Chapter 336: Interlude - Encounter (2)

“I am you.” The quiet voice that echoed through the darkness knocked the air out of Kwon Oh-Jin’s lungs.

“Heavenly Demon...” Kwon Oh-Jin looked at the identical young man before him with trembling eyes as if looking at a mirror.

Actually, comparing his appearance to a mirror wasn’t quite accurate. They looked similar, but the Heavenly Demon radiated an entirely different atmosphere.

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes looked heavy with exhaustion like someone worn down to the very edge of humanity.

It felt as if Kwon Oh-Jin was staring at a puppet carved in human form and not an actual person. He felt a sense of unease.

“I don’t really like that name. I mean, seriously, Heavenly Demon? It’s kind of embarrassing,” the young man muttered and chuckled as he shook his head.

“But calling you Oh-Jin would be a bit much, wouldn’t it?” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“True. We need to distinguish ourselves somehow.” The Heavenly Demon agreed with a nod and sat down as if there were an invisible chair in the air. “Why don’t you sit? I have a feeling this will take a while.”

The Heavenly Demon gestured with his chin toward the opposite side.

Kwon Oh-Jin shrugged casually, trying to mask his confusion with a neutral expression. “Why don’t you bring out some tea then?”

“We’re in your subconsciousness. If you want tea, you can just create it.”

“Oh, but I don’t know how.”

“Really?” The Heavenly Demon nodded and lightly snapped his fingers.

A table formed in front of them with steaming teacups in the dark space.

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes.

So, he can interfere with my subconsciousness?

Kwon Oh-Jin clicked his tongue in his head, watching the Heavenly Demon manipulate the space within his own mind so effortlessly.

The Heavenly Demon took a sip of tea and smirked. “I used to do that a lot too.”

“Do what...?”

“Say unnecessary things to test the other person.”

Clink.

The teacup disappeared from the table.

“You could’ve created it too, right?” the Heavenly Demon asked.

“

Ha

...” Kwon Oh-Jin dryly chuckled from across the Heavenly Demon.

Then, with a snap of his fingers, the vanished teacup reappeared.

The Heavenly Demon smiled knowingly.

Tsk, so these kinds of tricks won’t work on him.

In that case, they didn’t need to beat around the bush. He had to be direct.

“How did you enter my subconscious?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“I made a few arrangements with Deimos.”

“So, when I absorbed his mana, it allowed you to access the Black Heaven?”

“Exactly.”

Did that mean that when Deimos first received the Heavenly Demon’s power decades ago, the Heavenly Demon had predicted that Kwon Oh-Jin would one day kill Deimos and absorb his mana?

“I believed you’d make it this far, or should I say I believed in me?” The Heavenly demon laughed softly and leaned back in his invisible chair.

“Is that why you set up all that crap in the Dragonian Kingdom too?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked grimly.

The Heavenly Demon furrowed his brow and touched his forehead. “The Dragonian Kingdom? Oh... right. I did it to keep a promise... Wait, but who did I make that promise to again?”

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes at the confused look on the Heavenly Demon’s face. That expression—he had seen it before. Rather, he had experienced that exact feeling in the past.

“Don’t tell me... You’ve lost your memories?”

The Heavenly Demon tightly pressed his lips together, then bitterly smiled and nodded. “There were just too many things I couldn’t do without giving something up.”

“Just how many memories have you—”

“That doesn’t matter,” the Heavenly cut him off and shook his head. “Because I didn’t forget the most important one.”

The thing that mattered most to him and Kwon Oh-Jin was probably the same.

“So, why go through all this trouble to invade my subconscious?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“I just wanted to talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah. I was curious to see what I’d be like in a changed future.” The Heavenly Demon looked at him with a shrug. “Now that we’ve spoken face to face, I feel relieved.”

“You feel relieved?”

Relieved about what?

“Even if the future has changed, you’re still me.”

They were still the same person even if the past was altered, even if the present was overturned, and even if the future had been twisted.

“Well, I don’t quite agree with that.” Kwon Oh-Jin glared sharply at the Heavenly Demon. “I’m different from you.”

More accurately, he had to be different because the future would never change if he lived the same life as that man.

“But if we were the same, were you planning to take over my body or something?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

When he first realized the Heavenly Demon’s true identity, Kwon Oh-Jin had briefly wondered about his goal. The first thought that came to mind was that maybe the Heavenly Demon wanted to steal his body to have Song Ha-Eun.

After all, from the Heavenly Demon’s perspective, Kwon Oh-Jin’s life right now was probably the exact future he once desperately wanted.

“

Huh? Pfft! Hahaha!

” The Heavenly Demon burst into laughter and clutched his stomach.

Kwon Oh-Jin wondered what was so funny.

“You don’t need to worry. I have no intention of doing that.”

“Then, what’s your goal?”

If he just wanted Song Ha-Eun to be truly happy, all he had to do was disappear as the Heavenly Demon.

