Chapter 99

Dimensional Interloper Charpham.

Originally, Park Chan-woo had no intention of waking him.

【Summon me. Awaken me!】

From the moment Ajos was summoned, Charpham had been noisily chattering.

Demanding to be chosen instead.

Telling him to use ‘him’, not Ajos.

Perhaps it was because he’d been sealed away for so long—he talked endlessly.

But Park Chan-woo had never once considered calling Charpham forth.

‘Answer me. Why were you sealed inside the Holy Grail of the Sealing God?’

Until he found out why. Until he understood what Charpham truly was.

He wouldn’t touch him carelessly.

Charpham’s presence was more dangerous than he’d imagined.

The magic pattern he exhibited at first was unlike anything Park Chan-woo had seen—ominous and unnatural.

Moreover, he absorbed unique Mana and made it his own.

In other words, he was no different from a parasite that fed on Mana.

If he could cling to formless Mana and wield it like his own, then he could just as easily cling to Park Chan-woo himself—and become a threat.

In short, Charpham was ‘dangerous’.

【One of the Holy Grail’s former masters. I can’t say more than that!】

Once their Mana was linked, they could communicate through thought alone.

But Charpham never gave a clear answer.

And yet…

‘One of the former masters of the Sealing God’s Grail, huh.’

That meant there had been many before him.

Park Chan-woo had suspected as much.

The Sealing God’s Grail probably hadn’t originated with him.

But what surprised him was the fact that sacrifices offered by previous owners were still inside the Grail.

‘So everything offered as sacrifice remains in the Sealing God’s Grail?’

【Not all. From what I know, there are eight or nine more like me in here. The rest wander the domain of Nothingness, forgotten.】

Was he referring to the realm of [Zero]?

Apparently, it really did exist.

One of many theories—now confirmed.

But the idea that the realm beneath that—[Negative]—existed ‘inside’ the Holy Grail? That was hard to believe.

‘Charpham. What ‘are’ you?’

Now he was truly curious.

About Charpham.

Who had sealed him inside the Holy Grail wasn’t all that important.

But the name “Dimensional Interloper”—that, he needed to know.

【I remember being called the ‘Great Ocean Beast,’ ‘White Whale Charpham,’ one who drifted between dimensions. The rest… I’ve forgotten.】

Not a normal name.

But if he drifted between dimensions, then perhaps he was something akin to a [Divine Beast].

Divine Beasts also dwelled within the fissures of the Abyss.

The Abyss constantly expanded, connecting all dimensions—so those fissures likely referred to dimensional rifts.

And the name “White Whale.”

It meant literally that—a white whale.

He’d never heard of a Divine Beast in the shape of a white whale, but the similarity was intriguing.

Divine Beasts often unsettled even the Lords of the Abyss.

They would appear and upend everything with overwhelming force and size.

If Charpham truly ‘was’ a Divine Beast, that would explain a lot.

Even Ajos going berserk in his presence made sense.

‘You said there are eight more like you in there?’

Just one Charpham was enough to make him speechless—and now there were more?

Eight or even nine?

He asked again, doubting, but Charpham answered nonchalantly.

【Yes. As much as I hate to admit it, they’re stronger than me. One more even entered recently… so that makes nine.】

Charpham was the weakest of them all.

From their conversation, Park Chan-woo had gathered that Charpham had a pretty strong sense of pride.

So if even he admitted his own weakness, then those others must be unbelievably powerful.

But they couldn’t talk for long.

Khan.

The moment he appeared, there was no time for conversations.

And once Ajos was torn in half and forcibly unsummoned—

【Ajos alone won’t be enough.】

【I’ll do it. I’ll kill him!】

Charpham became even louder.

A decision had to be made.

After recovering Mana—who should be summoned?

The loyal Ajos? Or the uncertain Charpham?

‘One minute left.’

There was no time to hesitate.

If he lost here, it would all be over.

Conqueror Khan would kill Park Chan-woo and Lee Hyuk-soo, then indiscriminately open Abysses to conquer Earth.

Humanity would never endure that.

A desperate gamble was needed to break this situation.

So Park Chan-woo chose to summon Charpham.

‘Full Mana release.’

Not just a standard summoning—he opened ‘all’ of his Mana, boldly linking it.

To the extent that Charpham could access even his unique Mana.

And as Charpham emerged into the outside world, he let out a triumphant cry.

【…You’re releasing ‘all’ your Mana? Aren’t you afraid? Don’t you realize I could devour you?】

He roared in delight—but was confused.

Surely Park Chan-woo knew that Charpham had clung to Ajos’s Mana and caused him to go berserk—yet he was still opening all of it without hesitation.

‘Do as you please. White Whale Charpham.’

But Park Chan-woo replied calmly, without a trace of fear.

He thought he understood Charpham’s intentions.

Why Ajos had gone berserk.

It wasn’t out of malice.

He just wanted to ‘show himself’.

Who he was, what he was.

If Charpham had really meant harm, Ajos would’ve immediately self-destructed from a berserk overload.

But now it was clear.

Charpham hadn’t wanted that.

He simply couldn’t help it—his existence was too vast to contain.

Park Chan-woo changed his perspective.

Through their conversation, he had sensed one thing from Charpham:

Loneliness.

