896
[Chapter 222]
[A Handful of Light (6)]
Don't be ridiculous.
Eun-ha scoffed at Baek Seo-jin, who was waiting for his death with his eyes comfortably closed.
Anger welled up.
"O-Oppa...?"
"Baek-yeon, you should go back now. I'll handle the rest alone. Hermit noona."
"Yes, Clan Lord."
"Take Baek-yeon and go back. I... still have things to settle with this guy."
"...Yes, I understand."
Sending Baek Seo-jin off like this, his heart wouldn't allow it.
Eun-ha turned his back on Baek Seo-jin, who had opened his eyes at the sudden situation, and spoke to Im Baek-yeon and Hermit.
Eventually, Hermit tightly embraced Im Baek-yeon and jumped from her spot.
She landed where Im Ga-eul and others were with one jump.
"What on earth... are you trying to do?"
Meanwhile, Baek Seo-jin frowned.
The composure disappeared from his face.
It must be a completely unexpected situation.
In contrast, the corners of Eun-ha's mouth were raised almost to the end.
"What am I doing?"
"..." "Desecrating death."
Although Baek Seo-jin had defected, his dedication to this country couldn't be unconditionally disparaged.
He was still respected by people as a living myth.
However, that wasn't reason enough to send him off comfortably like this.
Especially─
"─I have to repay the debt I've suffered all this time."
Both before regression and after regression.
Eun-ha, who had only been toyed with by Baek Seo-jin, had no intention of sending him off comfortably.
"Conveniently, there are some good things here."
Eun-ha looked towards the floor.
The daggers Baek Seo-jin had used were lying on the floor.
Eighteen in total.
Whoosh
Eun-ha manifested mana, making those knives gather at his feet.
Then he picked up one.
"...I see. You're saying you'll kill me directly with your own hands." "Yes, that's right."
"Understood. Kill me."
Baek Seo-jin seemed to have realized.
Eun-ha nodded.
Baek Seo-jin was annihilating to the myth, but nevertheless, he was still alive.
So he could still be killed.
"You too, someday like this..."
Thud
Before Baek Seo-jin could finish his words.
Eun-ha stabbed Baek Seo-jin's eye with the knife, driving it in until it came out the back of his head.
The annihilating head fell to the floor, and at that moment, the remaining body turned into particles and disappeared.
Thus Baek Seo-jin died.
Or so he thought.
How can it end like this?
Eun-ha grasped the Dawn Sword.
The Dawn Sword was imbued with brilliant light.
Dawn Sword
Here lies the cause that led Baek Seo-jin to death.
Eun-ha destroyed the dagger.
The Dawn Sword destroyed the result by destroying that cause.
Baek Seo-jin was resurrected.
"I'm sure I died..."
"Who decides to die on their own?"
"What on earth did you do?"
"Think about it after you die."
Crack!
This time with all his might.
Eun-ha gripped the dagger with both hands and struck down on Baek Seo-jin's head.
His head was crushed like a watermelon, disappearing into particles just like it had turned into mana particles earlier.
Dawn Sword
Eun-ha destroyed the second dagger.
Using the Dawn Sword consecutively, plus the burden of reviving a person was considerable.
At least Baek Seo-jin was annihilating, so the burden was less.
Internal mana drains rapidly.
Eun-ha rummaged through his waist and moistened his mouth with an espresso double shot.
Mana recovered to some extent.
"How does it feel to have your head crushed?" "..."
"Still 16 left." "How can you treat a person's death as... Kuhek...!!"
Baek Seo-jin shouted as if indignant.
Eun-ha didn't miss that moment.
He thrust the third dagger into his mouth.
The blade pierced through the back of his head.
Once again, Baek Seo-jin died.
Dawn Sword
And Eun-ha destroyed the cause again, reviving Baek Seo-jin.
"This, what on earth..."
By then, even Baek Seo-jin could no longer maintain his composure.
His face contorted.
But with his limbs turning into particles and disappearing, leaving only his upper body floating in the air, there wasn't much he could do.
"What a shame. If your lower body was still there, I'd stab that too."
"..."
"See you later."
Fourth.
