Chapter 47: The story of the stopped destruction begins

“I need to go talk to Sooty again today.”

After befriending the black entity, Luna often went to the basement to soothe her loneliness.

—Creak.

“No one will be there, right…? I should go carefully.”

Luna carefully left her room and headed to the basement again today.

“It’s a bit far, but… Sooty must be waiting for me too.”

Just then, a familiar voice came from a room at the end of the corridor.

“Dad… and Mom…?”

Luna peered inside through the crack in the door.

Inside, her father, mother, and many retainers, including the Minister of Finance, were gathered, holding a meeting.

“We need more, more! Bring all the nation’s treasures and gold!”

The king’s agitated voice.

“Your Majesty… the taxes are insufficient. The people are already heavily burdened. Even opening the national treasury further won’t be enough to manage this.”

“We must bring in more treasures, somehow…! We must acquire more riches by any means necessary…! Otherwise—”

The king’s voice was utterly cold and greedy.

It was not the warm voice he used with his daughter.

Young Luna couldn’t fully understand what the adults were saying, but one thing was clear.

‘Mom and Dad’s eyes… aren’t warm anymore….’

Her parents’ faces, visible through the crack in the door, were so unfamiliar.

They simply looked like people consumed by endless calculations and desires.

Even after collecting many treasures, their desire for even more wealth made them seem like monsters filled with greed.

“No… I hate this… Th-This isn’t my mom and dad…!”

For a girl purer and more innocent than anyone, the ugly desires of adults were unbearable.

Luna could no longer stand there.

—Thump-thump!

The girl ran straight to the basement, sat down in front of the iron bars, and began to cry.

“Hmph…! Sob…! Sooty… my mom and dad have changed. They keep looking for treasures… They used to say they only needed me… Everyone’s become so greedy…”

Why did it turn out like this?

Where did the happy moments go?

Her parents’ smiles, which once seemed within reach, now felt so distant.

“…Dad, Mom… please come back to your old selves…”

You don’t need such treasures.

I’m right here…

Why won’t you look at me…?

The girl sobbed, pressing both hands to her chest.

“Here… my heart… it’s so cold…”

However, the girl’s hollow cry reached not her parents, but an ominous entity.

[Our poor princess. Why do they leave such a beautiful Luna alone…? I truly can’t understand it. If it were me, I would always be by Luna’s side.]

From within the iron bars, an eerily glowing red eye gazed steadily at Luna.

“Sooty… will you stay by my side forever…?”

[Of course. But… I’m trapped here, so I can’t move freely. My heart yearns to be by Luna’s side right now… How wonderful it would be if I could only get out of here?]

A cunning serpent’s tongue slithered, burrowing into Luna’s heart.

The princess, consumed by loneliness.

And the black entity, a secret friend to comfort her loneliness.

The timing was utterly perfect.

“How can Sooty get out…?”

[There’s a very simple way. Luna, call my name. And allow me to enter your heart. We already have a token of our friendship, don’t we? Only these two things remain. If you grant this wish, I can be with Luna forever, even if this world perishes.]

The request from the ominous entity was suspicious to anyone who heard it.

Luna also felt something unsettling about Sooty’s request.

‘Will it be okay…?’

The girl was young, but by no means foolish. She was renowned as the treasure of Seleneum, more beautiful and intelligent than anyone.

However.

‘I… I’m so lonely… I need a friend….’

No matter how intelligent, Luna was still a young girl, at an age where she craved love more than anyone.

The request came from the only friend the princess had made after days and nights of living in solitude.

Luna looked at her friend, bound in chains, as if she had made up her mind.

“What’s Sooty’s name…?”

[Listen carefully, Luna. My name, your only friend and the one who will be with you forever, is—]

A dark red aura began to fill the basement, and a chilling voice echoed.

[Greed.]

“Greed…?”

[Yes, Luna. If I am with you, I can bring everything back to your side. All the gold and treasures of the world, and even your mom and dad’s love.]

“Re… really?”

