Chapter 586
Sometimes, certain truths are cruel and cold.
Those who face such truths may find themselves unable—or unwilling—to accept reality, turning away from what’s right before their eyes.
Just like me right now.
“…Human.”
The Skeleton King’s voice broke the silence, echoing in my ears. It felt like I’d just awoken from a long, dreadful nightmare.
And in the next instant, I realized it was all real—not a dream.
‘He’s gone. For real this time.’
The face of Kim Hwajong, who had finally met his end, was peaceful, with a faint smile frozen on his lips—a smile left behind by one who was able to pass on after his final wish was granted.
But I kept sending Scorching Yang Energy into his body, along with the unanswered question—Are you still cold? Is it still dark?
Maybe the old butler I remembered was still wandering an endless winter night, shivering in the cold, searching for someone in darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.
That’s why I couldn’t stop.
That’s why I kept pouring warmth into his body, even as it grew steadily colder.
Then—a cold hand touched my shoulder. The Skeleton King’s subdued voice reached my ear.
“…Human. Let go. It’s enough. Stop now.”
He was wrong. It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t stop.
Just as I was about to roughly brush away the hand on my shoulder, the Skeleton King continued.
“He won’t be cold anymore. Let that human… let him go now.”
The moment I heard those words, my strength left me. I didn’t know why.
Maybe it was because, for the first time, the Skeleton King was using honorifics for a human. Maybe it was the weak, hollow sound of his voice in my ear. Or maybe it was the people who had come back to this mountain ridge, once disaster had passed.
Crunch.
Cautious footsteps pressed into the snow.
I turned at the sound to see five men and women appear.
I recognized them easily—they were Peace Guild members I’d seen and greeted a few times at the guild house.
They must have realized the situation had changed and come back.
Exhausted and injured after their own fierce battle with Behemoth, they stared blankly at the fallen monster, then turned toward us.
And then—
“No!”
“Guild Master!”
Their shouts and cries mixed together.
The ones who rushed past Behemoth’s corpse were met by Kim Hwajong, who had fallen into an eternal sleep he would never wake from.
“H-how could this…”
“…Damn it. I knew this would happen. I just knew!”
Their grief and sorrow were clear, even if I hadn’t been there, I could picture exactly how it must have happened.
‘He must have told them to go. Told them not to worry about him, to run with Team Leader Choi.’
That’s the kind of person Kim Hwajong was.
There was something he treasured more than his own life—a young man he called young master, but whom anyone could see was like a grandson to him.
As I stood rooted, watching everything unfold, I finally spoke.
“Team Leader Choi.”
“Y-yes?”
A rough, hollow voice that sounded like someone else’s escaped my lips.
“Lay Team Leader Choi beside him.”
“Hurry.”
The guild members, who’d been staring at me in a daze, soon understood and nodded.
Carefully, they laid the unconscious Team Leader, drained of all strength, on the ground.
Lying side by side, the two didn’t look alike at all, and yet they did.
‘At last, you’ve met.’
Without a word, I took their hands and placed them together.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but for an instant, the smile on Kim Hwajong’s lips seemed to grow brighter.
“Hunter Jin Taekyung, maybe it’s better to wake the Team Leader…” one of the guild members suggested quietly.
I shook my head.
“No.”
“B-but…”
“We can’t. At least, not right now.”
I cut him off firmly. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about it.
If this had happened before Kim Hwajong died, I would have done anything to wake Team Leader Choi, to let them see each other.
But…
‘It’s too late.’
Kim Hwajong was already gone, and Team Leader Choi’s body was at its limit after so much accumulated fatigue.
Forcing him to wake up and use a potion would only bring even greater consequences crashing down on him.
Along with a grief and rage as deep as an abyss.
The dead find peace after suffering, but the living must carry that pain forward.
I’d realized that truth three years ago. I couldn’t wake Team Leader Choi just to make him face such a cruel reality, not while his body was still in such a fragile state.
But one thing I could guarantee—
Before Team Leader Choi woke up, I would bring back a gift that could soothe at least a little of the anger and grief he would feel.
KYAAAA! Slash!
With no warning, I swung my spear. The wind split at its tip, sending out a crescent-shaped blade of force that sliced through Behemoth’s enormous corpse. The Skeleton King murmured like a sigh.
“Enough.”
But I didn’t answer—instead, I swung my spear again. Once, twice, three times…
Slash! Slash! Splatter!
The body was chopped to pieces, and the blood left in the corpse gushed out in fountains.
Now that the tremendous mana Behemoth once held was gone, it was nothing but a hunk of meat.
