Episode 12: Final Episode / Chapter 199: That Day (2)

TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk

Currently, Choi Hyuk was with the Exalted Wings on the first-floor hall of the Tower of Warriors.

Dark-Sound’s body floated in the center of the hall. The skilled experts of the alliance dressed his body to look more dignified than when he was alive. His flesh, which became mushy once his karma left, was mixed with expensive metals to make it smooth, and they ground and sprinkled jewels of darkness to recreate how the darkness around him would always suck light in. Geometric patterns created by mixing materials that symbolized the key species of the alliance were laid out around him, and when you looked at him from afar, these patterns looked like a giant wing covering his body. The wing wasn’t simply a decoration. You could indirectly experience records of Dark-Sound’s battles, fate, and life when you perked your ears at or connected to the spread patterns.

His body, which was restored without sparing rare materials, was more of a beautification than a restoration, and it was more like a statue of a god than a body.

All of the Exalted Wings gathered here today used the native language of the Dark Tribe to show respect for Dark-Sound.

“The Wing of Governance. Dark-Sound…”

Flame-Fog, who was usually quiet, seemed immersed in his emotions today.

“Even thinking about it now, I think this was the right choice. It isn’t just a funeral. It will set a precedent and may be written down in history.”

The Exalted Wings henceforth gave titles to each other (Dark-Sound received the title ‘Wing of Governance’), and they decided to make his body into a statue and enshrine it on the first-floor hall of the Tower of Warriors.

In the future, warriors who visited the tower would have their minds engraved with the great cause, ‘A United Alliance’, when they saw past Exalted Wings who laid down their lives, and they could experience the records left behind by them so that they could possibly try to comprehend their level.

However, the reason Flame-Fog was so emotional wasn’t just because of this.

“We should have done this when King Flame-Sky died.”

He was considered neutral as he maintained his silence when Flame-Hell and Flame-Rain opposed each other. However, they all knew that a part of his heart always possessed respect for Flame-Sky.

“No, rather there shouldn’t be another sacrifice like this… Exalted Wings aren’t existences that come into being like how the monster queen creates monsters.”

Flame-Thorn, who was close to Flame-Hell, pointed out.

“Though I agreed to this because there has already a sacrifice… I still think that it is best if we make sure a sacrifice like this doesn’t happen again. From the beginning, it made no sense that an Exalted Wing would personally lead an expedition. We need a manual that will allow us to fight powerful monsters without sacrificing Exalted Wings. While it might sound cruel, we need to think realistically. No matter how many normal warriors are sacrificed, it is still better than a single Exalted Wing dying.”

This was a discussion that had been ongoing since their meeting at the ‘Brain’. A discussion about what measures they should take if a similar situation occurred.

“Now, let’s stop talking about that.”

Flame-Hell cut her off.

“Warriors have already gathering in the square. The funeral will start soon. God knows how long it’s been since we’ve all gathered in one place… Let’s stop talking about such things for now. Let’s talk about what Exalted Wing Dark-Sound was like when he was alive and think about how saddening it is to lose such a great individual.”

A solemn mood hung in the air.

Choi Hyuk, who stood upright in a section of the hall as the one in charge of security, swallowed the anger that surged in his heart when he saw them like that.

Choi Hyuk felt his insides twist like a teenager going through puberty who felt like everything was wrong with the world.

The decisions they made at the ‘Brain’ frequently led entire planets to annihilation. They appointed entire species as Consumables without a sliver of sympathy and pushed them into battlefields they couldn’t return from. These decisions occurred so frequently that they didn’t need justifications such as ‘it was inevitable’ or ‘a small sacrifice for the majority’.

Choi Hyuk knew the details behind their decisions better than anyone else. He had never forgotten them.

‘Kill. Only then can you kill.’

Those who couldn’t kill were abandoned like trash or, sometimes, were ‘recycled’ like Chu Youngjin’s girlfriend, Lee Hyejin. The alliance wasn’t heartbroken at these sacrifices. Simply a more hellish battlefield awaited those who survived.

