Ch.144Chapter 144. The End of the Battle (1)

The moment I threw myself into the spatial rift, I felt that this time I truly wouldn’t be able to escape.

First of all, my prediction was exactly right.

The instant I threw myself into the severed space, I realized many things.

And among them, what struck me most clearly was that not all subspaces are the same.

The spaces that opened varied according to my will.

There was a clear difference between opening a spatial rift with the simple purpose of teleportation versus opening one with the intent to harm someone.

How could I not have known something so obvious until now?

At the same time, the thought that I’d made a huge mistake dominated my mind.

The situation was completely different from when I had previously stayed in a space opened for teleportation and then emerged again.

The place I had thrown myself into wasn’t a space opened for simple “movement.”

It was a space imbued with the purpose of harming someone hostile to me, including Satan.

As soon as I entered, my body froze in place, and I felt strong pressure from all directions.

Pressure much more severe and intense than before.

I couldn’t even maintain a train of thought.

Just like I’d felt last time, my mind was growing distant and my consciousness was becoming hazy.

If I hadn’t been using numerous space-related abilities all this time, I would have lost consciousness the moment I entered this place.

It was only because the feeling was familiar that I could hold on for even a few dozen seconds.

And so I gained the new “realization” I had wanted before entering, but.

‘This is… the end.’

There was absolutely no way out.

I knew that the bright light visible above was the exit from this space, but I couldn’t reach it.

My body was completely rigid, and I couldn’t use teleportation inside the spatial rift.

Just as I was about to give up everything.

In my consciousness that was about to break, one idea flashed through my mind.

I can use magic.

And not just any magic—wind magic given by the system that I could activate simply by thought, without needing to manipulate mana.

‘Please!’

My mouth wouldn’t open, but I desperately cried out.

**

Woooong-

“Haaah. I really thought I was going to die.”

“I thought you had run away.”

The moment I escaped from that impossible space, I saw Satan reaching his hand toward Elaine.

Though barely a few dozen seconds had passed, it felt like a very long time had gone by.

Satan, who had been in the form of a beast, had already returned to his human form.

As I blocked Satan’s hand reaching toward Elaine, he laughed deeply.

“It’s pointless anyway.”

With a smile, Satan began to cover his body with black energy again.

Satan transformed into a black beast much faster than before.

He still looked dangerous and overwhelming, but strangely, I didn’t feel any anxiety at all.

Instead, I was completely immersed in a different sensation.

Thump- Thump-

‘So this is what it feels like.’

“Ryu!”

Elaine called my name urgently, but I had no time to respond to her call.

After escaping from that space, everything truly looked different.

I felt it earlier too, but it was the kind of feeling that made me wonder why I hadn’t recognized something so obvious until now.

Even as the beast-transformed Satan charged at me with the same speed as before, I wasn’t worried at all.

Space—which is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Now I could manipulate those spaces as I wished.

If I just set my mind to it, no one could reach me.

Woooong-

Blocking Satan’s swift attack was simple.

All I had to do was distort the space around me so that physical threats couldn’t reach me.

Previously, maintaining such a “spatial barrier” required intense concentration, but not anymore.

Just thinking about it briefly was enough.

Woooooong-

Satan’s nimble attack couldn’t cross the space between us and was pushed back.

To be precise, it wasn’t being pushed back—the space was being distorted to make it appear that way.

‘But that’s not important.’

Anyway, no one would understand if I tried to explain these principles.

<What is…?>

Satan muttered to himself in apparent confusion when his attack failed so anticlimactically.

At the same time, Satan rushed at me again urgently.

It seemed Satan had instinctively sensed it too.

The fact that I was completely different from who I was just minutes ago.

“Come on.”

Satan looked like he had no composure.

He was already charging at me before I could finish my brief remark.

Heh-

I couldn’t help but laugh.

**

Woong- Woooong- Woong-

‘Ugh, that sound!’

The unique resonating sound of vibrating space.

As Satan heard this sound that he hated even in his dreams, he gradually recalled.

That sensation from long ago, so distant he could barely remember, when he was defeated by Crescen.

