The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 353

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Episode 353
353. The Final Battle
‘Reaper’s Transformation.’
Ryu Min, shrouded in dark currents, wielded a hybrid weapon—a fusion of the Scythe of Darkness and Thanatos’s black scythe.
[Stupid fool without a shred of learning ability! Your attacks won’t land….]
Chaos hesitated as he attempted to transcend space through phase manipulation.
A tremendous torrent of Thera pursued Chaos’s movements.
[I can simply evade this….]
Though he folded space upon itself to shake free, Chaos found himself back where he started.
Chronos had wielded the power of time itself, returning Chaos to his original temporal position.
[This, what…! Krraaaaaaagh!]
Struck directly because of this, Chaos unleashed a agonized scream.
But the scream was short-lived.
Gaia’s creative authority healed Chaos’s withered eyes in an instant.
[As long as I exist, Chaos cannot be harmed.]
[What a touching display of marital devotion.]
Ryu Min scoffed and shifted his target.
If he couldn’t kill the dealer because of the supporter, then targeting the supporter would suffice.
It was time for Gaia, who had struck him from behind, to suffer as well.
[Did you think I’d allow that!]
Chaos, his strength restored, drew forth the Spear of Instant Death.
He lunged at Ryu Min with lightning speed, but the Rune of Desperate Revival reflected the attack.
Then Chaos twisted space to evade the reflected assault.
Or rather, he nearly did.
Had Chronos not intervened.
[Kugh, ack!]
Returned to his original position, Chaos was struck by his own Spear of Instant Death.
Though not instantly slain, as the name might suggest.
After all, Gaia stood steadfast behind him as his reliable supporter.
[You wretch! Chronooooos!]
Chaos’s fury erupted at Chronos’s constant interference.
Yet Chronos remained entirely unfazed.
He had proven that even with limited direct power, coordinating with Black Scythe allowed him to land effective blows.
‘With Black Scythe at my side, there is nothing to fear.’
As the battle dragged on, Chronos’s smile deepened.
He could see with his own eyes that Chaos was gradually dissipating.
[Kugh, ack!]
Dozens upon hundreds of lines lacerated Chaos’s eyes.
Each time, he faded and evaded through phase manipulation, yet every single attack from Ryu Min carried Thera within it.
That energy, which pursued his very essence, was something Chaos could not shake off.
Chronos was rewinding time to prevent escape.
[Gaaaaahhhhh! Gaaahhhhh!]
With no means of evasion, every attack landed true.
Pain and recovery alternated like a seesaw.
Though Gaia was healing him, suffering was an unfamiliar experience for Chaos.
[Gaaahhh! I’ll, I’ll kill you all!]
Chaos, burning with rage despite his agony, conjured a spear of instant death.
The spear aimed at Ryu Min and Chronos, but—
*Whoosh*
Like Chaos himself, folding space was all it took to evade.
[This is a spacetime I created. Now that you’ve entered, your attacks will never reach us.]
[What kind of wretched bastard is this!]
[Your curses are meaningless. You are neither father nor anything else anymore.]
Chronos’s cold gaze shifted to Gaia.
[Mother. Why did you change? Why did you covet my power?]
[Stop this at once, Chronos! What are you doing to your father!]
[How touching. You two were plotting each other’s deaths moments ago.]
Chronos turned his head with a scoff.
[I no longer have a mother. Accept that and disappear.]
[Chronooooos!]
[Black Scythe.]
Ryu Min nodded at the glint in Chronos’s eyes.
It was the signal to stop probing and deliver the finishing blow.
Ryu Min’s eyes, already fading as his Teras drained away, burned crimson.
The Red Moon and Moonlight Island combination was ready.
*Keeeeeeeeng—*
I concentrated all my Teras into a single point and drew the scythe.
The Moonlight Island that had spread 360 degrees when killing the Dragon Clan now pierced like a wedge.
At a speed so tremendous that reaction was nearly impossible.
[Gasp!]
Chaos, startled, desperately tried to flee, but it was futile.
