Chapter 97 - Why Did I Do That?

The change in Lord Varek was nothing short of apocalyptic. The surge of Ki emanating from his body was so intense that it felt like standing before an inferno—a primal, unrelenting force that threatened to consume everything. His once-familiar figure had been replaced by something alien, something that could only be described as otherworldly. His body no longer appeared human; instead, it was a constantly shifting mass of energy molded into a humanoid form.

The blackness of his “skin” swirled with spiraling streams of multicolored energy, a hypnotic dance of light and darkness that was impossible to ignore. His hair, now pure white and glowing like an ethereal fire, waved violently as if caught in a perpetual storm. And when he opened his eyes, they held no semblance of humanity. Where pupils should have been, there was only the symbol of Yin and Yang, radiating a cold, oppressive balance that felt both divine and terrifying.

For a brief moment, no one dared to move. The very air around them seemed to burn with the intensity of his presence, as if the sun itself had descended onto the battlefield.

The temperature rose, and the pressure became suffocating, crushing the morale of even the most resilient. The sound of crackling energy filled the silence, an ominous reminder that this transformation had elevated Lord Varek into something far beyond their understanding.

Adam stared at the horrifying figure before him, his mind racing as he processed the system windows still hovering in his vision. The words he had read moments ago haunted him: [Celestial Unity of Yin and Yang]… A Demi-God Entity. It sounded absurd, impossible even, but the evidence was there, standing before him. His thoughts reeled. How could they hope to fight something like this? He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as dread settled deep within his chest. They were running out of options—running out of time.

But the nightmare didn’t stop there.

Lord Varek slowly raised his hand to his throat, his movements unnervingly calm amidst the chaos. Without hesitation, he extended a single glowing finger and punctured his own neck. The sight froze everyone in place. The surreal nature of the act left them momentarily paralyzed, their minds struggling to comprehend what they were witnessing. But it became horrifyingly clear as something wriggling and grotesque began to emerge from the hole in his body.

A small, squirming larva, pulsating with unnatural energy, was pulled free from within him. It twisted violently, almost as if it were alive and desperate to escape. Lord Varek didn’t even glance at it. He crushed the abomination between his glowing fingers, the writhing creature disintegrating instantly into nothingness.

Adam’s heart sank as another system window appeared before his eyes:

[Warning: The skill [Soulcrusher Virus (Variant) Lv1] has been neutralized.] [All effects caused on the target have been reversed.]

The realization hit him like a hammer. His plan had failed. The one advantage they had gained, the virus, was gone. Reverted. Neutralized... Adam’s jaw clenched, his mind scrambling for a new strategy, but before he could speak, another voice broke the silence.

For the first time, Park Zhen’s expression betrayed genuine fear. His face, usually calm and unreadable, was pale, and his eyes were wide with a mixture of disbelief and terror.

“We have to leave. Now!”

He shouted, his voice uncharacteristically frantic. But his words were cut short.

In a fraction of a second, Lord Varek’s energy-formed body vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Park Zhen so quickly that it was as if time itself had faltered. Before anyone could react, the warlord extended his hand, his voice calm but resonating with a terrible, echoing authority.

“Flame Beheader.”

What followed was a cataclysmic display of raw power. From Lord Varek’s outstretched arm, a colossal wave of energy erupted, its intensity akin to the eruption of a star. The energy burned with an otherworldly ferocity, its sheer force ripping through the air and creating a deafening roar that echoed across the battlefield. The wave moved with terrifying speed, unstoppable and absolute, obliterating everything in its path.

Park Zhen didn’t even have time to react. The fiery torrent struck him with an unrelenting force, its impact so precise and overwhelming that half of his body was vaporized in an instant. Flesh and bone disintegrated under the assault, leaving only a charred, jagged outline where his left side had been. The devastation was so abrupt, so absolute, that it left the battlefield in stunned silence.

For a brief, haunting moment, Park Zhen’s remaining eye locked forward, wide with disbelief and terror. Blood began to pour from his lips in a slow, steady stream as his Ki extinguished completely, the glow that had once radiated from him fading into nothingness. His legs wavered as his body fought to remain upright, a reflexive, futile attempt to resist the inevitable.

