The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
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Chapter 386
Thud…
Seol had turned into a shadow and became one with Yurim.
'Becoming someone's shadow… Is this how it feels?'
Although it was painful, since they were so close to each other physically, it only left a faint tickle.
The initial pain had been gradually subsiding, making it hard to distinguish from pleasure.
'It was a crazy decision…'
Becoming a shadow to protect someone important? If they asked him to do it again, he wasn’t sure he could.
'No… if they asked me to do it again, I needed to do it.'
It was something he had to do to protect Yurim.
A person’s heart is unpredictable—unlike reason. It closes its ears to possibilities, even when they’re in plain sight, pretending not to see. It stays silent, pretending not to hear.
'What will happen to me now?'
Should he entrust his body to the sea of consciousness as it is?
"Seol! Where are you?! Seol!"
Someone was calling him.
It was Yurim's voice.
Startled, Seol reached out his hand, eventually grabbing something.
'Fur…?'
Swoosh…
It was a wolf wearing a mask.
Crunch…
"Ugh…"
A wolf was biting his hand enough to cause pain.
Seol hurriedly pulled his hand out.
Swoosh…
At that moment, someone dragged his body.
"Seol, you mustn't get close."
"Yurim? That wolf…"
It was Yurim again—she was the one who dragged his body.
She looked at the wolf and said.
"Yaksha…"
"Yaksha…?"
"Yes. If you get close, it will tear you apart, just as it always has."
Yurim guided Seol, making sure he didn't get captured by Yaksha.
And thus, the two became one for a moment.
Translator - SCM
Proofreader - Karane
* * *
Shin Yu, who was watching the changes Yurim was going through, asked.
“Is Seol there?”
"He is."
Shin Yu didn't want to kill Seol.
Even though his mind was in ruins, he didn't want to abandon the bond he had brought from the real world.
- Kill her… You have to kill her.
In contrast, the hallucination kept murmuring, urging him to kill Yurim.
In the end, the hallucination had won—Yurim would soon die at Shin Yu's hands.
"Let's end this."
Nod…
Yurim's energy had changed. It looked like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Step…
Step…
The two moved sideways, circling each other, their swords in hand.
Soon, a round moon was drawn on the snowy field.
When the lines connected and formed a moon, the two leaped forward at each other toward the moon’s center.
PAANNG—!
PANG—!
The moment they kicked forward and charged at each other, they simultaneously realized.
'I'm faster!'
'Yurim is faster!'
While in the Night Crow form, the hem of Yurim’s clothes continuously emitted Darkness. It was as if the night itself had become human.
The Darkness was leading her.
WHOOSH…
CLANG!
Their swords clashed.
Shin Yu didn't mind if this fight turned into a struggle of strength.
BZZ…
Now that his energy carried the power of the Thundercloud, he could unleash an immense, overwhelming force.
Creak…
Creeaakk…
However, surprisingly, Yurim didn't back down an inch. For the first time, her sword didn't evade Shin Yu's.
Yurim had always been able to see through others' movements, but as she grew stronger, the outcome of her fights became harder to predict.
"Hmm!"
BZZT—!
Shin Yu's sword went berserk as if it were having a seizure.
TANG—!
The sword left its trajectory, as both their techniques clashed.
TANG—!
TANG—
TING!
The sound of swords slicing through the wind and clashing echoed throughout the snowy field.
The two weren't able to properly wound each other.
PAAF—!
PAF—!
They exchanged kicks.
It was a measure to gauge distance, but as they moved apart simultaneously, the battle temporarily entered a lull.
"How frustrating…"
"I agree."
Yurim had suppressed Yaksha's power as much as possible to avoid being devoured by it. Meanwhile, Shin Yu concealed the Storm Sword, fearing Yurim might steal it through Yaksha's power.
Thanks to that, it was a deadlock.
"This can't continue like this…"
The first to make a decision was Shin Yu.
BZZ—!
His sword resonated.
"Try to take this too… if you can."
"…"
PAAF—!
Shin Yu jumped, as if he were about to fly.
Whir…
PAANG—!
Sun Shower…
However, his hand wasn't visible at all.
Crack…
The issue wasn't the speed of the sword, but the fact that it couldn't be seen.
It was a sword that couldn't be stolen—a sword that couldn't be seen through.
Swoosh…
Tang—!
Tang…
Someone pulled Yurim's hand, holding it upward.
Shin Yu's sword flew precisely to that spot.
CLANG—!
CLANG—!
"Hmm…"
It was Seol.
The two had merged through the Night Crow.
Naturally, they could harness the power of two people.
"You won't!
BZZT…
The storm's energy…
A tingling sensation washed over them.
They could keep up with the movement, but they still lacked in comparison to the strength of the Thundercloud.
'It's the flow… We can't catch the flow.'
It wasn’t the flow of the movement they couldn’t catch, but the flow of power.
It was just as Shin Yu had calculated.
Swooosh—!
A sword aimed to pierce Yurim's chest, covered with Thundercloud, was propelled forward.
It seemed too late to defend with a dulled sword.
'I'll give my shoulder, and…'
At that moment, black hands sprouted from her sleeve.
Whir—!
"Ugh…"
Each hand was targeting one of Shin Yu's vital spots.
CLANG—!
Shin Yu had no choice but to retract his sword.
But that didn't mean the attack was completely ineffective.
BZZ…
BOOM—!
