Chapter 230 - Hatred (3)

The sunset was fading from the world.

I went out into the sunset streets with Ja Sujeong.

As befitted a city founded by stateless exiles, Babylon mingled every imaginable scent. There was the smell of Indian spices. The smell of Chinese incense. Everyone who passed us had a different skin color, a different scent.

“Where are you going?” Ja Sujeong asked. “I can send you back to your original world whenever you like now, Gongja. You have your reward, too. Do you still have something left to do here?”

“Follow me and see.”

“Hmm.”

Ja Sujeong smiled faintly as she walked beside me.

“Lead the way wherever you wish.”

The scents in the streets grew thinner.

Do you know the smell of the slums?

Poverty smells the same everywhere, at every time. Water. Dampness. Water with nowhere to drain collects in the shade, lying on the street without sunlight to rot it.

A plastic drink bottle with its head buried in muddy water was measuring the depth of this impoverished pond.

“...”

We walked.

As more muddy water squelched beneath our feet.

As the scents of the streets lost their nationalities and converged into the mere smell of water.

As the world's sunset grew darker and darker.

“... Ah.”

I turned into a familiar alley. Ja Sujeong must have recognized it, too, because her lips moved.

“Gongja. This is—”

“Shh,” I murmured. “I can hear them.”

Ja Sujeong closed her mouth. Then a faint noise reached us from the distance.

“F-Flame Emperor.”

A familiar voice.

“Why are you suddenly doing this to me...!”

“Calling for help won't do you any good.”

A familiar sneer.

“There's no one around here anyway.”

The Tower's number-one hunter. The Flame Emperor.

As though he had swallowed all the sunset submerged in night, Yoo Suha's voice was extraordinarily red.

“Who'd have thought the Witch was hiding a pretty little thing like you? Man, if you'd caught me unawares, I'd have been in real trouble.”

“Th-the Witch? What on earth are you talking about...?”

“Wow. Now that I look at you, you're a damn good actress, too.”

Deep inside the dark alley, Yoo Suha tilted his head at a crooked angle, keeping the Saintess cornered.

“Unlike your old fart of a grandpa.”

At those words, the Saintess's expression stiffened.

“What...?”

“Your granddad. That Sword Star or whatever he called himself. You entered the Tower to avenge him, didn't you?”

“...”

“Did you really think I wouldn't know?”

Strictly speaking, he hadn't known.

But Yoo Suha had [Regressor's Clockwork Watch]. A skill that let him kill a day to begin that day again.

Thanks to that, Yoo Suha knew [the future in which the Saintess attacked him].

“How? How could you know that?”

Of course, the Saintess knew nothing about Yoo Suha's skill. Just as she hadn't in my world. Exactly the same.

“Because I'm one impressive bastard. There's nothing I don't know.”

“Ugh...!”

The Saintess moved her hand. The brief white flash in her right hand was probably her aura.

“Whoa. Our little granddaughter's a violent one.”

But the white aura was cut off before it could fully emerge. The Flame Emperor had grabbed the Saintess by the throat.

“Ghk!”

“That's the technique of someone who's killed a few people. How would Grandpa react if he could see his granddaughter's face right now? Huh? He'd probably say he couldn't forgive a murderer and execute even you, weeping as he sacrificed his own for justice... Oh, right, our historical sayings don't translate well for you people, do they?”

The Saintess choked and struggled. Her shoes dangled in midair, kicking futilely for a foothold.

“You know, I fucking love assholes like you.”

The past.

“No matter how many I kill, they don't leave so much as a scratch on my conscience.”

The same people were there, in the same place.

“Living around good people all the time gets annoying. Like, holy fucking shit, are there actually people in this world who aren't garbage?”

Back then, I hadn't been able to do anything.

“There can't be. Peel back one layer and they're all trash. But peeling takes effort, doesn't it? It's fucking exhausting. Even peeling a tangerine leaves strings of pith stuck under your nails.”

“Urk, ghk! Ugh, mmph...!”

“Meeting someone like you makes things so easy. Ah, no exhaustion. My brain feels squeaky clean, like someone poured cleanser into it. You people keep me going, seriously. You people.”

I could only watch. I was panicking; just holding my breath with all my might was a struggle.

“Thanks.”

But not now.

“Goodbye, Saintess Isabelle.”

The instant flames were about to flare in the Flame Emperor's grasp, my aura shot toward the back of his hand.

“...?”

TAP!

He reflexively released the Saintess's throat and stepped back. His footwork was nimble.

