Chapter 1333

Chapter 1333

Pillars gathering together in a single place? There was never a case like that before. Why? Because they were the greatest people in the world, and if they stayed in one place together, they would clash most of the time.

Yet, three Pillars gathered together in this place and stared at Chaos. Chaos knew that he could not underestimate these Pillars. He could not move recklessly and order them around just because he was the one who created the position of the Pillars.

As for Minhyuk, a lot had changed for him in just one year. He obtained the power to lead all the gods in the Land of the Gods, seized the throne, and became the Pillar of the Gourmands. Like Minhyuk had said, he and Chaos were now on equal footing.

Chaos glanced at Zearte. Zearte, who was about to pee his pants once again, finally escaped the fear and terror that the Evil God had brought upon him when Chaos appeared. Zearte declared, “Please leave it to me. I can easily kill someone like that.”

Chaos was the owner and master of these two people and knew their exact data. Ruba was around Level 1,100 while Zearte was at around Level 1,400. That was not their only difference. Ruba was merely a human commander, while Zearte was one of the Pillar Candidates in the past. Of course, Zearte did not know this or any of his memories.

Chaos saw how confident Zearte was. All of the data in his hands dictated that of the two, Zearte was the better one, regardless of whether Ruba had eaten Minhyuk’s dish. He did not want to get caught up any longer in this very exhausting situation, so he agreed.

[Alright.]

Then, the notification rang.

[Chaos has accepted the bet.]

[If you lose the bet, Ruba and the evaluators must follow Chaos.]

[If you win the bet, Ruba and the evaluators will be free.]

[If you win the bet, Chaos must reveal the truth.]

Finally, Zearte and Ruba stepped forward.

***

About a hundred or so evaluators previously disposed of were temporarily awakened after being summoned by Zearte. Every single one of them followed and believed Chaos unquestioningly.

They all believed that Chaos created them so that they could help maintain the balance of the world. They all thought that Chaos had created them, the people who were not chosen to be born, and they regarded him as their father.

Still, there was something that they could not understand.

“What are they talking about? Reveal the truth?”

“Isn’t that just plain bullshit? Lord Chaos had said so himself earlier, right? He made us all with his own hands.”

He created them with his own hands. That was why they were indebted to him. That was why they showed absolute loyalty and blind faith toward Chaos.

Then, one of the evaluators murmured, “If we weren’t born from Lord Chaos’ hands, then...”

“What nonsense are you on? That’s ridiculous!”

“This punk! Do you want me to kill you myself? Stop bringing shame to Lord Chaos!”

“There’s something strange.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to another one of the evaluators.

“I visited a kingdom to evaluate a candidate before. But when I got there, there was this crazy old man who kept on crying and shouting that I was his son.”

“Isn’t that old man just batshit crazy?”

“I experienced something similar.”

Their gazes focused on another evaluator.

“I passed by a village once. And when one of the women saw me, she sobbed. She said she did not know how I was alive when I was clearly announced dead. She also said that I was her husband.”

They all fell into silence. But amidst that silence, the seeds of doubt had already sprouted.

Then, someone said, “Did Chaos truly create us?”

If that was not the case, then what was the truth? All of them turned to look at Zearte and Ruba.

***

Zearte’s expression grew ugly when he heard the whispers of the evaluators. He snapped, “How dare you doubt Lord Chaos!”

He was their father. He created these poor and pitiful souls, who were not blessed to be chosen and born to someone.

“You bastard, you’re the reason for all of this,” Zearte sneered, his gaze filled with arrogance.

He knew the current captain’s evaluation. Although Ruba was outstanding, compared to Zearte in his heyday, he was nothing. No. His standards could be said to be laughable.

“I’ll cut off your arms and your legs.”

Ruba just looked at Zearte. Unlike Zearte, his gaze was not filled with hatred or anger. Instead, it was filled with pity and sorrow.

Minhyuk looked at Ruba bitterly. He thought,

‘The rest is up to you.’

This was all Minhyuk could do for him. If Ruba lost here, then he had to follow Chaos’ orders. Minhyuk would also be in danger if he crossed the line he had been toeing earlier.

Ruba glanced at the evaluators that Zearte had summoned earlier. He thought about their stories and wondered about the pain they would feel once they learned of this truth. Ruba’s grip on his sword tightened.

‘The reason why I proposed this bet...’

Minhyuk’s heart thumped as he looked at Ruba.

‘Because I know.’

