Requiem of Subdued Souls

It felt good to wield this soft sword.

The flexible yet strong blade flew sharply. When he clenched his wrist, it changed.

Pat!

The being that was about to enter was blocked by the sword, and sparks flew when they collided.

‘There!’

For the first time, Seol Young was able to see the Gu being used.

It seemed to have no form. It was invisible and fast. It was so mysterious that it seemed to appear in many places at the same time.

At the same time, it was frantically looking for Seol Young.

“Look carefully. We cannot miss it.”

Zaha’s golden eyes were following it, and when it came close, he cut it down with the sword.

A golden line appeared in the air.

The moment the Gu, which moved strangely, made contact with it, an explosion occurred.

‘This is it.’

Seeing that, Seol Young felt confident. He had a sense of how to catch it.

The sword was so thick that it wasn’t easy to predict its movement.

In addition, because Seol Young’s movements were so agile, a silver glow immediately surrounded the worm. It was as if hundreds of snakes had surrounded it.

When the Gu tried to find a gap and escape, Zaha’s sword blocked it, and the soft sword shone as it covered it, making sure it couldn’t escape.

Tuk! Tuk!

There was a strange sound in the air. It was the sound of the Gu trying to jump over what was covering it.

However, it was impossible for it to escape. Then Seol Young entered the encirclement.

The Gu, which couldn’t do anything, attacked Seol Young. It had an odd smell, and it was the same as the one he had smelled when he was young..‘Now.’

Seol Young quickly moved the ring’s jewel.

His eyes went black as Oni came out, and the Gu tried to escape, but it couldn’t.

Snap.

The huge mouth of the baby dragon gulped it down at once.

The next moment, there was nothing there, and even the smell vanished.

“Done.”

Seol Young lowered the hand that was holding the soft sword.

It was the technique of Gu that gave the Devil Lair Lord great power in the past, and one of them was removed.

This must have been a huge blow to the Devil Lair Lord.

Black smoke rose, and it was sucked into Seol Young’s card. Then it turned black, and the number changed to 6.

“I am in level 6 now too.”

Seol Young put the sword around his waist.

“Before we have another visitor, let’s quickly enter the next one.”

“I was going to say that too.”

And the two of them hurriedly left that place.

They were on a tight schedule, but Seol Young paused as he looked at the alcohol house.

“I quit.”

The owner and the workers looked shocked, and Seol Young handed the tray to Su Ryun.

Zaha asked,

“What did you write?”

“If something happens to this Ghost City, take the workers and go to the Ghost Room.”

Seol Young said.

“Senior Su Ryun is a ghost, so she should know where the Ghost Room is. And maybe all the unfortunate ghosts can be brought there.”

They didn’t do anything in this city despite knowing how this place worked. However, the power confining this place would soon end.

Seol Young thought about that and looked at his right wrist.

Another chain was missing before he knew it. It was because he was able to hit the Devil Lair Lord.

Another fragment of his forgotten memory returned to him.

Seven years ago, he was helpless and knew nothing, but not anymore.

He knew what this was, and he could respond.

“High Governor!”

Seol Young followed Zaha.

He forgot about being teased and almost getting killed by the soft sword. He wanted to talk about the memory that had returned.

“What the High Governor said at that time was right. When I was caught by him in the cave along with the ghosts, and when he said that it was the end…”

Black seawater could be seen connecting the places at the bottom. It seemed that the form of the Devil Lair Lord could be seen below.

Seol Young turned around and jumped over it.

“At that time, he really let us go.”

“You see that. My words weren’t wrong.”

Zaha said as he walked.

“What did he say as he let you go?”

“He told me that if I had no intention of being an elder after coming under him, there was no reason for me to stay there. He ordered us to return. I was surprised. I didn’t think that he would act like that.”

From the other side, people in black masks were rushing. The two quickly hid behind the drapes on the side, and they went out when they were gone.

“At that time, I couldn’t guess his motive. I was so confused because too many things happened in a short time, and I was lost thinking I was abandoned by Teacher and my hyungs…”

“No, it’s just that a 13-year-old can’t think too deeply.” 𝒃𝒆𝙙𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Zaha told him.

