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Chapter 171 – Crossroads (3)

“That weapon… can you not use that one? It’s scary because it feels like it’s changing you.”

Even more so than the violence scene that could cause anyone to tremble, it was more difficult for her to withstand Sungchul’s transformation. He changed into someone completely different when he held a Weapon of Calamity. Bertelgia who was closer to his heart than anyone knew this. Palpations of his heart changed from normal whenever he used a Weapon of Calamity.

“What are you saying, Bertelgia?”

Sungchul asked in a different tone. His voice was calm as always, but Bertelgia could feel a faint rage of someone that was being interrupted. Bertelgia who heard this couldn’t help but think.

‘Is he actually enjoying it?’

She wanted to strongly deny it from in her heart, but she couldn’t help but be bothered within some corner of her heart. She spoke with stronger resolve of preventing him from using that weapon any longer.

“You’ve already killed that woman and patched her back more than a dozen times! She would’ve regretted her evil actions plenty of times as she went back and forth on the edges of life and death.”

“She didn’t yet completely compensate for the price of her sins.”

Sungchul replied as he grabbed a new plank replacing his broken one. He spoke with a callous voice while glaring at Phoebe who was in the process of being put back together.

“There’s still a quarter of a day left.”

Phoebe who heard his answer lost her consciousness as is with her eyes rolling back.

Wham!

Sungchul smashed her skull once again with the plank. Brain and blood scattered in every direction with some being smudged onto the piece of lumber. Sungchul topped it off by ringing the Bell of Calamity toward Angelo who was moaning on the ground.

“The other quarter of the day left over is meant for that guy.”

Angelo who heard the sound of the bell at a close distance began to grip his head and rolling along the ground. Bertelgia could clearly see a faint smile plastered onto Sungchul’s face as he watched them midst the horrible screams directly around him.

‘This is dangerous. I have to stop this right away.’

Bertelgia shook her body with all of her strength from within his pocket, and Sungchul looked down toward her.

“Bertelgia, do you want to go back to Storage?”

“It doesn’t matter if I go back to Storage, but what are you going to do about that woman?”

“That woman?”

Sungchul looked as though he wasn’t aware of who she was referring to.

“Largo.”

“…”

A slight change appeared in Sungchul’s eyes, so Bertelgia pushed on without stopping.

“And, aren’t you worried about Kimchi and his wife?”

“Ah, those people.”

Sungchul’s slow beating heart began to beat faster once again. Bertelgia felt hopeful and continued on.

“Do what you want if making these people pay for their sins is more important, but if that’s not the case, tell her to undo her spell and resolve this situation before you regret it!”

“Regret…”

Sungchul’s words trailed on. He had completely forgotten about it: Largo, Kimchi, Sunghae, and the whole reason he had come here in the first place. At some point, The thought of having to punish the pair that made him feel this emotion called rage completely enveloped him at some point. He couldn’t think of anything else because they had dared to challenge him.

How dare some mere humans…

Sungchul shuddered when his thoughts came to this conclusion.

‘Was I this kind of a man…? I thought this…?’

A familiar voice he had heard before blew past his ears like a dream.

I’ll watch you. I’ll see just how long you can keep acting like you’re one of them as you intermingle with humans with the power you’ve gotten from a god.

By the time he realized it, the Weapon of Calamity was already in his hand. Not just one of the weapons that he had vowed never to use, but two of them.

Thud.

The plank caked in blood and gray matter fell to the ground. Bertelgia silently watched his actions with a nervous heart.

Sungchul lifted his head and gazed at the Floating Palace that was shooting off fireworks even now. The fireworks festival held from the Floating Palace was reaching its peak. The fireworks ferociously flowed out along the walls of the Floating Palace like waterfall in a grandiose display and while high-pitched screams rang out, gigantic flowers of light bloomed in the air. It was a truly beautiful display. Beautiful enough for one to forget about the problems of the world for a moment.

A smile rose onto Sungchul’s lips causing Bertelgia to grow concerned for a moment as to whether Sungchul had become influenced by the Weapon of Calamity once again, but they were baseless fears. The smile on his face this time seemed to hold more bitterness than satisfaction.

