1008 Episode 61 Prisoner of the Golden Headband (8)

I repeated Snowfield's words to myself.

To put it simply, that meant the following:

I couldn't understand it. Why did Snowfield execute it even though he foresaw his own failure?

Not 'success', but 'failure' was needed... What on earth did that mean? The moment I thought that far, a chilling thought ran down my spine.

His 'failure' would become a story. If so, did Snowfield need a 'failing story'?

Reaching out my hand as if to catch the scattering fragment of Snowfield, I asked.

"What does that mean—"

But before I could even finish my sentence, a corner of the sky collapsed, and something shot out toward me.

Asmodeus's white hand tore through space and flew toward Snowfield. The damned Demon King, who had stolen Kim Dokja's fragments time and time again, had seized the opportunity once more to intervene.

I activated [Jeoninhwa] and [Path of the Wind] simultaneously to stop him. However, Asmodeus's hand was slightly faster.

The moment Asmodeus's pale hand finally wrapped around Snowfield's shoulder with a wicked laugh...

With the sensation that spacetime had stopped, Asmodeus's expression hardened.

For the first time, tension flickered in the eyes of Asmodeus, who had always been so nonchalant.

Snowfield slowly turned his head to look at the Demon King.

"It would be strange not to know. Considering you’ve been leaking such unpleasant records."

Snowfield added in a contemptuous voice while gripping Asmodeus's wrist.

"Sometimes I wonder how a guy like you became a 'Recorder of Fear'."

At Snowfield's words, a strange smile spread across Asmodeus's face.

"No, I’m not particularly curious."

"Just stay quietly tucked away in a corner of the theater until I go to find my fragments."

Following this, Snowfield's right hand moved. It was a gesture as light as the flapping of a small insect's wings.

However, the result of that gesture was truly astonishing.

The entire space in the vicinity swept up in a vortex. Before the startled Asmodeus could even scream, his body was torn apart along with the records and sucked into the vortex.

Even as he vanished, Asmodeus did not forget to leave one last remark.

Snowfield gazed indifferently at the spot where Asmodeus had disappeared, then turned back to look at me.

The power to instantly eliminate Asmodeus, who is considered one of the 'Great Recorders'. I realized it clearly. The being standing before my eyes right now was not merely a 'fragment'.

"Snowfield."

Instead of answering, Snowfield smiled quietly, then immediately handed me the Shin Yoosoung he was holding. Then, with distant eyes, he gazed behind me. His gaze was so poignant that I couldn't help but turn around.

"It is time to say goodbye."

Goodbye? Before I could even ask back, Snowfield spoke again.

"Let's meet again soon, brother."

When I turned around, the fragment of Snowfield had already vanished. All of his stories had drifted away, leaving behind a shimmering trail of light. Perhaps they had flowed to where his true form was.

Time, which had been creaking and tangled, began to flow again. Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been running ahead, turned around and asked.

"How is Shin Yoosoung?"

"She is fine."

"Hand her over to me. It would be safer for me to handle her than for you."

"Yes."

Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't exactly wrong, so I instinctively handed Shin Yoosoung over to him. However, the moment Yoo Joonghyuk looked ahead again with Shin Yoosoung slung over his shoulder, I was engulfed in a strange sense of unease.

"Wait a minute. Is that all you have to say?"

"What are you talking about?"

"One person is missing from the party."

"Party?"

A look of bewilderment crossed Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

I got goosebumps. Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to have absolutely no memory of 'Snowfield', who had been with us until the end of the war.

Yoo Joonghyuk tilted his head in disbelief and glared at me, then added,

"Stop talking nonsense and get your act together. It's right in front of us now."

It was certainly just as Yoo Joonghyuk had said. Regardless of what magic Snowfield had cast, the most important thing was to safely escape this timeline.

Before we knew it, the boundary of the world was right before our eyes. The boundary of the world spewing out a dazzling golden light—a faint rift was revealed between the protective barriers created by the 'Golden Claw'. We could hear the constellations howling in the distance, but they were not close enough to catch us. However, Jung Heewon, who was running beside us, muttered with a strange expression.

"Something is coming."

But even when we looked back, nothing was chasing us.

"It's ahead."

Yoo Joonghyuk said in a distorted voice. Pitch-black fog was rolling in from beyond the boundary. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven's warning had come true.

The worst catastrophe of the <Star Stream>. 'The Nameless Mist' had already reached the very doorstep of this world.

"Escape with all your might."

We threw ourselves straight over the rift in the Golden Claw. As I emerged from the rift, I saw a portal swirling in the distance.

A portal leading to the 'Missing Bush'.

I knew it instinctively.

However, instead of chasing after Yoo Joonghyuk, I stopped in my tracks.

"Go ahead."

"What?"

"I still have work to do."

This time, even Jung Heewon, who had been running alongside me, glared at me with wide eyes. I continued speaking.

"There is a party member that didn't come with us."

"What on earth are you talking about—"

"This time, it's not nonsense."

I turned around. Inside the rift we had just emerged from, the starlight of a constellation I knew well was twinkling.

"The Great Sage Equal to Heaven has not arrived yet."

Yoo Joonghyuk frowned.

