The Nameless Thing

The sun floated in the sky.

I couldn’t understand what it meant.

I didn’t have time to think about what it was.

Because [End] moved.

[KKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA―!!]

The heads of the [Ends], who had roared in unison as they looked up at the sky, turned towards me.

Immediately, I poured all my strength into both arms.

Crack- Crack- With a sound like the roots of a giant tree being uprooted, the greatsword, held captive by Divine Power, began to tear free.

At this rate, I’ll be too late. More strength.

Thump. I stomped my foot hard to add momentum. I gritted my teeth. I twisted my waist. I felt the blood rushing to my head. The sound of muscles tearing echoed within my body. Finally, the Divine Power entangled around the greatsword was torn away. So, I swung it.

Kwaang―! With a roar that shook the earth, the bodies of the[ Ends] exploded in an instant. The scattered bodies were splattered messily on the ground. Mouths sprouted from the scattered fragments. The mouths opened. They chewed, bit, and swallowed each other.

I tried to completely annihilate the grotesque fragments that were devouring each other, but I couldn’t. Because the attacks of the [Ends], which shouldn’t have been able to penetrate my Divine Realm in the first place, were pouring in. Moreover, for some reason, I felt that I had to block attacks that shouldn’t have been able to penetrate my Divine Realm.

Swallowing a regretful sigh, I swung the greatsword at them once more. I clearly saw the bodies of the [Ends] shattering into pieces with my own eyes. But this time, it didn’t end with just one swing. Gathering momentum, I spun my body around.

The greatsword, accelerated by that spin, was immediately slammed into the ground.

An explosion like a bomb going off. Following that, the fragments of the [Ends] disappeared without a trace. I confirmed their complete annihilation with both my eyes and [Ki sense].

Only then did I turn my back to the fragments of the [Ends] that were devouring their own pieces.

However, there was no need to turn my back completely.

It had already arrived right next to me.

A speed and presence that didn’t match its massive size.

My body flinched at the sight of it approaching without even triggering my instincts, but my reaction wasn’t slow.

My knee, which shot up reflexively, slammed into the [End]’s gaping jaw. The impact caused its head to jerk upwards. I didn’t miss that moment and slammed the hilt of the greatsword into the crown of its head.

Crack, with a feeling like crushing a stone hidden in clay, the giant body collapsed. I arched my back like a bow and gripped the greatsword in reverse. ―Kooong. As it fell, I plunged the greatsword into the location where its spine would have been.

The [End] disappeared, leaving behind a foul stench.

It was weaker than the [Ends] I had seen in Sirin’s memories, but it wasn’t something I could ignore.

No, originally, it felt like nothing much.

After that sun rose, the power of the [Ends] had doubled.

Moreover, Divine Power was even dwelling within their bodies. Complete Divine Power that manipulates time. Of course, I had annihilated the [End]’s body before it could absorb the Divine Power, so it didn’t matter, but if I had been just a little bit slower…

It would have become quite troublesome.

Therefore, I moved without resting for even a moment. Towards the one among those absorbing Divine Power that seemed the most dangerous.

In that way, after annihilating a dozen, no, at least thirty-six more, my greatsword was able to stop for a moment.

“Hoo…”

I calmed my slightly quickened breath and spread out my [Ki sense].

The constantly dividing figures of the [Ends] were drawn, but what I wanted to draw wasn’t them.

A little further. In detail.

The body of the Nameless One is drawn. Not clearly, but vaguely. No matter how much I concentrated my [Ki sense], it didn’t become clearer.

But I could clearly understand one thing.

The appearance is different.

What was sprawled out was the same as before, but the body without arms and legs was completely different from before.

Yes. That appearance was just like.

“…A bug?”

It was like a bug.

Antenna-like legs, rising from the severed cross-sections of its limbs, wriggled incessantly. The mouths that sprouted there chewed on the empty air, swallowing something.

The same was true for the face, which had lost all expression. The voice of ‘Kill’ was heard endlessly, but the shape of the mouth, like the others, was constantly chewing and swallowing something.

The word ‘grotesque’ might have been created after seeing that thing.

…I thought it was like a parasite, but it actually had the appearance of a parasite.

So, what is it chewing and swallowing?

Why is the sun floating in the sky not a black sun?

There’s no need to wonder.

I can just go and check.

I moved my feet.

On the way, I annihilated eleven more [Ends].

They constantly tried to latch onto me from behind and from blind spots, but it was useless. To me, who now found it easier to see with [Ki sense] than with my eyes, it was no different from attacking me head-on.

In that way, I arrived in front of the Nameless One.

Poook.

I slammed the greatsword down, bursting its heart.

