episode_0428

“Lily. Didn’t Kelly clearly tell you not to come out? Why are you out there?”

“Ahh…”

The three of them were walking down the hallway together.

Among the people approaching from afar, one stopped and spoke to Lily.

I thought he would just pass by normally, but it seems he had a personal relationship with Lily.

He was quite short for an adult male, and the sword hanging from his waist seemed more flashy and decorative than practical.

He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, so his features were not clearly visible, but his blond hair, half-curled up, was shining beneath it.

He stroked his beard and turned his gaze to me and Lane.

Only then did he wiggle his eyebrows as if he had discovered us.

“I heard there’s a girl named Jeff?”

“That, that’s it…”

“Umm…”

It seemed like he had come to pick up Lily and me at Kelly’s request.

But that doesn’t mean you can follow it.

Lily also seemed to be in trouble, and just stood right behind me, mumbling.

Lily couldn’t answer, but kept her mouth shut and hid behind me.

A cold sweat runs down my back.

If all the nobles were strong people like Kelly and Khan, we wouldn’t have a chance.

Somehow, I felt like things would work out easily.

The unknown inspector extended his hand as if to invite me to come with him.

But at that moment, the Black Palace began to shake violently.

Kugugugug!

At the sound of something that sounded like it was going to collapse at any moment, Lily staggered and collapsed.

But the man in front of me didn’t waver an inch.

Under his wide-brimmed hat, his shadowed eyes seemed to narrow, and he reached out toward the wall.

Then, as if it were a lie, a large door appeared in front of him.

Rain and I were startled, but Lily just blinked as if she was used to it.

“Stay inside.”

He shoved us all into the room without even listening to me, Lane, or Lily’s response.

The three of us sat in the room and looked at each other.

In a situation where I couldn’t understand what was happening, I just sat there blankly, letting time pass by.

Finally, unable to bear the frustration, I asked Lily a question.

“Hey Lily. Who is that?”

“It’s Mr. Stain…”

“Stain? Is that person a noble too?”

“Yes… she is also my mother’s friend.”

I frowned at Lily’s answer.

If he’s Kelly’s friend, doesn’t that mean he’s also over 70?

But he was young.

No, he looked quite young.

Of course, she didn’t have the appearance of a child, like Kelly or Lily, but she looked like she was in her 30s.

“Is that guy strong?”

“Huh? Strength…?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know…”

Lily answered my question with a tone of uncertainty.

I looked at the firmly closed door and asked again.

“Then, between that guy named Stain and Khan, who is stronger?”

“I don’t know… In the first place, we nobles don’t fight each other.”

“I see…”

I let out a small sigh at Lily’s answer.

Lily came over to me and patted me on the shoulder, as if apologizing for not being of any help.

“Oh, are we supposed to keep waiting here?”

“I think so too…”

I answered Rain’s question with a tearful face.

With an opponent stronger than me standing at the door, escaping from this place was nearly impossible.

thud-!

Kuung-!

The Black Palace began to shake again.

Large impacts continued to occur from both the top and bottom of the Black Palace.

The commotion upstairs was clearly caused by CC.

What about below then?

I looked at Rain, who was lying sullenly with a sad face.

You said Amy and Shine came together.

It seemed like a fight had begun between the nobles guarding this place and our team.

I bit my fingernails in nervousness.

I knew the strength of the nobles firsthand.

If we keep wasting time, it will probably be us who lose.

I finally got up from my seat.

“Jeff?”

I ignored Lily’s words and walked towards the door.

Then he opened the door slightly and stuck his head out.

“Gasp…”

At that moment, I was able to meet the sharp gaze looking down at me.

Stain, he was standing at the door, looking down at me.

“What is it?”

“Oh, no!”

I shook my head and quickly went inside.

Because I didn’t know that you would be guarding the front door.

“Are you waiting outside?”

When did it come?

I nodded in response to Rain’s question as he approached me.

Standing guard in front of a room filled with only such small and cute girls.

He was a really perverted old man.

“I think Mr. Stain is trying to protect us from intruders.”

I sighed at Lily’s words.

Aren’t you worrying too much?

I was just sitting there in front of the door, blankly passing the time, when I put my ear to the door.

This is because I couldn’t give up the expectation that Stain might have left the room.

“Over there. Lily.”

“Huh?”

“That old man named Stain made the door earlier, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is that that old man’s ability?”

“No. I just used the power of this black bow.”

I looked up at Lily’s words.

You used the power of the Black Archer?

What on earth does that mean?

I would like to hear a little more detailed explanation.

“Can you elaborate?”

Lily began to explain the Black Palace in detail.

A story of seven people with powers and a black beast that existed from the beginning, a long time ago.

Rain and I were absorbed in the story Lily told.

“A long, long time ago. It was a time when there were no nobles, and no one could use their abilities as freely as they do now.”

