Chapter 241
It had been a long time since his last memory had been cut off.
In a void where all senses were severed, Han Si-hyuk sat with vacant eyes.
Abaddon’s consciousness, which had been gradually eroding him, had finally succeeded in taking over his body and imprisoning him here.
On the day he had to kill Sepia with his own hands, Han Si-hyuk pointed that sword at his own throat.
To break the chain of events that would bring a storm of blood,
To save that child who was to be the hope of the continent,
Han Si-hyuk willingly chose death.
He had tried to drive the blade into his own heart.
But,
The cursed control didn’t even grant him the freedom to die as he wished.
Thus, his soulless body continued to live on,
Carrying out heinous acts that the whole world would condemn without hesitation.
In this place, where he could neither see nor hear the outside world,
Han Si-hyuk endlessly regretted and blamed himself, muttering as if reciting a prayer.
‘You must endure….’
The only thing Han Si-hyuk, whose consciousness had been completely consumed, could do now was to hope that the child, pitying the wretched life that had become Abaddon’s tool, would grant him a peaceful death.
* * *
Dark energy swirled around Han Si-hyuk as he unleashed his full power.
The black aura was so thick that an ordinary human would have collapsed on the spot.
For Han Siha, who had not yet fully recovered, it was deadly.
“Ugh… Ugh….”
Despite his labored breathing, Han Siha faced him head-on.
A gaze filled with desire, something he had never seen in Han Si-hyuk before, was now directed at him.
Han Siha was determined to break that gaze.
Whoosh—
With a fierce sound, Han Si-hyuk’s sword slashed through the air.
At the same time, Basilus let out a sorrowful cry and lunged at him.
But it wasn’t enough.
Whoosh—
Basilus’ flames couldn’t overpower Han Si-hyuk’s dark energy and turned to ash.
“Grrr—”
Boom!
Zap—
Even a lightning bolt summoned from the sky didn’t touch Han Si-hyuk.
The aura surrounding him had grown so intense that it burned away everything that tried to attack him.
An opponent against whom no attack worked.
Over the past two years, Han Si-hyuk had grown even stronger.
Swoosh—
Han Si-hyuk swiftly closed the distance, slashing Han Siha’s shoulder with his sword, which was infused with dark energy.
“Gah!”
If he hadn’t dodged, that sharp blade would have sliced through his throat.
Han Siha stifled his scream and blocked Han Si-hyuk’s next attack with his staff.
“Hah… Hah….”
His sluggish body made it too easy for him to take hits he should have been able to avoid.
Despite Basilus’ breath attacks and Adela’s telekinesis strikes, Han Si-hyuk targeted only Han Siha.
Even as his body burned and crumbled, his sole focus was to kill Han Siha.
His relentless pursuit made him seem like a mindless killing machine, devoid of any emotion.
Buzz—
Stones lifted by Adela’s telekinesis whirled rapidly in the air, striking Han Si-hyuk.
But he easily cut through them with his dark-infused sword.
In an instant, Han Si-hyuk leaped forward, closing the gap between them.
A strike aimed directly at Han Siha’s neck.
Basilus darted in quickly and sank his teeth into Han Si-hyuk’s arm.
Boom— Crash—
With a resonating explosion, Basilus was thrown back, letting out a pained cry as he struggled to stand again.
Han Siha gritted his teeth and stared at Han Si-hyuk.
He, too, was staring back at him with fierce, unwavering eyes.
“You’ve really lost it.”
“….”
“Can’t you even hear me anymore?”
Han Si-hyuk had become a monster, now far beyond reach.
He should have been terrified, but strangely, he felt a calmness settling in.
He was barely holding on with his mental strength, but his body had long since collapsed.
The only thing Han Siha could rely on was his ‘memory.’
The memories of fighting Han Si-hyuk.
As if it had happened just yesterday, Han Si-hyuk’s advice echoed in his mind.
‘I tend to attack with my left hand. If you end up fighting me, target my left arm.’
Han Siha knew Han Si-hyuk’s weakness.
Because Han Si-hyuk himself had told him.
“The left side.”
As Han Siha murmured the words, Basilus, despite his battered state, lunged again.
Basilus aimed for Han Si-hyuk’s left arm, with Adela joining in.
Together, they managed to bind his left hand, preventing him from swinging his sword.
Han Si-hyuk hesitated, a flicker of confusion crossing his face, and Han Siha drew the Sword of Earth.
‘I’m strong in long battles.’
‘The longer it goes, the worse it’ll be for you. If you’re going to push me, go all out at the start.’
His aura flared even more intensely, and the dark energy grew stronger, as if it would soon consume everything.
Just as Han Si-hyuk had said, he was getting stronger even as he was attacked.
“If you foresaw this day coming, you shouldn’t have given me that advice.”
They had become opponents who had to cross swords,
And inevitably, one of them had to die.
All Han Siha could do now was follow Han Si-hyuk’s advice.
Han Siha muttered as he raised his sword.
“This is it…!”
His body had become so sluggish that his movements were almost predictable, but he gritted his teeth and sliced through the air, reaching Han Si-hyuk.
And then,
He threw his sword at Han Si-hyuk’s left arm, the one Adela had momentarily bound.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Get out of the way!”
Han Siha shouted at Basilus, who quickly grabbed him and leaped away.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
The ground quaked.
The earth beneath them collapsed in an instant, causing the entire first basement level to shake.
The solid ground crumbled away like sand.
The earth swallowed Han Si-hyuk.
Rumble.
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Thud—
“Grrr! Grr!”
“Ugh… Ugh….”
