CH ss - 22

Side Story Chapter 22 - One-horn (7)

“So.” A deep sense of anger and frustration was etched on Edora’s face as she cut off Phante’s explanation. Any observer could easily tell that she was trying to calm her seething anger. “This was all for me, huh?”

Phante had laid out the various baskets of ‘goods’ in front of Edora. Each basket was large enough to hold Edora and then some, carrying piles of ‘goods’ within them. They were the materials for the dress she half-jokingly stated to her mother in private.

‘Is this guy crazy…? Who the hell takes that seriously?!’

All the things Phante brought back were, at one time, from terrifying existences. The thick branches of the divine cedar wood, the spinnerets of the Arachne, the pearls from the giant black clam located in the deep waters of the Sea of Death… Fine. This much could be understood as gathering materials. However, the triple-headed ogre’s eyeballs…or the desert worm’s thorny slime… These were not things that anyone would consider appropriate to create a beautiful wedding dress!

‘Well, if this guy had that much common sense, he wouldn’t have acted like this in the first place… Ugh.’

Phante, who had no common sense to begin with, had no way of knowing that Edora had been joking with her mother. Having lived a life wherein he was always respected and adored by others, he had long ago lost any sense of basic logic.

Rather, even now, Phante was expecting Edora to shower him with praise. He was seemingly stating that he had done everything for his dear sister and brother-in-law. He expected to be showered with praise and adoration! He wanted his greatness as a brother to be praised…!

“You fool.”

‘…eh? Huh? No praise?’

“If you were going to bring something, you should have done it properly.” Edora crossed her arms and spoke in a sullen tone. As Phante’s gaze trembled wildly, she continued, “Divine cedar wood twigs… You successfully attained them, but why are they all broken? You didn’t preserve them well… Look, all the bark has been skinned off. Since the twigs are defective, both the appearance and the divine power that once resided in the twigs are all gone, and it’s impossible to turn it into a laurel wreath.”

“Argh…!”

“And these spinnerets…. Ugh…! You didn't seriously think that this raw material could easily be converted for weaving material, right? Are you dumb?”

It was true that Arachne’s thread was classified as a high-quality material. However, since the position of the spinneret on the Arachne was where it was, a timely and professional process was necessary to properly separate the spinneret to convert into thread. Otherwise…the spinnerets, and the threads within them, would become useless as they were all stewing in secretion. Moreover, there was a poisonous gland in Arachne’s body, so the thread would often melt within the spinneret before one could extract it out. These were the type of spinnerets Phante had brought. Even if the poison did not melt the thread first, the stench of secretion on any potential thread would put off any desire for one to use it as dress material.

“Oh, no…!” After hearing Edora’s explanation, Phante’s complexion started to turn white. The reality of the situation was dawning on him.

“And these feathers… Ugh! Where do I start? You brought the entire bird? Did you think you could just bring the whole thing? Moreover, you’ve handled it so roughly that only the bird’s leather is intact, all the feathers have already fallen off. There’s no use for this carcass you asshole!” Edora’s fact bombing continued without a break. “The pearls are scratched all over… What the hell were you thinking?”

“…!”

Plop! Phante slumped onto the ground in frustration. All the while, Edora constantly poured out insult after insult such as ‘idiot’, ‘dumb’, ‘muscle head’… There was no appreciation or praise for the suffering and effort he had gone through and endured. His daydream of gaining respect from Edora and Yeon-woo respectfully calling him brother-in-law… All of it became a mirage.

“And above all else.”

“…?” Wondering what else was there, Phante raised his head in a daze. He saw Edora stare back at him with her chin raised high.

“You’ve been causing trouble everywhere you’ve gone… Do you think my wedding can be properly blessed? I’d be thankful if I wasn’t hexed with a bunch of curses!”

A wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it was more important than most other things in one’s life. To make a hundred-year covenant with the one you love while receiving blessings and congratulations from everyone… That was the ideal that any bride would want before a marriage… However, Phante had overturned everything. Edora’s anger flared up once more at the thought that few people would be present at her wedding, so she seethed.

Phante, trembling under the aura that was emanating from his sister, could not help but take a few steps backwards. However… Bam! Before he could even take a few steps back, he bumped into something. Once he stopped, he turned around and saw Yeon-woo standing, hands behind his back, with an angered expression on his face. Yeon-woo’s face was so contorted that Phante could not imagine the amount of inner anger Yeon-woo was holding back.

Whoosh! The overwhelming aura spreading out from Yeon-woo was making the situation even more scary for Phante.

“Shall we have a talk?”

A little while ago, Yeon-woo had finalized the calculation of compensation for the places that suffered damage due to Phante’s escapade. Although the exact amount had not been finalized with the other parties, Yeon-woo was able to come down with a rough estimate. And the result was… Even if Yeon-woo tore Phante to shreds and sold off all his organs and all Phante’s possessions, the gathered amount would fall pitifully short.

Phante’s face turned even more pale as he recalled the trauma he experienced when he learned how to use Blood Lightning from the head elder long ago… “Learned” might be a misleading term. Perhaps a better term would be that he was subjected to Blood Lightning strikes until he could endure it and learn how to use the skill himself.

Argh! Phante’s screams filled the village.

***

Argh…

“Hmm? Is that Phante? Looks like he’s gone and done something again. No matter how old he gets, he’s always causing trouble… When will he ever mature? Tsk.”

