Chap 104-Flame

 

Tap, tap.

I lightly nudged Lea’s shoulder.

But there was no response.

Her eyes were still fixed on the rainbow-colored book.

At first glance, one might just pass it off as her simply looking at a record…

“Hic… sniff…”

Just what was she looking at to be crying so sorrowfully?

I worried that she might be trapped in some terrible, unpleasant record, developing a trauma.

Since she wasn’t responding to shouting or touching from the outside, all that was left was…

I looked at the book spread out before Lea’s eyes.

‘That thing…’

Wouldn’t she be alright if I forcibly took that book away?

I didn’t know if it would work, but I couldn’t leave Lea like that.

I steeled myself and reached out my hand.

And…

At that moment, a blinding light obscured my vision.

How much time had passed?

As my vision slowly returned, the first thing I saw was…

Black hair, black eyes.

And… a face identical to mine.

The person standing before me was undoubtedly…

“Hello.”

An unfamiliar voice, yet subtly different from the one I usually made.

“You’re… Yeon… Bennet…?”

Barely managing to squeeze out the words, she chuckled and shook her head.

“I’ll take it from here.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the strength drained from my body.

Even as I struggled to keep my eyes open, my vision blurred, and all I could hear was a distant, wave-like buzzing in my ears.

With a sinking sensation, my body slowly submerged into a cold, endless abyss.

Up to my neck, up to my head… as if filled with water, my consciousness was completely consumed by the black darkness.

And.

In that place where all light and sound had vanished.

I sank completely.

…

Having regained her body after a long time.

Ha Yeon slowly clenched and unclenched her hands, savoring the unfamiliar yet familiar sensation.

‘I didn’t expect to be back.’

She thought her role had ended the moment she sealed the Evil God.

She believed she could finally put everything down and rest, but the world had ultimately called her back.

Well, what could she do? It was her fault for being too capable.

“Then… shall we begin?”

A forgotten, burning sensation stirred within her chest.

A subtle anticipation bloomed.

The way that child used her abilities was frankly boring.

Skin being cut and flesh being torn away, such trivial pains.

It seemed she would have to teach her a thing or two.

How to properly use this power.

Her heart beat a little faster.

The forgotten heat rekindled.

She took a breath and began to rub her hands together roughly.

The frictional heat rising from her palms quickly scorched her skin.

The pain, as if her skin was burning away, swept through her body like a tremor.

“Haa, heeuk…”

The low moan that escaped her lips was indistinguishable from pain or pleasure.

She didn’t stop.

Instead, she rubbed even more roughly, more quickly, as if to tear the flesh from her palms.

When blood flowed, the heat seemed to cool for a moment, but soon magical power permeated the blood, turning it into bio-fuel.

In an instant, a faint spark flared up, and flames erupted from her mangled palms.

The acrid smoke rose with the smell of burning flesh.

At that moment, when an ordinary person would have screamed and collapsed.

Her eyes rolled back in suppressed pleasure.

The flames, fueled by blood and sweat, spread to her forearms, and charred pieces of flesh scattered onto the floor like crimson-black fragments.

“Heeueuk, keuheet”

Her breathing sounded bizarre, a mixture of moans and laughter.

The flames spread from her arms to her shoulders, then to her neck.

Her skin cracked like paper, turning black and charred, and the exposed muscles sizzled and cooked.

In an instant, blood droplets burst like fireworks, swallowed by the flames.

She didn’t hesitate.

She thrust the flames against her own chest.

The moment the flames spread, the flesh above her chest contorted and burned black, melting and flowing down.

The acrid smoke, as blood bubbled and evaporated, filled her lungs.

With her arms outstretched towards the sky, she spread the flames to her back and waist.

Her clothes burned away in an instant, and the flesh beneath swelled and cracked like charcoal.

Blood and pus flowed from every crack, but even that evaporated in the scorching flames, scattering a crimson-black odor.

The flames spread further and further down.

Between the bursting blisters and cracking flesh, the pain of nerves being severed surged, but.

Her lips etched a smile of pleasure instead of a scream.

The sensation of insects burrowing and gnawing at her nerves.

The heat reaching her bones as her flesh burned away.

All of it was ecstasy to her.

Her heart had already reached its limit, but its pulse mixed with the flames, pouring magical power throughout her body.

The more her skin burned away, the more her muscles tore.

The power gathering within her body increased explosively.

“Haa… haa… just a little more…”

Now, standing on the boundary of death.

Yeon felt a powerful magical power, one she had never handled before, roaring and rampaging within her body.

[SYSTEM]

‘Masochist’ is activated.

…

“Boring.”

The red-haired woman glanced at Yeon’s record with a listless gaze, muttering with a short sigh.

How long did she have to watch this disgusting act?

She had expected it to some extent, but it was truly a sight to behold.

To think that all she did with her divine power, which could destroy the world, was such things.

Even worse, seeing her smiling foolishly after being defeated by those who weren’t even worth a handful made her blood boil.

And…

The owner of this body, who had been shaking inside since earlier, was quite annoying.

“Uweeak…”

With a retch, tears began to well up in her red eyes.

Camilla, was it?

Why was her mental strength so weak compared to her appearance and abilities?

Ever since she saw the truth about Yeon Bennet, her mental state had been completely messed up.

The problem was that those fragments of emotion were directly affecting her, who had possessed her.

Thanks to that, the Evil God was forced to feel emotions that were completely out of character for her, such as despair, regret, and guilt.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have used a slightly different method.’

Since only the security of the record regarding Yeon Bennet had been unlocked, anyone who set foot here was bound to see this record.

Since it would be advantageous for her if more people knew the truth anyway, she didn’t bother to stop it…

“Uub…! Uweeaeak…!”

Wiping her mouth roughly, the Evil God swept her surroundings with a frustrated gaze and cursed inwardly.

