Chapter 28

# Chapter 028

‘What the hell is this...?’

Ian did not lose consciousness.

On the contrary, his mind was clearer than ever.

Suddenly, his ears felt blocked.

A strange sensation of falling endlessly while simultaneously rising spread through him.

In the next moment, a sea of stars unfolded before his eyes.

The vast, endless universe.

Ian was falling and rising at the same time, right in the middle of it.

Ian realized that his physical body no longer existed.

Only his consciousness was falling into the center of the universe, flowing at an incredible speed.

Planets of all kinds came close and then, in the next instant, were impossibly far away.

A breathtaking and terrifying sight.

It wasn't much different from what he had seen in documentaries or movies.

But the realism was incomparable.

‘Whatever this is, it's pretty damn impressive.’

Ian couldn't turn his gaze away or even close his eyes; he could only face everything.

The distant stars that had been twinkling turned into colorful lines that filled his field of vision and rushed past.

Ian realized that he was getting faster and faster, endlessly.

Straight lines became curves, and he could no longer tell what he was seeing.

Suddenly, all the lines disappeared.

Instead, his field of vision was filled with a silent, shimmering ring of light.

A massive ring of light that contained darkness.

Ian realized it was very similar to something he had seen in a movie before.

‘A black hole...?’

Was it really appropriate to call it something so simple?

Before he could finish marveling, he reached the ring of the black hole.

Even Ian couldn't remain calm in such a moment.

He knew that not even light could escape from inside it.

But there was nothing he could do.

His vision flashed, shimmered, and then darkened.

An endless abyss.

But strangely, Ian felt as if his eyes were being blinded.

A world where all the laws were reversed.

In the next moment, the light disappeared.

Instead, darkness descended.

A pure, white darkness.

It was like the eye of some massive entity.

Something he couldn't even grasp with his senses.

Then, the eye looked at him.

‘...!’

A shiver ran through him, followed by an overwhelming wave of fear.

A moment that felt like an eternity.

Everything became a point and moved away.

His vision flipped again.

“Ugh...!”

Ian, who had collapsed on the ground, vomited.

The purple mist that had enveloped his body shimmered and evaporated without a trace.

Although he had returned to reality, Ian was still overwhelmed by fear and couldn't regain his composure.

All his senses were jumbled and flowing.

Amidst the convulsions of his body, Ian opened the status window and drastically increased his mental strength.

It was almost a desperate act.

But it worked.

The convulsions subsided, and the fear gradually receded.

His senses returned to normal.

The pitch-black darkness remained, however.

The light source had disappeared because the spell circuit had stopped working.

“Phew. Huh, huh...”

Ian spat out saliva mixed with gastric acid and took deep breaths.

Looking at the status window, he saw that his mental strength had increased by nine points.

Although he had spent a lot of points, he didn't feel it was a waste.

He would have gone mad if he hadn't used them.

Besides, it was a necessary attribute anyway.

After closing the status window, Ian's gaze fixed on the darkness again.

A new window had appeared.

‘What is this...?’

It was a side quest he had never seen or received before.

Fragment of Chaos.

The content stated that he had returned a fragment of the primordial chaos to the void.

The reward was a fragment of chaos.

‘That black hole was the void...?’

Ian quickly accepted the situation.

‘Then that entity... an ancient god?’

He couldn't think of any other explanation.

A hollow laugh spread across Ian's lips.

He never thought he would see one of the gods of the void, often mentioned by the fallen.

‘Did Conraud see this too? ...Well, if he did, he wouldn't be alive.’

It was an experience he never wanted to repeat, but at least there was a reward.

And it was inside his body.

Since regaining his composure, Ian had felt the same sensation as when he first sensed mana.

It felt like a new sensory organ had sprouted somewhere in his body.

Ian calmly observed the organ.

A fist-sized lump that had settled somewhere in his mind.

From within it, he could sense a power similar to the fragment of chaos.

It felt both like pure mana and divine power.

‘Chaos... Could this be chaos power?’

Ian's brows furrowed.

It was a fitting thought, but it was impossible.

Chaos power was the energy of the void.

In the game, it was a power used by only a few fallen and demons.

For a player to obtain chaos power, they had to corrupt their character.

‘...Just like with the apostle quest. All the restrictions are really gone.’

Ian accepted the phenomenon.

The principles and reasons didn't matter.

What mattered was that he had obtained chaos power.

‘It's a good thing, really. I was already lacking in mana. If I can use it properly...’

As he continued his thoughts, Ian's eyebrows twitched.

He sensed a familiar vibration.

“Meb...?”

It wasn't a hallucination. The vibration of divine power and corrupted mana was so intense it made his skin crawl.

Why now, when everything was over?

Sensing something was wrong, Ian didn't hesitate to move.

He easily navigated the pitch-black darkness.

***

Locating the group wasn't difficult.

The mid-boss, the Death Knight.

With the spell circuit now inactive, only this creature could create such a battle.

His assumption was correct.

“...”

He was just a bit late.

A roar-like battle cry.

Feeling the clash of divine power and mana, Ian entered the corridor.

His steps slowed.

In the center of the knight's room.

Two knights were frozen, stuck together.

The winner and the loser were clear.

Meb's sword had pierced through the Death Knight's armor, protruding from his back.

The Death Knight's sword was embedded in Meb's shoulder.

It seemed they had just finished their battle a few seconds ago.

Ian let out a sigh of relief.

At least Meb had won.

It seemed the spell circuit had shut down, allowing her to receive divine power again.

‘I thought she would mess everything up at the last moment...’

As he thought, Ian calmly entered the room.

“Ah... Ah...”

The frozen Meb sighed.

“Ah... Ahhhh-!”

The sigh turned into a desperate scream.

