Beyond the Eternity

There was no spectators to witness the destruction and even the watching constellations were terrified.

The survivors in the surrounding district made no attempt to approach that place. It was a place that screamed certain death, they would be fools if they approached carelessly.

Even so, there were a few that watched the destruction. Standing on the rooftop of a ruined building was two metres tall man wearing a black coat.

Song Jaewon wordlessly observed the scene, that seemed torn straight from a nightmare.

He was a man who would kill with no hesitation and thrust a cold spear into the heart of another human being without a thought.

Despite it all, he was still fazed by the scene before him.

Unreasonable.

Unstoppable.

It was destruction overflowing with immeasurable violence.

「 This is too much even for me. 」

Like the other players, he had been given the objective of hunting down the Disaster of Storms by the <System>

Certainly, he had spirit lance 'Byakko' which contained one of the Four Gods, along with his own strength, but it still wouldn't be enough. Perhaps if he possessed the power of the Angels, he might have stood a chance—but even that was beyond his reach.

He didn't want to give up so easily. He wanted to fight and see the end of this round, but sometimes accepting reality was inevitable. Especially when It was shoved in his face like this.

Besides, he couldn't approach that place even if he wanted to because...

Song Jaewon shifted his gaze towards the Han River. He was in Jungnang-gu and the Dongho Bridge collapsed because of the shockwave.

Although there were other bridges like the Cheonho Bridge and the Mangu Bridge, but they looked like they would collapse at any moment.

Not to mention, the radiation could be felt even in Jungnang-gu. If he carelessly entered Gangdong-gu, he would undoubtedly be crushed.

「 Hmm... What's this? 」

He spotted something moving from the corner of his eyes.

He thought It was his imagination, so he narrowed his vision. Like a telescope, his vision adjusted and what he saw was two people moving towards the Cheonho Bridge.

One of them was a platinum-haired woman, while the other had such an androgynous appearance that he couldn't tell whether they were male or female.

Even so...

「 These fools... Don't tell me they're really going to that place? 」

Song Jaewon frowned.

It was completely illogical. That place was completely overflowing with radiation to the point that it was visible. Even if they somehow managed to handle the radiation by some miracle, they would be overwhelmed and crushed by the Disaster of Storms.

No matter how the scenario was looked at, It was a lose-to-lose situation. Yet those people were entering to enter that battlefield.

Song Jaewon sighed.

「 It seems I have to start again in the next turn 」

This round was lost. Perhaps that person had already arrived, but nothing could save this world anymore.

Once this world was destoryed, he would start everything all over again. He would start this horrible journey without any companions.

It wasn't a big deal. He had been alone all this time.

With that, Song Jaewon turned his back.

Perhaps he had turned his back too soon.

* * *

Antimatter, Keikoku Amane roared towards the sky.

The black wings behind him had exploded out even more fiercely and slammed into the ground infront of him with enough force to shake the Earth.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

DON! A shock wave erupted from the explosion and spread out in all directions.

His vision was obstructed by the dust cloud he had created. The flames lingering in the surroundings were slowly dying down, leaving only the embers that floated in the air. The landscape of the ruined Gangdong-gu had transformed even further by the destruction, with jagged cracks splitting the earth.

A massive 100-meter-wide crater had formed on the heart of the ruined Gangdong-gu.

At the center of that wide crater was the ruined body of his opponent.

A black haired woman. But it was difficult to call her a beauty anymore. He had thoroughly ruined her. The continuous explosions his black wings upon making contact with her body had torn her apart, leaving only fragments of what was once human. Simply, her body had been reduced to a broken, mangled shell unrecognizable like a broken robot drum.

She might even be dead. That was how badly torn up she was.

However, Keikoku Amane didn't receive any system notification that his seal has been unlocked or he had killed a player. In other words, that woman was still alive by some miracle.

Looking closely, her deformed body was beginning to be healed by blue flames. But her wounds were moving at a very slow, steady pace.

She reminded him of a cockroach that would die no matter how many times you step on it. She was TRULY that insufferable.

[There is only ten minutes left before the end of the Fourth Fable.]

[Majority of the constellations has left the channel.]

The spectating constellations began to leave the channel one by one. If Aurora was awake and saw what was happening, she would have began to panic and probably cry. But Keikoku couldn't care less about any of that.

"...IhbfWHATwq!"

Keikoku tried to speak, but only a jumble of incoherent words tumbled from his lips, leaving him confused and agitated.

He could feel a dull pain deep in his head.

It felt like the right and left side of his brain was being forcefully ripped apart by something.

It was not a normal feeling and he couldn't think straight.

He couldn't tell if this was the result of one of his abilities spiraling out of control. No, It was definitely not a power he should have originally possessed.

An unexplainable power was expanding within him.

He felt like he could destory the world with this power. This was neither a bluff nor an exaggeration. He now believed even if he fought against all the armies in the world— the Players, the Constellations and even the Demon Kings at once, he could emerge victorious without a single stratch.

All his doubts has been erased.

He didn't know what was going to happen.

