Chapter 270

Chapter 270

‘I thought it would come to this.’

It wasn’t something Aram and Ather had agreed on beforehand.

But when she had no choice but to flee and leave Ather behind in the castle, both of them knew the future. That Ather would be seized by the evil god’s hands. For that, Aram came back holding the Moon in her arms.

Now it was her turn to bring Ather back.

“Hoo...”

Aram made the Moon float in midair.

It rose high, so very high, until it became a Moon that seemed to cover the sky. The entire world is dyed a dark red void. The Moon holds the center, and stars glitter. That pale color shining in cold silver belonged to the Moon Lady Religion.

It was Aram’s.

“...You’ve waited a long time.”

Casting a vast universe over the trembling heavens and earth, she pulled her lips into a grin. Her pure white hair glittered like a meteor shower made of silver and jewels, blending into the universe.

Her red eyes, and in their pupils, a full white Moon.

“From now on, this is my stage.”

She meant to take the evil god’s stage from him, no matter what.

* * *

After taking the Moon from the bishop, the first thing Aram did was awaken the “stars.”

Those who had been bewitched by the evil god followed the bishop and soon returned to their senses. To those who blamed themselves, Aram made a request.

This time, don’t sacrifice yourselves by your own choice—be my stars. Be stars that are awake of your own will. Be contained within my universe.

The senior brothers and sisters accepted that request.

“There are no people smarter than the Moon Lady Religion’s priests in this world.”

She was confident.

She could see it. In the eyes of my senior brothers and sisters, in the eyes of the Moon’s brothers within—every curse and mystique is contained.

The material of Ather’s weapon, its direction, its effect. The fate around him. Will. The movement of his body. The range of impact caused by it. Everything beyond that—she could see it all.

The star cloud whispered.

‘And I’m listening.’

Aram called to the vice-guildmaster of Justitia, whom she had been summoned to.

“Vice-Guildmaster?”

“Kang Eunseong. Please speak comfortably.”

“I intend to take back control of Mr. Ather from the evil god.”

“...”

Kang Eunseong shut his mouth for a moment. Then, a beat late, he answered.

“Please don’t overdo it.”

It was shameful to receive help from a young saintess. But it was also something to be grateful for. If they were lacking and could rightfully receive help, then though it felt 죄스럽, they had to accept it with a joyful heart.

“I hope you won’t get hurt if possible—will you be able to?”

“In a situation like this, it would be difficult not to get hurt at all. That, too, is mine.”

Aram, floating like a ghost in the air—in the universe—gripped Kang Eunseong’s shoulder.

“Still, I’ll try not to get hurt, since you’re worried about me.”

The curses that had been surrounding Kang Eunseong were undone in an instant. The curses that made him weep tears of blood, choke for breath, hear voices and see hallucinations.

That alone showed the saintess’s ability. One had no choice but to acknowledge her strength and self.

“Then I ask this of you.”

“Of course.”

“I will focus on the guildmaster—may I do that?”

“I’ll block the curses coming from Mr. Ather.”

Aram lightly flicked her hand like a conductor. Her hair shone brightly, and in response the stars glittered in a clamor, as if a clear sound rang out. Light bounced as if a fine drizzle were falling.

It was like a score. The stars found their places and moved. Countless stars gathered their wisdom. What curse is that? What mystique is this? And they produced countermeasures.

“Good.”

And then,

she shut it out.

“...You are splendid.”

“Now support Guildmaster Seo Seohui with peace of mind.”

“That’s the most welcome thing I’ve heard this year.”

“You don’t need to protect me either—my brothers and sisters are watching over me.”

“If that’s the case...”

Aram was physically extremely weak. In a way, it was like the collector Bisavol. But Kang Eunseong believed her words. The boundless universe spread before his eyes made him believe.

When Kang Eunseong fully focused on his superior, Seo Seohui burst into laughter.

“—Ahahahahahahahaha...!!!”

His body felt light.

“It’s been so long, a battle like this! Cooperation like this! To be able to stand on this dangerous battlefield together with a friend who matches me so well—what tremendous fortune, what a miracle!!”

“...”

“Isn’t it?”

Crack, pshaaang—!!

Seo Seohui’s sword broke.

“Mr. Ather!”

—And then countless daggers were grasped.

“I’ll take it all, until all your anger is released. I’m very good at that!!”

