episode_0079

“What now… ”

Seoyeon couldn’t believe her ears and asked back without realizing it. What he said was outside of common sense.

Jeokhwa Yeon family. A member of the Demonic Twenty-Seven Tribe and Five Families, like Paecheon.

Originally, the strongest force among the five families was the Black Lotus, but for unknown reasons, they left the political world and went into hiding 14 years ago, leaving only the parent company, S&C.

Jeokhwa and Paecheon fiercely fought over the vacant seat. But now, the winner is almost guaranteed to be a loser.

However, the person who was once the successor to that family revealed that he had communicated with his old enemy through his own words.

“… I’m out of my mind.”

“Cough… Phew, the youngest. You don’t know how I got here… ”

The man continued speaking in a calm manner.

“Even before you were born, there were many competitors above me… Cough! I had to feel my survival threatened by them every day. And how to survive… There was only one… Cluck, cluck!”

“So you had an internal relationship with the enemy? Patcheon’s biggest enemy? This is treason… !”

“Cluck, cough! Phew, it was a deal that benefited both parties. Jeokhwa, who was in danger due to the matriarch’s offensive, was able to gain some breathing space, and I succeeded in surviving and ascending to a higher position… Cough! Now it’s like this… ”

“Then the reason you ran away… ”

“What more can I say? The head of the family noticed. Old people have sensitive senses… Cough!”

“… ”

What he meant was that he obtained the cooperation of hostile forces and eliminated his competitors without raising suspicions about himself.

The attack on the village also took place in that context.

Until now, there has not been a single person who has overcome the incurable disease called particle hypersensitivity, but in theory, if a patient with particle hypersensitivity succeeds in blooming safely, he or she will possess endless magical talent.

Since such an impossible thing was about to happen, he tried to take action in advance before a powerful competitor that he could not deal with was born.

However, the numerous other raids she received upon returning to the capital were the collaboration of numerous hostile forces who had heard the information she had leaked.

Seoyeon clenched her fists and had to work hard to shake off her anger. Either they could not understand the language, had incomplete flowering, or were unable to regain control of their bodies afterward.

If any one of the three had not happened, she would have also become a victim of such fraud.

In addition, the man gave them some of Paecheon’s internal secrets in exchange for them, which was the reason why he tenaciously maintained his name even after suffering from an all-out offensive by the enemy.

It was a series of shocking revelations, but one part of the connection was still not properly connected.

“… So what is the relationship between the enemy and the demons? Are you saying they are demons in disguise?”

“Puhuh, cough! Anyway, that’s not true. There are five families in name… Cluck, cluck!”

As if he would solve her questions, the man continued his explanation in a forward-looking manner.

“The curse of the spiritist. Have you ever heard of it?”

“… Yes.”

It was a story that everyone in the upper class had heard at least once.

Jeokhwa’s lineage suffers from side effects due to spirit magic or constitution, and that is why there are many who live unusually short lives or have bad endings.

However, this was just a rumor and there was no physical evidence to confirm the truth. Therefore, most of the opinions were that the coincidence was simply a result of the hostile faction’s actions.

“Cough… ! The spiritist’s curse is not just a rumor. In reality, it is their fatal weakness. Enough to pose a risk to their existence.”

However, the man in front of me opened his mouth in a confident tone.

“It is said that the more talented they are in spirit magic, the greater the mental side effects they experience. It’s definitely mental contamination. That’s why they are unable to properly respond to our offensive. Cluck, cluck! The current matriarch of Jeokhwa is also suffering from serious side effects from it. Last I heard, he was living on private property almost without leaving the house.”

“… ”

“They say Jeokhwa’s next successor is also showing the same symptoms. Maybe you know better. They must have fought until they got tired of it in the cradle.”

Certainly, there were subtleties in what I saw and heard about Yan Yanha in the cradle that make it difficult to consider it normal.

“And as a way to overcome their mental contamination, they chose to turn to the forbidden study of interferometric mental magic.”

“What… ?”

Without any time to be shocked by the unexpected fact, shocking revelations come out of the man’s mouth one after another.

