Chapter 496

〈Chapter 496〉 Part 1, Chapter 21, Section 28

It’s different for Hydra and Ji Ryun. There are still seals that Seongju placed on their cores, and since the sync target is Yuna, there’s no problem.

“Haha, it’s funny. You care so much about Yuinah but don’t even think of using her.”

“If Yuna synced, would things have changed?”

“Of course. You and Chang-yeom would survive. Yeah, as Blue-haired Yuinah. Heheh.”

If I had synced with Yuna, things might not have changed. With Chang-yeom dwelling in Yuna’s body and me taking over Chang-yeom’s body, we could’ve stayed together.

“I don’t like that. That means Yuna has to die.”

But I didn’t choose that path. Then Yuna will vanish. Yuna’s essence ultimately originates from the wind deity of another dimension. Fire always consumes the wind.

“Don’t wanna kill Yuinah? Hehe, that’s why you’re dying. Phoenix. You defeated me, but you didn’t really kill me.”

Seongju smirked bitterly. I also know the battle isn’t completely over yet.

“What you’ve defeated is just the body of a godless entity. Not the parasitic consciousness inside its brain!”

Crack!

Blood gushed out from the back of Seongju’s head. The upper part of his nose exploded, scattering flesh everywhere, and I created flames to burn the fragments.

“Hahaha! How foolish, Phoenix! Not aiming for the brain!”

The blood fountain defying gravity began spreading like a web. Though nausea rose due to its grotesque nature, I held it back. This is Chang-yeom’s body now.

“To use it up and then discard this body?”

“Of course! It was originally made as a clone for that purpose!”

Seongju’s true form started emerging from the head of the godless entity. Like caterpillar fungus, Seongju burst forth, unfurling wings made of blood membranes to reveal his main body.

“Eww…”

[Shut up. Do you want your brain raped?!]

Seongju brandished a hardened blood bottle in his arms to intimidate me. Despite pretending while residing within the godless entity’s body, this was his true form.

“So what should I call you? Dark Whisper?”

[My name is MIGO. Do not address me casually, wench.]

“Maigo? Pfft. What the heck. A self-centered bug who just wants attention from your master, huh?”

[You wench!]

Seongju opened his mouth wide to threaten me. But he couldn’t do anything beyond threats.

“Do whatever you want if you want to lose. Even if either of us dies, Chang-yeom will survive. Pfft.”

Biggest bluff ever.

I can incinerate Seongju with just a flick of my finger, but the moment I exert any magic power, I’ll vanish.

Seongju can attack and brainwash me, but even if he does, I’ll vanish, rendering it useless.

Whoever dies, however the situation unfolds, Chang-yeom survives.

“Chang-yeom’s total victory, right?”

For a mushroom monster resembling an onion net, his distorted expression is quite impressive. While Seongju may have won against Chang-yeom on Tera, Chang-yeom achieved a crushing victory against Seongju on Earth.

[You crazy brat! Sacrificing yourself to save Chang-yeom?!]

“Obviously. Do you think I’m just a regular Phoenix? You said it yourself—’Chang-yeom’s’ Phoenix. Naturally, I live and die for Chang-yeom.”

[…AAAAAAHHHH!!!]

Seongju started going berserk. Simultaneously, the surface of the moon began to crumble. The moon, unable to withstand Chang-yeom’s ultimate revival, started collapsing.

[I don’t understand humans! I will no longer tolerate them!]

“Who asked you to tolerate us anyway? Oh, by the way…”

I pointed at the feathers that had scattered everywhere.

“Taunting someone while stalling for time isn’t something only you do, you know.”

[Huh?]

“Dumbass. If I just stood here chatting, it’d be obvious I’m about to vanish. Why would I talk nicely to someone who makes me feel good? Are you stupid?”

Maybe because I’m near death, even though I know this is Chang-yeom’s body, harsh words keep slipping out. But since the target is Seongju, Chang-yeom must understand.

“Hey, don’t you notice? Maybe because you don’t have a nose. Don’t you smell something burning?”

I pointed to the blue trajectory circling through space.

“The smell of spaceship fuel burning.”

Kiiiooooot—–!!

Finally.

The spaceship carrying the six spirits arrived at the moon—

“Holy crap.”

Who designed this thing?

