FLIA 72

That blissful flight lasted for about an hour. When the reed boat finally landed near their temporary shelter, having completed its voyage, Yohan looked at Seo Yakrin in awe.

She grew stronger the more she used her power, sure, but to keep an object of this mass floating and moving for an entire hour… it was incredible. To be honest, it wasn’t just Seo Yakrin who amazed him.

Yoon Seungryong’s spatial ability could still store objects without a capacity limit. Ju Hoyoung’s speed remained unmatched. And finally, there was Lee Hyunmook and his deep, dark shadow…

They all seemed like people who had spent over a hundred years doing nothing but honing their powers. But that couldn’t be true, right?

‘They must have gone through incredible things over the past three years. And maybe the corruption had an effect too.’

Still, something about it all nagged at him. But his thoughts were interrupted by the chirping of a bird that fluttered down and perched on his shoulder. It was one of the birds that had followed the reed ship, drawn to his light. When Yohan smiled and held out his hand, the bird tilted its head cutely. Seo Yakrin whistled, and the birds flitted over to settle on her head and shoulders.

“There, good bird. So cute.”

Watching Seo Yakrin converse with the birds like that, a thought crossed Yohan’s mind. He tilted his head in thought, but Yoon Seungryong called out to him.

“Yohan-ah, can you purify this area for us?”

“Oh, sure!”

The temporary shelter, abandoned for nearly a month, had become a mess. Yohan purified the surrounding area, and Yoon Seungryong cleared the overgrown plants. Soon, it looked the way it used to. As they began planting withered seeds and shriveled vegetables, Ju Hoyoung lingered near Seo Yakrin.

“Noona, when are you going to fix my weapon?”

“First I fix mine, then the team leader’s, then yours. And finally, that guy’s.”

At being told his weapon was dead last, Yoon Seungryong snorted. It wasn’t even worth reacting to. Seo Yakrin pulled out several daggers from her chest. Unlike others who used spears, she didn’t need them, her telekinetic powers were ideal for ranged combat. She specialized in slicing or impaling enemies with her flying daggers. As she carefully worked on her weapons, Lee Hyunmook asked,

“How long will it take you to finish the maintenance?”

“At most, a week?”

“Good. Then we’ll leave in a week. This isn’t a good place to stay.”

Everyone agreed without question. Even after being apart and reunited, no one denied Lee Hyunmook’s authority. He was their leader. Yohan thought that was only natural too.

Ju Hoyoung went off to patrol, and Yoon Seungryong worked on the garden. Seo Yakrin focused on her weapon maintenance. With nothing to do, Yohan slowly approached Lee Hyunmook and sat next to him, sneaking glances as he settled down. Lee Hyunmook, who had been poking at the campfire, looked over at him.

Staring at Yohan’s face for a moment, he asked quietly,

“Yohan-ah, are you afraid of me?”

“Um…”

The moment that came to mind was when the Flood had attacked. That face, with nothing in it but the sheer void of darkness, no light, no expression… Lee Hyunmook had kept his human form, but he was even more terrifying than Seo Yakrin, whose body had swelled with endlessly sprouting feathers, or Yoon Seungryong, whose form had become a massive centipede. He had been almost impossible to look at. That was when Yohan finally understood why others feared Lee Hyunmook so deeply.

It felt like even the slightest lapse in attention would get you swallowed up by that dreadful darkness.

“To be honest… I wouldn’t say I’m not scared…”

His words trailed off, and Lee Hyunmook gave a wry smile. Yohan looked at that handsome smile and then reached out.

“But more than that…”

More than that, I like you. You’re precious to me. With that thought Yohan laced their fingers together. Then, without worrying about others, he pressed a kiss to the back of Lee Hyunmook’s hand. Just that much, and his face flushed bright red. Seeing him, Lee Hyunmook’s expression softened into a faint smile.

“My little sheep is cheeky and cute.”

The moment Lee Hyunmook called him “sheep,” Yohan glared and purified him. Lee Hyunmook laughed out loud this time.

“Isn’t it about time you accepted that it’s your pet name?”

“Pet name…?”

Yohan muttered, flustered, and suddenly felt a sharp gaze. Looking up, he found Seo Yakrin glaring at Lee Hyunmook with narrowed eyes. She wasn’t even looking at Yohan, yet he fidgeted uncomfortably. At last, Lee Hyunmook spoke in a calm voice.

