Sima Ryunju’s body lay in a flower garden near a small lake in the middle of the forest.
The little fairies, one by one, hugged several flowers in their arms as they looked at Sima Ryunju’s body with teary eyes. Each of them flew over, one after the other, as they lay the flowers they held in their arms, on his resting body.
Next to the body, Ye-Hwa sat on her knees. With her head down, she continued to weep. One would think that she had already cried so much that it would become unhealthy at some point, but she continued to weep.
Lee Sungmin was standing next to her as this happened. He looked down at the body of his dead master with a blank expression.
[Should I say he was a good sabu?] (T/N : form of saying master in hangul, the korean dialect)
‘No.’
Lee Sungmin replied to Heoju’s grumbling.
Lee Sungmin looked on with a solemn expression as the fairies continued to leave their flowers and their tears next to his master’s body.
The last person to bring forward a set of flowers was Oslo, the Queen. She floated near the head of the resting Sima Ryunju and laid a wreath of flowers she had made, around his head.
“It would only be weird if I didn’t see you off in your rest.”
Osla muttered.
“I’ll keep his body here, so his body won’t rot or spoil. Ryunju-ssi loved this forest and especially the flower garden here.”
“……Thank you.”
“You don’t have to be grateful towards me. It’s what Ryunju-ssi wanted in the end, and I happened to want it as well.”
Oslo raised her bent body that was kneeling over to put the wreath on Sima Ryunju’s head.
Sima Ryunju’s cadaver looked blissful as it laid in the flower bed made by the fairies and his smile was still there despite his death.
The surroundings were vibrant as the flower garden was an isolated place within the Forest of Fairies, and the lake shone under the light that was nearby.
Hik!
Ye-Hwa swallowed her tears and staggered to her feet.Then she bowed three times to Sima Ryunju’s body.
“……You left a very…… difficult task for me.”
Sima Ryunju did leave her with a task that was difficult against her nature.
It was obvious since the Red Flower unit that Ye-Hwa was a part of, had served Sima Ryunju for their entire lives.
The request was harder and more difficult for Ye-Hwa than if he had just requested her to die. But his last words were telling her that she had to keep this promise. And so, Ye-Hwa owed to do so, no matter how difficult it may be for her.* * *
A week’s time had passed.
After that time, Lee Sungmin decided to leave the Forest of the Fairies. First of all, he planned on going to the Shaolin like he had originally hoped to do with his master when he was still alive.
So far nothing had happened in the South after the death of Sima Ryunju.
Kim Jonghyun and Bolander had yet to do anything that would be a fatal catastrophe in the South.
‘You didn’t have to die.’
Lee Sungmin hugged his knees and thought.
‘Even if it’s the death you wanted.’
Only those who lived and were left behind, were the ones to feel the loss of losing another. Just as the death of the Crazy Heavenly Demon had an effect on Lee Sungmin at the time, the death of his master made Lee Sungmin depressed and left a bitter feeling of loss inside him.
The sense of loss, which felt much greater than any anger or wrath, made Lee Sungmin feel nothing but regret. Regret, that he could not do anything and was utterly powerless.
It was not enough.
Sima Ryunju was dead. Death was not something anybody could take back, as revival of the dead was not possible and not wanted by Sima Ryunju in the first place.
Lee Sungmin felt the new internal energy of the Dark Storm Arts within his dantian that he had inherited from Sima Ryunju along with the essence of martial arts that Sima Ryunju had mastered.
It was now Lee Sungmin’s martial knowledge and not his master’s.
It was his to work with from now on and nobody else’s. Lee Sungmin took his hand up and raised it as he felt his chest, where the Black Heart lay.
Taking a few steps back, Lee Sungmin swallowed his regret and bowed to his master.
Sima Ryunju was dead.
He should not despair over such a fact. It would only be the mentality of the weak-minded Lee Sungmin that his master did not like, if he did.
Lee Sungmin engraved that idea in his heart.
Over this past week, Ye-Hwa was the first to leave the Forest.
She had to go and seek out the rest of the Red Flower Unit about the death of their Lord, Sima Ryunju, and his will.
Scarlett didn’t leave during this past week. The reason was that it would be better to be protected by Lee Sungmin since her position was not safe as the runaway Red Tower Master, and Lee Sungmin was the strongest ally she had.
“It’s lonely to travel alone.”
Scarlett muttered.
“What’s more……because I know what it’s like to lose someone close to me.”
“It’s alright.”
Lee Sungmin replied with a bitter smile. It was clearly forced.
“It’s not the first time I’ve lost someone.”
“But you shouldn’t ever have to feel like you are used to it.”
