Chapter 625: Power (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 625: Power (2)
‘What was I doing?’
That was my first thought the moment I opened my eyes.
What had I been doing until now?
‘I’m sure…’
I will enter my heart and cast aside this hesitation.
How much time had passed since I closed my eyes with that thought?
I let my hazy mind clear and looked around. The environment hadn't changed much from before I closed my eyes. I could still see the ice crystal.
‘The Leader.’
As I looked around, I also saw the Leader, who was watching me.
But.
‘What is it?’
Why was he making that face?
Surprise and bewilderment.
The Leader was a man with an ice-cold impression, yet the expression on his face was surprisingly vivid. Why was he looking at me like that?
Just as I was wondering, he spoke.
“Why are you crying?”
The Leader’s words made me tilt my head. Crying? I raised a hand to touch the corner of my eye.
‘Huh?’
When I checked, tears were indeed flowing. What was happening?
‘What the…’
Why am I crying?
‘What is this?’
The unexpected tears made it difficult to grasp the situation. Setting aside how long it had been since I’d last shed a tear, I needed to figure out why I was crying in the first place. It wasn't like I had gone through anything particularly momentous…
‘Hm?’
I tried to recall the situation just before. Strangely, nothing came to mind.
‘I definitely…’
Right after I entered the space of my mind and tried to kill my younger self. What came next? What happened after that…
‘What was it?’
I couldn't remember. I was sure something had happened, but it was as if my memory had been painted over with black ink; I couldn't recall a thing.
‘This is unsettling.’
And frustrating. I furrowed my brow and tried my best to remember, but only a blurry image flashed past.
The shape of someone holding a child.
That was the absolute limit of what I could manage to recall.
‘I don’t know.’
What did I see? What did I experience to feel so uneasy?
“Young Master Gu? Are you all right?”
“Ah…”
At the Leader’s words, I wiped away my tears.
“…How much time has passed?”
“Not more than a few seconds.”
“…Hm.”
A few seconds. So only that much time had passed.
‘And in just that short amount of time…’
I thought, looking down at my clenched fist.
‘My realm has risen this much…?’
With astonished eyes, I observed the state of my body. It was overflowing. My energy was so full it was about to spill over, and the vessel containing it had grown even larger.
‘This is…’
If my state just before had been far from what it was in my past life, then now…
‘I’ve far surpassed the halfway point.’
I couldn't say I had completely reached my peak, but I was very close. This was a definite, tangible change.
‘…Ha.’
A dry laugh escaped me. To think I could change this much just by casting away my hesitation. In other words…
‘It’s more accurate to say this wasn't something I gained, but something I already had.’
This wasn't a newly acquired power. It was energy that had formed in my body when my status changed, but it was more accurate to see it as power that had been trapped inside me because I couldn't stabilize my mind.
I had a vague idea.
‘I just didn't know it would be this much.’
If I had my way, I’d want to check my current state right now, but…
‘First things first.’
I turned my head and looked at the ice crystal.
‘This first.’
The Leader had said it—that once I made my choice, I would surely understand.
‘Hmm…’
Recalling his words, I stared at the ice crystal. I realized the Leader’s words were half right and half wrong. The reason I came here? I still didn't know that.
But at the very least.
‘I know what this is.’
The identity of the ice crystal before me. That much, I felt I understood.
I reached out my hand.
Ssk.
The moment my palm touched the surface of the ice crystal…
Wooooong—!!!
The crystal suddenly began to vibrate like mad.
“…!”
Seeing this, the Leader behind me flinched and trembled. I ignored him. When I focused, I could see it. The ice crystal, which had previously looked like a simple round block of ice, now appeared different.
I focused on the myriad sensations I felt at my fingertips. For a moment, I touched the ice crystal here and there, and then…
“Mm.”
Drip.
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. Was I sweating because it was hot? Impossible. This space was freezing. This sweat was purely due to the energy I felt from within the ice crystal.
What was unseen was now visible. What was unfelt could now be felt. Just as the Leader said, I could now see and feel much more than before.
