By Zephyria The more anxious he became, the more complicated his thoughts became. The answer was nowhere to be found, and not even the slightest clue could be seen.
But strangely, he felt like he knew. What should I say… It’s like the answer is nearby, but it’s subtly off?
It feels like I’m going around in circles right in front of it.
‘No, calm down.’
When problems get twisted, you can usually find the missing clues by going back up.
Ki Jae-eon also slowly began to retrace the problem.
‘It’s not just about destroying the Fatal Spirit.’
The goal is a world where no one is sacrificed and no one is unjustly killed.
He doesn’t want liberation that can only be obtained if someone has to bear the loss.
‘But in order to do that…’
Ah, it’s a repeat after all.
It was a waste of time to go back up without getting anything. As the problem is, it cannot be solved in a general way.
‘Was it a waste of time?’
Ki Jae-eon roughly swept his hair up.
Where is the answer anyway?
Before that, how did I kill the Fatal Spirit?
‘No, no, no.’
The past is meaningless now.
‘Anyway, the Fatal Spirit dies.’
I’m sure ‘I’ will be eliminated somehow.
The only problem is that the ending that follows is terrible.
Yes, that’s right.
The current agony isn’t for the Fatal Spirit or anything. What Ki Jae-eon focused on, the future he wanted to change, was the lives of the people he loved. He wanted to protect their breath.
As he said, the goal was minimal loss.
If he could be a little more greedy, it would be everyone surviving.
‘To do that, I have to think about the cards I have.’
Even if it’s an insane method, it’s fine.
A solution exists.
Figure it out, Ki Jae-eon.
‘What I have… as a weapon.’
It was during this continued contemplation.
Suddenly, Kim Ju-won came to his mind. The ill-fated young Exorcist who died young after using forbidden Art of Magic.
Was he feeling like this too?
‘Was he this lost?’
While feeling a painful sense of kinship, Ki Jae-eon suddenly raised his lowered head slowly. The fingers that had been constantly fidgeting also fell slowly. Inhaling, his pupils, widening as if realizing something, held a momentary light.
‘Come to think of it…….’
Why did Kim Ju-won fail in his Art of Magic?
He had never deeply pondered it.
Of course, there would be many reasons.
His skill level was low, or his spiritual power was insufficient.
“In the first place, if he had succeeded.”
If he had succeeded—something began to click into place in his head.
A weapon that didn’t exist in the past, but exists in the present.
“……It’s already overflowing.”
Ki Jae-eon’s head slowly turned towards the door.
Loud conversations could be heard from outside.
People who were more organized than before, and even more capable.
Above all, he himself was no different. His abilities had increased significantly due to one regression.
‘If I’ve become stronger than before…….’
In other words, he had become a vessel capable of holding everyone.
“I can do it.”
If it’s me, it’s possible.
Ki Jae-eon parted his lips slightly.
“No.”
A firm refusal.
With his father, Ki Tae-ho’s resolute voice, silence descended. Ki Jae-eon looked around at the people gathered inside the tent. They were all taking different postures in the silence, but the meaning they conveyed was the same.
Don’t talk nonsense, a passive protest.
‘It’s one against many.’
The gazes directed at him were unusual. Especially Kim Ju-won.
But he had already anticipated this level of opposition.
‘I didn’t expect to persuade them easily.’
Yes, that’s right.
A unique Art of Magic created anew based on the forbidden Art of Magic that Kim Ju-won had tried to use.
[Spirituality]
It was only natural that a proposal to use it in actual combat right away, with unknown side effects, would not be accepted.
It would be strange to hope that they would accept it willingly.
Above all, Kim Ju-won would be the most angry.
The guy who told him not to talk nonsense was changing his attitude in just a few days and saying he would use that method.
‘You can’t, but I can, so it’s absurd.’
It was a case of double standards.
There was no excuse, nothing to say.
‘I know it’s selfish.’
Yes, he knows. He knows it well enough.
It might be trampling on Kim Ju-won’s pride.
It might be hurting his father.
It might be making someone he loves worry.
He knows it all, all of it.
But he had to do it.
He had to push through.
Why?
Well…….
