Chapter 400
“It’s cold outside. Why didn’t you wait in the mansion?”
“It’s not really... ah, wait. This isn’t it.”
Midway through her nonchalant response, Aria stopped and pulled her coat’s collar tighter, as if feeling the chill, and smiled softly.
“I just wanted to see you sooner.”
From her playful words and tone, Aria clearly recalled the conversation they had at the entrance of the mansion. It revealed a side of her that was unimaginable to Se-Hoon, leaving him just staring at her for a moment.
Then, when he recovered, he let out a small chuckle. “That’s quite touching.”
“Haha, I’m glad you think so.”
The conversation paused there as they gazed at each other. Eventually, Se-Hoon broke eye contact and glanced around.
“Shall we take a walk?”
“Sure.”
The two of them started walking slowly through the snow-covered forest path.
As they walked, Se-Hoon stole a glance at Aria and asked, “This place seems like something only the family head would know about. How did you find it?”
“I came here once recently, when I was acknowledged as the successor of the family. I figured out where it was then.”
“You were recognized as the successor of the family?”
Se-Hoon was somewhat surprised. If it had been the greedy eldest son, he wouldn’t have been. With Aria, though, he had thought that she wouldn’t be interested in such a position at all.
“I didn’t take it too seriously. I just figured that being the successor would make it easier to learn about the family’s secrets.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And besides...” Aria gazed absently in the direction of the family mansion. “This is all going to disappear soon, anyway.”
“...”
Se-Hoon turned his gaze in the same direction. The fact that a prestigious family which had produced a multitude of high-ranking heroes and always wielded its sword at the forefront of humanity’s battles would soon come to an end gave him an odd feeling.
I guess this is a butterfly effect in its own way...
Aaron had seen hope in him. That was why he resolved to kill Demon’s Edge and sever all cycles of misfortune, taking on the sins passed down through generations. Events were unfolding completely differently than before the regression, when the family had desperately amassed power to fight in the war against the Demon Force.
Se-Hoon quietly walked, reflecting on the drastic changes.
“Now that I think about it, where is the head of the family?” It was an abrupt question, as if the thought had just occurred to her.
“I subdued him and sent him back to the mansion. I also avoided causing any lasting damage and treated his wounds, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
“I see. Jake will be happy about that. Thanks.”
Seeing Aria nodding clearly, acting like her words were a matter-of-fact, Se-Hoon hesitated momentarily before asking, “What would you do if I had killed the head of the family?”
Unlike most people who would assume Aria had been waiting outside to prevent Aaron—her father—from dying, Se-Hoon was certain that wasn’t the case.
If she really intended to stop his death, she would’ve gone down long ago.
Aria could have effortlessly broken through the security of the underground facility in an instant. Though, by the same token, Se-Hoon was fully capable of ensuring Aaron’s death in those crucial instants before.
Was Aria really unaware of such a fact? Se-Hoon doubted it.
“Hm? I wonder...”
Seemingly pondering over something, Aria broke into a smile before throwing the question back at him.
“What do you think I should have done?”
It was clear from her tone and words that she didn’t particularly care either way and would simply agree with whatever he decided.
However, Se-Hoon didn’t want that, making him shake his head.
“I want to hear your thoughts, not mine.”
While his main reason for coming over was to uncover the secrets of the Myers family, he also intended to confirm Aria’s condition.
If, during the upcoming Silent Volcano campaign, Demon’s Edge awakened as the Destroyer of Swords, there was the chance Aria would come into contact with it—and become the Destroyer of Light.
Considering the nature of Demon’s Edge, it’s entirely possible we’ll meet it.
If nothing else, that meeting was a matter that needed to be addressed clearly.
“Oh? That’s unexpected.” Aria’s voice was calm. “I thought you already had your mind made up about the answer.”
Se-Hoon was caught off guard. In her bitter mutter, there was a detached yet resigned feeling in her tone.
Unconsciously, he stopped walking. “What... do you mean by that?”
He was asking simply so he could confirm her thoughts. Why was she speaking as if the answer had already been decided?
Stopping as well, Aria—who was now slightly further ahead—turned around and met his eyes.
