Chapter 116
Sethian’s heart burned with anguish, feeling as though he were about to shatter into pieces like a glass jar. The breath he could feel through their connected lips was weak, and no matter how much he tried to reach inside, there was no response.
Despite this, he did not stop the one-sided kiss. If it was a lack of vitality that kept him from even opening his eyes, that was something he could provide—whether through kissing, giving blood, or going further.
However, his anxiety and restlessness did not ease. Even though he finally held him in his arms, and they were now kissing, he still felt as if they were far apart.
Sethian pulled his lips away and gently brushed aside Joo Yi-Gyeol's disheveled hair. His face, illuminated by the torch, still looked like a corpse.
He took off his cloak and wrapped it around Joo Yi-Gyeol's motionless body, hoping that a little warmth might reach him. Without hesitation, he made his way out of the cave.
As they walked, Sethian leaned Joo Yi-Gyeol's small head against his neck, ensuring that the faint sound of his breath wouldn’t be drowned out by the crunch of the small stones beneath their feet. He focused entirely on the whispering breath in his ear.
Sethian didn’t say a word as they reached the place where the knights were. However, no one dared speak, sensing the heavy atmosphere emanating from him.
Then, suddenly, Sethian’s eyes sharpened, and the knights around him all tensed, instinctively reaching for their weapons. The sound of hooves at full speed echoed in the early morning air, impossible to ignore.
The sound of several hooves drew near, and Sethian could make out the figures quickly due to the torchlight.
There were five riders, with the leader at the front—Teren, the captain of the Imperial Knights, dressed in black armor with gold decorations. As soon as Sethian's knights recognized him, they lowered their weapons but could not hide their confusion about how he had found them so precisely.
"Your Majesty!" The voice wasn’t Teren’s but rather Roa’s, who had been riding behind him. Roa, who should have been in the Magic Tower, dismounted and quickly bowed toward Sethian. He then looked at Joo Yi-Gyeol in his arms with a relieved expression.
“You found him… Thank goodness…”
Roa’s relief was short-lived, as he saw Joo Yi-Gyeol's pale complexion and motionless form, the faintest hint of breath barely perceptible.
“…The awakening potion didn’t help.”
Sethian's gaze hardened as he shot a look at Roa, demanding an explanation.
"Even when I kiss him to give him vitality, he doesn’t react at all."
Roa’s face stiffened again. He removed Sethian’s cloak from Joo Yi-Gyeol and unbuttoned a few of his shirt buttons. His hand rested on Joo Yi-Gyeol's chest, which was marked with faint red streaks like fallen flower petals.
Thankfully, his heart was still beating, though it was slow—so slow that it seemed it could stop at any moment. If the issue was simply a lack of vitality, there should have been some reaction when his owner kissed him.
Without removing his hand, Roa channeled his mana into Joo Yi-Gyeol.
To accurately assess the situation, Joo Yi-Gyeol's clothes should have been removed, but at the very least, Roa hoped to identify the problem.
As Roa poured his mana cautiously, he suddenly recoiled in shock, as if an electric shock had passed between his palm and Joo Yi-Gyeol's chest.
Looking down at his reddened hand, Roa furrowed his brow.
“It seems the connection between his soul and body has been blocked.”
Roa clenched his fist tightly, realizing that he was too late.
"Even if the body is alive, the soul is necessary to absorb vitality."
Based on this knowledge, Roa had previously developed a potion to prevent vitality absorption and a glass bottle to trap the soul so it could not escape.
A body without a soul cannot receive vitality. Even if it did, it would only be like drinking bodily fluids—it was the soul that could draw out the life force. Even Zair, who had planned to make bodies almost without limit using Joo Yi-Gyeol, had been gathering countless souls to put into those bodies. A soulless body, no matter how much vitality it was given, was just an empty puppet.
Roa remembered the man who had blocked Joo Yi-Gyeol's soul from returning to his body. At this rate, the body would die completely soon, but it seemed he didn't care about that.
Gritting his teeth, Roa looked directly at Sethian.
"Joo Yi-Gyeol is probably..."
* * *
"Hmm, hmm-hmm..."
Eda hummed a cheerful tune, laughing intermittently.
"Want something to drink?"
She asked casually, as if speaking to an old friend, before suddenly realizing with a look of mild regret.
"Ah, right... you're in a soul state."
With a playful smile, Eda rested her elbows on the table and stared at the transparent glass bottle before her. Inside, she saw a special golden butterfly fluttering gracefully, one that even those possessed by a dead soul could not recognize.
"Do you know what I intend to do with you?"
She asked Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had willingly trapped himself in the glass bottle, unable to leave on his own. Joo Yi-Gyeol replied in a melancholic tone.
- I don’t care what you do. Just give me a new body, and I’ll do anything.
The butterfly's wings fluttered more quickly, as if in excitement.
- Seth... no longer gives me vitality. He plans to use up all my vitality and keep me trapped so I can’t go anywhere.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice trembled, filled with sorrow.
