Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 303

Everyone who entered the Aerial Fortress faced the fifth trial.

The fifth trial was unlike any they had encountered before.

Michael of Kabbalah.

Serena of the Theocracy.

Jang Han of the Nine Dragons Fort.

Ron of the Dawn Society.

And countless other challengers, including the twin brothers of the Sungmu Yi family… all stood before a world in the throes of destruction.

This wasn’t a metaphor or a figure of speech.

It was, quite literally, the end of the world.

They looked down upon the Earth, witnessing its annihilation.

The sheer scale of it was overwhelming, instilling a sense of helplessness that no human power could overcome.

Their beautiful blue planet was being consumed by blackness.

Humans, animals, plants, land, sea… everything was being dyed black.

They were shown glimpses of countless eras, flashing before their eyes.

Landscapes from forgotten ages, eras whose records had been lost or never even existed.

A black monster, of unknown origin, swept across the world.

It emerged from the depths of the vast sea.

It traversed the globe, ignoring all boundaries, devouring everything in its path – islands, continents, land, and sea.

It was a vision of the destruction that awaited them.

In the fifth trial, they faced despair itself.

* * *

I gazed down at the breathtaking view of Earth.

Beyond the distant horizon, I could see the cosmos, and beneath my feet, clouds drifted lazily.

But further down, I was forced to confront the destruction of this very planet.

‘The Primordial Beast…’

I instinctively knew that I was witnessing the first cataclysm caused by the Primordial Beast.

-Look.

The dwarf’s voice echoed beside me.

-That was the first destruction.

A monstrous creature was emerging from a hole.

Its power seemed different from what it is now.

It was a shapeless, amorphous being composed of a blackish, slimy substance.

-This is merely an illusion created by us, as the Aerial Fortress didn’t exist at that time.

The ‘it’ that crawled out of the hole for the first time was insignificant.

I frowned as I watched it.

‘It was that weak in the beginning?’

It seemed like even I could stop it.

Noticing my expression, the dwarf muttered listlessly.

-Yes, the beast was weak.

-But humans were always weaker.

-An era perished in less than half a day.

I paused, taken aback.

“Only half a day?”

Even if humanity was primitive back then, the Primordial Beast was equally weak.

Yet, it took less than a day, less than a week, only half a day for it to wipe out an entire era.

-Only? That was a long time for them to endure.

-Humans didn’t survive because they were strong.

-They survived because the beast’s power was weak.

-Human destiny is always at the mercy of something greater.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground, pulled away from the view of Earth, as if being sucked into something.

-The survivors rebuilt, forgetting the memories of the previous destruction.

Like a video playing in fast-forward, I saw glimpses of humanity flourishing.

They harnessed fire, crafted tools, entered the Bronze and Iron Ages, and explored the mysteries of magic and spirits.

-This fortress floating in the air also began then.

-Its beginnings were humble.

The Aerial Fortress originated with the sorcerer of a large tribe.

These ancient beings lacked knowledge but possessed wisdom.

They foresaw the coming destruction and sought to leave their records for posterity.

Thus, the collective thoughts of countless tribesmen became a handful of soil, rising into the sky.

-This is the genesis of the Aerial Fortress.

The Aerial Fortress, as I saw it, wasn’t a fortress at all in its earliest form.

It was merely a small clod of dirt, about one *pyeong* [approximately 3.3 square meters], floating in the sky.

-Countless thoughts gathered and coalesced, eventually forming a device that recorded many aspects of the world.

-Inevitably, it appeared again.

Once more, the Primordial Beast emerged from the deep hole in the sea.

Its appearance was different this time.

The Primordial Beast, having grown stronger by devouring humans, gradually awakened special powers.

Numerous lives were consumed.

Humans survived, but death, indistinguishable from destruction, was rampant throughout the world.

-This was the second destruction.

All living things on the ground were helpless.

The Primordial Beast easily drove the world to ruin.

Nothing that humans had built could halt its advance.

-To prosper and multiply. That is human instinct and destiny.

-Humans who survived the destruction rebuilt civilization again.

-Like livestock being raised.

-It was nothing more than a struggle to survive a little longer in the face of the inevitable destruction.

I couldn’t deny the dwarf’s harsh words.

Facing destruction and rebuilding again.

All those meaningless endeavors truly seemed like livestock being raised, just as the dwarf had said.

There was nothing humans could do.

‘This is like…’

A wave of nausea washed over me.

The Primordial Beast didn’t ‘bother’ to destroy humans.

Because its existence depended on humans.

And because humans had to survive and cultivate civilization, leaving something for it to devour.

-Just to survive a little longer in the face of the coming destruction.

-To that end, they prosper and live only for that.

-Even if they survive longer, the end is always destruction.

-The remaining few humans will continue civilization again.

Again, the video sped up.

Above the ruins where everything had been obliterated by the Primordial Beast, humans rebuilt civilization.

And I recognized this era.

‘It’s the Mythological Era.’

The power of humans was unprecedentedly strong, and beings called gods guided humanity with immense power.

The power of the Aerial Fortress changed from this point onward.

-At this time, we had hope.

-If we pass on the records of the past to posterity, we will one day be able to break this cycle of destruction.

-Accordingly, the collective thoughts of countless humans gathered and caused changes in the castle.

-From then on, the castle began to pass on records to posterity.

-To find a singularity that can escape this cycle.

The dwarf’s robe pointed towards something.

