BXBX NOVEL Chapter 92: Allegiance
It was a side of him they had never seen before and probably never will again.
"Clean up the mess," YuWon said, pointing to the soldiers and the others. "The corpses will attract monsters if you leave them here."
Not waiting for a response, he turned and walked away, leaving bloodied footsteps behind. As much as he enjoyed killing them, he wasn't enjoying their blood all over his body.
A shower would be good...
Only when he was alone did his pace slow. He glanced at his blood-stained hands. For a moment, a doubt flickered in his mind. But he shook it off.
"What's done is done," he said, stepping inside the room.
***
The stream of water wiped the red off YuWon's body, swirling beneath his feet before disappearing down the drain. Although the shower could fix his outer appearance, he was still worried about something.
With a wave of his hand, a system prompt appeared before him. The same words flashed before him. However, the text only confused him.
I can upgrade the sword, but how?
Apart from the words, there was nothing else. There were no instructions on how to upgrade them. No list of materials and no special procedure to follow to strengthen his weapons.
"I guess I'll figure it out eventually," YuWon sighed, closing the prompt as he stepped out of the shower.
There he found Gina, Lysandra, and Yeji waiting for him. Except for Lysandra, the other two had the same grim expression. YuWon massaged his temples, knowing a headache was about to come his way.
Without bothering to get dressed, with only the towel around his waist, he plopped between Gina and Lysandra while Yeji sat in front, on the spare bed.
"Was I that scary out there?" he asked, looking at Gina. "That's why you all are here, right? You want to see if I have lost my mind or something?"
But suddenly, Yeji slipped from the bed and fell before him. YuWon was shocked but didn't leave his spot, wondering if the others had something to say.
"I... I killed them..." Yeji mumbled, revealing her blood-stained hands.
YuWon looked at her, and then at her hands, wondering what Yeji was talking about. It was then Lysandra informed him what had happened once he left.
"After you left, some people you killed were alive. Barely so, but alive," she explained. "When Yeji saw them... something changed in her. She laughed as they reached for her to save them and then she killed them."
YuWon nodded and turned toward Yeji, who was staring at her blood-stained hands. At first, he thought she was feeling guilty. It made sense. After all, she was a healer, not someone like him who would kill without a second thought. But Gina corrected him.
"It's not just guilt," she said. "She's worried about her subclass."
"What?" YuWon asked, looking at Yeji.
It was an absurd thought that someone could get so upset about a subclass. Curious about it, he crouched down beside her and took Yeji's hand in his.
+++
The Overseer's Pendant will reveal the target's stats to the owner.
Name: Kim Yeji
Class: Divine Healer
Sub-class: Blood Mage
Allegiance: Sekhmet
Level: 20
Experience: 15%
Primary Attributes:
— Health Points (HP): 720 / 720
— Mana Points (MP): ??? / ???
Core Stats:
— Strength: 33
— Agility: 29
— Intelligence: ??
— Defense: 37
— Endurance: 20
— Wisdom: 41
— Luck: 45
Note: Due to the pendant's limitations, the owner cannot see the target's complete profile
+++
"Blood mage? What is that?" YuWon asked.
"That's what we want to figure out," Lysandra continued. "I have never seen a class like it and, according to Yeji, it wasn't supposed to be her subclass."
"You mean it changed?"
"It evolved... from a simple mage to a blood mage," Gina continued. "That's our guess, but we can't know for sure."
Ignoring their words, YuWon took another look at Yeji's profile and noticed something else.
"Allegiance?"
No sooner did YuWon speak the word, than Yeji's eyes shot up at him. She knew something and was hiding it.
"Yeji... what did you do?" he asked, caressing her cheek. "I promise I won't be angry, so speak freely."
Yeji looked up at him, her eyes full of tears, before burying her face in his chest.
"I-I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't!" Yeji rambled, looking scared. "She appeared in my dream... one where you had died and someone had taken Gina as a hostage..."
Yeji continued, "The woman said if I accepted her, she could help me... so I did and she gave me this subclass... I'm sorry! I didn't know what to do..."
YuWon shot a look towards Lysandra. Only the two of them knew it was no dream that Yeji saw. Sekhmet, whoever she was, had deliberately shown her the timeline where YuWon got trapped in the penalty zone and used that to force Yeji to accept her.
But it led to many questions. Someone with such powers could only be a god or a sponsor. But why would they do such a thing?
Allegiance... I don't know what to think about this... Sekhmet woman.
Then his eyes fell on Yeji. After a long minute, YuWon sighed and smiled.
"It's fine, Yeji. You did well," he said. "But, you should kill more people from now on."
"What...?" Yeji asked, her eyes widened in shock.
"You heard me," YuWon smiled, patting her head. "We need to learn more about your new subclass and it is the best way."
"YuWon, what are you saying?" Lysandra asked.
But YuWon raised his hand, stopping her. He kept looking at Yeji with his unfaltering smile.
"Isn't it better to know about your subclass? You accepted the subclass for me, didn't you? So you should do as I say."
"I... I—"
At first, Yeji looked horrified. But then the fear was replaced by something dark as she smiled. It was the same smile she had while dismembering Hoon.
"I'll... kill for you," she said, her eyes glowing red. "I'll do whatever you ask."
"That's my Yeji," he murmured.
YuWon's smile widened, and he patted her head again, but this time the gesture felt more affectionate, like someone was petting a cat.