After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 187 - The World Without Law (7)

It was time for the final phase— the final piece of Oh Kang-Woo’s puzzle— the end of the story— the book's climax.

Crack!! Crunch!!

The demons, falling like rain, were devoured by the black mucus and converted to lumps of demonic energy. Drops fell into the black sea, gradually filling it.

“A-Aaaahh,” Akart groaned.

The demon who voraciously devoured a world was staring at him mockingly. There was no more point in anticipating the opponent’s movements, clashing their weapons, or walking the fine line between life and death.

Akart had lost. He couldn’t win. He had no chance of victory.

“Haaa, haaa...”

He was exhausted but the Demon King was not. Even now he was devouring countless demons to fill the nearly empty Demonic Sea. It was checkmate. His final charge as his body fell apart had been for naught.

“...” Akart slowly closed his eyes and said lifelessly, “It appears... I have lost.”

“Yeah. You’ve lost.”

“...”

Akart slowly lowered the scale spear that he was clenching and looked up at the sky. The blue sky of the paradise he cherished and took great care of was covered by a grotesque black Rift.

“It looks like... the sky is falling apart.”

His blazing conviction and unbreakable will were falling apart along with the skies of Paradise. All that was left for him to do was to choose— he was on a forked road, choosing between breaking his convictions or staying true to them.

“...” Akart lightly bit his lip and glared at the king of demons. “Will your mind not change?”

“What about?”

“About destroying all outer worlds that end up invading the Triad.”

Akart couldn’t stand for such an atrocious and evil plan.

“I have no intention of destroying them if conflict doesn’t arise,” Kang-Woo remarked.

“Conflict is inevitable.”

“Then I guess I have no choice.”

It was to protect Earth and those precious to him. No, leaving such grandiose reasons aside— it was to sate his desires.

“I’ll devour them all.”

No matter how much blood he had to spill— whether they were young, old, a man, a woman, had unavoidable circumstances or not— he would devour them whole.

“...”

Akart closed his eyes, standing in front of the forked road.

‘Do I... have to give up? Must I abandon the souls hoping for salvation?’

“A-Arghh.”

Akart crouched and clenched his chest, weeping like a beast who lost its child. Sorrowful cries echoed throughout Luceo Pure.

‘If I unleash the Primordial Light... the power I have been saving to use for rescuing the innocent souls... I will not be able to save anyone.’

The lives on Earth— the poor souls trembling as they simply waited for their demise— would all perish in despair. None of them would be saved.

“Why... Why am I... so powerless?”

Tears flowed down Akart’s cheeks. He did not want much; he simply wanted to save at least one-hundredths of lives— only a handful— from a dying planet. He only wanted to lend a helping hand to the world without Law... the trembling souls on a sinking ship.

‘But...’

He had failed. He had been defeated. He had been forced on his knees before the king of demons.

“O Light...”

Akart slowly raised his hand and placed it over his heart. The fragments of his breaking body fell between his fingers.

“If I cannot save anyone... not even a single person... I have but one last wish.”

Akart slowly opened his eyes. His pure-white eyes no longer reflected conviction or righteousness. All that remained was blazing fury— a gaze gleaming with thick bloodlust, staring at Kang-Woo.

“Grant me the power to punish that demon.”

Crack, shatter!

Akart’s body, a vessel for the Primordial Light, fell apart.

Whoooom—!!!

Radiant golden light surged, the unleashed light expanding his fragmented body. A golden sun blazed above the paradise covered in black mucus. A Titan— large enough to trample on even a mountain— rose from the golden sun. The true form of a Titan born from the Primordial had descended on Paradise.

“M-My king, that is...” Balrog, who had lost both arms, looked up wide-mouthed.

He shook as he laid eyes upon an entity whose size could not be fathomed— one of the creators of the universe.

‘We can’t win.’

It was not a matter of victory or defeat; the word victory could not be applied against such an entity. No one would say they came out victorious against a hurricane, earthquake, or volcanic eruption. Facing that entity was a matter of whether they could survive or not.

