Chapter 112

Soo-oh was holding a sword and stepped forward.

I raised my sword to protect me against the disciples of an immortal.

But I’ve told you countless times, I’m a monster.

I deliberately showed you all many times that I am a monster.

And I’ve informed you repeatedly that this body is nothing more than a vessel.

So when I told you to run, you should’ve fled. Why are you moving toward the enemy?

Soo-oh isn’t strong enough to fight the Tianma Sect on equal footing yet.

Not only that, there’s a high chance Soo-oh doesn’t even reach the level of someone like O Myeong-seong or a hall master.

So running away would be the right choice.

I grabbed the iron spike embedded in me. Slowly, I crushed reality around it, trying to return my body to its pristine state.

Then, the iron spike turned a deep violet almost instantly.

It felt different.

Normally, there’d be no resistance, but this time it felt like something soft had burst under my fingertips.

Crack.

Severe cracks spread out from me in all directions. Like a bullet piercing through ballistic glass, deep fissures radiated outward, but except for the hole, the structure didn’t break.

Which means… there *is* a hole.

Inside was an abyss of darkness. If I touched it with my hand, it would just pass through like an illusion.

Well, since the cracks spread out from me when they formed, if anything happened, Choseol’s body would have already recovered somehow.

I took a step forward.

Already, Soo-oh was ahead of me.

Probably moving forward to shield me from attacks.

From Soo-oh’s perspective, she was silently rushing forward with her sword drawn.

The finger of the person wielding the sealing dart pulled the trigger, and the dart shot out rapidly.

Clang!

Right in front of Soo-oh.

And about 3 seconds later, I heard the sound in my ears.

Soo-oh’s eyes tracked every incoming sealing dart and deflected them one by one. Since reloading took time, that single shot was the last chance for those using sealing darts.

Soo-oh looked at the nearest person, raised her sword, and swung it lightly.

Blood splattered, and warmth flowed into me immediately.

Soo-oh has no qualms about killing people.

But it’s not strange at all.

Because we’ve done it before. When Soo-oh first entered the Tianma Sect, during their sinister rituals…

They would tie up crying children in the middle of an open space and make others throw stones at them. If any child refused to throw a stone, they’d be tied up next.

To survive, the children had no choice but to throw stones. And this continued until the child died.

Afterward, rebellious children drastically decreased. Once they participated in killing, they understood the consequences firsthand.

But what happens if emotions explode and they rebel anyway?

A new offering would appear.

This way, children within the Tianma Sect were educated from a young age to kill easily.

If you look closely, each step was designed to turn humans into beasts.

And this method was instructed by Daegon when the sect was newly established, in exchange for treasures and food.

In other words, it indicates that the evil influence of a civilization capable of dominating one world and attacking another has seeped in.

It works.

Without hesitation, Soo-oh immediately cut down the next person.

But cutting down the first two was all Soo-oh managed to achieve.

Her sword was swiftly sliced in half as she attempted to strike the next target. Even the violet mist surrounding her got cut.

The faint heat left behind where the crimson light passed revealed how powerful the weapon of the opponent was.

When Soo-oh turned her gaze, there stood a man dressed differently from the sealing dart wielders, looking at her.

Soo-oh’s eyes moved from the red energy sword in his hand, slowly rising to meet his face.

“Hey, did that cruel immortal corrupt even a kid like you with dark sorcery?”

He feigned sympathy for Soo-oh.

“Who’s the cruel immortal? Why are you targeting Choseol?”

For the first time, Soo-oh asked him in a low voice. He took out something resembling a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with the energy sword in his hand.

Normally, you’d need to continuously supply oxygen to ignite it, but the temperature was so high that it caught fire instantly upon slight contact.

He took a puff while holding it in his mouth and pointed at me, who was charging forward.

“That wicked immortal did this to you.”

At this, Soo-oh flared up.

“What? Because my hair turned purple? Or because my skin became pale? Thanks to Choseol’s blessing, my broken body returned to normal—or rather, it became even better!”

But he continued to look down at Soo-oh with pity.

“Does that dog-like immortal call this a blessing? Sure, it might look good now because it’s the final flame obtained by selling all your potential.”

A story I wanted to know surfaced.

The true nature of the Harvesting System. He’s explaining why it becomes so powerful. The confident expression on his face suggests he truly believes it.

“My potential?”

Soo-oh questioned him while pointing her sword at him.

