Chapter 670: My name is. (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 670: My name is. (4)
I froze, a dazed expression crossing my face at Gu Huibi’s words.
‘Grandfather?’
It was a name I never expected to hear.
Grandfather.
If I understood the term correctly, she was referring to the previous Lord of the Gu Clan—my father’s father.
‘Who is that…?’
Honestly, I had no idea. To be more precise, it would be more accurate to say I’d never even heard of him.
In my past life, and even in this one, I had never met my grandfather. I had never even been told his name. I only knew that he had supposedly died before I was born.
The Gu Clan, unlike other noble families, didn't hold ancestral rites or ceremonies to honor previous generations. I had naturally assumed he was long gone and never gave it much thought.
But for him to suddenly be mentioned now?
‘Does that mean he was alive?’
I had heard fragments of stories before. Even the Dark King had mentioned his past deeds, but I had never looked into it deeply.
‘Grandfather entrusted the Heavenly Demon to Gu Huibi and then left?’
The story was as out of the blue as it was nonsensical.
“Grandfather? What are you talking about?”
As I asked, my voice thick with doubt, Gu Huibi suddenly flicked me on the forehead. I could have dodged it, but I didn't bother.
Thwack!
I clutched my throbbing forehead and glared at her.
“Little brother, that’s no way to speak of your grandfather.”
“What else would I call him? He's a grandfather.”
“You have no manners.”
“I never thought I'd hear the word 'manners' come from your mouth, Sister.”
It was absurd, hearing a lecture on etiquette from someone whose terrible temper was famous throughout the Central Plains.
“I think expecting manners for someone whose face and name I don't even know is asking a bit much. Sister, is what you just said true?”
Whether my grandfather was alive or not didn't particularly matter to me. He was someone I'd never met even in my past life; I couldn't care less if he existed.
However...
“The part about Grandfather entrusting that thing to you and leaving. Is that true?”
If he really had entrusted the Heavenly Demon to Gu Huibi, then the situation changed completely. That would truly make this a family matter.
“Would I have any reason to lie to you, little brother?”
“I could probably find one if I looked.”
“That hurts. Is that all our relationship amounts to? When you were little, I changed your diapers and played with you so many times…”
“Sister.” I cut her off as she started to ramble. “I'm not joking.”
“Hmm.”
The silence stretched between us. As it did, my patience wore thin.
“Did Grandfather really appear and entrust her to you?”
When I asked, my voice laced with suspicion, Gu Huibi held out her hand instead of answering.
“Take it.”
I knew what she was about to do, so I took her hand without hesitation.
Woong!
Our energies stirred. Gu Huibi's Qi and mine intertwined, and the Gu Flame Wheel Art began to resonate.
“From this moment on, I will speak only the truth to you.”
As Gu Huibi spoke, our energies shifted, beginning to bind us. A seal. By linking her Qi with mine, Gu Huibi had placed a binding oath upon herself.
“Start with your last question.”
I didn't ask why she was going this far. We both knew this was the easiest way to establish trust.
“It's true. Grandfather entrusted that child to me and left.”
There was no fluctuation in her Qi. Her pulse was steady, and her breathing remained even. She was telling the truth.
“Then… since when—”
“Little brother. That's not how this works.” Just as I was about to press further, Gu Huibi cut me off with a smile. “We have to take turns. Why are you being so cheap, trying to ask all the questions yourself?”
“...”
Did she have something to ask me?
“Go on.”
I frowned but whispered dispassionately. “From this moment on, I will answer your questions with only the truth.”
“Good.” Gu Huibi smiled, satisfied, and then posed her question. “That child. Are you going to kill her?”
The question was incredibly direct. I answered her just as bluntly.
“We'll see.”
It was an ambiguous answer, but my mind had been made up for a long time. The words left my mouth without a shred of hesitation.
“…Why?”
“Because it's something that has to be done.”
My conviction hadn't changed.
“Killing that child is something you have to do?”
“Sister, stop treating her like a child. She's not what you think she is.”
“Little brother.”
“I'm only putting up with this because I know you're protecting her out of ignorance. Don't make me say something I'll regret.”
