Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 132
#132. Internal Division
2022.12.10.
...Died that day?
At Yijun's words, Yoo Hwan's and Ayeon's expressions turned peculiar.
They couldn't understand what on earth he was talking about right now.
But they knew well enough that Yijun had just tried to attack Eunha.
Ssshh...
A white snake slowly slid out from inside Yijun's wrist sleeve.
It seemed the situation had gone horribly wrong.
"W-wait a minute!"
Ayeon shrieked.
"Th-this... it's because of the item! It's definitely broken. How could this crazy compass point at Unnie... Isn't that right?"
Ayeon stomped on the compass that Siwoo had thrown on the floor just a moment ago.
Because of a useless item, her unnie had been wrongly suspected.
Such a piece of crap item had to be smashed quickly.
'No, why isn't Unnie refuting anything? Why isn't she smacking him with her parasol and asking what nonsense he's spouting...!'
Ayeon, who had smashed the compass, turned her head towards Eunha, panting.
Eunha was standing stock-still, saying nothing.
Her gaze was at... the floor.
On her own reflection on the marble floor.
She was originally a type whose thoughts were hard to read, but it was even more so now.
"Unnie, say something. The more you stay quiet, the more suspicious you look."
Ayeon, whispering towards Eunha, made a large X with both her arms towards the rest of the members.
"Anyway, it's not true! Absolutely not! Canceled! Rejected! Denied! Spit!"
Monkey King Yoo Hwan also agreed with her opinion.
'Younger brother, a monster?'
Yes, that was a ridiculous story.
She was a benefactor who had rescued several Immortal Guild members, including Sungyoon, from the Unknown Gate that had appeared in Jagalchi Market.
She had also obtained the relic-grade item 'Pixie Powder' for Trickster, who was on the verge of death from an unknown curse.
She never asked for anything in return.
Come to think of it, it was Eunha who had discovered the first passage, the 'Root of Incubation', in this South Coast Gate.
It was she who had told Yoo Hwan to check under the floor.
Not only that.
While Phantom Thief was dealing with the guardian in the 'Root of Incubation', it was none other than her, the Princess of Dark Flare, who had protected the support unit from the monsters whose levels had risen noticeably.
'Of course, monsters that look exactly like humans do exist.'
Yoo Hwan too had seen such monsters, and had even fought them.
However...
"Let's calm down for a moment, Maestro. This isn't certain yet."
Yoo Hwan stood in front of Yijun, blocking him.
"Not certain?"
Yijun asked mockingly, without retracting the white snake wrapped around his wrist.
"That's right. It's not right to make a hasty judgment based on just that one compass. Have you ever seen a monster speak human language so fluently? The story of a monster living among humans outside a gate?"
"..."
Yijun, who had been listening to Yoo Hwan's story, slowly turned his gaze and stared at Eunha.
He still looked ready to attack her at any moment.
Yoo Hwan, in a calm, persuasive voice, spoke again.
"Think about it. If she were a monster, she would have attacked us long ago. No, at least she wouldn't have defeated the 'Guardians of the Altar' with us. Don't you think so too?"
"I'm the one who wants to ask. Did you not see, Monkey King, that the monsters of the temple didn't attack that 'Princess of Dark Flare'?"
"..."
"Then I'm disappointed. I thought you would have noticed."
Yoo Hwan closed his mouth.
His red gaze rolled silently towards Eunha.
'The monsters of the temple didn't attack younger brother...?'
If Yoo Hwan had been carefully observing Eunha throughout the battle, he would surely have noticed.
He wouldn't have been able to lead a guild for so long without at least that much keen observation.
To be honest, he hadn't had the time to observe such things.
Not only Yoo Hwan, but Siwoo and Ayeon also hadn't observed the surrounding battle patterns while each was hunting monsters.
No, was there even a need to?
They already tacitly acknowledged each other's skills.
What was there to worry about, to observe others?
'In other words...'
Maestro, he had been carefully observing Eunha throughout the battle.
Had he suspected her from the beginning?
Or was there another reason?
He couldn't tell.
"Move."
What was certain was that he was ready to attack Eunha at any moment.
"Maestro, she is our comrade. First, her story—"
"Story? Then I'll ask."
