Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 704

Chapter 704

704 Episode 25 Demon King (7)

Nirvana Moebius.

A ‘reincarnator’ sponsored by the constellation ‘Guardian of Mandala’.

Similar to Anna Croft, this individual possesses the ability to retain fragments of memory by resisting Yoo Jonghyuk’s cycles of [regression].

As the leader of the Salvation Church, they once served as Yoo Jonghyuk’s primary adversary during the 3rd regression.

“Exist only in the now!”

They stamped their foot in rhythm with the resonant tolling of elephant bells, echoed by the fervent shouts of their Salvationist followers.

“Salvation cannot be found in the afterlife!”

“The present moment is all that matters!”

“We must liberate ‘today’!”

The very ground trembled like a massive drum, causing the incarnations in the vicinity to shudder noisily.

“W-what’s happening?”

“The Salvation Church? Damn it, they’re here?”

Some incarnations, already familiar with the group’s reputation, began retreating the moment they spotted the elephant monster.

“I’m not falling for this. I want no part of those fanatics.”

Yet, a number of onlookers remained—those either unaware of the Salvation Church’s notoriety or confident in their own strength.

“Nirvana, the head of the Salvation Church.”

“Oh, the prophet?”

Nirvana waved cheerfully, but Anna Croft frowned and turned away.

Slowly, Nirvana approached us and spoke.

“Why has my Yoo Jonghyuk been reduced to this? Did you do this to him?”

“He does not belong to you.”

“Answer me. Who is that demon king clinging to my Yoo Jonghyuk?”

“That is none of your concern.”

“If I don’t care, then who will?”

Nirvana proclaimed, arms spread wide.

“The bond between Yoo Jonghyuk and myself is intertwined with the wheel of eternity. You should know—you who secretly stole our narrative.”

Anna Croft turned from Nirvana and shot a glance in my direction.

—Cheon Inho. You never encountered Nirvana in the last round, correct?

It was [telepathy].

She was likely being cautious due to Nirvana’s presence.

This was not surprising.

In this world, the only incarnations aware of Yoo Jonghyuk’s [regressions] from the beginning are Anna Croft, with her [Precognition], and the reincarnated Nirvana.

Thus, the prophet and the reincarnator are destined to regard each other with endless suspicion over Yoo Jonghyuk.

“Why all this commotion?”

In a flash, Nirvana closed the distance and abruptly leaned in.

Another reincarnator. Had they detected the use of [telepathy]?

They stared at Anna, then craned their long neck to ask.

“Who is this? Prophet, is he your new plaything?”

My face was now reflected in their eyes, which glowed with a pure white light.

“Why are your eyes closed? Do you fear to look upon me?”

Just as I meant to reply that I had been watching all along, their right arm shot toward my forehead.

[Connection Narrative.]

I recognized that skill. It weaves narrative bonds using the power of the mandala to read an opponent’s memories.

But someone intercepted the movement.

Quaaaaaaaaa!

Yoo Jonghyuk’s fist flew forward in an instant, striking Nirvana squarely in the face.

Nirvana was sent tumbling across the ground dozens of times, clutching their face and shouting.

“Kaaaa! What is the meaning of this, Yoo Joonghyuk!”

A blow that would have obliterated any ordinary incarnation.

But in this round, Nirvana had diligently built their endurance and survived even a strike from Yoo Jonghyuk, who had become a beast.

With dark bruises marring their face, Nirvana cried out again, voice thick with grievance.

“Yoo Joonghyuk!”

Naturally, Yoo Jonghyuk, robbed of speech, could only respond with a bestial growl.

“Where are you looking? I am right here!”

Enraged, Nirvana’s hands began moving with dazzling speed.

Their signature technique was being activated.

[The incarnation ‘Nirvana Moebius’ activates ‘Thousand-Armed Guanyin Lv.8’!]

A brilliantly rotating mandala materialized behind them, and from it, a thousand arms cascaded like a waterfall.

“Look at me! Me! See me!”

As the countless palms of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara rained down repeatedly upon Yoo Jonghyuk’s head, the beast’s powerful form began to sink into the earth.

“Oh, that’s—”

“The Salvation Church leader is here too?”

“Let us join as well!”

It’s hard to gauge how powerful Nirvana might become in the later scenarios.

In the original narrative, during a confrontation with Kim Dokja, Nirvana was absorbed by the [Fourth Wall] and transformed into a librarian.

But in this world, Nirvana would never be absorbed by the [Fourth Wall].

[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ glares at incarnation ‘Nirvana Moebius’.]

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ mutters that this incarnation is insolent.]

[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ expresses concern for your safety.]

A [reincarnator] who cannot truly die.

A [Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara] that can overwhelm even Yoo Jonghyuk empowered by Giant Flower.

Add to that mental abilities like [100 Torments] and [Eternal Nightmare].

Even Yoo Jonghyuk, in his bestial state, might struggle against the current Nirvana.

“W-what!”

Or so I thought.

“He’s getting up!”

Yoo Jonghyuk, who had been driven into the ground by the [Thousand-handed Avalokitesvara], began forcing his way out of the crater.

Quad deud deuk!

Yoo Jonghyuk, now free, held a spear in his hands, pushing his body upward with his paws, steadily rising.

Nirvana’s eyes widened.

“Yoo Jong—”

Though Yoo Jonghyuk had lost his reason, only instinct remaining, he was still a disciple of the Breaking the Sky Swordsman.

Others might not recognize it, but only Kim Dokja and I could identify the technique.

[Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship.]

A sword art designed to tear apart the constellations of this world.

The swordsmanship extended into the heavens.

«Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck—!»

