The King's Keepsake

"So you're that honored guest from before, I see."

"An honored guest? You give me far too much credit."

Gwanggaeto the Great and his soldiers had welcomed me—the man who had appeared among them without warning—as an honored guest.

"Thanks to you, we were able to take that fortress."

"Not at all. Even without me, Your Majesty, you would have brought that fortress down all the same."

"'Great King,' you say? That has a pleasant ring to it."

Gwanggaeto the Great laughed heartily at my words.

Hearing that laugh, I realized exactly what I had done wrong.

A king's title is bestowed only after his death! I wasn't supposed to go tossing around the words Great King here. And I doubted I would have enjoyed the consequences had I accidentally let the epithet Gwanggaeto slip past my lips.

"Forgive me. That was presumptuous of me."

"Think nothing of it. I would be glad indeed to be called a Great King."

He accepted my apology without a moment's hesitation.

"Then what should I call you, King of a foreign land?"

"Just call me Damdeok. I have no wish to be shown such deference by an honored guest like you."

Damdeok granted me leave to use his personal name as though it cost him nothing. And in saying he had no wish for honorifics, he was telling me there was no need to treat him as a king at all.

So this is the dignity of a Great King?

I was, honestly, in awe of the man's character. Most kings begin in bluster and end in bluster, but his bearing came not from bravado—it flowed from genuine confidence and strength of character. I had stood in a king's position myself, spoken casually to my elders, put on airs of my own, and every moment of it had felt deeply uncomfortable.

"Then Damdeok it is."

"And what is your name?"

"I'm Jin."

We clasped hands. There was something rather romantic about a bond forged in war.

"So then, what business brings you into the thick of a battlefield like this?"

He had a point. No ordinary person would ever set foot on such a battlefield—and the same went for the powerful, because those who had cultivated real strength had no reason to meddle in a war.

Unless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they had a purpose. And that purpose was exactly what Damdeok was asking about now.

I weighed it for a moment, then gave him my answer.

"I'm searching for certain beings."

"What manner of beings?"

"They wander the world in search of human desire, and they use it to lead mankind astray."

Damdeok's brow furrowed at my words. Something must have struck a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chord.

"Their aim is to invade the world where humans live."

"What—!"

"And I'm hunting them to stop that from happening."

At that, Damdeok closed his eyes and fell into thought. As a king, he could hardly take a stranger's word at face value—but if the wielder of that crescent blade was who I believed him to be, he would have no choice but to believe me.

I hadn't noticed from afar, but that crescent blade was rising toward the realm of divine artifacts. In the real world it was merely a relic, but here within the mindscape, that blade was a weapon bordering on the divine. And no matter what anyone said, the master of that blade was the man standing before me—Gwanggaeto the Great himself.

"Are these beings you speak of the ones wreathed in that black aura?"

"They are."

Just as I had expected, he knew something of the demon tribe. He might not have known exactly what they were, but he knew that inhuman things walked this battlefield.

"They are called the demon tribe."

"The demon tribe..."

"Damdeok, whatever you may say of it, I intend to roam this battlefield and cut down every demon I find."

At my words, Damdeok opened his eyes. He must have made his decision.

"Damdeok, will you march with me?"

I would slay the demons, and Damdeok would claim the ground where they fell. That alone made it a win-win for us both—and I was certain he would not refuse. No king turns down a chance to serve his nation's interests.

"I would gladly march at your side."

"Then I'm counting on you."

Damdeok and I grinned and clasped hands.

A few hours later, I found myself invited to a feast in celebration of the victory.

"Come! Drink!"

"Gladly."

I accepted the cup Damdeok offered me. It held a drink that looked something like beer.

"A fine gyemyeongju—brewed through the night until the rooster's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crow. I hope it suits your palate."

"Gyemyeongju, is it...? A fine drink indeed."

I said the words, but the truth was I knew next to nothing about alcohol. Before my regression, training had left me no time for drinking, so the only drinks I knew were the everyday kind—and naturally, I had no way of knowing what Goguryeo's liquors were like.

"Then—a toast, to the fall of the fortress!"

"To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠victory!"

At Damdeok's cry, every soldier raised his cup high. As the drink flowed, the men traded tales of battlefield glory, grievances, songs, and verses of poetry, and the night deepened around them.

"When is Scholl getting here?"

Grace, who had come out to the airport to meet Scholl, frowned. The plane had landed a full hour ago, yet Scholl showed no sign of emerging from the gate.

"I really must kill her when she deigns to appear."

As she let her killing intent seep out, quiet and unseen, a voice sounded inside her head.

"Grace."

"Lord Greed?!"

Startled by the sudden transmission, Grace blurted out Greed's title at full volume—and every soul in the airport turned to stare at her.