Unlike before, when he had been heavy and rigid, Seo Seohui flew about with sharp, large movements. From his hands, daggers flew like a circus performer’s.

Those daggers nicked Ather’s greatsword, used the falling fragments to block his vision, and inflicted countless wounds.

Watching that, Aram thought,

‘As expected of Korea’s number one hunter.’

His main skill, ‘Friend.’ He is influenced by an opponent each recognizes as a friend.

‘Meaning, he can copy.’

If he had infinite stamina and regeneration, Seo Seohui could fight as long as he wanted. A day, a week, even a year. There was even a record that he continued fighting for four full years in a certain dungeon where time flowed differently.

‘That’s why the supporter’s role, who supports him, is even more important.’

No matter how much talent Seo Seohui has, how wide the range of strategies he can fight with, and how much mental strength he has to endure it, he still needs recovery because he is human. And a healer or supporter makes that possible even during battle.

So Justitia’s guildmaster and vice-guildmaster are almost one body. She had heard that whenever there is a big battle like this, they always go together. Vice-Guildmaster Kang Eunseong was the person who could best support Seo Seohui in the world, second only to one.

‘And the person said to support him best was the guildmaster of Korea’s second-ranked guild, Jeong Haewoon...’

One of the Symbols of Eternity, like Seo Seohui. Having gotten that far, Aram refocused on the situation in front of her.

She could see Ather’s eyes that had turned gold.

“...”

Golden tears of blood were flowing.

‘...The same symptoms as Mother.’

And they also resembled, at a glance, the evil god’s eyes.

‘When you’re bewitched by the evil god, do you show symptoms like that?’

Aram dug into that curse, that mystique. Don’t hold prejudice. There is no right or wrong in knowledge. Focus only on the fact itself. Aram closed her eyes and sank into the darkness.

What she had to do was take back control of Ather from the evil god. She had done something similar with the Moon already. She could do it, she could. She only had to recall that familiar sensation.

‘Mr. Ather was already mad.’

The reason he could act normal was simply because he endured. It wasn’t because Ather had truly found peace. Trapped for thousands of years in the thorn prison—such a wretched lump of flesh, fallen beneath humanity into the abyss.

Ather described himself that way. Perhaps it was true. The evil god reshaped him into a human again, but did not erase the hatred and rage born of pain. Ather wailed like a beast at traces of his comrades, laughed, and collapsed.

‘What the evil god—Mr. Argio—did... was only to add a slight touch to that, wasn’t it.’

How easy must it have been to seize someone already mad in his hand?

‘But I know Mr. Ather.’

That will to live. That life force that endured to the end. I know the conviction he did not lose even as he became a lump of flesh. Mr. Ather was not someone who would be seized quietly by the evil god’s hand. Aram knew that.

The two had never spoken of it, but as if they had agreed, Aram believed in Ather. No—she was certain. It belonged only to knowledge. It was nothing more than recognizing it through intellect, not emotion.

“...”

Aram reached out her hand.

The stars wept. They resonated. Like a harp’s sound, clear, they made the entire universe ring.

Far away, one; then another beside it; another from even farther. They filled the universe, drafting diagrams among themselves.

‘Unravel all the mystique that bound him.’

And replace it with what is mine, with the Moon’s.

‘Cut through the curse that wrapped him.’

And remove the threat that Mr. Ather did not want.

‘Mr. Ather is searching for me too. I have to ask him questions, and Mr. Ather will answer me. It’s enough if I can reach him. Just a moment of contact, enough to converse. If that’s all...’

And soon Aram reached Ather.

“Done.”

She reached his mental landscape.

* * *

Woooong—...

“...”

“...”

The roar stopped, and the world became quiet.

“...Mr. Kang Eunseong.”

“Yes, Saintess, you are safe.”

“I wanted to ask after my friend’s well-being first.”

“You know I’m always fine.”

“Where in the world is there anyone who’s always fine?”

Seo Seohui dropped the broken spear to the floor. Crunch, the cracked spear shattered into pieces with even that small impact. During battle, he had held it together with mana, but once he released it, it broke.

After sending off the forty-eighth replaced weapon with regret, Seo Seohui rolled his shoulders.

“Aaah, my aching bones...”

“I will treat your injuries, so please stay still.”

“No, I’ll treat this much myself.”

“But the guildmaster doesn’t need to trouble himself with something like...”

