Chapter 1129
Episode 258: The Predator of All Dimensions (19)
His heart was pounding. Truthfully, it was less a matter of speculation and more a desperate hope that things were as he wished.
Jin kept turning his head, scanning his surroundings just in case. Yet, time on the battlefield still refused to flow. Only he, ascending the stairs, and the pulsing magic and chaotic currents within Laprarosa were in motion.
He pulled Valeria close. His cheeks grew wet again. The Valeria from another world had surely endured countless agonizing days, just like the one cradled in his arms. To bring about this situation, she must have forgotten, lost, and sacrificed so much.
“Valeria… When I first learned about the multiverse, I wanted to tell you my secret. I… I died once. I died in Akin in 1808, then returned to September 9, 1780—the day I was born. But today, I think I’m crying even more than I did back then, when I was just a newborn.”
His breath was ragged, his words slow, and his gaze kept dropping downward.
The ground below seemed distant and faint. Normally, he might have slipped or fallen, but it wouldn’t have been fatal. Now, death was a very real possibility.
Suddenly, fear surged through him. Not fear of death itself, but the terror that everything could vanish in an instant. For the first time, hope flickered close enough to touch.
“Huff… haah…!”
He was nearly at the top of the stairs. Jin looked up at the lower part of Laprarosa, glowing as if it might spill down instead of the sky.
A dozen auxiliary entrances were open. Dragons carrying the wounded, people preparing to support the surface, enemies waiting for a chance to infiltrate, and the Ielo and magic knight units ready to descend—all swarmed around the entrances and the nearby airspace.
Jin took the stairs leading to the entrance that connected deepest to the bridge and stepped inside. Even the non-combat crew, frozen like statues, wore desperate expressions.
“I don’t know exactly why I returned. It must be connected to Solderet… but did he know everything? Did he foresee this? I hope so. That after this horrific battle, there’s a future where salvation is already set. I’m just a pawn to make that happen.”
A predetermined fate.
Jin had transcended fate countless times to ascend to Changseong, and even before that, he always believed that human will and fighting spirit were stronger than destiny. No transcendent being could dare to control or toy with the fate of people or the world.
But now, for the first time, he wished that might be true. Better that than the entire dimension sinking into Keliak’s greed.
Yet, just seconds later, rage welled up inside him.
“Looks like I’m struggling. I’ve been spouting nonsense. Solderet… he brought me back to life only to throw me into this filthy, brutal fate? We fought so fiercely, built a force unlike any other, and in the end, we all got crushed by that one bastard Keliak. And now, without your help, I’m powerless? Damn it!”
Gripping the corridor wall, he dragged his heavy body forward, shouting in fury.
His anger was aimed at Solderet, at the world, and at himself.
“Quit dawdling, you bastard! Let’s move. Laprarosa is huge. We have to move faster.”
This was a colossal airborne fortress. Climbing a few stairs and passing some corridors was just the beginning.
He wanted to lighten his load. But he couldn’t abandon Valeria—not even if she were dead. Jin glanced at his left arm, which hadn’t moved since earlier.
Suddenly, a strange thought crossed his mind: why was he still carrying this thing in this situation?
“Ugh!”
He simply grabbed it with his right hand and applied a little force. The left arm snapped off like rotten wood breaking. A gush of black blood poured out, and a fierce dizziness hit him.
Steeling himself, he cast a sealing magic to stop the bleeding. His body felt noticeably lighter. Since he’d lost sensation, he felt no pain—it was as if he’d removed a poison rather than an arm. The Keliak magic lingering in that limb was nothing less than a deadly toxin. But the chaos of battle had kept him from even noticing.
“Ha… I was so caught up in that damn fate nonsense that I only just thought of this. Maybe my head’s finally clearing.”
Straightening his back, Jin fixed his gaze ahead. He felt like he could run. Without looking at the blackened arm lying on the floor, he sprinted down the corridor.
With that arm gone, one worry lessened.
Secretly, Jin had been concerned about what would happen after Ameris and Rokia finished their work. He was too weak to even walk properly, making it the perfect moment for Rokia to strike from behind.
But now, even if that happened, he felt he could fight back.
“No matter what happens, I’ll keep the legacy. I’ll finish him and return. Even if only the survivors make it back, they’ll remember. Who was here today, what happened, and who stood with us.”
The power of regeneration.
