episode_0163

52. Descent. (1)

” Okay, I guess this is the place my sister was talking about. ”

” Is this what it looks like…? It’s completely different from what I saw from outside… ”

Pedro, who was surprised by the completely different appearance of the settlement from the top of the memorial building, kept frowning and looking around with a displeased expression.

It was natural for him to think that way.

Charlotte first went to the main gate of the settlement. After moving south, Ara and he also headed to the forest north of the settlement. As they went there, there was a huge wall made of containers blocking the inside, as if they were trying to hide it completely so that it would never be seen.

After arriving at the forest, Ara’s ability was used to create a tower high up from the ground, and only then could I see inside, but before entering the ‘War Memorial Settlement’, it clearly looked like an ordinary settlement.

But the sight I saw upon entering was… horrific.

The pond was filled with blood, and in the square a fire was burning, sending up ashes along with piles of human corpses.

The sculpture that was once a symbol of the Korean War was now broken, and in its place stood a grotesquely twisted model of a tower.

People lying here and there, bleeding. People gathered in front of a model of a small tower and continuously bowing down. People leading a group into the underground. It was a different sight than I had expected.

” Ara Noona. Isn’t this story very different from what Charlotte Noona told you? The people in the church were like… no, what the hell is going on in this hellish place… ”

Ara just kept her mouth shut and looked for a place to enter the building.

” Who the hell are those people…! ”

” Pedro. Shh. We’re sneaking in now. If you make any noise, you’ll get caught. ”

” Sorry… ”

Ara slowly approached Pedro and hugged him, opening her mouth.

” The people in the sect that my sister spoke of… They definitely looked different, so I was a little surprised. It’s just my guess, but… they said they were performing a ritual to use Yeong-i as a vessel for a god called Thanatos or something… Oh Hyuk-jin… He’s no longer taking care of these people… ”

Ara didn’t say anything more. If she continued to speak… she felt that she would also become angry at the sight of this miserable settlement. Seeing Ara like that, Pedro simply remained in her arms.

After a while, when Ara let go of his embrace, Pedro grabbed her hand and said.

” Sister, if we save your close friend, Ryeong, we can get away from all these people… that Oh Hyuk Jin guy, right? ”

Ara nodded slowly and tightly held Pedro’s hand that was holding hers.

” I’ll go look for Yeong-i here. Pedro, you… find a guy named Park Se-chan and come back here quickly. We don’t have much time left, so let’s move quickly, okay? ”

Ara slowly let go of Pedro’s hand and turned her back, but as she moved to find a place to go inside, her body turned again as a force grabbed her arm.

” Ugh…?! ”

Pedro’s lips were touching hers.

It was a very short time. Even though it was a short time, Ara and Pedro could feel that their hearts were connected.

” Then I’ll go. Cheer up, you too, sister. ”

Leaving those words behind, Pedro quickly flew away in the direction of the children’s museum where Park Se-chan was, and Ara just sat there and touched her lips.

*****

Arriving at the Children’s Museum, Pedro looked around, but strangely enough, there were no members of the church guarding the area.

” A trap… or… is it just not necessary? ”

It was so creepy that in this situation, there was no one guarding this place or walking around.

” What should I do… Should I just go in… Or… ”

Pedro, who had been pondering on the roof of the museum, went down and entered the museum entrance, then passed the information desk and went further inside.

But, to Pedro’s dismay, the sight of someone waiting for him and digging a trap was completely off the mark.

A man is seen stroking the children as they lie there, looking exhausted and without any strength.

At the sound of Pedro’s footsteps, the man suddenly disappeared down with a ‘thud’.

” Who are you? ”

A man holds a sharp dagger to Pedro’s neck and asks him questions from behind.

‘ Behind me so quickly…!? ‘

In the blink of an eye, Pedro slowly raised his hands, sweating profusely as he realized that the man who had disappeared was behind him.

” I, I am… I am here at the request of Mr. Yoo, Yoo Ji-seong. Are you, by any chance, Mr. Park Se-chan? ”

” Ji-seong sent it…? ”

A man named Yoo Ji-seong. Park Se-chan dropped the dagger from Pedro’s neck and stored it in a leather belt around his waist.

” Sorry if I startled you. Things are pretty tense around here right now. ”

” What the hell… happened? Outside… it’s completely… ”

” First of all, the kids are sleeping ”

The two of them went the same way Pedro had come, sat down near the information desk, and began to talk.

” So… you came here because you couldn’t contact your relatives who were here? ”

” Yes, my maternal uncle lived here with his friends and family. It may look like that now, but there are buildings on the flat land and a forest behind it, so it must have been a settlement where quite a few people lived. ”

” Then, why did you go to Seoul Station? ”

” What, wasn’t that what you heard from Jisung? ”

Sechan tilted his head at Pedro, who seemed to not know him well, even though he had come to find him under the name of Yujisung.