“Yakrin-ah, don’t you have weapons to work on? Something wrong?”

“…N-nope. Nothing wrong.”

Seo Yakrin turned her head away with a grumble and resumed working silently on her weapons. Mortified, Yohan lowered his head and focused on purifying again. Just then, Ju Hoyoung returned from his patrol and scratched his cheek as he approached Lee Hyunmook.

“Uh, Team Leader…”

“What is it? Something happened?”

Lee Hyunmook snapped to attention, locking eyes with him. Judging from Ju Hoyoung’s expression, he had seen something confusing or troublesome. It wasn’t an emergency, but given everything that had happened, Yohan started to feel uneasy too.

“Well, I saw something I’ve never seen before…”

“The Flood?”

Seo Yakrin asked sharply, but Ju Hoyoung shook his head.

“No, not the Flood. It’s… the Black Mountain isn’t black anymore?”

***

Seo Yakrin spent the week at the hollow tree base fixing everyone’s weapons. Even ones that had seemed fine before were now sharper and straighter after her touch. They hadn’t been destroyed, but something about them had been subtly twisted.

With newly repaired weapons in hand, the group moved on. Once they reached a point where they could roughly see the Black Mountain near the Reed Sea, they stopped, stunned. Yoon Seungryong crossed his arms and swept his gaze across the landscape.

“Shouldn’t we change the name now? Maybe… ‘Speckled Mountain’?”

He wasn’t wrong. The Black Mountain, once gloomy and dark, now looked blotchy. Small glowing spots in a variety of colors shimmered faintly all over the range.

“What the hell is that? What’s about to go wrong this time?”

Seo Yakrin, with a mix of unease and frustration, scowled at the view. But unlike her, the other three seemed to have some idea. Yohan, frowning at her reaction, began to explain what had happened when he was swallowed by the Black Mountain.

“You purified the Black Mountain? So all of that is Eternal Stone?”

Upon hearing the full story, Seo Yakrin’s face twisted in disgust at the idea of the mountain being made of Eternal Stones.

“Well, it does look better than pitch black. Doesn’t give off an ominous vibe either. And since Yohan did the purification, it’s probably not a bad thing.”

“The old fart is actually talking sense for once.”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me old fart?”

“What else do you call an old fart if not an old fart?”

Seo Yakrin and Yoon Seungryong were bickering as usual. Yohan, still staring at the speckled mountain with a furrowed brow, finally managed to catch the thought that had been teasing the edge of his mind.

“Um, Yakrin-noona.”

“Yeah, Yohan-ah! What is it? Need something?”

She stopped growling at Yoon Seungryong and responded with the sweetest voice imaginable. It almost sounded like ‘What do you need, my precious baby?’

“Do you think you could talk to the Black Mountain…?”

“Huh? Talk to it?”

“Like when you refine Eternal Stone, can you tell if the Black Mountain has a will of its own? Maybe we could get some useful information…”

Yohan remembered how the mountain had felt alive, how it had watched and moved, how it had captured and confined him. It had to have been acting on its own will. And now, with Seo Yakrin present, maybe they could communicate with it. That’s what he thought.

‘If we negotiate well, it might even become a safe haven during future Floods… or maybe not. Can we trust it?’

The others clearly hadn’t even considered such an idea before. Well, until Yohan had been trapped inside, they hadn’t known the mountain was made of eternal stone at all. Lee Hyunmook stared at the mountain and murmured,

“Talking to the Black Mountain…?”

“That might not be a bad idea? Even if it fails, it’s not like we lose anything. Worst case, old fart gets buried. That’d give us some peace for a while.”

Seo Yakrin glared at Yoon Seungryong, but she too seemed open to the idea.

“I might as well grab a few chunks of Eternal Stone while I’m at it. You never know when they’ll come in handy.”

Unanimously, they accepted Yohan’s proposal. But because of the incident where Yohan had been separated, Lee Hyunmook ordered only Seo Yakrin and Ju Hoyoung to approach the Black Mountain.

“Yakrin can get out on her own using telekinesis, and Hoyoung can pull back fast if needed.”

“Okay, we’ll be quick~!”

The remaining three kept their distance and watched from afar. So far that the two heading toward the mountain looked like tiny specks. Even then, Lee Hyunmook didn’t seem satisfied, and his strong arm wrapped around Yohan’s waist. Without a word, Yohan leaned close and stayed by his side.