As he ran again, Jin recalled the power he gained upon reaching Changseong.
On this battlefield, it was no longer a power unique to him. Since Linpa’s death, all the allied forces resonated with the power of regeneration, sending brilliant waves of light across the entire front.
—The deaths along your path are not your responsibility. They belong to the one who made you this way. But when you reach the end of that path… perhaps you won’t be crushed by so many deaths. There must be a reason you gained the power of regeneration the moment you became Changseong.
Maybe it was because of those words left by Ayula.
For some time, Jin had harbored a vague hope in the power of regeneration. Whenever a great war broke out, like in the Holy Kingdom, the power of regeneration always left a shining mark on the battlefield.
Perhaps those lights rising above death with the power of regeneration might one day bring them back to life.
Even while fighting the Demon God Army, Jin held onto that faint hope. He had no choice. The thought that those who fell behind him, the comrades he couldn’t save, would never return was maddening.
But the light of regeneration, which had never been extinguished in any battle until now, was swallowed by the Red Sea and vanished.
No one would be able to revive them. So all Jin could do was defeat the enemy, survive, and remember them.
To remember, to long for, to strive not to forget, and to love.
Far ahead, the bridge entrance came into view. Inside, Luet, Feitel, and the crew stared beyond the bridge. Both those fighting outside and those supporting inside wore desperate looks.
The workshop where the curse was being lifted connected directly to the bridge. The constant flow of crew members checking the situation had frozen in place, making it easy to find.
The closer he got to the workshop, the more the scene changed drastically. Ice spikes jutted out along the entire corridor like frozen spears. Yet, there was no chill in the air. Jin fixed his gaze on the back of Talaris at the corridor’s end and dashed forward. Magic and spiritual energy were surging wildly just beyond the door.
“Lord Talaris, you’re still burdening yourself until the very end. Looking back, I feel like I’ve returned to the world with nothing but debts I can never repay. Hoo… haah…”
Jin pressed his ear to the workshop door, leaning against it. Inside, magic and spiritual energy roared like a trapped storm.
“Ameris!”
Bang! Bang! He knocked, but no response came from within. He tried again, then sank down, hesitating.
“Lord Ameris and Rokia don’t seem to realize time has stopped for everyone but us, Lord Talaris. Well, they must be that focused. They have to break the curse as soon as possible. I shouldn’t disturb them, but I got a little foolish for a moment.”
Jin adjusted Valeria’s position, cradling her like a child.
Suddenly, darkness clouded his vision.
“…Ugh!”
He lost consciousness. Jin snapped his eyes open, gripping his sword and scanning the area. Only two seconds had passed, and nothing had happened.
Wiping cold sweat from his brow, he leaned back against the wall. The tremors caused by Ameris and Rokia behind the wall were still palpable.
“Having Lord Talaris nearby seems to have eased their tension. But… Lord Talaris, may I rest my eyes for a moment? If Rokia decides to act differently, I’ll have to strike. The curse still needs time to be lifted, and there could be more fighting in the legacy. I need to recover my strength, even if just briefly…”
His eyes closed. As his head drooped, Valeria’s cheek touched his face. Cold and hard, with no warmth left, yet Jin thought it felt warm and slipped into sleep. It wasn’t an illusion of comfort—just how it felt.
“Jin!? Jin! When did you get here? Are you awake? Look at me! Your arm—why are you here like this…? Priest! Call a priest!”
He opened his eyes a minute later.
The frozen world was moving again. Talaris shouted with a face and voice aged beyond recognition.
“This child… Valeria? Snap out of it! No, breathe… ha, hurry…!”
“Lord Talaris.”
Jin calmly grasped Talaris’s arm resting on his shoulder. Talaris stopped speaking and met his gaze.
“Lord Talaris, has the curse been completely lifted?”
Thalaris had been fully focused on maintaining the seal the entire time and had only just opened her eyes. Since she had just awakened, she had no knowledge of what had transpired over the past twelve hours.
Still, Thalaris thought to herself that there had to be a good reason why Jin—who had suffered severe internal injuries and lost his left arm—and the deceased Valeria were here together.
“…Yes, it just ended. The magic and life energy completely stopped moving. That’s why we lifted the seal.”
With a clatter, the door to the workshop slid open. Steam, formed from the neutralization of magic and life energy, poured out as Ameris and Lokia stepped inside.