Chapter 97: Returnee Song Hyeok-seo
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: Returnee Song Hyeok-seo
The spirit mages, each busy trying to save their own lives, began to rally around Se-hee. Before long, Se-hee even earned the title Ryeongju and appeared before Song Hyeok-seo.
She grew stronger with each passing year.
Watching their battle, a hellish bloodbath that ended in a near draw, Song Hyeok-seo could feel a sense of satisfaction.
The next year.
He would die by Se-hee's hand.
With that, this wretched life could finally end.
That would be enough.
That would be…
"Hyeok-seo! You brat! I told you not to cause trouble, didn't I?!"
Just then, someone smacked Song Hyeok-seo on the head.
How long had he been asleep?
He had fallen into a comatose state from the severe injuries he'd sustained after his fight with Se-hee. He tilted his head, looking at the person before him.
White snow was falling from the sky, dyeing the fields white. Standing on the snow was a girl with black hair, dressed in white mourning clothes.
She looked young, but she seemed to be a spirit mage.
Even so, Song Hyeok-seo hadn't sensed her presence at all until she was right beside him. His eyes stared blankly at her.
"What are you staring at? When your big sis shows up, you should be happy to see her. You clueless punk."
It was a familiar curse.
She had sworn so much in front of them that even Se-hee had picked it up, starting to curse whenever she got emotional.
So familiar.
A voice he had longed to hear again.
It was her.
A dear friend, now dead and gone forever.
A benefactor who had taken his younger sister in as her own adopted daughter.
And the woman he had once held in his heart.
"Ran…?"
As he cautiously spoke her name.
The girl in front of him reached for his head.
His hair, a messy mix of white and black from his fusion with Duokshini, was pulled into the girl's embrace as she gently patted it.
"Ugh, you rotten little bastard. Even in death, I was so worried about you that I ended up crawling back like this."
Hearing her words, Song Hyeok-seo's body began to tremble.
Tears welled in his eyes as he slowly pulled her into an embrace, afraid her slender body might break.
"Ran. Is it really… is it really you, Ran?"
"This punk is just saying his big sis's name so casually."
"…I'm the same age as you this year."
"Ah, has it really been eight years since I died?"
Unleashing a lifetime of pent-up grief, Song Hyeok-seo wept uncontrollably.
Seeing Ran again, his broken emotions burst forth like a flood.
Ran held him, accepting all his tears.
"Hyeok-seo."
"What is it?"
"When today is over, I have to return to the underworld."
Return.
Hearing those words, Song Hyeok-seo looked back at Ran.
Without meeting his gaze, Ran looked up at the moon in the sky.
"I'm just a ghost borrowing this child's body. I can no longer live in the same time as you."
"That's…"
Song Hyeok-seo fell silent.
Ran had died long ago, a fact that could never be changed.
It was because he knew this that he had come to hate spirit mages with such a burning passion.
"So, you two, it's time to make up. How long do I have to watch you fight?"
The moment she said that, footsteps echoed from the edge of the forest.
Her golden hair, shimmering in the moonlight, fluttered in the wind.
It was his twin sister, the Ryeongju, Song Se-hee.
Her eyes met his, and she let out a long sigh.
"We shouldn't cause Ran-unni any more trouble."
They had fought for eight long years, but they were still twins.
No long explanation was needed.
By now, even the reason for their fighting had become about protecting each other. In front of Ran, they clasped hands as if in a handshake.
Just like they used to when they walked the streets as children.
"Haaah, you two are such a handful. Honestly."
Watching the two of them, Ran sighed again.
It was like watching children you'd left by the waterside.
And yet, seeing them, Ran could finally manage a smile.
"Hyeok-seo, Se-hee."
Even in death, these two brats gave her nothing but trouble, but to her, they were like her own children.
"I want you two to be happy, to smile together without any more problems."
And so, Ran reached out and hugged them both.
"Now, go back. To a world where you don't have to suffer anymore."
They've had nothing but hardship here.
Back to their home, where they can be happy. This is a farewell for that purpose.
"Ran, I…"
"Come and tell me later, if you get the chance."
Hearing Hyeok-seo's words, Ran gave his stomach a light push.
"I'll at least listen to your story."
Hearing that, Song Hyeok-seo gave a smile that said he could never win against her and looked back at Se-hee.
Se-hee didn't bother to mention the tears welling in his eyes.
"Se-hee, let's go home."
"Yeah."
They had been away for too long.
Staying here any longer would just be a burden.
And so, Se-hee and Song Hyeok-seo gathered their power in unison.
The power of shadow and spirit arts connected the dimensions. Standing before the gate, the two of them took one last look at Ran, etching her into their memory, and stepped forward.
Dimensional Shift.
It was finally time to go back.
In an instant, the surrounding scenery began to change.
Amidst it all, Song Hyeok-seo held Se-hee's hand tightly.
When we get back, I shouldn't fight with her anymore.
Just as he had that thought.
"Ghk?!"
At that moment, Song Hyeok-seo's shadow suddenly began to collapse.
He was already more than halfway through the dimensional shift when he noticed the anomaly. He recalled the last words Duokshini had spat at him.
The day will come when you regret devouring the shadows.
By the time he remembered those words, it was too late.
"Keugh!"
