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Chapter 62: The Demon’s Mouth (3)

Crockta thought about what someone once said.

‘The world is a parabola.’

Suddenly, a line of light rose in the darkness. A flame as small and frail as a firefly drew a smooth curve as it flew up into the air.

‘Things that rise eventually sink.’

Once the flame hit its peak, it fell and disappeared without a trace as if there had been nothing since the beginning. There was only darkness.

‘Like that small thing, a speck of dust consumed by the void.’

Crockta raised his eyes. He was on the battlefield.

‘This is the world.’

The sky was red, and the earth was black. Countless people were dying and killing one another where the sky and the earth merged. Orcs and humans were charging toward each other. It was a war filled with countless moments of life and death.

One human screamed in pain as his head was sent flying into the air. The orc who had chopped off his head let out a triumphant roar, but it was followed by someone stabbing the orc in the head.

Blood continued to spray everywhere as swords collided on the battlefield.

Crockta’s field of vision changed. The battlefield in his view grew smaller while moving farther and farther away from him until he saw the horizon. Then the horizon moved farther away until he saw the continent and then the waters surrounding the continent. His vision continued zooming out until he saw the outline of a round planet.

The cosmos was so vast that the cries of the trifling creatures on the planet were imperceptible. The endlessly expanding view made even the stars appear like tiny dots.

The way Crockta’s consciousness headed endlessly into the darkness made him realize that even a galaxy was just a speck of dust in the universe. The universe was a time and space where everything temporarily rose and fell, but even the universe was ultimately a single dot.

‘The core of the world is emptiness.’

Life and death were just fleeting moments.

Crockta tried to anchor his fatigued mind, but the darkness and its emptiness enveloped him. His dreams as well as feelings of depression, emptiness, and resignation suddenly pulled him back up from the abyss.

However, what was the point? If he was going to fall anyways, it was meaningless to rise and fall.

Suddenly, someone called out to him, “Oppa, what are you doing?”

Yi-An raised his head. “Huh?”

He looked around him. He was in Café Reason.

‘Ah, right.’

Yi-An’s sister, Yi-Yoo was demanding a café latte from him while visiting the café after school. He had been thinking about something else for a moment though.

Yi-Yoo squinted her eyes as she asked, “What were you thinking about?”

“Huh... Nothing.”

“Focus. You are the owner,” said Yi-Yoo with a laugh.

Yi-An laughed back.

Then Yi-Yoo’s face melted, and her flesh trickled down. It was no longer his sister Yi-Yoo who was looking at him but a skeleton with empty eyeholes.

“Ah...” Jung Yi-An jolted back in surprise.

‘Anything that rises with life ultimately sinks.’

Yi-Yoo, now a skeleton, tilted her head. Yi-An was unable to steady himself and stumbled.

Suddenly, a voice next to him said, “Boss, what are you doing?”

It was Han Yeo-Ri’s voice.

Yi-An fumbled as he grabbed her arm. “Yeo-Ri, that thing— This... Yi-Yoo...”

He felt a chill in his hands. When he turned his head to look, a white skeleton was smiling at him.

“Huh?” said Han Yeo-Ri.

‘People smile at life and cry at death, but life is just a fleeting moment, whereas death is eternal.’

Yi-An froze while the world began to melt.

In the infinity of time, life was a fleeting moment that sank into the eternal darkness. A boundless emptiness grabbed him. It seized him by the hair and commanded him to gaze into the core of the darkness.

It seemed to say, “Look. This is the world.”

Crockta’s surroundings collapsed, and he was now standing in the darkness again. The Demon\'s Mouth was smiling at his waist.

He had to overcome his distorted perception and win over the darkness to regain his grasp of himself. No, victories and defeats were also meaningless, short-lived moments. Ultimately, all thoughts were fleeting bubbles that briefly emerged before converging into emptiness.

Crockta lowered his head as the thing at his waist relentlessly whispered to him about the concept of emptiness. Thoughts of evil and emptiness jumbled together in his mind. His body swelled up as if it were about to explode. His blood vessels expanded, and vomit emerged from his mouth.

Crockta’s soul cried out, ‘The world is filled with emptiness.’

***

Tiyo was currently running toward the bunker with the guards.

The ogres had suddenly become quiet, and the wyverns and other monsters had stopped to look into the distance. Although Tiyo and the guards were taken aback by the monsters’ sudden quietude, they had no time to waste. Tiyo swiftly led away the guards, who moved in perfect order at Tiyo’s command.

“The monsters are calm! This is our only chance! Escape!” yelled Tiyo.

The gnomes ran. However, once they were closer to the building with the bunker, the ground began shaking. The gnomes lost their balance and fell. Tiyo, who had been supporting the guards from the back, could barely keep himself from falling too.

Then he looked behind him. Something was walking toward them. It was large but smaller than an ogre, and it seemed familiar but also strange at the same time. With green skin, a frightening face, a strong muscular body, and a greatsword on his back—it was Crockta.

