Fa...ther and Daughter Reunion
Fa...ther and Daughter Reunion
Most people command others through employment.
It's a peaceful, rational method. You find a point of agreement, and everyone can work together contentedly.
It can also be a hassle.
You have to find that common ground, and if you can't, things fall apart.
Even when you find it, you can't push too hard. As the one giving orders, you have to account for all sorts of personal circumstances and offer allowances.
From a peaceful standpoint, that's only natural.
— Hmm... there's no need to beat around the bush.
But throughout history, the unpeaceful methods have been just as common.
— Follow me if you don't want to die.
Slavery — a convenient alternative.
No need to find common ground. No need to consider anyone's circumstances or convenience.
You just take and command, use as you see fit, and discard when they're no longer needed.
[You were Hong Yeon-jun's slave. Is that why you couldn't refuse his orders?]
"To be precise, it was no different from being a slave to whatever is dwelling inside Hong Yeon-jun."
Est had been caught that way, too.
One day, like any other, he had collected his mission payment and was about to leave — right when Hong Yeon-jun blocked his path.
He resisted, of course. Got beaten down, valued his life, and was forced into a contract.
"If you examine the nape of my neck, you'll find a brand. It's stronger than the slave brands commonly circulating on the black market... a type of curse."
[A curse? Did he place it on you directly?]
"Yes. Its function is to enforce obedience to commands."
Slavery was common even before the Great Cataclysm. Now, with the convenient tools of magic and supernatural abilities, it's easier and more certain to make a slave than ever before.
[Hmm...]
Beyond the wall, now transparent as glass, Lee Ha-yul listened to the circumstances and nodded, his expression utterly indifferent.
...And for some reason, he was doing all this while looking much younger.
He floated in midair with his eyes closed, making the whole picture downright bizarre.
'It's true — one of the rumors about the Special Admission Cadet was that he'd gotten younger...'
But I never thought he'd actually have de-aged. Still, I had no idea why.
And at the mention of "curse," that indifference flickered with a hint of interest.
Questions bubbled up one after another like air bubbles.
'I'm not in any position to dare ask.'
I swallowed my questions down a dry throat.
The power of life and death was firmly clenched in that other person's hand. A single whim from Lee Ha-yul, and my head could go flying. That was my position here.
In this place, the point wasn't to ask questions. It was to prove usefulness.
[So, because of the brand, you had no choice? All of it was forced?]
Lee Ha-yul, who had been nodding along, asked the question.
In that instant, Est felt a pressure as if the entire world had its eyes fixed on him.
At the same time, he realized: that question was a test.
"...I'm not claiming I was wronged or that I'm innocent."
He didn't lie. He could have lied, but it felt like Lee Ha-yul would see through it all.
"I'm not an ethical person. I value myself far more than others. In the end, I did it to survive. That's still true now. I want to live."
[So this time, you're saying you'll follow orders and spare your life?]
"Yes."
[And what about that brand of yours? Do you have any way to remove it?]
"...I've tried, but without any success."
Est's specialty was the bow, but he had also learned magic. He had attempted to resolve the matter attached to his neck, but hadn't managed to find even a clue.
[Hmm... what about these two?]
Lee Ha-yul turned his head. On either side of Est were Spada and Yang Yi-hwa, who had been captured alongside him.
Spada was the one who had drawn swords from his own body, and Yang Yi-hwa was the one who'd been fiddling with a spear.
They had been dragged out of their original solitary cells for interrogation.
But since there was no immediate need for them to open their mouths, the gags stayed on.
"I don't know their circumstances well. All I know is that one is a sword-crazed maniac and the other is a spear-crazed maniac. As for whether they bear brands... I was brought in last, so I'm not certain."
[Both have them, on the nape of the neck.]
"Ah. I see."
[Hmm.]
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head and let out a dubious hum. With how much younger he looked, the gesture appeared tremendously cute.
'...How terrifying.'
But Est was not entirely fooled by the outward appearance. A certain memory surfaced in his mind, and he quietly swallowed.
In the Reverse Side, Est had witnessed the true face of the slaughter-weapon called Lee Ha-yul.
Bizarre circuits surging outside the body, six wings of unbroken verdure, six arms...
Monsters that were too numerous to count had been massacred by even more numerous spells.
Spada and Yang Yi-hwa, who had nothing going for them except raw skill, were instantly left battered and rolling on the ground, and even Hong Yeon-jun couldn't put up much of a fight.
...And even a monster that looked similar to Lee Ha-yul but possessed preposterous combat strength had been defeated by him.