He had seen Ruba’s past. He had seen how Ruba, a commander of an empire, slaughtered millions of monsters and survived. Yes, the reason why Minhyuk proposed the bet was because he knew Ruba was strong. And of course, there were other reasons too. Ruba, who had awakened his memories, must know about this too. Also...

‘He ignores all data.’

Chaos believed in his data. But Ruba’s data in Chaos’ hands was from the past. Now that Ruba was out of his hands, he no longer had any data on him.

The first to move was Zearte. Light flashed, and he appeared in front of Ruba. Their swords immediately clashed.

Clang!

Zearte’s every blow was so powerful that Ruba would stumble with every clash. But Zearte was not done. He quickly moved behind Ruba and raised his sword. At that moment, Ruba took half a step back and hit Zearte’s abdomen hard with the hilt of his sword.

Thud!

Ruba’s sword moved swiftly and gracefully, like the waves of water, as he swung in all directions.

‘This insignificant sword is nothing...!’

Zearte scoffed.

Ruba’s movements were so monotonous and so easy to see through. And because Ruba was much slower than he was, he could see all his movements. But the insignificant sword suddenly changed its trajectory and cut through Zearte’s chest.

Swoosh!

Zearte looked down at the blood spurting down his chest in confusion.

‘As expected.’

Who was Zearte? Minhyuk did not know who he was or what he had achieved. But Minhyuk knew Ruba. Ruba was the commander who led his soldiers into the battlefield. He fought alone and slaughtered millions of monsters to go home. He crossed through millions of battlefronts and fought countless battles.

Of course, there would always be indescribably strong people, and Zearte fell into that category. But there were times when those with skills and experience exerted much stronger power than those with only higher physical strength and stamina.

Zearte’s swordsmanship was much more excellent and elaborate than Ruba’s own. However, Ruba’s swordsmanship had been honed by his countless life and death battles and was much sharper than Zearte's.

Clang! Clang, clang! Clang!

Ruba swung his sword rapidly, putting pressure upon the great and mighty Zearte. Unfortunately, a bright light erupted within Zearte, immediately reversing the situation.

[Evaluator’s Judgment.]

The power that could only be mastered and used by the most excellent and outstanding among the Pillar Evaluators, Zearte, was coming into existence. The Evaluator’s Judgment was a power that allowed the skill user to read all the paths the enemy’s sword would take while increasing their speed by more than 20%. It was not just that. Even the attack power, the defensive power, and their physical abilities had risen significantly.

Zearte’s sword ripped through the air and tore Ruba’s body apart in a flash of light.

Swoosh!

The attack almost cut Ruba’s left arm off, leaving it hanging by just a thread. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and got back on his feet. Although one of his arms was slightly shaky and regenerating, Ruba stood tall and did not back down.

‘I knew that the evaluators have regenerative abilities...’

Swoosh!

Just then, something unusual happened. Ruba’s regenerative abilities went far beyond what Minhyuk already knew about the evaluators’ regenerative abilities. The area that had already been almost cut off regenerated at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. It was beyond common sense.

[The Phenomenal Battle Will has been activated.]

Minhyuk had seen the Battle Will in Ruba’s memories. He was pretty shocked to witness this power firsthand.

What Ruba wanted was to survive. He wanted to live and go back to his family’s arms. He tried to find a way to kill all the enemies in front of him. And all of these combined triggered the Phenomenal Battle Will.

At this moment, Minhyuk realized something about the power. He thought,

‘It’s a power created from a mere human body.’

Yet this power possessed strength and force that went far beyond that of a god’s power.

‘Why?’

This power allowed the one who triggered it to become stronger and surpass their limits and restrictions, just with their will and intent.

Zearte’s sword once again cut through Ruba’s body. But Ruba gritted his teeth despite the blood spurting from his chest and his body that was almost crumbling into nothingness.

He wanted to live and survive the battlefield. He did not want to die because if he died, then he would not be able to name his child. So, even if he got bitten by monsters or stabbed by his enemy’s sword without mercy, he continued to fight.

Ruba had already become a human who had transcended the limits of the human body. And that was thanks to his Phenomenal Battle Will alone. He could trigger the fighting spirit solely because he wanted to show the truth to everyone.

“I’m going to reveal it...!!!”

Swoosh!!!

An attack landed upon Ruba that broke around three or four of his ribs. However, Ruba continued, his eyes growing bloodshot by the second.

“...The truth of that day!!!”

[Phenomenal Battle Will.]

[Your body has grown stronger by an entire realm because of your mental power that has gone beyond common sense.]

“Look, Chaos! I’m the only one who can do this!”

[Phenomenal Battle Will.]

