Chapter 566 : World Destroyer (2)
(T/N: I’m changing World Slayer to World Destroyer as it’s more context appropriate than the first one)
Rumble…
The universe was breaking apart.
Shaking, distorted space encroached on the surroundings.
Within it, the God of Restraint clicked his tongue.
[This is a real mess.]
[Even with four Transcenders gathered, we can’t stop it…]
[You knew from the start, didn’t you?]
The God of Sword, Ehilliye, spoke calmly. His black hair swayed softly.
[That being can truly tear the universe apart in the literal sense.]
Ruuumble!
A massive body that occupied a portion of the universe moved.
The universe shook from the mere aftermath. Nearby stars crumbled into dust, and black holes twisted out of shape.
The God of Restraint. The God of Compression. The God of Sword.
The God of Control.
The four gods gathered here were not trying to defeat the World Destroyer.
Their goal was to prevent the World Destroyer from affecting the universe.
[This is a blow to our pride.]
The God of Restraint muttered.
He was a Transcender born after the ancient war.
He did not truly know the strength of the Old Gods.
He was an existence that presided over the concept of all restraint in the universe. A Transcender who ruled over a complete concept. He wielded influence within the universe that was close to absolute.
That was why he could not understand why four Transcenders had to gather just to stop a single Old God.
Of course, the four of them were not especially high-ranking among the Transcenders who ruled complete concepts. Compared to beings like Rakiratas or the Demon God, there was a clear gap in rank.
Even so, he had believed without a doubt that they would be more than enough to restrain it.
But that was not the case.
They were somehow holding it back, but restraining it was impossible.
For the first time since becoming Transcenders, they were feeling helpless.
Only Ehilliye remained calm.
[It was the same in the ancient war. The World Destroyer cannot be stopped through ordinary means.]
[Then how did they seal that thing back then?]
[They simply pressed it down. Immobilized it along with space itself.]
The God of Control let out a hollow laugh.
Pinning down something so large that it occupied a portion of the universe. That was not something one or two Transcenders could accomplish.
[Our role is to control it so it doesn’t tear apart the universe. Don’t forget that.]
[I know, but!]
Rumble!
The World Destroyer moved. The God of Restraint shouted harshly and unleashed his Divine Power.
Craaaack!
A wave spread out. It was an immense Divine Power that restrained all things and prevented them from moving.
But it did not work.
The moment it touched the World Destroyer’s Immutable Self, the restraining Divine Power warped. It endured for a brief moment, but it did not last and scattered away. A massive fist tore through the universe.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Swords descended.
The sum of every sword in the world.
It tried to stop the fist from striking the universe.
Craaaack!
The World Destroyer’s fist was pushed back.
But the swords shattered as well.
Even the very aggregation of all the universe’s swords could not withstand it.
[This is absurd.]
The God of Restraint ground his teeth.
The World Destroyer’s Divine Power was extremely simple.
The Immutable Self that enveloped that massive body negated and rejected all concepts of the universe. It prevented their Divine Power from reaching it.
That alone was not particularly special. The Divine Powers of the other Old Gods were similar, though their orientations differed. The World Destroyer merely had that trait taken to an extreme.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
Namely, the World Destroyer’s physical body.
A size so vast that it held meaning even from the perspective of the entire universe.
The Physical Force wielded by that size alone was, in itself, a calamity. It was the only Old God capable of tearing apart the universe through pure movement alone.
An Immutable Self that rejected and negated all concepts. Wrapped in that, it moved that enormous body.
It was extremely simple, yet impossible to counter. The World Destroyer had overwhelming compatibility against most beings in the universe.
Their Divine Power shattered and twisted. They were somehow holding it back, but this was a hopeless mismatch.
[How long are we supposed to hold it back for!]
[Until the other Old Gods are excluded.]
[Is that even possible?]
Even Ehilliye could not properly answer that complaint.
He remembered.
The gods who had died to hold back the World Destroyer in the ancient war.
Every time an Old God was sealed, many Transcenders perished. Only after those sacrifices had they barely managed to seize victory.
[For now… we endure.]
[I don’t know how long that’ll be possible, but we have to try.]
The God of Compression laughed hoarsely and unleashed his Divine Power.
Rumble!
The Transcenders gave it everything they had.
Using all the Divine Power at their disposal, they tried by any means possible to hold back the World Destroyer.
But their Divine Power was torn apart like paper. Even their power was beginning to show its limits.
As if irritated, the World Destroyer moved its body.
Hummmmmm.
A foot lifted.
That action alone twisted and crushed space.
Dangerous.
The Transcenders sensed it at once and used their Divine Power. They tried to block the World Destroyer’s movement.
But the World Destroyer ignored all of it and slowly raised its foot.
Then the lifted foot came crashing down.
A shockwave swept in every direction.
It sought to extend its influence beyond the galactic level, reaching even farther.
A Physical Force that crushed and shattered everything spread outward.
The Transcenders’ faces hardened.
They used their Divine Power to control and block it.
Craaaack!
But it was torn apart. The Physical Force imbued with Immutable Self shattered everything.
[Urgh!]
[Ghk!]
Even the Transcenders could not withstand it and were hurled away.
[Urgh!]
Among them, Ehilliye was in the worst condition. The swords he had drawn forth shattered and embedded themselves into their master.
The World Destroyer did not miss that opening.
