Chapter 134

No matter how deep the darkness one hides in, there is no place untouched by the light of the Daeil Yeorae.

Where the light descends, there is nowhere to hide, nor anywhere to flee.

Even shadows vanished in the light that erased the darkness.

Overwhelming radiance enveloped the world, transforming all things into light.

However, Light Alteration was not merely a simple white light.

It was a light that revealed the truth and cut through illusions, thereby forcibly exposing the enemy’s true nature and weaknesses.

The reason why Je Hyun-oh and Won Taebeom’s attacks had failed earlier was simple.

It was because the eyes covering the sky were beings no different from lies.

As the being of the sky revealed its true nature, the eyes behind the mask keenly observed it.

CEO Cha climbed the descended tentacles back up into the sky.

And amidst the countless eyes of lies, he found the truth.

It was the eye located in the very center.

Unlike the other eyes with their circular pupils, this eye alone possessed a long, slender horizontal pupil.

Only that was a reality, not an illusion.

The light that had spread out toward the world returned as a sword.

The light, having grown even larger as it devoured the darkness, gathered around the Daeil Yeorae.

The blade vibrated slightly from the energy condensed to its limit.

The hand gripping the hilt tightly brought the sword down.

A single strike.

A pure white trail was carved along the elegant arc of the sword.

It was an impeccably precise strike, cutting across the enemy’s most fatal weakness.

However, it was the power of a human against a god.

Not even one-tenth of Light Alteration’s true power could be unleashed.

Despite possessing the power to split the sea and tear the sky apart, it merely left a long, shallow wound on the horizontal pupil.

A drop of deep blue blood formed in the crevice, a mere scratch.

At the same time, every pair of eyes stared at CEO Cha.

It was a gaze that shattered mental barriers.

“…!”

Although the golden veil above his head blocked the gaze, CEO Cha’s body staggered helplessly.

If it hadn’t been for the veil, his brain would have been crushed right then and there.

CEO Cha slid a long way after he landed on the tentacles.

Just as he managed to stop by embedding the Daeil Yeorae into the mucous surface, a dark figure shot out beside him.

Je Hyun-oh, spreading his metal wings wide, swung his hand toward the wound CEO Cha had left.

A black line traced through the air.

It was little more than a follow-up slash, yet the wound clearly deepened.

Upon identifying the only vulnerable spot among the tens of thousands of eyes, a telepathic message flashed simultaneously into the minds of Je Hyun-oh and Won Taebeom.

Won Taebeom immediately struck the wound with his gauntlet.

The first strike was a golden mark, and the second was a heavy blow.

Boom!

The moment the gauntlet struck the eyeball, a vibration resonated as if a fortress wall had been hammered.

The power was clearly weaker than the previous attack.

However, as the strike landed on the wound that had torn through the outer shell, the shock and vibration were fully absorbed, crushing the tissue.

The wound, which had been nothing more than a thin hairline crack, split open vertically.

Je Hyun-oh immediately latched onto the eyeball and tore at the wound with his metal hand.

The moment blue blood burst from the forcibly opened wound…

With a chilling clatter, all six metal wings were dismantled into blades.

And they were thrust into the wound.

The blades moved as if each possessed its own will, digging deeper and tearing apart the eyeball.

The sound of metal clashing echoed, and just before a mere scratch escalated into a fatal wound…

A gloomy wrath poured forth.

“■■■■■■■■■.”

It was a voice of God, different from before.

It was before one could even realize that something was wrong.

The world turned black.

Blackout.

And when the darkness, which had lasted only a few seconds, lifted.

The world was turned upside down.

It was a scene that shattered the laws of nature.

The sea lay above my head, and tens of thousands of eyeballs sat beneath my feet.

Overwhelmed for a moment by the sight of the land and sky turned upside down..

A living hell unfolded.

Wverything poured down from the sea that had become the sky.

The eyeballs on the ground rolled their pupils, greedily devouring everything falling toward them.

The iron gate, which had been part of the prison, crashed directly onto the eyeballs.

Marked ‘Zone X’, the gate hissed and melted the moment it touched the eye’s surface, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

It was not just inorganic matter. Living creatures were no exception.

As soon as the dregs floating in the sea touched the eyeball, smoke rose and they flowed down as a neon green liquid.

Although the pain must have been excruciating, no screams were heard. It was because the already damaged brains had been crushed by erosion.

