Chapter 697 – The Head Broken by Waiting

Above the altar where the ceremony is held. A gray shadow floated over the pupils of the prostrate Son of Man.
Seeing the shadow, a small smile appeared on the bloodied face of the argument.

“… It’s mom A real mother.”

The solemn atmosphere is broken.
Sonja crawled, reaching her hand toward her shadow.

“Collock, Coke.”

The nobles were startled and backed away at the desperate figure of the girl who was gasping for blood without color.

In the eyes of the Son of Man, no one except the shadow entered.
He is the factor of the crown that existed before he existed.

The shadow in the form of a mature woman was the former king’s partner in the era of fierce battles, his lifelong companion, and the mother of Inza.

“Mom, ha, turn it off… You’re right mom right?”

The two shadows created by her consciousness were only forms, but the factor recognized at once that they were her mother.
Suppressed by her Theron, the argument stretched out her hand to her mother, her weeping.

“Don’t move. Kut!”
“Mom. Me… You know me It was so hard.”

Argument, ignoring Theron’s warning, poured out the pain he had accumulated so far to her shadow.

As she stretched out her hand as it clung anxiously to her unresponsive shadow.

“The crown… It hurt like crazy.”

Others confide in pain that they do not understand.
The nobles looked at Son of Man the same way they looked at a stern bitch.

The eyes of the nobles who looked at the disrespectful, insignificant bitch all became needles and pierced the bosom of her son.

– She’s a face that doesn’t even know what to do.
-As lazy and stupid as later kings. Tsutsu. You say you can’t stand that pain? That even His Majesty endured.

That pain? What do you know and talk about?
A maddening laugh erupted from the mouth of the bloody argument.

“Flaw. Hehe.”

That one?
Her body, covered with scars from being tortured by Theron, is nothing.

“It hurts… It hurt.”

What do you know Do you guys know the pain I’ve been through?

It cannot be explained by taking out the intestines and gutting them out, nor by the pain of dousing one’s face in boiling hydrochloric acid.

The impulsive pain that gnaws away slowly from the mind to the body… Because there was no place to compare with anything.

Inja searched for someone who would understand his own pain. I finally met my parents today.
She thought that any mother who had gone through the same experience would surely understand.

Sonja shouted at the nobles.

“Doing nothing… Babies who run away and live in such a narrow place. What do you know Why are you so proud…”

King Mokryeong is defeated. It took at least 100 years until the next great man, Lee Si-heon, appeared in the world.
It took less than half that time for the king to become tyrannical, maddened by the agony of the crown.
The crown does not hold hands with the opponent.
If the former king and the first son of man shared the pain and endured for only a few decades, the son of man has suffered much longer than that.

No matter how much Son of Man is born with a much stronger mental power than previous generations. It was close to impossible to endure 100 years alone while holding the crown.

The Son of Man shuddered and shouted at the shadow as if screeching.

“Mom… Mom knows. Why are you here so late? I was very sick.”

Son of Man muttered sadly, scratching the floor of the altar with his fingernails.
Broken and missing nails rolled on the floor and leaked blood stained the altar.

“You know… Unlike him, you know better…”

The shadow was silently looking down at the Son of Man.
As the eyes of no pity or sympathy continued, Inja, who judged that she could not get an answer from her mother, lowered her head.

“… Say something, say it.”

Then, a crackling sound echoed throughout the altar.

“Why did you let me be born… ? Do you want to comfort your mother?”

It is madness to hold the crown for a long time.
It was a fact that the crown user, the king himself, said.

Nevertheless, the reason why the Son of Man was able to endure the pain was because the Son of Man’s mind had cut away his memory and mind over and over again.

Just as Lee Si-hun cut out guilt and emotions, he became stronger.
Son of Man also used his potential to ease his pain.

It’s been a long time since I showed the bottom of the patience that the corners are cut every time I go crazy.
Every time life repeats itself. Her spirit is broken and brittle. Gradually, her intelligence regressed, turning her more like an infant.

