Chapter 80
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 80
Sayeon gently patted the small body of Jeok Soya as she wept against his chest.
By nature, young beastkin must endure their growth pains alone, with only their mother permitted to stand by their side as an exception.
A young beastkin suffering from growth pains cannot recognize even their father who gave them blood and flesh, much less Sayeon, who shared no blood with Jeok Soya.
And yet, despite this, Sayeon could not leave Jeok Soya alone.
[Father!]
That day, when the child had rushed forward to save me, the black bodily fluid of the poison beetle had splattered across her cheek.
With a hissing sound, it corroded and burrowed into the child's skin.
[Cotton ball...!]
In that moment when the child's pupils dilated and the entire world seemed to freeze.
Sayeon could not clearly discern what was happening.
Suddenly the sky turned crimson, and the child's eyelids snapped open.
At the same instant, brilliantly gleaming scarlet feathers scattered and danced around the child.
All of this unfolded in the briefest blink of an eye.
Brilliant crimson flames blossomed from the child's tiny palm.
The child raised both hands with unfocused eyes.
Soon, the resplendent red flames blazed forth as if to consume the entire world, sweeping across the entire Affected Village....
And became a gentle light that enveloped all.
Where the shimmering light descended, the people looked about in confusion before suddenly gasping in astonishment.
[The, the patients...!]
[The patients have all been healed!]
The flames the child had kindled healed the corrupted spirit cores of all the people.
It was not only their spirit cores.
Every old scar and minor wound on their bodies had vanished without trace.
Jjak Jjak, who had collapsed, sprang back to his feet and scurried about, and even Sayeon's wound from the poison beetle's touch had disappeared without blemish.
It was truly a wondrous sight.
Amidst the exclamations of the people, Sayeon gradually came to understand.
The child had awakened the Purifier of the Southern Lands.
The child, who had suddenly collapsed into my arms, groaned in agony.
The child's forehead burned hot as a flame.
Though startled at first, Sayeon soon recognized it as growth pains and returned to Baek Ho Palace with the child.
And I remained by her side throughout her ordeal with the growth pains.
In truth, there was nothing I could do by being there.
Only the mother who had carried the child in her womb for ten months could soothe the child whose reason was paralyzed by growth pains.
And yet....
[Dad, Dad.... Don't leave Soya alone. Soya doesn't want to be by herself.]
How could I abandon a child weeping so sorrowfully?
[Don't hate Soya. Soya did something wrong....]
[Next time... next time Soya will succeed for sure. Soya will succeed brilliantly....]
Sayeon understood to whom those words were directed.
Jeok Ahyun. The man who fathered the child yet abandoned him.
Fever-wrought delirium had twisted the boy's perception, conflating me with that man in his confusion.
There remained no doubt whatsoever that he was the child's biological father.
The boy, who had endured growing pains and cycled through countless transformations and reversions, possessed brilliant crimson plumage—unmistakable proof of his lineage.
[Little cotton ball. Your father is right here—what could you possibly be grieving for?]
Witnessing the child's tears, Sayeon's heart ached profoundly.
Perhaps the wounds inflicted at such a tender age ran deep; Jeok Soya often suppressed her own emotions.
She never whimpered upon waking, never complained even when illness or pain seized her.
To see such a stoic child weeping so bitterly—it was impossible not to feel one's chest constrict.
Between sobs, the child would lose all reason to the searing agony, transforming into a phoenix and setting the surroundings ablaze, lashing out at Sayeon with beak and talons.
Yet each time, Sayeon neither dodged nor flinched—he simply pulled the child close and soothed her.
[It's alright. It's alright, little cotton ball.]
[Father is here beside you. Everything will be fine.]
[Our baby will be fine.]
Small scratches and abrasions marked his body in the aftermath, but Sayeon bore them without complaint.
They were scars of honor—testament to witnessing the child's magnificent growth.
Not a single one caused him pain.
"What parent could feel anguish watching their child flourish so brilliantly?"
It was the truth.
His heart might shatter at his inability to ease the child's suffering, but these wounds could never truly hurt him.
"Thank you, our baby, for growing so wonderfully."
"...!"
At those words, the child finally surrendered to tears, and Sayeon cradled her, offering comfort.
After a long while, the calmed Jeok Soya sniffled softly.
"Sniffle, sniffle, mmph...."
"Come now, blow."
When Sayeon brought a handkerchief to the child's nose, Jeok Soya shook her head with an embarrassed "Ugh."
