Chapter 1422: Lord of Hell (5)

The scene that unfolded before him was that of a black sea, its dark waves rolling in, seemingly without end.

Beyond the shimmering horizon, a colossal black hole rotated, setting like a sun.

Swaaaaaaah—

Black waves surged, centered around an accretion disk that pulled in even light, stopping it in its tracks.

Upon the shore where the black waves crashed, there were countless black coffins, too many to number.

“……”

The inner sanctum of the hell Myeong had created over a lifetime through his Gabihaeng.

The atmosphere of another world, one he had reportedly built by sweeping up the continent’s civilizations and deaths.

With Croken’s help, had he passed through [The Gate] and finally reached the final destination where the Gabihaeng ended?

The place where Myeong’s journey ended, the very location Lennok had prioritized reaching when he joined this plan.

The scenery of the ‘hell’ he had heard about for so long was quite different from what Lennok had imagined.

Gooooooooo—

“…Ugh.”

Staring blankly at the horizon where the black hole spun, Lennok struggled to his feet.

As he walked slowly along the shoreline, bathed in a black-tinged sunset, Lennok muttered.

“It’s strangely quiet. This place…”

Everywhere he looked was the vast, distant black sea.

Except for the shoreline where Lennok stood, every direction was filled with endless black waves.

A serene silence, where only the sound of the rolling waves echoed tranquilly. It was endlessly calm and quiet.

There was no torture being inflicted, no screams of pain and agony echoing about, nor were there sinners on an endless march for their crimes.

There was only a faint stillness, as if everything had found its rest and reached its conclusion.

It didn’t take long for Lennok to recall something as he gazed at the scene before him.

“Is it… close to an afterlife?”

It couldn’t be called heaven, but it was also far from a hell where the dead suffered.

It was simply a space that seemed created for those who had met death to cross over from the world and find peace.

Wooooong—

He gathered his mana and scanned his surroundings, but he felt no particular danger.

No, in the first place, besides Lennok, there wasn’t a single sign of life or any reaction here.

Had Croken Asylus been staying in a place like this all this time, searching for a way to end the Gabihaeng?

His personality—refusing to associate with others and rampaging as he pleased—hadn’t changed at all, but—

“…Ah.”

In that moment, Lennok realized the flow of his mana felt strangely comfortable and touched his arm.

The crack from the black ring that had been eating away at his body since his regression had gone quiet the moment he entered this space.

The pain that had made even the slightest action feel arduous, like a knife stabbing his nerves, had vanished.

‘Is it because Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft itself is related to the Black Edict?’

It had been so painful absorbing the darkness flowing back from [The Gate], yet now that he was inside [The Gate], it felt comfortable.

Realizing this irony, Lennok slowly clenched and unclenched his ringed hand with a complicated expression.

Through his regression, he had been able to bypass the Ascendants and the Three Grand Dukes to steal the legacy, but he had to pay a harsh price for using the ring.

The black crack etched into his arm had grown steadily worse, to the point where it was difficult to even support his own body by the time he obtained the legacy.

It only ended here because he had stopped midway; the next time wouldn’t end so lightly… No, that was a pointless assumption.

The next time Lennok used the ring, it would be after he had already resolved himself to accept the end.

The moment he had recalled memories of the past in his previous timeline loop, Lennok too had realized it clearly.

The authority wielded by ‘him’ was an incomprehensible destruction, a complete antithesis to Lennok’s own origin.

And that the moment he accepted it, his own fate would also meet its end in some form.

Next time, there would be no regression arranged by Myeong, no miracle of him retreating to fight another day.

There would only be… the predetermined conclusion.

“……”

Swaaaaaaah—

Putting his complex thoughts behind him, Lennok began to walk slowly along the shore.

Not everything had gone as expected, but it wasn’t without its gains.

As a result of absorbing the darkness of [The Gate], Lennok’s will-thought was expanding to a degree he couldn’t fathom.

Kugugugu…!

With every breath, mana flooded in like seawater, and his depleted will-thought and mental energy recovered at an incredible rate.

Spirituality and will-thought, body and spellcraft, abilities and authority. He could feel every part of his being transcending the fetters of a mortal.