And the thing coiled inside Hong Yeon-jun — hadn't it ultimately been unable to do anything against Lee Ha-yul and retreated?
As long as he remembered the grisly armaments that had unfurled behind that picture-like beauty, he could never forget this fear.
"...Baby? Your way of speaking is awfully refined. Did you go around talking like that outside?"
"Huh? Uh, no...? I talk like a normal person..."
"Hmm? He talks pretty similarly, though? Even while talking all refined like that, he'll also suddenly spit out the crudest curses..."
[No, Senior, wait a moment—]
"What? Crude curses? Who?"
"Lee Geuk, gweh-ehng..."
...It wasn't easy to reconcile the image of a child flustered between two women with the image of a chilling slaughter-weapon. Still—
[Let's deal with the matter at hand first...]
"......"
A moment later.
Under Liana's gaze, a somewhat diminished Lee Ha-yul opened the door and stepped inside the solitary cell.
Liana let out a long sigh and followed him in. Daera, who had been on the receiving end of a resentful look from Lee Ha-yul, just shrugged and followed inside as well.
Floating softly over, Lee Ha-yul issued a warning.
[I'm going to check a few things, so don't move.]
"Yes."
Est nodded obediently.
He had no other choice.
Daera, standing as if alongside Lee Ha-yul but actually positioned slightly forward, was glaring at Est with murderous eyes.
And on the other side stood Liana.
He didn't know her identity, but judging by the dozens of upper spirits manifesting behind her, she was no ordinary figure.
If he tried any funny business here, a lightning-wrapped fist would blow his head apart, or the concentrated fire of upper spirits would kill him without leaving so much as a speck of bone dust...
— Fwoosh...!
'You've got to be fucking kidding me.'
And so, even as a tiny hand wreathed in Calamity Flame approached him, he dared not pull away.
* * *
In the end, we decided to let Est and the other two live — for now.
That didn't mean we were giving them freedom.
As the man himself had confessed with his own mouth, the brand on his neck remained.
Since we had no idea when a command might send them on a rampage, we decided to toss them into a prison at Association Headquarters.
And whenever we had spare time, we planned to visit and attempt to erase the brands.
'This could serve as good practice.'
Dispelling a curse placed by the Tower Master of Purgatory.
For me — someone who would eventually have to dispel Baek A-rin's curse — this would be incredibly useful experience.
Of course, the entity that placed the curse and the curse's tier were both different, but the experience itself was what mattered most right now.
For the record, the experiment I'd just conducted on Est was a failure.
Burning away the curse with Calamity Flame was possible in itself. But doing it without harming Est was impossible.
'Because when I do it for Baek A-rin, it has to be safe, and the pain has to be minimal.'
I nodded, recalling the screams that had practically shaken the prison walls.
Because when the time comes to dispel Baek A-rin's curse, there's a strong possibility I'll be in a situation where focusing is difficult.
Experience and proficiency matter.
'Well, once I figure out how to remove their curse, I could just slap another leash on them and put them to use...'
— Press...
And that was the moment.
A pressure pushed firmly against my stomach, and my breath huffed out.
"Junior, you're not feeling too bloated or uncomfortable, are you?"
[Fullness.]
[No...]
It was Lee Ji-yeon's hand. Having entered the healing room, she was gently rubbing my stomach and infusing it with an ample supply of vitality energy.
"When manipulating vitality energy, the total amount matters, but above all, you have to manage the sustained flow."
[...Yes.]
"With Taesan especially, it's best to draw vitality energy primarily from the earth. When you do... it's similar to the sensation of putting down roots."
My use of Azure Sea and Taesan had been discovered by the forces of the Three Great Families.
Unsurprisingly, Lee Ji-yeon had also noticed that I was using Taesan.
And as a result, every time she infused me with vitality energy, she had also started giving me detailed instruction in Taesan.
While listening closely to the calm explanations, I also quietly observed Lee Ji-yeon out of the corner of my perception.
"Why are you watching me like that?"
I got caught immediately.
As I flinched, startled, Lee Ji-yeon just shrugged and patted my back.
"Are you still worrying about it?"
[...Still, I did deceive you, so...]
"That you learned it in our mentoring class and practiced on your own? It's fine. Honestly, I would've been scared and done the same thing."
Even though she had clearly figured out why I had specifically applied to be mentored by her, Lee Ji-yeon didn't mind and just reassured me.
Rather, as if asking what I was even worrying about, she let out a small laugh and held out her hand.
"Here. Try doing it yourself, like I just showed you."
[...Okay.]
Still watching her cautiously, I took her hand and operated the imitated Taesan to gently siphon off Lee Ji-yeon's vitality energy.
