Chapter 788: Fog and Sea and Memory (2)
Those red eyes shifted toward the voice calling his name. Instead of answering, he raised the Ruler’s Sword. Fwoosh—flames climbed the blade, and he swung it in a broad arc. Fire, heated to a vicious crimson, split into dozens of arrows and shot toward the twenty–six–year–old Han Yuhyun.
Yuhyun did not dodge.
The flames grazed his cheek and battered his body. Most of them scattered off him as if he were wearing a heavy fireproof suit, but a few stubborn sparks survived. Iryn gulped down the remaining embers. The black eyes that had not so much as twitched slowly closed, then opened again.
“Your job is to take hyung back safely.”
This time, too, the twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun gave no reply.
–So that’s your younger brother from before the regression. The one I tried and failed to find?
The jellyfish sounded intrigued. I couldn’t take my eyes off my brothers as I answered quietly.
“Yes. You’re the King of Harmless, right? Why do you look like that?”
I’d called her a jellyfish, sure, but she hadn’t actually been shaped like a real jellyfish. Or had my memory of that part been erased too?
–Jellyfish like this are all the rage in your world right now~ And I’m a fragment of memory and a fragment of dream, aren’t I? I was influenced. Soft and squishy and cute, right~♡
The jellyfish shifted from pale green to soft violet, then to pale yellow. Then she turned translucent like a soap bubble and shimmered with rainbow light. …You may be dead, but you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself.
Chief Song glanced my way. His look seemed to be asking whether we should count the twenty–six–year–old Yuhyun as an ally. For now, I nodded. To that Yuhyun, my safety would be the highest priority. Until the twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun either gave up on swallowing me or was rendered powerless, we shouldn’t have to be wary of him.
“Come to me, hyung.”
The twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun spoke. His gaze had locked back onto me as if nailed there.
“Then you won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”
“…I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
Yuhyun tilted his head slightly.
“It would be easier for you too.”
“Think about it, Yuhyun. Has your hyung ever chosen something just because it was easy?”
“Just this once, I’ll order late–night snacks. Skipping one meal won’t kill me. I’ll only skip today. I’ll go to sleep after I watch just this one thing—”
“Not that kind of easy!”
You remembered all that? Even if the First Flame had messed with his head a little, Yuhyun was still Yuhyun.
“Yuhyun—”
Tap. Without listening to me, the twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun moved. He kicked off a butterfly and rushed at the twenty–six–year–old Han Yuhyun. At the same time, the melted swords became sharp spikes and began raining down.
Their target was me.
“Han Yuhyun, you little—!”
Yerim snapped and dragged a massive amount of surrounding water into the air. The water sliced through empty space and began freezing with a cracking screech.
Kang, kakang! Chiiiiik—!
Boiling metal and ice–cold frost clashed ferociously. Meltwater and hardened metal fell while steam billowed up. More than half the sword–spikes were shoved back, but plenty still survived after piercing through the ice. Seong Hyunjae clasped his hands together and thrust them forward. Chief Song leaped onto them, and with the force that powerfully boosted him upward, his body shot toward the incoming sword–spikes at a speed close to teleportation. At the same time, Liette bent her upper body until it nearly touched the floor, then—
Shhk!
—swung her sword upward in a huge arc. The sword strike hammered into the spikes with a clattering crash. Unable to withstand the power of Severance, the sword–spikes broke into pieces, their force greatly weakened. Chief Song spread both arms toward what remained. The wire wrapped around his forearms slid loose, then cracked through the air in a wide lash like a whip.
Tudududuk—
The wire, draped in black shadow, swept away the remaining sword–spikes.
In that short span while they dealt with the spikes—
Tung.
The twenty–six–year–old Yuhyun was shoved far back before the Ruler’s Sword. He barely caught his balance by stepping on a willow leaf, only to be kicked roughly again and sent falling toward the Han River below. Splash. Water erupted. He didn’t have enough mana to maintain his body, so… he had no choice but to be pushed back.
–You didn’t call me here just to spectate, did you?
