Chapter 252. C Between B and D (6)
The atmosphere froze with the appearance of the legend. Even Shersha, a great demon in the single-digit rank, clearly expressed her fear. It was the same for Chi-Woo. He didn’t want his brother of all people to come to this place right now, because he was the only one who wouldn’t back down under his family name’s authority. Why did he have to appear at this time?
“How…are you here…?”
“I flew here,” Chi-Hyun responded dryly and stopped to look at his surroundings. He checked Ru Amuh’s, Eveyln’s, and Hawa’s responses before looking back at Chi-Woo.
“…Did you tell them who you are?” Chi-Hyun asked, and Chi-Woo instinctively avoided his gaze. Seeing their responses, Chi-Hyun sensed that Chi-Woo had revealed his true identity to his companions.
“Why…no. Let’s talk about that later,” Chi-Hyun said. It was a conversation for a later time. The situation in front of them was more important right now.
Chi-Hyun’s response calmed Chi-Woo down a bit, but his heart was still beating rapidly.
“Weren’t you at the mountain range?” Chi-Woo asked.
“I came flying as soon as the situation settled over there.”
Chi-Woo was about to say that it should’ve still been impossible for Chi-Hyun to arrive so soon, but Chi-Hyun added, “I flew nonstop, day and night, straight through the Demon Empire.”
Chi-Woo gaped. Instead of taking the safe, winding route, Chi-Hyun had gone straight through the enemy’s territory to minimize the distance he needed to travel—without any sleep at that. Chi-Woo didn’t even need to ask why Chi-Hyun had overexerted himself to do that because he had a good guess.
“I see…that you changed the present,” Chi-Hyun said, seeing the strong godly territory encompassing the holy city Shalyh. Chi-Hyun was saying the same thing as Shersha: that Chi-Woo changed the present instead of the future.
“With this postponement, it’s worrisome what will come in the future…” Chi-Hyun murmured.
What did they mean? Chi-Woo wondered what kind of future both Shersha and Chi-Hyun were talking about.
“But if we deal with the princess of the Demon Empire, I suppose we can say it was sort of a good deal. Not a very profitable one though.”
Chi-Woo’s heart sank. This wasn’t the time for him to wonder about other matters. He had his doubts, but it seemed certain that his brother was planning to kill the two great demons. No, it was only natural that his brother would think that way in this situation. He, especially, should’ve known this as the one behind the Demon Empire’s current troubling predicament; even so, Chi-Woo thought Shersha and Astarte were exceptional cases.
“You have done a lot, but there are many things I need to ask you. Like how you set all this up and why an exterior god suddenly descended to Liber.” Chi-Hyun moved toward Shersha and Astarte. “But there’s no need for you to worry too much since I came—” Chi-Hyun stopped talking and walking. It was because Chi-Woo had suddenly approached him and clutched his shoulders. Chi-Hyun saw his brother’s anxious face and smirked.
“Don’t worry. I won’t bother them.”
“You won’t? Really?”
“Yes. Did you really think I was going snatch away the merits you could have?”
After feeling hopeful, Chi-Woo’s heart sank again. His brother was clearly misunderstanding something and was still intent on getting rid of the two great demons in front of them. He didn’t seem to be considering any options other than that.
“I’m only going to hold them down just in case…” Chi-Hyun continued moving with a bland smile. But he couldn’t go farther, because Chi-Woo quickly got right in front of him to block him, as if he was trying to protect the two great demons.
“What are you doing?”
“…Chi-Hyun.” Chi-Woo felt out of breath from the nervousness. He had desperately wished that his brother would never meet Shersha, but it couldn’t be helped now. He needed to hold his ground.
“Can’t you just let me take care of this?” Chi-Woo cautiously asked.
“What are you talking about?” Chi-Hyun appeared confused. “I said I won’t take away your merits. You can take them all yourself. You deserve it.” Naturally, Chi-Hyun didn’t even have an inkling of what was really going on inside Chi-Woo’s head.
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Chi-Woo said. “Why don’t we let these two live? Let them go this time.”
While shocked, Chi-Hyun also suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He had felt this same emotion when seeing Chi-Woo for the first time on Liber. He wished to be mistaken; hoped and prayed that he had imagined seeing Chi-Woo. And like that time, Chi-Hyun hoped that he had heard wrong. But in the end, Chi-Hyun knew he had clearly heard his brother and didn’t waste time with meaningless talk.
Drip, drip. In the silence, the ground began to be blotted with stains. Little raindrops fell from the sky, and after a short silence, Chi-Hyun lowered his head slightly and inhaled. He stared intently at his brother’s trembling eyes and said, “Tell me your reasons.” Chi-Hyun was clearly restraining himself, but it sounded like he was going to make his judgment after hearing his brother out.
