Possessing Nothing

“…… both, if I’m being honest. I wanted to see you and how you were doing, and to see the Queen of Fairies to receive the Pegasus once more.”

Lee Sungmin replied to Scarlett after taking a moment to think about his reasons and glanced at Yana standing behind him.

She didn’t understand the situation and was just tilting her head in confusion.

Oddly enough, it was also Scarlett and Yana’s first time meeting each other. Scarlett smiled bitterly at Yana behind Lee Sungmin’s back.

“You’ve got another woman.”

“What’s that even mean?”

“Isn’t that what it means?”

“She’s the one who offered to help me with this.”

“My name is Yana, I come from the City of Endless Night.”

Yana nodded her head and introduced herself.“Yana….Yana….Yana…. Where have I hea-..!”Scarlett’s eyes widened in surprise as she realized to herself in her muttering of Yana’s identity.

“The Gumiho?”

“Yes, you are…… are you the one they call the Red Sage?”

Scarlett’s eyebrows wriggled in embarrassment when Yana asked about it. Scarlett sighed deeply and covered her face with her hands.

“It’s not my favorite nickname…… Why the hell am I called the Red Sage? I’m not even that old.”

“What did you do to get that nickname then?”

“Well… I’m an independent Wizard that is free from the Wizard Guild, and I built a little tower near this forest. I took people who wanted to learn magic and taught them magic.”

It was similar to what had happened in Lee Sungmin’s previous life.

Scarlett in Lee Sungmin’s previous life established her own original school of magic, called the Lesir School, shortly before Lee Sungmin died at the age of 27, and was called the Red Sage.

The difference between the two lives was that it had been ten years later than the past timeline, and it had been while Scarlett was still appointed as the Red Tower Master of the Wizard Guild in the previous life.

“I hate that nickname, please don’t call me that.”

How old was Scarlett? Lee Sungmin was a bit curious since she mentioned it. Lee Sungmin’s physical age was now 37, and Scarlett was older than Lee Sungmin.

He wanted to ask because he was curious, but Lee Sungmin thought about it again and realized it probably wouldn’t end well if he did ask her.

“It took you quite a while.”

swisssssh…

A sphere of light gathered from not far away as a sudden voice came out from the light. When the bright light died down, Oslo, who looked majestic as ever with her butterfly wings spread out, looked at Lee Sungmin.

“It seems that you knew what choice you had to make.”

“I did.”

It was a very open-ended question that had many different meanings. Oslo nodded her head as if she were satisfied.

“What you are…… I’ve been able to see through your true existence for a long time.”

“You said… …it would be me who ended up choosing. And I made this choice. Are you still sure that you want to show your favor to me?”

“I’ve always been on your side.”

Oslo sighed.

“If you became a monster that had no reason, I would’ve still stood on your side. But even if you didn’t…… I am still on your side.”

That’s what Lee Sungmin thought she would end up saying, and she did. Oslo’s position remained unchanged. If Oslo was on the side of the Predator of Massacre, she would not have placed the mental seal on Lee Sungmin when he inherited Sima Ryunju’s legacy.

Oslo slowly moved her wings and approached Lee Sungmin. When she suddenly reached out her hand, Lee Sungmin did not panic and held Oslo’s hand.

“……I see.”

Oslo nodded her head.

“It’s completely been completely extinguished. I talked about choices, but I wasn’t really sure that you would be able to have one because of how strong your destiny was tied to you.”

“But why?”

“It’s because of a long-standing promise.”

A small light formed on the hand of Oslo, which was held by Lee Sungmin’s hand. Lee Sungmin’s eyebrows twitched. Oslo’s memories were being transmitted to his brain. 

Lee Sungmin at that moment finally understood just what exactly that long-standing promise was.

The Queen of Spirits and the Queen of Fairies.

They existed in the world of Eria as True Transcendents, but they were not strictly residents of it. There were countless fairies and spirits of all levels, and some of them resided in Eria and some didn’t.

Likewise, there were countless other True Transcendents that had the same roles.

Whenever the huge laboratory called ‘Eria’ was finished due to the Apocalypse, the True Transcendents would take their departure as well and set up in the new ‘Eria’ to resume their work from scratch.

[We live together in this world as facilitators.]

Oslo’s voice rang out as she started to speak through telepathy. The Demons and Gods. It was no different than their relationship.

There were the Devils that ruled over the Demon Kings in the Demon Realm. 

The Devils that become True Transcendents rule over the Demon Realm and oversee it. It was no different than the Spirits and the Fairies. They had a True Transcendent that oversaw the world of Eria and their race within it.

