Chapter 295

“Devour only the Chaos Mana,” Seong-Hwi commanded Desire, activating his star power.

A transparent mouth opened, devouring Zhao Benshan, Havela, Emil Mielke, and Gao Weiguang simultaneously.

[Heightening the caliber of Chaos Mana.]

[Heightening the caliber of Chaos Mana.]

[Heightening the caliber of Chaos Mana.]

...

“Gaaaaahhh!”

“S-stop!”

“No... Don’t!”

“Urghhh!”

Seong-Hwi began to extract the Chaos Mana that the four Chaos Humans had been accumulating for a long time. Their faces turned paler the more of their Chaos Mana Seong-Hwi took, and their pure black eyes returned to their normal state. Soon after, all their Chaos Mana was gone.

“Huff! Kurgh! Bastard!”

“How could you?!”

“Just kill us, dammit!”

They despaired at the sense of loss and powerlessness. Moments later, the balance in their bodies began to fall apart. Their intestines contorted, their bones cracked, and they vomited blood.

“Grrrkk!”

“Gur...ghh...”

Seong-Hwi quickly activated a skill before they died.

[Activating Os Skill: Ruina.]

The Cosmos gathered into a sphere on Seong-Hwi’s right hand and shone mystically. He then pointed his right hand at the four dying Chaos Humans and shot Ruina, dividing into four lasers, and pierced their hearts.

[Corrupting Zhao Benshan.]

[Corrupting Havela.]

[Corrupting Emil Mielke.]

[Corrupting Gao Weiguang.]

“Kurgh!”

“Urghhh!”

“Guh!”

The four Chaos Humans felt something filling the void left by their extracted Chaos Mana. They then simultaneously saw something—a pitch-black night sky, filled with countless stars like the Milky Way. Among them, a silver konpeito-shaped star was shining the brightest.

“Ahhhhh!” they shouted simultaneously.

What a beautiful star!

That star is everything.

If only I could be close to that star.

I would lay down everything I have for that star!

Something pulsed in their eyes; they could feel a premonition or deja vu.

I must follow that star!

It is the only choice I have.

I should have, even in the past.

That star will bring meaning to my life!

The bloodlust-filled eyes of the defiant and hostile Chaos Humans became submissive. Akasha Messages appeared before Seong-Hwi.

[Zhao Benshan is corrupted.]

[You are the Parent of Zhao Benshan.]

[Granting the right to read and edit Zhao Benshan’s Life.]

What? Seong-Hwi wondered, his eyes widening.

It was the same as the right to read and edit the history of the race when he had gotten the Bloodstream Stone. The only difference was that he could read and edit an individual’s life. In other words, he had absolute control over that individual.

This must be why Lee Bong-Seong was afraid of Ajingya coming for him one day. This was the secret behind the Child’s absolute obedience to their Parent.

Seong-Hwi immediately read Zhao Benshan’s Life.

[Reading Zhao Benshan’s Life.]

[Zhao Benshan was born on July 13, 1969, in Turpan, east of the Tian Pan in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. As the fourth of seven brothers, he followed his uncle Wang Zijian at the age of twelve to work in a caravan in the Taklamakan Desert. Ever since then, the forsaken, barren land of the Taklamakan wilderness became his home, and the legends of the Taowu he had heard at the time stuck with him forever. It was the story of the terrifying malevolent beast, Taowu, that had reduced a once-fertile land to the wasteland that became the Taklamakan Desert. The beast...]

Seong-Hwi could read everything about Benshan—the details of his birth, growth process, personal information, traumas, philosophies, and everything else.

[Edit Zhao Benshan’s Life?]

Seong-Hwi drew out Destiny Force and the power of his star to edit the record without hesitation. It was an act of violating an individual’s life by forcibly editing their destiny, but he did not feel even a shred of guilt doing it.

This is the reason why I have been keeping my pen filled with ink thus far! he thought, recalling Mother Maria’s words.

“Seong-Hwi, my kind and brave child. Become someone who takes hold of his destiny.”

She had meant to grasp one’s own destiny, but one also needed to grasp the destinies of others to make that happen.

[Editing the record about Zhao Benshan’s Life.]

[Cheon Seong-Hwi is Zhao Benshan’s lifelong master whom he can lay down his life for, and it is his eternal pleasure to serve him.]

Seong-Hwi edited Zhao Benshan, which was practically a brainwashing. He read and edited the lives of Havela, Emil, and Weiguang the same way.

This is tiring, Seong-Hwi said inwardly, feeling the Destiny Force, which had been like an ocean, having been reduced to a stream.

Ruina was cut off, and the four Chaos Humans, who should have died from their bodies’ imbalance, were still alive.

“WE ARE HONORED TO SEE YOU, PARENT!” the four Chaos Humans shouted simultaneously, bowing on their knees despite being in terrible conditions.

“Ahahaha!” Seong-Hwi laughed loudly, realizing from their attitudes that his experiment had been a success.

