Episode 189.
A suffocating silence descended.
No one opened their mouth.
No, it didn’t open.
There was only silence, as if time had stopped.
In frozen time.
[Baek Seon-pyeong…]
The red shadow’s mumbling could be heard.
The red shadow slowly raised its gaze and looked straight ahead.
Will the shock from just now take its toll?
Or is it that the damage is cumulative?
The red shadow’s hand caressing the mask shook slightly.
[What happened to you, who was dying isolated from the world?]
The red shadow asked Baek Seon-pyeong.
Baek Seon-pyeong had no answer.
He simply stared at the red shadow with his sword extended out.
A moment of silence.
[Covered in blood and delusion, enduring the burden of life.]
The red shadow let out a small laugh.
The mask looking at Baekseonpyeong had a hint of sarcasm mixed in it.
[It’s not even funny.]
Kwakwakwakwakwakwa─!!
A dark red magical power surged around the red shadow.
The soaring magical power swallowed the red shadow.
And then, Saruk─.
The red shadow’s appearance disappeared like a shadow.
Baek Seon-pyeong adjusted his grip on the hanging sword and slashed in all directions.
Kwaang!
An invisible blow collided with Baek Seon-pyeong’s sword.
The ground split apart in all directions due to the shock that erupted.
[Slumped shoulders, cloudy eyes.]
The will of a red shadow is heard in the air.
At the same time, swoosh.
A red shadow emerged from Baek Seon-pyeong’s shadow.
[The hero who once commanded the world is nowhere to be found, and the ghosts of the past exist instead.]
A red shadow of the sun rushed towards Baek Seon-pyeong.
The magical power contained in the sword had the momentum to tear anything apart.
Baek Seon-pyeong hurriedly twisted his upper body and swung his sword.
Quazazazazak!
The space was torn apart with a loud crash.
“All the youthful energy burned up and turned to ashes….”
And then I hear Baek Seon-pyeong’s voice.
“There are things that are gained through the eyes of time.”
Kwaaaa …
Baek Seon-pyeong’s momentum exploded in all directions.
It indiscriminately swallowed up the dark red magic power that had been cast.
The sarcasm of the red shadow that was visible through the mask suddenly disappeared.
The explosive momentum of Baekseonpyeong.
[Does it happen that even snakes become spirits as time passes?]
Crunch─!
The explosive momentum engulfed the surroundings.
The crimson magic of the red shadow disappears into the momentum.
[However, a snake can never become a dragon.]
“Even if you can’t be a dragon, you can be a snake.”
The momentum of the exploded Baek Seon-pyeong flashes.
The red shadow hurriedly stretched out both hands forward.
Kwaang!
The red shadow’s body swayed as Baek Seon-pyeong’s sword swung around.
It wasn’t that big of a blow.
But tension was etched into the red shadow’s mask.
“What is the reason?”
Baek Seon-pyeong asked.
The question came as a red shadow fell along with a sword that slashed in all directions.
Quazajak!
The red shadow’s body took a step back.
“Was it really necessary for you to step forward like this?”
Kwaang─! Bam!
Every time Baek Seon-pyeong swung his sword, a powerful explosion occurred.
The red shadow was eager to block Baek Seon-pyeong’s sword.
“Have you still not forgotten what happened back then?”
[I am the one asking.]
The momentum of the red shadow changed.
Wow─!
There was a dull, loud noise as Baek Seon-pyeong’s sword bounced up.
And then, pava-ba-bak!
Countless consecutive shots, with no afterimages visible, rained down on Baek Seon-pyeong.
Baek Seon-pyeong’s momentum, which had been pouring in, suddenly breaks.
Baek Seon-je’s body hesitated and he took a step back.
The red shadow pressured Baek Seon-pyeong while adding more magical power.
[Can you say that this world does not go against providence according to your justice?]
Pavabak! Seriously─!
The two’s battle continued without a break.
And there was no more words than that.
Questions are useless.
The questions they asked each other did not receive any answers.
Countless battles take place in a split second.