The ground beneath him was scorched black, and the lingering heat from the energy wave caused the air around him to shimmer like a mirage. Park Zhen coughed once, violently, sending a spray of blood into the air. His face, once so composed and confident, was frozen in an expression of absolute horror—a man who had glimpsed the face of death and found it inescapable.

His lifeless body began to collapse, the remaining half crumbling as if weighed down by the very force that had undone him.

But it didn’t end there. Before Park Zhen’s body even touched the ground, Lord Varek turned toward Jianfeng, who was standing frozen in disbelief beside him. With a slow, deliberate motion, Varek raised his palm, the same detached calm in his voice as he uttered his next attack.

“Golden Palm.”

The effect was instantaneous. Jianfeng’s entire body was struck with dozens of golden imprints, each shaped like a human hand. The marks didn’t just scorch his flesh—they embedded themselves deep into his body, radiating shockwaves that tore through him from the inside out. Each imprint sent a violent burst of air through Jianfeng’s back, the sheer force annihilating the ground and debris behind him.

Jianfeng’s body trembled under the devastating assault. The golden palm marks glowed brightly, searing his skin like brands pressed against steel, the sheer pain evident in the contortion of his face. Blood dripped from his mouth as his legs buckled beneath him. Slowly, like Park Zhen, he began to fall, his lifeless body descending almost in unison with his fallen comrade.

The battlefield was silent, except for the faint energy crackle still radiating from Lord Varek’s form. Two warriors—both pillars of strength—lay defeated, their bodies broken and their Ki extinguished. Lord Varek stood motionless, his glowing form radiating power and, for some reason, a fresh serenity. His expression, however, was cold and unyielding, his Yin-Yang eyes scanning the remaining fighters with a detached, almost mechanical precision.

The battlefield was frozen in utter silence, the weight of what had just transpired pressing down on everyone like a suffocating shroud. None of them had truly processed what had happened until the lifeless bodies of Park Zhen and Jianfeng hit the ground with a sickening finality. It had all been too fast—too brutal.

Li stood motionless, his face pale as a ghost, his eyes wide with disbelief. His lips quivered as if he wanted to speak, to shout, to do anything, but no words came. Adam, similarly frozen, clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw ached, his mind a storm of doubts and despair. Abbess, usually composed even in the direst of situations, had her eyes wide open, the tension in her expression betraying the calm exterior she struggled to maintain. Her hands trembled ever so slightly at her sides, a rare crack in her undead resolve.

Farther away, Nikolai was trembling uncontrollably, his knees weak and his mouth hanging open. For once, his quick-witted mind had no answers, no plan—only the stark realization of the overwhelming power they faced. Emir, still clutching the cube with all his focus, had his eyes tightly shut. Tears streamed silently down his cheeks, mixing with the dirt and sweat on his young face. Yet, despite his sorrow, he didn’t falter; his hands never let go of the artifact.

But it was Shen’s reaction that shattered the fragile quiet. The moment his gaze landed on Jianfeng’s lifeless body, his heart seemed to break in two. His father—his once-invincible, unshakable father—was gone. Shen’s lips twisted in a mixture of anguish and fury, his breathing ragged as his emotions boiled over. A guttural scream erupted from his throat, shaking the very air around them. The sound was raw, primal, and filled with a fit of anger so fierce it sent chills down the spines of everyone who heard it.

Without hesitation, Shen launched himself toward Lord Varek with a ferocity that bordered on madness. His leap was so powerful that the ground beneath him shattered, leaving a crater in his wake.

At the same moment, Li snapped out of his stupor. His expression twisted into a snarl as he screamed the incantation for his most powerful spell.

“Shin Kuria Draak!”

His grimoire began to glow with an intensity it had never displayed before, golden light radiating from its pages. From the book emerged an enormous winged serpent made entirely of energy, its radiant form casting an ominous glow across the battlefield. The serpent soared into the air with a deafening roar, coiling behind Shen as it surged toward Lord Varek like a force of nature.

But the demi-god hadn’t moved—not an inch. His energy-made body radiated an eerie stillness, a chilling contrast to the chaos unfolding around him. As Shen closed the distance, Lord Varek’s left leg lifted so fast that it was imperceptible to the human eye. In an instant, his kick connected directly with Shen’s neck, the sheer force of the impact shattering the staff he had been carrying and snapping his neck in a grotesque, final motion.

