Chapter 414

Chapter 414

Chapter 75 EPILOGUE (1)

Three years had passed since the war ended.

The summer, with its full-blown heat, was surprisingly calm.

Last year, there had been wildfires, typhoons, and floods causing chaos.

But this summer was exceptionally peaceful, unlike anything before.

The effects of the magical array had already begun to show.

“It’s a miracle!”

“The disasters are over!”

“Blessings to Biharin!”

Countries around the world expressed gratitude to the Biharin government and the Mage Association, sending gifts expressing friendship and goodwill.

Of course, if carbon emissions continued, the climate crisis would begin again.

But the world celebrated the immediate relief, enjoying a peaceful summer.

Even the man strolling the streets to enjoy the cool evening air felt the joy.

Holding an ice cream, he walked leisurely, his gaze fixed on his phone.

Photos of Hyunwoo taken by paparazzi decorated social media.

Pictures of him walking the streets with an infant Beastfolk in his arms, holding hands with Rashar, waited to pick up Berta from school, or seen eating in a restaurant, captured behind glass.

There were numerous photos like these.

And most of them featured him with the Beastfolk children.

After dinner, the man went to the park for a walk and sat on a bench, scrolling through the photos.

Swipe, swipe.

“Isn’t this like adoption already…?”

Ever since Hyunwoo’s return, he was often seen caring for Beastfolk children.

The most frequently seen was Valenora, the youngest of the Beastfolk.

It was more like living with them rather than just caring for them.

Every time paparazzi or fans shared sightings of him, he always seemed to have them with him.

“Still, I haven’t seen that white one since last year.”

That child was adorably cute, just like the other Beastfolk children.

Just as he thought about searching for old photos, there was a flash.

Out of nowhere, lightning crackled across the sky.

Golden, but at first glance looked almost white.

There was no sound, but its presence was unmistakable.

It was even more visible as night had fallen in South Korea.

“Again…”

Such events continued to occur from time to time, even after the war had ended.

The curious thing was that this lightning was observed simultaneously worldwide.

Experts insisted that there couldn’t be a natural phenomenon observed simultaneously across the globe.

This lightning, too, suggested it was a supernatural occurrence, similar to those during the war.

It had already become an established fact that Hyunwoo was behind these occurrences.

It made sense.

Golden lightning was his symbol.

The man believed, like many others, that it had a direct connection to Hyunwoo.

Though he didn’t exactly know what was happening.

Different media outlets and organizations had tried to interview Hyunwoo about it.

But none received a clear answer.

Hyunwoo had never explicitly stated his position.

The Player Association, scheduled for dissolution next month, also officially stated they knew nothing.

“What on earth is happening there?”

The man gazed intently at the sky.

As he fixed his gaze, more and more bursts of lightning appeared briefly, then vanished.

Seeing the phenomenon continuing for some time, he suddenly had a thought.

“Is K still fighting a war we don’t know about?”

He remembered the era when golden lightning and black light had ravaged the entire world.

How could one forget such an intense clash of power?

What reason could there be for that threatening power to be needed again?

“If that’s indeed the case.”

How much of his sacrifice laid under this peace?

And how would they repay that?

The man felt a tightness in his chest and rubbed his face vigorously.

* * *

While the unnamed man was lost in complex thoughts, Hyunwoo was indeed in combat.

“What a persistent creature.”

With a click of his tongue, blue feathers fluttered around him.

Over two meters tall, with wings on its back.

And a sharp beak and talons.

Its eyes nearly vanished, turning blood red.

The god of another world seemed to have lost its mind and was only aggressive.

– Screech!

With a high-pitched scream, it flew swiftly towards Hyunwoo.

Simultaneously, fierce winds rose from all sides.

These were not ordinary winds.

They were wild, as if intent on tearing, scratching, and shredding everything in their path.

The eerie will within seemed strong enough to pierce through anything.

And golden lightning entwined over the winds.

As if bending wills and canceling forces.

The lightning chased and tangled with each strand of wind, raging wildly.

When finally, the winds began to crumble.

– Screech!

With widely opened eyes, divinity erupted from the god’s body.

Specks of light blue were visible, but overall it was dyed black.

It came close enough to swallow Hyunwoo whole.

But its power failed to penetrate the divine barrier surrounding Hyunwoo.

Boom-!

Boom boom, boom!

In the face of fierce violence that refused to yield, Hyunwoo’s expression remained unchanged.

He merely sought a way to overcome this situation and achieve victory.

Around Hyunwoo, golden javelins began to take sharp shape.

They were divine spears for long-range attacks.

Unlike the past, destructive puppeteers now surrounded the crystallizing divinity.

This indicated that Hyunwoo’s ability to handle divinity had improved significantly.

With a flash, one of the spears cut across the air.

– Screee!

It mercilessly pierced the nameless god’s wings and legs.

However, the creature’s authority, acting as a shield, prevented any severe damage.

“When you keep fiddling from far away…”

Grumbling, Hyunwoo murmured softly, slightly creasing his brows.

