Chapter 547
[What are you doing here?]
[Yes?]
The reaper was momentarily flustered, as if it hadn’t expected that question.
But it soon regained its composure and began to speak.
[We are waiting for the beginning.]
[The beginning?]
[Yes!]
The reaper shouted, brimming with joy and rapture.
[The beginning of the war to reclaim the world that was originally ours and dye it with our own!]
War.
It wasn’t hard to guess what it meant. The coming war between the Transcenders and the Old gods.
After thinking for a moment, Taesan sent out his will again.
[I have something to ask.]
[Ask anything, O great fragment.]
The reaper bowed low, taking the posture of absolute obedience.
Taesan stared at it quietly.
The reaper possessed intact intelligence.
With the exchange of will, the conversation flowed smoothly—like he was dealing with an ordinary person.
‘More normal than I expected.’
All the monsters Taesan had met so far were the kind you couldn’t reason with. He’d assumed this place wouldn’t be much different, but it was unexpected.
Then again, the monsters he’d fought until now were tools meant to trample worlds. They wouldn’t have needed intact intelligence.
If so, things became easier for Taesan. He asked the reaper:
[Whom do you serve?]
[I am a child born from a shard of the solitary, complete, and great World Crusher.]
A child born from a shard. Taesan scanned the reaper. As it said, he could feel [Self] in its body.
Of course, it wasn’t at a level you could call an authority.
If he had to define its level, it was no more than becoming a bit tougher.
But there was clearly a fragment of authority.
Taesan looked at the other monsters bowing beyond it.
He could feel similar traces from them as well. Even if not the World Crusher, each carried at least a tiny part of the Old god they originated from.
Taesan realized something.
Life in the universe is fundamentally born and dies under a vast cycle. Even Transcenders weren’t born Transcenders. Aside from special cases like Dersha, they were all mortals bound by the concepts of the universe, climbing up to a complete seat on their own.
But this place was different.
In the twisted domain of the Old gods, everything was determined by the Old gods’ judgment and power.
In simple terms, every being here originated from the Old gods—figuratively speaking, closer to the Old gods’ blood and flesh.
A space comparable to the universe existed solely through the Old gods.
In other words, if the Old gods were dealt with, there would be no need to worry about this place anymore. If an Old god fell, its underlings would all vanish as well.
‘Not bad.’
Taesan looked around.
Beyond, there were countless twisted planets.
There were more than ten.
[Are you gathered here in preparation for the war?]
[Yes, O great fragment.]
The reaper chattered with delight.
[The great ones are breaking the filthy boundary those things made. The insignificant, filthy, weak, immature outsiders dare try to block us, but soon the path will open.]
The reaper shook violently. Its body quivered with joy.
[We have gathered here to prepare for that war! To defile and reclaim the world we stole— the world that was originally ours!]
Taesan let the reaper’s emotions wash over him as he looked at the other planets.
The monsters gathered on each planet were extremely strong.
Even the weakest were S-rank monsters.
Hundreds, thousands—no.
More than that were gathered.
And there weren’t few beings that looked like apostles.
If they moved all at once, it wouldn’t end as a light aftershock. Even a faith god couldn’t guarantee they could stop it. Unless a Transcender acted directly, they would wipe out hundreds of planets and still keep advancing.
The problem was that the Transcenders wouldn’t have the leeway, because they’d be busy stopping the Old gods.
It would be hard for anyone strong enough to stop them to exist.
If the war began.
Taesan’s eyes sank.
But he didn’t act.
He simply asked the reaper.
[I heard there’s a traitor beyond who submitted to us.]
[Ah. Yes. I have heard.]
The reaper nodded.
[A foolish one blinded by greatness. In the end, everything will be defiled anyway, but it’s not bad. A being that remains faithful to the role it was meant to play.]
[Do you know where that bastard is?]
At Taesan’s question, the reaper looked a little flustered.
But without much suspicion, it spoke plainly.
[About that… I am sorry. Even I do not know.]
Its voice was drenched with genuine apology.
It was a strangely fascinating sensation—something born of an Old god reacting like a human.
[Only some of the great ones know the location of that foolish one. If the fragment asks directly, you should be able to learn.]
[Is that so.]
[However, I do have a guess. That one does not exist here.]
Taesan looked at the reaper. Like a child eager to spill what it knew, it continued rapidly.
[That foolish one is an existence from the other side. It cannot exist in our world to begin with.]
[Is that so?]
A Transcender cannot remain in the Old gods’ domain. Taesan knew that much, but since they were cooperating, he’d thought the Old gods would allow them to remain in some way. Apparently, that was impossible.
[Then it means it’s on the other side.]
[Unless it has hidden its body in a specific space, yes.]
The fallen one was likely in the universe.
Taesan organized the information in his head and turned his gaze.
More than ten planets.
Among those gathered there, not a single one was weak—almost as if they’d been selected.
[You’re the vanguard.]
[Yes. We have been certified by the great ones and granted the qualification to stand at the forefront of war.]
[Are all the strong ones gathered here?]
[Yes. No one here refuses to defile the other side. Every being in this place applied, but the weak all fell away.]
The reaper’s voice carried unmistakable pride.
[So that’s how it is.]
The ones gathered across these more-than-ten planets were essentially this realm’s total force—excluding the Old gods.
[And all the great ones are at the boundary.]
[Yes. Not a single one is absent. They are all exerting their power to defile. Truly… they are great ones. With them, they will certainly be able to defile the other side.]