- I didn’t want to feel anxious because of the lack of vitality. If I stayed like this, eventually... I would really die.
Eda, still smiling, didn’t show the slightest sign of sympathy. The only change was that her smile now seemed as if she were pitying him.
Just then, the door to the chamber opened, and a man entered. He was the one possessed man who had put Joo Yi-Gyeol in the glass bottle and presented him to Eda.
As if bringing tea from outside, the man brought a teapot and teacup on a tray, placing it in front of Eda.
"You did well to find me."
As the tea Eda liked to drink filled her cup, she continued to speak to Joo Yi-Gyeol with the same cheerful smile.
"If you help me, I can easily make you a body. Don’t worry about vitality; Zair has some stored away."
She spoke kindly, lifting her cup. The familiar aroma tickled Eda's nose.
After sipping some tea, Eda turned her gaze to one side of the room, where a complex magic circle was etched into the wall.
“Do you know what I plan to do?”
Joo Yi-Gyeol didn’t respond, only watching the magic circle. Eda stood, holding her teacup, and walked toward it.
"I want to go beyond this magic circle."
- Can you really cross it?
“With this, I can.”
Eda reached out to trace the surface of the magic circle with her fingertips, glancing back at Joo Yi-Gyeol with a sly grin.
"This is a portal to another world."
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s mouth hung open in shock.
Previously, he had asked Roa about dimensional travel, wondering if, since he had come from another world, there might be a way to go the other way too. Given that magic existed in this world, it seemed possible enough.
But Roa had only dismissed the idea, saying:
"There’s a story about the First Tower Lord crossing dimensions, but that’s more of a legend."
Roa had only considered Yi-Gyeol to be a spirit from a far-off place, never suspecting he had crossed dimensions himself, and had firmly told him it was impossible.
But now, Joo Yi-Gyeol couldn’t understand how Eda, who had been no more than Roa’s disciple, could be so confident, and he couldn’t believe it either.
"You might not know, but there are other worlds besides this one. And that place is incredible."
Eda's voice was full of excitement.
"The development there doesn’t even compare to a place like this. Even without magic, it’s full of wondrous things."
It sounded like she knew exactly what the world beyond the magic circle was like.
To calm her excitement, Eda took another sip of tea and thumped the wall with the magic circle carved into it in satisfaction.
"I know exactly how amazing the world beyond this is."
With a childlike grin, she looked at Joo Yi-Gyeol and confidently declared her ambition.
"And so I’m going to go to that world, full of people who don’t even know magic, and stand at the top."
Her voice was full of sincerity.
"The foolish ancestor failed, but I won’t."
Despite this, he did not stop the one-sided kiss. If it was a lack of vitality that kept him from even opening his eyes, that was something he could provide—whether through kissing, giving blood, or going further.
However, his anxiety and restlessness did not ease. Even though he finally held him in his arms, and they were now kissing, he still felt as if they were far apart.
Sethian pulled his lips away and gently brushed aside Joo Yi-Gyeol's disheveled hair. His face, illuminated by the torch, still looked like a corpse.
He took off his cloak and wrapped it around Joo Yi-Gyeol's motionless body, hoping that a little warmth might reach him. Without hesitation, he made his way out of the cave.
As they walked, Sethian leaned Joo Yi-Gyeol's small head against his neck, ensuring that the faint sound of his breath wouldn’t be drowned out by the crunch of the small stones beneath their feet. He focused entirely on the whispering breath in his ear.
Sethian didn’t say a word as they reached the place where the knights were. However, no one dared speak, sensing the heavy atmosphere emanating from him.
Then, suddenly, Sethian’s eyes sharpened, and the knights around him all tensed, instinctively reaching for their weapons. The sound of hooves at full speed echoed in the early morning air, impossible to ignore.
The sound of several hooves drew near, and Sethian could make out the figures quickly due to the torchlight.
There were five riders, with the leader at the front—Teren, the captain of the Imperial Knights, dressed in black armor with gold decorations. As soon as Sethian's knights recognized him, they lowered their weapons but could not hide their confusion about how he had found them so precisely.
"Your Majesty!" The voice wasn’t Teren’s but rather Roa’s, who had been riding behind him. Roa, who should have been in the Magic Tower, dismounted and quickly bowed toward Sethian. He then looked at Joo Yi-Gyeol in his arms with a relieved expression.
“You found him… Thank goodness…”
Roa’s relief was short-lived, as he saw Joo Yi-Gyeol's pale complexion and motionless form, the faintest hint of breath barely perceptible.
“…The awakening potion didn’t help.”
Sethian's gaze hardened as he shot a look at Roa, demanding an explanation.
"Even when I kiss him to give him vitality, he doesn’t react at all."
Roa’s face stiffened again. He removed Sethian’s cloak from Joo Yi-Gyeol and unbuttoned a few of his shirt buttons. His hand rested on Joo Yi-Gyeol's chest, which was marked with faint red streaks like fallen flower petals.
