WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The World After the Fall ◈
Chapter 154: Episode 21. God of Ashes (7)
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The gatekeepers dragged the injured Martis into the inn.
Baeko glanced at Jaehwan and muttered quietly.
“Be careful. He is one of the Seven Stars, a god known as the ‘God Slayer’ before you appeared.”
Jaehwan nodded.
One of the Seven Stars Rene had told him about stood before him.
“So you are the ‘God Slayer’ meant to succeed me?”
He could tell without even fighting.
An oppressive presence that encroached on the surroundings without Sanctuary Manifestation. Killing intent imbued in every particle of World Power.
The opponent before him was stronger than anyone Jaehwan had fought in 〈Metaverse〉.
Then how would he compare to the Leader?
“I was looking forward to seeing the one meant to replace me, but you still look like a mere brat...”
“What rank are you among the Seven Stars?”
Russell frowned at Jaehwan’s question. He seemed displeased at being interrupted.
“Ranks are meaningless among the Seven Stars. The rankings some busybodies who know nothing about us made up after hearing rumors from 《Little Brother》 are...”
“So you are near the bottom.”
“If you interrupt me one more time...”
Before Russell could finish, Jaehwan shot into the sky and began running across the surrounding pavilions.
“Catch him!”
The gods watching the fight were the first to notice that something was wrong.
Dozens of gods leaped into the air at once and chased after Jaehwan. It was quite a sight.
Russell, who understood the situation a moment later, also jumped into the air.
“Move! I said move!”
He had never imagined Jaehwan would run away. Russell forced his way through the rushing gods and pursued him.
As he chased Jaehwan through winding alleys and sudden turns, the Eighth Floor’s shopping districts descended into chaos.
“What is this? What is happening?”
“They say the God Slayer appeared.”
“Naked Stab?”
Gods drawing Naked Stab Skins all over the streets joined the growing crowd. Their numbers swelled in an instant.
“It is the God Slayer!”
“Did he go that way?”
“Damn it! Where is he?”
It looked as though Climbing the Branches had already begun, with people chasing and being chased through the midday streets.
Amid the chaos, Jaehwan watched the gods following him.
The appearance of the naked Skin army scattered some of them in confusion, but many still chased him. In fact, only those with some skill had managed to break through the packed crowd and remain in pursuit.
Jaehwan carefully examined the Settings of the gods running through the air.
「Leg Strength Enhancement」
「Full-Body Acceleration」
「Heavenly Demon Descends Step」
「Cloud-Ladder Leap」
Some Settings simply increased Strength or World Power to boost speed, while others took the form of martial arts.
Some appeared to be unique Settings created by the gods themselves, while others were difficult to distinguish from the Lords’ Skills.
One thing was certain. Every one of them was an outstanding movement technique.
“He went that way!”
Jaehwan had barely learned any lightness skills or movement arts. Naturally, he was slower than the gods when it came to running.
A man who knew nothing but Stab.
「Earth Stab」
Jaehwan planted his toes into the ground like a blade, and a thunderous explosion rang out as dust rose in thick clouds.
Each time he kicked off, Jaehwan shot far ahead in an instant. The gods shouted in disbelief as they watched.
How long had he run?
A gigantic tree rising like a pillar in the center of the Eighth Floor came into view.
Is that the stage for Climbing the Branches?
The tip of the tree pointed directly toward the top of the Eighth Floor. The Leader was likely waiting there.
Jaehwan subtly changed course and ran toward it.
“Kill him!”
A god hiding at the mouth of an alley threw a sharp dagger.
Already sensing the World Pressure, Jaehwan tilted his head to avoid it and stabbed forward with his sword.
「Normal Stab」
The god fell, spitting silver light.
Then six whips flew at him from the front at once.
Jaehwan leaped with 「Earth Stab」, spun Solitary Unbowed six times, and stabbed with his sword.
「Spiral Kill」, six consecutive strikes.
He was deliberately using techniques that consumed little World Power to reduce the gods’ numbers.
As the Six Black-Clad Killers fell in shock, the gods grew even more vicious and chased Jaehwan closely.
Sword ki barely missed him, while daggers and arrows poured down without pause.
He could not keep avoiding them forever.
Jaehwan finally reached the center of the Eighth Floor and stopped. The stage for Climbing the Branches was right before him.
The gods who had chased him formed an encircling battle line.
“That is far enough.”
There were easily several hundred gods among those who had followed him.
Looking at the gods packed tightly around him, Jaehwan judged the direction from which he had come. The Martial World Inn was far enough away now.
That meant he could fight as much as he wanted from here on.
“Move.”
A fierce wave of World Power swept out. The gods approaching Jaehwan recoiled in alarm.
A few who could not move in time spat silver light and collapsed to the ground. A man stepped over them and came forward.
It was the God of the Deep Sea Russell.
“You seem to care about your subordinates.”
“You let petty attachments to Followers and Vicegerents hold you back. Are you really the one who slaughtered more than two hundred thousand gods?”
“I did not count.”
“You will start counting once your subordinates die.”
Snowball-like orbs of World Power formed over Russell’s hands.
「Sea God Cannon」
It was Russell’s signature technique, firing World Power transformed into water and super-vibrated into cannonballs.
When Russell stretched out his hands, everything around Jaehwan began exploding as though it were under artillery bombardment.
Jaehwan barely widened the distance and evaded it, but this was a technique that was difficult even for him to take head-on.
Russell poured out that much World Power without a trace of strain on his face.
