Possessing Nothing

For Scarlett and Oslo, the situation in front of them was a bit embarrassing.

Lee Sungmin and Yana took the Pegasus to Cheped and less than half a day passed.

Lee Sungmin’s face, which returned in such a short time, was distorted like a devil’s.

Scarlett hardened her expression as she looked at Lee Sungmin’s shoulders shaking in rage and frustration.

“……What happened?”

Scarlett asked the question, deducing that there was clearly something unusual. Lee Sungmin tried to clear his voice, but his voice did not calm down no matter how hard he tried.

In the end, Lee Sungmin gave up and told Scarlett what had happened.

“You crazy…!”

After hearing the whole story, Scarlett’s face was distorted.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was about Baek Sogo……?!”

Scarlett screamed and looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. It was the same bracelet that Lee Sungmin and Baek Sogo had. 

Wherever the owners of the bracelets were in the world, Scarlett could deliver fragmentary information to the bracelet’s counterpart if she wanted. (T/N : that’s new info to me lol)

It’s impossible to talk, but what she was trying to do was not talk to Baek Sogo.

She just needed to know her location.

Scarlett concentrated her mind by injecting mana into the bracelet. As long as Baek Sogo was wearing the bracelet, finding the location would be possible.

Lee Sungmin was feeling a bit of deja vu.

He had a similar experience before. The woman in the village whom Byuk Won-Pae wanted to meet. They had succeeded in finding her location through Aladdur’s spell, but…… The owner of the bracelet was already six feet deep in the grave.

‘No… it can’t happen this time again.’

Lee Sungmin bit his lower lip. He desperately prayed that this wouldn’t be the same outcome. It would tear him apart if it did.

“……I found the location.”

Scarlett’s eyes opened. Scarlett closed her eyes shortly after and concentrated her mind a bit more to get a clearer picture.

“……I’m glad. She’s not dead.”

“That means…?”

“She’s alive but… she’s not in a normal loca- ……and…… This is… um…….”

“Where is she?”

Lee Sungmin asked a question in a trembling voice. Scarlett looked at Lee Sungmin with a hint of hesitation.

“……It’s a place you’ve been to.”

The very edge of the Northern parts of Eria.

“The Vampire Queen’s mansion.”

For a moment, Lee Sungmin’s knees became weak and faltered.

Lee Sungmin barely regained his balance and posture, which was about to collapse.

She was in Travia, the Vampire Queen’s mansion. Why was Baek Sogo there? She challenged Juwon and lost. She would have been poisoned by Juwon’s poison and tried to escape as far away from Cheped as possible.

So why would she only go farther up North where even more dangers lurked?

“……What are you going to do?”

Yana, who was listening to the story, asked.

“The Silent Flare, Baek Sogo. I don’t know what she means to you, but seeing you do this, I’m sure she is precious to you.”

Lee Sungmin did not answer. There was no reason to even try and deny it.

On the Mountain of Mush, Lee Sungmin was helped by Baek Sogo. Without Baek Sogo’s help, Lee Sungmin would not have survived and died on the mountain miserably.

At that time, the shadowless footwork techniques that she had taught Lee Sungmin had greatly benefitted him both during his stay on the Mountain and even later on.

He wanted to prevent Baek Sogo’s death because of how grateful he was to her. So he headed to the Dungeon where she had died in his previous life and defeated the doppelganger of Wijihoyeon that was running rampant inside.

In the Germane, he had gone insane when the Predator of Massacre had taken over his body. Baek Sogo was the one to stop him when nobody else could. What would have happened if she had not stepped up? She had even broken her own code of not killing and completely eradicating evil by not killing Lee Sungmin who had looked like he would never recover again.

He would have gone on a massacre for a long ten years and become a Catastrophe undoubtedly.

Because Baek Sogo blocked Lee Sungmin, Frau was able to seal him. Without Baek Sogo, Lee Sungmin might have died eventually to a greater and larger power after running rampant.

She had saved his life more than once.

The Silent Flare, Baek Sogo.

Lee Sungmin recalled the last time he had been able to see her.

“I’ll go.”

He had been avoiding meeting Geniella up until now.

Her power was so powerful that even as Lee Sungmin was currently, he was very uncertain of being able to do much against her. It wasn’t just her overall strength that made Lee Sungmin skeptical of his chances. It was mostly because of her ability to see the future.

When the seal was unsealed, Lao Shen had invited Lee Sungmin to see the Queen, but he had refused.

In that situation, he didn’t kill Lao Shen or the other vampires, let alone werewolves because he didn’t want to needlessly antagonize Geniella.

But the circumstances had finally changed.

