Chapter 218: The Completion of Revenge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 218: The Completion of Revenge
Park Hyeri had never understood the emotion of attachment. Not when the dog she’d raised as a child died, nor when her parents were killed in a car accident. It was the same after she came from Earth to the continent. Even as her companions were being eaten alive by goblins, she had smiled while plunging her dagger into a goblin’s neck.
‘Monstrous bitch…’
Hearing those last words from a dying comrade, a man being devoured by monsters, Park Hyeri had simply laughed. For some reason, the sight of people sitting in a daze after losing a friend or a lover breathed life into her.
Still, she had to act normal. She was aware that showing others how different she was would be incredibly dangerous.
That was true even when she joined a small clan before meeting Unni.
‘First time killing someone?’
‘Ye… Yes. Unni.’
She could still remember the sensation from that day. The electricity that flowed through her hands, the hot blood, the feeling of her grip. The sight of her former clan members wailing as they collapsed in despair sent a thrilling jolt through her entire body.
This is why I was born.
That’s what Park Hyeri had thought. But her curiosity about emotions and bonds only grew by the day. It was a simple question: why did humans wail when someone precious to them died or suffered? That became her reason for killing.
It wasn’t until some time had passed that Park Hyeri realized she was chasing after Unni’s shadow. She seemed just like her, yet she was different. Unni would always raise her hand with a blank expression, and the sight of humans crumbling into dust in droves was a spectacle that gifted Park Hyeri an unforgettable pleasure.
She had once wondered if this feeling might be a bond, and she had even mentioned it to the other clan members.
‘Puhahaha! What? You… wanna sleep with the Master? Hey, our little rookie! Can you believe it!’
‘Shut it, you pig.’
When she heard that from some big, ignorant brute whose name she no longer remembered, she had almost brought her dagger to his throat without thinking. Park Hyeri became obsessed with bonds. So she killed humans who seemed to possess them.
After some time, the conclusion she reached was that this was a kind of faith. Every time she saw Unni, her body would tremble and feel full. Her breathing would grow ragged, and she would find herself constantly swallowing dryly. Just thinking about her made it feel as if her body would float up to the sky. If a feeling like this wasn't faith, she thought, then religion itself was worthless.
And now, Park Hyeri couldn’t believe her eyes. The sight of Unni held tightly in the arms of a monster she wanted to chew up and spit out was utterly surreal.
The hands that used to tear humans apart were now clutching the demon’s back, and the cold gaze had grown warm enough to melt ice. She found herself staring at Unni, her own face flushing, when her eyes met the demon’s. The moment she saw him smirk, a scream erupted from her throat.
“You fucking dog bastard! Haa… haa….”
Her heart felt like it was on fire, and blood rushed to her face. Experiencing this sensation for the first time, Park Hyeri continued to scream, her face beet red. Even as she lost track of what she was shouting, Unni was smiling faintly.
It wasn't a blank, cold face. The smile blooming on her brightly lit face felt incredibly obscene. It was a face she had never seen before.
Of course, Park Hyeri was no fool. She knew exactly what the two of them were about to do. As the bastard groped Unni’s breast as if kneading dough, all Park Hyeri could do was watch. It was the same when they kissed and whispered words of love, and when Unni clung to him.
“Ah… Da… Darling.”
A completely different voice, not her usual cold one, came out. It was clearly the voice of a woman. She thought that the Unni she knew would never act like that. He must have brought a look-alike. But the faint trace of magic she could feel told her that the woman in his arms was, without a doubt, her one and only Unni.
‘No…’
‘No….’
Even as she tried to console herself, something unidentifiable began to pour from her eyes. It was absurd, but they were clearly tears.
When Unni was in his arms, without a single thread of clothing on her body, the voice that escaped her was not her own, but that of a beast.
“Huuuuhhh…”
Finally, when the bastard’s monstrosity slowly moved toward Unni’s precious place, Park Hyeri screamed without realizing it.
“Don’t! D-don’t! P-please.”
“D-don’t! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t do ittt!”
“No.”
With that indifferent reply, the monster’s hideous thing pierced Unni. She bit her lip so hard that blood spurted out, and her eyes felt so bloodshot that it seemed the capillaries might burst.
The sight of Unni, who she had imagined would be in pain or humiliation, was completely different from what Park Hyeri had expected.
“Ah… Ahh… Darling, I love you. I love you.”
The object of her faith was gone. In her place was just a woman.
Every time a sound escaped Unni’s lips, she felt a pain like a giant nail being hammered into her chest. It hadn’t hurt this much when her arms and legs were cut off, when she was burned, when a dagger tore through her insides, when one of her eyes was gouged out, or when her entire body was covered in wounds.
“Huuuhhh… uwaaaaaah… ah… ah… Unni…..”
A strange liquid kept streaming from her eyes. The endless flow of tears blurred her vision.
“Darling, ah! It’s so… ahh! Different from before…”
She didn’t want to see, didn’t want to hear, yet her gaze was strangely fixed on them. Now, seeing him push Unni to the ground and treat her like a dog, fire flashed in her eyes. The sight of her, face pressed against the dirty floor, crying out like an animal, was not the Unni she knew.
