Chapter 286: Park Sirin (3)

“Ahjussi who are you?”

Corin knew it the instant he saw her.

Ruby-colored eyes. Naturally wild features.

Was it possible she had grown this much in such a short time? Even so, his instinct told him.

That girl was his daughter.

Shit.

Even without saying the curse out loud, the girl sensed the tension and flinched.

Corin relaxed his face as much as he could and crouched down to her height.

“I’m your mom’s friend. My name is Corin Loch you can call me Uncle Corin. What’s your name, little young lady?”

“I’m Hayeon. Park Hayeon.”

“I see. And where is your mom?”

The girl pointed toward the house on top of the hill.

Corin, who had come to the island by following Erin’s divine power, suddenly found himself facing a daughter he never expected.

On all of Earth, there was only one woman who could have carried his child in her womb.

“…Oppa.”

“Mm.”

Park Sirin.

She came running down the beach, completely desperate, not knowing what to do in front of Corin.

By her side was Erin. She had understood the entire situation long ago; she simply gave her husband a soft smile.

“…”

Corin looked at the mother of his daughter with a coldness that would have shocked anyone who knew him.

Sirin could only accept that stare, trembling.

“H-how…?”

She didn’t dare look him in the eyes.

She was terrified of the reproach she felt in his gaze.

Terrified of the possibility that a denial might come from his lips.

“What if by using my daughter… I can be accepted again?”

Although she couldn’t suppress that vile desire, at the same time she imagined the worst outcome.

What if he rejected even Hayeon?

If Oppa denied Hayeon, she would break. Just imagining it made her legs buckle.

“As they say, habit doesn’t disappear. Even on Earth you kept causing disasters.”

At those reproachful words, Sirin shook.

Yes, even on Earth she hadn’t completely changed.

She killed when it was necessary. She was cruel.

She had excuses.

They were bad people.

They were people who killed others driven by greed.

After she was accused of killing innocents, she unconsciously started to aim for “minimum efficiency.”

In a game, maybe. But in reality, she never went as far as indiscriminate killing.

For unification, for defending her country, under the banner of self-defense. She always sought a reason.

It was an insurance policy for when she reunited with him again.

But would those excuses work on him?

Corin was good from the root. Someone who deeply hated seeing people die.

Even with evil people, he might not forgive them.

“Well, that doesn’t matter much. You didn’t kill like a crazy psychopath, so…”

“Haa…”

At least he didn’t deny everything. That was a relief. But just as she exhaled in relief, a large hand grabbed her chin roughly.

Holding her chin, Corin looked straight into her eyes.

“But nothing you did is justified.”

The older brother who always protected her was gone completely.

In his eyes there was only distrust and hatred.

Ah she already knew.

She would never receive Oppa’s love.

They would never return to what they were.

Corin released Sirin abruptly and looked at the frightened Hayeon.

“She’s my daughter, right?”

“Yes, yes…”

She didn’t deny it. She didn’t deny that she was his daughter. That made her happy. But a strange anxiety enveloped her.

“I’m taking her.”

“Ah?”

Sirin thought she had misheard.

Taking Hayeon? Then… what about me?

“You don’t think I’m going to take a lunatic like you too, right?”

“Ah n-no, I… I…”

Corin stepped toward Hayeon. The little girl, not understanding anything, stared at him.

“O-uh?”

Corin’s shadow fell over her.

“O-Oppa…!”

Sirin grabbed his pants. She spoke desperately.

“N-no. Hayeon… my daughter… don’t take her… I beg you…”

“You’re in no position to ask me anything.”

He pushed her aside coldly and extended his hand toward Hayeon.

“M-my daughter, you won’t take her!”

A gigantic mass of ether surged from an invisible space and slammed into him. His body bounced across the sand. He immediately stood and glared at Park Sirin, who had launched him.

“Mm…”

Without any preparation, a maximum-level spell. Yes, she had perfected accelerated chanting; she was stronger than before.

“Are you going to stop me?”

“U-ugh…”

Even though she had attacked first, her hands trembled as she faced him.

She was about to cry.

“Your evil was only possible because you had power. The same logic applies. If you’re weaker than me, you can’t demand anything.”

“O-Oppa… I…”

Ignoring her pleading voice, Corin opened his subspatial storage and took out the silver spear.

“If you think I’m the same as before, you’re wrong.”

Liuhe Spear.

Mountain-Breaker Art.

The silver spear flew toward her, kicking up a storm of sand just from the friction with the air.

Sirin raised an absolute barrier with only a gesture. A wall of air filled with mana formed in front of her, blocking the spear’s direct path.

Crack! Crack-crack!

The art that tears space. Sirin knew it all too well.

‘It’s much stronger than before but the simpler it is, the easier it is to break.’

A concentration of pure power invested into the throw. Its strength was tremendous, but with minimal interference to divert the attack’s direction──

Claang!

The silver spear bounced into the air. Just as the twisted trajectory sent it toward an empty point, Corin murmured.

“Come.”

The spear that had been knocked away halted in midair. The silver spear, engraved with the rune of return, attempted to fly back to its owner immediately.

Sirin didn’t let that opening slip.

Inventory open. Divine beast-class summoning.

The player’s power that 98 Park Sihoo had lost.

She developed it as original magic and summoned her beasts.

The gray hound Bran, the brown hound Scolang.

Divine beasts originally meant to be trained by the Tamer class, but she controlled them with a simple gesture, sending them charging forward.

“Bran and Scolang? Happy to see old comrades but…”

Corin grabbed a second spear. Seeing that reddish, ominous spear, Sirin jolted.

