Chapter 460
Chapter 460
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 460
Chapter Title: Kim Katt and the Ghost's House
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I can't bring myself to be harsh with a woman with large breasts.
She overlaps with Winia in my vision.
The bun-haired young lady before my eyes didn't look like a ghost at all. No hallucination, no illusion spell, no phantasm. My senses were sharper than ever, perhaps because of the bizarre situation I was in.
Is this also the effect of the barrier?
And what did the banshee mean by "liberation" before we climbed the stairs? Do they want to be freed?
"Very well, milady."
For now, I took the young lady's hand.
The texture and warmth that transmitted to me were unmistakably human.
"This way."
"With pleasure."
There had to be a reason for this phenomenon.
I briefly wondered if I was wandering the depths of the mansion, possessed by ghosts, but I quickly dismissed it.
Spirits who became malevolent after dying once couldn't fool my senses, honed by countless killings. Even as evil spirits, they were ultimately beings slain by someone.
I possess clear judgment that pierces truth from falsehood. The philosophy of Fusion Confucianism dwells in my eyes. There's not a shred of deceit in the scenery I see.
"Hee hee, your hand is so large, sir knight."
"Yours is small and soft, milady. Like a piece of fine jewelry."
"Oh my."
She blushed, clearly pleased by my words.
"This hand, used only to gripping swords, worries me that it might crush yours, milady. Ha ha!"
"You have fine manners."
"Your beauty brings out my manners."
"Hee hee. You speak so well. Shall we dance, then?"
Before I knew it, I was standing in the center of the hall.
"Regrettably, I've lived on the battlefield, so I'm no good at dancing."
"Leave it to me."
The young lady skillfully led me into the dance.
My body spun round and round.
While rotating like that, I surveyed the hall.
The mansion was incredibly luxurious. A place truly meant only for high society. Even the VIPs and servants all behaved with perfect etiquette. To my eyes, which had rolled in the gutters of this world for years, it felt utterly novel.
The mansion at its peak.
This must have been its original state.
Do the ghosts of the mansion miss this glorious past and maintain this space? Certainly, the laughter of partygoers is far more pleasant than the screams of evil spirits.
—Heartache.
—Longing.
Such emotions seemed to flow into me.
The banshee had asked me to free them.
Are they sick of living as evil spirits? Or have they been waiting eternally for a knight to liberate them?
What did the ghosts trapped in this mansion truly want?
"What are you thinking so deeply about?"
The young lady asked, snapping me from my thoughts.
"Thinking... It's nothing. Just..."
"Just?"
Her cleavage, nearly a handspan deep, was enough to overlap with Winia's. Of course, Winia's was larger. Yeah, thinking of Winia gave me strength.
"Have you ever felt resentment or hatred, milady?"
"...Heavens, no. Why would I?"
"Heh heh, is that so? That's fortunate."
"Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
We continued dancing.
The young lady requested tales of my exploits.
"They might not be stories fit for a lady's ears."
"Ho ho ho, women love tales of the battlefield too."
"Hmm... Then instead of exploits, let me sing you a song."
"A song?"
I couldn't hold back the poignant emotions that had been transmitting to me.
I released the young lady's hand and strode to the orchestra. These people weren't alive anyway.
"What is this?"
The conductor, who had stopped conducting, narrowed his eyes.
"I'm going to sing. Accompany me."
"What manners are these? We're in the middle of performing..."
"Just one song."
"...Exactly one."
The old conductor permitted it.
As I mounted the stage, all eyes in the hall turned to me.
"Ahem."
I cleared my throat and recalled the rhythm. The orchestra began playing simultaneously. A beautiful melody, but somehow unsuited to the compass.
Well, Korean songs can be sung even without matching accompaniment.
I began to sing.
"Shall we go to Jongno?"
The song that captured my heart, Teacher Seol Wondo's "Compass."
"Shall we go to Myeongdong?"
The exquisitely beautiful rhythm echoed, filling the hall. A song from a foreign land unknown to them. The ghosts must have felt its poignancy. But a song crossing dimensions was like a message in a bottle washed ashore—even more heartrending.
"Or shall we head to Cheongnyangni?"
As I sang, the murmurs and music faded. Everyone in the hall stood silently, listening to my song.
My singing was moving their hearts that much.
"Standing at the corner of Euljiro."
Finally, the song ended.
I looked at the people in the hall.
They stood dazed.
No, the banshees.
Before I knew it, the men of the mansion had vanished, leaving only banshees. The young lady, the nun, the maid. They were all banshees. Even the one I'd danced with. So it was all a kind of play.
—Hic... Hiccup... Hic...!
And one by one, they began to sob mournfully.
—Hic! Hiccup! Hic...!
—Sad, so sad...!
—Hate hate hate hate hate hate.
—Hic...! I want to go back...! I want to go hooome...!
—Why won't anyone save us?
—Enough now... Please, stop... Hic!
Teacher Seol Wondo's "Compass" truly was a masterpiece that stirred hearts. Crossing foreign lands and dimensions, even penetrating the souls trapped in the past.
