Chapter 346

'The owner of the Abyss is… me?'

Seong Jihan stared in disbelief at the face before him, lost in thought.

Come to think of it.

Even when the Arena's owner demanded the release of his sister Seong Jiah, the owner of the Abyss stubbornly refused.

Back then, it puzzled him why this entity would not release his sister.

Was it because it was him?

'No… it's still too early to conclude. It's merely a face resembling mine that appeared. Isn't the name of the owner of the Abyss 'Taiji's Lost Soul' anyway?'

The system revealed the name of the owner of the Abyss to be Taiji's Lost Soul.

Considering the patterns of Taiji seen in its eyes and its name,

The entity seemed to be closely related to Dongbang Sak.

Yes.

Even if Seong Jihan's face did appear,

The entity before him did not necessarily have to be identical to him.

Seong Jihan forced himself to think this way when.

Whoosh!

The face shattered again, and its fragments flew toward Seong Jihan.

Before he could even try to block, Seong Jihan's face was approaching rapidly.

Thud.

The first fragment to hit his face was an eye.

Then, Seong Jihan heard in his ears, hallucinations.

-'So you've chosen to rebel… I thought we might have formed a good bond; it's regrettable.'

-'You cannot reach the Martial God.'

-'With the Taiji Swordsmanship, I will end this.'

-'If you cannot withstand even this, you are but a momentary flicker before the Martial God.'

The voice of Dongbang Sak echoed with each fragment embedding into his face.

And as more pieces stuck to his face,

Swoosh…

Multiple scenes and illusions were visible in front of him simultaneously.

Some were in a desert.

Others in the middle of a city.

Some above the skies.

While the background of each scene differed, the character appearing in them was always Dongbang Sak.

Swoosh…

A giant symbol of Taiji formed in the air, and an old man drawing a white sword from a reversed spinning Taiji.

Whenever he drew the sword, a sensation of exploding was felt.

'I haven't withstood it even once…'

Up to the point most of the fragments were attached to his face, scenes of dying by the Taiji Swordsmanship continued to unfold.

Sometimes he resisted a bit, and at others, attempted to counterattack.

But once the white sword began to spew out darkness,

Not a single Seong Jihan outdid the sword.

And then.

Thump.

As the final piece attached to his forehead, Seong Jihan's own voice echoed around him.

[Many 'I's have challenged the Martial God, and all have failed.]

[I never even got to meet the Martial God.]

[I was killed by Dongbang Sak.]

[It will be the same for you.]

Swoosh…

Void flowed from the fragments stuck to his face.

And soon started covering Seong Jihan's body.

However, it seemed like a force that merely envelops without coercion.

Seong Jihan's voice echoed once again from all directions.

[As a human Seong Jihan, you cannot defeat him.]

[Join with me.]

[Take control of Taiji's Lost Soul to conquer Dongbang Sak.]

[This is the only way to save your family.]

Swoosh.

Along with that, a form emerged.

His sister Seong Jiah, shackled and locked with a padlock, appeared.

[Become the owner of the Lost Soul, and you can break the seal. You can take down Dongbang Sak.]

[This way, you and your family can escape this world.]

[This is the only path where my family and I can survive…]

[You must accept the void, accept me.]

Seong Jihan, who has been defeated countless times by Dongbang Sak.

The will formed from those fragments was persuading the current Seong Jihan.

An adversary impossible to conquer with just a human's body.

With the power of the eternity, the Red, and the Tree Spirits within 'Taiji's Lost Soul,' suggest using it to stand against the mighty Dongbang Sak, Seong Jihan's will said.

[PR/N: Lost soul is saying since jihan has red and eternity, it should use lost soul to fight dongbak sak, not that lost soul has red or eternity.]

"…"

Dongbang Sak.

Wasn't he called the Cosmic Devil in BattleNet?

Although he had experienced the Taiji Swordsmanship through the avatar of that Taiwanese player's body,

He honestly didn't know it was this powerful.

'There must have been Seong Jihans stronger than my current self among the victims of the Taiji Swordsmanship.'

The countless death scenes that unfolded.

There were indeed Seong Jihans who resisted the power of the martial sword in those dire situations.

Although those Seong Jihans exceeded the current one in their use of martial arts,

'None of them had the traits 'Red' and 'Eternity'…'

Void Affinity and Void.

These powers were possessed by many Seong Jihans.

But,

No one had the traits 'Red' and 'Eternity.'

Even though only fleeting moments before death replayed,

Red and Eternity were certainly absent.

'…'

As Seong Jihan was deep in thought,

He heard a voice again.

[Join us, another me.]

"Join together? At the end of the day, this is just a game, right?"

[If you agree, I can fuse with your real self.]

Is that even possible?

Then he should give a clear answer.

Crrraack.

Seong Jihan grabbed the fragments embedded in his face and peeled them off.

Then,

Whoosh…

Void that had wrapped his body dispersed in all directions.

[Is this your answer?]

"Yeah. I'll challenge him myself."

[I've already had ones who gave the same answer as you here.]

Swoosh.

Multiple face fragments floated in front of Seong Jihan.

Flesh around the cheek, the right eye and its surroundings.

The corners of the mouth and the jaw.

These were larger intact pieces among Seong Jihan's fragments.

[Before meeting such an end, it's better to join in one piece. If you come now, you'll have the most dominance among the many Seong Jihans.]

"I refuse. I'm not interested in turning into an eyeball monster right now. It's too suspicious."

[Then, this me will also become a fragment and join…]

The fragment pieces assumed defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Knowing well that no further persuasion could sway a resolved Seong Jihan,

[I'll wait then for a new fragment.]

It gradually faded.

