Chapter 35: The Shattered Moment
by AfuhfuihgsThe strongest guild in China.
The headquarters of Mount Tai.
“Master! This is bad!”
At those words, a bald man furrowed his brow.
“What’s going on to cause such a fuss?”
“An unusual phenomenon has occurred in Korea. ”
“A mysterious darkness has suddenly appeared and is engulfing the entire Korean Peninsula.”
At this, the attitude of the Heavenly Master became serious.
He straightened his back and pushed aside the documents on the table.
‘Korea… the country with a healer of true national power is in danger?’
Since the Saintess incident, Korea… no, didn’t Zz owe a great debt?
Thinking back on it, he shuddered.
The undead outbreak from the Shaolin sect that spread across China… it had been like an apocalypse.
In the morning, family members who had been loved ones turned into undead by evening, biting their neighbors.
The national functions of one of the world’s greatest hunter nations, China, collapsed in an instant,
and a horrific reality unfolded as families and neighbors became undead.
In those times, Zz appeared like a light.
Without asking for anything in return, he purified all the undead, restored families to their homes, and vanished, a true saint of this era.
‘If it hadn’t been for Zz, China would have had to fight a war against the undead, facing a national crisis of existence. ‘
‘The undead at that time possessed immense combat power, as if empowered by demons. The damage would have been catastrophic.’
The Heavenly Master recalled all these facts and leaned back deeply in his chair, the sound of the creaking chair filling the silence.
Then, in a calm but much quieter voice, he asked,
“If it’s related to Korea, we can’t take it lightly.”
“Do we know the cause and the potential problems it may bring?”
“The exact cause hasn’t been identified yet. ”
“Not only sunlight, but all artificial light sources are being neutralized.”
” Communication systems, except for HunterNet, are also paralyzed. However, Seoul is an exception.”
“Seoul is an exception?”
“A hunter who specializes in observation-based builds used professional equipment,
and found that something resembling a protective shield seems to be centered around Seoul.”
There was only one hunter capable of such a thing.
‘Zz. Did he step in?’
The Heavenly Master’s brow furrowed further.
“A phenomenon that could cover an entire country… it must be that a world boss has appeared.”
“Recently, a world boss, the ‘Titan,’ appeared in Korea without any warning. That’s the speculation, but it’s not certain.”
The Heavenly Master closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It seemed like the time to repay his debt had arrived.
“I possess the power of infinite divine light. The light that emanates from me never fades.”
Just like when he faced the world bosses, the ‘Titan’ and ‘Lucifer.’
For some reason, he felt that he could win if a battle occurred.
However, now he was confused.
‘I can’t see the numbers. Because of that, I can’t judge the situation.’
Because of his helplessness, he had always seen everything in the world as numbers.
When the weight of good and evil was displayed numerically, he could make a decision.
Small acts of good or evil in daily life were often ignored,
but when they became more pronounced, he would either deliver a “nudge” or a “punishment.”
But now…
A being without any good or evil.
He had never encountered such a thing before.
Not good, not evil, simply existing.
There was no sin, no merit, and his usual standards crumbled in the face of the tentacles.
What role could his light play when there was no distinction between good and evil?
The being didn’t seem to be harming him. Instead, a boundless love and maternal feeling seemed to be emerging.
While this was happening, the tentacle asked me a question.
“Child, do you know what love is?”
The words left a strange ripple in my mind.
Love.
Love, what is that?
When asked a question, it’s common sense to answer, but…
‘This is difficult.’
A word I had no acquaintance with.
I do have an image in my mind when I hear the word.
Someone holding another’s hand, faces full of smiles, two shadows tangled or overlapping in a faint light.
The common thread in these images is that someone is with someone else, isn’t it?
But nowhere in these images do I appear.
No, even if I do, I’m just a distant observer.
Of course.
Wasn’t I the one who was born without parents, burdened by a short and painful life?
The root of my suffering was clear.
My parents.
They threw me into this world.
They gave me the incurable disease, FFI, left me to fend for myself, never even preparing me for the world or teaching me what it was.
For a child who couldn’t even sleep, there was a stigma that “neither mother nor father” existed.
The world saw me through this phrase.
Like a sharp blade.
Derision, mockery, poverty, and disdain came rushing at me.
In that, I never learned how to hate my parents.
Because if I didn’t become numb, I wouldn’t have been able to survive.
Naturally.
I couldn’t understand what love was.
To me, it was just an elusive concept with a grand name but no real substance, something disconnected from my life.
‘I guess love is just a vague something, with no tangible form, something I have no relation to.’
I didn’t need it, and I had no intention of giving it.
Even if you asked me what it was, I couldn’t give a proper answer.
‘When people are in danger, I want to help them, or when I see a bad person, I want to punish them, but that’s not love. I think it’s just because I’m kind.’
