Chapter 1114
Episode 258: The Predator of All Dimensions (4)
“I can do this.”
Though she said the words, Valeria wasn’t truly certain. Yet she couldn’t just stand by.
For the first time in her life, her comrades—those she had come to care for—were dying by the second, senselessly. The Changsung, and the one she loved, bore the heaviest pain on the front lines.
As the alliance’s sole record mage, and the only Hister of the 677th dimension, she had to find something she could do.
Gipple, history manipulation, distortion.
Only a Hister could be called their natural predator.
Though she hadn’t yet found all the legacy sites and wasn’t complete, the enemy had already transcended perfection.
Still, there had to be something she could do.
There had to be.
Otherwise, there was no reason she was born a Hister. No reason she had endured such crushing despair, loneliness, and responsibility.
“Ugh… For my brothers, my comrades, for the world… I don’t regret this life, Valeria.”
With a thud, Beliz collapsed, lowering Valeria from her back.
“Beliz…!”
Tears streamed down Valeria’s face as she embraced Beliz’s neck. With her last strength, Beliz raised a hand to wipe away those tears.
“So don’t cry—not with your eyes, not with your heart. And live. Protect those who remain…”
Beliz’s hand fell cold and lifeless. She had been impaled by Keliak’s spear right in the heart of the battlefield, nearly a thousand steps before reaching the Changsung’s front.
Bando, Jindo.
Valeria didn’t scream Beliz’s name in anguish. She held back, over and over, because on this battlefield, if she let grief consume her even for a moment, she wouldn’t survive. Any distraction would make Beliz’s death meaningless.
Instead, Ban covered Jin, and Jin took a position beside Valeria.
There was no time to call each other’s names. From then on, Jin protected Valeria, trying to close the distance to Luna, while Keliak rained magic upon them, clearly annoyed.
“Valeria Hister… So, I had forgotten you. Hahaha, it seems emotions exist in this world after all. Seeing you cry like that is… refreshing.”
“Ban and I will block all spears and beams. Go to Luna!”
Spears plunged endlessly, magic from the light and dark realms, pillars of death erasing existence.
This time, Jin carried Valeria as he ran. He felt her tears on the back of his neck. But by the time they reached Luna, she was no longer crying.
Because they had to fight.
While being carried, Valeria already scanned the records. She got off Jin’s back and checked Luna’s wound.
Could she heal it?
Could she undo the twisted reality Keliak forced? Could she stop Luna from being erased from this world?
She nodded.
“Lady Luna, I can fix this. Focus on the battle again. But if you fall too deeply under the dark realm’s magic, I won’t be able to reverse it.”
“That’s enough.”
Luna met Valeria’s gaze once more, then wrapped the crimson banner around Krantel again.
As Valeria closed her eyes and began to emit the blue magic unique to record mages, the wound’s progression visibly slowed.
“Protect me, Jin.”
“Of course.”
“And sorry… I can’t fix your shoulder.”
Only King Lani could heal Jin’s shoulder—and even then, time was running out.
“One arm doesn’t matter. I’m fine. Focus. I will protect you, no matter what.”
Jin wrapped his life energy around Bradamante.
‘Keliak Gipple… Seeing him again, it’s laughable to think he can still be called human.’
They had to protect people.
Those they loved, their comrades, those who trusted them. Obtaining the last legacy of Solderet was never a choice.
Even without that, they had to protect.
‘A life that can’t protect anything isn’t why I came back. I’ll prove it, Keliak Gipple. No matter how many worlds you conquer, there’s only this one place where I stand.’
Why had he turned back time?
For moments like this.
To protect this world, where those he loved lived.
For the first time since his return, Jin realized the long-held question in his heart was finally answered. The people whose lives changed because of his return—the living and the dead, the suffering and the blessed.
They would have all been devoured by that monster eventually.
Nothing would have remained. Not a single person, beast, or blade of grass. So to leave something behind in this world, Jin had come back.
The price was sorrow.
A sorrow that would never come again.
Even as Jin focused all his mind and senses on defending against Keliak’s attacks, he could hear the voices of comrades dying behind him and the Changsung.
Like the wind that couldn’t be avoided, their final words carried through.
Vanessa, rest in peace.
