Chapter 64: To Save You (3)

While Azazel was looking into my eyes to see the future, I carefully considered the information Wolfram had shared.

There was an unexpected contradiction in Shub-Niggurath's attitude.

'She knows that Seolhwa and I are the co-creators of the novel, yet she deliberately twisted our relationship to make us meet again like this.'

First, what Shub-Niggurath originally wanted was probably to see the 'ending' of the discontinued novels.

For that, a confrontation between the final bosses and protagonists was necessary, but now that I had changed their lives, that had become impossible.

'...So she said she wanted to see Seolhwa and me kill each other.'

Even if she possessed Seolhwa's body hoping to see me and Seolhwa, lovers from a past life, kill each other, would an Outer God really want the novel to end this way?

It's common for readers to leave 5,700-character comments or criticisms when they don't like the direction of an author's writing, but...

'Why did the Outer God resurrect Seolhwa? Moreover, she didn't completely erase her mind but allowed her to resist.'

Being an Outer God, she didn't kill us but rather used methods to provoke and elicit reactions.

She could have changed the prize at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering so I couldn't get the Ten Thousand Year Extreme Yang Pill,

She could have killed Wolfram and then revived her corpse to move like her pawn,

She could have killed the protagonists' families and blamed it on me.

'...Could there be some other scheme?'

In fact, I was hoping that Shub-Niggurath had a separate intention. She had been a precious reader who had followed my novel to the end in the past.

The act of writing is like fighting with oneself. The only sanctuary in such a painful act was the readers.

As I was pondering, trying to find what I might be missing,

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

Azazel suddenly started repeating the same words while staring into space. She was rolling her eyes back and even having a nosebleed.

"Snap out of it, Azazel...!"

I tried to awaken her consciousness by calling Azazel's name. But she kept trembling as if she had fallen into madness.

"Verdandi, quickly overlay your Holy Armor on Azazel!"

"Understood...!"

I brought out the countermeasure I had thought of in advance. The armor that provides invincible defense to its wearer should be immune to the Outer God's mental attacks.

Kaang─!

With the sound of vibrating metal, Verdandi's Holy Armor overlaid on Azazel's body. Only then did the color return to her face, and she seemed to regain consciousness.

"Huh, heuuk..."

Azazel took a rough breath, gripping my hand tightly and trembling. It must have been a terrifying experience for her.

Azazel's future visions were experienced as vividly as if she had actually been there. That's why she sometimes confused reality and future visions.

Kang Si-woo's case was a prime example, where he had nurtured his one-sided love fantasy to the point where he didn't even realize he was liking the wrong man.

"Are you alright? Maybe you should sit down and rest..."

I spoke as I watched Azazel stagger while wiping her nosebleed. Her legs were already starting to tangle, making even standing seem precarious.

However,

"No, I'm fine... Thanks to Brother holding my hand, I didn't faint this time."

Azazel shook her head as if she hadn't given up yet.

"You've pushed yourself too hard. All the tentacles on your back have been cut off!"

Azazel was now stubbornly glaring at me, trying to see the future again. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to stop her as she attempted to challenge it once more, perhaps out of stubbornness.

"I got some hint. What Shub-Niggurath wants to see is the 'new ending' that Brother has hidden...!"

Then Azazel brought up what she had seen in her future vision. The scene where Shub-Niggurath descended into this world, directly leading her body in a barren wasteland.

"...What did you say?"

"This place will be destroyed. Without a trace. We had no hope of winning."

Azazel continued, gasping for breath. She said that no matter how we fought at the Ice Dragon Flower Banquet, it seemed we had no chance of winning.

"We won't know unless we try!"

"Everyone will die! We need to find another way! To save everyone here!"

Verdandi pounded her chest with her hand as if to say not to worry, but Azazel let out a scream mixed with tears towards her.

"Shub-Niggurath said she had killed the Demon King and stolen his power...! My future visions won't work anymore!"

She said that the Outer God had beaten Verdandi to the punch, stealing the power of the Demon King, who was originally supposed to be defeated by the hero Verdandi.

It was supposed to be a fake boss appearing in the middle, but why did she choose to kill him and steal his power?

