[Puharen’s Inner Mind]

Jin Sahyuk slowly opened her eyes, but she was met with a darkness that made it no different. Puharen’s inner mind was dark. Coldness, emptiness, and loneliness…. Negative emotions weighing down the atmosphere constricted her feet.

Jin Sahyuk began to walk, relying only on her senses, to a place where a certain ‘presence’ was flickering.

“….”

After walking endlessly for a while, Jin Sahyuk suddenly stopped. Her intuition told her that this was the place. The wavering of the soul was calling her.

Jin Sahyuk opened her palm, and a small source of light floated up. The light soon illuminated parts of the dark inner mind.

Just like that, Jin Sahyuk found him - her younger brother, squatting in the middle of the darkness, shaking.

“…Ah.”

Her breath halted. A thick, heavy ball of fire surged up from the bottom of her heart, and it seemed to burn up her entire body.

Jin Sahyuk swallowed the pain and looked down at Puharen. His thin, small body was colder than before, and his lifeless pupils were imbued with bottomless darkness.

He had not grown up in the slightest from his child state. Jin Sahyuk placed his frail appearance in her eyes so that it wouldn’t flow out; so that it wouldn’t escape.

“Puharen.”

Jin Sahyuk’s voice couldn’t reach him as it scattered in the air. Puharen had been stuck in this dark place for dozens of years. Jin Sahyuk already knew that meeting him once would not change anything.

“Puharen.”

Still, she called his name. Puharen didn’t move. Jin Sahyuk bit down on her lips and fell in thought.

What were you doing here alone? Were you resenting me? Or were you looking for your mother, who left the world before you?

Jin Sahyuk bent down to her knees and slowly reached out with her hand. Her trembling fingers touched Puharen’s face. A chilling coldness stung Jin Sahyuk’s heart, as though she were touching a corpse.

Jin Sahyuk called the child’s name once again.

“Puharen.”

And on this third attempt, Puharen’s inner mind shook. It was a small tremor, but it wasn’t caused by Puharen. An outside impact had shaken his inner mind. And if even his inner mind was being affected, it meant he didn’t have much time left.

She had to hurry.

For now, she had something she needed to do. She could seek ‘forgiveness’ later.

Still on her knees, Jin Sahyuk placed her hand on Puharen’s shoulder.

“…I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness.”

Most likely, Puharen would never be able to forgive her, and she would never be able to atone for her sins.

So why? For some reason, Baal’s words suddenly popped up in her mind.

That this world was just a novel where everything was decided on beforehand. Those simple words.

That the reason she was like this and the reason Puahren became like this were all according to the settings created by ‘that man’….

Jin Sahyuk laughed mockingly.

“But you know….”

No, Baal’s words were just a lame excuse. A way to pass on one’s fault to another in the form of resentment.

But Jin Sahyuk considered herself a ‘king’. And from what she had learned, a king did not make excuses. Funnily enough, Kim Hajin was the one who helped her achieve this realization. He had shattered her principles and reforged them as she begged for her life.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to say to you.”

Magic power surged out from the hand that was touching Puharen’s shoulder. However, Puharen did not even try to see it. His dull eyes seemed to have already lost their ability to see.

Jin Sahyuk spoke.

“…I’m sorry.”

With that, she released her magic power. The Authority of Reality Manipulation seeped into Puharen, and his shoulders faintly shook.

Jin Sahyuk closed her eyes and murmured calmly.

“Hurt me all you want inside my heart for all of eternity.”

Her magic power shot up like flames. After spreading to every corner of Puharen’s body, Jin Sahyuk’s magic power dismantled his body. Like a feathery speck of dust, or like a midsummer night’s flower petal, Puharen scattered away. Almost as if he didn’t exist in the first place.

With this- Jin Sahyuk killed Puharen for the second time.

But this time, it would be a slightly different death.

“Haa….”

Jin Sahyuk took in a deep breath. She sucked in the remnants of Puharen mixed in the air, and her body flashed with a blue light.

This was something Jin Sahyuk thought of on the spot when she saw Shin Myunchul meet Shin Jonghak. Morax had trapped Puharen’s soul in his body, and Shin Myungchul had lived on in Shin Jonghak’s inner mind. Who was to say she couldn’t do the same?

No, she was confident she would succeed.

I am a king who’s above a devil.

As a king, I will embrace Puharen. This place is too desolate. I don’t know if my heart will be any warmer, but I cannot let you be imprisoned here. Since I’m the one who made you fall into this place, I should be the one to take you out.

You can bother me all you want by letting your soul cry out. Even if you cut my heart until I’m close to dying, I will not complain.

“…Let’s go. Together.”

Of course, this was a one-sided abduction that didn’t ask for Puharen’s approval.

So, Jin Sahyuk used a Jin Sahyuk-like approach.

Tzzzt….

Puharen let out a small fricative sound as he seeped into Jin Sahyuk’s heart. Immediately, Jin Sahyuk’s body became overloaded. Puharen’s soul clashed with hers, the pain from which was difficult to endure for a human.

But Jin Sahyuk held on. Even as she coughed out one mouthful of blood after the other, she endured the heart-wrenching pain.

Koong-!

When Puharen’s soul reached the Jin Sahyuk’s heart, a thud rang out from the outside. Jin Sahyuk sensed that this impact was far more stable than the last.

She could also smell a familiar scent.

‘That man’ had finally stepped in.

Jin Sahyuk closed her eyes, feeling relieved.

Chwaaaa….

Soon, Morax began to crumble. He couldn’t maintain his form now that his host’s soul disappeared.

As he scattered away into dust-like particles, Jin Sahyuk felt Puharen’s emotions. Uncontrollable pain, resentment, and sorrow… accepting them all with her body, Jin Sahyuk made a thin smile.

