Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: Interlude–The Devil of the Sky
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*Swoosh!*
With a sharp whoosh, a serpent lunged.
Its gaping maw pierced through the dark storm clouds.
The black clouds roiled violently.
“Why have so many people started impersonating the Heavenly Demon?”
Cassia frowned, unable to hide her profound displeasure.
Come to think of it, the Toad King, Juan Sukotai, had done the same.
He had called himself the Heavenly Demon and demanded her obedience.
“I won’t be fooled again.”
*Because I’ve found the real Heavenly Demon.*
A deep smile touched Cassia’s lips as she pictured a certain man.
A man with curly black hair and decadent eyes.
Looking at Oh-jin, she was certain.
The Heavenly Demon she had been searching for was none other than him.
“All these blasphemers who dare impersonate Lord Oh-jin…”
She would kill them all with her own hands.
“Hah.”
She let out a soft breath and slowly raised her arm.
From the deep shadows, snakes slithered out.
They weren't real, living snakes.
They were snakes made of shadow.
Clad in darkness, the shadow snakes that devoured light surged toward the black storm clouds like a tsunami.
[Hmm.]
A low murmur emanated from the dark clouds.
[So… that’s how it is.]
As if understanding the entire situation, the black cloud let out a low chuckle.
*Swoooosh!*
The shadow snakes instantly swarmed and enveloped the storm cloud.
The cloud was a formless, gaseous mass, but that wasn't an issue.
The shadow snakes could inflict direct damage not on a target's body, but on their soul.
However.
[Vanish.]
A single, short command.
At that one word, the snakes surrounding the cloud melted away like snow.
“What…?”
Cassia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
[Just as I expected, I suppose.]
A low laugh trickled from the black cloud.
[I’m glad I took out some insurance.]
Insurance?
An ominous premonition slithered down Cassia’s spine, and she stumbled backward.
[Come here, Cassia.]
The black cloud called to her.
Why was it?
Against her will, Cassia’s legs began to move.
“Ah, ugh.”
The black cloud extended a hand toward the trembling Cassia.
Though it was a formless cloud and didn't have a hand to speak of.
Cassia perceived the approaching cloud as, without a doubt, a ‘hand.’
[Night has fallen.]
*Click.*
As if a switch had been flipped.
Cassia’s body froze.
Her eyes, devoid of light, stared into the void.
The sky, which had been clear just moments ago, was now shrouded in deep darkness.
[The night brings many things to mind.]
The voice of the black cloud—no, the Heavenly Demon—resounded softly in the pitch-black darkness.
[The anger you’ve suppressed, the sorrow you’ve crushed, the desires you’ve trampled… and the memories you wished to forget.]
The Heavenly Demon’s hand gently caressed her cheek.
[Do you remember? What happened that day in the snowfield.]
“……”
Though she was in a lush tropical rainforest, she felt a chill that bit into her flesh.
*Clatter, clatter, clatter.*
Her teeth chattered, her face pale.
She curled into a ball, recalling that day.
A pure white snowfield.
The memory of collapsing on the endless expanse of snow.
No.
The memory of being abandoned.
[That day, I plucked the stars from the night sky and gifted them to you.]
Ah, yes.
How could she ever forget?
The stars etched on her left breast were all gifts from him.
[What can you give me in return?]
The black cloud gently enveloped her body.
As her consciousness blurred.
Cassia found the darkness embracing her to be incredibly comforting.
“Every… thing.”
Her consciousness flickering to black, she stammered out her words.
“My… everything… to you, Lord… Heavenly Demon….”
[You need not give me everything.]
Like a flower that blooms and wilts.
The black cloud rippled.
[If you will just grant me one request.]
The Devil of the Sky whispered in the sweetest of voices.
And with that.
“…Yes, Lord Heavenly Demon.”
Cassia’s consciousness sank away, into the black cloud.
***
“I’m hoooooome!”
Kicking off her shoes, Ha-eun dashed into the living room and leaped onto the sofa.
Throwing herself onto the high-end sofa that cost tens of millions of won (a gift from Isabella), she hugged a cushion and wriggled like an inchworm.
“Anyone would think you’re a new recruit on your first leave.”
Oh-jin let out a hollow laugh and walked over to Ha-eun, who was sprawled on the sofa.
The time it took to subjugate the Heavenly Dragon was a mere three days.
The reason they’d stayed in Pyongyang for three days wasn't because they couldn't catch the Heavenly Dragon, but to investigate if Barbato had left behind any hordes of monsters or sacred relics he had gathered.
‘Though we didn’t find anything of note.’
They went through all sorts of trouble searching a lair covered in piles of dung, but came up empty-handed.
Well, still.
The Heavenly Dragon’s corpse alone was more than enough of a haul.
“How’s your eye, Nunna?”
Oh-jin approached Ha-eun, his gaze fixed on her left eye, which was covered by an eyepatch.
“Hmm… it doesn’t hurt or anything.”
Ha-eun reached up and untied the eyepatch.
From the left eye that had been hidden by the black patch, a soft, amber light glowed.
The change in her eye occurred after they killed the Heavenly Dragon, which had been begging for its life.
Something whitish had flowed out of the Heavenly Dragon’s body and been absorbed into her eye.
Vega had said it was the ‘Dragon’s Soul’ being absorbed by her Dragon’s Eye.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yup. Totally fine.”
He had been worried that absorbing the soul of a Heavenly Dragon, of all things, might cause some side effects, but thankfully, there seemed to be none.
