CH 241

The snake lady couldn’t understand what was happening, but even amid the chaos, she clearly felt one thing: there was nothing she could do facing this mysterious giant. There was no room for the pride of a great demon anymore, and she felt an emotion she had forgotten for a long time—fear. It tightened around her so oppressively that she couldn’t do anything but simply stare at the massive fist falling from above her.

Rumble!

Thunder crackled again. What was once earth rose to the sky and gathered to form mushroom-shaped clouds. The snake demon was gone. After getting struck by Chi-Woo’s fist, her body was ripped into tiny pieces and fell like an endless rain. The only thing that suggested she had once been in the room was the giant crater on the ground. This wasn’t the end, but only the beginning.

The giant made of light, the heavenly king, stretched his arms. With only one move, the debris that had already crumpled flew far away. Every time he stomped, the ground cracked, and every time he waved his hands, the sky split. The sky and earth rang relentlessly and rocked the whole city along with it. Swept into the aftermaths of this shock wave, great demons and demonic creatures alike were decimated into nothingness as if they had been struck by a nuclear bomb.

Unable to advance further because of the scattering debris in the air, Shersha barely managed to raise her head. Her gaze wavered as she looked up at the sky. This was the future she had wanted to prevent at all costs, but the heavenly king she had seen before was even more fearsome than this current one. The former had managed to split continents with one punch and flip the sea as easily as an adult twisting a small child’s wrist. The fact that the repercussions of this giant’s movements were still limited to this city meant he had yet to truly awaken all his powers.

Thus, it wasn’t over yet. Although it was still a bit too late, there existed a chance to turn things around. While the world was on the verge of breaking, the future could still be changed. Shersha needed to act as quickly as possible. She propelled herself with a strong kick and soared into the air as dark fog wrapped around her body. She had to approach the heavenly king even at the risk of her life.

***

Chi-Woo didn’t feel empty or dazed. What he felt was impulsive and intense to such overwhelming levels, it was as if his whole body was made of rage and destruction. He didn’t feel fully awake in his mind and merely followed his instincts. He couldn’t think of anything else. And in his completely white vision, Chi-Woo noticed a trickle of blackish smog. Although it was faint, it looked like a wavering shadow.

—No…

A voice flowed into his mind.

—Are you not going to change…

As soon as Chi-Woo noticed it, he was already raising his fist.

—The future…?

Chi-Woo stopped, and his fist halted right before it made contact with the shadow. Blinking, he found his blurred vision gradually coming into focus. His surroundings became clear, and he finally saw Shersha inside the shadow. For some reason, his mind awakened the moment he heard the word ‘future’. It felt as if he had barely managed to pop his head out of a very deep quagmire and wake up.

The two looked at each other. Chi-Woo groaned, his face contorted. The compulsions that had settled for a moment began to simmer inside his heart again.

—Endure it…

Shersha said.

—You have to repress the urge….

Chi-Woo closed his eyes.

—Come back…it’s not too late yet…

Would he surrender his body to his instincts again, or would he resist?

—Trust me…

Shersha desperately pleaded. Chi-Woo’s eyes burst open, and he made his best effort.

“Urgh—! Ughhhhhhh!” Words leaked out of his seemingly locked throat. The more he repressed his urge, the more control he recovered over his body, Chi-Woo felt the senses that had been lost come back to him. The light also dwindled and dimmed. And the giant which had been big enough to bend the sky returned to the size of an adult man. After a great ruckus, silence befell the city again. There were still some who had survived this sudden calamity thanks to Shersha’s gamble.

“…”

That was dangerous. If Chi-Woo had continued to rampage, there would’ve only been ashes remaining in this city, and he would’ve never been able to come back. Chi-Woo looked around in a daze. Though it wasn’t as bad as the first future, only half of the city remained, and everything in his vicinity had been annihilated—except one being.

“You…came back…” Shersha said. “Thank…you…”

Her condition seemed dire. She couldn’t even stand properly; she merely lay prone on the ground while looking above. “In the end…it came…to this…” She managed to utter as she stared at Chi-Woo. With this, everything was out of her hands, and now she could only trust Chi-Woo to do the rest. It was a truly funny thing. She was collaborating with the enemy, and what she was doing now was basically handing her enemy all the means to destroy them. However, there was nothing else that could be done. Furthermore, Chi-Woo had believed her and done everything she told him to do until now; it was her turn to fulfill her side of the promise.

“Listen well…” There was no need for her to hesitate. Shersha breathed deeply and said, “The future…of this city..won’t change…”

…What?