He could now create Children like the Bachtasha-rank Chaos, editing their lives to change their destinies.

This is an amazing find. I can now turn the Chaos Humans, whom no one had any other choice but to kill, into my subordinates!

Not only that, but he could now put the incorrigible Dark Humans on the right paths, albeit it was more like brainwashing instead of repentance.

“Hahahahaha!”

Seong-Hwi felt as ecstatic as when he had obtained the Wings of Evolution. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

Just then, Weiguang asked, “Parent... May I ask you something? What is Destiny Force?”

Seong-Hwi stopped laughing. “What... did you say?”

***

Tallinn’s central plaza was filled with the kneeling Chaos Humans whom the operation’s task force had captured.

“Move your asses!”

“If you do anything stupid, you won’t have a head to support over your neck anymore!”

“Ptooey! Fucking traitors!”

Just then, an ecstatic voice sounded from near a half-destroyed bronze horse statue at the center of the plaza.

“You’ve done it?!” Bong-Seong asked.

“Yes,” Seong-Hwi replied.

Bong-Seong clenched his fists, overjoyed by Seong-Hwi’s response. He looked behind Seong-Hwi and saw Zhao Benshan missing his right arm, Havela, Emil, and Weiguang standing at attention. Their eyes were fixed on Seong-Hwi, staring at him like children with absolute respect for their parent.

“Then please do it to me, too!” Bong-Seong said.

“Are you sure? You would become my Child,” Seong-Hwi asked.

Of course, he wouldn’t read or edit Bong-Seong’s life even if he made him his Child. Not only did he have no reason to, but it would do more harm than good.

One loses creativity if one's autonomy is suppressed. It would be a different story if I needed a puppet that would do my bidding, Seong-Hwi thought.

However, Seong-Hwi was sure it would have an effect to an extent without the editing.

“It doesn’t matter! I had already laid down my life back when I met Ajingya. I will do anything if I can take this disgusting thing out of my body!” Bong-Seong said, filled with resolve.

Seong-Hwi nodded. “I can’t do it right now. I used up too much power performing the experiments. I will come to you once I am ready.”

“Thank you! Thank you very much!” Bong-Seong said as he grabbed Seong-Hwi’s hands.

“It’s nothing,” Seong-Hwi replied, but his mind was elsewhere.

I used the os skill, Ruina, to inject my Cosmos to replace the extracted Chaos Mana, he said inwardly.

He believed that by doing so, the balance would be restored, preventing the Chaos Humans’ deaths. Not only had he been correct, but he also found out that a Parent could alter their Child’s life, which would greatly change his code of conduct going forward. However, something he could have never expected had occurred.

They gained... Destiny Force! Seong-Hwi thought as he stared at the four men who had become his Children, recalling his conversation with them.

“Did you just say Destiny Force?! How do you know about that?!”

“It appeared in my status window... in place of Chaos Mana.”

“Me too.”

“Mine, too.”

“Huh? Me too.”

After much experimentation during the spring cleaning at the Cecil Hotel, Seong-Hwi had concluded that only he could use the secondary force, Destiny Force, and that he was special.

But how?

His thoughts were jumbled. He felt like a child who was given the Millennium Prize Problems after only just learning addition and subtraction. In other words, he had no idea. Just then, he recalled the languid yet greatly interested voice he had heard back then.

“That is why I observe you. What makes you special? Come find me if you wish to find the answer.”

Curiositas! Could he know the answer? If I find him...

Bong-Seong, who had let go of Seong-Hwi’s hands, approached the four Children and said, “Zhao Benshan, Havela, Emil, Gao Weiguang. Why are only the four of you here? Where are the other members of the League of Trailblazers?”

They did not answer.

Seong-Hwi gestured with his chin and said, “Answer him.”

“Gehehe, yes, Parent,” Benshan replied. He turned to Bong-Seong and said, “You had asked where the other members of the Four Perils are, right, Bong-Seong? Like you, they went to meet an old comrade.”

“What?”

“Hehe, have you forgotten the roots of the Four Perils?”

Bong-Seong frowned. The current League of Trailblazers was completely different from the League of Trailblazers that he had created in the past. The original league became the cornerstone that created the Union. The others who were unaffiliated with the Union, the Chaos Humans, and the remnants of the disbanded Elysium were the ones who had created the current League of Trailblazers.

Four Perils was a black clan formerly part of Elysium.

“Who are you reminded of when I mention an old comrade of Elysium?” Benshan asked.

“It can’t be!”

“Yes, Carry Yesterday has returned. Hundun, Qiongqi, and Taotie have gone to him.”

Bong-Seong’s eyes widened as he thought, Carry Yesterday is back?

During the Nivalis invasion of the Capital, an anonymous group had infiltrated the Bastille once security was lax. They then killed every criminal locked up in the prison and set it on fire, including the bottom floor where Carry Yesterday had been.

“He is alive?! How? That’s impossible!” Bong-Seong shouted, his face red with rage.

