Chapter 335
Chapter 335
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 335
Chapter Title: Interlude – Encounter (1)
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Three days had passed since they’d defeated Deimos and his golden knights.
Oh-jin and his party had yet to leave the territory, remaining in Deimos’s castle.
Ha-eun and Isabella had sustained no major injuries, but Oh-jin, who was suffering from the aftereffects of the blessing, and Baek Mu-gang, whose arm had been crushed, had yet to fully recover.
“Mmm.”
Oh-jin opened his eyes to the streams of light filtering through the window.
Being a city built underground, there was no rising sun, of course. But at a set time, a sacred relic installed in the ceiling would emit light, making it feel just like morning had arrived.
“Oh, are you awake, Oh-jin?”
A sweet voice tickled his ear.
He turned his head to find Isabella lying there, her head resting on his arm, a gentle smile on her face.
“…”
Her beauty was breathtaking.
Her platinum blonde hair, as if spun from molten gold, her snow-white skin, and her plump, glistening red lips stole his gaze.
The soft touch on his arm and her breath tickling his ear made Oh-jin gulp.
“Why are you here…”
“Shh, you might wake her.”
Her?
“Hngh. Oh-jiiin.”
Looking to his side, he saw Ha-eun asleep, using his other arm as a pillow.
‘When the hell did they come in?’
Oh-jin let out a short, dry laugh as he looked at Ha-eun, who was sleeping while hugging his arm.
“We came to wake you, but you were sleeping so soundly we decided to lie down beside you for a moment. My sister fell right back to sleep.”
Had I slept so deeply that I didn't even notice them coming in?
The aftereffects of the blessing were clearly quite severe.
“Ugh. What time is it? I feel like I slept for a long time.”
“Ah, just a moment.”
Isabella gently pressed down on Oh-jin’s chest as he tried to sit up, moving closer.
Haaah.
Isabella let out a heated breath and licked the nape of his neck.
He felt a ticklish sensation, followed by the feeling of sharp fangs piercing his skin.
“Kgh.”
Despite the fangs piercing him, he felt no pain.
Instead, a powerful wave of pleasure spread through his entire body.
Oh-jin suppressed a moan, enduring the pleasure that heated his whole body.
“Hmph. Gulp, gulp.”
After drinking two or three mouthfuls of blood, Isabella pulled away from his neck.
Wiping her mouth with a white handkerchief, she nodded in satisfaction.
“As expected, your blood in the morning is something special, Oh-jin.”
“Are you really going to talk about it like you're having a morning cup of coffee?”
“Hehe. Lately, it feels like my day can't start without it.”
At this point, that sounds like an addiction.
“That’s right. I am addicted. Not just to your blood, but to everything about you, Oh-jin.”
“Uh, um.”
“What is it?”
“No, it’s just that line was a bit…”
…cringey.
“Ugh! Th-that was just because I drank your blood and all the heat went to my head!”
“I am addicted…”
“O-Oh-jin!”
As if realizing just how cringey her line had been, Isabella’s face turned red as she pummeled Oh-jin’s chest with her fists.
“Ugh… what’s all this noise in the morning?”
Ha-eun, who had been sleeping soundly beside him, sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“Hey, sis. Guess what Bella just said?”
“Huh? What’d she say?”
“Kyaaaah! St-stop it! Right now!”
Isabella screamed and clamped her hand over Oh-jin’s mouth.
Oh-jin burst out laughing and got up from the bed.
“Maybe it’s because I slept for so long, but I’m hungry.”
“…There’s no food for you today, Oh-jin.”
“What, why?”
It’s not like I told her to say it.
“Just because.”
Isabella, clearly upset, huffed and slammed the door on her way out.
“What was that about? What did she say to get so worked up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just that my blood has been tasting better lately.”
He changed the subject, thinking he’d probably starve for the whole day if he told her the truth.
“Hmm… is it really that tasty?”
Ha-eun tilted her head, staring at the nape of Oh-jin’s neck.
“Hey, Oh-jin. Cut your neck a bit so I can try your blood.”
“What kind of crazy talk is that?”
Why would I cut my neck?
“Hey, I just said to make a small cut, you punk. Did you think I told you to slash it open like in a horror movie?”
“Yeah, right.”
He gave Ha-eun a smack on the butt with his palm and stretched.
“Ugh.”
Is it because of the aftereffects from the blessing?
Even though he’d slept much longer than usual, his body still felt sluggish.
“How are you feeling?”
“Still sluggish.”
“Jeez, who told you to go doping like that?”
Calling a Constellation's blessing 'doping.'
Well, if you only look at the effects, I guess it is kind of similar.
“Oh yeah, I saw that mutt earlier.”
“Liahrk?”
“Yup.”
It seemed Liahrk, who had temporarily taken refuge in the Sanctuary because of the noxious sulfur gas, had returned.
‘Well, there is a purification device inside the territory.’
Oh-jin didn’t know the exact principle behind how it worked.
But the air inside the territory, which should have been unbearably noxious, was maintained in a clear and refreshing state, as if one were in a rural mountain valley.
“Let’s go eat, sis.”
“Yeah. Hold on, let me just fix my hair.”
Ha-eun tied up her red hair, which reached down to her waist, and followed Oh-jin out of the room.
“Ah! Good person! Did you sleep well?!”
As they walked down the long corridor, they heard a cheerful voice.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yep, yep! I slept very well!”
Baek Mu-gang nodded, flapping the letter in his hand.
Ha-eun grinned and approached Baek Mu-gang.
“I heard, gramps. You finally read the letter?”
“Yep! Oh-jin helped me!”
Seeing Baek Mu-gang nod with a bright smile, a gentle smile formed on Ha-eun’s lips.