As I remained silent, Kiriel, unable to bear what seemed like sacrilege against me, trembled violently.
My body must not be tainted! Even you, my lady, are not worthy to touch! Yet, my lord…
—
Wait, now that I look closely, it doesn’t seem like it’s just simple anger.
Her puffed-up cheeks, the trembling tone at the end of her words.
Her expression was ambiguous.
The usual gentle look when she was around me was nowhere to be found.
Her face was twisted like a demon’s.
Somewhere, she looked wronged.
Is this what love looks like?
• I don’t know.
As the scene unfolded, Kiriel made her stand with a solemn vow.
“My lord, I will protect you. If anyone dares to act recklessly before you, I will strike them down!”
A golden aura surged upwards.
This energy spiraled around her, encircling her body like a living wind from the beginning of time, moving as if alive.
A soft vortex danced around her, with enormous white wings reflecting the light, spreading gloriously.
Then, the golden knight wielded her greatsword.
Even I, someone with no knowledge of combat, could tell from her flawless, clean movements that her strike was perfect.
There was not a single moment of hesitation or a tiny flaw in the destructive curve of the sword.
Within that motion was overwhelming strength, precision, and intensity, all harmoniously combined.
Whooosh!
The greatsword struck the ground, creating a shockwave that split the air with a deafening sound.
In a single sweep, the countless tentacles were severed, floating in the air.
The severed tentacles that touched the blade didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, they thrashed about in the air, emitting black smoke.
The smoke spread like the remnants of evil, writhing as if trying to regenerate.
But the tentacles, like being burned by a divine flame, quickly turned to embers and disappeared.
It was a complete annihilation.
However, despite the destruction, the massive being seemed completely unaffected.
The severed tentacles did not even try to defend themselves, as if they were not even a part of that creature.
The grotesque shape remained unchanged, its origins and end points indeterminate.
“Young one, your love is distorted.”
The voice of the tentacle creature came with more mocking words.
“That’s not love. Come, become one with this mother, and I will show you true love.”
Kiriel’s delicate eyebrows shot up.
Her beliefs, held for a lifetime, seemed to be challenged.
“Are you insulting my loyalty and love for my lord?”
Her voice thundered with authority, but strangely,
a man who had been kneeling, worshipping the tentacle monster, stood up in defiance.
“Who are you to speak so arrogantly from your safe place?”
The creature’s words echoed a threat, as dark energy began to emanate, and the air seemed to warp around us.
A sense of connection between the man and the monstrous entity became clear,
and it seemed as if they shared strength or perhaps borrowed it from one another.
The man’s voice rose, dripping with the fervor of belief.
“To reject the love of the Maitreya that encompasses all things your ignorance blinds you! ”
“To become one with the perfect being is the true salvation!”
” No constellation offers us mercy like the Maitreya!”
As the man invoked his power, it became evident that the tentacle monster’s numbers were dwindling.
With the use of the mysterious energy, the man’s existence began to vanish,
his presence fading, leaving behind nothing but the disturbance he had caused.
‘What is the principle behind this?’
Normally, I would help Kiriel by punishing the bad people with a swift judgment, but…
The good and bad actions didn’t register, and I found myself holding the once-accursed bear close, unable to push it away.
Conditions met to transcend skill usage.
Using skill: S-rank skill, Divorce Technique.
The skill forces the separation of mental, spiritual, and even temporal continuity, disrupting the fundamental connection of the target.
Upon activation, the target loses its original form and may either disintegrate or become inactive, as their bond is shattered.
You may manipulate the separated target at will.
“The priestess of Baekryun Church merely received this skill from me. ”
“I am the original user of the Divorce Technique. ”
“The leader of this cult became even more powerful by uniting with Maitreya using this skill.”
His words rang true as darkness poured from him, and the world seemed to warp and twist.
The world itself seemed to bend under the force of what was happening.
The laws of space and time seemed to falter in the face of this overwhelming power.
The strange sensation that time had stopped enveloped the surroundings.
Kiriel, still holding her greatsword, quickly assumed a defensive stance.
But—
“…What is this?”
It was clear that she was caught off guard.
In an instant, everything appeared to freeze, as if sucked into a world where time no longer flowed.
The causal flow of the world began to twist.
Kiriel’s sword halted.
No, it wasn’t simply stopped; time itself was reversing.
Her motion of bringing the sword down rewound.
The greatsword moved back to her shoulder, and her body was pulled back into its original position.
Even the tentacles that had been severed and fallen earlier returned to their original form.
“Nothing can refuse the love of Maitreya. Surrender and become one with Maitreya!”
The resurrected tentacles moved with surprising agility and speed.
One tentacle wrapped around the greatsword, restraining Kiriel’s movements.
At the same time, others came from all directions, grabbing her arms and legs with relentless force.
“Ugh… let go!”
Kiriel struggled with all her might, but her wings fluttered uselessly.
