Chapter 56
Chapter 56 - Side Story 1 - White Snow
Snow fell over the burning village.
It was an unseasonable heavy snowfall. The snow covered the world in white, and the burning village looked like a red dot on a white canvas.
"......"
The woman stood in the middle of that red dot.
She blankly scanned the burning houses and the completely burned government office building with her eyes.
The Snow clan's village, though not large, was beautiful. The elegant tiled houses that were the pride of the clan, and the thatched houses filled with the scent of daily life were all gone.
All that remained were ashes and broken household items.
"Ah... Aah..."
The woman walked unsteadily with a weak groan. Eventually, her eyes fell upon a magnificent house burning vigorously, and she slowly walked toward it.
Passing through the gate where heat rose intensely, she entered the spacious courtyard.
Corpses were strewn about the courtyard like garbage.
A middle-aged man with his stomach pierced. A middle-aged woman whose head had been severed and lay separately.
Women her age lay dead, brutally slashed, while an infant who hadn't yet been weaned lay in bloody swaddling clothes.
"Father... Mother..."
Empty titles lingered on the woman's lips. They were words referring to the corpses at her feet.
The woman collapsed. She embraced the severed head of the middle-aged woman and sobbed.
She crawled on all fours toward the women who had been brutally murdered.
"Seolhwa... Seolhui..."
The woman helplessly uttered those names as tears fell.
She slowly closed their eyes, which were contorted in pain. Their expressions became more peaceful.
"Ah... Aaah!"
The woman clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears poured from her eyes.
Everywhere she looked were corpses. Everyone she had lived with, laughing and crying together, had become cold corpses being pelted by snowflakes.
She was the only living thing moving.
—Grurururu!
Suddenly, a transparent energy rippled from the woman's body, then converged around her shoulders in the form of a transparent dragon.
The Qi Dragon Aran. It was the qi spirit that had been with her since childhood.
—Grurururu...
Aran rubbed its cheek against the woman's cheek. It was trying to comfort its master in its own way as it watched her grieve.
Without knowing anything. Just offering comfort.
'If only... if only it weren't for you...!'
Suddenly, the woman's directionless anger and hatred poured out toward Aran.
If it weren't for this thing, she could have died with them. She wouldn't have had to feel this heart-wrenching pain. She wouldn't have had to feel this sorrow.
She survived because of Aran. Once again, she alone survived.
If only Aran weren't here. If only this thing didn't exist...
"... Haah."
But the woman soon came to her senses and sighed.
When the master is injured, heal them, and protect them with all your might.
That is the qi spirit's mission. Aran had done nothing wrong. She actually knew this.
'Right. The fault...'
The fault lies with herself. With herself who couldn't protect anything.
Her weakness makes her the real sinner.
Crash! Suddenly, with a loud noise, the Snow clan's main building collapsed.
Above the building turning to ashes, sparks mixed with snowflakes scattered in the sky. Ash mixed with the snowfall, making gray snow fall.
"......"
The woman... Seolbaek watched the scene blankly.
Her memories and happy times seemed to collapse along with the fallen main building.
It burns. Burns bright red until only ashes remain. Cold snowflakes scatter above it.
"Hmm? There was still a survivor."
And as she was sinking into overwhelming self-loathing, suddenly such a voice was heard.
The woman turned around. She widened her eyes as they fell upon a man standing at a distance.
"You are..."
He was an elderly man with a massive build holding a great sword.
Above his face full of scars was bushy white beard, and he had a peculiar hairstyle with only the middle grown long in a straight line.
A hairstyle rarely seen in the martial arts world. He was clearly a barbarian from foreign lands.
"Yoo Yong-yeon."
Seolbaek spoke the man's name.
The man who took everything from her. The one responsible for killing all her family and friends and turning her village into a wasteland.
He had now appeared before her eyes again.
"You... I'm certain I killed you. How are you alive?"
But Yoo Yong-yeon was equally surprised.
He had received orders from the Martial Alliance Leader to completely annihilate the village tainted by the Devil's Cult, and as a loyal subordinate, he carried out those orders.
From infants to the elderly, he didn't spare a single one.
The same was true for Seolbaek. How could she be moving around alive when he had run her through the stomach with his great sword?
"Hooh... To think I'd witness it with my own eyes."
Yoo Yong-yeon slowly approached Seolbaek as if bewitched by a ghost. A dangerous smile hung on his lips.
Crunch. The snow screamed beneath his footsteps.
"... Did you use the Devil Cult's dark arts? Indeed, the rumors were true. The Leader's words are never wrong."
Rumors. At those words, Seolbaek's eyes grew wide.
Seolbaek stared at Yoo Yong-yeon with eyes full of resentment. Even Yoo Yong-yeon momentarily faltered his steps at her desperate appearance.
"What rumors? What rumors did the Martial Alliance hear to commit such a horrible act...?"
"The rumor that the Snow clan's second daughter was using the Devil Cult's dark arts to research immortality."
"......!"
"Second daughter Seolbaek. So it was you. How long did you think you could hide the rumors? Foolishly still staying at the main house."
Seolbaek held her breath, feeling as if her heart had stopped.
Her uncontrollably trembling hand pointed toward Yoo Yong-yeon.
"T-Then! If you must punish me, why our family...!"
"Evil must be eliminated. You must know that the Murim Alliance shows no mercy when it comes to matters related to the Devil's Cult. You were once part of the martial arts world."
"......"
"100 years since the Black Dragon Devil Tower incident. For this peace earned through countless bloodshed, I will do anything."
Ah. Aah.
