Everyone's Dream (2)
Theo rushed over to Furball in a panic. Furball lay sprawled on his back.
[Uh, uh uh...]
Furball's eyes were tightly shut, not even twitching. His tongue, always lolling out with heavy pants, hung limp, and his fluffy fur had dulled to a sickly gray.
[Hey!]
Theo shook him in a fluster and pressed his ear to Furball's chest. No heartbeat.
[Wh-what do I do?]
Theo felt sweat trickling down his spine.
[You idiot!]
Suddenly, a little white fox poked her head out from the thicket of Furball's fur. Seol-a stared at Theo with wide eyes. She scampered up onto his belly and tilted her head curiously.
Then—flash! Furball's eyes snapped open.
Krreung! Krreung!
He licked his chops and shook off the dust from his shaggy body. Covered head to toe in dirt on all fours, he shuddered violently, his gray coat shifting back to pristine white.
Kiiing! Kiiing!
Seol-a climbed atop him, grooming his fur, and Furball bounced happily, slobbering all over Theo in delight.
[......]
Theo trembled but didn't dodge the tongue assault. Relief washed over him—what a close call. But something important nagged at him.
He turned to gaze at Choi Kang-ho in the distance.
Kwaaaaa—
The world around them warped grotesquely. Baal—that mad bastard—had taken a direct pierce through the heart from Kang-ho's hand. Oerblade jutted from Baal's chest, piercing clean through, shimmering with vivid blue light. Black demonic energy leaked from the wound, mingling with Kang-ho's mana to create an eerie resonance.
What the hell is that?
Theo had never seen anything like it.
Chijijijijik!
A massive vibration assaulted them, like the world itself twisting under pressure.
Then—pashik! Kang-ho dispelled Oerblade and staggered toward them, cradling Baal.
Theo hurried to support him. [You okay?]
Kang-ho nodded calmly. "Yeah."
He didn't look okay. His body was utterly wrecked—the worst injury Theo had ever witnessed. Unimaginable damage on this unbreakable guy.
Kang-ho coughed, blood spraying everywhere. A thick trail marked his path.
A wound that could kill him any second. Yet he moved because—
Chwarak!
A translucent silk draped him like a second skin. Constellation Silk! It propped up his ravaged body as a final bastion.
[You're not okay.]
Kang-ho met Theo's gaze and cracked a grin. He gently laid Baal down.
Gooo—
The demonic energy saturating Baal's body was slowly neutralizing. The Eternal Crystal heart of the Demon Realm pulsed with power alien to Kang-ho's, but its foul malice had faded.
Like Kang-ho purified it.
Theo recalled that mysterious force capable of rewriting even one's nature.
But Kang-ho's mana sealed Baal's heart, desperately holding him from death's door.
Thump— Thump—
"......"
Baal's eyes turned to Theo, then to Kang-ho. Kang-ho gazed down at those heavy-lidded eyes and spoke softly.
"Kang Jun-seok."
"......"
"Keep those eyes wide open."
"......!"
Suddenly, Baal—Kang Jun-seok—flashed back to the day he first met Kang-ho.
That bastard's eyes piss me off.
Kang-ho grinned through bloody coughs, dark crimson blood trickling out.
Goooooo—
Their clashing mana scattered everywhere, resonating strangely and warping reality nonstop.
Then—Jejejeok!
As their powers collided at their peak, a bizarre phenomenon tore open the battlefield. Space ripped, revealing an alien world.
An endless black sea stretched out. Beyond the horizon, grotesque tentacles writhed skyward in shadowy silhouettes. Fog-shrouded, bizarre flying craft loomed.
The world reeked of unease, amplifying primal dread from its depths.
[Hii, hiiiik!]
Bassago screamed like a madman, scrambling back.
[Wh-what the hell is that?]
In response, Kang Jun-seok rasped, "......A hi-higher...... world......"
"Exi-existences...... beyond the world......"
