1048 Episode 64. Eternal Night (7)

It was the first time seeing such an expression on Yoo Joonghyuk. When Kim Dokja, whom he thought was dead, revived for the first time—perhaps Yoo Joonghyuk had an expression like the one now.

The story protecting Kim Dokja's shoulder repelled Yoo Joonghyuk's sword.

Spewing out a very old story, the story cried out sorrowfully.

That was a story that had once cut Kim Dokja's shoulder. I too knew what that story was. That was the core story proving the 49% Kim Dokja.

The voice of someone missed flowed past the ears.

It was the voice of the person who wanted Kim Dokja more than anyone else. The voice of the person who had longed for a single reader for longer than anyone else, and thus had written down his words in place of Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at Snowfield Kim Dokja with wavering eyes.

A day everyone had dreamed of—it was a story created on a certain day after the hellish scenarios ended. The Han River that Yoosung-i had wanted to go to so much. A picnic with loved ones carrying chicken and pizza.

December 25th. That day a certain star was born—

The Kim Dokja who was denied himself. The Kim Dokja who could not properly remember 'Ways of Survival'—that Kim Dokja was 'discovered' on that day.

A sentence imbued with deep regret and sadness. Neither Yoo Joonghyuk nor I could say anything at that moment as we read that sentence. A power that makes anyone into merely a reader. Such a power was inside that story.

That was the birth story that created the 49% Kim Dokja.

That story was neither my story nor Snowfield Kim Dokja's story. Yoo Joonghyuk spoke.

The owner of that story was Han Sooyoung. The person who had noticed the 'Avatar Kim Dokja' before anyone else. The person who had doubted Kim Dokja first at the Han River on that day.

As if telling them not to repeat any more mistakes, the story cried fiercely. Before the story, <Kim Dokja Company> was seen collapsing.

Yoo Joonghyuk muttered.

Snowfield Kim Dokja laughed.

Along with those words, once again a story flickered from Snowfield Kim Dokja's entire body.

Han Sooyoung's story was harbored in Snowfield Kim Dokja and grew together with him. Turned away by companions time and again, the story grew and grew.

The history that created the him of today was recorded there. <Kim Dokja Company> wandering while searching for the 'real Kim Dokja', leaving him behind. Even among them, there was one related to the 'third Kim Dokja'.

Only then did I fully understand what the 'Snowfield Fragment' had said to me. To strengthen that story, Snowfield Kim Dokja had not hesitated to be hurt all along. Moreover, it was not only <Kim Dokja Company> that hurt him.

The readers who loved this story more than anyone. Even the readers who cleared scenarios together with him did not accept Snowfield as the 'Kim Dokja' they knew.

Hurt like that and accepting those wounds, Snowfield Kim Dokja came all the way here. Waiting solely for this moment to use this 'story' against <Kim Dokja Company>.

As if denying those words, Yoo Joonghyuk moved his sword once again. However, his [Black Heavenly Demon Sword] did not budge on top of Kim Dokja's shoulder. Something was sealing Yoo Joonghyuk's movements. It was Snowfield's story.

No star whatsoever would fear that story. However, Yoo Joonghyuk was different. Looking at Yoo Joonghyuk's trembling hand, Snowfield Kim Dokja slowly rose from his spot. Then, pushing away Yoo Joonghyuk's blade with the back of his hand, he spoke.

Along with Snowfield Kim Dokja's voice, stories overflowed from within him. Inside the storm of raging stories, Snowfield Kim Dokja seemed to say something. Or perhaps he seemed to show something he possessed. However, because the storm was too fierce, that scene could not be properly verified from Surya's location. What was heard was the shock of <Kim Dokja Company>.

Surya's story was up to there. Having fulfilled its duty, Surya's butterfly lost its strength and scattered in the air. Me, the other Kings, and Cha Yerin as well. We silently gazed at the spot where the butterfly had disappeared.

Amidst countless emotions crossing, I opened my mouth first.

"Is this all?"

Surya nodded.

"What happened to <Kim Dokja Company> after that? The Master of the Erased Blank Space..."

Surya frowned with a solemn face, then answered slowly.

Surya clenched his fist tightly once more. Then this time, a moth with pitch-black wings appeared.

Following the dust scattered by the moth that took flight, the story of that day unfolded. A story where stars were dying and disasters were screaming. A horrific scenery forged by the main battlefield of 'Ragnarok'. However, nowhere on that battlefield were the appearances of Snowfield Kim Dokja or <Kim Dokja Company> to be seen.

The moth soon fulfilled its lifespan and scattered. Looking at the disappearing moth, I asked once again.

"What about the other Myth-grade constellations? What were they doing?"

Something suddenly came to mind. When first entering the 'Main Battlefield', I had briefly encountered the constellations of <Emperor> who had turned into anomalous entities.

