WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The World After the Fall ◈

Chapter 193: Episode 25. Deus Ex Machina (8)

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No matter how he thought about it, the only thing that could stand against Maiad’s Deus Ex Machina was another of the Three Divine Artifacts, the ‘Void Sword.’

‘Catastrophe.’

But.

‘Catastrophe?’

Why was the Sole King Catastrophe not responding?

It was not that Catastrophe was deliberately refusing to answer. It felt as though the link firmly stretched between Jaehwan and Catastrophe had been damaged.

A disturbing premonition passed through his mind.

Could it have happened when he was struck by 「Plausibility Destruction」 earlier?

That was the only possible cause he could think of.

Deus Ex Machina’s 「Plausibility Destruction」 was a power that severed every plausible ‘link.’ If so, he could not rule out the possibility that his link with Catastrophe had been temporarily cut off.

‘Damn it.’

There was only one way left.

“Jaehwan-nim! Run! This, this...!”

Runald’s voice came from behind him. Thankfully, he seemed to still be alive.

His eyes were soaked in fear, unlike usual. Runald must have been seeing that sight too.

A massive star was looking down at Jaehwan.

Jaehwan tightened his grip on Solitary Existence with his right hand. Now that he had confirmed Runald was alive, he could not retreat any further.

If he ran now, everyone here would die.

A sharp pain throbbed through his head, and a strange voice spoke.

「Since when did you care about something like that?」

It was a voice he had heard before. When he had first opened Creation.

And perhaps... when he fought Arteina, one of the Metaverse Six Gods, in the 〈Metaverse〉.

「Only now do they matter to you?」

There was not just one voice.

「They are not people you need to care about.」

「Did it ever matter to you who died?」

He knew. He had no right to save anyone. He had lived to destroy this world, and he would continue to do so.

「Are you going to destroy the world, yet stop to pick up trash lying on the road?」

「It is an enemy you cannot handle. If you fight here, you will die.」

He knew.

「With that state of mind, you cannot win.」

Even so, he had no choice. This was the path he had chosen.

Jaehwan focused and began gathering World Power. Even after absorbing the trust scattered across the ground and the power of the dead gods, his World Power was still insufficient.

[If Jaehwan will not come, shall I go first?]

With Maiad’s words, Deus Ex Machina’s enormous body began to move. Before the brilliant World Power pouring from it, every light in the world looked as pitiful as a firefly.

He could not use 「Constellation Rending」.

「Way of the Wave」 was not an option either.

At most, he could fire repeated 「World Stabs」. Jaehwan knew well enough that trying to decide the battle with that technique was absurd.

If only he could at least use Sanctuary Manifestation...

「Do you think that would let you win?」

He did not know. But he had to try.

Laughter echoed in his head.

「We will lend you strength.」

「Only a little for now.」

Then, in the next moment.

「This should be enough to make it worth fighting.」

World Power began activating throughout his body. Vitality returned as though dead cells were awakening, and dazzling light burst from all over Jaehwan’s body.

It felt as though he had been reborn, just as he had when he first opened Creation.

His entire body shone in radiant gold.

[Oh... Surely not.]

His nearly depleted World Power was recovering at a rapid pace.

The Awakened Ones of the 「Rift」 drew their weapons in alarm. The commanders also watched with tense expressions.

Yet Maiad saw the sight and instead opened Deus Ex Machina’s cockpit.

“It would be impolite to watch such a spectacle from hiding.”

Maiad slowly stepped out of Deus Ex Machina and drew his sword.

Coexistence, a pure white blade that contrasted with Jaehwan’s Solitary Existence, gave a soft cry.

“Come. I will not use the Three Divine Artifacts.”

It was an expression of Maiad’s intent to compete through pure skill alone, without relying on armaments.

Only Maiad could have entertained such a thought.

That made this moment an opportunity for Jaehwan.

Complete Sanctuary Manifestation.

「The World After the Fall」

The color of the sky changed around Jaehwan. A massive eye appeared in the heavens, while a flock of crows that had come from nowhere let out long cries. Countless corpses lay strewn across the ground.

The shocked gods screamed and fell to the ground.

At some point, the scenery around Maiad had changed as well. A vast star illuminated the sky above a blood-red land.

Maiad had already used Complete Sanctuary Manifestation too.

Rumble.

As though it had been waiting, a tower began rising beneath Jaehwan.

It was the Tower of Nightmares, 「Fortress of Regret」, a Part within Jaehwan’s Unique World.

“So that tower is the nightmare Jaehwan graduated from.”

Almost at the same time, the ground beneath Maiad began to rise.

A white tower grew in an instant, like the tide rising over the sea.

There was a tower within Maiad’s Unique World as well.

Jaehwan asked, “Is that your tower?”

“Yes. It seems Jaehwan has one too.”

Maiad looked up at the star in the sky.

“That is what towers are, after all.”

Parts for seekers heading toward the end of this world.

Jaehwan calmly studied Maiad’s tower. He could not tell which Master’s tower it was, but it was clearly older than the 「Fortress of Regret」. It had likely existed in the first generation, or even before that.

Crackle.

Sparks flew where the boundaries of the two Sanctuaries met.

Jaehwan and Maiad vanished from their towers at the same moment. A thunderous roar burst in the sky as black and white World Power tangled together, carving destructive trails through the air. Fragments of light scattered everywhere, burrowing into the ground and tearing apart all nearby things.