Shin Yu kicked Yurim's stomach.
Since it carried energy, the impact was far from ordinary.
"Cough…"
Crack—!
Crack—!
Yuril fell to the ground and rolled backward.
Whir…
The shadow aligned her cracked bones and readjusted her torn muscles.
Even though Seol had become a shadow, his behavior remained the same. He was doing his best to prevent Yurim from getting hurt.
But still, there were some improvements.
Their movements were catching up with Shin Yu’s.
However, when Shin Yu used Storm energy, even defending was hard.
After deciding to exploit that weakness, Shin Yu stepped back and took a stance.
Clack…
Shin Yu sheathed his sword.
It didn't seem like he had given up.
"It's over."
Shin Yu's hands trembled.
BZZT…
He was readying up a slash.
It seemed like he was trying to do the previous slash again.
However, the energy he exuded was much greater than before.
'I won't be able to see…'
Yurim was frustrated.
She couldn't see his sword.
Whir…
Suddenly, time stopped.
Shin Yu's power and sword were both frozen.
The moment Seol had sometimes experienced came to Yurim, too.
The surrounding area changed.
It brought a smell that resurfaced an unwanted memory.
Someone was leaning against a tree behind Shin Yu—it was an illusion. Otherwise, Shin Yu would have turned around and cut that being apart.
"Yaksha…"
A wolf wearing a mask was leaning against the tree, looking their way.
It was looking directly at her.
"Yaksha… are you trying to bite me?"
Whir…
Whir…
The wolf shook its head.
"Just as you wish, I'm going to die soon…"
At her thorny words, the wolf talked for the first time.
"I never wished for that…"
"What…? What did you just say…?"
"Yurim, I never wanted to bite you. The ones I wanted to bite were the other beings—the ones who put you in danger. Not you."
At Yaksha's words, Yurim erupted in anger.
"Don't lie! You're trying to drag me to destruction again! You've always… You've always!"
Even though she had burst into tears, time remained still. Maybe due to her being inside a dream world, anything was possible.
"Sob… Sob…"
"Don't cry, Yurim. Are you afraid of dying?"
"I learned what happiness is…"
"…"
"I've learned what it feels to smile truly."
Step…
Step…
The wolf approached her, no longer emitting the foul smell it used to.
"I never tried to harass you, Yurim. If you felt that way, I'm sorry…"
Yurim lifted her head and looked at the wolf.
The wolf smiled.
She couldn’t see its face, but she could feel it smiling from behind the mask.
At that moment, she realized the truth about Yaksha's existence.
"You… Don't tell me…"
"I just tried to protect you. Because I…"
The wolf's voice changed from a fierce, rough voice to a fresh one—revealing the voice of a girl.
"I'm you."
Yaksha was a persona created by a young girl to protect herself due to her having fallen to hell.
Yaksha wasn't trying to harm Yurim; it was only trying to erect thorns to protect her.
However, that ended up getting twisted and caused harm to the world.
"Aah…"
Yurim hugged the wolf.
The wolf said.
"Will you forgive me?"
"I'm sorry… for pushing you away…"
"It's okay, as long as you're okay."
Yaksha asked.
"I—No, we don't have much time… Yurim, you've also felt it, right?"
"…"
"I already know what choice you will make. So, what do you want me to do?"
Yurim said to the wolf.
"Please, help me…"
The wolf stopped.
"Help me protect my final happiness… Lend me your strength."
The wolf smiled.
"Alright! Let's show him the infinite possibility Yaksha has!"
The wolf turned around and looked at Shin Yu.
"This is Yaksha's final appearance… Draw your sword."
The time slowly began moving.
"Let's go, Yurim. You can keep up, right?"
When the wolf asked, Yurim looked forward while holding her sword straight.
At that moment, time accelerated—no, it was Shin Yu's sword that came at an incredible speed.
WHIR…
BOOOOM—!
A strike of the Storm Sword—how could an incomplete sword exert such power?
A single line, imbued with immense power, descended—carrying strength that seemed impossible to oppose.
It was truly a storm.
And two beings were rushing straight into the eye of the Storm—it was the wolf and Yurim.
While facing the wind, the wolf cheerfully stuck out its tongue and disappeared.
- Yurim, you'll be able to see! Follow the path! It's a pleasant weather!
Swoosh…
The wolf sprinting across the snowy field was fading and disappearing.
Following the wolf's footprints on the snowy field, Yurim moved.
Crack…
Yurim's mask started to break from the tip.
Her lips were exposed, her straight nose was visible, and her blazing pupils were revealed.
Yaksha, who had removed her mask, had surpassed the possibility.
It wasn't that she could see the movements, but she could see the flow of power.
A flow so beautiful that it looked like tangled threads. Hence, the incomplete sword.
She stabbed her sword through the gap created by that disharmony.
TUUNNG—!
The sound that echoed when her master—someone who stood on top of the swordsman they were facing—executed a perfect defense…
Along with that clear resonance, Yurim pulled her sword back and then shot it forward like a hummingbird.
"AAAHHH!"
Thud…
She was sure her sword pierced through her opponent; it was definitely what she felt.
Time hadn't stopped, yet the two remained completely still.
"Did you read even this, Yurim…?"
"Yes…"
"Amazing… I've lost…"
Splash…
Thud…
Shin Yu pulled out the sword embedded into him and collapsed.
