Wing!
There came a muffled sound accompanied by vibrations.
Wing! Wing! Wing!
Tremors spread out in circles like ripples. Flaaaaash! And as they came down, they transformed into a light and covered their surroundings. Like a fire ignited by oil, a giant cluster of light shot forth, and Chi-Woo felt something drop to the ground. It was his club, rolling on the ground; it seemed the bun had reached its limit and dropped the weapon. Chi-Woo’s beating heart also gradually settled, and in turns, the blood circulating through his veins returned to normal. His body that had felt hot enough to explode also cooled, and a sense of exhaustion swept over him. His insides felt completely empty now.
Chi-Woo arched his back and reached for the club. When he was just shy of grabbing it, however, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. His hands still felt numb, and his legs no longer listened to him. Chi-Woo barely managed to keep his head up.
The brilliant light was still shooting up, and after touching the sky, it poured back down like rain. Chi-Woo let out a small sigh. He had wanted to ensure one more god on their side, but after battling one, he realized how foolish he had been to even consider that. It was simply a miracle that he was still alive—such a miracle that he couldn’t ask for anything more.
Yes. The important point was that he was alive and well, and he had finished what he promised to do. ‘Ah, I don’t know.’ Chi-Woo lay on the ground, stretched out. As he stared at the night sky, embroidered with lights, a refreshed smile tugged at his lips. He had defeated a god. He must have accumulated an enormous number of merits and more with everything that would come following this success.
However, the problem was that there were precious few ways for him to use these merits. Even if he wanted to use the merits for personal causes, there weren’t many options or places to use them. It was like having a lot of money in his bank, but not many places to use it. Of course, he had the option of making another yongmaek and using it for himself, but considering the special privileges he had already gained, he didn’t really want to take this route; should another dangerous and risky battle like this happen again, he wanted to send someone else in his stead to fight. For example, he could send Ru Amuh next time. And to do this, he needed to invest in other people to a certain degree.
‘Still…’ Besides merits, Chi-Woo also hoped for other forms of compensation. After all, he had beaten a god, and Chi-Woo thought a reward would drop for such a deed.
‘They really need to give me something this time, for real.’
The battle was over, ending in the Sernitas’ complete loss. And above all, the most surprising part about his victory was not that a god had been beaten, but that a ‘mere human’ had beaten a god in less than half a day. If the witch or Huk Cheong-Ram had fought the god, the battle would have probably dragged on for a couple of weeks, and they would have suffered considerable casualties. It probably never occurred to the Sernitas that their god would be beaten so quickly, either.
And since their enemy’s plan was crushed so overwhelmingly, the Abyss would have much more room to act now. However, Evelyn didn’t move or think about that for a while. Things had surpassed her expectations far too much that she felt like she was dreaming—something she hadn’t been able to do ever since she fell into Abyss. And it was the same for Huk Cheong-Ram.
—Kill him.
A hushing whisper rang in Evelyn’s ear more clearly than ever before.
—Kill him. Kill him.
Although he had looked down on Chi-Woo at first for being human, it seemed Huk Cheong-Ram had realized Chi-Woo’s worth. And knowing that Chi-Woo would be a very tricky and difficult opponent if he became their enemy, Huk Cheong-Ram suggested killing the human now. Despite her knowing this…
“No,” Evelyn said, “I already struck a deal with him and made a promise. Since he kept his end of the promise, I have to keep mine.”
—Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.
“This is my issue. I already told you ‘no’. Don’t intervene.”
- Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill kill.
“…Huk Cheong-Ram.” The witch’s voice became lower and simultaneously, her human-like face gradually crumpled.
“Are you telling me…” Her red pupils shone.
—Telling me to break a witch’s promise?
Half of the witch’s face was human while the other had turned into a skull. Huk Cheong-Ram glared to show his displeasure, but the whistling in the wind stopped. Then the black haze slightly backed away before disappearing without a trace. Only then did the witch resume her appearance from the time she was alive. Although her true form had changed after joining the Abyss, since the human seemed to like her appearance from her human days, Evelyn maintained it and fixed her clothing. She walked toward the area where the light still lingered.
How much time had passed? Chi-Woo wouldn’t have an answer should anyone ask.
