Chapter 336: Mother. (3)

At the words the World Tree spat out.

I had to stand there blankly, as if my head had received a massive shock.

How could I not?

“My mother is a Calamity?”

Looking at the information I’d heard from the World Tree so far.

A Calamity was a being that sought out and eliminated the world’s original owner, and at the same time, was a proxy sent by the world to erase all life upon the surface.

If the Blood Demon was the one who appeared when things first went south, then the next being that should come to mind would naturally be the Heavenly Demon.

“What kind of bullshit are you spewing right now?”

I spat out the words as if growling.

Not the Heavenly Demon.

But my mother?

“Does that even make any sense?”

[Calm yourself, Apostle.]

“Calm myself?”

Fwoosh.

Unable to control the emotions rising up to my throat, flames inadvertently burst forth from my body.

This surge of fiery energy, unable to suppress my emotions, was the first time since reaching my peak.

I had agonized so much over what the entity within my body might be.

If it had been attached to me even in my past life, that could be possible.

Since you said it couldn’t awaken.

If it awakened in this life due to something I consumed as a fortunate encounter, I could understand that, too.

I mean, I’d try to understand it somehow, even if I had to force the pieces together.

But.

“A Calamity…”

To erase all life upon this land, and to rectify the order, creating a world of chaos – it couldn’t be my mother.

Bang.

With a kick filled with emotion, the floor cracked and caved in.

“…Where where is such nonsensical talk coming from?”

I tried to cool my head somehow and listen to the story, but it wasn’t going as I wished.

The story of my mother, which had always remained like a lump in my heart, was because I hadn’t known it would come out like this, and my confusion was already amplified by the overwhelming amount of information I’d received.

Still, I had to do it.

The only chance to obtain this kind of information right now was only at this moment.

“What is the reason you see my mother as a Calamity?”

[Apostle.]

“Yes.”

Despite my voice filled with anger, the World Tree remained unfazed. It was as if it had expected me to react this way.

[What do you think the Calamity you speak of is?]

“You’ve explained it all so far.”

A proxy sent by the world. I’d heard that at least three times.

At my frown, the World Tree added an explanation as if it had been waiting.

[Then where do you think such a being comes from?]

“What?”

Hearing the World Tree’s words, I had to wear a strange expression.

Where do I think it comes from?

[To understand your mother, you must see what they are.]

“What does that mean?”

I need to know what a Calamity is?

As I wracked my brain to interpret the meaning, the World Tree, as if telling me not to bother, gave me the answer.

[The Calamity you think of…]

[Is the Master of another world.]

At the World Tree’s words, my eyes widened.

The Master of another world meant… like the Blood Demon. If my mother truly is a Calamity, it meant she was the Master of another world.

When I heard the entity inside my body was also a Master, I had expected that not all Masters would take the form of a tree like the World Tree before me.

The Blood Demon was also a Master of another world, and at the same time…

‘…Mother wasn’t human in the first place either?’

My mother’s smiling face surfaced in my memory.

The mother in my memory was just an ordinary woman, not much different from anyone else. She loved taking care of children, enjoyed the changing seasons, and was simply a kind woman who particularly loved flowers.

If such a mother was actually a Calamity who should have annihilated everyone in the world,

“…That’s impossible. Then why is the world so peaceful?”

The world shouldn’t be functioning like this if that were the case.

Moreover, a being that is the Master of another world. Could they really leave their own world and cross over to another like this?

If a Calamity had come, and if Mother truly was the Calamity,

‘Father?’

I clenched my fist at the fleeting thought.

If this story were true, had Father known about this fact?

“Mother was an ordinary woman. Not some Calamity.”

The Blood Demon was like that. And so was the Heavenly Demon. Their appearance, which didn’t look human, and their immense presence alone made it clear they weren’t ordinary individuals.

As the World Tree said, even if the Blood Demon was the Master of another world, that’s why I didn’t find it particularly strange.

But if my mother was the Calamity, no matter how I thought about it, it was incomprehensible.

