NOVEL NEXT Chapter 189
As the end approached, the Wolf still found itself at a disadvantage against the Disease. Killing the Disease wasn’t completely impossible, but first, it would surely meet its own demise. With frantic thoughts swirling in its head, the Wolf stepped away from the Disease, breathing heavily.
The heavy breathing wasn’t due to exhaustion but a lack of breath. More than anything, its ribs were piercing into its lungs, making it hard to breathe. The Wolf, wrapped in the fear of its body dissolving in bodily fluids, rolled on the ground to dodge the jaws of the Disease.
The jaws that gnawed at the earth seemed to sink underground as if diving. When they resurfaced, the shattered earth had been restored.
After all, there was plenty of land to use as material for its revenge. Fighting the Disease meant nothing less than destroying all this land. In the midst of the Black Forest and the debris that was making a mess of things, the Wolf’s condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Getting hurt was faster than healing. Even though it tried to predict and move, its body just wouldn’t cooperate. Its skills, which supported its lack of ability, were now in such a mess that not even they could cover up the damages.
Where had it all gone wrong? Was there a better method? Was there a better choice? The Wolf felt defeat creeping in, groping for regret over irreversible time.
In the not-so-distant future, the predictions and instincts that could be said to form the Wolf’s reason began to show it its own death, one by one.
Being pierced by tentacles, crushed by the earth, swallowed by the Disease, and melting into it—such was the future. But still, it could be avoided for now. By dodging death, the Wolf stubbornly held on. Surviving with minimal damage, it continued to tread the thin line of possibility with the best choices at every moment.
It evaded momentarily, but, as if waiting for it, the shards of the earth split apart like traps, wrapping around its lower body and crushing it. Even the moment it tried to escape, the Disease wouldn’t allow it. As the ground shook and its tail sprang out, the Wolf cut its lower body with its shadow. Pushed away by the storm, the Wolf created a lower body from its mutation, but it was incomplete.
Like that, the thread of possibility was becoming thinner and thinner. The path leading to victory was rapidly fading into the path of survival, and slowly the end began to draw near. Ultimately, at the moment even the possibility grew faint and broke, what appeared in the Wolf’s predictions was a myriad of ways to meet its unavoidable death.
***
Escaping from the body of the Disease, the Wolf ran, chased by the black tentacles, while the shards of the earth rose, and the fear burned. The Disease roared, causing the ground to shake in an indescribable fight.
A mythical battle. Yet, the brutal struggle between the two beasts continued. The mages were left speechless. A silence settled in the skies. Not even the sound of spell chanting could be heard. No, in fact, the spell had already been completed. They were just waiting for their chance.
Tired, the Disease was still a calamity, yet it hid itself, surrounding the shattered ground devoid of its Dragon Lord. Without the Dragon Lord, it might just be able to kill it.
The moment the distance between Marang and the Disease widened. Yes. That moment would surely come.
But, it wished that moment wouldn’t come after Marang had died. The condition of the Disease was severe, but Marang’s condition was indescribably tragic.
The ominous black Marang was stained red. Covered entirely in blood, that blood evaporated into vapor-like steam, causing a fog to rise. The movements, which had been impossible to follow even as afterimages, now fell enough to be visible, slowed by weariness and wounds.
On the ground were the ripped pieces of Marang’s flesh and blood, or its organs. The white bits peeking through were the gnawed and broken bones of Marang. If it were a living creature, it would have died ages ago, but Marang continued to fight. It fought on, deforming its broken and torn body, continuing its struggle. Its healing, Dragon Blood, and regeneration barely kept the Wolf’s consciousness intact.
Who could do that? Because it wasn’t a human but a monster. As a being beyond the human realm, Marang’s will, and the fight of a rational creature was something no one could emulate.
The opponent of elevation—the calamity monster, was willingly putting its life on the line to kill the Disease. But this was no mere frolic above the line of life and death. The line was already choking Marang’s neck.
In the midst of this dizzying fight, the calamity monster started considering something else. As the likelihood of victory grew denser, it began to think about what came next. This fight couldn’t continue. Of course, it could kill Marang, but it also knew that it would be next in line. If it killed Marang now, it would soon be bombarded by magic. It couldn’t guarantee survival if it got hit directly by magic.
Thus, the judgment of the Disease was to flee. To pull back and promise a future.
In this state, it couldn’t guarantee its life—that was a fact, but if it hid deep underground, far from the reach of Great Magic, the story would be different. If it ran away, then ultimately, victory would belong to it. Recovering afterward, it could devour again.
However, the calamity monster trying to escape couldn’t do so. The Wolf, determined to block its way, stood before it, regardless of death.
The only remaining possibility was death. Nevertheless, the Wolf blindly groped for the dispersed possibilities with the haze of its dim consciousness and reason. If it let this creature go, the chance would never return. Not yet, not yet.
――Only one thing. There was still a method left.
Even upon reaching this point, the Disease swung its tentacles as if tired of the Wolf not dying. The tentacle waved lightly, as if to say “Get out of the way”, but it was lacking in strength. Yet, the speed exceeded sound as if mocking it. The Wolf saw it and avoided it, but suddenly it failed to recognize that its consciousness had momentarily flickered out.
“―――!”
It dodged, but it still grazed past it. The strength robbed by assimilation was still intact, but the body wouldn’t comply. It was already hurt too much to heal. Much of the flesh had become a mutation.