Back then, Crescen was unimaginably strong for a human.

The ability to freely manipulate space without using mana.

Crescen was an insurmountable wall for Satan.

Though it seemed like they had fought as equals when they first met, that wasn’t actually the case.

It was only in the final battle with Crescen that Satan realized.

All along, Crescen had been purely “having fun,” matching his level and playing with him.

And now.

In a world without that Crescen, Satan was feeling something similar to what he felt back then.

Woooong-

An insurmountable wall was blocking his path once again.

<Uaaaaaaah!>

Kwaaaang-!

Satan’s attack struck the ground slightly in front of Ryuyeong, not Ryuyeong himself.

The destructive power that had been disappearing as if absorbed by something until now was fully felt.

The ground caved in, and the surroundings shook violently.

Clearly his attack had this much destructive power, and yet.

‘In the end, I can’t reach him.’

“Wow. That’s scary.”

Satan gritted his teeth as he watched Ryuyeong casually making jokes.

From his abilities to his playful attitude and his way of speaking that could irritate someone with just a single word.

Except for his black hair, his appearance was completely different, but it was just like seeing the Crescen of old.

Satan had no idea what method he had used, but Ryuyeong had suddenly disappeared somewhere and returned as strong as Crescen.

‘Could it be.’

As this thought occurred to Satan, one idea came to his mind.

A thought so unpleasant and miserable that his whole body trembled just thinking about it.

‘Was this guy also just doing it for fun from the beginning?’

Just as Crescen had done to him in the past, wasn’t this Ryuyeong doing the same thing?

Hiding his true abilities for the sake of amusement, facing him while feeling the thrill of battle.

Then, after thoroughly enjoying himself and starting to get bored, he reveals his true power.

It was no different from Crescen’s pattern in the past.

Hwaaak-

“Hm? Have you given up now?”

“…”

Satan, who had returned to human form from his beast appearance, quietly stared at Ryuyeong.

That relaxed demeanor, so different from his own backed-into-a-corner state.

Seeing Ryuyeong’s casual attitude, Satan was almost certain.

This guy had also toyed with him, just like Crescen back then.

For no other reason than his own amusement.

“You.”

Intense anger flowed from Satan’s voice.

In Satan’s eyes, Ryuyeong no longer looked like Ryuyeong.

Satan was naturally overlapping Crescen’s image onto Ryuyeong.

Satan’s voice began to tremble slightly with rage.

“You always look down on me.”

“I’ve never really looked down on you…”

“This time, things won’t go your way!”

Satan shouted with a roar as he began to summon all his energy.

The reason why Satan wasn’t completely annihilated in the past and was able to leave behind at least a remnant of his soul.

Though probably no one knew, it was purely thanks to Crescen’s carelessness.

Crescen, who seemed to know he would win even before starting the fight with Satan.

Indeed, Crescen consistently overwhelmed Satan with ease, forcing him into a defensive position.

Even yawning in between as if bored.

Satan’s anger burned seeing Crescen’s attitude, but he didn’t let it consume him.

He calmly assessed the situation and made the best decision.

Planning for the future, he extracted part of his soul and placed it elsewhere, leaving a seed for resurrection.

Thinking that the human Crescen would eventually reach the limit of his lifespan.

‘This time is different.’

The resurrection seed he had left behind eventually germinated and bore fruit, but looking at the current situation, it was a failure.

Ridiculously, someone with the same abilities as Crescen had appeared and was blocking his path again.

Then it was time to try a different method.

There was no longer any meaning in investing for the future.

Whatever the outcome, he would end it here and now.

Hwaaaak-

Black mana, more intense and darker than ever before, rose from Satan’s body.

Satan knew it too.

That no matter how powerful an attack he unleashed on Ryuyeong, it wouldn’t even touch a hair on his head.

But what if the target wasn’t Ryuyeong?

The only difference between his final battle with Crescen long ago and his current battle with Ryuyeong was just one thing.

There was another person involved in this battlefield besides the two of them.

Satan’s gaze turned to Elaine, who was looking relieved behind Ryuyeong.

He intended to thoroughly exploit that huge difference.