Chapter 481. Looking Up and Down (3)
Stigmata was a trace of god given to users who had been acknowledged as saints. The user’s battle abilities rose enormously with La Bella’s blessing, but that wasn’t all to it.
“…Haha.” Laughter flowed out of Chi-Woo’s mouth. It wasn’t his usual laugh.
“Menial thoughts….” As he scanned his surroundings, Chi-Woo’s face looked holy and even sacred. “It’s full of trivial and meaningless thoughts. How unclean. What a corrupt place this is.”
He appeared like a holy man who had received enlightenment, and he spoke like a priest faithful to a god more than anything else. “I see. Are you all so desperate to die?”
He didn’t act like his usual self, yet Chi-Woo didn’t notice the change. His mind was occupied by only the murderous rage to cleanse the impurity before him. “Haha. Then I must do as you all wish. Let me lead you to God’s side.” A merciless, cold smile hung on Chi-Woo’s face as he activated his class ability.
[La Bella’s Bible A+++]
[La Bella’s Sanctuary A+]
Shashashashashaaaa!
A shining book opened on top of Chi-Woo’s head. Simultaneously, light bloomed like candlelight and spread out with Chi-Woo as the center. In a dark space where only negative thoughts loomed, light expanded its territory. Naturally, these dark consciousnesses didn’t stay calm. They spread out and rushed toward Chi-Woo as if it was declaring that this was their territory.
“You bastards…” Of course, Chi-Woo didn’t let them be.
[Choi Chi-Woo’s Original Exorcism Prayer AA]
Chi-Woo opened his mouth.
“—. —. —. —.”
Masses of clear and solemn voices rang out in the darkness as if hundreds of people were singing scriptures in chorus in a religious assembly. The words were incomprehensible, but the effect was clear. The Abyss King’s consciousnesses were flying all over the place when they suddenly came to a halt. Pained screams burst out. Kyaaah…! Kaaaaah…!
They clutched their heads with both hands and contorted crazily. Then, they began to roam about in all directions while writhing in great pain. The torment messed up their minds so much that some consciousnesses began to fight amongst themselves, yet there were still some that aimed for Chi-Woo. Those who had been powerful in their living days remained intact and poured out stronger bloodlust, full of intent to grind Chi-Woo to pieces. It was a chilling, skin-shuddering bloodlust, but Chi-Woo simply laughed at them.
The prayer stopped momentarily, and the pain that tormented the weaker consciousnesses disappeared. Finally gathering their senses, the consciousnesses tried to use that opening when Chi-Woo gave a hearty shout, and thunder boomed from the sky.
“I banish all of you!”
[Executioner A]
Struck by sudden lightning, the consciousnesses burst without being able to make a sound. It was as if they were all sentenced to execution, and it didn’t stop at only one time.
“Execution, execution, execution, execution…! All of you are on death penalty!”
Rumble! Rumble! Ruuuuumble! Every time Chi-Woo announced their execution, white lightning struck down from the sky and sputtered sparks. The struck consciousnesses exploded like fireworks, screeching and writhing until they became lumps of ashes. Terrified, the other consciousnesses hurriedly fled from the light.
“—. —. —. —.”
Then, Exorcism Prayer flowed out Chi-Woo’s mouth again, and all the consciousnesses running away came to an involuntary halt. They were rendered immobile as if bound by ropes from top to bottom, and from above them, gigantic lightning fires shot down. Chi-Woo displayed a force of power on a different level than before, and it wasn’t simply because all his abilities had ranked up. His powers were amplified by La Bella’s sanctuary and optimized by Stigmata. As a result, all hell broke loose in this spirit world. In a place where only darkness existed, lightning came down nonstop, waves of fire surged, and anguished cries poured out, transforming the place into utter hell.
Between the exploding and disappearing consciousnesses, Chi-Woo stood still for a while before he moved again. He took a step forward and swung his ghost-busting club hard. Boom—! A loud explosion rang out as if a bomb had gone off. A large hole was put in the darkness. It widened and became colored in light, pushing away the darkness. How could one person’s hand cover the entire sky? One could only deceive themselves for so long. To Chi-Woo, the darkness in this world was like a hand trying to cover the sky. With just a slight flick of his wrist, the sky would come to view again; it wouldn’t be covered by anyone or anything. Chi-Woo’s ghost-busting club was the flick of his wrist that would reveal the sky, and he used it to slice through the darkness again.
***
Wallie heaved slightly through his half-open mouth. His battle against the darkness giant had entered a gridlock—no, that was how it used to be, but as the situation continued, Wallie found himself at a disadvantage. Then, the world suddenly became pitch black, and the darkness giant’s appearance became fainter. It wasn’t much of a problem for Wallie that the giant was less visible, but it was a problem that the darkness giant’s energy exponentially increased and ran berserk with the intruding darkness.
From that point on, the battle became significantly unfavorable for Wallie. It appeared that there was a connection between the giant’s power-up and the fact that the world was now enveloped in darkness. Kicked in his stomach, Wallie rolled roughly across the space. He didn’t even have time to fix his posture when a fearsome impact came from above with a loud bang.
“Bark!” Wallie let out a heart-wrenching cry. He quickly backed away before he could fix his stance, but it was too late. A slight graze to his hind legs made it felt like they were crushed. Wallie wavered and barely managed to get into a proper stance, but his condition didn’t appear good. Not only did he lose one of his legs, but he was also suffering from mental damage that was more severe than the physical abuse he had taken. He couldn’t hear even a single word properly, but he kept hearing murmurs filled with bad intent.
Wallie bared his fangs and shook his head, but resentful and venomous curses continued to barge inward. It was to the point that Wallie was getting confused about whether he belonged to the world of the spirits or the world of the living, and whether he was dead or alive. While struggling to maintain his consciousness, Wallie allowed another hit. When he came to his senses again, the world seemed to be spinning. He didn’t have any more energy, and as time passed, his body lost more strength.
