Chapter 38
After stealing the lightning from Yoo Iseo, I immediately snuck into the morgue where Seo Da-hee’s body was kept.
There were guards, but they were of mediocre skill — easy enough to put to sleep.
After all, there was no reason for the Academy to station capable guards in a morgue meant for hero cadets.
Her body was laid to rest, covered gently with a white cloth.
It felt like looking at a cold doll — the chill of death already settling in after several hours had passed.
Seeing her like that made my chest feel unbearably heavy.
When she came back to life, what kind of face should I greet her with?
No doubt, I wouldn’t be able to avoid her resentment.
She might even try to kill me.
But that was something I had to bear.
I placed the Homunculus Core over the center of her chest, where it had once been pierced through.
Then a blue light flickered before my eyes, and a message window appeared.
【Would you like to implant the Homunculus Core into the given material?】
【A soul that has not departed due to resentment has been detected.】
【This is an unsuitable material for a Homunculus.】
【There is a very high chance of an error occurring during implantation due to the lingering soul.】
【Would you still like to implant the Homunculus Core into this material?】
【Y/N】
That error was precisely what I wanted.
Without hesitation, I pressed Y. The Homunculus Core began to glow.
The lightning I had absorbed from Yoo Iseo leaked out from the core with a crackling sound.
Then, as if an old dam had burst, the lightning stored within the Homunculus Core exploded all at once.
Krrrra-boom!
As though divine punishment had struck, a pillar of light pierced through the building’s ceiling, leaving a massive hole.
And at its center — Seo Da-hee’s body began to rise slowly.
Sparks of lightning still burst from her form, unable to fully escape her body.
At the same time, the Homunculus Core began to function.
The rough, unrefined crystal softened, liquefied — and then began to take the shape of a human heart.
Seeing it, hope swelled within me — the hope that I might truly see her again.
Just then, Lia’s voice echoed in my head — our connection still intact.
Her tone was urgent.
『Husband, we’re in trouble! The body isn’t reactivating as much as we thought it would!』
“What do you mean? Explain it clearly.”
『The body has to reactivate before the soul can properly settle. But Yoo Iseo’s lightning alone isn’t enough! At this rate, she’ll end up no better than an undead!』
“There’s no solution?”
I had thought everything would go well.
If this failed, I wouldn’t even have the chance to take Berid down.
Lia hesitated for a moment, then shouted.
『We have to force the body to function! For that, it needs to be restored!』
Restoration?
Her words struck me like a bolt of lightning.
If I used the power of Restoration, maybe I could reactivate Seo Da-hee’s body.
It wasn’t certain — but it was a gamble worth taking.
The Homunculus Heart could absorb any form of energy and make it its own.
The issue was whether a demonic power like Restoration could be stored inside the core — and the fact that Restoration was originally a power that only applied to me.
But during my fight with Doctor Frankenstein, he had absorbed the Flames of Gehenna and wielded them as if they were his own.
If so, then perhaps the power of Restoration could be used in the same way.
I approached the heart that was still radiating lightning.
To transfer the power of Restoration to her, I needed to inject it directly into the core.
The raging lightning storm resisted me, pushing me back.
Each step I took sparked arcs of electricity, while flying debris grazed and tore at my flesh.
A sharp current coursed through my body.
The closer I got to her, the stronger the electric surge became — my legs trembled under its force.
But still, I couldn’t give up on her.
Even if I had deceived Berid by using her, she was a woman who had suffered unbearable pain because of me.
She had died because of me — and so, I had to take responsibility for her life.
I knew it was selfish.
I was exploiting her because I wanted to live — and perhaps, because I wanted to see this world’s “happy ending.”
She, who had seemed so far away, was now right before my eyes.
Lightning rained down from her like rejection itself.
There was still a large hole in her chest.
I gathered the power of Restoration into my hand and placed it upon the heart-shaped Homunculus Core.
And when the power of Restoration finally touched the heart—
Lia’s voice rang out again.
『This energy…! With this, it’s possible! You can do it, Husband!』
“I’m counting on you to take care of her.”
From that point, it was up to Lia, who now resided within the heart.
The Homunculus Core greedily absorbed the overflowing energy of Restoration, glowing brightly once more.
Thump!
The Homunculus Core began to pulse — like a real, living heart.
The radiant light of Restoration enveloped Seo Da-hee’s body.
The small wounds across her body began to close.
From the massive hole in her chest, new flesh grew, filling the emptiness.
Soon, her body looked completely renewed — as if she had been reborn.
And then, my link with Lia was severed.
That meant the Homunculus Core had fully settled inside her body.
The lightning that had been bursting from her began to fade, and her floating body slowly descended.
I threw myself forward and caught her in my arms.
The coldness that had clung to her body was gone.
Haa… haa…
Her chest rose and fell as she breathed — a distinct heartbeat pulsing beneath my hand.
