Side Story Chapter 15 - Traces (5)

All kinds of thoughts flashed past Yeon-woo's mind. Edora was someone he couldn’t help but feel apologetic to—a lover he had made to wait for years. Also, she was someone he had also yearned for a long time. He was always next to Edora and wished her happiness.

Yeon-woo did pray she would stop waiting for him to return and find someone else. Even if she forgot him, Yeon-woo would’ve encouraged her instead of resenting her. When they met later, he planned on thanking her for everything. Because of Edora, because of the woman who always smiled peacefully, he was able to endure the lonely years he had to spend alone. He felt his mind being refreshed just by looking at her face, and he was able to bear the wait.

However, even in the end, Edora didn’t move on for her happiness. She waited for Yeon-woo, and she was able to hold his hand right before her end.

Yeon-woo would be eternally grateful to Edora. Although she wouldn’t know what happened then, that didn’t matter. Rather, he was grateful she didn’t know. The long wait must've been a repetition of pain for her.

Pause! But Edora suddenly stopped running toward Yeon-woo. Her eyes were trembling as she looked into his eyes.

Yeon-woo wondered what was the matter and belatedly realized the reason. ‘Insight!’ He hadn’t thought about her skill. They were the eyes that uncovered all shrouds to see the truth that lay beyond. Edora’s Insight was attempting to look deep into Yeon-woo’s existence.

Yeon-woo belatedly summoned his magic power to block Edora’s skill, but she had already read a vast amount of information. It showed her enough of what she needed to know. However, the problem was that it was too much for a mortal like Edora to handle.

Drip.

“Ora…boni… Just how…”

Tears fell down Edora’s cheeks. She didn’t even have the mind to wipe them. Her unfocused eyes were quickly scanning the reality that had been. The Edora who existed before the wheel was rewound now overlapped with her. After Yeon-woo’s loneliness swept past, the pain and sadness she experienced settled over her.

A moment later, Edora slowly began to walk to Yeon-woo. Then, she opened her arms and pulled him close, as if he didn’t need to explain anything. Yeon-woo ended up staying in her arms, but he didn’t push her away. He just closed his eyes.

“…”

“…”

Between the two lovers, no other conversation was necessary. They could communicate enough with just silence. It was possible because they both knew how the other felt.

Then, Yeon-woo slowly removed his face from Edora’s embrace. When they met each other’s eyes, a smile appeared on both their faces. It was so comical that they both laughed. Then, when they met each other’s eyes again, their faces moved slowly toward each other.

Yeon-woo’s eyes naturally closed and the sound of Edora’s breathing became closer. Edora…smelled like mint. It was a fresh and light scent. Reveling in her scent, he moved his lips toward Edora’s. But before their lips could touch…

Boom! A sudden explosion rang out and intense heat storms swept past them. Phante and the Martial King had already begun their fight. It was impossible to kiss Edora, let alone stay standing amidst all the sand and pebbles raining down.

‘Damn it.’ Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes at the two who had disrupted his reunion with his lover. Phante and the Martial King didn’t even care what Yeon-woo and Edora were doing. They were just busy trying to fight each other.

Haa! Phante shouted with a gust of wind, and the Martial King stomped the ground with a snort. The earth rose up to a wall that was tens of meters high and blocked the consecutive Myriad Lightning. Krrrr. As the mountain was destroyed, rocks fell atop the Martial King’s head.

‘Phante, you’ll pay for this later.’ Yeon-woo determined he’d make another black eye on Phante’s face as he waved his hand in the air. The atmosphere shifted to erect a barrier. He separated the space from Phante and the Martial King, and it was just Edora and Yeon-woo here now.

“Let’s do it again.” Yeon-woo looked at Edora with blazing eyes. Edora flushed, feeling slightly shy, but she nodded and closed her eyes, saying she was ready. She looked beautiful.

Gulp. Yeon-woo subconsciously swallowed from nervousness. It wasn’t the first time he was seeing Edora’s face this close, but his heart pumped faster as if it was. Thump. Thump. Thump. No, it was beating faster than their first time. His body gave off heat because his blood began to circulate faster. He thought he might breathe out steam if he opened his mouth.

‘But my real body is a dragon’s…’

Yeon-woo’s real body was a dragon that was as large as a galaxy. Was his real body’s heart beating this fast? Then how fast was his blood circulating for his body to feel so hot? All kinds of unnecessary thoughts swept past his mind. It was probably because he was more nervous than when they first confirmed each other’s feelings on their way to save Kalatus.

Yeon-woo mustered the courage and moved his lips toward Edora’s.

