Chapter 257

Chapter 257
## Chapter 257

—

Martial God

The rhythmic sound of wheels echoed as a solitary carriage traversed the open plains. Inside the jolting vehicle, a man lay in a deep slumber, while a woman watched over him with a gaze full of tenderness.

“Are you certain your husband is alright? He hasn’t stirred once in three days,” the driver called out from the front, his voice tinged with concern. He found it unsettling that the passenger hadn’t so much as blinked for seventy-two hours.

“…It is fine,” the woman answered softly.

The driver gave a quick shrug. “Well, if the Bu-in says it’s okay, I suppose it is.”

Since the man was clearly breathing, the driver figured he was simply a gentleman with an extraordinary talent for napping. Despite going without food for three days, the man’s face hadn’t become hollow or pale. The woman was the same.

‘What a strange pair.’

The driver thought back to their first encounter. The woman had arrived with the man slung over her back and offered an amount of gold too staggering to decline, all to be driven toward a high-risk territory. It was bizarre, but given her devotion, they certainly appeared to be a devoted couple, especially since she never corrected him when he used formal marital titles.

“Still… I’ve heard the gates to Paisalmer have reopened, but isn’t it far too perilous for a journey right now?”

Paisalmer, the city of the sands. At this moment, it was a literal war zone, caught in the violent friction between the White King and the Black King. Though rumors of the functional warp gate persisted, few were suicidal enough to actually go there.

“I have to… find a friend.”

“A friend? Ah, you have someone waiting in Paisalmer?”

“Yes.”

“Aigoo. You must be worried sick. I truly hope they’ve managed to stay safe.”

“They are already dead.”

“Uh……”

The driver was momentarily lost for words. To trek into a disaster area just for a deceased friend—was she planning to retrieve a body?

“I am going to verify it. To see if she remains there.”

“I-I see.”

Her voice was so devoid of agitation that it made the driver feel awkward. She seemed so detached that he wondered if she possessed human feelings at all. Yet, seeing the way she looked at the sleeping man, he knew that couldn’t be entirely true.

‘Thank you.’

Isabella von Dercian gently ran her fingers through Randolph’s hair as he rested his head on her lap. Their path had been paved with confusion and bitterness, but now that the clouds had cleared, she had learned many truths because of him.

This was why she understood his current condition. At this moment, Randolph was logged out, living as ‘Park Hyunmyeong’ on the other side of reality. Park Hyunmyeong was currently on a world called ‘Earth,’ a place she could never reach, fighting to safeguard his own home. Thus, it was Isabella’s duty to stand guard over Randolph until his spirit returned.

Naturally, she longed to see Park Hyunmyeong. She was deeply curious about his true face and if he matched the image in her heart. However, they were inhabitants of different realms. …A face-to-face meeting between them was an impossibility.

Regardless, it didn’t matter. Randolph and Park Hyunmyeong—to her, they were the same magnificent soul.

‘……Sonora.’

Among the truths she had uncovered was the fate of her dearest friend and Unnie, Sonora. Right after Isabella had been consumed by the Divine Possession, Park Hyunmyeong had taken control of her form to battle Sonora, who had been twisted into a hybrid. She had survived and earned the favor of the Desert Queen because of it, but she remained ignorant of what had become of Sonora’s physical remains.

‘Are you still there?’

If nothing else, she wished to reclaim Sonora’s body. If her friend was still trapped in that nightmare, Isabella felt it was her calling to bring her home. She intended to fashion a blade from her bones so they could remain inseparable forever. She was certain Sonora would desire that.

She wanted to show her the vastness of the world beyond the dunes. She wanted her to hear the break of dawn, the rustle of new growth, and the songs of birds. She wanted Sonora to realize the world was far more stunning than they had dared to dream… and that there were souls more noble and radiant than any they had known. She wanted Sonora to know a man who shone like the sun, a light so bright that even the Desert Queen would pale in comparison.

‘This time, I’m coming for you, Sonora Unnie.’

Alongside the man who was her light.

‘I will pull you out of that darkness, Sonora.’

—You have to be happy, Isabella. Promise me. It’s a vow.

‘Because this time, I will be the one to find you.’

