The Crazy Heavenly Demon followed Lee Sungmin’s footsteps in silence. It was because of how unsightly the Baek Museon, who lost his humanity and died, looked. But that wasn’t the only reason for the utter confusion that the Crazy Heavenly Demon was feeling right now.
‘Who the hell is this guy?’
His gaze fell on the back of Lee Sungmin, who was walking ahead of him. Baek Museon was never an easy opponent. The Crazy Heavenly Demon had fought against Baek Museon once, but could never defeat him as easily as Lee Sungmin had done just then. He couldn’t help but compare his growth to Lee Sungmin’s. Just a few months ago, Lee Sungmin was no match for him. Lee Sungmin was still definitely not on his level earlier this morning either. When he had first fought with Baek Museon, Lee Sungmin was weaker than both the Crazy Heavenly Demon and Baek Museon.
But what about now? The Crazy Heavenly Demon stared at Lee Sungmin’s back. What would happen if they fought with all their might? Could he win?
“Ho! ho!”
The Crazy Heavenly Demon burst out laughing. He’d have to try to find out, but… There was no certainty of victory.
‘He’s not even on the verge of transcendence.’
The Crazy Heavenly Demon could tell when a warrior was on the verge of transcendence. Among the Six Divinities from Beyond the Heavens, was a swordsman who was unquestionably a transcendent warrior. That warrior had never fought with Lee Sungmin in person, but if his sword was compared to Lee Sungmin’s spear, the Crazy Heavenly Demon thought that the sword would likely prevail easily.
‘But his age is his advantage.’
The Crazy Heavenly Demon had given up on feeling triumphant. Because today was not the only chance he had. They would be travelling together on the long journey to the south anyway, so he would one day, eventually, get to fight against Lee Sungmin.
“I’m so excited.”
The Crazy Heavenly Demon mumbled in a joyful voice.
***
Geniella was lost in thought with her chin in her hand. She saw with her own eyes what Baek Museon had been through. She also saw how the fight between Baek Museon and Lee Sungmin progressed.
“Did Heoju get involved? No, he didn’t use any power…”
It didn’t make sense. Geniella gave Baek Museon a lot of strength. Among the numerous Vampires within the realm, none could compare to the turned Baek Museon.
Nevertheless, Baek Museon was defeated. Geniella had ordered Baek Museon to bring despair to Lee Sung Min, but he failed to fulfill her order. Geniella raised her body up with a giggle.
“This is fun.”
Geniella didn’t feel regret for the death of Baek Museon in the slightest. Ever since Baek Museon became a Vampire and came under the power of Geniella, she had lost interest in him. With the death of Baek Museon, the power that Geniella had given to him returned to her. There was no need to recover the body. This is because the body of a weak Vampire cannot withstand the sun rays, and will dissipate into dust.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve met a human like him.”
Geniella snuggled into her cloak as she licked her lips. Her interest in the human named Lee Sungmin had deepened. Geniella raised herself up further. The banquet was coming to an end. No more shrieks could be heard in the hall where terrible screams used to hover. Kim Jonghyun stood with his hands behind him, watching the commotion leisurely. He wasn’t disturbed at all, even though dozens of humans became food and beverages of Vampires before his very eyes.
“Baek Museon is dead.”
Kim Jonghyun opened his mouth. Kim Jonghyun, like Geniella, was also watching the fight between Baek Museon and Lee Sungmin. Geniella nodded her head as she replied.
“He’s an interesting human. He had power, but he’s not a yokai…… He’s not even a banyo.”
(TL Note: Banyo: half-human.)
“You seem to be interested in him. Do you plan to turn him into a vampire?”
“If he desires.”
“Vampire Queen. I’m well aware of your bad habit. You seduce desperate men and make them crawl on their knees. Do you think he would do that?”
“I’m just offering another option. Humans are free to choose whatever they wish.”
“I’m just a little curious though. If you offered that to everyone, there would be plenty of people for you to choose from. What kind of person do you consider to be interesting?”
“A human who seems not to be desperate.”
Geniella answered without hesitation.
“And yet a man who fears despair. A person who seems unlikely to despair, but who is likely to despair if he has an opportunity. A man who had dreams and ideals as a human being, but was broken by despair.”
“There must be a lot of people like that.”
“Not that many. Especially not you.”
Geniella smiled brightly. Kim Jonghyun’s cheeks flinched. He stared at Geniella and tilted his head as if he didn’t know.
“What do you mean?”
“You are human, but not that kind of human.”
Geniella replied instantly, as if she had nothing to consider.
“And you’re already in despair. I think you’re a pretty funny person too, but I don’t make people like you into vampires. It’s no fun to do that.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“No, a curse.”
Kim Jonghyun was speechless.
“It’s also a prophecy. Most of the people like you died horrible deaths trying to achieve their dreams.”
“Haha!”
Kim Jonghyun burst into laughter.
“I hope so.”
Kim Jonghyun spoke no more after saying that, but turned around and left. Geniella didn’t bother to detain him. She poked at the goblet and laughed, shaking the red wine mixed with blood.
‘Just saying whatever he wants.’
Kim Jonghyun quickened his pace. He’d achieved his goal for being there. Now that he was a member of Predator, there was nothing left for him to do. He had to get back to the black tower before his holiday period ended. Unlike the other towers, the wizard guild watched the black tower like a hawk. This was because the magic and ideas of black wizards were often treated as ominous and dangerous.
