Chapter 379 – The Choice (4)
Boom!
With a powerful explosion, smoke, embers, and dust filled the air. The barrier around the N Seoul Tower was gone, but Lee Sun-ho and Gi-Gyu’s energies now saturated the space. No ordinary player could have survived in such an energy-dense space. The energy density here could have made a player explode, but Ha-Rim survived in this space and managed to save Kronos, proving here might. Gi-Gyu wasn’t sure if he should sigh in relief or disappointment.
Lou scolded him.
-This isn’t the time to be sympathetic.
Gi-Gyu knew this as well.
‘I just can’t let him die like this, that’s all.’
Kronos couldn’t die at this stage. After all, if Gaia could have an ulterior motive, what was stopping Kronos from having his own designs? Gi-Gyu was sure Kronos was up to something, so he couldn’t let him escape without getting the answer.
Thankfully, Ha-Rim and Kronos had both survived with minor injuries. Gi-Gyu sent them a small amount of Life.
“Admirable,” Lee Sun-Ho said when he saw Gi-Gyu giving away Life.
“...”
“So you didn’t just steal it from me; you can wield that power as well? It’s remarkable that you are even capable of handling such power.” Something in Lee Sun-Ho’s eyes changed. They were still white, but Lee Sun-Ho had narrowed them to show his curiosity.
Lee Sun-Ho sounded even more amazed as he continued, “You’re tough to read… I can’t believe this. Those are my fighting tools, but you can surprisingly use them freely.”
Gi-Gyu kept quiet and studied him. Behind him were humans and Eden’s soldiers still fighting the monsters. If Lee Sun-Ho suddenly flew toward them, everyone Gi-Gyu cared about could be annihilated.
‘I must stop that from happening.’?Gi-Gyu knew he needed to prevent Lee Sun-Ho from doing any damage.
“Stop me?” asked Lee Sun-Ho.
“...?!”
“Fear is the mind-killer. Your mental fortitude, though amazing, can’t beat its own creation. Your panic makes you easy to read.”
“You can… read minds?” asked Gi-Gyu.
Lee Sun-Ho tilted his head and answered, “Read minds? Isn’t that a given?”
He continued expressionlessly, “I am, after all, the master of all. I am omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Therefore…”
Whoosh.
“Hup!” Gi-Gyu stepped back in shock. Lee Sun-Ho had vanished and reappeared on the spot he had been on before stepping back. He had known where Gi-Gyu would be before even Gi-Gyu had known it.
Lee Sun-Ho tilted his head again and asked, “Don’t you think I should be the one confused here? I mean, you are the odd one out. Every atom in this place belongs to me, but I don’t even know you.”
“...” Gi-Gyu couldn’t respond to his enemy’s strange words.
Lee Sun-Ho mumbled, “My original body… It’s finally waking up.”
Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun!
The air began to shake. Gi-Gyu instantly realized what was happening.
‘Chaos is waking up.’
-It’s Chaos!
-Chaos is waking up!
Lou and El exclaimed, surprised. When they had escaped from Gehenna, they unraveled the shackles that restrained Chaos, but it had woken up much earlier than they had expected. However, they could guess why that had happened.
“Did you wake up Chaos?” Gi-Gyu asked Lee Sun-Ho.
“Strange and Stupid. That’s how I would describe you,” Lee Sun-Ho said calmly and offhandedly. “My psyche is awake, so why won’t my physique be? Why are you surprised that my meat suit is coming for me? It makes perfect sense.”
Lee Sun-Ho finally smiled and raised his hand.
Dun dun dun dun dun.
The world was shaking badly. The tremors were so violent that they even stopped the battle between Eden’s creatures, human players, and the monsters.
Lee Sun-Ho ordered, “Wake up, my children.”
Gi-Gyu had no idea how to stop the tremors, and just then, he heard a scream. He quickly turned around and whispered, “T-this can’t be…”
Not a minute had passed since Lee Sun-Ho had given the order, but the whole world was already responding. The ground split, scorching flames erupted from the cracks, and from the flames crawled out giants—monstrous, darkness-veiled giants.
“Ackkkk!”
“Save me!”
“Grandmaster!”
The human players and Eden’s creatures screamed. The battlefield was in ruins, so they didn’t even have a place to fight on. And the flames had already dined on almost half of them. Gi-Gyu could feel his Egos disappearing.
-Hey!
-Master!
Lou and El called out, but Gi-Gyu couldn’t look away from the terrifying scene. The flames from the ground didn’t discriminate. They swallowed everything and everyone on their way, including Hal and Dark, fighting the flying monsters in the sky.
“Hal…!” Gi-Gyu groaned. His connection to Hal instantly disappeared. He grabbed his chest and blinked. “Hal… is dead…?”
Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe that their sync was gone. Even worse, this was only the beginning.
Snap, snap, snap.
Like fragile threads, his connections to his Egos began disappearing.
-You gotta snap out of it!
-Master!
Lou and El screamed again, but the pain from losing so many connections had paralyzed him.
“Kwerrrrk!” the black giants roared, destroying everything the flames had accidentally spared. The giants effortlessly crushed the monsters, human players, and Eden creatures.
“Everything is… ending…” Gi-Gyu tried his best to endure the pain.
He couldn’t believe what was happening. He had spent such a long time building everything he had. Gi-Gyu used to believe he had more than anyone and anything.
“But I’m losing everything now,” Gi-Gyu whispered. Instead of feeling empty, all he felt was burning fury.
