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Brought to you by ‌‌‌Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read ‌‌‌‌directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 106
"Gasp, huff...."
Hyun Rabaek felt his body decaying as he breathed in ragged, labored gasps.
This was the backlash of accepting Evil into his spiritual core.
Even as he recognized his body had reached its limits, he had drawn out even more Evil.
The bride of the Yellow Dragon.
If he could only eliminate the protagonist of ‌‌‌that oracle—the one destined to awaken the ancient Four Sacred Beasts—then his plan to shroud the Empire in Evil ‌‌would become far more perfect.
Yet in that single moment of hesitation, he had been struck down.
Through his dimming vision, he could see Jeok Soya tending ‌‌to the fallen boy.
But his gaze ‌‌was not fixed on Jeok Soya—it was drawn to the boy with black hair and ash-gray eyes.
He did not know ‌‌why the child still ‌‌‌‌lived....
But one thing was certain. It was 'that child'.
"Seol Yo. Are you alright? I, the purification.... The power of the flames, why...."
Fragments of Jeok Soya's voice reached his ears.
He wanted to take in more of the boy's appearance, but Jeok Soya blocked his view.
As he felt his breath slowly fading, he barely managed to force open his eyelids, which ‌‌‌were growing heavy and dim.
'That is....' ‌‌
Suddenly, a teal-colored hair ribbon dangling from Jeok Soya's head captured his gaze.
'Am I seeing things.'
Perhaps it was because death was ‌‌drawing near.
'Why does her possession appear on that child.'
Hyun Rabaek let out a hollow laugh.
'That cannot be.... Ugh....'
But what spilled from his lips was a dark crimson clot of blood.
"Cough, cough."
Jeok Soya, supporting Seol Yo, stood before him as he coughed up blood.
The black shell that had covered his entire body was peeling away, and his form was beginning to decay—left alone, his life would not last much longer.
Jeok Soya knew this.
With the purifying flames she possessed, she could extend his lifespan somewhat.
But Jeok Soya did not do so.
She did not wish ‌‌‌to.
She had no intention of extending a merciful hand to this man who ‌‌had caused so much suffering and pain to countless people.
No matter what circumstances he might ‌‌‌‌‌have faced.
So ‌‌‌when Jeok Soya turned to leave,
"Beware the Imperial House...."
A ragged voice stopped her in her ‌‌tracks.
"Beware ‌‌‌‌the Imperial House. They always.... Strike from behind like that...."
Hyun Rabaek forced open his parched lips and barely squeezed out the words.
"I do not know why you possess the Yellow Dragon's orb...."
With those words, his head fell forward.
I had slain countless demonic ‌‌beasts alongside Father on the journey here, yet witnessing the death of a human was a first for me.
Though Soya was terrified by this first glimpse of mortality, she stood firm without retreating a single step.
And finally.
Having accepted his death, Soya turned her body alongside Seol Yo. ‌‌‌
"Seol Yo, are you alright?"
Seol Yo's expression was solemn, as if witnessing human death for the first time as well.
"...Yes, I'm fine, ‌‌Soya. Let's return now."
"Okay."
It was the moment Soya nodded her head.
Splat.
Something cold and viscous ‌dripped directly onto her face.
Soya slowly lifted her head.
Black mud ‌‌‌‌began ‌‌dripping steadily from the cave ceiling, and then...
Rumble―!
The Underground Palace began to shake.
"Soya!"
Seol Yo immediately transformed ‌‌into a massive wolf, gripping a shield in his jaws while carrying Soya upon his back.
Then he bolted forward on all fours, racing out of the cave.
Rumble rumble rumble―!
Accompanied by the sound of the earth trembling, black mud fell ceaselessly from the void ‌above.
Seol Yo ran with fierce determination, dodging the falling ‌‌mud ‌‌‌again and again.
Yet when Seol Yo reached the entrance of the Underground Palace.
"Seol Yo, the entrance...!"
Black mud had accumulated, blocking the way out. ‌‌‌‌
Caught between helplessness and panic.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble―!
Another deafening roar erupted, and ‌‌‌the entire world convulsed.
Soya and Seol Yo's bodies were buried beneath the black mud.
* * *
When Soya regained consciousness.
