Chapter: 744
This is the volcano.
My thoughts momentarily halt as I spit out those words.
‘What on earth?’
What does that even mean?
How can this possibly be considered a volcano?
I glance around, but all I see is a dark world.
It has been this way from the beginning, and it remains the same now.
Splash-!
Each time I move my feet, the ink on the floor ripples.
An empty world where I feel nothing.
How is this place a volcano?
“The explanation is lacking.”
I asked the old man with an expression that showed I didn’t quite understand.
“I’m not unfamiliar with volcanoes. How can this be a volcano?”
Could this be a metaphor?
That might be a possibility.
After all, isn’t this not even the real world? I ponder as I look at the old man.
I found myself squinting as I gazed into the old man’s eyes.
It certainly didn’t seem like a metaphorical expression.
[This is the volcano. The flowers are wilting, and the sky is collapsing. But this is indeed a volcano.]
“Is this really the place…?”
[Yes.]
“I don’t comprehend.”
The part I don’t get is that I couldn’t stop the Blood Demon.
That was where the problem began.
“You couldn’t seal the Blood Demon?”
Setting aside the space, are you saying you couldn’t stop the Blood Demon?
What on earth is happening here?
“…Are you suggesting you came from another world?”
[Well.]
The old man smiles bitterly at my words.
[Perhaps so. At least, this isn’t a place I recognize.]
“…Huh?”
This old man is not the Shincheol I know.
Is that why I’ve been so certain somehow?
As that thought flitted through my mind.
‘Another world…?’
I was faced with an unexpected realization.
Another world.
It’s true that the old man is Shincheol, but what if he isn’t the Shincheol of this world?
As my thoughts clashed, lines began to tangle in my head.
‘Is that really possible?’
If that’s the case, how could it even work?
It could be a different world.
Hasn’t this already happened before?
‘…Countless worlds split apart until they reach their desired ending.’
It sounds hopeless, yet it’s something I’ve known for quite some time.
Even though I’m aware of this, I’m still struggling; but if the old man in front of me hails from another world.
That is, if he is a god from a world that couldn’t stop the Blood Demon.
“How on earth are you here?”
How did he even arrive in this place?
First of all, that needed questioning.
Isn’t that impossible?
From the outset, the idea that there were two Shincheols seemed nonsensical.
To that question, the old man replied:
[I briefly dreamed of hope.]
His voice, calm yet aged, continued.
[I let myself dream that perhaps a miracle had occurred. But it was nothing more than a delusion.]
“What do you mean by that…?”
[I wondered why I was here.]
“Yes.”
[I don’t know. The last I saw was this place, and that was the end of the world.]
A world smeared in black.
Ink littering the floor and sights that are unrecognizable.
Is this truly the end of the world that the old man witnessed?
[All I could do was wait. For the world to inch closer to its end. I’ve gazed at it for far too long.]
“…Are you talking about here?”
[Yes, the plum blossoms no longer bloom. Still, my place belongs to the volcano.]
The end.
The finale of a world where the Blood Demon couldn’t be contained.
Is this the grotesque and horrifying scenery?
‘I can’t see anything.’
It was a space where nothing could be felt.
The dripping ink was merely unpleasant while the eternal darkness enveloped an inscrutable silence.
Nothingness.
There was truly nothing here.
Except for the enormous rock the old man was seated on.
[While I awaited the end.]
I leaned in to listen to the ensuing words.
[I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them. That’s all. When I opened them again, I found myself here.]
“If it’s here…”
[Though I wasn’t familiar with it, somehow I knew it was the cave in Seomseo.]
“…”
A world gradually crumbling down.
Did the old man suddenly teleport to the cave in Seomseo?
What a perplexing statement that is.
Why did it shift like that?
Those somewhat absurd words only deepened my confusion.
[I couldn’t believe it. It was an impossible situation.]
It seems this also applied to the old man.
It must have been a situation beyond anyone’s belief.
But.
[Still, I had to believe it.]
The old man acknowledged the situation through hope rather than strangeness.
“Why is that…? Given your circumstances, I imagine it must have seemed rather odd?”
The world met its end because it couldn’t stop the Blood Demon.
If he witnessed the entire unfolding process and arrived at the finish line, feeling odd about such a sudden change would be normal.
Why would he want to believe in this?
Even while questioning him, deep down, I already had an inkling of the answer.
