Chapter 124: Dragon’s Resting Ground (7)
“There’s… not much change in my mana.”
Was it because the dragon vein’s mana was limited by the Black Heaven’s awakening stage? He couldn’t feel much of a difference despite having absorbed the whole dragon vein.
‘It didn’t disappear.’
He could feel it.
—The fierce currents of mana that were flowing like river water.
An enormous amount of mana that not even Ohjin, who astonished Vega with his talent in controlling mana, could handle…
The mana of the dragon vein isolated itself inside of the black clouds and silently emitted its power.
“Well… let’s think about how to deal with this later.”
There was something more important than that right then.
‘I need to find Ha-eun.’
With Vega by her side, Ha-eun shouldn’t have gotten hurt badly, but he couldn’t help getting worried.
Ohjin slowly closed his eyes and focused.
‘Stigma of the Hunting Dogs.’
An uncountable number of smells rushed into his nose.
“Ugh…”
Ohjin frowned from the pain that was like needles were pricking his head. Whenever he used the stigma of the Hunting Dogs, he would often get a headache when too much smell rushed in at once.
‘Found her.’
—It was a familiar smell that always seemed to be beside him.
Following Ha-eun’s scent, he got moving.
Ohin went down the collapsed dungeon floor debris like they were stairs.
‘Hm?’
A smell that was different from Ha-eun stimulated his nose once he got closer… one that smelled cozy like a spring breeze.
“O-Ohjin?”
In that place was Isabella, who was supporting an unconscious Ha-eun.
“Y-You were safe!”
In the midst of approaching Ohjin with a bright smile, she suddenly stopped.
Isabella looked at Ohjin’s right arm with a stiff expression.
His arm, which had only gone through emergency treatment using a potion, hung down like a wet mop, and his shoulder was covered in blood from when his arm was cut.
“Ohjin, your arm…”
“A bit of a fight broke out.”
“Wh-What should we do?!”
Isabella rushed towards Ohjin in a state of panic. Her eyes glistened as if she was going to drop down and cry at any second.
“I’m fine. I performed emergency treatment.”
“Give me a second.”
Isabella raised her staff with an expression full of worry.
Owooong!—
Radiant rays of golden light shot out the tip of her staff.
“Celestial of Aries, please grant down your healing light to this young lamb.”
Isabella chanted with a serious attitude. She looked comical from the perspective of one who knew her true identity, but the chant’s effect was for certain.
Owoooong!—
Once the golden light wrapped around Ohjin’s droopy arm, it became noticeably easier to move.
“Thank you.”
Ohjin slightly raised his right arm and shook it.
“What a relief.”
Isabella put her hands on her chest with an expression of relief.
She carefully touched Ohjin’s right arm with her hand. No, to be accurate, what she touched was his shoulder which was drenched in blood.
“…”
Touch, touch, touch—
“Isabella?”
Touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch, touch—
“Aah, aah… gulp.”
Excited breaths flowed out of the gaps of her lips while looking at the shoulder drenched in blood with a heated gaze.
Her pink tongue seductively licked her red lips.
She twisted her body and stroked his shoulder like it was a precious treasure.
“Uhm… Isabella?”
‘What the fuck. I’m terrified.’
“Ah…! I-I’m sorry!”
Isabella looked up with a surprised expression.
“I was just confirming if the treatment worked well.”
“Um, okay.”
No matter how he looked at it, It didn’t look like she was confirming if the treatment worked well in the least, but he decided to brush past it.
“How is Ha-eun?”
“She’s unharmed,” said Isabella while looking at Ha-eun, who she was supporting.
As she said, there wasn’t a scratch on Ha-eun’s unconscious body.
[Didn’t I tell you to rely on me?]
Dazzle—
Silver powder scattered as Vega peeked her head out of Ha-eun’s pocket. Judging from the extreme fatigue on her face, it seemed that she used a lot of strength to protect Ha-eun.
“Thank you, Vega.”
[Don’t mention it. I only did what had to be done. By the way… where did you leave the ‘Dragon’s Heart’?]
Vega looked around and examined Ohjin.
It seemed that she believed the one who obtained the Dragon’s Heart and cleared the dungeon was obviously Ohjin.
Ohjin shook his head with a bitter expression.
“I didn’t leave it behind. It was taken away.”
