Chapter: 641
Swish…
After the sudden situation ended, only a chill lingered over the ground.
Left alone with a dumbfounded expression, I quietly whispered to myself.
“Is this a dream?”
Could it be that I was actually dreaming? I had to wonder, as absurd as that thought felt.
“…”
Looking at what unfolded before me, there was no way it was a dream.
The land was shattered, reduced to nothing but ash, as if something had swept through it all.
I had to break into a cold sweat, feeling the lingering heat radiating from the ground.
‘I didn’t see it properly.’
I should have witnessed what kind of force surged through.
The light was so blinding that I shut my eyes.
And that was the regret of a thousand years.
‘I should have seen it.’
I should have observed everything that occurred and lodged it firmly into my mind.
How foolish of me to close my eyes!
Damn it!
Grinding my teeth, I glanced around.
Setting aside the chaos around me, my priority should be understanding what just happened.
Particularly, I found it strange that my father had suddenly appeared and then vanished right after we started talking.
‘There…’
I was certain he was about to discuss my mother.
Why did he have to disappear at that very moment?
“What the heck, really?”
I wondered where he had gone off to after piquing my curiosity for no reason.
No, how did he even get here in the first place?
As I recalled my father who arrived like the wind and departed the same way, a question brewed in my mind.
Zheek-!
“Hmm?”
Feeling a strange sensation in my chest, I reached in and pulled out something.
“Uh?”
My eyes widened as I looked at what I had taken out.
It was a bead.
The red jade bead that Mrs. Mi had given me earlier.
Seeing as I had already laid my eyes on it, I shouldn’t have been surprised.
But there was an issue with the bead.
“It’s broken, isn’t it?”
For some reason, the bead was shattered.
What’s more, it had lost its color and turned transparent.
The moment I saw this, an alarming thought crossed my mind.
“…This is bad.”
I was supposed to be way more freaked out than when I encountered that hundred-level monster.
The real problem was that the person who gave me this broken bead was none other than Mrs. Mi.
“How do I explain this…?”
What am I going to say when I go back, having shattered the bead Mrs. Mi entrusted to me?
As I pondered this thought foolishly,
“…Hmm?”
Suddenly, I realized there was another anomaly with the bead.
After fiddling with the shattered bead a few times, I noticed something.
‘It’s hot.’
The bead was radiating a scorching heat.
‘Is it because of my body?’
No, that wouldn’t be it.
Having mastered flame techniques, my body temperature was indeed higher than the average person’s, but not high enough to make the bead hot just for holding it.
Moreover,
‘I feel energy too.’
The bead was infused with energy that felt separate from its heat.
Is this my energy? For just a moment, I thought it might be. But that wasn’t the case either.
This was definitely—
‘Father’s energy.’
It felt more like my father’s heat than my own.
…That means, no way.
“Was it because of this?”
Could it be that the reason my father suddenly appeared in the North Sea was due to this bead?
I thought it was nonsense, yet nothing else came to mind.
Moreover, didn’t Mrs. Mi mention something when she gave me this bead?
“…She told me to use it in times of danger.”
Use it when I feel danger approaching.
Moreover, Mrs. Mi said this bead was originally given to her by my father.
I nodded as I gazed at the broken bead.
“Surely this thing…”
This was definitely the cause.
It seemed that this was the reason my father managed to appear in the North Sea.
‘I knew it was a magical item…’
Of course, I suspected it was some kind of artifact given by Mrs. Mi.
‘But to think it had such power!’
The power to bring someone from far away.
Who would have thought such a magical item existed?
‘…But then again, there’s that insane guy who opens dimensional gates with his bare hands, so I guess it’s not that strange.’
Suddenly, I found solace thinking of Cheol Ji-seon, who was probably struggling with his errands.
With a calmer mind, I examined the bead from different angles.
‘How did I use this?’
Regardless of the effectiveness of the bead or it being a magical item, I had never attempted to use it.
Mrs. Mi said to use it in times of danger, yet she never explained how.
How exactly was it used? I thought for a moment, and suddenly a possibility struck me.
‘Could it be a ritual?’
Instead of directly picking up the bead, I had used an ethereal object.
At that time, I distinctly remembered the bead glowing slightly.
That implies—
‘It activates when you infuse energy into it directly.’
If I think about it this way, the activation method doesn’t seem too difficult. Apparently, that’s likely how this mess happened.
‘Not to mention, it seems like there’s a time limit…’
[Time’s up.]
That was my father’s final words before he disappeared.
Looking at it, it seems it wasn’t a complete travel; there was likely a duration to it.
‘And now, with the bead being broken…’
Should I consider that a one-time use?
Or…
‘Is it right to see it as a limitation?’
I couldn’t quite figure that out. But one thing was important.