Unable to walk properly, the Wolf gritted its teeth. Even when seeing the coming tentacles, its body wouldn’t move. The body formed from mutation dragged it forcibly, but it was only able to dodge once. The flesh fell off, unable to cling, and the Wolf could only gaze at it blankly.
The hazy consciousness that was already struggling was about to snap. Just like when it fought the Plague.
…It couldn’t think of anything. It couldn’t recall anything. What exactly had it intended to do? What was the remaining method it had to block the Disease?
A multitude of tentacles bunched together like flower buds at their tips. The visual realization from the skill hadn’t dulled, but the consciousness had blurred, rendering the information pushing into its brain uncomprehensible. Its consciousness and reason possessed too little to recognize what it should.
It couldn’t escape. It would surely die. The mages and the Disease thought so, and the Wolf felt it too.
However, the last obsessive thought that surfaced—fake Elixir. The only path to victory. A memory that arose from its murky consciousness. The only means to turn this situation upside down. The Wolf didn’t hesitate.
Thus, the moment a void space opened, the Wolf grabbed the corked flask with a hapless tentacle.
“―――!”
At that moment, the Disease instinctively sensed that it was about to become the stepping stone of a reversal. As it roared and reached out, magic blocked its path.
“The Frozen Mountain shall rise―!”
A massive mountain of ice surged up. The wall of extreme cold separating them was sliced with ease. Naturally. No matter how big it was, mere ice couldn’t stop a calamity monster. When the Winter’s Master and the mages bit their lips in anxiety, Hong Yu-ri threw the spiral spear once more.
“Burn in the abyss and transform into a black spear―!”
The twisted spiral spear spun in motion. But it missed. There was no way it could hit. Having already been struck once, the Disease was wary of the spear. It was Great Magic that could be used while closing the distance. The moment it veered off course, Hong Yu-ri’s expression hardened.
Instinctively or rationally, everyone felt it.
Here, Marang would die. Having broken through the frozen mountain and dodged the spiral spear, there was nothing left that could block the Disease.
The massive jaw opened wide, and faster than it, the black tentacle began to tighten the forest around the Wolf to kill it. The Wolf’s jaws finished swallowing the flask just slightly faster than the Disease’s black tentacles severed its own tentacle.
…The blood of imitated gods. The flask containing the fake Elixir rolled away. Even the last possibility faded, and death loomed closer.
The Black Forest completely engulfed the Wolf. With death tightening its grip from all sides and corners, the Wolf found itself in a daze, unable to think of anything. It couldn’t even recall upon seeing it. What remained where consciousness had gone and where reason had vanished was…
“―――?!”
…Instinct.
The black tentacles vanished, and the Disease let out a scream of agony.
What had happened? It could see it, but it couldn’t comprehend. Only, an extreme murderous intent spread. A foreboding murderous intent as if dyeing the red Wolf black again. Within it, the Disease saw something red.
It was not the body of Marang coated in blood but eyes shining even more red than that. The eyes of a beast stained with murderous intent, bloodshot and vein-ridden.
No consciousness remained. No reason was left. The will could not endure anymore, becoming murkier as it sank.
…Yet, it was still hungry. Anyone who laid eyes upon Marang’s red eyes would think so.
The Wolf’s long red tongue licked at its own mouth. The blood was wiped away, revealing the true color beneath the once-red fur. Just that alone made the monster feel an instinctive fear, rendering the name of calamity insignificant.
As if it had seen something unexplainable.
Hunger. Starvation. Gluttony. Famine. Craving… A being that transcended mere biology. A body that required neither food nor sleep. Therefore, no hunger nor fullness could exist there. Yet, even so, the only thought filling the Wolf’s head was the desire to devour.
No, it wasn’t a thought. It was merely a primal instinct.
What reason desired was not this but what nature craved. It was not the reasoning that had once been human but the instinct that the beast desired. Thus, the contradiction the Wolf had been carrying finally began to unravel.
It was the essence of the devourer that wished to devour.
“―――.”
The low growl sounded different than before. Something fundamentally changed.
At that moment, a system message bloomed that could neither be heard nor seen by the current Wolf.
[Void (A)― Elevation 1/3]
As if to declare that it was not truly itself, the power of devouring swelled as if it could swallow the Disease in a single gulp. The moment it connected, the protection of the land constructed by its own power could not withstand for even a moment and vanished as if it had never existed.
A power that devours everything. The Void.
Once revealed in its entirety, the idea of fighting vanished from the Disease’s mind. It was not a thought born of necessity, but the instinct that simply screamed to survive.
It had turned into nothing more than a frightened beast. Calling upon its power, the land around started to come together, creating a new path. A long half-broken arch formed a tunnel leading deep underground, waiting for the Disease. And the Marang, having completely lost its mind and holding only its instinct to devour, began to pursue the calamity.
***
Trembling with unease, Baek So-yul kept looking back. She felt painfully that she was of no help at all.
Her magic was slightly better than others. She could only think of that as her edge. It was a ridiculous thought, yet that was how she saw herself.
What she needed was time. She recognized this, but her impatience couldn’t be contained. Even though she believed, the worry in her heart wouldn’t disappear. As Baek So-yul struggled with that, Anela guided her.
“There’s no time to waste. So-yul.”
Nodding her head, yet her gaze continued to wander elsewhere. Given the circumstances, it was only natural. The Fantasy World was another realm that mirrored the present.
What on earth was happening? The mages, including Baek So-yul, could only stare blankly at the chaotic ground spiraling into ruin.
What was happening?