Episode 10: Calculations of Revenge / Chapter 165: Gathering and Scattering (5)

TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk

{TL/N: I’m sorry to say that this will be the only chapter this week and there won’t be any SoJ chapters next week due to personal circumstances. Sorry q.q}

It was cold and there was no wind or scent. There was only a white tunnel that extended endlessly.

In fear that they could make the ‘World of Nothingness’ unstable, the Berserkers, over a few days, slowly passed through this long tunnel.

The white walls occasionally rippled and became transparent, reflecting the strange scenes of the universe the monsters lived in.

Initially, the monsters were bustling due to Choi Hyuk’s attack, working in groups to search for the intruders. Finally, however, the commotion gradually died down after they couldn’t find anything.

The Berserkers murmured,

“It’ll be really thrilling this time.”

Whenever monsters as large as spacecrafts brushed past the tunnel, the Berserkers would lower their voices.

“So we’re searching these bastards’ homeland…”

As earthlings, their animosity towards the monsters couldn’t help but be greater than their hostility towards the alliance, since they were the ones that actually invaded their homeland and killed those precious to them. At times, these monsters felt like such uncontrollable calamities that they made them feel powerless. Thinking about how they were now invading the core of the monsters, naturally, their hearts raced and their minds were resolute.

“But who are those three? No troops were dispatched for this mission, only them.”

“Maybe they are incredibly strong? Or those three are better than dispatching B rank troops?”

“They don’t look that strong…”

There were Berserkers who started talking to Flitch, Demaetsu, and Sino out of curiosity. The tension from the monsters that they occasionally saw outside the tunnel, the sense of mysteriousness from the white ‘World of Nothingness’, and the sense of solidarity from going to the core of the monsters with each other mixed together, making their hearts both silent and more open.

“What are your names?” quickly turned into, “If we survive, give us a tour of Alliance City.” Formal replies such as “I welcome getting closer to the Berserkers” soon became candid like “I’m a bit tense, do you have anything to eat? I was suddenly dispatched so…” Finally, they began giving detailed introductions to each other.

“Don’t you guys have families? The majority of us Berserkers don’t, but I don’t know about you who live in Alliance City.”

“I have a lot. Keunibs can have polyandrous or polygamous relationships as long as they have the ability. I’m considered quite capable, so… Hehe, I want to see my third wife.”

Demaetsu purposely made a wicked expression.

“I am going to get married to a man called Mino next month… I had a tough time in Alliance City, and I was comforted a lot by him.”

Sino, whose tribe was famous for only having one lover their entire life, had an affectionate look as she thought of her fiancé.

“The Speckled Light Tribe has no gender classification. Well, we do, but it’s only for individual members. The consciousness ‘Flitch’ is a group intelligence… If the population of speckled lights inside increases or if there is a growing conflict between members, then we separate, but I guess you can call it a type of reproduction.”

Flitch simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Then, excluding Flitch who doesn’t have a family, why did you guys, who have families, come to this dangerous place?”

When a Berserker asked, Demaetsu raged, shouting, “Do you think I wanted to come?!” and Sino made a bitter expression while she answered, “We were… dispatched. We didn’t have a choice.” Flitch protested, “Hey! Why are you excluding me?!” However, they soon glanced at Choi Hyuk and said,

“However… It might not be as bad as we thought…”

Unexpectedly, Choi Hyuk wasn’t hostile towards them and they were impressed by his remarkable abilities. As long as they could return alive, this might be an amazing opportunity to gain great military merits.  The expressions they looked at Choi Hyuk with contained goodwill and were full of expectations.

After spending a few days together within this tense yet friendly atmosphere, the outside scenes they occasionally saw changed. The grey viscous poja densely covered their surroundings like a fog, and the monsters inside it bubbled. Every time a bubble popped, it resounded like thunder and the bodies of the monsters inside would either get smaller, change color, or split apart.

“…”

They couldn’t tell if various monsters were being born or remodeled. Disregarding everything else, the Berserkers were overwhelmed by the poja’s scale, which was easily larger than a galaxy.

“… Is this really the queen’s nest?”