"<Olympus>, <Asgard>, <Vedas>, and <Emperor>. They wouldn't have been just watching everything, right?"

Surya nodded. Especially when mentioning the name of <Vedas>, his expression looked a bit painful.

Surya ultimately could not convey the remaining words. With a tzzzt spark sound, his incarnation body collapsed. It was because he revealed too much of his story while his wounds were not properly healed yet.

"You can stop speaking. You overexerted yourself too much."

Cha Yerin supported the stumbling Surya. Medics were seen running from afar. As Cha Yerin said, sending Surya to rest at this point was right. However, I could not stop asking questions. Because I had not heard an important fact.

"Are there stars among them who are still alive?"

Whether Surya was in a state of fading consciousness, there was no response. The one who answered instead was Cha Yerin.

"There are."

"Who is it?"

After entrusting Surya to the medics, Cha Yerin spoke in a calm voice.

"'One-eyed Father' or 'Spear that Draws the Boundary of the Sea'... The representative constellations of each nebula are still alive in some way."

"Are they in this camp right now?"

Cha Yerin nodded heavily. Frankly speaking, after hearing up to that point, my head felt dizzy.

As if venting anger on my behalf, Meihouwang erupted with a rough True Voice.

"By now, they must all be in the situation room."

We headed straight for the situation room. The situation room Cha Yerin mentioned was in an open area inside the inner castle that had become ruins after receiving shellings. However, when opening the tent of the situation room and entering, what was waiting for us was an empty scene.

Traces of someone having been there until a moment ago remained everywhere. Peels of discarded sacred fruits, broken recorder pieces, and implements carved with who-knows-what.

I quietly raised my energy sensing. However, nowhere in the vicinity could the presence of a 'Myth-grade constellation' be felt. Knowing that the Kings and I were coming, those fellows had already turned tail and fled.

Letting out a light sigh, I shook my head.

"What about other forces? Surely these aren't all of them."

Even if the fight of the 'Main Battlefield' was arduous, there should still be quite a few stars remaining. No matter how many stars had set, no matter how powerful the disasters over there were—there was no way every single star I knew had truly set.

"What about Goryeo's First Sword? There should be other constellations of the Korean Peninsula as well."

Cheok Jungyeong. A star more upright than any constellation I knew, and a master who had also taught me in the Fear Realm. There was no way he died here.

"Where is the God of Wine and Ecstasy? Surely there must be other representative constellations of the 'Constellation Camp'."

I recalled the judges of the Underworld and Baccarinne who had come to see me in the 'preliminary battle'. They said they were following the new ruler of the Underworld, the 'God of Wine and Ecstasy'—Dionysus.

"Surely the Transcendents fought together as well?"

I recalled the Transcendents I knew. Although Breaking the Sky Sword Saint Namgung Minyoung was caught in the constellations' scheme in the 'New Murim District', many powerful Transcendents still remained. The constellation met in the preliminary battle—Sun Hunter 'Hou Yi' must have also come up to this battlefield to find his friends.

"Where is Master Kyrgios?"

Cha Yerin was silent for a moment. Looking at me with pupils whose emotion could not be read, she spoke in a small voice.

"Follow me."

All throughout following Cha Yerin, I felt an unidentifiable ominousness. Cha Yerin's footsteps exited the inner castle and headed toward the outer edge of the outer castle. I felt incarnations who occasionally discovered us blankly gazing over here. Many of them were missing an arm or a leg. Empty pupils where neither hope nor despair could be felt. Those gazes were following us.

How long did we walk like that? We finally arrived in front of a white building on the outer edge of the outer castle.

"Are they in here?"

Cha Yerin nodded slightly. Without hesitating, I entered inside the building. Was it because of the color of the building? I initially thought that place was a sort of ward. However, the moment I entered inside the building, I realized.

In that place, small tombstones were erected in numbers beyond counting.

Tombstones so numerous as to be dizzying. In front of the tombstones engraved with modifiers were the star relics used by the tombstones' owners.

I stood in front of a broken sword whose shape was familiar among them. On the tombstone placed next to the sword, it was written like this.

I read that sentence again several times. Goryeo's First Sword Cheok Jungyeong. Goryeo's First Sword... Cheok Jungyeong.

The sight of him laughing boisterously, the moment he came to save me, the way he brandished his sword—I remembered it all.

I continued walking. In the charnel house, there were not only the remains of stars.

The names of incarnations I knew were written in that place.

Incarnations who struggled until the end without giving up against disasters. And at the end of that long list, a sentence I knew well was written.

It felt as if my breath was suffocating. Nevertheless, I had to read that sentence. Without reading that sentence—

Because I could never move on to the next sentence.

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