"We must go immediately. If we delay any longer, we will be devoured by the Outer God."

I suppose so. Knowing that well, I could not leave any further.

"That star is absolutely necessary for our conclusion."

I thought that if I said this, Yoo Joonghyuk would back down. But Yoo Joonghyuk was not easily swayed.

"That star..."

Yoo Joonghyuk spoke to me in an infinitely calm voice, as if narrating a dry sentence.

"It has no intention of going with us."

"I know that, too. It is precisely because I know that I cannot go."

I had long known that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven intended to remain in this world.

He would surely try to buy time for us to leave by confronting the 'myth-grade constellations' and fending off 'The Nameless Mist'. Even if it meant losing all his stories in return.

Taking a deep breath, I conveyed my honest feelings to Yoo Joonghyuk.

"I do not want to lose any more comrades."

Yoo Joonghyuk would likely understand this feeling without needing any further explanation.

It was not simply because the third Kim Dokja was inside me, or because I felt his emotions along with him.

"Yoo Joonghyuk, take your comrades and go ahead. Wait for me in the final scenario."

"…"

"Don't worry. Who am I? The 'Evil Sophist' and the one called 'The One Who Deceived The Stars'—"

"You are neither the 'Evil Sophist' nor the 'One Who Deceived The Stars'."

The moment I saw Yoo Joonghyuk's piercing eyes, I was engulfed by a strange feeling. I couldn't express it in any other words.

Along with the records flashing before my eyes, Yoo Joonghyuk spoke.

"Do as you please."

"Thank you."

However, there was one thing I had overlooked. That Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't the only one hearing this story.

"He might be okay with it, but I'm not going."

Jung Heewon spoke in a flushed voice.

"I will never leave you behind again. If you need that star for your ending, I'll bring it."

"Heewon-ssi."

Jung Heewon approached me, fuming as if she were about to throw Lee Hyunsung away at any moment.

"I'm not joking."

I understand her heart well. Just as I try to save the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, I understand the feelings behind her words to me.

Because I know that heart all too well.

"Don't worry."

I must lie to her again this time.

"I won't die."

"You know who I am. I'm not doing this without thinking. So, Heewon-ssi."

Watching Jung Heewon's eyes waver before my eyes, I continued to speak.

"Please grant my request. I am fine. Please take Hyunsung-ssi and Yoosoung to a safe place. I will follow right behind."

"I—"

Jung Heewon's eyes were stained with red madness. Just as the thought occurred that something was definitely going wrong, Jung Heewon's body collapsed forward with a dull thud. Yoo Joonghyuk, seizing the opening, had struck Jung Heewon in the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.

Yoo Joonghyuk immediately removed his coat and firmly tied the unconscious Shin Yoosoung, Lee Hyunsung, and Jung Heewon to a spear shaft.

"This is the only time I will give in to your unreasonable demands."

Yoo Joonghyuk shouldered the spear shaft binding his comrades, turned straight toward the portal, and said.

"If you have made up your mind, make sure to bring him along."

A strange sensation tickled the corner of my heart. The Yoo Joonghyuk I knew was never the kind of person to help someone in this way. Nevertheless, Yoo Joonghyuk had personally stepped forward to grant my absurd demand.

In that case, it was my turn, too, to properly repay Yoo Joonghyuk's trust.

"Understood."

Yoo Joonghyuk, having moved further away, disappeared beyond the 'Bush of Missing People'. I pushed through the thick fog and approached the rift.

Ooooooh—!

A fierce storm of starlight was raging inside the Golden Cage's rift. The myth-grade constellations attempting to escape the place were clashing with the might of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who stood in their way.

I forcibly threw open the rift that was about to close and shouted.

"Great Sage Equal to Heaven! Come out quickly!"

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven did not respond.

It was the result I had expected.

But I had my own thoughts, too.

"Uh-uh."

Even in this moment of no reaction, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven must be listening to my movements, my voice, and my very existence.

This was a method I could use because I trusted the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in that way.

I shouted toward the split rift in a deliberately exaggerated voice.

"Aaaargh! It is 'Indescribable Distance'!"

Just uttering that modifier sent tingling sparks through my entire body. And that wasn't the end of it.

The mere mention of that guy's modifier changed the speed at which the fog was rushing in. So, my acting was real.

"Please save me! Big Brother! I'm dying!"

I shouted as I felt the fog enveloping my feet.

"Aaaargh! I'm being devoured! Kim Dokja is dying!"

I continued to shout toward the precariously open rift.

"If you don't come, I really will die! Aaaaaaaah—!"

Before I knew it, the fog had risen to my knees. I felt the distant presence of an Outer God right behind me.

O oh oh oh oh oh oh.

The hairs on my body stood on end. A chilling sensation, one that could not be felt even from a myth-grade constellation, gripped my spine.

Just as that dizzying sensation was about to engulf me, sparks flew before my eyes, and something burst forth.

Finally, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had broken through the rift in the 'Golden Sash'. His entire body was engulfed in flames like ashes. One eye was tightly closed, shedding tears. A broken leg and a severed arm. Yet, despite this, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had broken through the onslaught of myth-grade constellations to come meet me.

I spoke to him.

"Let's go together. To the final scenario."