“Ackkkk!” Gi-Gyu screamed but again failed to move his body.
“You’re next.” Lee Sun-Ho announced, and his words were like million-pound shackles wrapping around Gi-Gyu.
“Dammit!” Frustrated by the situation, Lou finally took his human form.
“Master! Lou!” El did the same.
Gi-Gyu was failing to control his body, so Lou and El stood by his side as the world crumbled in the background.
Kaboom!
Lee Sun-Ho continued, “The void will devour everything.”
“Fuck you!” Lou shouted.
“Master! We’ll try to buy some time!” El announced.
Lou and El rushed to attack Lee Sun-Ho. They weren’t in good condition, but unlike Gi-Gyu, they could still move. Perhaps it was because Lee Sun-Ho was only targeting Gi-Gyu at this point.
As the duo’s power surged, Lou and El sprinted toward Lee Sun-Ho, but it was useless.
“Yes, come back to your master. You belong to me,” Lee Sun-Ho murmured.
“Ack!”
“M-Master…”
In the blink of an eye, Lee Sun-Ho had plucked Lou and El, holding them up in the air.
“No…” Gi-Gyu looked at Lee Sun-Ho helplessly. He couldn’t believe what was unfolding around him.
‘Is that the real god?’?Gi-Gyu wondered. He remembered seeing a glimpse of God’s power inside Babel, and he had also witnessed Chaos’ power, but this was so much more.
Gi-Gyu couldn’t help but believe that the true god was standing before him. Perhaps the master of the world was finally here, and everything was returning to the original state of nothingness.
As Gi-Gyu pondered, he noticed more of his connections were getting severed.
“I said…” Gi-Gyu finally stood up. His legs shook like they were about to break, but he still glared at Lee Sun-Ho. “Don’t steal what is mine.”
“Yours?” Lee Sun-Ho seemed amused. “And what would that be?”
Lee Sun-Ho laughed at Gi-Gyu and continued, “Nothing in this world or any dimension belongs to you. Everything is mine. Everything exists for me. And everything is made by me for me.”
Lee Sun-Ho seemed annoyed as he threw Lou and El on the ground. They tried to get up, but a single “stay” order from Lee Sun-Ho made their bodies freeze.
“How can you be so unreasonable? I’m just trying to return everything to normal. I simply want to send my creations back to the void. And you’re just trying to steal my tools. How is that fair?”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Gi-Gyu mumbled.
“...”
“Fine, you’re right. I have nothing.” Gi-Gyu stopped shaking. “Just as you said, perhaps you made everything.”
Gi-Gyu looked straight into Lee Sun-Ho’s white eyes. He no longer felt fear or emptiness. “But just because you made everything doesn’t mean everything belongs to you. Just like how parents don’t own their children.”
Gi-Gyu stepped forward with his weak legs. Brun’s shaking voice promised.
-I’ll give you everything I have…
Gi-Gyu’s heart thumped, and suddenly, the Dragon Hunter armor covered his body. Instead of El and Lou in their sword forms, he now had long claws for weapons.
“The world won’t do your bidding. You can’t control everything,” Gi-Gyu whispered.
“You’re making no sense,” Lee Sun-Ho muttered.
“I’m not trying to explain anything,” Gi-Gyu replied and took several more steps forward. Hermes began vibrating, using the last of its newfound power.
Oberon shook as well. Actually, all of Gi-Gyu’s Egos shook in fear, but he could feel their determination. Brun encouraged them.
-Please do your best.
Taking another step forward, Gi-Gyu thrust his fist toward Lee Sun-Ho and yelled, “Die!”
This punch was unlike any Gi-Gyu could muster in the past. Its speed and power suggested that he had put everything into it, but it stopped. Lee Sun-Ho had reached forward and easily grabbed the punch.
“Is that all you have to say?” Lee Sun-Ho asked. “Because I can’t stand it anymore.”
Gi-Gyu slowly looked down, realizing that El had stabbed his chest.
“E-El?” His heart was beating so fast that he thought it might burst.
-M…M…Master…
He felt like he could hear El’s sob. Gi-Gyu was slowly losing consciousness when he heard a voice in his head.
-Accept it. You won’t be harmed. Trust me.
‘Kronos?’?asked Gi-Gyu.
-We don’t have much time. We can’t push away your consciousness and complete the ritual, either. Choose now. Hurry! Will you accept me?! Or will you die like this! Will you lose everything and let things end?!
When Kronos asked, Gi-Gyu replied before losing consciousness, ‘I’ll accept it.’?
.
Suddenly, Gi-Gyu felt lighter. When he opened his eyes, he saw Kronos standing before him.
“You made the right decision.”
“Kronos…” Gi-Gyu found Kronos watching him and looking perfectly fine. Behind him was Lee Sun-Ho, who was frowning like he was upset. It looked like he was about to stab someone, but he was frozen.
“I stopped time,” Kronos explained. “And you must make more decisions now.”
He firmly closed his lips and continued with determination, “I’ve been planning this for a long time, since even before building Babel. I stopped time, but we still don’t have much time.”
Turning toward Gi-Gyu, Kronos asked, “Will you talk with me?”
Gi-Gyu looked at Lee Sun-Ho standing behind Kronos and Lou and El beside them. It seemed that the time had stopped for Lou and El too.
“All right,” Gi-Gyu replied. With unwavering determination, he looked at Kronos.
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