「World Stab」
Jaehwan’s sword tip collided head-on with the Sea God Cannon.
Unable to overcome the recoil, Jaehwan took two steps back. Russell did not retreat even a single step.
Neither had shown their true strength, but it had been a long time since Jaehwan had been pushed back in an opening exchange.
As if provoking him, Russell said, “What laughable skill. There is no need for me to manifest my Sanctuary.”
“...”
“How did you defeat the Metaverse Six Gods with skill like that? I heard you had a technique that tears apart the sky. Were those all just rumors?”
A technique that tore apart the sky.
He was likely referring to 「Constellation Rending」.
“If you do not show your true strength, you will die.”
Without answering, Jaehwan charged at Russell.
Yet he saw no opening to approach. Each time he tried to use Stab, dozens of projectiles flew at him and blocked his view. Hundreds of Stabs and Sea God Cannons interfered with each other in midair and exploded.
“Your instincts are good, but your attacks are simple. You have come this far with nothing but that one ‘Stab.’”
Stab was ultimately a technique that pursued the fastest straight line.
Because it was so simple, it was not impossible to dodge or block if one could predict its point of impact.
Russell was a skilled opponent who understood that nature of Stab very well.
Crack!
Jaehwan barely deflected one projectile when another flew in and exploded toward his shoulder. Even the intervals and blast radii varied, making it difficult to determine their power without directly knocking them away.
It felt like batting away bombs one by one without knowing how powerful they were.
Before long, Jaehwan’s entire body was in tatters. Silver light flowed from his forearms and shins.
He was certainly strong.
It had been a long time since Jaehwan had faced such a formidable enemy, not since fighting Sa Myeonghun in 《Chaos》. Even if the three Metaverse Six Gods Jaehwan had defeated attacked together, they would likely struggle to deal with the single god before him.
Russell muttered as though he had grown tired of it.
“I believe I have seen enough of your techniques.”
Vibrations traveled up from Jaehwan’s feet. The entire area was shaking.
The startled gods quickly fled.
Jaehwan slowly blinked and focused all five senses.
A wave was rolling in from far away.
A terrifying tide of World Power that could sweep away not only this entire district, but perhaps more than half of the Eighth Floor.
Russell’s Sanctuary, 「Deep Sea」, was unfolding.
Gods already caught in the World Power flailed and groaned.
Jaehwan planted his feet firmly on the ground and breathed slowly.
Was he the fifth among the Seven Stars?
Perhaps the god before him had accumulated more World Power than Jaehwan. He had more experience too, and had probably lived much longer.
Without hesitation, Jaehwan drew 「Destruction」 and overlapped it with Solitary Unbowed.
As Solitary Unbowed, now transformed into the 「Destruction Sword」, let out a harsh cry, Russell’s eyes changed slightly.
Jaehwan spoke first.
“They say ‘God Slayer’ was originally your nickname.”
“That is right.”
“It looks like you only chose weak ones to kill.”
With a deep rumble, a wave that embodied Russell’s rage crashed forward. It was an overwhelming display of World Power, too vast and high to measure.
Even then, Jaehwan did not stop speaking.
“It seems I am the one who does not need to manifest my Sanctuary.”
At Russell’s gesture, countless sharks burst from the waves and rushed toward Jaehwan.
The black blade of the 「Destruction Sword」 cut through the charging sharks again and again.
But those predators were no more than scouts.
The real threat was the wave itself, rolling in as though it would cover the whole world. It was not an ordinary wave.
「Doubt」
Every particle in the wave was super-vibrating.
A force that tore apart and decomposed anything it touched.
The moment any soul came into contact with those particles, it would be reduced to dust in an instant.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Gods caught in it screamed.
Jaehwan slowly lowered his sword and stared at the approaching wave. At a glance, it looked as though he had given up.
「Understanding」
Jaehwan read the wave.
He read the vibrating particles of World Power, the currents and directions created by those particles.
Russell was smiling beyond the wall of water, as though the battle had already ended.
Jaehwan waited in silence, until the slowly advancing wave swallowed everything around him and approached right before his nose.
「Selflessness」
Then, in an instant, time slowed.
Jaehwan’s accelerated arm drew back like a taut bowstring.
No matter how remarkable a god was, they could not control every particle in such a vast wave. If Russell possessed that degree of control, Jaehwan would have accepted defeat.
But the moment he looked at Russell, he knew.
That bastard was not the master of this wave either.
That was why he kept resorting to cheap tricks. Releasing sharks into the wave, throwing cannonballs.
The same applied to the spectacular tide rolling in before him.
Only a small portion of that massive wave would actually deal Jaehwan a decisive blow.
Jaehwan felt as though he understood what kind of training Russell had undergone to become strong.
Just as Jaehwan had practiced Stab every day, Russell must have counted every particle in that wave. He must have counted and counted those nearly innumerable particles, then practiced controlling them again.
Jaehwan did not know when Russell had given up on that.
Still, this was a battle to see who had built up a more diligent history.
And in a battle like that, Jaehwan was confident he would not lose.
“Tear apart the sky again.”
Russell smiled as though he knew the technique Jaehwan would use, and its power.
Everyone around them seemed to think the same. They believed Jaehwan would use the secret technique he had displayed on the Sixth Floor, 「Constellation Rending」, against the massive wave.
But there was one thing the gods had overlooked.
For all other gods, it had been less than a week since Jaehwan last showed them 「Constellation Rending」.
But for Jaehwan, it had been two hundred years ago.
Footnotes:
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