Episode 1132
Chapter 259: The Truth of the World, Your Truth, My Truth (Part 1)
[Hey, kid!]
Murakan shouted, spewing black blood. While piercing a hole in the sea with his breath, dozens of beams of light had stabbed into him.
There was no time to ask if he was okay, nor even to glance back at Murakan.
Kelliac was regaining his senses, and more precise, ruthless attacks were about to begin.
How many had died searching for that mysterious black barrier? Jin gritted his teeth and threw himself forward.
“Please!”
“Where do you think you’re going…!”
Just before Jin reached Anbae, Kelliac’s eyes snapped open, pinpointing his exact location.
He aimed and unleashed a beam of light, sealing the crack in the sea.
He even transformed the seawater around Jin into sharp, solid matter.
Light and crimson blades descended, stabbing and slashing Jin’s body.
Some blades pierced deep enough to reach his bones and organs.
But in the end, Jin disappeared inside the black barrier, still breathing.
“Hah.”
Kelliac let out a low sigh. Meanwhile, Murakan, despite his wings being shredded, grinned broadly.
[What can you do, Kelliac Ziple? Should’ve paid more attention to us instead of that kid. Then I wouldn’t have been able to slip past your disgusting desires and help the kid like this.]
Kelliac didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on the crimson sea where Jin had vanished.
Just as Murakan said, Kelliac hadn’t realized that his obsession with Jin had weakened the power of the crimson sea.
His fixation had ruined everything.
If he had truly crushed his enemies with the calm confidence befitting a sole god, this absurd situation wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Suddenly, Kelliac appeared right in front of Murakan, where Jin had disappeared.
Teleporting instantly, he ignored Murakan’s attempt to create distance and looked down at the sea.
With a casual wave of his hand, the sea split open on both sides, revealing the black barrier once more.
The last legacy of Solderet, Kelliac ruthlessly unleashed a pillar of light onto it.
But the barrier only rippled like water, showing no sign of breaking.
Even when he descended to enter it directly, there was no reaction.
After a moment, the barrier blurred and seemed to dissolve into the space itself.
No matter how keenly he tried to sense, there was nothing to detect. Jin could no longer be tracked.
That’s your limit, Kelliac thought, quietly recalling what Jin had just said, as he reached out his hand above the water.
From beneath the sea, a pure white staff shot up and wrapped around his hand.
The demon stone had just finished restoring itself.
“…So, today is the day I get made a fool of multiple times. But from now on, none of you will be able to remember that a man named Jin Runkandel ever existed in this world.”
“Ugh…”
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Jin recalled the recent memories.
The moment he swung Barisada to cut through the barrier.
At that exact moment, Kelliac’s light and the sharply solidified crimson seawater had pierced him, nearly knocking him unconscious.
A hole the size of a thumbnail was torn in his right ankle, and chunks of flesh and bone were ripped from both sides of his ribs.
Countless other less severe puncture wounds, cuts, and slashes covered him.
Staggering, he forced himself upright.
Jin gripped his sword tightly and scanned his surroundings.
This place… is it the last legacy left by Solderet?
It was pitch dark.
Not a single speck of light, not even enough to see an inch ahead.
He conjured a small flame in his palm to illuminate the area, but all he saw was his own shadow.
Drip, drip…
Drops of blood fell from his body, soaking into the ground.
The floor was as hard as rock, yet no trace remained.
He had encountered this kind of pocket dimension several times before.
Jin began limping forward.
Time was critical.
Though time likely flowed differently here than outside, he had to gain strength and return as quickly as possible.
Power.
The reason he came here, the reason so many had sacrificed themselves.
—It’s not spiritual energy or demonic energy, but a higher-dimensional power… isn’t it, Divine Brothers?
—The youngest wouldn’t be talking nonsense… so that’s good news. If you get that power, you’ll become stronger, right?
He remembered the moment he first found the entrance to the legacy.
That day, he had encountered a power superior to spiritual energy, emanating from the barrier surrounding the legacy.
A black energy that defied naming.
If he could grasp it, he might become the “sole god” Kelliac spoke of.
The darkness filling the space around him now was that very energy.
Five days ago, just facing this darkness had terrified him, almost making him lose his humanity.
Now, he only felt desperate.
He wanted to gain that black power as soon as possible, go outside, and defeat Kelliac.
He wanted revenge—for the people, for the world.
