Tomb Raider King : End Line - Chapter 08

========== CHAPTER 8. COCKY BASTARD (3) ==========

Chapter 8. The Cheeky Bastard (3)

Boom!!

Osiris flew far away, slicing through the air. His flashy ornaments were torn and sent flying.

“Next is you, who dared to bare your fangs at your master. Guilty.”

This time, it was Set.

As he raised his hand, it felt as if the air itself was warping. Before he could even react, Set was slammed into the floor.

“You bastard, agreeing to a plan like this. Guilty.”

Finally, Anubis. As if he didn’t care about the power of a grim reaper, Ju-heon smashed his mask with a single punch.

The gold-plated mask shattered, and the god’s form scattered.

However, they were god-tier artifacts. They returned to their original state.

[That won’t work on gods, you know♥]

“……!”

Ju-heon, having noticed something from the moderator’s words, realized his mistake.

[The execution of a god cannot be stopped♥]

[Now, then, let’s resume the execution….]

However, Ju-heon took out the Majesty’s Ring and summoned Samjok-o.

“Crow! Take out the artifact we found yesterday!”

Crow’s shadow wings flapped, and space tore open. What popped out from the black, deep crevice was none other than a giant wolf tooth.

But it wasn’t just a simple bone.

The moment it was gripped in Ju-heon’s hand, the tooth transformed into a sharp knife aimed at a god’s throat.

Just as Isis stole the name of the sun god Ra to strip him of his power, this was an artifact that stole a god’s name to strip them of their power.

He never thought he’d actually have to use this artifact!

Finally, the fang that carves out names let out a howl.

First was Set, the god of storms.

As Ju-heon swung the poison fang, space was torn apart.

At that moment, a black crest was carved onto Set’s body.

“…No, this is…!”

The true name that rose into the air was forcibly manifested in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Ju-heon slashed at the name written in the air as if tearing it apart with the knife.

Crunch!!

Set’s entire body swayed, and his arm began to melt away. His authority was cut off, and the storm subsided.

“Your name no longer holds power here.”

Next was Osiris.

When he tried to run away, Ju-heon’s poison fang shone once more.

“True Name. Sealed.”

Osiris’s shadow, trembling, twisted. For a moment, Osiris threw his head back and let out a scream. To be precise, he wanted to let out a scream.

But even his voice was sealed.

His mouth disappeared. The light in his eyes faded, and his body withered into black.

“A god is just a phantom clinging to a single name.”

Lastly, Anubis, the judge of death.

“You know it too.”

Ju-heon said.

“That you, too, will end up saying your own name.”

Anubis’s eyes twisted. He tried to resist, but the poison fang pierced him. Eventually, his voice was forced out.

His true name rose into the air and split simultaneously.

Anubis’s body shattered as if breaking into pieces, and his authority over death scattered into the air.

Crack!

Finally, the three gods disappeared before a single artifact.

Ju-heon caught his breath and looked down at the poison fang in his hand.

The artifact’s lifespan was decreasing in exchange for carving out the true names.

“You get weaker the moment you are called.”

He slowly walked past the spot where the three gods had evaporated.

“Knowing your name. That in itself is your end. And finally-”

Ju-heon, who had shaken his hand, had eyes that flashed fiercely.

His gaze was directed at Yoo Jae-ha, who was standing next to him.

“You, wearing my subordinate’s face and pulling this kind of bullshit.”

Holding a part of the guillotine’s blade, he swung his hand.

Slash!

Yoo Jae-ha’s head fell.

“Just die.”

Some of the audience members tried to scream but shut their mouths.

Blood did not splatter. Instead, the body melted away mushily. Something emerged from inside the form that was melting like a chocolate doll.

The figure was a man in a suit. Round glasses.

Ju-heon’s eyes flashed.

“You’re the dog-like moderator, right?”

He clapped quietly.

“Correct.”

He was the true planner of this show stage. At the same time, all the audience members and the execution platform melted away as if dissolving.

That’s right. The audience, the execution platform, everything. It was all an artifact stage he had created.

“Wow… I guess experience counts for something, realizing it was a fake right away.”

Ju-heon looked at him as if he were pathetic.

“Cheeky bastard, unsealing my artifacts and daring to transform into Irene to steal them?”

“That was just to test the skills of this world’s Majesty.”

At the same time, someone walked out.

The face was unexpectedly identical to Ju-heon’s exclusive restorer, Yoo Jae-ha.

[The Nameless Majesty reveals his true form.]

[Majesty of Forgery]

[Warning. Very powerful artifact user.]

Dressed neatly in a brown suit, wearing round glasses. Neat hair, and lightly upturned corners of his mouth.

But that smile was somehow too perfect. It felt different, completely unlike the goofy, menial worker Yoo Jae-ha that Ju-heon had seen until now.

For one, that venomous expression reminded him of the King of Scammers, who was Yoo Jae-ha’s past life before the regression….