Chi-Woo quickly spoke, “I told you before. You know how we discussed what it would mean to let them live in the future—”
“And I told you at that time that it’s not something to even waste your time thinking about.”
The situation on Liber was simple: it was to eat or be eaten. There weren’t allies or neutral entities. And the demons in front of them were enemies through and through. Thus, when a great opportunity to kill a formidable enemy presented itself, it didn’t make sense to let them live just because they asked for it. Chi-Hyun couldn’t understand nor accept such logic. But that wasn’t the case for Chi-Woo. Though the two were brothers, their thoughts and way of thinking were completely different.
“You must also know,” Chi-Woo started again. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to change his brother’s mind with that alone, Chi-Woo didn’t give up and continued. “It’s all thanks to Shersha that this situation became possible.” It was a fact that neither could deny. If Shersha hadn’t helped Chi-Woo while risking death, Chi-Woo wouldn’t have even been able to come back to the present.
“So?” Chi-Hyun snorted. It sounded like he was asking Chi-Woo ‘what about it?’ Then, after a long sigh, Chi-Hyun said in a calmer voice. “Chi-Woo. It seems like you are really misunderstanding something.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“That great demon isn’t on our side. She’s our enemy.” Then Chi-Hyun asked in a more forceful tone, “Why do you think that great demon helped you in the future?”
“Isn’t it because…”
“To help humanity? That’s utter nonsense. Or she can prove it to us now.” Chi-Hyun looked over his brother’s shoulder and quickly said, “Swear that you will change sides to be with humanity. If a full conversion is difficult, you can seek asylum and promise to give information that’s useful in our war against the Demon Empire in the future. Then I will consider your proposal more seriously.”
Chi-Woo looked back at him. Shersha didn’t answer; she simply struggled under the effects of the godly territory. The expression on her face, though, was one of firm refusal.
“See?” Chi-Hyun seemed to have expected this response.
“The great demon didn’t help you for us humans. I’m sure the future of the Demon Empire that she saw was dire too, and that’s why she used you to change their future.” In other words, Shersha helped out simply for the Demon Empire. That was true, and even Chi-Woo was aware of Shersha’s aims. However, Chi-Woo knew that whatever her intentions were, in the end, it had resulted in both sides benefitting.
“But her actions were beneficial to us in the end. And it can continue to be like that.”
It was then Chi-Hyun realized what Chi-Woo wanted and why Chi-Woo was making such ridiculous statements.
“…Yes, it could happen.” Surprisingly, Chi-Hyun didn’t disagree immediately and acknowledged Chi-Woo’s points. “But no.”
“Hyung.”
“I’m not done speaking.” Chi-Hyun raised his hand. “The value of our opponent is too great for us to do what you suggested.” Shersha was one of the top seven great demons in the Demon Empire. In a society that valued strength foremost, she didn’t receive special treatment for her military might, but her ability to prophesize. It was pointless to go on about how special it was.
“Her prophecies continuously guide the Demon Empire on the next steps to take. Why would you miss this great opportunity to get rid of something like that?” It was a scary ability for an enemy to have, and that was the reason why the Demon Empire protected her like a precious treasure. Normally, Shersha shouldn’t have even come out to the battlefield and exposed herself to danger like this.
The Demon Empire had taken an aggressive stance on war and conquest until now with a high probability of success. If they erased Shersha’s existence now, they would be able to make a huge dent on the Demon Empire’s momentum. Of course, this was the case even if they considered that prophecies weren’t an absolute thing and were wrong sometimes—but ironically, this was the point that Chi-Hyun used to support his point.
“Can you guarantee that things will go as you say?” Chi-Hyun asked. Chi-Woo closed his mouth. There was no guarantee.
“I thought so.” This had been a very special case, and there was no guarantee that they would benefit from Shersha’s prophesying power next time. “Even if the present is heading to the future that you want right now, no one knows what will happen at the end. And the future you want isn’t the definite future we know of.”
The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte once said, ‘Living is a choice between life and death.’ Even the most menial choices changed the future continuously, and in accordance with this sentiment, Chi-Hyun said, “The future can change at any time. That’s why it’s too dangerous. You should know what I mean…better than anyone else now.”
It was as Chi-Hyun said. As someone who had gone to three very different futures, Chi-Woo had no choice but to agree with Chi-Hyun. Thus, instead of letting Shersha go for a future they weren’t sure would come, it seemed more logical to kill her then and there for a great benefit that was certain. Chi-Hyun’s words were so logical that Chi-Woo couldn’t refute them easily.
“Still…” Chi-Woo didn’t back down. “You can at least hear her out…!”
