Chapter 272: Greed And Love (4)

The spacious and comfortable hospital room could easily be mistaken for a hotel suite. With a pleasant slicing sound, the peel of a neatly cut apple spiraled like a dragon and dropped into a bowl.

“Here, please have some,” Allen said.

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied.

The apple had been cut into perfectly uniform pieces as if a machine had cut it.

Kwon Oh-Jin picked up a piece with a fork and bit into it. The sweet juice burst in his mouth.

“So, you’re saying you plan to go to the Demonic District, correct?” Allen narrowed his eyes after hearing from Kwon Oh-Jin about the Demonic District kings’ suspicious movements.

“Yes. We can’t just sit around twiddling our thumbs until they come pouring in first.”

“Then, do you plan to lead an army there?”

“No. First, we need more information.”

He didn’t even know how many kings the Demonic District had. They couldn’t fight a war blind. At the moment, gathering information on the unknown Demonic District was the top priority.

“You said you’ve been to the Demonic District before, Mr. Allen?”

“Yes, a few times to visit Elder Megrez.”

“Elder Megrez, as in...”

Megrez, Baek Mu-Kang, held the highest rank among Deneb’s twelve apostles. He was one of the few Awakeners who had settled in the Demonic District rather than on Earth.

“He’s a bit temperamental, but he’s a good person,” Allen said.

Perhaps recalling Mergrez, Allen’s normally stern lips slightly curled into a smile.

“Then, you must know quite a bit about the Demonic District, Mr. Allen.”

“I’ve only heard about parts here and there. Most of the time, I’d deliver what the elder needed and return immediately.”

He likely didn’t know much compared to those who had actually settled and lived there.

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at Allen with gleaming eyes. “Could you tell me some of the things you’ve heard about the Demonic District?”

“

Hmm

. Now that I think about it, he did say something often.” Allen narrowed his eyes. “Whether it’s here or on Earth, the way of life is the same.”

“The same, meaning...”

“When you were trapped in the Demonic District, did you see the city that the demonic beasts built?”

“Ah, yes. I did.”

“The elder said several such cities are linked together to form a single kingdom.”

A kingdom, huh.

Now that Kwon Oh-Jin thought about it, the city he spotted had a building that looked like a castle.

“If you saw the city near the first rift, that was probably the beastkin kingdom.”

At the mention of beastkin, Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes sparkled.

Come to think of it, Riarc said he was a beastkin.

Just from knowing Riarc alone, beastkins clearly possessed far more intelligence than ordinary demonic beasts. Thanks to this intelligence, they could form an organized society like a nation.

“Could you tell me where Elder Megrez currently resides?”

Allen nodded without hesitation. “Of course.”

A member of the Seven Stars couldn’t ignore news that the Demonic District kings were beginning to stir. Though the immediate threat of Named monsters rampaging across the world took priority for now, having Kwon Oh-Jin investigate the Demonic District was good news.

“If you go meet the elder, he’ll be able to tell you much more in detail.” Allen pulled out a compass from his coat and handed it to Kwon Oh-Jin.

“What’s this?”

“Once you enter the Demonic District and channel your mana into it, it will point you in the direction of the master.”

This was a valuable tool, especially in a place where communication devices no longer worked.

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and accepted the compass.

“It doesn’t feel right giving this kind of task to someone still recovering,” Allen said.

“Well, I don’t plan on heading to the Demonic District until I’ve fully recovered.”

“

Haha

. If you had, I would’ve stopped you.” Allen stood up and lightly bowed. “Then, I’ll be waiting for good news. Please, take care and be safe.”

With that brief farewell, he turned and left.

Alone in silence, Kwon Oh-Jin gently gripped the compass and narrowed his eyes.

I’ve got a rough plan in place for now.

First, he needed to find Megrez in the Demonic District to get detailed information. After that, he could start thinking about the relationship between the kings and the Heavenly Demon. Then, he would figure out how to stop them.

“Heavenly Demon,” he said that ominous name aloud.

Why had he brought about the end of the world in his previous life? Why had he returned from a world reduced to ashes? It wasn’t hard to imagine the Heavenly Demon’s goal.

“Because you’re me.”

He could only have one motive in his past life, and in this one.

Kwon Oh-Jin bitterly looked out the window. A powerful urge to see Song Ha-Eun burned within him. As he lay there, lost in thoughts of her, another woman unexpectedly floated into his mind.

Isabella, trembling in fear, made his chest ache as though a heavy cloud had settled over him.

I must be crazy.

Hadn’t he decided to let go of his feelings for her? He sighed and rubbed his face. The tangled emotions refused to be easily sorted.