“If I told you I was waiting there to stop my father’s death... would you believe me?”
“If that’s the truth—”
“Alright, then, what about this?”
With the snow-covered world behind her, her golden eyes stared straight into his.
“I don’t care if the head of the family dies or if my entire family is destroyed. The only thing that even slightly interests me is a single sword—the one that has supposedly reached the pinnacle of the Essence of the Sword.”
“...”
“I don’t have any particular plans for it, but if I get the chance, I wouldn’t mind wielding it once. It just might be the perfect sword for me.”
As Se-Hoon listened to her, fragments of the past began overlapping with reality..
A Harbinger of Destruction, shrouded in a dazzling yet eerie radiance, gripping a grotesquely twisted black sword. The pristine white forest was now abruptly dyed in a crimson, drenched in the blood of the corpses strewn all around them.
“...”
No matter how much he tried to forget, the sight before him was burned into his soul. Inadvertently recalling the memory that would never fade, Se-Hoon’s gaze instinctively shifted to the bodies littering the ground in that past vision.
Eun-Ha, who had died protecting him during the rampage of the Destroyer of Light; Meirin, who had died a meaningless death, accomplishing nothing; the countless others who had been slaughtered by Aria.
His gaze then moved to the mountain of corpses, where the Destroyer of Light atop overlapped with Aria.
“If I told you that, for the sake of this sword, I couldn’t care less about humanity... would you believe me?”
Almost all would laugh off those words as an excessive joke. Se-Hoon, however, as someone who had witnessed that terrifying possibility firsthand, could never.
So that’s what she meant... that my answer was already decided.
He had come here to check on Aria’s condition—that was what he told himself, but in truth, it was just a lie—that was meant to deceive even himself.
From the moment he arrived, or perhaps even from the very day he first saw Aria once again, all he had been thinking about was how to deal with the Harbinger of Destruction within her.
Because I was just that sure of it.
Even though he clearly knew that his regression had drastically changed the world already, the one possibility he could never believe in was Aria changing. Deeply rooted distrust and unwavering certainty about her nature—those were his true feelings about Aria, though even he hadn’t realized it.
“...”
Having now come to terms with his own belief, Se-Hoon stared at the remnants of the past that were seared into his mind once again.
To put it bluntly, sealing Aria away right now was the cleanest solution. Even if their bond had reached level three, their relationship was still too ambiguous to claim he had a firm grip on her. There was no telling how Aria would react upon encountering Demon’s Edge, which was connected not only to her bloodline but also to her synesthetic mindscape.
There was no need to take such a risk by bringing her to the battlefield.
Yeah... sealing her should be the right decision.
Before regressing, he wouldn’t have even hesitated to choose such a path. And now that he knew the family’s secrets, he likely would even be able to convince Aria to accept it willingly.
Yet... he just couldn’t.
Why?
He now accepted that he had distrusted and resented Aria for so long, but... why had he buried those emotions and hesitated until now, if that was the case? In the quagmire of his thoughts, Se-Hoon arrived at the answer.
Am I just refusing to acknowledge the change?
He had been using the past—that was now erased—as proof that Aria had remained the same. But if that were true, then what about the salvation of the world?
Up until now, everything had been progressing in a better direction. But, if Aria couldn’t change, then what if one day—just like before his regression—the Harbingers of Destruction suddenly reappeared and brought about destruction?
I can’t afford to be like that, no matter what.
He had experienced something as improbable as regression—so why was he still so hesitant to consider all possibilities? His thoughts arriving there, Se-Hoon closed his eyes as everything that had felt misaligned in his mind slowly fell into place.
He then let out a deep breath, exhaling the unnecessary heat clouding his mind.
“Phew...”
Everything around him suddenly felt clearer. Se-Hoon opened his eyes, and the remnants of the past were now gone, leaving only the snowy forest and Aria standing before him.
“...”
Seeing Aria smiling bitterly, waiting for his response, Se-Hoon hesitated, unsure of what to say.
Then, finally, he spoke. “...Are you really that curious about Demon’s Edge?”
“To be honest... yes. I am.”
“You said you don’t care what happens to humanity because you solely care about that?”
