Chapter 894: You’re still ugly.

It was warm.

The feeling of someone softly hugging me from behind.

It was cozy and comfortable.

It was a familiar sensation I hadn’t felt since I was very young.

No way…?

I tried to speak, my eyes widening.

“Uh…”

[Shhh.]

A sultry voice reached my ears, and I felt a touch on my lips.

Feeling that, I closed my mouth.

[Just a moment. Stay still for me.]

Along with the gentle voice, a hand brushed against my hair.

The hand softly stroked my hair.

My body stiffened.

[Good boy.]

“…”

Something welled up inside me. I couldn’t react in any way.

In that situation.

“Man-gye.”

Hyeolma said, maintaining a stern expression.

“You must have been in a hurry. Appearing yourself instead of using the endless abyss.”

At Hyeolma’s words, the voice replied.

[That child is very busy. They had many tasks assigned.]

“Ha. You mean there are more important tasks than protecting your trace?”

Trace. My ears perked up at the word.

[Protecting?]

The voice laughed.

[My son isn’t weak enough for me to need to protect him.]

Hearing that, I clenched my fist.

Just as I thought. The owner of this voice is….

‘Mother….’

It seemed to be Mother.

I had felt it last time at the Sinryong Hall too, but Mother was definitely alive.

“How truly contradictory.”

Hyeolma frowned upon hearing Mother’s words.

“Considering you say there’s no need to protect him, your current actions don’t add up, don’t you think?”

[Parents are like that. Besides.]

Swoosh.

Wind blew around my body.

At the same time, a deep purple aura began to surround my body. A refreshing floral scent pierced my nostrils.

[If you step in, from then on it won’t be a children’s fight, but an adult’s fight, you know.]

“…”

[…Dragon Emperor (龍帝). No, master who lost your name long ago.]

Vwoooom–!!

The voice pressed down on the sky.

[Don’t keep crossing the line. If you do, I’ll have to punish you, you know.]

It was a crisp warning.

Hyeolma, hearing the warning, focused his eyes.

“How pathetic…”

Screeeech—!

Energy began to gather in his hand.

It was the same as before, but it seemed twice as intense.

“A line? We never had such a thing to begin with.”

Hyeolma’s eyes, as he spoke, held a deep contempt.

“We’re all just chess pieces dancing to commands. You are no different.”

Red energy gathered in the sky.

“Someone who gets punished for failing even their assigned tasks seems to not know their place.”

Getting punished. My eyes widened at Hyeolma’s words.

“No matter how noble you claim to be. How much can you protect without even properly dedicating yourself?”

Vwoom.

A sea of blood-red energy raged in the sky.

“Go on, try me.”

Hyeolma sneered and poured the vast energy towards the ground.

[Oh my.]

The approaching energy was immense.

Just looking at it sent shivers down my spine.

How could I possibly block that?

Could Mother be someone who could easily block even something like that?

Such a question arose.

[This isn’t working?]

“What…?”

At the flustered voice, I inadvertently spoke.

[I thought it would work a little… You’re smarter than I expected.]

“What does that mean…?”

What is this talking about?

I turned my eyes, looking bewildered.

[Hmmmmmm…. ]

It was a voice deep in thought.

This wasn’t the time.

Energy was already pouring down from the sky.

Gritting my teeth, I drew energy into my body.

Fwoosh—!

I recalled blocking Hyeolma’s power with Baekyeom earlier.

I tried to block it again using that, but.

[No.]

My hand, which had turned into flames, was caught.

[You can’t use that.]

“…But.”

[Don’t worry.]

Again, I felt a touch on my hair.

[Mom will take care of everything.]

“…”

Hearing that, I unconsciously extinguished the flames.

It was the same in the past.

A very, very long time ago.

Whenever something happened when I was young, it was always what Mother said.

-Don’t worry, son. Mom will take care of everything.

I remembered the words and the voice she used when she smiled brightly. It felt like something was welling up.

I barely managed to calm my ragged breathing.

At that moment.

Fwoooom-!

The deep purple aura surrounding my body suddenly soared into the sky.

Kwagagagag—!!

The pouring energy whipped up the wind.

My eyes widened like saucers at the scene that unfolded.

The terribly potent energy was devoured by the deep purple light and vanished in an instant.

“Ha-!”

Hyeolma exclaimed upon seeing this.

“You’re insane.”

A smile had returned to his face.

“Have you truly lost your mind? To break your karma for something like this?”

[Hmm? Why?]

Mother replied as if she didn’t understand Hyeolma’s words.

[You broke it too. Can’t I break it?]

“No.”

Hyeolma shook his head. Even as his own blocked energy dissipated, his expression seemed pleased.

“It’s just laughable that you’d use a trump card you saved for just this moment. If it comes to this, you’ll have no way to stop me, right?”

[You still only know one thing and not the other.]

There was a floral quality in the voice.

That was the impression I got.

[I wasn’t thinking of stopping you. I just wanted to see my children. And.]

Swoooooosh—-!!!

The energy that had consumed the red light flew towards Hyeolma.

Hyeolma didn’t run, even while watching the energy.

[My son is far more amazing than you think. So, be alert.]

“Haha.”

Hyeolma replied with a chilling laugh.

“Bring it on.”

At the same time, Hyeolma’s gaze shifted to Cheonma next to me, who was panting.

“It’s a shame there’s an obstruction today, but I will definitely come to pick you up next time.”

“…Get lost.”

Cheonma growled.

Hyeolma added upon hearing that.

“As of today, there is no ‘next time’ anymore.”

