Chapter 93: Chapter 93

Azmo of Greed screamed as he stared at the abyssal hand that had pierced his own heart.

Along with the scream, blue blood burst from his mouth.

He gazed at the figure before him, as if unable to comprehend, while watching the blue blood gushing out.

Of course, even though Azmo of Greed had recovered most of his body and drained the opponent's spiritual power, his flesh had not been fully restored to its previous state.

No matter how much of a maglignant spirit he was, and even if the body he'd taken as a vessel contained the life force of the Monarch of Emptiness, physical wounds ultimately required time to heal.

Still, even if the body was not perfect, Azmo was a maglignant spirit.

A maglignant spirit, a calamity said to plague this world.

Yet the being before him was pushing him so easily toward death that Azmo could only look at him with an expression of utter disbelief.

In a desperate attempt to escape this situation, he tried to form a hand seal.

Just as Azmo of Greed tried to make a hand seal, the being of Possibility smashed his arm, shattering it with a strike.

Azmo of Greed screamed again, blue blood streaming as he shrieked.

The being of Possibility, who had been watching this maglignant spirit, spoke.

"Look at this—aren't you so very weak?"

Azmo roared, blue light flaring in his eyes, reminiscent of the last brilliance before death.

But even as he watched Azmo, the being of Possibility spoke in a calm and composed voice—

"At first, I thought sorcery was everything. That sorcery was the truth, the order, and among the possibilities I possessed, the one that could bring me closest to divinity. But—"

"Look at what sorcery requires: how fleeting and shoddy an act it is. You need to form hand seals, move your spiritual power, employ tools, create a formation. To use sorcery, perfect concentration is necessary."

"If you miss even one thing, the sorcery fails. For a single sorcery, you have to perfectly handle several elements. In the end, it is incomplete, nothing more. And as one who handled such an incomplete thing, I saw him."

A white speck appeared in the black pupil of the abyssal being.

"He guided me. He showed me, the one grappling with imperfection—"

"—what perfection is."

The white speck in the being of the abyss began to spiral, as if drawn by a wildly circling pen, gradually forming the overall shape of an eye.

"To become a god, the required possibility was not something crude like sorcery, but the 'flesh'."

The being of Possibility showed his right hand, then clenched it into a fist.

"The body is flawless. It does not require separate focus for attack or defense, no need for hand seals, no need for formations."

"With just that single factor, it is complete. That's why—"

When the spiral-shaped, white eye formed on the dark contours of the being of Possibility—

"You can never, ever defeat him, nor steal his power."

"He is, quite simply, the being closest to god. And—"

—he pressed Azmo's head, crushing it with his hand.

As Azmo finally began to collapse, turning to dust, the being of Possibility watched him.

"To defile a being close to god with such incomplete power—that is the reason for your death."

With those final words—

"No one, no one can desecrate a being close to god."

Slowly, the being of Possibility—

—vanished, and the mountainside was swallowed by silence.

The ruins, once called the nation of Guatemala but now dominated completely and known as the Magic Abyss due to the appearance of "Revi of Mongsang".

Underneath, in the depths where several phantom beast spirits soared through the air—

Revi, who had closed her eyes and returned to this place after her encounter with Kim Dojun, suddenly opened her eyes and muttered.

A puzzled expression crossed Revi's face.

She rose from something that could only be described as a lump of meat, then soon—

She lifted her left foot and tapped the ground.

With that simple action, everything near Revi began to change.

The ruined floor transformed into old-fashioned floorboards, and the walls where those lumps of meat were began to be covered with antique wallpaper.

Furniture appeared, starting with a wardrobe in front of the wallpaper.

Finally, when a desk and chair—matching the new, unified interior—appeared before her, she confirmed that the silent ruinous basement had turned into a mysterious study radiating a strange and mystical violet hue.

Revi sat down in the newly-created chair.

She silently sat, falling deep into thought.

From Revi's perspective, a strange variable had now arisen.

Even with this variable, the reason her expression remained calm and she simply looked slightly curious was for one reason alone.

'... Actually, this is for the better.'

The variable was having a very positive effect.

So Revi of Mongsang blinked her eyes a few times in wonder and continued thinking for a while, but after sitting in place for a good amount of time, she gave a short shake of her head before standing up.

No sooner had Revi stood, the violet study began to vanish like a fleeting illusion.

After the study completely disappeared and the space returned to a shabby ruin, Revi quietly nodded.

