Basement of Governing Dragon Palace.
Within a certain prison located there.
No one has set food in the underground prison recently, but the footsteps of demon beasts echo.
Clang!
Kuung!
"Get in! And Princess Yuk Yo, this way, please!"
What the Demon Race dragged in is a ghostly creature with only white bones remaining, Baek Rin.
Alongside him was Yuk Yo, known as the Sacred Orchid Princess.
After a brief commotion, a demon beast and a ghostly creature are each locked in different cells.
Yuk Yo, imprisoned, bites her lip as she grasps the iron bars."...They're really locking me up?"
In response to her words, the sea demon beasts who captured and imprisoned her and Baek Rin click their tongues and speak.
"It's not the first or second time the princess has tried to escape with that ghostly creature. It seems the Palace Lord is very angry, so please reflect on your actions!"
After finishing their words, they leave the underground prison.
"Ugk, ah!"
Yuk Yo shakes the iron bars in the underground prison, but perhaps due to the chains binding her arms and legs, she can't exert her proper strength.
The same is true for Baek Rin, who is imprisoned a couple of cells away.
After trying to escape for a while, Yuk Yo sighed and sat down.
"...Prison...now he's not even treating me as a daughter anymore."
"Well...hasn't the princess tried to escape so many times before? Thanks to the princess, I'm stuck in this prison as well and look like a mess."
At Baek Rin's words, Yuk Yo smirks.
"Who told you to follow me? A scammer like me?"
"I told the princess before, didn't I? The cult leader ordered me to look after the princess."
"That damn cult leader, cult leader...aren't you tired of it? Always being under someone? If it were me, I'd have escaped to find freedom."
"The princess may not understand, but I prefer being tied to someone."
"Ha, you're a frustrating cultivator...wait, come to think of it."
Yuk Yo asks Baek Rin.
"When did you start addressing me as princess? Even after you heard I was the daughter of the Palace Lord, you didn't seem to care?"
Baek Rin remains silent at her words.
Yuk Yo ponders for a moment and then claps her hands.
"Oh! Right. It was after you returned from Penglai Island, wasn't it? Hehe...you were the shaman who showed extreme loyalty to the nation of Penglai Kingdom, no?"
Baek Rin seems to recall past events and smiles faintly.
"...It seems that loyalty to the royal family still lingers. It was truly an amazing illusion."
Yuk Yo gnashes her teeth and retorts sharply at his words.
"How many times do I have to tell you? This world is fake, and Penglai Kingdom is real!"
After escaping from Penglai Island, Yuk Yo didn't have her memory seal re-imposed.
Therefore, she vividly remembers everything from Penglai Kingdom.
Baek Rin laughs heartily and says,
"How can a supposedly real world disappear like a mirage when a single palace is uprooted? Isn't that just an illusion?"
"An illusion you say!? The formation at Penglai Island is merely the entrance to 'enter' Penglai Kingdom from this world, not Penglai Kingdom itself!"
Kuang!
Yuk Yo, emotional, slams the iron bars violently, causing blood to flow from her hand.
"Aiya...it hurts..."
"Is your skin weak, even though you are of the Demon Race?"
"The term Demon Race is funny too. In Penglai Kingdom, I was a half-human, half-dragon, and my identity leaned toward being human. But upon coming out, I found that I'm actually a hybrid Demon Race with just a trace of carp and Sea Dragon blood. And in this world, for some reason, my human bloodline vanished, so I became part of the Demon Race. Right after that, my father sealed my memories, so I just lived as if it had always been that way."
"You were originally half-human, half-dragon...is that why you, towards Sir Seo Ran...?"
"I didn't know at the time, but thinking back now, that's probably it. Maybe I was drawn to him because we share the same half-human, half-dragon identity."
She fiddles with her wounded hand and sighs.
"...Ugh, losing blood is making me feel cold..."
"Even though you've reached the Nascent Soul stage, you haven't obtained a resistance to cold and heat? If you've obtained the Yin Spirit, it would be fine even if your demonic power is sealed."
"Don't just speak recklessly because you're a ghostly creature! Do you think resistance to the power of Yin comes easily?"
