Chapter 912: So in the end.

A monster…?

Are they talking about me right now?

I had to put on an expression of disbelief at the turtle’s words.

‘Who are you calling a monster?’

As far as I could see, the other guy looked way more monstrous, so it was absurd for him to call me a monster.

“Hmph.”

The turtle stared at me. Its gaze felt strange.

“Jangmunin. Where on earth did you pick this thing up from?”

“Hey, that’s a bit much to say right to someone’s face.”

Due to the continued rudeness, Shin Noyaisaid to the turtle, unable to hold back any longer.

“Even if this kid looks like a monster…”

“Noyais?”

“Calling someone a monster! What kind of rudeness is this! Even if he looks like a monster-!”

“Hey.”

“You know, seeing him like that, you’re being too harsh. If it comes to this, reducing the plum tea duty to three months might be….”

“Don’t try any tricks, Jangmunin.”

“Tsk.”

“These damn things….”

Grind. I clenched my fists, grinding my teeth.

“What are you doing right in front of me-!”

“You’re noisy when adults are talking.”

The turtle pointed its staff at my forehead.

At that moment.

“…Huh?”

Before I knew it, I was outside the building.

“What the.”

How did this suddenly happen?

While surprised by the strange turn of events.

Thump-!

“…!”

I clutched my chest as my heart suddenly started racing.

Thump! Thump-thump!

“…Haa….”

Did the energy react?

It seemed like it, but it wasn’t the Gu Yeom Hwa Ryun Gong.

It wasn’t demonic energy either… So that leaves…

‘…The ring of sorcery?’

The ring bound to my heart as I learned sorcery.

That reacted violently to what just happened.

Which means…

‘…That just now.’

Was sorcery?

*****************

“Hey, why did you send the kid out without permission?”

Shin Cheol clicked his tongue briefly at the disappearance of Gu Yangcheon.

Then, the turtle sitting there subtly took a sip of tea.

“Jangmunin. It seemed like you wanted that too, didn’t you?”

“You’re always quick to notice.”

Shin Cheol chuckled.

As he said, it was true that they both wanted it.

They just didn’t expect it to be done so instantly.

“The more I see it, the more fascinating it is. What principle does it operate on, exactly?”

“There’s no point wondering. It has nothing to do with you.”

“That’s a harsh thing to say. You haven’t done this before, have you?”

“No.”

The turtle’s old eyes cooled chillingly.

“This is a predetermined matter. It cannot be changed, even if one dies.”

At that gaze, Shin Cheol rested his chin, looking regretful.

“So resolute.

It’s similar to why I can’t possess the same power as you.”

“Do you mean it’s a matter of talent?”

“It’s different.”

Gulp. The turtle refilled its empty cup.

“It’s not about talent, but the realm of choice.”

“I’ve heard it several times, but it’s still words I can’t understand.”

“It means you were not chosen by this side.”

“Oh?”

Shin Cheol chuckles.

The regretful expression he wore just moments ago completely vanished.

“So, is that why you sent that pathetic guy out?”

“…”

The turtle paused at Shin Cheol’s remark.

“If you were going to send someone out, why not send that child out too?”

Shin Cheol’s head turned towards a corner.

There, a black-haired woman sat quietly, watching them.

Violet eyes. An unreadable expression.

An unknown sense of foreboding.

She was a woman embodying all of that.

Did that brat mention it?

That she was the Heavenly Demon.

Indeed.

‘How foreign.’

She was definitely an unsettling presence.

“That one is not allowed.”

“Hm?”

At the turtle’s words, Shin Cheol looked back at him.

“It’s already covered, so it cannot be reached.”

“Are you going to keep talking like shit? I can’t understand a word.”

“It’s because there are parts I cannot speak of. No, why did you bring something like that in the first place?”

“I didn’t bring her; she came along with that brat. Tsk tsk. Honestly… he’s strangely blessed with women.”

It seemed like he was particularly loved by strange women.

“So. What about that brat you saw makes you dislike him so much?”

When asked about Gu Yangcheon, the turtle’s white eyebrows twitched.

“You mean that monster?”

A monster.

It was a subtly irritating word.

“As I said earlier, even if the kid looks that way…”

“That one is a monster.”

“…Turtle.”

Shin Cheol finally frowned.

Even so, the turtle’s words didn’t change.

“In this realm, at least.”

The turtle continued speaking to Shin Cheol in its characteristic slow tone.

“We call things like that monsters.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Those who are loved by the great ones.”

“More details, please.”

The amusement disappeared from Shin Cheol’s tone.

“Don’t you truly know? The countless things layered upon that child? I can see them all too clearly.”

“He’s quite popular with eccentric beings, you know. More than just one or two.”

It was amusing how he changed every time I saw him.

The turtle shook its head at Shin Cheol’s words.

What it was talking about and what Shin Cheol was talking about were different.

“Everything that happens to that child has someone’s touch upon it.”

A faint tremor entered the turtle’s voice.

“I’ve lived hearing that I’m quite something, but that child possesses something different.”

“Hmm.”

Shin Cheol didn’t particularly deny that arrogant statement.

In reality, the turtle was indeed a great being, and he himself wasn’t much different.

“The fortunate thing is that the monster isn’t on this side.”

The turtle’s staff pointed towards Shin Cheol.

“It’s that it chose the other side.”

“Mm.”

Only after hearing that did Shin Cheol seem to understand what the turtle meant.

“Can that really be called a choice?”

Gu Yangcheon didn’t choose.

“Since it was the Central Plains to begin with, there wouldn’t have been a need to choose anything, right?”

“Hee hee hee.”

The turtle laughed. Shin Cheol’s words were amusing.

