Chapter 222
Chapter 222
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: Interlude - Reunion (4)
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“Haaahhh.”
Oh-jin, who had been lying on Poppy's back, stretched and let out a long yawn.
“Are we almost there?”
Oh-jin grabbed Poppy's mane and sat up.
The landscape of the Demon Realm came into view.
A lush, overgrown forest.
Normally, the forest should have been pitch-black without sunlight, but thanks to glowing insects that floated around like fireflies, it wasn't dark at all.
In fact, the dreamlike atmosphere made the scenery look quite beautiful.
‘The Demon Realm isn't as desolate as I imagined.’
The Demon Realm he had seen over the past few days from Poppy's back was very different from what he'd expected.
He had originally pictured a world like the deepest hell, an endless wasteland filled only with blood and slaughter.
“…It even has things like villages and cities.”
Though he had only seen them from a distance, without ever entering one.
Surprisingly, the Demon Realm contained well-organized villages and cities that could easily be called a 'civilization'.
‘Come to think of it, they said there were beings called kings, too.’
The existence of kings meant there was a class system and a society among the demonic beasts.
‘I haven't seen many demonic beasts with that level of intelligence.’
Most of the demonic beasts he had encountered so far were more like animals, driven by primal instincts.
He never imagined such creatures could build villages and cities, serve kings, and form nations.
“Then again... it's not like there aren't any intelligent monsters.”
A prime example were the 'Named' monsters—creatures given a unique name rather than being part of a species—most of whom possessed intelligence surpassing that of humans.
Their activity had died down recently, but before the Black Star Organization appeared, humanity's greatest threat had been the Named monsters leading vast hordes of beasts.
“…Named monsters.”
A hint of anger crept into Oh-jin's voice.
The Celestial Dragon Barbatos.
The monster that had taken Ha-eun's eyes was also one of the Named.
“Grrrrowl?”
Poppy, perhaps sensing the killing intent, turned its head to look at Oh-jin.
Oh-jin smiled as if he hadn't just been radiating hostility and stroked Poppy's mane.
“Ah, is that it?”
As he stroked Poppy's mane and crossed the forest.
He saw a massive black rift in the distance.
An enormous rift, 50 kilometers in diameter.
‘So this is the place connected to the first rift.’
The rift was so large it looked less like a crack and more like a vast black curtain.
“Time to go home.”
Oh-jin flopped back down on Poppy's back and tore open a bag of potato chips Cassia had given him.
When he was first left alone in the Demon Realm, he'd thought he would only escape after a fierce struggle for survival, but thanks to Cassia, the journey had been as comfortable as a business-class flight.
“…I want to see them soon.”
Ha-eun, Isabella, Vega, and Riak.
Only after being left alone did he realize just how much they meant to him.
“Grrrrowl!”
Did it hear Oh-jin's murmur?
Poppy let out a low growl and quickened its pace.
His body jolted up and down, but it was no problem for Oh-jin, who possessed superhuman balance.
Vwoooom!
And what Oh-jin saw after crossing the black rift and returning to Earth was…
“Kieeeeeek!”
“Grrrrrk!”
Allen, Isabella, and the sisters Xiaolin and Xiaolan, locked in battle with thousands, tens of thousands of demonic beasts.
And.
“Oh, Oh-jin! Oh-ji… Huh?”
...Ha-eun, who had been urgently calling his name before abruptly stopping.
“…Huh?”
Lying on Poppy's back and eating potato chips, Oh-jin's expression hardened.
‘What is this?’
There was no time to leisurely assess the situation.
The thought 'I'm screwed' flashed through his mind, and his body moved reflexively.
“Keuk! Kack!”
Oh-jin clutched his chest and immediately rolled off Poppy's back.
He used transformation to create wounds and summoned lightning to rupture his internal organs.
“Cough!”
Dark red blood trickled from his mouth.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin?!”
Isabella, who had been fighting demonic beasts on his right, urgently looked over, perhaps having smelled his blood.
“H-How is everyone here…?”
Oh-jin raised his head with a look of disbelief.
He shouted urgently at Isabella, who was running toward him.
“N-No!”
Crawling on the ground, he looked back at Poppy with a terrified expression.
“Everyone, run!”
“Mr. Oh-jin…?”
Isabella's approaching footsteps halted.
[Poppy! Attack me!]
In the brief moment Isabella paused, Oh-jin activated the Stigma of Capricorn.
Using the Stigma's power to manipulate 'sound', he sent his voice so only Poppy could hear it.
“Grrr?”
Poppy tilted its head, confused by the voice suddenly echoing in its mind.
[Hurry up and attack me! Right now!]
“Grrrrr.”
Poppy nodded and swatted Oh-jin, who had fallen to the ground, with its massive forepaw.
Thwack!
Struck by the paw of a beast tens of meters tall, Oh-jin's body flew like a cannonball and tumbled across the ground.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin!”
Isabella ran toward Oh-jin, her face a mask of horror.
Despite his entire body aching, Oh-jin issued his next command to Poppy.
[Good, now stop moving. Stare this way and raise your head.]
“Grrrrrrrr!”
Poppy obediently followed Oh-jin's instructions, raising its head to glare down at the fallen Oh-jin.
“To think you'd run this far... you're a persistent one.”