—

Raiga, the commander of the Palga Knights, felt a deep scowl form on his face upon his return to the Empire.

‘……The Island of God forcibly removed every soul, including myself.’

No matter how he analyzed the situation, it made no sense. He had explicitly signaled his intent to compete, yet he was expelled. It wasn’t just a personal slight; every participant seemed to have suffered the same fate. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

‘Dozens of my subordinates tumbled into the Abyss and perished. It’s nonsensical.’

A massive portion of the Palga Knights who followed him had failed to return. They were likely lost to the Abyss, but he couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could a squad of elites, veterans who knew the Abyss inside and out, vanish in an instant? Even with the most generous assumptions, the whole thing felt tainted.

Yet, the most pressing enigma was his own health.

‘My body… why is it failing?’

He was fading. His physical form was withering. His mana reserves were evaporating, and the divine protections he carried were flickering like dying candles. There was only one reason for such a collapse.

‘I triggered the Five Doors. Me?’

Opening those seals guaranteed an absolute ‘Death.’ However, Raiga had no recollection of ever unlocking the Five Doors. Despite the gap in his memory, the symptoms associated only with that forbidden act were manifesting. This meant only one thing.

‘…My mind has been tampered with.’

His memories had been scrubbed or altered. Something monumental had occurred on the Island of God, but the details were gone. He only possessed the ‘result’—his expulsion. He had no way of knowing what had been changed or how his perception had been warped.

There was, however, a primary suspect.

‘Where did that Goat vanish to?’

……The Golden Goat. They had entered the Abyss as a pair, yet it was gone. If it had been ejected alongside him, it should have been present, but there was no sign of it. He had used every contact in the Empire since his return, but the creature had vanished. Even the ‘Golden Mask’ seemed to be in the dark. They were also oblivious to the fact that he was dying. Had they known, the Reaper Cult would have struck immediately, as they and the Palga Knights were bitter rivals.

‘I still have some time.’

The end wasn’t immediate. The death curse had been somewhat diluted during his transit from the Island of God. Because of that, he had a small window to designate an heir and rebuild his knightly ranks. If he was lucky, he might even find a way to break the weakened ‘Death’ entirely. With his mind made up, Raiga moved with urgency.

“Accelerate the ‘Competition’ logistics. Increase the scope. Make sure it isn’t just for citizens—invite every top-tier talent from every nation!”

The Reaper Cult would undoubtedly object, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have a single second to waste on petty squabbles with those lunatics.

—

《The sun has risen.》
《‘Survival’ Chapter 2 is underway.》
《A ‘Hybrid Goblin Chieftain’ has appeared.》
《The ‘Hybrid Goblin Chieftain’ has been slain!》

……

《Night has fallen.》
《‘Survival’ Chapter 3 begins.》
《‘Hybrid Albatrosses’ are descending from above.》
《The ‘Hybrid Albatrosses’ have been wiped out.》

……

《The third morning has arrived.》
《A consolidation with a neighboring ‘Group’ will commence.》

Three days had passed since the ascent of the ‘Island of God.’ Every person present was nearing the edge of exhaustion. Even with their Awakened status, the relentless cycle of day and night combat made sleep a luxury they couldn’t afford. It was a brutal test of endurance.

“So, you’re saying that’s the ‘other group’ over there?”

The survivors of these three days were a hardened lot. The faction led by the man at the front, Kim-bujang, was no exception. Their starting count of 400 had dropped to 250 in a mere seventy-two hours, but the constant slaughter had forged the survivors into grim, iron-willed warriors.

On that third morning, a shimmering barrier on their flank dissolved, revealing the ‘group’ that had been sequestered on the other side.

“Kim-bujang-nim. Their numbers are significantly higher than ours.”

“Were they just a larger group to begin with?”

It was peculiar. The headcount of the emerging group looked to be double their own. But that wasn’t the only oddity.

‘There’s no tension in them.’

He couldn’t understand it. There was none of the jagged, nervous energy typical of people who had spent days dancing on a razor’s edge. Instead, they looked almost relaxed. There were hardly any signs of trauma or battle fatigue. Had they only just been brought here?

“I’ll go and attempt a dialogue.”

One of Kim-bujang’s subordinates stepped forward as an emissary. After a lengthy conversation with the newcomers, the man returned, rubbing his chin with a look of pure bewilderment.

