Resurrection Chapter 16 - Will you be my partner?

Not being able to see my own body felt incredibly awkward.

Skilled swordsmen like Heesoo hyung could fully utilize their abilities even while under the effects of Invisible, but I couldn’t. Swinging my magic sword recklessly would likely result in cutting my own foot, so I settled for staying hidden and began casting.

Typically, magic varies in casting time depending on its type.

When Awakeners chant activation words, they are requesting permission from the god they serve to borrow power. Therefore, the greater the skill’s effect, the more elaborate the actions required beyond mere words.

This could involve reciting various incantations, performing specific hand gestures, or drawing symbols on the ground—collectively called casting.

This depends entirely on the personality of the god providing the skill. If the god dislikes tediousness, they might lend power with a simple snap of the fingers or a whistle.

But as I’ve said repeatedly, the Golden Emperor I serve is a spectacle to the core. The casting process is both complex and flashy, so in urgent situations like this, I couldn’t help but curse.

Instead of swearing, my mouth busily recited incantations. Simultaneously, my hands swiftly formed seals.

If there’s one thing I’m exceptionally good at, it’s forming seals or drawing arrays quickly.

Why?

Because it’s embarrassing!

I have to get it over with fast!

As the casting neared completion, the Invisible effect began to fade. I released the magic.

“Call Lightning!”

I felt the mana drain from my body.

The next moment, sparks crackled in the air, and a rain of lightning poured down.

Boom!

Struck by the sudden bolts, the dragon soldiers writhed in agony. Those I had wounded couldn’t withstand the lightning and collapsed, emitting a burning smell.

Seeing them drop like straw bundles was exhilarating.

“That’s it!”

I cheered, but as the tension eased, my body’s strength drained, and I slumped.

This was my limit with my current abilities. Despite fighting while accounting for injuries, five dragon soldiers remained.

No choice.

I had to use Offering…

With trembling hands, I raised the magic sword to my forearm. Just as I was about to press the blade, pulsing with black aura as if eager, against my skin, a strange phenomenon occurred in the previously quiet sanctuary.

Rumble――!

A loud sound, like a ship’s horn, echoed as the ground began to shake. The dragon soldiers simultaneously raised their heads, and, startled, I pulled the magic sword away from my arm.

Was this happening because Heesoo hyung entered the sanctuary?

Amid my wondering, a massive structure began rising from beneath what I thought were mere ruins.

Crash!

I had to leap to avoid the splitting ground and the rising walls and towers.

“Argh, damn it!”

Clutching my wounds, I barely grabbed onto a structure I assumed was a tower’s ledge. As the building ascended, I was lifted high, escaping the dragon soldiers. This also gave me a clear view of the massive fortress rising in a spiral.

Inside the fortress, in a colosseum-like open space, stood Heesoo hyung.

My eyesight was sharp enough to see Heesoo hyung standing at an angle and the figure facing him. Staring intently, oblivious to the surrounding chaos, I was struck with astonishment.

The figure facing Heesoo hyung looked exactly like him. It was like a doppelgänger, but it didn’t seem like a mere monster.

Was this the final trial sent by the berserker?

As I groaned in shock, Heesoo hyung and his doppelgänger clashed. Their forms were obscured by a dome covering the ceiling, and by then, the upheaval subsided.

As the vibrations settled, the true nature of the sanctuary was revealed.

Awakeners, alerted by the unexpected commotion, began converging on the sanctuary.

Hanging from the tower’s edge, I observed the figures emerging from various parts of the wasteland.

👑

Seeing an opponent identical to himself, Seo Heesoo was startled and immediately questioned why he was so shocked.

He had encountered a similar phenomenon in a dungeon before. In a room full of mirrors, he fought a doppelgänger of himself.

Doppelgängers instilled significant psychological fear but weren’t particularly difficult to defeat. No matter how much they mimicked, they couldn’t replicate skills, making them relatively easy to dispatch.

So, it wasn’t just the identical appearance that shocked him.

An indescribable sense of danger, discomfort, and unease.

