Chapter 933
Episode 232: Awakening (Part 1)
Kraaaaaah!
Faelito let out a guttural roar as he shoved Jin away. Jin stumbled backward, his arm twisted almost to the breaking point.
A burst of flame, flicked off by the recoil, suddenly blazed up right before Faelito’s eyes. Just as Jin moved to clear the fire and charge forward, Bradamante sliced through the flames and descended.
Bradamante struck precisely at the crown of Faelito’s head. However, it lacked the power to pierce through the magical barrier protecting him, bouncing off harmlessly. At best, it left a faint scratch on the shield.
‘Did I… really fail to sense that?’
For Faelito, the shock was undeniable.
Though the counterattack was unexpected, the sword wasn’t particularly fast or sharp. Jin’s blade, dulled after losing an arm and being battered to near ruin, was no better than a novice warrior’s ordinary strike—barely enough to be called a sword.
Yet, Faelito hadn’t even noticed the moment it came.
Without his shield, or if Jin had his usual strength, his entire body would have been cleaved in two. A chill ran down his spine.
‘Is it because of the Simma? Even so, to miss such a mundane strike…!’
It was incomprehensible.
That confusion bred rage, driving Faelito closer to madness. The death of Sachiel, Jin’s absurd counterattack, and the revelation that Jin was a time-rewinder—all of it was impossible to accept.
Jin Runkandel had to be cut down. Only by slaying that blazing monster could this nightmare end.
The Hwangcheon Sword, Vaskala, blurred in his grasp.
But now, forced sensory distortion no longer had much effect on Jin. His vision had been half-darkened for some time, and his shattered body no longer responded with precision.
Even with the sword’s unique properties, it only added to the haze. Whether his eyes were open or closed, darkness enveloped his sight, and no matter where he stepped, Faelito was there.
A sword demon drunk on fury and hatred.
“Die! I said die!”
Kiiiiiing! The clash of steel rang sharp and piercing, stabbing at the eardrums. Both warriors bent low, their swords nearly touching as they pushed against each other with all their might.
There was no way Jin could win this power struggle. Faelito shoved the sword aside as if throwing it away and delivered a bare-fisted punch to Jin’s exposed face.
A dull, heavy thud echoed, like a boulder cracking from within. The sensation of his forehead bone shattering resonated sharply through Faelito’s fist, and Jin was flung far back, crashing onto the ground.
“Ugh!”
It felt as if something filled with blood inside his head had exploded. Blood gushed from his eyes, ears, and mouth, cutting off all his senses for a moment.
Faelito, showing no hesitation, lunged at Jin like a beast. Now that Jin was momentarily unconscious, he would not let him escape.
“Die, Jin Runkandel! Die!”
But as soon as Faelito closed the distance, he had to squeeze his eyes shut.
Suddenly, a flash bomb formed in Jin’s palm, igniting with a blinding light. The moment Jin was struck and slammed to the ground, he dropped his sword and conjured the flash bomb in his empty hand.
It was a purely instinctive move.
To Changseong, it would have been a shallow trick that could never work by chance. But Faelito felt the searing heat in his eyes, fully exposed to the flash.
Something invisible kept twisting the situation, making impossible things happen again and again.
Jin barely regained consciousness while Faelito blinked away the light. His vision, once dark, was now soaked in blood, painting everything a vivid red.
Blood clots filled his nose and throat, making it hard to breathe. Still, he gripped his sword again, flames flickering as he steadied his stance.
He resolved to transcend fate.
He decided to bear all the countless changes in history and deaths caused by his time rewinds. He would carry the sorrow of those who died in this fight and those left behind.
No matter how broken his body became, he would not stop fighting.
Even if inevitable death came, he had no choice but to fight. Just as Ron Hiran, whom he once admired, had done, Jin was now surpassing death itself.
‘His heart is slowing down.’
Faelito opened his eyes and strode toward Jin. With each step closer, he could almost hear the faint heartbeat beneath his chest. He wanted to rip out that feeble, gasping heart with both hands.
He could do it anytime. If only the strange phenomenon—like the blessing of the sun god—would stop.
‘Wait, the blessing of the sun god…? Could that light that appeared when he revealed he was a time-rewinder just now be it?’
A strange thought crossed his mind.