Baek Rin chuckles as he stands up.
Then, with his skeletal hand, he knocks on the wall of his cell.
Clang!
When Baek Rin, a Four-Axis ghostly creature, strikes the iron bars, the sound of metal reverberates.
Clang, clang!
Watching Baek Rin, Yuk Yo asks,
"...What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to move to the adjacent cell."
"Why?"
Clang, clang, clang!
There's a moment of silence, with only the metallic sound echoing underground.
Yuk Yo asks again,
"Why are you trying to come to me?"
She looks at Baek Rin's eyes, glowing with ghost fire.
Within his gaze, she can sense some emotion directed at her.
"Don't come. You can't even use spiritual power. Instead, use that effort to undo the handcuffs or shackles."
"...Do you know why I consider that world an illusion?"
"...Why?"
At Baek Rin's words, Yuk Yo looks at him with a puzzled expression.
Baek Rin smiles bitterly.
"Inside, I dreamed of losing the person I loved again. And my sole purpose there was one. To defeat the King of Demon Spirits and marry the princess."
"Ahk..."
Hearing his words, Yuk Yo's face turns slightly red.
"After coming out, I had brief conversations with other comrades. And from what I heard from the Six Extremes Ghost King and the military strategist, I found a commonality among those who were possessed by that world."
"What is it?"
"It is that the possessed experience their most 'painful' situations."
"...?"
"In that world, everyone must face their own pain, whether they want to or not. I felt such things in that world. It seemed as if the world itself was trying to give the possessed some sort of 'lesson.' Doesn't it feel like...a fairy tale world? A fairy tale that gives a lesson to its reader."
"..."
"Of course, it's not a hopeful fairy tale. It's a story that forces open the reader's wounds and sprinkles salt on them. One feels the pain of having their wounds seared. But just as searing wounds with salt disinfects them despite the pain, the hearts of those who enter become stronger."
Clang!
Baek Rin knocks on the bars.
Baek Rin and Yuk Yo's eyes meet each other.
"...I knew it too. That I didn't follow you merely because of the cult leader's order. In fact, I don't have much loyalty to the cult leader. I joined the order only because I saw my friends doing well. But it seems that until now, I was trapped in love, regret, and despair for my old friends, turning a blind eye to everything else."
"..."
"I have come to love you, Princess Yuk Yo."
Kaang!
The sound of metal echoes once again from the underground.
"...That world must be an illusion. Because, only then will you remain in this world."
At Baek Rin's words, Yuk Yo bites her lip.
"...It's not an illusion. That world...is real."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because the childhood I spent there, and the love I received from my mother there, are not lies."
"There is a person who loves you here as well."
Kaang!
Yuk Yo clenches her teeth.
"...Why are you so obsessed with me? I've even deceived you before."
"I don't care even if I am deceived."
"I might continue deceiving you."
"Isn't it because the princess thinks this world is fake that you keep doing such deceitful things?"
"That's right. This world is fake anyway."
"But my feelings are real, Princess Yuk Yo. I know you are not that kind of person. Even if it's only the memories of a shaman from Penglai Kingdom, I know very well that you are a kind-hearted person who cares for your people."
At Baek Rin's words, Yuk Yo's lips tremble slightly.
"You said you were born in that world? I remember the you from that world. Would you lie to someone like me as well?"
At his words, Yuk Yo chews her lip.
Blood drips from her mouth.
"You think of that world as an illusion! If so, my image there is fake regardless. Do you still think the same when I am just a scamming carp woman in this world?"
She asks Baek Rin with a sneer.
"If I were to really go back to that world, would you be able to follow? To that world you believe to be an illusion or a dream?"
At those words, Baek Rin laughs, his jaw opening wide.
"If you wish, I will follow."
"..."
"There was a time I regretted not seizing the moment. I will not let it happen again."
Baek Rin's face consists only of a skull.
But just for a moment, Yuk Yo feels as if she glimpsed Baek Rin's living appearance on his visage.
Yuk Yo averts her gaze from Baek Rin with a stiff expression.
