Chapter 1138
Episode 259: The Truth of the World, Your Truth, My Truth (7)
“Ugh!”
Valeria’s eyes snapped open.
‘Was that… a dream?’
She recalled the moment she lost consciousness. During the fight, she had been intoxicated by the illusions conjured by Keliak’s desire, and within that vision, she faced a future free of pain. A world where the Grey Owl Mercenary Corps survived, where no one died—there, she felt happiness.
If it was a dream, she never wanted to wake up. It had been so vivid, so real, that the harsh reality seemed to vanish instantly, leaving no trace behind.
But then, suddenly, painful memories began to surface.
The day she realized Jin was dead. The day Solderet rewound time. The endless days wandering through the dimension’s white desert-like void.
It wasn’t a dream.
“Valeria!?”
It was Luet. Everyone who had confirmed Valeria’s body stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
“Luet… sir…”
“You were definitely dead. How is this possible? No matter the reason, it’s a relief. Rani! Hurry, bring Rani here. We need to heal Valeria enough for her to fight again—only then can she resist the manipulation even a little!”
Valeria sifted through the flood of memories and looked at Luet.
“I wasn’t dead. Time… had stopped for me.”
“Huh?”
“The moment someone from the future—or perhaps the past—intervened in this world, my time paused briefly.”
She felt she could finally understand what had happened to her.
In that Solderet had rewound time, it was her future self; in that she had seen the records of the Demon God’s altar before time was turned back, it was her past self.
It was confusing, but Valeria recalled the last words she had left for Jin. The present, the past, and the future—they were connected somehow.
What binds us together?
The desire to protect people, the refusal to lose the world. Somehow, it felt like that was it. Nothing else.
Her wounds throbbed painfully.
Every torn and pierced part of her body ached. Even losing a single fingernail would be agonizing, yet those fighting here had endured pain far beyond that for far too long.
Through the shattered bridge glass, the smell of smoke drifted in. Explosions, screams, roars, and unidentifiable horrific sounds filled the air.
“How much time has passed since Jin left?”
“About ten minutes.”
Only ten minutes.
Yet countless people had died in that time. Siron and Ban had ceased all counterattacks, and most of the superhumans had sunk beneath the Red Sea, vanishing.
At least Hedo had reached the altar and, alongside Murakan, shattered the altar’s creations. But now, human combat held little meaning.
Because the Demon God’s stone had been restored immediately after Jin entered the altar.
“That’s only because the clan heads and the war gods resisted the manipulation. But even they… are now being consumed by it. Valeria, you must find the manipulated records.”
Murakan was forgetting Jin.
Hedo was forgetting Sandra. Veradin and Dante had forgotten each other. Thalaris had forgotten Siris. Lucy had forgotten Haylin.
On the battlefield, barely ten percent of the remaining fighters still remembered the name ‘Jin Runcandel.’
As history was rewritten by the Demon God’s stone, they fought blindly. Even as their memories faded, their sole determination was to keep fighting—swinging their swords forward like the Abyss Legion.
But those swords often turned not on Keliak, but on each other.
No, they frequently struck one another. Even before the Demon God’s stone arrived, only the altar’s creations could attack Keliak.
They forgot who Jin was, who they themselves were, and what they were fighting for.
It wasn’t just the battlefield.
The entire world was being manipulated like this. The 677th dimension—the origin point of all dimensions—was submerged in blood-red seawater, being rewritten and shattered.
The battlefield was almost better. Thanks to those still standing, there were still people like Luet who retained their consciousness. Outside the battlefield, no one remained.
“Jin… will come now, Luet.”
“The clan head!?”
“And he has forgotten nothing.”
At that moment, from the center of the Red Sea where Jin had vanished, a single pure white flash shot up into the sky.
It was light.
Unlike the golden solar emblem illuminating Keliak’s entire body, this was a transparent, pristine pillar of light, cutting through the heavens like water.
“Hmm…?”
Keliak’s gaze fixed on the pillar.
He knew of the ‘transcendent power’ Solderet had left in the altar. But he didn’t know exactly what it was.
The Demon God’s stone had been fully restored, and even the power of the complete solar god Kinzello was now in his grasp. That meant nothing in this world could oppose him anymore.
“Jin Runcandel…”
Malugia, who had been hiding his power; Helluram; and the stubborn Bamel Alliance—all were destined to sink into the Red Sea.
