Possessing Nothing

She didn’t understand.

Sarahenne, the Spirit Queen, squinted as she looked at Wijihoyeon looking at her from the dimensional gap.

This was the Spirit Realm.

It was a place ruled by herself, and no existence other than a Spirit could possibly even exist in this world.

It was the most basic law that even Sarahenne, the Queen of Spirits, could not alter.

That’s why Sarahenne couldn’t bring Cain to the Spirit Realm, and made a small dimensional space on the coordinates of the former location of the Spirit Realm and had Cain stay there.

Wijihoyeon was clearly not a spirit. And yet she was able to exist in the Spirit Realm. The most basic law that made up the Spirit Realm was being denied in front of this existence before the Spirit Queen.

“……who are you…?”

Sarahenne asked, glaring at Wijihoyeon. Why was a human in the Spirit Realm…… No, more than that….

Was that person really human?

Wijihoyeon did not answer the question. She stretched her feet forward without changing her tired expression.

It was the moment when Wijihoyeon’s feet touched the ground.

Crack!

The whole ground beneath her cracked apart and spikes of earthen ground rose up to try and tear apart Wijihoyeon.

Some of the spirits in the Spirit Realm were sacrificed in this attack…However, there were still too many spirits to be seen to the eye. All of the spirits were holding up to kill Wijihoyeon at the will of their monarch, Sarahenne.

The spirits of the earth became the spikes that shot from the earth itself, but their attack did not threaten Wijihoyeon in the slightest.

As soon as the spikes of the attacking earth spirits touched Wijihoyeon, the trajectory was forcibly twisted around and shot in the other direction.

The space itself in which Wijihoyeon existed was distorted and protected her. It was the highest level of defense that would be insulting to compare with something like a simple layer of internal energy around her to protect herself.

“There sure are a lot.”

Wijihoyeon murmured. She turned her head slowly. Countless spirits who had hid themselves were seen in the eyes of Wijihoyeon.

Wiihoyeon was going to kill all of them. With the Queen of Spirits included of course. For that reason, Wijihoyeon came all the way to the Spirit Realm to complete her task.

Of course, Wijihoyeon knew it wouldn’t be easy. Her opponent this time is Sarahenne, the Spirit Queen and a being known as a True Transcendent.

She was a strong being who was incomparable to the dungeon monsters that Wijihoyeon had been dealing with for 10 years and the boss monsters within them.

‘Still, the last five dungeons were a little hard.’

She had actually almost died. The last five dungeons were where the monsters that were supposed to truly bring the Apocalypse to fruition, laid in waiting.

However, she did not die. Eventually, Wijihoyeon survived and erased all of those dungeons from existence. Dungeons would never appear in Eria anymore, and there wouldn’t be any possibility of Dungeon Breaks either because of it.

The decade spent by Wijihoyeon was the most dense and monotonous time of her life.

She fought nonstop.

After each fight, there was only more and more fighting.. All of which smelt Wijihoyeon into a refined martial artist that would be able to prevent the Apocalypse.

The natural gift of experience one received after each fight as a martial artist.

But even with all her fighting experience, Wijihoyeon felt that this fight with the Spirit Queen was going to be pretty tough too.

Wijihoyeon could sense it because no matter where her gaze went, an endless stream of spirits would follow it. Apart from the numerous spirits, there was also still the queen standing behind them.

Especially with the Queen, she would have to be careful. She was a True Transcendent, and a True Transcendent was something close to an immortal being.

And this was the spirit world. It was a space where spirits and spirits’ queens can exert their power without any penalties.

Still she could do it. It had to be done. Wijihoyeon moved forward, receiving the hostility of all spirits. When the Spirits of Fire started to spew fire and lava at her from beneath the cracks in the earth, Wijihoyun walked in the middle of the hellfire. The heat and flames from everywhere hit her, unabated.

Beyond that, the Spirits of the Wind set off a storm. Sarahenne remained motionless and was watching Wijihoyeon’s response to all of it.

“Yes, that’s how it should be.”

Wijihoyeon nodded her head slightly.

* * *

“I want to ask you something.”

Teresa opened her mouth. Lee Sungmin, who was watching Baek Sogo who lay asleep next to her, turned his head and looked at Teresa.

He was deeply grateful to Teresa. If even Teresa had answered that she could not have the ability to purify the poison in Baek Sogo’s body, then he would have been really at a loss what to do after that.

“What is it?”

So, Lee Sungmin felt truly indebted to Teresa. If she asked for something, he was going to listen to whatever she needed and try to help her in return.

“What are you going to do?”

