Chapter 95 – Nothing Happened

Kaorak walked toward the inner wall made of flesh.

All kinds of mouths that had formed on the wall were incessantly spewing ominous words. While it might sound like a list of meaningless curses to others, to Kaorak, their meaning came across clearly.

It was a command transmitted by Badurbarok.

The part that had been asleep inside Kaorak awakened.

Now, what he had to do was clear.

Sentimental thoughts arose, but he easily shook them off. Kaorak approached the inner wall with his sword in hand.

“In the end, it turns out like this.”

Every thing had a given role.

It was also called one’s lot in life.

Kaorak knew that very well.

“It can’t be helped.”

Although bitter, it was not something to be deeply saddened by. He was originally destined to do so, and he was merely carrying out what he was supposed to do now.

As the inner wall opened, Kaorak passed through quickly lest anyone follow. The moment he crossed, the inner wall closed.

Looking at the scenery inside, he vaguely remembered it. He had been here in the past. All those who surrendered to Badurbarok and became his hands and feet visited this place at least once.

Looking back, his party members were truly foolish fellows.

When Badurbarok had created so many subordinates with that bizarre brainwashing method, how could they have taken him along as a companion without any suspicion?

Did they really believe that the trivial curse-dispelling magic of those mages had erased everything? Did they fail to think of that even after fighting tiresomely against that human guy named Han Su-in?

“That’s life. Kikiki.”

They were just born that way.

Being so excessively nice and naive, they were born unable to defeat the monster named Badurbarok in the first place.

What was destined could not be changed. Kaorak knew that very well.

What he had realized while being born in the darkness of Pandemonium and mingling with goblins: life was determined by birth.

The girl he loved never looked back at him. It was because Kaorak was just that kind of guy. It was an unavoidable thing.

He was neither charismatic like Calpacino nor a natural-born fighter like Kiplo. So, he had decided to leave Pandemonium and become Badurbarok’s subordinate.

In order to rise to the top.

And it had gone exactly as he wished.

Thanks to Badurbarok, Kaorak grew strong and became a commander who controlled numerous magic beasts.

In the process, Kaorak had loyalty toward Badurbarok and absolute obedience to his commands implanted within him. But he did not mind. Because as long as he was modified by Badurbarok, it was only natural.

Since it was as routine as breathing, there was no room for him to feel anger or rejection belatedly.

“He fights well,”

Kaorak muttered upon spotting the Emperor.

The three humans made of darkness were among the fairly strong subordinates of Badurbarok, yet the Emperor was facing them all alone.

Indeed, the Emperor was an extraordinary fellow.

Eavesdropping on the conversation, it seemed that guy Noh Hak-jae had a connection with the Emperor. The Emperor seemed to have just found out. That guy Han Su-in laughed unpleasantly.

It was exquisite timing.

This time, it was his turn to return as a member of Badurbarok’s army; what kind of expression would the Emperor make when he found out?

Would he despair, or would he resist to the end as he always had?

“Emperor!”

Since the word was familiar to his mouth, there was no awkwardness even when he shouted while pretending. It seemed he had indeed spent a long time hanging out with the Emperor.

Kaorak was on the side of liking the Emperor. If he had not heard Badurbarok’s message, they would have continued to get along as good friends.

“Kaorak! Protect me!”

The Emperor shouted to Kaorak. Kaorak answered in his usual manner.

“Right now? You look perfectly fine though?”

“I won’t be fine soon, so get over here quickly!”

“What do you mean!”

The Emperor did not speak further.

Instead, he raised that strange power called the Cosmic Flow. Looking at his dark red aura and the countless starlights forming above it, Kaorak decided to admit that the Emperor was an extraordinary fellow.

He was a grand fellow.

The three demons facing him all sustained damage and fled. The two Orcs died instantly.

However, perhaps because he had drawn too much power, the Emperor also collapsed on the spot.

“Kaorak?”

When Kaorak did not answer, the Emperor called his name. Kaorak quietly lifted his sword.

Suddenly, the black fog that had enveloped this place descended again, blocking his vision. Beyond it, the faint outline of the fallen Emperor was visible.

It was the best situation.

The Emperor trusted him, and was in a state where he could not resist due to expending too much power.

Since he was already shocked by Noh Hak-jae’s matter, he wouldn’t even guess that Kaorak would betray him. Kaorak walked forward, contemplating the voices echoing inside himself.

Nothing dramatic happens.

The time had come to execute the mission, and he would carry it out as if it were nothing.

Gradually, the Emperor’s figure drew closer. With every step he took, his figure came closer.

Kaorak thought of the victory of Badurbarok’s army after killing the Emperor.

The world would fall into Badurbarok’s grasp once again, and no resistance group would ever rise again.

That was the natural flow and the preordained sequence.

Yet, suddenly.

A certain thought occurred to Kaorak.

It happened in a very brief instant. Kaorak quickly erased it. Kaorak tried to ignore the imagination that had briefly arisen.

However, the crack grew wider.

Kaorak ended up recalling once again the scene he had tried to forget quickly.

Thinking about it, it was nothing major. It was neither a taboo nor a huge treason. He had simply thought of a very ordinary scenery.

Finding his own reaction to excessively reject it amusing, Kaorak let out a smirk.

When this war ends, he wanted to wander a bit more with that Emperor fellow and the rest of the party.

It was that kind of thought.

