Chapter 324

〈Chapter 324〉 Part 1, Chapter 14, 15

The battle was over.

I folded my wings and landed beside Karna, de-transforming.

“Are you feeling a bit more with it now?”

As I swished my hand to create a gust of wind, the smoke cleared, revealing a blond maiden sprawled out in the crater center.

“…I’ve lost.”

Karna conceded defeat gracefully. Even after using their ultimate move, I countered with mine and emerged victorious.

“You didn’t fight as Gaechonkwang but as Karna, hence the result.”

“Hmph, so that’s how it is.”

The girl who had been Karna chuckled wryly.

“So, you’ve already broken free from brainwashing, huh?”

“Partially. The brainwashing has lifted, but consider this my current state.”

I partially transformed my hand into a monster limb, forming gauntlets to threaten Gaechonkwang. Gaechonkwang rose with a smirk in response.

“To speak so boldly against Seongju… It makes sense now that your brainwashing has lifted.”

“Yeah, same goes for you.”

Technically, Karna as an entity hasn’t completely disappeared. I merely cleared the conditions for Gaechonkwang’s consciousness to resurface.

“‘Vasavi Shakti.’ That’s not Karna’s technique but Gaechonkwang’s skill—not as a weapon but as a spear-throwing art.”

“Ah, so I mistook it for an artifact.”

Plunk. Plink. Gaechonkwang picked up five golden cores that had fallen from her person. They were all dimmed and looked like they could shatter at any moment.

“These weren’t artifacts I regarded as disciples but restraints keeping me from regaining my senses.”

“Right? Those monsters clinging to you have been suppressing your spirit as a Spirit. Now…”

I casually swung my arm behind me, mimicking the motion of throwing a spear.

“I used an ultimate move to throw those spears and detached them from your body. And now you’re pretty much battered. With Karna acknowledging defeat, she fainted, and the long-dormant Gaechonkwang finally woke up. Welcome back, Gaechonkwang. To Earth.”

“…Thank you.”

I extended my hand, and Gaechonkwang took it.

“Well then, everyone, the fight’s over. Come out from the shelter. Seong Hyung, Garura. Both of you.”

“……!”

From afar, a human and a monster cautiously revealed themselves. Garura, eyes brimming with tears, dashed to Gaechonkwang and embraced her tightly.

“Huuuuuuuuh! Huhuuuuuuu!”

Garura sobbed uncontrollably, expressing grief beyond words. Gaechonkwang patted her back gently despite being significantly shorter.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“I, I…!”

“I know without you saying anything. I can see what happened just by looking at your face. …Sorry, I wasn’t strong enough.”

“It was a type disadvantage; there was nothing you could do about Azidahaka getting captured second.”

Though it disrupted the touching reunion, I had no time to spare for Garura and Gaechonkwang’s heartfelt meeting.

“You’re not fully back yet, right? You know as well as I do—there’s someone inside you.”

“…Karna.”

Gaechonkwang placed her hand on her chest. Just as I said, within Gaechonkwang lies Karna, unconscious from defeat.

“When your magic power recovers, Karna will wake up too, since we haven’t applied the method to purify the cadre yet.”

“What is it?”

“Love.”

“Pfft!”

Seong Hyung let out a dry cough. But I empathized with his disbelief. The masterstroke of awakening spirits being “love”—it’s hard to believe even after hearing and seeing it once. Imagine how Seong Hyung feels.

“You did love someone, Master… Ah, by any chance?”

“Not Cheon Gaeul.”

“…Please apologize to Sister Gaeul.”

“I carry regret every day. Anyway.”

I waved off Seong Hyung and refocused on Gaechonkwang. Garura anxiously hovered nearby, fearing Gaechonkwang might disappear again.

“So, now I’m going to take you somewhere to deal with this. We’ll create a situation where Karna fights until they get tired of it.”

In the original story, Karna’s awakening battle consisted of seven consecutive battles.

Defeat a D-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

Defeat a C-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

Defeat a B-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

Defeat an A-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

Defeat an S-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

Defeat an SS-ranked opponent 1-on-1.

It was insane, and Karna adjusted their level accordingly for each rank. Though the order didn’t matter, naturally, the difficulty increased as the ranks went higher.

“I’ve beaten SS-rank, so now let’s work our way down step by step. Six more battles should do it.”

“…Hmm, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it seems unnecessary.”

“Huh? What are you saying? Is there another solution besides the one from the original story?”

“Since I’m in Karna’s body, I’ve inherited their memories. Whether it’s shared memory or split personalities, I’m not entirely sure. But…”

Garura released her grip, and Gaechonkwang took a deep breath, placing her hand on her chest.

“You said Karna would die. Does that mean Karna’s existence will vanish, and I, Gaechonkwang, will come to the forefront?”

“Yes. Like extracting Seoyea and Hwanryong from Rusalka and Chaos.”

To kill the Dark Legion cadre Karna and revive the light attribute spirit Gaechonkwang.

This was the precedent set by other spirits and the future awaiting other cadres.

“Don’t worry. Your original personality is simply resurfacing—”

“No. I refuse.”

Gaechonkwang shook her head. Could she be giving up at the moment of revival? My fists clenched.

“…Now that I have the name ‘Garura,’ I should be called Garura, shouldn’t I? Garura, what did I say was best about combat?”

“Yes. You said fighting isn’t always the answer, and there’s always another way to solve problems.”

“Are you enlightened? Are you polishing your path? What kind of talk is this during the Great Monster Era?”

