Chapter 211

The ceiling of the Holy Sanctuary was ripped away by an invisible Giant Force, and a massive roar echoed through the air.

An overwhelming amount of Magical Power poured out from the rift opened by the Cult Leader. It was the essence of the power that Taewoon had carried within his body for so long, but had ultimately rejected and severed.

Vermilion Mist cascaded down like a waterfall, soaking the floor of the Holy Sanctuary, and at its center, an indescribable, colossal will looked down upon Taewoon.

No words were spoken. Yet, that silence pressed down upon the space more heavily than any roar could.

The Red Man.

An overlordly existence presumed to be one of the most renowned Calamities to descend upon the world at the End of Dawn. Through the Cult Leader’s summons—or more accurately, through the landmark that was Taewoon—he had cast his gaze upon this place.

Taewoon’s pupils dilated slightly.

‘…How did this happen?’

Clearly, they should not have been able to manifest until the End of Dawn arrived. That was the absolute law of this Theater. However, the Cult Leader had exploited a loophole in the law, using the Remnant of the Red Man remaining in Taewoon’s memories as a medium.

The Cult Leader would have to be prepared for the erasure of his own existence, but if the entity manifested in this manner, its power would be no different from the real thing.

“Everyone, get back!”

Taewoon shouted urgently. Yerin, Seoyoon, and the Branch Leaders of the Ark stepped back, their faces pale.

They too felt it instinctively. The fact that what lurked within that crimson mist was an absurd monster itself.

[Behold, Holy Follower! This is the memory of the past that shall swallow you whole!]

The Cult Leader laughed maniacally even as he coughed up blood. The mummy clinging to his back greedily inhaled the crimson mist, forcibly stitching together its collapsing physical body.

[He will not forgive the one who sought to sever him. Now, you shall kneel before that overwhelming power and pay the price for your arrogance!]

The Cult Leader’s calculations were meticulous.

Having judged that he could no longer stop Taewoon with his own strength, he decided that the only way was to drag a new existence into the game.

Furthermore, Taewoon had thrown away his own power and broken the Mask. It was certain that the Red Man’s wrath would be directed solely at Taewoon.

However.

“…….”

Taewoon suddenly felt a strange sense of dissonance.

An oppressive pressure that felt as if his heart would burst enveloped his entire body, but within it, there was no murderous intent.

The existence beyond the rift was looking at Taewoon with a different gaze than before. It simply maintained a dull and quiet demeanor.

[Khh, why… I have personally prepared the stage, so you need only move toward your original purpose…]

The Cult Leader’s face distorted. Something was going wrong. The Red Man fixed his gaze only on Taewoon, as if the Cult Leader’s intentions were of no concern.

[What is… this…]

The Cult Leader expressed great distress, but the Red Man’s will did not budge.

At that moment, a wave that was both familiar and strange reached Taewoon’s mind.

It was not words, but a transmission of will, a sharing of concepts.

Within that wave, Taewoon could read the Red Man’s state of mind.

And at the same time, he felt an intense ‘longing’ to escape from something.

‘…Is that it?’

A realization flashed through Taewoon’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

The Red Man might have already realized the end of this causality. The fact that no matter how much he struggled, he was merely a trial prepared for Taewoon’s growth, and that he could ultimately not escape the laws of the Theater.

Therefore, he had given up on making Taewoon’s existence his own and instead sought to escape this Theater by handing his existence over to Taewoon.

The Red Man’s will surged.

It was a sneer directed at the Cult Leader and a final proposal to Taewoon.

The Vermilion Mist that filled the Holy Sanctuary began to condense into a single point. The strand of Authority connected to the Cult Leader’s back snapped, and all that energy gathered before Taewoon’s eyes.

[N-no! That is mine! Stop!]

The Cult Leader reached out desperately, but the power that had already departed did not return.

The condensed red light slowly began to take shape. It took the form of an object that was all too familiar to Taewoon, yet one that had since disappeared.

As the light faded, what fell into Taewoon’s hand was a red Wax Mask.

But it was different from the previous one. It was a crystal that condensed the very essence of the Red Man, a vessel containing his existence.

‘This is…’

Taewoon picked up the mask. A contradictory sensation—both cold and hot—transmitted through his fingertips.

In that moment, Taewoon was certain.

The Red Man of this 3rd Cycle had perished. He had burned his own existence to create this mask and entrusted it to Taewoon.

Even if the End of Dawn arrived, the Red Man would no longer descend upon this land.

He had bet everything on Taewoon. Hoping that Taewoon would reach the Conclusion of the Theater with this mask and lead his simulated fragment beyond the Theater.

‘…An unexpected gain.’

