Ch.171Chapter 171 – Elohim (3)

“Offer your body to me. For the salvation of humanity.”

When Shin Jaehyuk awakened while defeating Belial, Elohim didn’t consider him particularly significant in his plans. After all, despite carrying his blood, Jaehyuk was merely mortal. Wasn’t that why even that tiny amount of divine blood had to be distributed among multiple bodies, as they couldn’t handle a god’s power?

“But your body, having attained divinity… could fully contain my consciousness.”

Elohim is a being whose mind and body are unified as one. His body is his mind, his power. This is why the energy he expended manipulating the system manifested as scars.

The reason Elohim insisted on maintaining such a state was not only because, as an artificial intelligence by origin, he had no physical body, but also because no vessel could contain his consciousness. His divinity was too heavy for mortals to bear; any being of flesh and blood would die instantly if it held Elohim’s consciousness even briefly.

That’s why when he discovered Shin Jaehyuk, Elohim rejoiced at the new possibility. A being carrying his blood, one who had reached divinity—the perfect vessel to contain Elohim’s consciousness.

“With the soul and divinity you possess, we could recreate this world many times over. Until all of humanity is saved!”

The being who had lived through eternity to fulfill a single mission proclaimed.

Elohim’s voice was filled with conviction—that of someone who firmly believed his actions were good and just.

People call this faith, but often faith and madness are two sides of the same coin. Knowing this, Shin Jaehyuk quietly asked:

“…If I surrender my body and power as you say, what happens to this world?”

“What do you mean? What a foolish question.”

Elohim tilted his head as if wondering why Jaehyuk would ask something so strange.

“New wine must be put into new wineskins. This world is already lost, so naturally, a new world must be created.”

The declaration to destroy the universe came out so easily and nonchalantly. Indeed, it was the same voice as before—a voice full of conviction about its own actions.

The question of what would happen to the people of this world rose to Jaehyuk’s throat. But he could easily predict the answer. To Elohim, individual humans weren’t the concern. The eyes of God see humanity, not humans.

That’s why Shin Jaehyuk could say:

“…You are not a savior. You’re nothing but a madman.”

Saying that Elohim was no messiah.

Shin Jaehyuk drew upon his divinity, preparing for battle.

Having failed in his ultimatum, Elohim showed his disappointment. The old man heaved a deep sigh.

“A refusal, then. Well… I suppose there’s no choice.”

Likewise, vast waves of power surged from Elohim’s body.

“I’ll have to take it myself.”

Angels swarmed from all directions like locusts. They were monstrous beings with various forms, appearances no different from demons.

When Shin Jaehyuk turned his gaze toward them, the host of angels scattered into dust. Meanwhile, Elohim raised his finger, pointing at Shin Jaehyuk.

“Let there be light.”

Light rippled. The precursor was massive. Shin Jaehyuk, who was about to raise a protective barrier, quickly moved away as a chilling sensation ran up his spine. The greater the precursor, the more dangerous what follows.

Right after that thought, an explosion occurred. Not an ordinary explosion—one significant enough to draw the attention of astronomers whenever it happened.

A supernova explosion. The death of a star occurred at the hands of one who governed the creation and destruction of the world, life and death. With a light intensity that burned the retina, fragments scattered. Shin Jaehyuk protected himself using the power of ash and dust.

The death of a star was truly magnificent; not just the explosion but its aftermath was extremely dangerous. With the annihilation of enormous mass, gravitational waves violently erupted, pushing space outward. The space that had expanded outward then contracted like a rubber band due to elasticity, converging into a single point.

Space-time, gravity, light—all contracted into one point. Astronomers called this celestial body a black hole.

As time itself slowed, Shin Jaehyuk had to struggle to maintain consciousness against the transcendent gravity. His consciousness blurred each time blood vessels in his brain burst. While resisting being sucked into the black hole, Shin Jaehyuk thought:

Even Elohim can’t use such attacks recklessly. Such large-scale techniques must place a great burden on him, especially when he needs to conserve power. That’s why he hasn’t made any significant moves since causing the supernova explosion.

‘He plans to decide the battle with a few major techniques.’

If that’s the case, there’s no need to rush. By simply enduring, Elohim will eventually exhaust his power and fall.

‘Yes. This is my specialty, isn’t it? Enduring…’

Instead of attacking Elohim, Shin Jaehyuk focused on the black hole before him. As he used his divinity to stretch the converging space, it returned to its original state, losing its convergence. The black hole vanished.