What do these two think about the rules of this RPG-based world? I asked my disciple, Seong Hyung.

“Is there a better solution than this?”

“…Even so, resorting to violence first isn’t right.”

My disciple betrayed me. Gaechonkwang gently pressed down on my fist with her palm.

“That’s also an excellent way to solve things. Th… ”

“I go by Phoenix now. Until I defeat Seongju, I’ll live under the name Phoenix.”

“Hmm. Ah, impressive. Living with purpose through a name, admirable indeed.”

Actually, it’s because Chang-yeom exists that I can’t refer to her as such, but whether Gaechonkwang misunderstands or not is irrelevant.

“So, how do you plan to handle Karna?”

“This is a communicative opponent. More accurately, it has become possible to communicate.”

Gaechonkwang chuckled while patting my fist with her palm.

“They’ve fought enough already. Having battled the strongest in the world, they have no regrets.”

“Huh?”

“They’ve fought to their full potential against the strongest in the world and now wish to savor the afterglow of that battle.”

“Wait a minute.”

I panicked and grabbed Karna’s shoulder, shaking it.

“You’re a spirit, Xiao Lin, right? After losing, you should sharpen your blade and challenge again, determined to win next time! How can you just lie down satisfied?!”

“…Why are you questioning me about this? You’re making me questionable to begin with.”

Gaechonkwang calmed me down instead. Her figure began to grow as she straightened her clothes—a sign her magic power was recovering.

“Karna adapted quite a bit to human society during nearly twenty years living among humans. At least compared to other cadres, Karna is the most ‘human.'”

“A brawler? A thug who beats people up when annoyed?”

“…Isn’t fulfilling one’s desires a virtue of humanity? Yeah. Eating, sleeping, fighting—”

“Stop with the hand gestures.”

Gaechonkwang grabbed my hand and shook it up and down, so I immediately grabbed her wrist.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Because it’s unhealthy for disciple education, so stop.”

Garura tilted her innocent head, while Seong Hyung blinked and looked skyward.

“So, you’re saying Karna fought like a human and is content, meaning Karna won’t return? Do you really think that?”

I directly contradicted Gaechonkwang’s outlook.

“Human greed knows no end, and repeating the same mistakes is part of it, right?”

“…No, you seem to have misunderstood something I said.”

Gaechonkwang raised both hands, summoning two lights. One was gold tinged with purple, and the other was pure, radiant gold.

“If ‘Karna’ represents my monster persona, then it’s still me. Granted, maybe a little grumpier.”

“…So what exactly are you trying to say?”

Snap.

Gaechonkwang merged the two lights into one. The sphere glowed faintly purple but retained a clear, bright amethyst-like hue.

“Since this is the world of humans, I should live as a human too. If so, I need a ‘name,’ though creating one is surprisingly difficult. Complicated stuff.”

Gaechonkwang pointed at herself with her thumb and grinned.

“In that sense, how about this? Since I’m no longer a cadre, I thought I’d try living as a hero.”

“…A hero?”

Surely not. That can’t be right.

But my uneasy predictions always eerily come true.

“<Gaechonkwang> Karna. Isn’t Gaechonkwang suitable as a hero’s alias and Karna as the name of a human living on Earth?”

“…Hero?”

While hugging Garura, Gaechonkwang rubbed her cheek against the younger girl’s head. By now, Gaechonkwang had grown to the height she reached before using her ultimate move, forcing me and Garura to look up at her.

“The sound of ‘Garura’ is similar, isn’t it? Or, maybe setting the name as Karura, which feels the same as yours—”

“No, stick with Karna.”

Garura firmly stated.

“Rather, absolutely, just use Karna. Don’t even think about Karura.”

“…Does Karura sound weird? Then Kyaruna—”

“No way!”

The verbal sparring between Garura and Karna continued, ultimately leading Garura to successfully defend Karna’s name.

Victory for the Lord.

* * *

Phoenix seemed to be plotting something sinister with Seong Hyung and Garura.

<Gaechonkwang> Karna reflected on how Karna lived before realizing they were a spirit.

A fighter.

Karna’s twenty-year life revolved solely around fighting and battles, with nothing else.

If there was anything else, it was one thing.

‘Pilgrimage.’

Karna traveled with their six monsters, visiting places like Taj Mahal and various parts of India, battling monsters.

“People thought it was the charitable activity of an unregistered hero, a quirky individual with abilities.”

<Laakshasa>.

The title given to Karna and their six monsters by people who didn’t even know their names. People viewed Karna’s activities as peculiar.

“But in these hands…”

Karna raised their fist. Karna’s fists had struck not only monsters but humans too.

Although no humans were killed in the process, Karna was undoubtedly a villain who committed countless wrongdoings.

“Hero, huh.”

Karna’s gaze shifted to Phoenix and ‘Hwakwon.’ Phoenix shouted something while kicking Hwakwon’s knee, causing the latter to laugh and fake pain.

“If one who saves the world is a hero…”

Karna and Gaechonkwang both realized they were ultimately just dumb fighters who knew nothing but battle.

However, one thing was certain: both Karna and Gaechonkwang respected Phoenix’s strength and followed them.

Whether as the Dark Legion cadre Karna or the spirit Gaechonkwang, they would stand on the side of humanity following Phoenix’s will.

To prevent Earth from repeating the tragic fate of their homeworld Tera.

‘Do you think the same?’

Nod. The dormant beast within agreed, and a violet aura began to tint one of Karna’s eyes.

‘Karna.’

<Gaechonkwang>, Karna clenched their fist tightly.