But she looked happy. Her whole body seemed to be trembling, and moans, not screams, escaped her lips. Her eyes were half-lidded, her mouth half-open. Every time Unni’s body rocked back and forth, her own body quivered as if struck by electricity.
Tears welled in Unni’s eyes, but she already knew they weren’t tears of pain or sadness.
What hurt the most was that Unni wasn’t paying her any attention at all. As if to prove that the earlier dismissal wasn't a mistake, her one and only Unni was completely ignoring her.
“Unni! Un… Unni!”
She screamed desperately, but the voice that answered was not meant for her.
“Ahk… ha… ahk! I love you. I love you.”
Even when the dog-like monster pulled Unni’s hair, even when he turned her body this way and that as if ordering a servant or a slave, there was nothing Park Hyeri could do. For a moment, Unni’s body trembled violently as if electrocuted. Her legs and hands were clenched tight, her mouth was open, and her tongue was hanging out. The demon laughed. He was definitely looking at her and laughing.
Watching this, Park Hyeri felt the area between her legs grow wet. She realized she was getting excited.
“Ah… ahhh…”
“Uweeeeeegh!”
Park Hyeri threw up everything she had eaten. Her face was smeared with vomit and a disgusting smell rose up, but she didn't care. She felt as if her body was sinking deeper and deeper.
“Uweeegh-hihahahahaha!”
“Hahahahaha-hihihi-ha-uweeeegh!”
Park Hyeri laughed. It was only then that she realized why the demon had brought Unni here. This was a form of revenge. Just as she had killed the snake and mocked the demon, he was now crushing Unni and mocking her.
As she watched, Unni’s body trembled before she quietly closed her eyes. Park Hyeri began to smash her head against the nearby wall.
“Hihi-ahahaha!”
But she was stopped almost immediately. The demon’s lips curled up as he spoke.
“I have so much more to show you… You can’t die just yet. Right?”
Park Hyeri despaired.
That was the most fitting way to describe it.
“Don’t… please… don’t do it.”
“No.”
Park Hyeri writhed like an earthworm, and the demon laughed. That was the last image of the demon she remembered from that day.
*
“Hoo… How is Choi Eunju?”
I spoke, looking at Alisha behind me. Alisha was staring at me with a deeply flushed face, probably because she had unintentionally witnessed a scene she hadn’t wanted to see. Choi Eunju had fallen asleep again after everything was over, and despite the sudden turn of events, she seemed quite stable.
“She seems fine. There’s nothing wrong. Unlike the woman over there…”
Perhaps because of the influence of having been inside Choi Eunju’s mind, I had, contrary to my previous actions, grown a little fond of her. I couldn’t help but worry a little when she collapsed after it was all over.
But hearing Alisha’s words, my mood lifted considerably. It was an indirect confirmation that Park Hyeri’s mind had shattered. To be honest, I felt like I could fly. I was a little worried that she might have become a complete imbecile, since she wasn’t sane to begin with, but it didn’t matter.
Alisha spoke to me.
“Are you… happy?”
I didn’t answer. It seemed she couldn’t understand me. For the elven race, the concept of revenge probably wasn’t a very welcome one. I looked at Alisha and opened my mouth.
“What do you think you would do?”
“Pardon…? Th-that’s…”
“This is a hypothetical. Just a hypothetical…”
“…”
“Let’s assume your mother and sisters were all killed. The perpetrators, yes, let’s say they were the humans occupying your kingdom. That would be most fitting. They raped and murdered your mother and sisters. Let’s say they even defiled their corpses… Then, after some time, they fall before you, completely unable to resist… What would you do?”
“You can’t gain anything from revenge. I… I was taught that by my mother and sisters.”
It was a statement worthy of a saint. Her way of thinking might be fundamentally different from mine. Of course, I had no intention of criticizing her. That was just how they thought. But it was obvious why the elves had ended up in this state. They were a race that knew nothing of struggle.
“You. What did you see when you were inside me?”
I asked her quite directly. Just as I had entered Choi Eunju’s mind and been influenced by her, Alisha must have been influenced by seeing my memories. I felt a certain affinity for her life. Alisha would be no different. Whether it was affinity, hatred, or respect, it didn’t matter. She had been influenced by me.
The pleasure of revenge.
She must have felt it indirectly through me. I smiled. Alisha’s rather pointless words made it obvious that she was wavering, directly or indirectly. If she weren’t wavering, she would never have asked such a question.
I nudged the unconscious Park Hyeri with my foot and spoke again.
“Do you think it would feel empty? Or perhaps bitter? Or would you be filled with self-loathing?”
Alisha said nothing.
I looked at her and spoke again.
“It’s sweet.”
“Pardon?”
“The idea that revenge is empty is bullshit. This is sweet. Incredibly sweet…”
I laughed. It was the literal truth. Instead of a bitter taste, an indescribable sweetness lingered in my mouth. Alisha’s expression was somewhat ambiguous, but I felt that, somehow, she understood me.
I smiled once more and licked my lips. It felt like I had the whole world in my hands. It finally felt like I could stretch my legs and get a good night’s sleep.
In stark contrast to me, Alisha just kept staring at the floor until we left the underground prison.