"Even so, release my sister before you go, will you?"

[Setting her free would only lead to her death at the moment of extinction… This is ultimately the way to save her, Seong Jiah.]

"By causing humanity's extinction? But why did you bring about humanity's extinction? And why are there so many dead Seong Jihans here?"

[I have no obligation to answer. If you become a fragment, you will know anyway…]

As it faded, the entity suddenly smiled.

[Ah, if you want to liberate your sister, come to the Abyss. If you defeat me, I'll set her free. If a Seong Jihan who defeated me is her guardian, that should suffice.]

"Defeat that giant-eyed being?"

[Yes. However, tactics like this will not work. I will actively counterattack and suppress you.]

Seong Jihan frowned.

The effective hit earlier was only possible because the owner of the Abyss wasn't focusing on him.

An adversary prepared to fight with full force would be at an entirely different level of difficulty.

"Can't you go easy?"

[If you can't overcome even the Taiji's Lost Soul, the barrier of Dongbang Sak will remain insurmountable…]

With that final statement, the Seong Jihan fragments completely vanished.

And then, a system message appeared in front of him.

[The owner of the Abyss has disappeared, but humanity's extinction is still scheduled.]

[The mission fails.]

[You have exhausted all retry opportunities.]

[You cannot be promoted to Space – 2 Area.]

Despite having subdued the owner of the Abyss by targeting its weakness, humanity's extinction was still scheduled, the system announced the mission's failure.

Seong Jihan gave a bitter laugh upon reading it.

Who's causing extinction this time?

'Ha… Seriously, enough with going extinct. Really.'

Thus, Seong Jihan achieved entry into the Grand Master League bloodlessly but ultimately failed in his promotion to Space – 2 Area.

* * *

On the star of Martial God, Tuseong.

Gilgamesh, still detained by Dongbang Sak and watching Seong Jihan's BattleTube, had his arms crossed.

While he watched the scenario of humanity's extinction with little excitement,

"Hmm…"

Seeing the eyes embedded in the giant's body whirl into a formation of Taiji, he showed great interest.

"Dongbang Sak, why do those eyes wield a power similar to your Taiji?"

"Similar?.. Is that all the insight you have? That's merely an imitation in appearance, the actual manipulation of power is crudely done."

"Really? But isn't it quite powerful? Didn't that power lead to humanity's extinction?"

"The world was already collapsing. Even a counterfeit could accomplish extinction."

Dongbang Sak stroked his beard, belittling the Taiji unleashed by Taiji's Lost Soul.

And then,

"And I think I have an idea of what that owner of the Abyss is."

"Yeah? What is it then?"

"There were beings with such eyes among the myriad spirits, Vanished under the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, and Taiji. Some spirits that disappeared from the void back then formed that being."

"The myriad spirits…"

Murmuring that profound phrase, Gilgamesh spoke up.

"Didn't the Martial God snatch your karma for sealing those spirits?"

"…Yes."

"So, the Martial God should have sealed those spirits himself, why did you do it?"

"The Martial God directly ordered me to do so."

"Haha… Did the Martial God specifically order you to seal spirits with red eyes, the giants, and tree spirits?"

"…How did you know?"

Dongbang Sak looked warily at Gilgamesh.

Long ago,

Only the Martial God knew about the command to seal specific types of spirits rampant in ancient times.

As Dongbang Sak eyed him warily, Gilgamesh pointed to his own eyes.

"Those eyes embedded in the body of the Abyss's owner. They belonged to those giants."

"Beings with red eyes aren't that rare."

"I hunted a lot of them. Those eyes are exceptional."

"Hmm…"

Such red eyes don't seem too special though.

As Dongbang Sak stroked his beard and watched the owner of the Abyss inside the channel,

Gilgamesh turned his gaze towards him and said,

"Dongbang Sak, why did you pursue immortality?"

"Does one need a reason to want immortality?"

"It seems like a monster like you could have lived hundreds, thousands of years without becoming a servant to the Martial God."

"That much, I easily could have."

Dongbang Sak affirmed Gilgamesh's statement with his answer.

"However, the immortality the Martial God showed me was not about merely extending physical life. He offered me a path to continual growth."

"Growth… What for?"

"You're full of questions today."

"What's wrong? This much is surely answerable. Being of the same kind and all."

"…To complete martial arts."

"The completion of martial arts. Isn't the Taiji Swordsmanship a finished product?"

"That could be said. But to some extent, I achieved my objective."

Upon hearing that, Gilgamesh smirked.

"The Martial Arts Maniac, Dongbang Sak. Even after achieving your goal, pursuing immortality and continuing to serve as the god's servant? For someone like you, a martial artist? Hmm… It's like not knowing who the Martial God is."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Have you ever deeply pondered why you, yourself, pursued immortality?"

Whoosh!

Before he could finish his sentence, Gilgamesh's head flew off.

And from the severed neck, blood and flesh quickly regenerated.

The newly formed head of Gilgamesh, watching his head fly far away, whistled.

"That went far. My head."

"Stop your pointless chatter."

"Why so hypersensitive? It's worth some thought…"

Whoosh.

With a single swing from Dongbang Sak,

Gilgamesh's body was split into thousands of pieces.

Wriggle. Wriggle.

And from within the pieces of Gilgamesh's body, lips moved.

"Geez… Alright, alright. I'll drop the topic."

Swoosh…

As he regathered and slowly regenerated, Gilgamesh whistled.

Dongbang Sak watched the opponent and fell into thought.

'My reason for pursuing immortality…'

The completion of martial arts.

A simple desire to live longer.

Aside from these, it felt like there was something else.

'…What was it?'

Couldn't remember at all.

Dongbang Sak furrowed his brows.