I Became Jörmungandr In A Fantasy World

Chapter 46

[.......]

It was astonishing.

Another version of myself, who had pushed the limits of human potential, was incredibly strong.

Honestly, I felt a sense of respect. How much effort and suffering must he have endured to obtain such power?

It must have been an endless struggle. From the way his strikes landed, I could tell how much he had dedicated himself to overcoming impossible odds.

How does one defeat a god?

How does one overcome an opponent stronger than oneself?

All the time, effort, and years he had invested were now pressuring me, a being who had achieved godhood.

To be honest...

I thought there was a chance I could lose if this continued.

Sure, his attacks didn’t work on me as effectively anymore.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that his accumulated experience wasn’t limited to what I had already seen.

I watched him quietly.

There was a relentless surge of new energy emanating from him, distorting the surrounding space and warping reality itself.

If that’s the case,

I should give it my all as well.

In every moment, every second, I must find a way to become stronger.

I swung my tail.

The immense mass of the attack shot towards the Sword Warrior.

"......."

The warrior raised his sword.

No longer would such brute force suffice.

His sword twisted in a peculiar way.

The tail, which had shot towards him at breakneck speed, suddenly found itself separated by an infinite layering of space.

The layers of space were overwhelming.

At least tens of thousands of spaces overlapped between Jörmungandr and the warrior, creating an enormous distance.

Even though Jörmungandr could tear through space with ease, breaking through tens of thousands of layers in an instant was impossible.

Jörmungandr’s tail appeared to be frozen in mid-air.

But in reality, it wasn’t.

His tail was moving at speeds far beyond the speed of sound, shattering hundreds of spaces in an instant.

As the massive tail approached,

Lee Jihoon prepared his next move.

Spatial Slash.

The Third Form.

——Multiplicity.

In the endlessly overlapping spaces,

He swung his sword once more.

It looked like a simple horizontal and vertical slash.

But the moment those intersecting strikes collided with the countless overlapping spaces,

——Crack, crack, crack, crack!

The numerous spaces amplified the power of his strike.

He crossed one space.

That space increased the speed of his strike.

He crossed another space.

That space increased the mass of his strike.

He crossed yet another space.

That space added sharpness, killing intent, divinity, fury, hatred, longing, and desire to his strike.

Countless attributes,

Countless spaces,

All layered and intertwined, adding strength to his seemingly ordinary strike.

His slash, now beyond the speed of light,

Shot forward in an instant.

——Slash!

A chilling sound echoed.

Jörmungandr’s tail, which had seemed invulnerable to any attack, was severed in an instant.

It was an overwhelming slash.

Even Jörmungandr, who had twisted his body at the last moment, would have been completely bisected if he hadn’t reacted.

His slash no longer adhered to the rules of physical mass.

No matter how dense or tough something was,

His slash could cut through anything.

For the first time, Jörmungandr’s tail was severed.

Though shocked, he quickly assessed the situation.

The severed tip of his tail

Suddenly dissolved into the void.

——Fsss....

As the tail disintegrated into ash,

The warrior was about to dismiss it when—

"......?!"

He suddenly felt his legs give out.

——Clang!

Quick thinking.

Lee Jihoon drove his sword into the ground to stabilize himself, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve as he frowned.

‘...Poison.’

There was no scent,

No sign,

No warning.

It was truly a formless poison.

For a moment, the Sword Warrior felt as though his very existence was melting away.

It wasn’t far from the truth.

The poison that Jörmungandr had spread throughout the space was mercilessly tearing apart and dissolving his nerves.

This level of poison

Would have annihilated most gods before they even realized they were dying.

But...

If that was the case...

If it was all the same,

If I couldn’t succeed even as myself...

"Then you shouldn’t have brought me here."

If that were the case,

I wouldn’t have to suffer like this.

"......."

I couldn’t protect anything.

Not anyone, not anything.

I couldn’t save them.

——Run, Jihoon...!

——I trust you. So, when you defeat the Demon King and return...

——I love you. I long for you.

Memories resurfaced.

"......."

All the timelines where I had failed.

All the moments I had shared with her.

Every one of those moments...

They resurfaced, then sank back into oblivion.

——Clench!

Blood dripped from the hand that tightly gripped the sword.

"Why, why, why...!!!"

Why couldn’t I protect anything?

Failures continued to pile up.

The first failure was agonizing.

For some reason, I was sent back thousands of years in the past.

I spent decades in a daze, having lost my mind.

Afterward...

I was born again, waiting only to reunite with her.

I swung my sword.

I killed the hated Demon King.

I thought it was all over.

I thought I had saved the world.

I thought I had protected her.

But it wasn’t over.

The cursed world kept bringing forth new monsters.

And they...

Destroyed everything I held dear, without a second thought.

It happened tens of thousands of times.

In all those countless attempts, I couldn’t protect anything.

That’s why.

I came to the conclusion that it was simply impossible to save the world.

I rationalized it,

Justified it to myself, because that was the only way I could stay sane.

But then...

What are you?

Why is it that in your eyes,

I don’t see any despair?

"I have to prove it."

That the years I’ve endured,

The time I’ve crossed,

Everything I’ve lost,

Were not in vain.

——I love you, Jihoon.

Joy welled up within me.

"Ah..."

Yes, that’s it.

Nothing else mattered.

As long as I could protect her,

I would be willing to sacrifice even myself.

At this moment,

The Sword Warrior broke through yet another barrier.

He wasn’t looking at the present.

He was seeing something far beyond, or perhaps something very close.

Facing this new world, the warrior, filled with all the subtlety and joy, swung his sword.

Spatial Slash.

The Fourth Form,

The Fifth Form.

——Annihilation.

——Void.

Two techniques were unleashed,

Directed at the empty space.

——And then.

As the space returned to nothingness,

[......?!]

The colossal serpent, split in two,

Revealed itself.