Possessing Nothing

Teresa never imagined that she would answer like that. She opened her eyes wide and looked at Lee Sung-min.

“Why?”

Teresa asked in a voice that she couldn't understand.

“What you have, one day, will kill you. Or make you not you. ”

“I know.”

I am aware of the dangers. A poison that spreads throughout the body, especially as Teresa says.

It would be to say strength.

Although it is not the presence of the black heart or falsehood, the power that spreads throughout the body is poison to the rational mind.

Osla's seal is incomplete. You can suppress it now, but it will explode one day. Oswald warned me about him several times.

Don't be relieved if you've been repressed for the time being. Find a way to tap it completely.

Purification is the complete elimination of the power of Lee Sung-min. Maybe that's a clean solution.

But...

“Strength... I mean. Can you only purify the poison that spreads through my body? ”

“That's... impossible. It cleanses you of all the impurities in your body. It's impossible to purify just by choosing a force. ”

“So that's fine. ”

I didn't want to lose anything else. The Black Heart? I've seen a lot of it so far. It was because of the black heart that he was able to inherit the power of the tetrarchist.

I don't want to lose it. This was the possibility that the tetrarch devoted his body to Lee Sung-min.

It was a chance to move forward, to become stronger. If he had not inherited the power of samuraism, he would not have grown so little.

“I don't want to lose you. ”

That's not the only reason I refused.

Heju.

Lee Sung-min was conscious of the uninvited in his head.

When Heju first got into the barn, I wanted to take it off if I could. I didn't think about that at the moment.

Heju was Lee Sung-min's companion, colleague, and friend.

In a sense, he was like a teacher to Lee Sung-min.

[What the fuck do you think you're gonna do, dump me in a Dumpster?]

Heju grunts. Teresa nods slowly. She looks back at herself with her hands pushed away.

“Let me know when and if you change your mind. ”

“That's probably not going to happen. ”

“You don't know the world. Honey, you're... very dangerous. What's in your body is chaos, and when it explodes, your existence will be obliterated. And then?”

“I know that, too. ”

Seong-min's mouth slowly went up.

“That doesn't make it clean. ”

“Are you sure you want to risk your life? ”

“Because I need it.”

Yeah, it is.

No hunger, no black heart, no strength.

Lee could not imagine himself disappearing.

What he was born with would not have reached his current position.

These luck, the help of things that are not my own. There was a reason for that now.

Even if this has been the way fate intended it to be. Lee Seong-min couldn't come and throw it away now.

“Don't talk like that. ”

Abel interrupts.

“What's the plan for Kim Jong-hyun? ”

* * *

“What are you going to do? ”

After talking to Teresa, Lee Sung-min returned to Abel and their original carriage. How to behave has already been decided.

Lee Sung-min and Abel, as aides of the church, decided to attack Kim Jong-hyun, who was with them occupying Germoud.

“It might help. ”

When Abel returned to the wagon, he immediately asked for a pipe.

“Teresa doesn't seem to know, but she's not sure the whole church will know about the end. But leaving it, the church and Teresa have no choice but to stop Jonghyun Kim. ”

“Any other reinforcements? ”

“Hard. Less forest to the south. Do you think the monsters of the elderly will cooperate in this? There's nothing strictly necessary. They are different from us. ”

“What about the Wizard's Guild? ”

“Don't expect too much. It's too far away. Even if I order the guild master, it will take the Horsemen or Magic Troops months to get here. Or are you going to use a fairy horse to move them around? ”

“Is that possible?”

“Impossible. Fairy horses aren't universal. Furthermore, the continuous space leap puts a burden on yourself. ”

Abel grunts and breathes a long smoke.

“I didn't expect to be able to outperform Kim Jong-hyun, who was a Necromancer in the first place and brought the Desknights. ”

I heard a lot from Teresa. The church was determined to kill Jonghyun Kim, who caused the massacres and murders in Germoud.

Theresa took her own steps that had never been revealed in public, and hundreds of paladins and priests were mobilized. In addition to the troops on the move right now, paladins are gathering around Germoud.

“Thousands, at most. ”

Abel's answer, however, was cold.

“All you can expect is dark magic and divine magic. Could it reverse the difference between hundreds of thousands of troops? ”

“None.”

Lee Sung-min replied with a grave face. If there was a shareholder, it might have been possible. His overwhelming innocence would have reversed this difference in troops. But the tetrarch is dead.

So you have to do it.

“Are you running away? ”

“No.”

Abel shakes his head.

“We can stop it now. ”

Abel's voice did not waver. Decades of difference in troops. Kim Jong-hyun not only inherited the power of Arbes, but also became King of the Demon and dealt with his power as the Demon King. Grimoire is a book for the Demon King, so Kim Jong-hyun, who became the Demon King, should be able to handle Grimoire's magic.

“You can ignore the numerous undead. The paladins will protect the Death Knights, and you will be able to stop Volander. ”

“What about you?”

“I'll stop Jonghyun Kim. ”

Abel spits.

“I'm not like you. ”

Abel spits it out and searches the inside of the robe. What you pulled out of the subspace pocket there was a tiny crystal ball.

“But just in case. I should call for help.”

“To whom?”

