Chapter 386
Chapter 386
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 386
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
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Ouch...
Kang Seol became a shadow and merged with Yurim.
‘Is this what it feels like to become someone’s shadow...?’
It was agonizing, yet there was an ethereal closeness that tickled at the edges of his mind.
The initial pain gradually subsided, blending so seamlessly with pleasure that he could no longer tell them apart.
‘This was insane...’
To protect someone precious by turning his human body into a shadow.
He didn’t think he could do it again.
‘No... if I had to, I would.’
It was something he absolutely had to do.
To save Yurim.
The heart is unpredictable—it shuts out possibilities in ways reason never would. Seeing but pretending not to, hearing but pretending not to hear.
‘What happens to me now?’
Did he have to surrender himself to the sea of consciousness like this?
“Seol! Where are you? Seol!”
Someone called out to him.
It was Yurim’s voice.
Kang Seol jolted and reached out a hand.
Something caught.
‘...Fur?’
Slipping away...
It was a massive wolf wearing a mask.
Crunch...
“Urk...”
The wolf bit down just hard enough to sting his hand.
Kang Seol hastily pulled back.
Whoosh...
Someone tugged at his form.
“Seol, don’t get close.”
“Yurim? That wolf is...”
Yurim’s voice.
It was Yurim who had grabbed him.
She gazed at the wolf and said,
“Yaksha...”
“...Yaksha?”
“Yeah. If you get close, it’ll tear everything apart. It always has.”
Yurim guided Kang Seol.
Away from Yaksha’s grasp.
And so, the two became one, if only for a moment.
* * *
Shinyu, who had been watching the changes overtaking Yurim, spoke up.
“Is Kang Seol in there?”
“...He’s here.”
Shinyu didn’t want to kill Kang Seol.
Even in his shattered mental world, he couldn’t betray the bond that had carried over from reality.
- Kill her... Kill her.
On the other hand, the illusion kept murmuring.
Endlessly urging him to kill Yurim.
The illusion won.
Yurim would die soon, by Shinyu’s hand.
“Let’s end this.”
Nod...
Yurim’s aura had changed.
It was overheating, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Rustle...
Rustle...
The two drew their swords and circled each other, tracing a ring.
Soon, a perfect circle of moonlight formed on the snowfield.
When the lines connected to form the full moon, they charged across it toward one another.
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
The moment they kicked off the snow and leaped at each other, both realized the same thing.
‘I’m faster!’
‘Yurim’s faster!’
In her Night Raven state, darkness billowed endlessly from Yurim’s robes, as if night itself had taken human form.
The darkness guided her.
Whoooosh...
Clang-!
Their swords clashed.
Even if this fight turned into a contest of raw power, Shinyu didn’t mind.
Crackle...
His aura, carrying thunderclouds, could unleash immense force.
Screeech...
Screeeeech...
Surprisingly, though, Yurim didn’t yield an inch. For the first time, her sword didn’t dodge Shinyu’s.
She had always read movements with precision; now that their strength was equal, the outcome was impossible to predict.
“Urgh!”
Crackle-!
Shinyu’s sword thrashed wildly.
Clang-!
It veered from its path, and they exchanged techniques.
Ting-!
Clang!
The hiss of air, the smack of sword on sword.
Neither could land a proper wound on the other.
Smack-!
Smack-!
Kicks traded back and forth.
Meant as probes to gauge distance, but since they both retreated, the fight stalled momentarily.
“...Frustrating.”
“Same here.”
Yurim had suppressed Yaksha’s power to the max to avoid being devoured by it, while Shinyu concealed the forms of his Storm Sword, wary of her copying his swordsmanship with Yaksha’s strength.
The result: a deadlock.
“...This won’t do.”
Shinyu made the first call.
Crackle-!
His sword hummed.
“If you can steal this too... then take it.”
“......”
Whoosh-!
Shinyu soared into the air.
Swoosh...
Boom-!
Foxfire.
But her eyes couldn’t even track his hand.
Scraaaape...
It wasn’t the sword’s speed that was the issue.
The sword’s form was invisible.
A sword that couldn’t be stolen.
A sword that couldn’t be read.
Sss...
Thud-!
Clang...
Someone yanked Yurim’s hand aside.
Shinyu’s sword flew straight to that exact spot.
Clang-!
“Hmm...”
It was Kang Seol.
The two, united through the Night Raven.
Naturally, they could wield the strength of both.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Crackle...
Storm aura.
A sharp jolt of power coursed through.
He could barely keep up with the movements, but the thundercloud-laden force was too much.
‘It’s the flow... I can’t grasp the flow.’
Not the flow of movement, but of power.
Precisely as Shinyu had calculated.
Shrieeeeeek-!
The sword, charged with lightning, thrust toward Yurim’s chest.
Too late to block with her dulled blade.
‘Offer the shoulder instead...’
In that instant, black hands erupted from her sleeve.
Whirl-!
“Guh...”
Each one aimed for Shinyu’s vitals.
Clangclangs-!
Shinyu had no choice but to retract his sword and sweep away the shadows.
But the attack wasn’t entirely in vain.
Crackle...
KABOOM-!
Shinyu kicked Yurim’s abdomen.