The transformation of the Aerial Fortress was visible there.

What was once a small clod of dirt gradually grew larger, and soon began to travel the world, capturing everything.

‘That’s…’

I saw several humans, like myself, crossing a rainbow-like bridge and entering the castle.

Among them, I recognized the back of a familiar man.

Ruda.

He was climbing the castle, wielding a *chang* [spear or lance] that didn’t yet appear to be Gyeongcheon.

-We wanted to be hope.

-To help humans avoid destruction.

-To preserve as many lives as possible from the Primordial Beast that will rise.

The dwarf’s voice echoed deeply.

I saw the beast rising again.

It traveled the world and was stopped by a man with the name of a god on a certain land on a distant island.

“Ruda definitely won. His records have been passed down to modern times, and humans have actually survived.”

Possibility.

Wasn’t there at least a glimmer of possibility there?

The dwarf was silent for a moment at my words.

Then, he raised his robe again and pointed elsewhere.

-Can that really be called victory?

Where the dwarf pointed, there was only death.

Even Ruda, who had stopped the Primordial Beast’s advance, met his demise.

The numerous continents that the Primordial Beast had traversed were also dyed black.

“……”

I was speechless.

It wasn’t a victory.

Ruda had halted the Primordial Beast’s progress, but humanity had simply faced destruction again and survived.

The death that the Primordial Beast experienced was not a true death.

Because the Primordial Beast does not truly die.

The Aerial Fortress had accomplished nothing.

-In the end, it was destruction.

-Nothing changed.

-We realized.

-No matter how prosperous humans are, they cannot resist it.

Again.

Repeatedly.

The Primordial Beast is born, dies, and is reborn again.

As humans develop, the power of the Primordial Beast grows stronger day by day.

At first, it only had the power to create ordinary beasts, and I realized that it was called Earlister.

The Primordial Beast, resurrected in the Mythological Era, understood magic and created creatures similar to modern monsters.

Soon, it devoured all the power of humans.

The stronger the power of humans, the stronger its power became.

I continued to watch the *heureum* [flow or current] of the long era.

‘Can it be so hopeless?’

Humans could not escape destruction.

They merely survived, prospered, and turned to ashes again.

The Primordial Beast was constantly resurrected.

It was resurrected and resurrected, always plunging humans into the abyss of despair.

No one, nothing could stop it.

-Possibility. Possibility…….

-Yes.

-There was a moment when it seemed like the only possibility.

The dwarf said suddenly.

The scene before my eyes changed rapidly, revealing a deep forest.

There was a man there.

“Beast. Are you destruction?”

A young man with jet-black hair and black eyes.

The man drew his sword.

His taciturn face showed a deep fighting spirit and competitiveness.

Flash!

A dark sword light erupted from the raised sword, and I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

I saw it.

The sword that the man wielded was the same as the sword I held.

Black Night.

The man was holding Black Night.

The founder of the Sungmu Yi family, Yi Hyul-hyeon, was there.

* * *

Jijijik!

The world before my eyes was filled with static, as if heavy rain was falling, just as the battle was about to begin.

“What’s going on?”

-This moment was not recorded.

The dwarf muttered cautiously.

-All that remains is the record after the fighting is over.

The dwarf waved his robe, and the scene changed.

The scene that was reflected in my eyes again was a ruined landscape.

The ground was dyed black, as if black ink had been spilled, and the Primordial Beast was nowhere to be seen.

Only blackish slime was scattered across the ground.

I widened my eyes.

‘No way.’

He had won.

Founder Yi Hyul-hyeon.

The Primordial Beast met its demise as soon as it set foot on the continent for the first time, let alone traveling around the world.

It was the first achievement since the dawn of mankind.

-It was an event that can be described as a true singularity, unprecedented in history.

The Primordial Beast rises from the Blue Hole and travels the world.

However, for the first time among the destructions I had witnessed, the Primordial Beast was stopped without even taking a proper step.

By a man named Yi Hyul-hyeon, who faced him on that land, now called the Northern Unexplored Territory.

-An era that had never existed before had begun.

-Its corpse was scattered all over the world.

-The cycle in which it rises has also been disrupted.

-It was a singularity of the era. After that, the Primordial Beast was unable to show itself for thousands of years.

I finally understood why people related to the Sungmu Yi family appeared in the Aerial Fortress test.

It was the founder.

The being who succeeded in cutting off the *heureum* [flow or current] of repeated destruction was none other than the founder of the Sungmu Yi family.

But.

-Even that failed.

-It was only a postponement of destruction, not the end.

-Rather, the Primordial Beast that failed at that time stored even stronger power.

Kooooooo-!

A huge hole came into my view.

The place where the Primordial Beast rises.

The Blue Hole, which is *tteulhyeo* [pierced or opened] in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Inside, I felt an ominous feeling that something was watching me.

That’s right.

The founder clearly achieved something unprecedented, but even that only bought time.

The Primordial Beast will rise again.

And it will destroy humans again.

With the power that has become stronger through the failure at that time, as the power of humans has become stronger as the era *heureum* [flow or current], the beast will also reveal itself with the power that has become stronger.

Not at any other time.

In this era where I live, now.

-And even Yi Hyul-hyeon, who opened that new era, fell.

-Rather, his existence has become another despair, not hope or possibility.

-The cursed family, the Sungmu Yi family, was born that way.

The dwarf’s words continued.