Basilus threw Han Siha at the entrance.
He wasn’t buried in the dirt, so his body was okay.
Han Siha groaned as he got to his feet, looking at the spot where Han Si-hyuk—no, where Han Si-hyuk had been.
“Phew…!”
Adela, the Earth Mage, emerged from the ground.
She was the type who wouldn’t be taken down by such an attack.
In any case, Han Si-hyuk was nowhere to be seen.
“…Did you bury him?”
“No.”
Even as Han Si-hyuk’s dark energy gradually subsided, Han Siha kept replaying his mentor’s advice in his mind.
“This won’t kill him.”
Having experienced it in training, the actual battle was not much different.
Things were unfolding exactly as Han Si-hyuk had predicted.
‘That sword won’t kill me, so make sure to finish me off.’
The ground stirred once more.
His dark energy seeped up through the shattered walls of the ruined first underground level.
The black aura was proof that he was still alive.
Step, step.
Han Siha pulled Han Si-hyuk from the ground.
He was still breathing, merely unconscious.
“See? He’s still alive.”
“What… are you going to do?”
Adela’s voice trembled as she asked.
Having drawn out more dark energy than necessary, his body was already falling apart.
He had to be finished off before he woke up.
“This is our chance.”
He had to kill him.
Han Siha pointed his staff at Han Si-hyuk’s neck with trembling hands.
He had to kill him…
He shouldn’t hesitate…
“Damn prophet. Skilled at all the wrong things.”
But he hesitated.
“Han Siha!”
Adela’s urgent shout.
In that instant, Han Si-hyuk’s eyes snapped open,
“Gah!”
A crushing wave of dark energy engulfed Han Siha, nearly knocking him unconscious.
Han Si-hyuk rose in an instant, his sword aimed at Han Siha’s throat.
“…!”
The cold steel brushed against his neck.
If Han Si-hyuk swung the blade from this angle, survival was impossible.
Han Siha clenched his teeth and tightly shut his eyes, thinking it was the end.
Just then,
“…I told you not to hesitate.”
A familiar voice rang out.
* * *
Han Siha turned his head, eyes wide in shock.
Emotions swirled in Han Si-hyuk’s eyes before they faded away.
He was breathing heavily, staring directly at Han Siha.
“Han Si-hyuk…?”
His eyes were filled with sorrow.
“Hah… Hah….”
Han Siha instinctively understood.
Han Si-hyuk had returned.
But the control wasn’t over.
He was merely holding on, struggling to maintain his sanity.
It wouldn’t last long.
Han Si-hyuk would lose control again, and he would attack once more.
The guilt for that cruel reality was evident in his eyes.
As if he foresaw the inevitable, Han Si-hyuk struggled to speak.
“I told you, I taught you, yet you repeated the same mistake.”
“You didn’t think it would be that easy to kill you, did you?”
“But you should have done it.”
Han Si-hyuk frowned and added.
“The more I lose my mind, the stronger I will become.”
Han Siha knew this.
“The more you hesitate, the stronger I’ll grow to a level you won’t be able to handle.”
Han Si-hyuk’s voice was firm.
“When that time comes, you will surely die.”
Just as the prophecy foretold, Han Siha could not defeat a Han Si-hyuk who had lost his mind.
However, right now—
Right now, it is possible.
Now that Han Si-hyuk’s consciousness had returned, he was willing to accept his death.
Han Si-hyuk urged with ruthless words.
“It’s not too late. Kill me now.”
Han Siha looked slowly down at the sword Han Si-hyuk was offering him.
Even when he was mindless, he had hesitated; now, with Han Si-hyuk’s eyes restored—
To stab him like this?
When he’s looking at him with such sorrowful eyes.
Eyes that still carried a desperate will to live.
To carry the burden of ending his life.
How could he?
Han Siha gritted his teeth and looked up at Han Si-hyuk.
“Aren’t you being too cruel to me?”
“…Do it.”
How absurd.
“You think you can just come to me, beg to be killed, and I’d just stab you like I’ve been waiting for this? If you wanted to die so badly, why didn’t you just find some deserted place and end it there?”
“If I could’ve died alone, I would have.”
“….”
“I tried hundreds, thousands of times, but it never worked.”
A glimmer of regret shone in Han Si-hyuk’s eyes.
“I wanted to die rather than become a monster.”
“I have become a monster, and now I need to die.”
The seer’s prophecy was accurate.
The once insignificant prophet had gained forbidden power and set his sights on the heir of Castica.
Or at least, he could have.
If he wanted, Han Si-hyuk could have killed me.
But he didn’t have that intent.
So now, that heavy burden fell on me.
Han Siha had to make a choice before this brutal reality.
To kill or be killed.
At that moment of hesitation,
“Hurry!”
Han Si-hyuk’s gaze began to waver once more.
Abaddon’s consciousness was clawing its way back into his body.
There wasn’t much time left.
If Han Si-hyuk lost control again, Han Siha wouldn’t be able to defeat him.
With a trembling voice, Han Siha finally spoke.
“I’m sorry….”
They weren’t real family, but he had at least considered him something close.
There wasn’t a single drop of shared blood between them, but that didn’t matter.
He didn’t have any real kin left in this world anyway.
So—
He wished for his last moments to be peaceful.
Murmuring these words,
As Han Siha prepared to strike Han Si-hyuk down,
A sorrowful voice whispered in his ear.
“You still hesitate until the end.”
“…!”
Han Si-hyuk took Han Siha’s hand, gripping the sword,
Thunk—
And drove it straight into his own heart.