Infused with power, it was no ordinary blow.
“Gahk...”
Crunch-!
Crunch-!
Yurim tumbled across the ground.
Whoooosh...
Shadows aligned her fractured bones and mended her torn muscles.
Kang Seol did his utmost to keep her unharmed. Even as a shadow, his instincts remained.
Still, things were improving bit by bit.
He could match the movements now.
But when Shinyu unleashed his storm aura, even defense grew burdensome.
Shinyu, resolved to exploit that weakness, leaped back into stance.
Click...
Shinyu sheathed his sword.
It didn’t look like surrender.
“It’s over.”
Shinyu’s hand trembled.
Crackle...
A cleaving strike.
He meant to unleash the same cleave as before, once more.
The aura it emanated was far vaster than last time.
‘...I won’t see it.’
Yurim despaired.
She couldn’t see his sword.
Whirrrrr...
Time froze.
Shinyu’s power, his sword—all halted in place.
The moments Kang Seol had occasionally experienced now came to Yurim.
The air around her shifted.
An unpleasant scent, like a memory she didn’t want to recall.
Behind Shinyu, leaning against a tree, stood a figure.
An illusion.
Otherwise, Shinyu would have spun and cleaved it first.
“...Yaksha.”
The masked wolf leaned against the tree, watching her.
Staring straight at her.
“...Yaksha, are you going to bite me?”
Shake...
Shake...
The wolf shook its head.
“...I’m going to die soon, just like you wanted.”
At her barbed words, the wolf spoke for the first time.
“I never wanted that.”
“...What? What did you just...”
“Yurim, I don’t want to bite you. I only bite the others—not you. The ones who put you in danger.”
Yurim snapped at Yaksha’s plea.
“Don’t lie! You’re trying to drag me to ruin again! You always... you always...!”
Even as sobs burst forth, time refused to move. Perhaps because it was a dream world, anything was possible.
“Ugh... Hic...”
“Don’t cry, Yurim. Are you scared of dying?”
“...I learned what happiness is.”
“......”
“I learned what real laughter is.”
Rustle...
Rustle...
The wolf approached.
No stench emanated from it.
“I never meant to torment you, Yurim. If it felt that way, I’m sorry...”
Yurim looked up at the wolf.
The wolf smiled.
She felt it for the first time, through the mask.
In that moment, she understood Yaksha’s existence.
“You... could it be...”
“I only wanted to protect you. I am...”
The wolf’s voice changed.
From savage and rough to clear and bright.
A girl’s voice, laced with moisture.
“You.”
Yurim’s own voice.
The personality the girl cast into hell had created to protect herself: Yaksha.
Yaksha hadn’t meant to harm Yurim.
It had only bristled its thorns to shield her.
Everything had gone awry, bringing harm to the world instead.
“Ahh...”
Yurim embraced the wolf.
The wolf said,
“Will you forgive me?”
“I’m sorry... I pushed you away...”
“It’s okay. As long as you’re fine.”
Yaksha asked,
“I don’t have much time. No, we don’t... Yurim, you feel it too, right?”
“......”
“I already know what choice you’ll make. So, what do you want me to do?”
Yurim said to the wolf,
“Please... help me...”
The wolf paused.
“Help me protect this final happiness... Lend me your strength.”
The wolf grinned wide.
“Alright! Let’s show that guy the infinite potential of Yaksha.”
The wolf turned to face Shinyu.
“...Yaksha’s final appearance. Grip your sword.”
Time began to flow again, slowly.
“Here we go, Yurim. Can you keep up?”
When the wolf asked, Yurim gripped her sword tight and fixed her gaze ahead.
In that instant, time accelerated.
No—the sword came hurtling at unimaginable speed.
Whooooosh...
KABOOOOOM-!
The Storm Sword’s cleave.
How could an imperfect blade unleash such flawless power?
A single line, brimming with monstrous force, descended.
Power that seemed utterly unstoppable.
A storm, truly.
And charging toward the storm: two beings.
The wolf and Yurim.
The wolf vanished into the wind, tongue lolling happily.
- Yurim, you’ll see it! Follow the path! What a fine day!
Fade...
The wolf racing across the snowfield grew hazy and disappeared.
Yurim followed the footprints it left in the snow.
Crack...
Yurim’s mask began to shatter from the edges.
Her lips emerged, then her sharp nose, then her blazing eyes.
Yaksha, now maskless, transcended possibility.
It wasn’t that she saw the movements.
She saw the flow.
The flow of power.
The exquisitely beautiful flow appeared as tangled threads. That’s why it was an imperfect sword.
She thrust her blade into the discord it created.
Thruuuuum-!
The clear ring that echoed when her master, the swordmaster Yuhyeon, achieved perfect defense.
With that sharp resonance, Yurim’s sword snapped back like a hummingbird’s beak and shot forward.
“Raaaaagh!”
Squelch...
Steel piercing flesh.
The sensation was unmistakable.
......
Time hadn’t stopped.
The two had simply frozen in place.
“...You read even this, Yurim?”
“...Yeah.”
“Amazing... Truly amazing... I’ve lost...”
Spurt...
Thud...
Shinyu yanked out his own sword and collapsed backward.