Phante’s desperate screams could be heard clearly all the way to where Yeon-woo and the Martial King were. The Martial King only seemed a bit more mature outwardly, but on the inside, he was similar to Phante in every way. Thus, seeing the Martial King state such words, Yeon-woo could not help but frown.

“Why are you looking at me with such respectful eyes, disciple?”

“…does this look like respect?”

“Then worship?”

“It seems that master has not really changed.”

“Of course. A person cannot change overnight. If someone does change that quickly, one should be skeptical. One doesn’t know what that person is up to.”

Chuckle. The Martial King burst out laughing in the meeting room, and Yeon-woo shook his head. There was no way to overcome his master’s audacity.

“More than that.”

Then, with a bright smile, the Martial King changed the subject. In fact, the atmosphere in the meeting room had been quite heavy just a moment earlier. This was because Yeon-woo had answered the Martial King’s question on how he was revived.

『…』The Psychic Medium had stayed silent throughout Yeon-woo’s explanation. She must have been in shock.

On the other hand, the Martial King did not seem to care at all. No, in some respect, he seemed quite refreshed.

“Okay. Then afterwards? What are your plans now?”

“Somehow, I have to bring my parents to this time period, so I’m going to wander around outside for a while.”

“That means…you’ll be disappearing again? Are you serious? You’re going to leave my daughter all alone again? Are you going to make my daughter wait for you all her life?” In an instant, the smile disappeared from the Martial King’s face. “Even if you’re my disciple, I won’t stay still.”

Whoosh! A strong air current circulated throughout the meeting room. The killing intent was enough to make Yeon-woo’s skin tingle. Behind the Martial King, something like an invisible shadow seemed to expose its ferocious teeth.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that.’ Yeon-woo felt a strange feeling when he saw the shadow. It was the same feeling he felt when he first met the Martial King. This felt like meeting a ferocious beast.

When Yeon-woo witnessed it, the Martial King had laughed at meeting such a peculiar fellow.

The Martial King probably accepted Yeon-woo as a disciple because he saw potential in Yeon-woo.

‘If I can also fully resurrect master… If he can become a permanent existence… If there’s even the slightest possibility of that… I’ll do it.’ This was the future that Yeon-woo envisioned. The image that Brahm and Athena had seen with their foresight, Yeon-woo wanted to make that image a reality. No, to be frank, he wanted to do more. The people who were lost, the people who he had to lose, the people who he missed, the people who passed by during his travels… All the people who made ‘Cha Yeon-woo’ who he was today… If he had assembled all the legends on the ninety-ninth floor and completed ‘me’…

From now on, it was necessary to put together the numerous pieces of law of causality that made ‘me’ and return to his original shape. Yeon-woo thought that this was the last act he had left to do. Perhaps he was at the stage of completing his transcendence, which was still ongoing… This was a ‘transcendence’ to be born in a completely new form, surpassing everything one was. It had to be completed. Having organized his thoughts…

Chuckle. Yeon-woo burst out laughing.

“You laugh?” One of the Martial King’s eyebrows twitched, as if he did not appreciate Yeon-woo’s response. Since he did not know what Yeon-woo was thinking, the Martial King thought that Yeon-woo was laughing at him.

“Yes. I laughed.” However, Yeon-woo did not try to correct the Martial King’s misunderstanding right away. Yeon-woo was having too much fun. Every second he spent with the Martial King was enjoyable.

“Really… Has living been too boring for you recently?”

“If you can do it, try.”

“You think I can’t?”

“You can’t.”

“You egged me on yesterday as well… Are you arguing with your master now that you’ve gained a bit of strength?”

“Master.” Yeon-woo cut off the Martial King’s words and brought himself closer to the Martial King in a sign of provocation. A sneer hung over Yeon-woo’s lips. Even though he called the Martial King master, his master was no longer someone who could challenge him. At least, this was what Yeon-woo’s actions seem to be stating. “Since when have you been so long winded with your words?”

Crackle! Veins started popping up from the Martial King’s forehead.

“This bastard…?!”

The Martial King made his move. Boom! At that moment, the meeting room, no, the entire building itself including the meeting room, exploded.

Ring! Ring! Ring! As an alarm rang, commotion spread throughout the village in an instant.

“W-What is it this time?”

“Did an enemy appear?”

“What brainless opponent would dare to raid our village with a large event looming in the horizon… huh?”

“It’s not that, you idiot!”

“Then…?”

“Cain and the chieftain are butting heads!”

“What?”

“Oh! That sounds like loads of fun!”

“Oh, I can’t miss this. Where are they? Where!”

All the members of the tribe rushed to the place where Yeon-woo and the Martial King were fighting. They had already been excited about the wedding preparations, so their enthusiasm shot through the moon when they heard about this unexpected but welcomed event. After all, the most entertaining sight in the world was to watch others butt heads and fight!

“But who do you think will win? The chief is a little stronger, right?”

“No. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case? Cain is also very strong. I think it’ll be close.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Then… Today, it’ll finally be settled…!”

“We might finally be able to see our chieftain’s eyebrow turn black!”

“Woohoo!”

The fact that the chieftain of the tribe, who was always busy harassing the members of the tribe and who acted inhumane, would be put in his place… The members of the tribe became ecstatic. And just like their expectations of being able to watch a fight…

Boom! Boom! Boom! Rumble! Yeon-woo and the Martial King fought fiercely at a vacant lot that was immediately created by the various tribe members.