episode_0247

All souls are pure white. Whether saint or sinner.

I knew that from the beginning. When I first detected the trace of a soul, the soul of the Gray Wolf, the magical beast, was pure white. My mother’s soul, the remnants of Moriarty’s, even Persona’s soul—all were pure white.

Therefore, the ‘white’ image within me wasn’t good. Nor was it evil. It simply represents the color of a soul, nothing more or less.

Srrt-

Ryud’s soul was no different. As I reached out to his pulverized corpse, his pure white soul seeped into my body as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Ether accumulated in my dantian, bringing a considerable pleasure. Similar to, yet different from, sexual pleasure. It felt like eating some kind of junk food.

It’s always a thought that crosses my mind each time I absorb a soul. Is this soul I’ve just swallowed that of a saint or a sinner? It seems like a natural enough thought. It’s not just me who occasionally checks the nutritional information on groceries at the supermarket and wonders what ingredients went into food as I eat it, I’m sure.

‘In Ryud’s case… I’d have to say sinner.’

Whether brainwashed by his father, Duke Darius, or shattered by something else, he ultimately walked the path of Moriarty. Whether fate intervened or his own choice played a part, the destination was evil.

The same goes for Moriarty’s ordinary soldiers. Even if their consciousness was stolen and their selves completely destroyed, they still committed evil acts.

But my thoughts always return to the starting point.

‘Good and evil… are all just subjective standards.’

There are no perfect saints or sinners in this world. I believe the proof lies in the fact that all souls are pure white. Their essence is the same. In the end, after they die, they are scattered as a handful of ether.

Including Ryud, I absorbed a total of forty-two souls. Before retrieving the [Shadow World], I decided to completely decompose their bodies as well.

‘If I left the soulless corpses behind… they’d become evidence of my identity.’

Magic is closely related to ether. A named individual with a high concentration of magic could probably sense the presence or absence of a soul. Even without magic, magic that reads the mana wavelength in the body could detect a subtle difference.

After neatly burning all the bodies, I emerged from the Shadow World.

. . .

Tstst-

“Ugh-”

As soon as I came out, a wrinkle formed between my brows. The morning sun that had just appeared was too dazzling. My pupils, dilated due to dark adaptation, were sensitive to the light’s stimulation. It’s a good thing I was using [Spiritual Eyes]; if it had been my bare eyes, I would have shed a fair amount of tears.

I took a black blindfold from my pocket and fastened it over my eyes.

‘Good.’

I carefully looked around again. It was the same inn roof as when I’d entered. I had left behind no trace of the assassination or Ryud.

짹- 째잭-

It’s about time people are waking up. Especially in winter, the days are short, and the morning doesn’t arrive late. With this level of sunlight, there would already be people active. As if on cue, pedestrians began to appear one by one on the roadside below the roof.

Tat-

I quickly left. [Shadow Dominion] is more powerful the darker it is. Conversely, it means that its efficiency decreases in the bright daytime. Daytime was not a suitable time for Baekgwi to be active.

I hid myself among the crevices of the building’s shadows and quickly left the city. The surrounding environment gradually changed to something old and faded, and soon the ghost town I had seen the other day began to appear. Outside the influence of the imperial family. It meant I was getting closer to the border.

The forest leading to the Tarun Mountains began to appear. I increased my speed and headed towards the shade of the trees in the forest.

“—!”

That was the moment.

I felt a highly suspicious magical reaction. Three in number. Each one was as powerful as Persona. Of course, in terms of magic power alone, they were weaker than me. However, as Moriarty’s ‘Named’, they would possess troublesome magic or techniques like [Shadow Dominion].

「Break.」

The attack came immediately, as my thought had just occurred to me. It was an unsettling voice. Its identity was immediately obvious.

‘Jueon…!’

It refers to a voice imbued with sorcery. It’s easy to think of it as summoning one’s will into reality. The price varies depending on the phenomenon, but the effectiveness is basically determined by the difference in power.

Kwadek-

What broke was my right ankle. While they were clearly inferior to me, because the target of the sorcery was limited to my ankle, its effect was completely accurate.

“Kuh-”

It was the moment I was about to put down my right foot. Instinctively, I judged it shouldn’t be done. I stopped my right foot and put weight on my left foot that was on the ground. I jumped strongly to put distance between myself and the enemies and rolled over several times on the ground.

The excruciating pain from my ankle traveled up my body along the bones.

‘Recovery… is impossible now.’

In the [Shadow World], because I was darkness and darkness was me, I could instantly heal the wounds that Ryud had inflicted. But it’s different outside. I’ve never used recovery magic without ether before. I judged that there would be no enemy who could injure me, so I made no preparation and was caught by the sorcery.

‘At least I need to gain positional advantage.’

