Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 112: True Dragon (5)

The sky was tearing apart.

It looked as though some colossal hand was shredding the fabric of reality itself, ripping open a gaping fracture above Babel, and from that rift—it was descending.

The being that had crawled out from the abyss of the Color Universe.

The Outer God of blue mist and webs.

I stood tall in the heart of Babel, looking up at the spectacle.

Even in my massive form as the Black Giant—towering so high I could look down on skyscrapers like toys—I still felt small before the descending Outer God.

Its true form was impossible to fully perceive.

Countless tentacles writhed through the air like a dance, weaving and twisting, while innumerable eyes blinked between them, all fixed directly on me.

The form I could grasp was in constant flux.

Like living paint sprawling across a canvas, it kept warping, shifting, remolding itself.

Like trying to discern a figure within the fog, the Outer God's real shape was always within reach—yet forever unattainable.

But within that shapeless chaos, one thing was crystal clear.

The countless eyes—watching me.

Different in size, color, shape, but all of them locked onto me alone.

As if I was the only being in this world worthy of their gaze.

BOOM.

The closer the Outer God came to Babel, the more reality itself began to distort.

The air grew heavier, until eventually it transformed—becoming like seawater.

Buildings swayed like seaweed.

Vehicles floated off the roads, bobbing like fish.

The laws of gravity collapsed, causality unraveled, and the line between reality and unreality dissolved.

Just as I'd seen in my foresight, the Outer God’s mere presence reshaped everything around it, turning the environment into its Domain.

The Outer God descended, swimming through the sky as though it were an ocean, sending forth a wave of psychic will toward me.

It wasn’t mere communication—it was a linguistic command powerful enough to distort reality itself.

[Become one with me.]

A simple, absolute command.

And with those words, massive tentacles stretched toward me.

As if to embrace me.

I spread my arms wide.

Like greeting an old friend after a long separation.

For someone like me, whose specialty was close-range combat—tearing, ripping, devouring—could there be a more welcome opportunity?

BOOM.

The instant those titanic tentacles, many times larger than me, moved to coil around my body—I seized them with both hands and bit down hard.

[!!!!]

All the Outer God's countless eyes widened in unison, its tentacles trembling as though convulsing.

The shock was clear—even the Outer God had not anticipated its own Authority being devoured.

The blue-mist Outer God recoiled immediately.

Its immense body contracted rapidly, like a startled octopus scrambling to escape.

But the tentacle caught in my grip could not break free so easily.

Of course, there was a price to pay.

Where the tentacles touched my skin, rapid changes began.

A blue color spread along my body, transforming parts of me into more tentacles.

It was similar to the Corrosion of the webs—but deeper, more fundamental.

But I didn’t care.

Instead, I bit down harder.

Just like the Black Giant in the vision, I could adapt to anything.

At first, the transformation into tentacles progressed swiftly—but it slowed with every second.

At this rate, I can devour it all.

But things weren’t going to be that easy.

Causality and time began to twist.

Suddenly, the tentacle I was holding... vanished—as if it had never existed in the first place.

Of course, my hands could seize even things like time and causality—formless, untouchable concepts—but still, only a bundle of tentacles remained in my grip.

The Outer God's main body had already retreated to a safe distance.

Like a lizard severing its own tail, it had sacrificed part of itself to escape.

I swallowed the remaining piece of tentacle with regret.

Hmph.

****

I flailed in the ocean-like air, struggling to grab hold of the blue-mist Outer God.

But no matter what, I couldn’t seem to catch it.

The seawater that made up its Domain constantly interfered with my movements.

It felt like wading through a swamp.

And there was an even bigger problem.

Tentacles sprouted endlessly from my body.

The transformation that began when I made contact with the Outer God still hadn’t stopped.

In fact, it was accelerating by the second.

With grotesque sounds, blue tentacles sprouted from my shoulders, arms, and legs.

And with every new tentacle, my Authority diminished.

I’m running out of Authority...

I gritted my teeth.

Compared to the blue-mist Outer God, my own Authority was laughably insufficient.

The difference was like a firefly beneath the sun.

Of course, after becoming the Black Giant, I’d only properly devoured a few bites of tentacle just now.