As he forcibly reclaimed the power that was once his, Lennok felt his very existence drawing infinitely closer to ascension.

Even though he hadn’t yet earned the qualification, he felt as if he was already on the path to the final destination.

Could it be because Lennok had once before reached that state and then descended back into a human body?

He didn’t know if this could be called growth, but at this moment, Lennok’s consciousness had reached a higher place than ever before.

So high that just by standing still and gazing, he could faintly grasp the essence of this endless black sea.

“……”

The sight of countless black coffins embedded along the shoreline of the sea of black waves.

Jet-black coffins, their doors firmly shut, were scattered from the shoreline to the far side of the sea.

Surely, those black coffins were the core component of this space, and the key to reaching Myeong.

Were the coffins not just near the shore, but scattered throughout the entire sea?

There was no rule or pattern to the placement or arrangement of the black coffins on the dark shore.

The only thing they had in common was that every visible coffin was facing the accretion disk beyond the horizon.

“…I have no choice.”

Still, no sign of life could be felt within this hell.

For now, the only clues Lennok could find were the black coffins scattered across the sea.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lennok slowly reached out his hand toward the firmly shut door of a black coffin.

He ran one hand over its surface, then opened the door and peered inside.

Thump…!

The coffin’s door opened slowly, revealing the figure of a man inside, eyes closed in a deep slumber.

The form of a corpse in eternal rest, hands placed on its chest, its body entrusted to the darkness lurking within the coffin.

As Lennok gazed at the body enshrined in the coffin, he soon realized the man’s face was quite familiar.

“Was his name… Baegon?”

The black wizard who had come to Vulcan with Ermont long ago, claiming to be the Nether King’s disciple.

The one who tried to use the power of the Extinct Eye Acrottrinier through human sacrifice, only to be executed by Myeong’s own hand.

The man who had declared Lennok a fake and boasted that he alone was the true disciple of the Nether King was now lying asleep in the coffin with an unbelievably peaceful expression.

“……”

In terms of timeline, it was something that happened right after he returned from his business in the Machine City, Machina.

Even to Lennok, it felt like a long time ago, so much so that it took him a moment to recall the memory.

But what made Lennok ponder as he looked at Baegon sleeping in the coffin was something else entirely.

According to his memory, Baegon was someone whose death had been decided directly by Myeong in his final moments.

He was a spellcaster to whom Myeong, who existed beyond hell even back then, had personally granted death.

Baegon being here was proof that the souls of those Myeong had personally killed were stored within this hell.

If so, did that mean the other dead sleeping in the black coffins were also composed of those Myeong had once killed himself?

“……”

Swaaaaaaah—

He cautiously reached out a hand to the black waves washing up on the shore.

It had the form of a liquid but wasn’t a true liquid. Rather, it felt like what you would get if you liquefied black magic or dark matter.

It rolled in from beyond the horizon like a wave, moving with the wind along the shore, yet he could touch and step on it.

Having made his decision, Lennok stepped off the shoreline and began to move slowly toward the surging black waves.

Splash, splash…!!

Treading upon the black waves, he cautiously opened other coffins set up on the shore.

He opened the coffins around the shore, but most of the bodies enshrined within had faces Lennok didn’t recognize.

The souls of the dead, having found rest without a trace of pain. Perhaps they were victims who might have met their end at Myeong’s hand.

He knew.

Myeong had been an assistant to Lennok who asked for nothing in return, but to other humans, he was cruelly indifferent.

He was a being with standards so high and a judgment of people so strict that it bordered on arrogance, a fact that even the members of Pandemonium were implicitly aware of.

Even if he was a being who possessed power befitting such arrogance, it was an undeniable fact that he had caused indiscriminate chaos through his Gabihaeng.

“……”

But even knowing that, Lennok soon steeled his resolve.

He hadn’t come this far because he thought Myeong was someone who deserved salvation.

It was simply that no matter how wicked and twisted a black wizard Myeong was, Lennok felt he couldn’t abandon the help he had received from him.

Moreover, if Myeong had departed while protecting the secret of the Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft until the very end, he felt it was all the more reason to do so.

He already knew that Myeong was not a good or virtuous person, not someone with a respectable character who could be admired by all.

Even so—

Splash…!!

