I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 342. River of Blood, Mountain of Screams (5)

Keter’s Mental World.

Paratool performed a spectacle of dropping the moon to subdue Keter.

But Keter went a step further, surprising Paratool by suggesting he could drop the sun.

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

Just as the sun got a little closer, the ground began to boil. The gravity of the sun caused everything on the ground to rise and be destroyed.

Keter didn’t know what would happen if the sun got closer. But Paratool knew, and that’s why the result manifested in this mental world.

Paratool changed the trajectory of the moon he was about to drop. He tried to throw it at the sun to alter its orbit. Even a dragon couldn’t survive being hit by a falling sun.

At that moment, Keter, who had raised both arms, knelt down.

“Phew!”

Simultaneously, the approaching sun also stopped.

No matter how exceptional Keter’s mental strength was, no matter how difficult it was to move the sun, the sun’s presence itself didn’t disappear.

Paratool brushed off his chest. Then he was surprised by his own actions.

‘Did I just feel relieved?’

When Keter moved the sun, he thought it was absurd. A human like Keter doing something even a dragon couldn’t.

He was sure it was impossible. But somewhere in his heart, he thought:

‘If it’s Keter, is it possible?’

That anxiety made him direct the moon he was dropping towards the sun. Ultimately, it failed, but the mere fact that he felt fear was a huge humiliation for Paratool.

The cost of moving the sun was high. Keter was panting. He tried to catch his breath several times, but it was hard to find stability.

“Whew, I didn’t know it would be this hard.”

Paratool stared intently at Keter. It was the perfect timing to attack, but he was lost in deep thought.

Eventually, Paratool nodded to himself and spoke.

“I thought I knew everything about you. But it seems I underestimated your potential.”

It was the acknowledgment and praise of a dragon. But Keter wasn’t pleased at all.

‘Tch. Now he’s serious.’

Keter had already acknowledged Paratool long ago. He didn’t care if he was a real dragon, but he was undoubtedly a semi-divine being.

A transcendent being far above Kron, the King Kwonseong, who had reached the 8th realm. If they had met in reality, Keter would have been killed without a sound.

‘Well, I can still hold out here.’

Even Keter, the greatest of all, doesn’t easily say ‘I’ll win.’ No solution is in sight yet.

But he was confident that if he held out, an opportunity would surely come. And that’s what Paratool was wary of.

“I originally planned to subdue you in this mental world to take everything from you, but you resist until the very end.”

“Fighting for thousands, tens of thousands of years is boring, but if I can mess with you, I’ll gladly do it.”

“I don’t want to see your face for tens of thousands of years. So I’ll make you an offer.”

“Don’t bother. It’s a waste of time.”

“Then I’ll tell you what’s going to happen to you. I’m going to your unconscious world. I plan to destroy your ‘heart’ there.”

“Unconscious world? Sounds familiar.”

“If your heart is destroyed, I’ll also be affected, so I tried to avoid it if possible. But your resistance was stronger than I thought. You refused my offer without even listening, so it’s goodbye for us.”

Paratool disappeared without looking back.

Keter felt a chill run down his spine. It wasn’t just the sense of crisis, but a real chill that spread from his spine throughout his body.

“I need to follow him to the unconscious world…”

He only knew what the unconscious world was, but he had never heard how to enter it. He couldn’t just ‘pop’ in with a sense either.

Paratool said he would do something, but there’s no telling how long it will take. But it certainly won’t be leisurely.

“I guess I have to try anything.”

Since staying still won’t get him anywhere, he decided to start by making the unconscious conscious.

“Keter. I told you.”

A woman’s voice came from behind.

Keter’s eyes widened. But the emotion on his face as he turned around wasn’t caution, but joy.

“Serena…?”

The Star Witch Serena.

The woman Keter married for the second time had suddenly appeared in his mental world.

Serena was dressed the same as when she first met Keter. The attire of a fortune-teller, with cloth covering her eyes and mouth.

“Am I seeing hallucinations because I’m about to die?”

Keter poked Serena’s cheek. Without the plump sensation, his finger passed right through her.

“Ah, it’s fake.”

“You’re still the same. I like that about you. But now’s not the time.”

“From the way you talk, you’re the real Serena.”

“Keter. I told you how to get to the unconscious world. I even told you to practice. But you forgot.”

“I guess I didn’t think it was important at the time. You should have pushed me more.”

“I thought you’d say that, so I left my soul in your mental world when you fell asleep. Just in case your unconscious world was attacked.”

“You should have told me earlier.”

“Telling the future is a big violation of causality. Especially if it’s a future that could change the world.”

Serena clasped her hands together. A glass orb appeared in her hands.

“Keter. I can only send you to the unconscious world. After that, you have to do it yourself.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Just like you always do.”

“Ah, I get it.”

Keter reached for the glass orb without hesitation, but stopped just before touching it and said,

“Why did you leave? Where are you now, what are you doing?”

“You weren’t the type to ask such things.”

“I changed. Living does that to you.”

Serena smiled slightly.

“…Keter. I can’t tell you much, but just know this.”

She kissed Keter’s cheek.

“I was happy and had fun with you.”

Keter understood Serena’s words, but he wanted to ask what they meant.

