Chapter 1061: The Divine Tree and the Master.

“Why are you alive?”

“What did you say, you punk?”

At my words, Shin Noyya twisted his expression. Seeing his viciously contorted face, I flinched.

“No… that’s not what I meant.”

I stopped talking and shut my mouth. To say that wasn’t what I meant would be a lie, as the meaning was quite clear.

After pondering, I said again, “Really, why are you alive?”

“…What should I do with this brat?”

Since I ended up circling back and spitting out the same words, Shin Noyya let out an exasperated breath.

“What? You don’t like the fact that I’m alive?”

“…How could that be.”

How could that be? My trembling fingertips were proof that it wasn’t what I meant. Seeing this, Shin Noyya gave a wry smile.

“Don’t get all stiff and hug me or anything.”

“Sorry, but I don’t want that either.”

“You damn brat.”

Kkuh-kkuh-kkuh. Noyya laughed.

Watching his laughter quietly, I asked, “But Noyya.”

“Yeah.”

“……Can’t you really not?”

“Hm?”

Shin Noyya’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and he let out a hollow laugh. Then, he opened his arms slightly.

Moving my heavy feet, I ran and hugged Noyya.

“…Tsk, tsk, tsk. You pathetic thing. You said you didn’t want it earlier.”

“……”

As I held the old man, his rough hand stroked the back of my head.

“See…”

I stopped mid-sentence. My voice wasn’t quite right.

“Look at this guy?”

As soon as he heard that, Noyya’s voice mixed with laughter.

“Are you crying?”

“……I’m not crying.”

“Yes, you are, you brat.”

“I’m not crying. Who’s crying?”

“Hahahahaha-!”

Noyya burst into hearty laughter.

“You ridiculous thing. Acting all tough like that. Are you bawling just because you went through a little something?”

“That’s why, who’s crying…”

“Kkul-kkul-kkul.”

“Ah, please stop laughing.”

I touched the corners of my eyes with my hand. Fortunately, no tears had welled up. Perhaps it was just a touch of melancholy.

‘How embarrassing.’

That feeling seeped into my voice, making it slightly muffled. I held back the urge to cry like a child.

“……So. Why did you do that?”

For what on earth did you do that? As I spat it out, filled with resentment, Noyya turned away from his laughing expression.

“I told you just to stay put. What I… what I’ve done so far…”

“Yangcheon-ah.”

The hand stroking my head moved towards my crown.

“It won’t make much difference even if you did. You knew that too, didn’t you? Why would you be greedy for more of what was already a useless lingering attachment from the start?”

“But…”

Even so.

I needed you. Those words rose to the tip of my throat. But I couldn’t say them.

“That too is greed.”

Noyya probably already knew what I was about to say. It was always like that.

“Whether it was my greed. Or your greed. Whatever it was. It’s greed.”

“……So you’re saying you died in my place?”

“In your place? Haha. It wasn’t really ‘instead of you’. Since I couldn’t stop it in the end. What’s left is what you have to do.”

“Aren’t you regretful…? You said there were things you wanted to do.”

Regarding the things he couldn’t finish, Noyya had called that lingering attachment. That one must somehow achieve what couldn’t be achieved in the past. Didn’t he ask me to stop the Blood Demon they couldn’t finish?

“It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but something I wanted to see. You know that. That it’s no different from this.”

“So… you’re just going to leave?”

Without seeing what I wanted to see. Without doing what I intended to do through you. You’re just going to leave?

“I can’t let you go.”

I couldn’t allow that.

I couldn’t let Noyya go for something like that. If you leave…

‘What will be left for me.’

Nothing will be left for me.

A person who knows the secret. If the person who knew that, stood entirely on my side, and gave me guidance, were to disappear.

‘I.’

How will I hold on?

I’m scared.

It felt like I had returned to childhood. Being left truly alone. That was frightening.

So I tried to hold onto Noyya somehow, but.

“Yangcheon-ah.”

Shin Noyya called me with a pitying voice. Just as I was about to say something more.

“Your rambling is getting long. I don’t think I gave you that much time?”

A cold voice struck down from the sky. My eyes widened at the voice as I looked up at the sky.

There.

“……You……”

“It’s been a while.”

Covered in white hair. A being exactly like me was flickering, covered in embers. As I stared blankly at it with surprised eyes.

“My incompetent descendant.”

The Goblin said with a laugh.

---

Ku-ru-reung. Roaring sounds vibrated from all directions. In the place that was once full of fields and forests, only ruins remained.

In the center of the devastated and ruined area, someone was exhaling tired breaths.

“Huu….”

Every time the man exhaled softly, it felt like the surroundings trembled.

“This is absurd.”

The man, Taekcheon, laughed, letting out a breath. His body was a mess, unlike before. His left arm was torn off. His side looked as if something had devoured it. His right leg was reduced to just the knee. Even his right arm was barely attached. Normally, it should have regenerated long ago, but Taekcheon’s body couldn’t.

“Reached the limit.”

Even the vessel evolved to contain life force had reached its limit. Since it was capable of holding divinity, it shouldn’t have been damaged so easily in the first place.

But.

“……It’s not even funny.”

