Chapter 501: Side Story 21 Baek Sang-ah’s Melancholy

“I-I did it.”

The blade of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword pierced through the gap split open by the dagger into the reverse scale.

At that moment, the faint black energy that had been gently flowing around Eungnyong’s nape suddenly began to spread rapidly across his entire body.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

Eungnyong’s scream began to ring in my eardrums.

—Not like this! It can’t end in vain like this!

Even as he exhausted all his strength and began to fall, Eungnyong turned his gaze toward So Cheon.

He tried to lunge forward with his mouth open, desperate to kill him.

But then—

Whoosh!

A familiar pair of fiery wings appeared, wrapping around the falling So Cheon.

“S-So…”

At some point, Baek Sang-ah, having regained a bit of her strength, caught So Cheon in her arms.

“You did well, So Cheon.”

“Feels like I’ve done all I could……”

His vision blurred as he looked at the glowing form of Eungnyong.

“But somehow, it doesn’t feel like it’s over.”

“……”

It was certain that the reverse scale was a dragon’s weakness. The moment So Cheon’s dagger lodged in its neck, Eungnyong’s movements visibly slowed, and his aura became wild and uncontrollable—that alone was proof enough.

But to assume that cutting the reverse scale would guarantee death—that had been a misjudgment.

Just as Eungnyong, now with pupils turned pitch-black, opened his mouth toward the two of them—

Clang!

A crack suddenly formed in the ceiling where there had been nothing moments ago.

And then—

Boom!

With an explosive burst, someone came plummeting through the crack from the sky.

“……!”

—……!

At the sudden appearance of the uninvited guest, Eungnyong froze for a moment.

Recognizing the figure, Baek Sang-ah widened her eyes.

“Kirin?!”

One of the Divine Beasts, a horned being.

Soon, Kirin’s human form slammed onto the ground and collapsed helplessly.

“Eung…nyong……”

—……

Kirin, who should have been in a fierce battle with Gunggi, appearing like this meant only one thing…

‘It’s over!’

As if confirming her thought, a blood-soaked young man soon appeared through the crack Kirin had fallen from.

“That was close.”

Thud!

With a heavy sound, the youth landed on the floor.

“You……”

One of the Four Atrocities, Gunggi.

Though he had followed Kirin, his condition didn’t look any better.

“Heh heh… Honestly, it wouldn’t have been strange if I died, but as expected, Kirin is Kirin. It really was a hair’s breadth.”

Gunggi laughed with ragged breaths.

“Still, I kept my promise.”

His words weren’t exaggerated—one side of Gunggi’s face was blackened as if scorched by lightning.

Though not bleeding, his entire body was torn to the point where his internal organs were faintly visible.

In truth, the only difference between him and Kirin was whether they were standing or lying down.

Seeing her gaze on him, Gunggi scoffed.

“For a human body, this price is cheap. Anyway……”

His eyes turned to Eungnyong, who still hovered in the air.

“So you pierced the reverse scale? Well done.”

“Did we… do it?”

“Indeed. The reverse scale is the weakness of all dragons. It’s usually protected by a barrier close to divine sorcery, but you managed to break through. Clearly, your attributes matched well.”

“……”

It was true that the Killing King’s True Qi possessed an ability to ignore defensive barriers like Protective Energy.

Although, I hadn’t expected it to pierce something divine in scale.

Regardless, Gunggi seemed quite amused as he observed Eungnyong’s transformation.

“Now Eungnyong has only two choices left.”

“Choices…?”

“Kuhuhu… That’s right.”

Then came an unexpected statement from Gunggi.

“Either die honorably as a Divine Beast, or… fall and become a Demonic Dragon.”

“……!!”

“Wouldn’t turning the Four Atrocities into the Five Atrocities be quite the spectacle?”

Baek Sang-ah and So Cheon’s eyes widened.

“You—was that your goal from the start…?!”

Could it be that everything he had shown and said until now was all deception?

“Hmm? Ah, no, don’t misunderstand.”

Gunggi chuckled and waved his hand.

“It’s not like I was aiming for that. I just thought it would be fun if it happened. I’ve always been curious… What choice that stiff-necked bastard would make.”

