Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 304

Weapon-Eating Heir 304

For a moment, I felt a sense of detachment.

I stared at the scene unfolding before me, speechless.

Even the founder of Ihulhyun, the one called the God of War.

‘Failed.’

He had triumphed over the primordial monster, but failed to obliterate it.

Instead, the founder was covered in its remnants.

Its byproducts, toxic to humans by their very existence, contaminated the being that was Ihulhyun.

Yet, he survived.

This was because the primordial monster’s power was incomplete due to its imperfect resurrection, and because the founder possessed immense strength.

When he regained consciousness, the founder’s eyes were tinged yellow, and much had changed.

“So, this is how it ends. I cannot accept this.”

The founder muttered, his bright yellow eyes gleaming within the blackened world.

Thud!

Soon, the founder rose from the black remnants, limping towards somewhere.

The founder’s figure receded into the distance.

His eyes were filled with madness.

-What happened after that, you already know.

-The abyss entwined with your family.

-The obsession that started from that terrifying being…….

-The Sungmu Yi family might have been better off never being born.

Sungmu Yi family.

The truth of the main family, known as the family of struggle, the hall of martial artists who revered martial arts.

I knew it from Ancestor Yi Hyangseon.

Also, the fact that all of this started from the founder’s obsession.

-He was corrupted.

-The singularity that should have driven the era became another error, twisting cause and effect.

-He should have prepared for the coming destruction.

The founder of Ihulhyun did not.

Instead, he hid it.

Everything about the primordial monster, all related knowledge.

The dwarf looked straight at me.

-Even he couldn’t do it.

-Even Ihulhyun, who accomplished what countless humans couldn’t over the long years, couldn’t defeat the primordial monster.

The scene before my eyes flashed rapidly again.

The world, which had narrowly avoided destruction for the first time without major damage, began to prosper again.

Sometimes slowly, sometimes regressing, sometimes quickly.

They used steam engines, studied magic, and developed science and technology.

-The long peace given thanks to the singularity called Ihulhyun.

-If Ihulhyun had led, they could have built a more solid defense.

-But because he hid everything for his own ambition and deceived the world, humanity did not use its time properly.

-And with the time of the predicted destruction approaching, it began to stir.

The world’s scenery changed.

The world before my eyes was dyed red.

Shells rained down, screams filled the air, and blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

It was a battlefield.

I knew this great war that had swept the world.

A war triggered by monsters, but in which humans began to kill each other.

It was the scene of the Great War.

-Merely by stretching in the abyss…….

-A war broke out, and the world was driven to the brink of destruction.

The cautious monster, made cautious by the era that died before awakening, before even taking a proper step, merely spied on the flow of the era.

That was all.

It merely stretched for a moment.

Just as small animals sense an earthquake and flee in advance, that was all that happened.

That alone engulfed humanity in the flames of the Great War.

A series of truths that made my mind reel followed.

Everything that humanity had built was ultimately just a handful of ashes.

Everything was twisted by the primordial monster.

Despair.

Every story that flowed from the mouths of the dwarves was filled with despair.

-And now, it will appear again.

The dwarf turned his head towards me.

-It has spied on the era, and the time of resurrection has come.

-The power of the one who has been asleep for a long time will be stronger than ever.

Yellow eyes stared straight at me.

The primordial monster is now on the verge of resurrection.

-This is the fate of this land.

-The destruction that will come this time will not be avoided.

Like a video abruptly cut off.

I was facing a scene where the world before my eyes was dyed black.

Beyond that scene, the primordial monster seemed to be looking back at me.

Even knowing that this was just a test, knowing that it was a record, I felt breathless at the overwhelming sight.

-There is only one thing singularities can do.

-Postpone destruction.

-You must not think of fighting and winning.

-It does not die. What appears to be death is merely a temporary respite.

Even if you block it like Luna, like Ancestor Ihulhyun, it will only delay the time.

It will become stronger again and appear in the world.

“Is there no way to defeat it?”

The dwarf did not answer immediately to my words.

A moment of silence, followed by a blunt reply.

-No.

-No living being, no dead being, no existence in this world can stand against it.

-That’s how it has always been.

“Then, then why do you exist? What is the reason for gathering singularities, showing the truth, and testing us?”

I glared at the dwarf and said.

It didn’t make sense.