“Hear what?” Chi-Hyun’s eyebrows lowered again. “Her prophecies are too uncertain to carry out anyways.” Knowing the constraints that Shersha was bound by, they couldn’t fully rely on her abilities. Annoyed that Chi-Woo didn’t get it no matter how much he explained, Chi-Hyun said in a slightly harsher tone, “Seriously, what is your reason for acting this way? Aren’t you the one who set up this situation? But you of all people want to let them go alive? How can you be certain that what you want to do is right?”
Chi-Woo was certain despite not having anything concrete to back it up. The reason for that was….
“…It’s my intuition.”
“Intuition?”
“Yes, my intuition.”
Chi-Hyun clicked his tongue. He looked baffled and astonished. Chi-Woo also knew that somebody who didn’t know of his situation would have looked at him as a madman. But Chi-Woo felt it when his brother suddenly appeared—he realized why he kept thinking of Shersha before the Demon Empire came to invade and why Astarte’s words had kept lingering in his head—and why he had hurriedly ran to this place as soon as the godly territory was established. Chi-Woo knew that if he had gone to participate in the battle to gain merits, Chi-Hyun would’ve found Shersha first and killed her, and he needed to prevent that at all costs.
This sort of thing didn’t only happen on Liber. It happened many times in his youth, when his intuition shouted at him to act a specific way—and this time, it told him that he needed to protect Shersha from his brother and return her to safety.
“Quit it,” Chi-Hyun then said. “We should just stop.”
Chi-Woo felt his anxiety surge.
“I don’t intend to change your thoughts,” Chi-Hyun continued. “I’m sure it’s the same for you. So now, I’m going to do my best to kill those two.”
“No, listen to me—”
“You can try to stop me using all means possible.” A great amount of energy shot out of Chi-Hyun’s body, and Chi-Woo instinctively took a step back. He felt fear that he had never felt before. Chi-Woo could understand why even a great demon would’ve feared his brother now, but that was how determined Chi-Hyun was. There was no way Chi-Woo could stop his brother in such a state.
‘…No,’ Chi-Woo thought and pulled out a die. Though it was a gamble, if he used the World’s Milestone…! Plop! Before Chi-Woo could finish his thoughts, the die disappeared from his hand. Chi-Woo responded one beat late, and the World’s Milestone was inside his brother’s grip. Chi-Hyun looked at Chi-Woo like he was saying that there was no way he would allow the latter to use the item.
‘I still have a chance…!’ Chi-Woo thought he should never use this if he could, but he pulled out the last remaining special talisman that he got from his master.
“…”
But as soon as he pulled it out, it disappeared from his grasp again. He couldn’t even hear the sound of it disappearing, and Chi-Woo looked at the talisman in his brother’s hands blankly. A sharp glint flashed through Chi-Hyun’s eyes as he glanced at the talisman.
“You were planning to use a godly item of this level for such a small matter…you are really serious about this,” Chi-Hyun said.
But Chi-Woo wasn’t listening to Chi-Hyun. He realized then that if his brother really wanted to, he could kill not only Shersha and Astarte, but everyone here in an instant. Chi-Hyun was giving Chi-Woo an opportunity to stop him as his brother. But this opportunity was gone now, and a fearsome whirlwind began to swirl around them. Chi-Woo flew in circles in the air and was flung to the ground.
“Chi-Hyun!” Chi-Woo got up after rolling on the ground and saw his brother moving to Shersha.
“No….!” Astarte wrapped her arms around Shersha and clenched her eyes shut. It was then—bam!
There was a great explosion, and Chi-Woo’s breath stopped when he saw the dust settle, revealing the now changed battleground.
“You are…” Chi-Hyun’s eyes narrowed. Chi-Hyun’s attack was blocked by a sudden wind, and a handsome blonde man raised his trembling sword in front of him. It was Ru Amuh.
“…How unexpected,” Chi-Hyun said while putting more force into his hands, “I didn’t expect you to step in.”
“Teacher…said you must not harm them,” Ru Amuh said. He sounded strained from just blocking one of Chi-Hyun’s attacks.
“Did you even hear the conversation we just had?” Chi-Hyun asked..com
“I believe…Teacher has his reasons this time too…”
“Like his intuition?” Chi-Hyun snorted. “His feelings that have no basis at all?”
“…I said ‘this time too’. There are many times I couldn’t understand Teacher’s words, and it’s not only once,” Ru Amuh said with a firm voice. There were many times when Ru Amuh couldn’t comprehend Chi-Woo’s choices at all, yet Chi-Woo was always able to prove to him that his decisions hadn’t been incorrect.
“As time passed, I came to realize that Teacher was right all along. So…” Ru Amuh smiled brightly as he gasped out, “I am trusting his word this time too…!”
His eyes brimmed with determination.