Possessing Nothing

In a sense, Lee Sungmin was a hero, but at the same time he was not.

If Lee Sungmin hadn’t gone insane and killed innocent civilians at the end of the battle 10 years ago.

If only the story had ended with the tale of him taking down Volander, the Monarch of the Death Knights, and Kim Jonghyun, the Dark Wizard who had turned into a Devil…. 

Lee Sungmin would have surely become a hero. Even if Lee Sungmin had committed atrocious deeds and murders under the name of Ghost Spear like he had been accused of, it was not comparable to the evil deeds of Volander and Kim Jonghyun that he killed.

However, Lee Sungmin did not become a hero. He did all of those huge accomplishments except he had also gone mad directly afterwards and killed anything in sight.

It was a story that had ended in a complete tragedy with Lee Sungmin being the main character of such a horrific incident.

“Let’s go.”

Lee Sungmin was depicted as such a person inside the minds of the Orthodox martial artists who had been saved. And that very person, known as the Ghost Spear was right in front of them. The Orthodox martial artists looked as if they had no clue on how to react.

In the past, Lee Sungmin was an enemy of all Orthodox Martial Artists.

Of course, none of the warriors present would attack Lee Sungmin for what happened 10 years ago.

They could at least make the distinction that he was not in his right mind at the time. In the first place, it would not even be a fight, and Lee Sungmin was more of a lifesaver for them rather than a mortal enemy.

In fact, it was the same for Lee Sungmin. Although it was forced and they had their lives taken from them unwillingly, the lives of the deceased martial artists had been used to save Lee Sungmin and wake him up from the seal.

“Well… that…….”

Tang Ah-hui stuttered trying to formulate a reply, but she couldn’t figure out what to say in this situation.

She glanced at Lee Sungmin’s back as the group organized themselves slowly and walked ahead. They were heading out of Germane.

“Thank you for saving us.”

Murong Chae opened his mouth. He was staring at Lee Sungmin’s back, but he did not rush in shouting about revenge like his father. He was still unsure about everything after ten years.

“……You don’t remember anything that happened over the past 10 years?”

When Lee Sungmin did not reply to the words of thanks, Zhuge Aryong asked in a quiet voice to probe for info. Zhuge Aryong knew that Lee Sungmin had been accused of killing his older brother, Zhuge Taeryong- but that did not mean he was hasty to conclude that Lee Sungmin had truly done so.

Aside from such a thing, Lee Sungmin’s achievements in taking down both Volander and Kim Jonghyun were highly respectable, so Zhuge Aryong tried to at least get to know him a bit better.

Lee Sungmin nodded his head slightly when asked by Zhuge Aryong.

“I don’t even remember being sealed.”

What had happened in the last 10 years while he had been sealed? Of course, Lee Sungmin was curious. He was planning on helping the former prisoners at least escape from the grounds of Germane and was immediately going to summon Neville from Erebrisa to find out what had happened while he had been asleep.

[You don’t have to take them home, you can just leave them now if you want.]

‘They’ve had their comrades sacrificed in order to lift my seal. It’s only natural to return a favor.’

[What do you mean?]

Heoju grumbled as if he couldn’t be bothered with keeping up pretenses.

“If you have any questions, please ask us. We’ll answer to the best of our ability if it’s possible.”

“What’s your name?”

Lee Sungmin abruptly asked. Zhuge Aryong didn’t think that someone of Lee Sungmin’s standing would ask for his name at this time, so he was speechless for a moment. But after a moment of hesitation, Zhuge Arong replied slowly.

“……My name is Zhuge…… Aryong.”

Lee Sungmin looked back at Zhuge Aryong in surprise at his reply. Zhuge Aryongl…….‘If it’s the Zhuge Family….’Lee Sungmin knew what he had been framed for. He did not just have a false accusation of murder with the Murong Family.

“He’s dead…. My brother, Zhuge Taeryong. You probably have heard about it.”

