197th Episode: Sister, Become an Adult
I didn’t particularly answer her question, nor did I refute it.
Reasons insufficient, you ask? Of course they’re insufficient, you X. Anyway, from my perspective, it just looks like she’s throwing a tantrum because her screw has come loose.
‘Complaining after tasting the bitterness of life, huh.’
Even at 25 years old, I understand the world is full of trash.
An ancient sage from the East once left behind the timeless wisdom: ‘When five humans gather, one of them will inevitably be trash.’ It’s a precious adage that still holds true in modern times.
‘Who are you to violate the right to know of others?’
Guarding them from confronting the devastating truth?
Whether the victims of the Black Blood Disease decide to commit suicide or find a breakthrough upon learning the truth—it’s something they, as those affected by the Black Blood Disease, need to accept. Who issued you a license to block them?
‘You’re out of your mind, you bitch.’
That’s how I feel. But I have no intention of rectifying Altair’s twisted ideology.
“Just live however you please. Why are you even asking me anything? If you hadn’t interfered with me in the first place, I wouldn’t have bothered you at all.”
At 500 years old, your brain must’ve already solidified beyond any redemption.
While incidental criminals can still be rehabilitated, ideological offenders are a different story altogether. Altair is an ideological offender—she believes so firmly in the righteousness of her actions, which leads her to such behavior.
Engaging her in conversation only gives me a headache. Thinking about it leaves me feeling like my brain might explode.
“Just become an adult already. You need to be held accountable for the consequences of your actions.”
I gave the 500-year-old adult of adults a bit of reverse generational critique.
Altair blinked her eyes and stared at me. I smirked at her as I began speaking.
“If you’re going to claim you’ve saved the world, then you must take responsibility. People are unexpectedly fragile, so I think you’re just planning to keep up your act until the whole world collapses. You’re like a god of the earth—there’s nothing more irresponsible than that kind of trash.”
After I bitterly criticized her, Altair shut her mouth tight. She looked like she wanted to refute, but couldn’t seem to find the words.
She shouldn’t be able to. If she had spoken the truth, X.
“Nonetheless, do as you want. Just don’t interfere with me.”
With that single sentence, I brushed her aside. Then, with my back turned to Altair, I headed toward Zadkiel’s corpse.
Suddenly, a suppressed grumble from behind reached my ears.
“… It’s you who ought to reflect. Can you truly handle it?”
I glanced behind me. Altair was glaring at me defiantly.
Her eyes reflected frustration, anger, and a hint of pity.
“Crow, it’s not a conversation I want to hear from someone like you. Do you even understand the implications of your actions? Do you fully grasp the weight of continuing the legacy of the immortal Demon King as a witch?”
“X, how would I know?”
“That powerful little witch will inevitably reach her limits. No matter how special this body prepared by the immortal Demon King was… sooner or later, she will reach her limitations as well. When that happens…”
“Shut up with your nonsense and stay out of this. I still don’t like you.”
Despite her earnest questioning, I easily cut her off with some choice words.
End of self-righteous lecture. Noob sage disqualified. And with that, I activated “Interrupt Mode.”
As someone who’s gone through this, you’d understand. Having your sentence cut off like this is incredibly grating.
“… It’s you who, acting thoughtlessly and swayed by noble causes, ended up regretting. After giving such advice…”
Altair clearly had her buttons pushed, too.
She’s breathing harder now—something I’ve never seen before. Pretty refreshing. It appears this subject was rather sensitive for Altair.
“Why are you so worked up? Regrets are something I’ll handle alone, not you. Weird kid.”
It seems like she truly worries about my future. Perhaps, because she herself went through a similar experience, she simply cannot ignore it.
I chuckled and kept walking toward Zadkiel while saying,
“What good would running achieve? In the end, the world splits in two anyway. If a man draws his sword, he must at least slice open the rice cakes. No paradise awaits at the end of running away. They say there’s no guarantee that standing your ground will lead to paradise.”
“Where exactly is the guarantee that standing still will lead to paradise?”
“Eh? Hm…”
“My standing firm has brought me to this present moment. Does the world look like paradise to you?”
For the first time, someone countered me so directly. Without realizing it, I stopped walking.
Your judgment has twisted so deeply. It seems that an unnatural lifespan of 500 years can distort someone this much.
I grinned awkwardly and ignored Altair completely.
“This is why I avoid talking to ideologues.”
Having such firm subjective opinions leads to no consensus. Even long-term discussions result in a series of parallel lines.
I detest such meaningless nuisances. That’s why I avoid engaging with those similar to me—those lone-wolf types. Though the majority might be like that.
“Next time you address me, I’ll cut off your chin, b—.”
“Mother, how frightening.”
“Frighten? X, you should be grateful I’m not killing you.”
I made myself clear, turned around, and started moving forward again.
The squish of steps through a blood-filled puddle echoed. With every step, my foot sank deeply into the puddle as I approached the cocoon containing Zadkiel’s corpse, which was about 10 meters away.
[Notification – Warning of Approach]
As I took another step forward, a panel appeared before me.
[Details: Up ahead, your path is obstructed by three layers of mist walls. Without the ability to discern falsehoods, approaching will trap you in Zadkiel’s legacy, ‘The Labyrinth Beyond Life’.]
Uhh, the emergence of a dark warning tone alongside the ominous panel caught me off guard.
The ‘skill to discern falsehoods’—it refers to the Insightful Eye.
“X…”
Using the Insightful Eye while crossing the cave earlier consumed its effect already.
