Chapter 892: You can’t do that.

The sky gradually surrendered to the sunset, dyeing itself crimson.

Maple leaves fluttered along the autumn breeze, carrying their unique scent.

It rustles.

That would be the perfect way to describe it.

The weather was gently rustling. The kind of weather that made you feel richer just by looking at it.

Unlike my mood, the season and the day were just like that.

“…”

I immediately scowled, lest my mind wander even for a moment.

Damn it, this feeling again.

I pressed my fingers to my brow.

It felt like it had gotten worse just by seeing the face, when it was already bad.

‘What is it.’

What on earth could it be.

Ever since that day I reached a new level. More precisely, since the incident with Tang Soyeol. Things got weird starting then.

Someone kept popping into my head.

I can’t even remember their face or voice properly, yet strangely, they keep coming to mind.

And just yesterday.

Right before arriving in Hanam, I realized who it was I wanted to see.

“What are you.”

Cheonma (Heavenly Demon).

I wanted to see her.

“What the hell are you?”

“…?”

Cheonma tilted her head at my question.

She seemed not to understand what I meant.

Naturally. If even I, the person involved, don’t understand, how could she?

“What did you do to me?”

I thought she would know.

Even though this life was different from my past life, she was Cheonma.

If it was the Cheonma I knew, it wouldn’t be strange for something like this to happen.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

I growled and approached her.

The distance closed in an instant.

“You definitely did something to me, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Thwack.

I reached out and grabbed Cheonma by the collar.

Pulling her slightly towards me, Cheonma was drawn weakly in my direction.

“There’s no way you wouldn’t know-“

I met her gaze up close.

Cheonma looked at me with the same expression as before.

Her violet eyes caught my attention.

They were splendid and brilliant, as if containing a night sky filled with stars.

Compared to other demonic beings, it was a pure violet hue, completely different.

Its form was distinctly different, as if announcing its originality.

That was why.

I had thought it was beautiful without realizing it.

“Crazy.”

The moment I realized that, I let go and put distance between us.

“…I’m crazy.”

I must be crazy. There’s no other explanation for this.

For me to think that was beautiful, it’s impossible.

It means something must have been done to me for this to happen.

‘Have I lost my mind?’

It felt like something was wrong with my brain.

Or maybe it’s because Cheonma’s face is the same as Wi Seol-ah. Is that why this is happening?

If so, it would be plausible.

‘No.’

That wasn’t it. If that were the case, things should have been strange since my past life.

Something is wrong. I narrowed my eyes and glared at Cheonma.

“What’s wrong?”

Cheonma still looked clueless, tilting her head repeatedly as she watched me.

That sight only annoyed me more.

‘Why, exactly.’

I wanted to see her.

Why has it become like this recently?

And also.

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

Why is she doing this to me? The voice I just heard echoed in my ears.

-I wanted to see you.

The words, spoken in a much lower voice than Wi Seol-ah’s, flashed through my mind.

Irritation welled up.

“Who the hell are you?”

I dragged up the emotions I had buried deep down.

“Who the hell are you to want to see me?”

With distorted eyes, I glared straight at Cheonma.

Even then, she remained expressionless.

“Can’t I want to see you?”

She merely voiced a question.

It was calm and composed.

“No.”

“Why?”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why?”

It was a repetition of questions.

I could list countless reasons, but listing them one by one was also irritating.

“At the very least, you can’t do that.”

“…”

Only then did a change appear on Cheonma’s face.

I saw one of her eyebrows twitch slightly.

A brief silence followed after that.

“I don’t know.”

Cheonma spoke to me, as if organizing her thoughts for a moment.

“But I still wanted to see you.”

“…”

Grrr-.

I clenched my fist. Fwoosh-! I gripped the Flame Prison Star Spear, made of blooming flames, and thrust the tip towards Cheonma’s neck.

“I despise you.”

“…”

“Until the moment I die. And even this very moment, it’s the same.”

How could I possibly see you favorably?

No matter how much the world had changed, and how many people from my past life were different.

Cheonma was not one of them.

