Ch.8989. Choi Minseo’s Last Stand

“Countdown initiated. 50, 49…”

“No time, fire now.”

“A-alright. 2, 1. Launch.”

The massive rocket roared as it soared toward the sky.

The hull tilted. I activated Draodger’s flight system to assist with balance.

Rumble rumble rumble—

An incredible vibration accompanied by nearly 10 Gs of acceleration put strain on my body. But this level was nothing for both Somi and me.

I kept my eyes wide open, not losing sight of the target.

This rocket wasn’t designed to carry this much weight, so it wouldn’t be strange if it collapsed at any moment. Adjusting direction would be even more difficult.

I had to aim for the spaceship by eyesight alone.

“Leave the auxiliary engine control to me.”

Somi moved her hands busily. Thanks to her, I only needed to make minor adjustments to the arm angle.

The rocket broke through the stratosphere and reached the thermosphere in an instant. Its exterior began to tear away and collapse.

We’re reaching the limit.

Crack— BOOM!

The rocket exploded. I released it with Draodger and stretched out the body.

Draodger flew forward with the centrifugal force of Earth’s gravity and the inertia from the rocket’s thrust.

Naturally, our target was the Galaxy Empire’s spaceship hurtling toward Earth.

“Do we have enough time?”

“The critical point is estimated to be the lunar orbit. If the ship enters that far, even if we shoot it down, Earth will suffer catastrophic damage.”

“At our current speed…”

“Honestly, it’s going to be close. We need to intercept and stop it simultaneously. 52 seconds until contact.”

“That’s tight. If those guys are sane, they wouldn’t have installed a self-destruct function on the spaceship.”

Judging by how the entire ship is burning, it seems like some kind of magic or skill.

Has Dorado gone mad?

No, that cold-blooded guy wouldn’t do that.

If there’s one possibility…

“Choi Minseo.”

“…That’s right.”

“Then it’s actually simple. If we kill Minseo, we can stop the ship’s charge.”

I briefly took my hands off the controls. I stood up, canceled my transformation, and stood in front of Somi.

“Ui-seok?”

Somi showed anxiety on her face as if she’d read my thoughts. Knowing she would resist, I silenced her with my lips before she could speak.

“Mmph—”

I gently lifted her chin with my right hand and tasted her lips.

It was still full of poison, but perhaps because I’d grown stronger, it felt like carbonated water with a slight sting compared to last time when I nearly died.

I wanted to taste more, but there was no time. Taking advantage of Somi’s confusion, I pressed the button on the control stick with my left hand.

The emergency ejection button.

Whoosh!

In an instant, reinforced glass enclosed Somi and her controls.

“I knew you would— Hey, Jung Ui-seok!”

I grinned at Somi. Before she could say anything more, the forced ejection mechanism activated, and Draodger’s left arm detached, flying in the opposite direction.

I sat back down and transformed. Activating the Armageddon form, I concentrated.

The Galaxy Empire’s spaceship was right in front of me.

I could see her in my field of vision.

“Ah, it’s Draodger! You came to greet me, I’m so happy, Ui-seok oppa!!”

Choi Minseo was facing me directly outside the burning ship with a broad smile. Her entire body was burning too. Flames of rage. She must have lost her mind from the pain.

I’m grateful she’s not hiding inside.

“I’ll crush you.”

I took my stance. Currently, Draodger was flying at a speed slightly exceeding Mach 7.

I’ll use this speed to smash her with my fist.

Craaack—

Draodger spread its legs and extended its right arm backward. I poured all my stats into my tightly clenched fist.

My fist expanded with light, and something like an aura began to emanate from it.

“Always so crude! You’re trying to stop it with punches again? The ultimate magic that even defeated Grandfather?!”

Yeah.

This has always worked well enough.

If I’m fucking strong enough.

Minseo’s face approached me, growing larger like magic. 3 seconds until collision, 2 seconds.

I swung my fist with all my might.

—————!!

An explosion occurred. No sound could be heard in space, but the power was palpable.

Draodger’s fist shattered and broke apart, while simultaneously the spaceship split and began to collapse from the inside.

“Ahah, ahahah! With just this much! With mere scrap metal!!”

Minseo deployed a barrier to block it.

She intended to keep charging forward.

Perfect.

I wasn’t planning to just punch her anyway.

CRASH!

I immediately broke through the cockpit and jumped out of Draodger.

Seeing me directly, Minseo seemed momentarily confused and reacted slowly.

I was faster.

