Chapter 107

[A mysterious object fell from the sky.]

[It was an entity composed of a mass of flesh, pierced by countless crosses with humans hanging upside down from them.]

[The Sword Immortal’s blade severed it, and his scabbard drank its blood.]

[Shortly after, the Thirteen Palaces of the Void exited the Korean Peninsula, and everyone inside was ejected outside the Gate.]

[The Apostle of an Outer God was nowhere to be seen.]

[There was no individual named ‘Sae Pa-ran’ within the The Old Gods’ Wound.]

Ha Yeri finished the final page of the mission report. It was everything she had witnessed within the Thirteen Palaces of the Void. She neatly folded the traditional paper covered in her orderly handwriting, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it.

She then instructed Park Mu-cheol to input the data into the Bureau’s database.

“Good work, Commander. How is your body feeling?”

“No major injuries. My condition returned to normal after a few days.”

“I’m glad you and Alexei are safe. Other guilds are reporting so many members suffering from psychological trauma that their operations are paralyzed. Especially those who were in the audience chamber…”

“…….”

When the Apostle of an Outer God used the tentacles from his hand to drag the Outer God in the sky down into the royal palace, and the Sword Immortal struck that Outer God down to send it back to where it came from—it all happened in an incredibly brief span of less than a second.

Yet, even that momentary descent of an Outer God’s presence was enough to make most Awakened lose consciousness. Those who barely endured couldn’t even remember how they reached the audience chamber once they got outside.

The reason Ha Yeri, who was closest to the event, remained unharmed was that her realm was higher than the others—and because she had encountered many beings of a higher status before.

Familiars, Archdukes, and even the Apostle of an Outer God.

The words he had spoken to her crossed her mind again. That if they met in a similar place someday, he might at least listen to what she had to say.

Even days later, she couldn’t stop wondering: Could I entrust the future of humanity to him then? Could this weight pressing down on my shoulders be lightened even a little?

“Commander?”

“It’s nothing. What happened to the Chinese Awakened who attacked Unit 4?”

“We’ve passed their descriptions to the Union. However, since they operate in independent cells, and according to what I’ve heard, the leader of those in the Thirteen Palaces was a demon capable of switching bodies…”

“Understood. Good work.”

Ha Yeri stepped down from her footstool. Watching from the side, Park Mu-cheol saw another envelope in her hand and asked, “Is that also information to be registered in the database?”

“No.”

After her short reply, she gave Park Mu-cheol one more task.

“Oh, tell the HR team to update the profile of the ‘Butcher of Bishkek’ as well.”

“You mean Alexei?”

“Yes. His realm of power increased during this mission. Since he rose to the High-Realm within his first year, he will be exempt from the promotion review.”

“I’ll check on that.”

Since Alexei wasn’t trying to hide it, Park Mu-cheol didn’t strictly need to be involved in a simple profile update. She had assigned the task momentarily only because she wanted to divert his attention from the contents of the envelope.

Exiting the Bureau, Ha Yeri took a taxi straight to the National Assembly Building. It was once the heart of South Korea, but after the corrupt politicians fled abroad to save themselves, it remained a hollow shell of a building. Entering the interior where only security systems remained active, she headed straight for the basement.

She arrived at the document archive inside and deposited the envelope. On the front of the envelope, the word ‘SALUS’—meaning salvation—was written in Latin. It signified documents regarding the Outer God of Salvation.

The truth about the Thirteen Palaces of the Void. What the Outer God of Salvation, one of the four gods, looked like, and what the “salvation” it desired truly meant.

All information related to that—along with the facts concerning the dimensional rift from 15 years ago, the secrets of Ground Zero’s Sector 0, and the murder of Ikseon—would be buried here forever. Because the details were far too despairing for current humanity to bear.

Returning to the Bureau, she headed to her office to begin her daily work. However, she felt a strange vibration starting from the elevator as it ascended to the 14th floor. The vibrations, which felt like the footsteps of two people, grew stronger as she went up, reaching a peak the moment the elevator stopped.

When the doors opened, Ha Yeri witnessed a sight she could hardly bear to look at.

“Hayan! Hand that head over to me!”

“No! If I give it to you, you’ll just put it in the dorm room, Alexei!”

“Baek-seon said my wife and daughter wanted blood vengeance! I will decorate the most fitting place with their heads!”

“I refuse to wake up every morning and look at a severed head!”

“Do you not ‘not wake up’ in the morning anyway, Hayan?”

There was Sae Hayan, crawling across the walls and ceiling to escape while holding a dripping cloth bundle, and Alexei, chasing after him with rolls that felt like they were crushing the floor.

Hayan’s eyes met Ha Yeri’s through the opening elevator doors. She reflexively pressed the close button, but sh-sh-sh-sh! the sound of him crawling was faster as he dove behind Ha Yeri’s back.

“Please take this, Commander Ha Yeri!”

“Wh-what is this…!”

“He’s trying to bring such a gruesome thing into the dorms. That shouldn’t be allowed, right?!”

The hair of Kandu Vailanish poked out from the slightly open top of the bundle. At the grotesque sight, a sigh escaped her despite herself. Alexei held the ceiling with one hand to keep the elevator from moving while swinging his other arm to catch Hayan behind Ha Yeri.

The braids he had done only a few hours ago flailed wildly through the air.

“Brother, brother! Hand over your head! If you don’t, I shall roast it and eat it!”

