“Aah – I really want to kill that Seven-headed Dragon and everything else!”
What on earth are they doing with my face? Have they been using it for their misdeeds all along? Were they out there doing all sorts of bad things?
“If that’s the case… Ah, why are you still tormenting me even after dying?!”
I felt a deep resentment.
Could it be that Jo Gi-man wasn’t the one who killed Yoon Han-gyeol back in January? That thought even crossed my mind.
In a moment, my anger surged to its peak, and I almost threw myself forward.
But I was quickly stopped by a message that appeared before my eyes.
– The incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon has been recognized!
– An impossible meeting with the ‘Competitor’ has occurred at this time!
Jo Gi-man, the incarnation of the Seven-headed Dragon!
The system confirmed my death sentence.
“I don’t give a damn.”
I pulled out “Cheongwol” from the space.
Sometimes, you just have to let your instincts take over instead of reasoning.
If I didn’t punch that bastard, who was mocking me with my own face, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while. Although, to be honest, I can’t really sleep anyway.
Swoosh—
After catching that ‘Gray Smoke’ mutant yesterday, my condition was nearly at 90% recovery.
If I summon all my power, I might take down one of his arms—
– The Evil God ‘Seven-headed Dragon’ has recognized you!
“What?!!”
Before I could gather my energy, I was already detected by the Seven-headed Dragon.
Jo Gi-man, a being resembling a human, is essentially a Monster in the form of a Skeleton Soldier.
Those vertically slit pupils were glaring at me as if they were piercing through my soul.
A chill ran down my spine, and my mind raced.
Am I going to return empty-handed? Should I self-destruct right now? What about Jung Tae-hyung? Is Yeo-jin twisted? What about the supposed allies?
In that moment, I recalled the time I faced the Great Beast “Debsorpia.”
At that time, I had summoned fragments of a Great Being, and the Seven-headed Dragon’s perception had twisted, making it hate my blue eyes even more.
“Even the Seven-headed Dragon didn’t know about my relationship with the Great Being.”
Is that still maintained?
As various thoughts flickered through my mind.
– The Evil God ‘Seven-headed Dragon’ senses your cursed fate with the Evil God ‘Blue-eyed’!
– The Evil God ‘Seven-headed Dragon’ offers you a temporary alliance to eliminate the Evil God ‘Blue-eyed’ due to your amazing potential!
– As a reward, ‘Silence’ has been proposed.
An alliance? Silence? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
[Caution]
[Caution]
[Caution]
The emotions that had boiled like lava quickly cooled down, and reason began to kick in one by one.
The Seven-headed Dragon had previously engulfed Jo Gi-man’s body after defeating Debsorpia.
I suspected that ‘Blue-eyed’ was the one who summoned fragments of the Great Being. No, I was convinced of it.
“It’s surprising that that twisted perception still exists.”
Does he think opposing me, who has a cursed fate with Blue-eyed, is against his goals?
“I don’t know. A being of that level may see things I can’t.”
Whatever the case, eliminating Blue-eyed is something I desire as well.
At the very least, my goal is to drive him out of this world.
Thus, I suppress my instincts and continue to think.
Can I attack Jo Gi-man right now and kill him?
No.
What are the chances of me attacking Jo Gi-man now, failing, and ending up caught in a state where I’m neither dead nor alive?
Not small. I would definitely go for a self-destruct, though.
Is the immediate threat in this world the Seven-headed Dragon or Blue-eyed?
………..
I couldn’t answer that last question.
For me, my greatest enemy is naturally Jo Gi-man.
But the one who killed Yeon-hee was the Orc Legion Commander. Of course, that was all part of Jo Gi-man’s plan, but right now, if we’re assessing threats, it’s the latter.
Moreover, if I cooperate, he’s willing to give me ‘Silence’ as a reward. Upon hearing that, I thought it was nonsense, but it probably means he won’t divulge my existence to Jo Gi-man.
“If Jo Gi-man finds out that there’s a being resembling Yoon Han-gyeol, I can’t predict how he’ll react.”
In that sense, if the Seven-headed Dragon keeps silent, then it could definitely be called a reward.
However, the Seven-headed Dragon undoubtedly has no idea what I’m trying to do here.
Thinking about what Inessa wants to do, and considering I might actively become involved in the fight,
The probability of my identity being exposed to Jo Gi-man was high. I came here with that in mind. Of course, I’ll try my best to avoid such a situation.
So I had no intention or reason to compromise with that bastard’s supporters.
Messages became quiet.
Time felt like it was flowing slowly.
Not just a feeling; it would actually be.
It must be the Evil God Seven-headed Dragon making it possible.
For an existence like a divine being, turning back time multiple times to give life to Jo Gi-man would be nothing.
After a moment of hesitation, I conveyed my thoughts towards where he was.
“I refuse. I don’t like that being you’re using as your incarnation. If given the chance, even before I eliminate Blue-eyed, I would like to kill him instead.
If you try to stop that… I will kill you someday too. I’ll tear you apart and obliterate your existence entirely, so that no one will ever know you existed.”
[………]
That was a daring statement. I don’t even know why I was being so assertive. Maybe it’s because I’m holding “Cheongwol.”
It’s funny even to me.
I’ve just started to walk, and I’m declaring I’ll kill a tiger that dominates the mountains.
How ridiculous must I appear to the Seven-headed Dragon, who carries the title of Evil God?
[………]
But unlike my thoughts, the Seven-headed Dragon took a cautious approach.
It seemed he was resting his chin in deep thought.
Considering the cold and ruthless character he exhibited when he engulfed Jo Gi-man’s body, it was quite peculiar.
At that moment, the tension with the Seven-headed Dragon was maintained.
