Episode 600
Chapter 156: Purification of Chaos (4)
“Are you… still speaking?”
“W-we heard that the Otu twins have completed the machine…”
Ban remained silent for a few seconds, her flaming hair fluttering wildly, her calm and deep gaze commanding the room. The Tu Kings couldn’t help but rise abruptly from their seats.
All the Myungwang clan members quickly lined up and bowed their heads.
Though there was no strict hierarchy between the Tu Kings and the regular warriors, Ban—the Tu God—was the absolute authority among the Myungwang.
Jin cautiously found a place among the regular warriors.
Then, Tantel and Shaku nudged him forward, closer to the Tu Kings’ seats.
“Brother, you stand up front!”
“But I’m not a Tu King.”
“Hurry up.”
Even after standing alongside the Tu Kings, the same thing happened.
“Brother, stand next to Ban!”
“Next to the Tu God? Is that really okay?”
“Jin brother inherited Sigmund, the only successor of the Tu God. His rank is even higher than ours.”
Reluctantly, Jin stood beside Ban. Only then did she open her mouth, as if satisfied that the formation was finally proper.
“You’ve all grown complacent, brothers.”
“Tu God Ban, we have shown weakness. Please teach us.”
“It seems you’ve all forgotten.”
Ban pointed at Jin.
“On the very first day we arrived at Laprarosa, Jin brother said he would lead us outside. So, what must I and the brothers prepare for?”
“To be the strength that supports Jin brother.”
“Exactly.”
A deep rumble echoed through the training ground as Ban’s energy resonated throughout the space. The Tu Kings momentarily felt darkness cloud their vision, and the regular warriors gritted their teeth to avoid collapsing.
Jin, however, remained unaffected—Ban deliberately withheld her energy from his side.
“My prime has passed, and our glorious era ended half a millennium ago.”
Even as she spoke, her energy expanded. The tremors shaking the training ground grew faint, but Ban’s aura was like a silent storm.
Silent. Storm. Two words that seem contradictory, yet her presence carried a divine majesty.
‘It’s not just hierarchy keeping them from resisting. All the brothers… are truly overwhelmed by her presence.’
Jin thought of the strongest warriors he knew—Temar and Siron Runkandel from the Mitra Desert, and Ron Hailan—and doubted if even they could face such a moment. Especially against twelve Tu Kings and sixty-four Myungwang clan members.
“Even if we all go out, it means that compared to those days, the strength we can offer Jin brother is embarrassingly weak. Can such a small amount truly protect Jin brother, or even ourselves?”
I think it’s enough to protect us… Jin wanted to say, but he remained silent.
Ban released her energy.
The Myungwang clan members gasped for breath and shouted in unison, “No!”
“From now on, not only Jin brother but all the others must train with every ounce of strength they have. There must not be a single brother who shows laziness, drunk on past glory.”
“We will remember, Tu God Ban!”
Ban excluded Jin from this warning not out of favoritism, but because he was the only one who wanted to continue sparring.
“Tu God Ban.”
Nata, the Eleventh Tu King, spoke, and Ban met her gaze.
“Speak.”
“First, we apologize again for showing weakness. But if training continues like this, Jin brother might be in danger, even if the others are not.”
“Do the others feel the same?”
“Yes, Tu God Ban. We are fatigued, but we are more worried about Jin brother’s condition. If training continues…”
“He might die?”
“Yes.”
“Seems the brothers’ spirits are more lax than I thought. Hearing this again feels like déjà vu.”
“We’re sorry.”
“Training is supposed to be dangerous—even life-threatening.”
Ban’s words, each spoken with weight, silenced the Myungwang clan once more.
Looking back, Ban had never hesitated to push Jin to become stronger by harsh means since his first arrival at Laprarosa.
From transfusing Tu God blood to proceeding with death as a real possibility, she believed, like many great warriors, that transcendence could only be achieved by risking one’s life.
The Myungwang’s training was historically more brutal and dangerous than any martial group ever known. Their dominance over the mortal realm was not just due to their innate combat nature.
“Baltirok, Rumora, Palem, Linpa, Boras, Dalpir, Beliz, Garmund, Baba, Kaio, Nata, Teto. Starting from the first Tu King, spar with Jin brother again. I will suppress any rampages, so those waiting their turn should pair up and warm up.”
“Um, Tu God Ban? I think I need to tweak the device a bit more…”
“Didn’t you say it was complete?”
“The training will intensify, so I’ll need to be on standby for treating brothers. No need for special grafting surgery, though. If I step out, there will be eleven Tu Kings, so when one spar with Jin brother, the other ten can pair up nicely.”
“Then, start training with everyone except Boras. Regular warriors should form teams as well.”