As it spoke, the reaper sensed something off.
[But why is the fragment here…?]
[Is the Usurper included?]
[Yes?]
The reaper was startled.
[The Usurper-nim should also be at the boundary… but suddenly…?]
[I see. That means no one can interfere here. They’ll be breaking it with full power, so it’ll be hard to even send fragments or shards. Not bad.]
[…Fragment-nim?]
[Achieving the objective is important, but… it’s better to deal with what can be dealt with before going.]
The reaper took a step back.
[O fragment of the Great One. What do you mean?]
[What is a “fragment”?]
[It is, literally… a fragment. A fragment of the great one. One who split itself and created another self…]
[Something larger in concept than a shard or a piece.]
[F-Fragment…?]
The reaper was thoroughly confused. But its eyes still held no suspicion toward Taesan.
“I guess you can’t suspect anything. I must be an anomaly.”
[Normally, beings from the other side can’t act like you. Isn’t that only natural?]
A human voice rang out. The reaper’s body shook violently.
[You… no. You are.]
The black that wrapped Taesan began to peel away. And the gray hidden within was revealed.
The reaper recoiled in shock.
[You! The Adversary!]
“The Adversary, huh. So that’s the name you gave me. I’m honored.”
[How! Are you here!]
“That’s not important.”
Taesan casually tightened his grip on Bardray.
Boundary rose.
Within the black, the only gray swelled greedily, baring its fangs.
The monsters watching from behind also panicked and began to move. Taesan spread his arms toward them.
“I’m your enemy. Then there’s only one thing we’re going to do, right?”
Taesan drew his sword.
[Gray] opened its maw.
—
KWA-AAAAAANG!
A deafening roar erupted. The rising gray devoured black as it charged forward. Becoming a colossal wave, it covered the domain.
[Aaaaah!]
The apostle screamed and protected its body. The fragment of Self-Constancy it had been granted activated.
An Old god’s authority that blocks outside interference and allows one to exist as a complete self.
But all of it was buried beneath gray.
As an underling of the Old gods, the reaper had slaughtered countless lives and once scorched multiple planets into ruin.
And now it vanished—meaninglessly.
“Hm.”
Taesan smiled in satisfaction. In an instant, more than a hundred monsters were erased.
“Refreshing.”
[O, oooooh!]
[Enemy!]
[The vile Adversary is here!]
The monsters on the planet recognized Taesan’s existence and began to move.
[Bite him apart!]
[Defile him!]
[For the great ones!]
Countless monsters rushed Taesan.
And not only from here. Monsters from other planets, drawn by the shockwave, were charging in at high speed.
Tens of thousands.
Each and every one at least an S-rank monster.
And there were plenty of apostles as well.
A force that could defile the entire universe if no Transcender intervened.
But Taesan felt nothing.
“Come on, you filthy things.”
Taesan smiled. Chaos wrapped around him.
[Ooooooh!]
The first monster to charge—one with a huge mouth—lunged with its jaws. Taesan lightly swung his fist.
Crack.
Starting from the jaws, the monster’s body burst apart.
Then a monster split into thousands of branches tried to bind Taesan’s whole body. It grabbed his arms and legs and pulled.
Creeeak.
A fierce pressure pressed down on Taesan.
That many-branched monster wasn’t weak.
By its level, it was above an S-rank monster.
Taesan responded simply.
He just shook his body lightly.
Crack!
And with that alone, the branches tore away and the monster vanished.
He stepped forward. Physical force compressed by Boundary exploded and swept the front. Dozens of monsters burst in unison. The ones that barely survived were ripped to shreds and crawled on the ground.
“If I can deal with them, I should.”
They were dangerous.
An S-rank monster alone could destroy a planet.
And the tens of thousands here all possessed power beyond that.
If they reached the universe, they’d devastate half of it while the Transcenders fought the Old gods.
So he would clean them up before that happened.
By Taesan’s hand.
Kagagagak!
Cutting through the monsters, two negations rushed in.
Warped, broken forms like fog.
Taesan could tell. Those two possessed power that stood out even among the monsters.
They were apostles.
Taesan didn’t know it, but those two apostles could merge into one being and surpass the limit an apostle could draw out. In the past war, evading the Transcenders’ eyes, they had annihilated dozens of worlds and killed more than ten immortals.
Even the Transcenders had agonized over how to deal with them, yet ultimately failed to erase them—one of the infamous beings that had made a name in the previous war.
“Apostles of the Worthless One.”
Taesan murmured. The two apostles charged in and became one.
Highly condensed, they surged toward Taesan.
The power contained within could fade an entire star and transform it into something meaningless.
But Taesan’s expression still didn’t change.
The apostle of the Worthless One swallowed Taesan, trying to render everything about him meaningless.
But before long, it realized.
Its worthlessness was dying instead.
Crack.
The gray energy wrapping Taesan—Boundary Negation—rose up. It trampled and tried to kill the filthy negation that dared interfere with its master.
Crack.
The apostle’s rank was ground away in an instant.
It struggled, using the Worthless One’s authority to shake off the Boundary clinging to it and escape.
But it didn’t work.
Instead, gray clung like a tick, preventing it from slipping away. Calmly, yet cruelly, it devoured the Worthless One.
The apostle continued to struggle, but it was meaningless.
Crack.
And at last, gray devoured all of worthlessness and made it its own.
A beast’s joyful cry echoed.
The two apostles that had defiled the universe in the past war and tormented the Transcenders for a long time vanished, unable to do anything.