Ki Jae-eon slowly lowered his upper body and placed his hands on the table. As he put strength into his hands, his head slowly followed. Haa-. He took a deep breath and exhaled it briefly. It looked like a sigh at first glance, but it was different. It was a resolution.
One person’s resolution to make everyone understand.
“I know it’s a unilateral decision.”
His head slowly lifted.
Ki Jae-eon looked around the tent.
His face was full of fatigue from the days of hard work, but his gaze was still soft.
As if he knew the hearts of those who opposed him.
“Do you remember what I said when I first came here? That no one would die, and we would return alive. Just in a slightly messed up state.”
Ki Jae-eon shouted to the people in a calm voice. During his speech, not even a small cough was heard. Of course, no one interrupted. They were just listening in silence. They were crossing their arms and legs, showing a stubborn attitude of not cooperating, but apart from their individual feelings, everyone respected Ki Jae-eon with one heart.
“To go and say ‘I’m back’ to our families in a ridiculous state……. However, as you know, we cannot return until the Fatal Spirit disappears.”
He tried to appear calm on the outside, but he couldn’t hide the desperation that leaked out.
However, he hardly received anyone’s consent.
Rather, the vigilance that ‘that guy is trying to sacrifice himself again!’ made people build an even stronger iron wall.
Everyone was unyielding, and Ki Jae-eon had no choice but to endure.
“I still remember the pain of that day. The faces of the people I couldn’t protect no matter how hard I struggled. I don’t know how I look in your eyes. Some of you may think I’m pathetic, someone to be pitied. But you’re wrong. I’m not the victim of that day. It’s you. The victims of that day, whose bodies were torn apart and whose lives were shattered without any fault, are not me. It’s you. You’re the ones who had your daily lives taken away.”
Ki Jae-eon remembered that day’s battle as a defeat. He had won, but he had lost so much.
“I will never let it be taken away this time. That’s why I need your strength. I’m not just asking for your consent. I’m literally asking you to join me. This Art of Magic cannot be done by me alone. We all have to step up together. With your strength, you have to fight for yourselves.”
Ki Jae-eon slammed the table hard.
“Take revenge. You’re doing what you’re most familiar with. I’m just a vessel, taking you in. It’s not me who’s fighting, it’s you.”
The expressions on people’s faces gradually changed subtly.
No, it was inevitable that it would turn out this way from the start.
From the beginning, this gathering was not meant to be a fight.
What everyone wanted was only one thing.
To protect each other.
The desire not to lose comrades.
The desire to return alive together.
The desire not to give up anyone.
That’s right. Everyone was just the same.
“Of course, I have no intention of dying either. So, I believe that everyone will work hard, adding even the strength they used to suckle on.”
Ki Jae-eon shifted his gaze without interrupting the flow of his words. His black eyes captured his father, starting with Kim Ju-won, and then Ahn Seo-myeong, one by one. Family, friends, lovers. Precious beings that he couldn’t live without.
“I hope you will allow me, you, and yourselves the opportunity to protect ourselves…….”
“…….”
“That’s all.”
Ki Jae-eon bowed briefly to the people, expressing his gratitude for listening.
And when he raised his head again, the atmosphere had eased a lot.
“Ah, really…….”
Someone’s words, half laughter and half sigh, floated weakly inside the tent. As if that was the signal, everyone playfully scolded Ki Jae-eon.
“Hmm…….”
“I’m stubborn too, but I can’t beat Exorcist-nim~.”
“Haha, really!”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!”
Saying that his stubbornness was just like his father’s, or asking if it was a strategy to prevent them from spitting on a smiling face.
In that atmosphere, which could be called half goodwill, Ki Jae-eon also smiled very faintly.
He knows. This is practically consent.
The postures that had been closed until just now are loosening one by one. Arms are coming down, legs are uncrossing, and bodies are leaning towards the table. But that didn’t mean their expressions were light. Worry still remained. The fear of the Fatal Spirit had not been erased.
However, trust.
Not just simple faith, but trust born from experience, supports everything instead.
In a way, it was like learning.
That Ki Jae-eon would surely pull it off.
Isn’t that the case this time too?
He stubbornly shook the determination that no one would agree to.
He had brought people’s hearts together once again!
Now that it’s come to this, what else can we do?
Ki Jae-eon, I trust you.
Let’s go your way!