Beyond the Eternity

[You have died.]

It was the game-like system interface that announced my current status in the darkness.

... How did it feel to experience death?

To be honest, I wasn't sure myself. Keikoku's antimatter wings had pierced through me, leaving my lower body numb. In that moment, it felt like my body had been cut clean in half.

But that was it. I must have died instantly so there was no pain, that's why. In any case, even those thoughts about death were fulite...

[The privilege of <The Joker> has activated.]

[Your new body will be constructed and you'll resurrect.]

... I was safe because of the blessing of <The Joker>.

The 22 Major Tarot cards operate under entirely different principles compared to those of the Lesser series. They were originally cards used for divination, but were transformed by the <System> into something akin to the Great Mysteries.

For instance, the 'World' card could transform an assigned space into an alternate dimension, the 'Lovers' could convert pleasure signals into pain and vice versa, the 'Wheel of Fortune' could manipulate luck probability to a small scale and the other tarot cards could also perform similar alternations depending on their spiritual meaning.

The Joker card, or rather, the Fool— could resurrect the user upon death. However, It was more of erasing the user's death from the 'world's data' rather than 'true resurrection'.

That was the real power of <The Joker>

[Due to an unknown error, your resurrection has been delayed.]

I was expecting this message. Moments before my death, I had used the command sequence '1' of Zero One to push my stats beyond the Fable limit and triggered the penalty of probability.

The Law of Causality was no joke. I wouldn't be surprised if my resurrection was delayed for a week or even a month.

Even so...

[Thanks to your death, your Soul will be freed from the restraints of your Physical Body.]

My head shook and the surrounding darkness distorted. In the next moment, I was standing in Gangdong-gu.

Clang! Clang!

There was the sound of a fierce battle. I surveyed my surroundings and noticed too figures clashing in the air.

Keikoku Amane with six wings like an angel of death and... Angelica?

Her cylindrical sword sliced through the air with a menacing hiss, aimed at the Disaster. Just weeks ago, she had been rambling nonsense beside my hospital bed—now, she was trying to fight a natural calamity that had already claimed 9,999 worlds.

Everything was presented before me in the third person viewpoint.

Keikoku avoided the attack with an agitated expression.「 "What the hell is that sword? Is it some sort of unholy artifact of the demon world or something?!!"

"Shut up and die!"

"You idiot! Are you trying to destory yourself along with me?!" 」

Keikoku tried attacking with his antimatter wings, but Angelica swiftly dispelled the attack with her cylindrical sword, which manipulated the wind itself. No, that was not right. Even from my distant viewpoint, I could see the sword tearing rifts in the space fabric with every swing.

She used the surrounding building surface as a foothold to jump towards the disaster and swung the sword towards his head.

Keikoku used his wings to protect himself. As soon as the cylindrical sword made contact, those very wings of destruction immediately disintegrated into countless harmless fragments.

What the hell? Something made contact with Antimatter without exploding. No, wait...

I narrowed my eyes. Looking closely, Keikoku's right arm was dislocated from his shoulders to the fingertips. Was Angelica the one who inflicted that injury?

What kind of holy relic is that? Was there something like that in Song of Nightmares? Perhaps Gilgamesh? There was no mention of him possessing such a sword. It's hard to say since there are countless holy relics stored within his treasury. Maybe that sword is one of those treasures from the King's Storage.

More importantly, why did Angelica have such an expression?

An expression brimming with seething hatred and palpable malice. It was my first time seeing her like that. What could have possibly ignited such a change in her personality?

"....."

Suddenly, I caught sight of something in the distance. It was my ruined body lying motionless on the gravel. As I thought, it had been severed in two by that attack. The sight of my mangled body was grotesque and unsettling.

Wait... Thinking about it, didn't I sacrifice my body in order to save Angelica from that attack?

My body trembled.

They say that witnessing the death of a loved one can plunge a person into shock, and drive them to madness. In other words, she was like this because of me?

No, that couldn't be true, could it? I hadn't been that close to her, so it made no sense that my death would have such a deep impact on her.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. I recognised that actor immediately. It was the white haired chuunibyou, Park Joonhyuk.

I knew that bastard would still be alive. But It seems he had removed the Def. Antimatter suit. The suit must have lost functionality, I guess.

By the way, would he even be able to see me in this state?

"Hey! Oi! Oi!!"

I moved closer and called out to him multiple times, but his attention remained fixed on the fierce battle unfolding between the two. He didn't even glance in my direction, and showed no reaction whatsoever.

He really couldn't see me, could he? I had assumed he would be able to, given his reader benefit. Perhaps I had overestimated him too much.

Now that I was up close, I couldn't help but think he had a ridiculous face—one that was just begging to be punched.

Considering everything he had done so far, It was only natural that I wanted to sucker punch him, even if it was just once. In fact, I even died because of him. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Perhaps I would have even cleared the Fifth Fable by now.

What would have happened if this person didn't exist? Surely, everything would have gone my way.

I sighed.

Maybe things would have turned out better if he weren't around. But there's nothing I can do about it now. Besides, he's useful as long as he's not an enemy and his actions are somewhat predictable.