It lightly raised an arm and brought it down toward Ehilliye. The Transcenders hastily used their Divine Power to protect him. A barrier of Divine Power formed.
Creak.
The Transcenders heard it clearly.
The World Destroyer’s sneer directed at them.
A sneer that seemed to say, ‘Resist all you want. You cannot stop me.’
Boom!
The barrier began to crack.
The fist advanced slowly, but surely, to crush Ehilliye.
The God of Restraint realized it.
No matter how desperately they blocked it, the World Destroyer’s fist would ultimately crush Ehilliye.
And at the same time, he realized one more thing.
At that very moment, Ehilliye would die.
A Transcender could die.
That fact made the God of Restraint’s skin crawl.
They desperately poured more Divine Power into the barrier, but the outcome was already decided. The fist slowly shattered it. The World Destroyer’s sneer deepened.
It was at the moment Ehilliye realized his own death and closed his eyes.
“What a mess.”
A voice rang out.
Ehilliye opened his eyes.
A being stood before him. A somewhat familiar voice continued.
[…What is this now? Saying it’s big doesn’t even begin to cover it. I can’t even grasp the scale of its size.]
“So this is the true World Destroyer. The name suits it.”
[Isn’t it just too big?]
“Aren’t all those Old Gods like this to begin with?”
A voice far too relaxed for the situation.
[…You are.]
“Long time no see… or not, I guess. Not much time has passed by your standards, right?”
Crack!
The barrier finally shattered. The fist came crashing down toward Taesan and Ehilliye.
Taesan grabbed Bardray. Bardray startled at the condensing Physical Force.
[Again?]
“You’re enduring it just fine, so stop making a fuss.”
He swung his sword.
The fist and the blade collided.
And the World Destroyer’s arm was lifted.
Ruuuuumble!
The arm of something so vast it held meaning even as a concept of the universe was knocked upward.
The World Destroyer’s body was pushed back.
The God of Restraint’s pupils widened.
[What?]
That colossal body being forced back.
That too was beyond anything he had imagined.
Only then did he recognize the being standing beside Ehilliye.
[Kang Taesan.]
The God of Compression murmured the name softly.
A being born from the universe, yet one who had transcended it. A being who had drawn the attention of countless gods.
They too had witnessed the duel between Rakiratas and Taesan with their own eyes.
“The situation looks pretty bad.”
[Embarrassingly so. If it weren’t for you, I would have nearly died.]
Taesan looked at the gods.
Four Transcenders who ruled concepts.
“So even the four of you are struggling with it?”
[That being is simply like that. Our compatibility against it was poor from the start. But… for you, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.]
The God of Sword let out a hollow laugh.
[Not much time has passed, yet many things have changed.]
Inside the Labyrinth, the God of Sword had once tested Taesan. At the time, he had clearly been superior.
But not anymore. Taesan spoke calmly.
“I’ll leave the aftermath to you.”
[It’s a problem we should be dealing with, but sorry. We’ll rely on you.]
Taesan’s body shot toward the staggering World Destroyer. The other Transcenders belatedly gathered around Ehilliye.
[Are you alright?]
[Thanks to him.]
[Kang Taesan… is it? I heard he was somewhere else.]
[It seems he finished there and came here. All we need to do is contain the aftermath. We’ll leave the rest to him.]
[Even so, it’ll be difficult for him alone.]
The God of Compression muttered.
They all knew Taesan was strong. Rakiratas was a top-tier Transcender. The fact that Taesan had endured the full force of such an opponent meant he was overwhelmingly above them.
But the opponent was the World Destroyer.
An enemy that even four gathered Transcenders had failed to contain. He could not imagine Taesan handling it alone.
[He’ll be fine.]
But Ehilliye spoke calmly.
[No. He will most likely win.]
[How can you be so sure…]
[From his perspective, the World Destroyer would probably be the easiest of the Old Gods to deal with.]
Ruuumble…
The World Destroyer regained its stance. Watching it move, Taesan muttered,
“Where’s its head?”
It was difficult to tell where its legs, arms, and torso began and ended. Even with his Perception Ability, he could not clearly make out its exact shape or size.
But he could unmistakably feel its gaze.
Bewilderment.
Along with hostility and killing intent.
“Wow.”
Taesan snapped his fingers. A writhing rage could be felt.
Rumble!
An arm moved. The swept-up universe tore and cracked.
That was a mass of immense Physical Force.
If unleashed as it was, it contained enough power to annihilate the solar system itself.
But Taesan did not retreat.
He raised his sword.
And he swung it toward the wall descending upon him.
The sword and the World Destroyer’s arm collided.
Compared by size, the difference between them was like that of a human and a speck of dust.
Boom!
But Taesan was not pushed back.
He did not retreat even a single step as he met the World Destroyer head-on.
No.
Craaack!
Bit by bit, he was actually pushing the World Destroyer back.
Taesan put more force into his sword.
The Divine Power he wielded.
He controlled the Physical Force and concentrated it.
Then he swung it as it was.
Craaaack!
The World Destroyer’s body shook.
Taesan was pushed back as well.
His body tried to fly away at light speed.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
But he endured it. Manipulating the Divine Power of Physical Force he possessed, he nullified the force acting on him.
Tap.
“Hmm.”
Taesan shook his sword lightly.
From that single clash, he measured the sensation he had felt and the amount of Divine Power it had consumed.
Then he reached a conclusion.
“Manageable.”