“Oh my god, you crazy……!”
Toeok.
Geniella’s head was placed on the white snow. The blood spurting from the cleanly cut arteries, spurted out everywhere in a mess and dyed the white snow red.
Lee Sungmin did not even notice Sima Ryunju’s movement but just watched Geniella’s head rolling in the snow.
He had no choice but to cry out in dismay.
“What are you doing?!”
They didn’t have to fight Geniella. They had succeeded in being able to meet Geniella and had even been offered to talk at her mansion! After that, everything would be over, Lee Sungmin thought.
Under such circumstances, Lee Sungmin could not understand his master’s sudden actions.
“What are you talking about?”
“Why did you attack…….”
“Do you even trust her?”
When Sima Ryunju cut him off shortly and spoke the words, Lee Sungmin fell completely speechless.
“The opponent is the Vampire Queen, Geniella of the Blood Bridges. She is seductive as she is conniving. Also, it’s especially potent for them to get stronger based on the blood they take from the powerful. To her, we’re nothing but giant turkeys ready to get put on a roast. Do you really believe you can trust such a monster?”
‘Trust?’
Those meetings with Geniella until now, had not been a mere set of coincidences.
Though there was no such thing as a coincidence in this world, Lee Sungmin couldn’t help but remember that he hadn’t been threatened by Geniella ever.
Geniella was friendly to Lee Sungmin. Perhaps this was also due to the blessing of fate, but from what Lee Sungmin could tell, Geniella viewed him in a positive light due to interest and his mysteriousness.
Thanks to this, Lee Sungmin had rarely felt threatened by Geniella’s bloodlust, even if he knew she was a monster with powerful power.
“The old man cannot believe that monster.”
Sima Ryunju spoke. Such a reaction was common but Lee Sungmin knew well.
Sima Ryunju’s reasoning for slashing Geniella’s throat was not just because of distrust.
“Ha…”
A sound of laughter could be heard quietly.
“Hahahaha!”
The laughter got louder and rang out in the snowy plains. Geniella’s body didn’t collapse even though her head was cut off.
The blood that spurted from the cut arteries had soaked her clothes and soaked the snow field.
The frozen blood melted away in the severe northern cold. Droplets of blood hovered around her body that had not collapsed.
The headless body slowly turned around. Lee Sungmin found the epicenter of laughter. The head on the floor was smiling and moving up and down as it was disconnected from her body…
“Did you see that in your future?”
Geniella suddenly stopped laughing and her severed head collapsed into dust. The drops of blood hovering around her body flowed back into the severed neck, and a red mist floated where the head should have been.
Geniella’s head started to reform through the bloody mist as her hand raised up and caressed her ‘cut’ neck and spoke to Sima Ryunju.
“You don’t think I have?”
“So you have seen that happen.”
Sima Ryunju confirmed his guess in a calm voice to Geniella, whose head was now fully intact. Geniella spoke while trying to suppress her incessant giggling that sounded closer to a squeal than a giggle.
“The future that I can see right now is incomplete and there are many variables still in it, but if certain conditions are met, it won’t go wrong. It’s inevitable that it will happen as long as I control the variables forcefully.”
“If you knew this old man would attack, then why didn’t you avoid it?”
“Because there’s no reason to.”
Geniella smiled proudly.
“You have great power, but it’s impossible to kill me.”
“Do you want to test that theory?”
“No way. I don’t want to fight you. It’s not the same as we were a few hundred years ago. If I fight with you now, one of us will die, and I have no intentions to die now. I’ve come too far to see my plans go for naught.”
Sina Ryunju smirked at the answer. He spoke with his hands behind his back as he lowered his raised hand.
“Fighting you right now is something I don’t want to do either. But, as I said, I don’t believe you.”
“And you’re not afraid of getting hurt?”
“I don’t have a problem with myself, but I have to swear to the safety of those who came with me.”
“That’s easy. I would never harm you for coming here.”
Geniellla did not hesitate to swear an Oath on the spot. But, Lee Sungmin was not sure of whether an Oath would actually be of any use against a nigh-immortal monster. He asked Heoju before about it, but Heoju did not have an answer for him.