The story Lily told contained information that was hard to believe.

As of now, it is said that the abilities that even ordinary people can use are not powers originally granted to humans.

According to the story, the ability that is used now was based on praying to the gods that existed from the beginning and borrowing their power little by little.

“What does that have to do with the Black Archer?”

“I will now tell you the story of Heukyeonggung.”

Among the gods that existed in the beginning, there was a black god.

It is said that the Black God fell from the divine realm for some reason.

“Why did you fall from the divine realm?”

“I still don’t know. I have a rough idea of what it is, but it’s not exact. So I omitted that part.”

“I see…”

I nodded to Lily’s words.

Lily kept bringing her finger to my lips as if to tell me not to interrupt, and made a shushing sound.

I nodded.

For an unknown reason, it is said that the black god who fell from the divine realm could no longer maintain the appearance of a god.

So he became a black beast.

Black beast.

I focused on that word.

The black beast cried out towards the sky.

Every day, every day, every day.

But I couldn’t reach it.

Because he could no longer form the image of God.

The black beast needed wings.

So he granted the people’s request and received wings.

One pair, two pairs, three pairs.

The wings continued to grow.

To lift that huge body into the air, to enter the divine realm again.

But, despite all his efforts, the black beast could not climb back up.

The black beast thought it lacked wings.

One request, one pair of wings.

Even though it was lacking, it was too lacking.

So the black beast thought.

Why should I grant your request?

Can’t you just take it?

The black beast began to tear off people’s wings and attach them to its body, without even listening to their requests.

The wings numbering in the tens, hundreds, and thousands made the black beast’s appearance even more terrifying.

“Wait. People have wings? Do you really think that’s the case?”

“Hmm. Opinions are divided here. Some people think that people in the old days had real wings, but I think it was a different concept.”

“What did you think?”

“I think it wasn’t a belief in God.”

“Umm…”

As I nodded my head with a small groan, Lily put her hands on my waist and said.

“If you keep interrupting me, I won’t talk to you anymore?”

“Oops. Sorry…”

Lily sighed at my words and continued.

People lost their wings to the black beast and could no longer reach God.

So I begged and begged.

God, punish this black beast.

God answered the call and bestowed his power upon seven people.

However, despite receiving the power of the gods, the seven were unable to defeat the black beast.

Even though it lost its status as a god, the black beast was still a god.

The black beast continued to tear off people’s wings.

To climb back up to that unreachable place.

Among the gods who were watching the scene, the white god moved.

He himself abandoned his own form and came down to the people.

Having abandoned the form of a god, he too took on the form of a beast.

The white beast called the seven people together and spoke.

[Trick the black beast.]

So the seven people went to the black beast and said:

In order to reach the sky again, you have to build a huge and tall tower.

The black beast thought that was right and started building a huge and tall tower.

The tower grew so large that it could reach the ends of the sky.

But it couldn’t be maintained.

Because the moment the black beast took his hand off the tower, the tower collapsed.

So the black beast couldn’t take its hands off the tower.

Because if I had just gone a little higher, a little higher, I felt like I could reach the divine realm.

The black beast, which could not take its hands off the tower, could not move, and so the people did not lose their wings.

As time passed, the black beast grew into a huge tower, and like the black beast, the tower gained the power to grant people’s wishes.

It is said that the descendants of the seven people who first built the tower became nobles and took charge of the Black Spirit Palace.

It is also said that the reason why Zone 1 was separated from other zones was because of the Black Palace.

“How is it?”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. This is the end.”

I frowned at Lily’s words.

I thought there would be more to the story, but this is where it ends.

“So that black beast became the current Black Spirit Palace?”

“Yes. That’s right!”

“So, are we in the belly of that beast now?”

“Can you see it that way?”

“Then, did Mr. Stain make the door because he asked the Black Spirit Palace? Because the Black Beast used to be a god who would listen to other people’s requests?”

“Yes.”

“So if I go to the door right now and say I want to see my mom, can I see her?”

“That’s not it. The only people who accept Heukyeonggung’s request are those with the thickest blood among the seven nobles…”

I ignored Lily’s words and shouted at the door.

“I miss you, Mom!”

“Jeff… It’s just an old story anyway. As for the truth… Huh…?”

Lily, who had been talking to me, opened her mouth blankly.

I too stood there with my mouth open, staring blankly at the door.

Because beyond that, the Amy I was looking for appeared.

Obviously, it was Stain, not Amy, standing at the door.

He said this with sharp eyes as if he was guarding the door.

“Jeff?”

Amy blinked in disbelief when she saw me.

I ran over and clung to Amy.

Soft and warm embrace and fragrant body scent.

It’s not a dream.

Amy was certain.

“Mom!”

And I was able to discover.

The man lying unconscious next to Amy.

He was stain.

His face was crushed, as if he had been hit in the face with something hard.