‘…He called it an egg.’
The Leader was right about that. The ice crystal was an egg. An egg that held something terrifyingly powerful.
‘I don’t know if it’s a heart, though.’
But I could tell that something immense was inside. And what’s more… I could even tell that the being was not far from hatching. It was absurd to think the North had been holding onto such a crazy object all this time.
“...”
As I looked at the ice crystal, I briefly considered whether I should try channeling my power into it.
Channeling my power. What did that mean? Even if it was a sudden thought, my body already knew. Right after I opened my eyes, my realm had changed drastically, and my body and energy were different.
This was an unbelievable change, yes. But there was an even greater change. I knew it instinctively.
I had gained a power I didn't have before.
‘To be precise.’
It was a power I had forgotten, but let’s set that aside. Only after barely realizing it could I understand what the Dark King had said.
The power one gains upon becoming a dragon.
Different from martial arts, which are strengthened step-by-step through training. An ability one is born with.
A Power.
How to use it. Whether it truly held strength. What its principles were. Such explanations were unnecessary from the start. My body already knew the answer. In fact, it was surprising I hadn't known until now. That’s how naturally it was ingrained in my body. As if I had possessed it from the very beginning.
‘Will it work?’
So, for a moment, I thought about using it on the ice crystal. But after some repeated deliberation…
Ssk.
I pulled my hand back from the crystal. The reason was simple.
“The order is wrong.”
Because ‘this’ wasn’t first. I checked the palm that had been touching the ice crystal. I had been touching the block of ice for so long, yet not a single drop of moisture was on it.
“Leader.”
I turned my gaze to the Leader and asked.
“About the reason you saw this as a heart.”
The conversation from before. Just as I was about to continue the topic that had been bothering me…
“Ah.”
I stopped mid-sentence and remembered.
“This is also in the wrong order.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’ll listen after I get back. That should come first.”
“Young Master Gu? What are you suddenly talking abou—”
The Leader tried to stop me, as if he didn't understand. But I turned and walked toward the exit. There was no need to grab the doorknob. Just as before, the door moved on its own as I approached.
“…Where are you going now?”
Seeing this, the Leader asked, so I turned my head slightly and told him.
“It’s nothing much. I just remembered something I learned.”
Yes, something I learned. Something I had learned for certain recently.
—You know, don’t you?
—We never let what is ours be taken.
The voice echoed in my head. I wondered why those words were coming to me now, but…
‘No, it’s not that they’re coming to me now.’
It was closer to the fact that I had forgotten something I should have remembered from the start. That’s why I was thinking of it now.
‘She’s right.’
Never let what is yours be taken.
It was a statement that highlighted an arrogant and powerful sense of possession. And it was absolutely right.
‘I can’t let it be taken.’
If I considered it mine, I couldn't let it be stolen. Those words resonated throughout my entire body. This was an action my original self would not have taken. I would have hesitated repeatedly, looking for a plan and a justification.
But I decided not to do that now. Only one thought came to mind. If it was stolen…
“I have to get it back.”
It was a simple principle. The Leader frowned slightly, as if he couldn't understand my words at all. But I simply turned my gaze away again.
“It won’t take very long.”
“Don’t tell m—”
Before the Leader could finish his sentence, I was already grabbing the door I had entered through and pulling it open.
Creeeak—!
Opening the door and stepping outside, I came face to face with someone who had been waiting. It was the Black Lion. Seeing me open the door and come out on my own, the Black Lion’s expression momentarily soured.
I looked at him and said, “I’ve finished my business.”
As I waved my hand dismissively, the Black Lion spoke to me.
“You haven’t been rude to the Leader again, have you?”
Perhaps because of our earlier friction, the Black Lion’s attitude felt much sharper. Hearing that, I replied.
“I don’t think I did anything in particular. Did I?”
I didn't know. I said it because I really couldn't remember.
Grit.
Thinking I was mocking him, the Black Lion began to emit a fighting spirit.
“…If you continue with that attitude, we will truly have to see blood.”