“I’ll go with you.”

“I’m going, too.”

Yana spoke and then Scarlett also jumped in.

“If you had said it was about Baek Sogo from the beginning, I would have already been with you earlier.”

“Didn’t you say you can’t leave your research right now?”

“Have you forgotten what I’ve done in this forest for ten years? Don’t worry, I have a disciple who can maintain my research while I’m away.”

Scarlett replied and glared at Lee Sungmin.

“I’ll have to go to my tower for a little bit to make sure they know what to do. If you leave me again…… I’m gonna hate you. You’re not the only one worried about Baek Sogo.”

“……I see.”

When Lee Sungmin heard the answer, Scarlett jerked around and headed for her tower with levitation magic.

“The Vampire Queen is dangerous.”

Oslo, who was listening to the story in silence, opened her mouth.

“She was born in this world, Eria, and is close to a True Transcendent. No, in a way, she’s beyond certain Transcendental standards. The good news is that the night is still not here yet.”

Oslo muttered like that and looked up at the sky. It was not night yet, and the moon hadn’t risen.

“Humans can never kill her. Even if it’s not a full moon, she is incredibly difficult to kill. But… What’s really dangerous is not her near-immortal regenerative powers, but her overwhelming magic that stands at the apex of Vampiric Magic.”

“Is she really that strong?”

Yana asked. Yana had not yet met Geniella in person. Oslo nodded her head at the remark.

“Gumiho, I know you’re a powerful creature, but you shouldn’t ignore the raw power of the Vampire Queen and the magic at her disposal.”

Scarlett returned shortly afterwards. She wore colorful scarlet robes and fancy gloves.

Scarlett’s school of magic was combat-based, but did not use a staff.

The gloves she wore were engraved with incantations and would do the job of a staff for her and amplify her magic.

“I can’t go there in person with you.”

Oslo spoke with a sullen look.“But instead… I can do this.”Oslo raised her hands and colorful particles of light burst out from the surroundings and started to merge together into the palm of her hand.

“It’s something like the Protection of the Fairies.”

As Oslo raised her hands high, the particles of light filled in her palm poured over Lee Sungmin, Yana, and Scarlett’s head.

“It will protect your spirits from the Vampire Queen’s mental attacks. But don’t be overconfident since I don’t have the confidence to completely block her power from afar like this.”

“Thank you.”

This was the only help Oslo, who could not leave the forest, could provide. Lee Sungmin bowed his head in thanks to Oslo.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t die.”

Oslo replied with a sullen expression.

“Ryunju-ssi died for you. And I gave you everything I have left. You’re not the same as Ryunju-ssi…. But sometimes I see the same figure of him within you. I hope you don’t find this unsettling.”

“……It’s not unpleasant.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to love and cherish you with my heart like I did for Ryunju-ssi. You have a different vibe and physique than Ryunju-ssi. Your face is different from his, and I loved Ryunju for who he was.”

“Yes…….”

In a rather serious atmosphere, Oslo pouted her lips, trying to not sound awkward.

Lee Sungmin was a little embarrassed, but he smiled awkwardly and nodded his head.

Don’t die.

What Oslo had told him was absolutely a necessity for him.

She didn’t want him to die.

Naturally, he didn’t want to die either.

“Can the three of you ride on the Pegasus together?”

Lee Sungmin glanced at the Pegasus’ expression. The horse showed no response; it only blinked at Lee Sungmin confusedly.

Lee Sungmin sat in the middle of the Pegasus, and Scarlett sat behind him. Then Yana hopped up, and sat in front of him.

“It looks like this is just right. Any more than this would be stretching it.”

Scarlett grumbled. Lee Sungmin recalled the image of Geniella’s mansion and relayed his wish to the Pegasus.

That alone, was the third time he had used the Pegasus to use spatial movement in a single day. Lee Sungmin recalled what Abel had once told him.The Pegasus’ ability to leap through space is not an omnipotent power.

Lee Sungmin soon realized what he meant by that. As soon as the space distorted and the group arrived in front of the large mansion in the North, Lee Sungmin was hit with a huge surge of nausea.

He straightened up his reeling body and took a quick breather. His head was certainly throbbing, but it was getting better.

It was the same with Yana. Her face was pale and she muttered as she shook her head from side to side.

“……very……… very unpleasant.”

“It’s because it’s the third time today.”

Scarlett looked fine. It seemed that while the power may be omnipotent, or seemed like it was for the Pegasus, it did not also apply to mortals. Seeing them holding their heads in pain, Scarlett clicked her tongue and spoke.