“A-Aaaahh.”

“What... in the...”

It felt as if time had stopped. The soldiers of light facing the demons, the army of the Abyss that crawled out of the Demonic Sea, the roaring white tiger, the white knight swinging his scale spear on top of the tiger, Kim Si-Hun, Han Seol-Ah, Cha Yeon-Joo, Layla, Echidna, Lilith, and everyone else stopped in their tracks to look up. They held their breaths as everything stopped.

Except for one person.

“After all that talk about salvation, you’re throwing it all away just to kill me?” Kang-Woo asked mockingly.

The Titan of Light clenched his fists in silence. @@novelbin@@

[Yes.] A deep voice echoed inside Kang-Woo’s head. [If only I can punish you... I will give up on the poor souls that must face annihilation in an ending world. Your disappearance will save far more lives than the souls I can save.]

“You chose the option that saved more?” Kang-Woo smiled and shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

‘Don’t try to make up lame excuses to cover up your actions.’

“You just stopped, plain and simple.”

Akart couldn’t go forward so he stopped and chose a different direction. He had compromised his convictions and broken his will.

“You abandoned the souls you were so hell-bent on saving, like trash.”

[You are wrong!]

“How? How am I wrong?”

[I...] Akart slurred.

He slumped in agony and trembled. Kang-Woo burst into laughter.

“In the end...”

Akart had given up on the paradise he had claimed to cherish. He had no excuse.

Kang-Woo declared coldly, “That’s all your convictions amounted to.”

[...] The Titan of Light remained silent. He writhed in agony as he glared at Kang-Woo resentfully. [Are you different?]

The sound of Akart’s teeth grinding echoed throughout Paradise.

[You would have also compromised your convictions if you were in my shoes!]

BOOM—!

Just a light stomp of his foot sent a massive shockwave the size of a tsunami throughout Luceo Pure.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

“H-HELP ME!!!”

“KYAAAHH! M-MY LEG—!”

The residents of Paradise were caught in the shockwave because the barrier made of light was down. Flying rocks tore apart limbs and the shockwave ripped them apart.

[YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME!!! WE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO DIFFERENT!!!]

The Titan could no longer hear the residents’ screams. His gaze and attention were only on Kang-Woo.

[I—] the Titan driven to a corner screamed, [HAD NO CHOICE—!!!]

“Bwehehehehehehehe!!” Kang-Woo laughed vulgarly, unable to hold it in any longer. “You’re right. You had no choice! It couldn’t have been helped!!!”

Akart had no choice but to compromise his convictions and break his unwavering will. He had no choice but to trample on the souls desperately begging him for salvation.

“You tried your best, right? You did! You didn’t give up, no matter how hard it was!! Man~! Yeah! You had no choice! It couldn’t have been helped! Besides, you can’t save anyone if you don’t kill me here and now, right? Kang-Woo spread out his arms and shouted, “In that case, just give up on it all!!”

There was no reason to think deeply. Akart just needed to throw aside the precious lives he tried to save and engage in a final death match against Kang-Woo. Even if the souls he had tried to save met their miserable fate, he simply needed to shed a tear over it and say it couldn’t be helped.

It was truly the most convenient choice to make.

“It sure is nice to make easy choices in life, right?”

[You...] The Titan of Light clenched his fists. [Are you trying to say you are different from me?]

“I sure am. You stopped. You gave up on moving forward, but I’ve never stopped.”

Kang-Woo had only gone forward. Higher, toward a place no one could ever reach.

[In that case...] The Titan of Light shone blindingly. [Prove it.]

Rumble—!!

He stomped his feet and brought his arms forward.

Crack, split—!!!

He clenched the air and ripped it open. A Rift of light overlapped the black Rift.

“What the hell...?”

They could see Earth beyond the white Rift.

The Titan forcibly widened the white Rift as he said, [Prove to me that your convictions will not break—]

RUMBLE—!!!

Luceo Pure was sucked into the Rift of light.

[Even as your world meets its demise.]

On that day, Earth faced its end.