Survivors.
Although it might be a bit of a stretch to call them that, in any case, the people who had been chased by the long necked monster began to earnestly speak about where they had been imprisoned.
“Th-, the mine is a place that shouldn’t exist.”
“It can’t be compared to a prison or concentration camp. W-, we were in hell.”
“Uhuk, huk…”
One of the women sobbed through the entire conversation. Even if they didn’t, instead of being relieved that they had escaped, most of the others still seemed unable to get over the fear they had experienced in the mine.
But Dok Go-yun’s expression as he listened to these people’s stories was indifferent. Of course, this wasn’t because he was taking their words lightly or thought they were lying.
It was simply because he couldn’t get rid of the thought that it was boring.
These people probably didn’t doubt that what they had experienced was the most terrible thing in the world, but sadly, that wasn’t true.
This tragedy, which they thought was one of a kind, was just one of the events that happened all of the time in this messed up world.
Having no power in this world was, in itself, a sin. It was a cruel thing to say, but it was the reality.
And those who had been captured and placed into the mine were the lowest of the lowest class who had no means to protect themselves.
…He felt nauseous.
These people had no plans, no vision.
Dok Go-yun couldn’t understand that. His every move had been under the control of the Heavenly Demon. There wasn’t any part of his life that he could call his own. All he could do was hide the part called ‘me’ in the deepest corner of his thoughts, hiding even his true nature.
But these people were different.
“Ahhh…”
“Why, why did this happen?
“A few days ago, something like this… uhukhuk.”
Before they had been kidnapped,
These must have seen enough to realise the world was going crazy. Stories circulated on the TV, in the newspapers, and on the streets. No matter what form it was, there was no way for them to not encounter the media.
And yet, they had no feeling of danger.
They dismissed the disasters occurring in the other parts of the world as things that had nothing to do with them.
That was the part that truly made Dok Go-yun feel disgusted.
‘Why didn’t you all develop the power to protect yourselves while living in a world like this?’
He forcibly stopped himself from asking such a question. Apart from having strange feelings because of their gratitude, it seemed that if he continued to ponder this fact, his mind would be filled with dark and shady thoughts that could not be calmed.
“…what are you going to do?”
So he turned towards Yang In-hyun and asked.
After all, it was Yang In-hyun who had sensed the tragedy occurring in this mine. And he was also the one who immediately decided that these people needed to be saved, so Dok Go-yun knew that this man was actually a kind hearted man.
“Will you kill that ‘Demon of the Mine?’?”
He didn’t know who the Demon of the Mine was or how powerful they were. However, Dok Go-yun could not imagine Yang In-hyun losing. In the first place, if he hadn’t had this thought, he would not have accompanied them on a dangerous journey to the [VIP’s General Review Meeting].
Yang In-hyun looked at the people with calm eyes before turning his head in another direction.
It was a completely different direction, neither where the Omega was nor where the people came running from.
“Someone else is coming.”
“Huh?”
“You can’t be so careless this time.”
“…!”
Dok Go-yun suddenly felt a surge of energy covering his entire body in an instant.
Before he even had time to continue his thoughts, he had already prepared himself to use his signature Dark Cloud Fog.
Then he stretched out his hand.
Boom boom boom!
The ground shook and the sound of multiple explosions resounded.
Surprisingly, Dok Go-yun felt a throbbing pain in his palm.
Although it wasn’t perfect, how had it managed to do so much damage despite him using his Dark Fog Palm(黑霧掌).
“…”
At that moment, it seemed that Dok Go-yun wasn’t the only one that was surprised. For a moment, a look of surprise flashed across the expressionless face of his opponent. The enemy, who had slammed his foot down midair, used the force of the collision with Dok Go-yun to create some distance. Then, after gracefully somersaulting a few times, they finished with a smooth landing.
‘Strong.’
Just now,
Even though it was a surprise attack, Dok Go-yun was the one who had lost in that exchange. He’d felt it at the same time. That the opponent had extremely domineering internal energy.
In other words.
‘The opponent is a martial artist.’
