Ch.60Ep.60 It Was Bound to Break

“What about you? Don’t you have any thoughts about becoming undead?”

Radios Magnum felt a chill looking at Namgung Ihyun’s surprisingly calm face.

Though her entire body had turned black and gray smoke drifted from her as a side effect of becoming undead.

Aside from that, Namgung Ihyun was essentially the same as when she was alive.

Honestly, wouldn’t a normal person be deeply shocked to die and come back as undead?

At the very least, they should deny reality by claiming they hadn’t died.

But Namgung Ihyun simply tilted her head and spoke as if nothing was wrong.

[Why should I? I died and came back as undead. Is there anything else to think about?]

“…Well, you were never a normal human to begin with.”

[That’s quite offensive, isn’t it? But if I had to share my thoughts about becoming undead… I don’t have many regrets, so I’d say the difference is that who I am now is different from my previous life?]

“…”

What should he say?

It seemed like… Namgung Ihyun viewed her body merely as a tool.

‘To think I’d try to understand someone like her.’

Perhaps it was because her past was so shocking.

She had clearly been a notorious murderer and his most troublesome enemy.

‘Since she’s become my subordinate now, I’m not sure how to treat her yet.’

Let’s think about how to deal with her later.

“First, I have one request—don’t lie to me.”

[Ha, I’m already dead. Why would I lie?]

“That’s funny. Weren’t you the woman who distorted her past while on the brink of death?”

[..!]

Namgung Ihyun’s eyes widened when Radios mentioned her past.

As he said, Namgung Ihyun had never mentioned her past to anyone.

Even when Ren stole her heart and she was chased by Serena until she met Radios.

Namgung Ihyun pretended to reveal everything but actually told lies.

It would be fair to say she lacked courage. The courage to reveal those events.

[Radios… you… do you… actually know?]

“I saw it unintentionally. About that incident… I’m truly sorry.”

[Kuh, kuhahahahaha!! Hahahahaha!]

When Radios expressed his sympathy, Namgung Ihyun burst into maniacal laughter.

Radios refrained from speaking hastily.

Since it was a sensitive matter, he waited for Namgung Ihyun to speak first.

[Well, well… of all people who could know the truth I wanted hidden, it had to be the leader of the enemy forces. How ridiculous.]

“…Namgung Ihyun.”

[If you saw it, then you know. Why I’m living like this—no, I’m dead now—why I lived the way I did.]

Namgung Ihyun began to reveal her story with a bitter smile.

[Really… even now, it’s hard for me to talk about those times.]

“If it’s difficult, you don’t have to speak.”

[Cut it out, you bastard. You brought it up first, and now you’re saying I don’t have to talk?]

Namgung Ihyun tried to lighten the mood with a snicker.

But to Radios, she looked even more pitiful.

It felt like she was desperately trying to forget her painful past, hiding her true self.

That’s why Radios wanted to give her advice.

Even though she had been his enemy, she must have once been a pure-hearted woman.

“You don’t need to hide it.”

[..!]

“Like you said, you’re already dead. So let out all the resentment in your heart. That’s the only way to move forward.”

[Kukukuk, instead of offering comfort, you’re really tearing into a woman’s heart, aren’t you?]

“Then why are you crying?”

{Huh? I’m… crying?}

Namgung Ihyun hurriedly touched her face at Radios’s words.

[No, no way… I’m… I’m crying?]

Tears were indeed falling. Just from hearing those few words.

Just… from someone understanding her past.

“It’s your life, so I shouldn’t intrude… but keeping things bottled up inside will eventually cause them to burst.”

[Radios…]

“If you don’t want to talk, don’t. If you want to talk, speak proudly. What you did is unforgivable, but… I’ll listen.”

Namgung Ihyun’s pupils shook violently at his words.

She had pressured the Guardian Spirits so much and killed so many people of Kadinant.

Yet Radios set aside talk of karma and told her to share her past first.

[Where should I start… Since you said you know my past, I’ll tell you… I wasn’t always like this?]

“I know. You seemed like the type to find joy in small things.”

[Yes. That kind of woman… experiencing such… such a terrible thing…]

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Finally, recalling her past, Namgung Ihyun couldn’t hold back her overwhelming emotions.

[I was so happy… so happy I felt like I could fly… but… BUT!!]

“Namgung Ihyun…”

[Everything collapsed! After that day, everything ended! The person I was, Namgung Ihyun, became someone who disappeared from Earth that day!]

She poured out her anguish as if the ground might swallow her.