Yijun twisted his lips into a smile.
And looking in Eunha's direction, he asked.
"What is your 'real' name?"
"..."
Eunha said nothing.
See.
That monster couldn't even say her name properly.
Yijun sneered at himself.
"Why didn't the 'Guardians of the Altar' attack only you?"
"..."
"...Ha."
At the consistent silence, Yijun let out a short laugh.
A laugh that was a little hollow, a little despairing.
Since Eunha was trapped in the Unknown Gate, Yijun too hadn't just stood by.
There had been a time when he had mobilized all sorts of means and methods to rescue or track her.
But in the end, he couldn't find her.
For 10 years, he believed she was still alive.
For 20 years, he thought perhaps it was a little too late.
And for 30 years, he had written her off as dead.
Only then could he finally put a period on it.
Only after a very long time, barely.
But one day, a woman who looked exactly like her appeared.
She was quite different from the Eunha Yijun remembered.
The use of the alias 'Lee Yura', the reason for wearing a dress that didn't suit her, the fact that she hadn't sought him out, the only one with whom she shared the past... there was more than one strange point.
Nevertheless, there was a time when he had been shaken, even for a moment, by the clumsy imitation.
He had thought, just in case.
That it might be the real her, that the real her had returned alive.
However.
"How dare you."
Squeeze...!
Yijun fiercely clenched his gloved hand.
And in a voice devoid of any laughter, he spoke lowly.
"How dare you, a mere monster."
Of all people, to use her name, in front of me.
Her profile, faintly illuminated by a shabby candlelight, was still so vivid before his eyes.
'I want to eat gukbap. The gukbap I often ate with my mom. The kimchi dumplings there are also delicious.'
'Will we be able to go together someday?'
'...Of course.'
He had never once forgotten.
That smile,
'It would be better for you to live than me.'
Her last moments, for the past 30 years, not for a single moment.
How could he.
—How could I, you, how.
"That girl."
Ssshhh.
The white snake flicked its forked tongue.
How much she meant to me...
Can you even imagine?
No, no one could imagine.
"That girl is not someone a monster like you can imitate."
No one in this world.
Gooooo...
A suspicious crimson aura began to envelop Yijun's body.
His ash-gray eyes, holding a strange light, their black pupils slit murderously like a snake's.
A foreboding sensation, as if insects were crawling all over his body, covered his skin.
Everyone here except Yijun reflexively took a step back from him.
Finally...
"Stop it, Maestro!"
Yoo Hwan shouted.
Ssshhh—!
A red aura in the shape of a snake moved towards Eunha at an incredible speed.
It wasn't certain whether that was an attack that inflicted physical damage or not.
However, his skin was telling him that he had to avoid a direct hit.
"Unnie, step back!"
Chaeng!
Chwak!
Ayeon drew her dagger.
The short, sharp blade instantly cut through the air.
Though the red aura in the shape of a snake disappeared like smoke.
'Damn it, it wasn't just one...?!'
Ayeon, turning back, belatedly clicked her tongue.
Another giant snake that had approached Eunha's front without her noticing.
That was not the shape of a snake, but a real, white, massive snake.
"Younger brother, behind you!"
It was the moment the creature opened its maw wide.
Crack!
Dropping precisely on the snake's skull,
'...Ice?'
Yoo Hwan's expression changed.
Crack!
Crack!
Ice, whether it had flown from somewhere or had formed in mid-air, hit the snake that was charging towards Eunha and shattered with a chilling sound.
The white thing, shattering into small pieces before their eyes and scattering like snow.
Yoo Hwan extended his hand into the air.
A cold sensation landed on his sturdy palm.
It was certain.
This was ice.
'From where?'
Yoo Hwan, who had been staring at his palm, slowly lifted his gaze.
The confrontation between Yijun and Eunha, and standing between them—.
"I can't just stand by and watch any longer."
The young man in the hoodie.
As he spoke, white breath slowly puffed out from between his neat teeth.
'Could that person be...'
Yoo Hwan's eyes narrowed as he stared at Siwoo's profile.
A nature-type hunter who controlled ice, who had blocked Maestro's attack in a single blow.
Then, there was only one possible answer.
The S-Class who had never once revealed his face to the public, who was only a name.
