And Then It Split Into Two.
S-rank raid monster.
A single one could casually wipe out an entire district, yet four had appeared in succession. An emergency that awakeners could not resist had erupted, but the Yuseong Group had appeared from somewhere and pulled the situation back from the brink.
Considering the loss of life and property, the result was embarrassingly cheap.
When the military and the government were all shifting blame, only the Yuseong Group stepped forward without hesitation to overcome this crisis.
Even without the Hero Party.
The Hero Party that had terrorized South Korea had failed to show up at the crucial moment, and it was the other awakeners who had defeated it.
“From now on, the Hero Party has a crack.”
Yu Hanseong could not hide the satisfied smile on his face.
No matter how the situation unfolded, he had achieved what he had always wanted.
All that remained was to face the government and political factions that would undoubtedly use this incident as a pretext for strange responsibility clauses.
Probably it would be his own responsibility alone, but even if it were, he had gained a great deal.
“You worked hard, Kim Sunwoo.”
“….”
“…Kim Sunwoo?”
“……”
Even when Hanseong called him again, Sunwoo kept gazing at the sky.
The sky, still filled with dark clouds. Sunwoo was staring at exactly the same spot, unable to see what was there, so Hanseong finally realized something.
“Not a moon.”
The object floating in the night sky.
The thing he had unconsciously dismissed as a moon and overlooked because its light felt too unnatural, was far darker than any moon could be, its gaze like the eyes of a reptile.
Eyes.
Pupils.
Eyes large enough to make a person mistake them for a moon.
“............”
It was not a time to rejoice.
There was still one more monster up there.
Hanseong slowly hardened his expression and began thinking about what needed to be done next.
“Would you mind taking care of Hyewon and Nature as well?”
“....Kim Sunwoo?”
Sunwoo had already cut him off.
He opened his arms wide as if welcoming the catastrophe in front of him and breathed out.
“You’re asking for a favor, right? You can do that much, can’t you?”
“…Is there a way?”
“It was a bit much at first, but thanks to you it’s gotten easier.”
“............”
Hanseong stepped back one pace without a word.
A positive signal. Sunwoo walked forward instead, one step.
“Sunwoo.”
“Sunwoo-nim.”
“Thank you. It ended well because of you.”
Two people naturally blocked his path. Yun Ayoung and Oh Nari.
But Sunwoo simply smiled. He lightly tapped their shoulders and walked straight between them.
One step. Another step.
“Huuu…”
The sandy beach.
His hand still gripped the weapon sealed by the seal.
He stared at the dragon’s eyes beyond the sky.
And
“You forgot the promise?”
“…Hecate.”
“We all die together if you die.”
“..........”
At Hecate’s voice, I slowly looked around.
“Now I’ll rank A-class too, won’t I?”
“It was tough, wasn’t it.”
“Fan service or whatever, it was pure nonsense… huaaah…!”
“So many.”
There were so many people.
Everyone had come looking for me and us to help.
“It’s really a lot.”
I had received a lot.
So I had to return a lot.
“I promised this body. A promise with a spirit is important…!”
“There’s still one left.”
Something felt familiar.
A situation that felt like it came from the past.
But something decisive was different.
“…Are you really thinking of dying?”
Hecate looked up at me.
She smiled brightly and answered.
“No.”
It was not toward death.
I had probably thought about dying from the very beginning…
…No. It wasn’t.
Saying it now while caught up in the atmosphere was wrong.
“I was thinking about dying.”
“Then—”
“Now it’s not.”
“!…….”
I extended my hand toward Hecate.
“I’m going to confirm whether I really want to live or live on.”
“…Even if you die, I won’t let you die.”
“That’s scary.”
Hecate clutched my hand tightly with her small one.
And
“Nox, can you help me too?”
“…No.”
“Really?”
“I don’t want to see Papa in pain anymore.”
“…Really?”
It seemed it wouldn’t work after all.
I slowly lowered my hand, and an overwhelming weight landed on the remaining left hand.