Crack.

Jaehwan understood the gap between himself and Maiad.

His wrist felt as though it were twisting and breaking.

He had no choice but to admit it. Maiad was far stronger than him.

The red-hot Fortress of Regret supplied Jaehwan with World Power. The histories he had lived through and the people he remembered became his World Power.

With the World Power drawn from his nightmares, Jaehwan had fought well until now. He had cut down one of the Metaverse Six Gods, defeated a Seven Star, and fought against the Driver.

For the first time, though, Jaehwan thought that even these nightmares might not be enough for him to win.

Thirty consecutive 「World Stabs」.

A meteor shower falling from the sky blocked all thirty World Stabs. It was likely Maiad’s unique Setting.

Jaehwan had expected it, so he continued attacking without panic.

「Way of the Wave」

Stabs erupted from his sword and swept through the sky. It was the technique that had defeated Russell of the Seven Stars. Now, it was backed by the power of Complete Sanctuary Manifestation.

Overwhelming World Power swallowed the meteor shower like a dragon hunting prey and opened its jaws toward Maiad.

Astonishingly, Maiad neutralized the technique with the same kind of stab.

“There must be a stronger technique you can use.”

Only one technique remained for Jaehwan. The sole technique with which he could gamble against that monster.

But he was not certain.

Even if he used it, could his current World Power kill Maiad?

Whether it worked or not, he had to try.

Jaehwan focused on the World Power raging at his fingertips.

Then, in the next moment, the total amount of Jaehwan’s World Power began to surge.

「Are you going to do it?」

He had to.

「It is still too much for you.」

He still had to.

Along with the voices, another tower began to grow beside the 「Fortress of Regret」.

“Th-that is...!”

“Oh, my god.”

The Followers who recognized the tower growing within Jaehwan’s world screamed.

They could not help it. No one here could fail to recognize that tower.

Master Neil Crash’s tower, 〈Metaverse〉.

The 〈Metaverse〉, now destroyed, had been reborn as a Part within Jaehwan’s world.

The resentment, hatred, and sorrow of the Dolls who had lived in the 〈Metaverse〉 became Jaehwan’s World Power.

The World Power dwelling in Solitary Existence grew denser and more ominous.

Jaehwan took a light breath. His World Power had become exactly twice as strong.

Maybe he could do it.

Jaehwan Style, First Form.

「Constellation Rending」

The technique that had torn gods apart in the 〈Metaverse〉 unfolded from Jaehwan’s sword once again.

It was a technique born from the union of Jaehwan’s desperate effort and chance. Even Jaehwan used it without fully grasping its true nature. It was like a child swinging a greatsword too large for his height. The slightest mistake could bring a massive backlash upon Jaehwan himself.

Even so, it was the strongest Setting Jaehwan could use.

The power of destruction advanced irresistibly, splitting everything before it in two.

The shocked cries of the gods and the starlight flickering in the sky, every sound vanished at once before returning.

Then.

Rumble.

A pair of eyes stared at Jaehwan through the pitch-black swirling dust.

Golden rings were spinning in Maiad’s eyes.

Astonishingly, Maiad had endured 「Constellation Rending」.

“I am sincerely impressed.”

Maiad was not unharmed either. His clothes were torn all over, and a long cut ran across his abdomen. The sight of that noble, powerful man spilling silver blood deeply shocked the gods and Awakened Ones of the 《Abyss》.

Jaehwan bit down hard on his lip.

He knew once would not be enough. But he had learned one thing.

This technique worked against Maiad.

‘One more time.’

Jaehwan gathered World Power again. Silver blood streamed from his mouth and nose. His entire body burned with intense heat, and the overloaded towers spewed smoke.

Jaehwan tried another swing.

Or tried to.

His body would not move.

Was it the power of ‘Deus Ex Machina’?

No. His 「Doubt」 and 「Understanding」 told him otherwise.

This was not the power of a Three Divine Artifact.

It was, in other words,

the fear born from an overwhelming gap in World Power.

Jaehwan steadied his violently shaking right hand and looked ahead.

Then he saw an unbelievable sight.

“Jaehwan is not the only one with several towers.”

Another tower was growing behind Maiad.

Jaehwan already knew that Maiad had also cleared the Metaverse’s final floor.

Beginning with one tower, another and then another burst through the ground as though they had been waiting.

Rumble.

Two, three, four, five, six...

A total of seven towers rose behind Maiad. His World Power increased sharply in exact proportion to their number.

The gods who had remained nearby began to retch. World Pressure that even high-grade gods could not endure. Before that tremendous power, whose very existence was violence, the whole Eighth Site, 〈Caspion〉, fell to its knees.

He was a monster on an entirely different level.

Jaehwan had forgotten because of Maiad’s warm smile and playful manner.

Maiad van Declan. He was the master of the 「Rift」.

The sole being feared by the Seven Divine Thrones and Great Lords.

Even without the Three Divine Artifacts, he had already surpassed the Seven Divine Thrones.

Maiad’s Coexistence moved.

It was too fast to see. An attack nothing could block.

The only thing that deflected the strike was the reflex born from the thousands of years Jaehwan had lived.

Crack.

The broken blade of Solitary Existence flew through the air.

Footnotes:

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