Sir Zed!
Fall back! Leave them behind!
Black King’s Order, hear me! Even if we die, send one more comrade to Laprarosa!
Lord Owl…? H-Hey… You’re not dead, right?
Oh, Yona. So you can make that face too. That’s enough for me…
Their voices had to be carried on the wind. Even if the last cries of those who risked their lives for the world faded further away.
If they could just hold on and reach the legacy, this might be the last time. To face the inevitable sorrow of being human, to writhe in pain.
So even if the words couldn’t be kept, they had to be said. Even if they couldn’t protect them, they had to say they would. Jin stood before Valeria, determined.
“Ugh!”
Magic of light and darkness struck his already battered body. Jin gritted his teeth as his whole body trembled.
Keliak was strong.
He blocked Siron and Ban’s sight, relentlessly targeting Valeria even as he endured the Changsung’s combined attacks.
“Ugh!”
Blocking the light realm’s magic left Jin dazed; blocking the dark realm’s magic erased parts of his body.
Then Valeria grasped the manipulated records with her blue magic, reshaping Jin’s body. If a shoulder vanished, she restored it; if an arm disappeared, she found it; if a leg was gone, she brought it back; if his heart was lost, she found that too.
The more she did, the stronger Keliak’s power grew, his face cold and indifferent.
‘Jin Runcandel is definitely special. But seeing him in person isn’t as shocking as Siron Runcandel. Without them, it wouldn’t be surprising if he fell at any moment… Wait, what’s that?’
Keliak’s pupils widened. A perfect energy was surging across the battlefield, so intense it almost fooled even him.
Golden light, shining like stars.
Though the battlefield was thick with the rain of light and dark magic, golden energy was spreading within it.
And it was rapidly expanding. Even Siron or Ban’s swords couldn’t push back Keliak’s magic at this speed. At least, not as far as Keliak knew.
‘…It’s the power of regeneration.’
The golden energy blossoming like flowers was the regenerative power Jin gained upon reaching the Changsung.
He had seen it before—not for the first time facing an enemy wielding regeneration during his conquest of all dimensions.
But nothing as perfect and vast as this. Keliak smiled as if he’d found an unexpected treasure.
“That power belongs to me, Jin Runcandel. One more reason to kill you.”
Sssshh—!
A white spear fell from the sky, grazing Jin’s right cheek. Valeria flinched, momentarily losing focus.
‘Aging…!’
Keliak shifted his attack.
Siron and Ban were there to prevent reckless trampling, and Valeria’s abilities were gradually blocking his attempts to erase existence through manipulation and distortion.
Keliak still had many cards left. His next was ‘time.’
“I haven’t yet fully grasped time myself. Can you handle this, Valeria Hister of the 677th dimension?”
Starting from the white spear’s graze on Jin’s cheek, his face rapidly aged.
Wrinkles deepened, skin sagged. Even his muscles, once harder than steel despite the fierce battle, shriveled. In an instant, Jin became an old man.
‘I can’t handle the aging spreading to Jin and the others alone. I need Quikantel’s help!’
Leuet was reading the battlefield and had already sent Quikantel toward the Changsung. But Keliak had anticipated this and prepared two countermeasures.
Of course, Quikantel’s power and authority posed no real threat to Keliak.
But even a single piece of firewood thrown into a raging blaze can matter. If it’s easy to cut down, why not?
First, he summoned a heavier rain to block Quikantel’s path. Second, even if she broke through with help, he intended to crush her hope.
“Come out, Olta. Your paw dares to try a miracle? A silver dragon who’s never shone in any world.”
Zuuuuushhh—!
Keliak waved his hand, opening more dimensional gates before him. From one emerged the being who forged Quikantel.
The god of time, Olta from another dimension. The moment Quikantel sensed his power, she stopped flapping her wings and looked up at Olta.
[Ah…]
Even though they exist in different dimensions, they cannot be called different gods. At least from Quicantel’s perspective, they are exactly the same being. Even after falling under Keliak’s control and no longer deserving the title of god.
“What should I do, Lord Keliak?” Olta asked, bowing his head.
Keliak replied coldly, “Reclaim the lives of your minions, and find your contractor—tear them apart.”