Even in the face of a griffin’s fear aura, he hadn’t flinched, yet he stood frozen before an opponent who merely stood there.

What was that thing?

The berserker?

Or a proxy sent by the berserker?

Seeing Seo Heesoo frozen, the opponent grinned. Seo Heesoo flinched.

He had been told countless times to smile for photos. He’d done dozens of photo shoots, but smiling always felt awkward.

He wasn’t a model or actor and wasn’t used to being in the spotlight. Despite being the primary apostle of the White Goddess, he found standing before countless flashing cameras more daunting than facing a ferocious chimera.

But the opponent, identical to him, smiled effortlessly. With an ambiguous smile—perhaps mocking—he looked at Seo Heesoo.

A sense of revulsion crawled up his skin.

Seo Heesoo bit his lip and drew his greatsword. The opponent, who should have drawn a weapon in response, instead extended a hand.

“…?”

Seo Heesoo looked at the hand with a sense of incomprehension.

Was he offering a handshake…?

He didn’t know if he should take it, but he had no inclination to do so. The opponent’s hand felt more threatening than a sword or spear tip.

It was like looking at a venomous snake, a centipede, a maggot-infested corpse, or a rotting pile of excrement. Or perhaps like facing the most wretched part of the memories of his fall, tucked away in a corner of his mind.

Even if offered a fortune, he couldn’t bring himself to take that hand, and his greatsword trembled in his grip.

Noticing Seo Heesoo’s fear, the opponent took a bold step closer. That alone made Seo Heesoo gasp, “Hrk,” and stumble back one, no, two or three steps.

“…Don’t come closer.”

At his low, strained words, the opponent chuckled. Then, in a flash, he lunged forward.

Startled, Seo Heesoo raised his greatsword to block. Or rather, he swung it with the intent to kill.

The greatsword, laden with killing intent, flew toward the opponent’s head with a terrifying sound. It should have split his skull, but the opponent dodged with unbelievable agility.

As the opponent closed in instantly, Seo Heesoo hurriedly tried to retract his greatsword. But his body, exhausted from the demon lair, clearly hadn’t fully recovered. His grip weakened, and he made a mistake he’d never made before.

He dropped the sword.

Seo Heesoo’s greatsword was 1.8 meters long, made of pure adamantium, and weighed 10 kilograms. Though 10 kilograms sounds manageable, with momentum, it became tremendously heavy, enough to dislocate a shoulder or elbow if mishandled.

A massive two-handed sword that only Seo Heesoo could wield—it was like an extension of his arm. Just as no one drops their own arm, he had never dropped his sword in combat. Yet, in the sanctuary, during the final trial, he dropped it!

Seo Heesoo’s face turned ashen. The mysterious opponent was now so close their noses nearly touched.

The opponent placed a hand on Seo Heesoo’s chest. A cold, repulsive breath flowed into his mouth. Simultaneously, the opponent muttered incomprehensible words.

“I knew it would come to this.”

Seo Heesoo didn’t understand what he meant.

Lowering his head at the chilling sensation, he saw the opponent’s hand buried in his body.

Seo Heesoo shuddered and grabbed the opponent’s shoulder, but it was futile. Instead, his own hand sank into the opponent’s body, pulling them closer.

“Ugh…”

Seo Heesoo felt himself merging with the opponent. It wasn’t an illusion. Something was chaotically mixing within him.

A scream rose at the feeling of being contaminated, but it didn’t escape his lips. Swallowed by a contact that felt like a kiss or something else, his vision was consumed by pitch-black darkness.

👑

I frowned at the figures gathering around the sanctuary. Half of those approaching sporadically were familiar faces from earlier.

They were the assailants who attacked us at the dullahan’s location, along with that damned Yoon Younghyun. The rest seemed to be teams dispatched from major raid groups and solo players.

Where was Kang Cheoljun? Did Younghyun get him?

No, a government agent from Mugunghwa wouldn’t go down so easily. He likely slipped away to report the new information to the agency. After all, his goal wasn’t to conquer the sanctuary.