Chapter 95. End of the Scenario (1)
"Ugh..."
Cheon Sangwoon...
Who had fallen deep underground...
Barely regained consciousness.
He couldn't move.
It seemed the underground facility had collapsed and buried him beneath the debris.
Normally...
He could have lifted something like this easily.
But in his current condition...
With such severe injuries...
It was impossible.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately...
He was still alive.
Then...
Cheon Sangwoon realized something.
The reason he had survived the collapse...
Was because someone had protected him.
"Somun Gwang..."
Somun Gwang was crouched over Cheon Sangwoon.
He had thrown himself over him...
Protecting him from the falling debris.
But...
He no longer seemed to be breathing.
Perhaps...
Somun Gwang had already been injured before shielding him.
"You did well."
That was all Cheon Sangwoon could say.
He barely had the strength to speak anymore.
So this is how I die.
He had no strength to escape.
There was no reason to expect someone to rescue him.
He would die here.
Was my role... only this much?
Cheon Sangwoon gave up.
There was nothing more he could do.
He was about to accept death and close his eyes...
When...
"Cheon Sangwoon."
"...!"
A sudden voice.
Cheon Sangwoon turned toward it...
Trying to see the speaker's face.
But it was too dark.
Still...
He knew.
The man who had suddenly appeared in the darkness...
Was that man who had once remained at Cheon Sangwoon's side.
"How..."
Cheon Sangwoon tried asking how he had appeared here.
But the words barely came out.
"You..."
There was so much he wanted to say.
He wanted to ask why the man had left.
He wanted to ask why he hadn't stayed.
If this man had remained beside him and continued supporting him...
Would he have ended up like this?
"How..."
"What should I have done..."
"To not lose you?"
He forced out the words with the last of his strength.
"..."
The man was silent for a moment.
Then he spoke heavily.
"Cheon Sangwoon."
"..."
"You've always judged people only by their abilities."
"And you built relationships based on that."
That was only natural.
People had roles according to their abilities.
What was wrong with forming relationships accordingly?
"You kept me close because..."
"At that time..."
"I had abilities that were useful to you."
"After I left..."
"You kept Somun Gwang close for the same reason."
"So what...
Was wrong with that?"
"But if you..."
The man's voice carried a faint bitterness.
"If you had simply wanted me to stay beside you as a friend..."
"Then I probably would have stayed."
"Even if I complained the entire time."
"..."
Cheon Sangwoon froze.
Strangely...
The words made sense.
"I see..."
"Yes."
"So that's..."
"What it was..."
Cheon Sangwoon murmured weakly.
And for the first time in years...
He felt like crying.
For the first time...
He felt lonely.
"Cheon Sangwoon."
The man spoke calmly.
"While working under you in the Capital Region..."
"I encountered and learned many things."
"Those experiences are part of what made me who I am now."
"..."
"It wasn't a very long time..."
"But thank you for letting me work under you."
Cheon Sangwoon listened as his consciousness slowly faded.
He wanted to hear more.
It was painful to realize...
That he couldn't.
"I admired the Contractor named Cheon Sangwoon."
Those...
Were words of farewell.
"You're awake?"
Cheon Sangwoon opened his eyes.
Then realized...
Someone was carrying him.
"Don't move."
"Where..."
"You lost one arm."
"Several ribs are broken."
"Your internal organs are probably badly damaged too."
A cold voice.
It belonged to Lee Hyeonje.
"Why are you..."
"I rescued an injured person."
Cheon Sangwoon tried looking around.
But only half his usual field of vision remained.
He couldn't see out of his right eye.
Even so...
He could tell that the entire Gangnam-daero area had become literal hell.
"Why didn't you just let me die?"
"What?"
"Shouldn't I pay for what I did?"
"Death would be easier."
Lee Hyeonje's voice was cold.
"Living is usually more painful than dying."
"I didn't know you thought that way."
"You never paid much attention to me."
Lee Hyeonje sighed.
"Don't run away through death."
"You caused this entire disaster."
"Stay alive and take responsibility for it."
"..."
Cheon Sangwoon had lost one arm.
One eye.
And suffered many other injuries.
Treatment would be difficult.
Regaining his old strength would probably be impossible.
That meant...