“…Ah…?” He gasped and got up from his spot, sensing someone coming his way. His condition was still not good. He couldn’t feel many parts of his body, and the areas where he could feel, he felt stinging pain. Above all, his body felt heavy.
“I feel like I’m dying…” Chi-Woo groaned and looked behind him. And soon, one woman walked through the scattering lights. Here came a sensual beauty that would make anyone’s eyes pop wide open: Onorables Evelyn.
“Congratulations,” Evelyn said as soon as she saw Chi-Woo. “I didn’t think you would really win.”
“…Me neither.”
“You are a child who keeps his promises well. I am very pleased with you,” she said. ‘A child’—considering the witch’s age, it was understandable she would address Chi-Woo this way.
“Yup I’m a baby, Chichibbong.”
“What?”
“No, it’s nothing.” Chi-Woo shook his head and looked around. He quickly changed the topic. “By the way…what is going to happen to this place?”
“Not sure. Perhaps it will become a divine city.”
“A divine city?”
“Yes, it’s a good possibility since so much of a god’s divinity had fallen onto this place. Of course, that will take some time.”
Chi-Woo licked his lips. He had expected rewards, but it seemed he had only benefited others. Then he felt something chilly pressed to his cheeks. It seemed the bun had regained some of its energy as it was sitting on his shoulder again.
“You are also alive…”
“Ppyu-eck!”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Pyu—ecccck—”
The bun opened its mouth wide open and made vomiting noises as its body became bumpy. Evelyn stared at it blankly, but soon her eyes opened a fraction wider.
“What—?” She gasped shrilly.
“Blerg! Bleuurgh!” The bun wobbled a few times and spit something out of its mouth. It was an object in the shape of a persimmon seed—it was the spirit seed that Evelyn had given to him as an apology.
“Pyu!” The bun seemed to have recovered after spitting the seed out and was able to make its usual sound. However, the bun still seemed tired, and it seemed as if it didn’t spit the seed out by its own choice.
“Why did you suddenly…?” He was already tired. Chi-Woo complained under his breath and was about to pick up the seed when something caught his eyes. His hand stopped, and his eyes widened at the strange sight in front of him. The streams of light that had been falling in all directions suddenly changed trajectory and headed towards Chi-Woo—or more specifically, towards the seed.
Shooooooooo! The seed absorbed the lights like earth absorbing water. It took in not only the lights in the sky, but the lights that had already seeped into the earth. Chi-Woo stared in shock and recalled a piece of memory.
[Of course not. You must not know about the spirits of this world at all.]
[Try growing it. If you’re lucky, you might get something you really need.]
[It’s up to you when, where, and how you plant this seed. But you must give it parts of your body as its nutrients.]
[But you must give it parts of your body as its nutrients.]
Chi-Woo realized what was happening as he recalled Evelyn’s words. Did the seed use holy energy as its nutrition? But didn’t she tell him that he needed to use parts of his body? On the other hand, holy energy could be used in a myriad of ways, so it wasn’t entirely unthinkable for it to substitute his body parts. Chi-Woo came up with all kinds of theories inside his mind. And while he was thinking, the seed ravenously ate up the wolf god’s holy energy until there was none left.
“Bu—rp.” The seed even burped at the end of the filling meal. Chi-Woo’s confusion deepened further into flabbergast. ‘Did a seed just burp? Even though it was just a seed?’
“Hey, you! What did you just do?” Chi-Woo tapped the seed several times with his thumb, but it didn’t reply. Instead, it seemed to find Chi-Woo’s pestering bothersome and rolled on the ground by itself, crawling into Chi-Woo’s pocket. It seemed ready for a nap in a safe place after eating to its heart’s content.
Chi-Woo was so taken aback that he moved his mouth several times without forming any words. The bun also had its mouth wide open as it looked down at Chi-Woo’s pocket.
“Wait, why are you so surprised?”
“Pyupyu! Pyupyu pyupyu? Pyupyupyupyu!”
“Hey, you go check it out first. Swallow it and hold onto it for a while.”
“Pyupyupyu pyupyu. Pyu-pyu-pyu!”