Annoyance flared within me. I was trying to keep my composure, but she was making it impossible. As I suppressed my fighting spirit and looked at her, she whispered, “…Little brother, you've changed, haven't you?”
Gu Huibi's eyes were tinged with a hint of sadness. Her gaze pierced my chest, making it ache.
“I have changed. I had to.”
But even so, the mission remained the same.
“You've changed too, Sister. Why do you keep protecting her?”
“I wonder.” Gu Huibi smiled at my lack of understanding. “But I believe that you'll feel the same once you get to know her. So…”
“I don't want to know.”
How absurd. I didn't need to hear any more. How much more do I need to know? I had experienced the horror of her existence to a sickening degree in my past life. There was no need to learn more, and no reason to endure it again.
‘The Heavenly Demon is different from Namgung Bi-ah or Zhuge Hyuk.’
People could change. That was a fact I had come to realize in this life, but the Heavenly Demon was on another level entirely. Could she change? Perhaps.
But...
‘How can she believe that?’
What if she didn't change? Could I handle the consequences of that failure? If there was no certainty, it was better to deal with the threat before it could manifest.
“And you think that's the right thing to do?”
“This is long past being a matter of right or wrong. I told you before—I'm just doing what has to be done. So tell me.”
I had reached my limit. Emotion began to seep into my Qi.
“Why did this man, our grandfather, entrust her to you?”
“...”
Creeak.
The old table began to tremble under the pressure of my Qi. I didn't mean to threaten her; it was simply that I couldn't contain my volatile energy, and it was leaking out.
“...”
“...”
Our eyes, each filled with their own intensity, met. Time passed. It was only an instant, but it felt unusually long. Finally, Gu Huibi spoke.
Just as I thought she was about to give me an answer, she said:
“I won't answer.”
“…What?”
My face, already twisted in a scowl, crumpled further. “…What kind of crazy bullshit is that?”
“It seems there's nothing more to say to a little brother who has already made up his mind. Don't you agree?”
In short, she was telling me to do my worst. I glared at her, but her resolve remained unshaken.
Then there was only one way.
“Do as you please.”
If she wouldn't talk, I wouldn't press her. The seal was only a condition not to lie, after all.
“Because I'm just going to do as I please, too.”
A family matter? Grandfather's request? I didn't give a damn. I would simply do what must be done.
As I stood up to leave, shing—the sound of a sword being drawn rang out.
Wooooong!
A deep Sword Resonance filled the room. My gaze turned cold at the chilling energy.
“Sister,” I said without turning around.
It was Gu Huibi who had drawn her sword. She had the tip of her blade pointed directly at my back.
Fwoosh.
Flames erupted from her hand and enveloped the steel. Heat radiated through the small hut. The flames spun, spewing warmth. I felt no hostility, but I could feel her absolute resistance. Gu Huibi's sword was telling me everything I needed to know.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“It means exactly what you see,” Gu Huibi said with a bitter smile. “As long as your intentions are clear, I cannot let you near that child.”
“So? You're going to fight me?”
“A fight? Little brother, do you think I have such poor judgment?”
FWOOSH!
The intensity of the flames grew.
“I would probably just get beaten to a pulp. You're strong, after all.”
“...”
I was left speechless by her bluntness. To think that the prideful Gu Huibi would utter such self-deprecating words. And yet, her expression remained unwavering. Normally, she would have ground her teeth and stubbornly refused to admit inferiority.
She was admitting all that, yet she still raised her sword?
‘Did reaching the Fusion Realm bring about some change of heart?’
I didn't know. The changes in Gu Huibi over the past few years were beyond my understanding. However…
“You know that, and you're still going to try and stop me? Sister, have you gone completely mad?”
Whatever the reason, it pissed me off all the same.
“Is she that precious to you?”
Precious enough for my sister to point her sword at me?
I didn't say the last part out loud. I remembered just in time that while we shared the same father, we had never had the kind of relationship where we could truly call each other family.
I couldn't say it. I couldn't carelessly call her family, because I was the one who had brought about her end in the past.
[Be happy.]
The image of Gu Huibi, asking for my happiness even as she bled out and closed her eyes, flashed through my mind. The memory instantly made me feel like shit.
‘Fuck.’
Haaa.