He might even be consumed and disintegrate into nothingness.

「 S o W h a t ? 」

Keikoku gritted his teeth.

His original opponent was supposed to be Soo Jinyoung. But he had completely lost interest in her.

His power had reached a point where even that woman wouldn't be able to contend against.

Besides, was one person really enough to let him release all his bottled up anger?

The resentment and frustration he stored for two hundred years. The anger formed from being forced to repeat the same never-ending cycle of violence and destruction over and over again until his soul and spirit was crushed. The anger formed because he had failed to escape his Fate and Stories.

He never wanted any of this to happen. In fact, he had no idea he would end up on this path. The offer to become a hero in Another World had been handed to him by the <System>

He was full of ambitions and dreams when it happened. He worked tirelessly to become a hero and receive the love of the people, but instead, he failed and became a disaster. He had killed so many that forgiveness was no longer possible. He definitely won't be forgiven even if he asked for forgiveness. He wanted to die for his sins, yet a part of him still wanted to live.

He wanted to live yet wanted to die.

He wanted to be loved yet wanted to be resented.

He didn't want to kill yet didn't want to be killed.

Those contradictions had ignited an even deeper conflict within Keikoku Amane and slowly spiralled him further into madness.

At that moment....

"...?!"

Keikoku Amane noticed a change in the environment. To be precise, the change was the wing flow.

Unbeknownst to him, his vector control granted him the ability to perceive all forms of vectors—heat, motion, gravity, electromagnetic waves, and even wind. Whatever kind of force it was, he would be able to perceive and control it as long as It had vectors. He had been using It without knowing before to control his Antimatter Wings, but now he was able to see things more clearly.

With a roar, the wind began to flow towards a certain direction.

He traced the wind flow using his demon-like eyes and saw two people standing a few metres away.

A low growl escaped from Keikoku.

He recognized them both immediately-the platinum-haired woman and the white-haired man he had once tried to kill before utterly crushing that other woman. But he ignored the man and focused his full attention on the woman.

A massive atmospheric swirl coiled around the cylindrical, grill-like sword in her grip. The gravel in the area was swept up into the wind vectors, forming a powerful vortex around the blade, which spun at three different angles with a sharp, whirring sound.

「 If 'Byakko' could manipulate the wind, the 'Nameless Sword' could summon a storm by swallowing the surrounding space. 」

The hairs on Keikoku's body began to stand up.

Despite being a great distance away from that person, he felt threatening by just looking at the sword. It was the same sword that dislocated his right arm, making it unable throughout the entire battle.

He didn't understand how those people could still be alive in this dead zone, but his animal instinct screamed at him to run.

Escape or You will die.

If It had been a moment earlier, he would have obeyed. But he didn't move nor back down.

He had shifted the target of his anger from Soo Jinyoung to that protagonist-like woman.

The woman in front of him was the hero who faced the great disaster alone, making her the true protagonist of this story. He, on the other hand, had failed to become one. His rage towards that woman was just an outburst of anger and bitterness which he understood. He was definitely the villain in this story.

But would would happen if such a hero was horribly defeated?

Surely, the world would truly be destoryed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Keikoku screamed.

Something exploded behind him and the six wings instantly regained their form. They extended greater than 100 meters all at once and he swung them down towards that woman's head.

Boom! The jet black wings ripped through the air, and flew towards Angelica with overwhelmingly massive power.

The attack was charged with antimatter and vectors, and if it hit her, she would undoubtedly be crushed.

Even so, the woman did not back down.

"Uwooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhh!!!!"

With a scream, she unleashed an attack of her own.

That spear of heaven created from the world's atmosphere sliced through the air.

The giant vortex of destruction flew and crashed against the Antimatter Wings with a roaring sound.

KABOOOM!!! A heavy impact——!

The world trembled as the colossal forces clashed, sending shockwaves through the skies above Gangdong-gu and distorted the surrounding space.

The crashing light became an exploding sun in the eyes of the spectators.

——How long did the conflict last?

The battle of the two forces shook the Earth as if to split the world into two. No, It was a miracle that the world was still standing in place.

It was then...

"!!"

... The vortex surged forward.

Keikoku's black wings cracked under the immense pressure.

It was unthinkable. Even if his antimatter had failed, Keikoku still possessed the power to control vectors, a force that should have easily overwhelmed Angelica's attack—and her along with it. Yet, the exact opposite occurred.

He increased the number of his wings from six to hundred in an instant and fought against that spear of heavenly wind. But it didn't make any real difference.

The spinning vortex completely blew away his hundred Antimatter Wings and turned them into shimmering dust.

「 T h i s i s t h e e n d, h u h ? 」

Perhaps if he had known this was the outcome, he would have tried to be a better person.

Ironically, he was defeated by the hero he failed to become.

That spear of heaven very easily blew away Keikoku Amane as if he was struck by the hand of an invisible giant and flew dozen times the speed of sound in a straight line along with the wind. He moved so fast that his entire body vaporised into plasma and left behind an afterimage.

It was useless to check if he was alive.