The Aide Leah mumbled, but they couldn’t be sure yet.

“Sino.”

Choi Hyuk called Sino of the Seo Tribe. Sino quickly went in front of him.

“I ask for your analysis. What kind of place this is and is it the queen’s nest we are looking for?”

Sino, the alliance’s technician, looked around with an objective gaze before shaking her head.

“Sorry. There isn’t enough information. I think we need to go a little deeper to know for sure.”

A little deeper. The warriors felt somewhat uneasy as they heard her words.

It was completely different from before when they had lightly joked with each other as they traveled. While it was still the same white tunnel, each step they took was filled with extreme alertness.

“… Killing intent.”

Like Ryu Hyunsung mumbled, the monsters’ characteristic killing intent was invading the empty tunnel.

{Grr}

{Kireuk?}

{Huh? Something’s?}

The monsters around them, which could easily be discerned as being at the highest rank, seemed to have sensed something as they kept loitering around the tunnel. It was to the point that the Berserkers could even hear their growls and mumbles. The killing intent invading the tunnel gradually thickened, and as they traveled deeper, they were no longer within the ‘safe zone’ of the ‘World of Nothingness’.

“Sino, still not enough? Isn’t this the queen’s nest?”

Demaetsu, who was clearly nervous, kept urging Sino.

“Ah, jeez!”

Sino, who was concentrating the best she could, became irritated at Demaetsu, who kept bothering her. Then she glanced at Choi Hyuk as she said,

“I’m still not sure if this is just a key facility for the monsters or if it’s the queen’s nest. We need to go deeper if we want to know for sure.”

Formally, she was reporting to Choi Hyuk, but in reality, she was also trying to explain their situation to the nervous warriors.

Then Sino quickly added,

“However, if we go any further, we might be found out. How about we stop here for now and come back with reinforcements? The enemy forces are beyond our expectations.”

Listening to her words, which sought safety, Choi Hyuk calmly shook his head.

“No. We’ll go further. We can’t do this twice since the monsters possess learning capabilities. Also, we don’t know if we can get this far next time.”

Sino’s eyelashes trembled at Choi Hyuk’s reply, but she resigned herself to her fate and instead concentrated on analyzing as she stepped forward. With nervous looks, Flitch and Demaetsu stuck next to her.

“Let’s go.”

When they took a few more steps, the scene outside changed once more. The poja, which had covered their surroundings like a fog, faded away, and monsters the size of continents and planets were now floating around them, anchored to various locations. This sight, at a glance, was alarming.

With cold sweat on his face from the thickening killing intent, Demaetsu urged Sino once more.

“Sino, still no-“

Sino glared at Demaetsu without replying.

“Demaetsu, act moderately. Sino’s trying her best…”

Fed up with Demaetsu, Flitch said while taking Sino’s side, but-

Bang!

The sky collapsed.

No, the ceiling of the ‘World of Nothingness’ buckled.

“Haah!”

“What is that!!?”

A monster had suddenly appeared and was stepping on the ceiling. It was similar to the Punisher that Choi Hyuk had captured previously. Its outer appearance was similar to a human’s. It also possessed weapons and armor composed of a monster’s body.

{…}

The monster didn’t give them the chance to comprehend the situation. It silently narrowed its black eyes and swung a hammer, created from a monster’s head, down at them.

Kwaaah! Kwaah!

Swaah!

Space rippled and they heard the sound of a tide going out. The white tunnel suddenly became dark like a basement with a blinking emergency light.

“A demi… Demise-ranked monster!!”

Sino screamed with a pale face.

Choi Hyuk replied,

“Strictly speaking, it’s different. It doesn’t have the fate of collapse… However, it’s as strong as them.”

The monster felt different when compared to a monster created by suppressing the fate of a universe’s collapse into it. Its original strength was probably similar to Flame-Rain before she became an Exalted Wing – the proficiency stage of the transcendental level. However, after wearing monster armor that was based on karma weapons, the monster’s current strength seemed to exceed that of Exalted Wings’.