At the very least, they are a person with martial prowess on a similar level to Dok Go-yun.
Dok Go-yun turned his eyes towards the opponent. Rather than a figure that could never be thought of as a demon, it would make more sense to call them an angel.
It was a man who was so handsome that he made Dok Go-yun feel that every other man he’d seen in his life looked shabby. But rather than the young man’s unconventional appearance, Dok Go-yun paid more attention to the internal energy that he could sense from him.
“…strong.”
The young man reiterated his thought with an indifferent voice.
Naturally, the corner of Dok Go-yun’s lip curled up into a sneer.
“Who the hell are you?”
“There’s no need for trash like you to know my name.”
“That’s smart. Right. Clearly, even if I knew who you were, it wouldn’t change the fact that you attacked me.”
In any case, this man had come at him first. Dok Go-yun had no intention of letting go of this fact.
Although the cruel disposition that he’d displayed while acting as a puppet for the Heavenly Demon was not his true self, he was not a nice enough person to laugh even after being slapped on the cheek.
At the very least, he had to return as good as he got.
If the other person’s goal was his life, then it was only fair for him to respond in kind.
“If your wish is to die then I’ll gladly help you!”
The young man kicked off from the ground without bothering to wait for a reply, and the engagement between the two powerful martial artists began.
And.
“…”
Yang In-hyun watched on from a distance with his deep gaze.
* * *
“I didn’t think you’d recognise me with a glance.”
It was a calm voice.
The man didn’t try to hide his joy, but he continued to narrow the distance to Lukas with quiet steps.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything to treat you with. However, I’m sure you understand, right? After all, tea in a Wizard’s workshop would be as fitting as a dress in a smithy.”
“You know me.”
At that, the man made a slightly disappointed expression. It seemed he thought the joke he’d just said was quite good.
It was only for a moment. Soon, he had a smile on his face once again as he said.
“I know you. You’re Lukas Trowman.”
Lukas didn’t react.
This was because he couldn’t jump to any conclusions even if this man talked as if he really knew him. After all, there was another ‘Lukas Trowman’ in this world. It was possible that he was the Lukas he was thinking about.
But the words that followed denied the possibility Lukas was thinking about.
“Of course, I’m not talking about the ‘Lukas Trowman’, that’s currently world renowned. I’m talking about the Hero of the Era of Light who fought the Demigods in the past, the only Great Mage and Great Teacher, who could never be left out when discussing the history of magicology…”
“…”
“Now. Is this enough of an explanation for the Human Lukas?”
Lukas narrowed his eyes at those words and the atmosphere gradually cooled. There was no way the man wouldn’t notice this fact, but he didn’t let go of his relaxed attitude.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about your life after that. Perhaps the concept of Absolutes is still impossible for me to comprehend.”
“…Cairo Wilsemann.”
At that moment, Lukas finally called the man’s name.
“You have been completely corrupted.”
Cairo let out a quiet laugh instead of responding. He plopped himself down onto an old sofa that sat in the corner of the workshop and crossed his fingers before speaking.
“It’s not corruption. However, I will admit that there have been some changes of thought. I don’t know what time frame of Cairo you knew as ‘Cairo Wilsemann’ but, ah, by the way, I didn’t actually remember you. Those were all things I heard about Lukas Trowman from Diablo.”
Then he smiled lightly.
“By chance, are you disappointed?”
“Refrain from asking questions like that. I don’t have enough patience at the moment.”
For Lukas, that was probably the most polite warning that he could give.
But Cairo didn’t let go of his beaming expression.
“Then what will you do? Kill me?”
“That depends on your answer.”
“Hahaha. That’s a good one.”
He burst into laughter before gesturing with his chin.
“Ask whatever you want. I’ll answer truthfully.”
“Are you the Demon of the Mine?”
As he asked the question, he already knew the answer. So what Lukas wanted to see was Cairo’s response.
“That’s right.”
Cairo affirmed. He still had an attitude where he couldn’t seem to let go of his smile.
He had a sense of composure that was impossible to hide, and Lukas found himself unable to understand it.
