CH 555

“Huff, huff… keuk!”

Prince Digor groaned in pain as he looked down at his bulging veins.

‘Damn it!’

He was aware that the holy relic contained a powerful energy.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have entertained the idea of a rebellion in the first place.

‘But I didn’t think that it would be this strong...’

Prince Digor thought that he would be able to control the power of the holy relic without any issues, but the reality was harsh.

‘It’s okay. Time is in my favor, anyway.’

There were only two people in this world who could make their way toward where he was currently located, and he had already killed one of them.

‘The emperor can’t afford to come here right now, and I even sent Seo Jun-Ho’s clone to a rift in space, so I should be safe here.’

Prince Digor decided to calm the surging power in his veins, but he suddenly felt the presence of someone else behind him.

“...!” Prince Digor was stupefied to find Seo Jun-Ho’s clone standing behind him with his head lowered.

‘What’s going on? Wasn’t he supposed to be in the rift of space?’

Prince Digor raised his hand to open another rift in space.

“Huh?”

However, his hand fell to the ground.

Prince Digor’s brain couldn’t accept what his eyes were seeing.

“...This is too unfair,” Seo Jun-Sik muttered while staring at the floor.

Drip, drip.

His tears fell to the ground.

“A bastard like you is still alive, but… but he’s…!”

Prince Digor’s eyes trembled. He had no idea what Seo Jun-Ho’s clone was talking about, and he didn’t want to know as well. There was only one thing that mattered to him at the moment.

‘Did he… actually just cut me? With that sword?’

The cogwheels in Prince Digor’s mind turned, and he soon came up with two options.

‘Well, it seems like I can’t run away.’

The opponent managed to cut off Prince Digor’s hand before he even realized it. In other words, his opponent could cut his head off in the blink of an eye.

‘I need to kill him.’

Prince Digor’s expression was grim as he said, “Calm down. The space here will collapse if we fight here. So why don’t we—”

Flick.

Prince Digor’s left index finger flicked ever so slightly, distorting the space around Seo Jun-Sik. The attack happened so quickly that there was no way Seo Jun-Sik could respond to it.

‘What an idiot. How dare he look down on me?’

Thud!

However, there was a dull thud as Prince Digor collapsed to the floor with a contemptuous smile. The Crown Prince of the Babella Empire died while thinking that he had successfully ambushed his target.

“...”

Seo Jun-Sik shook off Prince Digor’s blood on his sword. The lingering feeling of parting with the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho still hadn’t disappeared. Honestly, Seo Jun-Sik had no idea if it would even disappear.

“Sigh.”

Seo Jun-Sik slowly turned around and looked back. The dimensional gap wasn’t there anymore, and he couldn’t see anything other than the ugly walls of this underground chamber.

“...Goodbye.”

‘It’ll be difficult, but I will move forward without forgetting the time we spent. I will bear the weight of the future you have entrusted to me.’

With that, Seo Jun-Sik turned around and left the room.

***

- You’re currently in the Chronos Laboratory? That’s great. You need to retrieve something from that laboratory.

Seo Jun-Sik picked up a pair of white gloves on his way out.

“A pair of white gloves? Sung-Jun told me to retrieve this no matter what, but why?”

However, the pair of white gloves wasn’t for himself nor for his Original.

‘It’s the final opportunity.’

Seo Jun-Ho had emphasized many times over the past five years that it would be their final chance.

‘The future Seo Jun-Ho told me the important events that cannot be undone if we were to miss this opportunity, so I have to follow his advice.’

“I have to hurry.”

The warm air of the battlefield tickled Seo Jun-Sik’s face outside the laboratory.

“...”

Baek Geon-Woo, Rahmadat, and Seo Jun-Ho were currently driving the generals to a corner.

‘Then, I should go and support Frost.’

Seo Jun-Sik soon found the Frost Queen surrounded by a thousand Overminds—no, the Overminds were surrounded by the Frost Queen.

“Stay still. Do not take even a single step.”

The Frost Queen created a massive prison of ice with towering walls covered in the power to block. The Overminds were diligently attacking the ice to shatter the walls.

“Damn it! Why won’t this break?”

“You coward! A martial artist should fight fair and square!”

“I’m not a martial artist. I’m a monarch.” The Frost Queen looked down at the Overminds as if she were observing fish in a fish bowl. All of a sudden, she turned upon sensing a familiar presence.

“Huh? Jun-Sik?” The Frost Queen was about to give him a warm greeting, but she flinched upon seeing his face. “...Did you cry?”

Seo Jun-Sik’s eyes were red and swollen.

Seo Jun-Sik looked away and answered, “Of course not. I’m not a baby, you know…”

“Prince Digor, that bastard…! I’ll kill him! Did he make you cry? I’ll take care of him!”

“Ugh, I told you it’s not like that. I already won the fight,” Seo Jun-Sik complained. Then, he looked down at the Overminds and changed the topic. “Can you let me in? I have to go inside.”

“What? Why would you go inside?”

“Um…”

‘Come to think of it, I don’t know how to explain it.’

Seo Jun-Sik scratched the back of his head and used his Original as an excuse.

“I have no idea as well. Original just told me to go inside.”

“That’s not very nice of you, Contractor! Jun-Sik, you’re going to die. You’re too weak…”

“I won’t die. He got struck by an epiphany during the fight, so I’ll be fine.”

Seo Jun-Sik kept on insisting, so the Frost Queen could only allow it.

“Don’t blame me if they beat you up and you end up getting recalled...”

“That won’t happen.”

Seo Jun-Sik confidently walked into the prison, and he was immediately faced with a thousand weapons.

“Yikes, they’re mad.” However, Seo Jun-Sik wasn’t afraid. “...A player from a fallen world overwhelmed me with a broken sword.”