"Wh-what is it, my lord?" A cold sweat breaking over her, Grace asked Greed through the link in her mind. The master of a covenant could read the thoughts of every demon contractor bound to him.

"Scholl has been taken."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It seems Gluttony saw through her."

With those words, Grace understood why Scholl had been missing for the past hour. She hadn't chosen not to come. She couldn't.

"Return as well."

"Understood."

Grace made for a deserted corner of the terminal, slipped into the shadows, and vanished from sight.

And a man had watched the whole thing.

I kept telling myself it was impossible... that the Gray Witch could not possibly be a demon contractor.

The man left the airport at a brisk pace. On his shoulder were the letters FBI.

"All forces, charge!"

The moment I cut down the demon, Damdeok's army smashed through the castle gate and poured inside.

"Aaagh!"

"O god!"

"Have you abandoned us?!"

The people screamed, searching for their "god"—the demon they had worshipped—but the demon never answered.

That makes five. Traveling at Damdeok's side, I had brought down five castles and fortresses in all. And all that remained was a single high-ranked demon.

One look was enough to place it—a baron... It seemed weaker than Poison, and in my current state, a baron was nothing I couldn't handle.

"Damdeok, how shall we do this?"

"We go now."

In the days marching beside Damdeok, we had grown genuinely close. I knew this was only a mindscape, but becoming the friend of my own ancestor—as his descendant—had been a good experience.

"Then let's make haste."

"Understood. A few men will hold this place; the rest advance to the next castle!"

Damdeok swiftly reorganized his army and marched out of the fallen castle, and the advance began with me at his side. Somewhere along the march, he drew up beside me and spoke.

"So this is farewell between us as well?"

"..."

"I'm not without eyes, you know. I know this castle is the last, and that you'll be gone when it falls."

I held my silence. Even if I wished to stay, I could not—this place was never reality to begin with. It was a mindscape.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"No—you were sparing me in your own way. Think nothing of it."

"How long have you known?"

Honestly, I had never imagined Damdeok had noticed at all. I hadn't been drunk, so I couldn't have let it slip over drink—which meant that without a word from me, he had simply sensed I was going to leave.

"When we joined forces and took our second castle together, I looked into your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Your eyes were not staying in this place. They were looking at something far away."

"..."

The eyes carry a great many things. People say that often enough, but few alive can truly read them.

"And ever since, your eyes have been looking at me—and yet not looking at me."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What you were seeing was me—and yet someone other than me."

It was true. Every time I looked at Damdeok, I had been overlaying him with the Gwanggaeto the Great I knew from the history books. So, to keep the two apart, I had tried to see the man before me not as Gwanggaeto the Great, but as someone else entirely—Damdeok. I simply hadn't expected him to notice.

"But what you saw was also me, wasn't it?"

"...It was."

"Honestly, at first I found such a man suspicious. But the longer we marched together, the more that suspicion faded."

"..."

"And then I understood. That this place is not reality."

"...!"

My eyes flew wide open. For a being within a mindscape to perceive the mindscape itself was supposed to be impossible. That was what I knew, and what I had believed—but now the exception stood right in front of me.

"This place is likely the world within me—or perhaps the world within this child."

With that, Damdeok raised the crescent blade in his hand, and the blade gave off a mournful hum.

"And still, you tried to tell me apart from that other me."

"I did."

"Thank you for giving meaning to a man who is nothing more than an illusion."

"You shouldn't. You are more than worthy of it."

I said it with a bitter smile, and seeing it, Damdeok's own smile turned just as bitter.

"Ah—I don't know if this will be of any help, but I'd like you to have it."

With those words, he held out a necklace. Strung upon it was a stone of blue light.

"It is the treasure of my house."

"No—I have no right to accept your family's heirloom."

"In a world destined to fade, what I hold does me no good."

Saying so, Damdeok pressed the stone into my hand and walked on ahead.

"Damdeok..."

I had a faint idea why he would go this far. He simply did not want to be forgotten. That was why he had passed the stone to me—so that I would remember him.

"You're a friend who can't be honest even with himself."

I murmured it under my breath, then moved out ahead.

The moment we reached the castle, attacks of demonic energy came pouring down on us.

"Keh keh! An attack of this caliber would bring down even that one—"

"What was that you said... you piece of trash."

I was on the demon in an instant, my fist smashing into its face. And in the same breath, I took my step—at full power.

Annihilating Thunder footwork. Heaven's Judgment.

A strike carrying every last drop of my mana came down upon the demon, and it could not endure it. It died where it stood, and a short while later, Damdeok and his army took the castle.

I did not exchange any parting words with Damdeok. That conversation we had shared was farewell enough for the both of us.

Still, I raised my voice one last time.

"A descendant of the Korean peninsula is honored to have met you, Gwanggaeto the Great!"

"The honor was mine!"

With that final cry, I passed beyond the mindscape.