Chapter 125: Singularity (3)
Taking control of the body of another person and controlling it like your own. Normally, it would be impossible to possess and control the body of a disaster, but Keikoku Amane was the type of overpowered character that heavily relied on his abilities to the point that he didn't improve his other skills.
I manipulated my spirit form and flew towards Keikoku Amane at once. It was an eerie feeling like that of a ghost.
[You have entered a foreign body. Body Possession will occur...]
[Full possession failed due to stats difference. Partial possession will occur...]
[Your 'Astral Body' has protected your Soul from destruction!]
"Ack!"
As my soul entered Keikoku's body, I received a strong backslash. This was the result of trying to invade the body of a disaster.
Damnit. I thought his mental barrier was low, but it was at this level.
The Astral Body was the innermost contained of the Soul which protects against outside influence. If It wasn't for that, my soul would have likely been destroyed instantly.
At the same time...
[Exclusive skill, πΊπππππππππ ππππ stage 2 has activated!]
... Memories that were not my own slowly flowed into my mind one by one.
γ ... How much longer must I endure living like this? γ
γ How many worlds must I destory? How many lives have I ruined? γ
γ The people I know are gone. Nobody remembers me. γ
γ What's the use of continuing living as a disaster? γ
γ I should just end it all. γ
There were memories of the person known as the Disaster of Storms. It was more than two hundred years worth of stories filled with suffering and tragedies.
Keikoku Amane was originally a resident of this worldline. At sixteen, he gained the qualifications to become a hero in another world. However, due to his own mistakes, he failed and became a disaster, leading to the destruction of the very world he was meant to protect.
For fifty years, he journeyed through countless worlds, desperately searching for a way to escape his fate. Yet, no matter how tirelessly he searched, he found nothing. Time stopped affecting him, and though decades passed, he still appeared as a young man of twenty-two.
Ten years later, he encountered a 'witch' who deceived him, binding herself to him as his star constellation. For the next 150 years, he roamed thousands of worlds and destroyed them as the Disaster of Storms. Such a long period would break any person and erode their sense of self. By then, Keikoku Amane's humanity had already begun to fade.
What remained was an empty shell containing a single goal to escape his fate, and a deep resentment towards those stories.
I saw everything through his eyes, I felt everything through his skin, I smelt with his nose, I heard his thoughts and I killed with his handsβ the right hand of suffering and the left hand of poison.
I was Keikoku Amane. I wasn't just watching everything, I experienced those memories as if they were my own.
[Your processing speed has increased significantly due to deep immersion.]
[Magic Power Lv. 40 β> Magic Power Lv. 45]
[You can process information at a faster rate.]
For a moment, my vision blurred. The mind couldn't process two centuries of memories all at once. At best, it could handle around a hundred years' worth, if things like semantic memories and procedural memories were considered.
Fortunately, my intelligence stats was high enough to process the enormous amount of information I was receiving.
(N/B: Intelligence stats are the same as Magic Power stats.)
Damnit...
By the time I regained my senses, Keikoku had already destoryed Park Joonhyuk's clones and reached him at once. He swung his Antimatter Wings towards him at once.
I knew if I didn't do anything, Park Joonhyuk along with Angelica was going to be crushed.
Therefore...
"!!"
I felt a tremendous pain as I slightly changed the trajectory of his attack. Instead of Park Joonhyuk, the wing slammed into the ground.
The change was so small that Keikoku Amane didn't notice and Park Joonhyuk was propelled forward by the shockwave.
Park Joonhyuk must have thought he successfully dodged and continued his tremendous sprint. He created multiple clones and repeated the process of scattering them in all directions.
The game of cat and mouse continued as I manipulated Keikoku's attacks, while Park Joonhyuk skillfully evaded capture. The same also happened when Soo Jinyoung came into the picture and when Gangdong-gu was destroyed by Keikoku Amane. I really tried my best but it felt like my head would explode.
At the moment, Keikoku Amane was standing before Soo Jinyoung who barely managed to survive his attack.
It would be bad if he attacked with his Antimatter Wings, so I put a thought inside his head.
γ There's no need to use Antimatter. Crush her with overwhelming strength. γ
Keikoku Amane's hesitated for a moment as if doubting that intrusive thought. Seizing the moment, I pushed the suggestion deeper into his mind, exploiting his arrogance to my advantage. He crouched his body slightly and shot towards Soo Jinyoung with the speed of a bullet.
He stretched his left hand as he ran like some carnivorous animal.
Soo Jinyoung easily avoided his attack. She possessed the Dragon Demon Eyes. So as long as his attacks were predictable, she would be able to dodge and counter.
As Keikoku Amane recklessly pressed on with his attacks, Soo Jinyoung skillfully evaded each strike, all while searching for gaps in his defense. The moment she spotted a weak point, her sword darted in and with each strike, fresh wounds spread across Keikoku's body.
He tried to flee but Soo Jinyoung was faster. He tried to strike, but she had already anticipated his move.
The result itself was rather predictable.
γ "Aaaaaack!!" γ
Keikoku screamed and rolled across the gravel.
Soo Jinyoung cut him good. This time, the wound inflicted was somewhat fatal compared to the rest. I also felt the pain because my soul was inside Keikoku's body. But if this bastard could be killed, then I don't mind bearing the pain.