I cut it apart without hesitation, like a butcher, until the Skeleton King finally snapped at me.
“I said stop! Do you think this will change anything?!”
I quietly cut off his shout.
“I’m doing this because it will change everything.”
“What?”
The Skeleton King looked at me, puzzled.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Without answering, I stepped forward.
With a single stride, I closed the distance and stood before Behemoth’s ruined corpse.
Gazing down at what was left, I finally found what I was looking for.
No, it found me first.
-1―I? O ?
A faint tremor spread through the air. At the same time, I sensed a murky yet powerful energy.
“…Found it.”
I’d worried it might have been destroyed by the One Slash earlier, but thankfully, it survived.
Murmuring in relief, I reached out without hesitation.
Swoosh, tap!
I grabbed what flew into my hand with Telekinesis and stared at it, my gaze steady.
And, so no one could hear, I murmured in my heart.
‘Item Appraisal.’
Ding.
[Behemoth’s Murky Abyss]
Type: Magic Stone
Grade: Supreme
Description: The abyss and source of mana held by the named monster Behemoth since ancient times.
But for some reason, it absorbed another mana, turning pure darkness murky and even more powerful.
To use it, an extremely difficult purification process is required.
The moment I checked the system window hovering in the air, my vision burned with heat.
But my mind spun more coldly and clearly than ever.
‘Behemoth’s Murky Abyss.’
The system had never lied to me—not once. So the contents of this description must also be true, without a shred of error.
‘For some reason, it absorbed another mana. So that’s what it means.’
Right after the conversation with the Kraken, the questions that had been swirling in my mind for hours finally began to line up.
Who gave the magic stone to the Kraken and caused the Monster Wave? Who was behind it all?
Why had Team Leader Choi left busy Seoul to come to Pyeongchang, and why had another Monster Wave broken out here?
And what did Behemoth’s magic stone description mean?
‘Why. Why. Why.’
I kept asking myself, and eventually, I found all the answers.
Except for one last puzzle.
‘Yeah. Just one more.’
But I didn’t hesitate. I already knew exactly where to find the final piece.
“Why did you come here today?”
I aimed my question at the Peace Guild members.
With attention focused on him, the middle-aged hunter—clearly the highest rank—answered, face dark.
“Team Leader Choi had a secret meeting scheduled. The man he was to meet used illusion magic to change his appearance. He seemed very anxious.”
“Who was it?”
“I’m sorry… none of us, including myself, know his true identity.”
He was probably telling the truth. But I wasn’t disappointed.
I’d already heard the answer directly from Team Leader Choi not long ago, even though he hadn’t told even his temporary security chief.
‘Song Cheon-woo.’
A hero of the Cataclysm and the Ares Guild’s European branch chief.
And… arch-rival to Lee Jeong-ryong and Seok Gojun, the two masters and their disciples.
But I knew about his secret temporary alliance with Team Leader Choi, and I wasn’t foolish enough to suspect him as the culprit.
‘He had no reason. Not even one.’
Song Cheon-woo was ambitious, but even he couldn’t defy time.
No matter what, there was no way he’d try to kill Team Leader Choi—the powerful ally he needed to bring down Seok Gojun.
So, the real culprit behind today’s events was someone else.
The one who would benefit most from the deaths of these two.
Someone with the power to use an S-rank magic stone—of astronomical value and rarity—to trigger a Monster Wave.
‘Seok Gojun.’
As the final puzzle piece clicked into place, I realized what I had to do next.
And I understood that the impact of this decision would reach everyone around me.
‘In that case…’
I slowly closed my eyes.
There was no turning back. This was something that had to be done, right or wrong.
When I opened my eyes again, my heart and voice held not a trace of hesitation.
“If, while I’m gone, Team Leader Choi wakes up, please give him a message.”
“Huh? What is it—?”
“S-rank hunter Jin Taekyung,” I said in a voice dry and unfamiliar, as if it belonged to someone else.
“As of now, I am leaving the Peace Guild.”
I saw the frozen faces of everyone. One person’s twisted expression too.
“You—are you serious?!”
“You stay here. Just in case, protect everyone and the guild.”
The ones who leave must leave, and those who stay must remain.
Ignoring the Skeleton King’s repeated attempt to stop me, I asked the guild members:
“Anyone able to teleport? Hands up.”
“H-hand…”
A magician raised their hand almost involuntarily, looking dazed.
“Uh, but… where to?”
I looked at the butler, forever sleeping, and replied,
“To the Ares Guild.”
(T/N: Yes! Burn it all down! )