“But Papa likes being in pain and has masochism with loli tendencies, right?”
“Nox?”
“So Nox will protect me.”
“…Thanks, but…”
The modifiers were long and terrifying.
Still, it was fortunate he agreed to help.
I quietly exhaled while holding the hands of Nox and Hecate.
“At first… it’s Spirit Union.”
The wall between spirit and human is broken.
I deeply accept Hecate’s light and Nox’s darkness into my mana hall.
“Suuuuuu───”
Creaking flesh.
Previously I had tried to deceive and suppress the pain with Nox’s darkness as ‘nothingness.’
But it failed. No matter how much I deceived myself, the pain accumulated in the body in real time.
The longer it went on, the heavier the burden Nox carried, and the faster the power Hecate built grew.
Therefore.
“───Haaaaaaa…”
I abandon my body.
I abandon the path of Mana Lord itself.
I discard the very elements that make up Kim Sunwoo the human.
[……Like this.]
I and the spirit.
I tear down the wall called ‘body’ between us.
And through this, I purify my ‘soul’ itself into ‘spirit.’
‘The theory is sufficient.’
The worst witch, Morgan.
A human soul that transformed into a spirit.
‘Evidence is right in front of me.’
The darkness spirit Nox.
But in reality, her soul was originally human.
A being whose soul was human but had turned into a spirit.
Therefore
───Kiiiiiiing….!
‘I can do it.’
Turbulent mana.
The body cracks with fissures, and bright mana begins to seep from within.
The detachment of the body. Proof of freedom. The sensations of the body slowly fade, yet the recognition of ‘me’ grows clear.
[…..Ah!]
Something felt similar. Something reminded me.
In short, death. The fear and dread I felt when I was slowly dying. The trembling before the unknown and the vague emptiness of the dying reality.
The sudden fear was so violent that mana flickered.
[───Papa.]
[───Sunwoo.]
“U, huaaaa…..!”
It’s okay.
I won’t die. I won’t fall.
Hecate and Nox are supporting me right beside me.
So. It’s okay. Aya…
“─────”
My heart pounds loudly.
No. I had already abandoned my body from the beginning.
So this is
‘Mana hall.’
Hecate spews light. Nox swallows that light.
They revolve around each other, cycle, grow infinitely into a yin-yang.
And the old me could never accept this in my body, but by discarding the body I solved it.
But this is nothing more than a gamble. Only possible if I regain my sanity.
If I am not established as myself, the swirling mana inside me will devour me instead.
“It’s okay… as long as it’s okay…”
Mana stirs. I can barely hear Hecate and Nox’s voices.
Here, I have to do it somehow. I have to do it.
I slowly take deep breaths and calm my mind. I try to control it.
‘Anyway. It’s the life I was trying to die.’
Yet now it feels scary for no reason.
There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just one more step. Just one more step forward.
The old me jumped down laughing. So the me now has nothing to fear. I have nothing. I must have nothing. At least for this moment.
“............”
It’s not working well.
My fingertips tremble.
The residue of fear. A crack in the heart.
I won’t reach that place I thought of like this.
And there is an easy way to solve this.
“….Hecate’s light.”
If I overlay it on my soul.
Then I will surely be like before…
[I won’t allow that, Papa.]
“!,….Nox…?”
When I reach toward the light, Nox’s darkness blocks my hand.
[If you cross over, you can’t come back.]
“But.”
[It’s okay. You might be scared.]
“…No.”
You can be scared.
But not now.
[No. Papa can do it. Papa is a strong person.]
“…..I’m not that strong.”
[No. Papa is strong.]
Why? Because you hugged me, right?
[Anyone who can hug someone must be a strong person.]
“….Nox.”
[And look behind you.]
“..........?”
Following Nox’s words, I turned around.
And what I saw was
“───! ─...──!”
“….Eh.”
It was definitely me who had knocked her out earlier.
‘Wait, no.’