A feeling Park Chan-woo knew all too well.

If not for the God of Offerings, that solitude would have crushed him long ago.

…Charpham, who had emerged from the Holy Grail of the Sealing God.

Just like the God of Offerings had once done for him, Charpham seemed to be asking the same thing:

Take me in.

So instead of keeping him at arm’s length, it was better to be the first to show trust.

【Ha ha! Alright then, I’ll show you exactly who I am!】

Fweeeeeeeeee!

Charpham shouted with glee.

The surrounding shadows began to swirl—

Fweeeeeeeeeee!

—and converged into Park Chan-woo’s hand.

Vast Mana surged, endlessly amplifying.

The additional stat points stored up by Ajos were now being converted to pure Mana.

Added to that: Charpham’s presence and Park Chan-woo’s own Mana.

‘…Divine Power release.’

Charpham granted its use to Park Chan-woo.

Perhaps as a reward for his trust?

One thing was certain—Charpham had opened up, at least a little.

“Wait. That’s not Mana… that’s… Divine Power?”

Khan’s expression froze.

He instantly recognized it wasn’t ordinary Mana.

When Mana purity exceeds 100%, the Lords of the Abyss refer to it as [Divine Power].

And the force building before his eyes—its purity was worthy of that name.

“Even so, you can’t kill me. I am an eternal, immortal being!”

Khan regained his composure.

If Divine Power could kill him, Ahheta would’ve done it long ago.

But Ahheta hadn’t.

He’d only sealed him.

This would be no different.

Still, it was a threat.

Flick—!

Khan’s form vanished.

Unlike before, he was now in a panic.

But—

KUUUUUUUUUAAANG—!!

Park Chan-woo released all the Divine Power gathered in both hands at once.

—

Mana takes time to replenish.

Drawing it from the Abyss and converting it to suit the physical body takes time.

But that human had ‘intentionally’ restored it.

Astonishing.

There were rare cases of storing Mana in tools for recovery—but even those took time.

So it was easy to interfere with recovery.

But in a flash.

In less than a blink—all his Mana had been restored.

Khan had never seen such a thing.

‘A final outburst.’

It was impressive—but not alarming.

Even if his Mana was restored, he’d just summon Ajos again.

Khan didn’t know how the human had turned Ajos into a shadow warrior—into a “spell”—but Park Chan-woo’s total Mana capacity wasn’t that significant.

He wouldn’t be able to use anything stronger.

…Or so he thought.

‘What…?’

Something unexpected occurred.

Not Ajos—but ‘Charpham’.

A name Khan had never heard before came out of the human’s mouth.

Yet the summoned being’s appearance was similar to before.

‘The Mana’s nature is a little different.’

Eyes glowing blood-red.

A faint red current tracing the shadowy form.

It looked the same—but the nature and essence of the Mana were completely different.

This was no longer Ajos—it was an entirely different entity.

And the presence…

…What could he call it?

He sensed something vast and monstrous behind the shadow.

Something he had never encountered.

An entity of a kind—and scale—he had never seen.

Something like that was now confined within that tiny shadow.

When he met the shadow’s eyes—

‘Ugh…!’

An inexplicable chill ran down his spine.

He had never felt anything like it.

Not even the Lords of the Abyss—not even Ahheta—had made him feel this way.

This was different.

It didn’t belong to any known category.

Not Divine Beast, not demon, not one of the Twelve Species, not a witch—nothing else he knew.

Then—

The shadow vanished, and overwhelming Divine Power gathered into Park Chan-woo’s hand.

‘He can wield Divine Power?’

Very few beings could do that.

Mana purity wasn’t supposed to exceed 100%.

To achieve that, one had to comprehend the very essence of Mana—and possess the ability to interfere with the world itself.

A power akin to a [god].

But this human challenger was far from a god.

Far too lacking.

Even Khan hadn’t reached that level yet.

For the first time, Khan panicked.

…He had to kill him.

Before all that Divine Power was unleashed.

But—

KUUUUUUUUUUUAAANG—!!

He was too late.

Still, it was fine.

Even if he took a major hit, he wouldn’t truly die.

But then—

‘What?’

Park Chan-woo wasn’t aiming at Khan.

He targeted the palace.

Khan’s palace.

“This palace is your true life source, isn’t it?”

He had realized that the entire structure ‘was’ Khan’s life.

The reason Ahheta couldn’t kill Khan despite trying again and again.

Park Chan-woo smiled.

Seeing that smile, Khan’s expression twisted.

How—?

How could a mere human know what even Ahheta didn’t?

“N-no…!”

Starting from the throne, the palace began to collapse.

If this had been Khan in his prime, Park Chan-woo would’ve died long ago—but after being sealed for ages, he was weakened.

As the palace—no different from his heart—crumbled, his Mana drained rapidly.

The Divine Power consumed the structure—and the palace vanished completely.

And with its destruction, Khan’s body began to collapse as well.

Soon—

…when the palace disappeared without a trace—

Ding!

[The ‘New Myth’ has been completed!]

[The title ‘Legend’ has been upgraded to ‘Myth’!]

[You have begun to dominate the territory of the Great Conqueror Khan, ‘The Second Night.’]

[Beginning contribution calculation.]

(T/N: What a fitting chapter for our 99th chapter.)