episode_0155

Haewolhwa brought back memories.

The rebels’ recent raid on the camp.

Externally, it is known that the propaganda of the new students of the Cradle who had come down to the south at the time on a mission stopped them, and Jinling avoided complete destruction.

But the reality is a little different.

Due to the influence of the large-scale black magic of unknown origin that was mobilized at that time, the atmosphere and soil composition of the realm were completely distorted.

Closer to the scenery of an alien world, not on Earth. Like the Sky Basin where the first practical training of the new cradle students took place this year.

It was also exactly the same type of erosion that had appeared in various places during the chaos 15 years ago.

Haewolhwa, who was suspicious of him, accompanied the southern expeditionary force and confirmed that the existence of a ‘goddess’ was repeatedly mentioned by the captured rebels.

And only now, when I have faced the truth, can I be sure.

The woman in front of them was the one who had imparted forbidden knowledge to them.

Also, the nightmare from 15 years ago isn’t completely over yet.

“You did something fun. New heaven, new heaven… ”

Haewolhwa looked at the woman named Sadalmelik and spoke dryly.

“That’s a pretty plausible idea. It’s exactly the kind of idea that fits the rebels who want to end the era of wizards. Since you’ve been talking nonsense like that, it must have been possible to dig into their core in such a short time.”

“… ”

The woman was still looking at Haewolhwa with a faint smile.

“Even a mere parasite seems to have the ability to learn. It would certainly be wiser to delve into human society than to just destroy it.”

“Hmm… ”

“But it’s too bad. That backdoor operation was discovered before it could shine.”

The sea and moon lightly wiggled their fingers as if they were releasing each other.

“If you barely survived, you should hide like a dead rat and survive, but you can’t stand it anymore and come out again. Are you saying that bugs are just bugs that can’t be helped?”

“… ”

“Even if you have an unimaginable amount of strength, you know that you are no match for us, right? Let alone a mere remnant… ”

“Puhhh… ”

While Haewolhwa continued speaking.

As if they could no longer bear it, a sudden burst of laughter echoed through the square in the ruins.

Unlike the tears just now, this laughter was quite plausible and came from the heart.

“Well… ”

The witch, who had barely stopped laughing, opened her mouth as if it would burst open while looking at Haewolhwa.

“Haewolhwa. First of all, there is something you are mistaken about.”

‘Do you… know me?’

Haewolhwa frowned.

“We are not the remnants of 15 years ago. We are the newly hatched second generation. Our sisters are no longer in this world. They were all killed by our enemies.”

“The remnants… are not… ?”

‘Second generation? Sister?’

The monster’s words came as quite a shock to Haewolhwa, but she continued the conversation without showing it.

At least they were not stingy with their answers.

“… Sister. Do even mere parasites have feelings of kinship?”

“Well, that’s not really the case. As a second generation, the most appropriate and refined expression to describe a prototype is “sister”… Yuck.”

Sadalmelik snatched the passing dragonfly with his terrifying body vision.

Then he grabbed its wings and looked around, his eyes filled with interest, like a child seeing a new toy for the first time.

Haewolhwa thought about taking advantage of this opportunity to blow his head off, but soon gave up.

Because it didn’t seem like an enemy that could be attacked with such a surprise attack.

“Yum yum… Ehhh… ”

A woman who had chewed on a piece of cloth in her mouth soon frowned and spat it out.

Then he looked at the wreckage and continued speaking.

“Second. Unlike our sisters who had no information, we have already inherited the memories and completed our learning. By mirroring their failures.”

“… ”

“It’s also become more powerful. The atmosphere of this star is gradually changing to better suit us.”

The next moment.

The witch turned her head and stared at Haewolhwa.

With the eyes of a predator looking down at its prey.

With a contemptuous sneer on his lips.

“Haewolhwa. Commonly known as ‘Haewolhwa of Laziness’. Born with a genius talent that cannot be traced back to any other, but with a uniquely lazy personality that is indifferent to everything in the world and does not like to step forward, he is called by that nickname… ”

Then he started spouting off words that sounded like they were whole paragraphs from a gossip magazine.

“15 years ago. If you hadn’t been stuck in the capital, we would have suffered more damage. We wouldn’t have had time to teach the second generation anything.”

For the first time, emotional agitation appears on Haewolhwa’s face.

The evil witch was going out of her way to bring up her painful mistake.

It was something I personally felt a great deal of regret about.

Because of her indecisive attitude, her beloved former disciple had to lose his precious lover in the most horrible way.

“Yeah. And I came here to kill you so you don’t repeat that mistake. Like this now.”

Haewolhwa’s voice, which had been dry all along, was slowly revealing the anger inside her.

“Puhhhh… Phuhhhh… Phuhhh… ”

The witch seemed to sense this as well. However, instead of feeling agitated or afraid, the monster let out a sticky laugh as if it was feeling joy.

“And… the third.”

Sadalmeric, who had barely stopped laughing, opened his mouth while looking straight at Haewolhwa.

“You probably thought you found me on your own. You pieced together the traces, drew a conclusion, and walked all this way. You didn’t want to repeat the same old mistakes. As you just said.”

“… ”

But, there’s something you should know.”

And at the witch’s words, a look of obvious agitation appeared on Haewolhwa’s face.

“You didn’t come looking for me. I…called you.”

***

“What…?”

“I left traces here and there on purpose. I had no intention of hiding it. Rather, I was desperately waiting for you to notice?”

The witch’s voice was filled with joy.

