Ch.27Chapter 27 – Origin (4)

“Is this the place…?”

Wolfram was searching for the hidden cave behind a waterfall, the secret vault where the Divine Thief supposedly stored various treasures.

She had used an expensive teleportation magic stone to reach this place faster than anyone else.

Her golden hair and expensive robe were soaked and heavy with water, while her panting breath and racing heartbeat revealed her emotional state.

‘Surely, it couldn’t have been a lie…’

She shook her head to dismiss the doubtful thoughts. She had even given up on trying to claim the Hero for profit to come here instead.

The probability of the information being false was extremely low. The difficulty lay in finding the place hidden by the legendary thief known as the Phantom Divine Thief.

Various formation arrays were mixed together, making it impossible to detect with magic, yet it couldn’t be found through random searching either.

“Not here either. Damn it, why are there so many waterfalls…!”

Wolfram cursed as she searched behind each waterfall along the mountain range. How thoroughly had it been hidden that even magic couldn’t easily locate it?

She couldn’t request assistance from the magic tower either. In this situation, information was invaluable.

If the location of the Philosopher’s Stone became public knowledge, others might covet it, or restrictions might be placed on its use.

Wolfram knew this better than anyone.

Because she had grown up in back alleys where hungry babies cried and people constantly called out for gods.

Because she had risen from absolute poverty to the position of Golden Tower Master, said to have built a tower of gold.

“Found it! Footprints on the ceiling!”

Wolfram widened her eyes as she carefully examined the ceiling. The traces were so faint they were barely visible.

After confirming the path someone had taken across the ceiling, she smiled at her discovery and cast a spell.

“Reverse Gravity.”

Flash! A golden magic circle shone from the tip of Wolfram’s staff, and she felt her body become buoyant as she floated upward.

Then, like a bat, she began walking upside down on the ceiling.

“I wonder how anyone could have done this without magic. The people of the East truly are mysterious.”

Wolfram imagined the legendary thief Bing-yeon had mentioned, the Phantom Divine Thief, as she took her steps.

The places with water marks should be safe. Thinking about it, it was rather strange that such a simple path had no security measures.

As she walked upside down through the narrow, winding path like an ant tunnel, Wolfram soon reached an open space that made her doubt her own eyes.

“There really is another space inside the cave…”

The cave, which should have been shrouded in darkness, was bright enough to dazzle the eyes. Self-luminous night pearls were placed throughout, and their soft glow was reflected as sparkling light by piles of gold coins.

The scene, filled with countless jewels and gold comparable to an imperial treasury, made the place look less like a cave and more like a vault created by a master architect.

“Wow…”

Wolfram couldn’t close her mouth. She had never seen such a sight even in the Golden Magic Tower, which was said to be built with towers of gold coins.

No matter how wealthy and materialistic a group might be, such an absolute difference made reality hard to believe.

“If I took all this, how much would it… No, that’s not what’s important right now!”

Wolfram slapped both her cheeks hard enough to make a sound, bringing herself back to her senses. The reason she came here was solely for the Philosopher’s Stone.

Unlike fake gold that was difficult to refine due to impurities, this was an object that could turn even cheap metals into pure gold.

“Not this one… not that one either… Where on earth is the Philosopher’s Stone?”

Objects that could change the fate of an entire kingdom passed through Wolfram’s hands, but she casually set them aside as she searched for the Philosopher’s Stone.

I should have asked Bing-yeon what it looked like.

The Philosopher’s Stone was described differently in various documents and media.

Some books said it was red like blood because it was made by grinding people, while others described it as transparent like water, capable of becoming any substance.

“Not this one, not that one either…”

So Wolfram picked up everything that looked like a stone and tested it against the fake gold she had created.

After many attempts and much time passing…

“Is this what you’re looking for, Golden Tower Master?”

A clear, melodious voice echoed in her ears. A captivating voice like jade beads rolling on a silver tray.

Wolfram raised her head to find the source of the voice. Then a girl appeared with a soft chuckle.

“Here. Here’s the Philosopher’s Stone. Isn’t that what you’ve been looking for?”

Wolfram found the girl’s appearance familiar. She had features impossible to forget.

‘Are people with white hair and blue eyes common…?’

A girl with pale skin like a female version of Bing-yeon, with snow-like hair and ice-blue eyes.

Seeing her appearance, Wolfram instinctively stepped back. Though not as intense as Bing-yeon’s, a piercing cold was rising up to her throat.

“Ahaha, don’t run away. I just wanted to see what the ‘real’ Wolfram looked like.”

An unfathomable powerhouse.

Fighting her would mean certain death.

Though wearing human skin and speaking human language, this was “something” that shouldn’t be disturbed.

“…?”