Wrapping my broken right leg in shadows, I took a few more steps. This was not even considered emergency treatment. It could, however, have given me a slight upper advantage. The pain of stepping on the ground with the broken leg was another matter.

Having escaped into the forest, I hid myself in the shadows. Before long, the presence of the three also entered the forest.

“Ouch… I won’t run away anymore, so why don’t we solve this problem through conversation?”

“…….”

I pretended to be cornered, but the enemy didn’t let down their guard. They seemed to know my deeds up until now.

「Explode.」

Jueon came. This time, I wasn’t caught off guard. I mobilized all my senses to locate the target of the Jueon. It wouldn’t be impossible to defend or evade.

But the Jueon wasn’t targeting my body.

Kwa-Kwa-Kwang—!!

The surrounding trees exploded simultaneously, and the shock wave enveloped me.

“Keuheuk-”

I was thrown away by the blast, and shards of broken trees pierced my body. As I rolled a few more times on the ground, the sharp pieces dug deep into my body.

Puwuk- Pok-

“Keuhp-”

Blood welled up from the back of my throat. I coughed up a tremendous amount of blood before spitting out red phlegm onto the floor.

I carried out two processes simultaneously.

One was to check my body. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer a fatal injury. My ankle was broken, greatly reducing my mobility, but I could somehow endure this. It was surprisingly surprising that I wasn’t dying.

The other was to observe the enemy. The three enemies, including the Jueon user, were approaching. One of them was also familiar.

. That guy who had incredible leg speed. Because he touched Yuri’s body, I couldn’t forget his face. I rather welcomed the fact that he had not died as I expected.

They stopped, maintaining a certain distance from me.

“Continue, .”

“…I know.”

The man in the center gave an order to the woman on his left. This man is the leader.

「Explode.」

The woman’s lips moved. I naturally realized this woman is the Jueon user.

Immediately afterward, I concentrated my senses. This time, I spread my senses not only to my body but to the entire surroundings. The Jueon was targeting my right arm in a straight line.

‘Not like that…!’

I twisted my body slightly and hid my right arm in the shadow. It was temporarily stored in a sub-space like a magic trick. The shadow filled the space where my arm had been, extending a false arm. All of this happened faster than my senses.

Pewack-!

However, it did not go as I expected.

“Kreuk…”

The real arm in the sub-space had burst. Because my concentration was broken, my right arm’s shadow scattered, and the real arm put into the sub-space was ripped to shreds and scattered on the floor.

Reflexively, I grabbed my shoulder and stepped back. I only put a little distance between us. The enemy still didn’t let up its guard. They didn’t rush towards me; instead, they closed the distance that had opened up.

“Keuheuk- Kulkuk-”

My eyes widened. The woman called had coughed up blood. She wiped the blood off with her hand-back and glared at me with hateful eyes.

‘…There’s recoil, I see.’

The risk of reducing the effective range of the Jueon was already compensated by bringing the gap between us closer. Because I’d used a highly potent three consecutive Jueons capable of definitively harming me, she would pay the price accordingly.

“Why are your eyes so wide?”

“Ryud… What did you do to Ryud?”

“Ah… is that it?”

I chuckled. I think she was Ryud’s fiancée or something. As soon as saw my sneer, she gritted her teeth. They say that those who love each other resemble each other, similar reactions to cheap provocation seem to prove it.

I didn’t stop.

“I made him into ground beef. It smelled good when it was nicely seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked medium-well… even such garbage.”

“Youuuu—!!!”

Blood flowed from the woman’s mouth again. This time, the blood spurt from her body did not originate from her internal organs. It was because she bit too hard on her lips, causing them to rip.

「Shatter!」

A predictable Jueon came flying. This time, the target was my whole body.

I realized that I I couldn’t dodge the Jueon because of my previous mistake. I wouldn’t make the same attempt at deception again.

I spewed magic outwards and unleashed shadows. The pitch-black shadows instantly enveloped my entire body, and I increased the hardness to that of a blade.

[Dark Shadow Armor]. It is the [Shadow Dominion] version of Muae Gap, a defensive technique that renders someone invisible.

Chwak- Chwak-!

The effect was superb. The Jueon was completely blocked by the hardened magic, and nothing happened to my body.

Enraged made a mistake. She had broadened the target of the Jueon to my entire body. If she really wanted to kill me, she could have just targeted my head or heart. However, due to broadening the range, the effect was insignificantly weakened, and my Dark Shadow Armor easily blocked it.

“Keuheuk- Kulkuk- Kek-”

That’s what happens when you lose your composure. , experiencing a fourth recoil, poured blood from her mouth like a waterfall and collapsed to the ground.

I raised the corner of my lips.

“Now it’s 2 on 1. Don’t worry, you’ll be like that soon too.”

Unlike , whose expression was terribly distorted, the man in the center still stared at me with a cold face.