Chapter 398:
Chapter 398:
Yu-hyun touched Baekryeon’s book.
He had never felt anything special about touching a book before, but this time was different.
His touch was very careful and gentle, as if he was touching something precious that could crumble at any moment.
The texture of the book in his hand felt warm, as if it had a life of its own.
This was the story that made up Baekryeon’s current self, and the source of her soul.
Yu-hyun broke it into pieces and poured it into Baek Seo-ryeon’s body.
Leaving a final farewell as a thank you for everything.
Whoosh!
At the same time, Baek Seo-ryeon’s body was engulfed in light and a miracle happened.
The wound that Hercules had inflicted healed at a fast pace.
It was filled with her own story.
The white letters seeped into the wound, regenerating it and spreading throughout Baek Seo-ryeon’s body.
Kang Hye-rim could only stare blankly at the miraculous sight, and Baek-hyo, who was in her arms, also opened his eyes wide and watched in awe.
Soon, the light faded and Baek Seo-ryeon opened her eyes.
“Huh? Yu-hyun?”
“Yes. Baek Seo-ryeon. I’m sorry. Are you feeling okay?”
“Ah…”
Baek Seo-ryeon then remembered the situation before she collapsed.
She raised her hand and touched her abdomen, but there was no wound.
She didn’t know why the wound had disappeared, or how she had come back to life when she was on the verge of death.
But she knew that Yu-hyun had done something again.
She wondered what kind of gratitude she should express to him, and blurted out the words that came to her mind without thinking.
“I had a dream.”
“Did you?”
“It was a bit random, but in my dream, you were crying. You kept apologizing to me, saying you were sorry over and over. And then… I don’t know how it happened, but I became a sword. It’s funny, right?”
“…”
“Anyway, that’s how it was, and I vaguely remember… I wandered around the world for a very, very long time as a sword. So long that I don’t even know how long. It’s really strange. It was a dream, but it felt so real…”
“…”
“And then when I opened my eyes and saw you now, I strangely wanted to say this to you.”
“What did you want to say?”
Yu-hyun asked, suppressing his sadness as much as he could.
“Thank you.”
“…”
“For being with me until now. I really wanted to say that to you.”
“I see.”
Yu-hyun nodded and got up from his seat.
“Are you leaving?”
“I can say more later. We still have a chance. You should get out of here with Hye-rim.”
“What about you…”
“I still have something to do.”
Yu-hyun said that and gently stroked Baek Seo-ryeon’s book in his hand.
The sensation that lingered on his fingertips was no different from before, but Yu-hyun felt that Baek Seo-ryeon’s book was colder than before for some reason.
He missed the warmth of that time.
Around that time, the fight on the ground intensified.
The fight between Hercules and Sun Wukong.
It was time to end it.
***
The fight between Magni and Kwon Jia was inconclusive as neither side could gain an upper hand.
It wasn’t a fight where they just exchanged threats and watched each other’s moves.
Kwon Jia and Magni both did their best to kill each other. The surroundings that were devastated proved it.
The traces of lightning left by Mjolnir and the marks of beast teeth and claws left by Kwon Jia were clearly visible around them.
Yet the fight didn’t end because they were both equally matched.
“Huff. Huff. This is ridiculous.”
Magni took a breath and stopped his relentless offensive.
Kwon Jia also glared at Magni and calmed her raging energy.
Their fight was so fierce that there was nothing left around them.
The fight still wasn’t over in this situation. They probably had to fight for at least a few days without rest to decide the outcome.
But they didn’t have much time left.
Magni sensed Kwon Jia’s impatience and smirked wickedly.
“You felt it too, right? That he showed up where your comrades are.”
“If you mean him… Is he the one you’ve been wary of since Olympus?”
“You know it, so why ask? There aren’t many people in Olympus who can make me so cautious. And there are even fewer people who would bring their precious body to a place like this.”
At that, Kwon Jia’s expression became even colder.
“Hercules.”
“Yeah. Those Olympus bastards. I wondered why they didn’t send any more troops, but they were preparing such a surprise gift. They must have really wanted this piece of land.”
“…”
Kwon Jia bit her lip.
She knew Hercules’ reputation well.
She remembered Hercules after regaining all her memories.
She had faced Hercules only once in the previous 10 cycles of over 600 regressions.
The memory of that time… It kept haunting her as a nightmare after she regained her memories.
Hercules’ strength was like that.
‘If Hercules has appeared at the level of the alliance now, no one will survive.’
At least she had to face him.
But Kwon Jia wasn’t sure if she could win against Hercules even if she did.
No, could she even last for 10 minutes? Kwon Jia judged her level coldly.
She could fight evenly with him if she used ‘that’, but that was all.
This Hercules was not a simple hero, but the strongest god who led the Gigantomachia to victory.
To face such a being, she needed a power or a story that matched him.
“Are you worried about the comrades you left behind?”
“…Yes. Thanks to that, I need to end this fight sooner.”
“How arrogant. You talk as if you’re going to win.”
“I said it because I’m confident.”
Kwon Jia closed her eyes and took a breath.
Magni felt annoyed by her gesture. How dare she close her eyes in front of him?
Did she think he was easy because they fought evenly until now? Then he would make her change her mind.
Magni grabbed Mjolnir and released a roaring thunder.
He intended to burn Kwon Jia to ashes, not just scorch her.
But then he saw the energy rising from Kwon Jia’s body and widened his eyes.
“You…”
“I didn’t want to use this, but.”
A dark voice that sounded like it was submerged in darkness rang in Magni’s ears.
Magni smelled a strong fragrance.
It was something he had never smelled before. But his instinct recognized what this fragrance was.
Death.
Magni’s lips trembled.
“You’re crazy. You’re completely insane! After using Fenrir, you even used that!”
