Chapter 393: Gathering Order |
Although the summoning order was unexpected, the Seeds did not complain. They knew very well that following the leader was a sign of respect toward Lord Deorant. But more than anything, the Seeds were bored, so the summoning order was a welcome relief.
“Is this the place?” they asked.
“Yes, welcome. Are you the leader, Arquizar?” one of them inquired.
“That’s right,” Arquizar replied.
“Why have you summoned us? You said it was urgent,” they questioned.
“I’ll explain once everyone is here.”
Seeds from all over the world began to gather, following the frequency signal emitted by Arquizar, and soon they found themselves on a mountain in South Korea.
“Is everyone here?” Arquizar did a quick headcount, noticing there were ten people, including himself. Originally, twelve Seeds had been sent, but two had died, so it was a relief to have at least this many gathered.
‘If not for luck, even these wouldn’t have assembled,’ Arquizar thought.
“Thank you for coming so quickly. I’ve called you because we face a grave threat,” Arquizar began.
“A threat to us? What do you mean?” one of them asked.
“Since arriving on this land, have any of you sensed the presence of the hosts?” Arquizar asked.
The Seeds began to ponder.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t felt any host signals.”
“I sensed one briefly, but it quickly vanished.”
“It’s no longer detectable,” others added.
“Maybe they’re too far away to be detected,” one suggested.
“That’s not it,” Arquizar shook his head firmly. “The reason you can’t sense the hosts is because they’ve all been killed.”
“Killed?” they exclaimed in shock.
“How can the hosts die?” they wondered.
“Did they annihilate each other?” someone proposed.
Although various theories were tossed around, none came close to the truth. Seeing the need for more explanation, Arquizar continued.
“There’s a human known as the Black Scythe.”
“Black Scythe?” they repeated.
“This individual has been hunting hosts worldwide and is now after us, the Seeds. We’ve already lost two, Boluak and Rukainu, to this hunter.”
Despite Arquizar’s somber tone, the Seeds couldn’t believe his words.
“A human? How could that be?” they scoffed.
“You’re exaggerating too much,” they said incredulously.
“Arquizar, we don’t have time for your fantasies,” they added, growing impatient.
“It’s not a fantasy. I barely escaped him with my life just moments ago,” Arquizar insisted.
“A leader defeated by a human?” they retorted sarcastically.
Even though he was telling the truth, the Seeds couldn’t accept what they were hearing. Arquizar understood their skepticism but knew he had to make them grasp the reality of the threat.
“I understand it’s hard to believe. But the Black Scythe is a player with unimaginable power. He can create breaches in space-time and move at the speed of light,” Arquizar explained.
“That’s ridiculous,” they scoffed again. “If you’re looking for attention, you should go to a hospital. Humans have hospitals for crazy people.”
The skepticism and mockery from the Seeds made Arquizar sigh. But just then, a voice interrupted.
“There are those who won’t believe until they see it with their own eyes.”
“Who...?” Arquizar and the Seeds looked up, startled to see a man descending with black wings.
“It’s the Black Scythe,” Arquizar murmured, trembling.
The other Seeds, though confused, began to suspect that Arquizar’s story might not be so far-fetched.
“What is that?” they asked, puzzled by the sight of the winged man.
“Arquizar called it the Black Scythe,” someone remarked.
“Is that the one who hunted the hosts?” they wondered, still in disbelief.
The man, known as the Black Scythe, gave them a cold, ominous smile.
“When words aren’t enough, sometimes a drastic remedy is necessary,” he said.
With a snap of his fingers, the surroundings suddenly darkened.
“What’s happening?” the Seeds exclaimed.
“This isn’t normal; we’re completely isolated from the outside world,” they said in alarm.
“It’s space-time! He’s trapped us in a spatial breach,” they recalled Arquizar’s words.
Finally, they began to understand the seriousness of the situation.
“Arquizar said the Black Scythe could manipulate space-time...” they muttered.
“Is it true then?” they wondered, looking at the man with a mix of fear and awe.
The Black Scythe, with a calm smile, addressed them.
“See? A hundred words aren’t worth one experience,” he said. “Arquizar, you knew this already, didn’t you?”
“You knew my name?” Arquizar asked, astonished.
“Of course. I let you escape on purpose to lure the other Seeds,” the Black Scythe revealed.
“What?” Arquizar was stunned, realizing he had been playing right into the Black Scythe’s hands the entire time.
“So you let me escape on purpose? It wasn’t because you ran out of energy?” he asked.
“Power doesn’t actually require energy. And if it did, I have enough Tera to handle it,” the Black Scythe explained.
“Tera... a human with Tera?” Arquizar realized he was facing a being that, though appearing human, possessed divine powers.
Arquizar understood the gravity of the situation and that his life was in danger. But before he could process his thoughts, the Black Scythe continued.
“It’s not a matter of if you’ll die,” he said, as if reading his thoughts, “but when.”
