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Chapter 173
Chapter 173
Chapter 173
Splish-
Sticky red liquid soaked the soles of Se-Hoon’s shoes.
At first, the pungent smell that filled the air caused his face to scrunch up involuntarily, yet barely any time had passed and he already no longer registered it.
“It’s so red.”
The ceiling, the walls, and the floor were all completely red. It was almost impossible to look at this place and believe that it was once the world's largest martial arts hall.
Absorbed in the surroundings, he stared quietly at the surreal landscape that seemed intentionally colored. But he soon focused again on the sound of a voice.
“Stay focused.”
The one who warned him was the gruff brute walking ahead, the Mad Dog.
“For someone of your combat level, the moment you lose focus, there’ll be nothing but your blood left behind.”
“I know that much.”
“If you really knew, you wouldn't have come all the way here. Why can’t you understand your place when you’re so weak?”
“...”
The fact that the Mad Dog wasn’t saying due to malice but rather due to genuinely not understanding why Se-Hoon was so weak and unaware of his own limits, was more infuriating than outright mockery.
However, for today, Se-Hoon made no retort; he knew better than anyone that a blacksmith like him, who should be hiding and hammering, being at the forefront was undoubtedly madness.
“Just bear with me for a while. We'll check this place out and be out soon.”
“There's nothing to really bear, though. It'll just be annoying to find someone else to handle the repairs for my equipment if you end up as a puddle of blood.”
“...”
At that remark, Se-Hoon seriously considered smashing the Mad Dog’s head with a hammer.
They walked in silence, and soon, they emerged from the blood-soaked corridor into a spacious area.
Thick pillars stood at regular intervals, and there was a central training ground with a giant Buddha statue several meters high overseeing it all. Seeing it, he once again recalled that where he was was once called the holy land of martial arts, the Hall of Enlightenment, and many other grand names. Now though, none of those names held any meaning.
Just like in the corridor, everything—the ceiling, pillars, walls, and the Buddha statue—was drenched in blood. The only thing relatively clean was the central training ground.
Done observing, Se-Hoon called out to the Mad Dog, who was on guard in the alien scenery.
“Seems like there’s no problem here; let's go in.”
“Got it.”
Crossing the ankle-deep blood, the Mad Dog led the way to the central training ground.
“Hmm... is this not the place?"
The place they were standing and the traces of what occurred didn't match. However, as they slowly walked around the training ground and examined the blood-soaked interior, all the scenes slowly clicked into place.
They had found traces of different skills, spreading from the center of the training ground, vividly engraved throughout the hall.
“...He’s completely insane.”
At first glance, it was hard to discern what skill could leave all those marks, but after staring at them long enough, Se-Hoon somewhat understood. A single entity had used thousands of different skills to massacre the heroes. Not one trace was the same as another, revealing the entity’s ability which he had only heard through stories.
“So he doesn’t only know how to mimic others' skills... he can perfectly steal the opponent’s synesthetic mindscape as well.”
Years of arduous training, hard-earned enlightenment, and even carefully sculpted synesthetic mindscapes could be stolen if one fell to this enemy. Currently, they were insignificant compared to the other Harbinger of Destructions, but they would only become more threatening with time.
However, just as Se-Hoon realized that they had to deal with this entity, the Harbinger of Oblivion, first and foremost—
Squish!
A black hand pierced his chest.
“What...?”
Feeling the pain in his chest, Se-Hoon’s expression contorted. At that moment, the owner of the hand looked at him.
The figure was slightly under two meters tall, with limbs resembling a human’s. But instead of flesh and blood, the body was formed by ink-like intangible energy, swirling and moving in certain areas. It looked like it had emerged from the depths of the abyss.
Staring at the bizarre form of the enemy, Se-Hoon barely managed to force his mouth.
“You...”
“Your heart is quite tough. But—”
Glancing at the heart pushed out of Se-Hoon’s chest through his back, the entity became utterly disappointed.
“It’s not worth taking.”
Squish!
The sound of crushing flesh resounded, and the arm puncturing Se-Hoon’s chest was casually withdrawn. Ready to finish him off, the hand moved to crush Se-Hoon’s head.
Wham!
But the Mad Dog's spear smashed into Se-Hoon’s ribs, sending him away while also deflecting the hand.
Bang!!
Crashing through a pillar, Se-Hoon slammed into the wall before sliding down onto the floor. Unable to see clearly with half of his face drenched in blood, he could only witness the battle unfold on the training ground with his left eye.
“The Inferno Ring technique! Oh, this was worth the wait!”
“You seem worth killing too.”
Boom!!
Crimson flames erupted from Sung-Ha’s spears continuously, shaking the hall and making it seem like it would collapse at any moment.
