Episode 86: Unexpected Uninvited Guest (3)
Jaehyun looked at the two beings in confrontation, breathing in vain from the dense magic he had never felt before.
Odd Eye’s black cat, Hella, and her father, Min Seong-oh.
The two beings were literally scattering transcendent magic and crushing everything around them.
Magical power far beyond the human realm.
Their strength is at least equivalent to that of an S-class raider. Or more.
Jaehyun took a step forward and asked.
“… … What are you?”
“wait a minute. Previously.”
Hella raised her magic even more and looked at Min Seong-oh’s hard face.
she grinned.
“Let’s get rid of that uninvited guest and continue.”
As Hella finished speaking.
Black smoke began to rise from her body.
The magic that spreads in the air like paint gathers in his arms and transforms her into a girl.
Similar to Hel.
However, the face that gives the impression that it is clearly young.
Jaehyun was startled, but Min Seongoh’s voice suddenly came from the front.
“Why am I an uninvited guest? I am the father of this child.”
At that, Hella snorted.
She said with a mischievous smile.
“father? Are you still thinking of cheating on this kid? Hugin.”
Hella cut her left forearm with her long, black nails.
Dark red blood with magical power splattered and soaked the floor, and dozens of black hands began to rise from the ground.
Jaehyun felt his body tremble at the familiar sensation.
Hell.
It was exactly the same scenery I saw when I first encountered Hell.
Hands stretched out innumerable under my feet and a sense of fear felt from far away.
If there was anything different from then, it was just that that hand wasn’t pointing at him.
Min Sung-oh’s face crumpled slightly.
The black hand fired by Hella quickly rushed towards Min Seong-oh.
thud! thud!
“… … big!”
Min Seong-oh cut off his hand with his sword. Hella’s attack was a bit faster.
cannot be struck with a sword. A black hand fired from the blind spot carves a wound on his body.
On the abdomen, on the forearms, on the legs. A solid red line was drawn, and blood streams burst out one after another.
Hella looked at Min Seong-oh’s face with a relaxed smile.
However.
His cold, hardened eyes do not show any emotion.
No hostility, no agitation.
He just swung his sword over and over like a machine.
For a moment, Hella’s attack stopped. The two entered a lull.
Min Seong-oh asked in a subdued voice, covered in blood.
“… … Do you really have to drag things this far?”
“You should know. That the second ‘end’ is coming. That this is the only option left to us anyway.”
“Let’s end the war of the gods by relying on mere humans… … Loki-sama also withdrew a lot.”
“Isn’t Odin no different from trying to kill a mere human?”
At Hella’s words, Min Seong-oh’s eyebrows twisted and a cold voice came out.
“… … You will regret it.”
After warning Min Seong-oh, he turned around leaving Jae-hyun and Hella behind.
“I’m going to leave with this for today. However, if you interfere in this way next time… … I will formally hold you accountable according to the Aesir law.”
“You do whatever you want. But if you also hinder me in this way.”
Hella smiled innocently and squeezed Min Seong-oh’s neck with her mana.
A different level of power from the attacks exchanged earlier. All four of his raised hands flew up at the same time with the force to suffocate him.
Even that Min Seong-oh could not react at all to Hella’s attack this time.
“Big… … .”
Min Seong-oh let out a rough moan as if he was running out of breath.
Hella took a step closer and withdrew her magic.
“You’d better remember that the neck could run away at any time. The only ones that signed a treaty were the throne of the Aesir and the anti-Aesir faction.
… Because there is no clause anywhere saying not to kill ‘Odin’s Raven’.”
“… … Let me keep that in mind.”
after you finish talking.
Min Seong-oh disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Just like when it first appeared.
It was a movement that was completely unreadable.
Meanwhile. Jaehyun couldn’t take a step for a long time even after the fight between the two beings was over.
The mana in the body collided and flowed backwards, and blood sputum rose up, causing dizziness.
One knee was bent and the whole body leaned forward.
“Ouch!”
After spilling a handful of blood on the floor, Jaehyun was able to come to his senses.
Like a diver who came to the surface after being submerged, a deep breath vomited.
Jaehyun thought.
The situation that was happening to him now was full of things that I couldn’t understand.
Adversaries of prophecy, second apocalypse, Hella, Hugin, raven… … .
But it wasn’t that the answer couldn’t be found.
Jaehyun overcame the fatigue in his body and forcibly lifted his head.
The reverberation of the familiar bloodletting rides on the tip of the nose and lodges deep in the brain.
hella.
She turned around and stared at Jaehyun.
Jaehyun looked at Hella and asked.
“Hella… … did you say Please tell me the truth.”
Hela nodded slightly.
Her dark purple lips open slowly and her eyes draw a seductive arc.
“All right. This is a story about your destiny.”
* * *
Jaehyun returns to the hotel with Hella.
Her severe internal injuries have improved considerably thanks to being healed with Sacrifice.
Of course, in the process, I had to drink Jae-sang Lee’s mana recovery potion like water.
I didn’t even have time to think about it.
Hella, she had a lot to ask. She can’t waste time carelessly.
He took a deep breath and calmed down his emotions.
Just now. He was overexcited and nearly died of it.
If only I could control my anger when I met my father.
Perhaps they could have avoided a fight by arranging an escape route long ago.
It was stupid.
Anger sometimes eats away at emotions and wears out reason.
If you are a radar, you should never be consumed by emotions.
Jaehyun had no choice but to admit it.