The surrounding area was already in ruins.
Baek Seon-pyeong and red shadow.
The two of them were biting each other’s necks with all the strength they had.
Dragon and tiger fighting each other.
The situation, which seemed like a dragon and a tiger fighting, was not easily resolved.
Could it be that you didn’t know that fact?
Kwakwakwakwakwakwa─!!
The red shadow made the first move.
Endless magical power that explodes.
It painted the world in crimson, drawing long lines.
And then, Kwaaaa …
Baek Seon-pyeong’s momentum also exploded as he faced the red shadow.
The blue-tinged energy clashes with the crimson magic.
Kwak kwa, kwaa, kwakwang!
Huge magical powers, entangled and mixed together, burst out simultaneously.
The explosion that goes off is interrupted by another explosion.
and.
[Do you believe in the idea of hope and believe that this world is worth existing in?]
The red shadow’s mumbling could be heard.
“well.”
And this time Baek Seon-pyeong did not remain silent.
“Hope may seem insignificant and worthless to you, but it is something worth holding in your heart.”
under!
Laughter burst out from under the red shadow mask.
[Baek Seon-pyeong, I never thought I would hear something like that from you.]
The magic of the red shadow was sharply pointed.
The sharp, crimson magic power seemed like it would cut through anything it touched.
[Is that your changed belief?]
The red shadow asks a question mixed with laughter.
[I don’t risk my life for beliefs. Wasn’t that the justice you were talking about?]
The magical power of the exploding red shadow.
Baek Seon-pyeong did not answer.
I just turned my gaze and slowly looked around.
A landscape of a devastated city center.
Many people fell, bleeding.
S-class hunters whose life and death are unclear.
It is a landscape filled only with despair.
Even if it were not reality but a scene from hell, I could believe it.
An unbearable despair.
But they didn’t give up.
I resisted this despair without losing hope.
They probably knew it too.
It’s just that I can’t resist this despair.
If we look at the probability alone, it would be close to 0%.
This was the irreversible flow of the world.
It should flow as it is supposed to flow.
A great destiny that mere humans cannot change.
Hope was ultimately nothing more than a desperate attempt.
Doing all kinds of things and cursing indiscriminately.
But the results don’t really mean anything.
But was it really meaningless?
What they were trying to protect.
If you think about it… .
Humanity has developed by relying on hope.
It was human nature to use hope for the impossible as a driving force.
As a result, mankind was able to overcome the ‘impossible’.
Smallpox, the disease that killed the most people in human history.
If we were to accumulate the number of sacrifices, the sacrifices made during the Demon World Invasion would be incomparable.
Who in the world would have thought that smallpox could be eradicated?
What on earth made him inject his own son with cow pus?
if.
If mankind acted solely on probability.
If we hadn’t put hope at the center.
Humanity would have had to develop solely through natural chance.
I would have only acted on things that had a high probability.
If it weren’t for that foolish belief called hope, humanity would never have gotten this far.
That’s why Baek Seon-pyeong had doubts.
Looking at this desolate cityscape, one question occurred to me.
What kind of hope was the one that did not come out of Pandora’s box?
Was it a deception to force us to live in the midst of this evil disaster?
Or was it the faith that could overcome the disaster?
That’s why.
“I still don’t risk my life for things like beliefs.”
Baek Seon-pyeong’s gaze flows.
Calmly scan the landscape filled with despair.
After all, hope is a deception.
It is the most terrible disaster that forces people to live in a vicious disaster.
That was the belief that Baek Seon-pyeong had held until now.
but.
When Baek Seon-pyeong’s gaze turned to a man who had fallen.
When it finally stopped for the dying Siwoo.
The reason why Baek Seon-pyeong doesn’t risk his life for things like beliefs.
“Because I could be wrong any time.”
Baek Seon-pyeong’s momentum engulfed the entire space.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
* * *
A huge explosion that shook heaven and earth.
People’s bodies staggered in shock as if the world was being turned upside down.
The thick fog of dust did not allow visibility even an inch ahead.