Not only that, but I twisted and swung the greatsword, minutely shredding its body without a trace.

I don’t know why I did that, why I had to do that. It was just an instinctive, reflexive action.

I have to kill it painfully.

I have to beat it until it begs for mercy.

I have to cut off everything it tries to do and drive it to despair.

With that thought, I made such a promise with ‘myself’. I even thought that I had to keep it.

So, I was controlling my strength, so I didn’t kill it right away. But I realized that I shouldn’t do that anymore.

Even if I do this, it won’t die. But my instincts, my intuition, told me to act like this.

The reason for that, I soon understood.

A wind blew in the space where there had been no wind.

The scent of fresh sunlight, mixed with the foul stench of the [Ends], tickled my nose.

The footsteps of the [Ends], who had been approaching me with a thump, thump, also stopped. The tentacles that had been reaching out, the gaping jaws, the evil energy and magical power that they exuded, all disappeared.

And.

The Nameless One ‘appeared’.

I clearly pulled out and cut off its arms and legs.

I burst its heart and tore its body into small pieces.

Its body had disappeared without a trace.

It appeared.

I can see it.

What is standing in front of my eyes, I can see it.

Creak- Creak-

Long, extended antennae, things like legs, supported its body and maintained its balance. Things that extended from what seemed to be its shoulders also touched the ground and supported its body.

And the body.

It wasn’t Rubia’s body. The face was the same.

A giant mass.

Mist, smoke.

Color.

It was too blurry to be called a mass.

It had a shape, but it was like mist and smoke.

Yes. Color.

A ‘color’ that seemed to be a tangle of various colors was in front of me.

Soon, from that color, from the legs extending from the color, from the arms, mouths sprouted. Mouths, teeth, tongues, filled in densely without any gaps, constantly moving, chewing something. Swallowing. Licking.

Smacking its lips. Laughing. Muttering.

Moving.

And.

It raised the greatsword.

―――.

Roar. Silence. With an unknown sound, my body was mercilessly slammed into the ground.

What, passed by?

The moment something I couldn’t even sense with my intuition touched me, it became like this.

I got up from my spot, breathing roughly.

I raised the greatsword and watched its movements.

The mouth is still moving. The muttering is still the same. It’s chewing on something, but what is it?

I widened my eyes. I focused my [Ki sense].

Then, I could see it, vaguely.

Divine Power.

Divine Realm.

It’s swallowing its own power.

It’s swallowing the power it stole.

The absorption should be complete, so why?

Is that its true power?

I don’t know.

Even if I knew, nothing would change. Killing it is still the same.

So, I kicked off from my spot.

I was still confident that I could kill it.

Kooong―! I arrived in front of the Nameless One in an instant, and without any hesitation, I swung the greatsword. In the process, the tentacles of the [Ends] became entangled with the greatsword, but they couldn’t stop it.

Along with the tentacles that were torn off powerlessly, my greatsword cut off what seemed to be the Nameless One’s arm. ―Poo-hwak! Black smoke burst out. The smoke touched the sunlight. It absorbs the sunlight. The light of the sun becomes more intense.

And, the arm regenerated.

My body was moved to the place where I had been standing a moment ago. I was briefly surprised by the sudden movement, as if a frame had been cut, but I didn’t stop moving.

If it keeps turning back time, then faster than that, stronger than that. If that still doesn’t work, then I can just destroy its ability entirely.

I’ll get used to it after being hit a few times.

Because that’s how it’s always been.

“Heeup-!”

I regulated my breathing and kicked off from my spot. I cut down the tentacles that were extending into the air and used them as stepping stones to throw my body forward.

Flick- I quickly grabbed a tentacle that was being swung around. My body was dragged along the path it was being swung. A tentacle that extended from the opposite side wrapped around my leg.

It seems like it’s trying to tear my limbs apart.

Does it not know that I’m not letting it go because I can’t cut it off?

Crack, I put strength into my leg and tore off the tentacle. At the same time, I let go of the hand that was holding the tentacle and jumped down. A tentacle shot towards me. I swung the greatsword to change its path. And, after stepping on it very slightly, Kwaang―! Again, I threw my body forward once more.

Having brushed past at least hundreds of [Ends], I arrived in front of the Nameless One in an instant.

The power of time. Divine Power. Its attacks.

Keeping in mind all possible scenarios.

No, with the thought of just smashing everything, I scattered the greatsword.

As expected. On the path where the greatsword was swung, around my body, unknown powers ensnared me.

Of course, it was meaningless.

―Jjeo-jeong! The greatsword, swung ignoring everything, directly hit the Nameless One’s torso, the disorderly mixed colors. Countless cracks formed from that point.

