[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 422

[You will be logged out of New World.]

"What…?"

Hajin tilted his head at the message that appeared before his eyes, but only for a moment. His vision went dark, and he was forcibly logged out.

"Ha, why is this happening all of a sudden?"

Hajin closed the capsule again and tried to log back into the game.

[Error]

However, an error message appeared, and he could no longer connect to the game.

Fizzle—

Then, sparks flew from the capsule, and it became unresponsive.

"This is really messed up."

Hajin tapped the capsule with his hand. They say you have to hit a machine to make it work, but this capsule had no intention of listening.

Bzzzz—

Just then, the smartphone on the table vibrated. Hajin checked it.

The caller was Bong-gu, who had been with him.

"Yeah."

[Hyung-nim! I can't get into New World!]

"You too?"

[...You too, hyung-nim?]

"Yeah. This damn capsule… what's wrong with it all of a sudden?"

[Hold on!]

Bong-gu was silent for a moment before continuing in a startled voice.

[Hyung-nim! I don't think it's just us!]

"It's not just us?"

[Yes. I checked Wolcom, and it looks like everyone was forcibly logged out.]

Just as Bong-gu said, Wolcom was on fire.

[Now the game itself is paralyzed?]

- My capsule is dead too. How are they going to take responsibility for this?

- The capsule costs a fortune! Who do I complain to about this?

- Earth is gone, Genesis is gone too lol. All that's left is the New World headquarters, but you can't even contact them, damn it.

- F*cking game!

The situation was more serious than he thought.

"…I think we're really screwed."

Hajin grabbed his throbbing head and was about to check the capsule again.

[The New World system will now be applied.]

A New World message appeared before his eyes, and a change occurred in his body.

"Uh…?"

As Hajin stared at the message with a blank expression, a flash of light exploded outside, accompanied by a loud boom.

From the shock, Hajin lost his balance and rolled on the floor.

What on earth is happening!

He desperately looked for something to grab onto, but the floor began to tilt sideways.

'It's, it's collapsing!'

Hajin's face turned deathly pale.

He instinctively wrapped himself in Protective Aura, and the aura began to shield his body.

He was bewildered, but he had to survive first.

Rumble—

The apartment building was toppling over.

Hajin took out a shield and held it up to protect himself from falling debris.

Rumble—

Finally, the apartment building where Hajin lived collapsed.

Thick dust covered the air, and people's screams echoed.

"Aaaah!"

"What do we do! My son was in there!"

Most of the screams came from people who had been outside the apartment.

Thud—

Just then, the building's debris stirred, and a shield popped out.

Then, a person slowly emerged.

"Ha, I thought I was going to die."

It was Hajin, who had protected himself with both his Protective Aura and the shield.

The shield had blocked the falling debris, and the Protective Aura had absorbed the impact of the fall, so his body was unharmed.

"Oh my god…"

"He's alive?"

The people were both shocked and about to run towards Hajin.

Just then, two bizarrely-shaped humans slowly landed from the sky, between Hajin and the people.

Slice—

An eerie sound followed, and the heads of the two people in front fell to the ground.

Their heads rolled on the debris, and their bodies lost their balance and tumbled to the floor.

Blood streamed from the severed parts.

"Kyaaaah!"

The people who saw it screamed and stepped back.

But, as if to announce that no one could escape, the bizarre human gestured towards them.

Slice—

Heads fell one after another.

Just twenty seconds.

Except for Hajin, all the people were wiped out without being able to resist.

"You're, you're insane…"

Hajin hastily summoned his Soldiers of Darkness.

"Hmm, at least this one's decent."

"It'd be a waste to kill him."

But not killing him wasn't an option.

The order they had received was to exterminate all life on Earth.

The Gods slowly approached Hajin.

***

Fizzle—

Jeong-hoon swung his sword, aiming for Logos's neck.

However, something like a barrier was protecting Logos, and the sword bounced off it.

Fizzle—

Smoke rose from the deflected sword blade with a foul smell.

'It's melting Janus's power?'

The sword qi had the rule of 'instant death' set upon it.

They were specifically trying to neutralize that rule.

Jeong-hoon drew his energy up even more strongly and suppressed it.

"Hoh, I see why Ulion was defeated."

Logos gave a short exclamation of admiration.

They had gathered fragments of light while destroying dimensions and newly processed them.

"Don't be careless."

Harmageddon warned Logos with a stiff face.

"That won't happen."

The processing of this light was entirely Harmageddon's achievement. He had deceived everyone and studied light on his own. In the past, he was called the "Bright One" and had illuminated the world, but after his fall, he studied light even more fervently. He knew that darkness alone could not bring the Divine Realm to its knees.

How triumphant he had felt when that arrogant Psyche's face was filled with bewilderment. The light he was researching was an ultimate power that even her abilities could not foresee. Thanks to that, while Tenebris was merely sealed, they had succeeded in annihilating Psyche. It was a fitting end for a spy.

"Huuup!"

Jeong-hoon swung his sword again.

But once again, it was blocked by Logos's barrier and failed to deal any damage.

Then, Logos's counterattack began.

While allowing two attacks, he had established a new order.

He 'fixed' this space through darkness and made it 'absolute' with the light obtained through Harmageddon.

"..."

Jeong-hoon looked around.

Unknown symbols appeared on the walls, and light emanated from them, creating a new formula.

Then, he felt the illusion of something pressing down on his shoulders.