My song had allowed true communion with their sorrow.
They all bore inhuman grief.
They wanted it to end now.
—Rustle.
—Swish.
The sobbing banshees covered their faces and pointed to the stairs leading to the third floor. It seemed they wanted me to go up.
"You want me to go up?"
"..."
"You want me to see your sorrow up there?"
"..."
Acting like that meant they sought comfort. They wanted someone to acknowledge their pain. Is that why they invited people?
The evil spirits of the mansion harbored hatred, but ultimately, they were beings who wished to shed their sorrow and return where they belonged.
"Then Heavenly Demon Kim Katt shall ascend."
That would be the clue to the mansion's truth. And that clue would lead to escape.
"For those who wept to my song."
I immediately climbed the third-floor stairs.
The hall, which had shone brilliantly moments ago, was long dark. I ascended the dark stairs once more. Kobson, Meria, and Lina—what were they doing? Still, they were capable of looking after themselves.
Uncovering the mansion's truth would be the way to reunite with my friends.
I trust those guys.
—Creak.
Thus, I pushed open the third-floor door.
—Screeech.
Light poured out as the door opened.
However, it wasn't the warm, bright light of the second-floor hall.
It was a crimson glow stained with malice.
—Roar!
—Kyaaaaaaaah!!!!
Flames blazed here and there in the mansion. Not a massive blaze—just some decorations and furniture burning. What caught my attention was the screams and...
"Kekeke!"
The laughter of the merciless warriors invading the mansion.
—Slash!
They swung their swords, killing the mansion's waiters and butlers. Male servants and cleaners fell. No unarmed men could stand against these armed warriors. Soldiers? Mercenaries? Unclear.
"Uwaaaak!!!"
"Where do you think you're running?!"
People were dying.
I walked slowly toward the scene.
"Kyaaaaak! Stop! Please stop!"
"Come here!"
Having slain all the men, the warriors seized the nuns and maids, beginning their violations. A horrific scene of pillage. Powerless women could only suffer their brutal assaults.
Was this the mansion's truth?
The souls of women cruelly murdered here had turned into evil spirits from resentment, cursing the mansion?
"Why show this to me?"
I asked the ghost that approached beside me as I watched.
"...Free us."
"Free you?"
"We've been waiting for a strong knight... To free us."
"From this carnage?"
—Shake shake.
The girl ghost shook her head.
She wanted liberation. Wanting liberation meant being bound. A dwelling spirit, perhaps. She was trapped in this mansion.
Had she been waiting for someone to free her here?
But first, a question.
"What about the others?"
"..."
"There must have been more visitors to this mansion."
"Basement... They're in the basement."
The basement?
"The people who came today."
"Them too... In the basement."
Those who visited the mansion and vanished were all in the basement. The evil spirits capture people and drag them there? There must be a purpose. I need to rescue my friends before it's too late.
"You're the only strong knight who hasn't been caught."
"After chasing me like they wanted to kill me? Were you planning to drag me to the basement too?"
"...They're different from us."
Evil spirits drunk on murder, and lingering souls seeking liberation.
"Please. Free us. You're the only one we can ask."
"How do I free you?"
—Hic...! Hic! Hiccup!!! Kniiiight... Knight... The knight who'll save me...!
As I asked for the method, a nun ghost's wail rose from below.
"No time... If you want to save your friends, go quickly. She'll count soon... Then... Your friends won't survive."
"Count? What does that mean?"
—Swish.
"Stop her... Please stop her now."
The girl ghost's form began to fade.
"We're bound by her resentment."
Resentment.
"Stop her... Free our souls... Our remains are in the basement."
"Her"—probably the wailing nun ghost below. With those words, the girl ghost vanished completely. Ultimately, she wanted me to slay her and save them.
"Fuck."
To leave, I have to take down the boss mob. The banshees were just hitching a ride, asking me to handle their remains.
That's why they showed this illusion.
—Click.
...No.
Not just that.
Stairs leading down appeared.
—The banshees had opened the path to the basement.
The basement was the mansion's heart. Hidden within the labyrinthine barrier. The banshees opened the way while begging for liberation.
My friends were probably there now.
Then I must go.
I descended the spiral stairs. It wasn't dark around me. Crimson flames lined the path to the basement.
"Kyaaaaaaaak!!!"
"Let us out! Let us out! Let us out!"
"Please open it!"
"Save us, please!!!!"
But these weren't real flames.
I pushed through the flames, descending. Screams filled the air. Women pleading for life.
After being brutally violated by the invading warriors, they were herded into the basement and burned alive en masse. The cruel warriors finished their deed and set the women ablaze.
"Horrible."
Such scenes enveloped me the entire descent.
"No wonder resentment formed."
The past grudge materialized, endlessly repeating in this space—the cursed house of ghosts.
They sought vengeance and salvation. What rotten luck to get caught in this. No more ruined mansion explorations from now on.
Thus, I stood before the basement.
Sobbing echoed from somewhere.