ALL NOVEL Chapter 446
Chapter 447
Tae-oh was on a journey.
It felt incredibly awkward to be traveling while occupying someone else’s body, yet there was no other way to describe it but a journey.
Inside there were countless people. Not just echoes of voices, but truly present.
‘How fascinating.’
Within it, Tae-oh could roam freely. He had expected Moryo to intervene, but surprisingly, that didn’t happen.
Maybe he was already being obstructed without Tae-oh realizing it.
In the dim, shadowy world cloaked in darkness, countless people lived. They looked like shadows of the world itself, yet they appeared to possess desires for life.
‘…Maybe not.’
Upon closer observation, it was clear they were not moving due to a yearning for life. Instead, it was as if their souls and bodies were driven by the memories recorded within them.
It was akin to a snow globe. A toy fixed within a limited space, continually showing the same scenery.
Similar things could be seen in the space where Moryo’s Demon King devoured time.
The difference, however, was that in Moryo’s case, the time was severed, and they repeated the same action with self-awareness, while in this scenario, it was closer to mindlessly repeating what they were accustomed to, unable to think any further.
‘…How pitiful.’
As he looked at them, Tae-oh felt a complicated mix of emotions that was hard to express.
Somewhat, how should I say this… On one hand, Yeon-woo’s dad is indeed a dad, but Tae-oh’s own bloodline is from Moryo.
Thinking about it as something his biological father had done made Tae-oh feel sorry.
Thus, he approached him. A man endlessly tilling the soil in the outer reaches of that dark world.
There was not a single ray of sunlight, and even if he were used to the darkness, there was no visibility whatsoever in that world. The only reason Tae-oh was able to see someone else there was that he was a child of shadows.
Farming in such a place was quite a foolish endeavor. What kind of farming could one do in a world without light or rain?
“Hey, sir, are you okay?”
“……”
The man did not respond at all. He merely turned his head slowly to look in the direction of the sound. He was silently shedding black tears.
“You don’t look okay.”
Tae-oh reached out and wiped the flowing black tears. They were shadows, darkness itself. The tangible manifestation of the muddled emotions expelled as a human ceased to be human.
For a moment, that which seemed like filthy sludge felt dirty, yet Tae-oh’s hands moved without hesitation. Wiping such things was nothing for him.
Tae-oh understood well the depth of Yeon-woo’s anger. Though it seemed a bit alleviated lately, it was merely that it was not expressed outwardly in front of others; the depth of that emotion did not diminish.
That suppressed anger had solidified like sedimentary rock from dealing with foes.
Yeon-woo had always vented his anger on the Demon Kings and demons. Christopher and Kai were not much different.
Christopher crossed his path regardless of intent, while Kai just let it be, aiming to kill the Demon King.
In that sense, Tae-oh wasn’t much different either. No, it was rather Tae-oh who was the problem.
He had met Moryo very early, not as the vanguard to invade the world.
Moreover, having already devoured five people at that time, to Yeon-woo, he was an enemy he couldn’t deal with.
Tae-oh had inexplicably burrowed into Yeon-woo and settled in. Yeon-woo had drawn him in, but he surely never anticipated he would flow in completely. In other words….
‘Illegal occupation…’
Tae-oh let out a sigh.
He was utterly a bad guy. Starting with the word “illegal” meant it was something one shouldn’t do, which made it even worse.
Still, Yeon-woo accepted Tae-oh. After that, Tae-oh could become Yeon-woo’s son.
No longer was he someone thrown aside on the ground as a vanguard for invasion; he had become a child that could be cradled in someone’s arms.
Thus, Tae-oh wanted to be someone who could wipe away others’ tears. Regardless of whether they were black, white, or even rainbow-colored, tears are tears.
Tears arise from beings with emotions, after all. Even Tae-oh felt his face flush with warmth when he was hugged by Yeon-woo.
“What happened?”
Tae-oh asked a question that sparked no return. No matter what one said, the scenery was too desolate to expect a response.
If Tae-oh had lived in a world like this, he undoubtedly wouldn’t have cared at all about anyone else’s words.
Sighing deeply, Tae-oh hugged the man tilling the parched earth. That was about all he could do. Then he turned his body.
“…Are you going to listen to me?”
The man’s voice reached him. Tae-oh’s face lit up as he turned back to face the man.
“Of course! Speak away!!”
*
“I thought it would go easy…!!”
“Do you think your life would go that smoothly?”
“That’s just a curse, you bastard!”