‘Haa… this damn idiot keeps!’

She felt the urge to crush her consciousness right away, but she couldn’t.

Although she had forcibly raised her level, her talent as a Librarian was genuine.

She had to maintain her consciousness in order to steal the records of the Akashic Records.

“…It seems to be coming to an end.”

The Evil God muttered and fixed her gaze on the record again.

As she said, Yeon Bennet’s record was now showing the final scenes.

The scene of her desperately throwing herself to protect the students during the midterm exams.

Her actions of trying to protect Camilla even after realizing the Medici Family’s betrayal.

As those scenes passed, Camilla’s consciousness shook violently once again.

An immense sense of guilt surged from the depths of her heart.

An emotion she never thought she would feel in her life.

She now felt interest rather than annoyance.

‘This emotion… I might be able to use it.’

Her lips slowly curved.

The pain and regret of others were always sweet prey.

And now, this emotion would become the perfect tool to manipulate Camilla to fit her plans perfectly.

Finally, the record ended, and the two people’s consciousness returned to reality.

The Evil God watched to see how the new System Administrator would react.

Would she collapse in regret and guilt, like the owner of this body?

Or would she finally express her anger towards the world and the people who had driven her to this point?

The Evil God’s eyes flickered faintly.

Whatever the choice, it would ultimately benefit her.

“What I did… it was all meaningless in the end.”

Lina’s voice was thick with betrayal.

The expression on Lina’s face, as seen through Camilla’s eyes, was filled with disappointment and anger.

The Evil God paused momentarily at the completely unexpected reaction.

“Thank you, Camilla-nim. For letting me know her true nature.”

The light gradually disappeared from Lina’s lively and benevolent eyes, and a dark aura slowly began to fill its place.

“I just… wanted to be with Yeon…”

“Why doesn’t she understand my feelings…?”

Lina, speaking as she stared at her with empty eyes.

The Evil God felt an emotion that she had rarely felt in her existence.

The emotion of fear.

“You… did you see it properly…?”

Feeling goosebumps all over her body, the Evil God cautiously asked, borrowing Camilla’s voice.

“Yes. So that day, she colluded with the Contamination Worshippers and deceived me. And I didn’t even know…”

‘What is she talking about…?’

Something was wrong.

Perhaps what was reflected in her eyes was not the truth, but…

“Wh, what nonsense…! Kehek… kehek…”

She tried to convey the truth with words to the woman who was talking nonsense, but the words no longer continued as if something was blocking her throat.

Even when she tried to swallow air, the sound scattered like an echo, and instead, something cold and foreign dug in as if grabbing her throat.

This was the restriction placed on her.

A chain that would never allow her to reveal the truth with her own mouth.

The fact that the restriction was still alive meant that what she saw was not the truth, but only a distorted record of Yeon.

The Akashic Records, which should contain the flow of facts as they were, had been twisted by someone’s hand.

“Kueuk… keup….”

“Are you alright, Camilla-nim?”

“Ye, yes… so what are you going to do now…?”

The Evil God imitated a calm voice as much as possible and answered.

“Come to think of it, Camilla-nim… you tortured Yeon, didn’t you?”

That was clearly not something she had done.

It was something that the owner of this body, Camilla, had done.

Normally, she wouldn’t have cared whether she was misunderstood or not, but at her murderous gaze, the Evil God tried to make excuses without realizing it.

“No… that’s not it… at that time…!”

But Lina shook her head.

Her expression was calm, but her eyes were somehow unfamiliar and eerie.

“It’s okay.”

Lina whispered with a slight smile.

“She was someone who deserved to be punished.”

Then, lowering her voice, she concluded with a delighted expression.

“So… from now on, I won’t hold back either. I’ll cut off her limbs, put a collar on her, and tie her up by my side. That’s the only way she can pay for her sins and stay by my side… right?”

Lina raised her head again and smiled.

That smile was as warm and sacred as ever.

The very expression that had embraced the wounded, turned despair into light, and that countless people had relied on.

But at the same time, the Evil God saw that smile completely differently.

It felt as if an endless abyss hidden behind the sacred light had raised its head.

That face, which should have been benevolent, looked bizarrely joyful, and those eyes, which should have been pure, were stained with eerie obsession.

‘Dangerous.’

Now that the absurd thing of the Akashic Records being distorted even when the records were shown before her eyes had happened, her plan to use her to break her seal had been ruined.

Who was preventing the truth from reaching her, and why they were going so far.

The fact that even she couldn’t know was very unpleasant.

A single variable that didn’t go as planned could overturn the entire game.

‘Then… it would be better to destroy it.’

Since she had already obtained the child of the Medici Family, she could somehow try to seize the opportunity again if she only let her grow.

The Evil God began to gather the divine power that remained within her, without Lina noticing.

Kwaang-!

At that moment, the Starlight Library began to shake violently with a huge explosion.

[SYSTEM]

Severe damage has been detected in the Starlight Library.

All users will be forcibly ejected for safety.

‘Damage to the Starlight Library…? Who would do such a thing…’

“Long time no see.”

At that cold voice, the Evil God’s head turned involuntarily.

Before she could react, a shadow that emerged from the darkness roughly grabbed Camilla’s neck.

Charred and distorted skin.

A miserable appearance that one could believe was a corpse, with blood and pus mixed and flowing down.

But even so, those eyes that glared at her were burning intensely.

The magical power that was felt was clearly that of Yeon Bennet, but…

‘No… this isn’t Yeon Bennet…’

The detestable… being who had made her this way.

And.

The one she hated and feared the most.

God of Fighting, Lee Ha Yeon.

Author’s words (Author’s note)

I’m sorry.

I was supposed to upload it yesterday…

It was too difficult to write this chapter…