“Somehow, there was a strangely stinky smell.”
The first to respond to Sharisna’s words was Belluna, who was playing around in a corner of the tomb as if she had no interest.
Whether she knew everyone’s attention or not, she squatted down, fiddling with the smashed stone.
“What do you mean, mother?”
“Hey, there’s that guy. The guy I just said. He’s been a bit suspicious from the start. Somehow, I didn’t want to get involved.”
In the meantime, Ivan asked once again to the woman he liked, saying that he had found a stone resembling a platypus.
“… … Could you please explain to us?”
“Then, I am curious about my son.”
She slipped the stone into her pocket, wiping her clammy, dusty hands.
“Our spirits are the spirit king, the high spirits, and the low spirits, so they are divided in this way, but in fact, they are not very important among the spirits. It’s just that they call each other that way so it’s easy to tell them apart. So he unconditionally obeys the spirits higher than him! This is absolutely wrong.”
“But isn’t that true? It is said that if you deal with the spirits, you can also deal with the spirits below him… .”
At Lee Yu-na’s question, Belluna pouted and pouted her lips.
“Is that the same for humans? Even amongst you, ranks and hierarchies are not determined from birth. But if someone strong enough to kill you at any moment in front of you points out a weapon and commands you to do something, won’t you obey?”
She muttered that it was about the size of the world tree to keep hierarchical order so thoroughly, and sniffled.
“Anyway, even among the spirits, the spirit king is actually a kind of title given to the strongest among the spirits of the same kind. To be honest, even if there are spirits stronger than me, there are many cases where I do not acknowledge them. There are many differences between spirits. For example, in the case of the spirits of the earth that cover sand, rocks, and mud, the hierarchy and organization are the best among the spirits.”
That is why humans who have been recognized by the spirits called the Earth Spirit King can control all the spirits of the earth.
She added as she tapped and touched the stone with her finger.
“On the other hand, spirits of wind and fire like me are not very receptive. Water is… I don’t know. They are so easygoing kids. You probably don’t even care. Right now, on our side, there will be a lot of kids who call themselves the king of the wind spirits, right?”
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Of course, among the guys I’ve met so far, I asked Belluna again, who murmured that he had never seen one stronger than him.
“So… Is this what Belluna is saying? There really is no hierarchy between spirits, each spirit has a different attitude towards that hierarchy. Wind and fire are not well acknowledged, the earth is hierarchical, and water has no meaning?”
“Um, roughly? The other spirits are somehow unknown to me.”
“… I had no idea that the world of spirits could be so complex and diverse.”
At my words, she smiled a little.
“Think about it, Yoo Ji-hyuk. Even the same wind has different names depending on the direction it blows, the season, and the region. If even you humans can distinguish only wind like that, would we be different?”
“… … .”
As she casually spit out words that stabbed people in the face, she cleared her throat with a groan.
“Anyway, why did you say this… On the other hand, just like the wind, there were a lot of kids who said that the spirits of fire are the most powerful because they are the king of spirits, aren’t there? But at some point, these guys started disappearing.”
“… disappear? Are you saying he’s dead?”
“To say that he is dead is an understatement. Well… To put it bluntly, was it annihilated?”
Belluna got up from her seat with a grunt.
Then he approached Ivan, and he took a wet tissue from his bosom and wiped her hands as if it was natural.
“At first, I thought I was eating them to increase my strength, but it wasn’t. Because his aura itself hasn’t changed much. So there were times when I thought he had nothing to do with it… .”
She, who had her hands extended outstretched so that Ivan could wash her hands, suddenly looked at me.
“Actually, I thought that one of the reasons he followed Ariman was because he made a wrong bet.”
“A bet?”
“Yeah, did I tell you before? Promises are absolute for spirits, and because of that, there are very few cases where they made a wrong promise and got their existence as a slave for the rest of their lives.”
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Obviously I’ve said that before.
In addition, there are stories of people who heard such old stories and sacrificed their lives to cheat on the spirits.
“There he really liked to bet. … But I was really weak on betting. So I thought it might be because I lost the bet and cooperated like a slave.”
She shook her head.
“But now I am sure. Even so, there’s no way a spirit of that size can be subjugated so stupidly. He must be following Ahriman according to his will. In addition, the other high spirits of fire other than him were not destroyed, but used.”
“Using it, what the heck… .”
Instantly, he remembered that his nickname was Yado’s Blacksmith.
blacksmith.
And looking at my expression, Belluna smiled brightly.
“I guess you just noticed it? That’s right, what are the two most important things you need to be a blacksmith?”
“Iron and fire… .”
“Yes, iron is a material for this guy. Materials can be obtained anywhere, but… Then what about fire?”
Fuel is needed to keep the fire burning.
Even if the spirits got their power from nature, their power was never infinite.
If you use it a lot, it will decrease, and it took a long time to recover the reduced strength.
“There is no other fire that is as powerful and pure as the fire produced by burning the life of a fire spirit, even a high-ranking fire spirit.”
she muttered quietly.
“One of the things that originally symbolized Ariman is acting. And the smoke gets thicker when the flames burn fiercely. Wouldn’t it be strange to see it this way?”
“… The symbol of Ariman is acting?”
I swear it was the first I’d heard of it.
… No, it wasn’t the first time I heard it.
It was because he had vaguely remembered what Belluna had just said in the text he was speculating about what kind of existence Ariman was in the original world.
“Yeah, that’s right. smoke and darkness. And all kinds of harmful and poisonous diseases. Those are the things that symbolize him. Do you think it would be just right for him?”
