CH 214

All the party members’ eyes, including Kang Yoon-Soo’s, shot wide open from surprise. The ‘One Who Should Not Exist’ on the continent? Was Rumier saying that the one Sylphia had asked Kang Yoon-Soo to kill was one of them?

Kang Yoon-Soo glanced at his companions, then glared at Rumier and asked, “Who is it?”

“Do you even have the conviction to kill that being if I tell you who it is? Even if it is one of your companions?” Rumier replied.

The words Rumier had just said were like a dagger in Kang Yoon-Soo’s heart, but he was undeterred as he raised his sword toward the royal alchemist and said, “I’ll kill you if you won’t tell me.”

Rumier ignored the regressor’s threats before whispering to Sirian, “I need to retrieve that being immediately.”

“I guess I’ll have to help if my partner needs it,” Sirian said with a shrug before aiming his spear toward Kang Yoon-Soo and his party.

Kang Yoon-Soo quickly dashed forward with his sword, and in response, the king lightly thrust his spear forward. The gigantic spear and the black sword clashed in midair.

Clang!

The two weapons collided, sending a powerful gust of wind through the area.

Fwooosh!

However, the difference in strength between the two was evident in that single exchange, as Sirian’s light attack was enough to fling Kang Yoon-Soo backward.

“Grwwaaah!” White roared, running like the wind to catch Kang Yoon-Soo. However, Sirian’s attack had struck with such force that the werewolf thought its back was going to break as it caught Kang Yoon-Soo.

“Kang Yoon-Soo!” Shaneth shouted, sending her chain and sickle flying.

Acle grimaced and cursed, “Damn bastard!”

The party members all attacked.

Rumier furrowed his brow and said, “Please be careful not to hurt the subject.”

“I can do that with my eyes closed, don’t worry,” Sirian said before lightly swinging his spear.

A powerful gust of wind blew, pushing back the party members—all but one.

Iris looked at Sirian with nervous, trembling eyes, asking, “Why did you only leave me?”

“I have business with something inside you,” Sirian replied before throwing his spear.

Swoooooosh!

The king’s spear let out a loud boom as it cut through the air and flew ferociously toward Iris, piercing into her arm.

“…!”

The spear dug through Iris’ arm and pinned her to the wall. Excruciating agony spread throughout her body, and a huge amount of blood gushed out from her wound, but she bit her lip and did not let a single sound escape from her mouth.

Sirian looked sad as he lamented, “You didn’t even moan a bit, brave little miss… Just like Sephia…”

As Rumier walked toward Iris, she said in a voice filled with anger, “Kang Yoon-Soo will kill you guys.”

“We are all destined to die anyway. The Demon Lord will destroy this world, and in return, the other worlds will be safe,” Rumier replied. The royal alchemist then placed his finger on her neck and muttered something under his breath. Then, Iris suddenly lost consciousness.

Kang Yoon-Soo somehow managed to get closer to them and slash his sword at the King of All Things, but Sirian immediately pulled his spear out of Iris’ arm and blocked the attack.

Sirian smiled at him and asked, “Do you want to die?”

“Get away from her,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“No, my partner will scold me,” Sirian replied playfully.

Kang Yoon-Soo did not bother replying to the King of All Things as he dashed forward again and swung his sword as hard as he could, but Sirian blocked all of Kang Yoon-Soo’s attacks without batting an eye. The rest of the party members quickly got up and ran to help Kang Yoon-Soo out.

However, the king’s spearmanship was so powerful that it seemed to have transcended the level of a normal human. Sirian’s gigantic spear even deflected Mini-Lich’s black magic and the beams of light shot by Light, and it was impossible not to think that he was toying with them despite taking all of them on at the same time.

Time passed for quite a while before Rumier, who had his hands pressed against the center of Iris’ chest, suddenly collapsed.

[The royal alchemist has invaded the doppelganger’s consciousness!]

[The doppelganger will not be able to regain her consciousness if someone is within her mind.]

*This message is only visible to those the doppelganger has opened her heart to.

All of the other party members read the message that appeared before them.

Sirian lifted Rumier, who had collapsed on the ground, onto his shoulder.