Teresa stared at Lee Sungmin and asked. It was quite an unexpected question. As Lee Sungmin looked at her blankly without answering, Teresa spoke up, taking a light breath.

“It’s weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lee Sungmin, you defeated the Monarch of the Death Knights and the Devil, Kim Jonghyun, 10 years ago, after which you went insane with the spell cast upon you by him. And now, 10 years later, you’re completely sane and rational. Not only that, but all the powers in your body that were plaguing you, are harmonized perfectly as well.”

“That’s right.”

“What are you going to do in the future?”

Teresa looked down at the Baek Sogo and continued,

“The Silent Flare, Baek Sogo. She has a reputation for being a chivalrous martial artist and human being, and her martial arts prowess is to be considered as one of the top 5 strongest martial artists in the entire world right now.”

“You know very well.”

“While I am isolated and stuck in the church’s cathedral, the rumors outside get more and more interesting to me. I happen to know a lot of things because of how much I hear.”

Teresa laughed her head off as she said this.

“And take the Red Sage for example. She left the Wizard Guild to build her own tower and teach magic to her disciples without discriminating on any criteria like other wizards. It seems that the Wizard Guild doesn’t like the Red Sage very much, but she has already surpassed most of the Tower Masters in terms of skill and knowledge.”

Lee Sungmin glanced at Scarlett nearby. When their eyes met, she smugly puffed her chest out and looked pleased.

“…And the nine-tailed demon fox from the City of Endless Night.”

Yana wasn’t around. She sat quite a distance away since Teresa had a very powerful divine power that was toxic to any monster. Regardless, Yana could still hear everything.

“Ten years ago, the ruler of the City of Endless Night, a city of monsters, changed. That nine-tailed demon fox defeated the former ruler and took his place. And…… even the fairies.”

Teresa’s expression slowly started to change.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit weird for all these people to be here right now?”

It would be a strange combination of individuals to be gathered in a single location for Teresa, who didn’t know the reality of the situation. The Fairy Queen, The Ghost Spear, the Red Sage, the Gumiho from the City of Endless Night, and the Silent Flare…. It was a legendary combination of individuals.

“Is it because of you, that they’re all here?”

Teresa asked with a smile.

“Yes.”

Lee Sungmin answered honestly. Teresa had saved Baek Sogo’s life, so there was no reason for Lee Sungmin to lie to her.

In the first place, these kinds of conversations shouldn’t be avoided and rather confronted directly. When Lee Sungmin answered honestly, Teresa’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

She leaned her head toward Lee Sungmin and continued to ask questions.

“What the heck do you want to do? No, what are you trying to do? With this much power, even if the number is small, the people who gather here are strong people who will easily turn the the world upside down, including you, Lee Sungmin. Don’t tell me you’re going to conquer the world, are you?”

“Don’t you think you’ve read too many novels?”

“I thought it was pretty plausible…….”

“I don’t intend to. I’m just….”

Teresa didn’t know about the fact the world would end soon.

It is the same for Yana and Scarlett. Yana only helped Lee Sungmin for the reason of not having Heoju die. She did not know the exact circumstances around what Lee Sungmin wanted.

Scarlett had been supportive of Lee Sungmin and was clearly worried about Baek Sogo.

If they thought about what would happen in the future, it would be better to reveal it now and ask for cooperation.

He had no clue about when the Spirit Queen would wake up and begin the next Catastrophe. But even if the Spirit Queen hasn’t opened her eyes yet….

There was still the Vampire Queen. There was still Predator. Unlike the Queen of Spirits, who was on an unknown timeline of when they would arrive, Lee Sungmin still had to worry about the very present threat that Predator and Geniella were.

“……Ms. Yana.”

Lee Sungmin quietly called out to Yana. So…. How was to approach saying what he was about to say in the right way? Lee Sungmin was lost in thought for a while. One day the world would surely perish. Should he just say that?

“You’ll be alright to speak freely about it.”

Oslo flew to Lee Sungmin, who was organizing his thoughts.

“The Vampire Queen has lost the ability to see the future. That means the world is going to end up destroyed and its dead set on its course. Even if you try to explain things in a nice way, it doesn’t change the fact that the world will end.”

It was not a hopeful remark. If what she said was true, it meant that no matter what they did now, they wouldn’t be able to avoid the end.

Because of that, Lee Sungmin decided he had to explain what was going on to the confused set of eyes that were fixed on him.

The only problem was that if he mentioned any specific words or terms, he would be barred from speaking any further about the Apocalypse because of the Apostles of the End.