The jellyfish swayed beside me as she spoke.
“Help us.”
The twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun turned. The melted swords flew back toward their master again.
“First of all, part of my memory has disappeared.”
I quickly explained the item that erased memories. The jellyfish nodded with the tips of her tentacles.
–The Four Seasons Pomegranate? I know that one too. It doesn’t delete. It buries. Like white snow in the dead of winter covering everything.
“Then can I get them back?”
Pabababang—! The ice spears Yerim fired collided with Yuhyun’s melted swords once more. Steam rose and veiled our view like fog.
–First, eat the winter piece too.
“If I do that!”
–Winter has to come before spring can have its turn again. But the me here right now doesn’t have the strength to call spring~.
The jellyfish bobbed lazily in the air. Then my memories will just get completely wiped and that’ll be the end of it! One of the jellyfish’s tentacles poked me in the head. I reflexively tried to recoil in horror, but the other tentacles came tangling around me too. Ack! Don’t!
–You can’t do it with your ability as it is. I taught you myself, and you still haven’t improved at all?
You only taught me that one time, and now you’re treating me like a lazy student! Kwa–rung! The sky roared. Chief Song blocked Yuhyun as he pushed through the water fog. Behind him, I could see Seong Hyunjae and Liette. Because of the heat wrapping around Yuhyun, those two, who lacked enough fire resistance, couldn’t even approach. I hurriedly sent a message through the system window.
Chief Song gave a short nod and kicked forward hard. Heat crashed over his entire body, and the pitch–black blade bared its teeth with savage force. He met it all with the shadow of an eclipse. Thud! Yuhyun also faltered slightly before that charge, even though Chief Song had braced himself to take injuries. Immediately after, Chief Song’s body dropped sharply downward. He had leaped all the way into midair where there was no footing.
Shaaaa—
In the exact spot where Chief Song had vanished, right in front of Yuhyun, water appeared. It had approached while sticking close to Chief Song, hidden by him. At the same time—
Magic power, lightning attribute, mana control, fire resistance, skill enhancement. Target: Seong Hyunjae.
I withdrew the buffs I had given Chief Song and gave them to Seong Hyunjae instead. With perfect timing, lightning fell from the sky, and Seong Hyunjae poured his mana into the Seeker’s Chain writhing inside Yerim’s water.
Kwaaaaang—!
An enormous blast erupted with a flash of light. Not just my sight, but the sight of the other S–ranks too, was washed white. The explosion shoved back Yuhyun’s fire and the swords of Blade–Devourer all at once. But Yuhyun was still fine.
Through the fading light—
Flutter. The hem of Silekia’s wing shook.
It was not Seong Hyunjae. It was not Song Taewon.
It was Liette.
Strength, agility, cutting power, poison, magic power. Target: Liette. I quickly pulled back the buffs that had gone to Seong Hyunjae and sent them straight to Liette. Wearing the coat Chief Song had swiftly thrown to her, Liette swung her arm, now covered in black scales, in a wide arc. At Yuhyun, who had not yet completely escaped the aftershock of the explosion.
Kagagak!
The Ruler’s Sword was raised in a hurry. Liette’s sword slammed into it with a shrill, grinding sound. But the Severance power dwelling in that blade crossed beyond the black sword and carved a long gash across one of Yuhyun’s shoulders.
“Wow. Even doubled and with Dragonkin on top, he barely budges?”
Ggeugeuk. Sword ground against sword. Liette kicked hard off the ice Yerim had pulled up from the water for her. Crash! The ice shattered, and Liette’s body whipped around in midair. Her long protruding tail struck Yuhyun’s body. At the same time, poison spread thickly with a violent rush. Yuhyun stepped back onto a butterfly, and Liette did not chase him.
Meanwhile, Yerim lifted the twenty–six–year–old Yuhyun, who had fallen into the water, onto the ice.
“We wounded him, but it will not amount to much.”