Nirvana’s [Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara] was shredded by a blow that resembled black lightning.

It was a sheer difference in ‘level’.

The sky made of palms shattered, and the beast holding the spear released a savage cry toward the heavens.

Nirvana, bleeding profusely, rolled across the ground, their upper body nearly destroyed.

The scene was so overwhelming it was almost paralyzing.

‘Should we escape?’

How could an incarnation from the ‘seventh scenario’ possess such power?

Tsutsutsutsutsu.

Sparks of probability began coursing over Yoo Jonghyuk’s body.

But no matter how much he is the focus of a ‘sub-scenario’, power that exceeds the scenario’s probability limit cannot be sustained indefinitely. Soon, Yoo Jonghyuk’s body would be consumed by the recoil.

—Well.

But Kim Dokja seemed to think differently.

—The balance of probabilities isn’t solely determined by recoil.

Before I could ask what he meant, Nirvana, who should have been dead, suddenly stood up.

[The incarnation ‘Nirvana Moebius’ activates ‘Possession Lv.4’!]

A reincarnator, after all, is a reincarnator.

Instantly, Nirvana’s upper body, enveloped in lotus flowers, began regenerating rapidly.

By reviving a portion of their own story, they restored their physical form.

Nearby, incarnations stumbled toward Nirvana. They were the ‘Salvationists’, his followers.

“Sect leader, I offer you my story.”

“Take my story…”

Victims of [thought infection], they willingly became sacrifices for Nirvana’s recovery.

Nirvana, lightly accepting their offerings, nodded.

“I shall remember your stories.”

That was the true nature of the Salvation Church.

Every believer was merely a pawn in Nirvana’s pursuit of the ‘ultimate story’.

Having regained their strength, Nirvana took a deep breath and spoke.

“You are remarkably powerful in this round. It will be even more fulfilling to become one.”

“…”

“I am eager to witness the magnificent stories you’ve accumulated… Wait! I’m not speaking to you! Kaaaaaaah!”

As Nirvana resumed being pummeled immediately after recovering, I asked Kim Dokja.

‘How much time is left? They can’t hold out much longer.’

—5 minutes.

Nirvana, who was fending off Yoo Jonghyuk’s attacks with the palms of the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, shouted.

“Prophet! What are you doing? Assist me now!”

“How should I help you?”

“I will become one with Yoo Jonghyuk— keaaaaaa!”

“I would rather die than become one with you!”

“Truthfully, I have no desire to unite with you either!”

In that brief exchange, Nirvana was struck dozens more times, blood flowing freely.

“I see now. I don’t wish to further damage the vessel that will become part of me.”

“Wait! Nirvana, you—”

Simultaneously, a dark energy of stories began flowing from Nirvana’s entire body.

—It seems he’s resorting to that after all.

Kim Dokja appeared to already know which technique was coming.

Naturally, I knew it too, as did Anna Croft.

“Cheon Inho. We must intervene. The reincarnator is using [Eternal Nightmare].”

[Eternal Nightmare.]

In the 3rd round, as recorded in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Yoo Jonghyuk fell victim to that very technique.

“Currently, Yoo Jonghyuk has activated two story imprints and is in a state of madness. If he is subjected to that stigmata now—”

“He will lose his mind completely.”

“I know. If we don’t stop it now—”

But before we could act, Nirvana’s skill was already in motion.

“Yoo Jonghyuk. I don’t know why you’ve become like this.”

The nightmare of eternity resided within the white-tinted fingertips.

“Your form matters not. I can be anything. Man, woman, animal, monster! Only I can comprehend your eternity!”

Nirvana’s hand extended like a blade and made contact with Yoo Jonghyuk’s forehead.

As if by magic, Yoo Jonghyuk’s movements halted.

Nirvana laughed triumphantly.

“Hahahaha! Yoo Jonghyuk! At last—”

Slowly, Yoo Jonghyuk’s gaze shifted toward Nirvana.

“Yoo Jong—”

With a swift motion, one of Nirvana’s arms was severed and sent flying.

“Huh?”

Before Nirvana could process what happened, their other arm followed.

“Kaaaaaaak!”

The pain arrived belatedly. Nirvana, now armless, let out a desperate scream.

A shocked Anna Croft staggered backward.

I sighed inwardly.

‘As expected, it has no effect on Yoo Jonghyuk in his current state.’

—Correct.

[Eternal Nightmare is a technique that brings forth the target’s most horrific memories and traps them within.]

But what if the ‘target’ is a beast operating purely on instinct?

“How?!”

For instance, if their mind has regressed to a point where memories are inaccessible.

“Yoo Jonghyuk! Regain your senses! Your present—”

Nirvana’s left leg was crushed with a sickening crunch.

“Kaaaaaaak!”

Sparks of probability flared once more. A horrified Nirvana scrambled backward on their remaining limb.

The black beast trampled over Nirvana’s body and slowly surveyed its surroundings.

King.

The man who embodied that title like no other roared his defiance to the world.

And with that single cry, every incarnation present understood.

[All incarnations within the ‘Washington Dome’ are gripped by terror.]

No force in this world could claim kingship in the presence of that monster.

[The scales of probability are shifting.]

As long as he remains an ‘incarnation’.

—Youngest.

I nodded.

Even as Yoo Jonghyuk displayed such overwhelming power, the probability of the <Star Stream> did not restrain him.

This could only mean that the scenario’s probability was—

[The exclusive skill ‘Incitement Lv.10’ is activated.]

It was permitting the rise of a powerful entity to halt this ‘overlord’.

[The third stage of ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ is activated.]

Now, it was the ‘Demon King’s’ turn to step forward.