He would never again be able to fulfill the same "role" he once had.
"Lee Hyeonje."
"What?"
How was he supposed to live from now on?
Cheon Sangwoon wanted to ask that.
But a different question came out.
"Do you have many friends?"
"What?"
"Come to think of it..."
"I've never had a single friend."
"When I saw you back at university..."
"You were always surrounded by people."
"University?"
"Don't tell me you didn't know we attended the same school."
"I had no idea."
"Seriously?"
Lee Hyeonje sighed.
"Pay more attention to other people."
"I suppose I should."
Cheon Sangwoon no longer possessed the power he once had.
So...
He could no longer fulfill the same role as before.
But perhaps...
There were still things he could do in this world.
Thinking that...
Cheon Sangwoon closed his eyes again and fell asleep.
[The Scenario has ended.]
[The path of the beast has been severed, and a new hero has appeared.]
[May you remain at peace until the next Scenario.]
"Hey, what's going on here?"
Jason...
Who arrived late...
Looked around in disbelief.
"If all these big shots were gathering, you should've told me beforehand."
"I didn't know everyone would show up either."
"I thought only the Count was coming."
"Our opponent is none other than the 'Shining Guardian,' Hector."
"It was better to match his numbers."
Powerful Constellations had gathered in this space.
S-rank Constellation "King of Avengers," the Count of Monte Cristo.
S-rank Constellation "Grand Preceptor of the Golden Whip," Wen Zhong.
A-rank Constellation "Fairy Who Controls Water," Princess Longji.
B-rank Constellation "Leader of the Expedition," Jason.
B-rank Constellation "Murderer with Two Axes," Lee Gyu.
And even the captured A-rank Constellation "Knight of the White Feather," Bradamante.
Every Constellation I could gather...
Had assembled here.
"An abandoned throne..."
"Places like this exist too?"
"The original owner apparently disappeared."
As Lee Gyu and Princess Longji said...
This place had once been a Constellation's throne.
Normally...
When a Constellation disappeared...
Their throne vanished as well.
But apparently...
Sometimes it failed to disappear completely...
And remained as ruins like this.
"Then we simply wait until Hector arrives."
"You contacted him properly, didn't you?"
"Of course, Grand Preceptor Wen."
"Lord Hector definitely agreed to the meeting."
This place was originally a neutral zone secured by the Count.
The Count had proposed holding a meeting here with Hector...
And contacted him through Bradamante, who had served under him.
"Looks like he's here."
The instant the Count spoke...
Space suddenly distorted.
Several figures appeared.
"Apologies for keeping you waiting."
At the front stood a strongly built middle-aged man.
His gaze was sharp.
His voice carried authority.
It was immediately obvious he wasn't an ordinary figure.
"I am the 'Shining Guardian,' Hector."
"A pleasure to meet you."
The Constellations behind Hector had hidden their faces with masks and hoods.
But judging from their skin tones and clothing...
They all seemed to be Western Constellations.
They were probably powerful figures.
If we had come here with only a small group...
It might have been dangerous.
"It's been a while, King of Avengers."
"Has it been a year since we last met face-to-face?"
"About that."
Hector greeted the Count familiarly.
"Hmm."
"Then are you representing this meeting again?"
"No."
"Not this time."
The Count smiled...
Then reached toward me.
He placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke calmly.
"The Nameless Constellation will conduct the discussion."
"We're only here as support."
"I see."
Hector's gaze turned toward me.
"Very well, Nameless Constellation."
"What does your side want?"
"I'd rather ask you."
"What?"
"What did you..."
"Or all of you..."
"Want from this entire scheme?"
I glanced at Bradamante beside me...
Then looked back at Hector.
"There's only one reason Cheon Sangwoon would do something like this in the Capital Region."
"He wanted to create a powerful army unified around himself..."
"In preparation for Pandemonium's second invasion of the Korean Peninsula."
"..."
Northern Korea was controlled by Pandemonium.
Move north from the Capital Region...
And you immediately entered Pandemonium territory.
If Pandemonium began another invasion...
The Capital Region would become the front line.
Cheon Sangwoon had judged the current Eight Guardians system incapable of resisting that invasion.
So he tried to establish a unified regime with overwhelming power.