[I thought it was a miracle.]
Don’t I, who has traversed time, also know this?
Even if it seems impossible and ludicrous, a miracle is something one wishes to believe in.
That’s simply human.
[Even if it’s an event that’s impossible to achieve, perhaps the gods have shown pity and granted us a chance, I believed.]
It was a fleeting miracle bestowed at the moment of doom.
And so.
[Even if the end has come, a miracle emerged, and the central plains survived. I too remain here in spirit, for I have work left to do. That’s why this opportunity presents itself to me.]
“…”
In the face of familiar emotions, I clenched my fist tightly.
[Such illusions I conjured have obscured my vision. How trivial. Even the Great Shincheol would have thoughts such as these. Ha ha.]
His figure mirrored my own.
The difference lay in the conviction he held.
If those words are true, then surely it must be so. Just as I thought that, a fleeting moment came to me.
[I would have rather hoped for a reversal of time… however, such a thing is utterly impossible… instead, it’s this…]
“…Wait a moment.”
I abruptly cut off the old man mid-sentence.
The old man showed a puzzled reaction to my behavior, but I needed to pause.
There was something peculiar about what the old man had just said.
‘…In no way could a reversal of time occur?’
There’s simply no way to reverse time.
Such words from the old man felt jarring.
This is just common sense.
Reversing time is, to anyone’s mind, an absolutely absurd proposition.
However.
‘Is it really something to be so certain about?’
This old man seems a bit different than expected.
Because.
“May I ask you one thing?”
[Sure.]
“Are you…. aware of the secret of Yeon Il-cheon?”
[Hmm?]
He must know that Yeon Il-cheon is a time traveler.
If I’m sitting beside someone who has already defied time, then his strongly assertive reaction concerning time travel seems unfounded.
Of course, it’s understandable that such an absurdity could yield that kind of response.
But I found that I couldn’t shake off this odd feeling.
Thus, I mentioned Yeon Il-cheon to probe further.
[What do you mean? What secret?]
“…”
A chill ran down my spine at the old man’s reaction.
‘Oh damn. This is…’
It seems that this old man doesn’t know that Yeon Il-cheon is a time traveler.
Or perhaps he knows but is pretending otherwise.
Yet, what if the old man genuinely didn’t know about Yeon Il-cheon’s time travel?
‘Moreover…’
What if he says that Yeon Il-cheon hasn’t time-traveled at all?
So then.
‘If the old man claims he couldn’t stop the Blood Demon…’
If that is because it was before Yeon Il-cheon time traveled.
“…”
I took a deep breath.
I wiped my face with trembling hands.
My breaths are becoming shallow and uneven.
I’m trying to compose myself, but that’s easier said than done.
[Hey, kid. What’s wrong with you?]
“…Just a moment, just a moment.”
My head throbbed painfully.
I ignored the relentless pounding in my skull and tried to arrange my thoughts.
‘…The world where Yeon Il-cheon couldn’t time travel.’
It was said that worlds endlessly created and destroyed until they reached the climax they desired.
And this, it seemed, was the event that transpired due to the past inability to stop the Blood Demon.
‘…Is this something that still lingers?’
The perspective of the world before Yeon Il-cheon traveled through time.
If that too still existed, then the world where the Blood Demon couldn’t be stopped would imply something like this.
If that is true.
‘Time traveling may not mean defying time at all, but rather…’
Would it be correct to view it as having moved to another world?
So if that’s accurate…
‘Then what happened to the world I originally belonged to?’
What about the world where the Divine Sword maintained peace by repelling the Celestial Demon?
How does that factor in?
‘They said unbearable cycles repeat until a desired conclusion is reached.’
If this is a separate world, then what could have happened to that other reality?
So what happened to the Divine Sword?
Cold sweat trickled down my brow.
Next, I clutched my chest tightly.
‘…So, what is the Divine Sword that I met?’
The Divine Sword I encountered through Wi Seol-ah’s body.
I had absorbed her soul through the Demonic Absorption technique because I couldn’t bear to part with her.
At that moment, my mother had instructed me.
I even wanted to see my mother to comprehend the absorbed divine sword.
‘This can’t be how things are supposed to turn out.’
If I met the Divine Sword after crossing over from that world where peace had been attained, then what in the world became of that original reality?
