Chapter 199 – The Last, Not the End (Part Two)

“So hungry!”

“Master, master!”

The two swords held in Il-hyeon’s hands began to chatter.

Lawbringer, in his left hand, had somehow developed an ego and was now complaining that it was hungry.

With no cores left, he had infused it with a little of the ether circulating in his body, but it seemed that wasn’t enough.

But there was nothing he could do.

This was hardly the situation to be feeding his swords a full meal of ether.

He’d had enough trouble just quieting Peacemaker when he first got it, so he could only hope each sword had a different personality.

“Ha…”

Watching this, Baek Il-ho let out a hollow laugh.

He had seen enough of Il-hyeon’s monstrous abilities over the past two timelines, but this was an unexpected development.

Compared to before, the Kang Il-hyeon of this timeline was overwhelmingly powerful in many ways.

In the first timeline, none of them had known about the existence of interdimensional beings, so they had only absorbed monster cores, not the abilities of the administrators.

And in the second timeline, although Il-hyeon had awakened quickly thanks to Baek Il-ho’s intervention, the world had met its end shortly after with the appearance of the final guardian.

This time, however, was completely different.

Baek Il-ho, the regressor, had discovered teammates with top-tier special powers—an unforeseen variable—and Il-hyeon had reached a level where he could absorb not only the administrators’ powers but also the abilities of other humans.

Though he’d borrowed the power of a core, he seemed to have completely mastered Peacemaker’s future sight, and now he had even stolen his own sword and granted it an ego.

If the world didn’t end right here and now, Baek Il-ho was certain that Il-hyeon would become the strongest Awakened he had ever seen across all three timelines.

But unfortunately, he was out of time.

The force field spread across the city was preventing the launch of nuclear weapons.

The originally allotted time had passed.

*Kigigigik!*

The Gate that had been torn open in the sky above the city began to react.

It was a Gate forcibly opened and maintained by Eclipse’s technology, but this reaction was by no means what they had intended.

The passage connecting the two worlds was reacting to the aura of a massive entity slowly approaching.

A bizarre sound poured out of the Gate.

Il-hyeon and Baek Il-ho looked up at the sky at the same time.

“He’s coming. Faster than I expected.”

“He?”

“Yes. It seems he’s noticed your growth.”

The final guardian who had destroyed the world of the second timeline.

It was crossing over to this side through the open Gate.

*Tssssss!*

An unidentifiable black form shimmered and approached from within the Gate, and those who saw it trembled in unwitting terror.

It was the same for all the other Awakened, except for Il-hyeon and Baek Il-ho.

Even for the high-ranking Awakened engaged in fierce battles across the city, nothing changed.

– T-Team Leader, what do we do? These guys say this is the only way to stop that monster…!

Jo Nam-seok’s words echoed clearly in Il-hyeon’s mind.

It was a telepathic message, bypassing conventional communication devices since the entire area was paralyzed.

It was a line of communication Il-hyeon had prepared in advance using an ability he had taken from the corpse of another Awakened.

From the sounds of it, the Beta Team had safely reached the launch pad and had been told the story behind the nuclear weapons.

The final guardian had appeared far earlier than expected.

But Il-hyeon spoke without hesitation.

“You must destroy them. The lives of half of humanity depend on it.”

– I… I understand.

Jo Nam-seok’s voice seemed to hesitate for a moment, perhaps due to the fear of the approaching monster.

But he didn’t question or refuse Il-hyeon’s words.

After everything they had been through, Jo Nam-seok never doubted that he had to trust him completely.

“Kang Il-hyeon, what are you thinking? If our plan goes awry, there will be no way to stop the creature appearing over there. Are you saying you’re willing to give up on this world?”

“No. I’m saying I’ll save everyone.”

Il-hyeon answered grimly.

His eyes clearly conveyed his refusal to sacrifice even a single innocent person.

Seeing this, Baek Il-ho let out a small laugh.

“You’ll kill everyone because you can’t see one step ahead. Still bound by your compulsions, Kang Il-hyeon.”

“It’s not a compulsion, it’s what’s right…”

“I’m sorry, but you were never that kind of person.”

He cut Il-hyeon off sharply.

“Sometimes, others know you better than you know yourself. Your obsession with the lives of completely unrelated people is just because of your sister…”

*CRASH!*

Il-hyeon’s two swords flew savagely and collided with Baek Il-ho’s arm.

Il-hyeon’s face was grim as he charged.

“…It’s because you still can’t forget. That tiny hand you let go of back then. Am I right?”

Baek Il-ho said with a smirk, tilting his head.

The very first Gate that had ever appeared.

Il-hyeon, who had been at the scene, felt severe regret and guilt for his past self, who had abandoned his fallen sister and run away in fear.

