Chapter 238: The End (Revised)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 238: The End (Revised)
For a moment, Han Jisu was at a loss for words, captivated by the sparkle in Iries’s eyes.
What is this?
She must have seen her friend, Lebeus, get destroyed by me. So why is she looking at me like that?
Could it be?
A sophisticated psychological tactic to make me lower my guard?
While he was lost in thought, Iries spoke in a voice filled with awe.
“Incredible…”
“What?”
“You became a Transcendent in a mortal body, didn’t you? That’s something only the Primordial Beings among the Transcendents were capable of. It’s not entirely unprecedented since then, but it’s exceedingly rare. And to think I’d witness it with my own eyes…!”
This is destiny…!
“Your name was Han Jisu, wasn’t it? I like you. Please go out with me!” Iries shouted, her face flushed with excitement as she confessed.
Han Jisu was completely dumbfounded.
“…Did I just hear that right?”
“What did you hear?”
“It sounded like you just confessed to me.”
“Then you heard me correctly!”
“…”
Han Jisu blinked, staring blankly at Iries. Not to be outdone, Iries met his gaze.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are you out of your goddamn mind… Ah, I see. You’re just saying that because you want to live—”
“My feelings are genuine! Please don’t slander me!”
“Cut the bullshit. I just killed your friend. Do you really think it makes any sense for you to say something like that to me?”
“I already told you about Lebeus. He was just a business partner I’ve known for a long time.”
“For a ‘business partner,’ he seemed to care about you a lot.”
“Just because someone likes me, does that mean I have an obligation to return their feelings?”
Han Jisu was rendered speechless by Iries’s question as she tilted her head. She was technically right, but something about it was incredibly irritating.
As his expression soured, she hastily added an excuse.
“You shouldn’t get the wrong idea. I rejected him countless times. But he was the one who kept clinging to me.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I can see it all over your face, even if you don’t say it.”
“Haaah…”
Han Jisu sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. The goddess he’d been planning to crush had suddenly confessed her love for him, and he was completely flabbergasted.
What the hell is she playing at, really?
Han Jisu genuinely couldn’t understand it, but Iries had her own way of thinking.
Since she was young, she had admired the high-ranking Transcendents.
Classified as the so-called Noblesse, every one of them had cast off the shackles of mortality through their own power to become a Transcendent.
They had, in essence, created something from nothing.
Having lived lives so turbulent they were hard to describe in words, they were incomparably stronger than those who were simply born as Transcendents.
They were so powerful that if they were to set aside their pride and cooperate, they could fight the entire population of ordinary Transcendents—who far outnumbered them—to a standstill.
Furthermore, the Noblesse were welcomed by the Primordial Beings, who likely felt a sense of kinship with them for having walked the same path to transcendence.
Some Primordial Beings even cherished the Noblesse more than their own blood relatives.
For that reason, most Transcendents feared them, but also admired them.
In the case of the peculiar Iries, her admiration was far stronger than her fear.
At one point, she had even tried to create such a being herself. But she failed. Mortals were hopelessly weak; if their trials were too harsh, they would break, and if they were given too much, they would become complacent.
After hundreds of failed attempts, she had finally given up…
And now, the very thing she had abandoned and resigned herself to was unfolding right before her eyes.
She had just witnessed a sparrow break out of its shell and soar as a phoenix. How could she not fall for him?
As Iries waited for his answer, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation, Leah, who had been linking arms with Han Jisu, spoke up.
“So, Master. What are you going to do with her?”
“What do you mean? I’m going to kill her.”
Iries discreetly prepared to flee. It wasn’t like today was her only chance; she could always seek him out again later. After all, as Transcendents, time was the one thing they had in abundance.
But just as she was about to make her escape, the situation took a strange turn.
“Huh? Are you really going to kill her? A woman who says she likes you, Master?”
Leah was expressing her reluctance to kill Iries.
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“It’s already been established that she wasn’t the one who brought you here, right?”
“Well, yes. But she’s still a being who toyed with the fates of countless people.”
“So what?”
“…What?”
Han Jisu’s expression hardened. His face was so grim it was almost murderous, and even Leah tensed slightly.
“Do you… know I hate that kind of thing and are saying this anyway?”
“Calm down. What I mean is, it’s not just gods like her who play with people’s fates. Look at the nobles in this world—they keep plenty of slaves, don’t they? And your world isn’t completely free from the concept of social status either.”
“Are you saying they’re the same?”
“Of course not. But my point is, why be so harsh on her when you let those other guys be? To be blunt, we’re the ones more in the wrong here. They were living their lives just fine, and we’re the ones who trespassed into their home and raised hell, aren’t we?”
“No, I mean, how did you even reach that conclusion…”
Han Jisu let out an exasperated sigh. His displeasure hadn’t vanished, but his initial ferocious aura had diminished considerably.
Knowing her master well, Leah seized the opportunity.
“Besides, if you use her well, even a total social outcast like you might be able to blend into their society. If that happens, wouldn’t the risk to the humans you care about be greatly reduced?”
“…”
Han Jisu fell into deep thought. He had no interest in blending into their society, but if it meant his precious people would be safer, it was worth considering.
After a long moment of deliberation, Han Jisu spoke.
“Just lock her up for now. I can’t make a decision right away.”
“Okay.”
Leah strode over to Iries and crouched down to meet her eyes. Iries, her eyes wide, tilted her head.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because I owe you a debt.”
Iries’s perverted actions over the years had contributed, to some extent, to Han Jisu’s decision to abandon his humanity and choose transcendence.