"...Do as you wish. And as I said before, if you continue doing that, you'll just end up breaking your bones."
"I don't mind."
Kaang! Kaang!
"...Do whatever you want."
Without looking at Baek Rin, Yuk Yo sits down and buries her face in her knees.
She seems to be asleep.
However, the sound of Baek Rin striking the bars continues to ring, and something trickles down her cheek, where her face is buried, and falls from her chin.
Yuk Yo ignores Baek Rin.
After all, he would give up eventually.
But ten years pass.
Yuk Rin doesn't particularly care about the underground prison, and neither do the guards.
In the prison where no one enters.
There, Baek Rin continuously strikes on the iron bars.
Pasasak—
Baek Rin's right hand has already turned to dust.
But he continues to strike the bars with his right arm bone and left hand.
Kaak!
At last, a part of the bars break.
Just enough for a hand to fit through.
Yuk Yo clicks her tongue as she watches him.
"...Stop doing such stupid things."
Baek Rin silently continues to strike the bars.
Twenty years have passed.
By now, one side of Baek Rin's cell bars have collapsed.
Since Baek Rin and Yuk Yo were originally imprisoned one cell apart, Baek Rin still has to break through another wall.
But at some point, both of Baek Rin's arm bones have crumbled completely.
Yet, Baek Rin lifts his legs and kicks the bars.
Occasionally, he rams his body against the bars.
Yuk Yo simply watches Baek Rin quietly.
Baek Rin's body crumbles, but the bars of her cell are gradually shaking.
Amidst the indifference of Yuk Rin and the officials of Governing Dragon Palace, a ghost and a demon beast are slowly, little by little, coming closer together.
Thirty years have passed.
Baek Rin's left side has worn away and vanished, and his left leg has turned to dust.
But Baek Rin continues to slam into the bars with his one remaining leg.
Kaang!
Pasak!
Finally, one of the bars between Yuk Yo and Baek Rin slightly crumbles.
But Yuk Yo shouts at Baek Rin.
"Stop it already! How long are you going to keep this up?"
Baek Rin only smiles.
"We're almost there, can't you see?"
"See what! All I see is your body being smashed to pieces! Your strength is waning as your body crumbles, so what am I supposed to see? Are you the one who can't see?"
Baek Rin's eyes brighten silently.
And once again, he leaps on one foot and rams his body against Yuk Yo's wall.
Kaang!
Tuduk!
One of Baek Rin's remaining ribs shatters.
"...I see it. Very clearly."
"But just why! Didn't you become a ghostly creature because you didn't want to die? What are you doing now?"
At her words, Baek Rin chuckles.
And he crashes into it again.
Yuk Yo seems about to say something more but closes her mouth as she watches him.
And so, forty years have passed.
Pasasak—
Baek Rin's body is completely destroyed.
All that remains now is his skull.
No, even the jawbone of his skull is shattered.
And the forty years feel meaningless.
Baek Rin failed to reach Yuk Yo.
Yuk Yo looks at Baek Rin's skull with empty eyes and speaks.
"...How many times did I tell you? You'd fail."
"..."
"You can't even use mental speech because your spiritual power is sealed. It's pathetic."
"..."
"How stupid. Why didn't you just stay put? What, say something as you usually do. Like asking if I slept well in your greasy manner or assuring me today is the day. Go, go on, try again."
"..."
"In the end, I am right. Just staying still was the best plan. You made a small hole, but this is the end, isn't it? Your body is utterly wrecked for nothing. This is ridiculous."
"..."
"...Say something."
Wo-wong—
The circuit drawn on Baek Rin's skull buzzes softly.
It seems like he is trying to say something to her.
However, the sound is too faint to hear.
"...Of course, after ramming your head so much, that circuit's broken too. You used to brag about receiving it from the cult leader, and now it's a tattered mess. Now that you can't even say what you want to say, what will you do? Ha! Geez..."
Yuk Yo looks at Baek Rin for a moment and lets out a hollow laugh.
"...It's finally quiet now. Do you know how noisy it was all this time? Ah~ It's peaceful. Without that noisy clang clang and breaking sound, I can finally sleep a little more comfortably."