Shen’s body plummeted like a meteor, creating another massive crater upon impact. The explosion of dirt and dust from the collision engulfed the area, obscuring everything from view.

Li, Adam, and Abbess had to shield their faces from the shockwave, unable to see what came next. But while they were blinded, Lord Varek had already turned his attention to the serpent of energy bearing down on him.

With both arms raised, the ascended warlord exuded an unearthly authority, his movements fluid and deliberate, yet carrying a weight of absolute dominance. The enormous, serpentine construct of energy loomed above him, its radiant form pulsating with raw, destructive potential.

Yet, to Varek, it seemed no more threatening than a strand of thread waiting to be unraveled. His hands moved with an eerie, almost artistic precision, slicing through the energy like a sculptor carving marble. Each motion of his fingers sent ripples through the serpent, destabilizing its form as if he were bending reality itself to his will.

The energy began to coil tighter under his control, collapsing in on itself as he manipulated its very essence. Sparks of light cascaded from his fingertips, illuminating the battlefield in bursts of color as the serpent’s roar shifted into a dissonant hum, a sound of resistance crushed under an overwhelming force. His glowing palms radiated a strange warmth that twisted the air around him, warping its flow as if even nature recoiled from his presence.

With a final, decisive motion, he brought his hands together in a sharp clap, and the enormous serpent buckled, folding inward in an explosion of brilliance. The colossal entity shrank rapidly, its immense power compressed and compacted into a singular, blinding sphere of light no larger than an apple… The once-terrifying construct was now no more than a radiant, pulsating orb, cradled in the palm of his hand like a trinket.

The glow of the sphere illuminated his expression—a mixture of disdain and cold indifference, as though the serpent's destruction was nothing more than an inconvenience.

The dust cloud was still raging on, and before anyone could react or comprehend what had happened, Lord Varek stared at the glowing sphere in his hand. His expression darkened, his voice low and bitter as he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.

“The karma of this energy is rotten. How many lives were stolen to create something like this?”

Without waiting for an answer, Lord Varek tilted his head slightly, almost as if amused by the weight of what he held in his hand. He raised the compacted energy sphere with a casual grace, its pulsating light casting harsh shadows across his inhuman features. Then, with a simple flick of his finger, he released it. The motion was effortless, but the consequences were anything but.

The sphere shot forward with unparalleled force, a streak of light tearing through the dissipating dust cloud like a comet descending from the heavens. The air around it fractured with a deafening crack, the sheer velocity creating a shockwave that rippled across the battlefield. The compressed energy was so concentrated that its passage left a glowing trail in its wake.

The instant the projectile struck, the results were apocalyptic. The energy carved a path through the air and earth alike, obliterating everything in its trajectory with surgical precision. Dust and debris were swept away in an instant, revealing the horrifying aftermath for all to see.

Li didn’t even have time to register the attack. One moment, he stood with his spellbook still faintly glowing from his previous attack; the next, a blinding flash consumed him. The energy sphere pierced him directly in the chest, detonating on contact with a thunderous roar.

The sheer force tore a gaping hole through his torso, vaporizing flesh and bone alike. The remnants of the blast carved a deep, smoldering trench into the earth behind him, its edges glowing red-hot from the sheer heat of the energy.

His body convulsed violently, his head snapping back as his eyes went wide in sheer disbelief and pain. Blood erupted from his mouth in a crimson spray, staining the air with his final breaths. His arms twitched, his fingers desperately grasping at nothing, as if searching for something to anchor himself to—a desperate, futile attempt to cling to life.

For a moment, it seemed as though he might remain standing, defying the inevitable. But his strength failed him. Slowly, agonizingly, his knees buckled, and his body crumpled forward. The sound of his fall was muted compared to the chaos around him, but it carried a weight that silenced everything else. Li's lifeless form hit the ground, the gaping wound in his chest still smoking, as the battlefield bore witness to yet another devastating loss.

Adam stood frozen as the dust cloud was forcefully dissipated, his gaze fixating on the lifeless body of Li sprawled on the ground, a gaping hole where his chest once was. His mind, always so sharp and calculating, faltered for the first time. The chaotic storm of his thoughts clashed against the trait that had always kept him grounded—his undead resilience. But this time, it wasn’t enough. Despair unlike anything he had ever known began to claw at his mind, whispering that this was truly the end.

