Chapter 100 : Fire Knows the Answer.
Fire Knows the Answer.
A group of church members clustered around the bedside of a girl lying down.
Some stood at a distance, stretching out their hands and chanting incantations.
A magical circle unfolded around the bed.
"Uuuugh...!!"
"Hang in there just a little longer, Sang-ah."
"We're almost there!"
The red-haired girl with horns was lying on the bed, sweating and breathing heavily.
Molting—a destiny that none who inherited the blood of the dragonborn could avoid.
When one's abilities reached a certain standard, the old skin was shed and a new self was born.
The pain was at such a level that it felt as if all the bones and flesh of the body were being wrenched apart; without any intervention, it could even prove fatal.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
"This is worse than I thought."
"I didn't expect someone so young to be in such agony..."
"It just means this girl's strength is no joke."
For a girl who had steadily cultivated her power, the pain of molting was especially intense.
The road was far too rough for a dragonborn who had not even become an adult yet to endure.
But if she could withstand this pain, she would earn the right to move up to a higher stage.
"Hhk... uuugh...!!"
"This really isn't a joke."
"Her mother wasn't this bad at that age."
"Still, we're almost there!"
"Strengthen the magical circle! Only then can we ease her pain!"
The priests and nuns poured all their strength into stabilizing the agonized girl writhing on the bed.
Their desperation made the magical circle glow brighter.
It was imbued with magic power to lessen her pain, which meant that even this was a minimized version of the molting pain.
"May blessings be upon her...!"
A light emerged from the priest's hand gripping the girl's, controlling the process of her molting.
Molting was no different from skin being peeled away—there were many cases where it did not come off properly.
Much like tearing off a sticker from paper and ripping the paper itself.
If you compared it to molting, it's like tearing away flesh that should remain.
To prevent such harm, the priest's magic power was required.
Had this church not been here, the molting could very well have failed.
"By the way, the magic power is circulating surprisingly well."
"It is, isn't it. I thought we'd fail since it's been so long since we last did this."
"Do you think the magic power here on Earth and that of Mewzealand are really the same?"
The residents of Mewzealand called that power "dark magic power".
A force that opposed the gods who protected humanity, said to corrode one's reason.
If someone used only that power, they were branded as demonkin even if they were human.
To those who followed the dragonkin, it felt tremendously unfair.
"Think about that later! We're almost there!"
At the priest's command, cracks began to form on the girl's skin.
Like spiderweb cracks on glass, lines spread across her body.
Through the cracks, a red light began to shine out.
"It's finally starting!"
"Just withstand this last hurdle! Sang-ah, hang in there a little more!"
"Argh... AAAAH!!"
The skin that held her flesh together turned into shards and dropped in clumps onto the bed.
With each shred, the red light inside her grew stronger.
The pain of all her skin peeling away was appalling, but the stronger her will to live, the more likely the molt would end in success.
'It hurts.'
So painful she could die.
'Please, make it stop.'
It was hellish.
'Let me rest now.'
She almost wished to die, rather than be tortured like this.
'Just kill me.'
It felt as if her abdomen was being slashed open by a knife. How much easier would it be if her head just flew off?
The girl was weak.
For someone not even an adult yet, bearing this kind of agony was far too much.
So she couldn't help but think—
Was there any need to endure such hardship and go on living?
Her vision suddenly turned white.
And then...
'Mom....'
She saw the one person who had been her only support in life.
A beautiful woman with the same red hair as herself.
She wanted to rush over and hug her right away, but perhaps from the pain, her legs wouldn't move.
All she could do was recall memories she had made with this woman.
—Don't hate others too much, my dear.
She remembered things her mother used to say.
—It's all my fault for being so weak, child.
Whenever anything happened, her mother always said that.
Up until kindergarten, the girl had been fairly happy in her own way, but after entering elementary school, her mother said it more and more.
The cause was the family members who looked for any opportunity to show up.
'Right... it was that woman...'
Back then, instead of the Hwasan Guild mansion, they were living in a small apartment building.
A woman came and introduced herself as the "first wife" and called for her mother.
With her always-confident expression, the woman would drag her mother away out of sight.
