Chapter 119

〈Chapter 119〉 Part 1, Chapter 6 (25)

<June 2nd, 7:00 AM. Yeouido Blue Wind Sect Hideout>

“Finally, we can breathe easy.”

I gulped down my strawberry latte and let out a sigh of relief. The monsters killed by Chinese heroes all returned safely without their cores being destroyed.

“Hmm…Feels kinda anticlimactic though.”

Ji Hwa removed his sunglasses and picked up his iced tea. After going head-to-head with Oracle in a one-on-one debate and achieving quite meaningful results, even though he didn’t participate directly in combat, he was undoubtedly the top contributor to successfully accomplishing our initial mission objectives.

“Nah, it was total chaos!”

James, who’d been drinking beer since morning, whistled as he looked through the battle report Ji Hwa had prepared. Ryu Cheonseong, who’d been waiting anxiously, nodded in agreement.

“Unjang got knocked out in one hit, Seok Harang too. Leader, I gotta say, you’re really something else.”

“Ho ho, are you impressed?”

“Maybe you should carry yourself like a proper villain instead of acting so casual all the time.”

I couldn’t help but snicker while pointing at his legs.

“The reason Unjang hasn’t reached SS rank is because when riding his beast, he essentially gives part of himself over to it. That’s why his legs freeze up in critical moments – making him vulnerable to attack.”

“So…what’s your deal with that Anastasha woman anyway?”

Gaeul glared at me suspiciously. For some reason, she ordered strawberry ade today. After taking a sip, I gave her a brief explanation.

“She’s Light Blade’s wife and Seok Harang’s mother – Rusalka. A spirit who reincarnated/possessed a Russian girl.”

“…Wait, isn’t she the same age as Gaeul if she was born in ’92?”

Deokbae, who had already finished his iced Americano and was crunching on ice, asked casually. Gaeul’s hands trembled for a moment before she slapped them together and exclaimed happily.

“Oh my! Some people already have a 21-year-old daughter at that age? Hahaha! …Didn’t I tell you not to talk about age?”

“Saying nothing won’t make your age disappear.”

Deokbae’s teasing made Gaeul clench her fists in frustration. Nearby, Yu I-shin glanced at the screen and tilted her head curiously.

“Vladimir.R.Anastasha… If she’s 28 this year, then the age difference between her and Light Blade would be…”

“About 78 years old probably.”

The executives were momentarily speechless. The sound of me sipping my drink was the only thing heard in the lounge.

“So what? It doesn’t matter anyway since she’s not human. And they’re both adults now. What’s the problem?”

“The Rurik family holds key positions in the Russian government. Especially Anastasha’s uncle…”

“Enough. I’m just trying to enjoy my tea here.”

Ryu Cheonseong put down his cup, his hand trembling slightly. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction.

“You were so bold facing Sun Icheol, what’s gotten into you? Don’t worry, Rusalka… I mean Undine, is definitely on our side now.”

“What? How did that happen?”

Through another mouthful of ice, Deokbae shot me a look asking what trouble I’d caused now. I swirled my straw in my drink and struggled to suppress a laugh.

“I’ve agreed to sell them what they want most. Fufufu.”

“…Did you just copy Eun Yuhwa?”

Gaeul slammed her strawberry ade down angrily. The other executives started to rise awkwardly from their seats, which I noticed immediately. I subtly released some mana to keep them seated.

“Stay seated. We’re not done yet.”

The executives who had started to stand reluctantly sat back down. Gaeul, embarrassed, nervously fixed her bangs while I grabbed her ade.

“I’m thirsty, mind if I take a sip?”

“…Oh, uh, sure.”

I washed away the lingering milk taste in my mouth with her ade. I brought up the screen to summarize the battle.

“As you’ve all felt, your combat abilities are still severely lacking. Most of you died once or twice, and by the end everyone except Phantom and Lighthouse became cores. Black Flame Dragon was flying around doing its own thing, so we’ll exclude that.”

“We did our best though!”

Yu I-shin raised her voice. Though the other executives tried to give her hints, her clear voice remained steady.

“While we couldn’t stop the A-rank heroes, we successfully tied down over 3,500 others. We did our best-”

“I know. I see the effort you put in behind the scenes. But the results weren’t good. Honestly, we can consider this operation a failure. If the dimensional gate hadn’t appeared and the Round Table had turned against us, it would have been 100% failure.”

The executives’ expressions turned uncomfortable. While they may have given their all, looking at the actual results, their contributions were extremely minimal.

“Let’s set aside myself and Lighthouse for now. Shall we break down the contributions? Black Flame Dragon takes 47%, all the mini phoenixes combined get 31%, Phantom gets 9% – highest among humans. The rest aren’t worth mentioning.”