“We’ve classified you as a top threat. You’re the one who needs to be eliminated first. Along with that man, the ‘opponent’.”

At the witch’s words, Haewolhwa recalled Sa Jaehyuk’s recent actions.

A magical oath that prohibits fighting between the five families.

Sa Jae-hyeok received severe punishments for his disobedience, including the destruction of his records, but his punishment has long since ended.

However, Sa Jae-hyeok was still wandering the outskirts with his group for ten years. As if he was releasing the pent-up anger inside him, he was mercilessly slaughtering demons and black magic criminals.

People thought that the ‘fallen student council president’ had returned to his mischievous nature, but Haewolhwa was one of the few who knew the real reason.

He was alone, searching for traces of the witch.

But even though she regrets it now, it is true that Haewolhwa also did not attach much meaning to his actions.

I thought it was over already. I just felt sorry for him, thinking it was the pathological behavior of a man who had lost his beloved lover.

However, he had been stuck on the northeastern front for a long time, and suddenly, as if he had had a change of heart, he left for the ruins in the east.

As if I had found traces of something I had been desperately looking for.

As if she had now… come down south.

“No way… ”

Haewolhwa’s eyes trembled as if there was an earthquake. She had fallen into a trap in a really nice way.

Things are different there now than they were 15 years ago.

The strongest male wizard of all time.

Sa Jae-hyeok, renowned as the first male wizard to be classified as Category 1, is no longer around.

He no longer has the explosive power he once had.

He is no longer the being who can slaughter witches alone like he used to, even with his veteran members by his side.

The obvious hand of death was reaching out to him.

“I see you’ve figured out what’s going on. I’m glad. I didn’t know you’d like my gift this much.”

Sadalmelik laughed at her with his usual cynicism.

And then he spread his arms wide and bowed comically as if he was giving a stage greeting.

“Welcome. Welcome to the grave of your own accord.”

That was the moment.

A strange sensation, like a ripple on a wave, passes through Haewolhwa’s body. Soon, it spreads far and wide in all directions.

-Dududu…

Haewolhwa looked down at her feet. The broken pieces of asphalt were vibrating and making a loud noise. It was as if they were playing the harbinger of destruction.

-…!

Soon a loud commotion is heard from the outskirts of the city: screams, gunfire, explosions, metallic noises.

Soon after, a crow flies in urgently from the direction of the garrison.

The crow that saw the moon and the sea began to pour out the voice of the commander that had been talking to him earlier.

“Haewolhwa! Urgent support! Corpses are rising from all directions and attacking our troops! Our troops’ corpses too… Block them, block them! ”

“No way…you can do it?”

Haewolhwa recited in a desperate manner.

‘That’s ridiculous. The garrison is more than a kilometer away from here…’

The power they showed 15 years ago.

That mysterious power that could not be explained by magic, that felt like an other-worldly providence.

It was certainly an amazing force, but it was nothing compared to what we have now. In terms of scale and reach.

‘Does it really mean that it has become more powerful?’

“Wait a minute… What the heck is that… Ouch… !”

The commander’s words were cut off with a final word, as if he had seen something he should not have seen.

The crow uttered its last words and fell to the ground without moving an inch.

This meant that the master whose spirit was connected to it was dead.

The commotion coming from the garrison died down in an instant. For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the surrounding air.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Soon after, a strong vibration, like the sound of a giant drum, could be heard from beyond the horizon. Haewolhwa turned her head toward the epicenter, and a look of shock appeared on her face.

The master of the southwestern plains. A Dartigas variant, he is a named monster designated as special due to his large size.

The demon, who had clearly died a natural death, was moving its heavy body like a mountain toward this place.

With half a skull showing on his face, he looked obviously dead.

“The power to command corpses… You have no such bad taste.”

Haewolhwa had a slightly disgusted expression on her face. The situation had already gotten out of control, but for some reason, she seemed to have regained her composure.

Suddenly, a four-legged monster as huge as a building approached her and glared at her with its half-rotten eyes. Soon, hundreds of footsteps were heard, but they were not those of the living.

The unicorn, the gardener, Humbert, the alligator. The criminals she had clearly disposed of were staggering about in strange poses, their skeletal feet pressing against the ground, and when that didn’t work, they squirmed like maggots.

Haewolhwa was also able to identify familiar faces among the corpses surrounding her: the commander of this expedition, officers, and young soldiers.

Those who had been looking at her with respectful faces until just now only had cold, expressionless expressions on their faces.

“Puhhhh… This is… something worth seeing.”

The witch, who had been smiling wickedly, jumped up onto the monster’s head in one stride.

“Haewolhwa. You are a blasphemous traitor who obstructs the execution of the great cause. According to the laws of heaven, I, Sadalmelik, solemnly sentence you to death.”

And from there, he looked down at Haewolhwa and pronounced a death sentence.

“Then take care.”

A tone closer to that of a clown mocking and imitating him, rather than that of a solemn judge.

Haewolhwa let out a deep sigh when she saw this.

“Well… I don’t want to die already.”

What she was thinking about now was something her former disciple had casually thrown at her.

“I’m still in my prime.”

A work of art that is slightly scratched, but looks even more beautiful because of it.

It is clearly the world’s greatest delicacy, as if it would burst if you rolled it on your tongue.

“I haven’t even tasted it properly yet… ”

Haewolhwa recited with an indifferent expression.

And he put strength into his fingers and snapped them.

“If you really want to kill me… you’ll have to do your best.”