[We shouldn’t try to change the fate of this world, but the Queen of the Spirits broke her promise.]

Envirus had to die at the moment he broke his Oath to Lee Sungmin. But the Queen of Spirits had intervened and saved him.

‘Didn’t you break that promise too?’

[That’s right, I did.]

Oslo laughed bitterly at Lee Sungmin’s words.

[Being favorable to you no matter your outcome of fate was already stretching it. If you became the Predator of Massacre, nothing would change. But the fact that I am staying favorable to you despite not being the Predator of Massacre, is a very denial of this world’s fate.]

Oslo’s actions up until a certain point had no impact on that decision. But that all changed when Sima Ryunju died. When Lee Sungmin decided to inherit the power of Sima Ryunju, Oslo had placed a seal, and that very action was against the fate of the world.

[At that moment, I broke my promise. I tried to change your destiny directly…. And if this world does meet its end, then I will pay the price.]

‘…. You also made a choice.’

[Right, I made a choice like you did. I’m not that different after all, from the Queen of Spirits. Just as a mortal was the one to influence her to break her promise, the same was with me and Sima Ryunju.]

‘…… You……… I’m sorry.’

Oslo smiled without answering.

‘The Queen of Spirits fell into a long sleep. Although the Predator of Massacre said to me that  she’ll wake up soon. Is that long sleep the price of breaking her promise?’

[It’s just her penalty for leaving her domain of the Spirit Realm..Just as I don’t go out of the Forest of Fairies, she shouldn’t go out of the Spirit Realm either.]

The Queen of Spirits had not yet paid the price of breaking her promise. The same went for Oslo. It seemed that they would only pay the price when the world met its end.

‘Do you wish to stop this world’s end?’

[Ryunju-nim wished for it, and he died for that cause.]

Oslo let go of Lee Sungmin’s hand. With this, Lee Sungmin clearly understood Oslo’s intention and position.

Oslo smiled awkwardly and shook her head lightly. Lee Sungmin pretended not to see the teardrops that were scattered around the corners of her eyes and averted his gaze.

“I’ll return the Pegasus. Scarlett kept insisting that I take it away after you were sealed, so I took it away for a while.”Oslo spoke aloud now.

“Hmph.”

Scarlett pouted her lips in dissatisfaction. For her, Scarlett wanted the Pegasus only taken away as a form of revenge for Lee Sungmin ditching her behind like he did 10 years ago.

It was Lee Sungmin who ignored her intentions 10 years ago, so he didn’t say much about Scarlett’s whining.

“……I’m going North.”

“Are you going to throw me away again?”

Scarlett shot back.

“……Are you coming with me?”

“I can’t go.”

Scarlett grumbled and rubbed her forehead.

“The research I’m currently working on is coming to an end. If I’m away for a day, It’ll ruin everything I’ve accomplished so far.”

“……I see.”

Lee Sungmin didn’t want to force Scarlett to come with him. At first glance, Scarlett was on a level that could not be compared to 10 years ago.

The experience Lee Sungmin had gone through in Germane taught himself many things. Especially about how dangerous a strong and well-prepared Wizard can truly be.

But he couldn’t get help from Scarlett this time. Instead, he would be able to receive Yana’s help. Perhaps what would go down would lead to an all-out war with Predator.

Yana’s power was enough to rip the heart out of Henemy, one of Predator’s former 5 Black Stars, and would surely prove useful during this expedition.

“Please.”

Lee Sungmin summoned the Pegasus. He immediately climbed onto the Pegasus and reached out to Yana/

When he got atop the mount of the Pegasus, Lee Sungmin recalled the memory he had and imagery of when he had passed through Cheped.

Baek Sogo’s last appearance was in Cheped. If he went there directly, he may find clues about where she was currently and what might have happened for the information to have been cut off there.

‘Please don’t have the worst happen.’Lee Sungmin earnestly hoped that the worst of his anxieties would not be true.

As he thought that, the Pegasus started to shift through the space around him and his surroundings distorted from the space-time jump.

The first thing Lee Sungmin was the chilly air that brushed up against his skin. Even after 10 years, the cold of the North still hadn’t changed. Lee Sungmin immediately jumped off the Pegasus.

Standing on the snowy field, Lee Sungmin saw the gate of Cheped, which was not far away. In Lee Sunmin’s memory, Cheped was not ruled by any monsters when he first came by. The Vampires and Lycanthrope Tribe were not active in Cheped.

