Purgatory (6)

I don’t really know what the Demon King means in this world. I’ve never tried to find out, and there’s no way to know. The traces of the Demon King can only be felt in the aftermath of the war left in the North. Of course, even that wouldn’t be entirely the Demon King’s achievement. It was literally a war. A result of countless Demons and humans clashing.

The Demon King has vanished. That was just a line written in history books and fairy tales, and it was the last piece of information about the Demon King. The Demon King’s lackeys and followers are still alive and causing chaos, but… the Demon King, who has become too much of an old story, has failed to be a source of terror.

But I know now. Sanatachia, the shadow cast at the end, quietly lingered around me. This must be the side effect Prukaise warned about. The name of the Demon King, not imprinted through God, naturally took over a part of my body.

Dark magic settles in my black eyes.

“…Are you going to kill me?”

Having reconstructed my tongue, I mumbled with my shoulders held up.

“Haa… This fucking, ah. I’m going crazy.”

Prukaise, held in the Inquisitor’s hands, bit his lip.

“Bind him for now.”

• Kwak…

As I knelt, ropes were tied around my hands.

“Shit… This is a major accident. What do I tell Shuriel-nim?”

“Is there something wrong with my body?”

“Ever heard of Shimma?”

Shimma 心魔. Literally, it’s a state where dark magic has settled in the heart. Shuriel-nim once caught it and underwent a purification ritual.

At that time, the black-haired priest Serti said. Those who have made contracts with Demons. Or those who have been exposed to dark magic in a state where they couldn’t overcome their desires. The dark magic that arises in this way doesn’t disappear and instead encourages desires in the subconscious.

“Just from hearing the name?”

“Watch your mouth- Ha. Never mind. That’s why I told you not to.”

“…Can it be purified?”

“The priests’ work is paralyzed because of the war. It’s possible, but… it’ll take some time.”

If it really can’t be done, he’ll do it himself. If he only had a body. Prukaise, who said that, instructed the Inquisitor to place his head in a suitable place. With his gaze directed at me.

• Pyeolreok.

Quick-witted Inquisitors quickly left the tent. Prukaise asked with a sulky face.

“More than that, do you even plan on going back?”

“If we can go back together.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

• Ttudok.

I summoned a magic blade and cut the ropes.

“Are you going to run away?”

“Do I look like I would do that?”

“You really like asking back, huh? Okay. You’re saying you can kill everyone and leave if you want. Extreme. I like it.”

“…There’s nothing good about you liking me.”

I shut my lips tightly and grabbed the mirror the Inquisitor had left behind.

‘Dark magic is felt in the eyes. Is it soul erosion?’

Shimma is a disease that eats away at the soul and leads to destruction… It doesn’t take much to lead a person to ruin. Just encourage them. Say it’s okay to do it. Tell them not to hold back. Those who are consumed by desire in that way are called the Fallen and are subjugated. That’s the end for those who have Shimma.

But it’s also a disease that can be easily overcome depending on one’s mindset. Just like Shuriel-nim did. She’s living her life as usual, even if she’s become a bit prickly.

‘…Fuck it. Do you think I’ll be consumed?’

I pulled out a thread of Mana and made a small eyepatch.

• Seueuk.

As I put on the eyepatch, a truly half-sided world greeted me. Usually, even when I closed my eyes, the world was bright as if they were open, but when my left eye was invaded by dark magic, only complete darkness remained.

“Can you hide the dark magic a bit?”

I asked Prukaise and turned my head.

“I can hide it, but… if you get caught?”

“I won’t get caught.”

“How are you going to explain your eye?”

“…Shuriel-nim will understand.”

She always has. It’ll be the same this time. It will be.

• Jiing.

Prukaise closed his eyes for a moment and sent a group of pure white lights to me. Divine power wrapped around my left eye. When I took off the eyepatch to check, a pure white cross was embedded in my pupil.

“Thank you.”

“Hey.”

“Speak.”

“Do you have any thoughts of suicide?”

…What?

“What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“No, I’m serious. If you become a Fallen, who’s going to stop you?”

“There is someone, so don’t worry. And do you think I’ll be consumed by something like this?”

“You’re asking back again. Haa. Okay, fuck it. The Hero-nim will take care of it.”

The first person that came to mind was… Aileen. She’s still young, but if she grows up, she’ll surpass me. Aileen even has Shuriel-nim’s talent.

* * *

Exactly one day has passed.

Prukaise, who had finished purifying, received a new body through me. I was still wearing the eyepatch. It was almost time to return to the temple.

“Alright, that’s done.”

“…I still can’t get used to it.”

“What can you do? It’s what you chose.”

Prukaise sneered and took his finger off my left eye. I kept my mouth shut despite the blatant ridicule. After all, it was me who forced him to speak using the mental link.

“Are you going to tell that guy?”

“…”

Shuriel-nim.

The executor who hates Demons more than anyone else. If I show him my eyes, which are full of dark magic… a good reaction won’t come out.

The Inquisitors think the eye injury is a sequela of the attack, but there’s no way Shuriel-nim, the executor, wouldn’t know. He’ll notice right away. That it’s the dark magic emitted by the Demon King.

Should I hide it? Then what about the eyepatch? I confidently told Prukaise that he would understand, but when this situation comes, I always fall into painful 고민. How can I explain having this dirty thing in my eye-

• Dugeun.

