Chapter 317
Chapter 317
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 317
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Now fallen to the ground, wearing a face that was not Yoo Hyun's, the yaksha wore an expression of bewilderment.
- Useless fool! Even in death, you're worthless!
The yaksha wailed, devaluing Yoo Hyun's worth.
Kang Seol ignored the yaksha and placed his hand on Yoo Hyun's forehead.
['Yoo Hyun's' inheritance begins.]
In an instant, Kang Seol was sucked into Yoo Hyun's memories.
Kang Seol became Yoo Hyun.
* * *
...
"Gah... guhhek..."
Spurt-!
A swordsman, slashed by the blade and spilling blood profusely.
The swordsman who had been facing him moments ago was drenched in blood, pressing his body against him.
"Run... away..."
"...What?"
"You... must run..."
Thud...
A demon wearing a mask.
He had finally slain the murderer who had dyed the area in blood.
Yet the aftertaste was bitter.
'That was... definitely strange, right?'
Standing before the corpse, Yoo Hyun pondered deeply.
"He was strong... incredibly so."
A sword that flew faster than sensation, drawing in energy the moment blades clashed—even Yoo Hyun found it overwhelming.
Still, he had brought him down.
He had saved countless souls from sacrificing themselves to this monster.
And soothed the spirits who had fallen pitifully to him.
"Hm?"
Yoo Hyun couldn't tear his eyes from the sword the murderer had wielded.
"Beautiful..."
Even after devouring so much blood, it exuded a bewitching aura.
It seemed to embody what a true sword should be.
- You want it, don't you?
Clank...
"Who's there!"
Yoo Hyun sprang up, shouting.
No one was around.
- It's yours. Take it.
"What is this..."
Just in case, Yoo Hyun checked the dead murderer's face.
He was dead.
Definitely dead.
Instead, his mask was emitting a sinister glow.
- Claim me, swordsman. I'll grant you what you've never experienced.
"I..."
Yoo Hyun naturally took the yaksha's mask in his hand.
Like a carnivorous plant adorned with ornate patterns that lured insects to a gruesome end, the yaksha tempted Yoo Hyun.
...No!
'Wha... God?'
He was sure he heard a voice.
A voice so faint it could be dismissed as hallucination.
Crackle...
A fog settled over his memories.
They clouded over, impossible to see clearly.
Spurt-!
"You... insane... murderer... someone..."
Spurt-!
"Ghk..."
Something was wrong.
In the dying man's pupils, what reflected was clearly the mask.
The one wearing the mask stood there.
Yoo Hyun looked down at his own hands, which had slain the man.
"Where... am I? Who... am I?"
Yoo Hyun clutched his head.
"Who... the hell... am I?"
Surrendering to an unstoppable torrent too vast to control, Yoo Hyun heard the yaksha's voice.
- You are Yaksha, the awakened one for blood and slaughter.
With hazy eyes, Yoo Hyun muttered.
"I am... Yaksha..."
Splash...
The rain washed away the blood drenching him.
Or perhaps it was an illusion.
What fell from the sky was blood.
Even more blood poured from the heavens.
It choked Yoo Hyun's breath.
Splash...
The existence known as Yoo Hyun faded from the world.
The world shifted to one where only the yaksha remained.
"Can't... breathe..."
His heart no longer beat.
He felt no warmth.
He couldn't even recall the last time sunlight touched his face.
Perhaps it would have been better not to cut down that tree. If he had stayed there forever, none of this would have happened...
Yoo Hyun sniffled, on the verge of tears.
The world submerged in blood.
The level rose past his waist, up to his chest.
Soon, it would cover his head.
"Save me... someone... me... I don't want to vanish like this."
Yoo Hyun cried out like a child.
"Save me! Sob... someone save me... please..."
Who would save him?
He had come too far to turn back.
If such a person existed, there could be only one in the world.
"Save me... God..."
It was then.
- Wait! Yoo Hyun!
The voice he had forgotten rang out.
You haven't abandoned me yet.
"I'm sorry... I... I'm already..."
His existence faded; Yoo Hyun became the yaksha.
Everyone who remembered him vanished, leaving only the god to recall him.
- Don't forget! Yoo Hyun! I'll save you for sure! Wait!
"Yes, I... am Yoo Hyun..."
Tears welled up.
"You really... were watching over me..."
- Please... wait... wait... urgh..."
