Chapter 189. Collateral Damage 1

After shuddering for awhile, Karupedan let out a primal scream and charged at Barub.

It was rage for putting herself on the seat of godhood, and for erasing her own memories and forgetting her past.

On top of that, learning everything Barub had done had her extremely worked up.

Her form of a child turned into a blue ball of flame in a split moment, and similar to how a predator charged their prey, she charged Barub with fierce talons to continue her attack.

Looking at the intensity behind her attack, Min-Cheol couldn’t help but subconsciously swallow a marble and cast shields around himself.

“AHH!”

However, Barub dodged the attacks with ease, almost as if mocking her.

The Unrivaled Goddess. And an existence that was beyond that.

Two powers that I couldn’t even dare get in between were facing each other.

It was an one sided attack from Karupedan aimed at Barub, but no one could guarantee that how long Barub would continue to allow this transgression to pass without retaliation.

Barub, who had avoided her attacks without much difficulty, spoke.

“Karupedan. Why are you doing this. I merely did as you desired…”

“AHH!”

“The past you wanted power. So I bestowed upon you power without equal.”

“Die! You devil!”

Karupedan’s past memories passed through her mind quickly.

No worries or concerns bothered her in her childhood.

Back to the days when she was happy from a piece of bread that Gera, who she trusted and followed, gave to her.

Her head was filled with memories from then until when she understood the weight and sadness behind that very same piece of bread.

Nightmares that would be difficult to face without going insane had been put into her mind all of a sudden.

It was a situation where Karupedan losing her rationality and displaying such rage wasn’t strange.

Every night, Gera had to suffer in the arms of a rugged man who smelled rotten to his core.

The only thing she obtained from enduring through this humiliation was a piece of bread the size of a fist.

It did not give off any sweet scents, nor did it have a magnificent shape, but instead was an insignificant piece made from heating a chunk of coarse wheat.

Karupedan had witnessed the cruel situation of her own growth moving at the same speed as Gera’s approaching death.

In her reality that was like death, Karupedan had prayed continuously.

That if there was a god, to end this current hellish situation. She continued to deny, saying that there wasn’t any reason for why they should suffer.

She wanted power for Gera and her to escape the filthy clutches of that man, and wanted happiness.

But to think that the hand that a so called god offered would serve as a far deadlier poison.

“I had brought Gera, who was like a mother to you, next to you so that the two of you could spend eternity together. Am I wrong!”

“….. I won’t grant you an easy death. I will rip you apart again and again until you are ground to dust.”

“How amusing. Did you already forget that you are the same as me?”

“……”

“Look at that human. The reason why an insignificant creature that is a human arrived all the way to celestial plane. And the reason why all the other gods besides yourself had met their deaths…. Have you forgotten that everything is your fault!”

“That’s……”

“To you, who harbored the fiercest resentments and the most desperate of pleas in the world, I granted you a favor. However, you show hatred for the very same? Despite not having any differences between you and I, that is.”

“……”

“I shall speak with confidence. No matter who rises to the seat that you possess, the results will be the same. No matter how much they claim that they are the best, none will be able to save everyone! Do you understand? Stop struggling already and accept your fate, Karupedan.”

“Shut up….. That’s none of my concern. For the young lady who struggled for those long years in pain, I will kill you. As if you never existed in the first place! I will get rid of you.”

“Poor little thing. Despite it being your fault…..”

“YAAA!”

In an instant, Barub’s eyes were on Min-Cheol.

In the eyes of Min-Cheol, who had made good distance ahead of time and was frozen still to where he stood, there was a rage present instead of fear.

He could sense it from frequent battles he went through.

That these existences weren’t something he could approach with the powers that he currently possessed.

He did talk big to Barub before, but it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to do so any longer after seeing this situation.

It was expected of a normal human.

Barub spoke while continuing to defend against Karupedan.

“Human.”

“…..”

“Do you still feel pity for her?”

“Huh……”

A single sentence from Barub and Min-Cheol could also see Karupedan’s past.

Karupedan’s pain and Gera’s wounds to boot. Almost as if he had experienced them himself, these memories came that vividly.

Panting out of breath, Min-Cheol looked at Barub. And he then waited for Barub’s words.

It wasn’t anything like what a normal human would act like.

“This is the true nature of you humans. You must’ve thought that you were different. Looking at Karupedan, who had risen to the seat of godhood, as if looking at a psychopath, you must’ve condemned her.”

“……”

“Do you think that if I gave you the chance opportunity, things would be different?”

“It would probably be the same.”

“Kuha. As expected, you really aren’t a normal human. However, do you remember what you said when you sought me out?”

“I told you to stop.”

“That’s right. However, I couldn’t figure out what you meant I should stop. Answer me. Just what do you humans want from a god?”

“The suffering you created. Most probably seek to be freed from that. Gera and Karupedan. It is probably the same for other humans in the present.”

