Chapter 990: The Divine Tree and the Master.

I moved my steps carefully. Anyway, even if I went out, I wouldn’t be able to leave the Hwasan Sect. There was nothing I could do even if I did.

So, after wallowing in self-pity alone for a bit, I took a step forward.

“Have you come.”

The place I was heading was predictable anyway. The person waiting there greeted me with a stern expression.

“I was worrying somewhat, so thankfully, it seems you weren’t wandering alone.”

Elder Shin looked at me, then glanced at the person beside me. It was Cheonma.

“Have you finished thinking?”

“…….”

Thinking.

At those words, I gathered my breath. If you asked if it was finished, it hadn’t finished at all.

Rather, it’s complicated, stifling, and I’m being swayed by all sorts of delusions.

“Elder.”

“Yes.”

“Do you perhaps remember the words you said to me?”

Anyway, even if it goes around and around again, I know the thing that must be done is the same.

That was the time spent recognizing it.

“That I am destined to become a calamity? That a fate, twisted and escaped, might become so again as my soul is corrected?”

Truly frustrating words, but even so, the situation doesn’t change.

My mood just becomes shitty. And a lot at that.

But.

‘……Just because my mood becomes shitty.’

The thing that must be done doesn’t change.

“If I’m a calamity, so what?”

Clenching my fist and repeatedly gnawing on my tongue, I said to Elder.

“No matter what my situation is. If I think it’s not me, then it is not so. You said that.”

Those were words Elder had said to me once.

It was the same back then. At the time Yeonilcheon called me a calamity and I almost collapsed.

Those were the words spoken as if Elder was correcting me.

“……Yes.”

Elder nodded calmly, as if remembering that too.

“Has the meaning of the words you spoke back then not changed even now?”

“…….”

Your words, which had supported me.

As I asked if they had not changed even now, Elder’s gaze turned towards me.

What expression was he making? I couldn’t read his meaning from Elder’s face.

But.

“Yangcheon-ah.”

“Yes. Elder.”

“I will ask you, who are asking me words now.”

“Yes.”

“Truly, is my intention important?”

“…….”

“Surely what’s important now isn’t my intention?”

I closed my mouth.

“I think you didn’t come to seek an answer from me. Furthermore, I think you didn’t come to get confirmation either.”

In that calm, light pink gaze, I gathered my breath composedly.

The pupils within those fierce eyes were sharp, yet possessed a power that somehow calmed people.

“How do you see it?”

Leaving aside how you yourself think.

How do you yourself think?

To the question asking that, I clenched my hand.

Kkadeuk-!

Bone sounds came from my fingers.

I hadn’t broken them. I had merely given myself a little pain.

Feeling the tingling sensation, I said.

“……I might be a calamity.”

“…….”

“If you look at my appearance or listen to my words, it really seems like it might be so.”

I pursed my lips. I forced up the corners of my mouth that refused to rise.

“……Wouldn’t it be fine if I just didn’t do it?”

If I had a mask, I wanted to wear that at least.

I wanted to wear something to hide my expression, but since I couldn’t, I just blurted it out.

“A calamity. If you try not to do it, it can be done, can’t it?”

Even if I am something that will truly become a calamity according to Elder’s words or the situation.

‘Because it’s shitty, I won’t do it.’

If I hold out saying I won’t do it, that’s enough. I won’t do it.

Didn’t I say that if I think it’s not me, then it isn’t so?

Then I will think so.

‘By any means necessary.’

Just as I have done until now.

‘Make it happen.’

Since it’s possible, it will be the same this time too.

Even if I die, I would not kill the important people with my own hands.

“……Hmm.”

Elder, having heard my words, rested his chin on his hand. And then.

“After a long time.”

He let out a small smirk.

“You’ve spat out an answer I like.”

“…….”

“If you have decided so, then do so.”

Tak. As he spoke, Elder rose to his feet.

“As I said earlier, there will be a way anyway.”

“……Why are you so certain?”

“You know as well as I do that your mother’s arrangements were strange, don’t you?”

“…….”

Can this even be called arrangements?

Honestly, I couldn’t understand.

If it was my mother who messed with my soul, why would she bother putting it back in its place?

‘I don’t even know what she wants from me.’

I don’t know what my mother, who suddenly disappeared, wants from me now.

Does she want me to become a calamity? If my mother truly manifested by the world’s will.

There’s a possibility of that, but…

‘If that were the case, she wouldn’t have messed with my soul.’

It clearly seemed like there was some intention.

That could be arrangements, as Elder said, or it might not have been.

It’s unreasonable to simply believe my mother.

Even though I truly missed her.

‘Because it’s something I don’t know.’

Setting aside longing, the situation is unknown. So I had to assume everything.

Even if it’s a fate to become a calamity, if I wanted to escape it, I had to recognize the situation and make a plan.

‘Of course, even calling it a plan…’

Nothing much changes anyway.

