Sovereign of Judgment

Episode 11: The Grand Scheme / Chapter 192: Denial and Glory (2)

TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk

---

 

Flame-Rain had left the monsters’ universe. As difficult as her mission was, she led a force that made up 15% of the alliance’s strength. In it were five warriors that ranked in the top ten excluding the Exalted Wings, eight in the top 50, and ten warriors at the transcendent level outside of that. Her force consisted of the most elite warriors as she was the only Exalted Wing leading it.

That wasn’t all. Each of the three dimensional strongholds mobilized to colonize the monsters’ universe was comparable to the size of Earth.

The largest and sturdiest among them, ‘Deus’, had crossed over with Flame-Rain and was charging at the demise-ranked monster. Having already exceeded its max speed, ‘Deus’ didn’t slow down as it fell directly onto the monster’s head.

Though the gate opened a bit behind Choi Hyuk, it instantly passed him and crashed into the monster’s head.

 

Booooooom!

 

The sound wasn’t as loud as expected.

The moment the gigantic stronghold impacted the demise-ranked monster’s head, it crumbled, reducing in size.

The enormous object that was larger than a planet crumbled to reveal its core.

Deus’s colossal mass compressed into the size of three watermelons as it pierced into the monster’s head.

“Kuah?!”

The monster opened its mouth wide under the impact.

However, the true impact had only begun.

 

It could be considered that Deus’s core largely consisted of three power sources, but in reality, there was only one.

Karma weapons of fallen warriors taken from the Tower of Warriors;

The Flames of Beginning that remained from the Big Bang; and

A black hole also known as the hole of the universe.

There was only one in the end, however, as the black hole devoured the karma weapons and Flames of Beginning.

The black hole born from this exhibited such a powerful force that it could be considered a world inside the world.

 

The black hole was, by nature, an isolated world. There were even scientists from Earth who guessed that the universe we live in was also inside an enormous black hole.

The black hole used as Deus’s power source was a black hole, which was a small universe, granted with the essence of karma.

The black hole grew by devouring karma weapons and the Flames of Beginning, and it freely manipulated space-time to create a ‘complete world’ which even Exalted Wings couldn’t easily approach.

 

A world crashed into a demise.

 

“Kuaaahhh-!”

 

The monster’s scream erupted after a delay, but there was a pitiful note to it.

‘We’ll win!’

The warriors drew hope from the monster’s scream.

 

Flame-Rain didn’t miss this opportunity.

With herself at the lead, the 23 transcendent warriors charged forward with their lives on the line.

Light-Maze, Dark-Feet, and Chu Youngjin, who were watching blankly, regained their senses and also charged towards the demise-ranked monster.

 

“We end it in a single clash!!”

Flame-Rain’s voice ignited the warriors’ fighting spirits.

 

The demise-ranked monster didn’t have eyes, ears, or a nose. It only had an enormous mouth.

Its teeth had even densely filled the ceiling of its mouth, and each one exceeded the power of the transcendent warriors’ karma weapons. Like karma weapons, fate was indwelled in each of its teeth. ‘Demise through disease’, ‘Demise through war’, ‘Demise through time’… In the end, they were all demise.

Every time it roared, its densely packed teeth resonated to release the power of demise without restraint.

“Someone shut its mouth!”

“Yes!”

Flame-Rain’s right-hand man, Light-Blue, who was ranked 20th, replied cheerfully.

The speckled lights which made up her body created a long needle and thread from the production factory inside. Like a skilled physician, Light-Blue sewed the monster’s mouth in an instant.

 

Keu-!!!

 

Its mouth shut, the demise-ranked monster could no longer shout as it struggled. The warriors’ attacks shot down from above.

Their attacks could slice through continents, pierce through skies, and freeze and burn as though they were creating hell. The monster helplessly endured their attacks as it hadn’t regained its senses after being hit by Deus and having its mouth sewn.

 

Brrrrk!

 

Until its teeth popped out above its sewn mouth.

 

It was a strange sight. The teeth inside its mouth came out one after another and ripped its lips. The lips Light-Blue had robustly sewn together were powerlessly ripped apart.

It opened its mouth once more.

 

Crunch!

 

It bit down on the world.

It was similar to Choi Hyuk’s ‘denial’. No matter how far apart they were, the distance between them was devoured and disappeared. When they came to their senses, they were already inside the monster’s mouth. Six transcendent warriors were swallowed.

Drip.