“My final line is that I’m barely keeping you alive even as I look at you now.”

At first, it was because I couldn’t kill you, and not much has changed now.

If Cheonma remains docile, I simply won’t bother her. I had to kill her eventually anyway.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do to me, but it’s pointless.”

“…”

Cheonma offered no reply.

She was still looking at me with the same night-sky eyes as always.

Neither the spear touching her neck nor the heat I was emitting elicited any reaction from her.

Is it because she lacks killing intent? Or does she not think I’ll really kill her?

Grrr.

I gritted my teeth. If she truly thought that, I needed to show her she was mistaken.

I gripped the spear I was holding and applied force.

I intended to strike from close range.

“…”

For some reason, my body wouldn’t move.

‘You crazy bastard. Move faster!’

It wasn’t external force. I was stopped entirely by my own will.

My brain urged me to move somehow, but my body was frozen.

It was as if an instinct, telling me never to attack Cheonma, had pierced through me.

Enduring it, I tried to force the spear forward, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Fuck.”

Finally, I spat out a curse and withdrew my hand. As the spear retracted, the heat swept across the grass.

Kuaaaaaa–!!

The air pressure roughly pushed the grass aside.

Residual heat remained on my palm, and I swept that hand across my face.

“Hooo….”

No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t good. Why had it become like this?

Just as I was holding back the curses boiling inside me, right at the edge of my throat.

“Do you hate me?”

Cheonma asked me.

“I told you earlier. That I despise you.”

“I heard you.”

But why is she asking?

The question arose.

“But you didn’t say you hated me.”

Cheonma’s words made me narrow my brow.

“What?”

“You didn’t say you hated me.”

“What kind of bullshit is that…”

Are you saying hating and despising are different?

It was ridiculous nonsense.

“Do you hate me?”

Cheonma asked me again, and I answered with a hollow laugh.

“I-“

Yes, I hate you. I hate you enough to die.

I tried to spit it out, but this time my mouth was being a bitch.

Why couldn’t I say I hated you, even after saying I despised you?

It was absurd how both my hands and mouth were acting up.

Still, the good news was that this was better than before.

“…Fine, I hate you. I want to kill you.”

“…”

As I forced it out, the words finally came tumbling out.

Hearing that, Cheonma’s eyes widened slightly.

Simultaneously, a subtle vibration ran through my heart. It was unpleasant. Even as I spoke the words, I felt deeply unpleasant.

More precisely, I felt disgusted with myself for speaking.

Why did I feel this way just for saying what needed to be said?

“…You… what did you really do to me…”

As I was about to speak to Cheonma, my body suddenly froze.

Her expression was strange.

She lowered her gaze, which had been fixed on me, clenched her white fist, and was biting her rosy lips slightly.

Anyone looking at that would see….

‘She looks hurt.’

Cheonma gets hurt?

A bizarre being who only ever smiled, no matter the situation, gets hurt by mere words of hate?

‘Don’t make me laugh.’

It couldn’t be.

There was no way Cheonma would be hurt by something like this.

I tried to convince myself of that, but.

My insides felt sore.

Is it because she looks exactly like Wi Seol-ah?

Yes, it must be because of that.

“What’s with that expression?”

“…Do you hate me that much?”

“Yes.”

“…Why?”

“Do I need to explain why? You said the same thing to me earlier.”

What was reflected in Cheonma’s eyes was an unknown earnestness.

As I ignored it and spoke, it felt like someone was scratching my insides with their fingernails.

“I just wanted to see you. I feel the same way.”

I said it while enduring that feeling.

“I just dislike you.”

“…”

That this life would be different from the last. That I would live this life differently.

There were definitely people I let go of thinking that.

But.

‘Not you.’

Just because I saw them that way, I couldn’t see Cheonma the same way.

To me, she was that kind of existence.

“…”

Cheonma couldn’t say anything after hearing my words.

A long silence ensued after that.

“Then….”

Cheonma asked me the question she had been holding back.

“…Why did you come to me?”

“…”

If you hate and dislike me so much, why did you come?

This time, I was the one who had to shut my mouth at Cheonma’s question.