These sacrifices were considered so obvious that they weren’t given an apology or cherished.

On the other hand, the Exalted Wings felt various emotions when faced with Dark-Sound’s death. Some were scared, a few were sad, and others were angry. This was likely because his death was the ‘death of an equal’. The terrifying fact that it could have been them made them emotional.

‘A case that can never be allowed to happen and one that is inevitable.’

Choi Hyuk thought about the difference between the two cases. Who were the majority? Who were the minority? Didn’t that all depend on the losses they would suffer? The Exalted Wings wouldn’t have suffered any losses if the earthlings, a species on the border, were annihilated. So if people disagreed with their decision, they could virtuously say that ‘it was inevitable’.

However, if he wanted to make them realize that they should never have done that… As expected, there was no other way besides personally engraving it into their flesh and bones. Once under unbearable pain, they would end up looking back on their actions, asking themselves if they had been wrong.

Choi Hyuk closed his eyes while imagining their screams.

Gulp.

He swallowed his surging emotions once more.

It was the last time.

**

“The monsters aren’t making any particular movements.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Recently, the independent troop ‘Frontier’ risked their lives to investigate deep into the enemy territory. They reported no monster activity anywhere.”

“That’s good.”

Flame-Rain nodded.

The independent troop ‘Frontier’ was a troop composed of warriors who had left the Berserkers. As top elites in Flame-Rain’s stronghold, they were trustworthy.

Flame-Rain relaxed her tense shoulders.

“Huu… It’s hard, isn’t it?”

“No.”

Her adjutant, Camilla, replied immediately, but her complexion clearly showed signs of exhaustion.

Camilla, who was the Sovereign of Paradise and an overseer of Earth, followed Flame-Rain to the monsters’ universe and had gained enough experience to be promoted to her adjutant. She strengthened her position in the stronghold as her trusted adjutant. Her authority was similar to that of a chief presidential secretary’s^{1}.

Camilla, who had dreamed about earthlings’ prosperity and happiness, steadily created a foothold to realize her dream.

Of course, she had to handle an immense workload to do so.

“I understand. Restoring Deus, which was completely destroyed, is already a huge task, yet we have to stay on full alert since Exalted Wing Dark-Sound passed away like that… It must be tough for you. It’s normally something I should be doing… Sorry, please work a little harder.”

Flame-Rain patted Camilla’s shoulder. When she did, Camilla’s expression, which she tried hard to keep firm, became misty. Resignation and fear reflected on her face.

“Wow! What’s this? Was it that tough for you? Hmm… Should I assign some personnel to you?”

Camilla was never one to show it even if things were tough so Flame-Rain was shocked when her eyes looked gloomy.

Camilla shook her head. She was well aware that Flame-Rain had it tougher than her. She could easily tell by how her flames blazed limply and had lost their liveliness. She had no intention of showing a weak side of her just because work was tough.

Her gloominess was because of another matter.

“That’s not it. Rather… I just feel that something’s strange. Has anything been discovered from the investigation?”

“What the heck? Were you worried about me?”

Flame-Rain leaned into her chair.

“Rather than a discovery… It’s regarding Chu Youngjin.”

“The warrior who passed away… Chu Youngjin?”

“Yeah, he isn’t dead yet.”

Camilla’s eyes widened.

“Ah, of course, he’s considered dead by the alliance’s diagnosis, but he’s not dead yet in my perspective. My flames can reignite a completely extinguished wick. Of course, if there is even a tiny part of the wick remaining that is. That’s why I’m thinking about it.”

Flame-Rain lowered her eyes and tapped her long finger against her cheek.

“Choi Hyuk. If I think of that damn bastard, I want to save him. Since he’s a warrior he’s been with since the beginning of the recruit training, it’ll bother him even if he acts like it doesn’t. I don’t want to make his difficult life even harder. And what about the woman of the Armored Soul Tribe who comes to me and cries? I want to save him. That’s what I personally think… However, as an Exalted Wing, I should give up this uncertain treatment and wake him up right now. You see, I need to hear his testimony.”

