Chapter 97

The Spiritual Mages, each busy trying to save their own lives, began to gather around Se-hee, and before long, Se-hee appeared before Song Hyuk-seo with the nickname “Spirit Lord.”

She grew stronger with each passing year.

In the Hellish Blood Battle, Song Hyuk-seo could be satisfied with the fight that ended in a near draw.

The next year.

He would die by Se-hee’s hand.

With that, this tiresome life could finally come to an end.

That would be enough.

That’s all.

“Hyuk-seo! You brat! Didn’t I tell you not to cause trouble?!”

At that moment, Song Hyuk-seo was hit on the head by someone.

How long had he been asleep?

After the fight with Se-hee, he had been so severely injured that he fell into a comatose state. He tilted his head as he saw the figure before him.

White snow was falling from the sky, dyeing the field in white.

On that snow stood a girl with black hair, dressed in white mourning clothes.

Though she looked young, she was likely a Spiritual Mage.

Yet, Song Hyuk-seo, who hadn’t sensed her presence until she approached, stared at her blankly.

“What are you looking at? If your sister comes, you should greet her properly. Brat, no sense at all.”

The familiar curse words.

Se-hee had learned to curse so much from him that even she would curse when her emotions flared.

Too familiar.

And something he wanted to hear again.

That was it.

Now, a friend who had died and could never return.

A benefactor who had even taken his younger sister as her adopted daughter.

And once, a sister he had held dear in his heart.

“Ran…?”

When he cautiously called that name.

The girl reached out her hand toward his head.

She embraced his head, which was a mix of white and black, and patted it gently.

“Ugh, you damn brat. Even after I died, I worried so much about you that I came back like this.”

Hearing that, Song Hyuk-seo’s body began to tremble.

His frail body, as if it might break, slowly embraced her as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Ran… It’s really you, Ran.”

“This brat is calling my name so casually.”

“…I’m the same age as you now.”

“Ah, has it been eight years since I died?”

Pouring out a lifetime of pent-up emotions, Song Hyuk-seo cried his heart out.

Seeing Ran again, his shattered emotions burst forth like water breaking through a dam.

Ran held him, accepting all his tears.

“Hyuk-seo.”

“What?”

“After today, I will return to the underworld.”

Return.

Hearing that, Song Hyuk-seo turned to look at Ran.

Ran was looking up at the moon in the sky, avoiding his gaze.

“I’m just a spirit borrowing this girl’s body. I can no longer live in the same time as you.”

“That…”

Song Hyuk-seo closed his mouth.

Ran had died long ago, and that was something that could never be undone.

Knowing that, Song Hyuk-seo had come to hate Spiritual Mages with a passion.

“So, you two, let’s make peace now. How long do I have to keep watching you fight?”

At that moment, footsteps were heard from the edge of the forest.

Her golden hair, shimmering under the moonlight, fluttered in the wind.

It was his twin sister, the Spirit Lord, Song Se-hee.

She met his eyes and let out a long sigh.

“We shouldn’t burden Ran any more, should we?”

Even after eight years of fighting, they were twins.

No long explanations were needed.

The reason they fought was now to protect each other, so they clasped hands in front of Ran.

Like they did when they were children walking the streets.

“Haa, you two are really a handful. Go.”

Watching them, Ran let out a long sigh.

It was like watching her own children by the water’s edge.

Yet, Ran could still smile at the sight.

“Hyuk-seo, Se-hee.”

Even in death, these two troublemakers were like her own children.

“I want you both to be happy, smiling together.”

So, Ran reached out and hugged them both.

“Now, go. To a world where you won’t suffer.”

Because this place had only brought them pain.

To a hometown where they could be happy.

This was a farewell for that.

“Ran, I…”

“Tell me later when you get the chance.”

Hearing Hyuk-seo’s words, Ran gave him a light push.

“At least I’ll listen to your story.”

Hearing that, Song Hyuk-seo looked at Se-hee with a smile he couldn’t hold back.

Se-hee didn’t mention the tears in his eyes.

“Se-hee, let’s go back.”

“Okay.”

They had been away for too long.

Staying here any longer would only be a nuisance.

So, Se-hee and Song Hyuk-seo pooled their strength.

The power of shadows and spirit arts connected dimensions, and the two standing before the gate took one last look at Ran before stepping forward.

Dimensional Movement.

It was finally time to return.

In an instant, the surroundings began to change.

In that moment, Song Hyuk-seo tightly held Se-hee’s hand.

If they were going back, at least they wouldn’t fight anymore.

That was the thought he held.

“Gah?!”

At that moment, Song Hyuk-seo’s shadow began to collapse.

By the time he noticed the anomaly, having already crossed halfway through the dimensional movement, he recalled the last words of the Doek-sini.

The day you devour the shadow, you will come to regret it.

By the time he remembered those words, it was too late.

“Kuhak!”

As the dimensional movement collapsed, Song Hyuk-seo, swept up by the shadows, was flung into the dimensional rift.

