Chapter 97
Chapter 97
“I’m sorry.” Upon hearing those words, Nari hugged her mother’s back tightly.
“Mom.”
Nari wiped away the tears that were about to fall and looked at her mother.
There was no use in feeling the self loathing that she shouldn’t have been born in the first place. Kang Hana was thinking the same thing anyway. Yet she also couldn’t understand the idea that the deaths of so many people were simply unavoidable.
It was also true that a thought still remained; if she helped her mother here, wouldn’t everything turn out right?
However, Kang Hana had done her best. This was her mother’s best, and if she interfered with it, everything would be ruined again.
Nari wanted to believe those words for now. So, Nari had to go back. She had to fight her own battle.
“Mom, you did your best, right? My power isn’t meant to be used for things like this, right?”
Seeing Nari speak slowly with her lips pressed tight, Kang Hana looked deeply into her eyes.
“Nari?”
“You did your best, right, Mom?”
At those words, Kang Hana nodded. Nari gave a wide smile.
She could go back ten years with her own power. And her mother said that the ‘balance’ of this world had collapsed. If so,
“I’ve become the best Hunter in the world.”
“Yes, it looks that way.”
The ‘real’ mother she met after a long time wasn’t as pretty as she thought, wasn’t as reliable as she thought, and wasn’t a person who was always bright and good.
Her mother was a weaker person than she had imagined. Therefore, she had to pull herself together. Nari recalled the promise she made with her mother during her childhood once more.
“So, I’ll try my best too!”
The White Rabbit said she wasn’t qualified to use this power yet, and her mother said so too. That her power wasn’t meant to be used this way.
“If the self-destruct switch is with me, I won’t press it until the end. I’ll resist until the very end. So don’t worry!”
Creeak. Almost simultaneously with those words, the pirate Kang Hana had tied with jade threads began to move. Then the surroundings began to be dyed black.
Glug, glug. Something close to Nari’s spirit energy was spreading. Suddenly, a message appeared in front of Nari.
“W-What is this.”
[Warning! Someone has intruded into the Dreamland!]
[Someone is interfering with the Boss Monster :: ‘One Eyed Octopus Pirate’!]
[The difficulty of the Gate is skyrocketing!]
The octopus pirate tore through the jade threads and covered its eyes.
“Aaaah!!”
Black spirit energy was surging and fluctuating around it. It was self-evident who was doing this.
“The Lord of Chaos...!”
It was clear The Lord of Chaos had chased her all the way here. And this time, he did this to completely swallow her power once and for all.
Within the Gate that was being dyed black, the incantation of The Lord of Chaos was heard.
[Nari, you can never escape. Look at this, this is all your fault. Because you fled here. It’s your fault for giving me the room to intervene in this place.]
Nari wore a shocked expression. The incantation of The Lord of Chaos was heard again.
[I will make you repeat your nightmare just like this. If you don’t want this despair, defeat us along with your mother, right now!]
Only then did she seem to understand. What happened ten years ago in the East Sea. Why the door opened wide as soon as her mother entered the Gate. Why her mother acted differently from the original plan.
All of this was because she had come here.
If so, this was a yoke she could never escape. If Nari acted here, a recoil would follow. If luck was bad, the destruction of the world would accelerate.
“Nari.”
At those words, Nari looked at her mother again. Kang Hana shook her head. It was the expression of a serious Hunter, completely different from a moment ago. She bit her lip and wrapped the jade thread around her other hand. Jade soul energy lingered around her.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“But, Mom...!”
“Whether Mom dies here or other people die, it isn’t your fault in the slightest. Fundamentally, it’s because of the Constellation that chased you here, and the other problem is the system ‘here’ that failed to prepare enough resources to support this situation.”
Nari bit her lip at the sound logic. It was true. She hadn’t done anything here. As she closed her eyes tight, her mother spoke again.
“I’m saying this as a Hunter. You know that even if you return to reality like this, you can’t defeat that Constellation. Nari.”
Her mother’s tone grew cold. Nari listened to those words and nodded quietly.
She felt it when sealing the Beast. It was self-evident that Nari, whose memories flickered due to a single skill from The Lord of Chaos, couldn’t overcome him. Having heard the answer, her mother grasped her fan in her other hand again.
“Mom will show you the terror of the ‘recoil’ here. So, once you return to reality, you all take care of this Constellation.”
“...!”
Nari nodded. She slowly turned around. Her mother would die just like this. And the Gate would open wide. Everyone would meet their deaths, and Nari would experience ten years of hell.
She felt like she understood now. This wasn’t Nari’s fault alone. And finally, finally, she saw the true arch enemy. She realized the true form of the enemy who turned her life into a nightmare.
“Nari!!”
Having walked to the front for the final battle with the boss monster, her mother turned back. Then she waved her hand grandly. Her mother spoke with a bright smile, just like when Nari was a child.
“Thank you so much for growing up well, Nari. I love you, my daughter!”
It was a greeting created by compressing and compressing the words she wanted to say. Hearing those words, Nari held back her tears and waved back to her mother.
“Mom! Thank you. I... I’ll definitely stay strong... I’ll definitely stay strong and save you!”
The time they met was too short, and no time was given for a proper farewell. She would never see her mother again. But it didn’t matter now.
Nari looked at the message windows popping up in front of her.