‘In the end, this artifact can no longer be used.’
I could sense that instinctively.
The power of the artifact ended.
In reality, that’s something I could tell just by looking at it, whether through intuition or anything else.
If it’s broken and faded like this, then it’s clear what it meant.
‘Hmm.’
I felt a bit of regret.
‘What a useful item wasted.’
The idea that merely imbuing it with energy could take me to my target.
While it wasn’t complete teleportation, nothing else compared.
If only I had this…
‘I could easily avoid situations like this.’
Just that thought alone offered a mild sense of relief.
I had enough to manage as is.
This would at least lessen some of the major worries on my plate.
The bead… no, the remnants of what was once a bead, I collected them and tucked them back into my bosom.
With an artifact as broken as this, that’s the end of it.
You might wonder what’s the use of regretting it now.
‘Fortunately, however.’
I knew a person who could alter that set rule.
Not only could he mend broken artifacts.
‘He can create ‘artificial’ artifacts too.’
“I intended to visit you anyway.”
Now I’ve found a solid reason to go.
On the bright side, it didn’t seem like it’d be too difficult to locate him.
‘Just in time, too.’
Heavenly Demon.
I confirmed she was in Hanam.
The one I was looking for should be by her side.
Just as I was about to adjust my plans, a voice called out to me.
“Your Majesty!!”
I turned my attention to the sound.
Ah. Right.
I had almost forgotten about that in the midst of everything that happened so suddenly.
The natural disaster created by my father.
Before it lay the ash-ridden corpse of a monster.
Its remarkable regenerative power was gone, leaving it unchanged.
It looked quite dead for sure.
‘Well, it would be quite the issue if it hadn’t perished.’
The monster was horrifyingly charred.
If it had somehow managed to spring back to life in that state, I would have thought it far too outrageous.
The black lion, who had been guarding the princess, drew closer to the corpse of the hundred-level monster.
“Your Majesty…!!”
The black lion appeared to hesitate as he reached out with trembling hands to touch the monster’s remains.
I could see he was stuck in hesitation, unable to proceed rashly.
So I approached and spoke to him.
“When were you having fun swinging your sword? Why hesitate now?”
“…!”
The black lion flinched at my words.
No answer came.
I thought he might get angry, but it seemed he didn’t.
As I looked at him, pondering his reaction, someone suddenly appeared beside me.
It was a mentor.
He looked at me and said,
“I knew you were inconsiderate, but I didn’t expect it to be this chaotic.”
tsk tsk.
He must’ve taken issue with my previous comment, as he repeatedly clicked his tongue.
“…I hadn’t included emotional education in their training. It makes me think it’s a needed aspect after all.”
“Come on, teaching character to an elder? That feels a bit… Aagh!”
I nearly lost it as I got a solid smack to the back of the head.
While I knew he meant to remind me to choose my words wisely, I still didn’t quite understand.
From the sounds of it, my mentor sighed lightly, as if he was in the midst of a dilemma.
“Disciple.”
“Yes?”
“If you’ve been born human, it is essential to hone your empathy skills more.”
“I’m aware of that, but the elder you speak of doesn’t really possess much either.”
“…”
I said that expecting another hit, but strangely, it didn’t happen this time.
Feeling a bit caught off guard, my mentor turned his gaze back to me.
“…Anyway.”
He seemed eager to steer the topic away, so I resolved to stay quiet.
“Where has your father gone?”
“…I’m not certain… He’s probably in Shanxi.”
“…Huh? Shanxi?”
The one who had just been in the North Sea is now in Shanxi?
Pajeon looked at me, brimming with questions, but since explaining bore me, I decided to move on.
“Anyway, that’s the situation.”
“…Your Majesty….”
The black lion remained transfixed on the corpse of the monster.
Seeing him that way, even Seongyul, who had crept in closer, bore an unamused expression.
The air was thick with the scent of burnt charcoal, blending with an ominous ambiance.
Oh, come on.
“He hasn’t even died yet, what’s with the fuss….”
Thud.
“Hmm?”
I halted, my head turning.
I sensed something change in the words I had thrown out haphazardly.
Everyone around me was staring right at me.
What did I do wrong this time?
I didn’t think I had made any mistakes.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Even the black lion, who hadn’t been turning to look at me thus far, was staring my way.
He questioned me directly.
“…What did you just say?”
“What about it?”
“He’s not dead, what does that mean?”
I nodded at the urgency in the black lion’s voice.
Realizing it belatedly.
‘Ah, was that the problem?’
I wondered why they had reacted so. It seemed they genuinely didn’t know.
‘Well, if they had known, they wouldn’t have hesitated like this.’
I placed a hand over my heart.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
The echo of a heartbeat pulsed within.