That he survived today was purely due to luck.
‘after… … .’
He exhaled lightly.
After clearing my mind, I raised my head.
Jaehyun looked at Hella with a much improved face.
Hella smiled at his calm expression.
she spoke first
“If there is anything you want to ask, feel free to ask. I will answer you wherever I can.”
After thinking about her words for a moment, Jaehyun pursed his lips.
“father… … No, what exactly is Min Seong-oh’s true identity?”
As if Hella had anticipated the question, she answered right away.
“Min Seong-oh. His true identity is Hugin. One of Odin’s ravens.”
Jaehyun’s brow furrowed.
Just now. Hearing the confrontation between the two beings, he vaguely guessed it, but there was a big difference from hearing the story in person.
Odin’s raven.
If they have, they’ve experienced it before.
mock dungeon. There, Jaehyun met and defeated a mutant kobold lord, and in the process learned that Odin’s crow was behind it.
But, father. Min Seong-oh is really Odin’s raven?
Hella looked at Jaehyun’s expression and stood calmly.
“Your biological father is already dead. Hugin is a spiritual creature that eats away at human hearts and injects false emotions into those vacant places.
He’s been around all this time pretending to be your family. It was to keep the ‘adversary of prophecy’ in check.”
“really… … Aren’t you the father?”
“It’s easier to understand when you see it than when you say it.”
Right.
When Hella snapped her fingers, a sensation rushed through Jaehyun’s head, like an electric current.
―The Nornir system recalls the user’s backed-up memories.
“Ahhh… … !”
At the same time, a scream erupted from Jaehyun’s mouth.
[Why did you give birth to something like this?]
related to the father.
His own past slowly began to become a sasaeng (寫生).
* * *
“Useless bastard.”
I slowly opened my eyes feeling the sensation of swimming in the water.
A familiar ceiling and a familiar background.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, at the same time, I jump up and look at my surroundings.
Where are you? It is a place that is so familiar that the word is colorless.
This is a place I know.
Childhood.
The house where I lived with my parents. Scattered with terrible and dirty memories.
A place I never wanted to think of again.
why am i here?
“I don’t know why something like you was born.”
A voice is heard.
A cold voice with no pitch, as if talking to a tool. It digs into the ear and bites.
father. Min Seong-oh is looking at me as a child.
The 10-year-old me who has just become an Awakener after unlocking my magic. As a child, I am being indiscriminately assaulted by my father.
“What do you think will change if your guy unlocks his magic?”
My father hated me becoming an Awoken.
I didn’t know the exact reason, but from the day he opened his magic, he hit me whenever he had a chance and used abusive language.
Why was it?
He was extremely sensitive to my having power.
As if such a thing could not be tolerated.
“you! Stop! Why are you hitting the kid again!”
I hear my mother’s angry voice. Tears well up in my eyes without even realizing it.
okay. Her mother was such a person.
Despite my father’s anger, he did not leave me and stayed by my side.
If you had abandoned me in the first place.
Had he done so, he might not have had such a miserable death.
flash back.
I am constantly sinking further into the past.
My mother and I, who are five years old. The young me is wearing mourning clothes.
The smoked incense stings the tip of the nose and permeates the mourning clothes, making it difficult to breathe.
But not because of the scent.
It’s just depressing, as if you’ve forgotten something that shouldn’t be lost.
It is because such a vague and sad feeling is clearly embedded in his head.
“are you okay… … Jaehyun. everything is fine… … .”
My mother hugged me tightly and repeated that to me several times.
But I don’t know.
Why is my mother crying now?
Who the hell is the person in the blurred portrait in front of me?
Nothing comes to mind clearly.
Taking the young mother’s hand away, she gets up and walks as if possessed.
It is as if the smoke of incense permeates all over the body.
I feel my heart filling up and take one step after another.
Finally. Me standing in front of a video photo.
The face in the frame is vividly colored.
Why? All strength in her body was released and tears poured out.
I just sat down on the floor.
The face reflected in the frame belonged to someone who had been completely erased from my mind until now.
father… … .
A father who was infinitely kind and warm.
The one who gave me a ride on my shoulder, took me to an amusement park, and bought me ice cream without my mom’s knowledge.
father.
Why?
why did i forget him
In an instant, goosebumps rise.
In the picture of the portrait, the father had a completely different face from Min Seong-oh.
I realized intuitively.
That this man is my real father.
At the same time, one question clearly comes to mind.
then.
Min Seong-oh… … Who are you?
* * *
―All backup data has been loaded.
“Cheuk!”
Jaehyun grabbed his left chest and let out a heavy breath.
The sensation that the pulsating blood in the body stopped for a moment and then started to flow again.
There was blood in his eyes.
“Looks like you’ve finally been freed from manipulation.”
The first thing I heard was Hella’s voice.
sat down calmly. However, a unique voice that seems to be filled with sadness.
Jaehyun was silent for a moment.
Hella waited for Jaehyun to accept the truth.
Stories that are difficult for mere humans to endure. Because that’s what I just heard.
“… … why.”
Jaehyun clenched his fists and gave a weak voice.
“Why is that?”
“Because you are destined to be the enemy.”
Hella answered right away.
“Adversary… … prophecy… … .”
Jaehyun lifted his head and met Hella’s eyes.
“What are they doing that bothers me so much?”
“The first Ragnarok.”
Hella looked at Jaehyun’s unshakable eyes.
“It all started from there.”