“Suffering? KUHAHAHA! Have you concluded that I was the one who created that!”

“……”

“I have never done so. Humans and any other creations for that matter, I did not bestow anything even akin to suffering. You all were the ones to create that. Disease, war, famine, murder. Despite being all human, you take sides and divide by social status. All of you.”

“I acknowledge that. But you know, warranty is offered even for products. We’re talking about life here. But you’re just going to leave it be? I’m saying that turning all the blame onto us is wrong. Do you understand?”

“Whew….. You speak words that do not match with your personal feelings. To say something like that, despite not being able to even consider fighting against me. Sure. What will you do? Like what you said to me before, do you plan to fight against me?”

“So in conclusion, you will turn a rare breed of crazy into your enemy?”

“Human. Leave this place. I will kill her. I do not wish for you to get involved as well.”

I could hear Karupedan’s curt but loud voice.

“Kuhaha! Amusing. So very amusing! Has an enemy of yesterday become my ally today?”

“This is between you and I. I was the one who had that gotten that human involved. He has nothing to do with this. So let him go.”

“The door is always open. If you go through that door to the human realm, then you will be able live on with only the memory of this place erased as a price.”

“…..”

“Do you worry about what will happen after Karupedan dies? There is no need. I do not wish the destroy the world that I have created, after all. Do your best to survive in it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the next one to take the seat of godhood. Kuhahah!”

“It is always open….. So that means that I don’t have to leave right away, right?”

“That depends on what you want to do.”

“Since I don’t know when I’ll be able to see a spectacle like this, I’ll just watch quietly from a corner. That’s fine, right?”

“Kuhu. You really are someone I can’t get a read on.”

With those words, Barub’s eyes that were on Min-Cheol moved away.

Karupedan’s goodwill towards Min-Cheol out of feeling bad after all she made him go through didn’t last long.

That was because a much more intense emotion of rage was consuming her.

Min-Cheol naturally made greater distance between them. The fight between Karupedan and Barub was beginning proper.

Barub, who had only been on the defensive, began to let out their killing intent, as if ready to fight with all their might.

From Karupedan’s form radiated a wave of heat like the sun.

Transparent blue flames covered her form, and the area around her seemed to have its light stolen, with the heat intense enough to bend the air around her.

Contrasting that, Barub’s form was coated in intense frost.

It was powerful enough to freeze the very atmosphere itself.

It seemed like Awakened magicians of two polar opposite elements were facing each other, but the power they were displaying were on another level.

Powers that were contrary to one another. The first one to attack first was Karupedan.

Thousands of flames poured out from Karupedan’s body, heading towards Barub.

The flames that landed on Barub’s body were connected to Karupedan’s body, similar to straws being placed into a cup.

“Do you really think that you have a chance at victory, Karupedan.”

The pillars of fires that reached Barub’s body began to wane before disappearing.

While keeping the blue glow, the flames had become frozen.

To think that flames had become frozen. Something that didn’t make any logical sense and was beyond comprehension was happening right before me.

The more flames that were frozen, the greater power did Karupedan let out in the hopes that her attacks would reach them.

It was then.

“Ugh!”

“You are but one of my toys.”

The flames that were used to attack Barub had become like poison to come back towards Karupedan.

In the blink of an eye, the frost had traced the flames back to its original owner.

Letting out a frighteningly destructive sound, the frost traveled fiercely, reaching Karupedan’s body and leaving a dark wound.

From Karupedan’s mouth came a quiet grunt of pain.

From the start, the chance for Karupedan to win was incredibly low.

Her title may be Unrivaled Goddess, but the power was created by Barub, and that title was nothing more than being seated by Barub into that position.

A transcendent existence that created the peerless existence. To fight against that power was impossible to begin with.

It was already amazing that they could trade attacks back and forth like this already.

One might think that Barub would be able to take back the power they bestowed upon Karupedan with ease, but that wasn’t possible.

Since they had given a portion of their powers to Karupedan, just like how Min-Cheol had obtained the power of the other gods, they could only recover their power back from her by killing her and stealing it back.

However, the continued attacks showed the massive difference in power.

It was an indication that it wouldn’t be that difficult for them to reobtain their power back from her.

Karupedan charged forward at speeds which Min-Cheol couldn’t even fully register with his eyes.

Power compressed in both her hands connected with Barub, but they were easily stopped without much effort.

Her hands that were caught in Barub’s grasp cooled before being crushed in a horrifying manner and being pushed aside.

Her body recovered her form in no time, but I could easily notice that her fighting spirit had been cut down by a lot.

At this rate, it seemed that the victor would be decided before long.

It was then.

As if Karupedan had decided on something, she was compressing power with a determined expression.

“Fool….. If you didn’t learn the truth and lived on, you would’ve been able to keep your life at the least.”

“…..”