Chapter 110
"How... how are you here...?"
Hyeon Doun's face was filled with shock.
Naturally.
He was standing before the younger sister he'd longed to see again after death.
The crushing pressure that had filled the shrine moments ago was already gone.
Tears streamed down Hyeon Doun's face as he pulled his sister into his arms.
"Are... are you really Sohee?"
"Please answer me...."
"Please."
"Yes, Brother."
"It's me."
She smiled gently.
Hyeon Doun looked at her face and asked in a trembling voice,
"Why..."
"Why were you still wandering through the Nine Heavens...?"
"What lingering attachment could possibly have kept you here...?"
Tears rolled down his cheeks and gathered at his chin before falling.
She gently wiped them away.
"I've always been watching you."
"From the moment you crossed into Demonic Cult territory after the Great Orthodox-Demonic War..."
"Until now."
Hyeon Doun froze.
"...What?"
His hands, still resting on her shoulders, began trembling.
"I felt guilty."
"Because my death was what turned you into this."
"No."
"That wasn't your fault...!"
"This is simply the mission I chose to carry."
"It was never your fault, Sohee...!"
His eyes shook.
His voice faded.
The longing he'd buried for so long had finally surfaced, leaving even Hyeon Doun himself overwhelmed.
"Brother."
"You don't have to keep doing this anymore."
"No one blamed you for my death."
"No."
She looked around.
"No one blamed you for any of our deaths."
Even after hearing her words, Hyeon Doun bit his lip and shook his head.
"...I can't stop."
"My atonement isn't only for you."
"It's for the fellow disciples who died in the war."
"And for the Kunlun disciples who were slaughtered."
His gaze shifted toward Suhyeok.
The air grew heavy again.
Suhyeok tightened his grip on his sword.
Looks like persuading him is impossible after all.
Then...
"They're here too."
Suhyeok froze.
"Everyone..."
"They've been watching you."
"While wandering through the Nine Heavens, all of them prayed that you would someday free yourself from the guilt of carrying us."
Strange shadows slowly began appearing around Hyeon Sohee.
Suhyeok hadn't summoned them.
Each shadow took the shape of a person.
They couldn't speak.
But all of them were looking at Hyeon Doun.
Suhyeok finally understood.
...So that's what it was.
The strange sense of familiarity he'd felt when entering the shrine.
It had come from these souls.
Thud.
As if all desire to fight had vanished, Hyeon Doun dropped to his knees.
Tears fell onto the floor one after another.
"I'm sorry...."
"Truly..."
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...."
Suhyeok slowly walked toward him.
Hyeon Doun had reached his limit.
The guilt he'd buried deep inside himself was finally flooding out all at once.
"...Kill me."
"I have no reason to keep living."
"Brother...!"
"I've committed too many sins already."
"With these hands, I've killed countless people."
"Again and again."
"The corpses of those I've killed pile into mountains and haunt me every day."
"I don't think I can..."
"Endure it anymore."
He reminded Suhyeok of Lee Seha, who had eventually died because he couldn't endure his own guilt back when they were in the raid party.
Lee Seha....
That's a name I haven't thought about in a long time.
Even someone who was always so bright probably looked like this at the end.
Ding!
[Several good-aligned Constellations look at him with pity.]
Most of the messages showed sympathy.
Of course, there were also some demanding that Suhyeok kill him immediately.
That was only natural.
Feeling sorry for Hyeon Doun didn't justify everything he'd done.
In the end, asking for death now was little different from running away because facing reality was too painful.
"..."
Shing.
Suhyeok slowly raised his sword.
Then another memory surfaced.
The last time he'd seen Lee Seha.
It had been just before Suhyeok left to raid the upper regions of the 60th floor.
Hey, Lee Suhyeok! That... uh... you know....
...If you have something to say, say it quickly. We're about to head up.
Lee Seha had looked as though he wanted to say something.
Instead, he'd forced a smile.
Haha.
Just telling you to come back safely.
And grab me a Melona on the way back.
You never get tired of that joke.
Fine.
I'll come back safely.
The day Suhyeok returned from that raid...
Lee Seha was dead.
Just like Hyeon Doun, he hadn't been able to endure the weight of his guilt.
If Suhyeok could go back to that moment...
There was something he would've wanted to say.
Suhyeok lowered the sword and returned it to its sheath.
"You're right."
"Peace doesn't come easily."
"Human greed has no end."
"As long as humanity exists, there probably won't ever be perfect peace in this world."
But...
"Live."
Hyeon Doun looked up.
"Spend the rest of your life paying for what you've done."
"Help the people who suffered."
"Protect whatever brief peace they manage to build so it lasts as long as possible."
Suhyeok's voice remained calm.
"That's the atonement you should carry."
"Not death."
When Suhyeok had raised his sword earlier, Hyeon Sohee had instinctively stepped in front of Hyeon Doun.
Realizing she'd misunderstood, she immediately bowed her head.
"Thank you."
"Thank you for forgiving my brother."
"I'll repay this debt for the rest of my life."
"You don't have to."
Suhyeok glanced at Hyeon Doun.
"That's his job."
"...As expected."
She smiled.
"You're exactly the kind of person my brother trusted and relied on."
Then she helped Hyeon Doun to his feet.
"You..."
"No."
"Heuk Mujin nearly died several times."
"Whenever that happened, my brother repeatedly poured his own qi into him and kept him alive."
"Because he didn't want him to die."
"So that's why Heuk Mujin survived this long."
Suhyeok looked at Hyeon Doun.
"Why?"
"You didn't actually need Heuk Mujin."
"...There was no reason."
"At first, I did it to preserve my cover."
"The next time, it was because the timing was too early."
"And after that..."
He paused.
"After that, I did it for no reason."
For the first time, Hyeon Doun looked relieved.
"Yes."
"Before I realized it..."