"Calm down, Azazel. Shub-Niggurath won't kill us all."

"Huh, heuuk..."

I stroked Azazel's head to calm her down. Whatever Shub-Niggurath was thinking until now, we would be the ones to win in the end.

It's the author, not the reader, who should decide the direction of the work and move it forward.

"If she really wants to see a new ending, we'll just have to show her one."

I clenched my fist and steeled my resolve. I was determined to create a happy ending where everyone was happy with the current materials and settings.

"Alright, it's all done. So, do you really intend to fight that strange god?"

After repairing the ruined martial arts arena with Wolfram's magic, I had Kim Hyul and Bi Wol, Sieghart and Verdandi face each other.

I had Azazel rest in her room as she seemed to have pushed herself too hard. It wasn't right for her to train in her current physical state.

"Of course. It's the only way."

"Hmm... I guess that's the only way for me to get the Philosopher's Stone back too!"

Wolfram said, supporting the back of her head with her hand. She had tried to find the Philosopher's Stone in the Secret Cave but seemed to have been robbed by Bing Seolhwa.

"Then, I'll explain the martial arts you'll need to master from now on."

I imagined a library in my mind. A place containing all the settings and materials of every work I had conceived. Organizing memories this way made them hard to forget.

'In Bi Wol's case, she needs to perfectly master the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, and for Kim Hyul, he needs to grasp the essence of the Six Harmonies Fist.'

They needed to raise their levels to match the latter part of the original "The King of the Vajra Fist," but I couldn't raise their realms yet as I hadn't entered the state of flower viewing myself.

'...So, we struggle as much as we can.'

If that was the case, we had to minimize weaknesses as much as possible. Whatever I knew, Seolhwa would know too.

"Bi Wol, you'll demonstrate the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique while pointing out the incorrect postures of the Six Harmonies Fist to your opponent."

"Me? I know your words are absolute, Master, but... What if they might betray us?"

Bi Wol showed a worried expression. They had met as enemies at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering just days ago.

It seemed unreasonable to trust such people all at once. After all, they had been in a relationship of trying to kill each other.

However,

"You can trust this master."

The characters from my novel were moving according to their own beliefs and thoughts. Except for cases like Kang Si-woo.

After all, they had their families taken hostage because they couldn't resist Bing Seolhwa's threats, and they were showing willingness to join our side by rescuing Wolfram.

"This world is warmer than you think. Even if you crossed swords yesterday, you might need to fight back-to-back tomorrow."

I spoke slowly while patting Bi Wol's head. Even if I were to die tomorrow, she would have to continue living in this world.

"Then, should we fight too?"

"It's a bit awkward, though."

Seeing me like this, Verdandi raised her hand and expressed her opinion. Sieghart shook his head, saying he didn't want to fight.

"No, it would be better for Sieghart to train in his ability to create swords."

For Sieghart to make even time and space into swords, he needs to go through the process of recognizing it with his body and make painstaking efforts.

Endlessly trying to understand the flow of countless passing times and the place where he is.

"In Verdandi's case, it would be better to learn about the weaknesses of the Holy Armor while sparring with me."

"The weaknesses of the Holy Armor... you say?"

"Yes, originally the Holy Armor is something you summon yourself or that pops out when your life is in danger, so..."

Pakang─!

I created an ice sword in my hand and recited the weaknesses of the Holy Armor to Verdandi.

"...If you die from a strike you didn't notice, the Holy Armor won't activate."

Bringing it to Verdandi's neck, I gave her advice. This was the content where the protagonist failed to defeat the final boss in the original work.

"If we keep this in mind, we might be able to win."

"Why are you so sure?"

Verdandi asked back as if she couldn't understand why I was predicting victory. It was an attitude that completely denied Azazel's future vision.

"Well, since she stole the Demon King's power, wouldn't the hero's holy sword be effective?"

I smiled at everyone and mentioned the mistake Shub-Niggurath had made. Perhaps Seolhwa had struggled and deceived the Outer God.

Because the Demon King and the hero are opposites like black and white, it should be able to deal a blow to the Outer God who seemed to have no weaknesses.