Chapter 239

chapter 239 how are they so strong? that question was the only thing in the destroyer of fragmentation’s mind since the battle began. keeping its eyes on the two figures charging toward it, that unresolved massive doubt loomed over its heart. “hmph...!” the mad dog effortlessly dodged the swinging arm, darting past it without hesitation, and aimed for the destroyer of fragmentation’s chest. even though the destroyer of fragmentation was clearly superior in both size and durability, sung-ha calmly swung his mana spear, scattering sparks in all directions, before focusing the energy into a single point and thrusting it forward. boom! it was forced backward, feeling as though it had been kicked by a giant many times its size. looking down at its chest, the wound that started there was quickly spreading across its entire body, disintegrating its flesh. the resonation of the two types of elemental mana concentrated in the tips of the two spears unleashed a wave of energy that tore through the destroyer of fragmentation, disrupting the flow of mana inside it. the chest wound had already spread beyond control. realizing there was no way it could regenerate in time, the destroyer of fragmentation decided to craft a new body using the resources it had at hand. “are you running away again?” crack! but before it could act, icicles shot out of dozens of ice statues and pierced the destroyer of fragmentation’s body. the chilling frost instantaneously spread out from the points of contact, freezing its entire body in an instant. the ice didn’t just hinder regeneration; it froze its very consciousness. feeling its thoughts slowing, the destroyer of fragmentation became even more puzzled. where in the world did these guys come from? it knew they were born from se-hoon’s consciousness, but no matter how much it examined them, it couldn't identify them. with no options left, it suspected the individuals who had accompanied se-hoon, but comparing those three, who barely scraped by as a-ranks, to its current foes was like comparing ants to giants. i need to quickly find out what they’ve done to me. without knowing where the intruders came from, it couldn't eliminate them. standing at a critical juncture, the destroyer of fragmentation decided to temporarily give up its resistance to instead pursue solutions by examining hundreds of new dreams. countless dreams repeated in an instant. amongst them, there were countless times when it had died without ever manifesting into reality. but there was just one amid the mountain of its own corpses that gave it the answer. having finally found it, the destroyer of fragmentation pulled it into reality. crack! the shell of ice encasing its body shattered, and a new destroyer of fragmentation emerged from within. it glanced at the small, blood-red crystal that was now in its right hand—a droplet of se-hoon’s blood. “...to think something like this could steal my power.” the destroyer of fragmentation found the entire situation baffling. even with se-hoon's right eye that harbored the dream demon's eye, it should have been impossible to perfectly recreate the three dogs in its space. no matter how flawless se-hoon’s memories were, if the destroyer of fragmentation, the owner of the space, didn’t have a single bit of information about them, the three dogs would have been recreated with some discrepancies. so he used his blood to twist my perception slightly. se-hoon had influenced the destroyer of fragmentation into believing the enemies before it were just as powerful as they seemed, just like how faded remnants of a dream could influence one even after awakening. and that had been done with just a single drop of blood. the realization left the destroyer of fragmentation stunned. what kind of monster is he? while others tended to lose their sanity when devoured, se-hoon’s blood remained unchanged even after a prolonged residence in its body. it simply couldn’t fathom how a mere drop of blood had maintained its integrity for that long. if this is what a drop of his blood can do, what would happen if i devoured him entirely? the destroyer of fragmentation fully understood just how dangerous se-hoon was. and just as it did, it suddenly noticed that the attacks had stopped. it quickly looked up. “i think it’d be better if you held the front while the frost dog covered you from behind. think you can do it?” standing atop an ice statue, the mad dog pondered se-hoon’s suggestion for a moment before asking, “you know, it’s rather uncomfortable to fight without a weapon. you’ve got anything with you?” “uh... well... no.” though se-hoon had brought a ton of equipment along with him, he knew none of it could withstand the mad dog’s immense strength. the mad dog gave se-hoon a sideways glance. “useless.” “completely useless.” “he is... useless indeed.” as if they had been waiting for it, the blast dog and the frost dog instantly jumped in on the insults. “...” annoyed