Chronos’s temporal barrier blocked his escape route.
[Cough!]
*Rumble rumble rumble—!*
The spacetime world trembled at the magnitude of power contained in Moonlight Island.
“Nine strikes remain.”
The enhanced Red Moon had a duration of twenty seconds.
Meaning I could use Moonlight Island ten times consecutively.
Ryu Min’s Moonlight Island struck Chaos in rapid succession.
[Cough! Cough!]
Chaos, which had absorbed all of Moonlight Island’s damage, began to crack as if it were about to shatter.
‘Seven steps, six steps. And five steps remaining.’
When five steps remained, Ryu Min did not target Chaos.
Chaos was already crumbling and dissipating.
He immediately changed direction and unleashed his attack toward Gaia.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch—!
[Aaaaaaahhhhh!]
Under the barrage of overwhelming force, Gaia’s body shattered into fragments.
Even her vaunted power of creation could not withstand such magnitude of force.
This was the end of Chaos and Gaia.
“Phew.”
Having expended all his Teira, Ryu Min swayed precariously on the verge of collapse.
Yet he managed to regain his senses thanks to Chronos’s supporting hand.
[Are you alright, Black Scythe?]
[Ah, yes….]
[It is merely temporary exhaustion from consuming such a vast quantity of Teira. Please do not worry yourself.]
Chronos, smiling faintly, gazed upon the fragmenting Primordial Gods scattering into the void.
[It is finished. Both Chaos and Gaia have been annihilated.]
[What a relief.]
[You have done remarkably well. Truly.]
Chronos, grinning wickedly, suddenly seized Ryu Min’s head.
[Now rest well. Leave the world to me.]
[…!?]
Ryu Min’s eyes widened in shock, but it was already too late.
[Gah, ugh…!]
Watching Ryu Min convulse with eyes rolling back, Chronos smiled with satisfaction.
[I have twisted time itself and warped your worldline. Soon you will become a simpleton who cannot even remember your own name.]
Perhaps for this reason.
Chronos proceeded to ramble on to the Ryu Min who would soon become a simpleton.
[It was inevitable. Once a hunting dog’s usefulness ends, it is only proper to dispose of it cleanly. Without you, killing Gaia and Chaos would have been impossible. For that much, I am grateful.]
He withdrew his hand from Ryu Min’s head, but the man’s consciousness did not return.
His eyes still rolled back, his body still convulsing.
Chronos gazed upon this sight with the satisfaction of one admiring a masterpiece.
[I apologize, but you shall sleep eternally within this Spacetime Rift. Still, I am sparing your life—be grateful for….]
[You can try to kill me?]
At the voice from behind, Chronos gasped and spun around.
Though he had been unable to suppress his laughter moments before, now he could only stand rigid as stone.
Another Ryu Min stood before him, perfectly intact, regarding him with steady eyes.
[How, how is this possible?]
[That thing you’re tormenting right now? It’s actually my clone.]
As if to prove the word “clone,” the convulsing Ryu Min vanished like a mirage.
When the unharmed Ryu Min smiled and looked at him, Chronos rushed forward with desperate speed.
[You insolent fool!]
*Crack*
The moment his hand touched Ryu Min’s head, Chronos broke into a triumphant smile.
[Stupid fool! You’re finished!]
He immediately twisted spacetime and warped the worldline, but strangely, there was no response.
Ryu Min simply continued to smile at him.
[What… what’s happening?]
[What’s happening? You fell for it.]
[What?]
Until this moment, Chronos had no idea.
What he had fallen victim to.
What was truly occurring.
[Illusory Prison. It’s one of Elcis’s functions. It shows the trapped target an illusion designed by us, and the God of Slaughter said it would be perfect for filtering out traitors.]
[W-what are you saying?]
[Everything you see, hear, and feel right now—it’s all an illusion.]
Was it Ryu Min’s statement that shocked him so deeply?
Chronos fell silent for a long moment.
His eyes conveyed only disbelief.
[You don’t believe me? Then how do you explain this situation?]