[Wh-What? You’re not the one who cleared the dungeon?]
“Yeah.”
[I see…]
Vega had a look of surprise as if it was something she hadn’t expected.
“What happened inside?”
“There was the Black Star Organization.”
Ohjin briefly explained his fight with the Night Hunters and meeting Cheon Doyoon.
“B-By Black Star Organization, are you referring to the group that caused terror in Korea not too long ago? I heard they were all apprehended on the news…”
Ohjin shook his head while looking at Isabella, who was acting like she was scared and knew nothing.
“Their elites weren’t caught yet.”
“I see…”
“Well, I’m sorry, anyways. We came all the way for nothing.”
“No, no. Your safety alone is a relief.”
Isabella took out a communication marble from her pocket.
“I’ll call in a helicopter right away since we don’t know when the Black Star Organization will appear again.”
“Okay.”
Ddududududu!—
It appeared that the helicopter was on standby nearby, as it arrived in no time.
Ohjin carried the unconscious Ha-eun and got on the helicopter.
“I’ll send the remuneration to your account soon.”
“Even though we weren’t able to clear the dungeon?”
“Hehe. You still came all the way here. Of course, you should be rewarded.”
“Hm… okay.”
There was no reason to refuse when she was willing.
“It was a bit unfortunate this time… but would it be okay to give you more requests in the future?”
“You’re more than welcome to.”
Isabella was a woman who was completely unpredictable, but if the strange obsession she had for him was sincere, there was a good chance he could take advantage of her.
‘She ended up being a big help to me this time, too.’
Even if he had the ability to tell lies naturally, he couldn’t fool the opponent with words that held no meaning.
The reason he was able to fool Cheon Doyoon was that he received information from somewhere that Isabella was showing interest in him.
“Then I’ll contact you later, Ohjin.”
After riding the helicopter and arriving back in Seoul, Isabella waved her hand while taking off.
“Hyup.”
Ohjin carried Ha-eun and arrived back home. Once he laid her down on the bed and went outside, Vega flew up and approached him.
[How has this happened? The Pseudo Star Cult you previously mentioned hasn’t even appeared yet.]
“The time frame has changed.”
[Then that means…]
“They originally aimed for the star relic hidden in Mt. Baekdu a couple of months in the future at minimum… but that was pulled forward.”
[The time frame isn’t the only thing that has changed.]
As she said, the time frame wasn’t the only thing that changed since the group that was looking for the star relic changed from the Pseudo Star Cult to the Black Star Organization.
“I’ve been thinking about that, and I can’t help but believe the Black Star Organization changed their name to Pseudo Star Cult.”
[They changed their name?]
“Remember I said that I didn’t know much about the Black Star Organization before?”
[Hmm. I believe that you said you only have a rough understanding of them back then.]
Vega nodded her head.
“What I remember isn’t the Black Star Organization but the Pseudo Star Cult.”
And with that, he would be able to explain why he didn’t know much about the Black Star Organization.
[Ahh, so that’s how things proceeded.]
Vega rubbed her chin and nodded.
[You didn’t know about the Black Star Organization before they changed into Pseudo Star Cult… since you would’ve just been promoted from a beginner at this time in your past life.]
“That’s right.”
Though the fact he didn’t know about them whether it was before or after they changed name remained the same.
“I said there was a group led by the Heavenly Demon, remember? That’s the Pseudo Star Cult.”
[But don’t they serve the Black Stars and not the Heavenly Demon?]
“I think it’s because the Heavenly Demon hasn’t appeared yet.”
[In that case…]
Vega’s eyes narrowed.
There was one conclusion she could come up with based on the clues obtained from Ohjin up until then.
[So they changed names from the Black Star Organization to the Pseudo Star Cult after the Heavenly Demon appeared.]
“Probably.”
Although there was no way to tell if they actually changed their name due to the Heavenly Demon, making Vega believe that would make things fall into place.
‘A Heavenly Demon will have to appear in the future, anyways.’
In order to keep the fact that he possessed the Black Heaven a secret, he needed to turn another person into a Heavenly Demon.
—That was the only way he could survive.
‘Getting caught by Vega isn’t the problem anymore.’
With his deep relationship with Vega, he didn’t think he’d be killed immediately even if he was caught possessing the Black Heaven.
