Camellia 165

It was a body never meant to live freely in the first place. The imugi rejected him and raised Seonwol-do. Moonlight reflected off the blade and pierced the eyes.

“Sometimes, you need to know when to accept fate.”

He muttered and cast a cold look at Seolyeong.

“No matter how much favor the Wonsi Cheonjon shows you, to desire more than fate allows is arrogance. You monster.”

Seonwol-do trembled with rage at the insult. Arrogance, what nonsense. The sword considered its master’s choice to face divinity for the sake of love a brave one, not foolish. He was a man who could give everything for another. That was why even the Wonsi Cheonjon had shown him special affection.

“Oh?”

The moment the sword bristled with defiance, the imugi’s eyes narrowed. Gazing down at the sword, he laughed dryly.

He had expected this weapon, the only one of its kind, to carry pride and will. But that it would go this far for a mere beast surprised him. Given its attitude, the sword and its master really did make the perfect pair.

After delivering that judgment, the imugi poured out more power. The yeouiju’s energy swelled without end. With the Heavenly Gate open, it became easier than ever to control his strength.

Seolyeong, caught in the snare the imugi had formed, felt pain like his organs were being ripped apart. Gasping, he forced his voice through.

–Wait, please. There might be another way. You’ve probably never thought about it before, have you? Just give us time to think, even a little, just…

“Even if it’s pointless. Yours is a fate no beast has the right to reach. Why keep struggling?”

The imugi, launching a series of mild attacks, paused to catch his breath. Honestly, he wanted to teach this creature a lesson. But it would upset his contractor too much, so he held back. A simple wave of his free hand sent one final blow into Seolyeong’s chest.

The blast sent him collapsing, his head drooping.

“Ugh…”

It hurt. More than anything had ever hurt. So much it was almost absurd. His eyes stung. Maybe what hurt was not his body, but something deeper.

Feeling the echo of its master’s pain, Seonwol-do wept as well. The sword, which had gained a will of its own through nature’s grace, finally made a decision. Looking back, it had failed to protect its master far too often. So many of its previous wielders had died tragically. Remembering each one, the sword whispered to the divine beast. “This time, I will protect him.”

–If enough inner power is gathered… can you ascend the stairs without that man’s body?

It was Seonlwo-do, a voice Seolyeong had never heard. It sounded like that of a reclusive sage, aged and wise. One could almost picture a figure with long hair and a hand fan, hidden deep in the mountains.

The imugi understood at once and shook his head.

“Nowhere near enough.”

So the sword meant to sacrifice its own power to keep Tang Yujae alive.

The intention was admirable, but the effort was futile. The imugi, knowing the sword’s origin, understood it held perhaps five or six hundred years of cultivation at best. It wasn’t enough. That was the limit of a mere object, even one with spirit.

What use is a personality, when it holds no breath of life. Objects can hold Qi, but not without limits.

“Instead of wasting your time on futile efforts, why don’t you say goodbye to your master?”

He raised the sword to eye level and adviced kindly. Then he looked down at the battered blood fiend. He had clearly lost control of his strength, but at least he hadn’t killed him. He hoped his contractor would forgive this mistake.

Seolyeong didn’t back down.

“Give me back my husband…You want him to live too, don’t you.”

The imugi’s expression shifted. It was complicated.

After Hwaryun’s death, he had sworn never to center his life around a person again. The only desire coiled in his chest was the wish to rise to the heavens and become a god.

But he had to admit, the blood fiend’s words had shaken him. After all, he could count on one hand the times he had seen Hwaryun truly happy. If he could see that kind of joy through his contractor now, it might be enough.

But he had already done more than enough. He had lent out the yeouiju, protected the man’s body, even shielded him from karmic retribution. He had nurtured him into the strongest man of his era and sent him into legend. By now, even the divine beings might call this favoritism excessive.

“Listen, sword born of mountain, lake, and moonlight. Someday, when the fogs grow thick again, you will gain new life in a mountain hollow. Know that this fate, chosen by me as a god, is your first divine purpose. Engrave these words in your memory. Do you underestimate?”

The imugi’s eyes glowed. Seonwol-do, feeling its hilt begin to crack, sank into regret. It wanted to see its master’s face one last time. That boy with a face more beautiful and human than any human being.

If it could speak to him directly, it would say this.

It’s only natural the heavens love you. Anyone who has watched you would fall for you.

Just then, a pale light burst from the sword but was swallowed by the imugi’s wave. It began to fade.

The imugi’s eyes flew open.

“This…”

He turned sharply and looked to the ridge. A cry rang out, not of a spirit beast, but of another divine being. A peregrine falcon cut through the air, talons tearing through the threads wrapped around Seolyeong.

The imugi stared, stunned. The falcon’s eyes flashed with bright blue light.

Seolyeong, barely clinging to consciousness, looked up at the falcon’s wings.

–I’m late. I had to gather inner power. I scoured every mountain in Jungwon for energy.

The falcon spoke not to Seolyeong, but to the imugi. Its voice, that of a half-formed divine beast, rang clear.

But the imugi couldn’t reply. This presence felt like both Hwaryun and himself had fused into one. And now it was changing form.

“I’ll go with you instead of the body you borrowed. So let go of that human’s fate here.”

Ash-gray hair fluttered. Seolyeong’s lips parted but he only let out a breath.

“I’ll pay the price of interfering with a fate that isn’t mine when I reach the heavens.”

The girl who had died at the Tang clan with her body torn apart now stood before him. The only difference from before was the color. She looked more like a ghost than a living person. Her eyes rippled with blue energy.

Not a human’s eyes. The eyes of a divine beast.

The imugi, seeing his own kind, looked shaken. Seonwol-do sensed an opportunity and began surging again. Heat flared in the imugi’s palm. He fell into thought.

If the power this half-formed divine beast had gathered could be joined with the sword’s power… then maybe.

Maybe they could reach the end of the stairs without the yeouiju.

As the true divine beast loosened his grip, the girl took the sword with ease. It landed gently in her palm and shone with soft light, as if in thanking her.

Hayeon turned to Seolyeong with a faint smile.

“Can you keep it a secret from my brother?”

If Tang Yujae learned that she had been watching him even without a body, he would be consumed with guilt again. Hayeon didn’t want him to be tied to her any longer.

“I wish my brother could be as free as you are.”

The young divine beast’s energy was slowly fading toward final disappearance.