If destruction is so prepared, what is the purpose of showing this to us?

-So that the world can be maintained a little longer when it comes.

-Even if it is only avoidance, at least we can prepare for annihilation.

The answer that came was not hopeful.

An answer filled with avoidance, escapism, and procrastination.

-Even if you block it in this era, it will rise again in the next era.

-No…… In the first place, even continuing to the next era will be a miracle as difficult as passing through a needle hole [extremely difficult task].

-Because the destruction of this era will be different from what has been before.

-That is why we tried to gather all causes and effects to create one singularity.

-For the preservation of humanity…….

I turned my head and looked down at the Earth.

There was no beautiful, blue planet.

There was only a huge, blackened rock floating in space.

-Now, you who have returned from death. You singularity who challenged the castle.

-You have now seen the truth of the world.

Give me the answer.

The dwarf stared straight at Yi Cheol, his yellow eyes gleaming.

* * *

Everyone has imagined it at least once.

What would happen if this world were to end?

That event, which would only end as a fantasy, was cast before the eyes of the challengers who dared to challenge the aerial fortress.

What they felt was overwhelming fear and despair.

A truth like looking down into a deep abyss, not knowing what would happen.

It is not something that can be achieved by effort, nor is it a destruction that can be avoided by blocking it.

There is no method, no path, and no hope.

A terribly helpless and despair-filled reality.

Facing that reality, the challengers each gave their own answers.

Some gave up, some were angry, and some were simply stunned.

However, they will eventually have to give an answer.

Those who fail to give an answer will have this despairing memory erased and be expelled from the castle.

‘Now.’

Thus, the dwarf looked at Yi Cheol.

‘It is now time to give an answer. You who have returned from death.’

A singularity that stands out even among singularities.

An existence that even the dwarves who feared him have come to expect.

Yi Cheol slowly raised his head.

And opened his mouth.

“I see.”

Yi Cheol’s voice was calm.

Everyone who had challenged the castle until now had felt frustrated in the face of this test.

Indeed, Yi Cheol had felt bewildered and blankly faced the truth of the world, hadn’t he?

But the first words that came out of his mouth were merely ‘I see’.

-What. What do you mean, I see?

“I understand.”

Has he lost his mind in despair?

The dwarf thought so.

There were always such people.

Originally, if one was talented enough to reach this test, they would live a life revered by ordinary humans outside.

If such a person, who had lived such a life, was told that humanity’s fate was always swayed by the primordial monster and that destruction was imminent, they would react like that.

But.

‘Why does he have such clear eyes?’

The dwarf looked into Yi Cheol’s yellow pupils.

If he had lost his mind, his eyes should have been lifeless, but Yi Cheol’s eyes were the same as they were at the beginning.

With such eyes, he was lost in thought.

-What…… are you thinking about? You who have returned from death.

“I was thinking about what to do from now on. …Since I saw the guardian using the Simgeom [a powerful sword technique] in the fourth test, the monster will block even that. Is the answer in the Black Night after all?”

-What……?

The dwarf stared blankly at Yi Cheol.

He couldn’t understand what this person was saying.

“I understand, so I’m thinking about countermeasures.”

He had faced the primordial monster countless times.

The overwhelming feeling that existence held.

The despair that seemed unreachable.

I had already seen it countless times.

So from now on, I had to think about what I had to do and what I could do.

-Do you think you can do something?

It was the dwarf who was rather embarrassed.

So he wondered if Yi Cheol had misunderstood.

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

-It’s wrong. You should have known that you can’t do anything. All such actions are meaningless.

“If it has been impossible until now, we just need to find a way.”

-It’s impossible. Its power has reached its peak. Just for survival…….

I cut off the dwarf’s words in one go.

“Always.”

And I let out a weak laugh.

“I have been with those words.”

In my past life.

Even with the doctor saying I wouldn’t be able to use magic, I struggled to scrape together magic.

In this life.

I achieved the integration of the magic circuit and magic source, which was said to be impossible, and achieved the realm of Simgeom unusually quickly.

In impossible missions, in training, in actual combat, in tests, in trials, in countless moments…….

“The results were always the same.”

I found a way and walked it.

I changed the despised gaze, and now I am praised as the powerhouse of the family.

I know it too.

That and this will be different levels of things.

I know better because I saw it directly.

We shouldn’t compare the global event of the primordial monster with the achievements of a single human being.