by how they seemed to work together well only in such situations, se-hoon glared at them. “ha, ha, ha...” the destroyer of fragmentation couldn’t understand. it couldn’t understand how the four of them could chat so casually in a realm in which it held complete control. it, who had been watching them from afar, could only let out a dry laugh. their lack of fear made the destroyer of fragmentation stare at them with hollow eyes. “you guys really dare mock me.” it had never been imagined that there would be someone who would treat it so lightly after becoming so powerful. enraged, the destroyer of fragmentation gazed at the new, unpredictable foes, and a smile crossed its face. “while i originally intended to kill all of you—” thunk! before it could finish, a blood-red spear pierced its chest and black flames erupted from the tip within, resonating with itself and intensifying the power. boom! the body of the destroyer of fragmentation exploded and scattered across the sea's surface. but this time, instead of regenerating, it dissolved into the blood-red sea. then, from within the sea, it continued its monologue, “—but now that i think about it, that would be a waste.” slosh! the sea of blood, which stretched to the horizon, began to swirl, gathering all the souls the destroyer of fragmentation had absorbed into a single point. from that point, a new, different body then emerged. it now had a smooth and sleek appearance, one based on the structure of se-hoon's blood crystal. having successfully merged countless souls into it, the destroyer of fragmentation gazed at the four opponents with glowing eyes. “i will simply confine you all within me until i can consume each of you.” with a gentle raise of its hand, the destroyer of fragmentation summed a massive building from beneath the sea's surface. rumble- the building shot outwards in all directions, making it resemble a gigantic tree. it was a display of its reality-warping skill that dwarfed any of what it had done before. seeing it, se-hoon shouted urgently, “i’ll provide the necessary backup, so do what you need to do!” the mad dog immediately leaped, kicking off the side of the building as he charged toward the destroyer of fragmentation. he raced forward with a terrifying momentum, smashing through all of the branching structures. watching him, the destroyer of fragmentation reached out its hand. “first, you’re going to give my power back.” boom! with a clench of its hand, the power that had been supplied to the three dogs, leeched from the destroyer of fragmentation by se-hoon, was severed. the mad dog instantly felt his energy wane. his stamina and mana, which had been sustained at peak levels so far, began to deplete like an ordinary person’s. “i wonder if you can escape from this in that state.” the destroyer of fragmentation’s hands then split into eight, each casting different magic circles that caused massive pillars to erupt from various points of the building. forming walls, the pillars disrupted the mad dog’s unique skill, complete source resonance, and closed in. layers upon layers of sealing spells trapped the mad dog as if caging a wild beast. seeing that, the frost dog quickly attempted to destroy the pillars to assist, but the destroyer of fragmentation had foreseen he would. rumble-nôv(el)b\\jnn in a frenzied outburst of power, the destroyer of fragmentation forcefully repelled its two attackers and rushed to absorb more souls to replenish its depleted strength. and that was the moment the blast dog had been waiting for. immediately recognizing it, the blast dog unleashed an incantation she had previously prepared in one swift motion. “disorder.” boom! the incantation shattered the frozen ice shards in the air, melting them into a sea of blood that seeped into the destroyer of fragmentation’s body. “huh... urgh...?!” almost instantaneously, the destroyer of fragmentation’s body, which had been swelling with power, twisted unnaturally. the sea of blood then trembled violently as the souls that should have unified under zayed’s consciousness began to attack each other, incited by the blast dog’s incantation. under normal circumstances, the destroyer of fragmentation could have easily suppressed the chaos by warping reality to its will. boom! however, the three dogs were pressing their advantage relentlessly, giving the harbinger no time to suppress the rampaging souls that were spreading like wildfire. “get out of the way, you worthless pieces of trash!” “it’s my turn this time!” “i'm going to reach the top!” cracks formed all over the destroyer of fragmentation’s body as countless versions of itself clawed their way out, clinging to its body. with its dreams fragmenting, the sense of unity and omnipotence from mere moments ago shattered like a lie, weakening its strength. “you... stupid bastards...!” how could these versions of itself not understand that if the main body collapsed, everything would fall apart? desperate, the