The dimensional shift collapsed, and Song Hyeok-seo, swept away by the shadows, was flung into a rift between dimensions.
Karma.
This was his karma.
The price for surrendering his body to rage, for harming and killing so many.
The countless vengeful spirits dwelling within the shadows he had slain had no intention of letting the master of the imemanglyang [monstrous spirits] return from the start.
As Hyeok-seo realized this, Se-hee's reflection appeared in his eyes.
So, in the end, I can't even keep the promise I made to Ran and my sister.
He felt unbearably sorry for that. Amidst the surging shadows, Hyeok-seo saw her outstretched hand one last time before closing his eyes.
His consciousness was fading into the distance.
At least I can be glad I didn't die by Se-hee's hand and leave her with an incurable wound. As for Ran... if I tell her I came to see her a little early, she might scold me, but she'll understand.
With that thought, he let go of his final thread of consciousness.
But he didn't realize it.
"Oppa!"
That her voice, echoing in his ears, was unusually close.
Chirp, chirp—
And a long while later.
He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of sparrows chirping in his ears.
What he saw was the middle of a modern city.
Staring blankly at a city quite different from his memories, he realized he had completed the dimensional shift.
He was alive?
He couldn't understand it.
He should have been swallowed by the shadows, dragged away by the collapsing dimensional shift.
So how was he still alive?
"…Se-hee."
And in that moment, the image of Se-hee reaching for him at the very end came to mind.
"Se-hee! Se-hee! Where are you! Se-hee!"
He screamed, frantically searching for Se-hee.
She wasn't there.
He couldn't see her anywhere.
His heart began to pound.
His breath grew short.
A terrible thought, a no, it can't be, crossed his mind.
The memory of her voice, feeling so close at the last moment, began to hammer at his mind with anxiety.
And before long, he sensed a presence within his own shadow.
The moment he hastily summoned his shadows, he realized Se-hee's presence was coming from within them.
"Shut up. Dammit, Song Hyeok-seo."
The moment he heard that voice, Song Hyeok-seo collapsed.
In that final moment, Se-hee had somehow managed to grab hold of the unconscious Song Hyeok-seo.
She had pushed him back onto the path of the dimensional shift, getting devoured by the shadows in his place.
I'll die if this continues.
Making that judgment, she forcibly separated her spirit from her body.
As she quickly attached herself to Song Hyeok-seo, her physical form was instantly swallowed by the shadows.
But the shadows, seeming to regard her spiritless body as an empty husk, spat it back out.
They then tried to attack Song Hyeok-seo again, but they were powerless to do anything, as she had already used all her strength to protect him.
In that time, she watched as her own body, ejected by the shadows, was swallowed by a dimensional rift far in the distance.
Watching it, she knew.
Her life would end before long.
And yet, she felt not a shred of regret.
It was surely because this was something she had to do.
Her twin brother, who sacrificed his whole life for her, was infuriating.
But isn't it a family's heart to want to give back as much as you've received?
She burrowed into Song Hyeok-seo's shadow.
As a spirit body, it was the only thing she could do.
"Why did you… Why, why did you do that instead of me! You should have left me! Why you!"
Song Hyeok-seo screamed as if vomiting blood. The fact that his sister had sacrificed herself because of his problem was driving him mad.
"You sacrificed your whole life for me, Oppa."
But Se-hee's voice held not a trace of regret.
"I guess it was just my turn to give you your life back."
She simply gave an awkward laugh.
The twins were so deeply alike, even in their nature.
Song Hyeok-seo bitterly recalled Duokshini's words.
And he made a vow.
That he would, by any means necessary, reclaim his twin sister's life.
After that, he joined the World Returnee Association, which had come looking for them.
With the help of other returnee spirit mages, he created a temporary body for Se-hee.
He gathered hunters from the underworld and formed an organization called Beom to find information.
Once again bearing the title Asura, he traveled the world to save Se-hee.
But what he ultimately reached was the forbidden fruit known as Girasung.
That was his past.
The memories that had forged the Song Hyeok-seo of today.
*
In front of Seul High School.
A shadow skimmed along the path beside the athletic field.
The shadow soon came to a stop behind the school.
A moment later, a person rose smoothly from it.
Asura, Song Hyeok-seo.
His eyes, carrying an intimidating aura as menacing as his towering height, were distorted with vicious killing intent.
And he was not the only one to arrive at that place.
Riding the rippling shadows, numerous returnees from Girasung had also emerged.
The eyes of the Girasung returnees who appeared from the shadows glinted.
Their reason for coming here today was, for all intents and purposes, an all-out war. They were tired of failing in their repeated attempts to kidnap Ha Si-ho.
This time, they truly intended to see things through to the end.
“Sura, you're looking pretty murderous.”
Beside him, a boy with grayish-white hair who only came up to his waist grinned.
Looking at the boy, Song Hyeok-seo gripped his greatsword of shadow.
“So you've finally come.”
At that moment, a voice echoed from above.
Song Hyeok-seo looked up to see someone perched on the windowsill of the third-floor building, looking down at them.
Her red hair swayed.
The moment they met her gaze, the faces of every Girasung returnee twisted in dismay.
The Heavenly Demon, Cheon Hong-ryeon.
She was there.