“Who knows?” The Heavenly Demon shrugged as if he had no intention of telling. “Well, you’ll find out soon enough either way.” He stood up slowly. “Time's almost up.”

As if he couldn’t remain inside someone else’s subconscious forever, his figure began to disperse into black clouds.

“Wait. We're not done talking,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

The Heavenly Demon had barged in uninvited and was now trying to leave after spouting only vague answers?

“Even if I wanted to stay longer, I’m hitting my limit.”

“You...”

“Oh, right. I did leave you a gift, so you won’t be bored.”

A gift?

“What did you do?”

“Not knowing is the fun part of receiving a gift, isn’t it?” The Heavenly Demon waved. “Don’t be too disappointed. We’ll be seeing each other again soon anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to—”

Before Kwon Oh-Jin could finish his sentence, the Heavenly Demon completely dispersed into the darkness.

“Damn it.” Kwon Oh-Jin deeply sighed as he stared into the pitch black darkness.

This had been a completely unexpected encounter with the Heavenly Demon. Speaking to him for the first time in person, the Heavenly Demon wasn’t quite what he had imagined.

He was more normal than I expected.

Kwon Oh-Jin had assumed that someone who destroyed the entire world would be a raving madman, but he was clearly wrong.

“Though I still have no idea what he's thinking.” Kwon Oh-Jin rubbed his forehead as if trying to ward off a headache.

The Heavenly Demon said he didn’t plan to take over his body.

But how am I supposed to believe him?

The man in question was none other than another version of Kwon Oh-Jin. Honestly, nothing that came out of his mouth could be trusted.

“I guess this is karma coming back to bite me in the ass.”

He was the boy who cried wolf and had spent every moment of his life lying, so he could no longer tell what was real or false anymore.

Still, if I assume he’s telling the truth for now...

What was the Heavenly Demon’s goal? No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a clear answer.

If Song Ha-Eun’s happiness was truly his only goal, why raise an army in the Demonic District and invade Earth?

The one thing I know for sure is that I can’t just sit back and trust him.

Even if he didn’t seem as crazy as expected, that didn’t mean Kwon Oh-Jin could simply play along with his plans. Just because he looked normal didn’t change the fact that he was still the Heavenly Demon—the one who destroyed the world and the monster who devoured countless lives.

“Not that I’m in any position to say that...” Kwon Oh-Jin let out a short, self-deprecating laugh.

In any case, he couldn’t let his guard down as long as he didn’t know the Heavenly Demon’s plan.

And this so-called gift, huh...

Normally, a gift would make anyone's heart flutter in anticipation. However, a gift from the Heavenly Demon left nothing but a sense of unease.

Who knows what kind of tricks he pulled?

Maybe he just pretended to disappear and was still lingering, or maybe he had tampered with the Black Heaven so he could control it by force or something.

“

Haaa

.” Kwon Oh-Jin slowly closed his eyes and began searching for the gift that had been left behind.

He spread the Black Heaven’s energy through him, checking for any subtle changes from his subconscious to his body.

Something is different, but...

The Black Heaven had grown stronger after undergoing its tenth enlightenment. Nothing in particular felt like one of the Heavenly Demon’s tricks.

“What the hell...?”

He checked again and again in case he missed anything, but the result always turned out the same.

Cocking his head slightly, Kwon Oh-Jin slowly opened his eyes.

I should head out now.

There was nothing more he could do lingering alone in this pitch-black void.

Kwon Oh-Jin focused and woke his consciousness. The surrounding darkness disappeared, and the landscape came back into view. When he opened his eyes, he saw thick black clouds swirling all around him.

Rumble!

He prepared to gather the clouds that blanketed the vault back into his heart when the firmly sealed door burst open with a deafening roar.

Boom!

A flood of black shadows entered through the doorway like a wave, wrapping around Kwon Oh-Jin.

“

Kugh!

” Caught off guard, Kwon Oh-Jin quickly drew his Stigma’s mana.

The unidentified attacker acted even faster and instantly pounced on him.

“There you are. I thought you’d be hiding extra well this time.” A long tongue flickered.

The slender woman, with brilliant platinum-blonde hair and glowing emerald eyes, raised her arm. She hardly looked capable of overpowering Kwon Oh-Jin.

Shhh!

A serpent’s head, made of shadows, formed at the tip of her snow-white fingers. Her emerald eyes gleamed with an icy chill.

“Die, my lord, Heavenly Demon.”

The shadow serpent opened its maw wide and lunged forward.

“Wait, wait, waaaait!” Kwon Oh-Jin shouted in a panic, shaking his head. “You’ve got the wrong guy, Cassia!”

“Mr. Oh-Jin...?” Cassia’s eyes widened in surprise. “

Huh?

What? That’s weird. I could’ve sworn I sensed the Heavenly Demon’s presence right here...”

She cocked her head, still clearly puzzled.

Kwon Oh-Jin finally realized what the Heavenly Demon’s gift was.

He’s more normal than I thought? Bullshit.

Just as Kwon Oh-Jin originally thought, the Heavenly Demon was completely and utterly insane.