningless fight now. Rather, if you fight more with that body and end up embarrassing yourself..."
"The living legends will crumble."
"You're doing this knowing that?"
"Yes."
A new myth was born.
Then the old myth is no longer needed.
It doesn't matter if it crumbles.
The old generation simply passes on its place for the new generation.
"I will bet everything on my myth and make even a small scratch on your myth."
"Hehe, what difference will just a small scratch make..."
"And a new myth bridging our era and yours will be born."
"Don't tell me, you..."
"Yes, that's how it was. The reason you suddenly appeared like this must be because that guy happened to defeat a Mine. So you hurriedly came to kill that child, deciding to strike him down before he grows bigger."
"...!!"
"My guess was right. Noh Eun-ha!!"
There was a change in Armageddon's expression.
Hwang Jin-hee noticed the subtle difference and called out to Noh Eun-ha.
Eun-ha, who was regaining his composure in her world after his myth was nullified, responded.
Hwang Jin-hee didn't look back.
"I leave my back to you."
"..."
"The only one who can defeat that guy now is you. Living legends are now a relic of the past. The myth of this era is you."
She squeezes out her remaining strength.
Her body crumbles.
It disappears becoming particles of mana.
She didn't let go of hope as her body disintegrated.
She smiled without wavering.
"Ah, I forgot to say this. Tell that disciple who still has a lot of clumsy points to take care."
Her body became a blade.
It was an attack that sublimated her life's journey so far into a sword.
Whoosh──!!
A blade compressing decades of life carves a wound in Armageddon's myth.