He had seen death before. He had lived through moments that would shatter anyone else. But this… this was different. Every strategy, every contingency, felt useless in the face of Lord Varek’s overwhelming power. Adam clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, the pain a futile attempt to ground himself. His mind raced through possible solutions, but nothing surfaced. Nothing could save them.

The memories of his time imprisoned in the Shaolin Temple flashed before him. The decision he made then to unleash his monstrous form had been a desperate gamble, one that barely allowed him to beat Abbess before her transformation. The thought of reverting to that monstrosity crossed his mind, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough. Not against this. Not without access to the thousand-curses technique that had given him an edge back then.

And then, like a fleeting spark in the dark, an idea struck him. ‘The_Hunger’... The deal it had offered, the promises of incomprehensible power, loomed in his mind. He had always rejected the thought, wary of the consequences. But now, there was nothing else. This was the only path left. If it meant surviving, if it meant stopping Lord Varek, he would take it.

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Adam closed his eyes, his hands trembling as he focused every ounce of his will into summoning the otherworldly being. His thoughts became a silent prayer, an anguished plea for the entity to hear him.

Just one second passed like it was an hour, the weight of the battlefield crushing him. Then, the system’s response appeared before him, the glowing text hammering into his soul like a death knell:

[Due to illegal disruptions in the scenario, intervention by 'Patrons' has been prohibited in conventional ways.] [‘The_Hunger’ has refused to pay the Intervention Points necessary to create an exceptional connection.]

The words struck Adam like a blade. His last hope was torn away. His breath hitched, and for the first time in this endless struggle, tears escaped his eyes. He didn’t understand why. Perhaps it was the adrenaline. Perhaps it was the crushing realization that there was nothing more he could do.

His spiral of despair was shattered by a scream.

"Adam! Move!"

Abbess’s voice rang out with a desperation he had never heard before. His head snapped up just in time to see her running toward him, her face pale and filled with terror. Adam turned his gaze forward, and his blood ran cold. Lord Varek stood before him, mere steps away. Those inhuman, yin-yang eyes bore into his very soul.

Adam’s lips trembled, but he bit down hard to steady himself. He knew it was futile. He knew there was no escape. But even in the face of death, his instincts screamed at him to fight. With a guttural roar, he summoned everything he had. Spectral spikes erupted from his body, ghostly wolves charged forward, and a massive demonic arm emerged from his chest, clawing toward Varek. Every skill, every specter, every ounce of energy he could muster was hurled at his foe.

Lord Varek didn’t even blink. A vortex of pure energy spiraled around him, consuming and obliterating everything Adam sent his way. The swirling energy grew, expanding and compressing into a blinding sphere above Varek’s head. It burned brighter than the sun, its heat searing the air and forcing Adam to shield his eyes. The raw power was beyond comprehension, a miniature star born of destruction and malice.

Adam tried to stare at the demi-god, his heart pounding in his chest. For a brief moment, he thought he saw a faint smile tug at the corners of Varek’s mouth. Then, the words fell from his lips, quiet yet deafening, reverberating through the battlefield.

“Flame Descent.”

The blazing sphere erupted with a ferocity that seemed to tear apart the very fabric of the battlefield. The torrent of flame and energy cascaded downward, a tidal wave of destruction that radiated heat so intense it distorted the air around it. The roar of the explosion was deafening, drowning out everything else in its wake, a sound that seemed to shake the heavens themselves.

Adam’s legs felt rooted to the ground, his body paralyzed as he stared at the incoming devastation. The immense power descending upon him was unlike anything he had ever seen, a wrathful force of nature made manifest. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to move, to do anything, but his body refused to obey. His mind was blank except for a single, undeniable truth—there was no escaping this.

In the corner of his eye, Adam saw movement. Abbess, her tattered robes flowing behind her like the wings of a desperate guardian, dashed toward him with a speed and determination that defied all reason. Her face bore an expression that the boy had never seen before—one of urgency, perhaps even fear.

Her sharp nails glinted faintly as corrupted Ki began to shimmer around her hands, but there was no trace of her usual cold precision. This wasn’t a calculated move. It was an act of pure instinct.

