Chapter 477. Never Been Wrong (3)
After realizing that they were stuck in Basilik’s World, Shalyh’s expeditionary force was in great distress. The world they were in was crumbling by the second with them trapped inside. At this rate, they would disappear along with the world. It was preferable to die fighting than die like this. Nobody wanted to meet their ends in this manner, but there was nothing they could do. The situation the Abyss King had set up while going so far as to defy the law of causality was truly firm and complex.
There might be a way out if there was a member among them who was so extraordinary that they could free themselves from such rules, yet there was no one like that. There was nothing they could do with their current members. Thus, in the middle of this chaos, the Seven Stars members remained quiet. They simply glanced at one another in silence. They wanted to raise their swords and weapons to disperse their helplessness, but it was meaningless when they had no comprehensible plan. Still, it didn’t seem right for them to stand around and wait to see how things would play out. Thus, they turned to Evelyn, the one who had been leading them until now.
“…”
But when they saw her lower her head with a look of grief on her face, all the Seven Stars members smacked their lips. The fact that Evelyn, who had reached the pinnacle of her previous faction as the Abyss Witch and furthermore received the Abyss Queen’s blessing, was acting like this indicated that things were truly hopeless.
“It seems like…there’s no way out of this situation anymore,” when even Ru Amuh said in a resigned tone, it seemed like the final nail in the coffin. They wanted to deny what was happening, but about one-fifth of Basilisk's world had already disappeared. Ru Hiana whimpered. They came all this way, but they might have to disappear without changing anything. Yet she didn’t cry. She continued to say that things were not over yet, and that there was surely a way out. And unable to accept defeat, she was about to shout at others to not give up when—boom!
Everyone flinched. Evelyn, the Seven Star members, and the Shalyh expeditionary force who were in great distress all rose their heads. Then, their murmurings stopped, and everyone looked above them. The Basilisk’s world was still gradually disappearing, but everyone felt it then. There was an enormous wave of energy that was so strong that it even penetrated the tightly sealed doors of this world. It went straight across worlds that couldn’t be seen and pierced through the other one. A giant passageway of energy that connected different worlds formed.
And between them, everyone sensed a figure crossing the passageway, followed by an animal running on four legs closely behind him. Just like how Chi-Hyun and Chi-Woo had felt the Shalyh’s expeditionary force in the Astral Worlds all the way from the Middle World, those scattered across the Astral Worlds also felt these two figures, and they felt familiar.
“…Ah.” Realizing who those were, Evelyn let out a gasp unconsciously. She had looked like she was about to give up everything, but now an indescribable feeling soared to her chest. Like a wilting flower blooming again, Evelyn’s pale face regained color. Without any words of assurance, just the sheer realization of who had come to this world washed away all the worries in her heart.
It was as the Abyss Queen had told her. There was no way he wouldn’t do anything. Evelyn’s gaze shifted from left to right, and soon tension drained from her body. Her shoulders dropped slightly, and she let out the breath she had been holding. Turning around, she gave the others a relieved and serene smile. Like there was nothing more to worry about, each of the Seven Stars members also smiled. No words were needed. Humanity had sent out their greatest trump card to save them.
The rest of the Shalyh’s expeditionary force responded similarly. Though there had been a great commotion just before, the Basilisk's worlds regained its silence. The world was still crumbling, but no one was worried. Ru Amuh walked toward them and said without any hesitation or doubt, “Everyone, please just wait a bit more. He is here.” That was all that needed to be said.
***
After Chi-Hyun forcefully opened the doors of the world that the Abyss King closed, Chi-Woo rushed in with Philip and Wallie before it was too late. While Chi-Woo was running across the passageway of energy that Chi-Hyun had made, Chi-Woo kept taking furtive glances at Philip. Philip tried to ignore it at first, but because Chi-Woo didn’t say anything but only glanced at him, he shouted frustratedly.
—…What! What’s the deal!? Do you have anything to say!?
“No, just because.” Chi-Woo smirked while Philip got angry at him. “I was just grateful.”
—Huh. What are you saying that for?
Philip snorted.
—You seem to have gotten something wrong. I didn’t say what I said for your sake. I said it because I was also feeling frustrated. Finally, I’m voicing what I’ve been thinking for a long time. It was to put my mind at peace. Got it?
Chi-Woo smiled. Was it Philina? It was the name of Philip’s female counterpart in other worlds, and Chi-Woo remembered the other versions of him saying that she had quite a coy personality. It appeared that Philip was the same as her except for the sexes.
“But I’m still grateful.”
—Ah, okay. I got it, so stop.
Philip quickly waved his hands like he was embarrassed and smacked his lips.
—Anyway…will you really be alright?
“What do you mean?”
—You know what your brother said. I don’t know what you’re thinking…but I think there would be a good reason if someone like your brother tried to stop you so fervently.
After all, Chi-Hyun had said there could be an enemy so strong that they could consider the future Abyss and Sernitas as mere dust in the universe aiming for him. Of course, Philip would worry after hearing that. Chi-Woo looked to the front again and said, “I don’t know.”
—?
“I will think about it then.”
—What?
“When I was young,” Chi-Woo cleared his throat, “There was a time when I was in great pain and anger because living was so hard. I resented and hated the world and even my family at that time.”
—…What was so hard about your life?
Though this was a bit of an unexpected turn of conversation, Philip decided to go along with it for now.
“There were many reasons, but…if I had to pick one, it’s because my future looked bleak. I couldn’t see hope,” Chi-Woo said in a low voice. “I wondered how I should live and whether my situation would become better.”