As Yoo Hyun faded, he smiled at the sky.
"Don't cry, God. I'll never forget, and I'll wait. So..."
Splash...
He surrendered to the blood.
His body drifted aimlessly along the river of gore.
'I'll wait... please come...'
He sank.
Into depths beyond measure.
Never to resurface, it seemed.
Dong-!
...
Doooong-!
'Ah, this place...'
A familiar sensation.
In his hand was a sword.
The time when he gripped it so fiercely his palms tore.
Swish...
Eyes closed, he swung with all his might.
Whoosh-!
The tree split.
He opened his eyes again.
'...Huh?'
The landscape split along with the tree.
A knight stared piercingly at him.
'What? Did I swing my sword?'
This sensation was familiar.
The sunlight on his face, the sweat-soaked body—it matched that moment perfectly.
Clear.
That was the only way to describe the emotion surging within.
Why must he fight this man?
It felt nostalgic, punchable even.
Questions later.
With familiar movements and shouts, he gave his all.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
His opponent did the same.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Incomprehensible roars passed between them, warming his heart.
The emotions in the approaching knight's eyes came into sharp focus, for some reason.
'He's sad... Why?'
Complex feelings clashed with swords.
The moment blades met, emotions surged like a tidal wave.
All that had been frozen until now.
"Thank... you..."
It was an exquisite sword.
As he collapsed, Yoo Hyun could only think that.
'It's you! Why are you crying? You won...'
The world tilted.
He could walk no further.
Gurgle...
Blood bubbled from his mouth.
Cold.
Why was he here?
He didn't know.
Vision blurred.
Someone looked down at him.
He couldn't see the face.
Just a stained shadow.
That was fine.
Was everything finally over?
"Thank... you..."
"Yoo Hyun..."
Yoo Hyun?
Yoo Hyun—my name!
"My name... Yoo... Hyun..."
He rummaged through his bosom.
It had to be there.
He wanted to deliver it.
...Found it.
Slide...
A figure of the god, carved from sacred wood.
"You really... came..."
"...What?"
"I'll... save you... wait..."
"......"
"Wait... wait..."
I heard it.
Your voice.
You cried for me, God.
"...Did you really hear that?"
Yes, I did.
"I waited... you're late... but you came..."
I should smile... I want to smile, but I can't make the expression...
Thank you for watching over me.
"...Thank you."
Did this bring me even a little closer to you?
A wretched life, but...
Please remember me.
* * *
['Yoo Hyun's' last will has been inherited.]
[The abilities of the deceased are inherited.]
[One Mind is inherited.]
[You have inherited One Mind.]
...
A barrage of messages floated up.
But Kang Seol had no time to check them all.
"Uh... ugh... uh..."
Many watched him in bewilderment.
They had never seen him suffer like this.
Kang Seol, always impassive, never shirking dirty work.
"Uh... ugh... uwaaaah..."
Kang Seol struggled to grasp the fading light left by Yoo Hyun's vanishing body.
He knew it was futile, but he couldn't stop. A gaping hole in his heart demanded filling.
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
Everyone heard his scream.
A projection of the chaos from the boundary stone—later called Yaksha's Trace—going berserk.
Those watching Kang Seol from afar through it focused only on the fact that the yaksha was dead.
"Seolhong did it!"
"His spirit stone pulled through!"
"The Khan has finally banished the nightmare!"
The yaksha's death was their joy.
They could celebrate freely.
Meanwhile, rumors had swirled about Kang Seol's origins as a returnee, leaving those who witnessed this speechless.
"That monster is a returnee...?"
"No way..."
"...Has to be a lie."
Whatever their reactions, the incident was resolved.
The rest was for Kang Seol to bear.
This was asceticism.
A arduous path wandering in search of words.
Yet he couldn't stop.
Seeing his unstable state, the yaksha smirked.
- Use me.
"...What?"
- I'll erase your painful memories.
"......"
- Then it will all be as if it never happened. How about it?
Grab...
Kang Seol seized the yaksha's mask.
Just like Yoo Hyun had been enthralled by it long ago.
Smirk...
The yaksha's smile deepened.
"Kang Seol!"
Seolhong shouted at him.
Was he about to repeat the same tragedy?
Kang Seol gazed sadly at the mask in his hand.
- Yes, me...
The yaksha's whispers grew louder.
- Accept me...
Crack...
At that moment, a small crack appeared on the yaksha's mask.
