Chapter 353
Wretched exined, “Many powerful souls were unable to solve the mystery of oblivion and
consequently died in that state. That was how all those dead fetuses came about.”
Intrigued by the answer, Jonathan asked, “In that case, how did you do it?”
“I basically did nothing because I know I can''t be killed. Even without doing anything in oblivion, my
physical body was gradually formed, and that was how I managed to break through the mystery of
oblivion.”
All this while, Jonathan had wanted to find out about Wretched''s genesis.
Since he didn''t manage to get an answer from the king, he figured he could ask Wretched directly now
that thetter was standing right in front of him.
Jonathan got straight to the point. “There''s something I''m curious about.”
“Is it about my origins?”
Jonathan nodded. “Yes!”
“Do you intend to defeat me by finding out my weakness through it?”
Jonathan replied candidly, “I want to stop you from killing indiscriminately.”
After throwing Jonathan a nce, Wretched said, “I can''t deny that you''re one of the few truly good
people I have ever met.” Pausing briefly, Wretched let out a self-deprecatingugh. “I''m the biggest
viin the world has ever faced. It''s ironic that I''m friends with someone who''s as kind-hearted as you
are.”
Jonathan shed a wry smile. “Do you think I can stop you?”
“No. No one is capable of stopping me,” Wretched responded with certainty.
Jonathan fell silent upon hearing his words.
Wretched suggested, “What don''t we change the topic since you''re interested in my origins? I was born
in the year 998. Back then, Thymion was still known as Zedfield, while your country was still a
monarchy. I was born into an ordinary family, but my mother spent three whole days giving birth to me.
In the end, she died from the excruciating pain, and that was the reason why my father resented me
and felt that I was a jinx. Filled with the bravado of youth, I ran away from home when I was ten after
being disparaged and beaten badly by him. Since Zedfield was covered with tropical rainforests back
then, I decided to hide within them to give my father a scare. Little did I expect to end up lost inside.
The forest was filled with beasts and venomous insects. When I ended up being bitten by a snake, I
was terrified, thinking that I would die. However, my body began to heat up, and that was the first time I
felt my cells mutate, and my strength increased significantly after that incident.
“Thereafter, I was surrounded by a pack of ferocious wolves. When I thought I was done for again, my
body heated up as I grew scared, causing my cells to mutate in an ever more gruesome manner. ck
scales began to grow on my skin. Despite the wolves trying to bite my head off, they failed to do so.
The ces where I had suffered injuries recovered rapidly. I finally gathered my courage and fought
against them. As the battle increased in intensity, my strength continued to grow. In the end, I managed
to tear them apart even though I was just ten years old. After that encounter, I grew to one point eight
meters tall, and my entire body was covered in ck scales. I possessed Herculean strength. From
then on, I realized I wasn''t an ordinary person, as I could see souls floating all around me in the forest!
“Subsequently, I gained a better understanding of what I was. As long as I wasn''t angry, I could
maintain the form of an ordinary human. I began participating in wars after that, defeating a ten-
thousand-strong army that surrounded me once all on my own. On top of that, my ability to
communicate with those of theherworld continued to improve. Back then, I was already the
country''s most powerful general, General Wretched! When I returned to the vige with soldiers and
riches, I gave money to everyone there and remained filial to my father until his old age. My father
forgave me and told me that he regretted his actions after I ran away from home. I, too, never held
what he had done against him.
“With the passage of time, my father finally passed away. After spending three hundred years among
men, I grew used to how cruel the world was and the cycle of life and death. During this time, I lived
like an immortal, not growing old or dying before gradually growing weary of the world of men. In the
end, I took on the title of Wretched the Great, ruling with the fear and respect of my citizens. I
participated in the war against demons and beasts and encountered many Divine Masters who
attempted to kill me in the name of the people. Unfortunately, none of them survived my hand. As I
gradually understood the cycle of the Heavenly Law, I began to lead a reclusive life.
“It wasn''t until thest few years that I noticed the demonic energy within me going out of control and
affecting my cells. That was when I decided to get myself reincarnated. Unfortunately, I didn''t expect to
have caused all this trouble.”
Jonathan couldn''t help but be blown away after listening to that. Smiling wryly, hemented, “If I
hadn''t seen you and your powers with my own eyes, I would have thought your story to be a ridiculous
one.”