The tentacles tightened around her like a predator securing its prey, dragging her down with unrelenting force.
“Grr… this… this can’t be happening…”
Each time the tentacles touched her golden shield, it deformed and burned, blackening as if it were nothing more than paper.
The tentacles tore through the barrier effortlessly and made contact with her armor.
Her golden armor, usually strong, shattered like glass under the overwhelming force of the tentacles.
Her blonde hair flew around her face, and her golden eyes shimmered with unease.
Riiip!
The metal tore, and shards flew through the air.
The tentacles finally made direct contact with her skin.
The sensation was cold and smooth, but merciless.
As the section of her chest that was once protected by armor became exposed,
the chilling tentacle wrapped around it, trying to envelop her entirely.
Kiriel’s body was squeezed and released repeatedly as the tentacle moved with fluid and brutal efficiency.
“Hah…! Hah…!”
Her breath came in short, rapid gasps, but she never gave in.
Yet, the tentacle moved smoothly, passing along her contours.
As it traced across her abdomen and neck, each motion felt like an insult to her dignity and beliefs,
as if the tentacle was deliberately mocking her every principle.
“You… cursed… filthy creatures…”
Kiriel gasped, overwhelmed by a sensation she had never felt before.
Her body was compressed and jerked as the tentacle moved over her skin, exposing more of her body with every pass.
This wasn’t an attack.
It was love.
A love that sought to consume her entirely, an overpowering maternal instinct that wanted to absorb her being.
At that moment, a woman, her clothes torn, stood beside me.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed yellowish marks on her.
The marks that spread toward her legs became even more noticeable in the cold air.
“What are you doing? Z.”
“…?”
“I can read people’s minds. When we first met, I couldn’t read yours at all. ”
“No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t, but now it’s different. ”
“Your mind is like an open book in the palm of my hand. So why are you not taking action?”
“What are you talking about, Lady?”
“Ugh! I’m not a lady!”
“Then should I call you ‘pissing on the street’?”
“Don’t use weird names! How you address me doesn’t matter! What matters is that you’re hiding your feelings from me! You’re clearly troubled, unable to hide it!”
I, who had always been powerless, was troubled?
“Before the lord, a young lady behaving this way…! If the lord sees, agh… this disgraceful appearance must never be seen!
He must never see this! The lord’s gaze must always be filled with purity and innocence, with only a clean and immaculate image!”
Hmm.
Indeed, a scene that would deserve a “not for minors” label.
“She says to just leave it alone.”
“Ugh! She only says that!”
But as Kiriel said, it wasn’t something I could just stand by and watch.
She was someone I needed.
‘At first, she couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even cook, and only knew how to swing a sword. ‘
‘But gradually, she became someone helpful to me. If I’m being honest, she’s essential for my beauty sleep.’
I remembered.
She cleaned the room for me, went to the market, picked the mackerel fillets and placed them on top of my rice,
but sometimes, she’d break turnstiles or get picky about eating beans evenly or go to unnecessary places like the tower, sending me into alarm hell.
But.
She was the kind of knight who blushed with joy at a mere pat on the head, calmly knelt before me, and met my gaze.
She especially loved being petted.
So I thought back.
A person who only looked at me and thought of me.
In my life,
has anyone ever been like that?
‘No. Kiriel is the strange one.’
I’m so insignificant and worthless. I should be the one lying around and sleeping.
There’s no way I deserve someone’s affection.
But Kiriel, despite it all, continues to fight only for me from her place.
“Is this… love?”
I still didn’t know for sure.
But I stepped forward.
“ZZ… So you’re the hunter from the mysterious peninsula,
the one who killed the priestess Xiao Lin of the White Lotus Sect and disrupted its grand cause. ”
“To think such a child is behind all this…”
The man chuckled ominously.
He seemed to be certain of his victory.
“Now that Maitreya has incarnated in this world, I, the leader of the White Lotus Sect, have gained the strongest power.”
” Even the nameless ones will have no way of stopping me. And now, a mere woman dares to stand in my way?”
He laughed triumphantly.
Transcendence cast.
Even time twisted in his grasp, his power warping causality itself into a mere trembling fragment under his control.
I thought to myself,
With such power, it felt as though he was no longer human but had ascended to a godlike level.
Though, I wasn’t sure whether that mattered to me.
I was already beyond all of it.
The axis of time shattered.
It was the same feeling I had when I faced the giant demon on the 100th floor of the Tower of Infinity.
“Are you finished?”
I appeared from behind him.
His eyes widened, confused, unsure of what was happening.
Like an angel, I kindly read his intent and responded without needing to ask any questions.
“I moved at the speed of light.”
His abilities meant nothing to me.
I struck the bear right next to him.
Strangely, despite its cute appearance, it was solid and hefty.
I liked the feel of the strike.
“AAARGH!”
It was a one-second knockout.
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