But that was not the case presently.

Lee Sungmin learned about the changes that had happened in Cheped from Neville. Ten years ago, the Vampire Queen, who had been silent for a long time at the northern end of Travia, began to move in earnest.

The Vampires were known to be existing within Travia as an open secret, but during their move they came out into the open, making their presence known completely. The Lycathrope Tribe ended up doing the same as they ruled the Gwangrang Province, which was near the outskirts and contained the cities just below Travia.

The same was with Cheped now since it was part of the same province.

There was a member of the Lycanthrope Tribe who was ruling over Cheped named Nero, one of Juwon’s henchmen.

Originally, Cheped was a city ruled by Juwon, but Juwon disappeared about half a year ago, and Nero replaced Juwon’s vacancy.

That’s why it became even more disturbing for Lee Sungmin. He didn’t know how strong the werewolf named Nero was, but if it was Baek Sogo’s ability which was considered as a Transcendent Realm Martial Artist, Lee Sungmin did not think Baek Sogo would have any trouble with a werewolf that wasn’t Juwon.

But…. what if it was Juwon that became her opponent? The timing was very coincidental as it was 6 months ago that Juwon disappeared as well. What had caused Juwon to disappear 6 months ago? What about Baek Sogo’s disappearance a year ago? There was no end to the anxieties inside Lee Sungmin’s head. Therefore, Lee Sungmin took no time to hesitate and strode right on up to the gates of Cheped.

“Are you going straight ahead?”

Yana, who was following close behind, asked. Lee Sungmin nodded his head without looking back.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Wouldn’t that only be possible if Geniella or Juwon were inside that city? Without them, it’s impossible to stop me.”

It was a very arrogant remark if someone were to walk by and overhear, but it was not arrogant because it was Lee Sungmin purely speaking objectively.

The north was a barren land in Eria. When Predator began to show signs of moving, all the guilds that had branches, and offices of the Murim Alliance and the like, retreated and left the North entirely.

Even the Beggar Sect and Unorthodox Martial Artists who were unaffiliated with any sect were the ones to retreat.

Thanks to this, there was no outside interference Lee Sungmin might have to go through.

Predator’s name caused even the information guilds to retreat which was a huge statement considering the prestige of the Beggar Sect.

That did not mean that the city of Cheped had become lawless, however. The state of Cheped being run by werewolves of the Lycanthrope Tribe was more peaceful than one might expect. They did not kill or force any of the residents out. They simply existed along with them.

That was not to say that the werewolves of the Lycanthrope Tribe did not establish Cheped as one of their formal territories. Guilds, merchants and others that tried to re-enter Cheped were left as nothing but dead bodies if they tried to enter the territory with force.

Standing in front of the gate and on the walls, the werewolves of the Lycanthrope Tribe lowered their gazes towards the approaching figures of Lee Sungmin and Yana.

They were hesitating on how to react to these two individuals because they both gave off the presence of being inhuman.

“Who are you?”

Eventually, one of the werewolves guarding the gate asked Lee Sungmin and Yana with a wary voice. Lee Sungmin pondered for a moment.‘Would they comply with my demands even if I revealed my identity?’

[No way.]

Heoju grumbled as he read Lee Sungmin’s thoughts.

Lee Sungmin also agreed.

Before Yana was able to even respond, Lee Sungmin’s body became a ray of lightning.

WHA-BANG!

The werewolves that were guarding the gate suddenly collapsed, spewing blood.

Lee Sungmin jumped into the air without stopping. There were other werewolves present that were unaware of what was going on to the ones that were guarding the gate and were in confusion.

Lee Sungmin slowly aimed the spear he held with both hands pointing downwards.

“……that was a neat way of dealing with things.”

Yana murmured.

Standing on the wall, Lee Sungmin shook off the blood on the end of the spear and hopped from the top of the walls back down to the ground and passed through the gate of Cheped unabated. Near the gate, the seemingly human guards looked puzzled.

Lee Sungmin’s Dragon Fear immediately coursed outwards from his body and the guards collapsed, foaming at their mouths from the pressure Lee Sungmin gave off.

“Let’s meet Nero first.”

“Yes.”

Yana nodded her head.

T/N : So, just want to say to all the readers who haven’t joined our discord, I would highly recommend doing so because I announce the chapter releases in case I miss an update on NU. For those of you that have any trouble with the link I’ll be adding with the extra button at the end of this, just add me on Discord at Rez#8888 and I can message you the link to the server if you’d like. Sincerely – B