“His testimony?”

“Yeah. Regarding a third-party.”

“A third-party…”

“After looking at the corpses, it looks like they were all injured by one person. It doesn’t make sense for everyone to be killed by a single person in a four-on-four fight. That means someone might have intruded on their fight midway. My duty is to figure out who that person is, what his or her skills are, and why that person left without laying a hand on the rest of the subjugation force… Also, how Chu Youngjin was able to avoid that person’s attack.”

Camilla’s expression became darker. However, lost in her thoughts, Flame-Rain didn’t notice this change and continued,

“But if I wake him up, he’ll definitely die. I also can’t waste my strength on a treatment that could take a hundred or even a thousand years or may not even be possible… But it’ll be no different from abandoning my duty if I don’t attempt it… Haaa. Also, how can I do that to Choi Hyuk and to that Armored Soul Tribe woman?”

Flame-Rain sighed with a face that seemed to have aged ten years.

White smoke exhaled from her mouth. For her, who possessed pure flames, to exhale smoke, it seemed she was under a lot of stress.

Gloomily looking at her, Camilla seemed to have decided on something as she tightly shut her eyes before saying,

“Maybe there isn’t a third-party?”

“Then, you’re saying the culprit is among Kwe, Jae, Lan, and Ryuk, who all died there? I don’t think so…”

“No, I’m talking about Chu Youngjin.”

“Huh?”

“Chu Youngjin is the only one without any injuries. Couldn’t Chu Youngjin have killed everyone?”

“Ehhh…? But his level is…”

“You previously mentioned that his cause of death wasn’t certain, correct? Perhaps he burned up all his karma… His cause of death has never been reported before.”

“I guess?”

“What if he wasn’t injured by something? What if he broke down from squeezing out all his strength?”

Flame-Rain bounced up from her seat. However, she still didn’t believe her.

“But… But why would Chu Youngjin do that? He doesn’t have a reason to.”

Chu Youngjin was now a transcendent warrior who represented the alliance. His future would be filled with glory so why would he do such a thing? To suddenly assassinate Dark-Sound? This would cause him to obtain nothing and lose everything.

Camilla steadied her breath.

Yes, logically, it didn’t make sense. There wasn’t any evidence either. This ‘leap in logic’ she was currently talking about could destroy everything she had accumulated until now. However, Camilla still felt very uneasy. She couldn’t bear not speaking of it as the alliance, which sustained the universe, could collapse and the earthlings could be marked as the most traitorous species at a single misstep.

“Exalted Wing Flame-Rain… How much do you know about the Berserkers, about Choi Hyuk?”

Flame-Rain gave Camilla a look asking what she was talking about all of a sudden. Nonetheless, Camilla continued firmly,

“Though I don’t know what you think of Choi Hyuk… we earthlings called him the Demon King. Have you… never witnessed the endless rage he possesses? A rage that wants to burn the entire universe to cinders.”

Flame-Rain’s eyes wavered.

She completely reorganized the information she had collected until now, clearer and simpler than her previous hypothesis. The result pointed towards an unbelievable truth.

While it was absurd, the thought that Choi Hyuk, that crazy bastard, could really do it crossed her mind. The damage was too severe for her to ignore this small possibility.

“Don’t… Don’t tell me… that this crazy bastard…?!”

Flame-Rain jolted up from her seat.

She pondered over it while pacing precisely ten steps. Then she decided.

“Ah, I don’t know. Even if I take responsibility for this… I can’t leave things as they are. Assemble an army immediately! We head to Alliance City!”

Her current actions could deal her a heavy political blow, but Flame-Rain decided to act.

“Yes!”

With a complicated expression, a mix of resignation and conviction, Camilla replied in a firm, low voice.

^{1} Highest-ranking employee of the Blue House