Chapter 206: To Cry
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 206: To Cry
In that desolate place where everyone had vanished, only a single ornament that once hung from my neck remained.
The Snake Queen, arriving late, stared at the necklace in silence. The Snake Princess wept there for days on end.
They took the necklace and disappeared somewhere, muttering words I could not hear.
Time passed. And to this place, now empty of even the necklace, a presence I missed dearly arrived.
Baek Yeon-yeong.
My master.
She did not look well.
Her body was caked in blood, and the light had vanished from her eyes.
She stood tall in that place, where not a trace of me remained, as if she knew her disciple had been here.
She closed her eyes and placed a hand on the ground.
Crackle.
And when she opened her eyes, everything had changed.
Her blue eyes were stained as red as blood.
Just like when I had seen her mother.
The moment she took another step, everything was annihilated.
K-k-k-k-k-crack!
Even this vision I was seeing.
The entire scene dissolved, returning me to the lake.
My breath grew ragged.
Swoooosh!
A great ripple spread across the once-calm lake.
What in the world was that I just saw?
This is my mindscape, the perfect place for a Heart Demon to run rampant.
There was no need to think too deeply.
The Heart Demon was showing me a false image to delude me.
— Did you see it well?
A voice echoed in my head.
I had never heard it before, yet it felt strangely familiar.
A feral voice, as if imbued with the will to chew up and spit out everything in existence.
A voice full of hatred.
It was the Heart Demon. You know what I have shown you.
It's an impossible illusion.
...At least, that's what I wanted to believe.
— Yes. That is your future.
— Exactly one month from now, the Mount Hua Sect will invade. Everyone will die a gruesome death, and even the Snake Queen and your master will go berserk.
The Heart Demon continued, as if shoving a cruel truth down my throat.
My self-defense mechanisms began to kick in.
How dare it claim to see the future?
— A series of coincidences piled up.
— Your divinity increased exponentially when you claimed another Dragon Gate.
— The priestess who thinks only of you accepted that divinity.
— And an artifact, obtained by a stroke of luck, awakened her abilities.
The priestess's ability.
If what it said was true, Nephila would have told me this the moment she saw me.
And yet, she waited.
Until I gave the inner core to Tang Soyeong.
— Even if she glimpsed the future in a dream, your priestess, having only just entered the ranks of spirit beasts, could not remember it all clearly.
— She held on to a single conviction.
— That she must help you.
— A powerful will to convey what she had seen to you, no matter what.
The Heart Demon's red eyes stared at me.
— Do you understand now why I said it was a series of coincidences?
The divinity of the Dragon Gate, the priestess, the fox marble, the inner core of the Human-faced Bird.
If even one of these four had been missing, Nephila would not have been able to deliver the information to me.
By feeding me the Human-faced Bird's inner core, she guided me here and entrusted the Heart Demon with relaying the future she had seen.
This raised another question.
The Heart Demon is my adversary.
It has no reason to like me; it should want me dead.
So why on earth did it accept Nephila's request?
— Isn't it obvious? I am your Heart Demon.
— A being that hates you, one that desires for you to be devoured by me.
The waters of the lake churned violently.
— To show you a future of despair, then watch you howl and beg for my help. Is there any greater amusement?
A body of such immense size that it could only be described as colossal revealed itself.
— Even knowing the future, there is nothing you can do.
— Even your priestess could do no more than arrange this meeting between you and I.
— What will you do?
— Will you reveal the truth to your followers with those pathetic cries?
— Do you truly think that will change your fate?
A booming laugh filled the space.
— Despair, for you have seen a future you cannot change.
— Even if you run yourself into the ground, you cannot defy destiny.
— Wail wretchedly and wait for fate to swallow you whole.
The Heart Demon stopped laughing.
— And in the end... accept me.
— Only I can help you.
It whispered sweetly, like a devil's temptation.
— I will carve the meaning of true terror into their very bones.
— Everything you worry about, I will solve for you.
Its massive maw gaped wide open, as if it would devour me instantly should I agree.
— Yes. Even after seeing the future, you cannot decide so easily.
— Because you know what it means to accept me.
The Heart Demon stared at me for a long while before realizing I would not answer and closing its maw.
— I did not expect you to yield from the start.
— But fate is something that cannot be overcome.
— I will watch with great amusement from here.
The Heart Demon began to sink back into the lake.
— Your desperate struggles, that is.
My vision started to blur.
— Every fleeting moment must be precious to you, so I shall disappear for now.
— And... my offer still stands. You would do well to think it over.
With those words, spoken in a chilling, viscous voice, its form finally vanished completely.
I knew instantly that it had merely hidden itself.
I could feel it strongly, watching me from somewhere in the depths of that lake.
*
I opened my eyes.
"Hero Go, are you awake?"
Everyone was looking at me with worried faces.
"You suddenly fainted, we were so worried... If this is what happened to you, Hero Go, what would have happened if I'd swallowed that inner core... Ugh, how horrible."
Tang Soyeong, Baek Rang, Nephila, Tus, and Pus.
They were all crowded around me.
I lifted my head and looked at Nephila.
She just tilted her head, looking puzzled.
Just as the Heart Demon had said, she didn't seem to remember the story she had relayed to me.
In other words, I was the only one who knew about this future.
