Pure White Madness (2)
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. It was the same words I had heard when Lee Seol was attacked by the werewolf during the grade evaluation. “As expected, you came….”
But this was no time to lose myself in sentiment. “Let’s get out of here first. This place is dangerous.”
I sliced through the last of the chains and reached for her hand to pull her up. Instead, she yanked me forward. The unexpected motion caught me off guard, and I stumbled straight into Lee Seol’s arms. A fresh, sweet scent filled my nose.
“Seol…?”
“Hyun… can’t we stay like this for just a little while? Just a tiny bit longer?”
“Yeah……”
Lee Seol wrapped her arms around my back with surprising strength, clinging to me as if she feared I might vanish. She held me so tightly it almost hurt.
“Hyun, you always save me…… Whenever I’m truly in danger, whenever I need help, you appear without fail and rescue me.”
“……”
“During the grade evaluation, when the Cerberus attacked, when I lost control, and……”
Lee Seol whispered directly into my ear. “Even now……”
“……”
“Isn’t it strange?”
“It is strange, but that’s just what we do, isn’t it? We help each other. You and your father have both been supporting me in your own ways. Don’t overthink it.”
When I tried to brush it off, Lee Seol only pulled me closer, squeezing even tighter.
“Hyun….”
“Yeah?”
“I’m scared of dying.”
The sudden confession made me freeze for a second before I answered. “That’s normal for any person.”
“Yes… but what I’m really afraid of is being forgotten by everyone.”
“……”
“No matter how powerful or influential someone is, once they die they fade from memory. Even family. Time passes and people slowly forget.”
“……”
“But if even one person still remembers me, then even if my body is gone, I’ll still exist, won’t I?”
Lee Seol’s whole body began to tremble. She was already feeling the terror of her own existence vanishing.
“That’s why I tried so hard. I acted in ways that would make as many people like me as possible. I tried to earn their favor. But……”
It hadn’t worked. No matter how kind I was, not everyone could like me. Cases like Lee Jung-ah only stood out more because of their inferiority complexes.
“What should I do….”
“You’re worrying about something way off in the future… If it’s really bothering you, just talk to your father. I’m sure he’ll give you the answer you want.”
“……I doubt it. Dad has no interest in me at all……”
Lee Seol wore an unreadable smile. Then she slid her arms around my neck.
“I only had a feeling before, but after watching you fight last time, I became certain. The way you swung your sword for your sister. To avenge her.”
“……”
“I was so jealous. If I died… would you do the same for me……?”
“That’s……”
“I know. It’s difficult right now. So.”
Lee Seol pressed her forehead against mine.
“I want to get closer to you, Hyun.”
“……”
“I only need you. Just you, Hyun.”
“….”
“If you’ll just remember me, that’s enough.”
Lee Seol’s eyes grew still. Calm and deep like the currents of an abyss. The usual innocent Lee Seol was gone. The thick veil she had always kept wrapped around herself had fallen away, and she was begging me for an answer.
I gave her a playful smile and stood up.
“We’re already close enough, aren’t we? Why are you saying things that make me feel bad?”
“Can’t we be more than friends…?”
“……”
Her direct words left me momentarily speechless. But I quickly shook my head. Even if I had to lie, I needed to draw the line here. Anything else would be too dangerous.
“Sorry. I’m already seeing someone.”
“Is it Suyeon?”
“Yes. So let’s get up now. This place is too dangerous.”
“……All right.”
Lee Seol reluctantly nodded at my urging. But she kept watching me in silence. Quiet as a frozen winter lake.
When we stepped outside, Camilla was already waiting for us. She grinned wickedly and elbowed me in the side.
“Ah, the joys of youth. Going at it right in the middle of enemy territory.”
“Could you stop saying things that could be easily misunderstood?”
“Misunderstood? You two were wrapped around each other like it was the end of the world.”
As usual, there was no getting through to her.
“Let’s hurry. It’s probably already started.”
“Okey-dokey~.”
With Lee Seol also under the stealth effect, we headed for the exit. Unlike when we arrived, the number of people had drastically decreased.
It’s begun.
The moment we rushed outside, the sounds of battle exploded around us.
BOOM! CRASH!
A small-scale war was unfolding.
“Kuaaagh!”
“In the name of the Witch, we shall purge you!”
“Haaah!”
Fireballs flew in every direction while arrows and spears filled the air.
“They really came prepared,” I muttered.
“They have to pay the price for kidnapping her. Camilla, take Seol and go exactly as I told you earlier.”
“Got it.”
“Huh? H-Hyun, what about you?!”
“I have something to take care of first. Go on ahead.”
Camilla hoisted Lee Seol onto her back and dashed away. Lee Seol let out a scream.
“Kyaa! W-wait! Hyun is still—!”
I left her fading voice behind and moved toward the battlefield. Amid the chorus of shouts and screams, simply hiding my presence was enough to stay concealed. I climbed a nearby tree and surveyed the chaos.