 

Each drop of blood stickily flowing from its mouth and shined like warning lights. Light-Blue, who had sewn its mouth, and Kalon, who had participated in the defensive battle for Dragonic, instantly lost their lives.

Without even the time to register the shock from this unreal scene, the monster roared again.

 

“Kuaaahhh-!”

 

“Kuah! Block it! Block it!”

It felt like flames were blazing – flames known as fear. In an instant, their once optimistic mentality evaporated and their bodies trembled. The warriors attacked violently out of desperation to flee from the monster’s nightmarish teeth.

Their attacks naturally avoided its teeth, concentrating on the back of its head or its shoulders.

 

Choi Hyuk, who had been diligently wielding ‘Choi Hyuk’s Denial’ while mixed in with Flame-Rain’s support troops, retreated at some point.

His eyes narrowed.

The demise-ranked monster received a huge shock from Deus’s self-destruction attack and had yet to recover. However, it was quickly regaining its strength. While, at a glance, the warriors’ desperate attacks seemed to overwhelm the monster, in reality, they weren’t able to deal the decisive blow.

‘Its head and shoulders aren’t its vital points.’

Choi Hyuk concentrated. Its weak points, which he couldn’t see previously, slowly became visible.

His fighting senses which reached their extreme peak in his fight against Myeol finally shined. Like how he could later see Myeol’s fist, which he could barely see at first, in detail, he currently saw the demise-ranked monster.

Choi Hyuk’s eyes shined with a black light.

“It’s the teeth!”

Choi Hyuk shouted.

Light-Maze, Dark-Feet, and Chu Youngjin, who were fighting nearby, reacted to his voice.

‘… Its teeth?’

Its teeth had instantly slaughtered six transcendent warriors. Its teeth had powerful enough energy to make their bodies freeze just by looking at them. Yet, for them to be its weak point, it was hard to believe.

However, the one who said this was Choi Hyuk. They couldn’t simply ignore it.

 

During this time, Choi Hyuk’s sword went through space and clashed against the monster’s tooth.

 

Jjoong!

 

“Keuu…”

Choi Hyuk let out a groan.

‘Denial… didn’t work on it?’

At first, Choi Hyuk’s karma smoothly burrowed into its tooth, yet the moment it was about to cover the tooth, it was bounced away more quickly and smashed into his chest.

It felt like smashing his hand into a metal plate. The palm of his hand hurt, and a ringing resounded throughout his body.

However, Choi Hyuk slashed out with ‘denial’ once more. Though it was bounced away, his karma did burrow into its tooth.

‘Let’s see how long you can last.’

 

Jjong-!

 

“Keuk!!”

The demise-ranked monster, which seemed fine no matter how much they attacked its head and shoulders, finally showed a reaction. Even though his hand panged with pain as though it was being torn apart, Choi Hyuk became certain. In some ways, it was similar to when he was facing Myeol, Kwe, and Jae. Monsters were different from humans. Their weakest points weren’t their weakness, rather, their strongest points were their weakness. There was no other way to kill the demise-ranked monster besides breaking its teeth.

It was the most dangerous method, yet the only method.

 

The monster opened its mouth wide. He saw its densely packed teeth. Would there be any effect from breaking one? Hundreds of teeth which exceeded Choi Hyuk’s strength attempted to swallow him like they did the six warriors before.

 

“Block it!”

 

Light-Maze’s voice rang out.

Baang!

Chu Youngjin’s sword stabbed into its cheek and exploded. While the monster flinched momentarily, its blank face scowled scarily as it bit towards Choi Hyuk.

Blaaze!

However, its teeth didn’t reach Choi Hyuk. Dark-Feet stood in front of Choi Hyuk as he glared at the monster.

“No one can touch my body without my approval.”

Dark matter, which couldn’t be seen or touched, filled the universe. While it filled the universe, dark energy couldn’t be seen or touched.

While their names were similar, one possessed gravitational force while the other possessed a repulsive force that pushed stars away. The common notion among earthlings was that these two things were different. However, the great warriors of the Dark Tribe could manipulate both of them. They could consume their bodies to create dark energy. The dark energy inside the monster’s mouth expanded explosively. Like stars growing apart at a speed faster than the speed of light, the monster’s lower and upper jaw were swiftly pushed apart. Roaring, the monster’s face scowled more severely.

“Kuaaah!”

Just then, Light-Maze pushed its cheek. He was attempting to make it turn its head to devour a different area. The speckled lights in his body created a propellant like rocket fuel. Light-Maze’s brilliantly shining body looked like a comet. The monster’s head gradually turned, but it was slightly too late.

