Subdued Soul Chronicle

The room was shrouded in darkness and there was a faint smell in the air.

Seol Young stood still.

Even though the eyes that were glaring at him seemed like they wanted to kill him, he didn’t seem bothered.

It took enough time for the incense to spread in the entire room.

“So?”

Eventually, Zaha spoke,

“Is there a law that says I can’t tell people what I’m doing? What does it matter what I do?”

His shoulders trembled as he continued to cough and catch his breath.

“I didn’t make this choice because I wanted to make a noble sacrifice or some lame sense of duty. I just didn’t want to die.”

His words were cut off.

“But no matter how much I thought about it, this was the only way. So I have no choice but to do this. If I could have just run away, I would have done it.”

Seol Young stood there without saying a word.

“Is this good enough, then?”

Zaha took a deep breath and asked.

“I even died. What else do you want to know now? I don’t want to say anything, nor do I want to hear you say anything. I just don’t want anyone interfering. I wish you would just leave me alone. Like this…”

His breathing became rough, and his hands, which were on the floor, were trembling.

“Because it’s hard enough as it is.”

“…”

“Do you know how disgusting this body is? It feels like everything has disappeared, and only my bones are left. I don’t even know what I was thinking before. All of this sounds like the stories of people living in faraway lands I don’t even know about. The only thing I feel is… hatred, vengeance…”

Zaha gritted his teeth again and again. It seemed like he was really having a hard time.

“That is what drove me to make this choice in the end. The thing that made me wake up again and suffer all over again. Just the thought of it…”

“…”

“I will never be treated the same way. I will do anything to get rid of it. That is the only thought going through my head. The rest doesn’t matter. I do not believe in anything.”

He raised his head in excruciating pain.

“Of course, I don’t believe you either.”

His glaring eyes turned to him.

“I can turn around at any time, or change at any time… always thinking… I could die any time…”

And he took a deep breath again.

“But for now, I can use it, so I am doing this.”

The pain seemed to rise again. The sword was trembling more loudly this time.

“Then get out.”

He gritted his teeth and said,

“Do not interfere and get out. Whoever it is… whatever is said… I will never give up on this.”

Seol Young looked at him silently.

And he said,

“I wanted to listen to what…”

And he spoke coldly.

“Is that the end of your story? You cannot throw that power away?”

The air turned tense. It seemed like something huge would happen at any moment.

But Seol Young didn’t step back. Rather, he took a step forward.

“Did you think I came here to convince you otherwise? You’re wrong. I don’t meddle with how others live.”

“Then get out.”

“But the people I value the most in this world are worried about you.”

“…”

Without saying a word, he glared at Seol Young.

“Of course, I have no intentions of telling them this.”

Seol Young said that without any hesitation.

“But that also doesn’t mean that I will just sit still and do nothing.”

“Then?”

“I will do what I can.”

Seol Young sat down and did something with his hand.

Tiny shiny things appeared on the palm of his hand.

There were five lights that looked like fireflies.

He took them out once during the painting incident.

They gathered and pointed him to the strange parts of the papers, and they confirmed that there were similar things as well. In a way, they helped Seol Young.

Zaha also recognized them.

“This…”

Could it be that Seol Young did something unexpected? It seemed that the pain had eased.

“You had seen it before, and you called it sorcery…”

He frowned as he looked at them.

“It isn’t sorcery. What are they?”

“Let me introduce you.”

Seol Young infused spiritual energy into them, and at that moment, five human forms appeared.

But they weren’t humans, and they weren’t ghosts either. They just had translucent bodies.

“This is Lady Mo and Lady To.”

Seol Young pointed to the two women standing in front. One was dressed in yellow and looking kind, and the other had a round and cute face.

When Seol Young introduced them, they bowed their heads.

“This is Teacher Seo.”

Seol Young pointed at the middle-aged man behind them.

He wore a gray hood on his head, was short, and had a narrow face. When he was introduced, he bowed and stepped back.

“And these are Seo Yoja and Seo Jeopja.”

Finally, the two children in red pants stepped forward. Seo Yoja was a girl, and Seo Jeopja was a boy.

When Seol Young pointed to them, the two greeted.

“…?”

He looked at them, not able to understand anything.

“What is all of this?”

“They are the grave spirits who raised me.”

Seol Young said.

“They are Guardian Spirits.”

“Guardian Spirits?”

“To be precise, they are not even spirits. Their souls have left, and only their energies remain. But they still wanted to protect me, so they stayed with me.”

Seol Young looked at all five of them.

“Even the White Tiger Troops don’t know about them. I didn’t tell them in case we didn’t get along. I never showed them to anyone unless needed, so I have never released them from my body, but…”

With both of his hands, he pushed them lightly, and the five Guardian Spirits moved toward Zaha. It was as if they had become one in the air.

“You can call this whatever you want. Just being in the same place with them will help.”

Seol Young said,

“They have taken care of me ever since I was little, so they know how to calm me down. At first, they didn’t know how, but they slowly began to calm me down, and the pain gradually subsided. Even when Teacher banned me from using sorcery, I received a lot of help from them.”

“…”

There were no words from Zaha. He just stared blankly at them.

“And…”

Seol Young added.

“I am thinking of looking for something similar to the mask. Because it can control the energy inside of you. And if you can control the side effects, it will definitely help you a lot more.”

He still didn’t say anything.

Seol Young got up.

After looking at him for a moment, he opened his mouth again.

“You said that you had no other choice but to do this, and this wasn’t because of some noble sacrifice or a sense of duty, but you were just forced into…”

“…”

“I saw everything. How hard it was. How stubborn and strong you had to be. Even if I’m forced, I can’t do what you did.”

“…”

“I cannot.”

Seol Young lowered his head.

“I have been rude all this time… and I hope you can forgive me.”

Zaha raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t know anything… and watching the people die, pleading and saying that they still believe in you until the end, I don’t know what kind of thoughts went through your mind.”

“…”

“I know you didn’t want to die. I know you wanted to live until the end. But wanting to run away from them… is a lie. Until the moment you closed that coffin, you had no intention of running away.”

Seol Young kneeled down.

“In the end, because of that choice, countless lives were spared without being harmed by the evil spirit. And I was one of them.”

Having said that, he bowed.

“On behalf of those who lived, thank you for your sacrifice.”

His forehead touched the ground, which was cold and hard.

Actually, he hadn’t felt it until now.

An outsider like him had only heard about that evil monster appearing in the capital and causing a commotion.

But at that time, he was too young to know what it was.

Later on, when he turned into a Hwarang, he learned about the things that had happened, and he was genuinely shocked by them. However, experiencing them was entirely different.

He could only vaguely imagine what it was.

But…

It was just now that it touched his heart. Seol Young stood up. He could see it without raising his head.

The darkness in front of his eyes. As Zaha said, he was drowning in ruins.

Pride, justice, responsibility, hope, happiness…

Everything that his life once held was now gone, and only pain remains.

‘In the end, he lost everything.’

That fact hit him hard.

Things that deprive life. Things that fed on fear and grew. Things that would reach out in your most desperate moment.

The beings in the darkness.

He had been terribly defeated in his fight against them, and only a few years were earned through his sacrifice.

And that made Seol Young angry.

Seol Young thought,

‘Still, it is a precious time.’

A few things could be changed, including what is happening now.

The scary vision that he saw—he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

He clenched his hands.

“You can do it this time.”

Seol Young raised his head.

He spoke with a strong voice towards the being who claimed to be ruined.

“We can do it.”