“To an old friend. ”

They say it's just south of here. Abel places his hands on the crystal ball.

Four days later, the wagon stops in Germoud's sight. There were already quite a lot of people there.

At first glance, that number reached thousands. It was much more than Abel expected.

The slaughter of a city frightened many, but not all, of them.

Those who wanted to throw their lives to stop a terrible demon named Jonghyun Kim were gathered in the plains in front of the city.

Abel and Seong-min sat outside in the wagon. I see priests and paladins dressed in white. In addition, there were mercenaries and indigenous people living with roots to the south.

[There's a monster.]

Heju mutters.

‘Did they also come to stop Kim Jong-hyun? ’

[That's too friendly. The reason the monsters are here is probably to pick up fear and eat it. This level of carnage is unprecedented. The city is already in hell with the horrors of the dead. If you're a force seeking monster, Tom will have to fly.]

Do you know what this means? Heju kicked his tongue.

[It won't be a good battlefield for you. Even if you put a seal on it, breathing the air in that city will stimulate the suppressed force.]

‘But you can't run away. ’

[A fence wouldn't have run away. This old man said that last time, but you're not like the owner...]

‘That's not why. ’

I stopped being careless because of what Lee said.

‘Teachers wouldn't run away. Yes, I'm not a teacher. I can run. But I don't want to run away. If I were a teacher, I wouldn't have done that... No. I don't want to run away. If Jonghyun Kim is the end, I have to stop him. ’

[Do you think that's your role? Do you think what you have to stop is right, since it is the end you have brought?]

‘Cause I don't want to die, y'all. ’

He smiled at the answer.

‘I can't stand here and watch the world fall because of the apocalypse. I died and came back to the past. I gained a power unlike anything I had seen in the past. But... you're going to die? Tell him to fuck off. Why would I die? ’

[Good to be honest!]

Heju laughs loudly.

“More than I thought. You can use the Meat Shield. ”

“How about a friend? ”

“He'll be here soon. ”

Abel says so, touching the crystal ball on his knee.

About a friend, Abel didn't say much. I just said it would help.

"Huh?

Someone approaches the wagon. There you are. Abel grunts and puts the crystal ball into his pocket.

Looking out the window at the approaching figure, Lee Sung-min's eyes widened.

A woman who walks forward with an irritated face, and a man who follows her with his head down.

Both of them were people Lee Sung-min had met before.

Frau and Aladur.

Long ago, when Seong-min came down south to lift the curse of W. Ho-yeon. I once met Aladur, who was in the Forest of Temptation responsible for the guidance of the Shamans.

Somehow, after saving Aladoor's life, he was able to share his knowledge with Frau, Aladoor's successor.

Qadang!

The wagon's door is open. Frau pulls his head into the wagon and looks around.

She looks at Abel, who sits with his arms crossed first.

“Son of a bitch. ”

Frau can't stand it, so he speaks out. After I shot Abel with my lively eyes, Frau's gaze turned to Lee Sung-min.

“…… Why are you here? ”

“It's been a while.”

You left the group after the death of the miners. It's been almost two years since then.

It's not a short time, but Frau was remembering the rational people.

“If I knew you were here, I would have told Jana. ”

Frau muttered so loudly, sitting next to Lee Sung-min. Aladur shrugs and stands at the entrance of the wagon.

Aladur tries to come in, and Frau bares his eyes and spits out.

“Come on in, you son of a bitch. Stand in front of the wagon! ”

“Yes…. ”

Aladur replies with a sagging voice. Lee Sung-min felt little compassion for Aladur, but he couldn't even say hello to him because the carriage door was slammed shut.

“Was that fellow Frau? ”

“I didn't know you knew each other. ”

“Friends? Fuck friends. A friend of mine asked you to go to Sage? ”

“If you didn't like it, you could have refused. ”

“I was crazy. Why did I make you a promise a long time ago? ”

Frau grins his teeth and spits them out, and Abel grins. Perhaps there was some sort of promise between the two. You can never break the oath you made to Mana because it's the same as risking your life.

“It's not necessarily a limb. The Punitive Force is gathering more than I thought. And the saints of the church themselves. I have the highest rank of sorcerers, as well as the help you provide as a high shaman. And this guy. You know, one of the most skilled UAVs ever. ”

“Aladur!”

Frau shouts at Abel. As the wagon's door slowly opens, Aladur pushes his face into the wagon.

“What's the matter, master... Unh! ”

Aladur's words are not finished. Prau's regime rests on Aladur's face.

“That's it. Get back out there. ”

Aladur squeezes his fist-like nose and cries out. Abel asks, "This is ridiculous."

“What are you doing? ”

“I'm pissed off. ”

“So you beat the apprentice? ”

“He's the one who ran away because he didn't want to catch me. You should be glad you didn't kill him. ”

Frau grunts and fixes the position of the rings around his wrist.

“It's not weird. ”

Frau's eyes narrow.

“I don't know what's going on in that city, but it's unusual. Why don't you come back with me now? ”

“No, you shouldn't. ”

Abel snaps. He raises his hand to Gries and says,

“Jonghyun Kim is the first disaster of the end. ”

“Oh, shit. ”

Frau covers his face with both hands.