Philip fell quiet. He had seen how those who had lost hope live their life.
“That’s when I met my past mentor…and he told me something that changed my life.”
—What did he say?
“He asked me why a young guy like me was already worrying about my future. He told me to just focus on what was happening right in front of me.”
—Ha!
Philip burst into laughter.
“Thus, that made me think, ‘Why was I worrying about a future that hadn’t even come yet more than unnecessary and falling to despair about it?’ Especially when life is already so hard, even right now.”
—Don’t you think that sounds a bit irresponsible though?
“Tomorrow will be another day. I can think about what will happen when that day comes,” Chi-Woo said firmly.
—Well, the future will have become the present. I get what you are saying.
The best way was to prevent unwanted futures from happening before they did, but Philip didn’t bring them up. It was because, in life, there were times when there was simply no other choice—absolutely no choice at all but to act against their intuition. And Chi-Woo was showing what kind of attitude he would take when such a time came. It was simple but clear. Sometimes, there was nothing more effective than simplicity.
—Good. Should we focus all our attention on the most pressing matter right now, which is capturing the Abyss King?
“Yes, that’s it. Isn’t it so simple and nice when you think like that?” Chi-Woo said, and Wallie barked in agreement. Chi-Woo smiled brightly and looked sideways. Besides Philip and Wallie, he couldn’t see anyone, but he felt gazes from all around him. They were desperate and pleading, and sensing to whom the gazes belonged, Chi-Woo affirmed his resolve. They had done everything they could do on their end, and thanks to them, the stage was set for his brother to make a passageway through worlds safely. It was now his turn to meet their expectations.
His brother had told him that if he needed to choose between the expeditionary force and him, he would pick him without hesitation. It hadn’t been a lie. Chi-Hyun would probably still slow down the rate at which the Basilik’s world was disappearing as much as possible besides making the passageway. But if a situation arose where he couldn’t support both Shalyh’s force and Chi-Woo, he would choose without a moment of delay to put all his focus on maintaining the passageway.
[if you don’t want me to make a choice like that…you’ll have to do a good job.]
In other words, Chi-Woo needed to defeat the Abyss King before that situation arose. How long had he been running? Eventually, Chi-Woo saw a space that had been forcefully broken and cracked at the end of the passageway. Chi-Woo flung himself forward without hesitation and disappeared into the crack. Soon afterward, his vision blurred.
***
—Kufufufu…
Laughter continued without stopping.
—Kuah! Kuahahah! Hahahahaha!
It was the mad laughter of someone who couldn’t contain his joy. Not long afterward, the Abyss King stopped laughing. There was suddenly an intruder before him. It was Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo walked toward the Abyss King and stopped. Thick fog flowed around him, but there was nothing in his surroundings. It was as if he was in a barren wasteland, and there was nothing besides the Abyss King, who sat alone and laughed continuously. The Abyss King wore dark armor, and his eyes narrowed when he saw Chi-Woo.
The dark smoke flowing between the Abyss King’s armor gave off a different sense of energy from the time they met at the great war. Chi-Woo had heard that the Abyss King had changed because of the Sernitas, but it appeared that there was more to his transformation. Chi-Woo didn’t know what it was exactly, but it was probably the cause of the foreboding feeling that he kept having.
“You look happy,” Chi-Woo greeted the Abyss King.
—Hm, I sure am.
Chi-Woo snorted when the Abyss King accepted him with open arms.
“I thought you would be shuddering and hiding like a coward. How surprising.”
—I suppose it’s not too far-fetched to think that.
The Abyss King responded to the provocation coolly.
“Then, instead of stirring up a great fuss and getting beaten up, can’t you just die peacefully? I’m quite a busy man.”
—Truthfully, there’s a part of me that wants that.
One of Chi-Woo’s eyebrows rose.
—After struggling so much, I thought about dying peacefully if things didn’t work out even till the end…that’s what I thought at one point. No, that’s what I thought not so long ago.
Though Chi-Woo couldn’t see the Abyss King’s face because it was covered by a helmet, he was sure the Abyss King was smirking with all his teeth showing.
—But not anymore.
Furthermore, his voice was confident throughout the entire conversation. What could possibly make someone who had been preparing for his death become this confident? There must be some basis behind his confidence. It didn’t seem likely that he would act like this simply because of the power he borrowed from the Sernitas. Thinking about the Abyss King’s specialty and natural traits, Chi-Woo thought of one possibility.
“Did you have a good meal or something?”
—Hm. I did enjoy a true delicacy that I might never get to try again even if I search the entire universe.
The Abyss King was so full of confidence that he easily spoke about what had happened.
—It’s something that I hadn’t expected at all. I had been keeping my eye on the treat, but it was really something I absorbed at the spur of the moment and at the risk of setbacks because of how urgent my situation was.
The result surprised even the Abyss King. It was as if he picked up a random fallen stone on the ground and realized that it was a very rare gem he wouldn’t be able to find anywhere in the world.
—Thus, naturally, my way of thinking changed. I thought my fate wasn’t to die after all, and the heavens hadn’t forsaken me yet.
“What?”
—Because heavens came inside me!
The Abyss King shouted, and a thought passed Chi-Woo’s head.
‘Wait a minute…’ While coming to this place, Chi-Woo had felt numerous gazes. There were Evelyn, Ru Amuh, and other Seven Stars members. But there was one person he had failed to sense.
‘…Wait. Then…’ Chi-Woo thought of the person and realized the source of the Abyss King’s confidence.
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