How painful, how difficult must it have been for her to show such a face?

In Radios’s memories, Namgung Ihyun always wore a cold expression or one filled with madness.

She was completely different from this woman crying her heart out.

[That’s when I met Yog-Sothoth… I thought he was my lifeline. But, but…!]

“That filthy feeling of being betrayed by the god you served. That’s something I can sympathize with.”

When you’ve walked a single path your whole life, only to realize that path was paved with lies.

Radios felt an indescribable emptiness.

No matter how much he had worked for Hades as an Inquisitor.

When a fanatic is abandoned by their god, that fanaticism transforms into deep betrayal.

Though Namgung Ihyun and Radios’s cases were somewhat different, the conclusion was the same.

They were both backstabbed by someone they trusted and ultimately died.

And Serena Tolos was involved in both their deaths.

[Exactly! You know best how terrible it feels to be betrayed by someone you trusted! I carry those exact same emotions!]

“And then?”

[After being betrayed, I realized. The superhuman strength I used to massacre people on Earth… that too was the result of Yog-Sothoth’s intervention!]

Think about it.

What damage could an out-of-shape, below-average woman do running around with a knife?

It makes more sense that something supernatural was involved.

Of course, on Earth, they dismiss things like superpowers as unrealistic.

But now that she knew magic existed in Kadinant.

Namgung Ihyun was certain.

Yog-Sothoth had set everything up perfectly.

“The Outer Gods only thought of otherworlders… Earth people as puppets. You knew that, didn’t you?”

[I just didn’t know I would be one of those puppets.]

“So, it seems you’ve already made your decision?”

As Radios curled one corner of his mouth into a smirk.

Namgung Ihyun nodded in agreement.

[I’ll cooperate. Destroying the Outer Gods’ forces… that’s my goal now too.]

“That’s what I wanted to hear. That way, you can pay for the crimes you’ve committed.”

Namgung Ihyun never mentioned repentance.

That’s why Radios could fully trust her.

If she had made weak excuses about being sorry or regretful.

It would have meant Namgung Ihyun wasn’t showing her true self.

[But I have a question. Do I have to keep walking around like this?]

“No, normally you’ll stay in a place called the Void. But you can speak to me telepathically, so just tell me whenever you want to come out.”

[I see… then–]

Afterward, Namgung Ihyun asked various questions about what she would do from now on.

It was abnormally composed behavior for someone who had just died, but well, this was Namgung Ihyun.

After asking about how she would live and what state she was in now.

Radios felt he had answered enough, and it was his turn to ask questions.

“I think I’ve told you plenty.”

[Yes, if you have questions, go ahead and ask.]

“Let’s take it one step at a time. I don’t need all the internal details, but when will the Great Old Ones descend?”

He already knew that a large-scale descent of the Great Old Ones was predicted.

But he didn’t know the specific date.

If he could just know both the location and date.

‘I’ll have to use the Sword of Judgment to prevent them from harming Kadinant.

Not all Great Old Ones will be like Cthulhu.

The dokkaebi will actively intervene this time, and most importantly, Kraud and Rin are here.

No matter how many Great Old Ones come, we can handle them–

[Hundreds of thousands will descend. One day after I was being chased.]

“…What? Hundreds of thousands?”

Wait a minute.

The problem wasn’t the hundreds of thousands, but “one day after I was being chased” meant…

“That means they’re descending today!”

Radios had been unconscious for exactly one day.

So a day had passed since Namgung Ihyun was being chased.

Which meant.

Hundreds of thousands of Great Old Ones, today.

Would descend upon Kadinant.

This was no time to be standing around. They needed to move immediately–

KWAAAANG!!

[Oh no! Has a day already passed?]

“Damn it!”

Radios returned Namgung Ihyun to the Void and rushed outside the barrier.

The first person he encountered was Arsia.

As soon as he saw her, Radios asked about the current situation.

“Arsia! Did you feel it?”

“Yes..! This is definitely–“

“Contact Tiaran! This energy..! The Great Old Ones have descended en masse on Southlet!”

The Guardian Spirits didn’t have the capacity to stop the Great Old Ones.

But they needed them now.

Not just them, but everyone who could fight.

[Great Old Ones are descending!! Location: Southlet!! Everyone, please lend us your strength!]

Radios’s magic-infused cry reached all the dokkaebi.

And Kraud, who was looking at the sky with his staff in hand.

Gave orders to the dokkaebi lined up behind him.

“Let’s go.”