Chapter 31
The corners of Baek Sangyeon’s mouth twisted upward.
His breathing was uneven, his clothes were burning away, and one eye was red with burst blood vessels, but that smile contained an eerie composure.
“Yes, that hesitation. That was all you gave me as a son. I wasn’t unaware that you remained at Huiseon to monitor me.”
He slowly raised his body. The brief clash had left Huiseon Guild’s front yard in ruins. Baek Sangyeon’s shadow, standing in the center of that wreckage, was strangely long and distinct.
“Even such a bastard, I tried to embrace as my son.”
*Hoo-* A deep sigh scattered.
“You’ve developed excessive attachment to a disposable resource.”
At that moment, a strange ‘sound’ flowed from Baek Sangyeon’s body. The sound of bones breaking and organs twisting, something being reconstructed in an inappropriate way. Light seeped out from under his skin, muscles swelled, and the blood vessels beneath them, tangled like a net, revealed their dark color.
A strange light entered Mujin’s eyes.
“What have you done to your body?”
At Mujin’s question, Baek Sangyeon only smiled bleakly. His silver hair resembled Eunseong’s. When Mujin frowned at this bizarre similarity he suddenly noticed, scorching heat spread out rapidly with Baek Sangyeon at the center.
“Since you’re abandoning Huiseon Guild for that monster, shouldn’t I also find a way to survive?”
“Have you given up being human?”
“I can assure you it’s not the crude level you’re imagining. Some are chosen, some are eliminated. If you had accepted my proposal earlier, you would have escaped unnecessary suffering long ago.”
The smile that appeared on Baek Sangyeon’s face was grotesque beyond comparison. Even as his body’s form twisted wildly, he seemed to be immersed in pleasure rather than pain.
“It’s a realm that you, who chose to live with a broken vessel, cannot understand!”
“Father is the one who understands nothing at all. So it has come to this in the end.”
“The son who drove me to my limits is now worrying about his father—how touching!”
With those words, blazing heat and massive flames erupted. The entire building seemed to sway and twist with the madness Baek Sangyeon was unleashing.
Baek Sangyeon’s Hwanghwa, which had been weaponized long ago, was swelling in size and revealing its original form. It was said that the Hwanghwa from when it was originally a mythical-grade monster resembled a dragon. Baek Sangyeon’s Hwanghwa was similar to a giant serpent.
“Ugh… Mujin… Hunter Baek Mujin…”
“Eunseong, are you conscious?”
Blood flowed steadily from Eunseong’s nose. It seemed his body, unable to endure the power, had collapsed first rather than him regaining consciousness on his own. He had endured for a similar time as when he had burned the boss to death.
This is probably his limit.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
Mujin held Eunseong tightly and dodged the flying fireballs. The flames bursting from Baek Sangyeon’s body far exceeded his original capabilities. Living flames freely changed direction in mid-air and swept about. Huiseon Guild members were being caught up and burned to death by the heat that melted the floor and burned the walls.
Mujin concentrated his power to leap, then rushed straight at Baek Sangyeon. Protecting Eunseong in his arms with one hand, he drove his other fist straight into Baek Sangyeon’s abdomen.
*KWANG-!*
With an explosion, half of the front yard turned to powder and flew away. But Baek Sangyeon didn’t budge. Even after taking Mujin’s attack head-on, he didn’t even bend his body and only exhaled hot breath.
Mujin gritted his teeth and looked down at his torn fist. The skin of Baek Sangyeon that Mujin had struck was no longer human. Under his torn clothes, strange red and glittering scale tissue could be glimpsed.
“…You’ve gone insane.”
Mujin instinctively realized he could no longer fight while holding Eunseong.
Baek Sangyeon’s next attack carried weight from a completely different dimension. The flames he spewed clashed head-on with the barrier Mujin erected. With a tremendous roar, Mujin’s body was flung into the air, and from that impact, Eunseong fell from his arms.
*Thud!* Eunseong’s body was thrown onto the concrete floor. His blood-soaked fingertips trembled.
Baek Sangyeon’s gaze passed Mujin and turned to Eunseong. Waves of flame rose over his body again. His burning eyes were crimson red and his breath, tainted with hatred, was hot.
“I’ll turn you into ashes first.”
Mujin stood blocking Eunseong’s front.
“Eunseong, run away!”
*KYAAAAAAA-!*
As Baek Sangyeon’s Hwanghwa howled, Mujin caught and pulled his whip. When he rushed forward adding his own strength to the pulling force, the moment their energies clashed, a *CLANG!* and a roar burst out.
“That child is fake!”
Baek Sangyeon, his face distorted like a demon, screamed convulsively.
Eunseong was pushed back by the heat bursting from the two men. He staggered and hid his body behind a thick stone pillar.
At the same time, fierce flames rushed in and burned the spot where Eunseong had been standing. Baek Sangyeon’s Hwanghwa raised its head and randomly shot out giant fireballs.
