Chapter 242
It’s only in moments of pain that the mind becomes clear.
Abaddon’s relentless control, which had ceaselessly used his body, was finally severed.
Only in this dying moment could Han Si-hyuk finally see the people he cherished clearly.
Adela, who had been fighting to kill him just moments ago, was now tearfully distressed. Basilus stood frozen, his eyes filled with incomprehensible emotions.
And Han Siha, staring at him blankly.
Cough—.
Even as he coughed up blood, Han Si-hyuk forced a faint smile.
They were mourning his death.
He was deeply grateful for that.
Grateful that there were people who would mourn his passing.
“I thought… there would be no one….”
A person who came to mind.
If Sepia had been here, would she have mourned for him too?
“Hah… hah….”
Han Si-hyuk parted his lips.
The sword lodged in his heart felt as though it tore through his entire body with every small movement, and the pain struck his mind with such intensity that he could hardly speak.
Even uttering a single word was a struggle.
“Ugh… ugh….”
But Han Si-hyuk burned his remaining dark energy to deliver his final words.
Though his voice didn’t escape his lips, his meaning seemed to get through.
He wanted to convey his last words, even if only like this.
“A seer cannot see his own future. You… know that, don’t you?”
Han Si-hyuk continued with difficulty.
“Yet, I saw this future.”
“I knew, not by chance but by fate, that it would come to this.”
Perhaps it was a foregone conclusion from the moment he first dabbled in forbidden magic.
There was a time when he had wanted to bring down Castica with his own hands.
He had hated his father and resented his half-brother.
He despised being completely excluded from their world.
His life had been a continuous cycle of hatred and regret.
Yet, at the end of a life lived without purpose, he had finally found his goal.
He wanted to protect Castica.
He wanted to protect the many precious people that had come into his life.
Long ago, a seer had made a prophecy.
He was fated to be the one who would kill the heir of Castica.
How he had cursed that prophecy.
He knew he would never be able to kill that child.
And in the end, he had chosen this outcome.
Crackle—
Whether it was his dark energy burning away or his body, he couldn’t tell the difference.
Perhaps it was both.
Han Si-hyuk burned his final magic as he continued speaking.
“If it’s a fate where only one of us can survive… then it’s right that someone with talent like you lives, rather than a man like me, who brought disaster in pursuit of greed.”
The only family not bound by blood.
My brother.
You must live.
Han Si-hyuk gave a sorrowful smile and whispered.
“Go back. Go back and survive.”
* * *
Han Si-hyuk’s hand, still warm.
I let go of that hand and slowly stood up.
With a smile on his face and his eyes closed, he looked almost peaceful.
As if this was the death he had longed for,
As if this was his rest.
Though he lay there so calmly,
A chill lingered in a corner of my heart.
“Why did you have to go and… die like such a fool?”
Born without sin, yet he lived his entire life despised.
If only that prophecy hadn’t existed.
If only he hadn’t caught Han taesu’s eye.
He could have been born into a normal family, living his life as a seer fulfilling his dreams.
He despised Castica’s Han taesu more than anyone, yet he loved his father.
He craved affection,
And despite not sharing a drop of blood, he loved his family.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Was it wrong to take that power?
Wasn’t this outcome far too cruel a price for harming no one?
“You did nothing wrong, so why… why did you die feeling guilty until the end?”
“There are people who’ve done far worse things and still live shamelessly, so why….”
“You willingly gave your life, a life you didn’t even care to keep.”
Just as I struggled desperately in front of Abaddon,
You must have wanted to live too.
But you closed your eyes, consumed by guilt.
And I, as a human, can’t help but feel sorry for you.
The dead offer no answers.
I can no longer blame Han Si-hyuk.
Though I had to kill him with my own hands, it was his choice.
And I couldn’t resent that choice.
I could do only one thing.
Hope that he can finally rest….
“Good night.”
I bid Han Si-hyuk one last farewell.
* * *
There’s no time to be lost in sorrow.
I spoke in a dry voice.
“We need to go in now.”
Adela’s eyes wavered.
She still couldn’t accept Han Si-hyuk’s death.
The two of them had been somewhat close, after all. I didn’t intend to interfere with her emotions, but we didn’t have much time left.
In our current state, we couldn’t possibly defeat Abaddon.
He was drawing power from the heart of the machine,
And even if the Cube was weakened, its magic far surpassed the realm of human capability.
The only option left to us was to destroy it.
Buzz—
I grabbed the yellow-glowing Cube from the air.
The Void Cube that Adela had handed over in exchange for my life just moments ago.
Since it was still bound to me, I could retrieve it again.
I handed it back to Adela.
“It’ll help when you need it. You might not be used to it yet.”
“Don’t you… need it?”
“I have another Cube.”
“What?”
The Cube of Sensation.
I placed the Cube, which emitted a strange orange glow, onto my palm.
It could heighten my senses to the maximum, but at the cost of sacrificing my own senses.
Adela’s face hardened, understanding my intent.
“You… you can’t be thinking….”
Whirr—
Instead of answering, I activated the Cube of Sensation.
Adela urgently called my name.
“Han Siha!”
Buzz—
As soon as I recited the spell that tampered with the magic circuit, the Cube emitted a bright light.
With a burning sound, the Cube’s magic seemed to transfer directly into my palm.
Adela grabbed my arm, trying to stop the activation.