Wretched grinned in response. “Who says it isn''t?”
Jonathan added, “As your friend, I truly hope you can live in peace for eternity. Wretched, I won''t talk
about stopping you. I''ll only speak from my heart, all right?”
“You''re wee to say anything you want in front of me. You''re the first friend I have had over thest
thousand years. Being born with so much demonic energy, I was destined to be alone. All this while,
the friends that I had made gradually left when they couldn''t stand the demonic energy I carried, but
you''re the exception. After going through so much together, you''re unaffected by it at all. That means
you''re a really tough person.”
“That''s why I feel that destiny has brought us together. I had initially nned to kill you before your
second reincarnation. However, due to some strange coincidences, both of us grew close from the
experiences we shared. That said, I was unsettled by a niggling sense of dread over thest few days.
When you ended up being captured, I was worried for you, but the sense of dread returned once you
regained your freedom. It made me wonder if this is all because of your desire to massacre the
people.”
Wretched stared intently at Jonathan. “Go on.”
“I truly do not want to see you kill, but I''m gripped by a sense of fear, simr to being afraid of being
punished after doing something wrong as a kid. You im to be doing so based on the will of the
Heavenly Law, but all I see is a monster. Just like the ferocious dragons that wreak havoc in fairytales,
a warrior would emerge to y them. Only then did I realize that the sense of dread I felt wasrgely
due to my concern for you.”
Momentarily stunned by the words, Wretched responded, “No one can kill me. Your worries are
unnecessary.”
“What if your cells lose the ability to mutate?” Jonathan asked. “You mentioned that the overbearing
demonic energy affected your fate and cells. By taking more lives, would it intensify your demonic
energy further to the extent of causing a problem for your cells?”
Wretched''s expression drastically changed as he pondered upon the issue. “But my gut feeling has
never been wrong.”
“I think your perspective is wrong. Let me exin.”
“All right. Go ahead.”
“You mentioned that the earth is sick due to overpoption. Am I right?”
“That''s the general idea.”
“If a reduction of the human poption is what the Heavens seek, the solution is simple. A massive
flood or an earthquake can kill a lot more people than you''re capable of, so that can''t be the real
reason. Instead, I have a different idea in mind.”
“Go on.”
“In this age of modern technology, cold weapons have lost their ce. Nheless, powerful warriors
like you and me exist everywhere. They refuse to live by the rules and are constantly attempting to
exceed the limits of the human body in the pursuit of immortality. On top of that, demons and beings of
theherworld roam freely. That''s the real reason for the current instability. Now that the death
tribtion is upon us, anyone who is capable will not be able to escape it. Not you and not me. In fact,
my concern is that you''re already in the middle of it. Also, I''m the Chosen One of the death tribtion.
The Heavens have sent me to cleanse the earth of its poisons.”
“I still don''t understand. Why do I feel the will of the Heavenly Law in my thoughts, then?”
“The Heavens might be trying to mislead you due to its inability to tolerate your existence. Can it be
attempting to turn you on the path of destruction so that a warrior appears to kill you? Can everything
be because the Heavens want you dead?”
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Wretched fell into deep thought. “Based on your theory, the more I kill, the greater the demonic energy I
umte. My cells will soon stop mutating, causing something untoward to happen to me.” Wretched
looked up to the sky, a rare glint of fear shing across his eyes. “If the Heavens want me dead, I''m
afraid there''s little I can do about it.”
“Not necessarily. Every warrior has to face their death tribtion. Even then, the death tribtion
doesn''t mean certain death. If one were to survive it, one would naturally be safe.”
“You''re right. Thank you for telling me this.” Wretched''s eyes glistened in delight.
When Jonathan saw that his message had gotten through, he let out a sigh of relief. “I''m d that you
have seen the light. This is wonderful!”
“It seems that you, the Chosen One, have made a big impact and influenced many people. Back then,
Mabel wasn''t meant to survive, but your intervention helped her ovee her death tribtion. And
today, you have also saved me.”
Slightly touched by the words, Jonathan said, “All that matters is that you''re safe.”
“In that case, I''ll order all theherworld beings to retreat.”
After Jonathan nodded in acknowledgment, both of them emerged from the temple.
Outside, demons and ghouls were roaming freely, filling the entire ce with negative and demonic
energy.
It felt no different from hell itself.
Right then, a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky.