Chapter 120
Joo Yi-Gyeol had been aiming for this moment from the very beginning.
The possibility of Seth arriving at just the right time was not a baseless prediction but a well-founded likelihood. This was based on the fact that Sethian had been pursuing him far more persistently than he had expected.
Since Sethian had realized that he had chosen to return in the direction of the Imperial Palace, Joo Yi-Gyeol believed he would recall the cave they had once been in together. Knowing that Joo Yi-Gyeol had a map, Sethian would have expected him to avoid the villages under inspection and flee instead. Rather than hiding in an unfamiliar place, he would likely rest in the small cave he had found himself.
As expected, Sethian arrived at the cave in search of his body and rode tirelessly to retrieve even his missing soul. Thanks to the hint given by the young boy’s soul, Roa was able to discern Eda’s ambitions. As he regretted failing to recognize his disciple’s misguided heart sooner and carried guilt over past events, he naturally joined Sethian and became his guide. It was clear that he would help Sethian stop Eda.
According to the information the young boy’s soul had discovered while tracking Eda alone, Eda had inscribed magic into specific areas to extract Sethian’s life force. If Sethian stepped into one of these areas, Eda would likely opt to extract his life force directly rather than go through the cumbersome process of drawing it out from him.
Joo Yi-Gyeol had once asked Sethian about the fundamentals of magic. If not for what Sethian had told him back then, he would never have even considered carrying out such a plan.
"There are many different types of magic. Some are simple, like using mana to lift or move objects, while others require the engraving of complex magic circles or patterns across an entire area to activate."
"Small spells aren’t greatly affected by interference. But in the case of the latter, if the core structure is disrupted even slightly, not only is the spell completely broken, but the area where the magic was inscribed is often destroyed beyond repair."
At that time, Sethian had gently curved his eyes and stroked Joo Yi-Gyeol’s head as he struggled to understand.
"You don’t need to know things that are too difficult for you. Just learn what’s easy and convenient. I’ll handle the hard stuff."
Kind, dependable Seth.
"Thank you."
For everything.
Swallowing a bitter smile, Joo Yi-Gyeol took a step back, then another. Behind him lay a partially opened magic circle.
The moment the blue glowing patterns filling the stone chamber disappeared, the ground began to shake violently with a loud rumble. Even as the chamber trembled, Joo Yi-Gyeol was watching Sethian through Eda’s eyes. The golden cluster of life force that had gathered in the air spread widely and descended toward him. It was like a noble emperor receiving a golden crown and a radiant cloak from the gods.
The young boy’s soul, who had faithfully executed the final step of Joo Yi-Gyeol’s plan, glanced up at the cracking ceiling and shouted toward those at the entrance.
"Get out! It’s going to collapse!"
Surprisingly, the first to react was not those at the entrance, but Eda.
Even though Joo Yi-Gyeol was possessing her body, having two souls in one vessel made it difficult for either to maintain full control. Nonetheless, the moment Eda gathered mana in one hand to cast a spell, Joo Yi-Gyeol grabbed it with the other hand, preventing her from aiming properly. Eda’s body wavered from the struggle for dominance.
At that moment, the door at the entrance began to split apart with a deafening crack. This was partially due to Joo Yi-Gyeol disrupting Eda’s concentration, but also because Kirsty and the knights had been pushing against it from the outside with sheer force.
As the sturdy stone door shattered, the wall above it collapsed with an even greater crash. If Sethian and Renoc, who had been supporting him, had not moved quickly, they might have been crushed under the heavy debris.
With the upper wall caving in, the fractured door crumbled further like a heap of rubble. This opened up a clear path, revealing Kirsty and the knights on the other side.
The speed at which the ceiling and walls were collapsing increased exponentially. Large chunks of stone pounded down menacingly. Roa cast a protective barrier near the entrance to prevent Sethian and the knights from being buried. Two heavy stones crashed down, but thankfully, they bounced off the blue shield.
While Roa maintained the barrier, Kirsty and the knights pushed aside the fallen rocks and seized Sethian.
"Your Majesty!"
"We must get out of here!"
However, Sethian forcefully shook them off and tried to dash past the barrier. If Renoc hadn’t lunged to grab him, he might have been caught under a falling stone right in front of the barrier. Yet Sethian seemed completely unfazed by the danger.
He had only one thought—running toward Joo Yi-Gyeol.
"Let go."
His voice carried a deadly edge as he glared at Renoc, who was restraining him from behind. But Renoc’s grip did not loosen. Kirsty also jumped in front of him, blocking his path.
"You must leave! If we stay, we’ll all be crushed under the rubble!"
The deafening noise of falling rocks and the violent tremors made it hard to hear anything. Stones rained down, smashing tables, toppling bookshelves, and collapsing shelves. Soon, the ground was so cluttered with debris that it was impossible to find a flat surface.
No matter how skilled Sethian was, he couldn’t possibly cut through this downpour of stones with just a single sword. He knew that, and yet he still tried to move forward.
As more rocks filled his vision, Sethian’s emotions twisted into something beyond mere urgency—something he had never felt before.
A terrifying fear engulfed him. His fingertips trembled, his whole body felt as if it were crumbling like this chamber. Whenever falling debris obscured his view of Joo Yi-Gyeol, it felt as if his heart was plummeting with it. And when their eyes met again, the fear and dread overwhelmed him, making it impossible to breathe.
He had no time to think.
Using his elbow, he struck Renoc’s side to break free and raised his sword against Kirsty.
He was about to cut through Kirsty’s throat—
"Seth!"
Even amidst the chaos where no sound was distinct, Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice calling him was unmistakably clear.
Though Joo Yi-Gyeol spoke using Eda’s body, it was undoubtedly his voice. The razor-sharp blade aiming for Kirsty’s neck stopped abruptly in midair.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, still gripping his own wrist tightly, shook his head as if telling him not to.
In that brief hesitation, Renoc tackled Sethian, grabbing him tightly. Kirsty followed suit, wrenching away his sword and forcing him toward the exit. Had Sethian truly resisted with all his might, at least one of them would have been gravely injured. But with his attention fixated on Joo Yi-Gyeol, they seized the opportunity.
Even as he was half-dragged out of the chamber, Sethian never took his eyes off Joo Yi-Gyeol. His expression shifted constantly from his ongoing mental struggle with Eda for control. Yet, like Sethian, Joo Yi-Gyeol never looked away either.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s lips moved, forming words. Though drowned out by the chaos, the message felt as if it was seared into Sethian’s mind.
"I’m sorry."
It was Eda’s face, yet the bitter smile was unmistakably Joo Yi-Gyeol’s.
A fake smile to reassure him. A mask to hide the urge to scream and cry.
That was the last thing Sethian saw before a massive rock crashed down, obscuring Joo Yi-Gyeol completely from view.
For the first time in his life, Sethian let out a raw, desperate cry.
"Joo Yi-Gyeol!"
But there was no answer.
Sethian and his group barely managed to escape the collapsing chamber.
All that remained were the deafening sounds of falling rocks and a thick cloud of dust.
Eda, who had barely avoided being crushed under the rocks, sneered at Joo Yi-Gyeol, who was suppressing the freedom of her body.
"You lunatic. Are you trying to die with me?"
Even if he wanted that, it would not go as he pleased. Though she couldn’t use magic aimed at a particular target because her wrist was being held, she could still do something like creating a small round barrier around herself, just as Roa had. Whenever control completely shifted away from her, the flow of mana would break and the barrier would come undone, but so far she had somehow endured.
The real problem would be when the stone chamber fully collapsed, but the number of times and the length of time in which she could push Joo Yi-Gyeol back and seize control were gradually increasing. Besides, in a possessed state, one naturally felt the body’s pain together, so right before death he would surely leave her body.
‘The moment this bastard leaves my body, I’ll immediately borrow the mana of the Idelo’s Flowers and use magic to shove the rocks far away, and after that….’
-I’m going to give you what you wanted.
Thinking there was no way she would die and planning what to do afterward, Eda froze at Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice ringing through her mind.
At some point, the other hand that had been holding her wrist loosened its grip. At the same time, her legs, which had refused to move as if paralyzed, suddenly took a step back on their own. Only after another step backward did Eda realize what Joo Yi-Gyeol was trying to do, and she quickly turned around. The center of the magic circle, still undamaged thanks to the barrier’s protection, remained half open.