That was why Leah wanted to at least spare Iries’s life.
And, as she had mentioned, there were practical benefits to be gained.
“You might be locked up for a few years, or maybe a few decades, or even centuries, but don’t resent me too much, okay? This was the best I could do.”
“Oh, I won’t. That’s not even that long. If I can get a Noblesse boyfriend out of it, I’d say it’s a pretty good deal.”
“…Oh, is that so?”
That’s a short amount of time?
I still don’t understand how Transcendents think. With that thought, Leah thrust the blade of her hand into Iries’s heart.
Since Iries didn’t resist, her body soon collapsed limply.
Leah slung the body over one shoulder and pointed with her other hand at the remaining figure.
“What about that one? He’s still alive.”
Lebeus.
His body had disintegrated, leaving him unable to move, but his soul remained, not yet extinguished.
After a brief moment of thought, Han Jisu said, “Lock him up.”
“Yes, sir. Since you said they were old friends, I’ll put him in a nice spot right next to Iries.”
“…You cruel bitch.”
Han Jisu shook his head as he watched Leah trample on a man’s pure-hearted devotion as if it were a roadside weed. Then, he remembered something he had forgotten.
“I almost forgot the most important thing. Leah. Absorb this and pass it to me.”
“What is it? Huh? Isn’t that the fake body you were using, Master? There’s nothing good to be gained from eating that. It’s gross. Can’t we just not?”
“No, we can’t.”
I’m a father, after all.
At Han Jisu’s firm reply, Leah sighed and plunged her fingertips into Cloud’s heart. Throb, throb. Thick veins bulged on her arm, pulsing as Cloud’s body withered away.
Only when nothing but skin and bones remained did Leah pull her hand back.
“I’ve absorbed it. So, what’s your plan now? Are you going back to where your lovers are?”
“I have to.”
Han Jisu’s body twisted, beginning to morph into the form of Cloud. Once he had fully returned to Cloud’s appearance, he gave a casual wave of his hand, and space tore open, revealing a portal.
Cloud stepped through it.
Swoosh—
Passing through the shimmering rift in space, he arrived at the central fountain in the Imperial Palace garden.
A gardener who had been trimming the trees stared with wide eyes at the sudden appearance of a person in a previously empty spot. His jaw dropped in shock, and his lips trembled as he slowly formed words.
“Lord… Cloud…?”
The gardener knew what Cloud looked like. And Cloud knew the gardener. He gave the man a light wave, and upon confirming it was indeed Cloud, the gardener shouted.
“It’s Lord Cloud! The Hero… The Hero has returned!”
His cry sent a commotion through the garden. Servants who heard his voice ran toward the sound without a second thought, and those who hadn’t heard simply followed the crowd.
As the servants gathered, the once-empty space around the central fountain became a sea of people.
Finding himself unable to move through the throng, Cloud gave a bitter smile and was about to open another portal.
Just then.
“Make way!”
A familiar voice echoed through the garden. The chaotic crowd of servants surprisingly bowed their heads at the single shout and stepped aside.
At the end of the newly formed path stood a blond knight.
Seeing the knight, Cloud smirked.
“I thought you ran away.”
“I can’t run forever. I have to accept the punishment I deserve. Besides, it was an imperial order, so I couldn’t refuse.”
“Couldn’t refuse? You’re the type who could’ve just beaten the messenger senseless and sent him back.”
Cloud walked up to the knight and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“In any case, you made the right choice. Running away doesn’t suit you, Mars. It’s better to face things head-on, even if it means dying.”
“…I’m a man with a woman to take responsibility for now. If my life’s in danger, I’ll run without a second thought.”
“As if you would.”
Says the guy who took on the forces of the Four Heavenly Kings by himself.
“Anyway, where is everyone?”
“They should all be down soon. You came back at the perfect time for tea.”
No sooner had Mars finished speaking than the doors to the main palace building opened. Butlers lined up in front of the entrance, and only then did the women reveal themselves.
Frillite, Katarina, Leslie, Shedia, and Lorraine, holding a child in her arms.
They stopped just before the top of the stairs. Then, as if their feet were glued to the ground, they didn’t move.
They simply looked down at Cloud.
“Are they telling me to come up…?”
They seemed angrier than he’d expected. To act like this at their reunion after several weeks…
Feeling awkward, Cloud ascended the stairs as slowly as possible. But no matter how slowly one moves, one eventually reaches their destination. Cloud stood before the five women.
And as he stood before them, he faced a crisis he hadn’t anticipated until that very moment.
Who should I talk to first?
This was a very important question. Cloud’s masculine intuition told him that his choice now would dictate the rest of his married life. For Cloud, who wanted to build a happy family if possible, this was a major crisis.
As beads of cold sweat trickled down his face, he was contemplating whether he should accelerate his thoughts, splitting a single second into a thousand fragments.
Just then, Lorraine stepped out from among the women and walked toward him.
Cloud flinched, tensing up at her action, but when he saw that the other women made no move to stop her, he tilted his head in confusion.
Whatever the reason, Lorraine stood before Cloud and held out the daughter she was carrying.
As Cloud took the child, looking bewildered, she spoke.
“What are you doing? Now that you’re back, there’s something you should say to your child first.”
At her words, Cloud’s eyes widened. As if mesmerized, he lowered his gaze to the baby.
“Dabu… Daba…!”
The baby giggled, waving her hands wildly toward Cloud’s face.
A wave of emotion surged through his chest. Swallowing the tears that welled up, Cloud smiled.
He kissed his daughter’s forehead and said, “Daddy’s home.”