All the Authority I'd gained from devouring the webs earlier? Compared to these tentacles, it was meaningless.

At this rate, my Authority would be completely eroded before I could fully adapt to the Outer God’s power.

And when that happened—game over. True annihilation.

There has to be a way!

I racked my brain desperately.

In the vision, how had the Black Giant captured fleeing Outer Gods?

Gripping time itself, tearing apart space, ignoring the boundaries of dimensions—that overwhelming force...

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall the specifics.

Then suddenly, something strange appeared in my vision.

As if frustrated that I hadn’t figured it out yet.

A hallucination, resembling an AR interface.

It was like a tutorial video—showing exactly how to seize the blue-mist Outer God.

"More complete foresight..."

The final gift left by that foolish child version of me.

I hadn’t expected it to manifest like this.

Not merely sharpening my instincts—but presenting me with concrete answers.

In the video, the Black Giant reached out toward empty space.

Toward seemingly nothing.

But on closer inspection, it wasn’t grasping nothing—it was gripping space itself, seizing the structure of reality.

Ah!

Enlightenment hit me instantly—and I followed the "eye" guiding me, reaching my hand into the void.

To the naked eye, there was nothing there.

But the moment my hand extended, I felt something—like grabbing hold of a thread buried in the air.

And I clenched it with all my strength.

Squelch.

Space collapsed in on itself.

No—the word “collapsed” wasn’t even sufficient.

The space itself compressed into a black mass within my grip, pulling everything around it inward.

SKREEEE—

The fabric of reality screamed.

From the center of my grasp, vast fractures spread in every direction.

Like a spiderweb—no, even more intricate, with patterns far beyond its complexity.

Through the fractures in space, an overwhelming gravitational force erupted.

It was a brutal, violent force that crushed even space itself.

I gripped the shattered fabric of reality, tearing and crushing it, pulling the distant Outer God toward me.

In the twisted void, distance lost all meaning.

The blue-mist Outer God was dragged right to my side in an instant.

But the Outer God didn't submit quietly.

On the contrary, it retaliated with ferocious intensity.

[Become one.]

[Become one.]

[Become one.]

It was as if, after witnessing my squelch, it desperately longed to become one with me.

The air, which had transformed into seawater, abruptly shifted again—turning into tentacles that reached out from all directions.

The ground, the sky, everything morphed into tentacles, surging toward me.

But that wasn’t all—the tentacles twisted together, weaving illusions.

At first, they were vague silhouettes. But gradually, they sharpened, becoming familiar faces.

Amber. Aria. Scarlett. Victor. Iris. And more.

Everyone I knew appeared, each trying to stop me in their own way.

Every time I resisted those illusions, my Authority was consumed rapidly.

But I stayed silent, clenching space, focusing only on dragging the Outer God closer.

I ignored the pleading illusions, the tentacle attacks, the pain of my diminishing Authority.

Because I understood.

This was the only way to victory.

Just a little more... just a little more!

Finally, the Outer God was within reach.

Its massive form struggled frantically, but it was already too late.

I poured every ounce of remaining strength into grabbing the Outer God’s core body.

And I bit down with all my might.

But then—something unexpected happened.

Shrrrk—

The Outer God’s core body dissipated like smoke, vanishing, leaving behind only a tangle of severed tentacles in my mouth.

As if the connection had been severed, or as if that wasn’t its true body to begin with.

I looked up at the sky—the rift to the Color Universe was already closed.

As if it had sealed itself, preventing me from pursuing.

The Outer God had been feigning its assault—its real goal had always been to ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ escape.

“Hah...”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Chewing the severed mass of tentacles in my mouth, I looked around.

All that remained was me—hungry, battered—and a barely surviving Babel.

Much of the city lay in ruins, countless buildings toppled, but it wasn’t total annihilation.

I let out a faint chuckle at the sight.

As the colossal body of the Black Giant began to shrink, I slowly closed my eyes.

I was strangely exhausted—I just wanted to rest, even for a little while.

****

As always, Seoul Dino Park was wrapped in its cozy shadows.

Amber sat on the large bed in the lounge.