[Trait :: ‘Daughter of a Failed Hero’ is changing form!]
[Trait :: ‘Successor of Order’ has been acquired!]
This changed trait would become an eternal token that her mother would always love her.
The field of vision changed slowly and a door appeared in front of Nari. It was the same shape as the door she entered earlier, but it was half broken with traces of The Lord of Chaos's forced intrusion remaining. Taking a deep breath, Nari turned the barely remaining handle and stepped out the door.
[Returning to the Dreamland!]
The door behind her back shattered just like that. Now she could never go back to that place where her mother was. The strap she was wearing on her wrist became a mirage and vanished.
Clenching her fists, Nari raised her head and looked around. She had to leave this place, but the situation before her eyes was not ordinary.
“Ha... how am I supposed to get out like this!”
The ‘Beginner Zone’ she stepped into through the rabbit hole was completely smashed. The doorknobs of the doors were all gone, and black, sticky spirit energies were remaining writhing.
“The Lord of Chaos didn’t go into every door and break them just to find me, right?!”
For a moment, a chill ran down her spine, but looking at the other doors, there were no traces of intrusion. Just as she thought it was a relief among misfortunes, a guidance message popped up in front of Nari.
[Damage status is severe. Restoring.]
“How do I get out of here now?!”
[The main entrance has been blockaded. Please wait until the damage is restored.]
“Wait for what, hey! If I don’t get out of here right now, I might run into that guy again you know?!”
Flash. Then the guidance message changed as if to provide more explanation.
[The main entrance is smashed and the exit is blocked. You cannot leave until the damage is restored.]
At those words, Nari looked up. She saw that the entrance of the rabbit hole she had entered was completely collapsed.
[Trait :: Little Explorer in Dreams is activated!]
[This is an uncleared floor. Escape fails!]
“Damn it!”
The White Rabbit said it didn’t fit her status. So it was clear it was treated as if she hadn’t cleared this ‘Beginner Zone.’
“I have to get out quickly...!”
Anxious, Nari just stomped her feet. If The Lord of Chaos returned like this, she would have no choice but to face him one on one in this situation. Nari didn’t have the confidence for that at all.
No matter how weakened, a Constellation was still a Constellation. To face him, it was clear she would need coordination with other Hunters, just like when she sealed the ‘Beast’ last time. Therefore, she had to escape quickly and tell the other Hunters.
“I’m asking how I get out of here!”
Since it was inside a dream, a dimensional crack wouldn’t work. That was merely a gap connecting reality to reality.
At that moment, a humming sound was heard behind Nari. At the familiar feeling, Nari looked back.
“...Huh?”
Humming. It was a warp portal clad in yellow demonic energy. Nari blinked a few times and then approached it.
She couldn’t tell where it was connected. What if this was a trap of The Lord of Chaos? The moment a tense Nari gulped, a familiar voice was heard. It was the sound of someone praying desperately.
[...Don’t do something like that. That kind of thing... don't do it. Please...]
[Just... stay in... as... please...]
The exact details couldn’t be known, but it was self-evident who the owner of the desperately praying voice was. This was the voice of Kang Ihyun.
“Thank you!! I’m coming now!!”
As soon as she heard that voice, Nari jumped into the portal without even looking back.
* * *
And a few minutes after Nari left. Kang Hana, who was stained with blood all over her body, was looking forward. Indeed, even if a recoil due to regression existed, a showdown with a Constellation was tough.
One eye was already blind. Her right hand, along with the fan, was torn off below the elbow. Controlling the threads with only one hand was difficult, but her mind was clear.
[Do you not care if all the people of South Korea die like this? Even though your daughter’s life has become hell?]
“In the first place, was there anything I could do by resisting the board you set up?! And... I didn’t raise my daughter that way!”
Boom!! The foot of the cephalopod brushed past her leg. Kang Hana could tell.
[Hahaha!! That’s right. This is a board we all set up. There is nothing you can do. We will return to our original forms by any means necessary.]
This was a simple venting of anger. It was clear that the calculating Constellation was venting the resentment he couldn’t release back then on her now.
That Constellation had no choice but to be emotional toward her, and he sent Nari back knowing that in the first place. The Lord of Chaos spoke again.
[You talk well. But you didn’t say the really important thing. Yes. That certainly isn’t Nari’s fault.]
“That’s right. That isn’t our daughter’s fault, but...”
[It’s your fault.]
Thump. At those words, Kang Hana felt her heart tighten. Soon after, the pirate changed its form.
“I say, you should have listened to what I asked for back then.”
The black man she had seen familiarly during her childhood stood before Kang Hana’s eyes. His brow was furrowed. He spoke in a cold tone.
“Why do you think I attached myself to your daughter. It’s because you betrayed us.”
Thud. He grabbed her neck and applied strength. While unable to breathe, Kang Hana spoke.
“I... don’t... think... that... was... betrayal.”
“No? That was a betrayal. How dare you try to manipulate a Constellation; the price for wagging that tongue is high. So.”
The Lord of Chaos held the Guardian of Order by the scruff of her neck and grasped spirit energy in his other hand. His gaze was strangely calm. He finished speaking.
“We won’t stop. Ever.”
Because this is revenge. Simultaneously with those words, Kang Hana’s consciousness grew faint.
And that day, South Korea was devastated. Just as it was destined.