“……Just as I thought, did they start with more people?”

“No. That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Then why do you look so stumped?”

“It’s just……”

“Out with it before I lose my temper. What did they say?”

“They claim they started with 400 people, just like us, and faced the exact same wave of monsters. But they say only a single person has died in their group the entire time.”

“What? That’s impossible.”

Kim-bujang’s brow furrowed. These were constant, grueling skirmishes. Waves of enemies that should have easily claimed dozens or hundreds of lives had been appearing for two days, and yet only one person was gone?

“They’re saying it’s all because of the ‘Martial God’……”

“The Martial God?”

“Yes. Apparently, there’s one individual among them who is an absolute monster in combat.”

“……Is that so?”

Internally, Kim-bujang felt a surge of defensiveness. He had naturally taken the reins of his group, and a merger usually meant a struggle for dominance. To hear that the other side was led by someone nicknamed the ‘Martial God’ was an unwelcome development.

‘I’ll still be the stronger one.’

Kim-bujang dismissed the worry. He had effectively bullied his way into monopolizing the special loot his people had scavenged over the past forty-eight hours. Beyond that.

‘I was chosen by a Constellation!’

By dumping his SP into specific talents, he had unlocked the Hidden Class ‘Gladiator.’ Being backed by a powerful Constellation gave him a massive head start. He was ahead of the curve because he had always been obsessed with ‘Pangaea.’ He had even managed to get his hands on a VIP login for the ‘Other-Dimension Community’—a hub usually reserved for high-level executives—giving him access to a treasure trove of meta-knowledge.

He had perfectly optimized his ‘Talent Tech Tree’ to reach the ‘Gladiator’ rank. He was convinced that upon returning to Earth, the Hero Alliance would be tripping over themselves to sign him. Furthermore, his level—the definitive gauge of power—was already 5. He was a titan who had poured 50 points into his Strength alone!

“Who is this supposed Martial God?”

Having regained his ego, Kim-bujang asked. The subordinate pointed a finger.

“Right there……”

“There? Where? In the clouds?”

The man was pointing toward the sky. Kim-bujang squinted in confusion until he saw it. There was something hovering above them.

“……An Albatross?”

It was definitely the avian monster that had harassed them earlier—the Hybrid Albatross. Had one survived the culling?

‘No, someone is on top of it.’

The sight was nonsensical. Someone was actually using a Hybrid Albatross as a mount. Slowly, the creature began its descent toward the earth.

“……”

Kim-bujang’s confusion turned into utter shock. The figure dismounting from the beast was someone he knew.

“……Park Hyunmyeong?”

It was the same Park Hyunmyeong he had recently encountered—the former coworker who had quit and was subsequently recruited by Lee Arin, the Vice-Leader of the Hero Alliance.

‘He wasn’t Awakened back then, was he?’

The guy who had crushed a hybrid with a single punch. He must have been a normal human then, considering he was only just being summoned here now.

‘…So this brat is the Martial God.’

The pieces clicked. If he had that much raw power before Awakening, it made sense that people would worship him now. However.

‘I can match that.’

Kim-bujang puffed out his chest. He wasn’t the weak, corporate lackey he used to be.

“Good to see you. Never thought our paths would cross in a place like this.”

He extended a hand. He planned to give him a handshake that would vividly demonstrate the gap in their physical power. In this new world, might made right. He had been the one to bow in the past, but now it was time for the other man to learn his place. He assumed the guy was likely a Tamer-type, since he was riding an Albatross instead of wielding a warrior class.

“Small world, isn’t it?”

Kim-bujang’s lips curled into a smirk. He couldn’t help it. Of all the paths to choose, the idiot picked Tamer. This was the penalty for having talent but no information. This was the divide between those who understood the system and those who didn’t. Even with high potential, ignorance leads to a dead end. It was common knowledge that Tamers were one of the weakest archetypes—completely pathetic compared to a Hidden Class like Gladiator!

“……”

Park Hyunmyeong grasped his hand. Kim-bujang felt a surge of smug triumph.

“Since we’ve met again, let’s try to get along.”

‘Now, feel the pressure!’

Squeeeeze!