"D-do you even know what you’re doing right now?!"
-Why? It’s what you wanted.
As Joo Yi-Gyeol said, crossing dimensions through the door of the magic circle was what Eda had always wanted. But that was all premised on keeping the door open with the life force of a magic stone holder.
According to the information the First Tower Lord, who had experienced dimensional travel, provided to the Magic Tower, all senses inside the dimensional door, including bodily sensations, became dulled so much that one could not even grasp the flow of time, and there was only a brief description of scenery from the other world.
But for her descendants, the First Tower Lord had left behind quite a few personal accounts. In place of themsleves, whose lifespan was not long because of the time wasted in that dimension, they had hoped that any descendant would do and would take in every inch of that dream world.
The most important part among what the ancestor had written was that the dimensional door had been on the verge of closing completely because the prepared life force of the magic stone holder was insufficient. Left with no choice but to return without staying long in the other world, the life force ran out completely on the way back. After that, the ancestor had wandered for decades as if dropped in the middle of a desert. Even though in real time only a few days had passed when the ancestor passed through the dimensional door and returned.
The life force of the magic stone holder served as both a straight bridge laid between the two dimensional doors and a lighthouse. That was why a dimensional door with no life force of the magic stone holder linked to it was like a maze with almost no chance of escape.
"Don’t talk nonsense! Without the Emperor’s life force, you could be trapped between dimensions and wander forever!"
-Good.
In time with Joo Yi-Gyeol’s cold sneer, Eda’s body stepped back once more.
-If Seth dies, I, too, who wandered dimensions, will vanish with him.
"What…?!"
-Anywhere, loneliness is the same.
If that was how it would be, then he wanted to be of some help to Sethian, even if only a little.
Eda’s body, gone pale, tipped sharply backward as if falling.
Eda and Joo Yi-Gyeol were completely swallowed by the dimensional door, and almost at the same moment a rock fell where the barrier had vanished.
The possibility of Seth arriving at just the right time was not a baseless prediction but a well-founded likelihood. This was based on the fact that Sethian had been pursuing him far more persistently than he had expected.
Since Sethian had realized that he had chosen to return in the direction of the Imperial Palace, Joo Yi-Gyeol believed he would recall the cave they had once been in together. Knowing that Joo Yi-Gyeol had a map, Sethian would have expected him to avoid the villages under inspection and flee instead. Rather than hiding in an unfamiliar place, he would likely rest in the small cave he had found himself.
As expected, Sethian arrived at the cave in search of his body and rode tirelessly to retrieve even his missing soul. Thanks to the hint given by the young boy’s soul, Roa was able to discern Eda’s ambitions. As he regretted failing to recognize his disciple’s misguided heart sooner and carried guilt over past events, he naturally joined Sethian and became his guide. It was clear that he would help Sethian stop Eda.
According to the information the young boy’s soul had discovered while tracking Eda alone, Eda had inscribed magic into specific areas to extract Sethian’s life force. If Sethian stepped into one of these areas, Eda would likely opt to extract his life force directly rather than go through the cumbersome process of drawing it out from him.
Joo Yi-Gyeol had once asked Sethian about the fundamentals of magic. If not for what Sethian had told him back then, he would never have even considered carrying out such a plan.
"There are many different types of magic. Some are simple, like using mana to lift or move objects, while others require the engraving of complex magic circles or patterns across an entire area to activate."
"Small spells aren’t greatly affected by interference. But in the case of the latter, if the core structure is disrupted even slightly, not only is the spell completely broken, but the area where the magic was inscribed is often destroyed beyond repair."
At that time, Sethian had gently curved his eyes and stroked Joo Yi-Gyeol’s head as he struggled to understand.
"You don’t need to know things that are too difficult for you. Just learn what’s easy and convenient. I’ll handle the hard stuff."
Kind, dependable Seth.
"Thank you."
For everything.
Swallowing a bitter smile, Joo Yi-Gyeol took a step back, then another. Behind him lay a partially opened magic circle.