This was a question I was more curious about myself.

‘Why?’

Why could that be?

Why did I come to see Cheonma now?

It was a time when my head was throbbing terribly with Madam Mi’s letter, my father’s affairs, and matters related to the Demonic Cult.

Moreover, abandoning the children, there was no reason to seek out Cheonma at this point.

Yet, here I stand now.

Because I wanted to see the woman I despise, hate, and must kill.

‘Why?’

I keep asking myself.

It was the same even up until the moment I came here.

Why was I walking towards Cheonma?

Even though I wasn’t moving to kill her.

Why was I….

‘…’

It was a question I couldn’t answer myself. No, I knew the answer, but I simply didn’t want to admit it.

-I wanted to see you.

When Cheonma uttered that. The tremor I felt inside.

I hated that feeling at the time.

Because it was a feeling I shouldn’t have felt.

Kku-uk.

Force entered my clenched fist.

I had clenched it so hard it was trembling.

“…”

Cheonma glanced at my trembling fist for a moment before looking back at me.

“…I see.”

I hadn’t answered her question, but perhaps she inferred the answer from my actions.

A look of pity fell upon her face.

It’s bothersome.

That expression she’s making now.

The subtle difference in her voice that one might miss if not paying attention.

All the feelings I yearned for endlessly inside, I hated them all.

I saw her small shoulders.

Her thin, slender shoulders looked like they could be held with just one hand.

Perhaps because I saw that.

My hand reached out without my realizing it.

Startled, I stopped my hand. But then.

Grip-!

“…!”

Suddenly, Cheonma grabbed my wrist.

“What the…!”

And that wasn’t all.

Her subsequent action made my eyes widen like saucers.

Giiiiing-!!

It was because Cheonma, gripping my wrist, gathered energy in her other hand.

Dark energy began to well up, puffing out.

I felt the danger the moment I saw it. The concentrated intensity and density of the energy were no joke.

It was at a level that would be dangerous if hit directly.

‘This is insane.’

Is she trying to kill me just because I said I hated her? I quickly gathered my own energy.

I unleashed flames as if attempting a counterattack.

Hwaak-!

Cheonma hugged me.

Chiiik-!

The heated flames touched Cheonma’s body, but she didn’t seem to care.

Her hand, extended beside me.

The gathered energy erupted from there.

Kuaaaaaaaa—-!!!

Dark energy swept the area in front.

It was a sudden action. Why did she suddenly do this?

I looked at Cheonma with surprised eyes.

Her gaze wasn’t directed at me.

She was staring intently at the spot in the distance where she had just fired the energy, her contorted face filled with hostility.

“What is this…”

I tried to speak to Cheonma, but.

Ooh-!

Goosebumps ran down my spine.

I immediately turned my head to look at the same spot.

At that moment.

I saw someone approaching in the distance.

A figure walking leisurely with his hands clasped behind his back.

Duguen-! Duguen-!

Seeing him, my heart began to race.

Kung-! Kung-kung-!!

My rapidly accelerating heart and the nausea rising within me.

Feeling my breath catching uncontrollably, I glared at the opponent.

‘Why that guy.’

The figure who appeared was someone I knew.

He was walking from afar, but instinct told me his identity.

Even if not, with those red eyes, I couldn’t possibly not know.

“Tsk tsk.”

A dry chuckle invaded my ears.

It felt like my ears were rotting on the spot.

“Your greeting is rather crude.”

“…”

Hearing that, Cheonma straightened up.

Giiing-.

Demonic energy began to gather in her hands again.

It was immense hostility.

“My, my….”

The figure with red eyes, seeing that sight. Jang Seong-yeon… no, the Blood Demon (Blood Devil) shook his head as if regretful.

“It’s just a shame about the manners.”

As the guy got closer, the blood in my body heated up even more.

“Blood Demon….”

But.

“Nice to meet you.”

For some reason, the Blood Demon was looking at Cheonma, not me.

He spoke to Cheonma without erasing the smile from his lips.

“My daughter.”

“…!”

Along with those words, an overwhelming stench of blood filled the air.