Part 1 Chapter 11 23

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She didn’t even know how many deaths she had experienced by now. Hwanryong, who had entered Changyeom’s temple, was bound like a criminal, completely stripped.

“You really don’t get tired, do you? How many times has it been already?”

Changyeom looked down at Hwanryong with cold eyes.

“How many times have I told you? You can’t take what’s mine. Did you think you could win in the mental world? Don’t make me laugh.”

“……You really are a greedy pig.”

Hwanryong’s eyes flashed as she looked up at Changyeom.

“Do you like treating people like objects?”

“Yes. I do, so just give up now. He’s mine alone to have.”

“Then why did you show me those memories?”

Hwanryong bit her lip, swallowing her resentment. The memories of him that Changyeom had thrown at Hwanryong, as if out of pity, seemed so happy and enviable.

Hwanryong felt jealous of her future self.

And she hated Changyeom, who monopolized him-the one who had become Phoenix-her lifelong partner who had promised eternity with her future self.

“I also want someone who will stay by my side forever, without dying…”

“Then go find someone like that. Don’t covet what belongs to others, not knowing your place.”

“My place? You and I are the same!”

“We’re different.”

Changyeom twisted the corner of her mouth and gave orders to her soldiers. The black eagle monstrous humans, identical to Phoenix, twisted Hwanryong’s shins with their spears.

“I’m the one who endured and persevered to the very end to save Otherworld-Terra, while you gave up everything from the start and handed over the phantasm to Seongju.”

“……”

Hwanryong fell silent. Changyeom crossed her legs and leaned back on her throne.

“Do you know how many Apostles died because of you? Whose subordinates were those Undead who revived no matter how many times they were killed? And you, you just watched from behind, didn’t you? Because you were too lazy.”

“……”

Hwanryong couldn’t say anything. She had gone to great lengths to enter Changyeom’s mental world to obtain future happiness, but she was repeatedly blocked by Changyeom, who always guarded it like the final gate.

“……I, well, that is…”

“Don’t come squeezing into someone else’s body and act pathetic. What he did to straighten out your twisted mind was more than enough. The important thing is that you don’t know your place and covet my Apostle.”

“……”

“Not going to say anything? Good. Go outside and deliver exactly what I’m about to say. Then I’ll release your restraints. *Ahem*.”

Changyeom cleared her throat. A warm glow slowly began to seep into her cold, sunken eyes.

“Hmm, I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything to you. Seongju might have already departed, or they might not have, so I only told you this considering the worst-case scenario. Right? You always plan with the worst-case scenario in mind. It’s just that the worst-case scenario had a variable that exceeded your expectations. So don’t blame yourself too much. Your plans are always plausible. Seongju is a coward, aren’t they? Even if the God of War’s corpse disappeared, they might still be suspicious and haven’t departed yet, so I wanted to tell you not to be too hasty. Just one more time.”

Changyeom fiddled with her fingers, her head bowed.

“And you, don’t use the Cube just to call me back for no reason. Remember. The Cube isn’t just for dating me; it can be used for all sorts of things. You’re saying you can’t use the Cube because you’re afraid you’ll be swayed by other women? Uh… hmm… I’ll understand up to the extent of what happened with Seok Harang last time. I’m a broad-minded woman, after all. But direct physical acts are forbidden. Huh? You’re saying the scope of what’s allowed is getting wider? Are you going to permit a harem at this rate? Be quiet. If you keep talking like that, I won’t give you back the other things.”

Changyeom began muttering towards the ceiling with a stern expression.

“Thank you so much for going to save Rusalka. She’s a poor child, so please take good care of her in every way. There’s a lot I want to say about her falling in love with a mere human and even having children, becoming human herself, but I’m not in a position to talk, so I can’t say anything. However, no matter how strong you are, gender is something you can’t help. Even if Spirits are genderless, you insist on a female appearance, don’t you? So for these kinds of things, mobilize your subordinates and just watch from behind. Absolutely do not step forward and get into trouble. Please.”

Changyeom cleared her throat.

“And you’re going to keep fighting, so don’t treat your body carelessly. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this, but if you get hurt, I feel that pain too, you know? It really hurts, so don’t fight by getting injured to the point of death and then regenerating. Understand? Life-or-death battles, warrior’s pride, all that stuff is useless in the face of my power, so if Karna wants to fight, leave it to the others. You need to stay still sometimes. Got it?”