“I have to do whatever it takes to survive.”
“Don’t you know that there’s nothing but a horrible future for you if you survive like that!”
“My life right now is too important for me to survive even by doing that. I don’t want to lose it again. So don’t you think I have to burn my last chance with all my might?”
Kwon Jia smiled in the darkness.
The purple wolf was no longer here.
Only countless ‘beasts’ that were much more numerous than it had appeared.
Their number was 666.
***
Hercules reached out his arm. His muscular arm twitched as his fist hit the center of Sun Wukong’s golden chain mail.
Sun Wukong’s body flew back like a cannonball.
Hercules moved like a bullet in the air and chased after Sun Wukong.
He caught up with him, clenched his fist again, and struck down.
He put his killing intent into every blow, not just to make his opponent unable to get up, but to definitely kill him.
Boom!
Every time he swung his fist, space twisted and a loud noise rang out.
[Oh. You’re working hard?]
But as soon as he heard that voice from the side, Hercules realized that the target he was trying to kill was just a clone.
He reflexively reached out his fist toward where the voice came from. The air exploded and space swayed.
It was such a power with a simple punch.
The body of Sun Wukong who spoke burst.
And what scattered was Sun Wukong’s hair.
Even that was a clone, which made Hercules annoyed.
Hercules was surrounded by countless clones of Sun Wukong.
“Fishy bastard.”
[How about it? Can you kill them all?]
“Don’t look down on me.”
The number of clones was over a thousand at least.
Each clone had more power than an elite soldier of a Great Sage.
It was dangerous to let them attack.
Hercules took out his bow again.
This weapon, which had no name and was simply called Monster Killer, was something he had been using for a long time.
Hercules immediately shot an arrow.
Not just one, but almost 10 in a row.
This was enough for over a thousand clones.
The arrows moved zigzag in the air and pierced through the clones.
In an instant, more than 500 were hit. Sun Wukong didn’t just sit still either.
The clones rained down on Hercules like a shower.
A dazzling flash and a huge explosion occurred.
Hercules cut through the explosion and swung his club at Sun Wukong’s real body.
Sun Wukong quickly swung his Ruyi Jingu Bang to defend himself.
They entered a power struggle.
Crack!
The world that couldn’t withstand the pressure distorted and screamed.
Hercules had more strength.
Sun Wukong’s body was slowly pushed back.
But his body stopped leaning back soon.
‘Did he hold on?’
Sun Wukong’s size had grown much bigger than before.
No, that wasn’t all.
His face had three heads and his arms had six limbs. Hercules, who had been looking down at Sun Wukong, now looked up at him.
Three Heads and Six Arms.
The six arms each held a Ruyi Jingu Bang and swung at Hercules.
Hercules also went beyond a simple brawl and began to exert his true power.
“Come out.”
At his command, two wild beasts appeared.
These two beasts were abilities he had received after overcoming trials.
The Calydonian Boar and the Cretan Bull each charged at Sun Wukong with their tusks and horns. At the same time, Hercules joined the attack.
Sun Wukong, who had grown huge with three heads and six arms, was pushed back again.
‘He’s amazing.’
There were hardly any beings who could fight him sincerely like this after Irangjin-gun and Uma-wang. No, maybe there was Nataga? But he couldn’t last more than 30 rounds either.
Hercules was different. If he let his guard down, he would lose.
“Grow, Ruyi.”
The Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hand soared like it would pierce the sky. The six Ruyi Jingu Bangs became huge pillars and fell down. No, calling them pillars was wrong. The Ruyi Jingu Bang was originally a pillar that supported the Dragon Palace.
The Calydonian Boar and the Cretan Bull were each crushed by a Ruyi Jingu Bang and disappeared.
Hercules grabbed the falling Ruyi Jingu Bang with his hand and swung it away as it was, pushing away all the other Ruyi Jingu Bangs.
Among the fragments of the fake Ruyi Jingu Bangs that collapsed, a golden flame rushed at Hercules.
Hercules faced Sun Wukong with a cold gaze.
“Is that all you have?”
[Don’t be ridiculous.]
Their eyes crossed in the air.
As they were about to resume their attack and defense, a white shadow popped out of the huge hole that Hercules had made when he broke into the underground base.
Hercules looked that way and then furrowed his brows.
Baek Seo-ryeon, whom he thought he had killed, was escaping with a woman named Kang Hye-rim on a giant owl.
‘How?’
He had definitely destroyed the healing potion.
Even if there was a healing potion, there was no way to heal her wound.
He had injected poison into Baek Seo-ryeon’s body while inflicting the wound. It wasn’t as bad as Hydra’s poison, but it was enough to make Baek Seo-ryeon, who wasn’t even a transcendent, unable to withstand it.
‘Book Pile Lord. He did something.’
Hercules soon realized that Yu-hyun had done something. Did he have a hidden trick? Then it was annoying. He had to kill the target he had confirmed dead again.
[Where are you looking right now? Aren’t we fighting?]
“…I definitely have to kill you now.”
[Ha! Why don’t you try?]
As Hercules was about to gather his strength, his leg gave way and his body tilted to the side.
‘What?’
For the first time, confusion appeared on Hercules’ face, which had been consistent with arrogance and expressionlessness.
Could it be that the damage accumulated while fighting Sun Wukong finally showed up?
No, that couldn’t be.
He knew his physical condition better than anyone else.
The feeling of his strength draining from his body was not because of Sun Wukong.
Hercules’ gaze immediately turned to the culprit of this situation.
Kang Yu-hyun.
The man who was called Book Pile Lord was reaching out his hand toward him.
Just that, but the pressure on his body was getting stronger.
“What did you do…”
Hercules then saw it.
The story he had was being sucked into Yu-hyun’s hand.