Falling Toward the Imperial Palace (2)
[Warning – Curse-type abilities are partially nullified.]
[Warning – The target’s authority does not apply the ‘definition of death’ to himself.]
Seon Yul swallowed a short curse.
“…This is seriously tough.”
The Emperor’s eyes curved slightly.
“Your ability seems to have begun from a desire for ‘safety.’”
“You don’t need to psychoanalyze me.”
“The reason you obtained hyper-regeneration, and the reason you obtained Absolute Space… in the end, it all came from a desire to ‘not die, and to find a place to hide.’”
The Emperor’s voice was calm.
“In that sense, perhaps we are similar.”
“…What?”
“I, too, gained my authority in order ‘not to stop.’”
The Emperor raised one hand.
Above his palm, a ‘world’ appeared.
Like a tiny glass marble.
“This is the Imperial Palace you just destroyed.”
Inside the sphere was the ruin that had just been bombarded by God’s Hammer Ver3.
Ash, debris, collapsed structures, fading mana.
“Do you see? I hold worlds in my hand and turn them.”
The Emperor flicked his finger.
The sphere spun.
Inside it, the debris seemed to rearrange slightly.
“You merely dropped stones onto it.”
He closed his hand around the glass sphere.
Crack
A small breaking sound.
When the Emperor opened his hand again, nothing remained.
“But I was sitting on top of it.”
Seon Yul felt like he finally understood why this opponent
was not someone who could be ended by “just blowing off his head.”
“Alright.”
Seon Yul spun his spear and spoke.
“Then between ‘the one who refuses to stop’ and ‘the one trying to make him stop,’ One of us is going to break here today.”
The Emperor nodded.
“That would balance things.”
The wires danced.
Shrrrrrrrrrk—!!
From above, from the sides, from below…
Silver lines burst out from every direction and rushed toward the Emperor.
[Wire Master – Absolute Restraint Pattern.]
This wasn’t ordinary restraint.
This pattern was structured to block every possible path the opponent could take, based on wires fixed in space.
“No matter how much you try to move, all you’ll hear is the sound of the wires tightening.”
With a flick of Seon Yul’s finger, dozens of wires shot toward the Emperor’s arms, legs, waist, and neck.
The Emperor did not move.
“So this is another way to use space.”
He opened his eyes.
“But there is something you still don’t know.”
Click.
It sounded like a lock being undone.
In the next moment…
All the wires snapped into place.
“…!”
Cheon Li Yu, watching from afar, flinched in shock.
“What did he just do?!”
“You’re the one who designed this space down to its detailed structure–”
The Emperor’s gaze lifted upward.
“But you are not the one who created the fundamental rules of Absolute Space.”
[Warning – Unknown authority is attempting to access the core of Absolute Space.]
[Warning – Access denied.]
[Warning – Access denied.]
[Warning – Access denied.]
[Warning – …Failure.]
[Warning – ‘Wire fixation’ rule temporarily nullified.]
Seon Yul’s lips twitched slightly.
“…So he tried to touch the core.”
“No. I merely ‘knocked on the door.’”
The Emperor lowered his hand.
“Your ability is certainly special. Which is precisely why I want it even more.”
His gaze swept across Seon Yul’s entire body.
“Your stigma, your space, your abilities. Even among everything I’ve collected, they rank at the highest level.”
“Don’t use words like ‘collect.’”
Seon Yul shot back.
“What you do is just ‘taking.’”
The Emperor shrugged slightly.
“It’s merely a difference in perspective.”
He took a step forward.
With that single step, the entirety of Absolute Space trembled.
“…!”
Cheon Li Yu swallowed hard.
“Every time he takes a step, your entire space moves with him.”
“I know.”
Seon Yul replied.
“That’s why I’m not going to let him keep attacking freely.”
He reached his hand back.
“Li Yu.”
“…Yeah?”
“Go to the residential zone.”
Her eyes widened.
“Hey, I should stay–”
“He hasn’t touched the core yet.
But if we keep letting this go on, eventually he’ll actually ‘force the door open.’”
Seon Yul shook his head slightly.
“Before that happens, it’s better to minimize the number of people near the core.
Anyone not immediately necessary for the fight.”
Cheon Li Yu clenched her lips.
“…So I’m ‘not necessary for the fight’?”
“If I win, everyone stays safe.”
Seon Yul smiled bitterly.
“So while I’m fighting, you should be in the safest place.”
A brief silence.
Cheon Li Yu bit her teeth, then let out a sigh mixed with a laugh.
“…You really never change.”
Seon Yul snapped his fingers.
[Absolute Space – Transfer to Residential Zone.]
Ziiiing
Her body was moved.
Just before disappearing, she glared at him one last time.
“Don’t you dare think about dying.”
“I won’t. I’m someone who came this far because I didn’t want to die.”
She disappeared.