Changyeom clapped her hands and stood up. Hwanryong, who had been silently bowing her head, raised it.

“Alright, Hwanryong. Deliver everything from beginning to end. This is the condition for sending you back out of this world.”

“……Alright, alright.”

Hwanryong replied listlessly. Changyeom dismissed the soldiers with an expression that showed she expected nothing.

“I’m telling you one more time, don’t run your mouth carelessly. If he asks, just keep your mouth shut. You’ve been good at doing nothing, haven’t you?”

“……No.”

Hwanryong’s eyes shot up as she refused Changyeom’s order.

“I’ll live with him for the rest of my life. If I can just turn his heart towards me, he’ll stay by my side forever, looking only at me for eternity. Just like.”

Hwanryong stood up.

“He’s doing to you now.”

“……Puhuhu.”

Changyeom burst into laughter for the first time.

“That’s right. His love is directed solely at me now. You and other women were merely loves of the past; now, his love is directed only at me.”

“But you don’t even accept that love. You just play with him, calling him a mere human. In that case.”

Hwanryong scattered mana around her, raising her aura.

“I will truly take him away. Not just for myself, but on behalf of the other women he loved.”

“Indeed, a specialist in taking over others’ bodies. Now you plan to take over others’ love too?”

“Wouldn’t it be much better to spend eternity by my side than to be treated like a toy?”

Hwanryong clearly showed hostility towards Changyeom. But Changyeom shrugged her shoulders, acting nonchalant.

“Alright. Go ahead and try to take him. But remember this.”

Changyeom extended her index finger towards Hwanryong, wiggling it left and right.

“The moment he stops loving me, this world will be destroyed.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Hwanryong raised her head and scoffed at Changyeom.

“You just watch carefully from inside. How I, Gaeul, and the other Spirits and humans will steal his heart.”

“……Ah, how arrogant.”

Changyeom reached out and pulled a stone staff from the air, then put it back. Hwanryong flinched for a moment, but Changyeom laughed like a mischievous child, provoking Hwanryong.

“Shall we make a bet? On who he chooses. Go back and confess to him. Tell him you love him. Oh, you don’t have the courage to say that much? Puhuhu.”

“……You really want me to? Promise on your name.”

“……How insolent, really.”

Changyeom twisted the corner of her mouth, then kicked the throne with her foot, declaring.

“I swear on the sun. If he accepts you, I will set him free.”

“Your confidence is overflowing. Do you know what that means? It means I will perfectly control this body. Do you think I’ll leave you alone?”

“That’s only if he chooses you.”

Changyeom reached out, pointing alternately at herself and Hwanryong.

“Me, who doesn’t give him love, and you, who craves his love. Clearly, no matter who he chooses, once he makes up his mind, it won’t change for the rest of his life. So who do you think he’ll choose?”

“That’s obvious.”

They both declared simultaneously.

“Me.”

“Me.”

Smirk.

They both exchanged victorious smiles and retreated. Changyeom expelled Hwanryong from the mental world, and Hwanryong immediately returned from the conscious world.

And Hwanryong, even staking her ‘myth,’ confessed her feelings to him-Phoenix.

With the hope that he would stay by her side until the universe was destroyed, unlike others who would die or vanish.

And he said.

That he would love Changyeom until the day this world was destroyed.

“Fuck.”

It was the first time Hwanryong had ever uttered a curse word with such genuine emotion.

That was the full story of what happened while Hwanryong occupied Phoenix’s conscious world.

* * *

A moment later.

I sat facing Hwanryong again, her eyes swollen. The distance between us had lessened, but an awkward atmosphere hung between us.

“First, this is Changyeom’s first message, Phoenix-ssi.”

“Suddenly, -ssi?”

“If you’ve brutally rejected someone’s confession, shut up.”

“……Okay, I admit it.”

From Hwanryong’s perspective, I had become a ‘hit-and-run’ trash, so I had to endure Hwanryong’s complaints.

“Just one question before that.”

“What?”

“Why did you fall for me?”