This monster noticed the ‘World of Nothingness’ and was attempting to break into it. Following it, the numerous high and highest-ranked monsters in the area began attacking the ‘World of Nothingness’. The large tunnel became dented like an aluminum can and ripped in various places.

Swish.

Choi Hyuk unsheathed his sword and shouted,

“Sino, keep going! Check if this place is the queen’s nest!”

Faced with this dangerous situation, Choi Hyuk, who had talked to her politely until now, began ordering her informally.

“Demaetsu! Flitch! Escort Sino! The Berserkers will block the other monsters from breaking in! I’ll be the one to face that one!”

Choi Hyuk glared at the expressionless monster with black eyes. Unlike original demise-ranked monsters, which were powerful due to inheriting the fate of collapse but were difficult to control, this monster seemed like something the queen of monsters created on her own. It might even be the queen’s bodyguard.

“The World of Nothingness is undoubtedly a universe in another dimension! On top of that, it’s a universe I personally created! I can’t use my full strength until they completely break in! So push them back! Don’t let a single one in!”

Choi Hyuk’s order resounded like thunder.

Bang! Baang!

With that, the fight between the monsters, who were trying to rip the tunnel in various places and break in, and the Berserkers, who were trying to push them back, began.

“It’s a demise rank! A demise rank! We’re going to die! Run away!”

Demaetsu fell into a state of panic, unfitting of a high-ranked warrior. Flitch shook his body.

“If we flee, then we’ll really die! Snap out of it! Just believe in Choi Hyuk! We need to believe in him and do our job! Sino! You get a hold of yourself too!”

“Ye-yes!”

Darting down the tunnel, which seemed like it could collapse at any moment, Sino hurriedly analyzed with her trembling eyes.

‘Mino… Mino…’

Inwardly, she kept calling her fiancé’s name. If she didn’t, she felt like her heart would burst from fear.

She didn’t know how much time had passed. The tunnel was almost completely dark now.

Sino cried out,

“It is! It’s here! This is the queen’s nest!”

At the same time, a light flashed.

Sino lost her memory.

**

“Thi… This is?”

When she first opened her eyes, Sino couldn’t remember where she was. As her strength hadn’t completely recovered yet, she looked around with a cloudy vision, and only after blinking a few times did she realize where she was.

It was a place where objects from various other universes were piled on top of each other like a garbage dump. It was the monsters’ universe. They were currently sitting on a branch of an enormous tree that was floating in the outer region of the universe.

Choi Hyuk was panting while sitting on a mushroom the size of a bed.

“We… survived? How?”

Flitch, who only now came to his senses like Sino, asked Choi Hyuk. Choi Hyuk friendlily replied while panting heavily.

“Huu… Hu… We endured as long as we could and retreated as soon as I heard Sino’s report.”

“Retreating… must not have been easy. On top of that, even us high-ranked warriors lost our memory. How…”

Flitch’s questions continued. Choi Hyuk opened his mouth to explain, but it seemed it was difficult to explain as he frowned and tilted his head.

Sino, who absentmindedly stared at him, answered instead.

“You cut… time, right? Or should I say, you reset it?”

Choi Hyuk nodded his head, indicating she was right. However, Flitch’s reaction was more intense.

“No way! Reset time? You reset the time of this vast universe? No one can do that!”

However, unlike Flitch, who was taken aback, Sino stared directly at Choi Hyuk and said,

“Of course, he didn’t reset the time of this entire universe… He only reset the time of the small, dead universe, the ‘World of Nothingness’. Isn’t that right? So the tunnel disappeared immediately and we returned to the start of the tunnel. While the time in the monsters’ universe flowed regularly!”

Satisfied by Sino’s clever explanation, Choi Hyuk nodded his head.

That moment, Sino’s eyes sparkled.

“Amazing!”

She staggered to a stand and jumped up and down.

“While it’s possible in theory, for it to actually happen! Wow… If I tell Mino, he’ll be completely surprised!”

Demaetsu, who seemed to have been awoken by her happy voice, gently got up and said,

“So loud… But you really are amazing! Leader Choi Hyuk, you are stronger than any other highest-ranked warrior I’ve ever seen.”

