Chapter 585
KYAAAA!
At the fierce, piercing roar above their heads, the footsteps of thousands—who had been fleeing in terror—suddenly froze. A dazed voice slipped from the lips of a tourist gazing up at the sky.
“…Huh?”
That same question lingered not just in one person’s mind. Civilians running from the beast, hundreds of support personnel dispatched to stop it, even the Peace Guild hunters hurriedly descending the mountain by their guild master’s last order—all stared at the scene, the same question surfacing in their minds.
‘What is that?’
But they each saw it differently. While civilians simply wondered about the streak of light slicing through the sky, the top hunters among the support force sensed, for an instant, the tremendous flow of mana coming from the distant sky overhead.
Meanwhile, the Peace Guild members halfway down the mountain realized what that streak of light overhead was.
‘…Teleport?’
Who, how, and why.
Questions sprang up in countless minds. Yet the one who saw and understood it most clearly was Kim Hwajong. At the edge of death, the old butler realized the identity of the blue beam pushing aside the mana-made black mist.
‘That is…’
A force more destructive and pure than anything.
Flame. It was flame.
More intense than sunlight, as fierce as the sun, the flame took the form of a beam and cut across the sky. Through the dazzling radiance, he seemed to glimpse the face of someone inside the blinding flash.
‘Yes, it’s you.’
Just as a deeper smile formed at the corner of the butler’s mouth, the primordial beast, risen from legend, opened its massive jaws wide to meet the onrushing light.
KWAHHHH—
The wind split. The air scattered. Within the maw open wide enough to swallow the mountain, an abyss-like power swirled.
But the beam did not stop. Sharper, larger, it transformed into a blue-white flame and swept in.
Gooooooong.
The world stopped. As the two forces clashed—devouring all space and sound—everything held its breath.
And in the next moment, Kim Hwajong could see and hear it.
FWOOSH!
Beneath the blue sky, the darkness was torn to shreds.
The blue-white flame surged, burning away everything in its path, as one voice rang out clear in a world filled with blinding silence.
“One Slash.”
Space twisted. The unprecedented blaze, falling like a meteor, pierced through the Behemoth’s not-yet-closed jaws. Watching the beast topple with a thunderous death cry, the butler laughed, forgetting his pain.
No matter how supreme a master, no matter how mythic the beast, even those in legends could not escape death—especially if they took a One Slash directly through their mouth and body.
……
For the first time, uncertainty and death settled in the monster’s eyes. Its massive form, which had been staring vacantly at me, slowly tilted over.
RUMBLE!
As the lifeless body collapsed, the whole mountain trembled. Amid the rising clouds of dust, I clenched my teeth to bear the wave of pain and exhaustion crashing over me.
‘Don’t fall.’
One Slash unleashes every ounce of the user’s power—a double-edged sword.
But not yet. Not now. At least, not in this situation. Luckily, I had a power that set me apart from ordinary people.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
– [LV150. You have defeated Behemoth!]
– You have gained massive experience and fame!
– Level Up!
– The abnormal status [Exhaustion] has been removed!
– The abnormal status [Qi Depletion] has been removed!
– Some fatigue and status effects have been cleared by leveling up!
‘Damn.’
Barely, I steadied my stumbling form. Leveling up was a godlike system feature, but unless it stacked, it wasn’t a cure-all. The fatigue in my body and mind was immense, and my limbs tingled as if electrified from the aftereffects of One Slash.
But I couldn’t stop, and I couldn’t collapse. Drawing in the qi that filled my dantian thanks to the level up, I projected it forward.
BOOM!
Compressed air exploded, scattering the dust clouds. Through the clearing view, a round form covered in pure white bones emerged.
Step. Step.
Each step across the ravaged ground made my heart pound. My ragged breaths were laced with tension and fear I couldn’t hide.
That’s right. I was afraid of what I’d find. What if he looked different than I’d hoped? What if I had to say an unprepared farewell?
Tap. Clatter.
With a cautious hand, I touched the bone-made barrier, and it melted away. Finally, I could see: a blonde foreigner with a somber face, and a middle-aged man with graying hair, leaning weakly against him, his breath barely hanging on.
‘This is…’
For a moment, my heart seemed to stop.
Even in an instant, it was clear enough. At the Skeleton King’s feet, a top-grade potion bottle lay empty, and though the middle-aged man appeared recovered, strength was draining from his body. I felt my vision blur as I spoke.
“…Mr. Kim.”
At my call, his half-closed eyelids fluttered. Meeting my gaze with fading eyes, his blood-soaked lips curved gently.
“So you came.”
“Yeah. I figured it would be you. That light was truly warm…”
I clenched my teeth to hold back a groan. Mr. Kim had already accepted everything that had happened to him. The unfamiliar way he spoke was proof. The man before me was no longer Kim the butler or the Peace Guild Master, but simply a human—Kim Hwajong, saying his goodbyes.
But…
‘I’m not ready yet.’
I couldn’t accept this sudden farewell. I refused to let him go with a smile. I would do anything to bring the man who had returned to being just Kim Hwajong at death’s door back as the butler, as the guild master.