A low voice emanated from Poppy's mouth.
Of course, it wasn't Poppy speaking, but a fake voice created by Oh-jin using the Stigma of Capricorn.
[Scan the people around you and snort.]
Poppy scanned Allen, the Xiao sisters, and Isabella, who were battling the horde of demonic beasts, then let out a forceful snort.
“Hmph!”
[Not so hard that snot comes out, you idiot!]
Poppy raised a forepaw and wiped away the dripping snot.
“…You're a lucky one.”
The low voice echoed.
“But no matter how much you struggle, it will be useless.”
It glared with fierce eyes and clicked its long beak.
“This world will find a new order under the name of the Black Star.”
Vwoooom!
A black light enveloped Poppy's body, burning ominously.
A murky, ominous mana, so potent it was nauseating, blanketed the area.
“A servant of the Snake?”
Allen, who had just decapitated a basilisk, stared at Poppy with cold eyes.
Poppy narrowed its eyes fiercely, glared at Allen, and spoke in a savage voice.
“Do not speak of Him so carelessly, human.”
“…I knew it.”
Allen gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes glinting sharply.
“So the rumors that the Snake had bewitched even the demonic beasts of the Demon Realm were true.”
When he'd heard the information from Cheon Gwon-seong, he had wondered if they would really go so far as to meddle with the beasts living in the Demon Realm.
Now it seemed the rumors were true.
“You... did this to Mr. Oh-jin?”
Isabella, who was cradling the fallen, blood-vomiting Oh-jin, slowly rose to her feet.
A red aura enveloped her body, shaking the surroundings.
“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you do this to Mr. Oh-jin…!”
Just as Isabella gripped her red scythe and was about to charge at Poppy.
“Cough! Cough!”
Oh-jin began to vomit more blood and writhe in pain.
“Ah…!”
Isabella urgently hugged Oh-jin and pulled a potion from her pocket.
Having brought a top-grade potion in case Oh-jin was in critical condition, she uncapped it and poured it into his mouth.
“Isa…bel, la.”
“I-It's okay, Mr. Oh-jin. I'm here now... I came to save you, so don't worry anymore.”
Tears streamed down Isabella's cheeks.
“Hmph.”
Poppy, watching this, snorted as if unimpressed and turned away.
[Just go back the way you came.]
“Grrr….”
Before entering the rift.
Poppy glanced back with a somewhat sad growl.
[It's okay, Poppy. We'll be able to meet again someday.]
“Grrr!”
Waving its snake-like tail, Poppy entered the rift.
“…Let's get out of here for now.”
Allen clicked his tongue as he watched Poppy's retreating back and cut down the surrounding demonic beasts.
Perhaps because the Snake's servant had left.
The momentum of the rampaging demonic beasts broke, and their movements became sluggish.
“Get on my back, Mr. Oh-jin.”
“Than, ks.”
“…Don't thank me.”
Isabella gently caressed Oh-jin's cheek, which had grown so gaunt in the past few days that he was almost unrecognizable.
“I... I was so scared.”
She hugged Oh-jin's head and continued in a trembling voice.
“I was so scared that I'd never see you again, that we'd never meet again... I was so scared.”
Tears flowed down her pale cheeks, forming droplets at the tip of her chin before falling.
“Thank you... for being alive, Mr. Oh-jin.”
Her tears, falling like dew on a morning leaf, wet Oh-jin's forehead.
“From now on... I won't let you go.”
Isabella tightened her arms around Oh-jin, making a quiet vow.
“……”
And Ha-eun, who had been watching the entire scene.
“That bastard's pulling his bullshit again.”
She sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
***
After Oh-jin's safe return to Earth.
Oh-jin couldn't go straight home and was instead taken to a hospital room run by the Colagrande family.
He didn't have many injuries to begin with, and after receiving extensive care from top-tier medical staff, he was back on his feet in no time.
“Haam.”
A VIP hospital room decorated like a hotel suite.
Oh-jin, who had slept for ten straight hours on the plush bed, opened his eyes with a long yawn.
Lying in bed, he stared at the ceiling and continued his thoughts.
‘Still, I managed to get through that somehow.’
When he first made eye contact with Ha-eun, he thought his life was over.
Fortunately, it seemed that no one except Ha-eun had seen him comfortably munching on potato chips while riding Poppy's back.
‘I got a good rest for the first time in a while, too.’
Was it the aftereffects of using Heaven's Opening?
He had been unknowingly accumulating fatigue, so he actually welcomed the care from the top-tier medical team Isabella had arranged.
“Time to get back to work.”
The moment he tried to get up from the hospital bed.
Clank.
“…Huh? What's this?”
Only then did Oh-jin notice the red chains shackled to his wrists and ankles.
Chains that wouldn't break no matter how much strength he used.
“Are you awake?”
Just then.
The door to the room opened, and Isabella walked in.
She was wearing the maid outfit she had shown him from her trunk before, and she approached Oh-jin, who was chained to the bed.
“Isabella. What is this….”
“Didn't I tell you?”
Isabella sat on the edge of the bed and gently caressed Oh-jin's cheek.
“That from now on, I won't let you go.”
Her eyes, gazing at Oh-jin, were glowing a brilliant, blood-red.