“…Is that all I’m worth, just 1%?”

Deokbae complained irritably. I silently nodded, holding up all five fingers.

“You resurrected too many times. That’s an impressive record for C-rank, but you fought as an A-rank Flaming Giant, Mr. Deokbae. Accept it.”

“Tch.”

Deokbae grumbled while checking the names below him for some consolation. Ryu Cheonseong looked over the summary I had prepared and whistled.

“Wow, you managed to compile all this amidst everything?”

“The mini phoenixes helped a lot. Anyway, your growth is crucial for future plans. Very crucial.”

“Though there wasn’t any immediate noticeable progress, I think this much is quite a significant achievement.”

James cautiously defended the executives while glancing at me. Ryu Cheonseong nodded in agreement.

“Don’t rush things, Leader. That Seongju guy isn’t coming for another five years, right? Look at me. I’ve been stuck at A-rank for years, but I live with the positive belief that I’ll reach S-rank someday.”

“…Sigh. Alright.”

I forced myself to swallow the fact that Sky Castle appears as an A-rank villain in the original story. Since Ryu Cheonseong’s meaning was crystal clear, I took a deep breath and finished my ade.

“Alright then. Let’s take a break this morning. Keep an eye on China’s dimensional gate situation, and after lunch we’ll collect the cores.”

“Isn’t that too late? What if something happens in the meantime?”

In response to Gaeul’s concern, I pointed toward the Han River visible through the window.

“With that guy guarding there, what could possibly go wrong?”

Under Mapo Bridge, the Black Dragon could be seen crouched on the water’s surface, cradling numerous cores.

* * *

What should I say when we meet again?

Since the moment she became possessed by Anastasha, Rusalka has spent twenty years pondering this question. Though she knew Heo Yoon-hwan was alive in Korea, she couldn’t bring herself to seek him out. Even knowing her daughter was growing up healthily, she couldn’t face her directly.

“It scared me.”

She was afraid. For Rusalka, now the human Anastasha, memories from Tera and those of the brainwashed officer merged seamlessly.

“Am I Rusalka, or am I Anastasha?”

Sometimes she even questioned whether she truly was Anastasha carrying on the memories of the spirit Rusalka. She played the role of a good human daughter in front of others, but internally suffered greatly from identity confusion.

“Ultimately, it didn’t matter which. What mattered was him and our daughter.”

Still, Rusalka lived her human life gazing only at Heo Yoon-hwan. Day by day, surrounded by her father’s and siblings’ love, the spirit came to understand human affection and decided to continue Anastasha’s life.

“Anyone who dared to intrude on my heart got frozen out.”

No man ever entered Anastasha’s heart romantically. She maintained extreme restraint regarding her love for the Light Blade, and eventually her family gave up on arranging her marriage.

– May 9th, Death of Light Blade Heo Yoon-hwan

This was the first day Anastasha cried. She wept endlessly, and Vladimir Manor was covered in frost. As an adult who rarely drank, she consoled her sorrow with alcohol.

Then, about three weeks later from that point. Learning that some idiot was responsible for Heo Yoon-hwan’s death, she considered confronting him head-on, but the idiot explained his seemingly logical reasons for needing to kill Heo Yoon-hwan.

“How dare someone kill another person’s husband? Damn brat.”

She understood. Anastasha had sacrificed herself to save her husband and daughter too.

However, regardless of that understanding, the actions of this idiot who insisted on killing Heo Yoon-hwan first without even attempting dialogue troubled her deeply.

Why wouldn’t he even consider talking? Though he claimed to have broken free from brainwashing, perhaps he hadn’t fully recovered from it, Anastasha couldn’t help but suspect reasonably.

“Is he really sane? …Not my place to say.”

Anastasha decided to stop worrying about the idiot. From when she was in Tera, even when brainwashed as an officer, this idiot had always been an unpredictable presence whose thoughts were impossible to grasp.

“Just too damn strong.”

She somewhat understood how the idiot was finally subdued by Seongju in the end. Going up against six brainwashed officers and Seongju himself, fighting until the end with his true form despite everything – it was almost admirable.

“But why has this idiot become such a fool?”

It must be because Seongju beat his brains in too hard during the brainwashing process. There’s no way a person could change this much otherwise.

“…People do change though.”

Anastasha tried hard to understand him. Just as she had changed, maybe he was going through his own transformation process. After all, both Anastasha and the idiot were beings from the same world with similar backgrounds.

“Yeah. He’s probably changing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be spouting all this nonsense.”

Perhaps reflecting on how he ended up fighting alone without any disciples and got brainwashed. In this way, Anastasha repeatedly convinced herself countless times.