“Hah, hah…”
His body grew heavier as the bleeding worsened.
No more spiritual energy flowed from Temar’s left arm.
“Valeria, Solderet…!”
Jin shouted.
Just as he feared he might collapse wandering inside the legacy, a faint light appeared ahead.
A lonely blue glow, like a solitary star in a cloudy night—undeniably the magic of Hister.
“Valeria!”
Was she not hearing him? Or was he mistaken?
His heart raced as he called out repeatedly, moving toward the light.
It wasn’t an illusion. The light grew closer with every step.
In the vast emptiness, a beacon appeared.
Enduring the pain and dizziness was nothing compared to what awaited outside.
‘Just like when I rescued Sister Runtia from the Phantom God’s pocket dimension, Valeria is guiding me…!’
But then Jin realized the light wasn’t just a record window.
It was Valeria.
She lay collapsed on the ground, clutching the blue light.
“…Valeria!? Valeria, stay with me!”
This was Valeria Hister from another world—undeniably her.
She had helped the alliance navigate the Star Fortress of the Demon Realm and had stopped time to save Jin’s life when Kelliac began awakening the power of the Sun God.
Without her, Jin wouldn’t be here now.
He instinctively knew the reason she lay here was the price she paid for all those deeds.
His heart sank.
Jin hurriedly examined her.
Her wounds were deeper and more severe than his own.
“Ugh… ugh… Ji, Jin…”
Her injuries were grave, so he thought not to speak for now and to find help.
But in this bleak, desolate space, it was just the two of them.
No one could come to their aid.
What should he say then?
Should he ask what happened? Thank her? Apologize? Or ask how to harness the power of the legacy since her breath was faltering?
He didn’t know.
But Valeria was different.
“Really… it’s you. Thank goodness… I’ll take some of your magic…”
Her cold palm touched Jin’s chest.
He felt his magic slowly drain into her hand as he gently stroked her hair.
They stayed like that for a long while.
After absorbing the magic, Valeria’s breathing eased somewhat.
But she was far from healed.
“Phew… I think I can talk now.”
She slowly lifted her upper body and met Jin’s gaze.
Her eyes didn’t blink; she stared at him intently.
As if trying to imprint him into her very soul.
It felt strange.
Jin had entrusted Valeria’s corpse to Luet and come here.
Yet this familiar face was looking at him.
In some ways, her gaze felt even closer than the dead Valeria’s.
“You must have a lot of questions.”
“Yes…”
“I’ll tell you as we go. This is just the entrance to the legacy. To gain Solderet’s power, you have to reach the end.”
Jin nodded and hoisted her onto his back.
Though she had regained some strength from absorbing his magic, she couldn’t walk on her own.
Their wounds touched as they moved.
Some wounds worsened, others aligned perfectly, stopping the bleeding.
He could feel the blood flowing between their bodies.
“Go in that direction.”
Jin started walking toward where Valeria’s finger pointed.
His own wounds were deep, so he couldn’t move quickly.
If he rushed, Valeria might not hold on.
“I never thought I’d see you in Solderet’s legacy.”
“This future was designed by him and me. Rokia helped create the pocket dimension, but that’s all. She didn’t share Solderet’s vision.”
“Designed?” Jin’s brow furrowed.
“…Valeria, did you know I would come here?”
“To some extent.”
“Then you and Solderet knew from the start that the world would ultimately be destroyed by Kelliac Ziple and the Demon Realm?”
“Not even Az Mil’s foresight, Olta’s time manipulation, the witch and Solderet’s powers, Kinzel’s authority, or the demon stone can read the future perfectly. No matter how great the power, the future is like a towering mountain.”
“A towering mountain?”
“Yeah. When you look at a river up close, you can’t tell where it’s flowing until you follow its course all the way. But if you see it from a high mountain or from the sky, you can grasp its entire flow at a glance. It’s like that.”
To some extent.
That was Valeria’s answer to Jin’s question.
“On the other hand, when you look from afar, you can see the flow clearly, but you can’t know what’s happening within it. Who comes to drink from the river, who’s polluting it. You only realize once the effects become big enough to be seen from a distance. That’s why I’ve always been uneasy. Whether the future I designed is truly right, whether the person I chose can really change a current that seems destined to lead only to ruin…”
The person I chose—Jin repeated those words silently.
Then, in the next moment, Valeria added quietly,
“Jin, you weren’t originally the one Solderet chose first.”