Chief Song spoke heavily. Yuhyun, who had quickly retreated all the way back to the burning zone, took out a potion. In front of him, the heat that had scattered for a moment and the boiling metal appeared again. Breaking through all that to stop him from using a potion would not be easy. Especially if he was inside the territory of the flames already burning. A careless pursuit would be close to suicide.
“And I only just managed to poison him too~.”
I had made sure Yuhyun carried plenty of highest–grade potions and antidotes as well. How many was it again?
–That child should do.
Ru Ga Pheya suddenly spoke. One of the jellyfish’s tentacles pointed toward Yerim, who was floating above the Han River.
–She suits my attribute well, and I can sense that she has a related skill.
A related skill—did she mean White Deep–Sea Illusion? The upper S–rank skill that had been combined with White Corpse, which drew out the memories of the dead. On top of that, Ru Ga Pheya was the King of Harmless, the king of the fog sea, so she was water–attribute as well. Ru Ga Pheya whispered a more detailed explanation to me. If it applied like that…
–I’ll check whether it’s possible, so you eat the rest of the pomegranate seeds.
The jellyfish floated off toward Yerim. Yerim tried not to take her eyes off Yuhyun, but I could still see the corners of her mouth creeping up as the jellyfish approached. That jellyfish really was right up Yerim’s alley. Even I had to admit she was cute.
“Yuhyun!”
Both Yuhyuns looked at me at the same time.
“The winter fruit! Give it to me!”
The twenty–six–year–old Yuhyun, standing on Yerim’s ice, gave a small twitch of his brows. He had tried to feed it to me before, but it seemed his hesitation had only grown stronger in the meantime.
“It’s okay!”
Trust your hyung. I promised I wouldn’t forget you. Chief Song and Liette, who knew about the fruit, looked puzzled too, but there was no time for a long explanation. The twenty–one–year–old Yuhyun had already recovered from both the wound and the poison. After a brief hesitation, the red fruit cut through the air. It was thrown high, and Seong Hyunjae’s chain wrapped around it and delivered it to me. Holding the pomegranate seed in my hand, I looked at Yerim and the King of Harmless. The jellyfish waved her tentacles at me.
–It’ll work~.
I lowered my gaze to the red fruit on my palm.
‘At least Yuhyun’s memories.’
Even if this goes wrong, let the one thing I want most remain. The silent piece of winter. I put it in my mouth. The item’s mana spread through my entire body, and the other three pieces already inside me responded.
“Come!”
Yerim used the power of the Waves of the Night Sea bracelet. The area around us darkened. Waves stained black with night surged toward us, toward me, with a low shaaaaa—. The Mermaid Queen’s sea responded, and midnight fog began rising thickly over the ocean.
–Well done! Keep following me just like that!
The King of Harmless chattered happily.
Shaaaaaaa— The sound of incoming water swelled louder, and the Deep–Sea Illusion was summoned.
Through the night sea, through the fog over the water, my memories rose.
–Perfect. You have talent!
The King of Harmless, restored to the form she’d had when she was alive, clapped her hands. Beside her translucent, wavering figure, Park Yerim panted for breath. It looked as if the mana throughout her entire body had been drained all at once.
“Wh–what happened?”
Fog lay thick all around them. Water rippled underfoot, but they did not sink. Everyone else was gone. Only Park Yerim, Ru Ga Pheya, and—
–Yerim really is amazing! I don’t really get it, but still!
—the water spirit remained. Sanho studied the King of Harmless with eyes half curious and half afraid.
–You drew out Han Yujin’s memories, and using him as the foundation, you cast the Deep–Sea Illusion skill on everyone here. Since they’re people deeply connected to Han Yujin, the buried memories can be revived much more stably.
“Mmm, I think I kind of get it. Then Mister is safe, right? What happened to Han Yuhyun? We were in the middle of fighting!”
–Han Yujin should be asleep, and the others are under a temporary ceasefire. They won’t be able to fight until the skill ends.
“Even though Han Yuhyun is SSS–rank?”
–Yes. It’s originally an S–rank skill, but you have the Mermaid Queen’s sea, your waves, and even the environment of night. The crescent moon being up helps too. Dreams are always clearer at night, after all. Besides, that boy is bewitched by Han Yujin, isn’t he? Han Yujin is the core of the illusion, so how could he escape~?