Keliak had already decided to utterly destroy the 677th dimension without a trace. Once all dimensions were unified into one, he would finally achieve his goal.
Proof that he had gained the power to change what was unchangeable.
Yet, why was that light bothering him? The absolute power he now held should have made him immune to such feelings.
“Disappear.”
Keliak drew a line through the air with the Demon God’s stone, now transformed into a staff. The vast space, spanning tens of thousands of steps, tore like paper—but the light did not break.
It was irritating.
And unsettling. He tried again, with even stronger will, to erase the light—but the result was the same. In fact, focusing on the light caused the manipulation pressing on Siron and Ban to momentarily falter.
“Ah… looks like your son has returned.”
“And he is your brother as well.”
As the two murmured, barely clinging to consciousness, Keliak rained down the Spear of the Sun above their heads. There was no longer any reason to pity them.
Screech!
The spear was blocked by something. Naturally, Keliak assumed the two had miraculously raised their swords to deflect it.
But no.
Those two giants had already performed enough miracles. They no longer had the strength to fend off Keliak’s attacks. They didn’t even realize the spear forged from the solar emblem had fallen above their heads.
What stopped the spear was the light.
A flash like lightning struck, and the Spear of the Sun was sliced into dozens of fragments, scattering.
Keliak instinctively swung the Demon God’s stone. If the spear was blocked, he could simply increase the manipulation. Distort the space they occupied, crush their consciousness completely.
The calamity destroying the world paused briefly. Keliak focused his power, intending to erase the two before Jin’s eyes.
But once again, the Demon God’s stone’s power seemed blocked, unable to reach Siron and Ban. It only twisted and rippled the space around them, never touching them.
Witnessing this, Keliak suddenly recalled the moment from ten minutes ago.
Could he really kill him? Even as the sole god, could he truly annihilate Jin Runcandel?
It had been only ten minutes earlier. Then, Keliak had no answer to his own question, and a grim premonition loomed closer like reality.
‘Is it true that the power Jin Runcandel gained in the altar surpasses the Demon God’s stone and the solar god’s power?’
Impossible. Keliak looked again at the pillar of light.
‘Gone?’
But the pillar vanished as if it had never been there, and Keliak felt his heart pounding like a human’s. He surrounded himself with protective barriers.
“Keliak Ziphl.”
Another flash of light.
Jin was already standing right before Keliak. To Keliak’s eyes, he appeared as a glowing orb of light. Regardless of form, he recognized that light as Jin Runcandel.
But to those watching his back, he was simply the Jin Runcandel they knew—the one they had just forgotten. Wounded, yet still gripping his sword. Just as they remembered.
“Hah?”
His throat was cut.
The moment Jin appeared, Keliak felt something sharp slice his neck. Though he manipulated reality to erase the event, the shock of not even perceiving the moment he was cut was profound.
He had believed himself to be the sole god.
No—he was certain. Nothing unknown should happen in this world now. Yet, Keliak belatedly grasped the nature of Jin’s power.
“Light? The light… came before Kinzello? Solderet left that power to you?”
This time, his left arm fell. Before Keliak could manipulate reality, Jin severed the Demon God’s stone from his right hand and cut his throat again.
But Keliak stood unharmed behind Jin. The Demon God’s stone appeared untouched.
“Absurd. Only Valeria Hister knew the truth of the world—that everything begins with light.”
Jin paid no mind. He had known the magnitude of the power he gained even before entering the altar.
He didn’t think his light was superior to that. What he was certain of was that it was more righteous. Nothing more.
“Hmm… But all Solderet left you with was a mere sliver of power over light. And yet, you think that’s enough to stand against me? How intriguing, in so many ways. Very well, I shall indulge you. You should have fled to another dimension instead. With that kind of strength, you might have escaped me for quite some time. Do you still cling to this world, already as good as destroyed? Truly, so human.”
As Jin approached Keliak, one by one, those lost in manipulation and desire began to awaken. Keliak could no longer consume them as easily as before.
Then Jin leveled his sword at Keliak and added quietly, though to Keliak’s eyes it was only a faint flicker of light.
“Yes, Keliak Ziphl. Keep telling yourself… don’t be afraid of me. Believe with absolute certainty that there is nothing left in this world to fear. That way, I can cut you down all the easier.”