Beyond the Eternity

[The World Arcane Card has been Destoryed.]

Along with the distortion and shifting of the surroundings, the power keeping me afloat in the air suddenly disappeared and my body descended. I landed on the cold, cracked floor with a dull thud. Fortunately, the impact was not great but I'll feel the pain tomorrow.

[All Laws created by the Territory Master have been dispelled.]

[All restrictions placed on the players will be uplifted.]

[Your Strength has been reset to Lv. 30.]

[Your Agility has been reset to Lv. 30.]

[Your Physique has been reset to Lv. 30.]

[Your Magic Power has been reset to Lv. 30.]

[All your skills has returned to their original level.]

There was the sensation of previous strength filling my body and muscles grew back to its original state before the restriction.

Naturally, since the World Card was sacrificed to summon another Artifact, the Artificial World will be destroyed and we'll returned to the Sookmyung building in the Real World. But which area were we exactly?

I groaned and pushed myself to my feet while rubbing my aching shoulder from the fall.

I scanned my surroundings. It seems we were currently in a large space used for physical education practices in the Sookmyung Highschool. The Gymnasium, was it?

The other survivors were rather shocked by the sudden change in environment and the school girls has collapsed on the floor, unmoving.

Were they dead? The fake Ollerus had said those girls had died more than once. Perhaps once the Territory Master was defeated, those girls returned back to their original states.

I sighed. Those girls couldn't be saved from the get-go. Therefore, my attempts to save them was completely meaningless. But I couldn't dwell on that matter. I still had bigger fishes to fry.

My eyes finally landed on the person standing on a small stage. It was a white-haired man that held the [Yellow Dragon Sword] as if it was his birthright.

"Park Joonhyuk..."

I muttered under my breath. There was a hint of resentment mixed in with my voice too.

He had stopped laughing some time ago and wore a dangerous smirk instead. His crimson eyes scanned the room as if drinking the hatred and uncertainty of the gathered survivors.

"So that's how this story ends, huh?" It was a voice full of mockery. "Oh, the great arrogant king bested by his own subjects. That's a rather pathetic ending if you ask me. But who cares about that loser? Now I have the sword of the Emperor and with it, I shall become the true King of Seoul. Now bow to your new King, you filthy peasants!"

This smug bastard. I would have never imagined that the true reader was a Chuunibyou. Wait, why was I even surprised to begin with?

The bastard that tormented me during my years as a writer would obviously not be a normal person. This guy even looked like he had a few loose screws.

"What are we going to do about that guy?"

Kagura, who was standing besides me, looked rather curious. Did she know about that Four Relics?

"We don't have to worry about him."

"What? Isn't that a great item?"

"Naturally, that has always been the case. But the power of that item hasn't awakened so we don't have to worry about a huge power difference yet."

Kagura looked rather skeptical. But I couldn't blame her.

There are Four Heroic Relics containing the power of the <Four Guardian Beasts> scattered throughout Seoul— The Blue Dragon Sword, the White Spirit Lance, the Black Tortoise Sword and the Red Pheonix Sword.

The [Blue Dragon Sword] represented the Azure Dragon of the East, the [White Spirit Lance] represented the White Tiger of the West, the [Black Tortoise Sword] represented the Black Tortoise of the North and the [Red Pheonix Sword] represented the Red Pheonix of the South.

And then, there is the Hidden Piece known as the [Yellow Dragon Sword] which represents the Leader of the Four Gods and the Guardian of the Center.

However, the conditions to summon the power of Yellow Dragon Sword was rather unique compared to the other Four Gods.

Fortunately, the other survivors has already noticed the situation.

"Damnit! Someone kill that guy and grab that sword."

"How scary~ Sorry, but I can't let you catch me."

As the survivors approached the Devil with the intent to kill, Park Joonhyuk grabbed something from his pocket and hurled it with all his might.

"...!"

That bastard! He threw a fucking Mana Bomb.

"Everyone, head back right now!"

We jumped back in time to avoid the explosion. Unfortunately for the other survivors, they weren't able to react in time and they were too close to escape.

Kwang!

An explosion erupted and most of them were blown away into the air like broken kites. There was the sight of lingering smoke and flames. Along with that, there was the sight of that person making his escape.

Was he trying to do a hit and run tactic?

"Damn, we can't let that person to escape."

"Yes."

"Kagura-ssi, since you're faster than both of us, you'll have to catch up to that guy."

"I understand."

Without hesitation, Kagura leaped into action and closed half the distance between that person and her within an instant. Of course, we couldn't afford to fail behind.

Park Joonhyuk noticed us following him from behind and smiled as if he was expecting such a scenario.

"What's this? A game of tag? As much as I would like to play with you, I really don't have the time. But I'll leave behind a present for you so make sure to accept it with all your heart."

As he finished, two people blocked our way. One was a highschool girl and the other was a boy around the same age.

"What are these people doing?"

"There's no need to hesitate. Those guys are just puppets. They're not real people."

"Then I'll cut them down in a sec..."

Kagura suddenly stopped moving.