Finally, Sungchul broke the silence.

“You finally did it again after so long…”

“Huh? What?”

Bertelgia asked nervously.

“You’ve earned your meal.”

Sungchul pulled out Agony that had pierced Phoebe’s heart and the wall and placed it back into the air, then he collected Oom Bruuk lodged into Angelo’s body and stored it in the same way. The Weapons of Calamity were now gone.

Sungchul looked toward the pair on the ground callously in consideration before opening his mouth to speak.

“However, they have to die.”

“What are you talking about? Of course, they have to die! They’ll do some other bad things if we let them live!”

Bertelgia was the one speaking excitedly this time while shaking her body. Sungchul lowered his head and looked into his pocket.

“Bertelgia.”

“Well… If you’re still not satisfied, you can kill and put together that guy 10 times over. It doesn’t matter. I’ll close my eyes to it this time.”

Sungchul couldn’t help but smile when he heard this, and walked over to the villainous pair. Their execution didn’t take long. Their necks easily snapped under the god-like power in his grip.

Nothing happened when Angelo died, but when Phoebe died, there was a meaningful change. The aura of Spirit Magic pouring out of her body was destroyed. The corpses that were wandering the city stopped moving before long and peace was restored within the city once again. Sungchul believed this to be true as he looked around his surroundings.

“Do you think Largo, Kimchi, and his wife are ok?”

Sungchul had already taken measures for Largo. Without a significant amount of misfortune, nothing should have happened to Largo’s person. He was more worried about Kimchi and his wife. Sungchul was aware that the army was approaching Section 6 where Sunghae had been hospitalized.

“Where are you going first?”

“I think I should head toward the Mura Sect Hospital first. Kimchi and Sunghae should be there.”

Eye of Truth caught sight of a great amount of magical energy as soon as he was preparing to move coming from the sky. Sungchul had an ominous premonition as he looked up toward the sky. Below the fireworks that had hit its zenith, a powerful magical formation was unfolding in the direction of the airspace in Section 8 where the airships of the Defensive Fleet had stationed.

“This is…”

Sungchul’s premonition soon turned to reality as he saw thousands of fireballs falling from the sky. Those who was watching the fireworks from the Floating Palace and the Sections below it gasped in awe.

“Hoh. Is that a part of the celebration?”

“It’s a show incorporating the fleet that the Empire was so proud of. It’s new.”

It was a show without comparison to the upper crust watching from above, but to the lower class living below, the fireballs recreated hell itself upon them. Brutal magical carpet bombing unleashed upon Section 8 swallowed it up in flames and explosion.

Boom! Boom!

There were tremendous sounds of explosions ringing out from here and there when Sungchul could hear the piercing scream of a woman. It was Ahmuge’s voice. Sungchul swung Fal Garaz at the fireball falling upon his head to blow it away using its wind pressure before heading toward her.

“D-Don’t come! Don’t come! Aaaaack!”

She looked at Sungchul with a crazed expression as though she had seen a ghost while her frail body trembled pitifully.

“Get a hold of yourself, Sujin. It’s me.”

Sungchul lightly slapped her on her cheek. He took special care to control his strength so as to not kill her, but the shock seemed to have some effect as she regained her consciousness. However, the fear that had been on her face still lingered.

‘Am I that scary? She didn’t act like this back at the Summoning Palace.’

Sungchul recalled the anecdote of Saint Wonhyo and the Water from a Skull he had heard as a child.

“How did this happen?”

He wanted to know. This place might be called the Human Sewers where all the irredeemable trash were gathered, but he still needed to know the thoughts behind the Human Empire pouring down this inferno upon people that were undeniably their citizens.

“What are you talking about?”

Ahmuge who had regained consciousness looked unaware of what was happening just yet. Sungchul pointed a finger toward the sky and pointed toward the airships of the Human Empire that was pouring out a magical bombing from the sky. Ahmuge’s face grew stiff after seeing this.

“W-what is this? Why are they attacking?”