Now that Gunggi had entered the Samsara of the Human Path, he was completely severed from Eungnyong.

Even if Eungnyong truly became a Demonic Dragon, it was no longer his concern.

“Once, falling was more humiliating than extinction for him. But now?”

“Eung…nyong.”

In front of them, the bloodied Kirin barely pushed herself up.

“I have no excuse. I lost.”

—……

As she looked around, Kirin caught sight of Baek Sang-ah and understood the situation.

“So, the Phoenix has made her choice……”

She had long known that Phoenix didn’t approve of Eungnyong’s plans.

But never had she thought she would outright betray them.

“What now? We’ve lost.”

—Kirin…

Eungnyong began emitting pitch-black Demonic Qi in thick streams from his entire body.

Mixed with the usual golden hue, for a moment, Baek Sang-ah and So Cheon saw the shadow of Jin Yeomyung in him.

—I can’t stop here.

“Hoooh?”

Gunggi’s mouth curled into a grin that almost reached his ears. Kirin closed her eyes with a sigh.

“…So you’re crossing the final line after all?”

—Kirin. Back then, I said something like this.

“That you were afraid. Of their power.”

—Yes.

The final battle between Heavenly Evil and Jin Yeomyung.

Back then, Eungnyong had been overwhelmed by the power gap and gave up on participating in the fight.

—But now, I will overcome that fear. And I will rise to stand equal with them.

“……”

That inferiority he had buried deep inside, ever since the distant past, toward Heavenly Evil and Jiseong, finally erupted at the very end.

—Kirin. I will take the last of your power. Using your strength, I will overcome the reverse scale and ascend to the heavens!

Kirin asked calmly,

“…And do you believe that even with the last of my strength, you can win?”

—Yes. As long as I endure until they’re all dead and every being related to the Underworld is banished.

There remained the formidable wall that was Jin Yeomyung, but that was a problem for later.

Right now, surviving this moment was the priority.

Crunch!

Just like when he absorbed the Phoenix’s power, Eungnyong’s claws slowly gripped Kirin.

—Forgive me. Our secret wish will be fulfilled.

Just as he opened his mouth, ready to devour Kirin whole—

Kirin, who had seemed resigned, suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“I’m sorry too.”

Twitch!

“But I can no longer bear to see you fall so disgracefully.”

—What?

Instead of replying, Kirin released the last of her strength in an explosive surge.

Crackle! Crackle!

In an instant, her signature Demon-Breaking Thunder surged along the black scales of Eungnyong.

“Now that you’ve chosen to fall and become a Black Dragon, you no longer hold any authority as the leader of the Divine Beasts.”

Just as she said, Kirin no longer felt any resistance toward Eungnyong.

—What… are you doing?!

“You said there was still a chance, and I agreed. But now that I’m here… I can’t help but find Phoenix’s words more convincing.”

In the end, Kirin chose mutual destruction with Eungnyong.

She had resolved not just to fall into slumber, but to accept complete annihilation of her existence.

—Kirin! After Phoenix, now you too intend to abandon me?!

“This isn’t abandonment. I’m merely guiding things to flow as they should.”

Crack! Crackle!

Cracks began forming across Kirin’s entire body, light leaking from within.

Now, on the verge of reversing into a Demonic Dragon, Eungnyong could no longer stop her self-destruction.

And finally—

Flash—!

Kirin’s entire body exploded, unleashing a massive thunderous blast.

That thunderbolt, imbued with sanctity, swept over Eungnyong’s blackened body in an instant.

It tore through Eungnyong’s entire domain, rippling out in every direction.

—………

In the final moment, Kirin murmured something under her breath.

Eungnyong’s expression showed a flicker of surprise, but soon he closed his eyes as if accepting it.

Watching this, Baek Sang-ah couldn’t tell what had been said, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Eungnyong looked like a scolded child, hanging his head after being caught doing something wrong.

And thus, Kirin’s final thunderstorm swept through space, and Eungnyong’s domain crumbled.

They should have been swallowed by Kirin’s self-destruction, but perhaps by coincidence, the two survived.

“It’s over.”

Though some time seemed to have passed, the moon still hung high in the sky.

But then—

“Heheheh… what a shame. I was hoping to see something fun… well, this isn’t bad either.”