The moment the blue glowing patterns filling the stone chamber disappeared, the ground began to shake violently with a loud rumble. Even as the chamber trembled, Joo Yi-Gyeol was watching Sethian through Eda’s eyes. The golden cluster of life force that had gathered in the air spread widely and descended toward him. It was like a noble emperor receiving a golden crown and a radiant cloak from the gods.
The young boy’s soul, who had faithfully executed the final step of Joo Yi-Gyeol’s plan, glanced up at the cracking ceiling and shouted toward those at the entrance.
"Get out! It’s going to collapse!"
Surprisingly, the first to react was not those at the entrance, but Eda.
Even though Joo Yi-Gyeol was possessing her body, having two souls in one vessel made it difficult for either to maintain full control. Nonetheless, the moment Eda gathered mana in one hand to cast a spell, Joo Yi-Gyeol grabbed it with the other hand, preventing her from aiming properly. Eda’s body wavered from the struggle for dominance.
At that moment, the door at the entrance began to split apart with a deafening crack. This was partially due to Joo Yi-Gyeol disrupting Eda’s concentration, but also because Kirsty and the knights had been pushing against it from the outside with sheer force.
As the sturdy stone door shattered, the wall above it collapsed with an even greater crash. If Sethian and Renoc, who had been supporting him, had not moved quickly, they might have been crushed under the heavy debris.
With the upper wall caving in, the fractured door crumbled further like a heap of rubble. This opened up a clear path, revealing Kirsty and the knights on the other side.
The speed at which the ceiling and walls were collapsing increased exponentially. Large chunks of stone pounded down menacingly. Roa cast a protective barrier near the entrance to prevent Sethian and the knights from being buried. Two heavy stones crashed down, but thankfully, they bounced off the blue shield.
While Roa maintained the barrier, Kirsty and the knights pushed aside the fallen rocks and seized Sethian.
"Your Majesty!"
"We must get out of here!"
However, Sethian forcefully shook them off and tried to dash past the barrier. If Renoc hadn’t lunged to grab him, he might have been caught under a falling stone right in front of the barrier. Yet Sethian seemed completely unfazed by the danger.
He had only one thought—running toward Joo Yi-Gyeol.
"Let go."
His voice carried a deadly edge as he glared at Renoc, who was restraining him from behind. But Renoc’s grip did not loosen. Kirsty also jumped in front of him, blocking his path.
"You must leave! If we stay, we’ll all be crushed under the rubble!"
The deafening noise of falling rocks and the violent tremors made it hard to hear anything. Stones rained down, smashing tables, toppling bookshelves, and collapsing shelves. Soon, the ground was so cluttered with debris that it was impossible to find a flat surface.
No matter how skilled Sethian was, he couldn’t possibly cut through this downpour of stones with just a single sword. He knew that, and yet he still tried to move forward.
As more rocks filled his vision, Sethian’s emotions twisted into something beyond mere urgency—something he had never felt before.
A terrifying fear engulfed him. His fingertips trembled, his whole body felt as if it were crumbling like this chamber. Whenever falling debris obscured his view of Joo Yi-Gyeol, it felt as if his heart was plummeting with it. And when their eyes met again, the fear and dread overwhelmed him, making it impossible to breathe.
He had no time to think.
Using his elbow, he struck Renoc’s side to break free and raised his sword against Kirsty.
He was about to cut through Kirsty’s throat—
"Seth!"
Even amidst the chaos where no sound was distinct, Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice calling him was unmistakably clear.
Though Joo Yi-Gyeol spoke using Eda’s body, it was undoubtedly his voice. The razor-sharp blade aiming for Kirsty’s neck stopped abruptly in midair.
Joo Yi-Gyeol, still gripping his own wrist tightly, shook his head as if telling him not to.
In that brief hesitation, Renoc tackled Sethian, grabbing him tightly. Kirsty followed suit, wrenching away his sword and forcing him toward the exit. Had Sethian truly resisted with all his might, at least one of them would have been gravely injured. But with his attention fixated on Joo Yi-Gyeol, they seized the opportunity.