“There’s just... too much right now.”

At first, he thought he only needed Song Ha-Eun. He believed it would be okay if the entire world burned down as long as he could save her. However, as time passed, he made more connections that he didn’t want to lose. The list of things he wanted to protect kept growing. He knew full well how greedy that sounded.

“

Ugh

.” Kwon Oh-Jin sat up in bed.

He couldn’t sleep peacefully as he worried about Isabella, who had stormed out like that.

“First, I need to sort this out.”

He needed to resolve things with Isabella first before heading to the Demonic District, so he reached for his phone on the shelf.

***

Inside a dark room filled with strange heat, a woman huddled in the corner with disheveled hair. The unsettling sound of biting her nails echoed.

Crack.

The haggard woman nervously bit her nails as blood dripped from them, but she didn’t seem to care.

“W-What do I do? W-What can I do to...?” Isabella trembled as she curled into herself.

She had failed and made a mistake. It was enough to be his second, but her greed to be first had ruined everything.

“Why? J-Just why? L-Last time, he said he didn’t want to lose either of us.”

She thought things would just go back to how they were if the plan failed, but was this the price of her greed? Kwon Oh-Jin’s answer had changed.

Her breathing grew ragged. “

Haa, haa!

”

Every time she recalled how Kwon Oh-Jin calmly told her to sort out her feelings, it felt like a knife was stabbing her heart.

“N-No, I can’t.”

How could she sort out her feelings and never be by his side again? She simply couldn’t accept that.

Isabella had to do something. She couldn’t imagine a life without him anymore. Tears welled up in her eyes as she bit her lip.

“Something... anything... I have to do something...”

What could she do to turn his heart back toward her?

Crack. Crack.

As she continued biting her nails, lost in thought, the door opened and Song Ha-Eun entered.

“What are you doing in the storage room?” Song Ha-Eun shouted in shock at Isabella, curled up on the floor. “Hey! W-What happened to your nails?!”

Song Ha-Eun rushed toward her.

“Ha-Eun unnie...” Isabella looked up at her with trembling eyes.

In the darkness of her gaze, like a cloudy night sky, a faint glimmer of starlight appeared.

Isabella crawled across the floor and clung to Song Ha-Eun’s pants. “U-Unnie! P-Please do me a favor!”

“

Eek!

W-What?! A favor? What kind of favor?”

“P-Please stop, Mr. Oh-Jin!”

He had told her to sort out her feelings because he didn’t want to hurt Song Ha-Eun. If Song Ha-Eun could just accept Isabella, he would surely return to her.

“Stop him? What did he do this time?” Song Ha-Eun grew frantic and gripped Isabella’s shoulders, thinking Kwon Oh-Jin had suddenly left for the Demonic District on his own.

Isabella lowered her gaze and avoided eye contact. “M-Mr. Oh-Jin said...” She trailed off and continued barely audibly. “H-He told me we should sort out our feelings.”

“What...?”

“B-But it’s not that he doesn’t care about me! I-It’s the aftereffects! That’s it. It’s because of the aftereffects!”

“What are you talking about?”

Still clinging to Song Ha-Eun’s pants, Isabella said, “Before he lost his memory, he said he didn’t want to lose me either!”

All of this had happened because he lost his memory.

“Y-You know, right, unnie? You said Mr. Oh-Jin forgot that you two were in a relationship, right? I-It’s the same for me!”

If she could just make him remember what happened on the Ferris wheel, he would surely accept her again. He had said that he didn’t want to lose either of them.

Song Ha-Eun frowned at Isabella clinging to the hem of her pants. “So... you’re saying Oh-Jin dumped you?”

Isabella fiercely shook her head. “T-That’s! No, it’s not like that!”

“But you said he told you to sort out your feelings.”

Still clinging to Song Ha-Eun like a cicada on a tree, Isabella cried out desperately, “Yes, but that’s only because... he lost his memory! That’s the only reason he said that! U-Unnie, please go talk to M-Mr. Oh-Jin for me!”

“Talk to him...? About what?”

“P-Please ask him to accept my feelings! I-I won’t be greedy for your place anymore! I won’t lie anymore! I-I’m happy being second! So, please...” Isabella pleaded as tears spilled down her face. “I’ll do anything you say... so please.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks like raindrops.

Song Ha-Eun coldly looked down at Isabella.

“So, what you’re saying is Oh-Jin dumped you, and now you want me to go convince him to take you back?”

Song Ha-Eun incredulously laughed and furrowed her brow. “Are you out of your mind?”

Her icy gaze cut straight through Isabella.