By Zephyria Suddenly, a past event came to mind. Didn’t we descend a similar cave when we went to attack the core of the Abyss with our teammates? The déjà vu was so strong, it felt like I had returned to that time. Yohan ran and ran through the hollow underground space, unable to even tell where he was. That was when.
“Ack…!”
With an immense shock, Yohan let out a cry and tumbled. It felt like being hit by a truck. The lantern flew through the air, fell to the ground, and the sound of it breaking was heard. The spear that had rolled somewhere was also nowhere to be seen.
In the darkness where not an inch ahead could be seen, the guttural growls of a monster were heard. Before Yohan could regain his senses, it attacked again. Instinctively, he extended his arm to block, and intense pain shot through his forearm. When he came to his senses, a giant monster of unknown form was pressing down on him, trying to bite him.
Yohan, who had instinctively tried to purify, faltered. Seo Yakrin’s words, “Conserve your purification power as much as possible,” came to mind. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the monster away with his trembling arm, while fumbling through his chest with the other. Having found what he wanted, he gritted his teeth and swung what he held in his hand.
Swoosh! Hot bodily fluid splashed onto his face and body.
The monster that had been on top of Yohan wailed in pain as it was stabbed by the dagger. This was an emergency dagger that Yohan had bought with his first earnings, following Lee Hyun-muk’s advice. He had bought it more as a souvenir, never expecting to use it in a place like this.
Suddenly, Yohan realized his arm was glowing even though he hadn’t used any purification power. Blood containing light was flowing from his wounded forearm. It looked as if fluorescent material had been mixed in. The light illuminated the monster’s eerie and grotesque face. It was a monster with a single, bulging eye. Yohan quickly made a judgment.
‘I can handle this much without using purification power.’
After briefly glancing at his injured arm, Yohan put force into the dagger, pushing it deeper and slashing. The monster whimpered and retreated. The weight pressing down on his body disappeared. Groaning, Yohan tried to get up quickly, but as he reached for the floor with his blood-soaked hand, a single drop of his glowing blood fell and soaked the ground.
Screech! The monster suddenly let out a fearful scream. Then, it suddenly caved in and disappeared into the floor. Yohan stared blankly for a moment before realizing.
“…Ah.”
I wasn’t alone here.
It was a place that strongly reminded him of the Abyss, so he had forgotten for a moment, but this was inside Lee Hyun-muk. So, in a sense, he wasn’t alone. Yohan paused for a moment and looked at the wound on his arm. Thanks to the superior regenerative abilities of a High-level Awakener, it was already healing. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the dagger and plunged it into his injured arm.
“…Hk!”
Blood dripped onto the floor. It looked like bright light falling in dots. It hurt. Since awakening, he hadn’t bled before, so this pain felt unfamiliar. But he wouldn’t die like this. Muttering to himself, Yohan tore at the wound to draw more blood.
“I’m here, Hyung….”
He mumbled, using the light flowing from his blood to find the fallen spear. Gripping it tightly so he wouldn’t drop it again, he limped forward. While walking, the shock from the monster attack had already recovered. Yohan periodically stabbed and slashed his arm, drawing blood, and descended, deeper and deeper. During this, he unexpectedly saw a familiar sight.
“Hk, hrrk…. Hck, Ju, Ju, kill me, Ah, Ah, kill me, meee….”
It was Hwang Young-chul, who had been reported missing. Yohan stopped for a moment and observed. He was combined with the metal dogs that had been released into the broadcast station, from the waist down. Awkwardly attached to his hind legs, the dogs dragged Hwang Young-chul along, kicking him with their paws. Nearby was Kim Jong-seok, who had ordered Yohan to be sniped.
“Aaaah! Ughhh! Gaaah! Gyaaaah!”
Kim Jong-seok, who had been reduced to a pulp, was stuck to the wall like chewed-up gum. Bones, muscles, and nerves were mixed together as he writhed, screaming in agony. Despite knowing what they had done, their pathetic state evoked pity.
However, Yohan looked at them, then turned away and continued his descent. Deeper and deeper.
The further he went, the more monsters swarmed. They tangled with each other, and upon seeing Yohan, they panted and howled like they had found delicious food, rushing towards him. But every time Yohan bled, they couldn’t get close before suddenly caving into the floor. In this, Yohan could feel Lee Hyun-muk’s presence. He knew he was being watched.
The number of monsters kept increasing. Tens, hundreds… and then thousands. As he counted their numbers, Yohan suddenly sighed.