A fight, completely disregarding Se-Hoon’s presence, had started. Of course, given that the opponent was the Harbinger of Oblivion, the Mad Dog couldn't afford to pay attention to Se-Hoon.
Still, he could have held back a bit when launching me away... that damned dog...
While muttering complaints inwardly, blood continued to flow from the hole in his chest, causing his consciousness to start to fade.
Badump-
***
[Activating Awakening Dream]
Whoosh-!
Feeling the cool sensation sweeping away the murkiness from his mind, Se-Hoon, still shaken by his memories, instinctively looked down at his chest.
Phew... it's still there.
His heart, healthy yet fragile, was still vigorously pumping blood. Shaking his head again, he tried to clear away the unpleasant feeling.
Of all times, I had to remember that moment...
Though it wasn't a particularly good memory, it triggered a flood of memories related to the Harbinger of Oblivion.
Se-Hoon looked at the gemstone inside Karl's spinal prosthetic.
With this, the creation of the Harbinger of Oblivion is definitely their most likely plan, but... why is the Pleasure District involved?
He remembered that the main forces behind the creation of the Harbinger of Oblivion were Watcher’s subgroup Succession and the Ten Evils’ Doppelganger. There had never been any signs of the Pleasure District or the Dream Demon being involved, so what was going on now?
Either something happened that I didn't know before... or it's the butterfly effect.
Many things had already changed from the past he knew. And with the biggest one of them all, the unprecedented cooperation of the three Perfect Ones, it was quite possible that the Demon Force had felt anxious and accelerated the creation of the Harbingers of Destruction.
I'll think about this later... for now, I have to wrap up this situation first.
Having confirmed the reason the Pleasure District was rehabilitating retired heroes and the kind of items produced in the process, the next step on his list was to disrupt their supply of materials without arousing much suspicion.
What kind of method should I use...?
While ruminating over it, he suddenly heard the quiet murmurs of Luize, who had been quietly watching Karl sleep beside him.
“I wonder if I would have ended up like this too...”
“Hmm?”
Curious, Se-Hoon looked at Luize, who waved her hand with an awkward expression.
“No, it's nothing. I was just thinking that if I hadn't met you back then, I might have ended up like this.”
“Hmm... that’s certainly possible.”
The Blast Dog had suffered so much from the irreparable mana impairment that she accepted Dawn’s proposal and underwent numerous experiments under the guise of treatment.
Though she later regretted naively accepting the proposal, having realized how foolish it was, at that time, she would have seen it as the only option she had left.
“During the day, they were just a bunch of irritating old dudes that I wanted to punch... but now it feels kind of strange.”
She had realized that were being dragged around by the bait of hope, unable to move forward or backward. It was just like seeing her past self, causing her to feel both irritation and sympathy.
With a lot on her mind, Luize stared at Karl for a moment before hesitantly turning to Se-Hoon.
“Um... can I ask you a favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“Is it possible for you to... help these people?”
Hearing such a thing from her, Se-Hoon became interested.
“What do you mean exactly by ‘helping’ them?”
“Uh... if we remove the prosthetics, it will cause some immediate problems and suspicion, so... what if we modify the prosthetics slightly to improve their physical condition while also preventing them from being used by those scoundrels... or something... along the lines of that...”
Toward the end, her voice trailed off and she averted her gaze, realizing how absurd her request sounded.
Even if it was for a food order, I’d still be scolded for saying it like this...
Remembering that complex devices like prosthetics were far too intricate to modify, Luize awkwardly smiled.
“Never mind, actually. This is an unreasonable request...”
“Alright.”
“...What?”
Looking up at Se-Hoon in surprise, Luize saw that he was now looking at Karl's spinal prosthetic.
“The method I’ll use will be a bit different, but it doesn’t seem impossible. The results shouldn’t be too bad, so let’s go with that.”
“W—wait a second. Really? You’re not going to push yourself, are you?”
Luize couldn’t understand Se-Hoon’s nonchalance. How was he going to help their disabilities while also perfectly deceiving the enemy?
“Well, it won’t be easy. The results might not be as intended.”
“Then just—”
“But still, we have to try.”
Se-Hoon cut off Luize's worries and gave her a kind smile.
“My regular customer has made a rare request, so shouldn't I put in some effort?”
For a moment, Luize just stared at him blankly before bursting into soft laughter.
He really fears nothing.
Feeling her earlier gloominess fade away, Luize looked straight at Se-Hoon.
“Aren't you being a bit too cocky?”
“Well, if it fails, it’s probably because of my assistant.”
“You're such a jerk.”
Smirking, Luize moved closer to Se-Hoon.
“So, what do we do?”
“We’re first going to, ah... there's something I need to tell you first.”
“What is it?”
“Don't tell anyone what you saw today.”
Wondering what amazing thing was he planning to show, that he was making such a big deal out of, Luize looked at him curiously.
Woong!
