### Chapter 366 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘The Absolute Master’ (15)
—
For centuries, the barrier that protected the Bright Empire from external threats stood tall, while an old man gazed outside with a worried expression.
Was he concerned about the future of the empire, now at its limits?
Not at all.
To Kim Mooksung, the ’empire’ was nothing but a worthless illusion.
What he truly worried about was not the facade of the empire’s future, but the safety of his comrades who had gone to destroy the Heavenly Tower beyond the barrier.
“Ugh… I should have gone with them! Elena, do you think everything will be alright?”
Standing beside the old man was a hooded woman, Elena, who had just returned from the barrier. She responded, “Well… it should go well – cough!”
Perhaps it was the late hour, or maybe she had pushed her imagination too far, but Elena looked far more haggard and exhausted than usual.
“You should go in and rest. Why don’t you head to Emperor’s side and take a break?”
“I won’t refuse that.”
With those words, Elena set off toward the palace, combining rest and the emperor’s protection.
Just as Mooksung sighed in solitude, a guard monitoring the outpost rushed up to report.
“Sir!”
The situation of being reported to was somewhat amusing since he held no official post anyway.
After all, following his significant contribution in the recent skirmish, the soldiers had begun treating him like some grand general.
In an era where the trust in a nameless master was more dependable than a high-ranking official with a flattering title, it made sense.
“What is it?”
“A strange person dressed oddly has arrived!”
“Arrived, you say?”
“Uh, they say they’re a friend of yours!”
What kind of nonsense was that? There couldn’t be any of my friends around here—
Oh wait.
If it’s not Kim Mooksung’s friend, but a “friend of the spirit,” then maybe it could exist.
After all, it would be odd for someone who had spent over fifty years as a martial artist to not have a single friend.
“What friend at a time like this? Just pay them off and send them back.”
“I-I’m sorry, but—”
They seemed to be an exceptional martial artist.
“Aiyo… where? Show me the way.”
“Yes, sir!”
*
– Lee Eunsol
What happened at the Heavenly Tower was successfully concluded.
That’s what I decided to think.
After all, we managed to halt Kardamoth’s summoning ritual, right?
The problem was everything that followed was utterly out of the ordinary.
Upon waking from the hallucination Kardamoth showed us, as soon as we exited the Heavenly Tower, we were greeted by a group of Baehwa cultists awoken from their nightmares, consumed with rage.
It seemed as if our fate was either to be wiped out or to miraculously escape in a slaughter spree.
But no.
To our surprise, Jo Wonhong, that bloodied cult leader, appeared, stopping his followers from attacking us and sending us away.
Even in that moment, we, as well as the Baehwa cultists surrounding us and Ija Seong, who pursued, wore expressions of shock.
With an eye full of complex emotions, the cult leader told us, “Go back. Return and face your fates.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Did you not see with your own eyes? The end that the Prince of Blue Flame has prepared for you is not here.”
I couldn’t understand.
First of all, I couldn’t fathom the horrifying deaths he depicted.
Secondly, I couldn’t grasp the cult leader’s deranged attitude of not killing us despite his vision as a divine heir.
I truly believed I would never understand the mindset of such fanatics.
I casually called Elena, who was resting in the palace, over to ask.
“Sister?”
“Elena, I have a question about the Baehwa religion.”
“Go ahead.”
“Is it some sort of polytheism?”
“Polytheism?”
“It seems like there are several divine beings. Asha, Kardamoth. Are there others?”
“Bohum Manach, Asha Bahista, Ameretat, Agni, and so on. It wouldn’t be wrong to say it’s polytheism.”
“Which of them is imprisoned?”
“I’m not sure… Is it really necessary to find out?”
That wasn’t entirely wrong.
It was unlikely any prisoner would cause trouble in this room, so there was no need to struggle to decipher the identity.
“Can you tell me about Kardamoth again?”
“The firstborn of Asha, the eternally burning Prince of Blue Flame. The one who sees what no one else can. Son of Destiny.”
“He can see the future?”
“According to the myths, yes.”
“Hmm…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Go rest.”
Elena tilted her head but eventually returned to the palace.
“…”
I was feeling increasingly suffocated.
Was the vision shown by a god who could see the future really just an illusion?
If it were something concrete, I could at least discuss it with my comrades, but the image was simply a cloud of ominousness, making it awkward to bring up.
I shrugged off my unanswered worries with a deep sigh and began focusing on handling the pile of administrative tasks that filled the table.
Late at night, someone knocked on the door.
“Chohwa Munju, may I enter?”
It was Grandfather’s voice.
Why would he come at this hour? He could have just used the conversation tab…
Had he come as the head, ‘Kim Mooksung’, or as the temporary responsible person for the barrier?
“Come in.”
— Click!
Grandfather appeared nonchalantly and delivered reports about oddities in the underground waterway and some of the stored food going bad.
Ordinary reports.
“…”
Eunsol: Respond.
“Oh! By the way, yesterday evening, the northern barbarians sent envoys. It seems—”
Eunsol: Those who can see the tab right now should—
“Isn’t that just absurd? So we sent those bastards back~! You caught on already? Sharp mind you’ve got!”
*
– Kim Sanghyun
The moment Eunsol’s words ceased in the chat tab, my body sprung up from the bed.
I threw the door open like lightning, startling the nearby maids and half-asleep soldiers.
“W-What’s going on, Guard Captain?”
“Report! Something is wrong with Chohwa Munju’s safety!”
Sounds of soldiers panicking and scattering echoed from behind.
Frantically, I raced toward Eunsol, who had been handling administrative duties. As I opened the door, a pungent smell of blood hit me like a hammer.