Even though it was a body prepared with considerable effort, an event that reached its limit was right before my eyes.

“What in the world are you?”

Taekcheon looked straight ahead with his damaged body. There.

“Keu-reu-reu-reu-reu—.”

A giant beast with white fur was trembling, spears stuck all over its body. A being with crimson eyes. Seeing it, Taekcheon contorted his face.

“Incomprehensible.”

He approached slowly on his damaged leg.

“Why.”

The closer I got, the more certain I became. No, I was already certain when we fought.

“Could it be that you possess the divinity of Man-gye?”

“Keu-reu-reu-reu–!!”

Deol-kyeong–!!

As Taekcheon approached, the creature tried to move. Even though it must have been suffering intense pain and restraint all over its body, it tried to charge again as if nothing were wrong.

Seeing that, Taekcheon waved his hand.

Kwa-ah-ah-ahng-!!

“Keu-ah-ah-ah-ah-!!”

Another spear poured down from the sky and plunged directly into its back.

“Truly tenacious.”

It was a fierce battle. It was so intense and without hesitation; it was undeniably a grueling fight.

“Even if it’s not a direct descent.”

Even though he didn’t bring his main body, I didn’t expect to have to use this much power. As the saying goes, it would have been much easier if Taekcheon had brought his main body, but that’s impossible.

“Because Man-gye wouldn’t permit that.”

The true owner of this land wouldn’t permit even that. That’s what I was thinking, but.

“It’s strange.”

Taekcheon looked up at the sky as he spoke. It was truly strange.

“Why isn’t there a reaction?”

A crimson glare entered his eyes. It was night now. The moon had risen, and even the domain Taekcheon had spread was gone now.

“Why aren’t you coming?”

Such a fierce battle. And not just any being, but a master-level fight. Yet Man-gye wasn’t coming.

“I see.”

Taekcheon realized it at this point.

“Ah. I see.”

Taekcheon laughed.

“Man-gye isn’t not coming.”

“It’s that they can’t come, aren’t they?”

They can’t come now.

Even emitting this much divinity, they either didn’t sense it, or sensed it but couldn’t move. It had to be one of those two, and either way, it was a welcome situation for Taekcheon. Furthermore, if we consider the reason Man-gye cannot move.

“Perhaps it’s because of you. That’s what I think. What do you say?”

“……Keu-reu-reu-reu-reu–!!”

The monster let out a cry at Taekcheon’s words. In Taekcheon’s view, this was the reason Man-gye couldn’t move.

“Even if it’s not complete, I would know.”

Inside the monster’s body. Somewhere within it harbored tremendous power. This vast land. A great energy coming from the center where all life gathers.

The two powers bestowed by the grand world. One of them was being felt from that unknown creature’s body. It was truly puzzling.

“What could it be?”

Visually, it’s a Dragon Emperor. While feeling the power of the arrogant master from the past that Man-gye erased.

“How…”

That form is originally Man-gye’s primordial form. How could two powers be mixed? It was strange that they were mixed yet maintained.

“What have you plotted?”

What on earth was Man-gye thinking? Although I pondered this, Taekcheon shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Anyway.

“Since I just need to obtain that too.”

Deu-deu-deu-deuk. Taekcheon’s damaged body regenerated. The speed had just slowed considerably; it wasn’t impossible altogether.

“I’m running out of time.”

Due to the damage to his physical rank, the time he could descend, even partially, was reduced. I need to finish this quickly.

Thinking thus, Taekcheon reached out towards the monster. At that moment.

Kwa-deu-deu-deuk-!!

“……”

Taekcheon created distance. Because a sharp energy had grazed past in front of the monster.

Feeling that energy, Taekcheon looked somewhere.

“Oops, I’d forgotten for a moment.”

A fact I’d forgotten while focusing on the fight with that thing.

“Right, you guys were here too.”

It wasn’t just us around here.

The person who unleashed the sword energy. A woman with black hair was looking at Taekcheon. Looking at her, Taekcheon spoke.

“Time is short right now, so before doing unnecessary things, I was thinking of showing mercy. Do you really intend to fight?”

As Taekcheon spoke, the wind blew.

Huuk.

The woman who was far away suddenly stood before the monster, facing Taekcheon.

“Mercy?”

She tilted her head as if she didn’t understand the words.

“You’re dressing up your desperate request in a pathetic way.”

“……”

At those words, Taekcheon quietly looked at the woman. It was the same for her as it was for the monster.

‘That thing’ too.

“What are you?”

This is a fundamental question.

“What is that?”

At first, I thought it was simply the dregs of the Dragon Emperor. Or a mass of lost power. That’s what I thought it was.

“What are you clad in?”

It wasn’t. The woman was clad in something other than that. Otherwise, she couldn’t give off that kind of aura.

“What on earth… what.”

“Lingering attachment.”

“What?”

The woman answered. It was the answer to ‘What are you clad in?’.

“Do you know what remains when hope mixes with endless time?”

The end of a very long contemplation. The answer reached at the end. The woman knew.

“It’s lingering attachment.”

It is lingering attachment. Because it cannot be achieved or obtained, one endlessly craves it. That’s what the woman called lingering attachment. Or love.