Chapter 339
Chapter 339
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 339
Chapter Title: Hong Yeon (4)
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"Huh, you're awake?"
I came to my senses at the voice of an old woman.
"Your condition was a complete mess. Looks like the assassins who came after you gave them a real headache, huh? Well, since you're still breathing, it seems you managed to pull through somehow."
The floor was damp. My vision was blurry and I couldn't see clearly.
My thread of consciousness frayed perilously, snapping and reconnecting over and over.
From my lips came faint groans of "Guhk... guhk."
...White Path. Imperial Path.
The faces of the two girls flashed before my eyes.
Them as infants, clinging to me with beaming smiles. The children I had to look after.
The moment their faces crossed my mind, I reached out instinctively.
I couldn't reach them. They only receded farther and farther away.
"Eup! Kahak!"
Suddenly!
My body, trying to kick off the floor and rise, wouldn't obey.
I rolled down the slanted floor, coming face-to-face in an instant.
-Bang!
"Kuhk, eup, uheuk."
Every inch of my body ached with a heartbreaking sorrow.
I didn't want to regain my senses. Because there was no one waiting for me when I opened my eyes.
The heavy weight in my chest proved this desperate situation wasn't a dream.
My little sisters had ultimately died at the hands of the World Tree.
I couldn't even give them a proper funeral.
"Oh, right. Your eyes are blind. Took some effort to fix that. You won't see for a while. They'll clear up gradually, so just take it slow with rehab."
"......Eup."
"Don't strain to get up. Your legs are the same. Not a single part of you is intact."
My two legs felt like they'd been severed—no sensation at all.
All I felt in my lower body was a strange foreign presence.
My left arm wouldn't move either. Everything ahead was a white haze.
Every breath brought waves of sharp pain that nearly made me scream.
"Eup, eup."
Words wouldn't come. It seemed all my bodily functions were failing.
The old woman whispered gently from somewhere out of sight.
"You've got a lot of questions, I'm sure. Why you're still alive, why you're here. I'll explain it all from the beginning."
-Bubble bubble.
The sound of something boiling, dotted with bubbles.
"This is Flower. You know the name."
"......"
"Flower in name only, though—this place is beyond their reach. Their forces splintered completely from infighting, leaving us behind as just... poor folk."
A massive organization bent on crushing the World Tree and toppling the old powers.
Despite that fearsome name, the surroundings were terribly barren.
The old woman stirred something in the pot as she spoke.
"Do Won knows about us. They've traded goods with us plenty of times. Bonds don't just vanish. We got the chance to help by coincidence, and their followers brought you here."
"......"
Followers.
Flower's army didn't often venture into the villages where civilians hid.
They must have anticipated Do Won's fall and prepositioned troops ahead of time.
A scheme to absorb the routed warriors into their own ranks.
"They saved your dying ass and said they'd leave you be to do as you please. Wouldn't interfere with whatever you do next."
"...Eup."
"Getting old brings all sorts of nonsense. What kind of world is this, still rife with wars like these."
The old woman muttered candidly.
"All I hope is that fewer die."
-Rustle.
Something touched inside my robes.
Soft silk filling my hand. Elsewhere, it was caked stiff with blood, and torn ragged—a man's battle robe.
The feel of the precious item I'd thought I'd lost when I blacked out. I clutched it desperately to my chest, terrified of letting go.
It was still here.
Tears welled at the faint, lingering ancient scent.
-Drip, drip.
"Picked it up 'cause it looked precious."
"......"
"......Tsk tsk."
A sympathetic tongue-click came from the shadows.
Footsteps echoed soon after, followed by the door creaking—the old woman had left the room.
-Rustle.
My body was cold.
I unfolded the crumpled black dragon robe and draped it over myself.
"Heup... hueup."
My trembling breaths carried waves of injustice.
With the last remnant of Do Won wrapped around me, I barely calmed my breaking heart.
A torrent of thoughts assailed my mind. They didn't stop the next day either.
Days passed, seasons changed, but my condition remained dire.
It took two months before my eyes could properly see ahead.
I soothed my rage with only the fabric clutched to my chest.
"Now you can start rehab soon. But to do that... you'll really have to go deep into Flower territory."
Time crawled.
Every day was torment.
I couldn't even eat properly—my eyes grew hollow, bones protruding.
The man's clothes I'd kept on my body for months were no longer clothes, just filthy rags.
This item was why I survived. I'd attempted suicide countless times.
Better to die than live like this.
Each time, I'd recall the warmth in my arms and barely endure.
Rehab stretched over years, in a place cut off from the outside world.
Surprisingly, the dam of emotions I'd thought empty began to fill, bit by bit.
"......Ha."
It was utterly hollow. A vain laugh escaped.
One by one, I recalled the names of those who'd left my side.
Truly. If there's even a shred of will in these heavens.
My father from that childhood when I'd lost everything, the insignificant me he'd picked up.
Do Won Hyang, who first showed me life's meaning.
My little sisters, who followed me despite my unworthiness.
My work colleagues.
The orphanage kids.
And... my first love.
All equally precious. All loved.
If the reason I'm still alive lies somewhere in this world.
So many had accepted a nobody like me.
Yet I couldn't hold on to what I swore to protect. My treasures slipped through my fingers like grains of sand.
Because I wasn't vessel enough.
"......"
No one remained by my side now.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
That man stood before me.