Something alive still lingered.
Woosh.
I raised my hand and gently waved it.
Boom-!!
A surge of wind pressure erupted mixed with my energy.
The forceful gust hit the monster.
Fssshhhh…
Soon, the cinders of its burnt remains crumbled under the wind’s pressure.
“What are you doing now—!!”
The black lion roared at me.
“Don’t get mad; just look straight ahead.”
I disregarded his protests and pointed forward with my finger.
Fssss…
The ash scattered into the air.
The speed at which it disintegrated was remarkable.
The heat emitted must have been unbelievably intense to cause that.
What in the world could have been so hot for that monstrosity to be reduced to such remains?
But that was beside the point.
“…!!”
Having easily blown away the ash, it was as though the black lion finally noticed.
As the monster’s form vanished, what remained on the ground was unmistakably a human body.
“Your Majesty-!!”
The Ice Palace.
The figure of the person who was said to have been devoured by ice and transformed into a monster lay there.
The black lion rushed closer, examining the princess.
“Ahh…!”
To my astonishment, the princess appeared unscathed, not a single scratch on her.
Though the upper body had been blown away, and her jaw had been repeatedly shattered…
In such circumstances, while the monster’s body had disappeared, the princess’s body remained intact.
‘How intriguing.’
This was something I hadn’t seen coming.
But…
‘No wounds are one thing, but there are many problems with the rest.’
First off, her skin underwent drastic changes.
The scales that had already begun to emerge were now wrapping entirely around her face.
Though the resonance felt by a half-demon was still present, her breaths came in shallow, labored gasps.
‘Is this the aftereffect of being consumed by those ice monsters?’
I was curious about what had transpired.
It appeared she was unconscious. With her barely-there breathing and energy, I wondered if she could ever wake up in that state.
Hmm.
Looking at her, I suddenly pondered, Could I use my heat to heal her, like I did with Murong Hee-ah?
That notion flitted through my mind.
‘But I’m not exactly compelled to do so.’
Even if it were possible, I would need a significant reason.
That was—
‘Why should I do that?’
It didn’t feel necessary for me to do anything for the princess.
It felt like there was nothing left for me to gain from her.
Which indicated it wouldn’t be worth the hassle to bother trying to heal her.
As I contemplated this, a chill washed over me.
I lost interest.
In stark contrast, the black lion supported the princess, looking around in a panic.
“We need to hurry and get her to the healer…!”
I nodded at the black lion’s urgency.
What loyalty he displayed!
I couldn’t help but wonder what he had seen that motivated such behavior.
It all felt meaningless to me, which made it seem even more puzzling.
“Even if I haul her along, am I gonna find a way?”
The black lion was truly devoted, but reality seemed different.
Of course, I had no desire to nitpick or throw a spanner in the works.
My inaction wasn’t out of respect for the black lion.
‘I’m just too lazy.’
Now that I had lost interest, it became too bothersome as well.
That was all there was to it. I turned my gaze away, thinking,
‘I should head back for now.’
Regardless, I must return to where my companions awaited.
The ones injured far more than the princess, Namgung Biana and Dang So-yeol, were my real priority.
With that in mind, I turned to Seongyul.
“You mentioned you helped them escape, so you must know where they are…”
Just as I began to speak and move toward him,
Thud.
Suddenly, sensing something amiss, I turned my head back again.
My eyes widened in surprise at what I saw.
Clearly, someone stood where only the black lion and the Ice Palace had been.
“Huh!”
The black lion, it seemed, noticed it too. He hurriedly attempted to move, but—
“Stop.”
The black lion froze at the sound of that voice.
Though he had halted at the command, there was a perplexed look on his face, as if he couldn’t comprehend why he had obeyed.
The figure continued addressing the black lion.
“If you wish for your lord to live, it would be best if you remained still.”
Their tone was chilly and commanding.
I hadn’t even noticed how long this person had been standing there.
And this person…
It was someone I recognized.
I, of course, knew, but the black lion seemed to recognize him as well, his expression twisting into a grimace.
His formerly black hair had turned white, and his dark eyes now glimmered blue.
Yet his handsome features remained unscathed. There was no way I could mistake him.
The black lion gazed at the figure, speaking.
“Woo Hyuk…!!”
Yes, that person was surprisingly Woohyuk.
For a moment, I thought he had come here because I told Woohyuk to return of his own volition.
‘No.’
The moment I set my sight on him, I became certain.
Furrowing my brow, I opened my mouth, speaking,
“…You.”
At my words, his gaze shifted towards me.
The moment I locked eyes with those blue orbs, a shiver ran down my spine.
Just meeting his gaze felt like it could cut me.
That only added to my conviction.
“Who are you?”
That guy wasn’t Woohyuk.
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