Henrick did not miss the opportunity to shoot his mana threads out and pull the unconscious Iris to his side. He hurriedly asked, “Is she alright?”

“I have to check,” Kang Yoon-Soo said as he glanced at Iris.

Iris’ top was off, and she was unconscious. The party wrapped a bandage around her arm, which had been pierced by the king’s spear, to stop the bleeding.

‘Rumier invaded Iris’ consciousness,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

A being’s consciousness was their mental world.

The Ancient Hero, Minerva, had entered Kang Yoon-Soo’s consciousness before. However, Kang Yoon-Soo Kang Yoon-Soo had no other knowledge or experience regarding the mental world aside from that single occasion.

Sirian slammed the bottom of his spear into the ground and said, “It’s no use even if you try to wake her up. She’ll just remain unconscious until Rumier emerges from her consciousness.”

White growled aggressively at the king, “Urnokra…!”

The king furrowed his brow and said, “That werewolf needs to be taught a lesson. The only thing it spews out of its mouth is vulgarity.”

Meanwhile, Kang Yoon-Soo was deep in thought. ‘I’m certain Rumier has business with the thing that resides within Iris.’

It was the thing that had changed in his thousandth life, and the being that knew about his regression—the White Shadow.

‘I have no other option than to check it out myself,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

He had the ability to enter another person’s consciousness through his Authority of Insight, and that ability had become even stronger after the god-killing sword was destroyed.

Shaneth remained on guard against Sirian while worriedly stealing glances at Iris. She asked Kang Yoon-Soo, “What should we do now?”

“I’m going to collapse,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Shaneth was shocked by his unexpected response, just as she had been due to the rest of the events unfolding. She murmured in confusion, “Huh?”

“Protect me and Iris from Sirian while we’re both unconscious,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

He then placed his hands on the center of Iris’ chest the way Rumier had, and he could feel her beating heart beneath his palms. Then, the knowledge of what to do next flowed instinctively into his mind. He peeled her consciousness apart layer by layer, gradually making his way inside. Slowly, his own consciousness started to fade and his surroundings started to distort around him.

Thus, Kang Yoon-Soo successfully intruded on Iris’ consciousness.

***

The first thing that greeted Kang Yoon-Soo was the scent of sugar tickling his nose, and warm sunlight caressing his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw a vast mountain range in the distance made up of an assortment of pies. He was standing in a vast, open garden.

‘So this is Iris’ mental world,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He was surrounded by flat terrain, but Rumier was nowhere to be seen. Thus, he started walking.

Iris’ mental world was a neat and tidy place. Alongside the scent of sugar carried along by the breeze, the fragrance of various flowers filled the air. Several charming soap bubbles floated around across the garden; inside them were manifestations of Iris’ fear and sadness, her desires, and all sorts of other memories and emotions.

Kang Yoon-Soo looked into one of the bubbles floating past him and thought, ‘These were her memories from when she was a test subject.’

Inside, Iris was trapped in a small cell, crying and shivering in fear. Perhaps that was why the specific bubble Kang Yoon-Soo examined seemed to look darker than the others. It seemed that the bubble’s dark exterior signified the horrors Iris had felt in life.

‘Happiness and sadness,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought.

He looked into another bubble. Inside, Iris watched in horror as Shaneth almost died due to the Dragon of Destruction. Another bubble showed her happily traveling with them throughout the continent.

‘And that… is strange…’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he looked at a specific bubble that did not float around much.

Perhaps it was a very secret emotion that Iris wanted to hide, but it seemed to move slowly, far from the others. That specific bubble was also the one that shone the brightest among all of them. Inside, Iris was wearing a white dress with her blonde hair tied up, leaning on the chest of a familiar-looking middle-aged man.

Suddenly, however, the bubble burst. The fragrance of flowers suddenly disappeared, and a gloomy-looking man appeared, in an area of the plains that appeared particularly cold and desolate. The man said, “I never imagined that you would chase after me.”

It was the royal alchemist, Rumier Kazan. The grass in the area he stood in was all withered and dried.

“It is as you see,” Rumier said, waving his hand. As he moved, the grass and flowers beneath his hand instantly withered and dried.

