Requiem of Subdued Souls

The body of the child looked dirty and stained. It was as if like he had been rolling on the ground.

His clothes were torn here and there, and his bare limbs were covered with scars. His wounds were purple from the demonic beings biting into him.

But what impressed him the most was the eyes of the child. Staring into the void, his black eyes looked hurt.

Seo-geom looked at Seol Young and the child alternately with a surprised face.

“No, that child…”

“It is me. Although it is just an illusion.”

Seol Young said.

He was quite surprised to see the picture of his childhood appearing here, but he calmed down.

“It seems like the present and the past are mixed up here. You might not know it because you have been in closed training, but that is the image of me, the Ghost Demon King, whom they tried to catch in the Hwarangs’ place seven years ago.”

“Ghost Demon King….”

Zaha looked at Seol Young and said.

“In the end, you were caught by it?”

“No. Not caught…”

It was then.

There was a sound from the other side, with shadows moving. All of them were illusions of the past, but the three still hid themselves.

“… That bastard got himself into the trap that was made to catch something else.”

An elder with gray hair came in and spoke.

“So I brought him here, but I didn’t release him because I am not going to do what I am asked.”

A tall and skinny figure entered after the elder. Seol Young looked at him.

It was a person in a long red robe with a mask made of skulls.

Seo Geom asked in a low voice,

“Is that the Devil Lair Lord? The Lord of the Ghost City?”

Seol Young nodded.

The Devil Lair Lord looked at the young Seol Young.

“Everyone, get out.”

“Yes.”

The elders went outside. Then he walked towards his and opened the door.

“…”

The young Seol Young didn’t go out. He just crouched down. The Devil Lair Lord asked,

“Didn’t you yourself say you had nothing to come here for? Why did you step into the trap we have set on your own?”

“…”

“The Blue Dragons, Vermillion Birds, and Black Tortoises had been all crushed by your hands, and the Golden Rings or something had been too badly injured now. The anger of the Hwarangs has reached its peak, so there is no need for you to hide anymore, right?”

He looked at Seol Young, who was in the cage.

“But what are those wounds?”

“….”

“Aha, I get it. While fighting against those Hwarangs, your subordinates must have left. They must have been unproperly tamed, so they must have gone to find a new leader. So, they rebelled and attacked you then.”

The young Seol Young said nothing.

He looked at him and stretched out a hand inside.

The child flinched.

.

The next moment, hazy energy rose, making the scars on his body vanish.

“…?”

The child looked shocked. Looking at it now, it was sorcery.

But back in the past, he didn’t know what it was.

There was no place to hide from the Hwarangs, and he was even injured. His body and mind were both hurt, and now his cruel person has healed his wounds.

The Lord said,

“No one can rebel against me in the Devil Lair. Do you want to know the secret to absolute loyalty?”

“….”

“It is this.”

He rolled up his sleeves, and his bluish-like bones were revealed. A golden snake-shaped bracelet was around his boney hand, which was trying to bite its tail.

“That…”

Upon seeing that, a little bit of Seol Young’s memory came back.

‘Why did I completely forget about this important thing?’

He stepped forward to get a closer look, but the vision disappeared like smoke.

The young child and the Lord too.

Then Zaha went out of hiding.

“Let us go somewhere else.”

“Yes.”

They went out of that place and explored the space where the present and past were mixed in. Different things were happening in each room. Prey was being sorted out somewhere, and in some places, hunters gathered.

And then they found a room.

“There.”

All three of them went still at the same time.

And they saw the young Seol Young again.

This time, he was in a different form.

Seol Young had this red robe with a silk belt around him. His face was pale and his black eyes were still there, but he looked like a noble.

“Look at that…”

Zaha, who wanted to make a joke, went silent.

There was a golden bracelet on Seol Young’s wrist. It was the same snake that was biting itself.

The voice of the Devil Lair Lord could be heard again.

“How is it? When you share the authority, don’t they all obey it?”

“Yes, Lord.”

The child responded politely.

Seol Young was puzzled.

Share powers? What is this now?

“Then show it.”

The Devil Lair Lord pulled the curtain on the other side, which opened up a wide space. Several flags with the same sign as the bracelet were there, with demonic beings roaming the place.

Their necks had a wooden plaque that was similar to what Seol Young and the others have now.

The Lord asked,

“What is this?”

Seol Young answered.

“Identity card.”

“Identity card?”

“I made it.”

Hearing that, Seol Young was shocked.

‘I was the one who created this system?’

The child continued.

“Status is important for our place. There are nobles, commoners, and lowly people… I tried it.”

“How?”