She lays back down on her spot and closes her eyes.
Baek Rin just silently watches her.
And three days later.
Clang, Clang, Clang!
Yuk Yo begins to strike on the bars.
She clenches her teeth.
"Why! After coming! This far! Why! Did you stop! There!"
Baek Rin silently watches her.
"This far! You made a hole! Just a little more! Regardless of everything! What you were trying to do could have been completed! So why did you stop there!"
Splurt!
Blood bursts from her hands.
Due to not inheriting much dragon blood, she has the fragile skin of a carp.
However, Yuk Yo continues to pound on the bars even as blood gushes out.
She has been listening for decades now.
Even without hearing for three days, it's as if something is grating her ears.
Yuk Yo, for the first time in her life.
No, to be exact, for the first time since following Yuk Rin out of Penglai Island.
She shouts not out of desperation, but with sincerity.
"Let me hear your voice! Why! Why did you stupidly crush your jaw to the point where you can't speak anymore!?"
Clang!
Sixty years have passed.
Is it at last?
Or is it only now?
In any case, Yuk Yo, after pounding on the bars until her hands have torn, is able to connect Baek Rin's cell and her own.
Dururuk...
She extends her foot into Baek Rin's cell.
This is because she can no longer use her hands.
"...Are you satisfied now?"
Yuk Yo asks as she pulls Baek Rin's skull towards her.
Then, facing Baek Rin's skull, she presses her forehead against it for a moment.
Woong, Wo-woong—
Baek Rin's skull resonates.
Through the fine circuits drawn on his skull, Yuk Yo finally hears Baek Rin's voice.
Wooong, Wo-woong—
After listening to Baek Rin for a while, Yuk Yo clenches her teeth.
"...Was it just to say something like that?"
Woong—
Wo-woong—
Yuk Yo looks at Baek Rin for a while and then laughs.
A single tear flows down her face.
"You could have just said, 'Good morning,' like you used to. Just that one sentence would have been enough."
As Yuk Yo speaks, tears stream down on Baek Rin's head.
"If only you broke your handcuffs, if only you broke your iron bars and escaped, that would have been better!"
Though she cries out, Yuk Yo knows as well.
Even if the cuffs shatter, the restraint embedded in their Nascent Soul wouldn't disappear.
Even if they break through the iron bars, as long as they are within Governing Dragon Palace, all their actions are visible to Yuk Rin, so it's meaningless.
Baek Rin has simply done what he wants within the confines of his cage.
To be with Yuk Yo.
And Yuk Yo, knowing that fact, can do nothing but hold Baek Rin's skull and cry out in tears.
And so four years pass.
Kwagwagwagwang!
Within the prison.
Yuk Yo, who was sleeping with a skull in her arms, wakes up to a sound as if Heaven and Earth are being torn apart.
Kugugugu!
The entire Governing Dragon Palace is shaking.
With the vibrations, the underground prison, which no one paid attention to, twists, and the bars of the cell where Yuk Yo is confined violently distorts.
Kakang, Kang!
With a single shake, Yuk Yo gains the opportunity to escape from the cell.
Ghost fire flares up in Baek Rin's eye sockets.
Yuk Yo listens to Baek Rin's small whisper as her eyes shine.
"...He sure comes late. Your cult leader.'
Woong—
Wo-woong—
"You're saying we should escape, right? I understand."
She takes Baek Rin and steps outside.
Kiiiiik—
As she ascends from the underground prison, she squints her eyes.
The prohibition of the entire Governing Dragon Palace is being shaken, and countless subjects of the palace are in chaos.
It's the perfect time to escape.
However, Yuk Yo does not escape outside but rather heads further into the interior of Governing Dragon Palace.
Woong—
Wo-woong—
"Where am I going? Isn't it obvious?"
A certain poison burns in Yuk Yo's eyes.
"Since my nature is that of a thief, I'm going to steal what my father cherishes the most."
Kuuung, kuuuuuung!
Amidst the bombardment of the Fighting Demon Pirate Gang attacking Governing Dragon Island,
In that way, Yuk Yo and Baek Rin walk toward somewhere.