Seolbaek collapsed on the spot, her strength leaving her body.
She looked around anew. Taking in the horrific scene, overwhelming misery washed over her.
'All of this... because of me?'
The special existence called Ki Spirit.
Even in the martial arts world where various combat techniques and secret arts are passed down, Ki Spirits are unfamiliar. Seolbaek had coincidentally obtained this existence that was hard to find even in literature.
Devil's Cult sorcery. It wouldn't be strange to be seen as such.
"Like a fool... like a fool I..."
Seolbaek lay prostrate and wailed.
If only she had detected the ominous signs from the Murim Alliance sooner. If only she hadn't accepted the Ki Spirit that followed her like a curse from the beginning. If only she had foreseen the danger and decided to leave even a little earlier.
No. If only she hadn't been so weak from the start.
If only she had the strength and wisdom to endure all these threats.
Then perhaps this tragedy wouldn't have happened.
Countless regrets stirred her mind.
Clang! A sharp metallic sound split through it all in an instant.
When Seolbaek raised her head, Yoo Yong-yeon had approached within arm's reach, holding up his Devil-Slaying Sword.
"I don't know how remarkable the Devil's Cult's sorcery is. But if you don't die, I will simply cut you down until you do."
"......"
"For the peace of Pamuseon."
Seolbaek silently lowered her head. She was like a death row inmate awaiting execution.
At her complete lack of resistance, Yoo Yong-yeon briefly paused his action. He looked down at her quietly for a moment.
Soon, the hesitation disappeared from his sword-wielding hand.
"... I won't tell you not to resent me."
Thud. She thought she heard a dull noise.
The last thing that appeared in Seolbaek's vision was the pure white snow stained with blood.
Finding herself thinking it was pretty despite everything, Seolbaek slightly lifted the corners of her mouth.
* * *
―Grrrr... Keeeng... Grrrrrr!
Seolbaek stared at the sky with dead eyes. Around her, a transparent baby dragon kept circling.
Seolbaek's Ki Spirit. The Ki Dragon Aran.
―Grrrrrrrr!
Aran kept pouring pale green energy into Seolbaek's body.
However, it merely swirled around Seolbaek briefly before dispersing in all directions. The blood that momentarily circulated in Seolbaek's face disappeared without a trace along with the energy.
After that, all that remained was a pool of blood and the cold corpse lying in it.
―Grrrrrr....
Aran kept rubbing its master's cheek with sad eyes. It licked away the snow that had started to pile up on her face.
Then a gentle wind blew and cleared away the snow that had accumulated on her.
Snow would pile up, and Aran would clear it away. This repeated endlessly for a while.
―Groooooo!!
At some point, Aran let out a loud cry toward the sky.
It finally accepted it. Its master had died. It had failed to protect its master.
―Keeng... Grrrrrr....
There was nothing around.
Smoke billowed up from the burnt ashes. The smell of burning corpses hung thick in the air. Not a single sound could be heard. It was as heavily silent as a graveyard.
In the middle of such devastation, at some point.
"A fate of a thousand deaths... At this level, there must really be something here?"
A beautiful woman with dark blonde hair, rarely seen in the martial arts world, appeared.
Wearing pure white traditional clothes with a hairpin, she emanated an undefinable charm and simultaneously harbored an unfathomable darkness.
―Grrrrrr! Keeeeeek!
Detecting the woman's presence, Aran raised its scales sharply and let out a threatening roar.
However, the woman just smirked carelessly. Then she walked toward Seolbaek's corpse.
"A woman born with the Celestial Killing Star also happens to be born with a Ki Spirit. It's like giving medical needles to a butcher."
Pwahaaaak!
Suddenly, Aran opened its mouth wide and spewed something out.
An enormous torrent of energy engulfed the blonde woman. A shockwave arose, causing snow to scatter violently.
However, when the rough storm subsided, the blonde woman appeared without a single scratch.
―Grrrrrr?
Aran kept making crying sounds, seemingly bewildered.
Meanwhile, the woman had already reached Seolbaek.
"If she's already dead, the contract procedure becomes a bit tricky... In this case..."
The woman muttered while stroking Seolbaek's cheek. Her eyes turned to Aran.
Aran opened its mouth wide and took a threatening stance.
―Keeeek! Grooooo!
But a Ki Dragon is a wise spiritual creature.
It had already realized that the being before it was one it could not handle. Therefore, its threats lacked force.
Perhaps the woman noticed this too. Taking a step toward Aran, she spoke.
"It seems I'll need the guardian's permission."
―... Grrrrrr?
"Don't you want to save your master?"
―Grrrrrr!
"I can save your master. Will you trust me once? Or will you leave your master to die like this?"
Once again, I must say that a Ki Dragon is wise and clever.
He could clearly understand what the blonde woman was saying now. And he definitely knows what it means.
The blonde woman, who was quietly staring at Aran's eyes gleaming with interest...
"Here. Read it and put your seal on it, cute Elemental Dragon of the other world."
With an alluring smile, she held out a contract to Aran.
* * *
You ask what choice the snow-white dragon made?
That's known only to the shit-hai... no, the blonde woman and Aran, but what happened as a result of that dragon's choice is clear.
Seolbaek was reincarnated in another world called Gailand.
And of all places, she fell into the Halcenberg territory where a rookie hero's massacre by a crazy maid was in full swing.
All heroes except her were killed.
Thanks to Aran, who lost her master once and was determined for revenge, Seolbaek survived but was imprisoned.
And.
Years later, she would meet the 163,417,413th hero who guards the immortal Demon King.