With his mouth, which stretched along his jaw, open, Demaetsu staggered over to Choi Hyuk, got down on one knee and placed his hand out. Then in an embarrassed tone, he continued,

“I heard that… Earth had this sort of culture in the past, but I don’t know if I’m doing it right.”

He cleared his throat and, in a serious tone, said,

“Leader Choi Hyuk. I am in awe. I realized that the path you walk only contains victory and glory. While I do have my previous sins, if you forgive me and hold my hand, I will dedicate my life to you. As you know, our Keunib species is famous for being rude, but aren’t we also renown for our loyalty?”

Demaetsu’s attitude changed suddenly.

It was enough to be cringe-worthy, but Sino, who was deeply impressed by Choi Hyuk, jumped up and joined in.

“Huh? Then, me too! Me too!”

Not losing out, Flitch joined in as well.

“Ah… Really, so embarrassing… But! I also feel the same. I have always admired how you became stronger faster than anyone else. While it might have angered you, I have always done my best for your growth. Whether it was the King without Subjects, sovereign qualifications, or the Flame Wing Tribe’s Karma Heart Discipline… Everything passed through me. Also, I was the one who requested the alliance to grant you citizenship. While it might have been an unforgivable method… I did my best to make you stronger. Please give me another chance. I want to repent for my sins under your command.”

The three looked at Choi Hyuk in a serious manner.

Their misgivings towards Choi Hyuk had already mostly disappeared. They judged that he would have killed them already if he had truly wanted to. They thought that, since he dispatched them and they went on a mission together, he was thinking of the bigger picture rather than simple revenge. No, they hoped that this was the case as they already felt a deep sense of closeness with Choi Hyuk and the Berserkers after experiencing a mission of life or death together. Also, they were certain that they could advance even higher up in the alliance if they were with Choi Hyuk.

“What the heck? What’s going on?’

Only then did the Berserkers gather, mumbling about this unusual mood.

Choi Hyuk grinned and looked up at the tree branch that went so high up that he couldn’t see the end.

They were successful in determining the monster queen’s location in the monsters’ universe.

This feat could be considered the greatest contribution since the start of the war.  The moment he accomplished this, his enemies kneeled in front of him and promised him their loyalty.

He naturally began grinning.

He couldn’t be any more satisfied.

With a joking expression, Choi Hyuk said,

“Darn… But I don’t need all three of you? Maybe only one?”

“Pardon?”

Seeing their perplexed looks, Choi Hyuk kept smiling as he handed them each a drink.

“Don’t be so awkward and first drink. You all worked hard.”

Only then did they realize he was joking and they drank their drinks with a smile. The moment their throats were revealed-

Pit-

Choi Hyuk’s sword instantly cut their throats.

“Keuh… Kuak…”

They were taken aback by the sudden attack, however, it wasn’t fatal and they only felt pain.

Staring down at them as they rolled on the ground while holding their throats, Choi Hyuk spoke. His speech had, at some point, become cold and impolite.

“In the past… My friend died like that. I heard her throat was stabbed by a trusted friend while she was drinking water.”

Swish.

His sword twirled in his hand. Choi Hyuk’s gaze was frighteningly cold.

“You three, who were in charge of Earth’s recruit training… I tried using you, but I don’t think you’ll be useful any longer. Three is too much, I’ll only let one of you live.”

As Choi Hyuk continued to speak, now understanding the situation, the Berserkers’ faces turned cold as ice. It didn’t matter if they had laughed and chatted with each other not long ago. Didn’t he say they were the very people in charge of Earth’s recruit training?

A chilling killing intent flooded out, and in the middle of it, Choi Hyuk, who possessed a malice thicker than anyone else, said,

“You know the method very well, right?”

As if singing, he said,

“Kill.”

Then all the Berserkers followed after him as though they were a choir.

“Kill.”

“Only then can you kill.”

Flitch, Demaetsu, and Sino’s complexions turned pale. Being suddenly faced with this situation when they had been relaxed drove them further into a state of panic.

While looking down at them, Choi Hyuk made a final declaration.

“It’s judgment day, bastards.”

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