“Oh.”

Lee Sungmin awkwardly stumbled for the right words to say. Noticing Lee Sungmin’s change in disposition and awkward position, Zhuge Aryong hurriedly raised his hands in gesture.

“No- it’s alright.”Lee Sungmin let out a forced cough in embarrassment as he knew it was an awkward situation. 

“……10 years ago. In this city…… I mean, after I went crazy. What happened?”

Lee Sungmin asked while clearing his throat. Fortunately, Zhuge Aryong was able to answer this question.

“After you were swallowed up by madness, you attacked the survivors of Kim Jonghyun’s subjugation squad. There was a little bit of damage in the process……Yeah.”

“As expected.”

Lee Sungmin sighed. Of course, Lee Sungmin had no memory of that time.

“The squad was so exhausted by the end of the subjugation that they couldn’t stop you as you went insane, and they eventually decided to retreat. While they retreated from Germane…. They said they saw you eating the corpses of both the dead and the undead.”

[Oh lord….]

Heoju made a sound of retching in Lee Sungmin’s head. (T/N : Ngl I would vomit too if I was in Heoju’s position since he can get drunk if Lee Sungmin gets drunk… soooo logic says he probably felt the disgust of eating those zombies too hahah)

Lee Sungmin’s lips trembled. He too, felt a disgusting aftertaste in his mouth after hearing that he had eaten rotten corpses in his state of madness.

“After fathering themselves together after retreating, they decided to eventually return and try and stop you and try to recover your sanity. But at that point, you were already completely gone from the city. And now… we realized you hadn’t left but rather had been sealed. According to the Vampires, it seemed that it was the Arc-Sorcerer who was in the squad at the time that had sealed you off, but…… In fact, there is one more mystery that we still have. According to the traces that the subjugation force confirmed at the time, you were presumed to have had a fierce fight with someone before being sealed.”

“……a fight?”

“Yes, I don’t know who it was. There were signs of such violent fighting that the terrain collapsed and the structure of the city changed from the aftermath.”

‘Who could that be?’

It couldn’t have been Frau. Lee Sungmin also did not think that it could have been her because he knew she was not very proficient at hand-to-hand combat. Yes, it was certainly a mystery. Even if Frau was a great Arc-Sorcerer at the pinnacle of sorcery, it was certainly questionable if she alone could seal Lee Sungmin while fighting him off. In fact just fighting him off would be nigh impossible for her as Lee Sungmin was a Transcendent Martial Artist through and through.

‘Someone else stopped me from rampaging.’

Naturally, Lee Sungmin’s thoughts led to that. Someone had to have stopped Lee Sungmin from running wild while the Holy Knights and rest of the subjugation squad retreated. (T/N : Oh no…. It better not be a flag for Theos dying. I kinda liked him.)

And Frau must have joined forces with that someone to seal Lee Sungmin.

Who the hell even had the power to do that? It certainly wouldn’t have been another of the Five Black Stars from Predator like Geniella or Juwon. Could it have been either the Spear King or Jehu, the Black Dragon who had gone into hiding after the massive fight in the North when Lee Sungmin’s master had passed? But there had been no words of movements since that fight before Lee Sungmin had been sealed so it would have been impossible if they were still hiding in the North to make it to the South of Eria in that time‘No, if Jehu polymorphed into his form as a Dragon, it would only take him about a week to fly from the North down to the South.’

“I don’t think you’re innocent for everything you’ve done.”

Was it Wijihoyeon or Baek Sogo possibly? Lee Sungmin did not know who it could have been at all.

“Fortunately, the Holy Saint was able to make it out safely. They didn’t find you, so the church was the ones to announce what had happened in Germane. You were known to have died that day and never been seen again.”

“……I see.”

But Lee Sungmin definitely didn’t die.

‘There’s a lot to look into.’

