Ch.46Original Work (1)

The floor that had resembled the gates of hell began to close its maw. Just as it sealed completely, Serin leaped out frantically and stomped on the ground like a madwoman.

Thud. Thud. THUD!

Crack!

“Ah…!”

As the cracks in the ground widened, Serin smiled brightly. But when the floor collapsed as she had hoped, all that was visible below was the familiar scenery of the lower floor they had passed through long ago. The unknown space that had swallowed Rahilt had completely vanished.

“Rian…?”

Serin couldn’t accept reality and kept looking around desperately. But there wasn’t even a shadow of Rahilt to be found. When she finally grasped the situation, her eyes filled with grief.

“Haha…”

Rastali laughed.

That detestable sound sharpened Serin’s hatred toward Rastali.

Her ferociously honed hatred exploded like a volcano reaching its limit.

“You fucking bastard!!!”

Serin’s form vanished. Her lightning-fast movement kicked up a cloud of dust.

Reaching Rastali in an instant, she grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down.

CRASH!

“Keh… cough, hack. Wow, this is no joke. Are you really a woman?”

“Shut up, or I’ll tear your face off, you bitch.”

Rastali’s attitude was so relaxed it made one forget she was at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Serin felt like she wanted to stop her violently pounding heart even if it meant breaking it.

“Where did Rian go?”

“Curious?”

“I’m asking where my person went… you piece of shit.”

“You’ll find out soon enough…”

Rastali avoided Serin’s intense gaze while speaking playfully.

As if her words weren’t just simple mockery, fog began to form all around them. Luca tried to suppress it through magical means, but it was futile.

“So his name was Rian? Looks like it’s already starting.”

“What did you say?”

“What else? It means he’s starting to be consumed by the contaminant.”

Rastali tapped the ground. More precisely, she was pointing at her shadow.

“You’ve worked hard finding the contaminant. While my subordinates were buying time, the magic formula for inserting the contaminant into the shadow was completed.”

“…”

“So congratulations. You’ve earned the opportunity to witness all the filthy aspects of your lover.”

To summarize the desire engraved in the contaminant: amplification of impurity.

It forcibly stimulates the wrong parts of a person and draws out their corrupted nature.

“When impurity is amplified, a person’s mental world materializes and drags in everyone around them.”

Serin’s chest burned while her mind remained cold and calculating.

Though difficult to understand, the summary was this:

The fog surrounding them was part of the process of Rahilt’s mental world materializing.

“How nice for you. You’ll get to know everything about your lover.”

Finally, she casually remarks:

“Though I’ll pass on that.”

Keeeng!

Suddenly, a magical formula activated.

Rastali’s body was enveloped in bright light and lost its form.

Luca immediately deduced the nature of this strange phenomenon.

“Short warp!”

It was the highest level of spatial magic that allowed unrestricted short-distance travel.

Having hopelessly lost Rastali right before her eyes, Serin showed surprisingly no reaction. Finding this strange, Kanarin observed her closely but soon had to look away.

Blood was seeping from her mouth. She seemed to be biting the flesh inside her mouth and her tongue to control her anger. Kanarin couldn’t even offer comfort in the face of such raw emotion.

“Status window open.”

Kanarin skillfully touched the air as if performing a pantomime.

“Open point shop. Sort parallel ability list.”

[Retrieving information from parallel worlds.]

…

……

Ding!

[Retrieval failed.]

“What…!”

Kanarin had intended to escape this unpleasant fog zone using her one-time portal creation ability, just as she had done at the Mansion of the Sorcerer.

But her plan was blocked all too easily.

[Cannot observe parallel worlds in a closed world.]

Closed world.

Given the circumstances, this must refer to Rahilt’s mental world. A phenomenon incomprehensible by human common sense was occurring.

“Kanarin! Where are you? Kanarin!”

“I’m here, Luca!”

“Damn it, I can’t get any closer!”

“What on earth is happening…!?”

As Kanarin and Luca floundered in the thick fog, Serin stood blankly observing the situation while berating herself.

“If only I hadn’t rushed in recklessly…”

Kanarin had clearly warned her.

That even if not Rastali herself, they should be wary of surprise attacks and traps.

Ignoring that and charging in blindly had led to this mess.

Though Rahilt might be the strongest in the world, that didn’t mean he had no weaknesses. In fact, she was confident that her father could physically restrain him.

Then what about mentally?

According to Rastali, the effect of the contaminant was to amplify impurity.

For ordinary humans, it might simply change their personality.

However, the problem was that Rahilt wasn’t in a mentally stable state to begin with.