Still, she’s an awakener.
Did she wake up on her own after some time?
Hayan, Yun Ayoung, Lee Sea, Choi Jiyeon, and the three Nature members, their mouths open while staring at me.
“Voice isn’t reaching me…”
Perhaps the organ that hears voice is missing from the eardrum or something.
Seeing Hyewon and the three Nature members still crying endlessly, I strangely felt my heart steady.
[Why are you all crying. It’s not like I’m going to die.]
“......!..........!!”
“…!,….─….───!!!”
[Eh?]
My words. Hyewon and the Nature members cry, but the three of them shout toward me.
[…Is it only me who can’t hear right now and everyone else can?]
[As a Spirit Contractor, you should be able to. And…]
[And?]
Nox’s words trail off subtly.
[You were trying to do something weird again!]
[…Oops.]
Hecate’s voice directly pierces my ear hole, no, my mana hall.
[…Wait until everything is over.]
[Scary.]
Hecate is angry, huffing.
Yes. My mana has stabilized enough for Hecate’s voice to reach me.
I lightly clench my fist.
‘If it’s now.’
I feel like I can do anything.
I unlock the seals of Spirit Breaker one after another.
───Kuuuung…..!
[…Whoa. Hey.]
The moment I release the seal stone, Spirit Breaker sucks up mana.
Instead of a sword or something, it wraps around the entire body like an Ether Blade.
For me it would probably be called an Elemental Blade.
Anyway
[I’ll be back later.]
""""────!""""
[See you later.]
""""...............""""
Nature and Hyewon quietly look up at me.
I quietly watch them too, then gather the wind at my feet and fly into the sky with all my strength.
And finally
[Die die die~ all of you die! Kihih! Kihihi!]
[Eh…..]
[Kihihi──huh, huh?]
[…Who are you?]
I could face the mastermind of this incident.
[.......Arthur?]
[What?]
But
[Arthurrrrrr!!!]
[Hi… hiiik?!]
My mind was slightly blank.
*******
Kurlung…
Kururung….Kwakwang! Thud!
“….Yeonhwa unni.”
“Yeah.”
It was a moment.
After Sunwoo showed Spirit Union, or something more, and vanished into thin air.
Lightning began flashing in the clouds that had been filled with dark clouds.
The clouds gradually grew darker.
Between the faint silhouettes.
“Fighting over there.”
A dragon with a body so large it makes one shudder even imagining the shadow that looks like Sunwoo.
The two beings face each other and tear at each other, burning with the intention to kill.
Just the wind pressure makes the skin tingle.
“Rihito-nim…..”
Sometimes light. Sometimes darkness.
The battle shooting fire, wind, and lightning felt sacred and tense, as if watching a battle from the mythical era.
The sky tears with the pain of the two beings, the air trembles with their screams.
A wretched battle that is beautiful in its own way is now imprinted in the eyes of everyone who sees it.
So.
As dawn slowly approaches.
───Pishuuuuk!
“Ah…..!”
Sunwoo, who finally takes victory.
When he cuts off the dragon’s head, the dragon’s massive body falls into the sea.
[Ha…..]
“Coach-nim!”
“Are you okay, Coach-nim?!?”
“Rihito-nim!!!”
“Sunwoo oppa──!”
Sunwoo, who has stabbed the broken weapon into the dragon’s corpse and is taking a long sigh, says.
[I… it’s not Arthur…]
“Coach-nim?”
A mysterious one-word sentence.
At the same time, black smoke begins to spurt from Sunwoo’s body.
───Pushiiiiik!
“Co, Coach-nim!”
[……Ah…”
Sunwoo enveloped in unprecedented steam.
Soon, black steam again begins to seep into Sunwoo’s body, and
“…Who are you?”
"""....?"""
When Sunwoo regains his senses.
“…Hey, I don’t have any money. Grandma took all the money.”
[When will I come back?]
[It’s your own fault, Papa…]
Sunwoo had split in two.