“You just cursed too!!”
Yeon-woo and Namgung Seong had begun bickering. The sharp gaze of Baek In-hwa caused their quarrel to quell. Indeed, this wasn’t the time for it.
The darkness Moryo had sprinkled enveloped the vicinity. The looming darkness seemed to threaten to swallow them as they barely held their ground, protecting Ilucia.
Thus came Baek In-hwa’s unspoken pressure: they should focus on moving rather than pointless fighting.
This reaction started emerging shortly after Tae-oh entered. While they had promised three minutes, that promise was not being kept.
Fortunately, it seemed no disaster had occurred, as the connection with Tae-oh hadn’t been severed. Yet Tae-oh was still within there alone.
‘It’s clear that the Demon King’s qualification is protecting him, but…’
How long that protection could last was only a question mark. They needed to break through this barrier as soon as possible and head towards Moryo’s main body.
“Ilucia, please take care of it, Shar!”
“Hmm! No one can pass! I’m standing at Jeongpanpa right now!!”
Shar of Jeongpanpa. It was magnificent. One could consider it godly, or something equivalent to that. Perhaps.
In any case, the urgent matter was rescuing Tae-oh. Nothing more, nothing less. Killing Moryo would resolve itself once Tae-oh was saved.
*
[…Hoo.]
Inside the barrier, Moryo sighed softly. It was frustrating. The younger ones didn’t bother him, but there were only three problematic figures.
Ilucia, who was gradually stealing divine power, Shuyo, who despite losing much still had a part clinging on, and lastly, the Doppleganger within him stirring something up.
Among them, the Doppleganger’s actions were flowing uncontrollably. Yet, the biggest problem was that there was no sharp method to counter it.
The restriction that a Demon King couldn’t kill another Demon King had been lifted long ago. However, the issue with Tae-oh was different. There was another restriction that perhaps most Demon Kings may or may not even know.
‘If anyone knows, it might just be Hwayo.’
A Demon King cannot kill themselves. Coincidentally, Tae-oh was a part of Moryo yet simultaneously not.
As separate Demon Kings who were also themselves, separating them could be excusable, but killing them would be perceived as an act of suicide by the criteria of the law.
‘Could it be that the souls of the people will awaken?’
Perhaps it was not just because he obtained the qualification of a Demon King, but because he was a part of himself that he could do so.
It was he who had stolen their souls, and thus it would only be he who could return them.
Moryo laughed incredulously. There was nothing he could do. While Shuyo and Ilucia were one thing, he lacked a method to confront Tae-oh.
As the world he had severed long ago, he could no longer set foot in that place.
[Has it come down to having no choice but to kill my contractor?]
At most, that singular Doppleganger he had first created was too great a change to bring about.
He had thought that no matter what happened, the overwhelming advantage he held would change; however, this was a different story.
He was no longer the Crown Prince but a King, and the throne of the Crown Prince was occupied by the irreverent Doppleganger named Tae-oh.
The ones to bring about revolution will always be new forces, and what this situation implied seemed to be quite clear.
[Surely I cannot sit here and just take it?]
With a sly grin, Moryo unfurled the barrier. He stepped forward, pushing aside the shadows he had spread as he sneered at the younger ones fighting against them.
[It was an amusing gift, hero.]
If your son is causing chaos within me, shall I attack the heart of the father?
His malicious intent stirred, and that method would be particularly effective on Yeon-woo, if no one else.
“…Ha.”
Yeon-woo understood clearly. For now, Tae-oh was alright. He existed within Moryo with no problems whatsoever. Yet, how that was manifesting was beyond Yeon-woo’s understanding.
Even if Tae-oh was melting away within the body of Moryo, Yeon-woo had no means of discovering that fact.
Of course, Yeon-woo understood that this was a provocation. Still, as a father with a child, he couldn’t help but feel an intense unease regarding that provocation.
The veil of darkness parted. Just barely, it opened a crack wide enough for only Yeon-woo to pass through.
Yeon-woo wasn’t one to ignore that situation. It was like asking him to perform fifteen actions with one body, all while staying rational against contingencies.
Yeon-woo dashed through the gap in the barrier. His friends tried to stop him, but they couldn’t. Their hands reached out too late. Thus, two figures stood facing each other in a corner of the battlefield.
“I’m going to kill him and bring him back.”
[If you can, go ahead.]
Unforeseen situations piled up, and the battlefield began to take a swift turn.
(To be continued in the next episode)