“Makes sense you’re like that since it’s already the third time you’ve warped in a single day. If you do any more than that, your body will separate between the cracks in space.”

“What the hell does that mean?”Lee Sungmin looked at Scarlett confusedly.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like, you moron. Do it any more than that in a single day and your consciousness won’t keep up with your body when you warp again and vice-versa. You can either end up present in the body but essentially be braindead, or just be a wandering ghost in the cracks of space. Do you want me to show you?”

“No.”

Lee Sungmin answered immediately and looked away as he recollected his breath. The throbbing headache subsided eventually as he gave himself a bit more time. He raised his body and stared at Geniella’s mansion in front of them.

The red mansion, compared to a decade ago, had not changed in appearance at all. Lee Sungmin slowly approached the main gate of the mansion.

Although he was just in Cheped, his heart was racing. It was because compared to Cheped, Travia had a monster lurking in the dark that was unfathomable. That very monster was inside of this mansion.

Lee Sungmin’s hand touched the front door.

“The Ghost Spear.”

Over the main gate, someone called out Lee Sungmin’s martial nickname.

“I had heard that your unsealing was a success from Lao Shen. And it seems you’ve recovered the Pegasus.”

The front door opened. Standing there was a girl of small stature.

“If you were just going to end up here like this in the end, then why did you reject Lao Shen’s offer in Germane? You made Lao Shen a little bit sick too, with how you rejected him and all.”

“……who?”

“One of the Queen’s children.”

The girl replied with a smile.

“I know why you’re here. the Queen’s also been expecting you. You’re here for the Silent Flare, correct?”

The words changed Lee Sungmin’s expression. As soon as Lee Sungmin stepped forward, the girl quickly raised her hands.

“Whoa, whoa, don’t get too excited. We’re taking care of her all right? That’s what the Queen ordered.”

“……Why on earth?”

“Because we knew she was precious to you. The Queen also deemed it to be quite lucky that we were able to save her in time.”

It was right before Geniella had lost her power to see the future. (T/N : I’m a bit confused here since I know I didn’t mistranslate anything but it looks like the author, Mogma, forgot that he said Geniella lost her future sharingan thingy 10 years ago right when LSM was first sealed….oh well, let’s go with the flow.)

“Don’t blame the Queen too much. If Queen hadn’t decided to take care of her when she did, she would have been poisoned by Juwon’s poison and died a long time ago.”

“……Did you cure the poisoning in her wounds?”

“No, that’s impossible. Juwon’s poison is impossible to completely cure even for Juwon, himself. The same goes for our great Queen. What the Queen did was…… something like a preventative measure. All she did was just make sure the poison was in a comatose state and wouldn’t spread further. Something like that.”

It was a difficult situation for Lee Sungmin to accept, but he had to take it at face value until he saw Baek Sogo.

Lee Sungmin bit his lower lip and stared at the girl. The girl shrugged her shoulders under Lee Sungmin’s fierce gaze.

“Oh, that’s right! My introduction is late. I’m Gemini. I’m the Queen’s first descendant. Come on, and follow me. Didn’t you come here to meet your friend?”

“Why isn’t the Queen coming out?”

Lee Sungmin asked, staring at Gemini. At that, Gemini turned around with a grin.

“Why? Did you want to meet the Queen?”

Lee Sungmin really didn’t want to run into Geniella if it was possible.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Everything has an order of operations. First of all… I’ll let you meet the person you want to meet. Wouldn’t it be better to talk about something else afterwards? Yeah, if I had to suggest something then…… maybe your relationship with us.”

Lee Sungmin’s relationship with Predator. It was not a light topic.

“There are a lot of customers. I didn’t know you’d even bring the Gumiho from the City of Endless Night. And…… even the Red Sage. It’s almost as if they’re here with you to kill the Queen……But that can’t be the case, right?”

Gemini turned her head and laughed eerily.

Lee Sungmin realized at that moment, the girl named Gemini, gave the same feeling as Geniella did to him.

TN : So we are also bringing back sponsored chapters and this is the third chapter of this week meaning 3/3. I’ll be going ahead with 3 chapters per week as the schedule from now on, but for those of you who don’t know how sponsored chapters works, it’s as follows :The kofi link which is is where you would donate to sponsor a chapter. Every 10 dollars donated, means one extra chapter that week on top of the already posted schedule. So persay someone donates 50 dollars, then we get 8 chapters that week posted and that’s for everyone to read and enjoy! Patreon is different if you just want to be ahead of the free releases for sponsored chapters effectively just increases the free release chapter rate.Patreon is https://www.patreon.com/betterdays_TRL?fan_landing=trueAnd I hope you’re all having a wonderful day! – B