episode_0230

Seoyeon was walking alone through the ruined city center.

Black smoke was billowing out and sporadic explosions were occurring throughout the city. Corpses with limbs blown off were a common sight.

-Bang!

A blind shell hit her directly, but it soon bounced off the field’s recoil and collapsed on the poor building.

“… ”

Without a single scar, without a single disturbance.

Seoyeon walked silently.

And upon arriving at the palace, chaos was unfolding.

“Earth 10, has been breached!!”

“There are many enemy soldiers in District 55…!”

“No contact from the 4th Battalion…!”

Crows flew dizzily across the sky. The light of hope was gradually fading away as the defeated soldiers wearing torn uniforms arrived one after another, bringing sad news.

She paused for a moment and looked around.

Centered around a huge building that towers high into the sky, orphaned buildings spread out in all directions.

This place, once a symbol of the glory of the fallen kingdom, had long since been reduced to half-ruins. Flames spread from the collapsed area after being hit by artillery fire, but no one had the presence of mind to control it.

Even in that miserable state, Seoyeon couldn’t feel anything special.

Rather, it was to the point where I felt relieved.

I remember always being looked down upon because I was born with a limited lifespan.

Upon returning, I remember being tormented by the threats of assassination and the surveillance of my half-siblings.

There was no way there could be affection.

The command post I entered was also in chaos.

“What messenger was sent to Baekgwang and Seongsan?”

“Baek Gwang still hasn’t answered! He said that Gaju’s health is not good… ”

“The same goes for Seongsan! It’s hard to answer because the successor is in seclusion… !”

“How dare they betray me! No matter how much they make excuses…!”

The expressions that had once been filled with unrealistic dreams were nowhere to be found.

Among the busy high-ranking vassals, she was soon able to find the familiar figure of her biological father.

“When on earth will the Northern Army come…!”

The easygoing and friendly smile he always wore was no longer there. He was gritting his teeth in anger, clearly revealing his inner greed and impatience.

The fact that Baek Il-yong had revealed his true self meant that the end was near.

The end of defeat. The end of Baekil Yong.

And its own end.

“If only they could get there, the whole world would…!”

“The Northern Army won’t come.”

Seoyeon took a deep breath and answered.

With every step she took, long wisps of frost spread across the ground in all directions.

As if to freeze everything.

***

The surroundings, which had suddenly become quiet, were filled with mountains of corpses.

Half-buried in the middle of the pile, the sole surviving man was breathing heavily.

“Ugh… Cool… !”

Suddenly.

Then, at the feeling of something cold touching his neck, the man slowly raised his head and looked up.

A long, sharp ice skewer was aimed squarely at his carotid artery. At the tip were a pair of golden eyes, shining as brightly as twin suns.

But what filled the surrounding air was not warm light, but a cold chill that penetrated to the bones.

“Coolook…Coolook…! Indeed… This is amazing… ”

He spoke to Seo-yeon even as he was spitting out blood foaming from his mouth.

“Even if his talent is beyond the standards… I never thought he could single-handedly slaughter dozens of Category 2 level magicians… Cool… !”

“… ”

“I loved your talent… I accepted you as a member of the Heavenly Family again… Why did you betray me…! The eternal glory… was right before your eyes… !!”

“I’ve never betrayed you.”

Seoyeon responded coldly, as if she couldn’t listen.

“I never truly followed you for a single moment. You can’t call it a betrayal.”

“What…?”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment from the beginning. The moment right before you reach your highest point.”

Seoyeon spoke mockingly with a sneer through her messy, tangled hair.

“That way, it will hurt the most when you fall.”

“… ”

Baek Il-yong looked up at her for a while without saying anything. Then he opened his mouth again and asked a question.

“What is the reason?”

“What?”

“Even if it wasn’t betrayal… Cool…! There must be some kind of proper motive. Tell me… that.”

“Because you are… the cause of all tragedy.”

“The culprit…? Hehe… ”

The man furrowed his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand. This only made Seoyeon more angry, so she pushed the skewer deeper into his neck.

She recited coldly, watching the blood flowing down.

“They even broke the law and gave birth to dozens of illegitimate children, and when they didn’t satisfy their sexual desires, they were thrown out like old shoes. Those who caught their eye had to fight endlessly to seize power.”