In a situation where everything is in chaos.
“Coolook!”
A groan of excruciating pain was heard.
Eventually the dust fog cleared and the view became clear.
Baek Seon-pyeong was kneeling on one knee.
He was barely able to support his body with his sword as support.
On the other hand, the red shadow stood there.
This situation means one thing.
“Hey, even the swordsman… .”
“no….”
People’s despair spread in an instant.
That moment.
[…I admit it.]
The red shadow’s mumbling could be heard.
At the same time, another jade.
Under the mask of split red shadow.
A drop of crimson blood fell to the floor.
The once pale devil’s mask had now turned red with blood.
and.
[I was defeated today.]
The will of the red shadow echoed hollowly.
Soon, the red shadow’s gaze scanned the surroundings.
A devastated city.
People trembling with fear.
At that moment, jeez─!
The red shadow’s mask split in half and fell to the floor.
And so, at the very moment when the hidden face behind the mask was about to be revealed.
[Enjoy today’s victory.]
Whirlwind.
The red shadow turned its back.
With that, the hood came off and his long, platinum-colored hair flew into the air.
Her dreamy platinum hair, like a constellation, hid her red shadowy face.
[In this vast graveyard, endlessly waiting for the despair to come.]
Saaaa …
A dark red ash cloud swirled around the red shadow.
and.
“Sarah… lost?”
The red shadow had disappeared without a trace.
It disappeared like a shadow, as if it had never been there in the first place.
Silence fell once again.
But this time, it wasn’t the same suffocating atmosphere as before.
A brief moment of silence just before expressing joy.
Everyone looked at each other’s faces.
and.
Waaaa …
A tremendous roar echoed throughout the sky.
“Uh, it’s over…! It’s all over!”
Relief that everything is over.
“We survived!”
“We survived!”
The joy of surviving.
“…Good job.”
“You’re my senior…!”
The joy of overcoming despair.
Waaaa …
The cheers that bloomed in hope did not cease.
Instead, it grew in size and spread throughout Seoul.
But not everyone burst into cheers of joy.
More precisely, these cheers of joy were not created without any cost.
“Mr. Siwoo…!”
A faint voice was heard amidst the erupting cheers.
Following this, Chaerin’s long black hair fluttered in the air.
My legs felt weak and my body kept swaying.
But Chaerin didn’t stop running.
Siwoo lies on the floor, motionless.
Chaerin ran desperately towards Siwoo.
So when I collapsed in front of Siwoo,
Waaaa …
“Ahhh….”
Chaerin was able to face despair with hope.
Siwoo didn’t look alive at all.
Torn, gaping, bursting wounds.
Siwoo’s body, with his upper body completely exposed, was completely dyed black.
There wasn’t a single spot on his body that wasn’t necrotic.
No way… No way… .
“Poem, Poem… ”
He didn’t look like a living person.
Siwoo didn’t answer.
He didn’t answer with a blank expression, saying, ‘… Yes?’
They say the dead don’t speak.
Siwoo didn’t answer or say anything.
Chaerin slowly put her ear to Siwoo’s chest.
And then… I didn’t hear anything.
There was no sound of a heartbeat to prove that he was alive.
I couldn’t even feel it faintly.
Waaaa …
Could it be because of the cheering sounds of people?
Chaerin couldn’t hear Siwoo’s heartbeat.
“ah….”
Chaerin’s two pupils were trembling, unable to find their way.
I kept calling Siwoo’s name, but as expected, there was no answer.
Chaerin just sat there in vain.
Could it be because of Chae-rin’s appearance?
“Uh, uh… Hunter Maeng Si-woo…”
“Is it… okay?”
Only then could people see Siwoo’s condition.
I could tell that this cheering wasn’t just something that happened.
The cheers of joy that had been erupting died down.
The cheers that had died down soon turned to silence.
In the descending silence.
“Siwoo… Siwoo… .”
Chaerin called Siwoo’s name pitifully.
however.
Siwoo couldn’t answer or say anything.
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