Free Web NovelChapter 254: _You Want Love
Meanwhile in Han Jae-won’s head... his consciousness stayed trapped in a vast sea of darkness. He fought to move but it was futile.
"H–Hello?!" He called out. "I–I don’t think we should go on with this. Those new people—"
"This is what you wanted, Han Jae-won." A cold, menacing voice echoed all around him. "An avenue to crush Ambrose Hale."
"Y–Yes," Han stuttered. "But can’t we at least regroup? You saw the way they destroyed my body just now. It hurt. I–I can’t keep—"
"You can and will go through with this to the very end." The Void entity appeared to him in the form of a pair of glowing white eyes. "Finish what you started."
"No," Jae-won shook his head, his eyes widening. "No, I didn’t want this to begin with. Y–You’re using me as a puppet!"
"I’m helping you achieve your biggest goal." The Void Entity’s voice sounded right beside him now. "Ambrose Hale is now closer to annihilation. So is Devon and everyone else they hold dear."
"It’s not ’helping’ when you’re using me as a means to an end!" Jae-won snapped. "I change my mind. I don’t want this power anymore. Release me!"
Nothing but silence answered him at first.
Then—
Dark tendrils materialised. Before he could blink they wrapped around him, constricting him from his feet to his mouth.
Jae-won stiffened as the Void entity spoke again.
"Foolish," It drew the word condescendingly, "that you think you still have any agency here, human."
The glowing white eyes flitted away from Jae-won. And toward a live projection of what was happening in the outside world.
"Witness the power I’ve bestowed on you and rejoice," the tendrils tightened around Han. "After this your planet shall enter a new era. As will the rest of this universe."
The Guide screamed but the sound was muffled by the tendrils sealing his mouth. He could only watch helplessly as the Void Entity used his body to attack the others.
★★★★★
Outside Han’s head, Ambrose had just dodged one of his darkness bolts. He hid behind a pillar, exhaling heavily through his mouth as a system screen appeared before him.
[WARNING: Target Han Jae-won appears to be using critical amounts of aether.]
’Ah, good. Now tell me what I don’t know.’
[I’m still picking up traces of resistance from him.] Aura paused long enough for Ambrose’s frown to deepen. [You know what that means or—?]
"No fucking way." He stretched his neck out of his hiding place. "Jae-won is still in there?"
The Pantheon members were upon Han now.
Apollo launched blasts of light energy so powerful they sent ripples through reality. Yemoja summoned water blades out of the air. Loki used their reality-altering illusions to confuse Han. And then Wukong and Kali attacked with devastating physical blows.
Even Valentine and Gabriel were forced to back away as the aether being expelled from the spot became so concentrated that it became suffocating.
Devon and Viktor ran up to Ambrose just then.
"Rose!"
"Are you okay?"
Ambrose nodded, brushing a hand through Orion’s dishevelled blonde hair. Then his expression hardened.
"There’s a good chance Han Jae-won’s consciousness is still in that body somehow."
Devon’s forehead creased. "... But the void entity said—"
"Just trust me on this one!" Ambrose raised his voice over a deafening explosion. "He’s still in there and I think he’s... trying to resist."
Ambrose’s words barely left his mouth before another explosion rocked the hotel lobby.
A blast of golden light from Apollo collided head-on with one of Han’s darkness bolts, creating a shockwave powerful enough to send debris flying across the room.
Yet when the dust settled, Han Jae-won was still standing.
Still regenerating.
The holes blasted through his torso sealed themselves with writhing shadows. Torn flesh knitted together. Bones reformed. Even wounds that should have killed him several times over vanished as though they had never existed.
"Annoying bastard!" Wukong growled before launching himself forward again.
His staff came crashing down with enough force to flatten a mountain.
Han raised a hand.
The impact shattered half the marble floor beneath them.
Yet moments later the darkness reconstructed the damage done to his body once more.
Apollo’s jaw tightened.
Yemoja’s expression darkened.
Even Loki had stopped smiling.
Meanwhile, Kali’s violet eyes remained locked on Han.
Then suddenly—
"Wait." Her voice cut through the chaos.
The others glanced toward her.
Kali took another look, her brows slowly furrowing. "There!"
Apollo followed her gaze. "What is it?"
"The resistance." Kali pointed toward Han. "The human consciousness isn’t gone. It’s fighting back."
Wukong scoffed. "So what?"
Everyone turned toward him.
The monkey king spun his staff once before repeating himself. "So what if he’s fighting back? That thing is still trying to kill us."
"It’s relevant," Kali snapped.
"It’s irrelevant if he’s dead." He shot forward again before anyone could stop him.
Han barely managed to dodge.
The resulting strike obliterated an entire section of the lobby.
Apollo grimaced. "No..." Golden energy crackled around him. "Wukong, stand down!"
"What?"
"At this rate we’ll level the entire hotel before we finish him."
That finally got the monkey king to hesitate.
Because Apollo was right.
Every attack was landing. Yet none of it mattered.
Han simply kept coming back.
A sudden movement caught everyone’s attention.
Ambrose.
The Guide stepped away from Devon, Viktor and Valentine.
Immediately all three men reacted.
"Rose, don’t!" Devon grabbed for him but Ambrose slipped free.
Viktor moved next. "Little bird—"
"Don’t."
Valentine’s hand closed around his wrist. "Ambrose."
For a brief second the Guide faltered. Then he pulled away.
"Trust me."
Before anyone could stop him again he ran forward. Straight toward Han Jae-won.
"JAE-WON!" The yell echoed throughout the lobby.
Han froze. Only for a second.
But everyone saw it.
Ambrose pointed directly at him. "I know you’re still in there!"
The shadows around Han violently trembled.
Inside the darkness of his mind, the Void Entity snarled. "You don’t know what he wants!"
Its voice emerged through Han’s mouth, distorted and inhuman.
"Yes, I do." Ambrose’s response came instantly.
His chest rose and fell. But he kept talking.
"You don’t want power."
Han’s expression twitched at that.
"You don’t want revenge."
Another twitch.
"You don’t even want me dead."
The shadows became unstable.
Then Ambrose said the one thing nobody expected:
"You wanted love."
Silence.
The entire lobby went still.
"You wanted people to choose you. To care about you. To stay."
Han’s eyes widened.
"You wanted what everyone else has."
The shadows flickered.
"And somewhere along the way you convinced yourself destroying everyone would somehow fix that."
For the first time since this began—Han Jae-won’s smile vanished.
"I’m..." His voice cracked.
The Void Entity screamed inside him. "BE SILENT!"
Darkness exploded from his body.
Yet Han kept talking. "I’m tired." The admission came out barely above a whisper.
Ambrose felt his throat tighten. "So stop."
Han looked at him. Really looked at him.
"Only you can end this," Ambrose added.
Han’s eyes flickered with hesitation as his hands fell to his sides. The darkness around him weakened.
His defenses disappeared.
Apollo’s eyes widened when he noticed.
Kali understood immediately. "His defenses are down.."
Han nodded once. A small, exhausted motion. Like he was signalling them to do what they have to.
Apollo raised his hand.
Golden light gathered above it, shining brighter than the sun at dawn.
Jae-won looked toward Ambrose one final time. Then smiled almost gratefully.
The blast descended a second later.
And within an instant... Han Jae-won disappeared.
