HBWnovel Chapter 506: Seo Ran's Family (1)
Chapter 506: Seo Ran's Family (1)
Chapter 506: Seo Ran's Family (1)
"First, if there are any Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens embedded within me, remove and reclaim them. The same goes for my comrades."
At those words, Seo Hweol nods slightly.
Chwararararak!
From me and my shadow, an overwhelming amount of dark, shadow-like entities flow out and return to Seo Hweol.
'This insane bastard...'
I click my tongue at the sheer number of Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens Seo Hweol had hidden.
No matter how well-suited Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is for hiding in the darkness or how difficult it is to detect, this is truly ridiculous.
'I've always sensed the presence of Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens before, but...I never imagined there were this many.'
Truly, he is someone who cannot be underestimated.
"State your purpose, Seo Hweol."
"...There is truth within the Head Realm. And approaching that ultimate truth—that is my goal."
"..."
I glare at him.
"And what do you intend to do once you obtain that truth?"
"..."
"I won't tolerate lies."
At my words, Seo Hweol briefly stares at me with a chilling gaze before opening his mouth.
"I can't say."
"Have you forgotten who holds your lifeline?"
When I envelop Seo Ran's surroundings with even more power of the Netherworld, Seo Hweol mutters.
"My true purpose. My past. As long as you don't ask about these two things, I'll help you obtain whatever else you need. However, these two are the only things I can never speak of to anyone. If you insist on knowing these truths and use Seo Ran as leverage to threaten me, I will use all the Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens I've amassed until now to ruin your mind."
Seo Hweol's eyes turn hollow in a way I've never seen before.
"Don't corner me, Seo Eun-hyun. Even if I die today, I can destroy everything you hold dear before I go. You wouldn't want that either, would you?"
"...Fine, then. I'll learn bit by bit."
I smile faintly and ask,
"What exactly is Seo Ran's true identity? Why is Seo Ran...the [pillar] of your Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens?"
At my words, Seo Ran's eyes widen to the point of popping out.
"S-Senior, what on earth...are you talking about...?"
"...I'll explain later."
Seo Hweol, briefly contemplating for a moment, opens his mouth with an expressionless gaze.
"Seo Ran is...my 'childhood.' To be precise...he is the embodiment of the 'emotions' and 'purity'...from a time when I 'believed' myself to be an 'ordinary human child'. That is Seo Ran. If Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is the scattering of the configurations of the 'memories' of my life into the world, Seo Ran is the separation and preservation of only the 'happiness' and 'emotions' I experienced during childhood."
"You believed yourself to be an ordinary human child? What do you mean by that?"
"I told you not to ask about the past."
His gaze grows hollow once more.
'It's clear.'
This guy is undoubtedly cornered right now.
That hollow gaze, which he has never shown before, reveals it all.
'I need to handle this carefully.'
I sense that if provoked, he will unleash Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens into a rampage at any moment.
"...To what extent does your rule about not asking about your past apply? Does it include yesterday?"
—...Understood.
Seo Ran asks in a trembling voice.
"Were you manding me to destroy the Nether Crossing Ship to liberate the soul of the Sea Dragon Race warrior...?"
"..."
Seo Hweol closes his mouth in response to Seo Ran's question, and I speak to him.
"Answer Seo Ran's question as well."
"...That Nascent Soul of the Nascent Soul Sea Dragon race warrior was merely a tool I prepared to reclaim my own soul. After all, a physical body holds no meaning for me. Instead, the spiritual body formed from a Nascent Soul is far more useful. I intended to obliterate your body, reset you, and then use the Nascent Soul of the Sea Dragon Race warrior to implant the 'correct personality' into you. Afterwards, I would remove the soul within the Nascent Soul and replace it with yours. That way, I could once again possess a 'correct main body'."
At this point, I no longer hold Seo Ran by the neck.
In any case, as long as he remains within the small dimension I have created, it is no different from being in the palm of my hand—I can release him to the Netherworld at any time.
Seo Ran screams at those words.
"Just what...just what is a 'correct main body'!? Are you saying that I, that my entire life, is 'wrong'?"
"That's right. It's wrong."
Seo Hweol speaks with hollow eyes.
"Seo Hweol's life is wrong, and the life of the failure named Seo Ran is also wrong. The error has grown and grown, and before I knew it, reached the Four-Axis stage. As expected, I should have used even more extreme methods to reset the main body."
"Just what!? Just what is your purpose!? For what purpose are you so freely calling me wrong!? Just what is it!?"
It's at that moment.
'...!'
Seo Hweol's lips move.
When I asked him before, Seo Hweol said he would never speak of his 'purpose.'
But is it because it's Seo Ran's question?
Seo Hweol, though not fully, answers his question.
"To find an answer."
"...?"
“To find an answer to...this hatred."
"Hatred...? What hatred are you talking about...?"
"There is none right now. Not within you, not within me. Only when the 'me' who holds the 'memory' and the 'you' who possesses the 'essence' integrate will this 'hatred' emerge. And...I must find an answer to it. That is my purpose."
"...Just why...is something like that so important...?"
At those words, Seo Hweol lets out a grotesque laugh, his gaze pitch-black as if entirely devoid of pupils.
"...Would you even understand? The vow I made upon your soul. The heart to fulfill my purpose even if it means destroying the world... Don't open your mouth recklessly when you know nothing. You 'fake'."
Bududuk...
Veins bulge on Seo Ran's face.
"...I...am not...a fake..."
He trembles uncontrollably, clenching his fists tightly as if trying to suppress his anger.
Seeing that he might need time, I continue questioning Seo Hweol.
"Yu Oh. The disciple of Black Ghost Valley that Song Jin cherished. Who is she?"
"Yu Oh is, obviously, Yu Oh."
Seo Hweol points upward with his finger and speaks.
"Sacred Master of the Nether Ghost Realm, Yu Oh. Dispatched to the Head Realm under the command of the Underworld...she was the Sacred Master's fragment. But at the same time...split from her connection to the main body due to the Head realm's corruption, giving rise to reason, survival instincts, and emotions, she was someone who trembled in fear of death and desperately tried to ascend again through whatever means, a mere 'ordinary woman'. That is Seo Ran's mother. A pawn I intended to use to erode Yu Oh's main body. That is Yu Oh's identity."
Seo Hweol continues speaking without pause.
"Do you understand, Seo Ran? To erode Yu Oh, I scattered the soul of the child her fragment had conceived and inserted my 'main body' to erode the Sacred Master. The result is you. You are the one who killed the Seo Ran who was meant to be born, taking their place... You are nothing but a monster."