No, it wasn't an illusion.

'Gravity?'

Changing the gravity of a specific target.

Jeong-hoon swung his sword wide.

Crack—

The sword strike split the characters of light.

But the change in gravity remained.

Jeong-hoon used the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion and shot forward again.

When he reached Logos again, he swung the Holy Sword held in his left hand.

In that moment, his vision turned black.

"Huh?"

When his vision returned, he was back to where he was before he had used the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.

Jeong-hoon tilted his head and used the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion again.

He closed the distance with Logos, and just like before, his vision turned black.

When it brightened again, he was back in the same spot.

"Did he turn back time?"

The formula of light.

That must be what was creating this phenomenon.

"It's a loop."

Logos explained briefly.

'That bastard, he's using my power.'

Tenebris, who was watching from the side, bit his lip.

Even with the little power he had left, he had managed to reverse Jeong-hoon's time. This meant that since they had taken a large amount of his power, they could use a loop with ease.

"Your troubled face is quite a sight."

Logos grinned.

"..."

Jeong-hoon stared at him silently, then felt a sense of wonder.

Harmageddon, who was next to him, hadn't attacked Jeong-hoon even once. In a situation where Logos alone was overwhelming, if Harmageddon were to join the fight, victory would be far from guaranteed. The man had to know that better than anyone, so why was he just watching?

Then, Harmageddon turned around.

"Logos, you can handle this place on your own, right?"

"Of course."

"Then I will cross over to the Divine Realm."

Ah, so that was it.

He had judged that it was better to strike the Divine Realm immediately rather than focus on him right now. With Beelzebub tying up the angel army outside, the invasion would be easier.

Harmageddon's body vanished.

"You'll regret it."

Jeong-hoon muttered, looking at the spot where Harmageddon had disappeared.

"Regret? You're the one who should be regretting. The Gods have already arrived on Earth."

If Logos was right, Earth was finished.

Yet, Jeong-hoon did not lose his composure.

"Is that so?"

"Hmm?"

"Sorry, but Earth will never fall."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You'll see if you watch."

Jeong-hoon smiled faintly and slammed the Holy Sword and the Titan into the ground.

At the same time, he released a large amount of energy into the tips of the swords.

Then, the light of the symbols turned black and then crumbled into dust and disappeared.

As the formula broke, the gravity pressing down on Jeong-hoon's shoulders also vanished, and he pulled out the swords and used the Heavenly Demon Lord's Dominion.

"I told you it wouldn't work."

With a single word from Logos, Jeong-hoon's vision turned black, and he looped again.

"So it's unrelated to the formula…"

He had taken control of the space and shattered the formula by eliminating all the symbols.

"You're misunderstanding something."

Logos clapped his hands once.

Then, the symbols that had disappeared reappeared and began to glow, and the formula was activated.

"..."

"Did you really think you could break the order I established with your power? How amusing."

A formula that even the Sword of Annihilation couldn't tear apart.

Jeong-hoon glanced at Janus from the corner of his eye.

'What? Why are you looking at me?'

"If they seize control of the Divine Realm, you'll be in trouble too, won't you?"

'So? You want me to help you?'

Jeong-hoon nodded.

There wasn't enough time. He had to eliminate Logos as quickly as possible and chase after Harmageddon.

'You can leave Earth to Psyche.'

Psyche.

They firmly believed they had annihilated Psyche, but in truth, she had let herself be defeated on purpose.

'Master! Psyche's true body has headed for Earth!'

'What should we do?'

When Fenrir and Michael visited her palace, an illusion had appeared as if it had been waiting for them. Jeong-hoon ordered the two to head to Earth and focused on Logos.

'You still haven't drawn out your true power.'

Janus finally mentioned his power.

'I haven't drawn it out?'

Was that so? He was currently pouring out about 80-90% of his spiritual and dark energy. Perhaps Janus was right. Even though he was continuously releasing 80-90%, his body was still full of energy.

'Draw it out to its limit. If you do, you'll be able to deal with them with ease.'

Draw it out to its limit… Did he mean he had to draw out 100%?

Jeong-hoon drew up even more of his energy and swung his sword.

However, he still couldn't completely cut through the formula of light. Even if he cut down the darkness that was its source, the processed light immediately filled its place and restored it.

"Well then, I'll finish this."

Logos spread his arms.

Then, his body turned to dust and disappeared.

'He's become one with the space. He means to eliminate you here, no matter what.'

Tenebris explained as if he had been waiting.

"Draw it out to its limit."

Jeong-hoon muttered quietly.

After those words, Janus gave no more hints. This meant he had to find the answer himself. Simply releasing his energy wasn't enough. How on earth could he draw it out to its limit?

Fizzle—

Just then, the space tore apart, and the symbols that formed the formula scattered like cherry blossoms.

Everything the scattered dust touched lost its color.

'Ah, is that so.'

Watching that scene, Jeong-hoon succeeded in finding the answer.

Logos had fused his existence with the order itself. That meant he could do the same.

'I'll put everything I have into a single strike.'

Jeong-hoon slowly closed his eyes and crossed his arms in an X shape, drawing all his power to its limit and focusing it on his sword.

He would put everything into this one strike.

Nothingness.

And with that, he would return the order Logos created to nothingness.

Finally, Jeong-hoon slowly opened his eyes, raised his torso, and swung down forcefully.

In that moment, an intense light engulfed the space where Jeong-hoon stood.

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]