Scarlett stared directly at Lee Sungmin and met her gaze with his, as his golden irises shined in the light. Lee Sungmin had gone through several experiences that she had not known of, while he left from the Mountain of Mush.
“Even if you’ve experienced loss, you should never get used to it. If you do, you as a person, will become ruined.”
“That’s alright.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
Scarlett shook her head, saying so.
“A lot of grief and a lot of pain. Tears would only be natural. But… if you don’t cry, who will? If you don’t you’ll turn into the very thing you didn’t want to be. A monster.”
“……Yes.”
“To me, you look very anxious right now.”
Lee Sungmin’s shoulders flinched at the words.
“There are too many things forcing your actions right now. You seem to be obsessively suppressing yourself. I understand that this is not a normal time for us all, and especially after you consumed that man’s heart. But, don’t restrict yourself much. Allow yourself to feel.”
Scarlett added with a bitter smile.
“It’s not like I fully understand you and know how you feel when I say this… but still, it’s normal to feel lonely when you are all alone. You’re my friend and I don’t want you to be alone. Is this enough of a reason for me to want to go with you?”
“Why….?”
“To sympathize with you.”
“I guess there’s nothing much I can do about that.”
Lee Sungmin laughed.
[That’s true.]
Heoju also chided.
[Consuming the heart of another human isn’t the only thing that can push you over the edge to becoming a monster. Simply despairing in self-loathing emotions and pity will only push you further to the brink without you even realizing it.]
Heoju stressed this to Lee Sungmin because both of them knew that the sealing that Oslo had performed was only something temporary and would ultimately be up to Lee Sungmin to overcome. Because it was like holding onto a ticking time bomb that could explode at any time, Lee Sungmin needed to be careful.
‘I know.’
Lee Sungmin agreed reluctantly with Heoju as he was once again reminded of the danger inside of his own body.
* * *
Another week since then, had passed. Lee Sungmin recognized the rumors of the Northern conflicts through Neville, but there were few rumors about him as the Ghost Spear.
The fight between Musin and Sima Ryunju had happened within Geniella and Juwon’s territory.
Unless they spread rumors themselves, the mythical fight in the snowfields of the North was nothing short of fiction.
What happened to Musin? What about Jehu, the Black Dragon? What about the Spear King, Kang Seok? There was a lot of doubt and rumors going around, but nothing concrete.
It was unlikely that the three of them were all killed. Especially when thinking about Musin’s monstrous strength, there was no way he was dead even with Kang Seok and Jehu fighting together.
Even if he lost an arm to Sima Ryunju and was exhausted, Lee Sungmin saw no way he would lose.
‘Did he run away?’
Lee Sungin certainly hoped that he did. At the last minute…… Jehu and Kang Seok had surprisingly thrown themselves in front of Musin’s fire to help Lee Sungmin, someone that was against their own organization at one point.
Kang Seok, was a man who was rather free-spirited, so Lee Sungmin could understand his actions to an extent, but what about Jehu?
Jehu had only been forced by Lee Sungmin’s master, Sima Ryunju, under the pretext of an Oath, to not betray them. Yet, at the last minute he had been freed from his will, and Jehu still saved Lee Sungmin.
Even if he had betrayed Musin because of Sima Ryunju’s forced Oath, by capturing Lee Sungmin, he would have likely been forgiven and taken back.
But instead…. Jehu faced Musin head-on and opposed the favorable option.
“You don’t think they’re dead, do you?”
“I would have run away if I were him.”
As Scarlett muttered, Lee Sungmin shook his head and answered. It was likely they had escaped. The two men known as Kang Seok and Jehu, would at least be able to do that.
Lee Sungmin thought for a moment, but agreed to himself that it might actually be nice to meet back up with Jehu if he had the opportunity later on in life.
Although he was suspicious of him in many ways, it is true that he was able to escape with the help of Jehu’s sudden actions.
Lee Sungmin suddenly summoned the Pegasus. Originally, Lee Sungmin was only able to have one more use of borrowing the Pegasus’ traveling abilities, but Oslo had given up on restricting the usage of the Pegasus ever since his master had passed.
Lee Sungmin was not sure whether it was just the death of his master, or if it was also the possibility that she was showing him more favor, but he gratefully accepted the help nonetheless.
Thanks to the Pegasus’ spatial movement capabilities, Lee Sungmin was able to cut down on unimaginable amounts of traveling time.
“Thank you.”
Lee Sungmin bowed to Oslo, who came out to bid him farewell. Oslo smiled faintly.
“Promise me this one thing.”
“What is it?”
“You will not willingly choose to despair.”
What both Scarlett and Heoju had told him, Oslo simply repeated as she expressed her wish for Lee Sungmin.
“Ryunju-ssi, I know, would want that to be the case as well.”
