[You have died.]
It was the game-like system interface that announced my current status in the darkness.
... How did it feel to experience death?
To be honest, I wasn't sure myself. Keikoku's antimatter wings had pierced through me, leaving my lower body numb. In that moment, it felt like my body had been cut clean in half.
But that was it. I must have died instantly so there was no pain, that's why. In any case, even those thoughts about death were fulite...
[The privilege of <The Joker> has activated.]
[Your new body will be constructed and you'll resurrect.]
... I was safe because of the blessing of <The Joker>.
The 22 Major Tarot cards operate under entirely different principles compared to those of the Lesser series. They were originally cards used for divination, but were transformed by the <System> into something akin to the Great Mysteries.
For instance, the 'World' card could transform an assigned space into an alternate dimension, the 'Lovers' could convert pleasure signals into pain and vice versa, the 'Wheel of Fortune' could manipulate luck probability to a small scale and the other tarot cards could also perform similar alternations depending on their spiritual meaning.
The Joker card, or rather, the Fool— could resurrect the user upon death. However, It was more of erasing the user's death from the 'world's data' rather than 'true resurrection'.
That was the real power of <The Joker>
[Due to an unknown error, your resurrection has been delayed.]
I was expecting this message. Moments before my death, I had used the command sequence '1' of Zero One to push my stats beyond the Fable limit and triggered the penalty of probability.
The Law of Causality was no joke. I wouldn't be surprised if my resurrection was delayed for a week or even a month.
Even so...
[Thanks to your death, your Soul will be freed from the restraints of your Physical Body.]
My head shook and the surrounding darkness distorted. In the next moment, I was standing in Gangdong-gu.
Clang! Clang!
There was the sound of a fierce battle. I surveyed my surroundings and noticed too figures clashing in the air.
Keikoku Amane with six wings like an angel of death and... Angelica?
Her cylindrical sword sliced through the air with a menacing hiss, aimed at the Disaster. Just weeks ago, she had been rambling nonsense beside my hospital bed—now, she was trying to fight a natural calamity that had already claimed 9,999 worlds.
Everything was presented before me in the third person viewpoint.
Keikoku avoided the attack with an agitated expression.「 "What the hell is that sword? Is it some sort of unholy artifact of the demon world or something?!!"
"Shut up and die!"
"You idiot! Are you trying to destory yourself along with me?!" 」
Keikoku tried attacking with his antimatter wings, but Angelica swiftly dispelled the attack with her cylindrical sword, which manipulated the wind itself. No, that was not right. Even from my distant viewpoint, I could see the sword tearing rifts in the space fabric with every swing.
She used the surrounding building surface as a foothold to jump towards the disaster and swung the sword towards his head.
Keikoku used his wings to protect himself. As soon as the cylindrical sword made contact, those very wings of destruction immediately disintegrated into countless harmless fragments.
What the hell? Something made contact with Antimatter without exploding. No, wait...
I narrowed my eyes. Looking closely, Keikoku's right arm was dislocated from his shoulders to the fingertips. Was Angelica the one who inflicted that injury?
What kind of holy relic is that? Was there something like that in Song of Nightmares? Perhaps Gilgamesh? There was no mention of him possessing such a sword. It's hard to say since there are countless holy relics stored within his treasury. Maybe that sword is one of those treasures from the King's Storage.
More importantly, why did Angelica have such an expression?
An expression brimming with seething hatred and palpable malice. It was my first time seeing her like that. What could have possibly ignited such a change in her personality?
"....."
Suddenly, I caught sight of something in the distance. It was my ruined body lying motionless on the gravel. As I thought, it had been severed in two by that attack. The sight of my mangled body was grotesque and unsettling.
It was a true disaster.
The very same attack that had annihilated the entire Fenrir bloodline and eradicated the Parasite species in a single blow, was carelessly unleashed in Gangdong-gu. It was a miracle that the entire Gangdong-gu wasn't erased in a single go.
Damnit. It was clear Angelica was at a disadvantage here. If she was hit even once...
"... Kim Jakga?"
I thought I heard wrong. But my name was really called.
When I turned my head, I saw Park Joonhyuk in a daze. For a moment, I thought he could see me. But he was staring at my ruined body lying on the gravel with a strange expression.
What kind of expression was that? Was he shocked or something else? Indeed, It was an unreadable expression.
Unfortunately...
「 "... You bastard, who said you could die on your own! How am I going to deal with all of this on my own, huh?!" 」Park Joonhyuk gritted his teeth and started kicked my corpse. Or I should I say what was left of my body.
I was baffled. It was really ridiculous.
"Ughh..." I sighed.
What the hell was I even thinking? There was no way a bastard like him would care about me. But wasn't he going too far by kicking my corpse?
I felt violated. At the very least, he could have shown a little respect for the dead. Why did he have to kick my corpse though?
PAW! A loud sound broke my train of thoughts.
Angelica's fragile body crossed the air and crashed into a building surface before falling to the ground with a 'thud'. Shit! Shit! Shit! Surely, she wasn't dead. Fortunately, that was not the case.
「 "Hah... Hah..." 」
Her breathing was rough. She looked she had received the force of a heavy blow, but she was still alive. Even so, It doesn't look like she could fight anymore.
「 "Shit! Hey, wake up damnit! This is not the time to be taking a nap!" 」
Park Joonhyuk rushed towards Angelica upon realising the situation and started slapping her cheeks. He continued slapping but Angelica showed no response even after her cheeks had swollen.
This bastard... Can't he more gentle? She's not going to wake up if he continued slapping her like that.
Boom!
There was the sound of an explosion and something was flying this way with frightening speed. It was Keikoku Amane that was approaching like some sort of demon.
「 "Damnit! This is bullshit!" 」
Park Joonhyuk cursed under his breath, quickly scooped Angelica into his arms, and hoisted her onto his back before darting away.
Considering Park Joonhyuk's personality, I thought he would abandon Angelica and run off by himself. But I guess he wasn't that stupid.
Angelica is the only person that can harm the disaster. If he still wants to live long enough to see the end of this Fable, it made sense he would protect her at any cost even if he doesn't want to. However, I don't think he has any skills that can defend against Antimatter.
He also doesn't have Sky Wind, so he won't be able to run that far before he gets caught. Even if he was able to buy some time using his clones, he would just be delaying the inevitable.
The disaster will eventually catch him.
How could I change that truth?
I don't know when I'll be resurrected. If I don't do anything, everyone will die.
Using Zero One is out of the question. Surely, there had to be something that I could do even in this state.
... Ah, would that work?
I thought about it thoroughly and reached a conclusion.
There were times in Song of Nightmares when certain characters would be able to invade the body of another person due to the effects of a skill or some kind of special circumstances.
Such a phenomenon was called 'Body Possession'.
It was also my salvation.