” Oh, that Yuji Seong’s younger sister… ”

” Sister? Are you talking about Jia? ”

” No. Not that person… ”

In response to Pedro’s continued answer, Sechan slowly turned his hand toward the dagger and asked Pedro.

” What are you… talking about? Ji-sung… only has one younger sister. ”

” Yes? Uh… That can’t be… Mr. Yoo Ji-seong… He said she was his sister… And then they broke up… ”

” Break up… Ah! Was that a story about a family that disappeared before that tower appeared? No, that was my younger brother… ”

” Yes…? ”

” Oh, sorry. I must have remembered wrong. You asked me why I went to Seoul Station? When I was young, I originally dreamed of becoming a reporter. So I was curious about the sudden appearance of the Seoul Station settlement. It was strange. ”

” It was weird…? ”

Seeing Pedro’s expression of incomprehension, Park Se-chan began to explain the reason while pointing his finger.

” First of all, first of all. A settlement is something that people gather together to create. Do you know this? At that time, I was going around Bongwonsa Temple, which was a settlement, to research it, but… I never heard of people going to the Seoul Station settlement.

Whenever I traveled around the various settlements in Seoul, I heard stories of people leaving their settlements after hearing the news that a new settlement was being built. But this time, there was no such story. ”

” And secondly, after the Seoul Station settlement was built, I kept hearing good things about the area. To be honest, the settlement is… almost a closed place. Most people don’t like outsiders unless they interact through personal connections. ”

” Is that so…? In Seonyudo… ”

” Ah~ Are you from Seonyudo? Seonyudo, Nodeul, Garam. These three places are special. Other places don’t like outsiders that much. They don’t know what kind of trouble they’ll cause. Because they might ruin the resting place they’ve worked so hard to build. ”

” But the Seoul Station settlement… was different, right? It was a settlement that was built not long ago. ”

” Haha. That’s good that you understand so well. Right. That’s why I went there. But when I got there, people had just left. That made it even stranger. Why would so many people suddenly leave…? ”

Park Se-chan continued his story with his dry lips slightly quivering, and Pedro was able to understand the overall situation while listening to his story.

” When you first came here… it was like this? ”

” That’s right. All I found by sneaking in was… my nephew among those kids. For now, I used my powers to sneak the kids here, but I don’t know when I’ll get caught. ”

” I saw it from above earlier, but it didn’t seem like they’d come this far… Everyone just went into the memorial hall. ”

” Well, that would be fortunate… Oh, by the way, which woman were you looking for? I think I saw it. ”

” Huh?! Is that true? ”

” I only saw it from afar… but those guys were walking around with that woman… a child who seemed to be an adult now, and they were saying that she was a ‘true saint’. It wasn’t like a movie… ”

” That’s right. That’s what I’m saying… ”

” You want me to help you get that kid out? Okay. I’ll help you. But please let me take the kids here with me later. ”

” Of course! ”

Park Se-chan left a message for his nephew and children to wait for him as he was going out for a moment. Since he always said that before leaving, the children nodded their heads in agreement and began to lie down again.

When he returned to himself, Pedro used his powers to create traps around the museum and block the children from entering the area, and then headed to Ara at the top of the memorial with Park Se-chan.

*****

” Sister! ”

” Pedro? And you… are you Mr. Park Se-chan? ”

” Right. And the other one? There were three of them… ”

Park Se-chan, who had heard that there were three of them, expressed his doubts about Ara being alone, and Ara said as she headed towards the inside from the top of the memorial hall.

” My sister will move somewhere else. She will be there to draw attention so that we can escape. ”

” Indeed, he has great courage, perhaps because he is Ji-seong’s younger brother. ”

” Hehe… My sister is quite like that. Sometimes she’s cute. Okay, this is where I found her. What do you think? ”

” If it’s here… it’s okay. Do you have any other plans? ”

” Honestly… no. I just… want to save Yeong-i. I thought that kid… was dead. ”

” Then, let me use my powers to move quietly. It’ll be safer that way. ”

” Thank you. First of all, I’m not the one who’s the leader… Huh? ”

As Ara was talking, she saw Horyeong being dragged along the floor by people wearing black robes.

Her eyes seemed to have already lost their light, and were filled only with emptiness and despair. She muttered in a hoarse voice, “No, I don’t want to. Stop it.” The pungent scent of blood coming from the thin cloth she was wearing told her that something had been done to her.

Park Se-chan grabbed Ara’s arm as she tried to run away.

” Calm down and take a good look. It looks like… he came from somewhere and is returning… We have to wait and go into the room where the child is and save him. For now… we have to endure it. ”

Ara tried to shake off his arm and run away, but realized that his hand holding her arm was shaking.

I thought he too was angry at Ling’s appearance.

Horyeong being dragged away, dripping a thin stream of blood on the floor.

The black pattern carved into her body gradually spread out through the thin clothes covering her body.

As if trying to make that body his own.