“Iris’ consciousness has targeted you as its enemy,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“I am actually thankful for that. I hate flowers, you see,” Rumier replied.

Kang Yoon-Soo drew his sword and asked what he had been curious about. “The thing inside Iris, the White Shadow… Is it the ‘One Who Should Not Exist’?”

“White Shadow? That is an interesting name for it. Hmm… Now that I think about it… It is a fitting name for it, as a white shadow is something that can never exist,” Rumier replied.

Suddenly, the shadows surrounding the royal alchemist began to coalesce into a hideous form that resembled a razor-sharp rotary saw blade.

Kang Yoon-Soo quickly readied his sword.

Clang!

The blade flew toward Kang Yoon-Soo, but he easily parried it with his sword. However, that was not the end of it. The shadows beneath Rumier transformed into dozens of saw blades and rose up from the ground.

“I admit that you are powerful in real life, but that is not necessarily the case in a mental world,” Rumier said before commanding the multitude of saw blades to rush toward Kang Yoon-Soo.

Kwachiiiik!

Kang Yoon-Soo nimbly dodged and blocked the saw blades with his sword, but he was caught by them in the end. The razor-sharp edges of the blades left cuts all over his body, but he did not feel any physical pain. Rather, he felt a splitting headache spread throughout his entire skull.

Kang Yoon-Soo rubbed his temple and tried to decipher what Rumier had just said. ‘This is different from a fight in real life. The damage is only manifesting as mental pain…’

This was a mental world, which meant that the combat style he had back in real life was useless inside it.

Kang Yoon-Soo retreated a few steps, but Rumier flew through the air and threw dozens of saw blades toward him. However, Kang Yoon-Soo calmed his breath and grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands, blocking the blades one by one. Then, the blades he deflected with his sword bumped into the others and deflected them away from him.

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Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dark saw blades fell to the ground.

“What exquisite swordsmanship. I never imagined that you would be able to implement your experience from reality here,” Rumier said, seeming honestly amazed. He then created another set of saw blades.

Kang Yoon-Soo ran through the flower fields while thinking, ‘There’s no difference between me and Rumier. He invaded Iris’ consciousness just like I did, but why is it that only he gets to use an ability like that?’

This was Kang Yoon-Soo’s first time in someone’s consciousness, but he had to win against the royal alchemist no matter what.

‘This is a mental world…’ he thought. This was a place where memories and emotions materialized into bubbles, and the imaginations and desires of those within it could become real.

Thus, Kang Yoon-Soo gathered his thoughts and started to concentrate. Then, his feet slowly started to rise up from the ground as he began to float up into the air. It was exactly as he had expected. This was a place where things he imagined would occur as long as he concentrated on them.

Just as he was getting used to how things worked in this world, however, the royal alchemist’s saw blades ambushed him from behind and dug themselves into his back.

Kwachiiiiiik!

Kang Yoon-Soo’s blood sprayed all over the place and dyed the flowers red, and he felt as if his head were being pounded into dust as he crashed into the flower fields.

Rumier approached Kang Yoon-Soo while surrounded by darkness, saying, “You should just disappear in this place, since ‘that being’ will not be so welcoming of you.”

Kang Yoon-Soo felt dizzy and nauseated. He felt as if his mind would have given up on him and he would have died if the saw blades had continued to dig into his back. He struggled to get back up to his feet, then said through ragged breaths, “So the mental world is where emotions and imagination materialize into reality. I’m really good at controlling my thoughts, so I should be good at fighting in this world too.”

“Don’t try to stall for time with your words,” Rumier said coldly before mercilessly throwing

his saw blades toward Kang Yoon-Soo once again.

At that moment,Kang Yoon-Soo closed his eyes, and something changed.

“…!”

The darkness that had been surrounding Rumier suddenly moved over to Kang Yoon-Soo’s side. The saw blades were dragged along with it before being absorbed into Kang Yoon-Soo’s body. Unlike when they had surrounded Rumier, the shadows seemed much darker and more sinister while they were around Kang Yoon-Soo.

It was difficult to tell how the royal alchemist was feeling based on his expression, but it was possible to tell that he was taken aback by what had just happened based on his voice. He asked hesitantly, “What did… you do just now…?”