Seo Jun-Sik had been training against that monster over the last five years, and he didn’t manage to beat that monster even once. Compared to Sung-Jun, these Overminds were like children trying to attack an adult.

“Boring.”

- Raise your sword, Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Sik felt like he heard a familiar voice as he raised his sword.

***

“Phew. That felt great,” Rahmadat muttered, looking refreshed.

The two generals of the Babella Empire were strong, but they didn’t stand a chance against Rahmadat, Baek Geon-Woo, and Seo Jun-Ho.

“We got our revenge, so we just have to clean up the small fries, right?”

“Wait, I remember sensing an enormous wave of magic from where the Frost Queen is located… I hope she’s okay,” said Baek Geon-Woo.

Rahmadat replied, “I felt that, too, but the magic signature resembled Jun-Ho. It does, right?”

“...It does.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded. He was also curious.

The wave of magic was simply too powerful for it to belong to Seo Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Ho wanted answers.

‘Like how Cloning suddenly became EX…’

The three of them hurriedly ran toward the Frost Queen’s location, and they were astonished to find a huge box made out of ice.

“Hey, Is that Jun-Sik?”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho was as confused as Rahmadat.

‘Jun-Sik?’

Hundreds of bodies piled up next to Seo Jun-Sik, but he was still fighting hundreds of Overminds.

“How…”

How come Seo Jun-Sik was winning? Seo Jun-Sik was like a wolf in a sheep enclosure.

“Hm, I like that. Let me help! Hey, ice baby! Let me in!” Rahmadat laughed boisterously and joined the fray.

Seo Jun-Ho and Baek Geon-Woo followed closely after him.

“Wait… the generals lost?!”

“Damn it! We can’t retreat because of this damned ice!”

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“Black Moon Martial Arts Second Skill: Silent Flash Wave.” Seo Jun-Ho sent a wave of darkness flying toward the Overminds, and he cut the heads of dozens of Overminds in the blink of an eye.

After doing that, he ran toward Seo Jun-Sik.

“Hello there, Original.”

“What happened? And did you… cry?”

“Argh, no! I didn’t cry!” Seo Jun-Sik roared and ferociously hunted the Overminds down as if he was venting his anger.

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed as he observed Seo Jun-Sik’s movements.

‘What are those movements…’

Seo Jun-Sik’s explosiveness and speed were unprecedented.

“This… can’t be…”

“Glory to the Empire!”

The Overminds were helpless, and a thousand corpses soon littered the temple grounds.

“Haaah. It’s been a while since I had such a great warm-up.”

“Aren’t you injured?”

“Hehe. The more you move, the faster you heal.”

The battle was over, so Seo Jun-Sik approached Seo Jun-Ho.

He handed the chest containing a holy relic and a pair of white gloves to Seo Jun-Ho.

“Original. Can you recall me so I can get some rest?”

“What?” Seo Jun-Ho was astonished. This was the first time that Seo Jun-Sik voluntarily asked to be recalled.

Seo Jun-Ho looked worried as he stared at Seo Jun-Sik.

“Is everything all right? What happened to you?” he asked.

“You’ll find out soon.”

Tap, tap.

Seo Jun-Sik lightly tapped Seo Jun-Ho’s shoulder.

“...Original. Stay strong.”

‘You’ll receive a ton of memories, and every scene will be shocking.’

Seo Jun-Ho stared at Seo Jun-Sik for quite a while before nodding.

“All right. Take a good rest. You did great,” he said.

Seo Jun-Sik smiled bitterly as he scattered into innumerable light crystals.

At the same time, memories flooded Seo Jun-Ho’s mind like a deluge.

***

“Hey, Sung-Jun,” asked Seo Jun-Sik while lying on the floor.

Seo Jun-Ho’s thin face turned to Seo Jun-Sik.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Can I ask you something?” said Seo Jun-Sik.

“You’re going to ask me even if I say no,” Seo Jun-Ho retorted.

“You know me too well…” Seo Jun-Sik laughed and turned to face Seo Jun-Ho’s hollow face. “If we turn back time with the Wheel of Time, will we end up creating a parallel world?”

“No…” Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. “It’s a great skill, but it’s not capable of doing that. In addition, the skill can only turn back the time of the planet where it was used.”

“Phew. That’s a relief.” Seo Jun-Sik let out a sigh of relief. He decided to ask because he got worried upon recalling the fact that his Original had used Rewind quite a few times to practice.

“You know, it’s kind of amazing that there’s a being who has an answer to all of my questions. You’re kind of like our milestone.”

“No…” Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. His expression turned subtly desolate as he said, “You shouldn’t treat me as your milestone. What was waiting for me at the end of my path was destruction.”

Seo Jun-Sik asked carefully, “Hey, is there anything you want to say to my Original body? He’s basically your past self.”

“True.”

Once Seo Jun-Sik was recalled, his original would receive his memories along with the techniques, theories, and information that Seo Jun-Sik had learned while he was summoned.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho stared at Seo Jun-Sik in silence.

However, he was looking at his past self rather than Seo Jun-Sik.

“I understand you.”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t understand why, but tears filled up his eyes as soon as the Seo Jun-Ho of the future’s hoarse voice reached his ears. Perhaps it was because of the conviction in the future Seo Jun-Ho’s voice.

“You must have gone through lots of hardships and pain. I know because I went through a lot as well. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you that you are about to walk down a bright and happy path. I’m sorry, but I have no choice but to ask you—or myself—for a favor.”

Seo Jun-Ho momentarily felt like his gaze met with the future Seo Jun-Ho.

“Don’t lose faith…” said the future Seo Jun-Ho to his past Seo Jun-Ho. “Please do not give up on mankind, the world, clearing the Floors, and lastly… please do not give up on Frost.”