I shook off her hand gently.
“Stop it, this is insane.”
She, too, had heard about the Cube’s principles from Natalie, so she knew.
That’s why she was desperately trying to stop me.
“You told me not to use it.”
“…Did I?”
“You’ll lose your senses. You don’t know what that means. You could go blind, or you might not hear anymore. Or… it could be both.”
“….”
“It’s too big a price to pay. Don’t use it.”
I know.
I saw in the original story what happened to Lee Han when he used this Cube.
Lee Han went blind using it.
There’s no guarantee that I won’t end up the same way.
What’s the world worth?
What are the people I have to protect worth?
Do I really have to sacrifice my senses just to fight?
Ah.
When I first held this Cube, Lee Han’s choice felt incredibly foolish to me.
“Why am I walking the same path?”
Maybe I’m more similar to Han Si-hyuk and Lee Han than I’d like to admit.
I’m a damned fool too.
I don’t even realize the anguish I’m putting the people around me through by eating away at myself like this.
I turned to Adela and spoke decisively.
“Sorry, but this is the best option.”
The Cube had already started operating the moment I infused it with magic.
Adela rushed forward, trying to snatch the Cube away.
But—
The light of the Cube completely enveloped me first.
Flash—.
The Cube activated.
“Han Siha…! Han Siha!”
I forced my heavy eyelids open.
Adela’s face came into sharp focus.
She looked up at me with an expression that seemed on the verge of tears.
“Han Siha!”
Her desperate voice calling out to me rang loud and clear.
The next sense to check was smell.
It was faint, but I thought I could detect the scent of earth.
But that wasn’t the problem.
I realized the source of the intense fear gripping my throat.
“….”
It felt as if I were floating, isolated in space.
This strange sensation was akin to the feeling of gravity disappearing.
My sense of touch.
It was gone.
Everything that touched my hands felt displaced.
Other senses were also gradually fading, but in another way, some senses were heightened.
I can see Adela. I can hear her. I can sense her presence.
Movement and speed are visualized right before my eyes.
Adela looked at my stiff expression and urgently asked.
“Are you okay…? Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Can you see me? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah.”
I slowly turned to Adela.
Her worried gaze was fixed on me.
With a trembling voice, Adela asked.
“Then why… why do you have that look on your face?”
Because you’ve been holding my hand this whole time, and I can’t feel it at all.
It felt as if I had already become a dead man.
I forced a smile and shook my head.
I couldn’t feel pain, so maybe that would be an advantage in battle.
“At least it won’t hurt.”
I muttered as I took a step forward.
* * *
I heard the sound of the earth caving in.
I heard my professor’s voice, and heard the sounds of him dying.
And I waited for friends who couldn’t be reached.
Yoon Haul, who had been on the second basement level, had been staring blankly at her smart device, waiting for some sign. When she finally heard footsteps, she looked up.
It was Han Siha, the face she had longed to see.
The boy she thought was dead was standing there, alive.
“Han Siha!”
Yoon Haul jumped up and ran to him, hugging him tightly.
Afraid of losing him again, afraid of the possibility, she held onto his waist with all her strength.
Her voice, wet with tears, poured out words.
“I thought you were dead. I thought… I’d never see you again….”
“…Did you?”
“Yes, you just disappeared in front of my eyes… You have no idea how worried I was.”
Yoon Haul looked up at Han Siha with teary eyes.
His hands hovered awkwardly, unsure of where to rest.
Sensing something off in his behavior, Yoon Haul asked.
“You’re really okay, right?”
“Yeah.”
Han Siha smiled faintly at her.
But he kept rubbing his sleeves repeatedly.
As if constantly checking the sensations he had lost.
‘He used the Cube.’
Yoon Haul noticed instantly but chose not to mention it.
From head to toe, he was covered in blood. His body looked anything but okay, yet he didn’t seem to feel any pain.
“Joey.”
Yoon Haul turned her head and called her cat.
Just as Basilus was always at Han Siha’s side, now beside her was a little gray kitten.
Since the first time she saw it, it hadn’t grown even a little.
Joey rubbed its head against Han Siha’s leg.
There was one reason Yoon Haul had brought Joey to the battlefield.
“I didn’t know at first, but it turns out she has healing abilities.”
“Healing…? That’s quite an unusual cat.”
With so many people having already died, a cat possessing healing abilities wasn’t too surprising anymore.
Han Siha looked a little bewildered but nodded absentmindedly.
Yoon Haul patted his shoulder and spoke.
“You probably can’t feel it, but you’ve improved a lot.”
If it was pain that would have made it impossible to walk normally, now it was at least bearable.
Not that Han Siha, having lost his sense of pain, would realize it.
Han Siha replied in a reluctant tone.
“Yeah… it’s much bett—.”
What did she just say?
‘You probably can’t feel it….’
Ah.
Han Siha frowned as he replayed Yoon Haul’s words in his mind.
“You’re quick to catch on.”
“Yeah, it was obvious.”
Yoon Haul wiped her red eyes and got up.
“Let’s go. There’s a lot we need to do.”
There were many things she wanted to ask, but they didn’t have the time.
“Actually….”
Han Siha parted his lips, but Yoon Haul interrupted him.
“I’ll listen later. It’s not too late to talk when we’re alive.”
Because listening to that voice now, it felt like it would be the last time.