Thud!

As if reaching his limit, Gunggi’s body collapsed like a lie.

He had only been holding on through sheer willpower. In truth, his body had already exceeded its limits, just like Kirin’s.

On the surface, it might’ve looked like Gunggi’s victory—but in truth, it was mutual destruction.

“Are you alright?”

“That’s a funny thing to say. Do I look alright to you?”

“……”

Because of the lightning burns, there wasn’t much visible bleeding, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t injured.

Baek Sang-ah walked over to the fallen Gunggi with a complex expression.

“…Any final words?”

She was willing to listen—if he had any last will.

But the words that came out of Gunggi’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“Why bother? We’ll meet again anyway.”

“W-What!?”

“Didn’t I say so when we first met? I discarded the body of a Divine Beast and chose to reincarnate as a human.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

“Eventually, my instincts as one of the Four Atrocities will fade, and I’ll dissolve into the laws of this world as an ordinary human. But not yet. I will be reborn. That was part of the deal I made with them.”

Her expression twisted ever so slightly.

“No wonder you cooperated so readily from the start… you’d already made some shady deal behind the scenes.”

“Kuhuhu… everyone needs insurance, right?”

Gunggi rolled his eyes toward Baek Sang-ah, then to the unconscious So Cheon.

“Well then… maybe I’ll ask the Kings of the Underworld to let me be reborn as your child.”

“You crazy bastard?!”

Smack!

Baek Sang-ah’s fist slammed into Gunggi’s face.

“Don’t even dream of it! Who do you think you are, bringing disaster into a peaceful home…!”

“Kuhuhuhuhu!”

Even to the end, Gunggi never said “Just kidding.”

Both Baek Sang-ah and the silently listening So Cheon felt an inexplicable chill down their spines.

Surely… that wouldn’t really happen… right?

“Don’t worry too much.”

Then, a voice came from behind.

“If you conceive a child after the forty-nine days, there won’t be a problem.”

“…?!”

Baek Sang-ah quickly turned her head.

Standing there with Jin Yeomyung was a middle-aged man in a magistrate’s robe.

Gunggi chuckled upon seeing him.

“Kuhuhu… for one of the great Ten Kings of Hell to come greet me himself. Afraid I’d break the deal?”

Yama didn’t bother responding.

He simply reached out and gently retrieved Gunggi’s soul.

Soon, Gunggi’s breath completely ceased.

A pitiful end for a formidable foe who had tormented them to the end as one of the Four Atrocities…

But somehow, it didn’t feel like their connection with him had truly ended.

“…Um, this ‘forty-nine days’ thing—what is it?”

Baek Sang-ah realized at once that the man with Jin Yeomyung was no ordinary figure, but she still couldn’t help but ask.

Unlike earlier, Yama answered her kindly.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. In the human world, they call it the forty-nine day memorial. Though Gunggi’s soul won’t be judged because of our deal, he still must wait forty-nine days in the Underworld before reincarnating.”

“…And?”

“Because Gunggi formed quite a significant karmic bond with you two in this life, there’s a high chance his next life will also be connected to yours in some way.”

“……”

“……”

Could it really be… the bond of parent and child?

Both of their faces were filled with blatant dread.

Yama laughed heartily at the sight.

“Of course, if you wait a few years before having a child, there’s no issue. By then, he’ll have already started a new life somewhere else.”

“R-Really?”

“Well, if you can’t wait and give in to your passion, that’s a different matter. But surely, heroes of your caliber can control their desires, can’t they?”

“……”

“……”

Did… that sound like he hoped they wouldn’t?

While the two of them stood there, looking distinctly uncomfortable—

I stepped forward and gently consoled them both.

“You’ve done well, both of you.”

“Young Master Jin.”

“Yeomyung……”

“Leave the rest to me. When you wake up, you’ll be home.”

Though they weren’t fatally wounded, their stamina and strength had long since reached their limit.

If they closed their eyes now, it would be days before they opened them again.

“Then I’ll be counting on you.”

Baek Sang-ah nodded once and collapsed beside the already unconscious So Cheon.

“You’ve both truly, truly worked hard.”

I gently stroked their unconscious faces and smiled faintly.

And just like that—

Another important battle came to a close.

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