At last, she had come back to life.
Overwhelmed by a surge of emotion, I held her tightly.
She let out a faint groan, as if uncomfortable, but I didn’t care.
Then, I sensed movement not far away.
Faint human voices reached my ears.
“Is this the place? The source of the explosion? They said a Demon appeared nearby… What on earth happened here…?”
“Tell me about it. A bolt of lightning fell out of nowhere, and now the whole area’s blacked out.”
I looked around.
The building was half-destroyed — as if a meteor had crashed into it.
I immediately burned the area with the Flames of Gehenna.
If I did it like this, they’d assume I’d burned her body to erase the traces.
With that, the person named Seo Da-hee would vanish from this world completely.
Before anyone else arrived, I left with her sleeping form cradled in my arms.
Yoo Iseo opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.
It was a white ceiling painted with seagulls.
She sprang up and grimaced at the pain in her abdomen.
At that moment, a familiar voice struck her ear.
“Iseo! Are you conscious?”
Ha Yoon, whose eyelids were red, ran over when he saw Yoo Iseo awake.
“We’re at the hospital — you collapsed here with the Demon who died. Do you know how scared I was?”
“What did you say?”
At Ha Yoon’s words, Yoo Iseo retraced her memories.
She had been chasing the Demon who’d killed Seo Da-hee when she had run into the Devil Knight; she realized that he was the Demon who’d killed Seo Da-hee and fought him.
“And I clearly lost.”
For some reason, the Devil Knight who had killed Seo Da-hee had left her alive.
And he’d said something to her when he struck his final blow.
‘Remember what I said before, and trust no one.’
What had he said before?
‘No way…….’
Suddenly, a memory surfaced in her mind.
A memory that had remained like trauma because it was too terrible.
Blood everywhere, and someone approaching her with a grotesque smile.
Even though his body was full of holes, he smiled as if he found it amusing — and she had been swallowed by fear, powerless to do anything.
She remembered the terror she’d felt that day clearly.
His figure, dominated by the Heart of the Demon, was incomparable to any horror film.
And with that grotesque smile, he had clearly said to her:
‘You will bleed tears of betrayal and surrender your body to evil. Corrupt and pathetic child, I will bless your end.’
Why had he said those words to her again?
His voice sounded as if he were concerned for her.
After killing someone she considered family-like and a friend.
Boiling rage and murderous intent drained the color from Yoo Iseo’s hair, turning the tips white.
Startled, Ha Yoon hurriedly stopped her.
“What are you doing? This is a hospital!”
“The one who killed Da-hee wasn’t him.”
“What do you mean? Not him?”
“He didn’t kill Da-hee — it wasn’t that Demon!”
Kra-CRACK!
At her shout, a burst of lightning exploded with a bang, frying the nearby electronic devices.
“Calm down! So you’re saying the Demon who killed Seo Da-hee wasn’t that one?”
“Yes.”
“Then who the hell was it?”
“That is……”
Yoo Iseo stammered at Ha Yoon’s question.
For some reason, the words the Devil Knight had said to her haunted her, and she couldn’t bring herself to speak them.
Even though they were the words of an enemy, it hurt that she could not deny what he’d said.
Two Demons had cooperated to kill a student council officer.
But the Student Council’s efforts to root out and eliminate Demons had probably not been common knowledge among ordinary students, except for a few people.
Yet they had used their apparent knowledge of the Student Council’s affairs to kill Seo Da-hee.
Perhaps there was a traitor among those connected to the Student Council.
Ha Yoon called to Yoo Iseo when she suddenly shut her mouth.
“What? You started to say something and stopped. So who exactly killed Seo Da-hee?”
Yoo Iseo looked at his face and remained silent.
Could she really trust Ha Yoon?
The biggest mistake in Seo Da-hee’s death had been Ha Yoon’s.
If he had brought the right information — if he had taken the mission instead of Da-hee — no one would have died.
‘What a mess this is.’
Yoo Iseo felt ashamed of herself for suspecting a friend she’d lived like family with.
To waver because of an enemy’s word rather than the words of the family and friend she’d spent her whole life with.
After a moment of resolve, Yoo Iseo opened her mouth.
“The Demon who killed Da-hee was the Devil Knight.”
“Ah.”
Ha Yoon, stunned, slumped back onto the sofa opposite him, looking drained.
Yoo Iseo understood his reaction.
Though they always bickered, Da-hee had been like family to Ha Yoon just as she was to Yoo Iseo.
The shock must have been tremendous.
After sitting in a daze for a while, he pulled out his phone and showed her an article.
The hospital where Seo Da-hee’s body had been laid out was half-destroyed.
The corpses there had all burned away.
At the sight of it, Yoo Iseo’s head turned white again.
She cursed herself for briefly being deceived by his words.
Hatred and murderous intent against the Devil Knight filled her completely.