Yet, Tiyo instinctively drew back. He knew that wasn’t really Crockta.

An unknown dark energy branched out from the orc, whose eyes were blood red. Ogres, trolls, and other monsters followed behind him. Wyverns circled around his head and let out eerie screams.

Crockta raised his hand and pointed at Tiyo and the gnome guards. The monsters behind him then charged toward the gnomes. The ogres stomped on the ground as they ran to Tiyo.

Without the time to regroup into formation, the gnomes just stared at the monsters blankly. Tiyo even lowered his muzzle. Resistance was futile.

The ogres soon surrounded the gnomes and then cleared a path for Crockta. The gnomes watched as he walked toward them and noticed how the monsters moved at his every gesture as if he was their commander. It was then that Tiyo discovered the belt hanging from Crockta’s waist.

“...!” Everything suddenly made sense to Tiyo.

That had been the problem all along. The reason the monsters had become violent and attacked the city—it was all because of that cursed artifact! And Crockta, who had come to that realization, had tried to fight against the Demon\'s Mouth to save Quantes, but he had gotten devoured by it.

Tiyo gritted his teeth and raised the General. Before the ogres could react, the General’s muzzle began spewing fire.

However, Crockta swung his greatsword and split the magic bullet in an instant. Then an ogre swung its fist.

“Ack!” Tiyo’s small body flew into the air from the impact of the Ogre’s punch.

After Tiyo’s head hit the ground, he felt nauseous and began retching. When he raised his head back up, he found the orc was looking down at him. The orc with the red eyes was no longer the honorable warrior Crockta that Tiyo knew.

“Grrr...” the orc growled.

Crockta had been consumed by the artifact’s madness and was now something evil. He raised his greatsword.

Tiyo closed his eyes.

Just as the greatsword was about to stab him, Tiyo began singing, “We are orcs... strong orcs...”

The greatsword stopped in midair.

“A great warrior is here, make way...”

This was the orc warrior song that the heavily intoxicated Crockta had taught the gnome guards when they were celebrating their victory over the ogres. Tiyo was singing that ridiculous song right now.

“Get out, humans... Get out, elves... Get out, dwarves... You too, gnomes...”

Crockta’s greatsword was trembling. Tiyo opened one eye and looked at Crockta’s distorted face.

Tiyo grinned, “What are you doing, Crockta?”

“...”

“Why don’t you make this gnome get out?” teased Tiyo.

The greatsword didn’t budge. As if fighting something invisible, it trembled, swaying up and down. The belt’s steel teeth began to twitch, then it opened its mouth. Its blade-like steel teeth got ready to charge at the impudent gnome taunting its host and then sprung out when the greatsword moved.

***

Crockta groaned in the abyss while the demon inside the belt whispered to him continuously. Everything Crockta had valued was crumbling down as the demon that nourished on despair dominated his body. He vaguely sensed that he was trying to stab Tiyo right now, but he didn’t care. Everyone died in the end anyway. Yet, when his greatsword inched toward Tiyo’s body, Crockta temporarily regained control over his body and stopped the greatsword from advancing further. He tried to persist against the demon, but it continued to whisper about the futility of resistance while inflicting pain on Crockta.

It was the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart. Physical pain was nothing compared to this pain in his soul. Unable to withstand the pain, Crockta succumbed to it, allowing the demon to take control.

Right when the demon was about to swallow Tiyo, Crockta groaned, “Give me strength... to not submit to this. Someone, anyone... give me strength.”

At that moment, there was an explosion of light—a blinding flash. Crockta closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he found a familiar face standing in front of him.

“Ah...?” gasped Crockta.

“Hey, it’s been a while, Crockta.”

It was him—the guardian of the sunrise and the pale blue flag-bearer that guided others through dark paths. He was the teacher of orc sorcerers... Tashaquil.

“It’s you...?”

?“You’ve been up to a lot these days, hahaha,” said Tashaquil.

He waved his staff, and the world stood still. They were able to view the halted scene—the sight of Tiyo on the ground, the greatsword that was about to strike him, and the Demon\'s Mouth that was about to swallow him—from the perspective of an uninvolved third party.

“Tashaquil, how are you...?”

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. I’m not Tashaquil. I’m more like a residual memory that was left by him... The real me is probably at Orcrox or Basque Village.” He poked at the Demon\'s Mouth springing from Crockta’s waist and smiled. “Have you forgotten? I gave you strength before you departed from Orcrox.”

Right then, Crockta’s memories came alive. When he last said farewell to Tashaquil, Tashaquil had cast a spell on him.

The message window had said:

[Tashaquil is granting you unknown powers.]

[An unidentifiable strength has settled inside your body.]

“It will help you one day,” Tashaquil had said.

Crockta remembered now.

He asked, “Tashaquil, what should I do now?”