destroyer of fragmentation attempted to repair its crumbling body, but the shattered synesthetic mindscape rendered restoration impossible. “aaaaaargh!” splurt! with countless versions of itself tearing out of its body, the destroyer of fragmentation's strength waned and the entire space began collapsing. the dream was dissolving back into reality. seeing that space was crumbling, the three dogs prepared to retreat. “i won’t let you let you... not like this...” however, before they could do so, a thick malice surged upward from deep within the sea. fragmented metamorphosis: reversed blood sea rumble! the souls filling the sea of blood that stretched into the horizon all soared into the air, creating an enormous prison surrounding them all. the destroyer of fragmentation intended to crush them all under the weight of hundreds of thousands of souls and submerge them into the dream with it. the mad dog frowned. “this isn’t good.” up until now, the destroyer of fragmentation’s attacks had been mediocre at best, but the incoming attack was befitting of one known as a harbinger of destruction. stopping the technique he had been preparing, the mad dog glanced at his empty hand as the crimson tidal wave surged closer. woosh! he instinctively caught something flying toward the back of his head. “these are...” realizing that the two spears he held were identical to the ones he used before dying, the mad dog looked back at se-hoon, who was sitting behind them completely exhausted. “they will only hold it for one strike... make it count...” se-hoon had forged the spears from nothing but his memories and blood—a last resort in case of emergencies. exchanging glances, the three dogs and all shared their honest opinions. “what is this garbage?” “yeah, this is pretty bad.” “it’s only a little better than if i made one myself.” seeing se-hoon glaring fiercely at them due to their scathing evaluations, the three dogs chuckled. “well, since he’s at least given us a weapon, let’s finish this. who’s going to take the lead?” “i’ll step back and support. i have other things to do.” “then i’ll do it.” stepping forward, the mad dog channeled all of his mana into the two spears, compressing his fire and darkness mana at the spearheads. woong! although he was only in a preparatory stance, the force was enough to tremble the entire space. sensing the incoming danger, the blood sea rushed forward in a frenzy. acting at that moment, the frost dog dropped two daggers onto the ground, his eyes gleaming silver. frost alchemy: perpetual winter the world was covered in a blanket of white. the frost from the daggers had spread across the entire realm, freezing everything in place. but the blood sea struggled, and something began to stir within, boiling up from the depths. bang! the blast dog planted a thin staff into the frozen ground, fixed it in place, and gripped the top like a microphone. “set-” the incantation, amplified by the staff, spread throughout the frozen world. under that overwhelming omnipotence, the blast dog’s eyes gleamed. “freeze time.” everything in sight came to a halt. the rampaging souls, the crumbling synesthetic mindscape, and everything else in the world were now under the blast dog’s command, freezing completely for about one second. she supported the frost dog perfectly. after that one second, however, the frozen surface of the sea shattered and the souls came crashing toward the four of them just like before. but by then, it was too late. “here we go.” whoosh! the mad dog swung the two spears, brimming with power, in opposite directions and carving two circles through the air. a black outer ring and a red inner ring rotated in unison. the two flame wheels, when compressed to their limits, then touched and merged into a single, complete circle. inferno ring: darkened sun of despair from the two flame wheels emerged a blackened sun that swallowed everything. the sea of souls, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, instantly evaporated, and the very source of the destroyer of fragmentation’s power melted away under the intense heat. everything built upon layers and layers of contradictions based on dreams was incinerated, leaving only a gaunt man behind. he appeared emaciated, as if he had spent decades imprisoned. “...” the frost dog approached the man kneeling on the ground, a man who was crumbling away—zayed. noticing the frost dog’s gaze, zayed struggled to open his eyes and looked up, his lips trembling as he tried to speak. staring at him, who was unable to form a single coherent word, the frost dog just smiled gently. “we’ll meet again... one day.” slash- the ice dagger dug into zayed’s chest, extracting something from his heart. simultaneously, his entire body began to freeze. but despite the cold, zayed was enveloped in warmth and a pleasant sense of release. he closed his eyes with a peaceful expression. “rest well, cousin.” the destroyer of fragmentation was no more.