"Huh? What happened? What did you stop mov...!"

I stopped moving as well. So did Lee Dokho.

What can I say? I underestimated the insanity of Park Joonhyuk.

Both of those puppets were wiped with explosives all over their bodies. If Kagura had struck them, they would have exploded in our faces.

I cursed and said, "Head back, quickly."

We turned around and dashed into a tremendous sprint but I suddenly stopped as I remembered.

Those two were not the only puppets that Park Joonhyuk had made. Weren't there puppets that snatched the Arcane cards of the other King candidates as well?

I immediately swept my gaze and noticed multiple cloaked figures encircling the Gymnasium. They did not move despite the chaos and stood still as if waiting for a command.

"Fuck."

This entire thing was a trap from the get-go.

... When did he have the time to arm all those puppets with explosives? Or was it a set up to distract us while he escaped?

"Deputy-nim."

"Jakga-nim, what's wrong?"

Why has nobody noticed those guys standing there? Did Park Joonhyuk use some sort of artifact to hide the presence of those puppets?

What am I supposed to do in this situation? Should we disarm them or should we escape? No, disarming them is out of the question. But even if we try to run, It's not guaranteed that we would escape the blast ranges in time.

"Tck! That bastard really knows how to screw someone over."

In the end, I made my decision.

"Kagura, destory the wall over there. We'll escape from there."

"But what about these people?"

"They'll realise something is wrong and try to escape. We don't have time to worry about them."

"I see. I understand."

Kagura instantly readied her stance and compressed a considerable amount of magic power into her sword.

Shiiing!

There was only the sound of sword being unsheathed, and the sword being swung. What followed afterwards was a slash with great magic power crossing the very air and striking the wall close to our position.

Kwang!

The impact sent a loud crack echoing through the room as dust and debris erupted from the point of contact.

A section of the wall gave way and crumbled outward to reveal a path to the outside.

"Go!"

I screamed and the party members ran immediately without delay.

The voice of one of Park Joonhyuk's puppets was heard as I sprinted through the created opening.

"Hey, everyone! It's time for some general quiz! What happens when Ten C-4 explosives were to detonate simultaneously? Naturally, there will be a huge explosion, of course. But what about the radius of the blast itself? How far would it reach, I wonder?"

The survivors were no longer listening.

They had noticed the reality of the situation and abandoned all fighting before turned their backs at the puppets and making a tremendous dash for the created exit.

Normally, showing your back to the enemy would have been nothing but suicidal.

However, the puppets did not pursue and remained rooted to their positions as if they were statues.

Even so, the survivors entered panic mode and pushed and shoved each other to reach the exit.

Needless to say, I did not look back at them. There was simply no time to look at their despairing faces.

How many minutes has passed now?

Even after I had exited the main school building, I ran and ran and continued to run through the campus without glancing back.

It was then a cold voice pierced into my back like a dagger and my blood ran cold.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA! HA! DO YOU TRULY THINK RUNNING AWAY WILL SAVE YOU, HUH?! HOW FOOLISH! YOU ALL MUST HAVE ALREADY REALISED THE TRUTH!

EVEN IF YOU ESCAPE FROM THIS BUILDING, YOU'RE STILL GOING TO BE HIT BY THE SHOCKWAVE! BUT DON'T WORRY! ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE TOGETHER SO MAKE SURE TO HUG EACH OTHER AND GIVE YOURSELVES A GOODNIGHT KISS BEFORE THE BANG!!!"

Immediately afterwards, there was a 'click' and all the sound in the vicinity were blown away.

The entire 100m radius of Sookmyung Girls' Highschool was swallowed up by a giant explosion. The entire school campus was immediately transformed into a giant mushroom of flames and smoke without delay, and the shockwave from the explosion ripped outwards as if to obliterate everything in its path.

We barely managed to escape the blast radius when it happened. Even then, It was impossible to escape completely.

"Ack!"

The shockwave slammed into my back with immense force and threw me powerlessly into the air. The sudden pressure engulfed me and squeezed on my internal organs to the very limit.

[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Wall has activated.]

[The Omniscient Wall has lessened the force of the Impact.]

Luckily, the bodies of players were fundamentally different from normal humans and the [Omniscient Wall] protected my body from most of the Impact.

If I was not a player with stats around [Lv. 30], my body would likely have burst from the inside out.

As I tumbled through the air, the deafening roar of the blast drowned out every other sound.

There was only the sensation of the lingering heat and the sight of the survivors being caught in the burning inferno. Perhaps some of them had managed to survive the explosion. But that was not likely.

I tried searching for the party members, Kagura and Lee Dokho, but the strength in my body was gradually fading and my vision was getting blurry.

Damnit. I'm losing consciousness. I have to... fight it... somehow.

In the end, I was still human. I just happened to be a little bit stronger than most, that's all. It was already a miracle I was able to survive the shockwave of an explosion that covered 100 metres.

No matter how I tried to resist against the urge to sleep, I was overwhelmed regardless of my efforts and suddenly lost consciousness.