“I either need Kerax to recover quickly, or I need a spear that withstands divinity… it’s frustrating.”

He then extended his hand, making golden divinity swell in the air before him.

Crackle, crackle.

Divinity shaped itself in real-time within the air, taking the form of a spear longer and more robust than usual.

Holding it, Hyunwoo leaped.

The nameless god, with its nearly severed wing, charged at him.

Clang-!

When the divine spear collided with the sharp talons, causality rang out loudly.

Clang!

Crack!

Boom!

Repetitive clashes followed.

– Squee!

The screams were only from the nameless god.

Each time the already blackened blood splattered, more and more blue feathers flew out wildly.

After dozens of clashes, when the shell housing its god and divinity was exposed to the puppet, twisted divinity once thought to be light blue, yet now corrupted black, erupted violently.

In response, Hyunwoo’s puppet also converged, emitting a blindingly strong light.

Silent bursts of light tangled together in a power struggle.

There was a shadow swiftly navigating through the chaotic clash of powers.

Hyunwoo, clad in crystallized divine armor, advanced.

With a thud, his lower body, firmly rooted on the ground, held steady.

Squeezing the muscles in the familiar way, he thrust the spear in his hand.

Swish.

A light but sharp sound cut through the wind.

The golden divine spear pierced through the nameless god’s abdomen.

Splurt-!

As black blood erupted, untamed corrupt divinity spewed out madly.

The puppet, seizing its target, began to destroy everything it could.

– Screee! Screech!

The despaired shriek suggested imminent annihilation, filling the hollow space across causality.

A final, fierce authority whirlwind targeted Hyunwoo.’

Such a fierce cry was strong enough to penetrate the divine shield he wore like armor; red blood scattered in the rough wind.

But that was all.

Pzzz.

Like a deflated balloon, the power of the nameless god began to fade slowly yet distinctly.

Eventually, it vanished, not leaving even a trace, along with its god as the master of the wind.

Unlike the still vibrant lightning, it disappeared helplessly into history.

Finally, Hyunwoo retrieved the spear he had extended and flicked off the black blood.

The spear, which had adorned the final moments of the nameless god, dissolved like smoke, leaving no form.

Thus, the “Vanguard” had yet again defended Earth from another invasion.

* * *

After eliminating a new unclassified threat.

“Tch, why couldn’t it Die gracefully if it was bound to Die anyway.”

I checked my bleeding side.

It was a mindless creature, merely rushing in without distinguishing front from back.

“But its capability wasn’t something to disregard.”

Its authority and divinity were quite threatening.

Among those who came after destroying Ombi, it possessed one of the top powers encountered.

Its last fierce struggle, especially before dying, was impressive.

It had even been a while since I last saw my own blood.

Seeing the flowing blood and my soaked side left me chuckling bitterly.

“Injury, huh.”

The memories of those intense battlefields felt vivid.

Such injury didn’t realistically affect me significantly.

To annihilate me, one needed to destroy my status and divinity, not my body.

However, since I replicated all senses, I still felt pain.

To ensure this, I constructed my nervous system and all bodily organs identical to a human’s.

Clicking my tongue, I started reconstructing my body.

Reforming the biological tissues wasn’t easy.

When all was finished, more time had passed than anticipated.

Having erased both the injury and traces of blood, I lifted my hand to verify my puppet.

“Even during combat, I felt it, and indeed, it’s faint.”

Compared to the past, the lighter golden lightning leisurely drifted across my palm.

It felt more like platinum than Gold now.

“Could it be the accumulated record of protecting Earth transformed my status?”

Originally, most of my status consisted of what the gods of Bihar amassed.

“Especially from Karlos.”

Thus, my divinity was golden rather than the Earth’s white.

But the color was gradually fading.

Perhaps when my status accumulates enough from Earth to cover Biharin’s, it would completely turn white.

It was unusual that the color of my puppet or divinity was changing.

Still, it didn’t alter my authority.

I had already confirmed with the Damned System, so there was no need for further concern.

Brushing away thoughts about my noticeably changing divinity, I refocused.

Today was a rare day planned solely for a date with Rashar.

Thanks to Berta and Valenora visiting their mother’s house, I had gained this precious time after several weeks.

“If I delay any longer, I might be late, so I should move now.”

Having repeatedly checked no blood traces remained, I manifested in the material world.

Arriving hastily at Rashar’s apartment, I flinched, freezing in place.

I stood face-to-face with a woman in a smartly tailored suit standing in the center of the living room.

She resembled Rashar but was evidently older.

I could guess her identity just by seeing her silver-gray eyes and blue hair.

“To think I’d see an outside man where my sister lives.”

It was Rashar’s only sibling, charlotte, heir to the Bennett family.

Damned System.

New Elements and Characters:

한국 = South Korea(it)

비하르 = Biharin(it)

현우 = Hyunwoo(he)

벨타 = Berta(she)

라샤르 = Rashar(she)

벨레노라 = Valenora(she)

벤 백무 = Beastfolk(they)

케락스 = Kerax(it)

샬롯 = Charlotte(she)