“We created a rank and will give more power to those who rise up. Then they will start to fight fiercely with each other.”

The demonic beings in that place began to fight.

Black smoke rose and spread out from the ones who were killed. Then it flowed to those who won.

“Elder! Thank you for the power!”

The demonic being said that and bowed his head.

Seol Young, Zaha, and Seo Geom watched it carefully.

They thought the black smoke was just something that was needed to level up, but it was an ‘authority’?

“Using the identity system, you can control countless demonic beings at your will. Let everyone die and kill each other. Then you get to choose the strongest and use them as your limbs and…”

The child continued.

“I was thinking just now. There is a way for them to share more power if they can catch more good prey. The more competent the hunter, the higher their status is.”

It was a familiar story.

Zaha said

“If you put all of that together, was the Ghost City based on your idea? If Seol Young-rang was the one who came up with this, we got played by a kid.”

“…”

Seo Geom and Seol Young were shocked.

“You are such a smart child.”

The Devil Lair Lord stroked the head of the young Seol Young.

The demonic beings continued to fight. The winner received black smoke and thanked Seol Young.

Seo Geom asked,

“Seol Young-rang. What is this authority?”

“I don’t remember it either.”

It was then.

The bracelet that the young Seol Young had wriggled, then tightened around his wrist and shone. It had sucked something up.

It was spiritual power.

Subsequently, the flags that were there began to light up simultaneously. After receiving the spiritual power, it changed to black smoke and got absorbed again.

The faces of the three changed.

“…!”

Only then did they understand it.

The black smoke was ‘authority,’ which seemed to be amplifying Seol Young’s spiritual power through a bizarre method.

When people were young, their spiritual power was strong, and the custom of catching kids to turn them into demonic beings was common. Moreover, Seol Young’s spiritual power was a lot higher than others.

Therefore, using it, it was possible to create a very large amount of strange smoke. He seemed to be the one giving power to the demonic beings.

“…”

The three of them looked at their cards. Now they knew how the Ghost City worked.

“It seems like Seol Young-rang has found where his lost spiritual power is.”

Zaha said,

“It is what runs this place.”

The identity of the black smoke they kept seeing after coming to the city was Seol Young’s spiritual power.

That was why he was the only one feeling odd symptoms. His mind had forgotten, but his body remembered, and when he had absorbed a huge amount of smoke, he thought his spiritual power was being taken away from his body.

It was pain.

“I cannot believe that I participated in…”

Seo Geom was shocked.

He applied his spiritual qi to the card and tried to extract the spiritual power of Seol Young that was in it, but nothing changed.

“It wouldn’t work now.”

Seol Young said.

“Now I understand. We need to find that bracelet and bring it here. It has to be here somewhere.”

He turned around, but the two didn’t respond.

“…”

Zaha looked at the young Seol Young. The child was seated alone in the chair. His face was pale with no blood.

“Your fate has been terrible too.”

Zaha mumbled.

He didn’t say that when he saw the body of the young Seol Young with scars, but only when he saw him wearing nice robes and enjoying himself.

It was because he knew that his will to never give in had been broken.

“That illusion cannot hear you.”

Seol Young said.

Then Seol Geom asked,

“Does Seol Young-rang think of anything when you see that?”

“Just… I created this card system here, but here I am as a commoner. It makes me laugh at the thought of it.”

And then he went out first.

“So stubborn.”

“He wasn’t like that before. He has been fed well, so he is acting like that.”

Seol Young heard what the two talked about behind him.

Was that so?

Maybe that was true.

But more than that, it was because he wasn’t alone like he was in the past.

Zaha and Seo Geom walked out right away.

“Fine. Then let’s find the bracelet.”

And the three of them began to walk around the hallway. But after a while, Zaha’s eyes changed.

“Gu is coming.”

Zaha, who was leading the way, drew his sword.

“It seems like he has finally noticed us.”

Then he gave Blue Rainbow to Seol Young. He didn’t even have to look at him. Then they scanned around for signs.

“Wait.”

Zaha suddenly pushed Seo Geom and Seol Young to the back.

“It is poison!”

Aura spread everywhere like a golden halo. Then there was this smoke that spread around them. Zaha warned them again,

“It is a colorless, odorless, and very powerful poison. It must have come through from the upper side. Do not inhale it.”

Behind them, they could see these transparent things wriggling, but they vanished soon enough.

“High Governor, let me catch it.”

Seo Geom went out. When the enemy appeared, his eyes burned with the determination to win against it.

“If that is the case, you will have no choice but to give out your identity.” 𝘣𝑒𝑑𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He took out his weapon, the Divine Dragon Bow.