Chapter 484. Looking Up and Down (6)
While he was on the verge of being eaten by the swarm of Abyss King’s will surrounding him on all sides, Chi-Woo was swept by an unknown feeling. It was a strange and mysterious sensation that he had never experienced before. After acknowledging his fate and accepting it, the power that had always been stable and remained in line with Chi-Woo’s vessel had suddenly begun to grow in size on its own.
‘What…!’ Chi-Woo couldn’t hide his surprise because it felt like he was going berserk like before. It was the first time this happened even though he hadn’t crossed the line himself. Originally, he would have tried to control it somehow, but Chi-Woo failed to do so. No, he didn’t try. Although the symptoms were the same as when he was about to go berserk, it wasn’t as violent as he thought it would be. Rather, it felt as if he had skipped time and space and was walking in advance on a path that he would take in the distant future. Above all, his intuition was telling him to not worry, that this was not dangerous, and he should never forget this moment.
Meanwhile, the energy that continued to increase in strength and size filled Chi-Woo’s vessel. Then Chi-Woo felt his vessel overflow. Unable to hold back, he screamed with all his might. As a result—
Bammmmmmmm! A huge pillar of light blew up all the dark wills and rose high in the sky. After some time, Chi-Woo regained his senses and blinked. ‘…Ah?’ How should he say it—too many things had changed out of the blue. First of all, his view was different. Everything was small in his eyes. When he looked down, he saw the Astral World that he had been standing on until a moment ago. He also saw the Astral World where his teammates were waiting for him and the Middle World where his brother was maintaining a passage. All those worlds looked small enough for him to hold in one hand.
Furthermore, if he put his mind to it, it felt as if he could see them as smaller than ants, no, much smaller than even that. It was not just his field of vision. Looking around slowly, Chi-Woo slightly lowered his gaze. He couldn’t see his body. It felt like he had and didn’t have a body at the same time. Rather than a physical body, it was as if the intense flow of light flowing like the Milky Way around him was his original limbs, as if he could do anything with the light if he wanted to.
‘It’s incredible.’ Chi-Woo couldn’t even think of closing his wide-opened mouth. ‘It’s not enough to say it’s astounding. This…this fate is…’ He had acknowledged and accepted it and was qualified with the Heaven’s Vessel. Since then, Chi-Woo was confident that he could tap into a small part of the power of fate that seemed endless to him. However, that was a complete miscalculation. He was not even a frog in a well. The portion of fate that he could resonate without difficulty was less than a chick’s eye compared to the present. It was embarrassing to even call it a grain of dust.
The same was true even now. Chi-Woo felt that he was still incomplete in this condition. Rather, it could be said that only at his present state would he be considered having gained control over a piece or a fragment of the power inside him. ‘I see.’ It was only after reaching this state that he fully realized this state was the path Future Yoo-Joo and his future self had wanted so earnestly to walk on. Although he hadn’t reached his full potential, it was clear that he was in the middle of going there. The thought put a bitter smile on Chi-Woo’s face.
He hadn’t known the full implications of his brother’s words, but it was different after becoming like this. How long would it take for him to even get to this state? Hundreds of years? No, it would take tens of thousands of years at least. Even gaining control over a fragment would require so much time, so how long would it take to fully complete himself? He couldn’t even dare to imagine it. Certainly, Chi-Woo was not wrong… Yes, that would have normally been the case. However, what was notable in this situation was that he had taken a shortcut to that path right now.
Then another question arose. Originally, he would have only reached this state after tens of thousands of years of hard work and training, but why had he skipped all those processes at once? Suddenly, the wind blew from below. Although it wasn’t blowing in the atmosphere, somehow it felt like the wind to him. Chi-Woo instinctively looked down and realized the answer to his question after seeing the dark matter wriggling like a worm in the Astral World. It was the backlash for abusing causality. The Abyss King had committed a felony by violating the law of causality—not once or twice, but many times. Normally, he should have disappeared a long time ago as a consequence of defying the law of causality.
However, the Abyss King had been buying time by expediency, and the universe was not going to let this slip. As the Abyss King kept using the consciousnesses he absorbed as a shield to keep delaying the price he had to pay, the law balancing the universe eventually came to a conclusion—by borrowing the power of the nearest being to the Abyss King, it intended to force the Abyss King to pay the price. As a result, the backlash of causality that the Abyss King had converted into a new form of energy was given to Chi-Woo. That power was meant for that alone, not to be used to save someone or target anyone else. The power had one set purpose: to exterminate the Abyss King.
‘That’s why.’ In short, it was not a sudden awakening, but a temporarily granted power with a fixed condition. Once the goal was reached, he would return to his original self. Nevertheless, this moment wouldn’t be useless. Rather, it would be a very meaningful experience for Chi-Woo. Having experienced something and not made all the difference. Chi-Woo looked down calmly at the dark wriggling wills.
“…” He felt strange. Perhaps because he could see the providence of the universe at a glance, he didn’t feel any joy or much emotion to begin with. The Abyss King was just a bug; nothing more and nothing less. That was how the Abyss King looked like to him now. Then Chi-Woo lifted what he thought was his foot.
The squirming Abyss King also looked up, and then all the consciousnesses that made up his existence froze at the bewildering sight in front of them. How should they describe the existence looking down on them? A giant? No, that was not it. It couldn’t be compared to a mere giant.
[It’s like a blind man describing an elephant.]
