Chapter 123 – 20. The Long Day (1)
“Who made Xian like this?”
Fucked.
The moment I heard the voice, all I could think about was that.
The great demon of collapse, the antagonist of Goryushin.
Numerous nicknames in the story that modify Cormpunture come to mind and then scatter.
Among them, the most memorable nickname was ‘Existence Destroyer’, which modifies Cormpuntur’s ability as it is.
He could erode ideas.
‘Collapse’, which cuts one of the many elements that make up an individual and breaks down all the links.
It isolates the companion of society from humans, takes away the concept of photosynthesis from plants and burns them.
His ability was very difficult to use, but the fact that he overcame the condition and rose to the position of the archdemon was even more outstanding.
“Hmm… You’re the person from last time. I don’t know how you came to this distant place, but I’ll appreciate your determination.”
Compuntur looked at me with her slanted eyes wide open.
It was the red eyes resembling reptiles that made me think, ‘This is a demon!’ Even in such an urgent moment.
Even though we just made eye contact, his body trembled.
At his current level, even if he died and woke up, he couldn’t defeat him.
No, let alone winning, could he properly react to the attack?
My mouth is dry from the indescribable pressure.
At that time, Compuntur, who turned his gaze away from me, suddenly stretched out his thin, long arms and grabbed Xian’s head.
A bony branch-like finger gently pressed his head, and white thread-like things that flowed from the pressured area began to twist and climb up his finger.
“Yes… I see. You are the owner of the stigma.”
With an ominous murmur, Cormpuntur’s hand, which had put Xian on the floor, was moving towards the fainting Liu Xin this time.
It is not known for what reason, but it is clear that at least it is not for a beneficial purpose.
Even if you want to rush at it with the thought that you have to stop it somehow, this bug-like body won’t listen to your commands at all.
It felt like being locked in a tight transparent barrel.
Compuntur, who lazily grabbed Ryushin’s head, turned his gaze back to me.
As if I was imagining myself trying to move somehow, he raised the corner of his mouth and asked me a question.
“I’ll just check a few things in a minute, so you don’t have to try to stop me. Um… By the way, what’s your name?”
“…Lee Ji-hoo.”
“Yes, that’s right… Lee Ji-hoo, let me make a suggestion. Do you have any plans to come over here?”
“What?”
I couldn’t believe my ears for a moment at his words.
“I’m asking if you have any plans to come to the organization I belong to, Pantagruel.”
Contrary to the feeling of intimidation that naturally radiates just by standing close, Cormpuntur kindly solved it for me and explained it one more time.
Are you suddenly offering me a scout here? Me, who has poor abilities and poor magic power…?
It’s not even Juha, why is it me? No, that’s why I don’t want to die for Juha to accept the offer, but…
“If I refuse, what will happen to me?”
“That’s it… Isn’t it that simple?”
Behind Cormpuntur, a portal similar to the one he appeared in slowly formed.
The ominous shimmering gap in the space, the one who managed to escape with her trembling body inside was… Alice.
“Ellis!”
Elise blinked her murky eyes a few times, and she was so exhausted that, unable to take a few steps, she collapsed and passed out.
“Somehow, I thought I couldn’t see them… Which demon in the world would think like that. I really never imagined that there would be a demon dedicated to humans.”
“Did you steal even Alice’s ability…?”
“I propose again. Would you like to come to Pantagruel? To me, I feel the power you have. You will only realize it when the end arrives… But we need you.”
It must have been.
The scene where Elise’s magical power escaped along with Compuntur’s fingers was drawn so clearly.
Otherwise, there is absolutely no explanation why Elise fell helplessly like that.
“I don’t need demons like you.”
Even if I lost my way in the beginning and acted like a bit of trash, now I’m doing my best to follow the original story anyway?
Just because a skinny bat cub scouted me doesn’t mean I’m an idiot who will follow him.
After I finished speaking, I closed my eyes and waited for the excruciating pain that would follow.
Since Cormpuntur tends to focus on the ‘collapse’ of others rather than unnecessary murder, it is only necessary to escape alive in the end.
Even if it doesn’t end with me, Ryu Xin’s stigma has constancy, so as long as it is automatically restored over time, there will be no major change in the flow of the story.
Of course, I don’t know how much of an impact the little period of waiting for the stigmata to recover will have… But right now it’s more important to escape safely than that.
“Yeah, I see… This is unfortunate.”
However, contrary to what he was nervous and prepared for, Kormpun Thur nodded his head obediently.
Then, she took Xian and Elise, who had fallen on the floor, in her hands and even set them down in front of me.
“What…? Didn’t you mean to use your ability…?”
“This is an order from a person higher than me. The original purpose has already been accomplished, and I have been told not to touch it now, so I can’t help it. But…”
Cormpun Thur turned and headed to the other side of the hallway.
Soon, the space was torn in front of him as if he was tearing it with his hands, and a huge blue-black portal slowly appeared.
