Chapter 142. Birth of a Hero (2)
I cannot fall.
I must not fall.
Everyone followed me.
Because I led the way.
Because they believed in me and came together.
Asurat, Sirgi, Baal, Zephyros, Lord Artanis, even Tbong.
All of them are my responsibility.
So, I must...
……..Pahat!
A flashing burst.
Fading consciousness.
Within it, Kim Jangcheol struggled to open his eyes. He desperately tried not to lose consciousness.
Because of that, he had to witness the final moment.
The side profile of Aged Kimchi.
That magnificent strike.
……..!
Was it a hand he extended? Or was it his will? It was too fast, too transcendent to be captured by the eyes.
But one fact could be realized.
One strike.
A single breath.
A single motion.
That alone was enough.
He, with just that, was nullifying the tremendous explosion erupting from the statue.
…….Tukwahak!
Aged Kimchi’s strike exploded.
His pink-pink bunny princess costume swelled as if it would burst. His muscles pulsed. The girlish skirt fluttered. His quadriceps explosively pounded the ground.
At that moment, everything converged into a single point.
Condensation upon condensation.
Explosion upon explosion.
And then, reduction.
It was an overwhelming, transcendent surge of power. It was excessive violence, and tyranny descended from a dimension beyond limits.
Perhaps that was why.
The self-destructive explosion erupting from the statue was swept away and vanished by his strike. No, not merely vanished—it was driven entirely back into the statue itself.
.....!
The energy released by the self-destruction completely returned to the statue’s chest.
The self-destruction was canceled.
No, it became as if it never happened.
Just as matter emits massive energy, the energy exceeding the limit reconstructed the matter. The chest of the statue, shattered in the process of the self-destruction, was restored, perfectly regaining its original form.
The explosion disappeared.
The clouds parted.
The stratosphere trembled.
The magnetic field of the ionosphere twisted.
A certain beetle on the opposite side of the planet instinctively paused, and the dew hanging on a bush held its breath in stillness.
Was it a majestic miracle?
Or a blasphemous tribute to the laws of physics?
‘That’s... impossible...’
Kim Jangcheol laughed as he lost consciousness.
He could not hold back the hollow laughter.
Because he couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes.
‘What... such a delusion...’
Was it what he saw in his final moment?
Was it because he had harbored excessive hopes?
In reality, the barrier must have broken, and everything must have been swept away by the explosion. Tbong, Zephyros, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Artanis must all be facing mortal danger.
‘I’m sorry, everyone...’
Kim Jangcheol closed his eyes.
And blamed himself.
Because he couldn’t absorb more of the explosive force. Because he couldn’t endure longer. Because, in the end, he couldn’t stop the self-destruction. Even in this final moment, as he lost consciousness, he clung to a pathetic illusion for comfort.
Regretting.
Blaming himself.
And drifting into unconsciousness.
Thus, Aged Kimchi felt a strange emotion.
“.........”
The aftershock that nullified the explosion.
The chaos within the breaking barrier.
The scene where tens of thousands of glass fragments scattered.
Amidst the dazzling scattering of that light, Aged Kimchi quietly watched Kim Jangcheol.
And thought.
That he both resented and respected this man.
“...........”
He resented that ridiculous costume.
He resented that he had been made to wear it.
There were countless other reasons for resentment.
He resented that his life had been led into endless slaughter, resented being abandoned as if discarded when he reached his twentieth life.
Even when they finally reunited, he resented the pretense of not recognizing him, resented the fate that brought him to meet again in the body of the Demon King.
Yet, he could not simply harbor resentment.
The determination to sacrifice himself here for everyone’s sake, the stubborn will that even now, unconscious, remained standing.
That sense of responsibility.
It was worthy of respect, and so he could not merely resent him.
That made it all the more frustrating.
‘But...’
I can’t stay here any longer.
Aged Kimchi withdrew his gaze from Kim Jangcheol, who remained standing while unconscious. He looked around.
The barrier breaking and collapsing.
The sight of countless glass shards scattering.
This fleeting scene would soon end.
Probably within a second.
After that moment, the barrier would completely disappear, the scattered light created by the fragments would cease, and the eyes of the thousands gathered in the square would all be fixed on him.
Everyone would see me.
Dressed in this fluttering, pink-pink, girly-girly bunny princess costume.
Having rushed here in a hurry.
Having come seeking the Summon of Duty.
Without even grabbing a cloak or robe to cover this embarrassing appearance, in this overly revealing, pulsating magical girl costume.
“............”
Damn it.
Aged Kimchi muttered a curse he had never spoken in his life.
In front of thousands, tens of thousands of people.
In this outfit?
With his face exposed?
To show himself?
“.........”
No.
Absolutely not.
If that happened, he would die of shame.
So, let’s leave this place quickly.
…...Tuwak!
Decision and action happened almost simultaneously.
Just before the shattered fragments of the barrier dispersed completely, Aged Kimchi stomped on the ground. He accelerated at an almost unimaginable speed and crossed the plaza and the city airspace in an instant.