Chi-Woo’s sneer passed through the Abyss King’s mind. Exactly as the man had said, even though he didn’t know anything, even though it turned out that he was nothing, he had shouted he was the heavens like a blind man. All the dark wills that made up the Abyss King trembled with fear; intense fear and regret came belatedly. However, it was way too late now. Something invisible descended and blanketed all the dark wills that had gotten disrupted, and not only the Astral World, but also the Shalyh’s expeditionary force on standby, Chi-Hyun in the Middle World and even Shalyh—no, all beings on Liber clearly felt a footstep shaking the earth and the magnificent and solemn echo that stirred the entire planet.
Thud. All Chi-Woo had done was take one small step. Nevertheless, the Abyss King couldn’t even let out a squeak. When Chi-Woo gently stepped away, all he could see was the Abyss King with his body bizarrely twisted. Other than that, everything had exploded. The consciousnesses that had once reached tens of thousands in number and remained persistent despite the backlash of causality had evaporated—all except for one. That was the only reason Chi-Woo hadn’t extinguished the Abyss King.
Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed. He had been wondering what the man was doing, but the Abyss King still hadn’t given up. He was trying desperately to maintain his existence by fully absorbing Flora in any way possible. Frankly, Flora’s existence was on the verge of losing consciousness. Although it must be a side effect of the Abyss King violating the law of causality, Chi-Woo had no idea that his absorption of Flora had progressed this far.
‘At this rate…it might be hard even with Asha’s Deterrence.’ Strictly speaking, there was nothing that could not be done with the World’s Deterrence within Liber, as Deterrence was basically a magic bullet for everything. However, it could demand an amount of Blessed Luck that was virtually impossible to obtain. Then when Chi-Woo expressed his will, the squirming form that was the Abyss King rose into the air, stopping only once he approached the pillar of light that was still piercing through the sky and maintaining an awe-inspiring figure.
Soon after, from the pillar came a hand formed by light. Then it stretched out and penetrated the Abyss King straight through. As if removing his heart, something was pulled out from inside the Abyss King. The slender and frail girl with black hair was none other than Flora. After carefully holding her safe in his grasp, Chi-Woo roughly threw the Abyss King in another direction.
At that moment, the wind that had been blowing constantly suddenly stopped. The vast columns of light slowly faded away. The view that looked down on everything gradually returned to normal. Chi-Woo’s bodily senses came back one by one, and when he realized that he was stepping on the ground—“Heuk…!” He collapsed with a sharp intake of breath. His whole body was drained of energy. It felt like it’s been a while, but it felt familiar at the same time. A strong sense of weakness overtook his entire body. He wanted to lie down like this, but Chi-Woo managed to stop at kneeling on one knee and gasping for breath. He had no strength to even lift a finger. He tried to steady his breathing for a while and slowly raised his head. He saw what looked like a torn, worn-out rag in front of him. It was the Abyss King.
Surprisingly, the Abyss King still retained his form, his consciousness, and his existence. Although he had become dwarfed beyond comparison, he was still alive by a thin line. Even the great demons risked their existence as a last resort, but the Abyss King had not bet on his existence until the very end. Chi-Woo was not sure if he should describe it as being cowardly or having a strong desire to survive. Either way, it didn’t matter. The Abyss King had tried hard to survive by any means possible, but now even that was over. It was then he heard a faint, barely audible murmur.
—Not yet…
—It’s…not over yet…
Chi-Woo let out a hollow laugh. The Abyss King should also be well aware of his condition; Chi-Woo couldn’t help but click his tongue at his obstinacy. “Why don’t you stop now?” He continued, “The karma that you accumulated would probably be no joke. When are you going to erase them all?” There was no point even talking about the karma that the Abyss King had accumulated in this battle. Perhaps even if the time between the Big Bang and now passed again, it wouldn’t be enough to erase all of it. There was no longer a possibility for the Abyss King to exist anywhere in the entire universe.
—It doesn’t matter.
Even though he must be well aware of this, the Abyss King sounded aloof as if he didn’t care about that in the least.
—Reincarnation…is pointless…I don’t want to leave…my existence…in such a worthless way…in that eternal cycle…
“What can you even do?” Chi-Woo snorted. “There’s nothing more you can do.” All that remained was the Abyss King’s original existence and consciousness. However, at this point, it didn’t have any value.
—No…
However, the Abyss King replied as if he had been waiting for this question. It might have been an illusion, but Chi-Woo felt like the Abyss King was laughing.
—The one…who has to pay the price…is not me…but you…
What was he even talking about?
—The universe…the law that encompasses the entire universe…will be on guard against you…after learning that you controlled…the law of causality for a brief moment…
Strictly speaking, the Abyss King wasn’t wrong.
[What you said is no different from saying that you’ll put the rules governing the universe—no, the entire universe under your feet.]
[An enormous chaos will arise. And the center of that chaos will aim at you with absolute certainty because you’re the cause of the chaos.]
Chi-Hyun’s warning was based on the same reasoning. Chi-Woo was an existence who would announce the beginning of a new universe and establish a new order. Therefore, there was no way that the law that previously maintained the balance of the universe would welcome him.
—If I try to erase your existence…I thought the universe might turn a blind eye…even if it violated the law of causality…
The Abyss King continued, his sentence choppy with many pauses.
—I had no idea…I miscalculated that…they’ll take my sin for breaking the law…more seriously than yours…
However, there was one truth he had learned through this.
—The law to keep the balance of the universe is…very…very fair…more than you think.
—As it did for me…you will not be an exception either.
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