“Probably.”
There was no shred of hesitation.
At that, Se-Hoon’s expression turned serious.
“Even more than the sword I could forge for you?”
“...?”
Aria froze for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden change of topic.
“What if I make you a sword that can achieve a ninety-nine percent assimilation rate, with sword aura soaring over a hundred meters—one capable of cutting down even Perfect Ones and Harbingers of Destruction alike? Would you still be more drawn to that thing even then?”
Blinking in surprise, Aria gave him a strange look.
“...Are you being serious right now?”
Just a while ago, he had said he wouldn’t be able to forge a sword for her anytime soon due to his condition. Yet he was suddenly making such grand promises now?
It was nothing but suspicious, as if he was just saying it to keep her here. But before Aria could call him out on it...
“I’m completely serious.”
Se-Hoon’s voice was unwavering.
“That ‘Essence of the Sword’ or whatever is just something the Seeker cooked up decades ago. How good could outdated techniques like that really be?”
“Well...”
“And according to Li Kenxie, the Seeker never even forged a single sword in her life. Which means it’s all just theoretical nonsense. I guarantee it.”
While the Seeker was known for many things, she couldn’t even compare to Se-Hoon when it came to the craft of blacksmithing.
“...”
Aria stared at him, sensing the certainty in his words.
But she just couldn’t understand why.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to get rid of me from the equation entirely?”
She had known for a long time that she was being kept in check. And upon learning the family’s secret, she fully understood why. Perhaps, from the moment they first met, Se-Hoon had sensed the ominous presence passed down from the previous generation within her.
She, out of everyone, was the one who carried the most dangerous imprint. Aria knew that all too well, which was why she had always expected that she would be removed from the battlefield—or even preemptively eliminated.
He really seemed like he was going to do that up until a certain point.... What made him suddenly change his mind?
No matter how much she thought about it, she just couldn’t understand. That was why she had to wait for his answer.
“...Because you’re like me.”
“Me? Like you?”
“Yes. Or maybe... like everyone else.”
Humanity had made the wrong choices—which was why they perished in regret. That was why Se-Hoon knew that if they also had the chance to regress, just like he had, they would also have wanted to correct everything.
That includes her... which is why I will try my best to change the destined course of her fate.
Reaffirming the resolve he had repeated to himself countless times, Se-Hoon extended his hand toward the bewildered woman before him.
“So come change it with me, Aria.”
If even a tiny part of her was willing, then he would do everything in his power to make it happen. That was his duty: for the bond they had forged, for the soul they had shared.
“...”
Aria silently looked down at the hand extended toward her. After a long pause, she slowly reached out and grasped it.
Smack!
Se-Hoon’s forehead was struck with a force so strong it felt like being hit by a metal club, sending a sharp pain through his skill.
“Urk?!”
As Se-Hoon clutched his forehead in agony, Aria stared at him with a stern expression.
“It’s ‘Aria-nim,’ not just ‘Aria.’ You’ll have your own handful of underclassmen next year, so you better start learning some proper manners.”
“W-Well... I suppose that’s true, but...”
Did it really matter when they were outside Babel with no one else around? Seeing Se-Hoon’s frown, Aria covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
“After graduation, you can just call me ‘Aria’ all you want. I actually like that better.”
“Then can’t I just start calling you like that now—”
“Shh.”
“...Okay, understood. Aria-nim.”
Se-Hoon had no idea why she was so insistent on that, but if she wanted to be addressed properly, he had no choice but to comply.
Satisfied, Aria gave a small nod and turned to leave.
“Well then, I’ll head out first.”
“You’re not going back to the mansion?”
Aria shook her head.
“I have some things to prepare. But don’t worry, I won’t be late for the summons.”
Even though she felt adequately prepared already, after hearing what Se-Hoon had said, she figured she should go the extra mile.
Just before she was about to leave, however, she suddenly remembered something and turned back.
“Oh, right. One more thing.”
She grinned playfully.
“If you don’t forge me a sword like you promised, I’m going to lock you up for good.”
Boom!
And with that, she kicked off the ground and vanished into the distance, sending snow spraying in every direction.
“That... was a joke, right...?”