“...Huh?”
Stunned, she stared at the bright golden aura—divine mana—emanating from Se-Hoon's hand.
***
Swish-
It was 8:00 am, and the curtains were drawn to the sides. Karl, who had been sleeping on his side, naturally opened his eyes to the sunlight streaming in through the window.
“Ugh...”
Waking up, he sat up and slowly turned his upper body from side to side.
Creak-
Flowing with his movements, the spinal prosthetic attached to his back naturally bent and stretched, allowing Karl to feel a surprising lightness in his body.
I feel much better than usual... is it because of yesterday's treatment?
Astonished, he thought about how he had been told his body would be in poor condition for a few days yet felt more vigorous than ever. It was just like he had returned to his pre-injury state, so he couldn't help but feel good. But it wasn’t long before he caught himself and calmed down with a wry smile.
“I’m feeling happy just because I feel a bit better... I've really hit rock bottom.”
Shaking his head, he thought about how he never would have expected his current state in the past and got out of bed.
Like usual, his next step was to retrieve his crutches from his void pocket, but he noticed something different today.
“...Huh?”
He instinctively looked down at his feet and saw that they were both pointed straight ahead. His right foot, which usually stuck out slightly, was not protruding forward, and he felt no discomfort or imbalance. It felt as if his feet were in the right position.
Bewildered by the familiar yet strange sensation, he soon thought of something.
Wait... no, it can't be...
Though the single possibility that could explain the current situation crossed his mind, he quickly dismissed it, having been betrayed and disappointed too many times after nurturing such hopes.
But...
Yet this time, the possibility lingered in his head, urging him not to dismiss it. Deciding to listen, he clenched his trembling hands and took a step forward.
Thud-
His right foot stepped forward, and the stable feeling of perfect balance permeated his entire body.
After his injury, he couldn’t do such a thing. Yet now, it was unfolding so naturally.
“...It's back,” Karl muttered to himself, his voice trembling.
He had regained the power he thought he would never see again. His heart began to race wildly.
“It's back!!!”
Bang!!
He burst through the hospital room door and ran outside.
“S—sir?!”
Ignoring the shocked looks of the nurses preparing for their morning duties, Karl rushed down the stairs and out to the backyard.
Then, without hesitation, he took out not the training spear but the weapon he used during his active days from his void pocket.
Whoosh-
A long purple spear, about three meters long, revealed itself after a long time. Ever since he injured his spine and lost his balance, he hadn't been able to use it even in training. But it was different now.
Feeling not just excitement but certainty, he began to gather his mana, ignoring the chaotic hospital behind him.
Woong-
Mana surged up from his feet, splitting towards his arms and spine. Before, he always failed to control the mana in his spine due to the prosthetic, but this time he did it perfectly.
Feeling the long-missed sensation, mana properly surged in his arms and seeped into the spear, twisting the entire weapon.
Thwoom-!
A violet flash tore through the air, streaking forward with immense power.
Boom-!
The wave unleashed from the tip of the spear shredded everything in its path, and a powerful shockwave spread out from the impact, reverberating through the air. If the spear had been thrust downward instead of upward, the forest behind the hospital would have been completely devastated; it might have even pierced through to the cliffs along the coast.
“Huff... huff...”
Panting from the exertion of performing a proper technique after so long, Karl’s eyes remained fixed on the empty sky. Despite it not being as powerful as it was at his peak, he had undeniably returned to his pre-injury condition.
However, what thrilled him even more than that, was the feeling of certainty that he could become even stronger than he was now.
If I can maintain this state... I might actually reach S-rank this time!
Determined to preserve his current condition no matter what, he was about to finally contemplate the reason for his improved condition when a commotion erupted from the hospital.
Bang!
Something loud and chaotic sounded from inside, and soon two figures emerged into the clearing.
“Oh...”
“You...”
It was Duke, whose left prosthetic eye was now more vivid and naturally moving, and Lola, an elderly woman who was hovering in the air by finely controlling gravity with his right prosthetic arm.
Recognizing each other, they all simultaneously realized the same thing.
“Did you guys also receive the treatment...?”
“...Yeah.”
“I have.”
Karl and Duke simultaneously nodded in response, and the three of them exchanged glances, each understanding the same truth. Their commonality lay in their recent rehabilitation progress and the strange but highly effective special treatment they had received from the Pilgrimage Church volunteers.
With the same thought in mind, the three stood in tense silence, eyeing each other warily.
That was when Alessia hurriedly ran into the backyard.
“What on earth are you guys—”
“Alessia! Where are the volunteers from the Pilgrimage Church right now?”
“Tell me first, not these guys!”
“Let's head to the village first! If we fly, we'll be there in no time!”
“Wait... please... calm down!!!”
As soon as Alesia appeared, the situation turned into complete chaos.