I cursed inwardly and let out a long sigh.
Woong.
I circulated my Qi to cool my head. I couldn't let myself be consumed by emotion. Now, more than ever, was a time for cold precision.
“Sister, you keep misunderstanding. This isn't a matter of beating you or not.”
Gu Huibi was incredible. I didn't know how she had done it, but to have reached the Fusion Realm at her age… she was more than qualified to be a candidate for the title of Sword Queen.
Even so.
“I just have to end this before it comes to that.”
At my current level, she was a three-move opponent at best. I just had to take her down and leave.
Thump.
I kicked off the ground and rushed toward her. My aim was to end this quickly and get out.
“…!”
As I closed the distance in an instant, Gu Huibi's eyes widened in surprise.
At that moment—
CRACK—!!!
The roof of the hut collapsed as something smashed through it.
BOOM!
CRUUUUMBLE—!!
A shockwave erupted as two forces of Qi collided. A tyrannical wave of energy swept across the area. The old hut vanished without a trace, and standing on the ravaged ground, I stared straight ahead.
Through the thick cloud of dust, someone was standing in my way.
Their fluttering aura was an ink-black that seemed to absorb all light. They were controlling that energy to block my own volatile Qi, glaring at me.
“…You. What are you?”
“...”
“Why are you bullying my sister?”
Looking at the girl, I felt my heart gradually turn to ice.
It was the Heavenly Demon.
She stood in front of Gu Huibi, glaring at me with sharp, piercing eyes. Her violet eyes were more brilliant than the moon, and her black hair, tinged with a violet sheen, was more beautiful than a starry night. Aside from her unique aura, she looked exactly like the Heavenly Demon I knew from my past life.
“Don't bully my sister.”
“…Haha.”
Hearing those words from her, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. How could I not?
“No. This isn't right.”
This was just too much.
“At the very least, you shouldn't be standing there.”
“...”
She had changed too much. To think I'd live to see such a sight—the Heavenly Demon standing in front of a shocked Gu Huibi, acting as her shield.
How could anything be so contradictory?
Watching it, the pent-up emotions inside me began to tremble. My anxiety vanished. The fear that had seeped into me disappeared without a trace. And in its place, the guilt that remained cooled into a sharp, cold fury.
“That is not a place I should have been in. And it's not a place you should be in either.”
The position of Gu Huibi's protector. Anyone else could have it, but not you or me. That's how it should have been.
“Especially not you, who knows nothing.”
Hearing my words, the Heavenly Demon furrowed her brow and tilted her head.
“I don't know what you're talking about. Just don't bully my sister.”
“Yeona. Wait…”
“If you bully my sister,” the Heavenly Demon said, her head still tilted, “I won't forgive even you.”
“...”
Her words echoed, shaking me to my core.
Forgiveness? Did the Heavenly Demon just speak of forgiveness to me?
“How dare you say those words?”
It was utterly absurd. You and I—we were both in a position where we could never be forgiven, no matter what. How could she say it so casually?
Looking at her, a certain phrase came to mind.
—Forgetting is a blessing.
I couldn't remember when or from whom I'd heard it, but it fit the situation perfectly. Yes, forgetting was indeed a blessing. She could say such things because she remembered nothing.
‘No, even if you did remember, you would have been the same.’
That was why she was the Heavenly Demon. She would feel not an ounce of guilt and would inevitably cause the same Blood Disaster, staining the world red. The being before me was that kind of existence. She had to be.
Krrrrk.
I released my Qi and let it flood my body. The energy surging from my heart raced through my acupoints, taking over my physical form.
Swoosh.
My hair turned a deeper shade of black, and blood vessels surfaced in my eyes. The Solar Light wrapped around my hand darkened in color.
“That's right. No matter how I look at it, I was overthinking things. I can just end it here.”
“Bro—!”
Gu Huibi shouted something, trying to stop me, but it was too late.
BOOM!
I had already appeared in front of the Heavenly Demon.
GRAB!
“!”
I seized her by the throat and immediately blasted my Qi, launching us both into the air.
This was what I had envisioned from the moment I decided to stop the Blood Disaster.
Kill the Heavenly Demon, no matter what.
And that moment was now.