— Bang!
Inside the room lay Mooksung, mouth half-open, and Eunsol’s body, brutally murdered beyond description.
“W-What in the world happened?!”
“I don’t know! I went to report, and Chohwa Munju was already like this!”
“What the hell! Did the Baehwa cult send an assassin? To think Kardamoth’s prophecy would manifest like this!”
“Kardamoth’s prophecy?”
The old man, Mooksung, reacted in confusion, unable to comprehend what I was saying since he hadn’t participated in destroying the Heavenly Tower.
“I’ll explain later! For now, we need to manage the situation—!”
“I want to hear it now.”
“…”
With a dazed expression, I raised my head.
The old man’s eyes spun wildly in a strange manner.
He was no longer Mooksung.
Something ‘else’ had taken over Mooksung’s body.
*
In a serene room, devoid of any luxurious decorations or even minimal furniture, the old man sat silently in a lotus position.
At that moment, the door opened, and a young man, Kim Sanghyun, entered.
“Master!”
“…”
“This is bad! An assassin from the Baehwa cult has attacked Chohwa Munju. We need to move to the palace immediately—”
“Let’s stop the jokes here.”
“…”
“It seems you’re eager to see the Emperor, huh? Is revenge your goal? The previous Emperor is dead already…”
“Aah, today is just embarrassing, isn’t it?”
The old man asked casually, as if speaking to an old friend.
“Did something unpleasant happen?”
“Unpleasant? Quite the contrary… You see, I was rudely awakened after thirty years because of those damned bugs?”
“You certainly endured a lot. It’s a pity I couldn’t stab them once more back then.”
“Hey, you speak so nicely. Anyway, the brat who woke me has done something strange, putting me in an untouchable state.”
“Oh?”
“It happened when the hourglass was flipped. You wouldn’t happen to have such an item, would you?”
“I guess my knowledge is still limited; I can’t say for sure.”
“While I was wondering what’s going on, I thought I’d better do what I need to do, so I came to the imperial capital. You can’t imagine how excited I was on the way.”
“And then?”
“And then, oddly enough, everyone noticed me right away.”
“Hoo… Seems like they were on high alert because of Kardamoth’s prophecy.”
“Prophecy? I heard that story earlier. What the heck is it?”
“Nothing much. It was an entity Baehwa cult tried to summon, and it foresaw many deaths.”
With that, the old man turned his back.
At that moment, Sanghyun, with a grin, asked the old man.
“By the way, how about you, huh, my dear friend…?”
“…”
“What was your status in the prophecy? Did you die too?”
“Check for yourself.”
*
– Two days ago, in the maze
After the teacher fired the last flash, a massive passage leading underground was created.
I expected it would feel like a gigantic slide when I dove into the passage, but that was not the case.
Unlike a smooth slide, it was filled with sharp stones everywhere.
If I hadn’t been wearing my protective suit, I might have slipped in there and…
Let’s not think about it; it’s too horrific.
Honestly, if I hadn’t been wearing the suit, I’d have been dead long ago.
After sliding for a while, suddenly a clearing in the underground appeared.
Gravity pulled my body down, and I finally reached the ground.
— Splash!
“Oof!”
…
“What the heck is this?”
Surrounding me were objects resembling black jelly, which felt bouncy, transforming into gas abruptly, creating a bizarre magic.
“Where do I go? Over there?”
A path was cleared straight ahead.
Upon reaching the clearing, instead of stopping like I did, the flash shot straight forward without any disruption.
“Ahhhhh! W-What the heck is this?”
In the center of the clearing were traces of fallen rocks, leading to shattered shackles and broken iron bars, along with remnants of what could only be described as human remains.
Come on, I wasn’t stupid enough to not know what this was upon seeing it!
“No way, right? No way, right? No way?”
I scrambled to hold the ‘hands’ scattered around.
I recognized that hand! I had held it before, multiple times.
“Gai…n!”
At this moment, I collapsed to the ground in shock.
Having endured all sorts of hardships to awaken Kain, only for the mid-collapse terrain to crush her body!
What kind of nonsensical accident is this?
I was so dumbfounded I lacked the strength to even get angry.
It’s a cruel blood-soaked place, yet sheer absurdity and emptiness overwhelmed my fear.
“Is this even possible? Can this ridiculousness even exist?”
“Shocking, isn’t it?”
“That’s right? But I went through hell just to try and wake her up!”
“Oh really?”
“How could I go through so much trouble and have it all turn out to be futile? Seriously—”
“It doesn’t seem so futile, actually?”
“…”
Suddenly, I snapped back to reality.
Who the heck am I talking to right now?
The dense gas that had scattered around began to dance.
Even as the sounds ceased…
Someone, as if gripping my heart, sent my soul trembling in fear.
With barely a breath, I shivered and thought.
The Spectral Beast wouldn’t die even if its physical body disappeared like Kain.
The Owl had told me that if Kain’s spirit were to awaken, she could handle the Spectral Beast.
The last flash…
Had destroyed the seal on the Spectral Beast while simultaneously smashing Kain’s body, obliterating her spirit.
The thick gas pressed against the surface of the protective suit as if it were an arm.
“Just a moment, I’m borrowing your body. Out you go—”
Then, I saw a strange illusion.
Flames bursting from the depths of the sea, ice that wouldn’t melt in lava.
Something unchanging over eons extended its hand, wrapping around my body lightly.
As I lifted my dazed head—
The masked figure, the Patron, mouthed the words,
“Hourglass.”
“Hey, it looks like you’ve picked up quite a peculiar skill? No need to be afraid. You freed me, after all. I shall bestow upon you boundless glory—”
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