I didn't know if I had touched a nerve or if he was about to explode after holding back for so long. The Black Lion blocked my path, looking genuinely angry. Seeing that, I smiled and said.
“I wasn’t trying to tease you. I really don’t know. I’m sorry if you were offended.”
After smiling and even apologizing, I tried to step aside.
“Don’t you dare mock me like that again—!”
The Black Lion tried to grab my shoulder.
“If your hand touches me,” I said to him, my smile vanishing. “You die.”
Flinch—!
At my words, the Black Lion flinched and stopped his hand. My eyes stared at the frozen Black Lion. I could see his eyes trembling. The conversation ceased. As we just stood there, holding each other’s gaze…
Ssk.
The Black Lion was the first to withdraw his hand. And then.
“…Something has changed about you.”
The Black Lion said to me, his voice laced with a tremor.
Changed? Hearing his words, I tilted my head. It didn't seem like he was just referring to my realm. For my part, I couldn't feel it yet. Even if I had discarded something, I was still me.
However.
“Perhaps.”
I couldn't be sure yet. I gave a slight smile as I answered.
“See you next time. I have some business to attend to right now.”
Leaving the still-frozen Black Lion, I walked away with purpose. What would I have normally done here? Would I have headed to where my companions were? Perhaps. But now, there was something I had to do first. At least, for the current me, there was.
I turned my gaze. I was already outside the hideout. Just like from the beginning, getting out of the cave this time wasn't very difficult. I looked up at the sky.
Swaaaa—!
Outside, it was still snowing. Looking at the snow, I recalled something.
“Mm.”
This land still felt unpleasant. The ground I was stepping on, the air I was breathing. Even the falling snow. Everything felt wrong. I didn't know at first, but now I understood.
The reason this land felt so unpleasant wasn't because another dragon was on it. The reason was…
‘Because it’s a land ruled by someone else.’
It wasn't simply because a dragon was on the land. It was because that bastard was ruling this land. That’s why it felt so foul. The sensation I had vaguely felt from the beginning was now crystal clear.
‘So that’s why I felt so bad.’
Because it was someone else’s land. For that simple reason alone, my nerves were on edge. What an arrogant and greedy race we are. Or perhaps…
‘It could be that I’m just exceptionally greedy.’
I let out a laugh at the thought. That might very well be true.
“Is that why?”
I said it as I thought of the thing that had appeared, this so-called Power. Because I was exceptionally greedy and arrogant. I wondered if that was why I possessed ‘this kind’ of Power.
Crack.
I flexed my hands.
“Whatever.”
Let’s think simply. That would be better than hesitating.
‘For now.’
I will take back what was stolen. I decided to prioritize that one thing. I shifted my gaze from the snow and looked straight ahead. I couldn't see it, but what I couldn't feel before, I could feel now.
Fwoosh.
I cloaked my body in flames and took one step forward. At that moment.
Fwaaaaaaa—!!!
Light exploded.
Swaaaa…pat-pat-pat-pat-pat—!
The snow falling from the sky turned to rain.
* * *
The Ice Palace of the North.
It was the space where the bloodlines of the Ice Palace resided, a castle that once boasted its might as the center of the North. But its current appearance was comparatively dilapidated. Parts of the building had collapsed in the aftermath of the rebellion, and because no one had bothered to clean up the messy debris, it looked even more chaotic.
Inside an area of that castle, a man patrolling near the entrance to the main palace spoke up.
“I don’t know what Biwegun is thinking.”
At this, the man next to him flinched in surprise and said, “Watch your mouth. What if someone hears you?”
“But isn’t it true?” The man continued, his face full of dissatisfaction. “I heard he knows exactly where the Leader is hiding. I don’t understand why we’re just waiting like this.”
They had long since figured out where the escaped Leader and his forces were hiding. Moreover, they had already succeeded in taking the palace. In reality, it was a war they could end whenever they decided to.
So why was there no further progress? That was the man’s question.
“He must have his reasons. We just need to follow, don’t we?”