[...because of your mental power that has gone beyond common sense.]

[Phenomenal Battle Will.]

[...because of your mental power that has gone beyond common sense.]

[Phenomenal Battle Will.]

[...because of your mental power that has gone beyond common sense.]

Ruba was cut, ripped, torn apart. Regardless, he could quickly recover and regenerate his entire body because of his will to fight.

Fwoosh!

Ruba swung his sword. And Zearte? He was left stunned as the sword got stuck in his neck. Unfortunately, the blow failed to cut off his neck completely. Ruba held his sword tightly.

“Why?! Why are you... doing this?!” Zearte screamed, his voice warping as blood gurgled out of his mouth. Zearte could not understand as he grabbed the sword that was slowly cutting through his throat.

“I have my own story. I have my own life.”

Drip, drip, drip!

Blood gushed out of Zearte’s throat as it began to regenerate slowly.

[The Eight Pillars of the world have sensed a power equivalent to that of a Pillar Disaster. They all turn their gaze and pay attention to the owner of the power.]

The Phenomenal Battle Will, a power that allowed Ruba to break through his limits several times over, had shaken the world.

[All of the members of the Eight Pillars are staring at the man who wants to know and reveal the truth.]

[The Pillar of the Gourmands says that he remembers his story.]

“You’re the one who took away my life and my chance to become a father to my own family!!!” Ruba snarled as he pulled the sword out of Zearte’s throat and looked at Chaos.

Fwoosh!

When his sword was free, he began stabbing Zearte like crazy.

“Keuhaaaaack!” Zearte screamed, his legs giving way from both exhaustion and pain.

“God of the world! You’re the one who made my wife and my child wallow in sadness and tears!!!”

[The Phenomenal Battle Will has temporarily given you strength close to the Pillar Disaster.]

“Tell me the truth! Tell me who I am!!!”

Ruba’s anguished cries echoed all over the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“You...”

His voice reached the ears of all of the evaluators present.

Those who had families of their own.

Those who had goals.

Those who had a reason to live.

They were robbed of their identity and their lives and were reduced to nothing but mere possession.

“We!!!”

Those who were deprived of their memories and trampled on like they were nothing because they were weak...

“TELL US WHO WE ARE!!!”

Shwaaaa!

The Evaluators’ Swordsmanship, a sword that carried a sharper power than ordinary swords, pierced through Zearte.

Chaos remained silent. He just stared arrogantly at Ruba as he shed tears of blood and swung his sword at Zearte.

Bang!!!

At that moment, Zearte activated his secret skill. Zearte’s secret skill gave him the power to destroy and shatter Ruba’s sword. The shattered fragments of Ruba’s sword shot toward him.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Ruba stared blankly at his sword, which was reduced to hundreds of fragments before him. Zearte remained confident of his victory. Chaos had remained silent and unperturbed because he was confident of the data that he had on hand. He firmly believed that the data he had was foolproof and unchanged.

Ruba jumped up. He grabbed one of the fragments of his shattered sword that were now embedded deeply into his skin. He shouted, “My name is Ruba. I am the commander of the Adures Empire’s imperial army!!!”

He was just a human being, not the Captain Evaluator.

Blood flowed from the hand that was holding onto the fragment of his sword. This blood slowly dripped down and aimed for Zearte’s neck.

Nonetheless, Chaos knew the outcome already. Why? Because Zearte’s sword was already heading for Ruba’s neck. The result would be Zearte standing in front of Ruba and cutting off his head, just that, plain and simple. Everything had gone as Chaos had expected. After all, everything was based on the comprehensive data that he had on hand. And they were 100% accurate.

Chaos remained silent. He just grinned at the cry that demanded to know the truth. He laughed at the ridiculous variables that took place in this balanced world. He found them to be quite... interesting.

At that moment, something very unusual happened. The sword about to cut off Ruba’s head stopped in its tracks. The blade had already cut a piece of Ruba’s flesh, but...

Swoosh!

In the data that Chaos had firmly believed in, a variable had squeezed and forced its way out.

Zearte, who was about to collapse, grabbed Ruba’s shoulder. Through his still bleeding mouth, he wept and cried, “Is it true? Is there another truth...?”

Zearte lost on his own. The fighting spirit and the firm will he felt through Ruba’s power had changed his thoughts.

Chaos’ pupils shook. The data that he firmly believed in was now in the process of being destroyed.

“There is. We have real names and lives. And we were deprived of them.”

Zearte laughed as he collapsed on the ground.

“Tell us. Tell us the truth.”