- ...Huh?
Tremble...
Kang Seol's hands shook.
The yaksha's mask was being pulled.
From both sides.
"Aaaaah! It hurts! Hurts!"
As the yaksha screamed and twisted in agony, Kang Seol spoke in a flat tone.
"Why..."
The yaksha looked into Kang Seol's eyes.
"Smile."
"...What?"
His eyes held darkness deep enough to terrify even the yaksha.
Despair, loss, emptiness.
All melted into those pupils.
For the first time since its birth, the yaksha felt fear of a human.
"You took Yoo Hyun's expression."
"Stop... stop..."
Crack...
"I-I'll submit... I'll obey you..."
"No need."
It was darkness.
Where Kang Seol's heart reached was darkness.
"Please... nooooo!"
The monster that had bewitched countless swordsmen over ages, harvesting blood.
Yaksha.
Riiip-!
Its end was now.
"Kaaaaah..."
The yaksha's mask split in two.
Whoooosh-!
A storm of malice whirled from within, sucked into the sword that had been its pair.
[Yaksha's manifestation has been defeated.]
[With this, Yaksha's manifestation perishes, and its power belongs to the 'Mystery – Yaksha.']
[First achievement 'If I Can't Have It, I'll Destroy It' accomplished.]
[First title 'Relic Destroyer' acquired.]
...
Kang Seol turned to look at the Glow Ghost.
Swish-!
The Glow Ghost raised his hands high.
"S-Surrender! I was just following Mageu's orders..."
With that, the battle that had dyed the Khan in blood finally ended.
"Waaaaaaaaah!"
"It's over! It's really over!"
Seolhong tried to approach Kang Seol.
"Let's go back..."
But Kang Seol shook his head.
He couldn't return.
He asked Jamad.
"Impossible, right?"
Jamad wiped blood from his mouth and nodded.
"Soon, everyone in this space will be swept up in the shock from the boundary stone."
"Any countermeasures?"
"Wait quietly."
"What happens if swept up?"
"Well... we might survive, but they'll be torn to shreds."
By now, Seolhong understood where this conversation between Jamad and Kang Seol was heading.
She finally realized why the space had held despite the massive return just moments ago.
"No way... he was suppressing the boundary stone's rampage..."
Jamad had been forcibly holding it back.
With the yaksha gone, no one could stop the boundary stone's explosion.
"Well, the two idiots will recover the boundary stone's power."
"That's a relief..."
Kang Seol nodded to Jamad.
"Get them out of here. You can do that, right?"
"Yeah, I can. And I expected you would."
Seolhong and Chuiu paled.
All color drained from their faces.
"Kang Seol! Don't!"
"Kang Seol! Don't do it! Come back with us! If you have to stay, I'll stay too!"
Kang Seol shook his head.
"I was someone who had to leave."
"Promise... you'll come back..."
"......"
"Promise!"
"If possible, I didn't want a farewell like this..."
"Promise me! Then... I can wait. Kang Seol! Without you..."
"If I survive..."
Kang Seol smiled faintly.
He didn't want to suffer more over words. His heart was already shredded to rags.
"I'll try to return."
Another promise.
Seolhong endured thanks to that hard-won vow.
"Time's up."
Boom...
Seolhong, Chuiu, and the Glow Ghost were ejected from the space.
Swoosh...
The surroundings changed.
"Cough... huff..."
"Seolhong!"
"Lord Chuiu!"
People rushed over.
This was the barren plain of Sanggyo where the battle with the yaksha had begun.
Shinyo and Taeyul were first to embrace Seolhong and Chuiu.
"Restrain him!"
"Uh... no need, really..."
The Glow Ghost scratched his head and obeyed meekly.
Seolhong looked at Yaksha's Trace and shouted.
"Sister Shinyo... Brother Taeyul, we have to save him... Kang Seol is trapped in there..."
Taeyul nodded.
"Send urgent messengers to Zodiac! To the Dragon Palace's grand sorcerer too..."
And then.
KABOOOOOM-!
Squeeeeal-
The image of Kang Seol reflected in Yaksha's Trace vanished before their eyes.
The boundary stone's pent-up power had finally exploded.
Vision whitened.
Seolhong staggered and collapsed.
"Kang Seol... where did you go..."
He wasn't dead.
He couldn't be.
If so...
"I'll find you... no matter what."
With those words, she slumped.