Even more so, if that were the case, ‘It means I’m not human either.’ My questions about my own identity only deepened.

[Your mother is indeed a Calamity.]

“That’s why I keep asking why you think that.”

[…]

As I pressed the question, the World Tree fell silent for a moment. After a quiet pause, as if choosing its words, it extended a branch, stroked my hair as if in apology, and spoke thus.

[To be precise, she is the Master of a world that has already vanished, but this… it would be better for you to hear it from your father, not me.]

“…What?”

At the World Tree’s words, I finally gulped in a breath.

“You mean Father knows too?”

The word ‘Father’. How many years had it been since I last spoke it? Including my past life, it was likely quite a long time. That itself signified the extent of the shock.

And.

“You also… know my Father.”

The fact that the World Tree also knew Father.

To what extent.

Just where and how far back does this entanglement go?

[…]

In response to my questions, the World Tree often remained silent. Whether it was choosing its words, or for whatever reason, I hated that silence intensely right now.

As my patience reached its limit, the World Tree seemed to realize this, and finally revealed the story it had been holding back.

[It happened a very long time ago.]

A very long time ago, by this world’s standards.

[It was around the time your father found this place.]

“You mean Father came here?”

[Yes, he was holding the hand of a woman with snow-white hair.]

Snow-white hair?

Who could it be referring to? I thought of Mother for a moment, but she had black hair and black eyes.

[How could a human find this place directly? I couldn’t help but be greatly surprised.]

Came here directly?

How was that possible? Even I couldn’t have come here without the power of the Iron Lineage. This place wasn’t an ordinary demonic realm. Hearing the truth made it even more so.

[I knew it the moment I saw her. That the woman was the second Calamity.]

“…!”

The fact that it recognized her as a Calamity… Does that mean the white-haired woman the World Tree mentioned was my mother?

‘But Mother’s hair…’

It definitely wasn’t that color?

[I didn’t know why the woman sought me out. There was no reason for her to come looking for me.]

The previous owner was already imprisoned and gone from the world. If it was a Calamity descended upon the world, it should simply be enough to erase all life. Yet, the woman went to the World Tree.

“…What, for what reason did she seek you out?”

[She asked me to tell her how to shed the karma residing within her body.]

The World Tree said that Mother had requested to shed the karma of Calamity imposed upon her.

“Is something like that… possible?”

The order decreed by the world was so important that the World Tree became rooted here, and Yeon Ilcheon had turned back time with the World Tree’s power, but ultimately failed to stop the Blood Demon, only managing to seal him.

So, was there truly a way to erase karma?

[No, it’s impossible.]

As expected. The World Tree gave its negative answer, just as I predicted.

Even looking at it as a mere human… No, though I questioned if I could even call myself human, putting that aside for now, it was a story that seemed unlikely to be possible.

In such a situation,

[However, I thought your mother might be able to.]

“What?”

[As I asked initially, to know what your karma is, and what the entity within your body is, you must know about your mother, I said.]

I had heard this before.

[Even if they are the same kind of Master… not all of them can be the same.]

Cannot be the same?

Just like the Blood Demon and the World Tree, does it mean Mother, even as the Master of a world, was somehow different?

I still couldn’t believe Mother wasn’t human, and like the World Tree conversing with me, I couldn’t conceive of her as something else, of a different dimension.

No matter how I thought about it, in my mind, Mother was merely an ordinary woman.

I continued to stare at the World Tree, still unable to believe, but as if not caring about my gaze,

[Master of Ten Thousand Worlds (萬界).]

The World Tree continued speaking to me.

[This is your mother’s true name.]

“…”

Just hearing it, I knew she wasn’t an ordinary being.

---

In a certain basement filled only with cold air.

Through the steam settled on the floor as if the chill itself had taken form, a veiled woman knelt on both knees, head bowed.

She was the woman known as the ‘Dancer’.

She had no other name. Because her master called her that. That was her name.