— Wooong...
The fresh vitality energy Lee Ji-yeon held flowed in without resistance.
It filled my insides solidly, and a feeling of full-bellied satisfaction and slight bloat rose up.
— Urp...
A tiny burp escaped, and then my body slumped languidly.
With a familiar motion, Lee Ji-yeon picked me up in her arms and patted my back.
I could not understand why absorbing vitality energy made me burp.
But right now, I wanted to soak in this comfortable feeling, so I quietly let myself rest in Lee Ji-yeon's hands.
By now I'd grown used to it, and it only felt comfortable — no embarrassment left.
"Hmm..."
As I was relaxing like that for a while, I felt a gaze from above, staring down at me cradled in her arms.
Wondering what was up, I gently lifted my face. Lee Ji-yeon, who had looked like she was pondering something, lightly squeezed my cheek.
"As I thought, Junior. I think it'll be best if you return to Siyoram first... to that mansion."
[Excuse me?]
All of a sudden?
* * *
A space filled only with crimson rock and flames.
Leaning against the jade throne set alone in its center, the Tower Master of Purgatory gave a small flick of the hand.
'I very nearly lost a vessel I'd procured with such difficulty.'
Into an ordinary dimension, they could enter in their true body without any restriction. But for a dimension with fierce resistance, they first had to make a detour using a vessel.
They could have waited for the two in the vanguard to crush the resistance, but that didn't sit well.
If the vessel had been lost here, their personal invasion would have been delayed, and they'd have been stuck wasting time for nothing.
'It probably wouldn't be a major issue — but if I alone fell behind, I'd miss all the fun.'
Fun.
A laugh escaped the Tower Master of Purgatory at the thought of that word.
In this meaningless stretch of time with nothing to do, they recalled fragments drifting in their mind.
'A trick performed by this dimension's Tower Masters... most likely future foresight, enacted with the entire world as its scope.'
The Tower Master of Purgatory had been included in that foresight — they felt the alien sensation — but they could not perceive most of the memories. They were trivial data, impossible to interpret.
The Tower Masters of this world must have done it knowing what they were.
But had they failed to foresee one thing?
That there would arise a false thing that could face the manifested Tower Master of Purgatory and force an impact so intense it reached even the true body.
『Heh.』
Amid the uninterpretable fragments, the Tower Master of Purgatory recalled one exceptionally vivid memory, and the corner of their mouth pulled upward.
That one — he never broke.
All manner of attacks and oppression could not shatter him, and in the end, he had breached even the Hellfire head-on and slammed his fist home.
The heavens had shattered under that fist filled with resentment.
There were scarcely any who could receive his single strike. Neither the serpent's plaything nor the ice's trickery could endure it. So they did not try to oppose him directly.
The Tower Master of Purgatory had fought him directly. Sword and fist, struggle and slaughter, life and death had passed between them.
It had been a struggle that was joyous, terrifying, and breathtaking.
Had there been no interference from the surroundings and they had fought to the end, it would have been a contest of uncertain outcome against that mighty foe.
That is exactly why they were curious.
'I want to fight him again.'
Not a false manifestation — they wanted to fight in their true body. This time, they wanted to decide victory or defeat.
That was why they had attempted to manifest using a vessel and a tool, but regretfully, it had come to nothing.
'Even if it had manifested, it wouldn't have been a complete state...'
Regret was unavoidable. The Tower Master of Purgatory gave a small click of the tongue, leaning against the jade throne — but a smile lingered at their lips.
They weren't solely disappointed. There was regret, yes, but a greater anticipation was blooming.
'Lee Ha-yul.'
The adversary chosen by this dimension's Tower Masters.
Not the false eleventh who had contended with the Tower Master of Purgatory — but the real one.
And moreover — that tiny fairy they had happened to encounter in another world, fallen by chance while restraining a vessel in the past.
How could they not feel anticipation?
The awe-inspiring prowess Lee Ha-yul had displayed still remained vivid in their mind.
Even now, at this moment, it was this much.
What would he become as time passed?
The Tower Master of Purgatory glanced at their own fist, now clenched tight, and tilted their head back.
The Hellfire wavering in the sky surged more fiercely. The flames had risen of their own accord, stoked by anticipation.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at that same time.
At Lee Ha-yul's mansion in Siyoram's central district.
"Daddy, you're really, truly the worst..."
— S t r e t c h...
[Gurghh.]
[Sorry, sorry...]
Lee Ha-yul — called a slaughter-weapon by some — had both cheeks stretched firmly by Lee Seo-yul, his face crumpled into a crying expression.
* * *