Seeing him so excited, it seemed that thankfully, there was nothing bad written in the letter.
Ha-eun gave Baek Mu-gang’s shoulder a playful nudge with her elbow.
“So, so, what did it say? Was there something embarrassing written in it?”
“That’s… hehe, a secret!”
“Aw, c’mon~ you can tell me, gramps.”
“I’m not gonna tell you!”
Baek Mu-gang shook his head back and forth, and Ha-eun persistently followed him, asking about the letter’s contents.
Boisterous laughter echoed through the corridor.
“…”
Oh-jin watched Baek Mu-gang’s back, biting his lip.
He let out a deep sigh and followed the two towards the dining hall.
They arrived at a splendid hall that could have hosted a ball—though they conveniently called it a dining hall—and saw Isabella preparing a meal with Liahrk sitting beside her.
“Finally awake, brat?”
“Yeah. When did you get here?”
“I got here a few hours ago, but you were sleeping like the dead, so I was waiting.”
Liahrk clicked his tongue, gearing up for one of his boring lectures that started with ‘A warrior should…’
Oh-jin waved his hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What brings you here?”
“Hmph. Lady Vega sent me to check on your condition.”
So Vega sent him.
“How’s Vega?”
Although it was only enough to block sound, she had still used her Sanctuary and, in the end, a blessing, so she must have taken a considerable hit.
“Well, she’s not in a state you need to worry about.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Still, she won’t be able to manifest for a while.”
Oh-jin nodded and sat down at the table.
Today’s menu was simple frozen pork cutlets.
A simple dish that just needed to be taken out, put in a greased frying pan, and fried.
‘But for frozen food, the quality is actually pretty good.’
As he was waiting for the cutlets to fry, licking his lips in anticipation…
“Enjoy your meal, Oh-jin.”
Isabella placed something burnt black on Oh-jin’s plate with a bright smile.
‘What is this?’
Is this charcoal?
“Um… Isabella.”
“You’re going to eat every last bite, aren’t you?”
“…”
Looks like I won’t be eating a proper meal for a while.
* * *
“Alright then.”
After finishing his meal(?), Oh-jin went down to the golden treasury where the fierce battle with Deimos had taken place.
Inside the treasury, the traces of the fierce battle remained, leaving it in a mess reminiscent of a battlefield.
Oh-jin gathered all the treasures Deimos had collected in one place.
Most of them were broken or crushed from the aftermath of the battle.
‘The magic imbued within them still remains.’
Like how a smartphone’s battery can still hold a charge even if the phone itself is broken.
Their function as sacred relics was broken, but the magic imbued within them remained.
‘And.’
Oh-jin’s gaze turned to Deimos’s fallen corpse.
Even though several days had passed since Deimos’s death, his corpse was still emanating the powerful magic of a Stigma.
“I can’t just leave this behind.”
Oh-jin smirked and firmly shut the treasury door to prevent anyone else from entering.
The dozens of barriers protecting the treasury had survived the battle’s aftermath, so without the sacred stone that acted as a key, no one would be able to get inside.
After carefully checking that no one was around, Oh-jin stood in the middle of the treasury and slowly closed his eyes.
‘Black Heaven.’
Rumble.
Dark clouds billowed out from Oh-jin’s body, blanketing the surroundings like a fog.
The dark clouds flowing from Black Heaven greedily devoured the magic imbued within the hundreds, thousands of sacred relics Deimos had collected.
“Kugh.”
A torrent of magic, nearly as vast as when he had absorbed the dragon vein, surged into his body.
‘This is more than I imagined.’
The sheer amount of pure magic was so immense that he thought it might be comparable to the dragon god’s soul that Ha-eun had absorbed.
Of course, it was only a brutish amount of quantity; in terms of quality, it was far inferior to the dragon god’s soul.
‘And I haven’t even gotten to the main course yet.’
The sacred relics Deimos had collected were merely an appetizer.
Rumble.
Having devoured all the magic within the sacred relics, the dark clouds began to swarm around Deimos’s corpse like ants to sugar.
“Hah.”
Deimos’s magic flowed into his body.
Is it because it contains the power of the Heavenly Demon?
A magic different from that of the sacred relics—one that felt somehow familiar—gathered in his heart.
And then.
RUMMMMMBLE!
Dark clouds erupted explosively from every pore of his body.
The swirling clouds of Black Heaven.
With the clear sound of a bell, a blue message window appeared before his eyes.
The tenth blooming of Black Heaven.
The black sky coiled in his heart began to boil like an active volcano.
[Black Heaven has reached the Tenth Star Transformation!]
As he slowly closed his eyes, wondering what memories would flow in this time…
[A portion of Awakener Lee Shin-hyeok’s memories will be inherited!]
Gurgle, rumble.
The swirling dark clouds began to scatter and coalesce repeatedly, as if having a seizure.
‘What?’
As he furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar sensation…
[An unidentified power is interfering with the inheritance.]
[Error occurred.]
[Inheritance canceled.]
“Kuaaaargh!”
Crackle-zzzzzt!
His vision distorted and went black.
The place he opened his eyes to was a darkness without a single point of light.
“What… where is this?”
As he was looking around in the pitch-black space…
“Is this the first time we’ve spoken so directly?”
A voice came from beyond the darkness.
A voice that was all too familiar, far too intimate.
“You are…”
With a hardened expression, Oh-jin turned his head in the direction of the voice.
Fwoosh.
A blue will-o’-the-wisp flared up in the darkness.
“You already know, don’t you?”
A young man with the exact same appearance as him walked out from within the dark clouds.
“I am you.”
The Heavenly Demon looked at Oh-jin and gave a bright smile.