Eun-ha lightly stabbed only his eyes, making him die miserably in the darkness.
Fifth.
He cut off his tongue.
He screams in pain.
Eun-ha killed him because it was noisy.
Sixth.
Using wormhole magic, he kneaded his brain with his hand.
"Can you see this?"
"You have... quite a bad taste."
On the other hand, he opened a new wormhole, showing the brain being toyed with to his two eyes.
Baek Seo-jin was enraged by that alone, and blood vessels appeared in his eyes.
Baek Seo-jin, having suffered desecration of death, tried to choose death himself.
At that moment, Eun-ha swung the dagger, mutilating his brain.
Baek Seo-jin died.
Dawn Sword
Seventh.
Baek Seo-jin tried to choose suicide.
Eun-ha cut off his breath with the dagger faster than that.
Dawn Sword
"You don't even know human decency...!"
"It's ridiculous that you talk about human decency. Goodbye."
Eighth.
Baek Seo-jin shouted indignantly at the top of his lungs.
A person who has risen to the highest place desires to die honorably.
They want to leave meaning in death.
The curse he placed on Eun-ha could also be understood in that context.
But Baek Seo-jin never thought he would face death so meaninglessly, so futilely like this.
Moreover, he considered his death as the completion of his life existing as the
Therefore, dying honorably and passing on his myth to Eun-ha meant his victory.
"I can't let you go like that."
In other words, Baek Seo-jin may have lost the battle, but his beliefs didn't lose.
Rather, it could be said he won.
But Eun-ha denied that.
He shattered even his beliefs, making his death worthless.
Ninth.
"Please, I beg you, let me die. Just let me go peacefully..."
As soon as Baek Seo-jin came to his senses, he immediately pleaded with Eun-ha.
Nine deaths had the effect of breaking even someone with strong willpower.
"Still 9 left. Exactly half."
"Ah..."
Of course, Eun-ha didn't listen.
He gave a fishy smile.
The sight of him pleading with bloody tears was laughably pathetic.
Stab!
Tenth.
Eleventh.
"Twelve." "Thirteen."
"Fourteen." "Fifteen."
"Sixteen." "Seventeen."
He killed Baek Seo-jin countless times.
Eun-ha had to endure all sorts of burdens due to the Dawn Sword.
Nevertheless, he repeatedly revived Baek Seo-jin by destroying the cause, and killed him again and again.
Like that─
"─Eighteen."
Eun-ha used 18 daggers to declare 18 deaths for him.
Thus Baek Seo-jin died.
☆
Baek Seo-jin repeats dying and living.
It was an extremely surreal and cruel sight.
"This, we'll have to thoroughly silence people so it doesn't leak outside."
He muttered while watching that scene in the world after the darkness had cleared.
To think a dead person could be revived.
Eun-ha's myth is amazing enough, but if that power becomes known to the world, it would turn the world upside down.
The sight of cruelly killing Baek Seo-jin wasn't very pleasant to see either.
An action that would greatly divide opinions.
People who consider Eun-ha a hero called
Fortunately, this battle wasn't being broadcast.
Still, just in case, he hid Eun-ha and Baek Seo-jin with magic.
"Did we win..."
Eventually, when he lifted the magic, Eun-ha was standing alone in the center of the battlefield, looking up at the sky.
Only then could he be certain.
It's really over now.
Baek Seo-jin has been defeated.
"Baek Seo-jin is dead!!" "
By then, even people who had lost their minds soon noticed that, and shouted cheers ending the war.
Their voices echoed across the battlefield, boosting the morale of the players.
Morale reached its peak.
On the contrary, the Slayers' morale completely hit rock bottom.
Baek Seo-jin's death must have felt so cruel and meaningless, like killing livestock.
"This is no time to be like this! Charge!! Eliminate the remaining forces immediately!! You, quickly block the paths so they can't escape!!"
But they shouldn't be intoxicated with the joy of victory in this state.
The battle wasn't over yet.
The Slayers were trying to escape.
Seon Gi-jun caught their movements and immediately instructed the players.
Only then did the players chase after the Slayers who were turning their backs and fleeing.
It was the start of a pursuit.