***

Amidst global chaos,

Everyone knew a fierce battle was happening on the moon. The world’s strongest, Phoenix, had departed for the moon, followed by the so-called goddesses—six individuals with special abilities riding a spaceship modeled after Phoenix.

And then the moon exploded.

Even though people couldn’t witness it in real-time, they understood through satellites what was happening on the moon.

The supreme enemy—the lord of Pluto—and Phoenix were battling on the moon.

A massive pillar of fire erupted on the moon, along with a yellow storm. People watched via satellite and speculated about the outcome.

As the yellow storm intensified and the flames diminished, humanity’s doom seemed near.

When the flames consumed the yellow storm and grew larger, humanity’s peace appeared closer.

With Earth’s fate resting on one superhuman, people prayed, cheered, analyzed, and hoped for Phoenix’s victory.

…Even though the moon was half-destroyed, losing its function as a satellite, it was imperative to stop the mad alien trying to drop Pluto and the moon onto Earth.

And just as the spaceship touched down on the moon, humanity witnessed…

A storm of blue flames shooting off into the depths of space. Humanity saw the massive pillar of fire rising from the moon and felt hope.

What no one knew was that the fire had stopped burning.

* * *

The blue phoenix flying through the sky landed on the ground. The phoenix landed behind me as if guarding me, and a figure emerged from its spread chest.

“Yo!”

The first to rush out was the hot-headed Seok Harang. Followed by Karna, Kim Penril, Baek Hee-a, Hwanryong, and finally Yuna.

“You idiot! What reckless nonsense are you doing all alone?”

“I saved it for the finishing blow. Good job, right?”

“…”

I grinned in a V shape toward the spaceship’s main camera. Regardless of what these people thought, Earthlings needed to recognize ‘me’ as Chang-yeom. I acted as Chang-yeom-like as possible, pointing at the monstrous Seongju.

“That’s his true form. Ugly, right? I’ve done my part, so please finish him off.”

“…”

Everyone was speechless, but Hwanryong looked at me with a complex gaze. Being the one with ties to the spirit realm, he must understand my situation.

“…Sorry.”

Hwanryong bowed sincerely to apologize. Although I wanted to sit down and have an honest conversation, neither the situation nor time allowed for it.

“It’s my fault.”

“Did you two fight again?”

“While talking to Hwanryong about a solo flight to the moon, things got out of hand. Pfft.”

“So it’s your fault. Why go off alone like that, huh?”

Seok Harang smacked my head. I wanted to argue but stopped when I sensed killing intent from behind.

[Everyone’s gathered! Hahaha, this is fun! Each of you girls has such delicious brains to mess with…Ohhh!!]

Seongju began trembling his wings. His gaze was fixed on the brown-haired woman at the end of our group—Yuinah.

[Matured! Ripe! Though tainted by filthy earth snakes, even those strands are beautiful! Sufficient to become Her divine body! Well grown, Gnosis!]

“My name is Yuinah.”

Yuna stiffened her expression and slammed her staff into the ground. Lunar soil surged like hands and engulfed Seongju.

[Wha, what-]

Crack!

Before Seongju could escape, Yuna’s extended hand swallowed him whole. The dirt-filled hand didn’t spill a single drop of blood, but it was clear the empty space inside would soon fill with earth.

Crunch, crunch!

The sound of something being crushed clearly echoed from within the hand. I sighed in relief as events unfolded as expected.

‘One successful sync and Seongju’s toast.’

If she’d been wearing a robe, he wouldn’t have caused any harm.

If he’d maintained the godless entity’s body, he would’ve broken through with an uppercut.

But the robe burned, and the godless entity’s body was discarded. Seongju’s original alien body specialized in mind control and brainwashing illusions.

An ally capable of resisting brainwashing was necessary. Many comrades brought under his influence eventually developed immunity or resistance.

Six spirits immune to brainwashing.

Deities completely immune to brainwashing.

Here, only deities who succeeded in synchronization remained. I waited for Yuna, fiddling with her staff, to open her eyes, and soon she smiled softly and nodded.

“It’s over.”

“…Is this really the end?”

Kim Penril was so flustered he forgot his own speech patterns. It was understandable; despite my warnings and precautions, Seongju met such an anticlimactic end.

“Yuna, is there any chance he’s still around?”

“No. Seongju is definitely dead. Want proof?”