Also, as time passes and assimilates with the crown… The desire for the surrogate was endlessly harsh.
She put her neck on her lordship, and even felt her murderous intent if she acted against it.

I hated that man.
The fact that I was imprisoned for a hundred years for a man I didn’t even know… It was so unfair that I felt like going crazy.

What if you hadn’t planted a human heart in me?
Son of Man thought of resenting someone every single moment.

“Why… Why. Why…”

Why do I have to hurt
Waiting for me I have to take responsibility.

“It wasn’t just me who was wrong. He was wrong too.”

From the time Lee Si-heon realized the power of the king. He hated the Son of Man and himself every single moment.
I feel it even without words. Crown and Son of Man. And because Lee Si-heon’s inner side is connected, she could feel her emotions.

The first time he manifested the king’s power.
He resisted his destiny, rejecting those of us planted within.
That emotion alone had a negative effect on the factor and the crown that existed inside Lee Si-heon.

The more Siheon Lee pushes away the power, the greater the pain of the argument grows proportionally.
If Lee Si-hun resists the power of the crown, the side effects of the crown lose their place and stay with the argument.

“… Sobbing.”

Siheon Lee.

He could choose to accept or reject the power of the king.
He is completely different from himself. He had his freedom. Even if the environment suppressed him, he was still able to make friends and laugh.

While tormenting me until the end.
He hated the power of the king, but later even took away his power.

If I had used the crown like that, I should have accepted my role at least.
I pretended to be unfair until the end. He loathed the role of king.

Swayed by a lover hang on to love What you do is full of mistakes.
How suffocated by those negative emotions during the three years of accepting the power of the crown.

From the moment cooperation becomes subordinate.
Every time Lee Si-heon used the power of the crown, Son of Man had to endure one-sided pain.

… What I thought was that I wish everyone would die. Far away now.

“…”

The Son of Man held on to the dying fire of life and wheezed.
Grains of soil entered the pupils where the light had gone out.
I didn’t have the strength to blink an eyelid, it stung, but I endured it.

‘… It hurts.’

이젠 모든 게 끝난다.
Inja called his mother anxiously for the last time.

“Mom… Me. I worked hard. 어서 칭찬해줘요.”

The shadow in Son of Man’s eyes slowly began to take shape.

A shadowy face that other nobles cannot see. His skin was peeling off and he had no eyes, so it was a misnomer to call him a human.
그림자가 인자에게 뻗어간다.
Behind the shadow stretching towards the Son of Man stood a huge man looking at him.
Likewise, he was only a shadow, but anyone could tell that he was the former king.

‘Me too. Like mom and dad… I wanted to be.’

인자는 머리를 들이밀었다.
Wouldn’t that shadow come and stroke her hair?

The shadow, in response to the argument that craved even a little affection, stretched out its hand.

-Suddenly.

His hand, which had reached his head, twisted toward the Son of Man’s chest in an infinitely cold manner.
A short breath escaped from the Son of Man’s mouth.

Ah.
이게 내가 태어난 이유구나.

애정이 아닌 목적. He said that the hundred years he had endured were merely a means to this ritual.
The sight of the Son of Man who realized the truth was blurred.

“Under… Haha.”

All of her looks at her as if she belittles her.
귀족들도. 엄마도. Dad.

목령왕의 왕관이 인자의 가슴을 열고 튀어나오더니, 천천히 그녀와 멀어지기 시작했다.

Son of Man did not flinch, but stretched out her hand vigorously toward her crown.

“… Why. 왜 나만.”

The crown pulsated and swayed between the shadow and the factor.
인자의 신체에서 서서히 분리되어가는 왕관은, 힘이 빠져나갈 때마다 인자의 생명도 함께 꺼져갔다.

그 마지막 순간까지도.
그림자는 고통을 분담하지 않았다.

-삐이이이.

귀에 이명과 함께 아픔이 몰려온다.
테론은 절망감을 심어주려는 듯 인자의 머리채를 잡아당겼으나. 그녀에게 이는 안중에도 없었다.