“Am I wrong? What does a kid think? You hid your identity from your hyungs. The fact that Lady Myo called you a traitor was because she wanted the Devil Lair Lord to think that, and that the ghosts weren’t the ones who abandoned you in the first place, and to be taken to that cave…”

“Right.”

Seol Young sighed.

“I didn’t know a lot of things. So even then…”

He blurted that out and looked away.

As the memory of that time came back, he felt like he was choking.

When the Devil Lair Lord was sending everyone back, Seol Young looked at the tomb ghosts.

“I was hopeful that I would get released. The hope of clearing up the misunderstanding and living together again…”

But then Teacher Seo said,

-Now that this has happened, we will serve the Devil Lair Lord here.

Seol Young doubted his ears.

Stay here? He couldn’t believe it and looked at them, but none of them looked back at him.

-Really? Good thinking.

And the Devil Lair Lord welcomed their decision.

So in the end, only Seol Young got out.

“I see.”

Zaha shrugged his shoulders.

“Even though they were ghosts and you were a living person, you were not different from a family. Knowing that he wouldn’t let you go, they planned it. They were ready to give everything up for you.”

Seol Young felt horrible upon hearing that.

Why didn’t he think of that in the past?

“If only I knew…”

He looked at the paper lanterns swaying under the tents and murmured. Before they knew it, they were now deep inside the market.

The place they were in now was firmly fixed, and it wasn’t much different from walking on sturdy land.

But when he went inside, it felt like he was on a boat.

He could feel the bottom of the floor shaking. Things were connected to one another, and the areas with the sea exposed were quite common.

“It seems to be over there.”

Zaha pointed forward.

A space where colorful tents other than those of the humans appeared. Some tried to enter, but they were stopped.

Or it was more like they bounced back after hitting an unseen wall.

The two of them headed there as naturally as possible, and Zaha asked,

“What happened after that?”

“Everything after that was just as expected.”

Seol Young said,

The Blue Dragon Troops, which suffered a lot, quickly tried to catch the Ghost Demon King and restore their honor, but then Baek Sang and his troops intervened and stopped them, and the Ghost Demon King’s presence became mysterious.

Despite being released from the Devil Lair Lord, Seol Young had to hide in order to live.

“Then I started to move. They said they would catch me with their mysterious things. But I avoided all of them.”

He was quite shocked when that happened, but there was no need to speak of it here, so he skipped that part.

“And so the Black Tortoise Troops had no choice but to get involved, and that is how Mu Won-rang injured his leg.”

And he naturally stepped into the Hwarangs. However, the people didn’t stop looking for him.

They naturally went inside, and the guard didn’t stop them.

Befitting the name ‘Human Desire,’ this market wasn’t different from the market of the living.

Then, what about this new world?

He vaguely imagined that it might be a mysterious place like its name.

The clouds were thick, there were mysterious trees and grass, merchants and workers in the market dressed in odd clothes, and animals roaming around…

And that wasn’t all.

There was no noise. It was calm. There was no shouting or bargaining.

Everything was happening behind curtains.

“A black market.”

Zaha mumbled. On one side, everyone was looking around for something.

After looking at things, Seol Young was startled. There were ghosts with holes in their chests.

“It’s the punishment for smuggling without permission.”

“It’s a punishment from the Lord.”

“Violate the rules of the city, and you will die with a hole in your body. No matter what you do, it cannot be avoided.”

Everyone was talking with scared faces.

The ability to manipulate causality by cutting time. It was more terrifying to those who didn’t know it.

“…”

Seol Young and Zaha looked at each other and left that place. But then, someone who was walking on the other side caught their eye.

“…?”

The two went stiff. The other person also looked at them and stopped.

It was a young man.

A top with wide sleeves. A thick belt at his waist. Long boots under his pants.

It was a typical villager’s attire.

But his face was familiar.

His eyes made him look less handsome because of his fierce look. His thin lips were closed tightly. Even from a distance, that person was unmistakably Seo Geom.

“…?”

Both Seol Young and Zaha were shocked.

Why was Seo Geom-rang here?