“It’s cold now. But it was warm just a little while ago.”
I gripped Kim Hwajong’s hand, carefully sending Scorching Yang Energy into him as I answered softly.
“That’s probably because we’re up on the mountain. It’ll be warm again soon.”
“Really?”
I forced a smile at his weak question.
“Yes. It’s still winter, after all.”
As warmth seeped in, Kim Hwajong smiled faintly.
“It’s true. Just like you said.”
“It’ll be all right. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of—”
I trailed off, not just from the ache in my chest, but because the qi I’d used to examine his body closed my mouth.
‘What is this…?’
Every human body is born with innate qi, the source and root of all energy. But right now, there was almost none left in Kim Hwajong’s body.
No, even that was slowly burning away.
‘Like a dying flame.’
Jeok Cheon-Gang had suffered damage to his innate qi at Hanam, but nothing like this. Kim Hwajong’s state was beyond recovery.
Just reading his condition through qi, I could easily imagine.
What kind of resolve he had when he faced Behemoth. What he had to sacrifice to bind that beast’s foot that crawled from the deep darkness. And… for whom his life had been burned as fuel.
“Young Master… Minwoo, is he safe?”
At his barely-there question, I forced a cheerful tone.
“He’s safe. I caught a glimpse of him halfway up the mountain, no problems at all.”
“I see. That’s good. Truly good.”
What’s so good about that, when you’ve ended up like this?
Biting my lip at the question I couldn’t bring myself to ask, just then, the Skeleton King’s mental message echoed in my head.
– I absorbed the mana that soaked his bones, and used a top-grade potion, but it was already too late. Even I couldn’t do anything.
I knew. That’s why I couldn’t blame him. I knew he’d done everything he could. Even if all of him was an illusion magic construct, the regret and grief on the Skeleton King’s face were real.
– …Sorry. Human.
Suddenly, a question crossed my mind. It was a question about everything happening right now. Why was he apologizing? Just days ago, we’d shared a meal and laughed together, and now Kim Hwajong was lying here, beyond saving.
And why? Why couldn’t I prevent this?
‘Why?’
I had the power. The power to stop disasters, to prevent tragic deaths. The capsule that one day suddenly intruded into my life had started all this. It changed my fate, let me meet precious new bonds. And now, one of those bonds was about to be cut. About to leave my side.
So why, why couldn’t I stop it?
In Shanxi, Hanam, Sichuan, Hubei, Busan…
I’d saved so many lives, crossing back and forth between Murim and the modern world—so why, when one person was leaving right in front of me, couldn’t I save him?
‘Why?’
As I drowned in this unanswerable question and helplessness—
Ssshh, tap.
A cold hand rested atop my trembling fist. Kim Hwajong looked at me with warm eyes and spoke.
“It’s not your fault.”
“…Huh?”
“You did your best.”
His eyes, once unfocused, his voice, once faint, were now clear and warm, comforting me. My breath caught in my throat.
‘Final radiance at death’s door.’
No. I can’t let him go yet. Gritting my teeth, I sent even more qi into Kim Hwajong’s body, but despite my desperate will, his body—at its limit—grew weaker and weaker.
‘Just a little longer!’
I poured all the qi from my dantian into him, holding his closing meridians, trying to stoke the dying flame deep inside. But despite everything, the end was approaching fast.
“It’s cold. I don’t know if it’s winter like you said, or if night’s already fallen.”
That can’t be. Even now, I was sending him an immense flow of Scorching Yang Energy, and the afternoon sun still hung in the sky.
The cold and darkness that had come for Kim Hwajong now could only be felt by him. Death was freezing his body and clouding his eyes. I mumbled to the butler, whose breaths grew thinner.
“It’s all right. You’ll see Team Leader Choi soon, so just trust me and—”
A hand gripped my wrist. When I looked up at the Skeleton King’s somber face shaking his head, I finally understood. No words or actions could hold back one person’s end.
Now… it was time to let him go.
So Kim Hwajong could leave with peace.
“Young Master… Minwoo, is he safe?”
His eyes were now clouded, his voice weak. It was a question he’d already asked, but it didn’t matter. I could answer a hundred, a thousand times more.
“He’s safe. Not a scratch on him.”
“I want to see him. Just one last time…”
“You will. He’s already on his way here.”
“Is that… true?”
“Yes. Ah, there he is now.”
It was a lie. A bright, snowy-white lie.
On this nameless mountainside, swept by chaos, only the three of us and the beast’s corpse remained. But Kim Hwajong could not tell it was a lie. With only blurred vision and fading senses left, he reached a hand out toward the empty air, as if someone he longed for would take it.
Grip.
At my silent plea, the Skeleton King firmly grasped that hand. The old butler’s eyes crinkled in a crescent, a radiant smile spreading on his lips.
“You’re here.”
And in the next moment—
“My hand? Here.”
The flame that had burned for one person and refused to die until this moment finally went out.
Ssshh. Thud.
Darkness fell.
(T/N: Shit. Fuck. Damn. Please fuck that Seok Go-jun and kill that fucker!)