Chronicle of the Silver Dragon Episode 44
Chapter 11. To Yonyeong…
“I-It can’t be…….”
“*Blech!* *Blech!*”
The warriors of the Murong Clan looked around with horrified expressions.
“H-How could a human do such a thing…….”
“Are you saying it was the Blood Cult’s doing?”
The Martial Alliance warriors who had come to support them also surveyed their surroundings with stiff expressions.
“Horrifying.”
Murong Gi, an elder of the Murong Clan, spoke with a stiff expression.
“To think such a massacre would occur in Gaeju…….”
“Will the Imperial Family stand idly by?”
“Of course they won’t! This has already left the hands of the martial world! An entire county has been obliterated! Every single person living in that county is dead! Just what kind of madmen did this?!”
The surrounding warriors flinched at the imposing aura of Murong Gi, who was cursing and venting his anger with all his might.
“We found a survivor!”
Just then, a warrior shouted in an urgent voice, and in an instant, the leadership of the Martial Alliance swarmed over.
“Hey, come to your senses! What on earth happened here?”
The survivor appeared to be a military officer.
“A-A demon…….”
“……?”
Barely mumbling with a voice that seemed ready to snap, he spoke.
“A-Alone……. Th-The demon……. A-Alone… P-People, a-all……. Killed……. A-Alone……. Krrgh…….”
Trembling violently as he mumbled, he soon fell silent.
“His breath……. has ceased.”
A warrior who had been checking the officer’s condition said with a stiff expression.
“Alone? Killed? Everyone here?”
Murong Gi looked around Gaeju in Yonyeong, where mountains formed from corpses and rivers ran with blood, and muttered with a stiff expression.
“If these words are true…… the opponent…… could it really be a demon?”
***
A young girl, cheeks puffed out, was trailing after Jehwa, rattling off insults.
“Dummy! Moron! Ignoramus! Brute! Ruffian! Glutton! Pig!”
“…….”
Jehwa ignored each and every one of those insults, but the girl did not give up.
“Bad guy! Dummy!”
*Snap!*
In the end, the exploding Jehwa mercilessly kicked the girl.
*Thud!*
“Urk!”
And he began stomping on the fallen girl over and over.
“Aagh! Aaaagh-! Stop it! I said stop it! You bad guy! Kuk!”
As if he would stop.
The name of the girl who had been tailing Jehwa since yesterday, spewing insults, was Yeom Jehwi.
She was the second daughter of the current Vermilion Bird, Yeom Hwihyeon.
As she was not the eldest daughter, she could not become the successor of the Vermilion Bird, and furthermore, she was relatively weak in terms of strength.
Even so, she monopolized Yeom Hwihyeon’s love.
Whether it was because she was immature, thoughtless, or simply lacked common sense, she continued to get on Jehwa’s nerves and was thus getting beaten like this.
At that moment, Yeom Johwi, who was passing by the area and discovered her younger sister being vigorously trampled by Jehwa, shouted in shock.
“H-Hold on! Stop it! What do you think you’re doing?! She’s still a child!”
And she rushed at him to stop Jehwa.
*Thud!*
“Kuk!”
But by now, if there was anything visible in the eyes of the already furious Jehwa, that in itself would be strange.
Swinging his arm with tremendous force to send the charging Yeom Johwi flying, Jehwa continued to beat Yeom Jehwi.
In the end, it is said that Yeom Jehwi was trampled like that until Yeom Hwihyeon, who had come to find Jehwa on business, arrived.
***
“Uweeeeeeh~”
“There, there. Hush now.”
Yeom Hwihyeon was consoling Yeom Jehwi, who was crying while clinging to her bosom.
“For heaven’s sake…… Go easy on the beating.”
Hong Yuhwa also scolded Jehwa, but Jehwa did not care.
Rather, he was brazen.
“She’s been picking fights and annoying me since yesterday. Even after I hit her a few times and let it go, she gets cocky and crawls back up again. Someone like that needs to be beaten until she shuts her mouth. This is a life motto I learned while living.”
Don’t go making something like that your life philosophy.
At Jehwa’s words, Hong Yuhwa, and of course Heukhwa and Yeom Johwi, looked at Jehwa with bewildered gazes, as if they had lost their words.
Of course, Yeom Jehwi, who had been crying in Yeom Hwihyeon’s embrace, was the same.
There was not a single being here who agreed with those words.
Except for one.
“Oh my? How did you come to realize such a lifelong truth at such a young age? You’re smarter than I thought, kid.”
There was another fellow here who belonged to a similar category as Jehwa, and that was, of course, the great Vermilion Bird, one of the Four Divine Beasts who protected the south of the East.
If someone like that is protecting the south, one really has to worry whether the south won’t be destroyed.
In any case, everyone here averted their eyes from Jehwa and Yeom Hwihyeon for a moment.
“But what on earth is the reason you called us all here like this?”
“Ah, that?”
As Jehwa tilted his head and asked, Yeom Hwihyeon spoke with a stiff expression.
“Yuhwa, that thing called the Demon God’s Jewel that you came looking for……. Is it a dangerous object?”
“Huh? No, not particularly……. It’s not that dangerous. It does contain the Demon God’s power, but even so, ordinary demons, being mere created beings, can’t just wield the Demon God’s power as they please……. It’s simply an object akin to a symbol of the Demon Realm.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“But why?”