Taewoon tucked the mask into his clothes. A heavy weight pressed against his chest, but his heart felt lighter than ever.

[I cannot understand… why would you make such a choice…]

The Cult Leader grasped at the empty air with a look of utter despair.

The final descent Ritual, which he had spent countless hours designing and had prepared by selling his own soul, had collapsed in vain.

The backing existence he had trusted was now completely ignoring him, and he had ended up merely adding strength to his enemy.

[This cannot be… The peace I built… my end…]

The Cult Leader’s body twisted hideously. To fill the void left by the power that had drained away, the grudge of the mummy he had forcibly fused with began to run wild.

A curse like black mud poured out of the Cult Leader’s body.

“Let’s end this.”

Taewoon’s voice was coldly sunken.

Then, slowly and decisively, he began to walk toward the Cult Leader to bring about the end.

[Do not come closer! I am not finished yet! Even if I have to sacrifice everything in this Holy Sanctuary…]

The Cult Leader struggled, firing the black mud at Taewoon. It was a curse like a potent poison that corroded space.

But Taewoon did not dodge.

【Condition Fulfilled】

▶【Cinema Skill: Hunter of Dawn Forest】

A blue haze rose from Taewoon’s body.

The Hunter’s Authority activated, fixing and neutralizing the curse fired by the Cult Leader. The black mud was bleached white and vanished before it could even touch Taewoon’s body.

[Keu-heok!]

Before he knew it, Taewoon had arrived right in front of the Cult Leader.

Keshatus, held in his right hand, was fused with an utterly overlordly Magical Power, emitting terrifying lightning.

The Cult Leader looked up at Taewoon with eyes turned white with fear.

“This is the peace you desired so much.”

Taewoon drove the spear down without mercy.

Black-red lightning pierced the Cult Leader’s chest, punched through the floor of the Holy Sanctuary, and struck deep into the underground.

With an explosive light, the Cult Leader’s body crumbled like a sandcastle. The mummy that had supported him also screamed and scattered as black powder.

The vibrations shaking the Holy Sanctuary stopped. The ominous energy that filled the surroundings and the screams of the vengeful spirits that plagued the ears vanished.

All that remained was the collapsed throne and the remnants of the Cult Leader, turned into a handful of ash.

“Is it really over…”

Yerin murmured as if she couldn’t believe it.

The most massive threat, the mastermind who had driven the 2nd Cycle into despair, had met a hollow end.

Taewoon withdrew his spear and stared at the spot where the Cult Leader had been.

“Yes. But this is also just the beginning.”

He had defeated the Cult Leader and excluded him from this Theater, but that was merely clearing an obstacle.

The true problem had not yet been solved. No, rather, the real task began now.

Because even at this moment, the End of Dawn was closing the distance, approaching second by second.

Taewoon turned his head and shifted his gaze to those who had been watching the entire scene from a corner of the Holy Sanctuary.

The followers of the Apocalypse Society, who had thrown away their weapons in surrender. And beyond them, the Solvers of the Dawn Assembly, standing in silence.

At their center stood Jain, with an indifferent expression.

Taewoon slowly approached him. The Branch Leaders of the Ark, Seoyoon, and Yerin followed behind.

“I’d like to hear a bit more.”

Taewoon’s voice echoed through the Holy Sanctuary. Jain did not avoid Taewoon’s gaze.

“Did you truly feel not a shred of possibility in the resurrection of the Dawn Sun God? Why did you give up on that task, which is practically the reason for the Assembly’s existence?”

That was the biggest question Taewoon held.

The Dawn Assembly was an organization that had run for a very long time solely for the resurrection of the Dawn Sun God. It was not easy to accept that its leader, Jain—and a future version of him at that—had denied all of it and sympathized with the ideology of the Apocalypse Society.

Jain let out a deep sigh. His eyes were devoid of vitality, like burnt-out ash.

“…That is correct. Though I only reached certainty recently, I had harbored doubts for some time. It is ultimately a vain hope, nothing more than a self-defeating move that will lead us to ruin.”

There was no longer any intense will or light of hope in Jain’s eyes; it felt as if he were simply envisioning the end of this world with indifference.

Taewoon asked with a bitter expression.

“Did you not think of joining the Ark? Kenneth, the previous Assembly Leader, should be there.”

“That is the same. It would be nothing more than throwing one’s body into the fire. In the end, nothing will change.”

The Apocalypse Society had already given up on salvation, and the Assembly and the Ark had also lost their conviction.

Ultimately, at the very last moment, Taewoon found himself falling back into a fundamental dilemma.

Soon, Taewoon’s consciousness sank deep into his memories.