67 – I Can Return to My Oppa’s Side!
Woong.
At the same time, a black circle appeared next to me.
“If you want to go back to that strange world, enter that circle, meow. If you want to go back home, come to my side and watch ‘Love makes a meow sound at the Jonggajip hamburger restaurant – Am I the cat at the Jonggajip hamburger restaurant? Impossible! It wasn’t impossible?’ together, meow! Once you’ve watched it all, I’ll send you back home, meow!”
Even though the kids were caught, my heart was filled with a desire to return to the arena after hearing those words.
‘How can I see such a terrible thing?’
Thinking that, I turned my body towards the circle.
“Wait a minute! Take this with you!”
The deflated bird that had been stretched out like a deflated balloon rushed over and handed me something. It was a sparkling white jewel.
It looked nice, so I was about to take it when the bird hit my hand with the jewel.
Paat!
A brief light flickered, and a geometric pattern was engraved on the back of my left hand.
“With just this, you can communicate with me and receive help from the temple!”
The bird spoke in a somewhat urgent voice. I wondered why it was acting like this as I looked at it, and then the bird started pushing me with its wings. It felt more like extending my arm forward than pushing, as it was so small.
“The divine realm has a different flow of time from the human realm! It must have been quite some time in my world already! Hurry and go back!”
“Huh?! Really?”
The god who was watching TV replied when I looked bewildered.
“Oh, oops, I forgot to explain. That’s right. Of course, when you go back home, I can adjust the timeline for you. Unlike me, who is a fallen god like someone else, I can do it.”
“Krrhuhuhuk.”
The sparrow fell to the ground and started shedding tears. For a moment, I thought, ‘Is this… the god of the dark fantasy world?’ but quickly regained my senses and walked towards the Sakaman Circle.
“Oh my gosh! She was the sister of my brother’s friend’s cousin?! That’s like a complete family!”
With the god screaming strangely, everything in front of me turned dark.
***
“Ugh… Where am I…?”
The first thing I noticed was the smell of something rotting and a pungent odor. The smell was so strong that it made my nose numb, and I tried to get up, furrowing my brows. And then…
Splat!
“Huh?”
Something tightly embraced me, almost suffocating me. I couldn’t understand what was happening and slowly blinked my eyes, looking down.
My vision was blurry, and I couldn’t make out what was holding me.
Reflexively, I raised my hand and rubbed my eyes. As I did, I felt something like debris on my fingertips. Thinking it might be eye boogers, I wiped them away, and my vision became clear.
Why would something like this happen just because I had something in my eye? I checked my hand, and there were small specks of red blood.
“Huh?”
Unable to comprehend the situation, I absentmindedly looked at my hand and then turned my gaze to whatever was holding me. A bright white—no, crimson hair came into view.
“It’s… too big to be Jess… more like…”
“Ah… Iris?”
“…!”
As I muttered quietly, the person burying their face in their chest suddenly looked up at me.
“Uh, uh? Iris, Iris?”
The one who was hugging me tightly was indeed Iris. And she was covered in blood.
“Sob…”
“Gasp…! Iris, what’s wrong? Who, who did this to our Iris -“
“Sob, sob, sniff!”
Tears, like beads, welled up in Iris’ eyes and soon began to flow out uncontrollably. I held her tightly in my arms, countless thoughts swirling in my mind.
“Why is Iris crying, covered in blood…? Why?”
My numb mind couldn’t process the complicated thoughts. I comforted Iris by patting her back, consumed by confusion.
After a while, as time passed.
I calmed down Iris, who was crying so much that I was worried she might get dehydrated, and looked around.
“Oh, we’re here. The corpse disposal site.”
They said there was a place where they discarded corpses from the arena, and it seemed like this was it. Decomposed bodies were scattered all around. Some of them had their bellies torn open, as if someone had taken parts of the corpses.
“We should leave quickly because who knows what kind of disease might be here.”
I wouldn’t catch any disease in a place like this, but Iris was unaware of that. I hugged the crying Iris tightly. At the same time,
Clang!
From Noble mtl dot com
A tool for cutting through the ground made a noise. When I looked towards the sound, a familiar weapon came into view.
“Huh? Gargandoa?”
The familiar dark sword rolled on the dirty floor. I reflexively sat down and placed Iris on my knee, grabbing the sword.
[ Huh… I hate it now… ]
The sound of the sword sniffing came vividly to my mind.
“Gargandoa?”