“Hmph.”

Anastasha stopped walking as the smell of the sea reached her nose. Following the magical residue trail indicated by the idiot, she arrived where a knight in a black cloak stood with his back to her.

“Pfft.”

Seeing his silhouette reminded Anastasha of the day they first met by the sea in Gangwon-do. The interest she felt when that weak human stepped forward protectively had gradually developed into love.

“You’ve become reliable, husband.”

The title of strongest in a nation wasn’t earned easily. Even from afar, she could feel his power through his mana alone – he had surpassed her by far.

Whoosh!

With a light wave of Heo Yoon-hwan’s hand, the sea parted. Rising sea beasts were instantly slain. Anastasha raised her hand instinctively before lowering it awkwardly.

“I don’t need to protect him anymore…”

She felt confused. She knew it. He was no longer the frail human she needed to protect.

“What if he’s fallen for someone else…?”

She never properly investigated due to fear of revealing her feelings. On the surface, she knew Light Blade was unmarried. But could he really have gone twenty years without dating anyone?

“He might be secretly seeing someone…”

She felt uneasy. She couldn’t forget her love, but what if his heart didn’t contain her? What if there was someone else? She felt anxious and fearful.

Anastasha couldn’t take another step forward. Just ten steps away, she froze standing still.

Heo Yoon-hwan slumped against some bushes. His muttering was strangely distracting. Anastasha focused all her attention on listening and barely caught it.

-Hotel…right now…might get caught…

“A young woman’s voice.”

Anastasha clenched her fists tightly. Her nails pierced her skin drawing blood, but she didn’t feel the pain – only the ache in her heart. This hurt more than the day she learned of his death, more than the pain of having her heart pierced by a sword.

“Of course. Twenty years have passed.”

Anastasha turned away. Without being noticed. Thus, she missed seeing Heo Yoon-hwan sitting by someone’s grave.

“Be happy.”

That was all she could say for now. As Anastasha closed her eyes and completed the transfer,

“Rusalka will have something to say when we meet.”

The giggling voice made Anastasha bite her lips. The emotion-laden voice carried by the sea breeze reassured her.

He still loves me.

As Anastasha hurriedly turned around, the transfer had already begun. Once initiated, there was no stopping it.

“No…”

She had used too many transfers since dawn. From Moscow to Sakhalin, flying from Sakhalin, then from Dandong to Busan. Only enough mana remained for one final transfer back to her Moscow home.

“There’s so much I want to say. Why do I have to leave like this?”

She wanted to stop the transfer immediately. But already more than half of her body had disappeared. Anastasha helplessly extended her hand and quietly said:

“Do you really have something to say?”

No, that wasn’t what she wanted to say. Before she could try saying anything else, Anastasha found herself lying in bed in her Moscow bedroom.

“Ah, hahaha.”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. All this courage built up for twenty years ended so futilely. She felt ashamed and angry with herself for hesitating alone for twenty years without taking this simple step.

“Huh, huhuuu.”

Biting her lips and grinding her teeth couldn’t stop the welling sadness. Her heart felt like it had failed, and something kept surging up from within, threatening to burst.

Bang bang bang! Urgent knocking came from the door.

“Anastasha?! We’ve heard the news! Why did you go to the battlefield without contacting anyone?”

Her stern father’s scolding sounded through the door. Anastasha sniffled, trying to respond but unable to form coherent words.

“Ah…papa…”

Bang! The door broke open, revealing an angry bear-like figure. The towering middle-aged man stormed in, ready to yell, but stopped short upon seeing Anastasha’s face and rushed to her bedside.

The man, Anastasha’s father Vladimir Nikolayevich Suborof, silently embraced her.

“There, cry all you want. My beloved daughter.”

“Huuuuuuuuu!!”

In her father’s arms, Anastasha sobbed like a child who had lost her parents until exhaustion overtook her. When the startled Suborof called the doctor for examination, it turned out to be mild magical exhaustion.

Suborof stayed by Anastasha’s bedside, carefully nursing her while calming his anger.

“You damn Round Table bastards… You’ve made my daughter suffer this much?”

Suborof dialed a number with rage. This wasn’t the time to care about dignity or pride. Soon, a balding man appeared on the screen, preparing his tea.

[Brother. We’re in an emergency meeting right now…]

“The Round Table bastards made my daughter cry.”

[Who is this?]

The man’s eyes narrowed sharply. His nameplate, stained by spilled tea, read “Prime Minister.”

* * *

“…I’m getting chills.”

[You’ve worked hard. Gale Guest has entered, so you can head to the hotel now.]

“Because of Harang?”

[Or maybe because of the drinks?]

Shivering, Heo Yoon-hwan made his way to the hotel.