‘He’s much stronger than that guy.’

He was incomparable to the other king-level artifact users he had competed against in artifact battles so far.

In reality, it was too big of a fake show for the Yoo Jae-ha he knew to pull off. The aura of power he felt was completely different.

No, in the first place.

“I was wondering why there was another Gungnir. You made that too, didn’t you?”

“Well, that’s true. Because there is only one of each artifact in every world.”

The guy shrugged his shoulders, but it was a point of concern.

‘He can create god-tier artifacts?’

Soon, Majesty Yoo Jae-ha chuckled.

“Still, I can’t believe you would cut your colleague’s face so cruelly.”

“What are you doing, Yoo Jae-ha?”

Then, he shrugged his shoulders to the fullest.

“I am not the Yoo Jae-ha you know.”

At those words, Ju-heon fell into a momentary silence.

“…What?”

Instead of answering, he held up his left hand.

Ju-heon’s eyes followed those fingers. And the ring he wore on his finger was…….

“Majesty’s Ring?”

It was the ‘Mark of the Ruler’ that should only exist once in this world that governs god-tier artifacts.

“Why is that….”

“It’s not yours.”

“……!”

“You noticed, didn’t you? You aren’t the only Majesty.”

“!”

It was a gaze that was not playful at all. It wasn’t wordplay, and it wasn’t a joke.

“Well, since you passed hard mode, I’ll give you the answer. I am a Majesty from a ‘different world line.’ You want to go to another world to find your daughter, right? I’ll help you.”

But the next words froze Ju-heon’s thoughts for a moment.

“However, you must follow this body’s orders.”

“…….”

Ju-heon was silent.

……Who, just said what to whom?

The team members screamed in unison.

Standing in front of them was undoubtedly Yoo Jae-ha. But there was another Yoo Jae-ha next to him…….

“……What, my doppelganger?!”

Yoo Jae-ha stammered.

“Captain-nim, what did you do!”

Ju-heon put down the towel and raised an eyebrow as if he were dumbfounded.

Yes, this is his subordinate. Toward such a guy, the ‘other Yoo Jae-ha’ opened his mouth quietly.

“I am a Majesty from another world line.”

Yoo Jae-ha seemed dumbfounded.

“…Ha, stop talking bullshit. The Captain-nim is the Majesty, what kind of dog-shit….”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha ignored him completely and looked at the peaceful sky.

“I envy that this place is still fine. My world was ruined by the gods.”

“……What?”

“Anyway, be grateful to me. I stole the Egyptian artifacts and brought them here before they could be unsealed.”

“Unsealed….”

Ju-heon looked at him as if he had noticed something.

“Don’t tell me, you’re the one who unsealed Zeus?”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha shrugged his shoulders.

“No way. Zeus was unsealed by the artifacts that took your daughter. I was the one stopping it from fully unsealing.”

So that’s why that guy’s energy was left on the Zeus artifact?

At the gazes asking why he would do such a thing, he, who had eyes as cold as the deep sea, giggled and sneered.

“Naive. What would happen to the world if god-tier artifacts became free?”

What would happen, it would be destroyed.

Since they are guys who view humans as ants anyway.

“Exactly. In a word, the unsealing of god-tier artifacts is the basic step of the they are plotting.”

“!”

That’s the basic step?

Certainly, it was terrifying to think about what would happen to the world if god-tier artifacts were unleashed without any control.

But he helped before that could happen?

“If I hadn’t kept them under control, Zeus and these guys would have unsealed and destroyed your world.”

Having said that, Majesty Yoo Jae-ha tossed the Egyptian god-tier artifact over. Restorer Yoo Jae-ha caught it quickly but let out a dry laugh.

“Acting all high and mighty for someone who stole it. And I don’t know what it is, but if your world is ruined, it seems your control is lacking, right?”

It was before Yoo Jae-ha’s mocking words could even finish.

“Cough……!”

Yoo Jae-ha grabbed his throat and collapsed.

Even Ilya, who had tried to rush in, rolled on the floor as if crushed by a press. An overwhelming energy shook the entire hideout.

‘Control……!’

The power to subjugate artifacts was crushing even people’s consciousness.

That’s why it was baffling.

Control is lacking, my ass……!

“…What is this… It’s control on the level of the Captain-nim!”

Soon, Majesty Yoo Jae-ha chuckled as if telling them not to bother.

“Can these newbies in this underdeveloped world even withstand this?”

His sneering gaze continued to Ju-heon.

“The Majesty is the same. How much can a guy who hasn’t even awakened withstand this pressure-”

But Majesty Yoo Jae-ha’s words stopped.

Because only Ju-heon was standing straight, looking rather pissed off, as if nothing was wrong.

“Hey. You bastard.”

Blue light erupted from Ju-heon’s eyes.

“Aren’t you going to release your control?”

Majesty Yoo Jae-ha’s eyes widened.

(To be continued in the next episode)