“If anything, I’d say its performance has improved?”
Ha-eun touched the area around her left eye and opened her Dragon’s Eye wide.
“I don’t know if it’s because I reached 10-Star or because I absorbed that thing’s soul, but I can handle more of the magic power in that… Dragon’s Heart, was it? And my vision has gotten way better.”
“Your vision got better?”
“Yeah. I can see the inside of your nostrils in detail, Oh-jinnie.”
“……”
Oh-jin reflexively covered his nose with his hand.
Ha-eun burst into laughter and sat up.
“Anyway! I’m totally satisfied!”
She had overcome her trauma, reached 10-Star, and even enhanced her Dragon’s Eye.
This subjugation was practically a Christmas present for her.
“That’s a relief.”
Seeing Ha-eun so happy brought a smile to Oh-jin’s face as well.
“Yes, I’m so glad for you, Unni.”
Isabella, who had entered the house after them, nodded with a bright smile.
“Oh, by the way, Unni. You should take a look at this.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“It’s the heart of the Heavenly Dragon Barbatos. Ah, it’s not a real heart, but a Stigma Stone.”
Isabella took out a Stigma Stone the size of an ostrich egg from her bag.
As promised, the task of disposing of the Heavenly Dragon’s corpse had been left to the Colagrande family, and this was something they had found inside.
“You said your eye holds the power to wield a dragon’s magic, right?”
“Ah, yeah. That’s what Vega said.”
“Then perhaps you could absorb the magic power contained in this as well?”
“Ah.”
It was a very real possibility.
“B-But…”
Ha-eun gulped and stared at the Stigma Stone in Isabella’s hand.
When she received the equipment support, she had handed over all rights to the Heavenly Dragon’s corpse to Isabella.
She was already 30 billion won in debt; she couldn’t just snatch the Stigma Stone for herself.
“Oh my, why are you being so distant now, Unni?”
Isabella sat down next to her with a deep smile.
She gently wrapped an arm around the shoulder of Ha-eun, whose eyes were glued to the Heavenly Dragon's Stigma Stone, and whispered in her ear.
“We’re family now, aren’t we? Right?”
“Huh?”
Having suddenly gained a family she'd never heard from her entire life, Ha-eun wore a bewildered expression.
“You’re… what was the Korean word… ah, my sister-in-law! You’re my sister-in-law, aren’t you?”
“I-I’m not your sister-in-law.”
Ha-eun’s meek rebuttal couldn't hide the fact that her gaze was still fixed on the large Stigma Stone.
Isabella watched Ha-eun, who couldn't tear her eyes away from the stone, and smiled deeply.
“It’s true that you’ve become a 10-Star, Unni… but you still have a long way to go, don’t you?”
As she said.
It was true that Ha-eun had reached the same 10-Star rank as Isabella.
But even at the same 10-Star rank, the gap between Ha-eun and Isabella was as wide as the heavens and the earth.
For Awakeners, ‘Stars’ were a kind of weight class.
Even if two people were in the same heavyweight class, there was an enormous gap between a rookie who had just started training and a professional holding the championship belt.
What’s more, this gap widened exponentially the higher the Star rank.
“With just this Stigma Stone… it would be a great help to your growth, wouldn’t it?”
“It would…”
As Ha-eun’s voice trailed off and she shrank back, Isabella beamed.
“Unni, I’ve never been to an amusement park in my entire life.”
She stroked her smiling lips and glanced over at Oh-jin.
“So I was thinking of going to one with Mr. Oh-jin tomorrow… would that be okay?”
“Ugh.”
It didn't take a genius to figure out the hidden meaning of ‘just the two of us.’
“You haven’t forgotten your promise, have you?”
“……”
Ha-eun pressed her lips together firmly and avoided Isabella’s gaze.
After looking at Oh-jin with pleading eyes, Ha-eun finally let out a deep sigh.
“…Alright. You two can go.”
“Yes!”
Isabella shot up from her seat and pumped her fist.
“…Ah.”
A momentary silence fell, and Isabella cleared her throat with a *hem*.
“S-Sorry. I got a little excited.”
She sat back down, her face flushing a delicate red.
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes and glared at Isabella.
“Don’t forget. Oh-jinnie is my boyfriend.”
“O-Of course, I know that!”
Isabella nodded vigorously, desperately trying to suppress the smile that was spreading across her face.
“Hah. What a headache.”
Ha-eun let out a deep sigh and shot a sharp glare at Oh-jin.
Since she had received too much from Isabella to say anything to her, she turned her frustration on Oh-jin instead.
“You’re the biggest problem here.”
“……”
Oh-jin, who had suddenly become the target, had nothing to say in his defense.
It was also his fault for not keeping his distance from Isabella.
“It’s fine for you two to go out.”
Ha-eun glanced at Isabella’s plump, pink lips and continued.
“…But no kissing, okay?”
“Hehe. Of course, Unni!”
Isabella nodded enthusiastically and stood up again.
She linked her arm with Oh-jin’s and smiled sweetly.
“You heard her, Mr. Oh-jin? Let’s go out tomorrow!”
“…Okay.”
How could he refuse in this situation?
Oh-jin looked at Isabella, who was as excited as a child on the night before a picnic, and let out a short sigh.
Isabella clung to Oh-jin’s arm, her eyes quietly sparkling.
‘If kissing isn’t allowed…’
*Does that mean other things are?*