“I’m saying this because if we fail, we’ll all die for nothing.”
“The war is as good as won. Do you really think we can fail from here?”
The Leader, who had reigned as the absolute ruler of the North, had been defeated and fled. The Lord of the Ice Palace was a powerhouse who hadn't budged even when five of the great generals joined forces. Yet every warrior had seen him defeated by Biwegun’s sword and flee.
“What’s more, he even won over the bloodlines. This is no different from a victory.”
“…Hmm…”
Even hearing that, the man was still doubtful.
“Do you really think the Leader used sorcery to sacrifice people?”
The cause that started the war. The story was that the Leader had been killing people to satisfy his own greed. The other man sighed at his words.
“We’ve already found all the evidence, haven’t we?”
They had found traces in the Leader’s room and in the palace basement. Seeing that, how could they not believe it?
“The Leader has been corrupted. He is no longer the man we knew.”
The bloodlines had lived their lives sacrificing for the North until now. It was thanks to them that humans could survive in the North at all. But the Leader, unable to bear this burden, had become corrupt.
“…It’s a good thing the shocked first daughter sided with us. If not, it probably would have been difficult to start the war.”
“...”
The man just wore a perpetually unconvinced expression. A few days ago, it was revealed that one of Biwegun’s supporters, a member of the bloodlines who had been captured in the palace, was not the first or second young master. It was the first daughter. The noisy rumors had just died down. It was confirmed that the bloodlines truly supported Biwegun, but it was still just as incomprehensible.
‘Really.’
Is that really how it is?
Since all the evidence was out and the rebellion had succeeded, it didn't seem like a topic to dwell on further. He just couldn't bring himself to believe it.
The man looked up at the sky. The sky from which snow continuously fell. An unending severe cold. Though it was called a cursed land, he had heard it was the bloodlines, and among them the Leader, who had kept it from being completely swept away by the cold.
As a mere foot soldier, he didn't know the detailed reasons or connections as to how they protected them from the severe cold. But the story that the Leader did it for his own eternal life was hard to believe.
‘Rather than for his own eternal life, it would be more like…’
To erase this severe cold. If that had been the reason, he might have actually believed it. As he was thinking that and looking up at the sky…
Drip.
“…Huh?”
The man, who had been staring blankly at the sky, let out a single sound.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“…This.” The man extended his hand, palm facing the sky. “This snow…”
Seeing that, the other man tilted his head. Hasn't it always been snowing? He followed suit and extended his hand. At that moment.
“…Isn’t this rain, not snow?”
“What?”
At the man’s words, he too hurriedly looked up at the sky. In that instant.
Drip—!
A drop of water fell on the man’s cheek.
“What, in the…?”
The moment he was filled with bewilderment at the cold sensation…
Drip—! Drip-drip—!
The drops that had begun to fall one by one amidst the snow quickly expanded their range and began to pour down rapidly.
It was rain. This was definitely rain. In the North, where it only snowed due to the year-round severe cold, it was raining. The meaning of this was by no means light.
“Wh-what in the world is happen—!”
The moment he was about to shout with a shocked expression…
Fwoosh—!
A small flame flickered beside him. At the strange sensation, the man shifted his gaze to see someone standing where the flame had appeared. A dark-colored cape fluttered in the wind.
Swaaaaaa….
For some reason, the falling rain was parting around the figure. It was a mystical sight. That was why, instead of taking a defensive stance, he found himself watching the figure as if mesmerized.
As the two men stared blankly at him, the newcomer lifted his head and looked at them. It was a young man. He looked to be just a little over twenty. However, he was by no means an ordinary person. With his slit blue pupils that were hard to see as human and the indifferent expression on his face, the man felt himself shrink back without realizing it.
Towards that man…
“Since we’ve met, I have something to say.”
The figure erased his expression and spoke with a slight smile.
“Could you pass a message to your boss here?”
The young man’s smile made his body tremble. It was the first time in his life he had seen such a terrifying smile.
“Tell him I’ve come to take back what was stolen.”