Due to mental overload, the dregs died while bursting into maniacal laughter.

Kihaha, haha, kuhahaha!

Maniacal laughter echoing from all directions pierced my ears.

“…….”

Clutching the golden sphere, I caught my breath while standing atop the giant eyeball.

The moment I saw the pure white light created by the white-clad man, I felt a twisting sensation.

It felt as if the heat seething through my entire body had instantly gone cold.

That feeling did not fade even when I issued commands for battle.

In the split second I was distracted by the unfamiliar sensation, a sudden surge of powerful force rushed in.

■■■ had poured all their power into reversing the entire domain.

In this inverted world, I lost my balance and fell onto an eyeball.

Because I was shaken even briefly, the subordinates and possessions under my influence also took some damage and fell along with me.

I checked the condition of my subordinate first.

His health bar had been depleted by a large chunk.

While his health was gradually depleting further, fortunately, he was not afflicted with any other debuffs.

The other two entities under the protection veil were in a similar state.

They were taking continuous damage in addition to losing a chunk of health.

However, the remaining entities without the protection veil were the problem. Their health was decreasing relatively quickly.

It was because, from the moment they made contact with the eyeball, their life force was drained while their minds began to erode simultaneously.

Even if I were to cast a veil right now, they would not be completely protected because their inherent power was weak.

They had become beings unusable in combat.

Feeling the unpleasant power of the ■■■ constantly trying to burrow into me, I thought to myself:

‘Should I use Punishment?’

It seemed I had to finish it off in an instant with the strongest force I could muster.

Although my subordinate was currently showing of his abilities, I worried that he might get into danger if I continued like this, and I felt I could not bear to watch any longer.

To increase the power of Punishment, I needed to gather my strength.

I decided not to use my power in unnecessary ways.

‘I must dispose of all my temporary possessions.’

If I withdrew my influence from everything except my subordinate, they would melt away and disappear on their own due to the eyeball.

It was a bit of a waste to lose the top two, but their usefulness was no match for the safety of my subordinate.

It was just as I was about to withdraw my power.

A singing voice came from somewhere.

A woman’s voice, sounding like a sweet love song, grew closer and closer to me.

Strangely enough, I… stopped everything I was about to do and listened intently to the song.

I listened quietly, not knowing why, when suddenly I felt a soft touch.

I lowered my gaze to see small, white balls of fur settled at my feet.

They were Numbers 2 and 3, whom I had registered as temporary possessions.

They were slowly melting away.

Smoke continuously rose from the parts where their eyes met my pupils, and a neon green liquid flowed out.

‘Did they come to ask to be saved?’

But they did not beg me. They did not plead with God for anything.

They simply clung to my side.

It must have been agonizing for them, as they were suffering from both physical pain and mental erosion.

However, I found it puzzling that they did not let out a single groan, as if pain were something they were accustomed to.

They were among the lowest of the creatures, lacking in ability.

Since they were such lowly creatures with no talents, they must have been in even greater pain, yet I could not understand why they were clinging to me like this without any purpose.

While I was staring at these lowly creatures, a large vine approached me.

It was No. 1, whom I had also registered as a temporary possession.

As soon as I saw the vine, a wild thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘It used to be bigger than that.’

It had shrunk considerably. It seemed to have melted away while pushing its way through the eyeballs.

Now of a size that no longer suited the word ‘giant,’ the vine approached me with movements that were desperately urgent.

Thinking it was finally going to beg for its life, I stared at it coldly.

However, once the vine reached me, it performed a completely unexpected action. It hurriedly thrust its stem under my feet.

As if intending to serve as my stepping stone.

It seemed to be trying to keep me from touching the eyeballs as much as possible, but this would increase the surface area of ​​contact with the eyeballs for No. 1, causing its health to drain even faster.

I swallowed a hollow laugh.

‘Does it want to die quickly?’

No. 1 was also a low-ranking individual. It possessed absolutely no strength to accomplish anything.

I deliberately stomped on No. 1 with my foot, knowing it would soon melt away and disappear.

At that, No. 1’s stem twitched. I thought it was in pain, but it wasn’t.

No. 1 extended a stem and gently wrapped it around my ankle.

It was ensuring that my foot wouldn’t accidentally touch the eyeballs.

The neon green liquid from No. 1 melting left a long trail on the hem of my pants.