“We’ll see each other again soon. Of course, we won’t treat you as warmly then as we do now, so prepare well, Lee Jihoo.”
“What?”
Before a word of bewilderment could escape his mouth, Kompoon Tur had disappeared beyond his portal.
Although only briefly, before the portal closed completely, a large incubation tube could be seen floating in the space inside.
If you think about Xian’s main purpose… The coffin is probably the backbone or final result of the magic implantation project.
He looked down at the Xian in front of him, who was still unconscious and gasping for breath.
Even a person with this level of strength would be able to leave without hesitation if it seemed to interfere with his future actions.
I looked at the place where Cormpuntur had disappeared for a long time.
Until Ryu Xin-yi, Ju-ha, and Ray, who had lost their minds, woke up.
Unlike most of them, who woke up safely, although they were quite tired, Xian and Elise did not regain consciousness when it was time to return.
I could only vaguely guess that it was a side effect of Compuntur’s ability, and that eventually, with time, he would come to his senses someday.
It was a complete defeat.
* * *
“Let’s go back, I don’t think it will change even if we stay here longer.”
At Juha’s suggestion, we decided to go outside immediately.
I don’t know if it’s because he hasn’t fully come back to his senses yet or because he’s too tired, but it didn’t look very good that Ryu Xin’s eyes were dull and lost their light.
My heart throbbed as if my mistake of not thinking about the intervention of the back line and just recklessly assuming Xian’s existence had brought about the worst outcome.
Still, I decided to be grateful that I was still alive.
And again… After all, it wasn’t a terribly bad influence.
Although we couldn’t keep the record of the magic implantation project, it must have been taken away in the original work as well.
The timing of Xian’s retirement is also earlier than in the original work, so the period for Ryu Xinyi to train his wave ability is slightly longer.
I just didn’t want to feel like I was constantly getting in the way.
If I had been a bit more competent and hadn’t missed Ellis, if I had been able to lighten Ryu Xin’s burden a little when facing Xian…
Seeing that those thoughts keep weighing on my heart, I think the time has come for me to become really strong.
Oh, come to think of it, Sanja agreed to help.
Since the last time I visited the hospital, I hadn’t heard from him, so I naturally forgot about it, but I wondered if he’d recovered well by now.
‘I’ll call you once I get out… It’s Sunday anyway, so you won’t be busy.’
“It’s done now. Let’s go to the residential area? I’m sorry if I’m a little dizzy… I’m too tired to make fine adjustments.”
The moment I was about to take my phone out of the inside pocket of my jacket, Juha spoke in a tired voice to see if it was ready to move.
We were all equally exhausted, so I expressed my intentions with a nod of her head without much reply.
Wait, did Pirahyun know this and take Seo Jooha…?
In order to see the future where Alice loses her powers through ‘prophecy’ and not be trapped in the facility forever…?
It may have been a hasty misunderstanding, but considering the suspicious actions that Pirahyun had shown so far, it didn’t make any sense at all.
Well, tomorrow is Monday, so you can ask after school.
“Whoa… I’ve arrived.”
“You worked hard, Juha. Go in today and get some rest.”
While I was deep in thought, the scenery around me changed.
It was Arbadellin’s Awakened living quarters, with houses of a familiar structure crammed into every street.
At that time, the cell phone she was holding in her hand started to make a tremendous vibration as if it would fall.
Due to the fact that communication with the outside was cut off because they were underground, it seemed that only now that they had come out, missed calls were arriving one by one.
By the way, what is the contact to come to me?
I already told Ha Yul and Seol Ah seniors, so there is no one to text me…
At first glance, I decided to open my cell phone and check the sender of this terrible vibration.
[Caller: Professor Sianna]
“Uh…?”
[27 missed calls]
[15 Unidentified Characters]
The moment I looked at the list, which was too many to be a simple contact, an unknown feeling of anxiety crept into my body.
6 o’clock in the evening.
In the early summer sky, as if the day had not yet set, pure white clouds were shedding against the background of the pale sunset palette.
And unlike that relaxed scene, the cell phone started ringing again with a loud electronic sound.
[Professor Siana]
With her trembling hand, she slowly reached for the call button.
As soon as I heard the short beep that the call was connected, the woman’s voice hurriedly poured out her words in my ears.
– Jihoo-kun, why… Why haven’t you received it until now…! G-Now… Please come to the place where you visited the hospital the other day, right now. Hurry…!
“Professor Siana…? I just turned on my phone and I still can’t figure out what’s happening, but first…”
– Sanya, Sanya is dangerous…
As soon as she heard her words, she gave the three of them an urgent matter, and started running as fast as she could towards her academy.
Ellis will be taken care of by her Juha, and Xian will no longer be able to use her powers, so she will be taken care of by Lei.
However, it seemed that the work I had to do was not finished yet.
It was a really long day.