Hundreds of grotesquely extended arms and legs, tentacles, mouths, teeth, tongues. Torn, twisted, distorted, broken, pulled out.

A scene so grotesque that it made me want to vomit.

If it had done this with Rubia’s face and body.

…I stopped imagining it.

Yeah. I did well to follow my instincts.

I cleared away my distractions and swung the greatsword.

Swinging, swinging, swinging.

If it turned back time and moved me far away, I would rush in and cut it.

If it sped up time and pulled me in, I would swing the greatsword in the same way.

If it stopped time, for some reason, I could easily break free. I could just give it strength and it would break.

In that state, no matter what it did, I kept swinging, cutting, stabbing, stepping on, crushing, and grinding.

I focused my [Ki sense], widened my eyes, and poured all my nerves into my intuition.

In that way, the [Ends] that were rushing towards me, the ones that were newly created, the ones that were recreated.

The Nameless One’s arms and legs, mouths, lips, and tongues. When the unpleasant sound of constantly smacking its lips disappeared.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak-squeak.

The Nameless One’s torso split open.

There was the disgusting mouth that I had been cutting at so relentlessly.

I wasn’t just watching.

I was about to swing the greatsword to cut it.

However, I couldn’t swing it.

Pshook- Because two tentacles, shaped like tongues, were shot out from inside the mouth. Clicking my tongue, I brought the greatsword, which I had been swinging, in front of my body to use as a shield.

There was no impact.

The tentacles weren’t extended towards me.

The place they were aimed at was the ground. And the sky.

The tentacles, which had changed direction at a right angle in the middle of heading towards me, pierced the bottom of the Divine Realm it boasted about and wriggled.

I didn’t know what it was doing, but I swung the greatsword at it. I cut it cleanly, but what was stuck in the ground continued to wriggle.

I turned my eyes to look at what had been shot into the sky. I cut it in the same way.

Then, Chwa-rak- Splattering unpleasant liquid, it was pulled upwards from the cut part towards the sky.

Where is it heading? I couldn’t see its trajectory with my eyes.

With no choice, I focused my eyes and intuition on the Nameless One, and widened my [Ki sense] to look at the direction the tentacles were heading.

The tentacles that had extended into the sky were falling towards the ground. The tentacles that had dug into the ground were heading towards my back.

The place where they are arriving is.

Rubia.

[Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late? Is it too late?]

The Nameless One’s voice, the emotionless laughter, filled the Divine Realm.

Ignoring it, I ran towards Rubia.

Time turned back. I ran.

Time turned back. I ran.

I cut off the tentacles that were grabbing at my ankles.

I smashed the storm of Divine Power that was rushing in from behind.

I ignored the scratches that were appearing on my body. I ran, blocking only the vital points.

Time turned back. I ran.

Time, kept, turning back.

I kept running.

But, at this speed, I’ll definitely be too late.

I bit my lip.

I raised the greatsword in my hand above my head.

I counted the numbers in my head.

One, two.

Three.

Too-Kwaang!

I threw the greatsword.

Tearing through the air, breaking through the wall of wind, the greatsword, moving at a fast speed, was embedded at Rubia’s feet.

The impact caused Rubia’s body to float into the air.

The tentacles that had risen from the ground collapsed.

But.

The tentacles that fell from the sky.

Pook- Were embedded in Rubia’s thigh.

Blood spurted from her soft thigh.

Bright red blood was scattered in the pure white Divine Realm.

The Divine Realm swallowed it. Absorbed it.

The light of the sun floating in the sky becomes more intense.

The Nameless One’s presence becomes even greater.

Soon, I arrived in front of Rubia.

I pulled her into my arms.

[Hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.hee.]

Emotionless laughter. No, just a sound that seemed to pronounce the sound of that laughter.

The tentacles embedded in Rubia’s thigh trembled as if it felt good, sucking her blood.

I grabbed those tentacles. Thorns sprouted and tore apart the skin of my hand, but I didn’t let go and tore them off.

I shook off the blood flowing from my hand and carefully put down Rubia, who I had been holding in my arms.

I grabbed the greatsword that had fallen next to me.

I got up from my spot.

The sunlight is warm.

The scent of the Divine Realm, where the [Ends] have disappeared, is refreshing.

The appearance of the Divine Realm, which might even be considered sacred.

In the center of that, the Nameless One is still imitating the sound of laughter.

The tentacles sprawled on the ground are still wriggling, saying that they feel good.

I, who saw those things.

Abandoned the thought of winning.

“…Ha.”

Then, laughter came out.

“Yeah.”

An unfamiliar voice.

Listening to that voice, power, emotions.

I poured out everything I had been holding back until now.

“Let’s just, kill it.”

Crimson killing intent erased the light.