Lee Sungmin needed to find Wijihoyeon. After what had happened with the real Predator of Massacre, Lee Sungmin finally found the reasons for Wijihoyeon’s absurd talents with martial arts.

The Devil of Maryeong Pavilion was forging Wijihoyeon into an absolute being that could prevent the end of the Apocalypse all by herself. It had been over ten years since then, Lee Sungmin had no clue just how powerful she could become at this point.

‘The world isn’t in complete turmoil from the looks of it despite 10 years passing.’

That only meant one thing : The Apocalypse had still not arrived yet and there were more Catastrophes to come.

‘The Predator of Massacre said that the Spirit Queen would wake up soon.’

The Predator of Massacre stated that she would wake up and seemed to hint that she would be something that would not be in his best interest?‘Why though?’Because Lee Sungmin didn’t know Abel killed Cain, he couldn’t understand just what the Predator of Massacre was hinting at.

‘He also said that the Vampire Queen would eventually move. Does that mean she is the Final Catastrophe of the Apocalypse? Can I even stop her on my own?’

There was no certainty whatsoever in his thoughts. Geniella seemed to be a monster beyond comprehension even to Lee Sungmin. When he had seen her before Sima Ryunju had passed away, she seemed like an endless pit in terms of power that seemed to have no limits. Even if Lee Sungmin was able to perfectly inherit the inheritance left behind from his master and even if his body was now not in conflict with the powers inside of him, Lee Sungmin did not think he could defeat Geniella.

“Of course.”

In front of Behenger’s gate, Lee Sungmin stopped. Although he had taken them farther than just outside of Germane to be safe, this should be enough to make sure they were safe from any other dangers.

Zhuge Aryong tried to say something more, but Lee Sungmin did not listen to anything once he had made his decision. He had finally woken up but only to realize it had been 10 whole years. He had a lot of work to do, and he needed to start as soon as possible.

First of all, he intended to return to the Forest of Fairies to meet Oslo, and to find out about Scarlett’s whereabouts since she had last been there when he had departed for Germane 10 years ago. After that, Lee Sungmin thought it would be a good idea to meet up with Yana in the City of Endless Night and find out about Frau’s whereabouts.

It would be a long journey to traverse such a long distance, but for Lee Sungmin, the distance was a trivial matter….

“……Huh?”

Lee Sungmin tried to summon the Pegasus.

But he was only able to try. He wasn’t actually able to.

The Pegasus didn’t even show up or answer his call. There was nothing.

Lee Sungmin looked around, blinking his eyes, trying to make sure he didn’t forget anything. Once again, he tried to call the Pegasus, but the result was the exact same. At that point, Lee Sungmin was very confused. Why wasn’t the Pegasus showing up now?

“What is this?”

[While you were sealed in the gap between dimensions, the connection with the Pegasus must have been lost.]

Lee Sungmin didn’t know if it was really the reason, but for now it was clear that he couldn’t use the Pegasus.

But if he didn’t have the Pegasus…. That meant that the large distance he had to travel, would have to be traversed by physical means.

‘I’ll have to secure and check supplies first then.’

After trying to call the Pegasus several times, Lee Sungmin eventually gave up. He gently raised his hand to the Orthodox martial artists who were staring at him.

“……then this is goodbye.”

Lee Sungmin left the words behind as he jumped over the walls of Behenger’s gates. Even if he can’t use a Pegasus, Lee Sungmin’s Dark Storm Arts was the fastest martial art in the entire world.

Since Lee Sungmin’s physical ability had now been strengthened even further as his body had completed its complete metamorphosis and turned into a complete monster’s, along with Sima Ryunju expanding his inner circuitry before he passed, Lee Sungmin could run for days on end without nearing exhaustion.

It would take about a week from Germane to reach the City of Endless Night. But for Lee Sungmin, that would only take 3 days or so.

But before that…..

After distancing himself from the orthodox warriors, Lee Sungmin called Neville.

[Oh my goodness.]