“Ugh…”

Pain strikes my eye.

I put my hand on my left eye and knelt down.

‘…Should I just destroy everything and go back?’

And a brief thought that flashed through my mind.

‘…Ha.’

I realized how Shimma works. It doesn’t encourage non-existent desires. It just makes you want what you already wanted more strongly. The reason why Shimma is painful is because the more you resist, the more you realize your true nature.

‘A disease that requires me to deny myself…’

The good thing is that self-denial is my specialty.

“Are you okay? Do you still have any thoughts of suicide?”

“Shut up. Let’s just go quickly.”

• Seueuk.

I put on the eyepatch. A cross pupil on a black iris. The dark magic sealed by the cross will last for about a month.

• Pyeolreok.

The streets of Leahs, which I walked out of the tent into, were the same as ever. Except that the Margrave had become more violent.

The frequent explosions were the Margrave’s anger. She ignored them if there were no direct attacks on Leahs, but today, for some reason, she moved the ramparts, targeting all the Demons nearby.

The Demons, pierced by the ramparts and killed instantly, couldn’t even leave a trace and became lumps of meat. The number was so unimaginably large that sometimes corpses fell on the streets.

The citizens’ screams, the Margrave’s anger, sadness, regret. It was the same street, the same air, but it felt like something important was missing.

“She’s pushing herself too hard like that, she won’t last long. Tsk tsk…”

“She probably wants to follow him. I understand.”

“That’s brutal. If Shuriel-nim dies, will you die too?”

“Yes.”

“…”

I kept touching my left eye and frowned. The dark magic was interfering with the operation of Mana, so my sense of balance was disturbed. It wasn’t that serious, but… it was annoying.

It wasn’t ordinary dark magic. Well, it was the Demon King’s dark magic, so it was understandable. But… the Demon King had vanished, hadn’t he? But how can it remain as a substance and have an effect? Perhaps I know why it’s forbidden to recite the Demon King’s name. The Demon King is not dead. If that fact spreads, the world will fall into chaos again.

‘Don’t be sure. It could be a thought.’

But if the residue left behind after death is this much, I can’t even guess how much power the Demon King had.

Also, I couldn’t know how strong the ‘Hero’ was. Does a human even exist who brought this Demon King to annihilation?

It’s not a fight between strong Demons and strong humans… I think it’s a more mythical fight.

• Kkumteul.

The shadow wriggles. It was as if it was mocking me.

I felt uneasy and moved forward. But no matter how much I moved forward, even when I arrived in front of the temple, I couldn’t see anyone. There should be guards, at least.

“Heo. No one came to greet us?”

Prukaise wore a disappointed expression at the lack of any sign of people, no matter how far he went. But his face hardened a few seconds later.

“…Something exploded over there too.”

“Haa… Can we even leave?”

Damn it.

Things keep happening one after another.

* *

“You captured a Demon?”

“He’s on the verge of death, though.”

Prukaise said with a dumbfounded expression. While we were digging in the camp, they captured a Demon? Still, it wasn’t a big deal, so it was a relief. Or rather, I should say it was good.

“What kind of Demon is it?”

“I don’t know the epithet. It’s an unidentified entity.”

“What’s its name?”

“Rakner. He’s locked up in the torture chamber- um. No, the interrogation room, so check it out yourself. I’m going to go find the Margrave.”

He’s leaving again less than ten minutes after returning. Left alone, I stared blankly at the stairs leading to the basement.

‘They’re all gathered there…’

I straightened my slightly disheveled clothes and fixed the eyepatch so that my eyes wouldn’t be visible.

“Ahem…”

Not awkwardly, naturally…

• Ttubeok, ttubeok…

As I carefully went down the stairs, I heard voices.

-I don’t fucking know! How would I know that!

-If you don’t know, stay there until you do.

-Wait, wait! I didn’t come to fight, Ik, Ik, Igeuk-?! Hey, hey, you barbaric bastard!

Is it torture? If it’s extracting information, that’s also my specialty.

“Leave it to me. I’ll get all the information out of him, even the information he doesn’t have.”

I arrived in front of them in the most natural way possible so that my eyes wouldn’t attract attention-

“Yujin? Your, your eyes…”

“…I’ll explain later.”

Failed. Tsk. As expected, the eyepatch was too much of an aggro. But… when I turned my head, I saw a Demon with four times as many eyes as me.

“Surrender, surrender! I told you everything, uh, uh…”

Our eyes met. I don’t know which eye to meet, but… I could tell that the Demon in front of me was related to spiders.

“Spider?”

Spider. Spider, huh. I felt like I remembered something.

“Ah, I remember.”

It’s you.

The spider bastard who attacked us while we were moving to Leahs.

“…I said I’d find you, right?”

“Hi, hik.”

But to think he’d come looking for me on his own. I chuckled and approached Rakner,

• Tuk.

“Ah.”

Someone called me at that moment.

“Yujin.”

Shuriel-nim.

• Dugeun.

“Ah, Shuriel, Shuriel-nim. Yes, yes.”

“I heard you were attacked. Are you okay?”

“O, of course. I’m okay. Prukaise is fine too. Everyone else died, though-“

“Your eyes?”

“Ye, yes?”

“I asked why your eyes are like that.”

• Dugeun.

My breathing became rough.