'...Baekrang?'
Beneath the deeply pulled hood, a blue glint held a chilling light.
Crack.
Siwoo, who had crushed the limp snake's corpse on the floor as if to crush it, growled lowly at Yijun.
"I don't understand what you're thinking, pulling a stunt like this right now."
"I never asked for your understanding."
Yijun replied shortly.
The red aura surrounding his body held an even more vivid light.
"Move. This is your last warning."
"I don't want to."
The dark blue hair, peeking out from under his hood, began to turn white.
"Don't you dare judge Sunbae's existence."
And.
"Sunbae is not a monster."
It was the moment the red aura and the white chill clashed violently in mid-air.
Kwaaang!
Smoke, rising thickly with a tremendous roar.
Amidst the hazy, blurred vision, a massive shadow slowly rose.
It was the Monkey King Yoo Hwan, who had been watching the situation.
"Maestro, I know you're an Association-affiliated hunter, and a world-recognized prime hunter, but..."
Angry red eyes stare at Yijun as if to devour him.
Several red sparks flicker around his body.
In his 'released state', he clenched his fist.
"I cannot condone pointing a sword at my younger brother."
And beside him, Ayeon approached and nodded shortly.
"Agreed."
Whirl.
Ayeon threw and caught the dagger in her hand, staring intently at Yijun.
The chillingly sunken air.
Fwaaaat!
A dagger, flying without hesitation.
Yijun dodged it with ease, just by tilting his head.
However, the attack was just beginning.
Kwa-jijijik...
Yoo Hwan, who had uprooted a nearby pillar, threw it at Yijun as if playing tuho.
Kwaang—!!!
The floor and ceiling shook violently.
It was truly a great battle.
A scene where it wouldn't be strange for someone to have their arm cut off in the raging attack.
It seemed no one could stop it.
"Stop."
Fwoosh!
—Until a pitch-black flame split between them as they clashed.
Before the black flame barrier, they stopped abruptly, and between them, the calm sound of heels clicked shortly.
It was the Princess of Dark Flare, who had been silent until now.
"You all know well that we don't have time for internal division here."
This gate was not over yet.
Even at this very moment, outside, the members, including Trickster, would be engaged in a bloody battle with the monsters.
Anyway, there was nothing to be gained by dragging this out.
Eunha slowly lifted her head and looked up at the giant scale on the altar.
"There must be a reason why the system insists there's one monster left, and why the compass pointed at me."
Eunha too wanted to know that reason.
The monsters offered to the giant golden scale 'Altar of Eternal Rest' had disappeared in white flames.
Considering that most monsters pixelate and disappear immediately after being defeated, it was a different form than usual.
Why did the system insist on offering the monsters' corpses to the altar?
As if trying to 'collect' them.
'The answer must be beyond that.'
Eunha was certain.
And among them, she was the only one who could confirm that answer.
Because she was the one designated as a monster by the system, and the one with enough resistance to withstand the flames emanating from the scale.
Of course, there was also the possibility that she would be annihilated the moment she stepped on the scale.
However, Eunha was not afraid of that.
What she was truly afraid of was.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' asks you.]
[—Sister, do you want to be human?]
The thought that she might not be human.
"Either way, we have to make a 'choice' here."
Eunha had no intention of hesitating in her choice.
As she had always done, she moved.
Forward.
Clack—
"Sunbae!"
An urgent voice, following Eunha.
Eunha, who was ascending the altar, paused for a moment.
"It's alright, Shin Siwoo."
And without looking back, she added.
"Unnie!"
Ayeon leaped towards the altar.
She reached her hand towards the scale, but an invisible barrier had formed, and she was thrown back.
"Unnie! Unnie!"
Bang! Bang!
Even as she pounded on the barrier as if to break it with her fists, it was useless.
As if 'humans' were not allowed to stand there, the invisible barrier finally blocked Ayeon.
Fwoosh—
Right before her eyes, she saw white flames devouring her.
Ayeon's face turned pale white.
After Eunha's figure completely disappeared from before them, ding!
A cheerful notification sound struck their ears.
[Annihilate all surrounding monsters and offer them to the Altar of Eternal Rest. (666/666) | Reward: ???]
[Congratulations! The sudden quest has been completed!]