Now only two remained.
The Emperor and Seon Yul.
***
“Good.”
The Emperor said.
“The obstacle is gone.”
“Yeah. That works for me too.
There’s something I’ve been wanting to try properly.”
Seon Yul rotated his wrist.
Then he thought.
[God’s Hammer Ver3 – Internal Use Mode.]
[Warning: May place strain on Absolute Space structure.]
His eyes gleamed coldly.
“This time will be different.”
The Emperor narrowed his eyes.
“You’re going to use that again? In such a confined space?”
“I’ll use it narrowly.”
Seon Yul traced a circle in the air.
“Just enough to fit you.”
Suuuuuu
Above the Emperor’s head, a small sphere appeared.
It was no bigger than a palm, but contained the same mass and kinetic energy as one full strike of Ver3.
“If that tears this space apart, where will you run?”
“Who knows?”
Seon Yul replied.
“You should try experiencing it.”
He lowered his hand.
The sphere fell.
KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AANG—!!!
Absolute Space screamed.
[Warning – Internal impact threshold exceeded.]
[Warning – Structural stabilization required.]
[Warning – Authority collision exceeding limits.]
With the explosion, the Emperor’s body vanished once.
But…
Among the ash and debris, a single golden fragment remained.
Tap, tap
That fragment began to gather again.
“…It seems you’re not the only one struggling not to die.”
Ash and light intertwined… and the Emperor stood again before Seon Yul.
Damaged, but still not truly dead.
Seon Yul took a short breath.
“Good.”
His eyes sharpened again.
“Then from now on—!!!”
Cursed spear, wires, hyper-regeneration, heavy strikes, spatial restructuring, God’s Hammer applications…
“Let’s see who can endure their rules to the very end.”
A similar light flashed in the Emperor’s eyes.
“Fine. Let’s see it through.”
The battle in Absolute Space was only just beginning.
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, the entire Absolute Space trembled.
Not physically… but like the rules themselves were twisting.
[Warning – External authority attempting to override Absolute Space priority.]
[Warning – ‘Dominion’ authority and ‘Absolute’ ability conflict.]
Seon Yul took a deep breath.
“Okay. Now it really starts.”
The Emperor raised his hand first.
No warning. No sign.
He simply ‘picked up’ space.
At that moment… Seon Yul’s vision tilted.
Thud—!
The ground suddenly bent sideways.
Front, back, left, right, up, down… all concepts twisted at once.
“…Ugh.”
Seon Yul bent his knees instinctively to stabilize himself.
“I inverted the reference coordinates you were standing on.”
The Emperor explained calmly.
“My authority comes from definition.
If I decide to switch ‘up’ and ‘down,’ then that becomes reality.”
He flicked his finger again.
Thud
This time, Seon Yul’s blood reversed.
Heartbeat and blood flow are inverted.
A condition that would instantly kill a normal human.
“A normal human would die after experiencing this twice.”
“But you have hyper-regeneration.”
“Every time you approach death, your stigma resets you to a ‘living state.’”
Red warnings filled Seon Yul’s vision.
[Warning – Blood flow reversed.]
[Warning – Approaching physiological death.]
[Warning – Hyper-regeneration forcibly activated.]
The red warnings turned green.
Everything stabilized.
“…Haa.”
Seon Yul exhaled.
“You’re not making it easy to die.”
“That’s what makes it fun.”
A faint excitement entered the Emperor’s eyes.
The moment he said that… the space itself began to fold.
Thud— Thud—!
The walls compressed inward.
Like a giant box being crushed.
“I’ll reduce your escape routes.”
“I wasn’t planning to run.”
Seon Yul charged forward.
Placing small entrances beneath his feet… ignoring distance entirely.
[Absolute Space – Point Jump.]
Tap, tap, tap
In just a few steps, he was already in front of the Emperor.
He swung his spear.
Whoosh—!
The Emperor grabbed it.
“Didn’t I say the same attack wouldn’t work?”
The moment he tried to pull…
Shrrrk!
The wire wrapped around the spear shifted the trajectory.
“This time, it’s not the spear…”
Seon Yul pulled.
“…it’s the thread that matters.”
The wire spiraled around the Emperor.
Waist, elbows, wrists, neck.
Click
A restraint pattern formed.
“…This isn’t a standard spatial restraint.”
“Correct.”
Seon Yul replied.
“This is a ‘law’ that only works inside this space.”
[Wire Master – Absolute Restraint Pattern: Intruder Exclusive.]
He rewrote the rules.
[Any entity classified as an ‘intruder’ in this space, when bound by wires, has its combat-type authority restricted by up to 70%.]
The Emperor smiled.
“So you’ve attached rules.”
The wires froze, glowing gold as they bound him tightly.
“A good attempt.”
At that moment… a cold golden light began to leak from his body.
Comments (0)