Each time, her mother would return home covered in injuries.
—It's okay. Mommy's fine, really.
When she came home, her mother would say that.
Indeed, the next day, her wounds would heal quickly.
Was it because she was an awakened one like herself? But that wasn't the end of it.
That woman would show up periodically and call her mother out again.
Each time, her mother returned with more wounds, and it kept getting worse.
When her mother came down with a cold, the woman showed up again.
—Hey, mistress! Why don't you answer the phone?!
Scowling with an ugly expression, the woman barged in through the door.
Even when told that her mother was sick with a cold, she only got angrier.
—So what am I supposed to do about it!!
She showed her anger at even the slightest inconvenience.
With a look as if she had a grudge against the whole world, the girl shivered in fear.
—Do I look easy to you? I married him before you, you mistress! How dare you talk back!
—I'm sorry....
—If I mention it to my husband, you know what'll happen to your daughter, right?
At that threat, her mother had no choice but to follow the woman out despite being sick.
When she returned, her injuries were even worse than usual, with what looked like multiple needle marks on her skin.
Still, she hugged the girl and said—
—Sang-ah... I'm sorry there's nothing more I can do for you...
At the same time, tears fell at her mother's feet. That was the last sight she showed.
The next day... her mother collapsed.
'Since then, she's lain in the hospital bed without waking, without consciousness...'
Until collapsing, her mother had raised her single-handedly, even while sick.
She had endured all sorts of indignities at the hands of that crazy woman calling herself the "first wife."
How hard that must have been.
'Am I supposed to die like this?'
The suffering was real.
Enduring the molt was like having her body scorched by infernal flames.
She even thought it would be better to die.
But...
'Really?'
A question posed to herself.
Of course she had these doubts.
If she died, what would it mean for her mother, who bore and raised her while suffering?
'Mom....'
Her mother's silhouette wavered before her eyes.
At the same time, she saw the figure of a boy.
The one who had burned his own body to raise her, the one who had stopped her rampages and taught her how to handle her power correctly.
It looked as if both of them were yelling at her to get up right now.
'Ahh... right.'
The red light erupting from the cracks in her skin blazed even brighter.
When all her skin was shed, the girl herself became light.
She shone red, as if a human-shaped sun had been born.
'I can't die.'
The red flash reached beyond the church.
The survival will of a girl named Kwon Sang-ah illuminated half the village.
****
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!"
A scream echoed from a woman in the forest.
A black bolt of lightning rained from the sky, relentlessly burning Kang Minji.
"Stop...!! Stop it!!"
When the black lightning faded, Kang Minji collapsed, spent.
Bleeding from her head and coughing up blood, she looked as if she would never stand again.
"Is this the end of hide and seek?"
"Aahhh...."
I, who had been tracking her, stopped just in front of her.
Kang Minji looked up at me with trembling eyes.
"Do you know how grateful I am to you, 'Ajumma'? I was going to seek you out myself, but here you are, presenting yourself to me."
"...."
"I know everything. That you tried to kill me."
There are spies from the Poison Guild planted inside the Sura Guild.
As the daughter of the Poison Guildmaster, Kang Minji could command them at will.
And that's not just one—several had infiltrated.
"You gave them orders and had them fire artillery at me."
"Keuk...."
"But sorry, that's just not enough to kill me. I'm not so weak as to die from that."
Crack—!
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!!"
When I stomped on her right ankle, a scream burst from her lips.
I don't particularly enjoy torturing women.
But this woman more than deserved it.
"Now that I think about it, you seemed especially wary of Sang-ah."
"...."
It could be the usual type of first wife bullying an illegitimate child.
But something felt off after I got information about the Poison Guild from her.
"Please...! I have Yongjun...!"
"Sure, I'll let you live."
"Really...?"
"As long as you answer my questions."
I'd heard this from Kang Minji before.
The Poison Guild was researching some giant bones.
"There's something I'm curious about in what you told me earlier."
"...."
"What are those bones?"
Kang Minji trembled as she spoke.
"That's classified information. I... I can't tell anyone else..."
Crack—!
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!"
I stabbed a fallen branch into her left hand.