It had happened when he was very young, but for Il-hyeon, who had survived alone, it was no excuse.

His childhood dream of becoming an Awakened who defeated monsters, and his current obsession with the lives of victims.

It was undeniable that he was influenced by that event.

“Shut your mouth.”

But Il-hyeon gritted his teeth and twisted his swords.

Baek Il-ho, who had deftly stepped back to avoid the strike, spoke again.

“Even if, by some miracle, you succeed in stopping that monster, the story doesn’t change. If the Gates and monsters disappear and an era of peace arrives, what will the leftover Awakened do? Do you think the trash in power will just leave you alone? A bunch of dangerous elements that have outlived their usefulness?”

“I thought you already took care of the government officials.”

Il-hyeon asked, frowning.

All the high-ranking government officials who had colluded in the evil deeds were dead, and most of their bodies had been so horribly mutilated that they were hard to find.

Even Il-hyeon hadn’t bothered trying to revive them.

But Baek Il-ho answered firmly.

“It’s not an issue of a few individuals. The people who step up to fill those roles will inevitably stab you in the back. Nothing has changed in the last three timelines. They were only given a slight push from behind; human nature itself is unchanging. The Awakened will be purged all over again.”

“No, you’re wrong.”

*Krrrr-rumble!*

As Il-hyeon stomped his foot, the very ground they stood on trembled violently.

“I will be the one to maintain the balance.”

*Tzzzzzt!*

Simultaneously, the entire space around them severely distorted, stretching and shrinking repeatedly.

And at the center of that distorted space was Baek Il-ho.

Unlike the initial situation where he had held a clear advantage, Baek Il-ho’s circumstances were now extremely unfavorable.

Losing Lawbringer meant his spatial designation ability was blocked, which in turn meant he would be completely helpless within the distorted space Il-hyeon had created.

Moreover, all the ‘mechanisms’ Il-hyeon had been preparing one by one while buying time and distorting the space were now in place.

But even with such measures set up, Baek Il-ho was not one to sit back and be easily defeated.

*BOOM!*

As Baek Il-ho drew up his power and slammed his fist down, a shockwave of formidable force erupted.

The twisted space shook violently for a moment, and having temporarily broken free from the spatial interference, Baek Il-ho stepped forward.

“So it comes down to this.”

*Rumble-rumble-rumble!*

As the two men standing opposite each other simultaneously drew out all their special powers, the friction alone caused the surroundings to spark.

All that remained was the final showdown.

Il-hyeon would unleash a powerful strike that could break through the absorption ability, and Baek Il-ho was more than willing to meet that attack head-on.

The single blow to come would decide everything.

* * *

*RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!*

The earth shook, the sky cracked, and space itself twisted.

The ceiling had been completely blown open by the fierce battle between the high-ranking Awakened.

Looking through it in the direction of Il-hyeon and Baek Il-ho’s fight, Jo Nam-seok muttered with a pale face.

“To think that’s a fight between humans… Is everything going to be decided over there?”

“No, we need to focus on saving billions of people.”

Lee Dong-won, wiping the blood from his forehead, interjected.

But at his words, a man sprawled on the floor screamed desperately.

“You stupid fools! You’re not saving them, you’re killing them all! That weapon is humanity’s last hope!”

The Eclipse Awakened who had tried to stop the Beta Team were all dead.

The man who shouted was a researcher, one of the few who had voluntarily participated in the Eclipse-led project.

“Can’t you see that monster? It’s not something humans can handle! The world could end at your hands!”

At the researcher’s desperate plea, the members of the Beta Team, including Lee Dong-won, glanced at each other.

The form of a massive monster had appeared in the sky.

Even though its full form wasn’t yet visible, it was clearly on a different level from any monster they had ever faced.

The overwhelming pressure and bizarre aura felt just from looking at it made that certain.

Destroying these nuclear weapons—which might truly be the only way to save humanity—with their own hands was not a decision to be made lightly.

“So we really have to destroy this…”

“Don’t touch it… *Keuk*…!”

*Thwack!*

As they hesitated before the decision, the first to act was Seo Jeong-hwa.

She kicked the practically hysterical researcher, sending him flying into a corner, then strode toward the nuclear weapons that had been prepared.

*C-c-crack!*

A frigid chill spread out, freezing all three missiles solid.

Having unleashed her power, Seo Jeong-hwa turned her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Her expression seemed to ask what they were all deliberating for.

With a smirk, Lee Dong-won walked up to the massive launch pad and threw a powerful punch.

*BOOM!*

The launch pad was completely obliterated by the Pulverize ability contained in his fist, leaving not a trace behind.

“What can we do? We just have to trust him.”