IJWEP 03

Chapter 03……

The bodies before him trembled violently at Baekseon’s voice, which dripped with lethal intent.

“…M-Mandu Prince. What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? I’m opposing you.”

Baekseon replied curtly and fixed them with a gaze brimming with hostility.

He knew very well that opposing them here would greatly distort the original story. If the corpse of ‘Manyugang’ did not disappear from their hands, Cheonrang would lose the chance to leave the cave.

Yet…

“H-huh… sniff… no… no… Master, huuh… Master… Master! Master!”

He couldn’t bear to see Cheonrang wailing like that.

Even during the True Demon War, he had failed to protect his master, and now the thought of his master’s corpse not being protected was an image that had been etched into his mind for ten years.

“There are quite a few rules in the martial world, I hear.”

Baekseon muttered as he stepped in front of them, swinging his sword a few times to gauge the distance. Unlike the large ‘Manyugang,’ Baekseon was smaller in both height and build.

“Prince Dang, are you seriously saying you want to pick a fight with us?”

“Why not?”

At Baekseon’s answer, they flinched. Then, lowering their voices as if to whisper in secret, yet openly hostile:

“You fiend! A demon of the sect wearing a human face! What have you done to Prince Dang?”

“…What?”

“Kill him at once!”

Before Baekseon could speak, they raised their pickaxes and charged.

Startled by their rapid approach, Baekseon immediately drew upon his inner energy. Just as he desperately tried to block the descending pickaxe…

“Guh…!”

With the sensation of his energy twisting, black blood gushed from Baekseon’s mouth.

He covered his mouth and dodged, yet the sensation of his dantian being shattered persisted.

“N-now! Kill him!”

As Baekseon staggered, they saw an opening and lunged with bloodshot eyes.

Baekseon twisted his body to evade their attacks as best he could, but avoiding every strike while already wounded was impossible.

“…Kugh!”

Eventually, he took a hit to one shoulder and dropped to one knee with a shrill cry.

It hurt.

Perhaps because he had spent nearly ten years living far from pain, the agony of his lower abdomen tearing and the pickaxe striking his shoulder felt like it could make him lose consciousness instantly.

“I… didn’t expect this…”

Despite the searing pain, as long as he held his sword, he had to achieve his goal. If he could just drive away these uninvited guests… then the future where Rangi would be sad would disappear.

Baekseon gripped his sword tightly with trembling hands.

If he miscalculated, he might die the moment he was possessed, but that didn’t matter at all.

If dying this time means I escape possession, that’s a good thing for me.

As he let a wry smile slip at this thought, a deep voice echoed behind the pickaxe-wielding men.

“Being a late-stage genius of the Odae family, I thought you’d be strong… but apparently not.”

Startled, Baekseon and the uninvited guests turned toward the cave entrance. A man with a massive greatsword slung over his shoulder stood there.

“…Ch-Cheonrang!”

The intruders aimed their pickaxes at Cheonrang, but he merely gazed calmly at Baekseon between them.

“Judging by appearances, it doesn’t seem you brought them. I didn’t invite them either.”

Pointing his greatsword as if ready to kill, Cheonrang stood his ground.

“R-Rangi…!”

The moment Baekseon shouted, a stabbing pain surged in his lower abdomen. With his energy reversed, it was a miracle he could even stand on two legs. Not surprising, really.

Be careful… be careful…

Baekseon tried to convey his warning to Cheonrang with a barely perceptible movement of his lips.

Seeing this, Cheonrang furrowed his brows.

“I specifically told you not to play my role.”

“…”

“Seems like you don’t understand me.”

With that, Cheonrang swung his greatsword. A powerful wind swept through the cave, brushing past Baekseon and the uninvited guests.

“Guh…!”

The force was so strong it made Baekseon, who clutched his sword like a lifeline, stagger backward.

Just from the aura… he’s gotten so strong.

He certainly wasn’t like this the last time he had died.

While Baekseon was lost in thought, Cheonrang charged at the intruders and swung his greatsword.

His movements…

They were excellent.

Baekseon wanted to study Cheonrang more—to see just how much he had changed during the time he spent alone after Baekseon’s death—but it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus.

Finally, as Baekseon’s knees buckled and his head threatened to crash to the ground, Cheonrang, having brushed the blood from his greatsword, rushed over and held him upright.

“…”

His jet-black eyes, tinged with red, conveyed an indescribable emotion.

“Master! Look, look! A beautiful flower has bloomed over there!”

A small child, no taller than waist height, stepped up to Yukang. He held a bundle of beautiful flowers, smiling widely as he offered them.

“Are these for me?”

“Yes! You… you treated me so kindly, Master… and I liked it so much…”

The child fiddled with the tips of his fingers, unable to meet Yukang’s gaze, his ears flushed bright red.

“They’re beautiful. Almost as if it’s hard to tell who’s the flower and who isn’t.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course.”

“M-Master… if I grow up to be as lovely as this… could I become your companion someday?”

Yukang’s eyes widened at the question.

“I…”

Yet he didn’t want to wound the child’s tender heart. He couldn’t bring himself to say, By the time you grow up, I won’t be in this world.

Yukang’s eyes softened as he spoke gently:

“Yes. If you grow up to be a man capable of protecting me, it wouldn’t be wrong for me to choose you as my companion.”

“…!”

“So you mustn’t slack off in your training.”

Cheonrang nodded vigorously, then ran across the field, shouting with joy:

“Waaaah! I’ll get stronger!”

Occasionally, he would say things like, “I’ll definitely marry Master!” but Yukang simply smiled quietly.

“Hah… hah…”

Baekseon exhaled heavily and slowly opened his eyes.

Just moments ago, he had been in a wide field holding a bundle of flowers. Now, every muscle ached as if he were breaking apart.

“Guh… hhh…”

His teeth chattered uncontrollably from the pain, his body curled instinctively, and his muscles ached as if they were tearing.

His body felt as if it were burning up, then freezing like being in perpetual snow.

“Don’t move.”

While Baekseon suffered alone, a deep voice pierced his ears—slightly lower and more robust than Cheonrang’s usual voice but unmistakably his.

Then… was what I just saw… a flashback?

Ah, it was like a projector of his life. Perhaps Rangi had cried out of worry, seeing him torn to rags by all those attacks.

The fever made it hard for Baekseon to distinguish dream from reality, and he murmured absentmindedly: Even if it looks like I’m hurt, this master is stronger than anyone, so he’ll be fine soon. Don’t worry too much.

“…What?”

Panting, he squinted at the ceiling through his blurred vision.

It’s… late at night. I’m fine, so you should sleep now, okay?

Baekseon, unaware he was lying in the cave, muttered incoherently in pain.

“I told you not to act as my master.”

“Rangi…”

“Do you not understand, or do you really want to die?”

Baekseon, half-unconscious, looked at him, but Cheonrang said nothing harsher. He simply reached out and rubbed Baekseon’s lower abdomen.

“Hhh…”

The stabbing pain gradually subsided as Cheonrang channeled his energy into Baekseon.

Unaware of this help, Baekseon could only move his lips in response to the lingering pain.

“Rangi…”