[So I’ve been… trapped in this Illusory Prison this whole time, seeing nothing but illusions?]
[Exactly.]
Just moments ago, I was locked in a fierce battle with Gaia and Chaos—was all of that fake?
Though still struggling to accept it, Chronos asked calmly.
[From when did the illusion begin?]
[From the very start. Before I even stepped through the warp gate in Paradise.]
[What…?]
[The truth is, I never went to Drakania, never obtained the ten billion Terra, and never met Gaia or Chaos. Same goes for you.]
[…]
[To your eyes, it seems like you’ve entered the Spacetime Rift, but that’s not true. You simply fell into the illusory trap I set in Paradise and have been seeing illusions ever since.]
[I… I can’t believe this.]
[Believe it or not, I don’t care. What I wanted was your true heart. I needed to know if you would truly betray me.]
If those words were true, then I had been thoroughly deceived.
[Don’t blame yourself too much. I didn’t know either until the God of Slaughter warned me about you. Honestly, even until just now, I was uncertain if this was the right thing to do.]
[…]
[But as it turned out, following the God of Slaughter’s advice was the right call. Thanks to it, I was able to expose the traitor who was planning to stab me in the back. If not for his guidance, I wonder what would have happened by now… shudder!]
Chronos let out a furious roar, apparently annoyed by Ryu Min’s trembling act.
[You insolent fool! I’ll kill you!]
[So how exactly are you going to kill me?]
Ryu Min’s eyes gleamed, and Chronos’s movements froze in place.
Until moments ago, he could move freely and use his abilities, but now he couldn’t budge an inch.
It felt as though he’d been bewitched by a ghost.
[In this place, I am the god who constructed the Phantom Prison. You cannot escape, no matter what. That vaunted ability of yours that manipulates time—you cannot use it. By confining your very consciousness within this prison, I’ve sealed it off at the source.]
[You wretched, filthy insect of a human!]
[Your manner of speech—it’s exactly like your father’s.]
[Aaaaaaaaaah!]
Unable to contain his fury, Chronos thrashed and blazed with radiant light.
But it was already too late to escape the snare of the superior system known as Elcis.
[Heh… hehehehe!]
Now, having abandoned all hope, Chronos descended into madness, his laughter becoming hollow and unhinged.
[Hehe, yes. I was caught. I planned to use you as a hunting hound, discard you, and live freely as the sole god. Now it’s all ruined. But what does it matter? Does knowing I would betray you change anything? Chaos and Gaia still live in the real world, don’t they?]
[….]
[Surely you don’t intend to imprison me here forever? If so, you’re making a grave mistake. You’d be throwing away the chance to kill Chaos and Gaia. You’ve simulated it with phantoms yourself, haven’t you? You know that if you and I join forces, we can easily annihilate Chaos and Gaia.]
Chronos, his rage subsiding, suddenly extended his hand.
[Come now, join hands with me. I apologize for the betrayal, but a soul contract will resolve that. I swear I won’t betray you again.]
[….]
[Why do you hesitate? Surely you’re not bound by some rigid moral code that forbids cooperation with a traitor? You know as well as I do that you need my aid to defeat Chaos and Gaia. There’s no other way but for us to join hands.]
[No. There is another way.]
Ryu Min gazed at Chronos with the eyes of a predator regarding its prey.
[I’ll absorb you.]
[What?]
[If I absorb you here and monopolize the power of time, I can deal with the Primordial Gods alone without needing to shake hands with a traitor.]
[Don’t be absurd! You cannot absorb me. The only way for you to gain the power of time is if I grant it to you directly. And unless I’ve lost my mind, I have no reason to give you that power!]
[I know. That’s why I said it—I’ll absorb you.]
[How could you possibly absorb me?]
[Didn’t you know? I possess an Eternal Item capable of stripping gods of their abilities.]
[…What?]
Chronos’s mouth hung open in genuine shock, unable to close for a long moment.
[I’ll kill you and steal your power, Chronos. So.]
*Slash—*
[Go quietly to your death.]
Ryu Min’s scythe descended upon Chronos.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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