Chapter 608
Episode 156: Purification of Chaos (12)

“Get lost!”

Chaos shouted.

But the overwhelming presence from before was gone. Now, it barely had the size of a wolf, and as seconds passed, it seemed to be shrinking even more, struggling to maintain its form.

While Jin hesitated, more spikes flew toward him. Thanks to a brief opening, he managed to fend them off again, but continuing to fight while exhausted was impossible.

‘Come to think of it, Chaos always had a chance to kill me in our previous battles.’

It was strange to chalk it up to mere luck.

Yet Jin couldn’t be certain that Chaos wouldn’t kill him.

Only now, by stopping the spikes at the crucial moment, did the truth become clear—but there had been more than one occasion when Jin was pushed to the brink of death.

‘It’s best to get out of here for now.’

Chaos’s mood could change at any moment.

Using the last of his energy, Jin opened a rift toward Lafrarosa. As he stepped outside, he glanced back to see Chaos roaring in an unstable state.

“Oh, that was quick this time.”

“Brother Jin, could it be you finally defeated it!?”

“Not quite. I weakened it with the ultimate spirit sword technique and regained my strength.”

“Now that you mention it, I can feel that fierce energy from you again… Congratulations!”

“And since it’s weakened, the next fight will be the end! We should prepare a feast soon.”

While his brothers shouted excitedly, Jin felt an inexplicable unease.

‘Victory is right in front of me, yet I don’t feel good about it.’

As Ban approached, Jin explained what had happened inside.

“…Seeing the spikes stop at the end, I got the feeling it can’t kill me. I suspected as much before, but… Ban, did you know about this?”

“Not that it can’t kill you, but rather that it won’t.”

Ban’s words made the Mingwang tribe members tilt their heads in confusion.

“It won’t kill you?”

“Yes.”

“Please explain.”

“When Brother Jin first entered its domain, I sensed its inner thoughts as well.”

Ban’s gaze landed on Jin’s radiant heart. Whenever they were within a mile of Chaos’s gate, the two would involuntarily enter a state of spirit fusion.

Spirit fusion is a kind of resonance, and Chaos is the catalyst.

The spirit blood within Jin mixed with Chaos’s essence, causing a change that allowed them to read each other’s thoughts within a certain range.

And this resonance wasn’t limited to just Jin and Chaos. Ban, too, had formed a connection with Chaos because of its nature.

“The resonance between Chaos and me only activates when Brother Jin creates a rift to leave its domain. Just as Brother Jin could read Chaos’s thoughts only here.”

So Ban had been reading Chaos’s emotions after every fight. From this, Ban learned the following:

First, once Chaos takes the form of a ‘gate,’ it can never leave its domain on its own again.

Second, it waits for Jin to come to it.

Hearing this, Jin finally understood why Ban had urged him so fiercely to fight.

She was certain Chaos wouldn’t kill him.

And the reason was simple.

“It’s lonely. Though it was forced into its own domain, it feels extreme isolation there. And since only Brother Jin can enter, killing him would mean eternal solitude.”

—“Tch, you’re good at running away… Next time, I’ll send you to the afterlife for sure!”

—“This time it took a bit longer, huh?”

—“What, did you bring a toy to pass the time?”

Suddenly, Jin recalled some of Chaos’s words.

Most were taunts and jeers, but sometimes it subtly revealed its loneliness.

‘So that’s what it meant.’

Jin now understood why he felt uneasy after the fight.

He felt pity for Chaos.

Of course, it was a strange feeling. Just moments ago, Jin’s emotions toward Chaos had been nothing but burning hatred, like an implacable enemy.

But considering how Chaos had taken such a heavy blow, knew it couldn’t win next time, yet stopped the spikes at the last moment… and, in truth, waited in that dark space only for someone who came to kill it.

He couldn’t help but feel compassion.

“And I think Brother Jin also knew, at least to some extent, that Chaos wouldn’t kill him. It’s just that his anger toward it kept him from thinking about it clearly.”

Ban was right.

“…It wasn’t just anger. Chaos is Chaos. It stole all my energy. So, no matter its psychology, it was a target I had to destroy.”

Because of pity and other emotions, Jin couldn’t afford to fight with a wavering heart. Chaos was too strong—even at his sharpest, he might not have won.

Ban nodded slowly.

