Chapter 147

Kang Cho-won swallowed the metallic-tasting blood pooling in his mouth. The blood flowing down his scorched innards filled his empty dantian with a single drop of mana. Even during the battle of the Eleventh Night, he hadn’t been pushed this close to the brink of death. Back then, the Archduke who appeared atop the Yellow Magic Tower had no interest in humans and sought only to pull down the Outer God of Salvation.

‘This power is absurd.’

In contrast, his opponent was an Immortal-grade Awakened capable of rivaling an Archduke. Although he had lost a portion of his strength upon his death, a vessel once expanded does not easily shrink. He was replenishing his depleted lightning from the bolts striking Thunder Rain Valley. The sight of his body repairing itself instantly, even after holes were punched through it, was a majesty only displayed by those who had transcended the human category.

Should he have brought Seona along? Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought that suddenly crossed his mind, he recovered his spear and spoke.

“Hmph! You are strong, Grandfather. As expected, even if you’ve died once, the Seven Immortals are the Seven Immortals. The wall is still too high for me to overlook.”

Kang Cho-won was not a fool. His brother might have staked his life and fought to the bitter end, but he would not.

“However, come to think of it, isn’t your goal to survive here until the end and reclaim your power?”

And as a bonus, to discipline his dear grandchildren. Anyway, as long as the power wasn’t handed over to him, there would be plenty of opportunities later. He couldn’t pinpoint Kang Ha-neul’s location, but Kang Nabi’s mana had already moved quite far away. Seeing her head beyond the barrier, she must have gone underground.

If so, what he needed was time. Not much was left until Thunder Rain Valley closed completely. If he could just hold out until then, they could exit the Gate without producing a winner for the tournament. Having finished his calculations, Kang Cho-won wore a boisterous smile.

“Grandfather, can you kill me before that birdcage reaches this spot?”

Seeing him resolve to run away with all his might, the Thunder Immortal muttered lowly.

—Foolish, truly foolish.

“And what exactly is foolish?”

—With a heart like that, you can never reach Transcendence.

The Thunder Immortal looked at the grandchild who had the highest potential to inherit his power and spoke with genuine pity.

—Cho-won, you have martial talent. Had you desired it, you could have inherited the Thunder Immortal’s power long before this farce began. Why did you make such a choice?

The lightning ceased. Taking the opportunity to catch his breath, Kang Cho-won stood up and played along appropriately. Since he needed to stall for time, the longer the conversation lasted, the better.

—Do you not realize how much I waited for you to come in the dead of night to end my breath as I lay on my sickbed for so long?

“……”

—Had you decided quickly, this tragedy would not have occurred. Instead, an Awakened who reached the Immortal-grade would have been born. From the moment you joined the Special Unit, did you not desire it? The power to rival an Archduke!

“What I desired was the strength to protect my comrades. But look at your state now, Grandfather. What value is there in coveting a body and soul rotting away because you held onto that power for too long?”

—That is exactly why you are foolish!

A sound loud enough to burst eardrums rang out. The canyon cracked like biscuit crumbs under the vast mana beginning to stretch out from the dark clouds. An Awakened who reached the Immortal-grade could physically break a Gate if they set their mind to it. However, that impact would expand directly to the outside. That was why Park Mu-cheol had stopped the Sword Immortal when Yoo Se-byeol was trapped in the anomaly Gate.

—True Transcendence—to truly reach the realm of an Immortal—requires using everything as a foothold!

“Ugh…!”

—Yoo Chae-seon, that old man is no good. The Spirit Speaker who disappeared after leaving his power behind like an echo is no good either. The Witch of the Baltic Sea who resurrected me? Not a chance; her head is filled with nothing but the absurd wish to revive her own brother!

At one point, most of the Immortal-grade Awakened in South Korea lost the drive to climb higher. There were many reasons, but the most prominent was that they began to care about their surroundings. It wasn’t just the Sword Immortal, who pointed his blade at an Outer God to protect his granddaughter; the others were the same. Only one person had succeeded in reaching the domain of the Outer Gods like high-ranking Archdukes: the Heavenly Immortal.

—And even he partially failed, his ego consumed by the Outer God of Judgment. He paid the price for challenging the power of a god.

“If it is that dangerous, shouldn’t one refrain from making even more dangerous choices? I am quite satisfied with my current realm.”

—That mindset is exactly why I cannot strip the foolishness from you.

If a human becomes as strong as an Outer God, their influence expands accordingly. If one sets their mind to it, it is not impossible to prevent Gates from forming across the entire Korean Peninsula.

—A single Awakened ending the era of the Demon Race.

“Hmm…”

—In your case, the only sacrifice required was two of your own…!

He seemed incredibly frustrated that he had kicked away the easy path to achieving peace quickly. At the Thunder Immortal’s shout, Kang Cho-won quietly spun his spear once. It was a movement as if shooing away a noisy insect.

“Hmph, as I thought, I don’t need it! To begin with, true Transcendence that surpasses the Immortal-grade or being a presence on par with an Outer God—it’s all too difficult for me to understand.”

—You fool!

“Besides, Grandfather, in the end, hasn’t there been not a single person who reached the realm you spoke of?”

If such a being were to be born, it didn’t necessarily have to be him. Just as the Thunder Immortal let out a sigh at Kang Cho-won’s words, a strange voice suddenly came from the side.