[ Huh, heh… Now I can even hear hallucinations… Promising that my partner will never die, and then dying like this… and leaving it to that dreadful guy… It’s ridiculous… ]
A voice filled with hatred echoed in the cave, like a bear chewing on garlic. I pondered whether I should put the sword down again, but decided to speak again.
“Gargandoa, I’m not dead.”
[ Another hallucination, huh? Heh heh… Did I really like my partner this much? Even in the afterlife, acknowledge me, partner. ]
In response to his rambling, I lightly grazed my thumb against the blade of the sword. Then, the sword immediately reacted.
[ Huh, ah… Huh? Hek? ]
A strange sound was heard, and the sword trembled.
[ Pa, pa, partner? Is it my partner? ]
“Yeah, it’s me.”
[ But are you sure…? ]
After a moment of silence, the sword began to laugh loudly.
[ Hmm, hot hot hot! I already knew it! That my partner won’t just die like that! ]
I pondered for a moment whether I should reiterate what the sword had said, but decided to let it go. It was admirable of him to show concern, after all.
[ Then let’s make a contract right away, partner! ]
“Huh? A contract? Wasn’t it already done?”
[ The contract was automatically terminated after your heart was pierced. I don’t know why! Anyway, let’s make a new contract! Hurry, hurry! ]
The Demonic Sword trembled as if it thought I might refuse, urging me. Since there was no reason to refuse, I agreed to the contract under the same conditions as before. And then, the Demonic Sword agreed.
Once again, the Demonic Sword had foolishly agreed to the contract. This is why you have to be more careful when making contracts with someone you know.
Swoosh.
The same seal as before was engraved on the back of my right hand. As I looked at it, my gaze suddenly shifted to the back of my left hand.
“I’m sure I gave you a means of contact, didn’t I?”
The existence of the gods, whom I had met while I was clearly unconscious, remained on the back of my hand as if to prove that it wasn’t a dream. However, the geometrical patterns I had seen then were nowhere to be found, only small feather shapes remained.
“Ugh… Since it’s still there, I should be able to receive help at the temple, right?”
Thinking that, I made the Demonic Sword return to my hand. It was something I could do even if my thoughts wandered away from here. I hugged Iris and looked around.
There was a gray wall that seemed to be about 10 meters high standing far away, and there was no ceiling, making the surroundings bright. Since the Demon King’s land often had gloomy weather, I couldn’t estimate what time it was.
The entrance was not far away. It was a huge entrance that seemed to be about 5 meters high, but there was no sign of anyone nearby. There was no door either.
To be precise, it… seemed like the door had been shattered, and wooden fragments were rolling on the ground.
“Surely the corpse disposal site is… connected to the arena…?”
As my thoughts continued, they became more and more blurred and I couldn’t continue. My gaze reached the enormous ruins at the end of the path connected to the entrance.
“Uh, um…?”
On the path leading to the enormous ruins, there were sporadic patches of blood that had not yet dried, and the bodies of those who died miserably were also visible here and there.
“Could it be…?”
I couldn’t be sure, but with a thought of “just in case,” I approached the crumbling ruins. As I got closer to the ruins, I was able to be certain.
“This… seems to be the arena, right?”
What on earth happened after I collapsed?
Going back in time, to the moment when Lian was pierced by Iris’s sword.
Crack! Thud!
Iris’s sword pierced through Lian’s body, piercing his heart and bones, causing blood to spurt out.
“Haak, hah…!”
Iris gasped for breath, her body trembling violently. She smiled, thinking that the eerie sensation coursing through her body was the thrill of victory.
Splatter.
The body of the slave trader fell to the ground, and Iris, drained of strength, sat down in front of the corpse. The sword was still stuck in the body, but she had no intention of pulling it out.
She thought with a blank expression on her face.
“Finally… Finally, it’s over. Now I can return to my brother!”
In the moment she was about to be engulfed by joy.
[ The winner has finally been determined! ]
A thunderous voice echoed in her ears. Iris looked up with a blank expression, looking towards the source of the sound. There was something flying around like a fist, making a loud noise.
Swoosh.
The red mist that filled the surroundings began to dissipate. The air cleared, and at the same time, her sanity started to return.
Because she had been consuming Rediaholsen for a long time, Iris couldn’t regain her composure right away.
She blinked slowly and looked at the slave trader, who was clearly revealed.
“Huh…?”
There was something strange about the appearance of the slave trader.
Reminds me of poor Angron from warhammer40k.