Yuna raised one hand and squeezed it. The other spirits shook their heads; showing it wasn’t necessary. Even seeing a normal human crushed would induce nausea—how much more so for Seongju’s grotesque true form.

“So…is that it? Is this the end?”

“Not a chance.”

Phase 1: Removing Seongju’s robe ended.

Event battle: Destroying the temporary body of the godless entity Seongju conjured ended.

Phase 2: Yuna crushed Seongju.

“Phase 3 still remains. The real final boss battle.”

Gurgle, gurgle.

Thanks to Seongju being crushed, the moon’s collapse worsened. Everyone looked at me curiously about how things would proceed, and I scanned the crowd.

“Don’t panic. Remember the Nuclearian event? Saying things like ‘Is he dead?’ immediately triggered Phase 2.”

“Hmph, hmph.”

Seok Harang blushed and cleared his throat while the earthquake intensified. Dust flew up, and the landed spaceship swayed.

“Yuna.”

“Yes.”

Yuna plunged her staff deep into the ground. Magic power flowing from her body quickly spread across the entire moon.

Fzzz!

The moon’s surface began to turn Yuna’s color, and the collapsing moon slowly stabilized.

Although the ceiling’s holes and newly formed craters remained, at least the collapse ceased.

“Battlefield stabilization. Remaining time…uh-oh.”

Yuna frowned. She had halted the moon’s collapse, but it was forced. The moon’s core was already ruined beyond repair.

“Phoenix Sir. Right now, in the core…”

“I know. Seongju’s meddling. Yuna, can you expand the field for me?”

I asked Yuna to create a new battlefield. Yuna tapped her staff twice, pulling lunar soil toward us.

Gurgle, gurgle.

A chunk of land detached from the moon, centered around the spaceship. Following my request, Yuna shaped the detached land into a disc-like form.

“What’s this supposed to be?”

“Our battlefield.”

Width 10 meters, inner void diameter an impressive 1 km. Truly fitting for the final showdown.

“I’m out of magic power and can’t fight anymore. So everyone, please follow my directions.”

I climbed atop the spaceship’s head, resembling a mech-phoenix. Without magical gear and minimal magic power, fortunately, the spirits could hear my voice perfectly in the vacuum of space.

“…Soon, the moon will change.”

Phase 3.

Final boss battle against the great interdimensional deity.

“…Are we ready?”

“Absolutely.”

Yuna looked at me and smiled gently. Just like the Yuna I remembered, making the same expression in similar situations.

“Sorry for forcing you to sacrifice yourself.”

“Sacrifice isn’t something only I have to endure. And…I believe Phoenix Sir and the others will save me.”

Yuna beamed brightly.

“Fighting isn’t really my strong suit anyway. Hydra will probably do better. Is this what they call the captured heroine? Haha, with seven princes ready to rescue me, who will step up?”

“…Stop joking.”

To defeat the interdimensional deity, Yuna would have to temporarily sacrifice herself. Since all seven spirits achieved synchronization, creating a harmonious balance of magic power, Seongju would attempt to seize Yuna’s body to summon the interdimensional goddess…

“Huh?”

My brain momentarily froze.

Yuna awakening as the interdimensional goddess is the Phoenix route.

All seven spirits achieving synchronization resulted in paradoxically stable magical harmony.

But am I malfunctioning right now…?

‘What happens then?’

Too many variables. Am I facing the rampant avatar of the interdimensional deity? Or does Chang-yeom stabilize everything, allowing the interdimensional deity to reside within Yuna? Or perhaps a completely new situation I’ve never encountered before—

Gurgle, gurgle.

“Huh?”

“Uh?”

Both Yuna and I simultaneously expressed confusion. I with intuition, Yuna with her insight, quickly grasped the situation.

“…Phoenix! Something strange is emanating from inside the moon!”

Next to detect the anomaly was Kim Penril. Perhaps due to his wind attribute, he swiftly perceived traces of the interdimensional deity rooted in the wind.

“This…can’t be?”

Thump, thump.

The moon began shrinking gradually from the outside. The disc-shaped battlefield we had exited earlier remained unaffected by the bizarre crimson grid enveloping the entire moon.

“Ugh.”

Baek Hee-a retched upon seeing the moon. Its transformation was grotesque, even difficult for an SSS-rank individual to endure.

“Tai…?”