He waded through the black waves, continuing to walk toward the sea.

The water deepened, the waves gentled, and the surface grew calm.

A strange feeling, as if time was slowing down with every step he took across the sea toward the black hole beyond the horizon.

The moment he peered inside a very old, worn black coffin located deep in the black sea, far from the shore.

“…Ah.”

Discovering a body different from the others inside the old coffin, Lennok unconsciously paused.

Skin so pale it was almost white. An impression that felt sharp somehow. A young woman with beautiful features and black hair.

At a glance, her appearance was alien, possessing an elegant yet eerie atmosphere different from the other dead he had seen so far.

Her appearance in eternal slumber, eyes closed—was it a trick of his mind that she bore a striking resemblance to Myeong?

As that thought crossed his mind, Lennok simultaneously realized the woman’s identity and muttered.

“A blood relative of the Black Edict…”

One of the five oldest families.

A bloodline that inherited the blood of the Black Edict, which took the Extinct Eye Acrottrinier as its symbol.

One of them, soul and all, was still asleep in this hell that Myeong had created.

“……”

Lennok’s gaze deepened as he looked down at the pale woman’s face.

He still remembered the Emperor’s edict inscribed at the entrance of [The Gate] inside the Mausoleum, which detailed the final fate of the Black Edict clan.

“It is confirmed that the house of the Black Edict lent the power of the Extinct Eye for the research and completion of the Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft.”

“Therefore, all blood relatives of the Black Edict shall be executed for treason, and their research records shall be sealed within [The Gate].”

“By imperial decree, the sinners’ bodies shall be confiscated after death. Their souls shall be cast into ‘hell’ and preserved.”

“The souls cast into hell shall be bound to another dimension through Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft, and subjected to repeated degradation and refinement.”

“The youngest child of the family who inherited the blood of the Black Edict shall be spared and tasked with the management of the souls.”

The souls cast into hell, executed by the Emperor’s own hand for the crime of helping to complete the research of the Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft.

Hadn’t it been said that all of them, unable to live or die, had their souls bound and turned into tools?

Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft. The original sin of the Black Edict. The youngest child of the family. And… Ermont’s Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft.

“……”

Ermont was a black wizard who had been exiled for the crime of violating his family’s rules and developing forbidden magic.

The Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft he developed was a forbidden spell that stole others’ bodies, and the very power that had allowed Ermont to live until now.

But could it really be a coincidence that Ermont’s Will-thought Transfer Spellcraft was involved in the very incident that annihilated the Black Edict bloodline?

Among all the descendants who inherited the blood of the Black Edict, could it truly be a coincidence that only Ermont had survived to this day?

Woooong…!!!

Cautiously gathering his mana, he activated his Mystic Eye and focused it on the woman sleeping in the coffin.

At the same time, Lennok’s expression stiffened slightly as he read unexpected information from the woman’s soul.

“The soul’s cohesive force is abnormally weak… It’s a miracle it’s maintaining its original form at all.”

The soul itself was worn down to an immeasurable degree, so weak it looked like it could shatter at any moment.

It was only maintaining its shape on the surface, softened to the point that it wouldn’t be strange if it turned to dust with a slight touch.

But as Lennok peered into the soul with his Mystic Eye, he got the strong feeling that its condition was artificial.

A sense that the souls of the Black Edict clan had been intentionally worn down and left this way by someone.

As if their cohesive force had been deliberately severed to use their souls as catalysts or materials—

“…Myeong.”

In the end, he had to find the one who held the answers to all of this.

Croken had said that not even Myeong himself could be an exception to the laws of the Gabihaeng.

That Myeong’s soul was asleep within this hell. That he had tried to wake him and end the Gabihaeng, but failed.

The fact that the monster had gone through the trouble of sending Lennok to [The Gate] must mean there was something only Lennok could do.

He is waiting.

For someone to bring this entire journey to a close.

For this moment, long awaited. For the wizard he had no doubt would become the conclusion.

If that’s the case—

Wooooooooong!!!!!!

Having made his decision, Lennok gripped the old black coffin and slowly gathered his mana.

As if in response to his will, the black sea churned and began to resonate, centering on Lennok.

Kugugugugugu!!