Brutal.
“Hup!”
“Kuaaaagh!”
With every punch from Lee Jun, an enemy’s body burst like a balloon.
“You monster bastard! Die!”
“You’re the monsters here!”
The furious expression on Lee Jun’s face was one I had never seen before.
“President! Miss Seol has returned safely!”
At his secretary’s shout, I realized Camilla had delivered Lee Seol to the Association’s forces just as I’d instructed. But—
“Good. Make her safety your top priority. I’m going to finish these bastards off first!”
Lee Jun didn’t stop throwing punches. Pure madness. He was completely fixated on slaughtering every last member of the Demon Sect in front of him.
“You people!”
BOOM!
Flesh and blood scattered.
“You don’t even deserve to exist in this world!”
CRASH!
He was fighting with everything he had. Only then did I finally understand what Lee Seol had meant.
Dad has no interest in me at all……
The Association President’s wife had died the moment she gave birth to Lee Seol. I didn’t know why. But seeing him like this now…
It must be connected to the Demon Sect.
“Die! Regret the sins you’ve committed!”
His words were heavy with raw emotion. I shook my head and headed toward my objective. Everyone had a dark side. For Lee Jun, it was the Demon Sect. For Irena, it was her disciple’s safety.
There it is.
The white grimoire I had told Lee Jun to touch earlier. Everyone was too busy fighting to pay any attention to it.
A first-grade dangerous object.
The moment Lee Seol touched it, she would learn she was a Witch. I hurried over to retrieve it—only to come face to face with a cultist.
The figure wore a robe that covered them from head to toe. Their face was hidden. Yet something felt… familiar.
What is this feeling?
A strange sense of déjà vu enveloped my entire body. I drew Eve, intending to cut the cultist down—
“Huh?”
The cultist snatched the grimoire and fled. And at an absurdly fast speed.
“Fuck!”
I immediately activated Thunder God and cut off their escape route. On the surface the cultist looked like a low-ranking member, but when I swung Eve, they dodged with a slight movement.
This one’s skilled!
Rather than let them take the grimoire, I decided to destroy it.
Burn it all!
I thrust my hand forward and unleashed lightning in a wide net. It should have hit. It definitely should have—
CRASH!
They avoided every bolt, shattered a crystal, and vanished on the spot. A one-use teleportation artifact. Each one cost nearly a billion won—an astronomical price.
Tsk.
If my body had been in normal condition, I could have chased them to the end. What a shame.
More importantly…
They read my thoughts.
They had perfectly predicted where I would attack and what technique I would use.
I’ll have to be careful.
I stared down at the spot where the cultist had disappeared, my expression calm.
On the rooftop of a building overlooking the city skyline, Layla—the leader of the Demon Sect—smoked a cigarette with clear displeasure. A man approached and knelt beside her.
“My Pope, I am sorry. Twenty-one believers have been captured, and the grimoire… it appears to have been taken……”
“…What a complete disaster.”
“……I am deeply ashamed.”
“What about the Altar?”
“It has been sealed and buried inside the dungeon. However, the Association is guarding it heavily, so breaching their defenses will not be easy.”
“Tsk.”
The Demon Sect was divided into dozens or even hundreds of factions, but if one had to simplify, they split into two main groups: the hardliners led by Han Jaehyuk and the moderates led by Layla. To outsiders they all looked the same, but their methods were fundamentally different.
Han Jaehyuk was the type who wouldn’t bat an eye if thousands or even tens of thousands died for the sake of the Witches. Layla, on the other hand—
No matter what, mass slaughter is a bit much.
Minimize casualties. The more the Demon Sect rose into the light, the more attention they would attract. That was her belief. And the most important asset they had lost was Han Jaehyuk himself.
I told him we should work together, but he never listened.
Losing a leader of his caliber was like trying to pluck a star from the sky. Regular believers could be replaced by the dozens or hundreds, but someone at the level of a Pope was nearly impossible to replace.
“Have you deciphered the code Han Jaehyuk left behind?”
“Yes.”
“That’s at least some good news.”
The encrypted message Han Jaehyuk had sent through a transmission orb right before his death. It had been so urgent that he only managed to send a short code, which had finally been decoded.
“The two words were ‘Academy’ and ‘Association.’”
“That’s it…?”
“Yes.”
“This is really getting on my nerves……”
Both were places that were extremely difficult to touch. Especially that Association President…
He was a bomb. A nuclear bomb aimed specifically at the Demon Sect. Therefore—
“We’ll begin operations at the Academy first. You planted the seeds in advance, correct?”
“Yes.”
The promised day was approaching. Before then, they had to locate the Witch no matter what. Even if they couldn’t find her—
“The Golden Aurora… we must secure the Sacrifice at all costs.”
Though they called it a sacrifice, in truth it was the joker that could flip the entire board. They had to obtain it by any means necessary.
Layla’s eyes gleamed with cold light.