I slowly narrowed my eyes. Before I knew it, the sound of singing grew closer.

A woman, her upper body buried between her eyeballs, leaned her face against my leg.

It was No. 12.

Her lower body had already melted away. Having lost her spider-like form, she was in a state where she could not even make a web.

Driven to the threshold of death, she rubbed her cheek against mine and sang a happy love song.

As I watched her…

I felt a truly strange sensation.

The temporary possessions gradually gathered around me.

All 11 of them clung to me, acting arrogantly and surrounding a god despite being such lowly creatures.

‘I should use Punishment.’

I could not take my eyes off those melting things.

It was when I was staring at them foolishly.

“Roasted Chestnut!”

No. 6 approached me.

He had a slightly curved fin on its back, and his skin was like that of an orca.

However, the thick skin was riddled with mottled, gaping holes.

No. 6, melting in places, spoke cheerfully while dripping neon green liquid.

“So you were here. I’m glad you’re safe.”

No. 6’s lower body was out of sight.

At first glance, it looked as though he were submerged in eyeballs, but I knew the truth.

That he had already melted away, just like No. 12.

No. 6, having pushed aside the eyeballs and approached me, shouted cheerfully.

“I swam to my heart’s content in the ​​Neo Sea. It’s all thanks to you, Roasted Chestnut!”

He explained that thanks to being submerged in Neo, he had regained his true form rather than his humanoid shape; although his broken legs remained, he was able to swim freely in the vast ocean for the first time in a long while.

“We will protect you, Roasted Chestnut, until you die. Don’t worry, and regain your strength.”

No. 6 looked up at me and made a sweet promise.

I wasn’t trying to recover. I had intended to withdraw my strength from them.

But… I was unable to do anything.

I looked down at No. 6. Once again, delusional thoughts swirled in my head.

‘He was much taller than this. He was taller than me.’

As I watched him silently, No. 6 looked back at me and smiled.

“I have never once feared death. On the contrary, I have always looked forward to it!”

It was a lie.

I could sense a hidden fear in No. 6.

He reached out his hand toward me. However, the hand, stained with scars, could not reach me.

As if he had never intended to touch me in the first place, No. 6 continued speaking while merely extending his hand.

“But it is a little regrettable. I originally had no lingering attachments… For a fleeting moment, the time I revered Roasted Chestnut as a god was truly enjoyable.”

His eyes, gleaming like black pebbles, shone as if he had just had a wonderful dream.

“I found myself imagining what it would be like if Roasted Chestnut were truly our god. Ah, of course, I know that would never happen! I was merely indulging in a brief delusion.”

No. 6’s gaze dimmed slightly.

The temporary possessions had very little health left.

Their death was imminent.

“Do you know? I realized this while swimming in the Neo Sea. I can’t swim as splendidly as I used to, and I’m unsightly, but still, I…”

No. 6 said with a broad smile.

“I love swimming, Roasted Chestnut!”

The sound of the sea reached the air.

There was no blue sea here. It was an inverted world teeming only with eyeballs.

Nevertheless, I heard the sound of waves crashing in the vast ocean.

I slowly opened my lips.

“Don’t go.”

But No. 6 did not hear my voice.

It was because he was nothing more than a temporary possession, not a subordinate.

No. 6 opened his eyes wide in surprise, then smiled weakly.

“Don’t cry, Roasted Chestnut. Isn’t this a pretty cool farewell?”

It wasn’t cool at all. I gritted my teeth and shook my head.

No. 6 spoke to me in a gentle tone.

“I will miss you, Roasted Chestnut.”

“No. Don’t go.”

“I hope you… miss us a little, too, Roasted Chestnut.”

I called his name.

“Orca!”

But Orca never heard my voice.

The hand that had reached out toward me tilted limply and soon fell to the floor.

The killer whale’s body turned into a neon green liquid.

Window announcing the deaths of the creatures rose one after another.

All 12 creatures have died.

I stared at them blankly.

I did not want to forgive the one who had touched my subordinate.

Because I thought that was the only thing that mattered, I created new abilities.

But what I truly needed was neither retribution nor blind faith.

I clutched the golden sphere against my chest with all my might.

Looking at the creatures dead at my feet, I thought…

What I truly wanted.

What I wanted…

The ability I hoped to possess as a young god….

It was the power to create a happy ending for myself.