Shhhhhhhhhh—!!!

The energy changed form.

It was the shape of a beast.

What kind of beast was it? I felt like I knew, but it was vague, so I wasn’t sure.

The beast, mouth agape, swallowed Hyeolma.

Kwaaa–!

The energy exploded right there.

Tremendous wind pressure spread in all directions.

The energy scattered in the air like pollen.

It was like spring arriving in autumn.

I stared blankly at the sight.

How could energy be so beautiful?

In a way, it resembled Hwasan’s Plum Blossom Sword Technique. No, it was far more primal than that.

It really was flowers.

It felt like real flowers were fluttering, not just energy.

“…”

Setting the situation aside, my gaze was captivated by the beautiful sight.

It felt like being mesmerized.

As I was spacing out, watching the fluttering petals.

Swoosh-!

The energy gathered before me.

It clumped together in one place, gradually taking on a human-like form.

It wasn’t complete.

It felt like just the shape was made of petals.

It was a head shorter than me and its form was blurry, but I couldn’t say anything while looking at it.

As I watched it quietly, the form raised its hand and waved.

It seemed like it was saying hello.

[Hello. My son.]

When I even heard the voice, my heart sank with a thud.

The petals reached out.

They enveloped my cheek.

[You’ve grown well. So handsome.]

“…Mother.”

[Oh my?]

The petals trembled at my words.

[That way of addressing me is too distant, kid. You used to call me Mom. Is this because you’re an adult now?]

“…”

It was a voice that sounded somewhat excited.

Even seeing that, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

I didn’t even know how I should react.

Seeing me like that, Mother said.

[An adult… Yes, you are an adult.]

It was a somewhat calmer voice.

[It must have been tough, right?]

My breath hitched.

Was it my insides shaking? Or… was it me myself shaking?

I wasn’t sure, but something shook profoundly.

[You went through a lot.]

“Ah….”

[I’m sorry, Mom. I couldn’t protect you until you became a man.]

My vision blurred.

I wanted to hold back, but it wasn’t easy.

No.

I’m this old, I shouldn’t be acting like this.

I definitely shouldn’t, but.

[I’m sorry for being a bad mother. I should have been by your side. But I couldn’t.]

The touch of the petals brushed against my cheek and hair.

[You really went through a lot.]

As the warm voice invaded my ears, I finally couldn’t hold back.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“…It’s okay.”

Even amidst this, the hand stroking my hair didn’t stop.

[I’m sorry.]

At the apology I heard, I barely managed to bite my lip.

This wasn’t what I wanted to say.

The moment I realized Mother was alive, there were so many things I wanted to ask if I saw her again.

But I couldn’t ask a single one.

My mouth wouldn’t open.

[Son.]

“Yes.”

I answered, forcibly holding back tears.

Fortunately, my voice didn’t tremble.

[I want to see you a little longer, but Mom doesn’t have much time right now.]

At those words, I snapped my eyes open.

“What does that mean…?”

[So I’m sorry in advance. Ah, I keep apologizing. This isn’t right.]

She laughed awkwardly.

Then, the petals began to move.

Seeing that, I frowned and said.

“Are you leaving again?”

I asked if she was going to disappear again like this.

[Hmm… It’s similar, but…]

Mother gave a strange answer.

[What should I call this…? It’s a bit ambiguous.]

“Huh…?”

[There’s too little time to explain.]

Mother hastily added.

[This is something even Mom didn’t expect. The promise I made with that tree wasn’t like this either… Just think of it as something that happened because my son is too outstanding, okay?]

“What are you talking about…? I don’t understand well.”

[Son.]

“Yes.”

Fwaaaaa-.

It was because the movement of the spreading petals was strange.

Through the leaves that slowly began to cover my vision, Mother said to me.

[Absolutely do not look for me.]

“What?”

The petals fluttered as if in full bloom.

The problem was.

‘Huh…?’

The petals weren’t going anywhere; they covered me.

What is this?

Just as I was questioning the sudden situation.

Drip-!

My consciousness suddenly flickered out.

---

On a huge throne, a woman lay.

She had white hair so long it flowed onto the floor, and the surroundings were filled with unknown white fur.

In such a space.

“Mmm….”

The woman opened her closed eyes.

Her jewel-like pupils held the light.

She seemed uncomfortable somewhere and struggled to sit up.

At that moment, someone appeared before her.

[My Master.]

Seeing the appearing being, the woman wore a languid expression.

[Are you alright?]

“…”

The woman did not answer.

She merely frowned.

Then, the huge clumps of fur filling her insides stirred.

The woman, wearing a very uncomfortable expression, looked at the being and said.

“I think I dreamt something….”

Even trying hard to recall it, it remained blurry.

“I can’t remember….”

It probably wasn’t anything important.

Judging so, the woman sat up.

Seeing that, the being spoke to the woman.

[My Master. We have pinpointed the location of the Endless Abyss.]

At those words, the woman’s erect ears perked up.

Her ears resembled the shape of an animal’s.

Her sleepiness vanished in an instant.

The worries she had just moments ago disappeared like a mirage.

Strength entered her languidly open eyes.

Her calm pupils narrowed vertically.

“Where is that bastard?”

[Mount Chilryeong in the west.]

“Let’s go.”

Her sleek legs moved, and her toes touched the floor.

At that moment, the clumps of fur behind her moved rapidly, shrinking in size.

Kugugugung–!

Roughly churning within, they took shape as if being sucked into the woman.

The resulting form was, surprisingly, tails.

Seven white tails lined up.

Sweeping the floor with her tails, the woman took light steps.