But he wasn’t given the chance. Even though Keter didn’t touch the glass orb, his body began to be sucked in. It was an irresistible force.

*

The Unconscious World.

The mage who first discovered it defined the unconscious like this:

“Everything I know but am not thinking about at this moment. Everything that was once conscious but is now forgotten.”

Paratool, who entered Keter’s unconscious, was tired.

“I’ve seen many unconscious worlds, but this is truly chaos itself.”

On a golden beach, pigs and cows were sunbathing, and in a sea of lava, a winged turtle was dancing.

The sun in the sky, upon closer inspection, was a bread with apple jam, and the clouds were candy.

“It’s not dangerous…”

Click.

Paratool took a step. But the sound of his footstep was strange.

Boom!

An explosion occurred on the ground, followed by a rose-shaped cloud. It was the ‘Rose’ of Ragnon, the bomb-maker of Ruquer.

A bomb rose powerful enough to kill even a master-level strongman in one shot. But Paratool was unharmed except for a slight singe on his clothes.

Looking around, the ground was checkered with red and blue.

This wasn’t a trap Keter set up for intruders. It was just a manifestation of a childhood game.

“Red must be the trap.”

No matter how powerful the rose was, Paratool was unfazed. He could just ignore it and move on, but he stopped for a moment and stepped on a blue tile.

Boom!

Another bomb exploded, this time twice as powerful. Paratool brushed his bangs and stepped on a red tile again.

Boom!

The explosion happened without fail.

Paratool was starting to feel annoyed.

“The grid and colors are just to mess with me. There’s no pattern.”

Since Keter couldn’t enter the unconscious world, Paratool had infinite time.

The unconscious world is something even transcendent beings can’t perceive, and even if they could, directly entering it is impossible.

To enter the unconscious world, one must be unconscious while being conscious. Only a very few, including gods, can do this.

Paratool’s body rose. He intended to fly into the air.

Then, a pig sunbathing on the beach spoke.

“You’d better come down. The sky is more dangerous.”

“…?”

Paratool’s eyes widened.

Even though there are living beings in the unconscious world, they don’t speak. But this one did. And it spoke clearly, directly to him.

The pig walked upright towards Paratool, stepping on the grid lines, so no bombs exploded.

“Mind introducing yourself?”

The pig casually asked for his name. With plenty of time, Paratool, feeling curious, readily answered.

“Paratool. A dragon.”

“I thought you were a dragon. You looked unlucky from the start.”

“And who are you? Not a creation of Keter’s unconscious.”

“Me? I’m the white blood cell that exists to exterminate pests like you.”

“…?!”

Sssk.

The pig’s body split open. Inside was a strange girl.

With clear stitch marks all over her body, the androgynous girl introduced herself.

“My name is Franken. A chimera physician, the master of the Gray Tower, and Keter’s teacher.”

Paratool, who knew about Franken, recognized her immediately.

“You knew I was coming? You trapped yourself here, conscious of Keter’s unconscious moment.”

“It’s been a long time. 1772. The last date I counted. I was worried you wouldn’t come, but you finally did. Now I can leave this place.”

“In Keter’s memory, you must have gone to Ruquer’s underground.”

“That was to deceive you, to deceive the world.”

“You…”

Paratool couldn’t hide his confusion. To think there was already a guest in Keter’s unconscious, and that guest was targeting him.

But it’s just surprise. He’s a dragon, and his opponent is just a variant human.

“Want to fight right away? How about listening to me first? I saw a lot while operating on Keter’s body. When I realized Keter had the components of all kinds of life forms, my head was in chaos. With medicine, you can transplant the characteristics of any organism, but to be born completely human inside and out in a form that doesn’t manifest is impossible with medicine or magic.”

“I don’t get it. What does that have to do with you? To endure the annihilation of your soul for Keter, I can’t understand human stupidity.”

“It’s not for Keter. It’s the curiosity of a ‘scholar’ who wants to know who created something like Keter. And if I help Keter this much, won’t he do anything for me? He’s the type to repay favors.”

Paratool sighed. Even after thousands, tens of thousands of years, humans were impossible to understand.

“If you want cooperation, cooperate with me. I’ll give you what you want. All you can do for me is buy time.”

“You’re right. No matter how much I know the unconscious world better than you from living in Keter’s unconscious first, we’re both intruders. An intruder can’t drive out another intruder. Especially since you’re a dragon. No matter how great I am, it’s tough against a dragon.”

“Are you accepting my offer?”

“Haha. No way. I told you, I’m just buying time. Only the owner of this world can deal with intruders.”

“If you’re waiting for Keter, it’s futile. He can’t come here.”

Franken shrugged.

“I agree with that. The unconscious world isn’t about effort, it’s about meditation. Even if Keter does everything well, doing nothing is really hard for him. There’s a lot he can’t do. But he does it all. Know why?”

“I told you, buying time is meaningless.”

Paratool extended his palm. A black light gathered in his hand.

9th Circle Dark Magic, Black Mansion.

Even after witnessing a 9th Circle spell, Franken continued with a smile.

“Keter is a good guy, so there are quite a few people willing to help him.”

Whoosh!

Just as the Black Mansion was about to activate, space split beside Paratool, and Keter’s fist slammed into his face.

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