Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Interlude – A New Hope (3)
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“Hah, haah.”
Hot breaths filled with excitement.
A moist, sensual breath tickled Oh-jin's neck.
“Then… I’ll begin.”
*Gulp.*
Isabella swallowed and gently caressed the nape of Oh-jin's neck.
The smooth nape, corded with firm muscle.
Gazing at the sleek line of his neck, like that of a male leopard, her heart pounded, and a shiver ran down her spine.
“Haah.”
As she leaned in close, Oh-jin's scent stimulated the tip of her nose.
A desire different from the urge to drink blood simmered within her, and she felt a tingling sensation between her legs.
*Lick.*
Her long tongue darted out and licked his nape.
“Ugh!”
Oh-jin's body flinched.
He cleared his throat and glanced back at Isabella, who was licking his neck like a puppy.
“Let's just stick to the forearm.”
“The nape is more efficient for bloodsucking than the forearm.”
Isabella shook her head, her expression resolute.
In truth, there was little difference between drinking from his forearm or his neck.
She had simply used the excuse of efficiency because she wanted to be closer to him.
“You drank from my forearm before.”
“Th-that was because I wasn’t in my right mind then.”
“You seem to be in better shape now… is it really necessary to drink from my neck?”
“Hmph.”
She grabbed Oh-jin's shoulders with both hands as he kept trying to pull away.
“Stay still.”
A red glint flashed in Isabella's eyes.
Oh-jin, who had been trying to move away from her, froze.
“This is…”
His body was stiff, as if turned to stone.
‘Is this the soul subjugation she mentioned before?’
Upon hearing Isabella's command, his body lost all strength, as if a switch had been flipped off.
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and forced his body to move.
A black energy emanated from the left side of his chest, and his fingertips twitched slightly.
‘Hmm? What's this?’
With a grandiose name like ‘soul subjugation,’ he thought he wouldn't be able to resist it with sheer force.
At this rate, it seemed he could defy the command if given enough time.
‘Is it because of the Black Heaven?’
As he tilted his head, moving his fingertips.
“I'm sorry for using a command, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Isabella stuck out her tongue again and began licking his nape.
“But… this is your fault, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Her excited breaths tickled his nape.
Isabella, completely unaware that Oh-jin's fingertips were moving, focused all her attention on licking his neck.
“It's too cruel of you to stop me from eating something that looks so delicious.”
Panting raggedly as she licked his nape, Isabella opened her mouth wide.
Two sharp fangs grew long.
“Hahp.”
*Plunge.*
The fangs pierced his nape.
Once again, he felt no pain, only a pleasure so intense it made his head spin.
“Urk.”
“Hahh… you're delicious, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Isabella lovingly embraced Oh-jin's trembling body and drank his blood.
*Gulp, gulp.*
With every mouthful of blood, an otherworldly pleasure and ecstasy sent shivers through her body.
‘Aah.’
Isabella trembled slightly, slowly savoring the blood that filled her mouth.
Even though this was only the second time she had tasted his blood, she was already so addicted that she couldn't imagine a life without it.
‘Just… just three sips.’
If she drank any more, she wasn't confident she could suppress her surging impulses.
“Haah, haah. Mr. Oh-jin.”
She whispered in a melting voice as she drank.
Then, something caught her eye.
Isabella's eyes sparkled as she licked Oh-jin's nape.
“Does it feel good?”
“……”
“Then… you don't have to hold back, Mr. Oh-jin.”
She whispered in a seductive voice, lightly stroking Oh-jin's chest.
As her hand moved past his chest and stomach, slowly descending lower.
“Stop.”
Oh-jin gently pushed Isabella away and pressed his hand against the holes in his nape.
A disappointed sigh escaped Isabella's lips.
“…Is it because of Ms. Ha-eun?”
Oh-jin kept his lips firmly shut and avoided her gaze.
Isabella nodded with a bitter smile.
“I suppose so. You and Ms. Ha-eun are lovers, after all.”
“You knew?”
“Wouldn't it be stranger not to know?”
He had intended to hide it as much as possible, but it seemed she had known for a long time.
Isabella took a potion from between her breasts and carefully poured it on Oh-jin's nape.
“I don't mind being second.”
“…What?”
Oh-jin looked flustered by her unexpected words.
“Hehe. I'm just kidding.”
Was it really a joke?
Isabella smiled brightly and wiped the blood and saliva from Oh-jin's nape.
She must have used a high-grade potion, as the holes in his neck disappeared in an instant.
“Thank you.”
Feeling her bloodlust completely gone, Isabella gave a faint smile.
Not only had her urge to drink blood vanished, but the Stigma's magic flowing through her entire body felt even stronger.
“Well, sharing a few sips of blood isn't a big deal.”
“It's not just that… it's everything.”
Isabella leaned her forehead against Oh-jin's back.
The warmth she felt through her forehead.