Kwaaaaaaaah—

Following Lennok’s mana, the black waves moved, defying gravity and soaring into the sky.

The distorted accretion disk beyond the horizon sank into darkness as it absorbed all light, rapidly expanding in size.

Within his spirituality and consciousness, expanded to their limits by drinking the darkness from beyond [The Gate], Lennok’s will alone covered the infinite spacetime.

Transcending the scope and concepts reachable by humans, he contemplated the sky and sea from a realm unapproachable even by Ascendants.

He raised his consciousness until the moment it neared the gods of that sea and called out a name.

A reverberation of the soul whose meaning could not be fully contained by a physical voice. An intangible, ethereal resonance.

The moment Lennok opened his eyes, calling out to the black wizard who must be sleeping somewhere in another dimension at this very instant—

The soul of the woman sleeping inside the coffin began to emit a faint light and flicker.

Saaaaah—

A sense of unease, as if the woman’s soul was vanishing on the spot every time he introduced a variation to this space.

The instant Lennok sensed it and immediately cut the mana resonance to stabilize the soul.

“You don’t have to worry.”

“……!!”

Lennok felt a whisper from within and snapped his gaze upward.

A quiet tone, as if whispering softly, mixed with the sound of the black waves.

A strange feeling, as if this entire hell was speaking to him.

“The souls left here will no longer be sacrificed meaninglessly.”

“Because I have strived for a very long time to make it so.”

A familiar voice he had heard countless times whispered.

He could tell it wasn’t a simple hallucination or auditory illusion.

That he had responded to Lennok’s call, and that he had finally awakened from his long slumber.

Naturally, he began walking in the direction from which the voice came.

“I had to struggle until the very end to escape this harsh journey.”

“At every moment of my life, I had to sacrifice the blood relatives I loved.”

“The punishment laid down by the Emperor was so cruel it was hard to bear; I agonized until the very end.”

“But, despite that.”

“I…”

“……”

Swaaaaaaah…

Even the old black coffins set upon the black waves were no longer visible.

Before he knew it, Lennok had crossed the black sea and approached the seemingly endless horizon.

The horizon of a star, which he knew existed but could never be reached by a human’s pace.

Where the black accretion disk spun endlessly, becoming a black hole that sucked in and halted light and time.

Before that endless black sphere, a man stood with his back turned.

An ordinary impression with black hair. A unique mana that seemed to seethe. A feeling of emptiness somewhere.

The back of a certain black wizard, which Lennok had recalled countless times since starting this endeavor.

“Van.”

The man said as he slowly turned his gaze.

“Welcome to the final destination of the Gabihaeng.”

“…Myeong.”

“I know. You must have many questions.”

Myeong, awakened from hell, smiled.

“The relationship between Heavenly Abasement Spellcraft and the Black Edict. The Gabihaeng and my end. Even about yourself…”

“……”

“It’s still fine for now. I’ll explain everything one by one.”

How long had it been since he’d had a conversation with Myeong like this?

The black wizard, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, seemed rather peaceful despite being in hell.

As if he had finally been freed from long-held restraints and fetters and had set down a heavy burden.

“Croken is buying time outside.”

Lennok said, hesitating.

“We don’t have much time. First, let’s get out of here and…”

“I said you don’t have to worry, and that includes such matters.”

Myeong replied calmly.

“This is another dimension where the timelines of past and present are mixed… Time here flows according to completely different rules and speeds than in reality.”

“……”

“This is because the concept of hell can only exist in a parallel universe, not in reality. It’s a result that exists somewhere but not in this universe, a derivative that can only arise from a divergence of possibilities.”

“That’s…”

“That is possible because, in essence, you were the one who personally designed and actually created this concept.”

“…What?”

“Before I explain everything, there is one thing I must tell you first.”

Myeong said, looking back at the startled Lennok.

“The Gabihaeng is not some ancient ritual passed down through history, nor is it an ascension ritual created by later generations. It was one of the methods you personally attempted in the past.”

“……”

“The Fate of Demise, which takes a failed future as its origin… One of the countless ‘conclusions’ he was meant to reach someday.”

Gazing at the black sea where the black hole had settled, Myeong spoke softly.

“This place is one of the futures of ruin you faced in the past.”