Chapter 77
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77
Under a night sky where the moon was hidden by clouds, making the air feel particularly eerie.
Jjaek-jjaek, who had been dozing on his perch, suddenly began to flap his wings frantically.
Flap! Flap, flap—!
After flapping violently, Jjaek-jjaek began to wheeze and struggle as if he were choking.
Hack! Ke-hack, hack!
He vomited up what he had eaten, much like a cow regurgitating cud, and then suddenly collapsed.
As Jjaek-jjaek’s fallen body turned pitch black, something dark and plump suddenly poked out from between his beak.
“Grrr...”
A poison insect began to slowly bloat in size.
“Grrr... Grrr...”
The first person to come running out at the commotion was none other than So-ya.
“Jjaek-jjaek!”
So-ya screamed as she saw Jjaek-jjaek lying there with his body turned black, and the poison insect swelling in size.
“Grrrrrrrrrr...!”
Unlike its weak appearance during the day when it seemed to be dying, the poison insect began to roar with its now-massive body.
Horror dawned on the faces of Sa-eon and the others who had rushed out after hearing the noise.
“My god, the poison insect!”
“It’s dangerous, Cotton Ball!”
Ga-yul shouted in alarm from among the crowd.
At that moment, the poison insect lunged toward So-ya.
“Grrr...!”
Boom—!
Sa-eon quickly snatched So-ya up with one arm, and at the same time, the wall behind where she had been standing crumbled.
In an instant, the area turned into a scene of absolute chaos.
“Little Cotton Ball, are you alright?”
Sa-eon asked, his arm tightening around So-ya while his eyes remained fixed on the poison insect.
“Yes, Father. I’m fine. But the poison insect...”
“It’s because there’s no light. It must have been biding its time inside Jjaek-jjaek’s stomach, then crawled out once the light vanished.”
Gung-gi’s poison insects boasted a terrifying power, no less than that of most demonic beasts, in places where light did not reach—just like now.
Every time the poison insect dripped saliva, the ground where it landed hissed and corroded.
“Everyone, get back!”
At Sa-eon’s shout, the people took cover inside the main gate.
The poison insect turned its head, growling as it searched for a target, and spotted Ga-yul, who hadn't managed to hide yet.
In a flash, the insect charged at him.
It was a speed faster than a lightning bolt, unimaginable for its massive size.
However, Sa-eon was slightly faster.
Quickly kicking off the ground and leaping, Sa-eon snatched Ga-yul with his free arm and retreated.
He then set So-ya and Ga-yul down in a safe place.
“Stay here quietly, children.”
Sa-eon drew his long sword and approached the poison insect.
“Father, your wound...!”
So-ya belatedly noticed blood dripping from Sa-eon’s sleeve.
He had been grazed by the poison insect while saving the two children.
However, without a single change in his expression, Sa-eon charged forward and cut down the poison insect with a single stroke.
Swoosh—
“Grrrrrrrrrrrk...!”
The corpse of the poison insect, which had been convulsing in its final death throes, soon shriveled up with a hissing sound.
It was a revolting sight. Just as Sa-eon was frowning and turning away—
Flinch.
Sa-eon’s expression froze at a presence he felt from behind.
Just as he was about to tighten his grip on his sword hilt and turn back around—
“Father!”
At the same time So-ya ran toward him, the corpse of the poison insect exploded with a loud pop!
The black fluid that splattered in all directions surged as if it would corrode the entire world.
“Cotton Ball, you—!”
Sa-eon, who had dodged by a hair’s breadth, pulled So-ya into a fierce embrace.
“...!”
But in an instant, his eyes shook violently as he looked at the child.
He had spotted a drop of the poison insect’s black fluid on the child’s clear cheek.
Sting—
“Ugh.”
So-ya winced at the chilling sensation that dug into her skin, corroding it.
In an instant, the poison that had penetrated her skin turned it pitch black and rushed toward So-ya’s spirit core.
“Cotton Ball...!”
Along with Sa-eon’s solitary cry—
Crack!
So-ya’s pupils dilated as she felt something surrounding her spirit core shatter.
“Ah...!”
So-ya gasped involuntarily.
In an instant, the entire world flashed white.
Crackle, crackle. Crackle—
In the midst of the silence, only the sound of burning flames echoed through the space.
So-ya had felt something similar once before.
That strange sensation, as if she were the only one living and breathing in a world where time and space had stopped...
—Child.
Soon, a magnificent firebird, draped in massive and brilliant flames, appeared before So-ya’s eyes.
—You have finally found me, little bird.
A voice that felt both gentle and soft, yet possessed a grand majesty, echoed in her mind like a voice transmission.
“You are...”
So-ya gulped.
Crackle, crackle—.
So-ya had seen this magnificent firebird with brilliant red feathers, like a blazing fire, somewhere before.
A long time ago.
Back when So-ya lived at the Vermilion Bird Mansion.
She had seen such a massive and beautiful being in the Vermilion Bird paintings displayed throughout the mansion.
The Ancient Divine Beast, the Vermilion Bird.
“Lord Vermilion Bird...?”
As So-ya murmured in a voice of disbelief, the red bird spoke with a voice tinged with a gentle smile.
—Yes. I am the Purifier of the South. The Divine Beast, the Vermilion Bird. A long time ago, you were the one who woke me. Little bird of the South.
“...!”
So-ya’s eyes grew wide.
‘The voice that has been calling me all this time was Lord Vermilion Bird?’
—Since you have awakened me, I shall give you the flame that purifies all things.
Soon, the blazing flames seemed to wrap warmly around So-ya’s body before vanishing like smoke.
At the same time, a small flame flickered to life on So-ya’s palm.
The moment she saw it, So-ya knew.
She knew that she could now freely control this purification flame upon her palm.
Just like the moment she received the White Tiger Sword from the White Tiger and instinctively knew how to move...
—Fire is something precise yet small. However, this tiny spark can grow large enough to swallow the entire world at any time.
So-ya looked up at the Vermilion Bird’s voice.
—So always be careful, little bird. Lest you be swallowed by it yourself.
“....”
So-ya didn't answer for a while.
She just stared blankly at the flame blooming from her hand.
—Child?
At that, the brilliant firebird tilted its head, shedding a red feather.
“I... woke you up, Lord Vermilion Bird?”
So-ya looked up at the Vermilion Bird again.
“That’s impossible. How could I wake you? I... I’ve never even met you!”
At So-ya’s cry, the Vermilion Bird wore a faint smile.
—That day was a day when a red moon, just like these blazing flames, was in the sky.
Soon, flames flared up and surrounded So-ya in a circle.
—I shall show you the day we first met.
“Ah.”
So-ya squeezed her eyes shut as the flames grew stronger.
And when she opened her eyes again.
“This place is...”
The Vermilion Bird Mansion, submerged under blood-red moonlight, greeted her.
So-ya looked around with a dazed face.
Just then, a man with red hair passed in front of So-ya with an anxious expression.
Startle.
Surprised, So-ya looked up and checked the man’s face again.
“That person is...!”
He was a bit younger than she remembered, but it was undoubtedly him.
Jeok Ah-yun.
The Clan Head of the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the man So-ya had thought of as her ‘father’ for a long time.
‘Why is he here... Is this an illusion...?’
As So-ya stared blankly up at the man’s face, the Vermilion Bird’s voice echoed in her head.
—It is both an illusion and the actual past. This happened twelve years ago, on the night the red moon rose, my child.