“Why are you laughing? Enough to make me want to smash your shell.”

“Jangmunin. You are mistaken about something.”

“Hm?”

“Those called monsters in the world usually have their destinies predetermined.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means their birthplace is determined from the start. Only then can the blessings they possess have meaning.”

“…”

“However, for that monster to choose the other side, not this one…”

Thump. The staff lightly pressed the floor.

“That signifies someone’s intention.”

Shin Cheol was reflected in the turtle’s dark pupils.

“I will help with the task as promised, but I will not get involved with that monster.”

The turtle stood up.

Shin Cheol didn’t say anything else until then.

He just watched the turtle with quiet eyes.

Just then.

“Ah. By the way. Jangmunin.”

The turtle said, looking at Shin Cheol.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

Shin Cheol’s face crumpled slightly at those words.

“You seem a bit unwell….”

Click-! Crunch-crunch!

“Hm?”

Mid-sentence, the turtle looked towards the door.

What is it? The door was opening.

“Whaaat? Why is this happening…?”

It was a door sealed shut, absolutely impossible to open.

It wasn’t just one or two seals mixed together; it shouldn’t have been easily broken.

And it’s suddenly trying to open?

The turtle, slightly flustered, reached out to touch the door.

KWA-AAK! The door, barely holding on, burst open.

“Whoa, fuck.”

And then, a young man with black hair appeared, spitting out a fierce curse.

“Damn, that was hard to open.”

It was Gu Yangcheon.

“Why so many seals? I thought my head was going to split.”

Gu Yangcheon, grinding his teeth in anger.

Seeing him, the turtle stared in surprise.

“…How…?”

The turtle asked, unable to comprehend.

At those words, Gu Yangcheon glared.

“What?”

“I definitely erased the seals when I sent you out. How on earth did you open the door and get in?”

“Seals? Ah.”

Gu Yangcheon remembered upon hearing that.

“That thing wrapped around my body?”

Something strange had indeed been attached. It looked so bothersome.

“I took it off.”

“…You took it off?”

“Yes. I took it off.”

“How…?”

“I just grabbed it and pulled.”

Of course, it wouldn’t come off if I just pulled, so I fiddled with a few things to get it off, but…

It wasn’t that difficult.

“…”

What kind of answer was that? The turtle wore a blank expression for a moment before regaining its senses and asking something else.

“…Then the door?”

How did you open the door? Gu Yangcheon answered that question with irritation.

“What about the door? I just opened it.”

“That’s impossible. It was made simply impossible to open.”

“Yeah. It really didn’t open easily.”

So.

“I opened it with difficulty.”

“…”

“Quite a lot.”

That was truly an unbelievable answer.

It shouldn’t work like that, how on earth did he manage it?

Various questions sprouted from the turtle’s bewilderment, but…

“…Ah.”

It soon dismissed the thought. It was a pointless act once done.

“Jangmunin.”

“Hm?”

“Didn’t I tell you.”

The turtle said, pointing at Gu Yangcheon.

“This is a monster.”

“No, why do you keep calling people monsters….”

“Hee hee hee.”

Shin Cheol laughed at the turtle’s words.

“Still, isn’t it amusing?”

“…”

The turtle shook its head and walked past Gu Yangcheon.

Seeing that, Shin Cheol also stood up and followed the turtle.

“I just got back in, where are you going now…?!”

As he passed, Shin Cheol patted the head of the fuming Gu Yangcheon.

“Stop chattering and follow me. I’ll show you something interesting.”

As Shin Cheol spoke, his eyes, contrary to his smile, looked slightly tired for some reason.

************

In the dark space, Yeon Hong’s eyes glowed faintly.

The woman opened her closed eyes and looked ahead.

“You’ve arrived.”

At the quiet words, someone knelt and bowed their head.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“…”

Nod. In response to the woman’s words, the kneeling person nodded instead of answering.

It was unthinkable to act like that in response to the woman’s words, but she was the only one permitted to do so.

A being with brown hair and a black mask.

This was the one many called the ‘Night Wolf’.

“Did you confirm everything?”

The Night Wolf nodded again.

“Yes. The location?”

The Night Wolf carefully wrote something on the floor.

Seeing it, the woman narrowed her eyes and touched her lips with her fingertips.

“Hmm.”

It was unexpected.

“Not as far as I thought.”

If they had tried to run or hide, I thought they would have gone much farther.

Why would they position themselves in such a place?

Do they have some other plan?

“Mujo-gaeng….”

Why did that child make such a choice?

The woman still couldn’t understand.

One should faithfully carry out their duties in darkness, not light.

“…What whim took them?”

An anomaly occurred with Mujo-gaeng.

The resulting anomaly became a great crack in Man-gye itself.

The woman had to resolve this matter.

Moreover.

‘Dragons.’

The fact that two dragons, thought to have disappeared last time, had appeared.

That was also strange.

It was even stranger that Mujo-gaeng tried to protect them.

Furthermore.

She herself was the bigger problem, knowing all this yet not acting properly.

Perhaps this was the biggest issue.

If we look at the cause, it must have been back then.

From the moment she glimpsed those dragons, the woman had been feeling an inexplicable discomfort.

Because of that, she couldn’t even issue the necessary commands properly.

“It’s decided now.”

Her mind was finally made up.

More accurately, there was no more time to deliberate.

She clearly had something to protect.

“Please tell the children for me.”

Recalling that, the woman said to the Night Wolf.

“Now that I know the location.”

The woman’s eyes, as she spoke, held light but were darker than anything else.

“Go catch them and bring them here.”

What she had to protect was Man-gye.

To the woman, besides that.

Nothing else existed.