With her amber-colored hair swept to one side, she looked down at the person lying on the bed.

A was still fast asleep.

Her white hair spread over the pillow, her expression peaceful.

“It’s been a week already...”

Amber muttered quietly.

Her hand gently brushed A’s forehead.

Since that day, A hadn’t awakened even once.

The Blue Web Incident, or as some called it—the Jinlong Incident.

A catastrophe that engulfed all of Babel, stopped by A alone.

And the price of that feat—this deep, unending sleep.

According to Whitey’s diagnosis, there was nothing physically wrong.

In fact, A’s vitals were healthier than ever.

But there was no sign of her waking.

“What should we watch today?”

Amber mumbled as if speaking to A, turning on the lounge’s holographic TV.

Coincidentally, a special broadcast about the incident was airing.

One Week Since the Blue Web Incident: How Has Babel Changed?

The anchor, wearing a grave expression, read from the prepared script.

[Last week, the Blue Web Incident plunged all of Babel into terror. The disaster began in the southern districts and rapidly spread across the entire city. Yet, astonishingly, the actual damage was far less than expected.]

The screen shifted to display various statistics.

Death toll: 127

Missing persons: 89

Injured: 3,451

Property damage: Approximately 25 trillion credits

The anchor continued:

[Considering Babel’s population numbers in the tens of millions, these figures are miraculously low. What’s even more noteworthy is that most casualties weren’t due to direct web attacks, but secondary accidents caused by widespread panic.]

What was the point of those webs, really...?

Amber frowned, lost in thought.

A being powerful enough to cover all of Babel—yet only this level of damage?

It felt deliberate, as if mass slaughter had never been the objective.

The TV footage changed again.

This time, showing the ruins of Jinlong Technologies headquarters.

Once one of Babel’s largest corporations—now completely erased without a trace.

[Jinlong Technologies is presumed to be the origin point of the incident. But no employees or clues were found at the scene. It’s as if the entire building simply vanished...]

Amber sighed, brushing A’s hair gently.

Soft, white strands slipped through her fingers.

During that entire ordeal, she’d been unable to do anything.

While A carried the weight alone, Amber had merely watched.

What disturbed her most—the fact that even Seoul Dino Park wasn’t safe.

The webs had invaded here, into the very shadows where they hid.

An enemy that ignored all logic, penetrating even these hidden spaces.

“That was... really dangerous...”

Amber shuddered, recalling the moment.

Without Aria’s child-fusion tech and the shadow gear from Dominic, they likely would’ve been consumed by the webs.

Next time, it won’t be like this.

She vowed silently.

And now, they were making preparations to change that.

Research had begun—enhancing abilities through child-fusion, in collaboration with Dominic’s Paradigm Directive.

The idea stemmed from how the children, to a small degree, used powers similar to A’s.

Given the research progress, prototypes might emerge sooner than expected.

Lost in thought, Amber felt a small movement on her shoulder.

A child, rubbing their sleepy eyes, had woken.

This special child had fused several times now—and lately, they followed Amber everywhere.

The child crawled toward A’s face, raising a tiny hand—delivering a sluggish, almost comically slow pat.

So gentle, it barely made a sound.

“She probably needs to rest a little longer.”

Amber stroked the child softly.

“Next time, let’s be the ones helping A.”

[Yeah!]

The child clenched their little fist with determined resolve.

The gesture was so adorable, Amber couldn’t help but smile.

As she played with the child, the special broadcast ended—the screen now flooded with ads.

[Black Bio Pizza has a new look!]

Upbeat music played as a close-up of steaming pizza filled the screen.

[The all-new Black Bio Pizza Deluxe Special!]

[More toppings than the original Black Bio Pizza Special! More cheese! More happiness!]

The ad model bit into the pizza—melting cheese stretching endlessly across the screen.

It was an upgraded version of A’s usual favorite—the Black Bio Pizza Special.

Probably Black Bio Pizza's latest attempt to surpass the wildly popular Perfect Food pizzas.

“A would love this...”

Amber whispered.

“Pizza!”

A suddenly shouted, jolting awake from her sleep.

A typical A-like awakening, if there ever was one.