She didn’t scream, didn’t call his name—there wasn’t time for that. All Adam could do was watch, his body frozen in place as she closed the distance in mere moments. Just before the blazing inferno descended, she reached him. Without hesitation, Abbess threw herself forward, her arms wrapping tightly around him in an embrace meant to shield him from the inevitable destruction. Her long, sharp nails twitched as if she wanted to summon a defense, but she knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t be enough.

The flames of the descending sphere reflected in her unblinking eyes as she braced herself for the end. The torrent of energy slammed into them with the wrath of a thousand storms.

The sheer magnitude of the attack was beyond comprehension. Abbess’s corrupted Ki flared briefly, a desperate and futile barrier against the unrelenting tide of destruction. The barrier flickered, holding for less than a heartbeat before it was overwhelmed and extinguished entirely.

The flames consumed her instantly, the corrupted Ki surrounding her dissolving into nothingness. Her form vanished in the blinding, all-encompassing light, leaving only the impression of her final act—sacrificing herself to shield Adam from the unstoppable force. Adam felt the heat pierce every part of his being, his senses overtaken by the sheer intensity of the flames. There was no time to react, no space to think—only the overwhelming sensation of being utterly consumed.

In that fleeting moment, as the inferno engulfed them, a single thought surfaced in Adam’s mind amidst the chaos. A simple, yet profound expression of gratitude.

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t shouted or spoken, just a quiet acknowledgment in the depths of his mind for the act of selflessness Abbess had shown. And then, the world dissolved into nothingness.

The energy wave exploded outward, a tidal force of flame and destruction that tore across the battlefield. The ground beneath their feet quaked violently, massive cracks spidering out from the impact zone as debris was hurled high into the air.

The heatwave that followed was unbearable, igniting the very air and turning everything within range to ash. The sound of the explosion was deafening, a cacophony that drowned out all else and left an oppressive silence in its wake.

When the light finally began to fade, it revealed the catastrophic aftermath of the attack. At the center of the battlefield, where Adam and Abbess had once stood, now lay a massive crater. Its edges were jagged and molten, glowing with a fiery intensity as if it were the mouth of a volcano. The ground around it was scorched black, radiating heat so potent that it distorted the air. Deep within the crater, the earth shimmered like molten steel, an unholy testament to the sheer magnitude of the destruction.

There were no remains, no bodies, no sign that Adam or Abbess had ever been there. They were gone, erased by the cataclysmic force. The battlefield fell into a stunned silence, broken only by the crackling of the scorched earth and the faint hum of lingering energy. The oppressive weight of what had just occurred bore down on all who witnessed it, leaving them paralyzed with shock.

At the edge of the crater stood Lord Varek, his blazing form casting long, jagged shadows across the scarred earth. His body radiated an ethereal, almost divine light, flickering and shifting like a living inferno. His expression was eerily calm, his movements deliberate and unhurried, as though the annihilation he had unleashed was nothing more than an inevitability. The light from his transformed body danced ominously across the battlefield, an undeniable reminder of his absolute dominance.

For a brief, harrowing moment, only Nikolai bore witness to the desolation. The battlefield was silent save for the faint crackle of scorched earth, its once vibrant life now reduced to ash. The only living beings remaining were Nikolai and Emir. The long-haired guy's heart thundered in his chest, his legs trembling so violently they felt like they might give out at any moment. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak—the fear gripping him was unlike anything he had ever known.

When Lord Varek disappeared from his line of sight, Nikolai thought his end had come. He braced himself for the inevitable, his breath hitching as his body refused to obey his frantic pleas to run.

But instead of approaching him, Lord Varek passed him by without a second glance, moving toward Emir. The realization struck Nikolai like a hammer: he was nothing to Lord Varek. Less than an insect. The cold indifference in Varek’s actions somehow cut deeper than an attack might have, leaving him paralyzed with despair.

Lord Varek stopped before the kid, who knelt with his eyes tightly shut, clutching the glowing cube in his small, trembling hands. For a short moment, Varek simply observed the boy, his burning gaze seeming to pierce through to his very soul. Then, in a voice that resonated like a divine proclamation, he spoke.

“Child.”

He began, his tone calm yet commanding.

“I can feel the karma you carry. Pure. Untouched by greed or ambition. You are noble in spirit, an innocent forced to endure a world of tragedy. You don’t belong in this chaos. Someone like you deserves to see the dawn of a new era—a Murim reborn, free from the interference of other worlds. Join me, and I will ensure you have a place in that future. A child of your purity and talent is more than welcome.”

