Chapter 42 -42-Night of Reckoning

The very last scene Caelan saw was, in fact, the moment the young humans awakened their classes once again.

In the next instant, everything before his eyes turned into pure darkness.

And then, a voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.

"What you just saw... is what I went through ten thousand years ago."

"Every ten thousand years, the blood mist sweeps across the land. All living beings are put to judgment. People call that event the Night of Reckoning."

"Unfortunately, the era I lived in happened to coincide with a Night of Reckoning. Even I—being the strongest of that time—could only shelter a small portion of humanity."

The Dark Titan’s voice sounded somewhat heavy. Caelan could even hear a hint of exhaustion and unwillingness buried within it.

At the same time, the strongest being from ten thousand years ago—Dark Titan Volibel—appeared before Caelan.

"Friend of the future, it is an honor to meet you."

Caelan returned a respectful smile, but in his mind, he was rapidly organizing the information the Dark Titan had just revealed.

Night of Reckoning. Blood mist.

All of it pointed to one thing: an apocalypse-level calamity was drawing near.

In that moment, Caelan felt an overwhelming tension clamp down on him.

If the Night of Reckoning arrived... could he survive it?

The instant that thought surfaced, Caelan shook his head hard.

No way. I can’t survive it.

Even a peak existence like the Dark Titan could only protect a small fraction of humanity.

With his current strength, facing the Night of Reckoning meant only one outcome—

death.

Just as Caelan was on the verge of falling into despair, the Dark Titan beside him suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Strange. Your Night of Reckoning hasn’t begun yet—so why has the blood mist descended early?"

"Friend of the future... it seems the era you live in is even more complicated than what I experienced."

Caelan rubbed his brow, forcing himself to suppress the chaos of thoughts in his head.

The Night of Reckoning hasn’t started yet... so I still have time to prepare.

After a brief silence, Caelan spoke.

"Lord Volibel, may I ask... how did you survive the Night of Reckoning?"

The Dark Titan froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"No. I didn’t survive it."

"I’m nothing more than a failure in the ten-thousand-year cycle."

"Even after offering up all my power—my very life—I only managed to preserve a spark of hope for humanity."

Caelan’s expression turned ugly.

Even someone as powerful as the Dark Titan couldn’t make it through the Night of Reckoning?

Then what chance did he have...?

At that moment, the Dark Titan spoke again.

"Friend of the future, don’t lose heart. The fact that you can meet me proves you possess a power unlike anyone else’s."

"If you wish to pass through the Night of Reckoning safely, you must seek the legacies left behind by the strongest beings of every era."

"Go. Gather the gifts of those supreme experts from ancient times. Perhaps you can break free of the ten-thousand-year reincarnation."

In that instant, countless questions surged through Caelan’s mind.

For example—who was behind the Night of Reckoning? Who was orchestrating it all?

And what exactly was the blood mist? Where did it come from? What caused it?

And the legacies of those apex powerhouses throughout the river of time—where were they? How was he supposed to find them?

Question after question crowded his head.

He wanted to ask—

but just as he opened his mouth, the Dark Titan’s voice rang out again.

"Friend of the future, I know you must have many questions now... but I’m sorry. I don’t have the answers either."

"Everything I know, I’ve already told you."

"As for the doubts in your heart—only you can seek those answers yourself."

"As someone from the previous era, all I can offer you now is a final blessing... and a final gift."

"Friend of the future—good luck."

In the next moment, everything before Caelan’s eyes began to crumble and collapse once more.

When he came back to himself, he found that he was still standing where he had been all along.

The memory orb in his hand had vanished, but new information had surfaced in his mind—intel about the Night of Reckoning and the ten-thousand-year cycle.

So that’s how it is...

A trace of realization appeared in Caelan’s eyes.

Rather than a true conversation across time, what had just happened was simply the Dark Titan’s leftover memories.

The content of that memory was everything the Dark Titan knew.

And naturally, Caelan’s own questions couldn’t be answered—because the memories didn’t contain those answers.

But then...

The "gift" the Dark Titan mentioned—what exactly was it?

A thoughtful glint flashed through Caelan’s eyes.

Yet in the very next instant, sacred power erupted from the spot where the memory orb had been.

Caelan could clearly feel the holy force changing something within him.

At the same time, a notification window appeared before his eyes.

[Detected sacred power of unknown origin. You have received a Blessing.]

[Blessing Effect: You can view the progress of the Night of Reckoning’s descent at any time.]

[Current Descent Progress: 13%]

[Influenced by sacred power, the item "Sacred Armor" has been repaired. You can now equip this gear and unleash its full power.]

—?!?!?!

[Sacred Armor]... was fully repaired?!

Caelan’s breathing stopped for a beat. His eyes widened uncontrollably.

At the same time, the panel for Sacred Armor appeared in front of him.

[Sacred Armor]

[Quality: Mythic]

[HP: 9,999,999]

[Defense: 9,999,999]

[Resistance: 99.99999%]

[Effect 1: Infinite HP. Each monster you kill increases your maximum HP by +1. Elite monsters, bosses, etc. grant bonuses multiplied by 10–1000x depending on the monster’s level.]

[Effect 2: Blood Pool. You can siphon blood through your attacks to create a blood pool. The blood pool can take a portion of the damage on your behalf.]

[Effect 3: Attribute Point Conversion. You gain an attribute point increase equal to 10% of your maximum HP.]

Isn’t this... a bit too broken?

Caelan swallowed hard, his stare going blank as he looked at the panel.

With effects like these, once he put on [Sacred Armor], it basically meant he was invincible!

Even if you took ten thousand steps back, at the very least he’d be impossible to defeat—no longer afraid of being instantly killed.

Caelan even suspected that if he wore the fully restored Sacred Armor, the Dark Titan’s attacks might not be able to threaten him at all.

After all, the Dark Titan they had faced earlier was, strictly speaking, nothing more than an empty shell.

With only a corpse... could it even break through Sacred Armor’s defenses?

But that raised another question.

The Dark Titan had been dead for ten thousand years—so why had it suddenly awakened?

Who did this?!