[Hey kid. Are you okay?]
“…No, yes… I’m fine.”
The world has shifted, and the world I once knew has vanished.
So, did all those who originally existed fade away too?
To be honest, I didn’t care about that.
Whether hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people died, it was of no concern to me.
What truly mattered was only one thing.
‘The Divine Sword.’
The possibility that she, whom I tried to protect at all costs, ultimately faced an ending.
One individual meant more to me than thousands of human lives.
[What exactly does the secret of Yeon Il-cheon imply?]
“…It’s nothing. I just… I just tried to gauge your reaction. Don’t mind it too much.”
[…Hmm?]
The old man seemed unconvinced, but what could I do?
Another question arose from our previous exchange.
‘Suppose that the old man’s world is the one where Yeon Il-cheon could not time travel.’
Let’s say that such a world existed, and it ultimately met its demise.
But then.
‘How did that old man remain here?’
The reason why that old man was still in the cave in Seomseo.
For how long? Moreover, when did he first arrive there?
This raises a problem.
‘There was never any indication of its existence in the previous life.’
In the previous life, there weren’t any records of the Volcano Divine Sword or its prized weapon.
And I hadn’t heard even a whisper that Yongpung had inherited that legacy.
There might even be a supposition that the Volcano didn’t mention those things after discovering them.
Upon hearing this, I thought it might be a discrepancy caused by my actions.
However, now I see it differently.
‘Was it truly merely a difference I created?’
The existence of two Shincheols.
That the weapon existed in the same period with that particular soul.
Could all of it really be attributed solely to my differences?
What’s crucial isn’t that.
What matters is,
‘Who brought that old man here? And why?’
Is there even the possibility that the old man emerged into existence in this world due to some miraculous occurrence?
Such a thing seems utterly impossible.
I knew this.
‘Miracles do not exist in this world.’
Even my once-cherished time travel.
All that’s happening now can’t simply be dismissed as a miracle.
Yeon Il-cheon’s words resurface.
-Does your time travel genuinely appear to be a miracle to you?
“…”
I dismissed it as nonsense back then, but as life continued, I gradually came to realize it.
This damned world has no such thing as miracles.
Everything transpires from someone’s hand and influence.
Thus, reflecting and questioning leads me to conclude.
‘That old man isn’t just a mere coincidence.’
This was someone else’s intent.
Whose intent could it be?
And what could be their purpose?
‘What kind of bastard is…’
Creating this damned situation?
Gnash.
I bit down hard and grimaced.
‘I don’t know.’
I had nothing springing to mind.
What should I even do next?
Fortunately, the answer was clear.
‘I must meet someone in the know to ask.’
That’s the simplest and most accurate course of action.
I’d find the person who might have insights about this situation.
Thus, two figures immediately come to mind.
One would be Namgoongmyeong, who’s hiding with Woo-hyeok at the Heavenly Demon Myeong.
He had been the one to send me a message urging me to come to Shingang, so he might have some information about the current situation.
The trick is whether I could even reach him; thus, he was not the ideal choice.
So for the second…
‘In fact, this one might be more accurate…’
If I look for him, there’s definitely a way.
If I want knowledge, this is the one who will likely shed light on it.
A being directly implicated in this matter.
That would be.
‘…The Blood Demon.’
The entity referred to as a calamity.
It seems to me that, in order to unravel the mystery, I would need to confront him directly.
In the basement where a chilling cold seeps through.
Hmm.
The person sitting there slowly opened their eyes.
When their crimson eyes flashed open and illuminated the surroundings.
The feeling of the cold gradually drew a deep sigh from the individual.
Hoo…
With the sigh escaping their lips, a shiver chased through.
His condition was far from good.
The left arm bore the scars of having been torn and burned.
The burn marks sprawled over the left side of his face.
His lower body had been entirely incinerated, leaving just the upper half intact.
Even in a situation where one could be dead at any moment, the person still opened their eyes and smiled faintly.
It’s coming, I can feel it.
It was a welcome sensation.
Saying that, the person laughed softly.
They felt that soon someone dear would come pay a visit.
In light of that vivid sensation, the individual whispered to themselves.
I must prepare the tea.
I’ll need to get a very expensive and great tea ready.
Saying that, the Blood Demon Doko Jun closes his eyes once more.
Right now, the drowsiness pouring over him was unbearable.
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