“Ah… right. Han Yuhyun only sees Mister.”
–Skills, you see, are all about combinations too. Don’t let the system confine you. Try weaving them together in different ways.
Though I’m weak in combat, the jellyfish added, swaying her tentacles. She was especially weak in areas she could not fully grasp. Just then, Park Yerim’s eyes went round. A clear scene had appeared within the fog.
“Huh? That’s—! That’s me!”
–That’s you, Yerim? So small! So cute!
Sanho squealed when she saw Park Yerim at around ten years old. Having just gotten out of school, young Park Yerim was waiting for the apartment elevator. Beside her stood a familiar face.
“Mister?”
It was twenty–year–old Han Yujin, holding what looked like either a courier package or a delivery order. Park Yerim’s eyes went round, unable to hide her surprise.
“I guess I ran into Mister when I was little! Mister had no idea at all!”
–Most old memories fade and get buried. This memory won’t remain either. It’ll be buried again.
“What a waste! Mister said he worked every part–time job under the sun, but I can’t believe he came to my neighborhood too! Well, it makes sense. We were both in Seoul, and the place where I used to live wasn’t that far from where Mister used to live.”
Park Yerim and Han Yujin got on the same elevator. They got off on different floors.
Then the scenery around them changed.
“Yerim, Yuhyun and I can handle the cooking.”
Han Yujin peeked into the kitchen with a faintly uneasy expression. Park Yerim, who was studying the oven manual with great concentration, said,
“I’ve always wanted to use an oven.”
“Y–you have?”
“I’ll make you a healthy cake, Mister!”
“No! Stop!”
Park Yerim waved both arms and shouted. At her cry, the Han Yujin inside the memory whipped his head around.
“…Yerim?”
“Ah, um. This is a memory, but you recognize me?”
–Han Yujin is real. It’s a memory, but he’s connected to the main body, so he reacts. On the other hand, the you over there is nothing but a memory.
Just as Ru Ga Pheya said, unlike Han Yujin, the Park Yerim in the kitchen kept reading the oven manual. Then, apparently bored, she shut it carelessly.
“Two… Yerims?”
“I’m the real one. Mister, I’m sorry! It tasted awful, but you still ate half of it…”
Han Yujin blinked, then smiled with an “Ah.”
The Park Yerim in the kitchen faded away.
“It was the first cake you ever made, Yerim. The fact that you finished it safely was enough. As for the taste… it was, uh, edible.”
“Huh? It’s Mister’s memory, but, I mean.”
–I told you, he’s connected~. This is how it helps revive memories.
Han Yujin disappeared. The fog remained thick. Through it, Park Yerim appeared alone.
It was a large swimming pool. No one was there except Park Yerim and Mar in the water. Park Yerim looked down at the baby Water Dragon, spun around once, then spread both arms with a ta–da.
“Now, Mar. Watch closely. They say everyone in America acts like superheroes, so I’m going to practice—”
“Aaaah!”
Park Yerim screamed.
“Th–that was when I was alone! Only Mar was there! Don’t tell me Mister was watching that, watching—!”
–It’s your memory.
“My memory?”
–I said you used it on the people around Han Yujin with him as the foundation, didn’t I? So part of your memories have mixed in too.
“Oh, that’s what it is. Thank goodness.”
Park Yerim let out a huge sigh of relief. The fog drifted slowly again.
“…Mr. Han Yujin?”
Song Taewon looked around. The last message Han Yujin had left hovered before him.
[Yerim is going to use an illusion skill! She says Yuhyun will be neutralized too, so don’t be startled, and just wait!]
There had been no time to receive a detailed explanation. No more messages appeared either. Song Taewon stood alone in the dense fog. Just as Han Yujin had said, he sensed no further threat. Was this all right?
Then someone’s voice reached him.
“…It’s all right.”
Song Taewon turned his head.
Standing there was Song Taewon in a police uniform.
–TL Notes–
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