“I also started secretly exchanging information with demons for him. All of the interferometric research data in modern magic has been used, so I wanted to get help from black magic instead. Cough, clack… ”

“… ”

“The great invasion of the demons a year ago. Do you remember?”

Of course there was no way I couldn’t remember. The calm man’s explanation continues.

At that time, the national army and private soldiers from each family formed a siege network to repel the invaders.

However, the siege was breached for some absurd reason, and each northern province suffered sporadic damage due to the remnants that eventually escaped the siege.

And the point that was breached at the time was the area that the Red Army was in charge of.

“That means… ”

“They are not pierced. It was pierced. To infiltrate collaborators into the south according to the beasts’ demands.”

To sum up his words, he asked the Red Army to remove him as he usually did.

And it coincided with the period of the great invasion of the demons, and in order not to be suspected of being behind it, Jeokhwa enlisted beasts of the lower warrior class among the demons who had infiltrated at the time to carry out his request.

Monsters with low intelligence, who faithfully obey orders and only aim for their target, could be said to be outcasts that were perfectly suited to their purpose.

“… How can you know everything in such detail? Even if he were a collaborator, there would be no way he would be able to understand all such intimate matters.”

“Cough… ! We created an insider for the Red Army. I also needed to hold their leashes. There really was someone who was a perfect fit. Cluck, cluck!”

“What data or evidence can prove it?”

“It is carefully stored somewhere.”

“… What your brother knows. Does the matriarch know this too?”

“Other than the fact that I reached a close relationship with them… Cough… !”

He shook his head.

Baek Seo-yeon was eventually able to find out everything from his mouth, including the location of the place where the evidence was stored. There is nothing left for him to do now.

The man spoke in a voice full of anticipation.

“Cluck, cough! Now loosen it up a bit. I’m really going to die if this continues. Don’t worry. You won’t even come near my capital. Take care of Paecheon’s business… Wow! Ugh!”

However, his faintest expectations were shattered by someone’s fist that was cruelly shoved into his throat.

Baek Seo-yeon, who had listened to the conversation with a calm and non-hostile attitude, was no longer there.

Only thick, heavy anger remained in the pair of golden eyes looking at the man.

“Wow… Wow! why!! Wow… !!”

“Stupid brother. If it were you, would you release the person who threatened your life?”

“Ugh! Cough… !”

“If my life had been the only target, I might have let them go. But you… you… I crossed the line.”

“No, no… !”

The desperate man’s screams were crushed helplessly in anger.

Light gradually began to shine brightly in his dark throat.

Eventually, the fire ignites.

“Kwaaah… Caw!!”

The magical fire that burned the vocal cords first quickly spread to the entire body. Soon, flames rose up from every pore of his face.

Seoyeon turned away without saying a word, leaving the man struggling in pain.

Soon, along with the crackling sound of the temporary building collapsing, someone’s terrible deathly sound comes from behind.

*

“Cough… Cough… !!”

Icicles were all around, accompanied by a chill. At first glance, there were dozens of corpses lined up along the corridors and passageways.

There was only one survivor here. A man managed to stand on a pillar and continued to cough bloody.

His body was covered with ugly tattoos. A red glow flashed in his eyes.

His fingers were purple from severe frostbite. One or two were broken, leaving bones and red flesh visible.

It was only in one night that the nighttime theater troupe, a criminal group of black magicians that was under the protection of powerful people and that even the Public Security Bureau could not touch, was destroyed.

The incident started when a low-level member of the theater troupe, who did not recognize her, showed a rude attitude.

But in reality, it was just an excuse to avoid being captured by the outside world even if they were annihilated.

-Pasrak… Pasrak…

The girl who was the cause of the incident approached with a sad step. Every time she took a step, frost appeared at her feet and then dispersed again and again.

The head of the theater troupe shouted at the girl who eventually arrived in front of her in an aggrieved tone.

“How… How could Paecheon do this to us… !! This is betrayal… !!”

His words had some validity. One of the families that most actively protected them and mobilized them for dirty work was Paecheon.

However, the girl who heard his protest arrogantly snorted as if it was not worth hearing.

“Betrayal? You’re saying something funny. How dare you trash talk to someone.”