Though it was but a fleeting moment for the Dancer, without the slightest movement, she simply caught her breath, remaining still.

How much time had passed? A time that would barely be a few seconds, even measured by the clock. While it was like an instant to some, it wasn’t the same for her.

Her master had left their nest-like place. The impact of this was not insignificant, so the Dancer waited, holding her breath for her master.

Just then.

Thump.

A massive vibration echoed through the room, making a sound.

Pitter-patter.

Dust fell from the ceiling due to the shockwave of the vibration, soiling the Dancer’s hair, but she didn’t show the slightest movement.

A few seconds passed like that.

A brief moment flowed by.

Hooooo….

As the mist covering the floor thickened slightly, the Dancer lifted her bowed head and looked straight ahead.

Vmm.

A vibration emanated from something shrouded in fog ahead. A faint light flickered.

[Not bad.]

Her master’s returning voice tickled the Dancer’s ears. It was a voice tinged with laughter, sounding pleased.

“…Are you alright?”

The Dancer asked, sounding concerned. And rightly so, her master was in a state where they couldn’t leave this place carelessly.

[Of course, I’m fine. I had a very pleasing experience.]

Hearing the Dancer’s words, the Blood Demon continued speaking in a voice full of satisfaction.

[Since only traces remained, I wondered what kind of act was committed… it was truly amusing.]

Only very small traces remained, and nothing else was left. The Blood Demon had been curious until now. What the Master of this world had done. And why a being who deviated from the order could stand against me.

[The reason was more trivial than expected.]

The master who was imprisoned in the netherworld for breaking the order. Yet, do they still cling to this land, struggling desperately? Whatever the case,

[It’s not entirely bad.]

Even if one breaks free from the established order, the world does not permit it, so it guides them back to the original path. Still, the sight of them struggling to stray from the path held its own kind of amusement.

However.

[The price to pay being larger than expected is the problem.]

The Blood Demon could feel the anomaly that had occurred within him. To send his consciousness to the netherworld where the original owner was imprisoned, he had to expend considerable power. Moreover, it involved entering a vessel that had already lost its physical value, so it was bound to be more taxing.

[Dancer.]

[“Yes.”]

At the Blood Demon’s words, the Dancer’s veil fluttered.

[Prepare the scales.]

Hearing this, the Dancer’s shoulders flinched. The command to prepare the scales. This meant that the Blood Demon, who had been holding back for ages, was going to act directly.

[“You mean…”]

[It seems the time I’ve been waiting for has come early.]

Throughout his speech, the Blood Demon’s voice was filled with delight. It was an excited tone, unlike anything the Dancer had ever heard.

Hearing such a voice, the Dancer carefully spoke.

“…What should be done about the vessel?”

[“A vessel, you say.”]

If the Blood Demon were to act directly, a physical body would be necessary. The Dancer already knew the answer to this question herself. If the Blood Demon were to act directly, there were already plenty of means. It was just that he hadn’t wanted to.

Just as the Dancer was about to rise to find a method,

[Jangga’s offspring has died.]

The Dancer froze at the Blood Demon’s words. It wasn’t just Namgung Cheonjun’s issue; the death of Jangga’s vessel held multiple implications. Especially for the Dancer, who knew the identity of ‘that’.

[It seems they haven’t fully died yet, but they certainly will.]

Not completely dead, but the Blood Demon saying so meant they would inevitably face death ‘again’.

Accepting his words, the Dancer slowly looked at the Blood Demon and opened her mouth.

“I will prepare a new vessel. And the memories…”

[“No, there’s no need for that.”]

At the Blood Demon’s denial, the Dancer looked at him with a strange expression. Why refuse? Jang Seonyeon was still a necessary figure for the Blood Demon’s objectives. That’s why they were kept around, even if it meant stretching things. Why would he utter such words?

As the Dancer watched him with that expression,

[I have retrieved the soul and memories, but there’s no need to place the memories within the frame.]

As if resolving the Dancer’s doubt,

[Because I will be entering it.]

The Blood Demon provided the answer.