Krrrrng! Urrrr, crash! Krrr, kra, kra, kra! Du du du…

“…”

“…”

The explosions that boomed without rest didn’t provide them a good atmosphere. How recklessly were they fighting for the explosions to be heard through the barrier? Yeon-woo was starting to feel annoyed. Just then… Bam! Crack. Suddenly, something fell atop the barrier. As a result, the barrier cracked like glass, and a large object divided Yeon-woo and Edora.

“Shucks…! Why can’t I even lay a finger on him though I’m doing this much…? What’s he eating to make him so strong at that age?” Phante, who was covered in dust, forced himself up while gritting his teeth. Far up in the sky, he could see the Martial King arrogantly looking down at him. The idol Phante tried to surpass for the last tens, no, hundreds of years, was too strong. He wondered if it was possible for someone to be that powerful. He even awakened divinity, so he couldn’t believe he was losing so badly.

Phante understood why the elders of the tribe described his father as a monster, and why his master, the Head Elder, looked at him with pity in his eyes up until his last moments. The Head Elder and the adults all knew that no matter how much Phante kicked and struggled, he would never escape the shadow of the Martial King.

That was how amazing the Martial King was. In fact, it was obvious when you looked at his name. He was the king of martial arts. Ordinary players easily resorted to calling him that, since the tribe chief position of the One-horned tribe was truly great.

However, what was important was that even the tribe members—the lofty people who were very prideful of martial arts and didn’t even dare joke about it—didn’t hesitate to call him by this moniker. However—

Crackle!

“That’s why it’s more fun.” The fire inside Phante grew bigger. The moment he released the power he’d been saving for last resort, his entire body was covered with blood-red lightning, and thunder boomed throughout the atmosphere because of him. Lightning God, or Blood God… Phante’s current prowess could be described by such monikers. He was a god who looked invincible, a god who stood above all else.

The Martial King made a strange expression as he looked at his son and wagged his finger. ‘Come.’ The Martial King was accepting the challenge thrown to him by the challenger who was trying desperately to escape his shadow.

“Do you think I’ll be scared if you do that? Bring it on!” Phante flashed a wide vicious smile and was about to kick off from the ground.

“Phante.” At the voice that suddenly called his name, Phante turned around. Yeon-woo was glaring at him with Edora held tight in his arms. Edora’s face was also filled with annoyance. Hadn’t they gone elsewhere? Phante was about to ask why the two were still here, when…

“Bite down.”

“…?!” Before Phante could say anything, Yeon-woo’s fist flew toward him. It was directly on the other eye opposite of where he’d been punched earlier. Craaack! The sound was a lot louder too.

* * *

“Oho.” The Martial King looked down at where Phante was quite literally being stepped on.

Phante was in the middle of using his lightning to try and resist, but everytime Yeon-woo kicked him it fizzled out. Yeon-woo wasn’t using an efficient martial art or displaying spectacular enlightenment. He was just “pushing down” Phante with his overwhelming difference in strength.

‘Even though Phante seems to have transcended long ago.’ The Martial King didn’t know what happened in the future, but it was clear Allforone was gone from that world, and Yeon-woo and Phante must have suffered from the chaos that ensued. The fact that Phante was able to transcend meant Allforone had been absent. ‘No. It seems like he’s already disappeared from here too.’

The disappearance of Allforone, who had always been a large mountain blocking the Martial King, came as quite a surprise to him.

‘And…I’m gone from that future too.’ The Martial King was certain that there had been no spot of his in the world of Yeon-woo and Phante. If there was, the two wouldn’t have come to see him like this. He probably hadn’t merely retired, either.

The Martial King he knew—the man named Nayu—was someone who would be fighting on the battlefield to his last days, standing shoulder to shoulder and laughing and drinking with his tribe members. That meant not too far into the future, he was going to die.

Absolute. Death. The divination the Martial King’s wife had seen popped into his head. Was it related to that? He thought it did. He might seem like he was bragging about his wife, but his wife’s skill was truly amazing.

Another question arose from there. With Yeon-woo and Phante having rewound the wheel to return to the present, where was this newly spinning world headed? Did fate, his damned divination, change?

“Wifey.”

『…I’m looking right now.』It seemed the couple was really connected somehow after being together for so long. The Psychic Medium replied immediately in a grumbling tone. She had reached the same conclusion and was seeing into the future.『Just a moment.』

And in her words, the Martial King was able to tell her certain voice wasn’t so certain this time. That could only mean one thing. “The divination’s the same, huh?”

『…』

There was no response.

Psh! The Martial King smirked. He could picture what expression his wife was making, as well as the results of the divination in front of her. His damned fate hadn’t changed yet.