Chapter 181. Ending Just as It Started (1/2)

They quietly stared at Seo Yuhui, who was completely frozen stiff, and Seol Jihu, who was unable to close his eyes.

“Where is he?”

Then suddenly, a cold voice broke the silence.

Having succeeded in destroying all of the Nests, the Star of Avarice had arrived using teleportation.

“There should be a valiant Warrior right around here.”

The people present merely looked back at him, not answering his question.

He wasn’t the type of person who couldn’t read the atmosphere. Noticing the heavy silence in the area, he quietly stepped forward.

To Seol Jihu.

But when he saw the state the youth was in, he furrowed his brows.

“It’s… far worse than I thought.”

Setting aside everything else, just looking at the cracks on his skin sent a shiver down his spine. It was like he was looking at a once rich farmland that had gone arid from a long drought.

‘Wait.’

After carefully examining Seol Jihu’s condition, his eyebrows wiggled.

‘Are these traces of Awakening Skills…?’

From the powerful energy he was sensing, he could tell that the youth had used a high-class technique. Kneeling next to Seol Jihu, the Executor of Avaritia grabbed the youth’s arm.

The moment he carefully poured in some mana…

“Uk!”

His eyes shot open.

“Uwaaaaah!”

He then screamed in terror, pulling his arms back, before losing balance and falling on his butt.

“Uuuk! Uweeeeek—”

He even vomited. Soon, he grabbed his trembling hand, then stared at Seol Jihu like he was looking at a monster.

The Executor of Avaritia was someone at the top of the path of Magicians. Naturally, he was very sensitive when it came to mana.

He had attempted to check the youth’s internal condition but ended up being shocked speechless by what he sensed.

Just by mixing a tiny bit of mana into the youth’s body, a terrifying energy raged, storming into his body and shaking his insides.

“H-He’s insane…!”

His face distorted as he panted hard.

“Just how many Awakening Skills did he superpose toge…!?”

He suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence and stared at his trembling hand with a look of disbelief. He focused his attention on the energy that was swirling recklessly like an unbridled wild horse.

Then, he finally spat out a sigh.

“He even reversed the flow of his energy…!”

He knew that now wasn’t the time nor place to say this, but he really wanted to shout.

That this youth was either a genius or a complete fool.

It was like he borrowed money with no intention of ever paying back. He had borrowed money from all over the place, splurged it to his heart’s content, and died when the time came to pay it back.

And this analogy from the Executor of Avaritia was spot on.

First, when he used his Ability Points to raise his Mana stat, the mind, body, and technique balance he had worked so hard to stabilize became dislocated once again.

Furthermore, the imbalance was now several fold worse than it was in the past that it was hardly comparable.

After all, Intermediate (High) and High (High) couldn’t even be placed on the same scale.

In addition, he had forcefully raised the realm of his understanding through Future Vision and used the Unique Ranker’s Awakening Skill, Berserk.

Up until this point, however, there was still a ‘slight’ possibility of things not getting out of hand. He only had one foot past the line of no return.

The reason he ended up in his current state was that he reversed the flow of Festina Earring, Flash Thunder, and Flash Step.

Of course, he had succeeded in driving Undying Diligence to a groggy state, but the reverse flow technique put so much burden on one’s body that reversing just one technique was at an immense cost to his body.

Because Seol Jihu had reversed the flow of three energies simultaneously, there was no way his shaky body could endure this assault.

That wasn’t all. When he fought the Army Commander, he fully utilized the boundless energy stored within him from the precious food and medicine. And finally, he used a technique that forcefully raised his Level with his life as collateral.

All in all, he crossed the line of no return with the reverse flow technique, and after that, ran straight toward certain death.

The Star of Avarice just barely managed to calm the raging energy and repeatedly opened and closed his numb hand.

He had small doubts when he saw Seol Jihu pushing the two Army Commanders back, but he immediately ended up accepting the situation.

On the other hand, he understood why everyone was just watching and why Seo Yuhui stopped healing him.

Because Seol Jihu in his current state couldn’t be healed even if there were ten Seo Yuhuis. In fact, it was likely that whoever was treating him would be exposed to great risk.

‘Difficult.’

Healing the youth seemed impossible no matter how he looked at it, so his expression sunk low. He stared at Seol Jihu with a look of regret.

The fierce war had finally come to an end.

There were rumors of this war being the end of humanity, but the result couldn’t be more different from everyone’s expectations.

The Parasite army, including one Hydra and ten Medusas, had been annihilated, and ten Nests, including one upper-rank Nest and nine middle-rank Nests, were destroyed.

Although Vulgar Chastity left unscathed, she lost a vast majority of her army.

It was the same for Unsightly Humility. He had been forced to use Divinity Manifestation, and his army faced near annihilation.