Mujin raised his power to the limit and stood blocking him like a shield. The roar from the clashing energies shook everything around. Mujin’s body was also becoming battered. His skin was torn by flames and his organs were shaken by the sweeping energy.
“What makes you so certain, Father?”
“Why wouldn’t I know? I’ve watched him since birth. For how many years have I listened with my own ears and seen with my own eyes as he called even his own father a useless son. For how many years did we research together trying to fix it! Now that Yoo Hwan is dead and gone, I know every hair on that bastard’s body inside and out—who else in this world would know!”
Baek Sangyeon screamed as he spewed flames.
“The one bewitching you is a monster, not Yoo Eunseong.”
“Shut up! Looking at you now, Father is closer to being a monster.”
“Son, I’ve watched that child longer than you have. You must only trust this father’s eyes!”
That bastard is just a useless existence-!
Hidden behind the pillar, Eunseong sat down looking at Mujin engulfed in flames. The fire that had consumed everything around was so hot that it was difficult to even breathe properly. With each small breath, it felt like his airways would burn completely.
Yet Mujin stood in the middle of it all, blocking and enduring. How long must he live watching the back of someone protecting him? All sorts of incomprehensible scenes flashed before his eyes.
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!* His heart seemed to be beating in his ears. Seeing Mujin’s figure, his whole body on fire and coughing up blood, felt like his own body was being torn apart.
He’ll die like that. Hunter Baek Mujin… Mujin…
Eunseong’s eyes widened. A light flashed momentarily in his blue pupils. The heat that had been raging inside his body began to flow rapidly as if it had found its destination. The moment his vision opened wide, he clearly realized what he had to do.
He remembered a single fact.
Who he had wanted to protect.
On the blood-soaked floor, Eunseong slowly raised his body. Like a golden net moving alive, it formed chaotically over his skin again.
His eyes were already not in their right mind. Red blood beaded at the corners of his mouth as he gasped for breath.
“…Don’t hurt Mujin.”
Coughing up blood, Eunseong rushed into the center of the clash. The light wrapping his body grew increasingly intense and spread out like waves. Eunseong struck Baek Sangyeon with all his strength, and a flash burst out from the collision point between the two.
*KWAAAAAANG-!*
The ground collapsed and flames shot up. The shock wave caused the floor to cave in, and those in the front yard were all buried underground at once.
In the midst of it, Eunseong was driving his fist down at Baek Sangyeon while covered in blood. His hands were broken and everything below his elbows was already bloody.
“I have to, end… I… Now, I have to end it… So Mujin won’t get hurt…”
Blood poured steadily through his clenched teeth. Eunseong continued swinging his fists with his swaying body.
“Hanyeong is alive!”
At that moment, Lee Haesu rolled down from the pile of shattered concrete and shouted. Hanyeong is alive! Eunseong-ssi! Come to your senses! His cry echoed through the dusty air.
Eunseong’s blood-soaked pupils dilated at that moment.
“What…?”
“Hanyeong wasn’t on that helicopter earlier, he wasn’t there! I checked!”
“…”
“He didn’t die!”
Lee Haesu’s cry was mixed with tears. Eunseong’s fingertips trembled. The flow of his rampage was cut off in an instant. Eunseong slowly blinked. His reason slowly returned and the surrounding scenery began to enter his vision.
Baek Sangyeon’s materialized Hwanghwa had long since disappeared. Under his knees, only an unconscious middle-aged man lay collapsed.
“How did I…?”
It was enough to mistake that he had seen hallucinations while rampaging. His vision became heavily blurred again.
Mujin approached Eunseong and stood tall. White steam was rising from his entire body like an aura. His expression was strangely dry.
“Hunter Baek Mujin…”
Without answering, Mujin raised one hand. Heat formed sharply and a blade was created at his fingertips. Mujin aimed it at Baek Sangyeon’s neck.
At his calm expression, Eunseong’s eyes widened. He really intended to cut down Baek Sangyeon.
“Don’t.”
Eunseong thrust his body between Mujin and Baek Sangyeon.
“Move aside.”
“…You can’t do that. Don’t.”
He couldn’t let Mujin’s hands commit murder.
Precarious breaths came out in gasps. His reason had completely returned, but Eunseong’s body had already reached its limit. Nevertheless, he put his last strength into the arm blocking Mujin.
“Don’t kill him, Mujin.”
Mujin could neither lower nor raise his sword. He could only look down at Eunseong with shaking pupils.
At that moment, something hot flowed down from under Eunseong’s nose. The moment he raised his hand to check, pain like a fireball surging from inside his throat rushed over him.
“Haa…”
*Cough,* with a small cough, blood burst out filling his mouth. Eunseong looked down at the blood pooled abundantly in his palm with vacant eyes.
“Yoo Eunseong!”
Mujin’s shouting voice echoed distantly.
His vision went black.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