Shuddering with goosebumps all over her body, Wolfram tried to understand what the girl had said, but it was a completely incomprehensible statement.

Real? Does that mean there are fakes in this world too?

“My name is Bing-seol-hwa. Hmm… to put it in terms you’d understand, I’m like a mother figure to you?”

Bing-seol-hwa smiled brightly at the frightened Wolfram. It was a smile as bright as the morning sun, but it sent chills down the spine because there wasn’t a trace of genuine joy in it.

Originally, Bing-seol-hwa should have been Bing-yeon’s half-sister from the original story, the legitimate heir to the North Sea Ice Palace.

She should have been known by the title of Ice Emperor, but…

“No, creator would be more accurate. Though only as a co-creator!”

“…Creator?”

She suddenly called herself a creator or mother.

With the main deity Solareon existing, she’s calling herself a creator? Wolfram judged her to be heresy incarnate.

“Here! This is the Philosopher’s Stone you wanted!”

As Wolfram pulled out her staff from her sleeve to protect herself, Bing-seol-hwa took out a luminous green stone.

A stone that looked so ordinary it could be mistaken for jade without explanation, yet she clearly called it the Philosopher’s Stone.

In that moment, movement flickered in Wolfram’s eyes, and her gaze slowly shifted downward.

“You were a pickpocket in the back alleys as a child, and your dream was to help poor people, wasn’t it?”

Bing-seol-hwa recited Wolfram’s past with a snickering smile.

“Your father… committed suicide after failing in business and being unable to repay his huge debts, and your mother died of illness after overworking herself trying to feed you alone, didn’t she?”

How could she possibly know?

“You, you bastard…!”

As Wolfram wondered if she was under some illusion spell, Bing-seol-hwa continued to reveal information that only Wolfram should know.

“I regret it too, Wolfram. If I had known that the settings Do-hyeon and I created would become reality, I would have designed them more meticulously.”

Her voice changed to an androgynous, alien tone. Bing-seol-hwa’s voice kept changing.

Sometimes it was soft and gentle, and other times it was sharp and deep like a man’s voice.

“…What exactly are you?”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I am the co-creator of this world and your mother.”

With each step Bing-seol-hwa took toward Wolfram, something like writhing tentacles could be seen moving in the shadows.

A being beyond human comprehension, a deity from outer space that blasphemes against the gods of the real world.

An Outer God among the foreign deities.

“Or would you prefer ‘The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young,’ or ‘The Wife of He Who Must Not Be Named’? I’m not sure if the aliases used in this world are the same.”

Because mere humans cannot pronounce the true name of the being known as the Mother of All and the Earth Mother Goddess, Bing-seol-hwa was listing all the aliases she knew.

“My exact name is—”

Shub-Niggurath.

Similar to Azazel’s case, an Outer God had taken residence in Seol-hwa’s body.

* * *

Meanwhile, around the time Bing-seol-hwa and Wolfram were facing off, there was a group of people leaving a monastery in the West.

“I cannot accept that junior!”

“I agree. Master, why would you consider taking someone who rebelled against you as your disciple?”

Verdandi was threatening Azazel with her holy sword drawn, while Bi-wol had her arms crossed and cheeks puffed up.

Somehow they had joined forces, showing their disapproval of accepting Azazel as Bing-yeon’s disciple.

Bing-yeon was trying to prevent a fight between his disciples, looking troubled as if caught between sworn enemies.

“Girls, we still need Azazel to win the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament…”

He was trying to reduce any possibility of failure.

In a major episode where the original protagonists appear, if there were no children to participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament in his place, he would miss out on the 10,000-Year Ultimate Blood Treasure.

“Cough! Hack…!”

Bing-yeon felt his heart rattling and a pain like an ice pick scraping his lungs.

It was the side effect of trying to use both aura and internal energy to deal with Azazel. He coughed up blood repeatedly, bracing himself against the ground.

“Master…!”

“Master!”

“Are you alright?”

At this sight, all three people around him showed expressions of shock and concern.

“I’m fine.”

Although it was actually all because of Azazel, Bing-yeon didn’t blame her and tried to move past it.

Perhaps not disliking this foolish side of him, Azazel attempted to heal Bing-yeon with her holy power.

And then,

“I’ll heal you… Huh?”

Realizing something was wrong, she let out a short sigh and began feeling around Bing-yeon’s body with her tentacles, trying to discover something.

“Azazel, what’s going on…”

“Why do you have these marks on you?”

Black cloud-like markings formed from intertwined goat hooves and horns, with squiggly characters that only those who had contact with Outer Gods could understand.

– I think this world should end “according to the original story,” properly, Do-hyeon.

Written on Bing-yeon’s back were these words:

– From someone who loved your writing dearly.