γ... Am I going to die? γ
γ Maybe I should just die like this γ
γ It hurts. I don't want to die γ
As Keikoku dragged himself across the gravel, a flood of dark thoughts filled my mind. He was a disaster who had claimed the lives of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands. Even if he sought redemption, forgiveness was impossible. He would never be forgiven, nor could he fully escape the weight of his sins.
That's why he wanted to die, and at the same time, he also wanted to live. He was that type of tragic character.
[Your understanding of the character 'Keikoku Amane' has increased.]
I experienced everything he did, so I understood his stories. But I couldn't truly empathize with him.
Sure, he was someone who had been trapped by his fate and stories. But what about the victims of Keikoku Amane. Did they truly deserve to die just because someone like him was manipulated and became a disaster against his wishes. Perhaps Keikoku Amane didn't want to kill all those people. But that didn't change the fact that he killed all those people.
I couldn't help but wonder: was there any path to redemption for someone like him?
The moment when the overwhelming despair was starting to sink into Keikoku Amane...
"Aaaack!"
I was assaulted by something. I didn't know what happened, but my soul was suddenly attacked.
[Warning! Your soul has been damaged!]
[Your Astral Body has protected against most of the shock!]
[Exclusive skill, πΊπππππππππ ππππ has activated at full power!]
It felt my soul form was being torn apart by massive claws from all directions. At this rate, my soul form was going to be crushed before my resurrection.
Dammit!
My consciousness was repelled out from Keikoku Amane's body.
[Partial possession has been terminated!]
[The delayed privilege of <The Fool> has activated!]
[The construction of your new body will begin!]
I felt my body knitting itself back together with each nerve fiber painstakingly reconnected while bones, capillaries, and organs was slowly constructed. My newly formed lungs drew in a sharp breath while my sight returned as the optic nerves realigned. My five senses were confused but I slowly recovered my bearing.
What the hell was that? What attacked me back there? Was Keikoku Amane able to affect the soul? No, Antimatter can only destory the body. Was it another skill? Or his divine authority?
No matter how I thought about it, It didn't make any sense.
Before I could question it further, a stream of system notifications appeared infront of me.
[The privilege of <The Joker> has been completed.]
[One life has been consumed as a cost of overturning death.]
[All body waste has been completed removed due to resurrection.]
[All physical attributes has been increased by 2+ points.]
[Your new body has gained resistance to Antimatter.]
[The constellations are shocked by your sudden resurrection.] Read the continuation at m-vl-em,pyr
[The constellations are asking how you were able to resurrect.]
In no time, I was able to move my fingers and stood up from the ground. Fortunately, there wasn't any disorder with my body and the consumption for using overturning death arrived as expected.
I looked at my body and noticed I was wearing my old set of clothes. It was also fortunate that none of my items disappeared.
It would've been nice if the Def. Antimatter suit had repaired itself as well, but that was probably asking for too much.
[The constellation, Grand Duke of the East is looking at you.]
[The constellation, Architect of Destruction is studying the strange phenomenon.]
[A great number of constellations are questioning the nature of your resurrection.]
[You have received 5,000 coins from the constellations.]
It was a misunderstanding.
The Joker completely reset my death, meaning I never truly died. Simply put, it cast a grand illusion over the world and twisted the truth so my death never occurred. Everyone knew Kim Jakga had died, but to the world, it was an entirely different story.
So, was "resurrection" really the right word to use?
Looking around, I noticed that the environment had been reduced to a wasteland.
There was nothing in sightβno buildings, cars, or any vehicles. The roads was completely ruined, and the landscape had changed beyond recognition.
If I didn't know better, I wouldn't have thought this was Gangdong-gu.
Boom!
The sound of an explosion was heard and around hundred black 'somethings' shot into the sky, reaching above hundred metres long.
Damn. Was the situation this bad?
With a sense of urgency, I ran towards the direction of those wings.
When I arrived, I saw Angelica, Park Joonhyuk, and Soo Jinyoung standing against Keikoku Amane, who had transformed into something akin to a monster from the abyss.
What the hell? Was that the reason my soul was attacked? More importantly, how was this even possible?
[The character 'Keikoku Amane' is currently undergoing the awakening process...]
Fuck! It was even worse than I thought. A bastard like Keikoku Amane was awakening? What the hell triggered such a phenomenon?! If someone like Keikoku Amane awakens, it would be akin to facing an Outer God.
[Exclusive skill, πΊπππππππππ ππππ has activated.]
All negative thoughts was erased and I began to think more calmly. I didn't like that my emotions were being suppressed against my will, but it was this mental barrier that helped me realize something important.
Just because he's awakening doesn't mean he can't be stopped. In fact, this is the best opportunity to kill him. Since I have his memories, I also know the weaknesses of his Diffusion Field.
There was someone else apart from Angelica and Soo Jinyoung that managed to bypass Keikoku's defence. And just like Angelica, that person used a holy relic to cut the disaster.
I pulled out the Evil Breaking Sword and the Hermit's cloak from the dimensional storage ring.
South Korea was trapped in an Evernight scenario, meaning I could use the Hermit Cloak, which was perfect for assassination, for a surprise attack and there was the Evil Breaking Sword.
The Evil Breaking Sword was useless apart from repelling demons and evil spirits. But wasn't Keikoku Amane more akin to a demon than a human being?
Without hesitation, I charged towards the laughing Keikoku Amane and stabbed him in the chest.