"But the schemes used to accomplish that..."
"Didn't feel like Cheon Sangwoon."
"You were behind them."
"..."
"They didn't suit the great hero Hector, the knight in the shining helm."
"You used Daji."
"You used the beast."
"It looked like a scheme created by someone who had sold his soul to the devil."
"N-Nameless Constellation!"
"Do not insult Lord Hector!"
Bradamante raised her voice.
But Hector lifted a hand and stopped her.
"Nameless Constellation."
"I'll tell you one thing."
"What?"
"The Hector who lived as a human..."
"And the being standing here now..."
"Are not the same."
Hector's voice was cold.
"Human Hector died to Achilles during the Trojan War."
"His soul spent a very long time in Limbo..."
"And later became a Constellation."
"..."
Limbo.
In Christian afterlife traditions...
It was where those who never had the opportunity to believe in Christianity went instead of Heaven.
Even in Dante's Divine Comedy...
Hector was said to reside in Limbo.
The Constellations from the Investiture of the Gods became Taoist deities after being enshrined, then became Constellations later.
Do beings normally pass through several stages like that?
It bothered me...
But this wasn't the time to ask Hector about it.
"In terms of time..."
"Three thousand years."
"Of course, I didn't live every moment of those three thousand years like a living human."
"But isn't that still enough time for a person's character to change?"
"So now..."
"You believe any means are acceptable if the goal is important enough?"
"To be more precise..."
Hector extended both hands.
"I've accepted that protecting the world may require staining these hands with blood."
"..."
"Nameless Constellation."
"My goal is to protect humanity."
Hector's eyes shone.
"When Pandemonium launches its second invasion..."
"This time, the world may truly fall under demonic rule."
"I prepared all of this to prevent that."
"Can protecting one Capital Region in Korea really prevent the entire world from falling to demons?"
"The coming invasion will begin in the Far East."
"If Pandemonium loses the opening battle in Korea's Capital Region..."
"They'll have no choice but to become more cautious."
"..."
"My Contractor, Cheon Sangwoon, was an extremely powerful man."
"We needed to concentrate power around him."
Hector spoke with absolute conviction.
"This wasn't blind faith."
"Our calculations showed that concentrating everything into Cheon Sangwoon produced the highest probability of victory."
"Who performed those calculations?"
"That..."
"I can't reveal."
Could Hector have someone behind him too?
Perhaps...
Even Hector had been moving according to a Scenario designed by someone else.
"I'm different from most Constellations."
"..."
"Other Constellations have no intention of actively intervening on Earth to save humanity."
"Even those who care about mankind usually take one step back and remain observers."
As he said that...
Hector looked at the Constellations standing beside me.
"Grand Preceptor of the Golden Whip."
"What about you?"
"You intervened actively during the Daji incident..."
"But in other matters, you've remained completely detached."
"Don't misunderstand me, Shining Guardian."
Wen Zhong answered coldly.
"Human beings are the ones who shape the human world."
"Prosperity and destruction alike are accomplished by human hands."
"We Constellations merely observe..."
"And occasionally offer advice."
"That's only your opinion."
"When you were alive, you fought with everything you had to defend your nation."
"So did I."
"But that was because I was a member of human society at the time."
Wen Zhong stared at Hector.
"It isn't unnatural for a higher being to develop the desire to control human society."
"Such desires exist."
"But if you've become trapped in the self-righteous belief that Constellations have an obligation to protect humanity..."
"Then that is arrogance."
"Humanity must protect humanity."
"We think too differently."
That was Hector's response.
"Either way..."
"I actively intervened because I wanted to protect the human world."
"It failed..."
"But I don't believe I was wrong."
"We need a powerful military force with a unified chain of command to resist Pandemonium."
"Then what will you do now?"
"..."
Hector fell silent for a moment.
"Will you find another Contractor in Korea..."
"And raise them to replace Cheon Sangwoon?"
"That..."
"No."
"You won't do that."
"Instead..."
Hector wasn't acting alone.
He had followers like Bradamante.
And there might be other Constellations behind him.
Considering that...
And the geopolitical situation around the Korean Peninsula...
There was only one answer.
"You're planning to bring Japanese Contractor forces into Korea."
"Aren't you?"