“… ”

“Poisoning food, sending assassins every night, and as if that wasn’t enough… mobilizing demons to launch large-scale attacks.”

Seoyeon’s arm, aimed at her neck, trembled slightly. Even just that small movement made it clear how angry she was.

“And not only did you neglect him, you even encouraged him to do so. Handing out a tiny bit of power like sweet candy.”

“Coolook… ”

“So many people have suffered needlessly. Just because of your greed. You are not worthy of the position of supreme being. Instead, you will only bring endless conflict and chaos to the world. You… are a person who should not exist in this world.”

Baek Seo-yeon gripped the ice pick handle tightly. Then, she aimed it hard again and recited a cold tune.

“I’ll tie up my sins. So you… just disappear from here.”

The emptiness that had reached the end rose up in her heart. Baek Il-yong’s next was Baek Seo-yeon herself. By doing so, all the ugly glory of Paechun would disappear without a trace like ashes blown away by the wind.

That was the most Seo-yeon could do to atone for Lee Hyeon.

In the meantime, Baek Il-yong was staring at Seo-yeon with an expression that made it impossible to read his thoughts. He finally opened his mouth after letting out a breath mixed with air.

“… It was inevitable.”

“What is that…!”

Seo-yeon poured out her indignation at the shameless side of him who continued to spout sophistry until the very end.

“… 15 years ago, I lost my first successor.”

But the man paid no attention and continued to speak calmly.

“This happened during the witch hunt operation. At first, I thought he had been killed by a witch. After all, weren’t they powerful enemies who had pushed the Republic to the brink of destruction?”

“… ”

“He was a child that I wouldn’t mind putting in my eyes. He was a successor that I wouldn’t be ashamed of showing off. He knew honor so well that he volunteered to go to the front lines when the Great Witch Front was being planned.”

He was lost in thought, and for a moment, his gaze turned to the sky.

“How much sorrow must have been felt when he lost such a child. I spent several days in deep sorrow. On the other hand, I was slowly preparing to send the child away. However… The frontline manager who came to visit told a different story.”

The atmosphere changed. He was vaguely recalling the past as if recalling a revolving lantern, and he let out a rough, heavy sound.

“It wasn’t the witch who killed that child. It was the same punitive force, the scoundrel Sa Jae-hyeok of the Black Lotus.”

“What…?”

She blurted out a question without realizing it.

“… Why?”

“It must have been for some trivial reason. Like it was because it offended me. Don’t you know that dog’s reputation?”

Baek Il-yong said with a laugh.

“It was a truly gut-wrenching pain. Even in the midst of it all, I kept thinking. Why did that child have to die, why did I have to go through this kind of sadness…!”

“… ”

“And there was only one answer I found. That child was… too weak.”

“What…?”

“Despite being born with outstanding magical talent, his weak personality always held him back. He would even extend a helping hand to his rival, the successor of the Black Lotus, let alone the lowest servants of his family. But just look at the end! His good intentions were eventually miserably betrayed!”

He turned his head again and stared at Seoyeon with a creepy gaze.

“That is why I have trained you endlessly! So that you will never experience the same tragedy again! So that you will always be on guard rather than harboring vain good intentions! So that the talented ones who have prepared like that will one day sit in their rightful place!”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about!!”

Seo-yeon screamed in shock. But he paid no attention and just muttered while looking at her.

“But what a pity. You kicked away the happiness that was planned for you.”

And that was the moment.

-Phew!

Without any sign or warning.

Along with the excruciating pain she felt, Seo-yeon vomited dark red blood from her mouth.

“Coolook… !”

Seoyeon looked down. She could see the pieces of intestines that had dug into her back and pierced her stomach, as well as thick, bloody, needle-shaped crystals.

-Kick kick…

Soon, a mocking voice whispered in her ear. She turned around and swung the hand holding the ice crystal, but there was no one there anymore.

“Haa, haa… !”

Seoyeon staggered back a few steps and barely managed to support herself by leaning one knee on the ground.

“Oh my… You look so ugly?”

And as if the hazy fog was taking shape, an unidentified woman suddenly appeared behind Baekilyong.