The darkness-shrouded Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “I’m simply materializing my thoughts, just as you did. I’m just thinking about the strongest thought I have in my mind. I’m not really used to this, but it’s not that difficult, since I have memories of thinking about this over and over again for hundreds of lifetimes.”

The shadows surrounding Kang Yoon-Soo shook for a moment, then expanded to the size of a mountain. All of the flowers in the vast plains withered, while all of the bubbles popped. The ground shook uncontrollably as the sun descended, and a thick cloud of darkness covered the entire place.

Rumier felt cold sweat break out across his back. The shadows behind Kang Yoon-Soo materialized into a hideous figure that had seven long and slender eyes, and it stared down at the royal alchemist. Rumier felt as if his feet were glued to the ground, and was frozen on the spot. He thought, ‘What the… hell is that thing…?’

The royal alchemist was surrounded by darkness, so he could not properly make out what exactly the figure looked like. However, he was certain that he felt extreme fear. He felt overwhelmed by simply standing in front of that hideous figure; it was as if nothing in this world could dare stand in front of it while still making it out alive and in one piece.

The hideous figure, which now struck fear and hopelessness into the royal alchemist’s heart, lifted up its hand. Rumier did not dare to even move a single muscle on his body, as he had no intention to struggle against it.

The ‘figure’ was an existence that could not be defied. It moved its hand for the first time, wiping out the entire flower field along with the royal alchemist.

***

Kang Yoon-Soo laid his thoughts to rest. The sun started shining down onto the vast plains once again, as the flowers bloomed and Iris’ thought bubbles began floating around once more.

The bloodstained Rumier had begun turning to dust from the ground up; he was clearly about to undergo a mental death. He muttered, “What the hell… was that thing…?”

Kang Yoon-Soo curtly replied, “Demon Lord.”

“To think… You fought against something like that… hundreds of times. My god, I feel nothing but respect for you, but at the same time, I find you somewhat laughable and pitiful… Cough! It sounds quite stupid that you tried to fight against something like that, let alone try to kill it,” Rumier said.

Kang Yoon-Soo raised his sword toward the alchemist and asked, “Tell me, who is the ‘One Who Should Not Exist’?”

Rumier slowly replied in a cracking voice, but the answer he gave was a completely unexpected one. He asked, “Kang Yoon-Soo… Have you ever seen another person who was exactly like you, or experienced a splitting headache whenever you thought of such a person?”

Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyes shot open. He had indeed felt excruciating pain when he tried to kill the soul fragments in the trial, and when he had seen his clone.

Rumier continued, “That is normal. In this world… There is another being who is exactly like you.”

Someone who was exactly like him? Kang Yoon-Soo had never expected those words to come out of the royal alchemist’s mouth.

Kang Yoon-Soo voiced one of the suspicions he had carried for a long time. “Is the Demon Lord the one who is exactly like me?”

It was an unlikely theory, but he had thought that it could also be highly likely, as the Demon Lord was the only other being who had the same amount of memories he did—about 20,000 years’ worth.

However, Rumier shook his head and replied, “That is an interesting theory, but you are wrong.”The royal alchemist gasped for breath before continuing, “The thing that lives within the doppelganger… The thing you call the White Shadow. That is the ‘One Who Should Not Exist’ and the one who is exactly like you.”

“Wait, what do you mean, the White Shadow is the ‘One That Should Not Exist’ and the one who is exactly like me?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked in surprise.

Did Rumier mean that the mysterious being Kang Yoon-Soo had failed to identify for so long was the very same being that he had been searching for all this time? Kang Yoon-Soo could not make heads or tails of the situation.

Rumier mustered all the remaining strength he had to shout, “Indeed! The being who should not exist in this world and the one who is breaking the balance of this world by simply existing at the same time as you, the one who should not exist!”

The sword in Kang Yoon-Soo’s hands started to tremble.

Rumier looked at Kang Yoon-Soo with a manic fire in his eyes as he exclaimed, “The White Shadow is none other than the you who has regressed for the ten thousandth time, Kang Yoon-Soo!”