Thankfully, his heart was still beating, though it was slow—so slow that it seemed it could stop at any moment. If the issue was simply a lack of vitality, there should have been some reaction when his owner kissed him.
Without removing his hand, Roa channeled his mana into Joo Yi-Gyeol.
To accurately assess the situation, Joo Yi-Gyeol's clothes should have been removed, but at the very least, Roa hoped to identify the problem.
As Roa poured his mana cautiously, he suddenly recoiled in shock, as if an electric shock had passed between his palm and Joo Yi-Gyeol's chest.
Looking down at his reddened hand, Roa furrowed his brow.
“It seems the connection between his soul and body has been blocked.”
Roa clenched his fist tightly, realizing that he was too late.
"Even if the body is alive, the soul is necessary to absorb vitality."
Based on this knowledge, Roa had previously developed a potion to prevent vitality absorption and a glass bottle to trap the soul so it could not escape.
A body without a soul cannot receive vitality. Even if it did, it would only be like drinking bodily fluids—it was the soul that could draw out the life force. Even Zair, who had planned to make bodies almost without limit using Joo Yi-Gyeol, had been gathering countless souls to put into those bodies. A soulless body, no matter how much vitality it was given, was just an empty puppet.
Roa remembered the man who had blocked Joo Yi-Gyeol's soul from returning to his body. At this rate, the body would die completely soon, but it seemed he didn't care about that.
Gritting his teeth, Roa looked directly at Sethian.
"Joo Yi-Gyeol is probably..."
* * *
"Hmm, hmm-hmm..."
Eda hummed a cheerful tune, laughing intermittently.
"Want something to drink?"
She asked casually, as if speaking to an old friend, before suddenly realizing with a look of mild regret.
"Ah, right... you're in a soul state."
With a playful smile, Eda rested her elbows on the table and stared at the transparent glass bottle before her. Inside, she saw a special golden butterfly fluttering gracefully, one that even those possessed by a dead soul could not recognize.
"Do you know what I intend to do with you?"
She asked Joo Yi-Gyeol, who had willingly trapped himself in the glass bottle, unable to leave on his own. Joo Yi-Gyeol replied in a melancholic tone.
- I don’t care what you do. Just give me a new body, and I’ll do anything.
The butterfly's wings fluttered more quickly, as if in excitement.
- Seth... no longer gives me vitality. He plans to use up all my vitality and keep me trapped so I can’t go anywhere.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice trembled, filled with sorrow.
- I didn’t want to feel anxious because of the lack of vitality. If I stayed like this, eventually... I would really die.
Eda, still smiling, didn’t show the slightest sign of sympathy. The only change was that her smile now seemed as if she were pitying him.
Just then, the door to the chamber opened, and a man entered. He was the one possessed man who had put Joo Yi-Gyeol in the glass bottle and presented him to Eda.
As if bringing tea from outside, the man brought a teapot and teacup on a tray, placing it in front of Eda.
"You did well to find me."
As the tea Eda liked to drink filled her cup, she continued to speak to Joo Yi-Gyeol with the same cheerful smile.
"If you help me, I can easily make you a body. Don’t worry about vitality; Zair has some stored away."
She spoke kindly, lifting her cup. The familiar aroma tickled Eda's nose.
After sipping some tea, Eda turned her gaze to one side of the room, where a complex magic circle was etched into the wall.
“Do you know what I plan to do?”
Joo Yi-Gyeol didn’t respond, only watching the magic circle. Eda stood, holding her teacup, and walked toward it.
"I want to go beyond this magic circle."
- Can you really cross it?
“With this, I can.”
Eda reached out to trace the surface of the magic circle with her fingertips, glancing back at Joo Yi-Gyeol with a sly grin.
"This is a portal to another world."
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s mouth hung open in shock.
Previously, he had asked Roa about dimensional travel, wondering if, since he had come from another world, there might be a way to go the other way too. Given that magic existed in this world, it seemed possible enough.
But Roa had only dismissed the idea, saying:
"There’s a story about the First Tower Lord crossing dimensions, but that’s more of a legend."
Roa had only considered Yi-Gyeol to be a spirit from a far-off place, never suspecting he had crossed dimensions himself, and had firmly told him it was impossible.
But now, Joo Yi-Gyeol couldn’t understand how Eda, who had been no more than Roa’s disciple, could be so confident, and he couldn’t believe it either.
"You might not know, but there are other worlds besides this one. And that place is incredible."
Eda's voice was full of excitement.
"The development there doesn’t even compare to a place like this. Even without magic, it’s full of wondrous things."
It sounded like she knew exactly what the world beyond the magic circle was like.
To calm her excitement, Eda took another sip of tea and thumped the wall with the magic circle carved into it in satisfaction.
"I know exactly how amazing the world beyond this is."
With a childlike grin, she looked at Joo Yi-Gyeol and confidently declared her ambition.
"And so I’m going to go to that world, full of people who don’t even know magic, and stand at the top."
Her voice was full of sincerity.
"The foolish ancestor failed, but I won’t."
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