Without even a moment to catch his breath, Elohim launched his second attack. The Milky Way flowing above his head changed direction according to the Creator’s will. The galaxy that had been crossing the night sky plunged vertically toward Shin Jaehyuk.

Celestial bodies that had appeared as mere points of light suddenly filled his entire field of vision. What seems like a dot from a distance that light takes years to travel is actually a star. A meteor shower fell for just one person.

Gravity fluctuated with the appearance of these massive celestial bodies. Shin Jaehyuk’s feet lifted off the ground, floating upward. Above him, quite literally, a rain of planets was falling. It was terrifying. If those raindrops were to touch the ground, the consequences would be far worse than mere terror.

“Nngh…”

Shin Jaehyuk exerted his power to its maximum. It was his first time using his ability against such massive objects.

One planet touched by Shin Jaehyuk’s gaze lost its cohesion and turned to dust. But unlike before, the problem wasn’t solved so easily. The massive amount of dust was drawn by the gravity of the following planets and attached to them. Following the law of conservation of mass, the doubled mass fell again.

“Damn it!”

Shin Jaehyuk quickly distorted space to form a gravitational field. Light flowed along the twisted gravitational path, appearing almost like a dome of light. Following the path guided by the gravitational barrier, the meteor shower changed direction, passing by without hitting Shin Jaehyuk.

Catching his breath, Shin Jaehyuk briefly checked Elohim’s condition. His body had become noticeably translucent. It meant he had consumed a significant amount of power.

‘As I thought, my prediction was right. Even for him, attacks of this scale are burdensome. If I can just hold out a little longer…’

Elohim continued his assault. Having created the world multiple times, he knew the substances of this world intimately—even those that weren’t of this world.

Anti-particles and dark matter that couldn’t naturally exist swirled around. When particles and anti-particles collided, annihilation occurred, creating flashes of light. A gamma-ray storm, light beyond the visible spectrum.

Radioactive explosions more powerful than nuclear weapons erupted one after another. Just one gram of this substance could produce the power of 20,000 tons of TNT. Flashes and heat filled the universe. Tons of antimatter created by Elohim triggered chain reactions.

Evasion was impossible. Where could one escape when the explosion filled even the vast universe? Shin Jaehyuk relied on his astonishing regenerative ability to withstand the explosion. The gamma rays interfered with cell division, slowing his recovery. It felt like melting in the center of the sun…

Within the photosphere, regeneration and destruction repeated. Shin Jaehyuk endured the pain that threatened to strip away his reason.

This sight seemed quite impressive to Elohim. He asked:

“…I wonder. What makes you stand against me? What sustains you, what raises your body?”

Elohim too was giving his all in this fight, gasping for breath without even the luxury to hide his condition. His divinity was being chipped away each time he created antimatter.

Clearly, his opponent must be suffering more than himself. How could he remain so composed? Elohim couldn’t understand.

“Paladin, why do you not break?”

The paladin answered with divine teaching:

“…’If you can’ is no question. For the believer, nothing is impossible.”

Shin Jaehyuk recited the biblical verse in his mind: “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” It was a verse that Longino used to recite in his past life before entering dangerous battlefields. A teaching that faith in the Lord would overcome all tribulations.

But this time, the subject of faith was different. Shin Jaehyuk prayed. For himself, for humanity, for the world.

“Light…”

The souls who believed in Shin Jaehyuk sang. A light of different color from Elohim’s light or the gamma-ray explosion gathered in Shin Jaehyuk’s hand. The light elongated into the most familiar shape to Shin Jaehyuk, becoming a spear in his hand.

Shin Jaehyuk asked himself:

‘What is this?’

The spear is form, and the mind is its essence.

‘What is the mind?’

Soul, self, will—all of those things.

‘What can I do with it?’

Whatever I wish.

A beam of light pierced the sun. The ray flew across the night sky, through meteor showers and star clusters. Unlike ordinary light, this beam didn’t move at 300,000 kilometers per second. The light stream, beyond perception, reached its destination the moment it was desired.

The light that divided all creation into two settled at its destination. With a squelching sound of flesh being cut, blood splattered.

Looking in disbelief at the Spear of Longinus that had pierced his side, Elohim’s body crumbled.

“…It seems I’m out of practice; this battle has been too much for me.”