It was an overly self-conscious remark, but it was true that Hwanryong had fallen for ‘me.’ Even knowing that Changyeom and Phoenix were separate individuals, Hwanryong expressed her affection for ‘me’ and volunteered to synchronize.

“Aren’t you actually trying to deceive me? To take me from Changyeom, screw Changyeom over, and then discard me once I’m no longer useful.”

“No.”

“Then is it Cheon Gaeul? Are you trying to target me as a stepping stone to win Cheon Gaeul’s love?”

“That’s not it either.”

“Then what’s your reason for saying you like me? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t remember ever treating you well.”

I briefly recalled everything that had happened since I first met Hwanryong until now.

“I deliberately woke you up from sleep, made loud noise pollution until you got up, crushed your testicles every time I possessed a man when we met, killed all your subordinates right in front of you, shoved you into the Yangtze River and had Seok Harang make you drink water, nagged you when you tried to flirt with Gaeul, forced you to do work you didn’t want to do, and now I’ve rejected your own confession to my face. Is there even one reason for you to like me? I’m sorry to say this to you, but even I think I’m complete trash.”

It was a fresh realization, but even I thought I had done a lot of terrible things to Hwanryong. But to call myself a bad boy-I had done too many regrettable and trashy things to Hwanryong for that.

“Is there any reason for you to like me after all this? You didn’t eat something bad after living inside Mao Zeping, did you?”

“……If you don’t talk. Be quiet. It’s too bothersome to explain everything, so I won’t. Think what you want. One thing is for sure.”

Hwanryong poked my chest with her finger.

“Don’t judge ‘us’ by human standards. Got it?”

“……Fine. If trash is your type, then I can’t help it.”

“It’s not like that… Hmm. Think what you want. Anyway, I’ve said what I needed to say, and from here on, it’s Changyeom’s message.”

“Changyeom? Why?”

Why would Changyeom specifically choose to convey her message to me through Hwanryong?

“I caught the locust and immediately used the Cube…”

“I heard about that too, so don’t worry about it.”

“I was going to use the Cube to summon Changyeom right away. I still have something I need to get from her, you see.”

“You really don’t care, do you…”

Hwanryong shook her head as if exasperated, yet she laughed as if amused.

“Good. That’s why I like you.”

“Bad boys are your type, aren’t they? That’s why you keep Baek Cheong-yeong by your side too.”

“I told you it’s not like that. Anyway, there’s a reason Changyeom specifically chose to send her message through me, so listen carefully. I won’t say it twice.”

“Got it.”

I was afraid of what Changyeom might try to say to me. Only 12 hours had passed since we met in Jeongdongjin, so what kind of message could she possibly want to convey? Was there something she hadn’t told me?

“1. Tell Seongju not to be too hasty. I think I spoke out of turn. 2. Don’t call me even if you get a Cube before awakening the next Spirit. 3. Be really careful of Rasputin. 4. Don’t get hurt.”

“……? That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s it. I summarized it well, didn’t I? I spent four hours listening to this-“

“You said 10 minutes earlier.”

“……”

Hwanryong briefly turned her gaze towards the pond, then.

“Huhu.”

She avoided answering. Only then did I realize another side of Hwanryong.

“You don’t talk much not because you’re lazy, but because you’re the type to make a lot of verbal mistakes, aren’t you?”

“……”

Hwanryong remained silent. Naturally, that silence was a sign of affirmation, and I grabbed Hwanryong’s face, pressing her for answers.

“Tell me honestly. Is there something else you haven’t told me?”

“Th-there’s nothing like that…”

“Changyeom doesn’t tell me unnecessary things, but she doesn’t lie, does she?”

“……”

I provoked Hwanryong through comparison, and Hwanryong’s mouth twitched as she lowered her head.

“……I haven’t told anyone either. But there’s one person who’s figured out your true identity.”

“It’s Rusalka.”

“……”

I had one more reason to save Rusalka, Anastasia.

* * *

As soon as I was done with Hwanryong, I immediately called Baek Cheong-yeong and quickly devised a plan.

The so-called, .
“I’ve really done all sorts of things in my life.”
For the peace of one family and the world, I had to force his sacrifice.
“I’m sorry, . You’re a Villain anyway, so please understand.”
Tonight.
We’re going big game hunting.