In the next moment, a blue divine power exploded from her body.

Just as Ian was about to freeze in shock.

Kwaahh- Ching!

The divine power, which had been burning, turned into a pillar of light that enveloped Meb.

In the middle of it, Meb's body, which was holding the Death Knight, floated up.

Though obscured by the faceplate, she seemed to have lost consciousness.

“...”

What the hell is going on here?

Blinking, Ian moved to the corner of the room.

Philip and Miguel were standing there.

Unlike the dazed Miguel, Philip had tears in his eyes.

Miguel's eyes widened when he saw Ian approaching.

“Hey, bro...! We've been waiting!”

“What happened? And why is he like this?”

Ian asked, narrowing his eyes at the dazed Philip.

Philip was staring blankly at the pillar of light, muttering something about their poor lord.

Miguel hesitated.

“Well, that... Uh.”

“Just spit it out. Everything.”

“It's... the lord killed the knight.”

“Go on.”

“It turns out... the knight was the lord's brother.”

“What...?”

Ian's eyes widened.

The Death Knight was Vernon.

An identity he had never imagined.

“So.”

“Anyway, we made it here. The undeads retreated. That guy... the head of the Rieur family, was waiting for the lord.”

Miguel continued.

He licked his lips and looked back at the pillar of light.

“Do you know what he said? He said he was now stronger than his sister. Strong enough to kill her. He was waiting to kill the lord personally.”

“...He must have been very shocked.”

“He couldn't even respond to that guy's words. When that guy said he would kill us first, the lord finally moved. I wouldn't have accepted it either if my blood relative had gone mad from the darkness.”

Vernon might not be mad.

Thinking this, Ian licked his lips.

Of course, his mind would have been corrupted when he was resurrected as a high-level undead.

But it wouldn't have created thoughts he didn't have.

It would only twist or amplify existing thoughts.

Of course, over time, it could create a completely different personality.

But the time since Vernon became an undead was too short for that.

“Anyway, the battle started. The lord was at a disadvantage. She was shocked and almost out of divine power. That head of the family mocked her. He toyed with her like a cat with a mouse. He acted like a young man trying to prove his strength. Then...”

Miguel looked at Ian.

“That guy suddenly said his master was dead. That's when we found out you had successfully killed the necromancer. Then, do you know what he said?”

“Don't beat around the bush.”

“...He said that with his master gone, he would go out into the world. He would burn this damn kingdom. He would take the lives of everything to become stronger. Like the demons beyond that black wall. He would create his own domain.”

A master and his servant.

Ian smiled bitterly.

It was a futile dream.

Vernon must have been a puppet of another fallen.

“So you made a decision.”

“No. The lord never gave up hope. She tried to purify him, to persuade him.”

Miguel shrugged.

“Then, suddenly, everything went dark. Divine power gushed from the lord's body. She seemed shocked too. The Goddess of Judgment must have been very angry. She had every right to be, with her cherished apostle suddenly disappearing and then returning.”

“...”

Ian's brows furrowed.

He hoped Meb had killed Vernon of her own will.

“The madman was actually enjoying it. Then he truly tried to kill the lord. He wanted to use his full strength... Anyway, the real battle began. The lord almost cried out. She didn't seem to want to kill him...”

Miguel's expression turned bitter.

“In the end, it looked like that guy threw himself onto the lord's sword. I don't know if he thought he could win. Anyway... and...”

Miguel gestured between the pillar of light and Ian.

“It ended like this, and you arrived.”

“...I see.”

Ian clicked his tongue.

A fate where he would become a mad killer if he couldn't find his brother, and then have to kill him with his own hands if he did.

When the world was a game, such tragic elements were entertaining.

But now that it was reality, he couldn't enjoy it.

He only thought it was a damn world.

At that moment.

Pssss...

The pillar of light finally faded.

Meb's body gently fell.

The corpse of the Death Knight, Vernon, in her arms, did the same.

With a faint divine power still lingering, Meb lifted her head.

Her hand brushed against Vernon's dented helmet.

Clank. The faceplate fell, revealing Vernon's face.

A face with exposed bones on one side, a typical mutation of an undead.

But Meb caressed his face with a tender touch.

In the heavy silence, Ian moved closer.

Meb turned to look at him as he approached.

A voice came from behind her faceplate.

“Your mission is complete, Ian. I thank you. Without you, I couldn't have made it this far.”

Unexpectedly, it was a very calm voice.

“But I don't think we can continue together. From here on, I plan to go alone.”

“...What do you mean?”

Ian stopped and asked.

After a moment of silence, Meb spoke.

“My brother was killed by traitors. Not only that, he was forcibly resurrected and used. As a result, his soul fell into corruption... and in the end, he didn't even receive salvation.”

She looked at Vernon.

“I pleaded with the goddess to save his soul. But she didn't respond. Of course not. The goddess judges sin, not grants salvation.”

The divine power surrounding her body shimmered.

“...But if I seek revenge, she will respond.”

“...”

Ian's eyes darkened as Meb muttered to herself.

“I can never forgive those who made my brother like this. Or their servants.”

“So...”

Finally, Ian spoke.

He added in a cold voice.

“You're going to kill them all?”

Meb slowly stood up.

The divine power surrounding her body began to turn red.

“That is the revenge I seek, Ian.”

When she was fully standing, her body was dyed in blood.

“I will find the kingdom's fallen and their servants and kill them with my own hands.”

The avenger looked at Ian.

“As I did to Vernon. I will leave no one alive until they are all dead.”

“...”

Ian closed his eyes briefly and let out a sigh of exhaustion.

Then he slowly drew his longsword from his waist.

Opening his eyes and facing Meb, he said in a flat tone.

“That won't do.”