“Souls reincarnate in the world. Every life dies and is reborn, gradually becoming a better existence until they ascend to immortality. Ascension means breaking free from the cycle of life and death to become an immortal. But once this life ends for you, you’ll be trapped in the lowest form, cycling endlessly as a lowly insect. You’ll never rise again because you’ve used up everything.”

Soo-oh blinked.

“Is reincarnation real?”

I had mentioned such stories before. She understood quickly. The man in front of Soo-oh seemed surprised.

“You’re sharp! Yes, people are reborn and get opportunities to purify their souls. But for you, that’s impossible. That wicked god stole all your future potentials, and what remains is just you now.”

As they talked, I examined the memories of the immortals’ disciples, or Taoists, I had just taken over, and began to doubt.

Why does containing me result in this?

Soo-oh still holds warmth.

With warmth, I’m merely contained in the light. It’s strange to say I’ve stolen potential when Soo-oh still possesses possibilities, right?

If I haven’t taken anything, why do they claim I have?

Do they really know what they’re talking about?

By the time I reached Soo-oh’s side, our conversation paused.

“Is it true?”

As soon as I arrived, Soo-oh asked me.

She questioned me as if it was obvious I knew the answer, despite the considerable distance I ran to get here.

Perhaps somewhere along the way, they noticed I was watching through their eyes.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that, so I decided to set it aside.

At least, I resolved to tell the truth.

I don’t make excuses.

“I don’t know.”

As soon as I answered, the man beside us pushed the sealing dart wielders away and raised his red energy sword towards me.

“So the monster who deceived even a child has arrived. Just like the fox spirits in legends, let’s see what deceitful lies spew from your cunning tongue.”

The name of this disciple of the immortal, or Taoist, is Hwangbo Cheon. Among the people of this country whose surnames are either absent or consist of a single character, his surname is Hwangbo, and his given name is Cheon.

“I gave myself to the person who contracted with me. All living beings carry light. I embed myself in that light. As long as the contracted person lives, I take nothing from them.”

But as soon as I finished speaking, he scoffed.

“Haha, claiming you didn’t know what would happen when you inserted yourself into a human?”

“Wounds heal, and they grow stronger.”

While mocking me, his expression gradually changed.

That wasn’t the look of someone catching a liar. It was more like the reaction to seeing something grotesque.

“Did you really not know what you were doing to people?”

“Isn’t it better?”

At least, that’s what I believed up until that moment.

As anger filled him, Soo-oh quickly dashed in front of me and extended her broken sword toward Hwangbo Cheon.

“Was your ignorance the reason you committed such evil without hesitation? Was it really you, instead of strength, that was contained in the soul? Did you unleash it recklessly? Because of you, souls twist and drain everything they’ve accumulated.”

But instead of swinging his sword, Hwangbo Cheon condemned me.

“And after draining everything, the soul shatters into tiny fragments and scatters.”

“Anyway, dying is the same. Instead of enduring a terrible life, isn’t restarting like this a better choice?”

Soo-oh muttered dismissively.

Hwangbo Cheon pitied her. This person consistently sympathized with Soo-oh, viewing her as a victim of the wicked immortal.

Judging from the narrative so far, this person must be good.

“When this happens, you won’t even properly reincarnate. You’ll endlessly repeat a life of being born as a lowly insect and disappearing. Worse, if the fragment is too small, you’ll neither live nor die, completely dissipating while wandering this world forever.”

Though, if it falls to where I am, it will simply dissolve into me. Unless the light is also dragged along.

But I leave the light alone. Warmth is sufficient for me.

Still, I understood.

That’s how it works, huh?

There’s similar knowledge within the wisdom of Daegon. A part of what’s called Soul Engineering.

“To suffer for the rest of your life until your soul is completely worn out after living once…”

Hwangbo Cheon pitied Soo-oh while directing his anger toward me.

“Even without knowing if you’re evil, because of a wicked monster.”

That’s incorrect.

I know I’m evil. Though I didn’t necessarily verbalize it.

Hwangbo Cheon raised his hand.

At this, the people around us aimed their sealing darts at me and Soo-oh, making Soo-oh extremely tense.

Then he said,

“To spare you from such horrific suffering, I’ll thoroughly burn your soul.”

Ah. So that’s why Jungjae-woo and Byung-il were incinerated in that strange flame.

That flame burns even the light.

And part of that flame is in Hwangbo Cheon’s hand.

He really came prepared to capture me.

So I stepped forward, grabbed Soo-oh’s shoulder, and said,

“Alright. Kill me. But please, let these kids live.”

Let’s invest in the future.

In faded memories, a man laughed loudly.

Annoyingly loud.

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