I just found out what I didn’t know. What I had to do was the same.

‘Whether Yar-ang’s movement is mother’s will or not.’

What needed to be done first now was only one thing.

“Elder.”

“Yes.”

“……Ya-wol’s Sacred Tree. I’ll go find that first.”

I must find the Sacred Tree.

By searching and searching for the Sacred Tree like that, I had to face my mother.

Even if she wasn’t my mother, but the Master.

‘Even if it’s said I will become a calamity.’

I had to go back. There was something I had to do upon returning, somehow.

“……Are you thinking of going back right away?”

Elder’s eyes widened, as if this was truly unexpected.

After hearing shocking words, are you saying you’ll go without even resting? Elder looked at me with questioning eyes, but…

“I won’t go right away.”

I also had no intention of going immediately.

That’s because…

“Because I have to wait for the night.”

Because as much as I gained something, I had to make use of it.

---

The moon was floating in the sky.

Not one, but two.

The moon I first encountered upon arriving at Ya-wol was like that, and as if nothing had changed since then, the clear aurora spread beautifully across the sky.

Watching that, I landed lightly.

My body landed onto the surrounding fortress wall.

There were people standing guard on the wall around me, but…

They didn’t notice me.

As soon as I landed, I launched myself forward.

The wind swirled, and my surroundings shifted in an instant.

Despite the violent speed, when landing, it was incredibly light, like a feather settling.

There was almost no recoil. No, it meant my body’s strength was immense enough to perfectly control any recoil.

‘Haha.’

I admired my own body.

This is also possible.

Hiding my body in the darkness, I slowly stretched.

I had to be careful. As soon as the moon rose, my excited body kept straying from my will.

Sallang.

My tail moved, and my newly formed ears were bothersome.

Maintaining familiarity with these new senses too, I moved my legs.

As soon as night fell, my body changed once again.

The body of the Moonlit Night.

Not only did I transform into a form that felt like a mix of beast and human.

My grip strength, energy, and furthermore, my five senses were maximized.

Thanks to that, I was at a level where I couldn’t even stand straight.

At first, my strength burst out more strongly than I expected, to the point I was smashing things around, but…

After repeating it a few times and trying hard to get used to it, it was only to this extent.

A sudden change in state.

It could be seen as a similar state.

‘No, if you were to argue, it’s even more than that.’

It wasn’t just a change in state. Because I’d become stronger overall, it felt even more alien.

Moreover, I kept feeling a rising fervor about what other changes had occurred.

Hearing words like ‘calamity’ until just before, and then feeling my fervor rise as soon as night fell.

‘Is this also a symptom caused by my body changing?’

Things I should have obtained long ago.

If these are the changes that occurred when my soul returned to its original form after swallowing the Divine Fruit.

‘Why do I turn back into a dragon during the day?’

How is it that I only take this form at night and return during the day?

‘No, that’s not right.’

If it was said I should have originally been Wolya due to mother’s doing.

It’s not that I return to being a dragon, but rather that I return to Wolya only at night, which would be correct.

Anyway…

“This…”

“Over there…”

My expanded and widened five senses sought information from all directions.

My sense of smell caught things it couldn’t before, and sound captured sounds more widely and accurately.

Receiving the pouring information, I moved my steps.

Did I wear the mask properly? What about my clothes?

Am I using the Gas Transformation Technique properly too?

I checked all of this.

Especially since my body had changed, unlike how I was slightly worried there might be problems using the Gas Transformation Technique.

‘It was actually easier to use.’

The Wolya body made it possible to use the Gas Transformation Technique better.

Whether it’s because my muscles are flexible, or whether my body to endure became stronger, I don’t know.

Much more precise and detailed changes became possible.

Thanks to that, combat seemed like it would be easier even while using the Gas Transformation Technique, if it were night.

‘Even if that weren’t the case, it would still be much better.’

If it’s this much…

‘I don’t think I’d lose even if I fought the Three Lords?’

Although I’ve never properly fought them, I guessed it might be okay to fight them.

This implies…

‘It also means it’s sufficiently possible to fight against General-level opponents.’

It meant there was a chance of victory even fighting a General ranked equal to, or slightly below, the Three Lords.

‘Nice.’

Anyway, I might have to fight not long from now.

If I just utilize the night, I should be able to lead it advantageously.

Recalling that, I pulled the door in front of me.

There were no guards. I knew that from visiting before, but it seemed they didn’t particularly set up guards around.

I wondered why, but anyway, since it was easy for me to approach, it was convenient.

Kkiiiik-!

As the door slowly opened like that, the moment I was about to enter.

“If you don’t mind me saying.”

“…….”

UTTUK.

Holding the doorknob, my body froze.

I heard a voice.

It was right behind me.

Someone can speak from behind. If you ask what the problem is.

“May I go in first?”

“…….”

“Because it’s something a bit urgent.”

The voice speaking to me now with a smile was clearly.

My mother’s.