"Chirp...?"
Blink, blink.
Blinking her eyes repeatedly, Soya surveyed her surroundings and realized she was outside the Underground Palace.
The first evidence was that the black waters ‌‌‌of the Underground Palace, which had lapped at ankle height, were nowhere to be seen.
And ‌‌the second evidence was that the place where I had regained consciousness held the landscape of the Northern Lands I had witnessed before entering the Underground Palace.
That desolate, black earth devoid of all life.
"Chirp..."
As Soya slowly rose to her feet, she suddenly realized ‌‌‌her ‌‌body was incredibly small.
Glancing down, her reflection in a puddle of water showed a tiny chick.
With even my red feathers gone, my form resembled that of my childhood before the first growth stage.
"Squawk!"
Jeok Soya cried out in alarm, startled by the ‌sudden voice.
―Do not be frightened, little bird.
"Chirp? (Divine Beasts?)"
―As we ‌‌escaped the Underground Palace, I ‌‌‌sealed away a portion of my power once ‌‌‌more to protect your spiritual core from the remnants of Evil that lingered within.
"Chirp?!"
―But fear not, little bird. ‌‌‌‌It is only temporary—in an hour or two, your strength shall return to you.
"Squawk...."
Reassured by this, I released the tension from my puffed-up body.
In doing so, my hindquarters splashed into a puddle, soaking my tail feathers ‌‌‌thoroughly.
'But the problem is....'
My expression grew somewhat grave.
With a portion of my spiritual core sealed away, ‌‌‌I could not transform ‌back into human form.
Moreover, it seemed I had injured my wings while escaping the Underground Palace—my wing ‌‌joints ached and throbbed, making flight difficult.
'This is troublesome. ‌‌I ‌‌need to find Father and Seol Yo.'
Rising to my feet, I ‌‌‌shook my tail feathers to dry them, then began walking earnestly along the path before me.
However, with the short legs of a baby ‌‌‌‌bird, even my hurried waddling could not carry me far.
In fact, ‌‌in my humanoid form, I resembled a wren—a bird notorious for its stubby legs.
'Sigh. At this rate, I'll never find anyone. I suppose ‌I should just wait until my strength returns.'
It was as I sighed deeply with this thought that—
"A baby bird...?"
A voice from above made my body stiffen.
"A few days ago in the Northern Lands, I thought I heard bird calls."
It was a voice I knew well.
"So I wasn't mistaken after all."
Yet it felt strangely unfamiliar.
"Hello there, pretty little bird. How did you ‌come to be lost and alone in this frightening Northern Lands?"
A man with hair as brilliant and crimson as flame bent down toward me, asking ‌‌gently.
'San ‌‌‌Yu... Older Brother...?'
It was Jeok San Yu, the eldest prince of the Jeok Family.
I was so startled that I tumbled backward onto my rump.
"Chirp, chirp...!" ‌‌‌‌
"Ah? Now that I look closer, your wing is injured. Poor thing."
His eyes ‌‌‌grew sorrowful as he gazed upon my damaged wing.
"Just wait a moment, little bird."
"...?"
As I stared blankly, he withdrew a salve from his robes and applied it to the wound on my wing joint.
With each touch of his fingertips to the injury, my small body trembled.
'He doesn't recognize me. He doesn't even seem to know I'm a humanoid.'
I watched San Yu's face as he focused on my wound, my thoughts churning.
Thanks to Evil being sealed ‌‌‌‌away, fortunately he seemed unaware that I was a shapeshifter.
"Chirp chirp..."
To keep my true nature hidden, I deliberately mimicked a real bird's ‌‌‌cry, chirping and tweeting.
San Yu carefully ‌‌‌applied medicine to each of my wounds, then tore a strip from his own sleeve to bandage my wings.
"You'll have to bear with the discomfort for now."
He spoke gently, soothing me as he tied off the bandage.
"There. All done."
"Chirp..."
The bandage wrapped around my wing joint was uncomfortable, but far more unbearable was being in his presence at all. ‌‌‌
'Now that the treatment is finished, I should be able to leave, right?'
Eager to escape this moment, I began shuffling backward step by step.
Whoosh.
My vision suddenly rose as my small body was lifted onto his palm.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and ‌enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------