Wallie staggered to his feet and clenched his teeth. A trickle of crimson blood flowed out of his muzzle. Though his mind had become a bit clearer, the situation didn’t change. Wallie gritted his teeth. ‘Why, why….!’ Feelings of helplessness and loss stirred up rage inside his heart, and suddenly, a memory from the time he was at the Hala Forest flashed through his mind. It was before he was even born into the world, and even though he had been inside his mother’s stomach, he remembered what happened then clearly.
How could he forget his mother’s extreme love for her child? Though the Hala Forest had been a completely lawless area, Wallie never had to worry or stress about anything. It was because his mother assured him multiple times every day that she would protect him so that no one could hurt him. Thanks to that, Wallie was able to feel safe and recall that time with good and warm memories. His mother had kept his promise to him and protected him till the end.
‘But…why…!’ Wallie glanced at where Chi-Woo was and frowned. Chi-Woo was his one and only friend and companion. Though Chi-Woo gave him a name much later after they met, he had still tried from the beginning.
[By the way, what should I call you? What do you like?]
[How about Barkbark?]
After bringing Wallie to Shalyh, Chi-Woo tried to come up with a name. Though it had been a terrible one, Wallie knew that Chi-Woo acted with genuine intentions to take care of a child who had just lost his mother. If Wallie had accepted that name then, he would’ve lived like a cherished pet, receiving Chi-Woo’s affection and the love of everyone around him. Yet he didn’t want to live a life like that. He wanted to live a fulfilling life that didn’t put shame on his mother’s sacrifice, which was what had brought him to life. Like the famous Hurodvitniru, whose name was renowned across the world, he wanted to live up to her reputation a little. Sometimes, he resented Chi-Woo a little for not noticing this desire of his, but he eventually got a name that fit his goal.
[It means to guard, protect, and defend. I thought it would be quite fitting…]
Wallie—he didn’t really like the sound of it, but something about it struck a chord in him. Was it because he was born through his mother’s fervent protection? Like Hurodvitniru, who fought for him, Wallie wanted to protect somebody; and there could be no better option than the companion and friend he could forever walk together with. Wallie had resolved himself to live such a life, but what was this now? What was he doing here? It was frustrating and pathetic. If he died like this, he wouldn’t be able to face Huroditivritu.
Soon afterward, Wallie felt consciousnesses brimming with great vengeance rush toward him. At the same time, the darkness giant that had blended into the background was also coming after him. He would definitely die at this rate, and even if he didn’t, he would receive a critical injury that would eventually lead to it. It was the worst situation possible, but Wallie didn’t despair. Rather than surrendering to his hopelessness, he grew more enraged and tried to figure out a solution. This was what Chi-Woo would’ve done for sure. No matter how hard the situation was, or how many obstacles were stacked against him, Chi-Woo had always overturned the situation; and Wallie grew up watching someone like that. Thus, he didn’t back down.
“Growl…!” He let out a deep growl. “Grrrrrr…..!” With his rage, he pushed away the evil consciousnesses and focused all his attention on the darkness giant. Thus, he didn’t realize that as his cries grew harsher and his rage surged further, something that had been sleeping deep inside him began to show signs of erupting and boiling like a volcano’s lava pool.
***
In a dreary place that had once been filled with only darkness, parts of it regained the light that had originally illuminated it. It almost looked like a slice of cheese with a bunch of holes. Every time Chi-Woo swung his club, darkness was pushed away and revealed parts of the original world. Another hole formed where light had passed through. It was a giant hole bigger than all the others, and it was a sign that the Abyss King’s control of the Astral World was gradually weakening. The Abyss King needed to respond, but the Sernitas who reconnected with him remained silent. They were at a loss of what to do. The things they had feared came to reality.
The Sernitas met Chi-Woo for the first time at the Sky Castle. At the time, the Sernitas assessed that Chi-Woo was someone they couldn’t guarantee a win against, and there was only a half-and-half chance that they could defeat him. During the great war, they predicted a winning rate of 100% because of the thorough preparations they had made, yet Chi-Woo had mitigated the Sernitas’ trump card with a method they didn’t expect at all and led his side to victory in the end.
From then on, the Sernitas halted all activities outside and went into hibernation mode to find the most effective way to deal with Chi-Woo. Nevertheless, things didn’t progress smoothly. Not only did they lack information, but most importantly, they couldn’t figure out the limit of Chi-Woo’s growth. They needed to at least know Chi-Woo’s limits to think of a method to deal with him, but there was no way to come to an answer and prepare accordingly. This was evident by the current ongoing battle. As Chi-Woo broke and relentlessly shattered the Astral World that the Abyss King had synchronized with, the power he demonstrated was incomparably higher than the time he fought at the great war.
The most shocking part was that Chi-Woo didn’t even seem to be giving it his all. Perhaps the Sernitas would’ve been able to accept the situation if that was all, but they also knew the means Celestial Realm heroes employed to grow stronger. And right now, Chi-Woo was fighting the Abyss King, who had stepped way over the lines and bounds that any being should avoid stepping on. It was something the Sernitas would’ve never done, but their most pressing concern was that Chi-Woo would be the one to deal with the ailment that was the Abyss King.
What the Abyss King committed was so grave that it even influenced the world’s important flow. It was something that normally should’ve never happened, and overturning the situation would evidently result in an unbelievable return. That was the law of causality. And if Chi-Woo really solved this problem, how many merits would Chi-Woo gain, and how much stronger would he get from that? It was unimaginable. Thus, besides what was happening right now, the Sernitas needed to worry about what would happen later.
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