“Gáe Derg?”

It wasn’t the golden spear of protection, Gáe Buidhe, but the cursed beast-hunting spear, Gáe Derg. Sirin understood once again that this Corin was not the one from the previous life.

The spear that increased attributes to protect the target was a spear to defend his player, her.

With this he made it clear that he no longer had any intention of protecting Sirin.

The legendary hounds Bran and Scolang, hesitating but obeying the order, leaped toward Corin. At the moment they were about to pounce on him, they were grazed by the spear and cursed.

“Grr…”

“Khugh!”

The beast-hunting curse.

Ignoring the two weakened hounds, Corin ran straight toward Sirin.

“I’m no longer who I used to be!”

She clenched her teeth and cast magic against the falling spear.

Supreme-rank fire magic. A destructive power that manifested even before a special-class knight could approach.

Then, Sirin realized she had made a huge mistake.

“Claus Solar…”

Absolute immunity to heat. What Corin had obtained after defeating Ohad Breas.

Although he could not use its full power due to lack of mana, the simple immunity was overwhelming.

He pierced through the flames without suffering a single scratch, reaching her. With that same momentum, he leapt and launched a high kick at her.

“Keugh…!”

She rolled across the sand in an embarrassing fashion. With her face and body full of sand, she barely managed to stand.

Corin watched her calmly.

“As a fighter, I was always more talented. You’re not a warrior.”

And yet, it was always Corin who ended up getting hurt. It was natural—he had never considered her an enemy.

“Until now I attacked you because you tried to take me by surprise, because I didn’t perceive you as an adversary. But now it’s a direct confrontation.”

The aura core inside him spun violently. An energy so colossal that even the Demon God was surpassed.

“Sura?”

The final move of the Six Unions spear. With its explosive power and speed──

“And that’s why…”

The dark blue beast smiled. In the next instant, he vanished from Sirin’s field of vision.

“I can kill you without hesitation.”

The voice came from behind. When she looked, it was already too late.

Bang!

The blade of the spear cut through the air effortlessly. And it hit the ice detonation trap Sirin had placed in the air.

Clack!

The ice magic that froze space itself halted the attack.

“You’re the same as ever, always preparing fail-safes.”

In the next second, dozens of spells exploded around Corin.

All of them were explosions. Tactics of a mage who weakens in close combat by triggering traps.

Right before all those spells activated──

Infinite Spin — Chaotic Spear.

Dozens of instantaneous thrusts per second. A speed that shattered the mana cores before the spells could activate.

“Keugh…”

As the magic broke, Sirin used spatial jump.

Although she had never completely mastered spatial magic, she could make short jumps.

Once she gained distance──

The Coming of Light — Aradwa.

The spear of light was fired.

The spear that always hits, always pierces, always kills, legacy of Tates Valtazar. She hurled it at him.

“To that extent…?”

Are you going to take my daughter?

Too many things had changed.

Even their positions had reversed.

The friendship and camaraderie from before were now unilateral obsession and despair.

They had risked everything for each other.

Why only me… why was I the only one not chosen…?

No, the reason was too clear.

A good being and an evil being cannot coexist. Even if she begged for love, he would never accept what she was.

Sirin knew this. And even so, she used forced methods. Her obsession had caused this disaster.

The fault was entirely hers. It was so obvious that it could only hurt.

If that spear pierced her now maybe he would forgive her a little?

Her life was already ruined. She couldn’t go on. Perhaps dying like this would be better.

Perhaps she could receive a bit of compassion──

— Mom!

The small voice she heard.

When she regained consciousness, the spear of light was already about to reach her.

The spear aimed directly at her heart—she would die. At that moment, Sirin found within herself a fierce desire to live.

Magic that emerged purely by instinct.

Great Magic — Spatial Rend.

The spear was caught in the isolated space.

The same method Corin had used against Tates Valtazar. The technique was effective.

A colossal magic──

But the spear of light Aradwa pierced even imaginary space, always achieving its hit.

In the game, it could only be defended by a tank using maximum defense.

In a one-on-one, the only option was to block it with superior technique using Gáe Derg, or──

Spatial Rend — Kaleidoscope.

Infinitely multiplying the possible spaces in which the spear could be lost.

“Haah… haah…!”

Even for her, it was an almost impossible magic. Seeing the great mage block the spear, Corin smiled slightly.

“You’ve improved your instinct.”

“I’m… fine. I’m a disgrace… I’m a damn wretch… so…”

Even now she loved him fiercely. She would rather die than hurt him.

But she was no longer the exemplary student Park Sirin, nor the player Park Sihoo, nor the great leader Park Sirin.

She was only Hayeon’s mom.

The motherhood that had awakened in her forced her to keep living despite the ruin.

“Hayeon… Hayeon… I don’t allow you to touch Hayeon, oppa. If you try to take Hayeon…”

She would not allow it.

Her eyes shone, and the mana circuits in her body accelerated violently.

All the previous battle seemed like a game compared to what she released now. The colossal magic pressed upon the entire eastern coast and shattered her limitations.

A god appeared.

《Descent of the Demon God》

The sea surged. The island trembled.

A gigantic magic that caused cataclysms simply by existing.

That was the Demon God.

Although weakened by the precepts, it was a power that had surpassed even Tates Valtazar.

Facing this──

Solar Manifestation.

The strength of a star was reproduced.

A temperature that devoured everything it touched, consuming moisture, oxygen, and the atmosphere, growing without limit.

The goddess of magic and the god of the sun clashed.

And in the end.

The Demon God fell.