자신이 굳게 믿어온 게 전부 부정당하고.
삶도, 목적도. 모두 덧없으리라 여겨진 지금.

텅 빈 인자의 눈 안에는 아무것도 남지 않았다.

-찌직, 파지직!

왕관이 힘없이 쪼개져 그림자를 향해 흡수되더니. 양 그림자가 합쳐져 일렁이기 시작했다.
아직 인간의 모습을 띄우지는 못했으나 분명한 전왕의 모습.
나머지 반쪽의 왕관은 인자에게 돌아가, 꺼져버린 생명에 불똥같은 존재가 되어주었다.

– Took.

고개가 떨어진다.
인자의 몸을 품에 낀 테론이 음험한 미소를 지으며 렉스에게 말했다.

“Count Rex. What should I do.”
“녀석은 지하로 보내라. 왕관을 한 번에 옮길 순 없으니, 새벽이 지난 다음에 마저 의식을 치르지.”
“… 그럼 혹시. 이 여자를 좀 가지고 놀아도 되겠습니까?”
“Do whatever you want.”

-꾸물, 꾸물.

전왕의 신체가 천천히 수목의 재질로 구성된다.
왕관이 합쳐져 주변의 넘치는 마력을 탐욕스레 흡수하기 시작하니. 모든 귀족들이 탄사를 내뱉었다.

테론이 자리를 비우고, 앞장 선 렉스가 그림자를 향해 무릎을 꿇었다.

* * *　* * * * * * * *

“It is time to open your eyes. Your majesty.”

Flowers bloom over the altar.
Petals of various colors fluttered, black magic expanded and began to shake the surroundings with the momentum to collapse the building.

It is now. Rex cut off the lines of the artifacts hidden inside her and informed the owners of all the families.

All that was left was to wait for the king to come to his senses.

“…”

On either side of Rex’s grave face. Tree trunks protruding from the king’s body stretched towards the nobles.

“Cup… Creepy!?”
“Kreurreup!?”

The two families lost their vitality in an instant and collapsed on the floor, dying.

Aori held her breath and trembled in fear. The nobles knelt down on his knees, prepared for death.

“Stay still. Don’t panic. If His Majesty wishes, sacrifice your life.”
“…”
“The story is not different… Is this, big?!”

The head of the nobleman who raised the question tumbled into the sky and tumbled beside the altar.
The king, who started to reveal the outline little by little, is still in a state of reason.
At some point, he was a little closer to the monster. He suddenly turned his head toward the outside of the altar.

-Thud.

The sound of his foot dropping echoed throughout the labyrinth.
His presence, equal to that of the previous king, overwhelms the nobles, and all the nobles who can feel the magical power shut their mouths and vomit at the majesty.

It is felt.

-Ugh, woo woo woo woo!

Each aristocrat follows his own mood… The look that will be shown.

Black lines spread out like a magnetic field gather in one place and form a round human shape.
Leisurely walking through the labyrinth corridor, the hem of the swaying black dragon.

Is the king

A monster that had grown through the ages was coming here.

“… It’s a bit early, but judge. Your Majesty needs a few more minutes to properly absorb the life force of your subjects.”
“That, what kind of thing is that, Count Rex!”

-Bang!

The door of the huge altar was smashed in an instant, and the king’s face came into the eyes of the nobles.

The frightened nobles retreated and fell into confusion. Only Rex remained calm and looked at Lee Si-hun, who revealed his face.

“King…”

Aori’s voice sounded somewhat uneasy.
As if to quell that stern fire. A ferocious spirit overwhelmed the surroundings.

All the magical powers that make up this space were only made up of Lee Si-heon’s power.
Even the former king was like that.

Lee Si-hun, who quickly caught the nobles’ faces in his eyes, wrapped his magic power around his right arm and stretched forward without hesitation.

【 Heavenly Demon Goddess 】

White petals in full bloom.
Who can escape

【 Jin (進) · White Peach (白桃) 】

The unfolding martial arts overturned the board in an instant.