A relaxed attitude was something that was only afforded to the strong. And in this situation, Cairo could never be said to be in a strong position.
Did he not even know that? Could he not tell the capabilities of the person standing in front of him?
“Cairo Wilsemann, do you want to die?”
Lukas wasn’t threatening him, he was genuinely curious so he asked.
“Do you think I can’t kill you? Do you think I don’t even have that much power?”
“Not at all. I watched you kill Twohands. Although I created it, it was a complete entity that even I wouldn’t be able to deal with. If you were to try to decide to kill me now, I probably wouldn’t even be able to respond.”
“Then why do you continue to provoke me?”
“Because you are unable to kill me.”
It was at that point that Lukas began to suspect Cairo’s mental state. However, this man’s eyes were freezingly cold.
His cold gaze contrasted sharply with his smiling mouth. But it also served as proof that this man was perfectly sane.
In that case…
“Whether you completely stop my body’s vital activities using your vaunted magic to burn me, freeze me, crush me or even some method that surpasses my understanding. If that is what you mean by death, then even hundreds of lives wouldn’t be enough.”
“Then what do you think death is?”
“Being forgotten.”
Pale, who had been standing next to him, burst out laughing. Cairo wouldn’t be able to understand, but she certainly deserved to let out a laugh. After all, she was one of the oldest inhabitants of a forgotten world.
And in the same sense, Lukas would also have the right to laugh.
However, he didn’t.
This was because he could see the rising emotion within Cairo’s eyes.
“Even if I kill you, as long as others remember you, then you won’t truly die, isn’t that true?”
“That’s a very philosophical perspective. It is interesting, but it’s also a bit wrong.”
Lukas let out a sigh.
“…I’m not here to discuss death with you. Tell me, why are you doing this? What do you have to gain from torturing, mutating, and extractive negative emotions from your fellow humans? Isn’t your goal just to spread death?”
“You’re mistaken. The things happening here have nothing to do with Diablo’s plan.”
Cairo smiled with a relaxed expression.
“This is just for my personal desire to learn. In other words, this entire area is just a large testing site.”
“…”
The man named Cairo Wilsemann that Lukas had known.
He was someone who had recognised the corruption in the circle faster than anyone else, because of which he lost his only brother, and without caring about the fact that he was on his own, created a new force with his bare hands.
Paragon.
In preparation for the battle with the Demigods that would happen someday, Cairo chose to bleed on his own without hesitation.
Lukas felt that for him, the word belief could be replaced with aspiration.
He was completely different from his brother Rezil Wilsemann, who was tired of Lord’s pressure and chose to compromise with reality.
He was a man worthy of the last name ‘Wilsemann’.
…Was a man.
“Cairo Wilsemann.”
That’s why it was a shame.
“Why did you change so much?”
“…”
Cairo couldn’t answer. Just as he opened his mouth to say something with a smile.
“Urp.”
His eyes suddenly flew wide open.
“Uur, urp. Uwek…” (TL: Just thinking/reading this made my stomach do a flip)
Then, he vomited up a mouthful of dark blood. Pieces of his internal organs could be seen in it. Surprisingly, Cairo’s blood was also dark blue. Just like Twohands above, Cairo’s blood could no longer be called the blood of a human.
It seemed that he had also carried out his ‘experiment’ on his own body.
“Hu, huhaha…”
Chuckling, Cairo glared at Lukas with bright red eyes. He must have realised that he was about to die. However, he didn’t seem scared at all.
In a way, it seemed like he was feeling joyful.
“Now, I can finally…”
Cairo fell forward, unable to finish his words. Like water leaking from a broken glass bottle, blood spread across the ground.
Just as Lukas was about to walk to him.
Pale grabbed Lukas by the collar. Then, after he stopped, an unexpected event occurred before he could ask why.
Cairo’s body, which had collapsed, rose up like a puppet being controlled by strings.
[I’ve been waiting.]
The toneless voice still belonged to Cairo, but Lukas knew that his body was being controlled by a completely different being.
“Diablo.”
Comments