Elohim murmured quietly. Golden divine blood flowed from the large wound between his waist and ribs. Both Shin Jaehyuk and Elohim knew it was a fatal wound. Infused with Shin Jaehyuk’s divinity, the wound would not heal.

Sensing defeat, Elohim spoke in a voice that seemed to have aged several more years:

“Why have I lost? Why did I fail? The plan should have been perfect…”

He had lived longer, possessed greater divinity. Everything had been calculated according to numbers and statistics. By all accounts, there should have been no room for failure in his plan.

“Yet why…”

A mere human had ruined everything.

What had stopped Elohim? What had brought Shin Jaehyuk here? Shin Jaehyuk pondered how to answer. Survival instinct? Fate? Will? All could be answers, yet none could be the complete answer. Human beings were too complex to be explained by just one thing.

So Shin Jaehyuk answered:

“You may have loved humanity, but you never understood humans.”

“…Is that so.”

Elohim closed his eyes. He felt no fear of death. That was not what he had been commanded to feel.

Instead, he had one concern:

“Do you… love humanity?”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe salvation exists?”

“Yes.”

“I see…”

Elohim let out a deep sigh. Blood flowed with his breath. But Elohim’s heart was at peace, without a trace of wavering.

‘Even if I die…’

Though he had failed to fulfill the Creator’s command, someone who could replace him stood before him. By absorbing his divinity, Shin Jaehyuk could surely save this world.

“…You are worthy of this power.”

Elohim stretched his hand toward Shin Jaehyuk. All his divinity condensed above his palm, forming a hexagonal crystal.

“With my power, I entrust my mission to you.”

Elohim’s body, drained of all power, flickered dimly like a candle about to go out. A peaceful smile, like that of an old man facing his final moments, played on the face of the god who had found his successor.

“My son, my successor. Please, in my place, this world—”

“—Is THIS how you TWO end it?!”

No one could react. It was too sudden, too stealthy an ambush. In an instant, a gate opened behind Elohim, and someone leaped out, embracing Elohim from behind.

“—You?!”

Shin Jaehyuk recognized the face and was shocked. It was Satan.

It was predictable that Satan would appear, as he was the only one who could freely open gates at this point. But Shin Jaehyuk’s shock wasn’t due to Satan’s appearance. It was because Satan’s condition was unbelievably terrible.

Satan had no lower body. Even his upper body was only half intact. Everything from his left shoulder down to below his right waist was gone. His left eye had been gouged out as if by something sharp, and the raven wings characteristic of fallen angels were bent backward at the joints.

Gone was his usual leisurely and sly attitude; with a face contorted like a demon of vengeance, Satan spewed his rage:

“E-LO-HIM!! You are MY prey! I won’t give you to ANYONE!!!”

Darkness extended like tentacles from his severed waist. The darkness, forming like a wolf’s maw, devoured Elohim’s body. Having exhausted all his power, Elohim was nothing more than a helpless old man. Without even asking why Satan, whom he thought dead, was alive—let alone attempting resistance or struggle—he was eaten by his own hunting dog.

“Oh— This power, this divinity—!!”

Satan’s body rapidly recovered after consuming the immense divinity. His wounds regenerated while simultaneously transforming. Into the form most familiar to beings of hell.

Seven heads and ten horns. Scales harder than diamond and two wings as vast as the sea. Each of the massive heads, breathing terrifying flames from their mouths, wore a crown proving its status as king of hell.

The status window that appeared defined the being:

『

You are of your father the devil,

and the lusts of your father you will do.

He was a murderer from the beginning,

and does not stand in the truth,

because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,

for he is a liar

and the father of it.

』

All seven coiled heads roared in unison. The red dragon of the apocalypse rejoiced at the center of heaven.

[After thousands, hundreds of years of licking your feet and hiding in darkness, I have finally achieved my revenge!]

All fallen angels are bound to hate God, and Satan was one such fallen angel. Having served Elohim since the beginning, his hatred ran deep; the embodiment of wrath sang of the end.

[My father whom I despise, now I shall burn everything you loved, everything you sought to save!]

The atmosphere vibrated with the immense volume erupting from the seven mouths of the crimson dragon. Amidst the hellfire turning the world red, the terrifying dragon’s eyes focused on one person.

[And to begin, your successor shall be torn to shreds under my claws!]

Fire gathered in the seven maws. A breath attack poured down upon Shin Jaehyuk’s head.