“It’s fine. The situation is different from before. We’ve got a bit of leeway.”

Seo Seohui looked at “Mr. Ather,” who stood still holding a greatsword.

“Looks like the Saintess did well.”

Aram, too, had her eyes closed in a similar way. Her long hair swayed softly like a living river, and the stars embedded in her hair glittered in beautiful colors.

Seo Seohui looked around and smiled.

“What a spectacle...”

“Will the collector like it?”

“That man, unlike me, also covets sights like this quite a bit.”

“I don’t know how he finds artistic sense in a scene like this...”

“Why, isn’t it cool?”

“More than that, it’s creepy.”

A void of space.

“...It makes you know how insignificant humans are.”

Only the stars’ whisper faintly filled the universe.

They were still in the universe. Proof that the saintess had not yet taken control back from the evil god. But for this brief moment, they could be at ease. This was the Moon Lady Religion’s saint’s domain.

‘But separate from that, it isn’t pleasant.’

The universe was vast. Fragments of the castle, which looked like traces made by humans, drifted through that void. It was a space of nothing, where you couldn’t sense temperature, yet it felt cold somehow. Chilly, and lonely.

Listening to the stars’ murmuring, he touched his ear and looked at his superior.

“Have you finished recovering?”

“I can do that much too, Mr. Kang Eunseong.”

“Your combat style makes my heart drop.”

“You can pick it back up and stick it on again, and yet you’re making a fuss.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“It means I trust my friends that much.”

Seo Seohui grinned.

“Mr. Kang Eunseong, do you think you’d be vice-guildmaster for no reason?”

“...Ahem.”

After clearing his throat, the vice-guildmaster looked at the saintess and Ather.

“I hope this improves the situation.”

“No, I think...”

Then the universe shook.

“...!!”

“Prepare for battle.”

“But the Saintess still...!!”

“Watch closely.”

And then.

“This is how you fight an evil god.”

Slash—.

Ather’s neck fell.

“...”

It was abrupt, unreal.

Kang Eunseong looked at the blood scattered through the universe, the wraith’s severed head with its eyes closed, and the saintess quietly opening her eyes. All of it was grotesque and beautiful, like an artwork a mere human could not understand.

And then Kang Eunseong grasped the situation.

“...Did the Saintess fail?”

“Hard to say. We’ll only know if we try more.”

Crack, craaack—!!

The universe began to crack like it was made of jewels.

“We still haven’t defeated the Demon King.”

“...No, ha...”

“You’re incredible.”

The saintess’s universe held, without shattering completely. The stars filled the space with screams of pain. Through the gaps, all kinds of dimensions blended together.

Scouts in the Black Forest and ruins, and the hunters who had been barely enduring inside the dungeon, met bewildered gazes through those dimensional cracks.

And then the evil god descended into the universe.

『My friend』

With a body reduced to something as small as a human’s, he stretched out his empty second hand and grabbed the hero’s head drifting through the universe.

Then he held it dearly in his arms. The left hand among his third pair held the wraith’s arm like a doll. Rich red hair, like wool, covered the universe like leather.

Bare feet, bare feet adorned with all kinds of ornaments, stepped on the void. An aurora-like tail wrapped around one leg. The silk draped around him fluttered like a fairy maiden’s. Golden fluid pooled in his shattered head spilled down, washing the body of divinity, gold upon gold, and the head in his arms.

And then he dyed the universe in gold.

『Friend, friend, my friends...』

The radiance of red feathers bent grotesquely as it looked down upon the world.

『Prove that you are human』

Humans were reflected in the golden eye of the third hand.

『I am before you』

『How can you not join me?』

And then, across the entire universe, rotted dragons appeared.

Every one of them had red fur. They twisted their snake-long bodies and howled, flailed caught in shards of the universe, and clumped together like corpses to form a single mountain and nest. Like pooled blood.

The evil god’s second hand stroked the wraith’s head and commanded.

『Open your eyes』

The wraith opened its closed eyes, and the dragons, filled with rage, roared.

“—Ah, I’m getting angry.”

“I’m very, very angry.”

“Are you as well?”

“Rage bestows value upon the prepared.”

“Whether it becomes a weapon, or a swamp.”

“You will decide.”

“Tell me.”

“Are you human, or beast?”

The evil god laughed among the dragons.

『Shall I help you?』

A calamity spread like a plague.

(Continued in the next part)