The demise-ranked monster suppressed the dark energy, which had expanded by squeezing Dark-Feet’s life, and devoured a part of the universe again.

 

Crunch-!

 

The demise-ranked monster’s teeth missed Choi Hyuk thanks to Light-Maze frantically turning the monster’s head. However, Dark-Feet, who was in front of him, couldn’t avoid them and was sucked into its mouth. As a member of the Dark Tribe, he didn’t bleed a single drop of blood. A clump of invisible energy simply slapped Choi Hyuk’s cheek.

 

All this happened in a moment.

Choi Hyuk was powerless.

 

Grrt!

 

He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t taken aback or scared, nor did he blame himself. He simply raged. ‘Choi Hyuk’s Denial’ smashed against the monster’s teeth.

 

Jjong!

 

Due to swinging his sword at an extreme speed, there was only one impact though he swung three times.

Vomiting blood, Choi Hyuk was ricocheted away.

 

“Kuaaah-!”

 

The demise-ranked monster’s scream was the news he had been eagerly waiting for, and its broken tooth was his spoil.

It was the first effective strike since the stronghold ‘Deus’ smashed into its head. The warriors’ gazes fixated on Choi Hyuk and the monster’s broken tooth.

 

Choi Hyuk didn’t cheer since he only successfully broken a single tooth out of hundreds.

Choi Hyuk got into position once more and swung his sword. As always, the distance between the monster and him was instantly ‘denied’. Choi Hyuk stood in front of the monster and attacked its tooth.

 

Jjong!!!

 

‘More! More!’

Choi Hyuk was impatient. Though he was already overexerting himself and heat boiled from his body, it still wasn’t enough.

‘Denial’ was undoubtedly effective. However, the instant the fate of demise inside the tooth was denied, it was filled up again like a spring. He had no choice but to instantly swing with an overwhelming strength like before to cut that flow off.

A battle of attrition.

In addition, time wasn’t on Choi Hyuk’s side.

‘Before it recovers from the impact!’

Even now, the monster had only partly recovered from the impact from Deus. Yet, it was already this difficult.

‘More!!!’

Choi Hyuk swung in desperation.

Jjong!

The monster’s tooth emitted a loud sound as it shook, but it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t continuously wield the same strength as before.

Cough!!

His internal injuries became more severe from the recoil of not being able to break its tooth. He drew bloody saliva. It was difficult to breathe as if he was biting down on a blood-soaked rag.

The problem was their incompatibility.

‘Denial’ was the power to erase everything and return it to nothingness, but ‘nothingness’ and ‘demise’ weren’t greatly different concepts.

Choi Hyuk’s Denial denied even demise, but the space where everything was turned into nothingness became the home for demise again. The two powers endlessly snatched each other’s space. Choi Hyuk had exhausted too much of his strength from fighting consecutive battles to cut this cycle instantly.

 

Thud.

Someone supported Choi Hyuk’s back, who was pushed away from the recoil.

“I’m here.”

Her voice sounded like she had been on a walk.

A sword shrouded in transparent flames passed above Choi Hyuk’s exhausted shoulder and hit the tooth he had swung at just now.

It was the Weapon of Conclusion Flame-Rain possessed, ‘Flame-Rain’s Glory’.

Her flames burrowed into the monster’s tooth, which was filled with nothingness through Choi Hyuk’s Denial.

Glory bloomed in a place with nothing.

The moment her karma and Choi Hyuk’s karma lingering in its tooth met, a powerful explosion erupted as though oxygen was fed to a flame.

 

Baaaang!!

 

It was much more impressive than when Choi Hyuk forcefully broke a tooth earlier. The monster’s tooth exploded as even its roots were pulled out. It was easy and snappy, like making popcorn. Everyone’s gazes were stolen by this scene, even the demise-ranked monster’s.

 

“Huh…?”

Choi Hyuk blankly stared at Flame-Rain.

“…Ah?”

Flame-Rain also foolishly looked at Choi Hyuk.

The two of them shuddered at the chemical reaction of their karmas.

In a dazed voice, Flame-Rain said,

“Uh… I think we’re quite compatible?”

 

The problem of incompatibility.

If there was a glory that surpassed all glory, it would be the creation or resurrection of a world.

‘There is light.’

In the world of nothingness created by Choi Hyuk’s Denial, Flame-Rain’s Glory became the light announcing a new beginning.

 

Kuaaah-!

 

The monster’s belated scream didn’t register in Choi Hyuk and Flame-Rain’s ears as they looked at each other.