“Well... I don’t know either,” replied Tashaquil.

“Huh?”

Tashaquil smiled. “It’s actually a lie.”

“Huh?”

“The spell that the real me cast on you doesn’t have the power to help you, Crockta,” said Tashaquil as he waved his staff with a smile.

“...”

“It’s just intended to tell you what you want to hear when your time of need comes.”

“What I want to hear...?”

“Yes.”

Crockta didn’t understand.

“What do you want me to say?” asked Tashaquil.

“I...”

“If you want to rest, I can put your mind at ease,” said Tashaquil while pointing at the Demon\'s Mouth. “That is too strong. You tried your best, so it’s okay to relax a bit. How about it?”

As he spoke, Tashaquil seemed to be laughing at Crockta.

Crockta furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you saying?”

“Ohh, was that not it?”

“No.”

“It’s a no...” Tashaquil swung his staff and struck Crockta’s head.

“Ahh!”

“Then, there’s only one thing I can say.”

“What is that?”

“Any other orc would have said the same thing I’m about to tell you. Don’t you already know?” Tashaquil laughed.

Crockta raised his eyes.

“Listen,” Tashaquil said.

“Yes.”

“I will only say it once.”

“Understood.” Crockta cocked his ear toward Tashaquil as the latter spoke.

***

The moment the Demon\'s Mouth sprung out from the belt to rip apart Tiyo’s neck, Crockta’s greatsword smacked it away.

The Demon\'s Mouth twisted its body like a snake and then opened its mouth to let out a strange shriek. It screamed in agony as it bared its teeth at Crockta. Crockta grabbed what seemed to be the Demon’s Mouth’s neck. The steel teeth tried to bite Crockta’s face but ultimately retreated helplessly. Dark energy rose in clouds from the belt, but Crockta smiled this time.

“Are you afraid of emptiness?” asked Crockta.

The Demon\'s Mouth uttered another strange shriek and tried to bite Crockta again.

“Are you that afraid of death even though it’s inevitable?”

“Kyaaahhhhhh!” screamed the Demon’s Mouth.

“Is that why you are making such a fuss and tormenting others?” asked Crockta.

The Demon\'s Mouth bit Crockta’s arm. Even as Crockta grunted from the pain, he didn’t let go of its neck.

Crockta swallowed his pain as he said, “I will give you the answer you want.”

The darkness that flowed out from the Demon\'s Mouth swallowed him, and his field of vision turned black. Crockta once again faced the thing inside the darkness. The darkness trembled and threatened Crockta, but Crockta did not waver this time.

He said, “The world is not filled with emptiness.”

The thing inside the darkness stopped. The darkness grew thinner.

Crockta continued, “Even if the world ends one day, life is not meaningless.”

The thing shouted inside the darkness, “What do you mean?!”

“Isn’t that the answer you wanted to hear?” asked Crockta as he stared beyond the darkness.

Now, he could see clearly. Although the thing inside the darkness tried to hide while continuing to scream, it was cowering and trembling in fear. The thing had witnessed the end of the world and had been frightened out of its wits after facing the darkness of the universe.

“I will say it again. Death is not the end,” declared Crockta.

The thing was now silently looking back at Crockta.

It said, “Prove it.”

“How?” asked Crockta.

It jumped up and screamed at Crockta, “Aren’t you the one who said it?!”

The thing had the form of a child composed of darkness.

“Do you want to know?” asked Crockta.

The thing didn’t respond.

Crockta said, “Then, follow me. I will prove it to you.”

“...”

Crockta added, with more force this time, “With my life.”

The thing leaned toward him. It was a subtle movement, but Crockta noticed it.

Then he repeated, “I will prove it with my life.”

Crockta could now see the true nature of the thing composed of darkness. It was a demon drowning in despair.

The demon smiled. Then... the darkness lifted.

***

When the darkness that had surrounded him lifted, Crockta no longer saw the Demon\'s Mouth that had been threatening him. As if it had always been that way, it returned to looking like a normal steel belt and kept its mouth shut.

Crockta commanded, “Send them back.”

The Demon’s Mouth twitched disapprovingly and then let out an incomprehensible sound.

After that, the monsters began leaving Quantes. The wyverns that had been circling the sky caught ogres and trolls and flew back to where they had come from. It was an entrancing sight.

Then, a message window popped up.

[The Belt of Despair (Hero) is bound to you.]

[You cannot handle the belt’s power yet. The belt’s power will be limited.]

[The demon is now asleep.]

Crockta gazed at Tiyo, who was still collapsed on the ground. Tiyo looked up at Crockta and extended his hand.

“Have you come to your senses?” asked Tiyo.

“Of course,” replied Crockta.

“Thank goodness.”

Crockta grasped Tiyo’s hand and pulled him up.

“Crockta,” said Tiyo.

“Hmm?”

“I want to go to the north with you,” declared Tiyo.