Karma.

This was karma.

The karma of having let his anger consume him, leading countless people to their deaths.

The countless spirits within the shadows he had killed had no intention of letting their master return from the beginning.

Realizing this, Se-hee’s figure blurred in Hyuk-seo’s eyes.

He couldn’t even keep the promise he made to Ran and his sister.

That fact filled him with regret.

In the pouring shadows, Hyuk-seo closed his eyes as he reached for her hand one last time.

His consciousness was fading away.

At least he could take solace in the fact that he didn’t die by Se-hee’s hand, leaving her with an irreparable wound.

He could tell Ran he came to see her a bit early, and though she might scold him, she would understand.

With that thought, he let go of the last thread.

But he didn’t know.

“Oppa!”

The echo of her voice in his ears felt unusually close.

Chirp chirp-

And after a while.

He slowly opened his eyes to the sound of sparrows chirping.

What he witnessed was the middle of a modern city.

Staring blankly at the city, which was quite different from his memories, he realized he had undergone dimensional movement.

He was alive?

He couldn’t understand.

He had clearly been swallowed by the shadows and dragged through dimensional movement.

So why was he still alive?

“…Se-hee.”

And at that moment, the image of Se-hee reaching out to him at the end came to mind.

“Se-hee! Se-hee! Where are you? Se-hee!”

He began to frantically search for Se-hee.

She wasn’t there.

Se-hee was nowhere to be seen.

His heart began to race.

His breath grew short.

A dreadful thought crossed his mind.

The voice he heard at the last moment, which felt so close, began to pound in his head with anxiety.

And soon, he felt a presence within his shadow.

Quickly summoning his shadow, he realized Se-hee’s presence was within it.

“Shut up. Damn Song Hyuk-seo.”

Hearing that voice, Song Hyuk-seo collapsed.

At the last moment, Se-hee had somehow managed to grab hold of the unconscious Song Hyuk-seo.

And then, she sent him back through the dimensional movement, sacrificing herself to be devoured by the shadows.

If this continued, she would die.

Realizing that, she forcibly separated her body and spirit.

Then, quickly attaching herself to Song Hyuk-seo, her body was instantly swallowed by the shadows.

But the shadows, seeing her body as an empty shell without her spirit, spat it out.

Then, as the shadows tried to attack Song Hyuk-seo again, she had already used all her strength to protect him, leaving the shadows with no choice.

Meanwhile, she watched as her body, spat out by the shadows, was swallowed by the dimensional rift.

Seeing that, she knew.

Her life would soon come to an end.

Yet, she felt no regret.

Because it was something she had to do.

Her twin brother, who had sacrificed so much for her, was annoying.

But still, wanting to repay what she had received was just the heart of family, wasn’t it?

She burrowed into Song Hyuk-seo’s shadow.

As a spirit, that was all she could do now.

“Why did you… Why did you do that? You should have left me! Why did you?!”

Song Hyuk-seo screamed as if vomiting blood.

The fact that his sister had sacrificed herself for his sake drove him mad.

“Oppa, you’ve sacrificed so much for me.”

But Se-hee’s voice held no regret.

“Now it was my turn to give you back your life.”

She simply smiled awkwardly.

The twins were so deeply alike, even in their hearts.

Song Hyuk-seo bitterly recalled the words of the Doek-sini.

And he resolved.

He would definitely reclaim his twin sister’s life.

After that, he joined the World Returner Association.

With the help of other Returner Spiritual Mages, he created a temporary body for Se-hee.

He gathered hunters from the underworld and formed an organization called “Beom” to gather information.

Once again, under the name Asura, he traveled the world to save Se-hee.

But what he ultimately reached was another forbidden fruit called Giraseong.

That was his past.

And the memories that shaped the current Song Hyuk-seo.

In front of Seul High School.

A shadow brushed past along the path next to the playground.

The shadow soon stopped behind the school.

A moment later, a figure slowly emerged from the shadow.

Asura Song Hyuk-seo.

His towering height and menacing aura were matched by the fierce killing intent in his eyes.

And he wasn’t the only one who arrived at that place.

Riding on the rippling shadows, numerous Returners from Giraseong emerged.

The eyes of the Giraseong Returners who appeared from the shadows gleamed.

The reason they had come here today was essentially for an all-out war.

After repeated failures in kidnapping Ha Si-ho, they had suffered enough.

This time, they intended to end it for good.

“Asura, you’re full of killing intent, huh?”

Beside him, a boy with ash-gray hair, only reaching up to his waist, smirked.

Looking at him, Song Hyuk-seo gripped his Shadow Greatsword.

“You finally came.”

At that moment, a voice rang out from above.

Song Hyuk-seo looked up to see someone sitting on the third-floor building window, looking down at them.

Her red hair swayed.

The moment they faced her, the expressions of all the Giraseong Returners twisted.

Cheonma Cheon Hong-ryun.

She was there.