Kim Jonghyun felt like leaving the guild, but that would be more trouble than it was worth. Being watched all the time was a bother, but there were many benefits to being a member of the Wizard Guild. In particular, the location of the tower was something that was much more beneficial than the annoyance of guild surveillance.
‘The Final… The final apostle. It was he that caused a shift.’
Kim Jonghyun silently thought about Lee Sungmin. He was indeed a mysterious man. They met each other every few years, but each time they met, Lee Sungmin had grown stronger than ever before. In this survival world, the people with the most disadvantages were those that were no-class, and Lee Sungmin had reached the limit as a no-class.
‘You’ve got a powerful fate. As long as the final apostle is protecting you… No matter whether conscious or unconscious, you’ve eventually come to the destination decreed by the river of fate. The things you keep encountering like coincidences, and maybe I too am entangled in this fate.’
Such an idea made Kim Jonghyun happy. What is the significance of my existence? What would have happened to me in a previous life that no one knew? Am I behaving differently than I would in the other world?
‘What would I look like when I meet you next time?’
Kim Jong Hyun smiled flatly.
***
Wijihoyeon walked, dragging her feet. The Black Dragon wrapped around her body was stretched out helplessly towards the ground, her face sallow and pale, with tiredness and pronounced edge of haggardness that had not been seen before.
‘How much time do we have?’
As she became more tired and walking became difficult, she went to the shade of a nearby tree and took rest. The journey to Tobes was too long. She had underestimated its difficulty and didn’t think it would be hard to get this far, and there was little time left.
Beyond The Heavens and The Six Divinities. Wijihoyeon chewed her lower lip as she recalled them. They were strong enough to name themselves Beyond The Heavens. One of The Six Divinities called Qian Zun was strong enough to be called the strongest person that Wijihoyeon had ever met in her entire life.
“I’ll find you again next time.”
Qian Zun had left his seat with his bloodstained clothes, leaving those words behind. In the three days of fighting, Wijihoyeon failed to kill Qian Zun. Likewise, Qian Zun also did not kill Wijihoyeon, but left behind a curse.
“Blergh!”
Wijihoyeon, who had chosen to focus on breathing, couldn’t stand it any longer and vomited black blood. She chewed her lower lip, looking at the black blood that she spat out. The curse cast on her by Qian Zun couldn’t be cured by an Elixir. This was a curse that had been engraved on her entire existence, not solely on the body; and it was gnawing away at Wijihoyeon little by little. Wijihoyeon pressed down on her wobbly chest.
‘He didn’t kill me. Why?’
Should she be grateful for that? She didn’t know she’d have to go through this when the day of her appointment was at hand. Wijihoyeon staggered up again. She had to break the curse.
“… Seren.”
A woman in a neat suit emerged from under her shadow at her words. She was the broker for Erebrisa, who was in charge of Wijihoyeon. Seren tilted her head to the side with a somber look on her face as she looked at the pale face of Wijihoyeon.
“… Yes.”
“How to end this curse… Didn’t you find it?”
“… As I’ve told you before. The curse of gnawing cannot be undone unless you kill the person who cast the curse.”
She already knew. Through Seren’s services, she had met an excellent sorcerer and wizard, but they only repeated the same words as Seren. There is no way to break the curse unless she killed the person who cast the curse.
“Then, where is Qian Zun right now?”
“We’ve been working with the information guild, but we haven’t managed to confirm the location of Qian Zun because the organization called Beyond The Heavens is extremely secretive.”
Erebrisa was convenient, but they weren’t omniscient. Erebrisa’s information was obtained through an information guild that was cooperating with them. However, even though the organization Beyond The Heavens clearly existed, it was like a ghost in that there was no information available from the information guild.
“In the end, I have no other choice other than waiting to die.”
Wijihoyeon murmured with a bitter smile. Qian Zun said he would return. Now under this curse, if she met Qian Zun again, would she be able to win? Or should she beg Qian Zun to release the curse?
‘He didn’t kill me. It means that he wants to keep me alive for some reason… What’s their purpose?’
She had also looked into the organization called Beyond The Heavens, but there was no proper information. What she found out was that Beyond The Heavens was a mixture of humans and non-humans, and that The Six Divinities were both the face and the most visible members of the organisation. As Qian Zun himself said, he was a member of the Six Divinities. Amongst the Six Divinities, there were three of them who had the title of Qian Zun, and the other three were considered to be at higher positions than them.
“Haha!”
Wijihoyeon turned around with a low laugh. Seren looked at the back of Wijihoyeon with a confused look and disappeared. Wijihoyeon never stopped laughing as she recalled Beyond The Heavens and Qian Zun.
To be honest, until now, she had always thought it was easy. The ten years that Wijihoyeon lived in Eria had always been easy – until she came to know of the existence of the Beyond The Heavens organisation. It wasn’t easy anymore. She had come to know a thousand things. Wijihoyeon realized that her existence wasn’t as great as she had thought.
‘I don’t want to show any shame.’
Wijihoyeon began to drag her feet and walk with such thoughts. She couldn’t take a break. It was still a long way to Rubes.
‘I have to go.’
She didn’t want to break the promise she made ten years ago.