“I won’t.”
Lee Sungmin replied with a bitter smile.
“It may sound unconvincing, but in the end, I really don’t want to become a brainless monster.”
Lee Sungmin summoned the Pegasus after saying so. He was definitely able to spend more time to grieve his master and be with these individuals that were in the Forest of Fairies with him.
“I… to be honest, I don’t feel very good about riding something like a magical beast that can only be found in legends, like it’s my own.”
“The same goes for me.”
Responding to Scarlett’s grumbling, Lee Sungmin climbed onto the Pegasus. He recalled the plains he was running on after running away from An Zun and being chased by Geom-Seong of the Wudang. Feeling the intent of where Lee Sungmin wanted to go, the Pegasus started to shine faintly and grow in exposure to the light.
When the Pegasus started to lift up into the sky…
Lee Sungmin took Scarlett’s hand, which was holding onto his waist.
Scarlett didn’t even have time to react to Lee Sungmin’s sudden movement.
Lee Sungmin lifted Scarlett’s hand off his body and pushed her away from the Pegasus as he controlled her fall with internal energy. Scarlett’s eyes opened wide only after realizing that she was falling in the air.
“This…….”
When Scarlett was about to yell something, Lee Sungmin shook his head with a sad and bitter expression.
Whooshh!
The Pegasus leapt through the ripples in the space around them.
* * *
Brrrrrrrrr…
The distorting space started to fluctuate and close up. Wijihoyeon, standing still with an unreadable and stoic expression, looked at the thing in front of her.
The unidentifiable body, which was crushed in a disastrous warping of space caused by Wijihoyeon, belonged to a monster, and not a human being.
The boss monster, who was guarding the end of the Dungeon she was inside of, was strong, but not a match for Wijihoyeon.
She had heard the same answer from this monster as well.
The fate of the Defeated King. Wijihoyeon let out a brief chuckle. She had been hearing about this ‘fate’ so much lately. Really, it was getting repetitive at this point.
After meeting the Devil in the Maryeong Pavilion, Wijihoeyeon continued to wander around the world. Before she had left, the Devil had given her something very interesting and eye-opening. The Devil had given her the locations of all the Dungeons in all of Eria.
Wijihoeyon was in one of these several dungeons she had been conquering.
This was the fifth dungeon now.
Wijihoeyon stopped her attack and the portal to the treasure room of the dungeon started to appear behind the monster’s corpse. The scattered body became a myriad of light started to flow in a form of energy towards Wijihoyeon
Five… No, six if she included the dungeon in which she had been inside of with Lee Sungmin.
Wijihoeyon was now absorbing the power left behind by the Boss Monster in this sixth Dungeon.
In fact, the absorbed strength of the Boss Monsters didn’t do much for Wijihoyeon. Wijihoyeon already knew that just by simply increasing her total amount of internal energy, did not mean she could become stronger.
Was it the possible treasures and otherworldly artifacts that one could find inside of the Dungeon that enticed her? No. None of the treasures and artifacts, despite being unique and useful, were of her purpose in doing this.
The reason she was here was an entirely different reason aside from desire. The Devil inside of the Maryeong Pavilion had told her something.
The Fate of the Defeated King. The Devil had told her about what it meant and the information of these dungeons for a reason.
‘It’s not enough.’
Wijihoyeon opened the last door and went in. The Plethora of gold coins and jewels didn’t even catch the slightest glimpse from her.
But it wasn’t that they didn’t have a purpose for her. Her gaze remained locked on the exit of the Dungeon while the Black Dragon Cape around her, sucked the contents of the treasury into her spatial pocket.
After putting all of it in a spatial pocket, Wijihoyeon passed the door.
There was no signs of exhaustion present on Wijihoeyon’s body despite it being night time when she finished the dungeon.
It was another easy Dungeon run for her.
How many Dungeons did she have left? Wijihoyeon counted the remaining number of Dungeons in her head. Then, she thought of another dungeon closest to her current location.
It was a dungeon that shouldn’t have been opened. However, even if the Dungeon was not open, Wijihoyeon would be able to enter the dungeon.
‘What are you up to these days?’
Wijihoyeon turned around and looked in the direction of the Forest of Fairies where she last saw Lee Sungmin, and thought to herself.
When they separated at the time, Wijihoyeon did not think it would take this long for her to finish up her ‘business’.
However, it was becoming too long of an extended period of time and Wijihoyeon couldn’t feel good about it. But she had no choice. What she was trying to accomplish, would take a very long time.
However, the one misconception Lee Sungmin might have, was that these actions were for her.
But they weren’t. The reason she was doing all of these things was because of him.
“The Defeated King.”
Wijihoeyon muttered in a low voice.