The second round of indiscriminate attack fell around the vicinity of Sungchul and Sujin causing another round of flames and explosions. People that caught fire within the demolished buildings screamed pitifully as they jumped out. Similarly pitiful wailing could be heard from every direction.

“Why is the Human Empire attacking their own citizens?”

Ahmuge watched her surroundings wide-eyed while repeating Sungchul’s question. He couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t aware of the situation after seeing her reaction.

‘This woman, she doesn’t know anything.’

He was growing more concerned about Largo now that the situation had devolved as such. She might have been safe from the army of skeletons since the entrance was blocked, but there was no guarantee that she could survive such an enormous magical carpet bombing. He spoke calmly toward Sujin who had fallen into panic.

“Foolish.”

Sujin turned to look at him, so Sungchul continued.

“You’ve spent all this time with those in power of this age, and you still don’t know how they think?”

“W-what?”

Ahmuge looked surprised as she asked.

“Look with your own eyes and decide for yourself.”

Sungchul left her with only those words. Sujin who had suddenly been left behind looked pale as she looked around the city streets that had now turned into a sea of flames with hollow eyes. As she sat there with blank thoughts, she suddenly recalled something.

‘That girl’s voice. What could have that been? I feel like I heard that for sure…’

Sungchul managed to find Largo within the burnt ruins of the inn. She was breathing her last few breaths as she was crushed by a fallen rafters while the Curse of Extinction had already spread through her body. She was no longer conscious and death would soon overtake her.

“…”

Sungchul could feel the flames of rage that he had barely managed to contain blaze up once again. Bertelgia could feel his heartbeat growing irregular once again and hurried to speak up.

“Let’s try to use that.”

“What?”

“I’m talking about the Fog Guide.”

“Fog Guide?”

“According to legend, some king used it to bid farewell to those that couldn’t speak any longer.”

“…”

Sungchul nodded and held the the Fog Guide tightly in his hand before entering Largo’s final dream with Bertelgia. It was a glamorous room filled with luxury and decadence. Countless people wearing masks were looking at one place. It was Largo with her beauty of her youthful self, and a cute baby was sleeping in her grasp as she laid obliquely upon a plush sofa.

“Oh my, you’re here? Aren’t you too late? I was waiting.”

Largo smiled bright while looking at Sungchul and pointed toward something.

“Who’s the cute lady beside you? Seeing as she’s tiny like a puppy, she doesn’t seem like a girlfriend… a daughter? But, you look nothing alike.”

“I’m not a daughter. I’m his advisor!”

Bertelgia pouted her lips and complained, but there wasn’t much time left. The lights in the room blinked and powerful rumbling could be felt. Masked men gathered in the room began to disappear into the darkness one at a time. Her world was slowly being extinguished. Sungchul realized this spoke with a groan.

“What a cute baby. It looks just like you.”

Largo who heard her made a bright smile and nodded.

“What a lip service.”

The room shok once again, and one or two more of the fancy lights extinguished. There wasn’t much more time left.

“Get a move on.”

Largo motioned them away as she calmed the baby whining in her arms.

“Then I’ll get moving.”

Sungchul waved and headed toward the door behind him. In the darkness, Largo quietly called out after him toward his backside.

“Thanks for everything.”

“…”

Sungchul paused.

“Really. I’m really grateful. I won’t forget you even after I die. I’ll, of course, talk about you so that even the child knows that someone… like you… existed…”

The rumbling stopped and she disappeared into complete darkness. Her world had come to an end. Sungchul let out a shallow sigh as he stepped back through the door returning him to reality.

Section 8 was swept up in flames and had completely burned down. Sungchul saw that her corpse had become swallowed up by the flames and averted his gaze toward the sky.

“What are you going to do now?”

Bertelgia cautiously asked. Sungchul pulled out a staff and flew toward the sky in reply. One of the Soul Gems within his coat had been marked with the magic formation for Fly. When he flew up high enough, a bright magic formation unfolded around him. Soon after, a beam of cosmic light poured out from the tip of his staff and blew away one of the airships bombing the ground. He finally spoke.

“I’m going to meet the Emperor.”

It was an astounding revelation, but Bertelgia was not surprised as the beating of his heart did not change as he spoke.