“Whatever you do…so…” Shersha’s face squinched. “So as soon as you return…tell the legend…”

Chi-Woo frowned. He knew what she meant by ‘the legend’.

“The flowers…won’t bloom anymore…so he should immediately…go to the Cassiubia League mountain range….” Chi-Woo wanted to ask what in the world she was talking about, but couldn’t.

“Soon…the dragon will…!” Blood spurted out of Shersha’s mouth, followed by a violent cough, and she gasped out, “Be killed…”

Soon, blood began to come out of her eyes, nose, ears, and anywhere that had holes. “But…the dragon must not die…at that time…” Shersha vomited the blood that filled her mouth once more and said, “Must hurry…the two of you…before you lose…” Her whole body trembled, and her eyes widened to an abnormal extent.

“Instead—!” Shersha tried to continue somehow, but all of a sudden, her head exploded. Brain fluids and skin colored with purplish light scattered in all directions. It was as she had said: she would meet her death when she broke the two conditions tied to her prophetic powers.

Chi-Woo stared in shock at Shersha’s headless corpse. For some reason, his brother’s appearance overlapped with hers. It was then he heard a voice.

“In the end, that’s the path she chose.”

Chi-Woo felt a presence behind him and turned around. It was a female great demon with bright red hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall: Astarte. The two met eyes, and Astarte raised both arms to show that she meant no harm.

“I simply came to relay Shersha’s message.”

It was then Chi-Woo recalled Shersha telling him that she had arranged something for the worst-case scenario. This great demon must be that arrangement.

“Of course, I will also die like Shersha if I give you this message.” Astarte winked. “The same conditions that she was under began to apply to me the moment she informed me. It really is a bothersome skill. Don’t you think?”

Chi-Woo didn’t answer. Perhaps it was a side-effect of the explosion, but he couldn’t find it in himself to respond. Astarte shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

“Honestly…I’m not unsure.” She looked at Shersha’s body for some time. “Unsure if this is really the right choice.”

“…”

“Or whether Shersha really had to die…” Astarte looked slightly bitter, but her voice soon became firmer. “But I am at least certain of one thing—Shersha wanted the best for the Demon Empire more than anybody else.”

Which brought to mind the question Chi-Woo had had from the beginning: if she was really working for the Demon Empire, shouldn’t she have taken the die from him and killed him? And yet neither Sasha nor this great demon did that.

“Well, I don’t like the current Demon Empire all that much either.” Astarte smiled and started moving. “I feel like everything has become weird since we invaded this city. I don’t know if it’s a sense of hollowness or anxiety…but it’s completely different from the time we first came to dominate the Middle World.” Astarte stomped forward across the debris and crouched down next to Shersha.

“Ha, what am I even saying…” Astarte carefully caressed Shersha’s corpse and smiled. The commotion around them drew close. It was probably those who came to check up on what had happened.

“Then…can I request something from you before I die?” Astarte turned back to Chi-Woo. She looked even more at peace as she asked, “Could you…spare us just once?”

Chi-Woo’s eyebrows twitched. What was she asking?

“I don’t expect much, but if you could just spare Shersha and me.”

“…”

“I know I may be asking for too much, but it would be nice if you could give it some thoughts,” Astarte explained. “I’m not saying this hoping for any rewards. But if you really want to not only change this future, but Liber’s at large, keep my words in mind.” Astarte looked relieved as if she had gotten out everything she needed to say. Then she let out a long sigh and started, “…Okay, that was a long introduction. Let me get to the point now. You all will learn of an existence soon, but just leave the matter be when you do—at least before the legend is impelled to go to the mountain range.”

Astarte relaxed somewhat for having gotten this much out. Then she said, “As I said before, I can only guess the meaning behind Shersha’s words. I am only relaying the words that have been passed onto me.” Astarte’s lips twisted into a complicated smile as she watched Chi-Woo. She waved her hand while blood streamed down from her eyes, nose, lips, and ears. “And prophecies are usually—” The next moment, Astarte’s head exploded with the sound of a balloon popping. Her body fell limply after losing a head and sprawled on Shersha’s corpse.

It finally came to this. Chi-Woo had gained information, but he couldn’t judge whether it was something he could trust or not. Soon, the commotion grew really close. It wasn’t time for him to gather more information. Chi-Woo raised his clenched right hand. He looked back and forth between the two fresh corpses on the ground and cast his die. It felt as if everything was in a complete mess.

***

Light passed by, and when Chi-Woo opened his eyes, he saw the ceiling.