“Yes, that’s true. That’s why I didn’t stop you from fighting it until you could win. It also served as excellent training for you, and indeed, it did.”

One of the best fuels for human growth is hatred.

For the past year and three months, Jin had trained and fought with deeper rage than ever before. The result was the first form of the ultimate spirit sword technique, the First Night.

Moreover, today he had fully regained his old power, and all the aura and magic he had accumulated remained intact.

In terms of pure strength, Jin’s aura and magic had reached the 10th star level. His spirit energy, having perfected the ultimate technique, was approaching the late 9th star.

Wooooooong…!

Suddenly, Jin and Ban’s radiant hearts blazed with even greater brilliance. As always, this wasn’t something either of them wanted.

“Ugh…!”

A massive force surged into Jin’s radiant heart. Had he not regained his original energy moments ago, he would have fainted within seconds.

Now, he could endure it. Though exhausted, the energy filling his body absorbed Ban’s power like trees soaking up rain after a drought.

The problem was Ban.

Because the energy flowing out was so immense, Ban staggered momentarily.

“Brother of the spirit fusion!”

“Brother of the spirit fusion!”

The Mingwang tribe members rushed to Ban’s side. She raised a hand to show she was fine, but exhaustion was clear on her face.

“No need to panic, brothers. Let’s move outside the training ground.”

As soon as they stepped beyond a mile from the training ground, the spirit fusion broke.

“Now that Brother Jin has regained all his power, shouldn’t we destroy the gate?”

“If we do, the spirit fusion will end… but Brother Jin’s goal wasn’t that. There’s no need for him to take on Chaos anymore.”

Boras answered Nata’s question.

“Brother Jin.”

“Yes, Brother of the spirit fusion.”

“What will you do?”

“Are you asking if I’ll kill Chaos?”

“Yes.”

All eyes turned to Jin.

Ban showed no expression, while the others were divided.

Some wanted to eliminate the original Chaos immediately; others felt pity and wanted to observe a little longer.

“Ahem. Brother Jin, this is your choice, but I think we should spare it.”

“Boras! What are you saying? That thing is the original Chaos. Now that Brother Jin has regained his power, we must eliminate it quickly. It might have hidden powers, and if left alone, it could cause problems later.”

“True, it’s pitiful, but Brother Jin knows better than anyone how dangerous the original Chaos is.”

“I can’t accept pity either. If the spirit fusion brother hadn’t pulled it away from Brother Jin, it would have killed him!”

“I know, I know. But Chaos has great research value. Even those who fought Brother Jin outside used its power, and with it here, we can study spirit fusion.”

“Brothers.”

Jin’s voice silenced the heated debate.

“First, my problem isn’t fully solved yet. Though I’ve regained my power…”

Rolling up his sleeve, Jin revealed his arm.

“There are still black spots here. Its power has weakened, but they remain.”

“If we destroy it, they’ll disappear completely. We can’t enter Chaos’s domain directly, but destroying the gate is easy enough.”

“Chaos, for whatever reason, has given me multiple chances.”

The Mingwang tribe’s eyes widened.

“Whether because it’s lonely or just playing with me like a toy, it could have killed me but spared me several times. So I’m willing to give it a chance.”

“No, Brother Jin! Since when did you become so merciful?”

“It’s not just that. As Boras said, Chaos has research value. Even aside from spirit fusion, it might help me discover something useful for future battles.”

Those who had fiercely opposed him now nodded reluctantly.

“Of course, if it shows any sign of hostility, I’ll eliminate it immediately.”

“If that’s Brother Jin’s decision, we have no choice but to follow.”

“Well, it’s not an unreasonable decision.”

“Just to be safe, I’ll spend two days recovering and enter the gate again at my best. We’ll settle this one way or another then. Please wait a little longer.”

For the next two days, Jin was finally able to get some proper rest after a long time.

Ban also gave the other brothers, who had been pushing themselves through grueling training nonstop, a chance to take a break. During that time, Ban often found herself alone, quietly sitting in the empty training grounds.

It was as if she was trying to listen to the story of chaos itself, sitting silently in front of the door that led to its domain.

“Can you hear the voice of chaos within, Brother Warrior?” someone asked.

Ban shook her head and replied, “No. There’s no crack made by a brother, so I can’t hear anything.”

Her expression was deeply bitter. She, too, expected that Jin would be the one to kill chaos.