The rift sucked in their mana like a vortex.
Shaaaaak—
As it did, glowing yellow eyes bloomed in the black sea. Like deep-sea horrors, they surfaced, bodies rising.
Chwaaaaaa!
Dark humanoid shadows! Kang-ho recognized them instantly—blood ran cold.
Furball and Seol-a reacted differently too.
Krreureureung!
Furball bristled ferociously, growling savagely. Karreung! Seol-a matched him. Furball charged to block Kang-ho, Seol-a leaped atop his head, tails rigid.
More shadows emerged from the water, exuding thick malice utterly unlike Demon Realm energy—pushing monsters to savage extremes.
They were the Demons—the ones who once turned Earth into hell.
Shoooo—
The Demons stared. Rage filled Kang-ho's eyes. He rarely showed emotion, but this ignited him uncontrollably.
Kwaaaaaa!
Mana erupted from him. "You goddamn sons of bitches......"
Jiiing!
Oerblade manifested from both wrists. He swayed but readied a strike.
As the Demons crossed the boundary—pajijik! It sealed shut.
The rift vanished into empty air.
Cough! Kang-ho spat more blood. Theo steadied him.
[Anyway!]
What was that unseen world? Kang-ho's Demons? That foul energy—not quite mana. Ultradense, concentrated malice saturating everything!
Theo decided to move them first. [Father! Looks like they can't manage without me.]
Theo’s father scooped up Kang-ho in one arm, Kang Jun-seok in the other. Theo sighed at Bassago frothing in terror.
[You too, dummy.]
Ironically, amid Demon Realm flowers blooming everywhere, Theo set off. Time to go home.
. . . . . .
It felt like a brutally long, vivid dream. His body sank into something soft—was death this gentle?
Noisy chatter filtered in. Chirp, chirp, chirp. Birds? With fresh grass scent.
Grass. Spring's aroma, long missed—rain-kissed fields on a blooming day. Nostalgic luxury.
Baal's life: thirty years gone. The domineering voice in his head silenced, peace settled.
Yeah. No regrets in dying like this. Maybe see old friends first.
That guy's just like Kang-ho.
Yeah, doesn't age either.
They match there too.
Unfair, right?
Sword family, where's King?
Passed out—left him under the eaves.
Tougher than he looks.
Yeah, really.
Your speech is total grandpa now.
Cheol-bae, you look the part too.
Bickering voices. Kang Jun-seok cracked his eyes cautiously.
The world blazed bright. He turned—warm sun poured through a wide window, cracked open. Sweet hometown breeze filled him.
Where...?
An old man entered view: short white hair, bushy beard, burly muscles. Black suit—familiar.
Kang Jun-seok's eyes widened. Massive needles pierced the man—Im Cheol-bae.
"Long time no see."
Cheol-bae smiled down. "Everything's changed. Hometown's unrecognizable—cities on ruins, we're old. But some things endure forever."
True enough. Kang Jun-seok raised his right hand to his dear old friend.
"Aged to hell, but heart's still young."
Cheol-bae gripped it tight. "Welcome home, friend."
Kang Jun-seok sat up. Agony wracked him. Kang-ho's mana lingered at his heart, staving off depletion.
Normally, Eternal Crystal would've healed him fast. But clashing with its twin owner slowed recovery.
Shattered body screamed at the motion. Still, he forced himself upright.
The vast sickroom brimmed with old comrades: arms-crossed Park Jun-woo, beaming Kim Ho-young. Lee Min-ah bit her lip; wheelchair-bound Kang-ho watched.
Some aged, some unchanged. Past selves overlaid them—like a dream from a quiet spring day long ago.
Was this a dream too?
"Not a dream."
Kang-ho answered.
"......"
Emotion surged. Kang-ho smiled softly. "Welcome home, brother."
He nodded. Words stuck in his throat. Vision blurred.
Finally, he whispered hoarsely.
"I'm home."