“Ha—!” Chi-Woo gasped. He sat up and looked around. His bed and room—it was a familiar sight.

“Are you okay?” He also heard a familiar voice. Chi-Woo jerked his head toward the source and saw Evelyn flinch.

“No…well, I saw you…collapsed on the ground. But you weren’t injured anywhere, so I moved you to the bed thinking you were asleep…” It seemed she had been sleeping next to him.

“Ah…” Chi-Woo had no strength in his body. He felt completely weak. Was it the lingering effect of the drugs? Or was he still reeling from the time he almost lost himself?

“…What is it?” Evelyn asked in a worried voice. “What happened? Did you have a nightmare of sorts?”

“…”

“Should I get you cold water or something?”

Chi-Woo shook his head. He still felt dizzy, but at Evelyn’s comforting words, it really hit him that he had come back to the present time.

“Please excuse me.” Chi-Woo got up. He passed Evelyn and got out of the room, staggering across the dark corridor and stopping when he happened to meet Hawa.

“…What?” Hawa frowned seeing Chi-Woo stare intently at him. “What is it?...Huh?” Hawa said in shock, because Chi-Woo had suddenly closed their distance and held her face with both hands.

“What are you doing...!” Hawa was about to get angry, but stopped when she felt Chi-Woo’s hands slightly trembling as they touched her cheeks. He even felt a bit feverish. And above all, his gaze was so intense that Hawa couldn’t help but lower her eyes.

“…What’s wrong?”

After some time, Chi-Woo’s hands dropped from her cheeks, and he walked past her without saying anything. Hawa watched as Chi-woo quickly moved away, wondering what in the world was going on.

Chi-Woo went outside and saw the way fire lights illuminated the city at night. How could the same place look so different in the future? Shersha told him that the fate of this city couldn’t be changed. But was that really the case? Could a ‘definite future’ really not be avoided? Chi-Woo gritted his teeth. He turned on his device and accepted the call that had been trying to reach him since he woke up.

“Chi-Hyun.”

—What took you so long…!

Chi-Woo had promised to contact him right away. Chi-Hyun was about to yell at him for making him wait, but trailed off when he saw the look on Chi-Woo’s face.

—Are you injured anywhere?

“I don’t have any injuries…but I don’t know. I’ve been feeling dazed…”

—You could’ve just read the messages on your device and come back.

“I couldn’t.”

—?

“My left hand was cut off. You know where my device is.”

—What?

Chi-Hyun frowned.

—Then you should’ve just come back. Why—

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“I couldn’t. There was no way I could…” Chi-Woo shook his head. Then he inhaled deeply and began explaining, “Listen carefully from now on.” All his memories were still fresh, and he could describe everything in detail. Chi-Woo repeated what Shersha and the red-haired great demon had told him verbatim to Chi-Hyun. Chi-Hyun seemed surprised at the end of the explanation.

—Shersha…the seventh ranking…

“Why did she tell me to spare her life?” Chi-Woo asked in bafflement.

—You don’t have to worry about that.

Chi-Hyun said and organized his thoughts while stroking his chin.

—I see…So that means…then, because of force…

Chi-Woo looked nervously at his brother’s hologram. It seemed his brother had an inkling to what was going on.

“Hyung,” Chi-Woo said while Chi-Hyun murmured to himself with a serious look on his face. Chi-Hyun raised his head.

—Hm? Ah, I think—

“Will we be able to do it?” Chi-Woo asked, and Chi-Hyun closed his mouth again. Chi-Woo realized then why his heart had been in such a mess. It was because he was concerned about Shersha’s last words.

“Will…we really be able to change the future?” Chi-Woo had believed he would be able to change the future in the beginning. Sure, it wouldn’t be easy, but with enough work, he was sure that everything would work out in the end. But going to the future the second time changed his mind. There seemed to be something that he couldn’t change with effort alone. Nevertheless, Chi-Woo didn’t lose hope. It was because he had his brother, and Chi-Hyun had said that they should give it a try even if it was difficult… This time, however, his brother didn’t say anything.

“Hyung?”

—…It’s hard.

Chi-Hyun finally answered. But unlike before, he didn’t add, ‘but let’s still give it a try’. He simply said that it was hard. Chi-Hyun wasn’t the type to lie or joke. In other words, he was at least half-agreeing to what Shersha had stated.

—But I think I at least know what kind of choice we should make.

Chi-Woo’s eyes burst wide open.

—It’s not a method I prefer…but If the information you brought this time is true, you won’t have to throw the die one more time.