It was not until she had sworn under the Oath when Sima Ryunju nodded. However, the wagon could no longer move because all the horses pulling it were dead.
“I apologize for that.”
Geniella raised her hand. Her palms that faced wide open, turned forward, and a small drop of blood formed at her fingertips.
Lugluglug –
The blood sticking out of her fingertips flowed into the mouths of the dead horses. The bodies of horses started to tremble as if they had cramps.
Soon after, the horses staggered up. It’s not that the horses had suddenly revived fully, but Geniella had inserted blood magic into them and resurrected them as undead ghouls.
“There won’t be a problem now, so let’s get going. I’ve come here with Juwon’s permission in advance, but if I stay in his territory for too long, it might just hurt his feelings.”
[Who are you?]
The moment that Lee Sungmin tried to get on the wagon, he heard Geniella’s voice in his head. He glanced back at Geniella in surprise.
[When we met back when Kim Jonghyun’s little excursion was going on, I could see right through your existence with my eyes. But now I can’t see anything, what have you done?]
[……I don’t know what you’re talking about.]
[How strange. I’ve lived hundreds of years, but you’re the first person I have not been able to see through. It’s not as if I couldn’t do so in the past. When I looked into the future I had seen everything correctly except for you. So answer me, why are you here?]
It was already dangerous for her plans. She needed to control the variables as they came, but this was an unexpected variable that came from the start.
She knew she was basically admitting to Lee Sungmin that she had not seen this kind of future. It was contradictory to what she had said to Sima Ryunju earlier and was quite frankly, embarrassing.
[Who are you?]
Variables, singularities or Observers. All of them were different terms for different identities of people that played a role in the end. Lee Sungmin recalled what Abel had said to him.
However, so far, Lee Sungmin still was unsure what his position was. He was an observer before the ending started, but now it was uncertain what he was.
Heoju used to tell him to think a certain way when he felt down about it. He used to tell Lee Sungmin that he was only himself and that he would make his own decisions. Nobody else would. Regardless, it was still something he naturally had questions about often.
The role Lee Sungmin played as an observer, was to observe the course taken and adjust it to the point in which he had died in his previous life.
But now that he was alive still and the future was unclear, what the hell was he at this point?
Why didn’t Geniella see through his existence with her eyes and why was he not in the future she had seen?
Lee Sungmin was lost in thought.
In the carriage, Lee Sungmin was lost in thought.
What was the future Geniella had seen? What was she aiming for and why was he not there?
Lee Sungmin recalled the past large events he had been through that might have played a role in it.
There was when Kim Jonghyun’s subjugation happened when he was traveling through the North to Edor with the Pegasus he had borrowed from the Queen of Fairies, Oslo.
Before that, was when he had departed for Hadras after separating from Wijihoyeon.
‘…… Ah wait.’
There was no way.
Lee Sungmin hurriedly raised his head and looked at Jehu.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
“Huh, what is it that’s so sudden?”
Jehu looked on at Lee Sungmin curiously. Lee Sungmin didn’t know if the hypothesis he had was correct, so he had to quickly cross-check some facts with Jehu.
“Do you remember when Musin went to the Hugal Mountains?”
“……I don’t know the exact date… but I’m sure he left right when I departed for the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun. As soon as I came back to the headquarters after suffering a great injury to Juwon, I heard from the Divine Maiden about Musin going out of contact.”
Weird.
Lee Sungmin bit his lower lip,
Lee Sungmin had met Geniella already after the point where he passed his previous life’s death. Geniella had seen through him with her eyes after his role as an observer ended. Yet, after he became aware that he was in fact, an observer, she couldn’t see through him.
Hadn’t he lost his protection of fate after he became aware of his role?
It was confusing, but some things were starting to make sense.
Shortly after that period of time, Wijohoyeon had likely encountered Musin in the Hugal Mountains.This was also purely speculation, but it was likely that she had met him at the Maryeong Pavilion.
“Wijihoyeon’s meeting with the demon.”
Was that why the protection of fate had reappeared? Or was it even that? What was protecting him? It was all too confusing and there were no answers.
Abel had even told Lee Sungmin that his protection of fate had gone away.