She didn’t need gold or treasures at all.

Only her mom and dad’s love.

If she had that, nothing else mattered.

[Now, take my hand. From now on, we will be inseparable friends. Like one body…]

“Okay…”

The moment the black entity’s hand touched Luna, the girl fell into a deep sleep.

****

“H-Help me…!”

“This isn’t the princess…! That thing is imitating the princess!”

“Everyone run!!”

“Kyaaaah!!”

When Luna regained consciousness, the first sight she saw was a dark red aura engulfing people.

“Ah…? Wh-What is this…?”

Screams and shouts erupted from all directions, and dark red flames covered the entire nation.

“Mom, Dad…? Sooty…? Where is everyone…?”

Just then, a viscous voice answered the girl’s question.

[What’s wrong, Luna? What you wished for is happening. So why do you look like you’re about to cry? Come on, smile like this.]

“S-Sooty…?”

[Yes, Luna. Your friend, Sooty. By the way, how do I look?]

Greed was still shrouded in a dark red aura, but unlike before, it had taken on a complete human form.

The appearance of a small girl with silver hair.

Slightly murky, but golden eyes similar to Luna’s.

If Luna was the bright silver moon, Greed was the dark, black moon.

“My appearance…?”

[Yes, Luna, your appearance. And now, it is also my appearance.]

Greed began to float and move about in the air as if dancing.

An excited expression, as if something good had happened.

“S-Sooty… what happened while I was unconscious for a moment…?”

[Ah, you mean these surging flames and dark red auras? Don’t worry too much. I’m merely granting Luna’s wish.]

“Wish…?”

[From countless pebbles underfoot to large, beautiful stars and galaxies! I promised I’d bring you anything you desired, didn’t I? More importantly, look at this, Luna! These are the first two people I ‘collected’.]

—Whoosh.

The black moon reached out its hand into the air and threw something in human form onto the floor.

The King and Queen of Seleneum, whose breaths had already ceased.

They were her mom and dad, who loved Luna the most.

“Ah… Aah… Mom…! Dad…!”

[Luna, what’s wrong? These are the mom and dad you longed for, aren’t they? I personally made them yours, so such a sad expression is rude.]

Greed took a step back from Luna and stood with its back to the flames.

[And they became consumed by greed and pushed you away. How could they do such a terrible thing when such a beautiful daughter was waiting…? Ah… I would never do that! Luna… I will be by your beautiful side forever from now on.]

With the burning palace behind it, the black moon, spreading its arms and spewing desires, was chillingly viscous.

Just then, a man appeared before Greed and Luna.

“Luna.”

Hair like black, surging waves.

A man with eyes that seemed to hold the night sky itself.

The Savior, Lucian.

“Lu-Lucian…! Mom and Dad… because of me…”

“It’s okay, Luna. It’s not your fault… It’s not your fault.”

*Hug.*

Lucian unhesitatingly embraced Luna, who was sobbing, slumped on the floor.

“Sob…! Lucian… D-Did I do this…? Did I… everyone…?”

“No, Luna! Don’t think like that. It’s not your fault… It’s okay, everything will be okay.”

Cradled in his warm embrace, Luna’s breathing gradually steadied, and she began to calm down.

“Luna, just wait a little. I’ll save you from this destruction soon.”

Lucian stroked the princess, reassuring her, then immediately drew his sword and walked towards the black moon.

Crumbling castle walls and a marble floor stained red.

Even amidst all that chaos, his eyes were unwavering.

[I didn’t expect you to hesitate just because I took the princess’s form… but to draw your sword so unhesitatingly. I wonder if you truly possess a human heart, Lucian!]

“Greed, your cunning schemes won’t work on me. No matter what you do, you can’t defeat me.”

[Yes, that’s right. I can’t defeat you. But what to do about this? I’m sorry, but now you can’t kill me either. No, to be precise… you can’t kill Luna.]

“What…?”

Lucian’s footsteps, which had been heading towards Greed, stopped the moment he heard the princess’s name.