He wanted to forget about things like war or the fate of the world and rest very comfortably. An everyday life of laughing and chatting casually with those guys—it seemed it would be enjoyable to enjoy such a life for longer.

He could bring back that guy Gulad, who had disappeared now, hunt magic beasts while placing bets, and have a barbecue party in the evening. Then, time would pass fully.

The speed of imagination surpasses physical time.

Within a single step, Kaorak had such thoughts, recoiled in surprise, and then thought of them again, repeatedly.

Kaorak could not understand why he was recalling these thoughts.

He had been altered by Badurbarok, and an algorithm prioritizing only Badurbarok’s commands was engraved inside him. Therefore, it was only proper for him to perform this task given to him without any doubt.

Yet, why did unnecessary thoughts keep intruding?

Like a carnivore grazing on grass or a herbivore craving meat, it was something that should not be.

Another step.

Kaorak’s vision blacked out completely.

And beyond that, he discovered a horrific monster lurking.

That was himself.

Though his outer appearance was a goblin, his inner self was modified by Badurbarok, no different from a magic beast. He was bound to obey whenever Badurbarok commanded.

Therefore, he would kill the Emperor.

Kaorak repeated to himself.

“Kaorak?”

The Emperor called him.

At that, despite his hard-fought resolve, his steps slowed down again.

Kaorak’s mind continuously calculated this situation. Why did he keep having thoughts he shouldn’t have? Why was he doing things that were not permitted?

Kaorak wanted to know at least the reason. As the distance to the Emperor closed, his conflict also deepened.

He remembered when he first saw the Emperor.

At that time, they were enemies.

Kaorak had come to threaten Sargassonia leading forces of magic beasts, and attacked the humans outside the barrier to achieve his goals. And the one who appeared to block him was this guy, the Emperor.

At that time, he wasn’t even the Emperor. He had merely been defeated by the nameless man summoned by this guy, and he never thought the fellow would accomplish anything grand.

However, after passing the trial of the Imperial Throne and becoming Emperor, he accomplished the things he spoke of one by one.

And he came all the way here.

He was now gathering all races to wage the final war against Badurbarok.

What was the Emperor’s driving force that enabled him to walk such a harsh path?

Was he born that way from the beginning?

Something emerged within Kaorak’s mental imagery. In the pitch-black darkness stood a monster created by Badurbarok.

Born as a mediocre guy, he had become this kind of fellow again due to Badurbarok. Therefore, he had to perform tasks suitable for that. Just as a lion eats meat and a rabbit grazes on grass, everyone has a role suited to them.

So, Kaorak could not understand why on earth this monster was unable to do its job.

Flicker.

Something arose again.

Kaorak looked up.

And he got goosebumps.

A star had risen.

He knew very well what that was.

It was the trace of the Emperor’s strange power, the Cosmic Flow. Whenever the Emperor used the Cosmic Flow, such things always appeared.

Why was it here? What resided inside him should have been endless darkness and a single ugly portrait of himself turned into a monster.

Another star rose. One more rose.

As lights continuously turned on in the sky, a sea of stars finally unfolded. Starlight floated in the darkness.

Kaorak could now see the monster’s appearance more clearly.

Looking at it now, the creature’s face was distorted. It looked as if it were trying desperately. Kaorak looked at it in even greater detail. He could not tell what it was gritting its teeth and striving so hard for.

Then, Kaorak realized something.

That was it.

His mind returned to reality.

Kaorak’s steps stopped.

Now Kaorak stood in front of the Emperor beyond the black fog.

He was sitting on the ground, leaning on Lupus.

He examined the Emperor’s face. No matter how he looked at him, he was an ordinary fellow. Yet such a fellow became Emperor and was waging the final war against Badurbarok.

What was that power?

Will.

This man’s will had dragged everything all the way here.

Kaorak closed his eyes. His arm was shaking. He had to swing his sword. He had to strike the Emperor’s neck right now to carry out Lord Badurbarok’s command.

He was made that way and was an existence who had to do so. That could not be defied.

A violent battle broke out inside his heart.

How far does an individual’s will function?

Can it transcend defined limits?

Kaorak’s eyes trembled. He gritted his teeth.

A life-and-death war was raging inside his heart. Blood trickled down from his hand gripping the sword hilt. His eyes grew bloodshot, and his arm shook.

Suddenly, the Emperor called him.

“Kaorak, what are you doing?”

Kaorak looked at him. The Emperor kicked at him. Perhaps because he was exhausted, it did not hurt very much.

“Just help me up, punk.”

The trembling in Kaorak’s body stopped.

“Why are you spacing out so cluelessly?”

“…”

Kaorak stared into the Emperor’s eyes.

He probably did not know that he was still under Badurbarok’s brainwashing. He wouldn’t know how terrible the anguish he suffered was during the few steps it took to stand in this spot.

As Kaorak remained silent, the Emperor’s eyes narrowed.

“Did something happen?”

Kaorak closed his eyes.

In his inner self that had been only darkness, starlight was now falling brilliantly. The stars, which kept multiplying, grew so numerous that looking up made him feel dazzled.

And beneath it stood a monster that had been modified by Badurbarok, yet lifted its head to look at the sky.

It was no longer distorting its face in pain.

The long anguish had ended.

Kaorak grinned and reached out his hand toward the Emperor.

“Nothing… happened.”