Then, time began to flow again.
Brrrrrrr—
A massive rift opened in the sky, and the area began to fill with gray.
“What, what is this? Isn’t this the ability that Liu Xiao-Wo used earlier?”
A bizarre phenomenon repeated the ability she had used soon after appearing. Back then, I was too focused on Jo Gi-man to notice it, but this time was different.
“Whoa – Am I back in the past?”
It was only a short while ago, but feeling the Seven-headed Dragon’s power for the first time instilled a sense of fear in me.
– The domain of the ‘Gray Cat’ is unfolding.
– The ‘Guardian of China’ is drafting a semi-permanent release list.
“……..”
Once again, I held my breath like the air.
Fortunately, my intentions were still working well.
Even that monstrous Jo Gi-man couldn’t recognize me, could he? Of course, the Seven-headed Dragon found out my appearance resembling Yoon Han-gyeol, but for some reason, he still hasn’t revealed my existence to Jo Gi-man yet.
“Why? Didn’t the negotiations fall through, and isn’t he in the stage of contemplating how to kill me?”
Such questions crossed my mind, but I didn’t care.
As long as that whim continues, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for me.
Suwaaaaa—
The gray smoke that Liu Xiao-Wo had spread enveloped me once again.
“Ugh… What a hassle.”
The gray smoke was trying to deny my entire existence.
As I felt like I was about to be excluded if I didn’t do something, I summoned a bit more power at that moment.
Jo Gi-man, that kid, began working on Liu Xiao-Wo once again.
“H…”
I quietly closed my eyes. It’s better not to see it. I shouldn’t feel embarrassed twice over for something I didn’t even do.
After several minutes of enduring time, when I opened my eyes again,
Suddenly, more than half of the awakened beings present disappeared.
They were those who were within the range designated by Liu Xiao-Wo.
It happened right after the green cat disappeared next to her.
The missing people returned a few seconds later but looked as if they’d lost their short-term memory, gazing around with blank faces.
Immediately afterward, Jo Gi-man left with a rotten smile, followed closely by Liu Xiao-Wo.
She must have been in such a hurry that she didn’t even completely restore the gray rift she had opened in the sky.
The entire process happened so quickly that I was momentarily dumbfounded.
Whoosh—
As Jo Gi-man’s face swept past me just a few meters away, it jolted me back to reality.
That face was definitely mine, and yet the feeling of reality felt so distant that I almost swayed.
Nonetheless, I gathered my wits and followed them.
They didn’t even realize I was following.
Those two were currently hyper-aware of each other, focused to the utmost extent.
So, given the level of existence they were, it wasn’t surprising that they couldn’t perceive me.
“Jo Gi-man was using my face to lure Liu Xiao-Wo out… Damn, really. I never thought I’d experience something like this in my life. Hahaha! What a ridiculous and amusing world we live in!”
Even while following behind, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sheer absurdity.
But before long, changes began to occur in Liu Xiao-Wo’s aura.
A huge black single eye floated above her head.
It was an invisible presence that couldn’t be seen visually.
It stared at me intently, and in an instant, its eyes widened in surprise.
– ······?!!
– The collective of Evil connected to [Guardian of China] has recognized you!
“Damn… Is my stealth only this effective? And what the hell is the collective of Evil supposed to be?”
At that moment, a figure wearing a blue mask, standing next to Liu Xiao-Wo, darted forward, replicating her appearance.
“Clone?!”
It was a clone infused with a significant amount of Liu Xiao-Wo’s mana, making it closer to her main body than the main body itself.
Simultaneously, Liu Xiao-Wo began to slowly gather her energy, concealing her presence, and then halted right where she was.
Swoosh—
“Damn it…”
The huge single-eyed monster that had sprouted from her head was circling around me, observing closely.
It was already too late to escape.
“Should I self-destruct? No, that’s not it… My mission is to stall those cats for two hours.”
Still, my first instinct for escaping danger was to self-destruct — a chronic disease that was hard to fix.
“Ugh… It’s coming. Wow.”
Liu Xiao-Wo was approaching me with her cloudy eyes.
The appearance of a young woman in her early twenties was vaguely detectable from the Infirmary’s domain.
Even at that level, she was nearing the peak of physical age, but Liu Xiao-Wo surpassed that level.
“Dead eyes… Does she even possess a will to live?”
There was neither vigor nor desire visible in the eyes of China’s strongest.
“Huh?”
But was that a misjudgment on my part?
As she drew closer, a glimmer of life began to sparkle in her eyes.
* * *
Liu Xiao-Wo exited the banquet hall, frantically chasing after the mysterious man.
He emitted an ominous black aura, but anything was fine as long as it wasn’t gray.
“I finally found you! Did you think I’d let you escape!!”
Caught in a frenzy, her mental state was such that she didn’t even question how much time had passed without closing the distance.
What halted her was the ‘Black Cat,’ which had transformed into a ‘Ghost’ state after years.
“You?! Why all of a sudden? I need to chase that man!”
Though Liu Xiao-Wo was urgent, it didn’t take long for her to understand the reason.
“H…? Huh?!”
As the ‘Black Cat’ shared its vision, the world binding her began to collapse rapidly.
The man she had been pursuing looked visually similar, but there was an entirely different being inside.
I rubbed my eyes a few times, wondering if this was a dream.
Brilliant colors began to bloom around the man she was chasing.
Fiery red like fire, pristine blue like water, and black reminiscent of the night sky shimmering like moonlight.
A refreshing breeze flowed from him, gently brushing her neck.
The scent of an ancient tree imbued with sacred energy tickled her nose.
“The world…”
The gray world that had tormented her was crumbling.
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