Undoubtedly, things might be better if he wasn't around. However, there was also a possibility that things would be worse without him.

I may not recognize it now, but he will definitely be useful in the future.

Boom! The sound of fighting intensified in the air.

Faced with Antimatter wings that could kill with a single hit, Angelica's will did not back down.

Keikoku swung his wings like lethal massive blades and Angelica's wind blew apart those wings. The surrounding buildings which were made of steel beams and cement were trembling continuously from the shockwave. Both of them continued to fight at speeds faster than the eye. Sometimes, they would go up. Sometimes, they would go down.

Anything along the way between their conflict was blown apart with extreme force into non-existence.

Angelica summoned a 'tsunami' of air with her cylindrical sword, sending streetlights and advertisement signs soaring into the sky toward Keikoku. However, Keikoku gathered power into his wings and effortlessly shattered her attack, scattering debris in all directions.

The two continued to clash fiercely, with Angelica utilizing the surrounding buildings for cover and as footholds, while Keikoku unleashed his wings, which spanned several dozen meters long, to dominate the battlefield.

It was nearly Impossible to track those two using my eyes, but several places were blocked due to the powerful clashes of those two.

It was a situation where one would easily be hypnotized.

"Tch!"

Keikoku impatiently attacked the structure of the building Angelica stood to make her lose her balance. However, she quickly regained her balance and jumped to the next building before unleashing a wind attack towards Keikoku.

Even so...

Swish!

The powerful wind attack was negated by Keikoku's wings which flew towards Angelica and split the building vertically into two. Fortunately, Angelica managed to retreat before the attack landed.

But that was not the end.

[Antimatter Cannon Lv. 10 has activated]

Keikoku gathered energy into the palm of his hand and launched it towards the Angelica's fleeing back.

"!!"

Feeling the danger, Angelica reflexively leaped out of the way, dodging the beam of destruction that continued to move in a straight line at frightening speed and erased everything in its path. The attack almost reached the edge of the Han River before it vanished.

It was a true disaster.

The very same attack that had annihilated the entire Fenrir bloodline and eradicated the Parasite species in a single blow, was carelessly unleashed in Gangdong-gu. It was a miracle that the entire Gangdong-gu wasn't erased in a single go.

Damnit. It was clear Angelica was at a disadvantage here. If she was hit even once...

"... Kim Jakga?"

I thought I heard wrong. But my name was really called.

When I turned my head, I saw Park Joonhyuk in a daze. For a moment, I thought he could see me. But he was staring at my ruined body lying on the gravel with a strange expression.

What kind of expression was that? Was he shocked or something else? Indeed, It was an unreadable expression.

Unfortunately...

「 "... You bastard, who said you could die on your own! How am I going to deal with all of this on my own, huh?!" 」Park Joonhyuk gritted his teeth and started kicked my corpse. Or I should I say what was left of my body.

I was baffled. It was really ridiculous.

"Ughh..." I sighed.

What the hell was I even thinking? There was no way a bastard like him would care about me. But wasn't he going too far by kicking my corpse?

I felt violated. At the very least, he could have shown a little respect for the dead. Why did he have to kick my corpse though?

PAW! A loud sound broke my train of thoughts.

Angelica's fragile body crossed the air and crashed into a building surface before falling to the ground with a 'thud'. Shit! Shit! Shit! Surely, she wasn't dead. Fortunately, that was not the case.

「 "Hah... Hah..." 」

Her breathing was rough. She looked she had received the force of a heavy blow, but she was still alive. Even so, It doesn't look like she could fight anymore.

「 "Shit! Hey, wake up damnit! This is not the time to be taking a nap!" 」

Park Joonhyuk rushed towards Angelica upon realising the situation and started slapping her cheeks. He continued slapping but Angelica showed no response even after her cheeks had swollen.

This bastard... Can't he more gentle? She's not going to wake up if he continued slapping her like that.

Boom!

There was the sound of an explosion and something was flying this way with frightening speed. It was Keikoku Amane that was approaching like some sort of demon.

「 "Damnit! This is bullshit!" 」

Park Joonhyuk cursed under his breath, quickly scooped Angelica into his arms, and hoisted her onto his back before darting away.

Considering Park Joonhyuk's personality, I thought he would abandon Angelica and run off by himself. But I guess he wasn't that stupid.

Angelica is the only person that can harm the disaster. If he still wants to live long enough to see the end of this Fable, it made sense he would protect her at any cost even if he doesn't want to. However, I don't think he has any skills that can defend against Antimatter.

He also doesn't have Sky Wind, so he won't be able to run that far before he gets caught. Even if he was able to buy some time using his clones, he would just be delaying the inevitable.

The disaster will eventually catch him.

How could I change that truth?

I don't know when I'll be resurrected. If I don't do anything, everyone will die.

Using Zero One is out of the question. Surely, there had to be something that I could do even in this state.

... Ah, would that work?

I thought about it thoroughly and reached a conclusion.

There were times in Song of Nightmares when certain characters would be able to invade the body of another person due to the effects of a skill or some kind of special circumstances.

Such a phenomenon was called 'Body Possession'.

It was also my salvation.