"I suppose it's about time to see that face again."

She murmured in a quiet voice.

Four days had passed since the incident with the Muryu family.

The media was busy sensationalizing what had happened at the Muryu household as "The Calamity of the Muryu Maglignant Spirit," spreading the news feverishly online.

The Sorcery Association, whose ranks had been shaken by the last disaster and was now purging rotten branches and restructuring, had sent most of its personnel to investigate the Muryu family and was groaning under the burden.

Kim Dojun had awakened on the second day after the incident and had been confined to a hospital bed, undergoing questioning ever since.

"... With this, the investigation is complete."

Kim Soyul, current director of the Korean branch of the Sorcery Association and head of the Muryu incident truth-finding investigation, looked at Kim Dojun and said.

"Yes, you said you 'just happened' to be passing by and got caught up in the incident, right? After that, you lost consciousness."

"... For someone who just happened to be there, it's strange how you're always involved in such major incidents by coincidence."

"I'm curious about that too. I have no idea why I keep being tangled up in all these big incidents."

Kim Dojun answered shamelessly.

Kim Soyul sighed at his reply, but Kim Dojun just shrugged, feigning innocence.

"Anyway, that's the end of the investigation."

"Correct. I have nothing more to ask."

Kim Soyul stood up, muttering "I really hate working overtime..." as she headed to the door.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something, stopping in her tracks.

"If you don't mind me asking... what is your relationship with Han Soyeon?"

"... Han Soyeon?" ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

Kim Dojun, looking puzzled, recalled Han Soyeon, whose divine descent ability had been sealed by the Association for her protection after the last incident, and answered.

"Well, we're just friends."

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

But Kim Soyul made a curious face.

"Oh, is that so...? Just friends...?"

"I see... Never mind. I'll be going now."

Kim Dojun watched her go in confusion, then shrugged again.

'So, the investigation is finally over.'

He muttered to himself, lying back on the bed in comfort.

'Well, at least I did get one thing out of this.'

Over the past two days, Kim Dojun, questioned by Kim Soyul who was also protecting Han Soyeon, had obtained a piece of information.

'All of the Muryu family turned into black ashes, leaving only their clothes behind...'

Recalling that information, Kim Dojun naturally thought of a single word.

A mysterious group that was never mentioned in the original Sorcery Killing Technique game he'd played, but whose name he first heard when coming to Han Soyeon's rescue.

'Who the hell are these bastards?'

If the matter of the Prophets had come up only with Han Soyeon, Kim Dojun might not have cared much.

After all, Sorcery Killing Technique was ultimately the story of the main character controlled by the player, so not all the settings of the world would have made it in.

'It was one thing with Han Soyeon, but... to think even Shin Se-yeon was connected to the Prophets... Both of them, the future maglignant spirits.'

But once he saw that Shin Se-yeon was also connected to the Prophets, Kim Dojun instinctively felt there must be something there.

It was just too strange for the very ones destined to become maglignant spirits to be linked with the Prophets.

'Just what are these people....'

With that, Kim Dojun sank into thought for a moment, but soon put it aside.

Rather than brooding on his own, it would be better to meet Shin Se-yeon, ask how the Prophets are connected, and think further after gaining more information.

'Shin Se-yeon seemed to know something. And I should ask Dan, as well.'

Remembering that he had previously told Dan to investigate the Prophets, Kim Dojun checked the time.

'She should be here soon...'

The clock ticked to exactly 4 o'clock.

Kim Dojun recalled that Shin Se-yeon said, via smartphone earlier, she'd be coming for a hospital visit, and a faint smile formed on his lips.

In fact, while being questioned in the hospital, Kim Dojun had prepared a scenario in his own way.

'She said she'd tell me everything once all this was over.'

Kim Dojun recalled the promise Shin Se-yeon had made to him at the end-of-term ceremony.

She had promised to tell him the truth once her father was truly dead.

'I was going to stick with not knowing anything at all, but...'

During the investigation, as he thought it over, he naturally came up with a perfect scenario in which he'd ask Shin Se-yeon about what happened that day and weave it together with the promised truth.

He'd spent the past two days refining and correcting it until it was near flawless.

Kim Dojun was so confident, he wondered if he had a knack for writing stories—truly believing such nonsense—as he waited for Shin Se-yeon.

And after a little while—

Kim Dojun brightly greeted Shin Se-yeon as she entered the hospital room.