BXBX NOVEL Chapter 109 - Debt of Punishment (3)
Chapter 109 - Debt of Punishment (3)
It was a skill that Sungchul did not recognize. One thing that Sungchul could see was that the strength that had delayed Sungtek’s death and held him up was not one of his own but from an external source. Sungchul thought of a possibility.
‘Is it a Soul Contract?’
A Soul Contract is, as the name indicates, a blessing created by a God or a Lesser God which is then etched into the user’s soul. The blessings were frequently difficult to obtain, but when obtained, it would grant the user a great power. The Eye of Truth and Soul Storage which were commonly used were also power granted by Soul Contracts.
Souls often possessed metaphysical properties which were known to be impossible to understand through human understanding, but at least in the realm of Soul Contracts, a difference in the size of souls existed. This was the number of contracts a person can hold.
Empty regions where a contract can be held in the soul were known as Slots. The average person would only have a single slot, if at all. The higher the stats and the higher the number of lives one has influence over, the more the number of slots become available. Those extraordinary ones commonly referred to as Superhuman held 3 slots. The Transcendents were known to hold between 4 to 5 slots. However, Sungchul held 6 slots.
Every one of the Soul Contracts was a precious thing that was difficult to obtain and only found through the harshest of trials. Among them, these three were the most important.
First, Soul Harvester. A legend tier Soul Contract that restores one’s vitality by the amount of damage inflicted. It was due to this ability that restored his strength after he killed his enemies that allowed him to become the immortal figure when standing against armies.
Second, Thunder Shield. Another legend tier Soul Contract that had the fearsome effect of reducing all magical damage by half and also granted immunity to all mental attacks below legend rank. Seeing as the only beings capable of utilizing mental attacks above legend rank were god-level beings, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there was no person in the world capable of harming Sungchul through a mental attack.
Third, Eye of Truth. It was the most commonly used legend tier Soul Contract that negated all illusory magic below epic rank, and it also allowed him to inspect all items, cursed items, and skills. It couldn’t be more emphasized how necessary this skill was for Sungchul who had made the vast majority of the world his enemy.
It was to acquire these three Soul Contracts that Sungchul had traversed the world discreetly having to pass trials with his life, and sometimes his soul, at stake. He had to overcome mortal risk many times and met face to face with horrendous pain and despair which cannot be fully put into words. It was only after such trials that he was able to gather the Soul Contracts known as the 3 Divine Skills and etch it into his own soul.
The change that was happening to Minamoto’s body seemed to be due to some form of a powerful Soul Contract, although it wasn’t at the level of Sungchul’s.
“Kekeke… Strong. For just a fucking highschool graduate piece of sheet…”
‘Crrrik crack.’
The sound of his broken spine assembling itself could be heard. Sungchul looked into Minamoto’s eyes. His body was being repaired, but his mind was wandering some otherworldly place. Minamoto was gasping for breath while uttering something akin to talking in his sleep.
“What? Enemy of the World? Some overhyped b*tch… I know what you were before you came here. Some fucking uneducated laborer whose only accomplishment in life is being 14 days late out of service because you were rotting in some prison? Not just you, but that Emperor William Quinton Marlboro. I even know that he’s some whore’s son.”
Minamoto began to snicker to himself as though it was something hilarious.
“For the son of some prostitute working on the pole at some strip bar to be Emperor! Ehehehe! They say there’s nothing like the seed of royalty, but this isn’t proper, is it?”
“…”
Sungchul didn’t say anything to this. It was because Minamoto’s rant was not too far from the truth. He could still remember it. It was on some festive autumn night with a bright full moon. The Summoned who have been brought into Other World had a solemn moment by the crackling fireside where they talked about their previous lives. The man who became an Emperor, the man who became an assassin, and those who have been killed or have returned to their own world were looking off at some distant place with longing eyes as they told their stories. Taeksu might have been there although Sungchul didn’t recall whether Taeksu had been there or not.
Taeksu had been an inconspicuous person at the time without the courage to speak nor the talent to stand out. However, Sungchul had a single question for Minamoto now that it had reached this point.
“Why did the Emperor bring you in?”
On the surface, it might be easy enough to say that Taeksu was another Summoned with powerful combat potential which had swayed the Emperor. Sungchul had also believed those words at the time. No, he just didn’t suspect them.
When he was the Emperor’s sword, it had never even occurred to him that it was possible to doubt the Emperor. But, he could now ask those questions.
“I’ll ask again. Why did the Emperor bring you in?”
“Don’t you already know?”
Minamoto smirked as he put on a little dance.
“I know something you don’t. A truth that that arrogant Emperor will never tell the likes of you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. Of course, I have no obligation to tell you anything. But since we’ve known each other for so long, I’ll let you in on something fun.”
Minamoto put on a smug smile before whispering to Sungchul in his silence.
“The Wandering King had the military power to beat you all in that fight.”
“The Wandering King did?”
“Yep. The proof is me. The Great Minamoto Daisuke who has been reborn through the Forbidden Technique. Kekeke!”
An evil aura poured out from Minamoto’s eyes. It was the same presence that had rose him from the dead.
Sungchul dug through his past experiences for something similar to this evil aura, but he found no such luck. The closest thing to this aura was the damp and sticky aura of the Ancient God.
“Yodo Kamaitachi!”
Minamoto who was swallowed by the evil aura began to exude a blood-colored fog as he headed toward Sungchul with the appearance of the Demon Yasha.
“I am Unbreakable… Unbre…!”