Just then, one of Seong-Hwi’s traits was activated by itself.

[Activating Trait: Savior’s Hearing.]

“Hm?” Seong-Hwi expressed.

He then heard a voice.

“Please... help...”

“Wait a second,” Seong-Hwi said, cutting Bong-Seong off, and immediately pulled out a card from the Tarot Deck of Destiny.

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Observer’s Earring, one of the symbols of No.9 The Hermit]

A golden hoop earring appeared on Seong-Hwi’s right earlobe, switching his vision into third-person. His gaze moved around like that of a bird, and stopped ten meters behind him, where the half-destroyed bronze horse statue was. The statue was hollow, and he saw two silhouettes hiding inside.

Seong-Hwi smiled wickedly. “Damn rat!”

***

Dammit! Dammit! Hong Lian cursed inwardly as she peeked outside through the opening of the split statue, seeing the powerful members of the League of Trailblazers pitifully on their knees. Damn motherfuckers! After all that tough acting, this was all they amounted to?!

She, the former leader of Clan Exorcist’s Travelogue, was the League of Trailblazers’ most recent recruit. She initially had no intention of entering either the league or the Union, since having the Black Saintess Negrita, the pride and joy of her clan, had given her more than enough authority.

However, there was a problem—the Black Saintess had become old and frail. Negrita was an extremely rare prophecy D Weapon user, but as the price of such power, her lifespan was reduced every time she used the Evil Spirit’s Ouija Board. On top of that, her prophecies had been off the mark lately, so Hong Lian had no choice but to find another way to maintain Exorcist’s Travelogue.

I thought the League of Trailblazers would be a decent pawn!

Regular humans had no idea about the secret organization, the League of Trailblazers. Hong Lian would never have known about them either if they hadn’t approached her first, coveting Negrita’s ability. She had maintained good relations with them just in case and was able to join the league for her efforts once Negrita was on the verge of death.

This is all because of this stupid bitch! Hong Lian shouted inwardly as she glared at the old woman, who had crawled up into a ball.

The Ouija board had pointed to Yes when asked whether it was okay to enter the League of Trailblazers.

This bitch is of no use anymore. She lost the ability to see the future!

However, she had contradictorily forced Negrita to make another prophecy when the ambush began.

“Prophesize! Now!”

“Ouija... Ouija... What do I do... to be saved? Kurgh!”

Hong Lian shoved aside Negrita, who was vomiting blood, and read the letters that the Evil Spirit’s Ouija Board pointed at.

S—T—A—Y

I—N—S—I—D—E

T—H—E

B—R—O—N—Z—E

H—O—R—S—E

Hong Lian immediately entered the bronze horse statue in the central plaza. She believed Negrita had lost her powers, but it was the only thing she could count on. Just then, she heard a voice from outside, and she turned toward its source.

“Who are you reminded of when I mention an old comrade of Elysium?”

Elysium? Isn’t that the name of the most powerful association during the Black Age? she thought.

She had not been Lost to the Mirror World during that age, but she had heard many things about it. She peeked outside through the crack in the bronze horse statue and saw Zhao Benshan, who had lost his right arm, talking.

“Yes, Carry Yesterday has returned. Hundun, Qiongqi, and Taotie have gone to him.”

Carry Yesterday! Hong Lian shouted inwardly.

She recognized the name—Carry Yesterday of Clan Dark Tomorrow, the symbol of the Black Age.

So, he’s alive? And the other members of the league went to him?

It felt as if she had been hit by lightning, illuminating the path forward.

I must go to him! Since Lee Bong-Seong knows I was here, there won’t be a place for me at the Capital. My next pawn will be Carry Yesterday.

It felt as if the world wanted her alive, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. A voice sent chills down her spine.

“Damn rat!”

Something flew toward the crack. It was a man with black hair, black eyes, sixteen stained-glass-like wings on his back, and a dark-red aura covering his right hand. Hong Lian gasped as she quickly tried to escape the horse, but it was too late. The dark-red hand destroyed the statue as if it were made of cookies and grabbed her by the neck.

“Kurgh! Gah! P-please, spare my—”

“No, rats must die,” Seong-Hwi interrupted.

An unbelievably strong grip broke her neck as easily as breaking wooden chopsticks.

What... in the... Hong Lian mumbled inwardly with widened eyes, collapsing inside the bronze horse.

Just then, she heard Negrita mumbling with a wheezing voice, trembling with joy.

“Today marks... the ninetieth...day... The day... that my savior... will come...”

Ninetieth... day?

Hong Lian recalled a prophecy that Negrita had given a while ago.

D—I—S—A—S—T—E—R

D—E—S—T—R—U—C—T—I—O—N

D—E—S—P—A—I—R

D—E—A—T—H

9—0

Now that she thought about it, exactly ninety days had passed since the prophecy.

That was... my... prophecy...

Silence fell. Hong Lian could no longer think.

***

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, - act in the living Present!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow