Chapter 323
Chapter 323
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 87
>Chapter Title: Fragments of Truth (4)
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It was an event that unfolded after layers upon layers of murderous intent had built up.
Mok Kyung-un had possessed an intense killing intent since childhood, one so fierce it could be called a killer's nature.
Because that killing intent was so overwhelming, his Grandfather had forbidden him from meeting others.
However, it hadn't always been that way during his youth.
Mok Kyung-un had learned to control this innate killing intent through acquired discipline.
His Grandfather had trained him to always imagine his mind as a serene lake, never allowing it to fall into turmoil, and instilled in him the ways of propriety so that it became second nature.
It proved remarkably effective.
Since Mok Kyung-un deeply revered the Grandfather who had raised him, he eventually internalized these teachings to the point of unconsciously upholding them.
However,
*Plop!*
When his rage reached its peak and the unleashed killing intent spiraled beyond control, something snapped inside Mok Kyung-un's mind—or rather, his heart.
It wasn't merely crossing a mental boundary.
It was as if something long suppressed had erupted, seizing control of his mind and everything else in an instant.
"You... you... what are those eyes?"
Yi Gwang couldn't hide his bewilderment at Mok Kyung-un's obsidian-black pupils.
Just meeting that gaze overwhelmed him with pressure, leaving his mind in a haze.
Mok Kyung-un sneered and spoke.
"Thanks to you, I've awakened after so long, but this manner won't do."
"What?"
"I haven't fully merged yet."
"What are you talking about..."
"Humans are imperfect beings, yet they seek their path from within that imperfection. That's why I held high hopes for that potential and wished to assimilate with you all."
'!?'
"But it seems being constantly at crossroads of choices disappoints me time and again."
Yi Gwang's eyes shook violently.
The voice brimmed with unshakable confidence and majesty, as if beholding an emperor.
This was the overwhelming presence of a sovereign, nay, an absolute being—and in that moment, only one thought surfaced in Yi Gwang's mind.
*The incarnation of Ahriman, who dyes the sacred flames black with evil, shall appear in this world. Beware.*
"A... Ahriman?"
Yi Gwang stared at Mok Kyung-un, his voice trembling as he uttered the name.
At those words, Mok Kyung-un raised one eyebrow and replied.
"Ahriman? Yes, that's one name it's been called."
'!!!!!!'
He couldn't believe it.
He had thought it merely a prophecy foretelling the birth of a great killer who would plunge the world into chaos.
This monstrous being was undoubtedly that incarnation.
But...
*Incarnation? Is this an incarnation?*
No.
This was the thing itself.
"Ahriman!"
As Yi Gwang became consumed by fervor, Mok Kyung-un chuckled softly and said,
"Call it Ahriman, Heavenly Demon, or devil—it matters not. Humans cling obsessively only to the faces they wish to see anyway. However..."
*Swish!*
As Mok Kyung-un extended his hand, Yi Gwang's body—with only one leg remaining—began to tremble violently.
Surpassing mere shivers from the encroaching black energy, his body swelled as if it might burst.
"He killed him knowing the price, didn't he?"
"Kughhhh."
It hurt too much.
Every drop of blood felt tormented.
He couldn't endure this unprecedented agony; it felt like death itself.
"St-stop..."
Mok Kyung-un whispered into the ear of the suffering man.
"With this level of power, I could tear not just your flesh but your very soul to shreds and obliterate it."
"S-soul?"
"What do you think it means for a soul to vanish?"
"Wh-what..."
"It means your existence itself ceases, reincarnation or no."
*Chill!*
Amid the torment, Yi Gwang's mind flashed with terror.
"I... I..."
"Do you wish even your soul to remain? Then speak. Who ordered you—no, who ordered Mun No's death?"
"Th-that one is... kughhh."
*Crackle!*
As he spoke, cracks began forming across his swollen body.
With the cracks came not just pain, but the erasure of sensation itself.
It felt like nothingness.
To him, Mok Kyung-un smiled eerily and said,
"What now? Better hurry. Your soul is already tearing apart."
It was truly bizarre.
He was a man who had clung solely to his loyalty toward that one, even prepared for death.
Yet the being before him spoke of his soul's annihilation and utter erasure, plunging him into utmost dread, compelling him to speak unbidden.
"Only the executives of the Specter Sword's First Division can contact that one directly."
"How does a human meet the Specter Sword?"
"The Specter Sword... kughhhh."
"Time's running out."
"Sp-Specter Sword can be summoned by the... Heaven-Earth Society Leader..."
"Heaven-Earth Society Leader?"
"Yes. If the Heaven-Earth Society Leader summons it, the Specter Sword will appear without fail. Pl-please, spare me. I... I don't want my existence to vanish."
"Very well. So be it."
"R-really?"
Despite his agony, Yi Gwang's face lit up at Mok Kyung-un's words.
Having served that one through all manner of bizarre events, he believed in the soul and reincarnation.
Thus, he desperately wished to avoid oblivion.
To him, Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly and said,
"But while I may allow it, the righteous one does not wish it so."
"What?"
"We are still separate, for now."
"You, that's not what we agreed! What are you—gahk!"
*Shatter!*
Yi Gwang's swollen body exploded into fragments, scattering like ash.
Only his head remained intact, but even that cracked and crumbled away.
The dust seeped into the pooled rainwater on the ground, fading as if it had never existed.
Gazing down indifferently, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
"If you're awake, rise on your own, old woman."
*Twitch!*
At his words, the Holy Flame Spirit Sovereign, prostrated a short distance away, shuddered.
She had fainted from Yi Gwang's torture but awoke midway, hearing their entire conversation.
*'Ahriman? How could such a thing...'*
She was aghast.
This was utterly impossible.
That prophecy had originally—
*Whoooosh!*
"Hngh!"
In that instant, the Holy Flame Spirit Sovereign's body lifted from the ground.
Her floating form righted itself, facing Mok Kyung-un directly.
Seeing the black energy emanating from his entire body and his obsidian eyes, she trembled, speechless in terror.
To her, frozen in shock, Mok Kyung-un said,
"You've strayed from my lineage, yet you exploited the mission given to you well. How does it feel to lose that price?"
Her eyes widened as if to burst at the question.
Others might not understand, but she knew exactly what he meant.
"Y-you are..."
"This is me, and that is me. You know that well, old woman."
"I..."
"Excuses of having already paid won't reverse everything. I am not one who forgives."
*Thud!*
No sooner had he spoken than the Holy Flame Spirit Sovereign dropped to her knees, prostrating flat on the ground.
She cried out in a pleading voice toward Mok Kyung-un.
"If punishment for my sin is declared, I accept it gladly. But I could not refuse. I could not lose what little remained to me. My one and only... gahk!"
Mid-sentence, she clutched her chest.
Her heart pounded not just wildly, but like needles stabbing relentlessly.
The pain was so excruciating she could barely breathe.
As Mok Kyung-un mimed gripping something with his hand, blood sprayed from her mouth.
"Pfft!"
Spitting blood, she gasped in torment.
"Kughhhh."
"Your petty excuses mean nothing to me."
"Kughhh... pl-please..."
"Your folly cost the righteous one what should never be lost, and now I must endure the same pain as then."
"Spare..."
"Pointless words. I am no longer a merciful being. Thus, I shall erase all ties to the seeds you sowed and that cunning three-inch tongue of yours..."
*Crunch!*
It was at that moment.
Something shattered within Mok Kyung-un's chest, revealing itself.
It was Cheongryeong.
'Huh?'
The Holy Flame Spirit Sovereign, panting from heart pain, watched her eyes tremble.
The agony suddenly ceased.
Could it be mercy?
Puzzled, she looked up to see Mok Kyung-un staring into empty space.
Why was he like that?
*...Mortals—no, what are you exactly?*
Cheongryeong, forcibly breaking her seal from the wooden doll, gazed at Mok Kyung-un's obsidian eyes and parted her lips.
At her question, those obsidian eyes grew strange.
Cheongryeong's eyes shook as she watched.
*Those eyes...*
As she approached to speak further—
*Swish!*
Mok Kyung-un's obsidian eyes reverted to normal.
He clutched his head with one hand as if suffering a severe headache, staggering before grimacing.
Frowning at the sight, Cheongryeong said,
*What are you doing? Are you alright?*
Mok Kyung-un slowly raised his head at her question.
'!?'
His eyes and expression returned to normal, leaving her baffled.
Just moments ago, Mok Kyung-un had become an entirely different entity.
She had even intervened because he ignored her voice from within the wooden doll.
What was happening?
She asked,
*...Are you the real you, mortal?*
Mok Kyung-un nodded silently at her question.
*Do you remember what happened just now?*
Touching his forehead, he transmitted back with an incredulous expression.
*-It's strange.*
*-What?*
*-I was conscious and remember it all, but I spoke and moved without my own will.*
*-You remember?*
*-...Yes.*
He remembered precisely.
What was said, the situation—everything was clear.
He even felt the emotions behind those words.
Yet none of it was by his volition.
It was as if another being shared his body, acting independently.
*'What is this?'*
For the first time, doubt arose about himself.
There was undoubtedly another presence within him that he hadn't been aware of.
Yet it didn't feel alien or repulsive; it was so natural, as if they'd been one from the start, leaving him unable to comprehend.
Then Mok Kyung-un looked at Cheongryeong.
*'What was that feeling?'*
Though not by his will, the emotions from that moment were fully shared, making the final one hard to forget.
It was something akin to an inexplicable wistfulness.