SHAAAH!

My aura sliced through the space from which he had withdrawn his hand.

“Haaah...!”

With her airway released, the Saintess collapsed.

“What?”

The Flame Emperor turned toward me, his face aghast.

Up to this point.

One breath.

“Sword of Deliverance.”

I charged forward at once, without giving him a breath. At my call, a skill that had already become one with me answered.

[Deliverance of the Torn Goddess responds.]

It was a skill once possessed by a man called the Heaven-Slaying Star.

Just as nine golden skills made up the Tower Master, two skills made up the Heaven-Slaying Star.

One was [Puppeteer’s Parade]. Thanks to it, he returned in a new body even when his previous body was destroyed.

The other was [Deliverance of the Torn Goddess]. Thanks to it, he discarded yesterday's memories to win today's victory.

When the Heaven-Slaying Star killed me, I had been able to choose one of those two skills.

And I had chosen.

“Part-timer!? What are you—”

“The café we order from at the office tastes like shit, Guild Leader. Change our delivery place.”

I rushed into close range. Compressing my speech with aura, I fired it at him through voice transmission. His already astonished eyes widened even further.

“I don't particularly want to remember the taste of today's coffee.”

I declared,

“I'll discard it.”

Then I swung my fist.

[Deliverance of the Torn Goddess activates.]

One strike.

Enhanced.

“...!”

My aura, as red as the Flame Emperor's own, slammed into his abdomen. A strained grunt escaped through his teeth. Unable to neutralize the impact, he flew toward the alley wall like a stick.

CRAAASH!

The wall was half destroyed.

“Huff, uhhh... Huh?”

Up to this point.

Two breaths.

“Uh, um, you're... from the Yoo Suha Guild...?”

Having recovered some of her strength, the Saintess looked up at me. She hadn't escaped entirely unscathed: a red burn marked the part of her neck he had gripped. Her eyes were confused.

Once, I had thought the Saintess was an entirely innocent victim.

“Sorry, but please sleep for a bit.”

Now, I merely saw her as a person like any other.

I touched her forehead and sent aura flowing backward.

“Ah...”

With a brief groan, the Saintess collapsed, unconscious. Once, I couldn't even have imagined wielding power like this. Now it was so easy.

Up to this point.

Three breaths.

“Motherfucker!”

The Flame Emperor rose from the ruined wall. Tiny stones tumbled out of his long ponytail.

“Have you lost your fucking mind! Hey! You! What the hell are you doing! Wait, are you really the part-timer?”

“I am.”

“Fuck, don't tell me the Witch raised you, too... No, no. That can't be. When the terrorist attack happened, this bastard...”

The Flame Emperor couldn't keep up with the situation.

Of course he couldn't. In his eyes, I was still nothing but a weak F-rank hunter in his guild.

“Curious, aren't you, Guild Leader?”

The Saintess had no idea that the Flame Emperor had regressed a day.

Likewise, the Flame Emperor had no idea what I was.

“If you want to know, try beating me.”

“Ha...”

“I need to know that I'm stronger than you.”

“I don't know what lucky break you stumbled into...”

His eyes blazed.

“But you're getting the beating of your fucking life.”

Blood-red aura rippled from my hand.

“I'm going to beat you just short of death.”

Then I lunged, drawing on every part of the life I had lived.

“Bullshit! I'm number one in this Tower...!”

“My Demonic Heaven cries its final testament across the snowfield.”

Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven.

First Form.

Flowing Sword of Death by Starvation.

I drove my fist toward him. With a look that said he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, he moved to block my punch. Yes, I was fundamentally a swordsman, not a fist fighter. Unlike him, I wasn't fighting in my best position.

But Master had cleaved a snowy mountain without a single sword.

Then I, too, would pierce a streak of flame, even without a sword.

[Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven]

Rank: A+

Effect: The Demonic Cult. They hate the laws of heaven. They curse them. Rather than stopping at hatred and curses, they founded a religious order and ultimately established a doctrine. The Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is a martial art containing the essence of that doctrine.

Those who master the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven can tear the sky apart and crush Mount Tai! However, they must deeply understand the hatred and curses contained in its forms.

The more you hate and curse the world, the more heaven will pale into insignificance. The one who attains the ultimate mastery of the Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven is the one who will overturn heaven: the Heavenly Demon.

※However, maintaining your sense of self becomes difficult when using this divine art.

One strike.

A fragment of my life pierced the flames.

“—Ugh, huh?”

“Today.”