As Hong Yuhwa asked back, slightly perplexed to see Yeom Hwihyeon suddenly asking with a serious expression, she let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Yonyeong is the place guarded by the Azure Dragon, Seosi, among the Four Divine Beasts.”
“And?”
“Seosi may be fond of women, but he’s still the oldest one among the Four Divine Beasts. So his abilities are quite good, too. Yet in Gaeju of Yonyeong, which is protected by such a Seosi, all the humans have died.”
“…….”
Gaeju is quite a large county.
The very fact that it’s recognized as a county means it’s a place with a fairly large concentrated population.
Yet you’re saying all the humans there are dead?
“It seems likely the work of one of the demons you’ve been chasing.”
Hong Yuhwa’s expression had hardened stiffly.
“Those guys……. They’re causing trouble after all.”
“It seems Seosi is quite bewildered as well, since such an incident erupted so suddenly. So he contacted me asking if I knew anything.”
“Does that Seosi……. know Grandfather?”
“Yes, he does. Actually, Seosi is already over a thousand years old. His day of passing is not far off, and then this incident had to happen at the last minute, so he seems quite annoyed. He probably feels like a cockroach is running rampant through his house.”
“Demons aren’t cockroaches…….”
“Well, it just means the Azure Dragon’s power is that strong. So much so that even high-ranking demons feel like cockroaches.”
Watching Yeom Hwihyeon shrug her shoulders slightly, Hong Yuhwa muttered internally.
‘Is he as strong as Grandfather?’
Just as Hong Yuhwa was thinking that to herself, Yeom Hwihyeon continued with a stiff expression.
“It’s almost unheard of for humans to be massacred by a non-human entity like this. And by a single one, at that. The humans are quite shaken as well. We Four Divine Beasts are planning to entrust this matter to each of our successors to handle.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. Consider it gaining experience and do your best.”
“But that’s a hassle…….”
“Are you rebelling right now?”
In that instant, Yeom Hwihyeon asked with a smile.
“That sounds fun. I’ll work hard and do my best.”
Yeom Johwi quickly replied with a smile as well.
Yeom Hwihyeon had successfully dumped the task onto Yeom Johwi.
In truth, the Four Divine Beasts found handling this matter to be a hassle and had shoved it all onto their successors.
Having such excellent parents, the successors of the Four Divine Beasts must be truly fortunate.
Pushing work they should be doing onto their successors because it’s a hassle……. How excellent, truly excellent.
Yeom Johwi let out a deep sigh.
“Won’t you help out with this matter as well?”
“It is our world’s affair, so we must help. Besides me and Heukhwa, there are three more demons who came to catch those guys this time.”
“Heeh……. I see.”
Yeom Hwihyeon nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Won’t you help too?”
Yeom Hwihyeon spoke to Jehwa with a grin. Looking at her, Jehwa shook his head.
“I’m busy.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t dump annoying tasks on me. I know you’re trying to pass it on because you don’t want to do it.”
Jehwa had sharply pinpointed the Four Divine Beasts’ intentions.
Yeom Hwihyeon broke into a cold sweat internally and spoke.
“It’s not like that.”
“Hmph!”
But Jehwa merely snorted.
***
“Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, let’s meet again next time.”
Whether they had gotten quite close in just one day, Hong Yuhwa and Yeom Johwi exchanged farewells with regretful expressions.
“Hmph! Dummy! Bleh!”
Yeom Jehwi hurled more insults at Jehwa.
*Thud!*
“Ack!”
In the end, Yeom Jehwi brought the beating upon herself.
“Do come again sometime. It felt good to meet my friend’s granddaughter after a long time.”
Yeom Hwihyeon said to Hong Yuhwa with a smile.
And then she looked at Jehwa with a serious expression and opened her mouth.
“Jehwa.”
“Huh?”
“To be honest, I’m worried about you. You’re too young. Too young for the power you possess. That pure heart of yours will one day return to you as a wound.”
“……?”
“Grow accustomed to your emotions. If you don’t, you will regret it even more.”
“It’s hard.”
As Jehwa spoke with a frown, Yeom Hwihyeon smiled bitterly.
“How unfortunate……. That you have no parents.”
“…….”
At Yeom Hwihyeon’s words, the thing called expression gradually disappeared from Jehwa’s face.
“Hmm?”
At that sight, Yeom Hwihyeon, and of course Yeom Johwi and Yeom Jehwi, opened their eyes wide.
Hong Yuhwa also looked at Jehwa with a surprised expression.
Before they knew it, Jehwa’s hair and pupils had turned silver.
“Jehwa is not weaker than you think.”
“As expected, you weren’t human. This reverberation of the soul is absolutely not that of a human.”
Looking at the Silver Jehwa who had appeared suddenly, Yeom Hwihyeon smirked.
“Yes. I hope that child is not weaker than I thought, otherworldly being.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
At Yeom Hwihyeon’s words, Silver Jehwa replied with a grin.
After Jehwa’s party disappeared, Yeom Johwi opened her mouth with a blank expression a short while later.
“Mother.”
“Yes?”
“Just now……. what was that?”
“Ah……. that?”
Yeom Hwihyeon said to Yeom Johwi with a bitter smile.
“One who is human and yet not human; one who is not human and yet human. One who is different yet the same; one who is the same yet different.”
“……?”
At Yeom Hwihyeon’s incomprehensible words, Yeom Johwi could only tilt her head.