However, the problem was the celestials excluding her.
There existed a prophecy that the Black Heaven would devour all celestials, and as long as the celestials firmly believed it, he couldn’t let the existence of the Black Heaven get exposed.
‘And that is why I need to pretend that I’m a Regressor more thoroughly.’
—The Heaven-defying Star, the one said to be the savior of the world from the Black Heaven’s darkness.
There wouldn’t be many that suspected that same Heaven-defying Star to be the owner of the Black Heaven.
The more others believed him to be the Heaven-defying Star, the more the celestials wouldn’t be able to help but trust and depend on him.
[Then isn’t this a big problem? The precious star relic has gone over to the hands of the force that will serve the Heavenly Demon in the future…]
“We’ll need to get it back.”
He backed off that time, as he didn’t have a choice, but he never planned on obediently handing over the Dragon’s Heart to Cheon Doyoon.
[Do you have a method in mind?]
“Not yet.”
No method existed to steal the Dragon’s Heart from an opponent who defeated Lee Woohyuk without him being able to retaliate.
But if there was no method, he just had to make one.
Whether he used Isabella or used whatever the means to get strong enough to defeat Cheon Doyoon, he would get the Dragon’s Heart in his hands.
[Sigh. The future has started to change already… I’m not sure if I should be liking this or not.]
“The future will continue to stray from the future I knew.”
Rather, it was good news to him.
There was no future he knew in the first place. Even if an unpredicted variable appeared, he could use it as a reliable excuse in the future.
[But that also means you might fall into unpredictable danger…]
“Don’t worry. Didn’t I come back to change the future in the first place?”
Ohjin smiled brightly and looked back at Vega, who looked at him with worry.
“This time… I’ll make a future where you can smile without worry.”
[My child…]
Vega’s face slightly reddened as she sat on top of Ohjin’s shoulder.
[But still, do be careful for the time being. We do not know what those vicious beings will do with the Dragon’s Heart.]
“Alright.”
Ohjin happened to be thinking of laying low for a while.
[Then this lady shall take her leave. The restriction is getting worse, as I’ve used too much strength.]
“Yeah. I’ll see you later.”
Vega went into the pendant.
* * *
* * *
“Sigh.”
After Vega returned to the pendant, Ohjin turned around while exhaling a low breath.
Ohjin went into the room and looked down at Ha-run, who was on the bed. He took the broken prosthetic leg off of her.
‘I’ll need to order a new one.’
Like he was covering her empty right leg, he pulled up the blanket over Ha-eun.
* * *
-Hmm. So the Queen of Leeches has found a mate?
“Yes. He is the one called the Lightning Wolf.”
-Ah, I have heard of him before. That person became the man of the bloodthirsty witch… it’s hard to believe.
As the tablet engraved with the shape of a snake was covered in black light, the giggling voice of a woman came out.
-Well, anyway. Congratulations. I was a little worried because I heard the Queen of Leeches headed your way, but you were able to secure the Dragon’s Heart safely.
—A voice that felt like it contained something like madness.
“Holholhol. This is all thanks to the Queen of Snakes lighting the path forward.”
Cheon Doyoon deeply bowed his head to the snake-engraved tablet.
-No. All I did was pass down what the Heavenly Demon told me.
“How is that grand being do—”
-Hoho. Mister Doyoon.
The voice that felt strangely elevated suddenly cooled down.
-Shush.
“…!”
Flinch!—
Cheon Doyoon’s shoulders shivered.
“F-Forgive me, Queen of Snakes.”
-Fufu. It’s fine, anyone can make mistakes. Then I trust that you’ll be able to find the other one.
“I have already found where it is.”
-Is that so? That’s a relief.
Her cold voice was elevated once more.
-Then I’ll trust you and await the next time you contact me.
Crack!—
The tablet that gave off a black light was completely destroyed.
“Phew.”
Cheon Doyoon cleaned off the cold sweat flowing down his forehead and got up.
The edge of his lips tilted up while looking at the blue sphere in his hands.
“Now that the heart is in my hands…”
He held up a picture that was placed on top of the desk. Captured on the square picture was a beautiful woman with maroon hair.
“—It’s time to secure the eye.”
Holholhol—
The sound of his peculiar laugh rang out creepily.