His face unchanged from back then. Even the awkward grin and cocky voice muttering nonsense—exactly as in my memories.
Why hadn't his face changed after such a long time?
Why had he appeared before me in the very form I remembered?
Did I look that ridiculous to him?
"Just... how far..."
My sword hand trembled violently.
Shaking—
"How far do you plan... to humiliate me."
Just looking at him sank my heart.
Choking rage strangled my throat; words wouldn't come properly.
-Pang!
I thrust my sword toward the blurry space ahead.
Sword energy spread in a straight line, piercing past the man's neck.
A wound tore into my chest.
One eye fixated on the vivid slash across his face; I couldn't look ahead.
-Drip, drip.
Sweat and tears mingled and fell.
With the commander fallen, battle lines meant nothing anymore. The clash devolved into chaos instantly.
-Kyaak!
Roars and death cries echoed everywhere.
-Clang! Chaeang!
Blades crossed, spraying blood and sparks.
I needed to give orders. But my hand wouldn't move.
Rage, hatred. Saliva dripped from my clenched teeth.
"You."
The man spoke.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something—"
-Pang!
"Stop, just stop...!"
I wished he'd shut up.
In frantic emotion, my pounding heart drove me to swing my sword wildly.
-Whoosh!
No proper stance. Just flailing wildly.
-Hwoong!
The arcing blade hit nothing.
Through bloodshot eyes, I glared at the man.
Movements dictated by emotion. Utterly clumsy. The man, dodging my sword, lightly caught my overhead strike like a bell clapper.
Distance closed to inches.
"...Why is it... you all always."
Everything lost.
"Take everything from me... and even then."
-Kkaduduk.
Two figures of Sistus appeared suddenly behind him.
Crisis flickered across the man's face for the first time at the clones' assault.
"To the very end... you say it's the last. You're my last. You alone were my last. Yet... you plan to take even that."
I barely knew what I was saying.
"Why. Why... of all times, now."
"W-What?"
Just... I couldn't bear him sullying my memories further. I poured all my spirit into mana.
I dropped my sword and summoned mana.
All the swords on the battlefield rose from the ground, points aimed at him.
"No... hey. You don't recognize me? Really?"
"......"
Sistus closed in. If those two clones exploded, everyone here—hundreds—would die.
A choice no commander would make.
More than that... I just wanted the man before me gone quickly.
-Sizzle.
A smile curled on Sistus's lips as she reached his back.
The tattoo on her face glowed red-hot. Her face split in five gashes, blood flowing.
She detonated.
"......"
The scorching heat enveloping me heralded death.
Staring at the man, I swallowed a groan.
Ah.
-Kugugugugu.
Even in the moment of my death, I couldn't have peace.
Beside the being whose form I longed for most... I'd have to watch him turn to dust for this pain to—
"...Ah, fuck."
The man's body moved.
His arms shot forward suddenly, embracing me. Ignoring the flying swords, he took them.
-Wrap!
Calves, thighs. Shoulders. Swords stabbed relentlessly; his face twisted irritably.
"...?"
The man shot away from the explosion at extreme speed.
My heart plummeted at the unexpected action.
Sistus's blast didn't stop.
-Flash!
An explosion too fast for eyes.
There was shock, but no pain. Instead, soft fabric brushed my face. Limbs I'd thought would melt were unscathed, no burns.
Vision flickered; ceiling and floor flipped.
-Kwadang! Bang!
The platform half-collapsed as we tumbled. I still couldn't grasp what happened.
"...Why."
Why did this man... shield me?
The brief scene in my eyes: he'd desperately pulled me into his arms, fleeing the blast as far back as possible.
Long blades protruded menacingly from his body, drawing blood.
"...Eup."
The grimacing man vomited blood.
-Drip, drip.
My eyes widened. Blood splattered my cheek.
Did such realistic prosthetics exist?
The World Trees had abilities to create illusions and prosthetics. I'd seen them countless times, prepared for them.
Yet why hadn't this man vanished? Why did he shield me?
"...You crazy bitch... always picking the stupidest shit to do without being told."
"......Wha, what?"
Green energy burned around the man's body.
Healing, but ineffective.
Sistus's explosion threatened life even against the strongest if hit directly.
"Hong Yeon."
My name was called.
Pain laced his voice, but his grip on my shoulders tightened painfully.
"It's you."
Persistent persuasion. Impossible, yet why did my heart race so?
No way. It couldn't be.
That person was surely dead.
Vanished beyond trace, leaving only tattered robes. Even Father acknowledged his death.
So this before me was fake.
Though I desperately wanted to believe... my mind coldly judged the truth.
"...Why did you. Shield. Me. No blood... you're not bleeding."
But the words spilling out were strange.
"Please, with that face... don't shed blood. Why. Why did you do it."
"After beating me half to death, that's what you say..."
The man grimaced, consciousness fading, collapsing toward me.
His head dropped. His cheek touched my chest.
Warmth. Scent.
That tiny warmth, more precious than anything, on the verge of being forgotten.
Something rang in my head like a blow.
"...Wha. What."
-Pak!
"Snap out of it, you idiot."
I'd been struck on the head.
Hard enough to raise a bump on my forehead. My senses sharpened.
"......Really. Do Won...?"
From my raspy throat came an unbelievable truth.
The man sighed wearily.
"Then what the hell did you think I was all this time?"