However, the difference in strength between the two was clear. Minamoto’s figure scattered like dust as soon as Fal Garaz moved.
“Unbreeeee…!!!”
It was the result of putting some strength behind the swing. The Soul Contract or whatever it may be tried to grab on to Minamoto’s scattered flesh, but it eventually scattered with them.
‘I don’t care about your secret.’
He was already sick of these dirty schemes. No matter what anyone had planned, it was enough to crush them with Fal Garaz. He had obtained this godly strength for this purpose.
“…”
Sungchul turned his head to one side and saw Elijah Breggas who was still gulping for breath as he lay on his side. Sungchul then turned toward the other side. Martin Breggas who looked to have been hollowed out was kneeling there. Sungchul picked up the female corpse that laid between the two, which was slightly closer to Elijah’s side.
A long time had passed since she had died, but Sophia Breggas’ appearance looked unchanged from when she lived. He went through the numerous carefully placed magic on Sophia’s body with the Eye of Truth.
“W-where is this?”
Elijah spoke.
“I can’t see anything. It hurts… It’s cold…”
His life was hanging by a thread. It was Minamoto’s handiwork. Minamoto had made it so that the Devil would die in pain and despair as slowly as possible.
Sungchul left Elijah and moved on. He could hear Elijah’s voice from behind him.
“Father… Where are you?”
Elijah’s extended hand desperately sought out his father who no longer existed. Martin, who was the source of all this trouble, had lost his life at some point and was quickly growing cold. It was a senseless and pitiful end for the fortuitous adventurer who had risen to the rank of the Sixth Champion of the Continent.
Sungchul abruptly walked forth with Sophia’s corpse in hand. There were thousands of soldiers on the battlefield, but no one could think to follow behind him.
-
A stone grave was crudely made on top of a sunny hill. Bertelgia had brought a white flower from some place in between her pages and offered it to the grave as she said,
“To escape this cruel world into the embrace of a warm god!”
Sungchul read a book while leaning on a rock. It was the secret tome of Cosmomancy, Primordial Light, which he obtained through incredible effort in Airfruit. An endless horizon and incomprehensible shapes and words opened up before his eyes when he opened the book, and all of it began to organize itself in some recognizable form.
‘Is this the Primordial Light? It truly possesses a difficult and incomprehensible nature that’s hard to describe.’
Intuition of 500 was not something anyone could achieve. Even in the greatest of Magical Academies, there might be one or two people that might ever reach this peak. It was at a level where they would easily receive the title of Great Scholar. This Intuition that Sungchul had achieved was now whispering to him the story of this world’s secret that a human mind could never hope to understand. After a long and seemingly boring story which he was strangely captivated by, Sungchul sensed; the origin of life before him was filled with unfathomably endless light.
‘Is this… Primordial Light?’
In this blinding brilliance, Sungchul could feel some new strength budding inside his body.
[You have read through the Final Secret Tome of Cosmomancy ‘Primordial Light - Punishment’]
[You’re overflowing with the knowledge of the Skies and Cosmos.]
Reward: Magic “Star Light”
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you in silent prayer?”
Bertelgia had approached Sungchul’s back and began to peck him with one of her corners. In the past, this was something Bertelgia would never have dared to do, but as she drew Vestiare’s portrait, she had gained a bit more confidence and a higher position in Sungchul’s eyes. Sungchul grabbed the persistent Bertelgia and stuffed her into his pocket before looking toward the northern skies. The thick dark storm cloud that had always loomed over the Demonic Realm was projecting an eerie red lightning. Sungchul lifted his finger and pointed toward the northern sky. But then he instinctively sensed that his finger wouldn’t be enough.
‘It’s different than Glare.’
He had felt it to be uncomfortable even as he cast Meteor, and this was Primordial Light which was the greatest magic of Cosmomancy. Sungchul pulled out a single staff from his Soul Storage. It was an oak tree staff that looked worn as it had been passed through many hands. Sungchul looked at the staff for a while after grabbing it.
‘To be using this old thing.’
His apathetic eyes were suddenly filled with nostalgia.
“Sniff sniff!”
Bertelgia showed interest in this staff she had never seen before.
“It smells like a woman? Whose is it?”
“… None of your business.”
Sungchul stuffed her deep into his pocket before pointing the staff toward the northern sky. A complex magical formation appeared around the staff and him. A decently long aria, though shorter than Meteor; Sungchul thought as such when the invocation that filled his inner consciousness was spat out in his mind.
“Star Light.”
A magical formation brightly opened up at the end of the staff like a mechanical gear. At the same time, a massive pillar of light poured out from the end of the formation. A massive pillar of pure light that couldn’t even be compared to the likes of Glare. The pillar split the air and struck the storm looming in the northern sky. When the pillar of light faded, a noticeable gap had formed in that storm cloud. It was the flight path of the greatest magic of Cosmomancy, Starlight.
Sungchul felt a joy that he hadn’t felt in a long time within that empty feeling when half of his entire mana poured out.
‘I can do it with this!’
There was no need to test this out on the Deep Sea Demon. Primordial Light was the real deal, and it would be the best solution.
“Woah… that’s your magic? I thought I was looking at one of the Seven Heroes’ magic.”
It might have been because of the afterblast caused by Primordial Light. When the air that had been pushed out by the pillar of light flooded back, it came like a strong current that swallowed everything up.
“Eek!”
The moment Bertelgia let out her sharp scream, Sungchul grabbed the flower. He offered the flower to Sophia’s grave and secured it between the rocks before heading north. Toward the storm cloud that he had split in half.