Boras chuckled and wished his brothers good fortune.
Four more days passed.
Jin’s consciousness flickered like a magical light, fading in and out, while the rest of the Myungwang clan barely stood on trembling legs, searching for sparring partners.
“T-the twelfth Tu King is sparring with me this time…”
“Ugh…!”
“What’s the Sixth Tu King spitting out…”
“Hi, hi hi, it’s a butterfly, a butterfly.”
“Snap out of it, Nata brother! That’s not a butterfly, it’s vomit.”
Amid a scene so brutal it was hard to tell if it was training or torture, Ban and Boras looked down at the collapsed Jin.
“Less than ten rampages in the past four days… I think it’s time to start. What do you think, Tu God?”
“Agreed. The chaos consuming Jin brother must be exhausted by now. Prepare yourselves. Training ends! Brothers, take your seats.”
The Myungwang clan sluggishly settled down as if relieved to be alive, and Boras dragged the chaos extraction device in front of Jin.
The machine resembled a pillar, and when Boras pressed a button, seams opened, and a chair and straps burst out.
Boras seated Jin, who hung limply like seaweed, and strapped bands around his head. Like the training, it looked like a scene from a torture chamber.
Ban placed her hand on Jin’s radiant heart.
A waterfall of dazzling light poured forth, and Jin instantly felt his mind clear.
“Phew…”
“Are you coming to, Jin brother?”
“I thought I was dead, but thankfully, I’m still alive, Tu God.”
“From now on, we will extract your chaos.”
“How… ow.”
Suddenly, Ban’s hand plunged into Jin’s radiant heart. Thanks to some preparation, the heart was soft like clay.
‘Insane… extraction means literally pulling it out physically. This is even harsher than when Yona briefly removed Amela’s chaos.’
Ban’s hand searched inside, grasping the hidden chaos energy.
Jin clearly felt her grip—and the fear the chaos itself was experiencing.
“As expected, the condition isn’t good.”
“Do you think the side effects will be worse than I imagine, Tu God?”
“Let’s hope not.”
Ban’s grip tightened, like restraining a wild beast by the scruff of its neck.
Just as Jin was about to ask more—
[Keaaak…!]
Ban began withdrawing her hand from the radiant heart, and a scream echoed.
‘The voice is similar to the Demon Stone Gliek’s. I never thought I’d hear that horrible sound again.’
If his brothers weren’t nearby, Jin would have been overwhelmed by the pressure of that scream. The Sword Emperor War was his worst nightmare.
Back then, the Demon Stone and Gliek’s voices brought despair to everyone present, but now it was the opposite.
[Kaak, Keeek!]
The chaos’s screams were desperate, pleading for mercy rather than commanding awe.
[Kkiii, Kak!]
Finally, a part resembling the chaos’s “head” emerged from the radiant heart, crushed and writhing under Ban’s grip, unable to meet her gaze.
“Quietly come out… if you want to vanish with even a little less pain.”
Surprisingly, the chaos stopped its pitiful cries and endured the pain with eyes tightly shut, fully submitting to Ban—just as Amela’s chaos feared Yona.
When more than half of the chaos had been extracted, Jin was first shocked by its enormous size…
And then utterly stunned to realize it wasn’t just chaos leaving his body.
His own energy.
The energy he had built up his entire life as a magic swordsman was being drawn out, mixed with the chaos.
“Ban brother! My energy is mixed with the chaos…!”
Ban nodded knowingly and completed the extraction.
With a heavy thud—clang!
Half of it was pulled out as if digging up a sweet potato root, but the chaos that had been thrown about was nearly as massive as Murakan’s true form. Its shape resembled a dragon.
And the moment it emerged, it prostrated itself before Ban, signaling that it had no intention to fight.
[Ke-keng, Kiiiiiing…]
“Oh, luckily it was extracted in one go. And it seems there are almost no side effects. If the Twin Warriors can just subdue it…”
“You must have been too focused on the device to hear me, Twin Warrior Otu. The side effect is loss.”
Loss of power. Boras pressed his forehead as soon as he heard Ban’s words.
“Loss? Not rampage, possession, or mutation?”
“Exactly.”
“Damn.”
Even as the conversation continued, the chaos kept glancing around warily.
“Then Ban can’t handle this in place of Jin…”
Ban met Jin’s eyes.
“Jin will have to fight it directly from now on.”
“…It took all my power, Twin Warrior.”
“That’s why only Jin can face it. If I try to deal with it, both the creature and the warrior’s energy will vanish together. Jin has to fight and reclaim his strength at the same time.”
At those words, the chaos immediately grasped the situation and gave a sly smile. It had instantly realized that Jin was Ban’s ‘weakness.’