It couldn’t be. The sun god was already dead, and Jito was set to become the new order of the world.
It looked as if the merciless creator who had driven the demons underground was casting a shadow over Jin. The illusion was so vivid it sent chills down Faelito’s spine, making him want to retreat.
He wanted to run away. A fear unlike any he had felt since becoming a sword demon—no, a fundamental, inexplicable terror—froze him in place. His grip on Vaskala trembled, and his legs wobbled beneath him.
“The sun god…! The sun god!? Shut your damn mouth! I am a sword demon! The only sword blessed by the grace of pain!”
Like reckless boys denying their fear, Faelito forced himself to push through the light.
He cut through the terrifying illusion and stepped forward. Behind this illusion stood a man who would soon turn to dust and vanish.
That thought was not wrong.
Moments later, Faelito faced Jin, barely standing, clutching his sword like a lifeline. The flames of hatred were patchy and weak, like the fur of a sick beast.
“Hahaha… Jin Runkandel, can you still say it? That you will transcend fate? Say it again!”
His voice was a twisted mix of demonic corruption and his original tone. His expression flickered between distortion and calm. Just as Jin was overcoming death, Faelito was fighting his own battle against the demonic influence.
But Jin gave no answer.
His vocal cords and lungs had almost completely failed. He didn’t even notice Faelito approaching, wildly swinging his sword at empty air.
Faelito laughed, watching the futile struggle. He held his forehead and bent over, letting out a breathless, hollow laugh.
“Yes, that’s the image that suits you, a human. You died and rewound time? You think that rewind is above all fate? No, you were just drunk on a fortune you never deserved.”
Faelito unleashed a wave of sword energy—not the annihilating strike, but the relentless sword demon’s standard attack he had used throughout the battle.
Even that was too much for Jin now. With a sound like crumbling rotten earth, Jin’s body hit the ground.
The first to fall were two fingers gripping the sword. No flesh, blood, or bone remained—just a hollow darkness where the wound opened.
The remaining three fingers, still clutching Bradamante weakly, trembled precariously. A slight nudge would shatter them all, sending the sword crashing down.
Only then did Faelito calm down.
He escaped the unknown terror and faced reality. What he saw was the inevitable end of a proud man, no different from a corpse.
Facing Jin, Faelito felt the loneliness of being stranded alone on an island, the isolation of the last survivor facing imminent extinction.
There was no joy in that feeling. As Jin had said, the only thing awaiting the victor was a wound that death itself could not erase.
“…You can transcend nothing. No one like you will ever appear again in this world. No one will carry on your will, and no one will escape the life set before them.”
Vaskala darkened.
Yet it was not easy to strike Jin down. Faelito hesitated, staring at him for a long moment.
It wasn’t the fear born of the sun god’s illusion. Nor was it exhaustion sapping his strength. Faelito still had the confidence to kill every last insect left in the Holy Empire on his own.
What stopped him now was the thought that death might bring him relief.
He didn’t believe Jin’s soul would descend into hell. Even if he swallowed him with Vaskala, beings sealed inside like Bisa wouldn’t be able to defeat Jin. He might even resurrect inside and break free from Vaskala.
The order of pain had yet to be established in the world. Until that order was complete, Jin could not be sealed by any means.
This was no mere feeling—it was certainty.
Still, Faelito decided not to annihilate Jin. Even if, far in the future, Jin broke free from Vaskala’s seal, for now, he had to hold onto his soul.
He had to show him. The world where order was established, the insects writhing beneath the ceiling of fate, the world he loved, and everything he had tried to protect—all of it was destined to end.
“On the day you awaken again, scream.”
Thud…!
Bascara pierced through Jin’s chest. Thick, black blood oozed out from the heart that had already gone cold and still.
Now, all that remained was for Bascara to open fully and swallow Jin whole. It would seal away Jin’s will—the very soul that had defied death—and postpone his annihilation.
The sealing would take only a few seconds.
But the magical roots extending from Bascara’s blade were being blocked by something, unable to bind Jin.
After a moment, Paelito understood why.
He saw a person crouched behind Jin, forehead pressed against his back.
“Jin, I’m here. I, the Holy Kingdom, the people—we’re all here.”
It was King Rani.
She was praying behind Jin.