Rahilt, who had once lost his normalcy as a child of the dragon. Rahilt, who in the original story became increasingly broken and devastated as days passed.

It was impossible to know how the contamination would affect Rahilt. Especially on a day like today when his condition was extremely poor.

“Please… be safe… Rian…”

Just as Serin was pleading desperately.

Step.

A very soft footstep sounded. Like gently treading on lightly fallen snow.

Step, step.

A human figure appeared in the hazy fog. Judging by the flowing hair, it was a woman.

“Narin unni…?”

Step.

There was no answer.

Serin put aside her self-loathing and assumed a defensive stance. She needed to abandon carelessness and focus on driving away the black magician.

She was getting closer. The woman.

Another three or four steps and she would be completely visible.

Step.

Step, step.

…

……

Step.

“… Huh?”

Strangely, a question mark escaped her lips.

The person Serin saw was neither Kanarin nor Rastali, but a complete third party.

Moreover, someone she had already met once before.

“You are…”

Flowing, lustrous jet-black hair.

Equally deep, dark eyes like the compressed darkness of the deep sea.

A picturesque woman who perfectly suited the extremely antique dress she wore.

‘It’s the person I saw in Narin unni’s memory link.’

The person who had shattered the status window with a single flick stood before her.

The mysterious woman smiled warmly.

[Nice to meet you.]

“Who are you…?”

[Well. I’m not sure what to call myself either…]

She smiled wryly.

[Would you like to call me unni?]

“…”

[Such a stiff child.]

It seemed she had meant it as a joke.

Serin, who couldn’t afford to waste even a moment, demanded directly.

“Please tell me properly. Who you are. If you’re not my enemy.”

[Let me see.]

She stroked her chin as if searching through the past.

[To the common people, I am the black dragon that circulates the world. The name he gave me is Mir. And to someone, I am the first Empress of the Empire and a mother.]

Serin covered her mouth at the suddenly revealed truth.

“You’re the dragon from the founding myth…?”

[That’s right.]

“That means you’re Rian’s ancient ancestor.”

[Correct.]

“Then… you gave me the wrong form of address…”

[Hmm?]

Serin neatly brought her knees together. The woman was left speechless at the elegant greeting and respectful behavior that followed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, mother-in-law. I’m Seriniel Literion, who is seriously dating Rian with marriage in mind.”

[…]

Dating? Since when? Weren’t they still at a stage closer to building a friendship?

“My other name is Han Serin.”

[… Ah. Um. I… see.]

The woman recalled the distant past, wondering if she had ever been this flustered before. It seemed there was no such memory except for when she was surprised by how painful human childbirth was.

[…… My daughter-in-law. Since we don’t have much time, I’ll have to keep this brief.]

“Please speak.”

Serin regained her composure. Once she was properly prepared, the woman revealed the hidden secrets.

[I am close to being a thought that flows in the dragon’s blood.]

Rahilt had particularly thick dragon blood. It was probably due to the Ancestral Regression his mother had mentioned.

That’s why the woman could communicate so directly now that his mental world was materializing.

[Originally, I was going to suppress all of the child’s negativity. All emotions like depravity, hatred, sadness… everything.]

She knew that the direction of the world would change depending on how a child of the dragon grew up.

Therefore, Rahilt, who was hated by the world, should never harbor negativity. The consequences would be disastrous if he did.

[How ironic. Due to human error, that child has been at risk of losing his place in the world twice.]

“… Twice, you say?”

[Yes.]

The woman began to walk.

Serin followed her as she moved confidently through the fog. As they continued walking, the woman spoke.

[As he entered the palace, evil energy invaded the child’s mental world. As a mere thought, it became difficult for me to suppress the child’s negativity…]

“… Ah.”

Serin had many realizations.

How often had Rahilt been unable to perform at his best? If that was due to mental contamination accelerating under the influence of Black Magic, it made sense.

“… Tell me.”

[Speak.]

“You mentioned earlier that Rahilt would lose his place in the world twice…”

She asks for confirmation.

“Is that about the end of the world?”

The woman didn’t answer her question immediately.

Instead, she led Serin to a place beyond the fog where a clear landscape was visible.

[Judge everything for yourself.]

Ding!

[Entering hidden dungeon.]

[Dungeon: The Other Side of the Ending]

[Causality is being adjusted.]

Ding!

[Main quest changed.]

[Entering semi-final quest.]

[Main quest record deleted.]

[500000pt awarded as compensation.]

.

.

[Main Quest: Palace Battle -> Semi-Final Quest: Surviving the Original Story]

Suddenly, the world went dark.