“Kugh, Commander Ha Yeri is too short! I can’t hide properly! If only the heels of the shoes she wore today were thirteen centimeters higher… or at the very least, if I hadn’t skipped my morning stretching exercises…!!”

At those words from Hayan, something inside her head went snap!

All the trivial worries that had been weighing down her shoulders just a moment ago—the burden of protecting humanity, the secrets of the Outer Gods—vanished instantly. In their place, pure, unadulterated rage rushed in.

“Die, Hayan!”

“Kuaaaak!”

Her trembling hands gripped her weapon. It was the first time Ha Yeri had brandished a sword inside the Bureau since the day she joined the Special Unit.

It wasn’t until that evening that I was finally able to lower my hands, which had been held high toward the sky. I put down the sign that read: <I will never again secretly watch Commander Ha Yeri doing her solo gymnastics in her office> and dragged my exhausted body back to the dorms.

The room felt familiar, yet somehow changed. To the left of the door, across from the bunk bed, a desk used to sit; now, a display cabinet that Alexei had scored from Lotus Root Market occupied the space.

On the very top shelf, instead of Kandu’s actual head, a mirror ball crafted in the shape of his skull sat as a decoration. It was positioned at a height where our eyes would meet the moment I woke up and turned my head. It was… a lot.

While Alexei was away to trade the desk on Lotus Root Market, I stealthily turned the mirror ball so it was facing the wall.

When I climbed back onto the bed, Mala-nim had manifested in the form of an Incarnation.

“Mala-nim?”

“…….”

Leaning over the ladder to the second bunk, Mala-nim suddenly pulled my head into a tight embrace. I could feel the thumping of a small heart. This was a ‘form’ I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t quite know how to react. I had been secretly worried I’d be scolded for using the Star Scar without permission, but it seemed my fears were groundless.

As I stayed still in Mala-nim’s hold, a soft, quiet voice reached my ears.

“Hayan.”

“You’re finally calling me by my name?”

“Hayan.”

“Yes, Mala-nim. Your believer is right here.”

Mala-nim was calling my name using the two syllables she could finally speak. Apparently, my performance in the Thirteen Palaces of the Void had been highly satisfying. I had thrashed the demons, proclaimed my existence as an Apostle of an Outer God, and even bared my fangs at the other Outer Gods.

Especially the strike where I dragged down the Outer God of Salvation to take the hit right when the Sword Immortal was about to attack—that must have been enough to satisfy Mala-nim’s fastidious standards.

“Hayan.”

“Yes, yes. I’m listening.”

“Mine.”

“…….”

“Mine.”

“Yes, I am always by your side. Though I’m not exactly a possession like that mirror ball over there.”

Or maybe she just wanted a cool skull-shaped bust of her own? I just hoped she wouldn’t actually cut off my head.

Anyway, after being scolded by Ha Yeri, praised by Mala-nim, and retrieving the duplicate tentacles from the hospital ward, I found myself at Mount Cheonsan the next day for a long-awaited vacation.

This place, where dozens of trucks pass daily to supply feed for Tartaruga, was covered in a thick, green forest even in the depths of winter. Not far away, a massive ridge squirmed and moved. It was the Demon Realm Alligator Snapping Turtle, now twice the size it was when I first saw it, tossing in its sleep.

I released the suggestion I had placed on Moon Ah-rin—the strongest candidate for the raid team whom I had replaced with Alexei. With that, the loose ends I’d left before entering the Thirteen Palaces were mostly tied up.

Now, all that remained was to visit the Sword Immortal and claim the “sweet fruit.” Actually, I didn’t just plan to take the fruit; I planned to uproot the entire sapling from the orchard.

“I’ve gone through so much trouble. I’m not going back until I’ve learned every single internal technique the The Old Gods’ Wound possesses.”

『FEAR NOT!』

Though I have no talent for martial arts, Seol Si-heon said he’d prepare things I could actually learn, so it should work out somehow. With that thought, I began climbing and soon arrived at my destination.

It was a massive mansion built in an exquisite location, invisible from both the base of the mountain and the very peak. The swordsmen guarding the gate were startled when they saw me.

“Huh? What are you?”

“Who goes there!”

“I have business with the Sword Immortal.”

As I approached while catching my breath, they immediately drew their swords. Their level of alertness was high enough to be flustering.

“How did an outsider get here…?”

“The Formation of Chaotic Heavens should be active in every direction!”

“Oh, that barrier thing?”

I just walked in the direction of a familiar scent and passed through it naturally?

I already knew that Yoo Se-byeol visited the capital hospital and this mansion on Mount Cheonsan every weekend. I hadn’t come specifically to see her, but since it was a path she traveled often, her presence must have lingered like a trail of footprints. My sense of smell—no, my desperate desire to find the Star Scar—which remembered every scent from Yoo Se-byeol’s soles and toes to her ankles, was already on par with a man-eating shark in the Caribbean.

So, it wasn’t particularly strange that I found the secret mansion of the The Old Gods’ Wound hidden deep within Mount Cheonsan.

“Could you call someone out? Chief of Staff Seol Si-heon would be fine.”

After explaining the whole process to the guards, I politely requested they call for Seol Si-heon or the Sword Immortal. The two men looked at each other for a moment, then shouted loud enough to shake the mansion.

“An intruder!! Sound the alarm immediately!!”

“It might be a monster wearing a human skin! Call the Blood Sword Unit!!”