All of the Nosferatus had been killed, and above all, Undying Diligence had perished.

The Parasites’ First Army Commander, whose name was synonymous with terror to Paradisians and Earthlings alike, was now gone. This was an unprecedented feat, an achievement that would impact not just humanity but even the Federation.

Although the blood of countless people pooled together to form a river of blood, although it was a scarring glory, the humans had triumphed.

This was truly an incredible achievement that was hard to describe with just words.

And that was what made it so regrettable.

The humans were on the brink of a one-sided massacre, but the tide of war turned due to a single man. As the Executor of Avaritia personally witnessed this man’s feats, he couldn’t help but have regrets.

If this youth didn’t ignite himself in this war, if he left even a little room for survival, if he somehow found a way to live… just how many contributions would he have made for Paradise?

“So regrettable….”

The Executor of Avaritia let out a deep sigh and tilted his head up melancholically.

“Just when I thought spring finally arrived in Paradise.”

Looking up at the sky, he murmured in a quiet voice.

One of his Servants, who knew that he enjoyed metaphors, understood him immediately and shrugged.

“It did.”

She murmured softly.

“It was just a short spring… ending just as it started.”

There couldn’t be a more appropriate expression.

It was then. Seo Yuhui, who was sitting like a stone statue, moved as though she was enchanted.

Reaching her hand into the air, she pulled out a large table and put it down. This white marble table engraved with showy patterns was an altar.

Seeing this, a look of surprise flashed on the face of the Sacred Empress, who was holding Seol Jihu in her embrace. She quickly got up and spoke.

“Don’t.”

Seo Yuhui didn’t answer. She continued with her work as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

“Miss Seo Yuhui, I think it’s better to—”

Just as the Sacred Empress was about to stop her, Seo Yuhui pushed her back forcefully.

Pushed backward, the Sacred Empress’ eyes widened. This normally would not have been possible, but she too was exhausted from the long, drawn-out fight.

“M-Miss Seo Yuhui?”

“Do not stop me.”

When Seo Yuhui told her flat out, the Sacred Empress made a dumbfounded face.

“W-What did you say?”

“He’s not your concern anymore.”

When Seo Yuhui muttered coldly, the Sacred Empress’ eyes narrowed glaringly.

But as if that was none of her concern, Seo Yuhui began to take items out from her extradimensional space and began to place them on the altar.

The Magician, who was silently watching this unfold, widened his eyes.

Each of the neatly-placed offering on the altar was an incredibly valuable, priceless item.

Only then was the Executor of Avaritia able to guess what Seo Yuhui’s intentions were.

“I understand what you’re trying to do, but I agree with the Sacred Empress.”

“….”

“Healing him will only lengthen the time he’s in pain. Put him to rest, or if you really want to revive him, kill him first and use your Divine Wish…”

He couldn’t bring himself to finish saying, ‘That is, if he has another chance to revive.’ This was because Seo Yuhui turned around and gave him a fiery glare.

“You still have a Divine Wish?”

“…Don’t jest. Even for an Executor, Divine Wishes are…. Anyways, don’t you have one as well?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

Seo Yuhui turned back as if she was too lazy to reply.

The Star of Avarice shut his mouth seeing how different Seo Yuhui was from her usual self.

Seo Yuhui stared pitifully at the youth who wasn’t moving an inch. The way he was leaned against the cliff reminded her of a scene from the past.

‘Again….’

Biting her lips hard enough to stain it with blood, she moved her hands even quicker.

The moment she took out the altar and offerings, it was clear what she was trying to do.

From Level 1 to Level 4, Luxuria took special care and granted a Priest who did not accept another god’s power and solely walked the path of healing, a special authority.

Although the effect would differ based on the value of the offerings, that special authority was the ability to use a holy spell a level higher than their current level.

Once she finished her preparations, Seo Yuhui kneeled in front of the altar. She then kowtowed, bending her upper body until it touched the ground.

And thus, the Star of Lust and the Level 8 Unique Ranker Priest, Atera’s Saintess…

“O Luxuria.”

…started a Ceremony.

**

Dongheung Apartment 22-dong.

In room 802, the cry of a baby endlessly rang out from afternoon to late night.

[Mommy! Moooommy!]

A six-year-old? A girl, whose throat was swollen up, was bawling her eyes out.

[Seunghae, take your medicine. You’re a good girl, right?]

And another girl wearing a school uniform consoled the girl crying incessantly. She looked a bit exhausted, and it was clear she was still a child herself.

[No! No! I wanna see Mommy! I wanna see Mommy! Uwaaaah!]

[Mommy will come see you when you get better. You’ll recover faster if you take this medicine.]

[Liar! You said that last time but she never came!]

[N-No, I’m not lying this time.]