"Don't let a single person escape!" "Contact nearby clans and quickly seal off the area!"
"Cheongnyangni! We need to block the paths so they can't escape into the darkness!!"
The players moved in unison to create an encirclement.
Telepathists requested support from nearby clans.
[I briefly report the results of the Slayer subjugation operation by Pandora Clan Telepathist Jin Seo-na. Completed the subjugation of
Not long after, good news rang in the players' minds.
The news spread quickly to Seoul.
Baek Seo-jin has fallen!
Lord Noh Eun-ha has won!
An operation conducted in utmost secrecy.
However, it was impossible to hide the battle that took place at the Mana Management Organization.
People nearby who first heard of Baek Seo-jin's annihilation shouted along with the players' voices.
That sound was spreading like waves throughout Seoul.
"My, my... It's noisy." "Of course it's noisy. They're all shouting for you to hear. More importantly, why did you do that earlier?"
Eun-ha quietly watched that scene and then flopped down on the ground.
Due to the recoil from activating myth and gift, plus the recoil from the Dawn Sword, his body was in terrible shape.
Yet it was surprising that there was still mana left in his body.
At that time, Noh Eun-ah, who came to treat him, suddenly hit his arm.
She had a stern expression.
"Do you know how surprised I was that you suddenly seemed to change? From now on, never do such a thing again." "Okay, I won't do it again."
Eun-ha apologized readily.
Eun-ha also realized that killing Baek Seo-jin over and over in front of people wasn't a very good act.
It was an act that lowered his dignity and deviated from propriety.
But at that time, he wanted to do it.
'With this, have I repaid Dad's share?'
Although it was just personal satisfaction.
Eun-ha was able to somewhat avenge his grudge by killing Baek Seo-jin over and over.
Meanwhile, Eun-ah didn't say anything more to Eun-ha about that.
Instead, she moved her hands ceaselessly to treat Eun-ha's body.
"Look at this, what is this? The kid's body is in tatters. Why do you always end up like this when you fight?"
"I tried to fight without getting hurt... It just doesn't work out as I thought."
"You say..."
Eun-ah lifted Eun-ha's clothes and clicked her tongue.
Eun-ha needlessly turned his head away, avoiding her eyes.
The treatment continued in that state.
"Just how did you fight... How did you end up with a hole in your stomach? Do you know you could have died like this, don't you? You could have lost an eye if it went wrong."
"Of course I controlled it well not to die..." "Controlled?"
"...Are you not hurt anywhere, noona?" "Look at him changing the subject."
Noh Eun-ah clicked her tongue.
Then she was about to hit Eun-ha hard but quietly withdrew her hand.
And then she started using healing magic to treat the urgent wounds first.
"Sigh, emergency treatment is done, so let's go to the hospital for the rest. It doesn't seem like there's anything more I can treat here."
Eventually, Noh Eun-ah's treatment ended.
She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Can you stand up?" "Yeah, don't worry. If it's hard to move, I can ride on Kang."
"Okay, do that then. I'll go treat other people now." "You really aren't hurt anywhere, right?"
"Even if I got a little hurt in the darkness, thanks to you it's all healed and gone. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
Even after receiving Eun-ah's treatment, the recoil was still gripping him.
Nevertheless, Eun-ha tried not to show it and jumped up from his spot.
Noh Eun-ah, who had a stern face throughout the treatment, softened her expression.
Then she burst into laughter at Eun-ha's acting.
"Anyway, good job. Rest well."
Seeing Eun-ha stand up.
Noh Eun-ah turned her back.
There was still much to do.
She had to treat the injured people.
Having treated her younger brother, now she ran around the battlefield to treat other people.
"Hm? Huh?"
After treating several people like that.
She tilted her head.
"..."
It was a phenomenon that happened momentarily.
Her hand treating a patient suddenly became semi-transparent.
She flinched seeing that and stopped the healing magic.
When she blinked once, her semi-transparent hand had returned to normal.
"Was it my imagination..."
Is it because she's tired?
Maybe it's because she used a lot of internal mana.
It must be an illusion.
Noh Eun-ah thought so and decided to focus on treatment.