My fist struck Yoo Suha's jaw, turning his head. Slowly. In my perception of time, stretched endlessly by aura, he couldn't strike me. I swung my arm a step ahead of him.

“I discard the memory of the muddy puddle I stepped in when I entered the alley.”

I expelled aura.

[Deliverance of the Torn Goddess]

Rank: A+

Effect: There was a goddess devoted to a certain hero. Though the hero tore her apart, she still wished to stand by his side. The goddess fell from heaven and sealed herself within a skill card.

The goddess converts memories into abilities. By offering memories to the goddess, you can enhance your abilities and combat power. The more important an offered memory is to you, the greater the enhancement.

※However, the enhancement does not last long.

A furious wind howled.

Once again, my fist struck Yoo Suha squarely in the stomach.

“—”

His breath twisted. A choking groan spilled from his open mouth, accompanied by a few drops of stomach acid. Then he swayed and fell to his knees.

“Urk, ...ghk, fuck! Haaah...”

“Guild Leader.”

I looked down at him quietly.

“I know you're pissed because the manager and I died. But you did kill that woman's grandfather, didn't you?”

“You, urgh, fuck, what...”

“Then you should start by apologizing for killing her grandfather.”

To reach this point, it had taken five breaths.

“You should tell the Saintess why you had no choice. That the Sword Star tried to kill you first, without asking questions or listening. And that you're sorry all the same.”

To reach this point, it had taken so many days.

“That's what you should do.”

“...”

“Why do you just try to kill her?”

Do you know the smell of an alley?

Poverty always smelled of water.

No matter how strong the sun, its light doesn't reach places in the shade. Puddles gathered in shadow never even have time to evaporate before night comes again, and when it rains, they swell by as much as they lost.

They stagnate and rot away.

“Why?”

It had taken so many suns for me to return to my own rotten, muddy water.

“Why do you kill people you don't know?”

“...”

“You're strong. You're the strongest person in this Tower. Unlike other people, you can even throw away your life once if you have to. You have less to lose. So why do you kill people as if it's nothing?”

I looked down at the man who had burned my heart.

He had been so strong that once, with no possible way to beat him, I had simply fled into the past, into bygone days, four thousand days away.

Yes. I had fled.

I hadn't known the words to persuade him, hadn't possessed the strength to make him accept them, hadn't known a way to bring him in, hadn't had the confidence to face him. So I had fled, and killed him before he became this man.

I had killed Yoo Suha, not the Flame Emperor.

“Stop living like that.”

“...”

“You fucking bastard.”

Now I was stronger than him. Incomparably stronger.

I could do a little more now.

I no longer had to hold my breath while watching the Saintess die, run to escape, fear death, fear that someone would abandon me, or worry that I meant nothing to anyone else.

I had worked hard at living.

“...”

The Flame Emperor spat up stomach acid over and over. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and muttered, “Fuck.”

“Talking bullshit, you fucking asshole...”

“...”

“Why can't I be a better person? Why the fuck are you asking me that shit? Look around you. Seriously. Where the hell did you grow up to spout bullshit like that...?”

His eyes were bloodshot.

“Sujeong, too. And you. Huh, you're all... You're not people. You're stray dogs. Like fucking puppies panting with joy because someone picked them up and raised them. Fuck. How can you be so...”

The words he vomited were blood, too.

“How can you like people so much?”

That blood grew thicker.

“How can you—like people so much?”

He glared at me.

“Fucking suckers. Go die. Ja Sujeong, you, both of you, just go die. Just, please, die. Die. Fuck off. Fuck, shit, seriously, what...”

Yes.

Then that was your scream.

I—the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, the moon of House Ivansia, the lord of the hundred ghosts—quietly nodded.

“The world isn't full of nothing but bastards like you.”

“...”

“And I'm going to make you stop being a bastard, too. I can do it, and I will.”

I touched his forehead.

“I'm stronger than you.”

Then I reversed the flow of aura. With one last curse, he slowly slumped.

“Bull...shit...”

THUD.

The unconscious Flame Emperor collapsed to the ground.

Silence settled over the alley.

Soft footsteps approached from behind. When I turned, Ja Sujeong was looking up at me. Her purple eyes quietly asked,

「What will you do now?」

I nodded.

“Rebirth of a Hundred Ghosts.”

My shadow spread into the alley shaded beneath the night sky. It writhed like a slime, and from that writhing spot, the shape of a person formed.