Although she couldn’t put any adjectives to this smile, at the very least, she believed it looked like a king’s. If her scribe were here, he would surely give it a dignifying name like a King’s Smile.

Thinking such unimportant things, she lost consciousness.

**

The barrier was slowly contracting. The sky became narrower, and the earth crumbled down. Seeing this, the Heroes in the area could easily tell what Baal was planning. Thus, the battle became even more intense.

Steel Spirit and Spirit Speech. The magic sword and elementals. Swordsmanship and punches. The Heroes gathered here poured out everything they had.

Chae Joochul created undulations of nature and created explosions inside Baal, and Heynckes sliced off Baal’s skin. Chae Nayun raised her magic sword to push the falling sky up and support it.

“Don’t come down… damned ceiling! Uaaaah-! Kkuaaaaaa-!”

…What she was doing might look funny, but it served an important purpose.

Chae Nayun’s magic sword was delaying the contraction of the barrier. This was something only Chae Nayun could, as her magic power capacity had surpassed the level of humans.

“—Huup!”

Kim Suho swung Misteltein. He wanted to cut Baal’s ‘action’ itself. However, it wasn’t so easy. Kim Suho cut off his arm, skinned him, and even tore off his wings, yet it was impossible to destroy his will.

Eventually, Kim Suho thought about cutting the barrier before Baal. But even that was impossible.

This barrier was a form of protection from the world’s interference. In other words, this barrier was what granted him his current Transcendent state. Because of this, Kim Suho’s Authority could not destroy the barrier.

—It’s futile.

Baal knew this too. Baal seemed to have reined in his rage as he muttered with a tone of ridicule. All the meanwhile, the destruction of the barrier continued.

Soon, the barrier would contract completely and, unable to bear the compressed density and pressure, explode. Not even Baal would be able to survive from this total destruction.

Although the Heroes inside the barrier would die, Baal was different. As death was different from ‘annihilation’, Baal would be able to return to Earth one day. His death would only be temporary, and Earth would be unable to escape destruction.

From the beginning, Baal had created a game where his victory was guaranteed.

—It’s your loss.

Baal made a sinister smile. Then, he twisted his hand. The sky inside the barrier began to crumble down even quicker.

Kwagwagwagwa….

As the thunderous sounds of destruction rang out, Baal saw signs of despair from the Heroes’ eyes. He grinned. Sinister ecstasy welled up inside the evil god’s heart.

…It was then. A mysterious voice rang out from the ceiling.

“Futile? Says who?”

This somewhat dry voice immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

The Heroes were confused, but Baal’s eyes widened in shock. He turned to the direction the voice came from.

“You’re wide open right now because of all the attacks you received. Without your outer skin, you should be weaker to outside damage, right?”

Only then did Baal look down at his body. Demonic energy was leaking out of the numerous cuts and cracks on his skin. He belatedly roused his demonic energy to form a barrier.

However, Kim Suho instantly nullified it.

—Y-You… until the end…!

Just as Baal raged at Kim Suho-

“Let’s see if you can take this. It’ll be a bit different.”

BOOM-!

A thunderous boom shook the barrier. Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, Rachel, Yun Seung-Ah, Heynckes, Chae Joochul, Baal and Bell…. All of them stared right at it — a bullet flying forward while drawing a white rift in space.

The bullet emitting a brilliant light drew a straight line in the air before digging into Baal’s heart.

Pzzzt-!

—…!

The moment the bullet reached Baal’s heart, his eyes widened. Then, the contraction of the barrier stopped. The force of the shock had cut off Baal’s will from the barrier.

—Kuuuu… KUAAAAAAK-!

Baal coughed out a mouthful of blood. Reddish-black liquid flowed down from the dragon’s mouth.

Even as he writhed in pain, Baal refused to believe it. A bullet with ‘deterrent force’. Such a thing couldn’t exist. It couldn’t….

——!

Baal roared. He pinpointed the location of the shooter using the direction the bullet came from, and his eyes captured ‘that man’.

That damned man was right there.

That arrogant, lazy man was aiming his gun at him.

Baal opened his mouth and breathed out demonic energy that was mixed with blood.

The breath filled with killing intent followed the same path the bullet traveled, but….

“…Good try.”

Kim Suho cut it into nothingness once again. Kim Suho smiled as he stared at Baal.

Baal also stopped the rage he was spitting out and looked down at Kim Suho contemptibly.

—….

Next, a thick silence descended.

The Hero and Baal only glared at each other. Was it disgust, resentment, or resignation? Unknown feelings flickered in their eyes.

The cold silence didn’t last long.

Soon, Baal let out a hollow chuckle.

—Real cheeky… so much so that I want to destroy everything….

Kim Suho didn’t let Baal continue any further. It was his ironclad rule to never let his guard down.

“—!”

Kim Suho let out a spirited shout and swung his sword.

Seeing Kim Suho’s all-out attack, many other Heroes did the same.

Baal simply watched.

“Break—!”

Aileen’s short, full-power Spirit Speech; Chae Nayun’s greatsword emanating a terrifying amount of magic power; Heynckes’s sharp Steel Spirit; Chae Joochul’s emotionless nature.

Rachel’s purification activating using the Fairy Sword Galatine and her elementals; Yun Seung-Ah’s white Flower Sword blooming in all directions; Shimurin’s grand magic shaking the earth.

Harin’s exorcism spell activating which could even penetrate Baal; Yoo Jinwoong’s crimson electricity flowing through the air; Yoo Sihyuk’s wolves leaping toward Baal’s neck; Yi Yongha’s inextinguishable flames….

Everything enriched the brilliance of the Sword Saint’s sword strike.