In the first place, the Apostles of the End was a type of system to prohibit speaking about the truth of the world.

There was no reason to sugarcoat anything about it. Lee Sungmin spoke freely and explained to Teresa while the others listened from afar.

When the whole story was finished, Yana stayed silent by the tree.

She only observed Lee Sungmin with a deep gaze. Unlike Yana, Scarlett and Teresa responded outright.

In particular, Teresa gulped, closing her half-open mouth, unable to speak.

“What does Heoju want?”

Yana asked. Again, she was asking about Heoju’s intention through all of this.

“He wants to prevent the end of this world with me.”

“Then I want to help too.”

Yana said with a slight bow. Nothing had changed. But in the back of his mind, Lee Sungmin still felt uneasy about the words Laplace spoke about the Devil of Maryeong Pavilion.

“So….”

Teresa spoke in a trembling voice.

“You are… …to prevent the end of the world…….”

“Yes.”

When Lee Sungmin affirmed what she was trying to say, Teresa covered her face with both hands. She couldn’t figure out what answer to give.

It was an incredibly heavy topic, and not one that was easily believable but when the words came from Lee Sungmin’s mouth, those words became credible.

It was something she never thought she would have to face. Teresa was only in her mid-20s and thought she would have plenty of time to live.

But finding out about the truth of this world, was like splashing cold water in her face.

“……can it be changed…… No, do we even have any other options at this point?”

“I don’t know.”

Lee Sungmin wanted to say there was, but he would be lying if he said he was certain there was.

“But I’m going to do everything I can to stop it from happening.”

Lee Sungmin said so and looked down at Baek Sogo.

Baek Sogo was looking up at Lee Sungmin with her eyes open. Lee Sungmin also knew that Baek Sogo had opened her eyes amidst their conversation.

Baek Sogo’s eyes, which were full of despair before, were clearer than ever. Teresa shook her head in confusion.

She didn’t want to die.

In fact, she was sure most people that heard this truth would think the same. So, Teresa couldn’t understand more than that.

“Why does the Vampire Queen wish for this world to end? Doesn’t she want to live?”

“How can humans understand a being that is not human?”

Lee Sungmin had no choice but to put it like that. The Vampire Queen, Geniella, had been preparing for literally hundreds of years just to produce the Predator of Massacre with her own hands.

Even though she knew that the existence of slaughter was to end the world, Jennyella wanted the appearance of slaughter.

And now he’s trying to create a new slaughter with his own hands.

Teresa covered her face with her hands and bowed her head. There was no need to overthink it any further.

If the fate of the end of the world could be prevented, then wasn’t it a given to at least try and prevent it?

“……I don’t think you need to convince me.”

Teresa sighed and raised her head.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll help. My powers are more about treating wounds like this, but…… No, I don’t think that’s going to be of any help to you.”

Teresa looked at Lee Sungmin and spoke with a sullen expression. For Lee Sungmin, who had the body of a monster, like Yana, a complete monster, Teresa’s divine power was more akin to toxic poison rather than healing.

“Thank you.”

Lee Sungmin and Yana couldn’t benefit from Teresa’s powers, but Baek Sogo and Scarlett were not the same.

But there was one other benefit. The monsters of Predator that they would inevitably have to fight, would also be weak to Teresa’s divine power.

“It’s a shitty world.”

Scarlett spoke up and approached.

“I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do because I gave up my beautiful youth to walk the road of magic. I spent my most beautiful and energetic youth in the mountains of Mush, not being able to wash or change clothes, smelling like shit.”

Lee Sungmin recalled how Scarlett had looked at that time. She had looked worse than someone in the Beggar’s Sect.

“I’ve been living my entire life as a wizard chasing the pinnacle of magic, so I haven’t been in a relationship or married yet. But the end of the world? The world is going to be destroyed?”

Crack.

Scarlett grated her teeth.

“That can’t happen. I’m gonna live a long time… Damn it. As much as I’ve struggled and not enjoyed my life at times, I’m going to make damn sure that I am going to enjoy the rest of my life that I had planned to live out.”

“Can’t you just enjoy it now?”

“What kind of horseshit….?! I’m not done with my research. What do you mean enjoy it?”

Without some grand cause, Scarlett was venting her anger about the end of the world for extremely personal reasons.

Rather, that was the general response Lee Sungmin had somewhat expected. It was the same for Lee Sungmin. His reasons were extremely personal and the deaths of people close to him were driving him forward more than ever.

‘You…’

Lee Sungmin thought of Wijihoyeon.

For what reason did she act for?

Chapter 348 – Fin