At Lee Sungmin’s call, Neville popped out of the shadows. He looked at Lee Sungmin in surprise and his eyes wide in disbelief. Hurriedly, he straightened his expression and bowed his head.

[It’s been a long time. Have you been alive all this time?]

“Did you hear any rumors about me being dead?”

“It was a rumor that was impossible not to hear. It’s already been 10 years.”

Lee Sungmin smirked at Neville who smiled awkwardly.

“I want to know what happened in the last 10 years that I’ve been gone. And…….”

Wijihoyeon, The Spear King, The Black Dragon and Baek Sogo. Lee Sungmin asked for information about all of them. He also asked for information on what had happened about the movements from Musin and Beyond the Heavens.

“Ah……and.”

Lee Sungmin scratched his head, pointing to his back that was now spearless.

“Can you put me through to Ms. Celgerus, too? Of course only after I hear about the other information first.”(T/N : boi you really did lose that op spear? smh.)

“Yes sir.”

Because there was so much information requested, it was around sunset when Neville returned with the information as promised since it had taken a while to gather.

Lee Sungmin stopped running and prepared to set up camp. He quickly got a bonfire started and checked his subspace for food. Luckily, it seemed his subspace had kept the food he had left inside of it from ten years ago and it had not rotted due to the properties of the subspace pocket.

“Here you are.”

Neville held out a transparent crystal ball toward Lee Sungmin. Lee Sungmin concentrated his internal energy into his fingers and touched the ball.

Shinnnggg!

The sphere shines, and the huge amount of information contained in it came into Lee Sungmin’s head.

Wijihoyeon and Baek Sogo had appeared a couple of times in the past ten years but not much had happened.

They both seemed to be wandering the world for ten years separately. What was more surprising was the information on Scarlett.

“The Red Sage?”

The Red Sage was Scarlett’s new nickname. The Forest of Fairies where Oslo and Scarlett resided was left untouched and not much had happened, but Scarlett had received a new nickname after studying in solitude for so long.

The Black Dragon and the Spear King had no information however…… There had been nothing on them and Lee Sungmin once again wondered if the two of them had even survived against Musin when he had escaped.

Lee Sungmin bit his lower lip in frustration. Beyond the Heavens and Musin had not made any open moves to reveal themselves to the rest of Eria just yet.

However…

In the past 10 years, the Lycanthrope Tribe and Vampires of Predator had started to begin to move more openly and started to leave the region of the North more frequently.

Predator as an organization had started to move in earnest.

The current leader of the Murim Alliance was Mugeol-Gae, the man who had led the hundred-man formation against Sima Ryunju in the City of Cron and faced a disgraceful defeat. Ever since then, he had been the one to replace the absence left behind by Jehu.

‘Predator would start to move. That’s what the Predator of Massacre said to me.’

Just what was Geniella aiming for and what kind of future was she trying to achieve? Lee Sungmin wished to know.

Lee Sungmin sat in front of the bonfire and was lost in thought. In the present, it seemed like the Murim Alliance and the Blood Alliance were having small skirmishes much like the Sama Order had done in the past when Sima Ryunju was still alive.

However, unlike the Sama Order which took a passive stance against the Murim Alliance, the Blood Alliance was violent and much more antagonistic towards the Orthodox Sects and Fcations within the Murim Alliance. Lee Sungmin realized that the times were quite turbulent as war seemed to be on the brink of eruption.

Musin seemed to aim to prevent the end of the Apocalypse, but the Predator of Massacre said that the Heavenly Spirit that moved Beyond the Heavens was making Musin nothing but a puppet. If that was so, then what had he been doing for the past 10 years? What about Wijihoyeon and the Devil of Maryeong Pavilion?

“Can I connect you to Selgerus?”

Neville asked carefully.

“Oh…yes.”

Lee Sungmin stopped his pondering and nodded his head.

First and foremost, a new spear would be needed.