"Hm? You should lie down a little longer."
"You swallowed an inner core that powerful all at once, so your body can't be fine. And you, Spider Priestess, why did you make him swallow it anyway?"
"In my opinion... perhaps she needed an excuse for a kiss?"
"Wh-what?"
"Kyaa! Why are you trying to freeze me!"
Normally, I would have laughed at their banter, but right now, I couldn't.
The situation was desperate.
Because everyone laughing and chatting right now was going to die.
How can I save them all?
Should I ask my master for help?
No, that's not the right way.
It wasn't because of some foolish conviction like, "I will overcome this crisis with my own strength, without borrowing my master's hand."
If I couldn't save everyone no matter how hard I tried, I was desperate enough to lick the Heart Demon's toes.
The reason I thought I couldn't ask my master for help was for a different reason.
Why would they invade this place?
Because they coveted the inner cores of the spirit beasts?
Would they really invade the 100,000 Great Mountains, where my master resides, for something so trivial?
No, that couldn't be it.
Coveting a few inner cores could lead to an all-out war with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Their goal wasn't just a few inner cores.
If I had to guess, it was related to the vision I saw of my master after my death.
My master, berserk, her eyes stained red, drawing endlessly closer to the demonic path.
The mastermind had been targeting my master from the very beginning.
The fact that they predicted my master would go berserk over the death of a mere lizard meant they knew something about our relationship.
And if I consider that, they must have orchestrated this whole affair assuming she would intervene.
No, they might have been aiming for that very thing.
Honestly, even as I made these deductions, I couldn't understand it.
What kind of madman would want my master to go on a rampage?
Do they want to see the Central Plains fall to ruin?
Would the Mount Hua Sect, with its solid standing as one of the great orthodox sects, truly want that?
There has to be something more.
A true mastermind that I don't know about.
I can't accept my master's help.
I don't doubt her strength, but in the worst-case scenario, I could lose her too.
I have to solve this myself.
How can I stop them?
No matter how much I think, no answer comes to mind.
The enemy is strong, and there are many of them.
Even having seen the future, I can't close that gap.
Even if I could defeat them, countless followers would die in the process.
I can't allow that.
There's no point in repelling the enemy if my followers die.
So, what should I do?
...I just have to evacuate my followers.
Get them out of the way, and then by myself...
I'll defeat the enemy.
Yes. I can do it.
Even if I can't, I'll make it happen.
I have one month.
I have to get stronger somehow within that time.
Every second is precious.
I will slaughter every spirit beast in sight and make their power my own.
I can't afford to take it easy anymore.
If I don't get stronger, my followers will die.
I'll either give my body to the Heart Demon... or I'll gather my Innate True Qi and throw my life away.
I have to kill the enemy, no matter what.
...
First, I need to disband my followers.
If they stay here, they'll just get caught up in it.
Even if I tell them it's dangerous, they'll try to stay by my side.
We may be a divine beast and its followers, but that's the kind of relationship we have.
They won't listen even if I get angry.
They won't leave even if I appeal to their emotions.
They won't listen to mere words.
Dragons are fickle creatures.
I'll act as if everything I've shown them until now was just hypocrisy.
As if I'm finally showing my true colors.
I have a good enough pretext.
I've taken over the Snow Mountain and even obtained the fox marble.
All I have to do is act the part of a corrupted being, greedy for power.
Because these fools won't leave unless I do.
They'll try to stay by my side, right up until the moment they die.
"Grrrrrrr..."
I let out a low growl.
A growl filled with the same hostility I showed my enemies.
It was the moment I raised my head to warn them.
Baek Rang's wagging tail.
Tang Soyeong's playful expression.
Tus bringing her mouth to my tail.
Pus gently fiddling with my hand.
Nephila's bright smile.
It was all so terribly distracting.
"...Hey, are you crying?"
I let out a low cry.
"Kieeeeng?"
"Are you still suffering from the side effects? Come here!"
"Jeez, what's gotten into him?"
Why do I feel so greedy?
Baek Rang stroked my head.
Tang Soyeong peered into my eyes with a serious expression.
Tus, as if to comfort me, lifted one of her legs and tried to bring it to my mouth.
Pus, in her own way of comforting, tried to pat the area near my tail with her short arms.
Nephila just took my hand and smiled brightly, as always.
"...I don't know what's wrong, but don't cry. Seeing you like this feels... a little strange."
"Kiiiiing..."
"Don't tell me... is it because you swallowed the gift you were going to give me? Ahem, a magnanimous person such as myself doesn't fret over a single inner core, you know?"
"Keeeng..."
Why am I having such selfish thoughts?
"Is something bothering you? ...If you're having a really hard time, do you want to... touch my tail?"
"I'm not sure what it is, but you can tell me. I have seen into your mindscape before, after all... Th-though, of course, if I look one more time, I feel like I might cross a river of no return..."
"Kiooong!"
"Hiooong!"
The thought that I, too, want to survive and stay with them.
Baek Rang offered the tail she was normally so protective of, and Tang Soyeong declared she was willing to look into that dangerous mindscape again.
Tus and Pus were trying to cheer me up by offering me their favorite things.
Nephila silently hugged me tight.
...
Right.
I probably don't have to bear all of this alone.