Nikolai, still frozen in place, could only watch as Lord Varek’s words filled the air. He could hear every word clearly, and it was obvious—Varek wasn’t paying him the slightest bit of attention. It was as though he didn’t exist, as if he were beneath notice.

For a fleeting moment, Nikolai thought this might be his chance to escape. If he moved slowly, quietly, perhaps he could slip away unnoticed. But as the thought crossed his mind, his legs refused to move. The fear coursing through him was so absolute, so suffocating, that his body betrayed him.

Emir, however, did not flinch. The boy’s small frame trembled, and tears streamed down his face, but he didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he clutched the cube tighter, his arms wrapping around it protectively as though it were the only thing anchoring him to reality. Through choked sobs, he spoke, his young voice breaking but filled with determination.

“No... I won’t.”

Emir said, his words punctuated by shaky breaths.

“I promised... I promised I’d do this. I won’t stop.”

Lord Varek tilted his head slightly, as if contemplating the boy’s defiance.

“Your task is unnecessary now.”

He said, his tone firmer.

“The ones forcing you to carry this burden are gone. There is no reason to persist in this futile endeavor.”

But Emir shook his head, his tears falling faster.

“I promised!”

He cried out, his voice rising in desperation.

“I won’t give up!”

As Lord Varek observed the boy, Nikolai could only stand helplessly, his heart hammering in his chest. Emir’s resolve, despite his fear, brought back a memory—a flashback of his own past. But it wasn’t Emir’s courage that broke Nikolai’s paralysis. It was Emir’s flashback, one Nikolai couldn’t know, but its weight felt universal.

For Emir, this moment mirrored one from a couple of years ago, when his father had shielded him during a bombing. Mortally wounded, his father had told him that even if he couldn’t stay with him anymore, what defined a person was their resolve to keep going. Never give up trying to protect what he holds dear the most.

Emir had promised, but tragedy had stripped him of his family. Now, even if it cost him his life, he would not break another promise—not to those who were counting on him.

Lord Varek’s calm demeanor shifted slightly as he leaned forward, his voice dropping into a more authoritative tone.

“I will give you one last chance, child.”

He said, his presence like a mountain pressing down on the boy.

“Abandon this path. Leave the cube.”

“No!”

Emir shouted, his voice trembling but unwavering. He hugged the cube tighter, shaking his head violently. Varek sighed deeply, his eyes narrowing as his hand began to rise.

“A pity… Then disappear.”

Lord Varek muttered, his tone now cold. His arm extended toward Emir, his hand glowing with an ominous energy. Just as the destructive force began to coalesce in his palm, a figure darted into view, snatching the kid from the ground and making a desperate attempt to flee. It was Nikolai. His mind barely registered what he was doing. One second he was frozen in fear, and the next, he was risking everything to save the boy.

But the effort was futile. Before Nikolai could make it more than a few steps, a strike faster than the eye could follow connected with his side. The impact was so violent it sent him hurtling through the air, crashing into a nearby wall with enough force to leave cracks spidering through the stone. Emir, fortunately, was unharmed, tumbling to the ground in a protective curl as the long-haired guy’s body absorbed the full brunt of the attack.

Nikolai lay crumpled against the wall, coughing and gasping for breath. He couldn’t register the pain coursing through his shattered body. The adrenaline coursing through him dulled the agony, but it couldn’t mask the heaviness of his breaths, each one labored and shallow.

He knew without a doubt that several ribs were broken, possibly puncturing something vital. His vision was blurry, the world tilting unnaturally as he tried to ground himself. What had just happened? Why had he thrown himself into danger? Why had he risked his life for the boy when it was so clearly futile?

The question burned in his mind like a cruel, mocking echo.

“Why did I do that?”

He had always been alone. Surviving on his wits, manipulating others, and exploiting every situation to his benefit—that was who he was. That was who he’d always been. No one had ever protected him; no one had ever cared. He’d learned early on that his survival depended solely on himself. So why now, at the end of everything, had he chosen to be so recklessly selfless?