So what, what am I supposed to do?

I can’t avoid it.

So should I just stand still?

Despair, frustration, helplessness…….

I’m so used to it that I’m sick of it.

I’ll take one more step in the time I’d spend falling into it.

“If it’s impossible, I’ll find a way until it’s possible.”

I recalled the words my first brother had said to me.

There is nothing impossible in this world.

I just don’t know how yet.

“If there’s nothing I can do, I’ll find something I can do and do it.”

Is the primordial monster’s power stronger than ever?

Then I’ll find a way to block it.

Is perfect annihilation impossible?

Then I’ll find a way to annihilate it.

“I have no intention of doing the unsightly act of giving up without even trying.”

I have no intention of giving up my life.

I will seize everything and get it.

It was the second life I had fought so hard for.

“So I don’t care. I’ll just keep doing what I have to do.”

-…….

The dwarf quietly stared at Yi Cheol.

Can he take this so lightly?

No, he didn’t take it lightly, but how can he say such confident words?

He says he’ll do it until it works, whether it works or not.

What kind of reckless nonsense is this?

Does he think he has that much time?

It doesn’t make sense.

It doesn’t make sense, but…….

-Ha, ha, ha.

The dwarf let out a broken laugh.

At Yi Cheol’s words, which were so self-assured that they were ignorant, he felt the human emotion that had been worn away and disappeared raising its head.

It was what they called hope.

He came to feel hope in this answer that had no logic.

-Is that your answer?

The dwarf asked.

I nodded.

-That answer has no clear alternative, no logical persuasion.

“Isn’t it a problem that has no answer in the first place? If so, I’m saying that I’ll find the answer from now on.”

The dwarf’s yellow eyes curved into a crescent shape.

It’s a reckless answer.

No one has ever given this answer before.

Most of them were frustrated or gave up.

Others had no interest at all, and some said they would be faithful to reality.

But since there is no answer, he says he will find the answer.

This is not an answer at all.

But he says he can do it. He says he will do it.

It was an answer that did not show any doubt or frustration in himself.

And, therefore.

The dwarf once again harbored futile hope.

The dwarf’s eyes flashed.

-You who have returned from death.

-You have faced the truth and given your own answer.

-Congratulations on passing the fifth test.

-Two more tests remain.

-I will be waiting for you at the top of this castle.

Whoosh!

The space began to distort.

A pure white space appeared.

Thus, I passed even the fifth test.

* * *

I stood face to face with the dwarf in the pure white space.

The dwarf was looking down at me.

“Is the test over with just this?”

“…….”

I tilted my head and asked, and the dwarf said nothing to those words.

‘Just this. No matter how much.’

The dwarf looked down at Yi Cheol.

Yi Cheol was really wondering.

Yi Cheol said just that.

Just…… how can he say that with the word just.

A mere human faced the truth of the world and faced that great despair.

Even those who had passed the harsh aerial fortress test four times had failed in this test.

But Yi Cheol says it’s ‘just’ that.

Meanwhile.

‘Anyway, it’s good that I passed.’

I shone my eyes and sincerely thought so.

There was no battle, no mental attack, and no other conditions.

I just had to look and give an answer, so what’s so difficult about that?

Well, I felt bewildered when I saw it, but I couldn’t just stand still.

If I encountered any difficulties, my way was to find a way to solve them in the time I would spend frustrated and lamenting.

“As expected, you are different. You who have returned from death.”

“What are you talking about.”

“A singularity that has never existed before…… ‘He’ was like that too.”

He.

I felt like I knew who that word was referring to.

It is referring to the founder, Yi Hulhyun.

“If someone else had said it, not you. Then we would have misunderstood that you were crazy. We.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“It was an answer. That much is absurd. Because we felt something in that answer. Because the fifth one in charge of the test allowed it. So I just passed.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

The dwarf just stared at me like that.

“Okay, let’s hear the reward quickly. I have a question.”

And after a while, he floated up and said.

-From now on, there will be no rewards.

-All records of the past are over.

-Because the two remaining tests from now on are tests that have never existed before, only created in ‘this era’.

Are you suddenly saying that here?

The dwarf continued, looking at me in embarrassment.

-Will you move on to the next test? You who have returned from death.

Now, he didn’t even leave me with the question of whether I was going to leave.

“Of course.”