Thus, he exited the plaza.
Without anyone seeing.
Without anyone realizing.
Thanks to that, from Aged Kimchi’s appearance, to his overwhelming strike, and finally his departure, no one in the plaza perceived his existence.
Of course, there were a very few exceptions.
"....!"
Flinch!
The former Demon Queen.
The Witch of Melody, Artanis.
As Aged Kimchi exited the plaza, she felt a chilling shock without even realizing it.
She didn’t know why.
It was just.......
‘What was that? That incredible, overwhelming presence I just felt?’
She hurriedly turned her head toward the direction Aged Kimchi had disappeared. However, she couldn’t find anything.
“.......”
Was it an illusion?
She shook off the brief chill she had felt.
And at the next moment.
The wind stirred by Aged Kimchi’s departure brushed past everyone in the plaza.
Whooosh......
Beside the beard of the king who gripped the podium’s railing tightly, to the archbishop’s robe front, who had tried to maintain the barrier and even bled a nosebleed, over the shoulders of the people who had crouched and clung to each other.
A gentle breeze blew.
The wind rustled the trees surrounding the plaza.
A single leaf that had clung to the tree fell, was carried by the breeze, and eventually flew toward Kim Jangcheol.
Quietly.
And calmly.
.....Chak
It was the moment when the leaf settled on the shoulder of Kim Jangcheol, who had fainted while still standing.
That infinitely small sound awakened the giant, 63.5 meters tall, weighing 1,200 tons—the statue of the Archangel.
[......]
The statue of the Archangel slowly opened its eyes.
And, in a daze, it thought.
I certainly attempted self-destruction.
The self-destruction had definitely been initiated.
But why do I still exist?
Why was I not destroyed?
[........What?]
It could not understand.
Was this perhaps the afterlife?
But upon looking around, it wasn’t.
The plaza. The people. And...... and...
[......!]
It remembered.
[That..... strike......!]
Yes.
That strike.
The one that had crashed into me.
The one that had swept me away.
An overwhelming, transcendent force.
By whom?
[Right in front..... from this direction....]
Creak, creak.
The statue turned its trembling head. And cautiously cast its gaze toward the direction from which Aged Kimchi’s strike had come.
Thanks to that, it could see.
The figure of Kim Jangcheol, who had fainted while still standing.
Kim Jangcheol’s will, towering like a giant tree even though he had lost consciousness!
[....!]
It was him.
The one who had delivered that hyper-dimensional strike a moment ago... it was him!
[......Yes, certainly...]
It had to be.
There was no one inside the barrier except for him and itself. No one else, absolutely no one.
So, it must have been him who had unleashed that blow.
That strike so vast it made one feel as though witnessing the end of the world. The impossible surge of power that even nullified its self-destruction.
At that moment of realization.
....Shudder!
An endless, chilling abyss enveloped the statue of the Archangel. At the same time, the overwhelming difference in power it had inadvertently experienced crushed it with hopeless clarity.
It was PTSD.
It was an overwhelming trauma.
It was also the despair, resignation, and fear of one who had realized the existence of a wall that could never, ever be overcome.
The statue understood deeply.
Even if it challenged him dozens of times, even if it were reborn, even if the world changed hundreds of times.
[I..... can never defeat this one.............]
No.
It could not even challenge him.
It must not even attempt to.
[.......]
Its entire body trembled.
Merely looking at him standing there unconscious made its knees weak. Just hearing him breathe made its legs falter.
Of course, the statue of the Archangel did not know.
That it had not noticed Aged Kimchi’s intervention at all. That it had seriously misunderstood (?) Kim Jangcheol.
Not knowing this, it was mistaken.
The being shaped as the statue of the Archangel, which it believed was closest to perfection, could not even dare to covet the existence of this one.
This being must be the most perfect of all.
Moreover, was this not the one it should follow for the rest of its life?
......Kuguk! Kururung!
Trembling in fear, the statue of the Archangel, with more reverent movements, lifted its 1,200-ton frame.
And, staggering as if gasping for breath, yet barely maintaining a proper posture, it looked down at Kim Jangcheol.
Kuguguk..... Kduduk.....!
It could feel the gazes of those gathered in the plaza.
Thousands, tens of thousands of eyes were looking up at it.
All of them showing unease.
And also, fear.
But the statue did not care.
The truth it had just realized.
The natural order it had finally accepted.
It moved its body accordingly.
Kuuung!
It knelt.
Kwaaang!
It placed both hands on the ground.
Tukwaaang!
It planted its forehead into the earth.
.....Whoooosh......!
Watching the dispersing shockwave and dust carried by the wind, everyone in the plaza realized in silence.
The statue of the Archangel.
To the unconscious Kim Jangcheol.
Had offered a deep bow of submission.
A hero, an undeniable hero, was born in that moment.
This one is so exciting! I'm waiting for further interaction between Aged Kimchi and Kim Jangcheol!
I really enjoy reading this, and I adore the loyalty Credos' people held to him!