[I have already become one with Luna. Destroying me is like tearing out and burning all of Luna’s emotions and memories. Can you remain sane, seeing Luna transformed into a beautiful doll incapable of feeling anything?]

“Are you saying… you’ve taken Luna hostage?”

[Hostage? No, no. That’s not it. We’ve simply become one body. And that means… something like this is possible…!]

No sooner had the black moon finished speaking than a dark red aura surged from Luna’s body.

“Lu-Lucian… My body feels strange… It won’t listen to me—”

—Thud!

—Squish!

“Cough… Lu-Luna…”

“Ah…?”

The girl’s small hand, which had pierced through Lucian’s chest.

[Hahahaha! Even you, the Savior, are ultimately a mere human; you can never survive with your heart pierced. Hey, wouldn’t you like to tell me how it feels? How it feels to have your own heart placed in the hand of Luna, whom you cherish so much, hmm? Does your body tremble with betrayal? Do you want to shout in rage? Say something, Lucian! I’m asking you right here!!]

However, despite Greed’s mockery, Lucian merely worried about the fragile girl.

“Cough…! Luna…”

“Ah… Ah… Lucian… I-I’m sorry…! What have I done…! Aah…”

Luna, whose will had been stolen and who was being controlled by the black moon, was in a panic and unable to think clearly.

“Luna… It’s okay. This isn’t your doing…”

*Hug.*

Even as he slowly died with a hole in his chest, Lucian embraced and comforted her.

The heart of a man who cared more for the girl than himself, even in the face of death.

“Luna… I’m sorry… I couldn’t… protect you…”

The moment Lucian’s last breath echoed in Luna’s ears.

The girl, who had stopped the heartbeat of the man she loved with her own hands, lost all her memories and fell into destruction.

[Memory playback ending.]

****

I feel like I had a terrible dream.

A dream where flames soared in a once happy kingdom and precious people died.

And… a terrible dream where I clutched the heart of my beloved with my own hands.

‘It’s all just a bad dream….’

So I wish I would wake up soon.

Someone, please pull me out of this dream.

Someone…

Please, someone, me…

“Pull me out of this hell…”

[Luna, how does it feel to realize the truth of that day, which Lucian sealed away with his last strength?]

“N-No…! It’s all a lie…”

[A lie? Then what exactly is in your hand, Luna?]

—Thump.

—Thump-thump.

The girl felt something twitching in her hand.

“Ah…”

Ah.

Aah…

Aaaah…

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!!

Lucian’s heart.

She saw a hallucination of his heart, still retaining a slight warmth, resting in her hand.

‘I… I killed him…?’

I killed Lucian with my own hands.

The man I loved more than anyone.

The most precious… Sihyun.

Was reincarnation truly real in this world?

He had forgotten his past, reborn into a new world, and was living peacefully.

Completely oblivious to having died at the hands of the girl he cherished and loved the most…

Treating the girl he should resent as precious once more, falling in love with her again.

[Poor Sihyun. To love Luna, who killed him, in this life too. What do you think will happen if he finds out, Luna?]

“N-No…! If Sihyun finds out about this…!”

He’ll definitely hate me.

He’ll definitely resent me.

He’ll definitely… abandon me.

No.

No no.

No no no.

Please tell me it’s a dream.

Please…

At that moment, the black moon pushed Luna into endless emptiness.

—Thud.

[May you be trapped in a vortex of despair and suffer forever. From now on, I will become you.]

“N-No…!”

Despair and guilt.

Regret and anxiety.

Luna was trapped in a pitch-black space dominated only by frustration and bleakness.

[Luna, we’re going back to that time. A world where only you and I exist. A world of destruction where no life breathes… I will recreate it here.]

—Whoosh!

Simultaneously with Greed’s cry, a dark red netherworld spread rapidly, instantly engulfing the entire city of Seoul.

Soon, the red text that had driven hundreds of thousands into fear and death reappeared before people.

[Cataclysm-grade urban legend ‘Collector’ has awakened.]