However, why was it that after Wijihoyeon had likely met with the Demon, he was suddenly protected from Geniella’s eyes?
‘I…… No, who the hell are you?’
Lee Sungmin was baffled by the existence of Wijihoyeon. Who was she really? They had promised to meet again one day, but he did not expect it to be like this at all.
He thought they would meet back at the Sama Order together after a few months at the latest.
He knew she was stuck on something and was searching for something, so he didn’t bother her with it.
‘Should I have held her back from leaving back then?
It’s too late to regret his decisions. Lee Sungmin lifted his head while catching his breath. As he did, he met his gaze with a set of eyes that were looking right at him. Sima Ryunju was gazing at Lee Sungmin through the eyes of his mask.
[Something on your mind?]
Sima Ryunju asked. Since there was nothing to hide from him, Lee Sungmin informed him about his hypothesis.
[You’ve been ripping at your hair quite a bit.]
[What the hell do you…?”
[It’s a compliment.]
[How on earth is that supposed to be a compliment?]
[I think you’re right. The meeting between Wijihoyeon and the Devil……and with what’s been happening recently, it’s clearly not ordinary. The idiot from the Wizard Guild named Abel or something, said you weren’t worthy of existence. But I knew that wasn’t true, hence why I spoke up about it. There’s something about you. And there seems to be a connection between that girl and you.]
The first meeting Lee Sungmin ever had with Wijihoyeon was no accident. To some extent, Lee Sungmin’s intention was included when he was curious about whom this talented individual was from his previous life.
Until now, he thought that was all there was to it. But…… now he was sure it was not so simple.
[Whether it’s a protection of fate or not, there isn’t much of a way to find out what it is.]
[It’s not like there’s no possible way to find out.]Lee Sungmin replied firmly.
In the past, Lee Sungmin had met Grandmaster Bulyeong in the Shaolin, and he was able to see exactly what was surrounding Lee Sungmin.
It was the God of Ghosts that had cast the aura of favorability upon Lee Sungmin when he regressed to the past. At least that was what Grandmaster Bulyeong had said to him.
A lot had happened in the Shaolin. Lee Sung-min decided to go north because he listened to the divine spirit in the body of Ambassador Bulyeong.
[Are you saying you’re gonna go check through the Shaolin?]
[I think it’s necessary to try.]
Sima Ryunju giggled at Lee Sungmin’s reply.
[After the Heavenly Fist Sect, now it will be the Grandmaster of the Shaolin, talk about causing a ruckus… huhu!]
The carriage finally stopped at that point in the conversation. Unlike before, the horses ran without stopping due to their nature of being ghouls that did not tire through Geniella’s blood magic.
They did not even need a horseman to whip them. Ye-Hwa was sitting in the back with a nervous loon on her face.
“There’s no need to worry.”
Sima Ryunju opened his mouth. He glanced at Ye-Hwa with a stern look on his face and continued to speak.
“If things happen, I won’t let you die.”
The carriage’s door opened.
It was the second time Lee Sungmin had been to Geniella’s mansion. The doors of the large mansion were already open, and inside it was a splendid garden of roses and was decorated beautifully with a unique and rustic look that made it look old yet had an antique feel to it.
Sima Ryunju, who got off the wagon first, faced Geniella standing in front of the open gates to the mansion. Geniella smiled with her sharp vampiric canines peeking out of the corners of her mouth.
“Come on in.”
While crossing by the garden under her guidance, Lee Sungmin suddenly stopped walking.
With his eyes widened, he saw Aine, whose body was hanging on several hooks and awls lifted up into the air like a doll.
Scarlett recognized Aine as well. She gasped and grabbed Lee Sungmin’s arm.
“Th-th- that’s her. Right?”
“……yes.”
When Lee Sungmin was attacked for the first time by Aine. It was thanks to Scarlett’s help from the side that made Aine retreat from continuing to chase after him.
Scarlett’s body trembled at Aine’s disastrous appearance.
“Why is that here?”
Scarlett and Lee Sungmin’s voices were quiet.But, the child, Aine, jerked her head up suddenly at the sounds of their quiet voices.
Her yellow eyes turned toward Lee Sungmin.
……Kurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
There was a jolt in his body that gave him the chills.