“Thank you, Choi Minseo.”

“What—”

“This power I gained is thanks to you.”

“What do you—”

“Envy.”

[INVIDIA]

A technique that could only be used in this moment when I caught her off guard.

My index finger lightly brushed across Minseo’s forehead.

And then.

“—Huh?”

Minseo’s pupils dilated as she blankly opened her mouth.

“How is it? What are you envying in there?”

Minseo, of course, couldn’t answer my question.

I kicked Minseo’s abdomen with all my might and used the recoil to fly in the opposite direction of the spaceship.

After gaining sufficient distance, I canceled the Armageddon form and twisted my body.

The spaceship was splitting apart and collapsing. The fire was dying down, swallowing Minseo’s body deep inside.

Draodger too, due to inertia, continued to drill its fist into the ship.

A spectacular sight, if I may say so.

“Apocalypse.”

[REVELATION]

“White Plague.”

[LUESALBEDO]

I drew out the arrow of light that once made me a hero.

Maximum output.

I feel like I could shoot down even a god.

Without hesitation, I aimed at the target.

The arrow of light shot toward Draodger’s back—

—Flash.

With a grand fireworks display, the Galaxy Empire’s ship began to melt away.

***

The moment Jung Ui-seok’s finger brushed her forehead.

‘Danger. Danger, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger—!!’

Choi Minseo instinctively realized.

This was something that would destroy her mind. Having been addicted to Pestam, she sensed it immediately.

After regaining her senses and becoming a monster, her mind had no gaps because it was filled with love and hatred for Jung Ui-seok.

But just now, she was caught completely off guard.

She had already been severely punished once by Jung Ui-seok, whom she thought she could subjugate by force.

The flames burning hot on her body were proof of that.

So this time, she absorbed all of Dorado’s magical power with the intention of killing Ui-seok for certain.

Ui-seok must have been terrified too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought out his trump card, Draodger.

In reality, he had been riding it as transportation after facing Recter, but she didn’t know that.

When Ui-seok arrived, all he did was hide in the robot and throw punches as usual.

Since that didn’t damage Minseo at all, she was confident in her victory.

But at that moment, Jung Ui-seok appeared.

With his bare body, deliberately breaking out of the robot’s cockpit.

The robot had been a fake from the beginning. Ui-seok had a way to defeat her.

Moreover, he claimed the power was gained thanks to her?

At that moment, Minseo’s confidence turned back into fear, and that technique invaded the gap in her mind.

‘Envy’ did.

“What, what, what?”

Her consciousness fell somewhere.

Her body was there, but her mind fell into an abyss, viewing from a third-person perspective as if watching a TV monitor from afar.

“Where is this, where are you taking me!”

“Ahah, don’t worry.”

Someone answered.

It was her own voice.

“What do you mean? Don’t worry?!”

“From now on, you’re going to a place where you don’t have to envy anyone. Isn’t that great?”

“…Huh? Really?”

“Yes. Ui-seok oppa is such a fool. Sending you to this paradise without even knowing the true effect of Envy. Hahah. Well, your body outside will be killed by Ui-seok oppa, but who cares? You’re going to live a hundred, a thousand times longer than your life outside.”

Minseo somehow felt relieved.

She could be certain that voice was telling only the truth.

“In a world where I don’t have to envy anyone, happily, for a long time… hahah.”

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Even though it was clearly a mental prison, all sensations felt real.

She had already experienced the paradise shown by Pestam.

If she could stay in such a dream without side effects, it would be more than welcome.

The fall stopped.

Minseo opened her eyes with an expectant face.

And.

“…Eh?”

Minseo blinked and rubbed her eyes.

She was in an empty, pure white space.

“…What? Where is it? Where’s the happy world?”

Minseo took a step.

She could hear nothing but her own footsteps.

No smell, no warmth. Just herself in an infinite white space.

“What, what, what?”

Minseo started running. She ran and ran and kept running, but there was only endless white space.

“What’s going on! Lies, you lied to me!! Where is this place?!”

The voice in her head answered.

“I didn’t lie. This is the world you wanted, where everything you envy has been removed.”

“What, what are you saying? What does that mean?!”

Minseo collapsed in a frenzy. She screamed for a long time and scratched her throat, but no more voices came.

“Aah, aaah, aaaaaaah—!!”

Not even allowed to die, all alone in that space.

Minseo’s consciousness disappeared when the spaceship completely exploded and swallowed her body.

From her perspective, it was 27,426 years later.