Chapter 191 – Battle for Possession (1)

Kang Geom-Ma shredded the serpent like he was grinding it down. The screams were harrowing. But in that completely dark space, there was no exit.

The Basilisk was disemboweled while still standing, its flesh stripped layer by layer. Resistance was impossible. All it could do was humbly accept the bluish blades slicing it apart.

Slash!

Total darkness in its vision. The Basilisk had just died for the 3,423rd time. Its consciousness vanished, but immediately its eyes opened again. The same place, the same human awaited once more. And the same ending.

This was a space beyond the bounds of time. Here, the duration of the [Blessing of Pain Immunity] was infinite. Kang Geom-Ma wielded his sashimi blade. The ruthless edge split open the serpent’s scales. From within, a black tar-like fluid gushed out.

Though it had experienced it thousands of times, the searing pain never became bearable. The serpent’s head fell, and just as it exhaled its last breath, life was granted anew—only for Kang Geom-Ma to snatch it away again.

A world where violence was normal and life held no value. The Basilisk’s soul was worn down by the very human it once scorned and ridiculed.

Slash!

The serpent died. Died thousands of times. Died hundreds of billions of times. And when the line between life and death became meaningless, the Basilisk finally chose to beg pitifully.

“…Please… stop… just kill me for real…”

The Basilisk pleaded with Kang Geom-Ma. Its eye muscles were completely slack, and its pupils drifted apart.

“There’s a problem with that sentence.”

Kang Geom-Ma spoke as he wiped the blood from his sashimi knife. His expression remained unreadable. That blank look struck a primal fear into the Basilisk.

“Haven’t I been killing you this whole time? And now you’re asking me to kill you? That’s still not enough?”

“T-That’s not what I mean. Just… please, free me from this prison!”

“Your way of asking leaves much to be desired.”

Truthfully, Kang Geom-Ma was starting to get bored and had considered ending it. But seeing the serpent’s reaction, he concluded it still wasn’t enough. With a tired sigh, he adjusted his grip. His rejection was clear.

“Think it over through the next few thousand deaths. Maybe then you’ll learn how to beg properly.”

“W-Wait…!”

Murasame once again tore into the Basilisk’s entire body. The blade, once wiped clean, was stained anew with fresh blood.

Only after so many deaths that the Basilisk’s mind turned vegetative did Kang Geom-Ma finally stop slashing.

That’s when the Basilisk realized that even the sincerest pleas… would only be met with silence.

And so, after its 9,608,251,206,530,847th death…

***

Horn stood frozen, completely bewildered, her blank eyes staring at the scene. She saw it, yes… but didn’t understand a thing.

Caught in a phenomenon that transcended the bizarre and edged into the supernatural, her legs gave out. She murmured softly.

“This is… the Eye of the Ring.”

The Demon Eye once thought to be only a myth. And now, she was witnessing its power firsthand. The surroundings were rewinding to their pre-destruction state. It was time reversal.

Ssssss…

Just then, the pulverized statue regained its original form. The fragments of Choi Seol-ah floated weightlessly, assembling like a three-dimensional puzzle.

Then, the cold stone surface faded, giving way to soft skin.

Finally, Choi Seol-ah dropped headfirst onto the exact spot where she’d been destroyed.

“Ugh!”

She groaned, clutching her head. The pain brought tears to her eyes. After a few seconds, a chill ran down her spine.

‘Oh, right… I died.’

As soon as she realized it, her heart sank. Trembling, she looked up. What reflected in her eyes was a sight too impossible to believe.

‘…Is this the afterlife?’

Everything resembled the place where she’d died. But everything was moving in reverse, like a rewound video.

She had expected a river of souls or a face-to-face meeting with King Yama, but this looked nothing like the afterlife she’d imagined.

“Bo-Boradori…?”

A trembling voice called from behind. At first, she thought it was a ghost and shut her eyes tight. But the voice… was too familiar. Annoying, yes, but strangely comforting.

Choi Seol-ah spun around. The long-eared one. Horn covered her mouth with both hands, trembling slightly. Choi Seol-ah’s eyes tripled in size.

“Huh? W-What are you doing here? Did you die too?! Ah, damn it, you idiot! I told you not to follow me! Didn’t you have anything better to do than join me in the afterlife?!”

Agitated, she clutched her forehead. She was convinced she was dead. As she scolded in frustration, Horn wiped her tears away.

“I didn’t die… Boradori, you’re the one who died. But not anymore. You’re alive now.”

“Hey, long-ears… I get that people can lose their minds after trauma, but it’s times like these we need to stay calm. Look at me, so composed even after dying.”

“……”

“I don’t care about much else. As long as I didn’t end up in hell… heaven’s too much to ask, but maybe something in between? Like a gentle kind of hell? Am I asking too much?”

“……”

Horn felt the emotions of the reunion fade rapidly with Choi Seol-ah’s nonsense. Her teary eyes dried instantly.

“Haa. Seriously, even dying and coming back doesn’t change you. You’d think something like this would transform a person…”

Horn let out a long sigh, then pointed in a direction. Choi Seol-ah tilted her head in confusion but eventually looked where indicated.

“Huh? Huh? Huh?!”

Her face filled with astonishment. A figure with their back turned, black hair, wielding two shining sashimi blades. Her first feeling was intense confusion. But what followed immediately was a wave of relief.

She didn’t fully understand what Horn had said—dying and coming back to life? Nonsense. But there was one thing she was certain of.