“You will all die here.”
It was like a death sentence delivered by a grim reaper.
————
“Ugh...”
Ryu Min pointed his finger at Arquizar’s head as he spat out a black liquid.
And without saying a word...
Zzzzap!
He fired a high-voltage current, completely incinerating him.
“With this, I’ve caught all ten.”
Ryu Min glanced around as if admiring the scene.
The remains of the Seeds were scattered everywhere.
Completely charred.
“If I count the ones I caught earlier, that’s twelve in total.”
Twelve Seeds and three hundred Hosts.
That was the number of creatures Ryu Min had eliminated in recent days while searching worldwide.
“With this, I’ve prevented the timeline from collapsing. At least in this place.”
Although a significant problem had been resolved, it wasn’t the end.
The dimensional god Deorant was still distributing Seeds and Hosts across various timelines.
Zzzzt—
Ryu Min deactivated the dimensional barrier and moved at the speed of light back to the house where his sister was.
“Ah! You startled me, brother!”
“I’m done.”
“Done? You mean you’ve eliminated all the Hosts and Seeds?”
“Yes. You no longer have to worry about the timeline collapsing. Unless Deorant comes back, but it seems like he has no idea what’s happened. If he did, he would’ve shown up by now.”
“That’s great!”
Ryu Won rejoiced as if the victory were his own.
“Great job, brother! You saved the world again! You’re amazing!”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Now that you’ve eliminated all the monsters, what will you do?”
“Well... I have to move to another timeline where Deorant might be. If I find Seeds and Hosts there, I’ll have to stop them too.”
“Ah...”
Ryu Won’s voice was filled with disappointment.
Now that his brother’s job was done, he had no reason to stay.
Ryu Won realized this now.
He had forgotten that the Black Scythe he saw wasn’t the same as before.
Ryu Min, understanding his brother’s feelings, placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll come back when it’s over.”
“Really?”
“Really. Have I ever lied to you? When it’s all over, I’ll definitely return to this timeline. I don’t want to be a brother who leaves his sibling alone.”
Only then did Ryu Won manage a small smile.
“Do you know where to go to find Deorant?”
“I don’t know, but I know his face.”
“How? You said you’d never seen him.”
“But I do know. Because I’ve read the past.”
Before killing Arquizar, Ryu Min had seen his past.
Using one of the Transcendent system functions, Elsis, called [Rewind].
“There’s a function that lets you rewind a target’s past like a tape. That’s how I saw that monster talking to Deorant.”
“What does he look like? Does he have a ghostly form since he’s a god?”
“No, he takes the form of a human. An old man. An elder.”
The Deorant Ryu Min had seen was an elderly man with a long white beard, like a sage.
Although he had tried to track him using his face and name, it hadn’t worked.
Apparently, he was an entity that transcended humans, making him impossible to locate.
He couldn’t determine where he was.
“I’ll have to search through various timelines.”
Even though the task was like looking for a needle in a haystack, Ryu Min wasn’t discouraged.
At least he had made some progress.
“I’ve prevented the timeline from collapsing, and I’ve understood the Seeds and Hosts.”
Moreover, he had discovered Deorant’s face.
“With this information, I’ll move faster in the next timeline.”
Although he didn’t know if he’d find Deorant.
“I don’t know how long it will take, but I’ll be fine until I return. And don’t do anything foolish like before.”
“Eh, I won’t. I know you’ll come back.”
“How do you know when I’ll come back?”
“......”
With such a monumental task like stopping the dimensional god, it was unclear how long it would take.
He would have to traverse several timelines, making it even more uncertain.
“What I mean is, it might not take that long. Like I said, time flows differently in different timelines. It could take me a long time to defeat Deorant, but only a few days might pass in this timeline.”
“I see...”
“But don’t just wait around doing nothing. Even though 1.8 billion people died, the world hasn’t ended.”
Ryu Min was right.
More than six billion people were still alive in the world, and Ryu Won had to keep living here.
His brother’s advice made Ryu Won take it seriously.
“Think carefully about what you want to do. And don’t get distracted by useless thoughts like before.”
“I know, brother. I’ve wised up. Taking one’s own life is a terrible thing.”
“If you understand, that’s enough. Well, it’s time to say goodbye.”
“Wait. Which timeline are you going to this time?”
That question made Ryu Min pause to reflect.
“Uhmm...”
And he made a decision.
“Will I go there?”
In his mind.
“I’m leaving.”
“You won’t tell me?”
“It’s a secret.”
Ryu Min used his time power and disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived.
“Brother?”
Even though he called out to his brother, there was no response.
“I guess he’s really gone.”
He felt sad, but it wasn’t as if the world was collapsing anymore.
He was confident his brother would return one day.
“Brother, come back soon.”
Ryu Won murmured, then stood up with determination before heading back to bed.
He was very sleepy.