A happy feeling she thought would never return filled her heart.
‘My new hope.’
She had received so much from him that she didn't know how to repay his kindness.
‘I'm so envious of Ms. Ha-eun.’
*Throb.*
When she thought of Ha-eun, a sharp pain pierced her pounding heart.
If only she, too, could have all of Oh-jin's love, how wonderful would that be.
‘That would be too greedy.’
Just by looking at them, she could tell how deep the bond of fate was between Oh-jin and Ha-eun.
A thick, unbreakable bond of fate that she could never hope to touch.
But.
‘I won't give up.’
She had no intention of forcibly breaking their thick bond.
If she could just add a new link called Isabella between them.
That alone…
“Isabella?”
“Ah, I'm sorry.”
Isabella erased the thoughts filling her mind and gave Oh-jin a beautiful, smiling gaze.
“You don't need any more blood, right?”
“Yes. I should be fine for a while.”
“Alright, now that the complicated situation has mostly been sorted out, there's something I want to ask.”
“Please, ask me anything.”
Isabella sat demurely on the luxurious carpeted floor.
“I want to hear about the Heukseonghoe. Everything you know.”
“Hmm.”
As if she had expected the question, Isabella nodded without any sign of surprise.
“I'm not sure where to begin.”
“Let's start from when you first received the Stigma of Leech.”
“It wasn't much different from a normal Awakened. While I was wandering around looking for my sister, I heard the voice of a Constellation and received the Stigma.”
So it wasn't a special approach just because it was a Black Star Constellation.
“Where were you looking for your sister?”
“Iceland. It's where my sister was abandoned when she was exiled from the family.”
“Iceland…”
“Yes. It's not far from the ‘First Fissure’.”
Oh-jin's eyes narrowed.
The first gate to the world of monsters, known as the Magyeong, opened in Greenland.
Iceland was not far from there.
‘Are the Black Stars and the Magyeong related?’
Come to think of it, he'd heard from Jang Seok-ho that a Heukseonghoe faction hid in the Magyeong to conceal themselves.
“Did you enter the Magyeong too, Isabella?”
“No. I've never been inside the Magyeong.”
It seemed not all Heukseonghoe factions hid in the Magyeong.
“Anyway, you received the Stigma from a Black Star Constellation in Iceland… and then what?”
“For a few years, I wandered around Iceland, tormented by the urge to drink blood. I tried to find my sister somehow… but in the end, I couldn't.”
“……”
Oh-jin swallowed hard, his expression heavy.
If she was left alone for years in Iceland, of all places, so close to the First Fissure, it was unlikely her sister was still alive.
“And after that, you returned to Italy?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“How did you end up joining the Heukseonghoe?”
“There was a revelation from the Constellation.”
A revelation.
“There, I met Roberto and secretly gathered the Awakened who held the Stigma of Leech.”
“Did you not meet with other factions?”
“I did meet them. We even fought with the Noctua faction over a few interests.”
Aha.
So that's why the Noctua faction called Isabella a witch and had a fit.
“How are the Heukseonghoe factions structured now?”
“Hmm. I'll write them down for you in order of rank.”
Isabella took out a small memo pad and began writing down the names of the factions.
1. Serpens Faction.
2. Musca Faction.
3. Leech Faction.
4. Felis Faction.
5. Toad Faction.
6. Noctua Faction.
7. Seahorse Faction.
Of these, the 5th, 6th, and 7th ranked factions were gone.
“…So the Serpens, Musca, and Felis factions are what's left.”
“Among them, the only one I've had some contact with is the Felis faction. All I know about the Musca faction is that they're based somewhere in South America.”
“What about the Serpens faction?”
“I know nothing about them, other than that they're fanatics of the Cheonma.”
At the title ‘Cheonma,’ Oh-jin's eyes gleamed sharply.
“Have you ever met the Cheonma?”
“No. I've only heard rumors; I've never actually met him.”
So Isabella hadn't seen the Cheonma in person either.
“Is there anything you know about the Cheonma?”
“Well… I've heard that he created the Black Stars.”
“…What?”
He created the Black Stars?
“Wait. By Black Stars, you mean the Constellations, right?”
“Yes, that's right. They say the Cheonma gave power to the Constellations known as ‘Satellites’ among the other Constellations, turning them into Black Stars.”
“……”
The Cheonma created the Black Star Constellations?
‘Does that even make sense?’
How can a human create a Constellation?
No matter how I think about it, that's completely beyond common sense—
“Ah.”
A short gasp escaped Oh-jin's lips.
An answer that solved all the tangled questions at once.
It makes no sense for a human to have the power to create a transcendent being like a Constellation.
In that case.
The answer is simple, isn't it?
“The title ‘Cheonma’… it wasn't given to a person, was it?”
Oh-jin asked in a low, somber voice.
“Yes, that's right.”
Isabella gave a small nod.
“The Cheonma is not human.”