“My… Lord…”

He couldn’t be dead. And if she was in the same place as him, then this couldn’t be the afterlife. This was, without a doubt, the land of the living.

‘I’m alive.’

That realization hit her. With watery eyes, she clutched her chest. Something was welling up inside her.

The emotional spark that had been reduced to ashes when she became a villain… was reignited. She had died and come back. She had literally been reborn—and with it, had reclaimed her humanity.

She could feel her pulse in her fingertips. Her heart beat steadily. But more than the joy of being alive, what surged through her veins was a greater feeling—pure reverence for her Lord.

“…This is exhausting.”

At that moment, Kang Geom-Ma rolled his neck side to side and suddenly turned around. He saw Choi Seol-ah, sobbing and trying to speak with trembling lips… And at that sight, the tension in his face softened.

‘…Choi Seol-ah came back from the dead. I can’t even imagine how badly causality’s been distorted.’

But so what? What mattered was that Choi Seol-ah was alive and whole. That was enough.

Kang Geom-Ma said with a faint smile.

“I’m tired of this place. Let’s finish this and go home.”

Horn gave a subtle nod. Choi Seol-ah, a vigorous one.

***

Time flew by.

Choi Seol-ah, Horn, and I agreed to take a proper rest. After a disaster like that, we were all exhausted. Though, of course, it wasn’t complete rest.

During those days, I reported the elimination of the Basilisk to Media. I left out delicate details, like the “Eye of the Rings.” I didn’t have the strength to explain all of that.

As expected, Media exploded. She yelled at me for going off without telling her, accompanied only by a rookie instructor.

I had to stop her from summoning Choi Seol-ah for questioning. Not because I cared about her salary, but because if she got careless, she might expose Horn’s true identity. Fortunately, Media didn’t press too hard. She just crossed her arms and pouted.

By the way, Horn was still living at Choi Seol-ah’s house. Her mission was over. However, instead of returning to the Demon Realm, she chose to stay at the academy.

I heard they struck some kind of deal. Sometimes, Choi Seol-ah would message me, complaining that the long-eared girl was draining her wallet.

Naturally, I ignored them all. Not worth replying to.

“……”

I was lying down, using my arm as a pillow, staring at the ceiling lost in thought. I’d handed over the “Crystal of the Fallen Dragon” obtained from the Basilisk to Volundr. I needed a breather to clear my head.

‘Lately, I’ve been charging too far ahead.’

But thanks to that, I’d already gathered four fragments. For now, I needed to stabilize my mind, body, and energy—so I could keep moving forward without burning out.

While still lying there, lethargy wrapped around me. Outside, the western sky was turning orange like a watercolor painting.

‘In just a few days, the afternoon wind has gotten colder.’

Soon it would be November. The season where autumn ends and winter begins. With that, I would have gone through all four seasons at Joaquin Academy. It felt strange.

“When I first enrolled, I was just struggling to survive…”

I let out a bitter laugh and jumped off the bed. Relaxing was fine, but lazing around didn’t suit me.

That’s why I decided to visit the academy’s training area for the first time in a while. The membership was expensive, but I bit the bullet and paid. I couldn’t keep sneaking into the practice field forever. Every time I went, the students found out and swarmed me like bees.

The guys would record me from every angle, and the girls would scream with excitement. If I tried to run, they’d chase me like it was a hunt.

I hated crowded places by nature. I didn’t like attention, and the sticky stares from the students made me uncomfortable.

So I decided to pay good money to train in a comfortable environment. My goal wasn’t so much to improve my technique, but to raise my “physical level.”

“Hope no one’s there today either…”

If even that place got overrun by students, I’d have nowhere left to go. With that slight worry, I headed to the training area.

***

Joaquin Academy Training Grounds.

Abel stretched her arms and legs to warm up. Since she hadn’t trained in a while, she needed to loosen her muscles properly.

Lately, Abel had been focusing more on flexibility than sword training. That’s why she’d started doing pilates. Shail had recommended it nonstop.

She tried it without high hopes, but it suited her surprisingly well. Still, she couldn’t neglect swordsmanship forever, so she’d returned to the training field after nearly two weeks.

“That should do it.”

Finishing her warm-up, Abel gripped her sword. Maybe it was because of the break, but today it fit perfectly in her hand. Plus, during the chaos at the haunted house, she’d mastered a new technique. Seeing clear progress was the best motivation.

‘If I keep this up, maybe one day I too…’

Just as she smiled proudly and took her stance, someone calmly walked into the training area.

‘…Saki?’

Abel looked at Saki with surprise. She briefly glanced at Abel, then walked off to a corner far away.

‘Saki… in the training grounds?’

Abel knew Saki’s personality well. Even when they were in the same class, she avoided any form of physical training. Whenever there was running involved, she’d sneak off to the nurse’s office to nap.

And now she was here to train? Abel turned her head toward the window. The sun was setting in the west. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

‘But it’s not like the sun’s risen from the west!’

Abel looked back at Saki. As she hesitated, Saki stared back with a neutral expression and spoke.

“Why are you staring so much? What, did you come to check if the sun rose from the west just because I showed up here?”

Abel flinched. A direct stab at her conscience—she couldn’t even reply.

Saki narrowed her eyes and looked away.

She began unpacking her gear. A training bow. It was Class C, the same level as Abel’s equipment.

She tested the bowstring, pulling and releasing to check its condition. A bit stiff from lack of use, but still in decent shape.

“Abel.”

“Huh? Yeah?”

Saki slowly approached and stood in front of Abel. Without preamble, she spoke.

“Let’s duel.”