His lips twisted into a bitter, almost delirious frown as the realization hit him: he didn’t know. Perhaps it was idiocy, or perhaps some part of him had foolishly hoped to rewrite his own narrative in those final moments. But it didn’t matter. He was going to die here, his life ending in one of the most absurd ways imaginable—broken, beaten, and utterly useless.

Yet, even as despair threatened to overtake him, a glimmer of something else broke through the haze. A memory. A fleeting thought that clawed its way to the forefront of his mind. The Plot Device he obtained in the lobby before this scenario... It was his last hope, his only chance at undoing this nightmare.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Nikolai forced his fractured mind to focus. He couldn’t see clearly, but he didn’t need to. All he had to do was summon the Plot Device, activate it, and everything might be undone. As his thoughts zeroed in on the option, a system window didn’t appear in front of him—it materialized directly in his mind, sharp and undeniable, cutting through the fog of his injuries like a blade:

[Attempting to use L-rank Plot Device: ‘Dude, Not Funny!’... However, too many actions have occurred in a short period.] [The L-rank Plot Device: ‘Dude, Not Funny!’ cannot affect both the user and the environment simultaneously. Please choose the target of the effect.] [Option 1: Reverse the last major consequence for the user (User will be healed of all sustained injuries).] [Option 2: Reverse the last major consequence in the environment (The last deaths will be undone).]

Nikolai’s battered body trembled as his lips curved into a weak, bitter smile. Even at this moment, the choice should have been obvious. His survival came first. Always had. Always would… What good would it do to bring the others back? They had no chance against Lord Varek either way. They were just as doomed as he was, even if they stood together. It was the logical decision—the only decision. He deserved to live. He deserved this.

His mind screamed at him to choose the first option. The answer was obvious, wasn’t it? His survival had always been his priority—his only priority. Nikolai’s trembling imaginary fingers twitched as he fought to focus on the system window in his mind. The weight of his injuries bore down on him, and every rational part of his brain urged him to make the choice that would save his own life.

Nikolai clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the haunting visions.

“I’m sorry everyone, but it’s not my responsibility”

And then, he made his choice.

The system window shimmered and solidified. A notification began to materialize above Nikolai, the faint hum of energy rippling through the air as the effects of the Plot Device took hold. His lips curled into a weak, relieved smile, certain that he had secured his own salvation.

⌠Notice: L-class Plot Device: “Dude, Not Funny!” has been used⌡

A tremor rippled through the battlefield as if the very air had been split. Lord Varek, who had been looming over Emir, froze mid-motion, his blazing eyes narrowing as he turned his head sharply.

“What is this…?”

He growled, his voice low and dangerous.

From seemingly nowhere, a swirling vortex of energy erupted, luminous and chaotic, consuming the devastated battlefield. The ground that had been torn asunder began to knit itself back together. Jagged rocks and debris floated briefly before returning to their original places, and the once-scorched earth was restored to its former state. But the most shocking transformation was yet to come.

Before Lord Varek’s astonished gaze, the fallen began to reappear. First, Park Zhen and Jianfeng, their lifeless forms now breathing, their bodies trembling as they gasped for air. Then Shen, Li, Abbess, and finally Adam—each one returned in full, collapsing to their knees as their lungs dragged in desperate gulps of air. Their faces were pale, their bodies drenched in sweat, but they were alive.

“What?!”

Lord Varek’s voice thundered across the battlefield. His eyes darted wildly between the figures, disbelief and fury warring on his face.

Ignoring Emir entirely, Lord Varek turned fully toward the resurrected warriors, his burning form crackling with outrage. He took a single, purposeful step toward them, his aura flaring with renewed intensity. But before he could take another, a brilliant flash of yellow light descended like a meteor, slamming into the earth directly in front of him.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward, forcing Lord Varek to halt. The light faded to reveal a single figure standing atop the hilt of a massive, legendary sword embedded in the ground. Drake had arrived, his calm, steely gaze locking onto the demi-god. The two stood face to face, their Ki clashing like colliding storms, the air around them charged with tension so palpable it was suffocating.

Meanwhile, Nikolai remained crumpled against the wall, his body barely clinging to consciousness. His vision swam, and pain wracked his every nerve, but a single thought echoed through his mind like a haunting refrain.

He had saved them—chosen their lives over his own—and yet he couldn’t comprehend why. The same question that had plagued him before now rang louder than ever.

“Why did I do that?”