—The only one who had the possibility was the Winged Immortal. If only there had been no interference back then…

“What kind of interference? I’d like to hear the details.”

A man in a black robe appeared through space distortion. Appearing in mid-air while wearing a white swirl-patterned mask, he drew the Thunder Immortal’s attention.

—Who are you…?

“Ah, nice to meet you. I am a mere nobody serving the Hooves of the Statue. Please feel free to call me Patel.”

—Patel…?

“Have you heard of me? Goodness, it seems that if you’re famous, you can’t hide your identity no matter how hard you try.”

The Thunder Immortal’s thoughts momentarily came to a halt as the man asked if he had heard the name he had just introduced himself with. Regardless, the man sat in a crouch and began to grumble.

“They call me the Dark Black Mage. Given how harsh the world is these days, it seems I’ve become quite famous among people. Isn’t it a bit sad? The reality where a Light Mage cannot see the light, and someone like me, who should be shrouded in darkness, is pushed into the limelight.”

Zap!

“Firing lightning at me… I’ll take that as a sign of partial agreement. I’m honored to get a direct shout-out from the literal model of the soon-to-be-released <Lightning Wraith Resurrected by Black Magic (SR)>.”

—What?

“Don’t be too disappointed by the low rank. The developers are quite thorough about these things. If you hadn’t been resurrected as a familiar, you wouldn’t have appeared in New Monster Wars in the first place. Oh, by the way, could you sign my smartwatch later? If I sell it on the Lotus Market, it’ll fetch a decent price—”

—You impudent brat!

“Whoops!”

The Thunder Immortal fired bolt after bolt of lightning, but each time, Patel reappeared in a different spot instantly, as if performing a magic trick.

Meanwhile, Patel cast a wary glance toward Kang Cho-won, but Cho-won already knew his true identity.

‘Hayan…’

Please do not be surprised, do not lament, just listen calmly.

The true identity of Patel is Sae Hayan from Division 3.

Those were the words he had heard directly from Ha Ye-ri.

Setting aside the surprise, he didn’t quite understand why he should “lament,” but the expression on Ye-ri’s face as she delivered the news had looked utterly exhausted, as if her pride had been shredded. As the leader of the Counterintelligence Task Force, there were only two people in the Special Unit with a higher security clearance than her: Seona and Kang Cho-won, the Commander and Vice-Commander of Division 1. Thus, this information was shared only with them.

“I came to claim the power of the Thunder Immortal, which is said to rival a Star Scar, but I don’t see it anywhere. All I see is a talking shell… Care to tell me how I can get my hands on it?”

—I have nothing to give a bottom-feeder like you but death!!

“Oh, I don’t need that. I’ve already got plenty for myself; there’s no need to share yours. In fact, if you’re running low, I could give you some of mine.”

‘He’s stalling.’

Normally, Kang Cho-won was the type to get scolded by No Yeon-hwa for letting words fly out of his mouth before they hit his brain, but for once, he kept his mouth shut. If Hayan helped here, they might actually be able to force Thunder Rain Valley to close.

However, time was not on their side. Becoming impatient, the Thunder Immortal unleashed all of his mana and roared.

—Petty tricks. Do you fear death? No one shall leave this place alive!

One by one, the lightning bolts forming the birdcage tore away and soared into the sky. Soon, the black clouds grew massive, as if they would swallow the entire canyon. This overwhelming supernatural power pointed toward only two things: Light and Nothingness.

Watching the immense concentration of mana that seemed ready to pulverize the entire Gate, Patel muttered quietly behind his mask.

“Hmm, I suppose I have no choice but to kill you.”

“Are you saying you actually have a way to handle Grandfather?”

“Please don’t act all friendly all of a sudden. You’re making it look like we’re the kind of friends who trade drinks spiked with laxatives.”

“……”

No attack worked on the Thunder Immortal’s body. Cho-won had thrown his lightning-clad spear countless times, but the old man hadn’t even flinched. Was there really a trick up his sleeve?

Pretending to be a Black Mage while subtly widening the distance, Patel spoke in a somewhat theatrical tone.

“I have ‘absolutely’ no special ability like that, but there is one possibility.”

“What is it?”

“A certain human entered a Gate I summoned a while ago. He seemed fairly strong; it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave it to him.”

It should be… about enough time now.

Checking a watch with a similarly familiar design, he sent a message to someone at lightning speed.

Meanwhile, the Thunder Immortal was squeezing out his remaining strength to create a massive sphere of lightning intended to wipe out the entire canyon. Having lost his composure, he had clearly revised his original goal of leaving at least one successor; he had decided to simply win the tournament first and reclaim his power afterward.

—This is the end of everything! No more—Guh-urk!

Suddenly, the Thunder Immortal’s movements ground to a halt. The cause was unknown, but he stared in a specific direction with a look of panic—it seemed a problem had arisen with the caster.

The moment Kang Cho-won tried to seize the opening and charge, Patel blocked his path.

“Shall we take him out now? Seventh Tentacle.”

With a low chant, the dimension right in front of the Thunder Immortal split open. As the eerie, purple-glowing space warped wide, what poured out was none other than tentacles. An endless rain of tentacle carcasses and fluids—of hundreds of different types—dropped downward.

And finally, just when it seemed there was nothing left.

Shlik!

A single spear lunged out and pierced the Thunder Immortal’s heart.