Even as he was half-dragged out of the chamber, Sethian never took his eyes off Joo Yi-Gyeol. His expression shifted constantly from his ongoing mental struggle with Eda for control. Yet, like Sethian, Joo Yi-Gyeol never looked away either.
Joo Yi-Gyeol’s lips moved, forming words. Though drowned out by the chaos, the message felt as if it was seared into Sethian’s mind.
"I’m sorry."
It was Eda’s face, yet the bitter smile was unmistakably Joo Yi-Gyeol’s.
A fake smile to reassure him. A mask to hide the urge to scream and cry.
That was the last thing Sethian saw before a massive rock crashed down, obscuring Joo Yi-Gyeol completely from view.
For the first time in his life, Sethian let out a raw, desperate cry.
"Joo Yi-Gyeol!"
But there was no answer.
Sethian and his group barely managed to escape the collapsing chamber.
All that remained were the deafening sounds of falling rocks and a thick cloud of dust.
Eda, who had barely avoided being crushed under the rocks, sneered at Joo Yi-Gyeol, who was suppressing the freedom of her body.
"You lunatic. Are you trying to die with me?"
Even if he wanted that, it would not go as he pleased. Though she couldn’t use magic aimed at a particular target because her wrist was being held, she could still do something like creating a small round barrier around herself, just as Roa had. Whenever control completely shifted away from her, the flow of mana would break and the barrier would come undone, but so far she had somehow endured.
The real problem would be when the stone chamber fully collapsed, but the number of times and the length of time in which she could push Joo Yi-Gyeol back and seize control were gradually increasing. Besides, in a possessed state, one naturally felt the body’s pain together, so right before death he would surely leave her body.
‘The moment this bastard leaves my body, I’ll immediately borrow the mana of the Idelo’s Flowers and use magic to shove the rocks far away, and after that….’
-I’m going to give you what you wanted.
Thinking there was no way she would die and planning what to do afterward, Eda froze at Joo Yi-Gyeol’s voice ringing through her mind.
At some point, the other hand that had been holding her wrist loosened its grip. At the same time, her legs, which had refused to move as if paralyzed, suddenly took a step back on their own. Only after another step backward did Eda realize what Joo Yi-Gyeol was trying to do, and she quickly turned around. The center of the magic circle, still undamaged thanks to the barrier’s protection, remained half open.
"D-do you even know what you’re doing right now?!"
-Why? It’s what you wanted.
As Joo Yi-Gyeol said, crossing dimensions through the door of the magic circle was what Eda had always wanted. But that was all premised on keeping the door open with the life force of a magic stone holder.
According to the information the First Tower Lord, who had experienced dimensional travel, provided to the Magic Tower, all senses inside the dimensional door, including bodily sensations, became dulled so much that one could not even grasp the flow of time, and there was only a brief description of scenery from the other world.
But for her descendants, the First Tower Lord had left behind quite a few personal accounts. In place of themsleves, whose lifespan was not long because of the time wasted in that dimension, they had hoped that any descendant would do and would take in every inch of that dream world.
The most important part among what the ancestor had written was that the dimensional door had been on the verge of closing completely because the prepared life force of the magic stone holder was insufficient. Left with no choice but to return without staying long in the other world, the life force ran out completely on the way back. After that, the ancestor had wandered for decades as if dropped in the middle of a desert. Even though in real time only a few days had passed when the ancestor passed through the dimensional door and returned.
The life force of the magic stone holder served as both a straight bridge laid between the two dimensional doors and a lighthouse. That was why a dimensional door with no life force of the magic stone holder linked to it was like a maze with almost no chance of escape.
"Don’t talk nonsense! Without the Emperor’s life force, you could be trapped between dimensions and wander forever!"
-Good.
In time with Joo Yi-Gyeol’s cold sneer, Eda’s body stepped back once more.
-If Seth dies, I, too, who wandered dimensions, will vanish with him.
"What…?!"
-Anywhere, loneliness is the same.
If that was how it would be, then he wanted to be of some help to Sethian, even if only a little.
Eda’s body, gone pale, tipped sharply backward as if falling.
Eda and Joo Yi-Gyeol were completely swallowed by the dimensional door, and almost at the same moment a rock fell where the barrier had vanished.
Comments
Post a Comment