[Rebirth of a Hundred Ghosts]

Rank: SSS

Effect: Summons those you have personally killed. The dead do not inherit the abilities they possessed in life. However, if you wish, they inherit their memories and appearance from life. If you do not wish it, they are summoned merely as monsters.

※However, they can only be summoned once a week.

“Whoa. What the fuck?”

The figure rising out of the shadow looked exactly like the man who had just collapsed.

“Where the hell is this now? How fucking shitty is this place that you had to call me?”

Dressed in his Planetarium café part-timer uniform, Yoo Suha pulled the foulest face imaginable.

In this world, I was the part-timer. In my world, he had become the part-timer.

Feeling the strange workings of cause and effect, I asked him,

“Yoo Suha.”

“Huh? Holy fuck! Who's that guy lying there?”

“Forget him. Yoo Suha.”

“What?”

“Does it feel like shit that I killed you?”

Yoo Suha looked at me as though wondering what kind of idiot he was dealing with.

“Are you on drugs?”

“Answer honestly.”

“Yeah. It feels like shit. Wouldn't you feel like dogshit if you were me? I thought some fucking nobody was dying alone out in the hunting grounds, and then he fucking blindsides me. And even after killing me, he calls me up whenever he's bored, huh, orders me to dance, orders me to teach someone how to swear, fuck. Saying it out loud's pissing me off again. Just die, you fucker. You crazy bastard.”

“Right...”

I sighed.

“I suppose I'm a bastard to someone, too...”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just that my dear wife wasn't wrong about anything...”

Enough.

It was time to admit it.

“I'm sorry.”

Yoo Suha paused.

“Huh?”

“I'm sorry I killed you, you fucker.”

“...”

He shut his mouth.

It would have been wonderful if he had fallen silent because my apology moved him. That would have been rather admirable. But of course, Yoo Suha never did anything that pleased anyone else, much less anything admirable. He was an asshole. He merely stared at me as though I were an idiot.

“You're sorry you killed me?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck, I thought my ears were broken, but turns out it's this bastard's head. Did you get shot? Oh, you don't die even if you do, right? Then get shot some more. Wow, never thought I'd live to hear someone apologize for [killing me]. Fuuuuck, I must be the first person in human history to hear an apology like that, you fucking asshole. Even when you apologize, you manage to be the first bastard in the history of the universe to do it that way, you fucking asshole. When are you going to go die, you fucking asshole?”

Ah.

This bastard of a man...

Did he break out in pimples on his lips if he opened his mouth without swearing? Even when someone was apologizing.

“...”

I turned to Ja Sujeong. She was watching me with a radiant smile.

“... Having fun?”

“This is fucking riveting, Gongja. That's not just my personal opinion; all the people would agree this is pure, honey-sweet entertainment, Gongja. It's so honey-sweet that every bee in existence would buzz over going, ‘Oh my, which bastard stole the honey I put away? Oh, here it is!’ Gongja. Don't mind me; please keep talking to Yoo Suha, Gongja. But do they sell popcorn in the slums? My maw is passionately demanding popcorn right now, Gongja.”

Ah.

This bitch of a woman...

Why was I surrounded by nothing but obnoxious lunatics?

In this world where gods, devils, and humans all joined hands in madness, I clutched my head for a moment. A long while later, I spoke again.

“Hey...”

“What?”

“I can't make up for it at this point... No, I can. I'm sorry for what I did to you. And I'll make it up to you. I'll keep making it up to you from now on. Will that do?”

“This fucker really is a bastard, talking like fucking garbage. What are you saying? Spit it out so a human can understand.”

“Be glad I'm so fucking strong...”

I took out the fragment I had most recently gained in my life.

“Seriously, be glad I'm strong.”

The fragment I had taken from the Tower Master.

[Earthbone Dragon’s Skull]

Rank: SSS+

Effect: Stores the memories of the living. The stored memories are placed in a ‘box.’ This box can only be destroyed by the owner of this skill.

As long as the box remains intact, you can produce a person's body inheriting the same memories any number of times. The body can travel the world, accumulate new memories, and ‘update’ the box with those experiences. With your permission, of course!

Even if the person's body is destroyed, the box suffers no damage. Bestow the privilege of immortality upon those around you.

※However, memories from a destroyed body cannot be updated to the box.

“Ja Sujeong.”

“Yes, Gongja.”

“I...”

I said,

“I'm going to bring this bastard back to life.”

Earthbone Dragon’s Skull.

A skill that stored another person's [memories] and gave them a [body].

With the strongest card I had drawn, I declared,

“I'm going to give this asshole his body back.”

I would save one human being.