How many monsters had he swallowed from the Abyss over time?
How many terrible and painful things had happened until it reached this point? Yohan recalled Lee Hyun-muk swallowing countless monsters when they went to attack the core of the Abyss. He hadn’t thought deeply about it then, but now, it wasn’t just an ability to use shadows… Should he have wondered where the swallowed monsters went sooner? A thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘Perhaps what was bound to burst has burst.’
This place was too empty for a person to bear, and at the same time, it contained too much. At some point, the monsters stopped attacking Yohan. Yet, their numbers didn’t decrease; they only multiplied, swarming. Trembling with fear, Yohan continued to walk, dripping his glowing blood.
“Ah…!”
Suddenly, a gasp escaped Yohan’s lips. He had sensed something in the pitch-black darkness where monsters were all that could be seen an inch ahead. He raised the spear he had been using like a compass. Then, he breathed the light he had cherished and saved into it. The Eternal Stone shone brightly, illuminating the surroundings. In that place, like a hellscape teeming with monsters, the being Yohan sought was far away.
Something eternal, that did not wear down or break even in the Abyss.
Something Yohan had touched once before.
Yohan paused for a moment, then began to run, cutting through the monsters. Stimulated by his movement, the monsters reacted and began to charge. The shadows beneath the monsters rippled. Yohan couldn’t emit electricity, nor could he crush them with psychokinesis, poison them, freeze them, or erect barriers, but there was something he could do.
Bright light illuminated the surroundings. A monster trying to bite Yohan’s ankle melted away and in the next moment became a frog. It hopped away into the chaotic throng. Claws reaching for his arm dissolved, and instead, a dove flew away. Cows, pigs, cats, dogs, deer, mice, or bleating sheep… Surprised animals appeared wherever he ran.
“Hk, hrrk…!”
Yohan panted. His purification power was already significantly depleted due to the Purification Field. He could feel it draining away moment by moment. Running with impatience, Yohan finally reached Lee Hyun-muk’s Eternal Stone. He reached out and touched the Eternal Stone!
But that was all.
“Hyun-muk Hyung….”
Yohan’s hand caressed the Eternal Stone. But unlike last time, there were no memories to read. The Eternal Stone on his spear no longer resonated, perhaps because it had reached its destination. Yohan, unsure what to do, leaned anxiously against the giant Eternal Stone.
He suddenly recalled the Black Mountain of the Abyss. The Eternal Stones that remained merely as beautiful, indestructible ores, with whom he could barely communicate through Seo Yakrin.
Had Lee Hyun-muk become like that too?
The thought filled him with uncontrollable fear. Had he worn himself down over such a long time, to the point where almost no flesh remained, then wandered aimlessly after losing his goal upon leaving the Abyss, and finally crumbled when he saw himself in danger? Tears he had held back finally burst forth.
“It’s okay to kill those people….”
His voice trembling, he barely managed to speak. Even at that moment, while purifying each monster that attacked him, Yohan sobbed and said,
“I think you have the right to take revenge in any way you want. What a terrible hell it must have been. How difficult and agonizing it must have been. But, this is not the way. This is not the method….”
Yohan, knowing it was ineffective, purified the giant black and white Eternal Stone again and again, weeping uncontrollably. He was scared, fearful, and sad. Anxious, impatient, and despairing. And above all, pitiful. His lover, this person, was pitiful and unfortunate. His heart felt like it was tearing apart, killing him.
How wonderful it would have been if they had fallen into the Abyss together from the start?
That thought circled his mind, but it was now an irreversible past. Lukewarm blood dripped from his nose. Exhausted and weary, his body lost strength. The Eternal Stone on the tip of Yohan’s spear flickered weakly, and finally, its light completely extinguished.
At that moment, like a candle flame blown out by the wind, the swarming monsters sank into the floor. Complete darkness descended around him. It was an empty silence.
“Hk, h….”
Something wiped away the tears of Yohan, who was sobbing before the giant Eternal Stone. The mass, gathered by the owner of this place from the softest and most yielding materials, absorbed the tears that fell to the ground. Then, it slowly enveloped Yohan’s body.
Lee Chan-ha was submerged and made to sleep in blood, Seo Yakrin was confined and exhausted in sticky dough, Joo Ho-young was placed in the embrace of a mud giant, and Yoon Seung-ryong was put inside smooth, soft innards. Safely, eternally safe…. That will now gently caressed Yohan as well. It slowly pulled him in, like sinking into a swamp.