The stick pierced flesh and bone like a nail.
"It's a dragon's bones! My dad and uncle keep it in the Poison Guild's secret facility!"
"Where did those bones come from?"
"I told you last time! I don't know any more than that!"
Dragon bones.
The higher-ups of the Poison Guild who were researching them.
And one more thing...
"Have you met Sang-ah's mother multiple times before?"
"What...?"
Back when I visited Sang-ah's mother in her hospital room, I had noticed strange marks on her body.
Needle scars all over her arm—not something you get just from hospital treatment.
I had lots of those myself back when I was experimented on in Mewzealand.
"Just tell me the truth."
"Th-the thing is..."
It was strange that Sang-ah's mother had ended up in a coma in the first place.
Even if her horn had been cut off and she couldn't recover her magic power, as long as she had enough nutrients, she wouldn't lose consciousness.
She simply couldn't use her magic power, but living like a normal person was possible.
What if someone had periodically drained her last remaining magic power to make even that impossible?
'But no one would do so without a motive.'
Someone who had a reason to extract Sang-ah's mother's magic power.
It wouldn't be Kwon Yongha. That man had chosen to neglect Sang-ah's mother.
So the next suspicious person would be someone interested in dragons.
'The Poison Guild, who keeps dragon bones.'
What if that guildmaster's daughter also had the status of being the wife of the Hwasan Guildmaster?
Someone who, not only would be interested in Sang-ah's dragonborn mother, but also could access her easily as the concubine.
"You sure have a heavy mouth, huh?"
"It... it's not me... It's not my fault...!"
Of course, these are just accusations without hard evidence.
If she denied it, there was little I could do.
But there was an easy solution to get the answer.
"Is that so?"
Fwoosh—!
"Kyaaaaagh!!"
Fwoosh—
"Stop! All right, it was me! I called that wench in and drained her magic power regularly!!"
As expected, fire knows the answer.
Once she confessed, I reduced the output of Hell Flame.
After all, I still had things I needed to hear.
"When did this happen?"
"When Kwon Sang-ah was in 1st grade!"
"Why did you do it?"
"Because...!"
Paused for a moment, Kang Minji bit her lip.
Still wanting to live, she opened her mouth.
"I wanted to impress my dad."
"Dad?"
"And my uncle..."
She must mean the leader of the Poison Guild.
I didn't know who the uncle was, but it was clear he was high up in the guild.
"My uncle is really interested in dragons. So I drained that bitch's magic power and gave it to him as a gift."
"...."
So the Poison Guild had a deep connection to Mewzealand as well.
Who over there could be obsessed with dragons...?
"Ahhh...."
A name sprang to mind.
As soon as I realized it, I let out a hollow laugh.
That bastard being on Earth was both incredibly unlucky and extraordinarily lucky.
"Now you've told me everything, but... One last thing."
This time, I asked in a low voice.
"Don't you have anything to say to Sang-ah and her mother?"
"What...?"
She hesitated for a moment at my probing question.
What she needed to say was extremely simple.
So simple that if you didn't know, you'd have to suspect you had a monkey's level of intelligence.
"Don't tell me... you...!"
Seeing Kang Minji finally realize, I gave her a bright smile.
She just had to say it now.
However...
"Why should I?"
There's something important to know at this point.
"Why would I apologize to those bastards?"
"...."
"Do you know how unfair it was for me when that concubine showed up? That husband of mine... he brought home a chick even prettier than me...!"
People feel exhilarated by their actions and are proud of them.
When told they were wrong, they shout back and get angry.
"What did I do wrong? Don't you know the motto of the Hwasan Guild? If you didn't want to suffer, you shouldn't have gone after another woman's husband!!"
By this point, a person's stubbornness drops their intelligence below that of a monkey.
Given that this woman's job was politics, she must have thought this way often.
"Really?"
Of course, there is a cure for such madness.
Fwoooooosh—!!
Black flames burned even fiercer.
They scorched away every scrap of flesh on her hands and feet.
"Kyaaaaaaagh!!! I'm sorry! I did wrong! I'll apologize...! Aaaaagh!!!"
Indeed, fire knows the answer.