“Come on, you’re a bag after all.” Even though Chi-Woo tried to convince the bun, it strongly opposed Chi-Woo’s suggestion and was firm about not gulping down such a strange and unknown existence. Having no idea what just happened, Chi-Woo turned to the witch for help. However, Evelyn’s reaction was just as, if not more intense than Chi-Woo’s. Unlike her usual self, her eyes and mouth were opened to their widest, and she looked as if she was about to faint. Moreover, she was pointing at Chi-Woo with her index finger.
Her intense reaction made Chi-Woo nervous. What was it? Did she want the holy energy for herself, but was shocked that the seed ate it all? What if she wanted it back? However, all of Chi-Woo’s guesses had completely missed the mark. He realized that she hadn’t been staring at the seed; it wasn’t even important to her in the slightest that the seed had absorbed all the holy energy.
“Where…did…you…?” Evelyn’s thumb was pointing directly at the bun on Chi-Woo’s shoulder.
Chi-Woo was bewildered as he asked, “This guy? Why?”
Evelyn made a sound that sounded like a sigh or an admiration. “The original slime…”
“What is that?”
“I don’t know too well, either. I’ve only seen it in the records of the mythological era and in writing…” Then Evelyn shook her head, “No, I can’t believe that there’s still a slime on Liber. If slimes really haven’t gone extinct, the only one left is probably the original slime. It was just something I wondered about, but it really…”
Chi-Woo couldn’t understand any word coming out of Evelyn’s mouth. He tilted his head and said, “I don’t really understand. Is this guy really that great?”
“…It could be anything depending on what it learns,” Evelyn quietly muttered with a low voice. “Good and Evil realized its limitless potential and chose the original slime as the ultimate soldier to face the True Neutral…”
As if to affirm Evelyn’s statement, the bun created limbs before folding its arms and crossing its legs. It looked quite arrogant, as if it was showing off how great it was. Chi-Woo gave up on asking any further; he wouldn’t be able to understand anyway. He was also too tired, and he had been feeling extremely drowsy for a while. Even now, he was barely keeping himself upright. He was pretty sure he would fall asleep in 3 seconds if he lay down.
The curious look on Evelyn’s face suggested there were a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but she suppressed her curiosity after seeing Chi-Woo’s condition. “Anyway, thanks for keeping your promise. Thanks to you, I was able to keep face.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“It’s okay, you can be proud of yourself about it. Thanks to you, the Sernitas’ plan got seriously pushed back.”
“Then, would you now…”
“Of course, I’ll also keep my promise—as soon as I confirm that you keep your other promise.” As expected of a witch, Evelyn was very thorough with her calculations.
Chi-Woo hoped that the recruits, including Ru Amuh, were successful in taking control over the capital by now.
After checking Chi-Woo’s complexion, Evelyn asked with pity, “You’re really tired, right?”
“Yes…”
“Hop on.” The pole moved down between them.
Chi-Woo had been anxious that she might just leave him here and go, but fortunately, it seemed she planned to drop him off at the fortress. But even then, he was worried. His hands were also numb, so what if he fell while riding on it?
“You can hold onto me.”
The unexpected reply came when he wondered if he could stay fully awake on the pole.
Evelyn sat in the front and turned halfway while adding, “But only my shoulders, and only very slightly. I’ll give you permission to do that much.”
She had told him that she'd kill him if he held onto her before; after keeping his promise, she now treated him better. ‘As expected, it’s important to keep promises…’ Chi-Woo thought of Ru Amuh and yawned widely. “Thank you.” Then he slammed his face onto Evelyn’s slim back.
“No, I didn’t mean for you to lean on me…” Evelyn was taken aback and twisted around to stare at Chi-Woo, but fell silent after hearing him snore. Evelyn wondered what she should do. She decided to take flight for now, and while flying the pole, she murmured, “…I wonder what’ll happen if I drop you here.” It wasn’t so much a grouch; she sounded like she was humming.
But of course, she didn’t carry these words into action and instead flew the pole as safely as possible in consideration of the fast asleep Chi-Woo. Was she in a good mood? Evelyn began to hum as if she was singing a lullaby. Chi-Woo moved a bit in his sleep and slowly let out a relaxed breath. It was hard to believe that Evelyn’s soft and warm back belonged to someone who was already dead.