Twelve years old now, apparently she found it mortifying to blow her nose before her father.
Sayeon burst into genuine laughter.
Jeok Soya, feeling needlessly teased, flushed and ventured a question.
"What happened to the village?"
"Thanks to our little cotton ball, all the villagers' corrupted spirits have been purified and everything's been resolved. Jjak Jjak is safe now too."
"...!"
At the news that everyone was safe, Jeok Soya's face brightened with radiance.
"You have no idea how magnificent our baby was that day. Your father is so incredibly proud of you, little cotton ball."
Sayeon grinned and gently stroked the child's hair.
"...."
It was strange, truly.
Jeok Soya had always dreamed of the day of her first transformation.
And once it was complete, she had planned to boldly declare to her father that he should stop calling her a baby....
'Father smiles at me so tenderly... I think I'd be content to remain his baby forever.'
Before him, I find myself yearning to stay an eternal child.
"...I'm truly grateful for that."
"Jeok Soya."
Sayeon called her by name in a voice that had grown somewhat grave and measured.
Whenever Father—who always called me 'cotton ball'—spoke my name like this, something important always followed.
Jeok Soya straightened her posture and looked up at her father.
"Is there something you wanted to tell your father?"
"I found the owner of the voice who lent me the Purifier's flame. So it turns out that..."
Jeok Soya explained to Sayeon everything she had witnessed and heard that day.
The one who had lent her the Purifier's flame was none other than Phoenix, the divine beast of the Southern Lands, and that she had awakened him on that night long ago when the crimson moon rose.
"...So that's how it came to be."
Sayeon nodded quietly in acknowledgment.
Noticing her father's composed reaction, Jeok Soya asked him a question.
"You had already suspected this, hadn't you, Father?"
"To some extent. Ever since you awakened Baekho on Horim Mountain."
"Then... am I the one spoken of in the oracle? The one destined to awaken the Four Divine Beasts?"
On the night when the crimson moon rises, the bride of the Yellow Dragon shall awaken the slumbering Four Divine Beasts and dispel the darkness scattered across this land, bringing forth peace.
Three years ago, during the Mountain Lord Festival, Jeok Soya had been too young to truly understand what it meant to have "awakened Baekho."
But through her education as a lady of Baek Ho Palace, she gradually came to comprehend its significance.
And why her father had commanded her to keep it secret three years prior.
"Yes. I have long suspected as much—that you are the one of whom the oracle speaks, destined to awaken the remaining divine beasts and vanquish the evil of the Northern Region."
"The reason you didn't tell me was—"
"Because if that truth became known, you would be in danger. I told you, didn't I? My little cotton ball worries me more than anyone else."
At that time, Jeok Soya had been merely a young beast-kin in her infancy, not yet having undergone her first transformation.
Moreover, her spiritual core was unstable compared to others, and she was only just beginning to overcome her fear of beast-kin transformation.
Thus, Jeok Soya could understand her father's heart. But.
"Father, I... have made my decision."
In Jeok Soya's crimson eyes as she gazed up at Sayeon burned a resolute and unwavering determination.
"I will awaken the remaining two divine beasts. And I will stand against the Hyunmu Clan."
For I am no longer the young beast-kin child of my infancy.
"I will drive away the demons that torment the people, and I will end this war."
I will not turn away from the mission of the oracle bestowed upon me.
At those words, Sayeon burst into laughter.
If it were Jeok Soya, if it were the little cotton ball he knew, she would surely say such things.
And so he had deliberately refrained from speaking until she came to understand it herself.
Until that small shoulder bore the burden of the oracle's mission, he had hoped his child could remain a child just a little while longer.
Yet in the blink of an eye, she had grown so much, and now he could no longer hold her back.
Then, as a father, what I can offer her is...
"Very well, cotton ball. Walk your own path."
Sayeon placed his hand upon the child's shoulder, a gentle smile spreading across his face.
"I will pave the path before you with care, and stand at its threshold to guide you."
I will ensure no obstacles block your way.
I will keep all those who would harm you at bay.
I will be there should you stumble and fall, your tears my concern.
I will watch that you do not lose yourself, wandering into darkness.
Standing upon that path, I will protect you and wait for your safe return.
"So you—run forward with all your strength in the direction you believe is right."
To trust and support the child as they walk confidently along the road laid before them.
This is the greatest gift a father can bestow upon his child.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org