The ‘Labyrinth Beyond Life’—I don’t know its exact nature, but since it’s preventing access to Zadkiel, it seems like some kind of barrier. And now, I can’t penetrate it.
‘Besides, there are not one, but three walls of mist!’
Even if I hadn’t used it before during the Illusion Cave, the Seal of the Holy Maiden’s item effect wouldn’t be enough to penetrate the barrier.
Or, rather, it might work, but it would take too long.
‘The Insightful Eye—its cooldown is 24 hours…’
It’ll take me three days to pierce the barrier alone.
I can’t just sit here and wait. Am I destined to go back to the sick village with Yuria again?
‘Tch. True, that’d probably be faster.’
With a sigh, I redirected my steps.
Observing this carefully, Altair muttered something quietly to herself, slightly surprised.
“… So unlikely, piercing through the Labyrinth’s boundary. I expected you to end up becoming a Black Blood fanatic.”
Altair averted her gaze upon my sudden look. Then she began retracing her steps.
I carefully pondered her words and immediately grabbed the front of her collar, eyes blazing.
“Sister, didn’t you think to warn me that it’d X up if approached recklessly?”
“I was trying to avoid having my chin cut off. What could I do?”
“… Fair enough. Acknowledged.”
Yes, those were my words. Nodding, I let go of her collar in a cool manner.
With her disheveled front strands gently combed, Altair shrugged at me, almost mocking: “So, what’s your plan?”
“Should we go back? It seems you don’t have a direct way to penetrate that labyrinth.”
It seems she led me here with full trust in that barrier. Either she hoped I’d fall into the trap and possibly die, or not—that sort of mentality.
‘This X-ing cunning old woman…’
She must be assuming I have no way to penetrate ‘The Labyrinth Beyond Life.’
Even knowing Yuria’s existence, she’s probably not fully aware of the mechanism behind the mist walls.
‘Sorry, but I’m not as sloppy as you.’
I inwardly mocked Altair but kept it to myself.
I can’t wait to see her reaction when Yuria arrives.
“Let’s withdraw. Tactical retreat.”
“Yes, sounds good.”
Altair smiled faintly, nodded, and began circling around me openly, mocking me.
You’ve been a pain since just now. Feel like slapping you?
‘Tch. That’s not the focus right now…’
Despite my irritation, I set it aside.
I rummaged in my pocket for a pen and paper, jotting down important facts I had learned.
[Zadkiel is already dead. The Black Blood disease was not spread by Zadkiel.]
[You can access a direct cave to Zadkiel at the edge of the amusement park. Reference.]
[There’s a possibility of negotiation with Altair. Threaten her with the hostages, the deserting warriors, and she will likely cave quickly.]
After awakening in the next life, the first thing I’ll check is the Box of the Dead.
In case recovery of residual memory proves difficult, detailed note-taking will help avoid big mistakes like in this life.
“Hm.”
This much should be sufficient. The leisure in this situation let me write more detailed notes than usual.
After putting all the notes into the box, I worked painstakingly to craft a final memo, intent on documenting any significant experiences just in case.
[Important: Go back immediately and fetch Yuria. It’s more urgent than residual memory. Don’t question why, just do it.]
To emphasize importance, I wrote in bold and added stars.
This should suffice. Likely, in the next life, I’ll be bewildered but will fetch Yuria, thinking ‘the past me stressed it, so it must matter.’
“Crow, may I ask a question?”
It was almost the end of our journey through the secret cave filled with luxuriant dream lily flowers.
Suddenly, Altair voiced a weary tone.
“Speak if you’re prepared to lose your chin.”
I answered decisively as though it were common sense.
But Altair proceeded nonetheless, as if she truly welcomed the loss of her chin.
“We don’t have the right to arbitrarily decide the lives of others. Not just killing, but saving as well, right? If I rescued a drowning person who later became a notorious serial killer, was I truly doing the right thing?”
What a dull and uninteresting philosophical lecture.
I kept hacking through the dream lilies that reached up to my knees and dryly replied,
“1 stack for the chin cut. 3 stacks will trigger the real cutting.”
“Your lack of conviction is clear. You act out of something personal, intense dislike, rather than ideology, similar to how the past Sooho acted solely for the little witch.”
Yet Altair, undeterred by the threat, kept ranting on.
Finally, when we exited the cave and carefully traversed the amusement park, her chatter peaked.
“Which is why I must ask you, who resemble Sooho so closely. Crow, did I make the right choice back then? Is this world truly worth preserving after so much sacrifice?”
“2 stacks.”
“Crow, you’re considering inheriting the Demon King Ruthika. This choice might save countless lives, but it will also result in future massive sacrifices. Can you… in the last instant of choice, truly avoid regret like me?”
That’s the end.
Without uttering a word, I dashed toward Altair at high speed.
“3 stacks.”
Thud. I roughly ripped off her gas mask.
Then, swiftly inserting my fingers into her soft lips, I grabbed her lower jaw. Before she could react, I pulled with all my strength.
Crunch! Her jawbone dislocated with an eerie sound.
“Aaaaah! Ahhhhh!”
Altair collapsed, screaming in agony. Blood gushed like a red waterfall from the area she covered with her hands.
Tsk. I clicked my tongue loudly as I muttered,
“No matter how many times, these bad kids don’t listen unless beaten. Just like eating.”
Whether or not I will regret my actions later, I am quite certain I will not regret ripping your chin today.
With a heavy sigh, I exhaled.