She shrugged as if she had nothing to hide.
“More than that, isn’t Yuno the only thing left?
She looked around slowly and shook her head.
“I think we should hurry. As far as I know… I know that the seal of Juno is also a work he made, just like the seal of Venus.”
It was as she said.
Knowing how to make means that you know how to break things.
“… … .”
“… … .”
“… … .”
For a moment, silence fell.
Sooyoung, Yesul, Yuna, and Ivando.
Belluna, even Leto and Charisna, were all looking at me.
“I’ll tell you in advance.”
Charisna looked around and quietly opened her mouth.
“According to your allegiance’s request and will, I will help you. These include Leto, Kwakal, Kritolki, Shuricherisch… It is also the will of all those who had sheltered from the rain under the same roof as the woman who was once called the Shadow Walker.”
When she finished speaking, she slowly lowered her head.
Seeing that, Belluna muttered as if it was strange.
“Oh my God, that proud Garuda bows his head to the first human he has ever seen.”
“… Because it is a request from Maengwoo.”
Sharisna raised her head again.
“From this moment on until the day when the pact with my ally ends, I entrust this Sharisna’s life to you. I will follow your orders.”
“Me too, old man.”
Leto also flattered me and bowed his head.
Belluna looked over here and shrugged.
“I will not.”
She made a face as if she really didn’t want to say it, then she was startled by Ivan’s cold eyes looking at her, and she reversed what she had just said.
“No, it’s a joke. I’ll help you. Because I said I would help you.”
… There was no need to ask any other children.
All eyes were on me, but strangely, I didn’t feel any pressure or burden.
“Then give me orders now.”
I quietly nodded at Sharisna’s words.
“first… .”
* * *
“… … .”
Hyeonu Choi, who suddenly woke up from his sleep, was habitually fiddling with the polygonal object he was holding in his hand.
This object, called a metronome, was the main culprit in getting him to run away like this, but it was also the object that took him to a point he could not have imagined just a few days ago.
In fact, until just recently, he was repeating the battle with Ose Evans and Nam Hyeon-hwa a few days ago over and over again.
The training in memory repeated with the power of the metronome gave Choi Hyun-woo, who had all the talent, effort, and body, an experience he couldn’t have.
For less than half a year, he had met many strong men, and he had fought with them swords and shoulders or side by side.
The opponent to fight was said to be overflowing with garages.
Already within the academy he had no rival.
Fortunately, only the friends who had been with him would be able to compare him closely.
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Other than that, all the strong men he has met, including himself from another world he met in Margo’s dungeon, including Sipgang, Lee Jae-jun who led the Thorn Cross, members of the villain group Red Case, the Big Watch, and even the clones summoned by Milited. Through confrontation with the team, he achieved rapid growth.
However, Choi Hyun-woo was not satisfied.
No, I couldn’t be satisfied.
If you fight with all of the aforementioned characters, you may not know that you can’t win overwhelmingly.
The Seven Devils boasted the overwhelming power that made him feel hopeless.
Most of all, it was because Yoo Ji-hyeok had never been victorious.
“… eww.”
He got up slowly.
My whole body was damp from the cold sweat I shed while sleeping, and I was so hot that I could feel my breathing hot, but I couldn’t lie still and rest.
Even the time he was doing right now was a waste.
“… … .”
Even the strong Yoo Ji-hyuk died.
Since he can’t even win a single victory, how do they get their revenge and kill the remaining Seven Evil servants?
I had to repeat more.
I had to repeat, reflect, and accept more.
In order to defeat the Seven Evils in my memory, to defeat Yoo Ji-hyuk, and furthermore, to avenge the two of them.
I had to get stronger.
“Whoa.”
He exhaled once more harshly.
When I closed and opened my eyes for a moment, a dizzying vertigo exploded like fireworks.
After staggering and stumbling a few times, he was barely able to balance.
Meanwhile, what flashed through his mind was about his biological parents.
“… … .”
The metronome can reconstruct from memory the person it has met in the past.
And Choi Hyeon-woo used it to get a chance to slowly take a look at his parents who abandoned him in an orphanage.
The two people who were so unfamiliar and so young… .
“flaw.”
Why the hell did you do that?
Even thinking about it, I can’t help but burst out laughing.
If Han Soo-young had been by his side at that time, he would have explained it to me in a cool way as usual, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why.
In the end, even though Nam Hyeon-hwa caught up with his thoughts and committed an act that was nothing more than a rout, the reason why he is still staying at this orphanage may be the same.
But now I really had to leave.
Aside from the fact that Nam Hyeon-hwa might let others know that he is hiding here, if he stays in one place, he is more likely to be found out due to the magical energy flowing out of the metronome.
“… Where shall we go now?”
Hyunwoo Choi muttered quietly.
Then someone answered to his self-talk, from which there was no answer.
“Where are you going?”
At that voice, Hyunwoo Choi dropped the metronome he was holding without realizing it.
It was a pathetic mistake, but he thought he was lucky.
This is because the moment the metronome falls from the body, the illusions and memories it shows disappear in an instant. So, he thought, the voices and illusions he had unknowingly created would also disappear.
But the voice did not disappear.
Rather, it even showed itself in front of his eyes with a distinct reality.
“Choi Hyun-woo.”
That voice soon became Han Soo-young.
Choi Hyun-woo looked at her with a blank expression on her face without realizing it.
“… uh?”
A family he thought was dead appeared before his eyes.
with other friends.
“Sooyoung… ?”
The woman in front of her was real.