Chapter 766: Black Butterfly (4)
Crack.
The remains had dried to brittleness from the indirect heat alone, and they crumbled to ash beneath his feet. Even someone with exceptionally high fire resistance would have struggled to get close, but Han Yuhyun walked into the flames without a flicker of concern. The black blaze bared its teeth at his feet, at the hem of his clothes, yet failed to leave so much as a scorch mark.
“There’s no need to fight him!”
The Puppeteer shouted at Han Yuhyun as he retreated out of the fire’s domain.
“You’re trapped here either way, so fall back!”
Han Yuhyun kept walking as if he hadn’t heard a word. The endlessly swaying flames brushed past him, not like a wildfire but like a field of black reeds stirring softly in the wind. His gaze settled on the fluttering swarm of butterflies. Beyond them stood a man, blurred like something hidden in mist. Some kind of perception interference cloaked him, but Han Yuhyun alone could feel his presence with perfect clarity.
A fire shaped into ‘Han Yuhyun’ by Han Yujin.
Its source and the hand that had touched that source were exactly the same. Five years lay between them, but the essence of Han Yuhyun remained unchanged. And more than that—
‘…A connection.’
Han Yuhyun looked at ‘himself.’ The first time they had met, he hadn’t realized it. But now he could feel it clearly. That thing held something of his. Something that linked them together.
The gaze beyond the butterflies was indifferent. It looked at the Han Yuhyun before it as though he had no value at all. The Puppeteer, still healing the chest that had been pierced by Han Yuhyun wielding the Ruler’s Sword, frowned.
“Hey, Han Yujin’s little brother. He’s not someone you can take on by yourself.”
He was right. This Han Yuhyun was weaker than that Han Yuhyun.
But Han Yuhyun—
“If you’re me too…”
Blue willow leaves scattered into the air. A blue glow seeped between the black butterflies, as if the wind had swept through a flower field and sent petals and butterflies rising all at once.
“Then disappear quietly.”
For Han Yujin’s sake.
What Han Yujin needed was his living younger brother—and the corpse of the younger brother he had lost.
“My brother needs ‘me.’”
If that Han Yuhyun knew that too, then he would never harm the living Han Yuhyun. If only one of them could remain, there was nothing to debate. For the Han Yuhyuns, it was that simple. No reason to hesitate. No reason to grieve.
Han Yuhyun kicked off the flame-covered ground. Stepping on willow leaves, the black blade arced wide—
Clang!
—and collided with a deathly pale sword.
[It almost feels like the administrator here is stalling on purpose.]
The voice of the new subordinate came faintly through the screen. So subordinates couldn’t properly use their skills. That was nice to hear for once.
‘Looks like Rookie’s working hard too.’
Thanks, rookie. Knew you were the best.
The horned subordinate had left, and Chief Song charged at that glass-flower-looking bastard. For a second I panicked when it looked like he was about to tank those razor-sharp petals with his body, but he blocked them with a barrier item. That had to be at least an S-rank consumable! Chief Song was really using something that expensive!
Not just Chief Song—Seong Hyunjae was handling his invisible opponent with room to spare too. With Park Hayul backing him up, neither of them looked like they needed worrying about just yet.
“Still no sign of Noah and Liette?”
“Well…”
Park Hayul tilted his head.
“It’s fuzzy. They’re definitely in Seoul, but it’s like something’s hiding them in fog.”
“Hiding them?”
“Yes. Like it doesn’t want me to see them. I don’t know who it is, but it doesn’t feel overwhelmingly strong so much as… insanely skilled at handling magic. Like your brother.”
…Had they run into a subordinate? Still, it sounded like they weren’t too far away.
“Seong Hyunjae’s eating magic stones again. Hayul, hit him with some lightning.”
Leaving the noisy mess behind, I checked on Yuhyun. He looked the same as before. He was just staring at me in silence. So still it made me wonder if he was even breathing. Only every now and then would he blink. The sight of him made my chest ache with guilt and pity.
‘…Even if it is guilt.’
How was I supposed to look at him and not weaken? Whatever else was true, wasn’t it natural to want the little brother I’d cherished and protected so carefully to be happy? But what that bastard said… wasn’t exactly wrong either. Yuhyun and I were different. We could never become the same. There was no relationship in the world where two people could give each other everything the other wanted.
Hell, even I couldn’t make myself do everything I wanted. I tell myself I should work out, then sneak out of it. Tell myself I should go to work, then drag my feet in bed. Tell myself I should set a good example in front of the kids, then instinctively lunge at whatever snack crumbs might be around.
“Wow. The Sesung Guildmaster really is strong.”
Expecting someone else to fit your heart, your thoughts, when you couldn’t even control yourself—that was greed. No matter how perfect your ideal person seemed, there was always going to be at least one thing that didn’t line up. So even if Yuhyun and I couldn’t be exactly what the other wanted… that didn’t make either of us wrong. That was just how people were.
“Huh? Another one just showed up. And this one’s even stronger.”
Even if you loved someone enough to want to match them in everything… huh?
“Yuhyun?”
The Yuhyun on the screen suddenly turned his head. His eyes fixed not on me, but on empty space—somewhere else entirely. What was that? Had a subordinate appeared nearby? He blinked once, quickly checked my condition, and after deciding I wasn’t waking up anytime soon, straightened from where he’d been bent over me and spoke to Peace.
[Protect my brother.]
As if he understood, Peace shrank down to his juvenile size. Yuhyun looked at me one more time, then turned away. The living room window slid open, and he vaulted lightly over the railing and vanished. I had no idea what was happening, but—
“Hayul, wake me up right—”
Black fire flickered beyond the huge window. I saw Park Hayul staring, mouth hanging open.
“Hyung! I think this is really bad! A new subordinate just appeared!”
Above the surge of black flames, I could see a swarm of black butterflies. The unfamiliar sight locked my body in place.
‘Black fire isn’t that shocking.’
Fireworks came in every color under the sun. There were plenty of fire-using Awakeners right here in Korea.
“That subordinate! He’s burning other subordinates too!”
“…Is he on our side? The transcendents all have different agendas—”
Before I could even finish, the man among the butterflies vanished. He attacked Seong Hyunjae and Song Taewon at a speed my eyes couldn’t follow.
Clang!
Sword and chain crashed together. A foot landing atop the butterflies filled my vision.
It wasn’t a form I knew.
But it was.
‘There could be skills like willow leaves…’
There were countless worlds out there. Countless Awakeners from countless places. And those weren’t even willow leaves—they were butterflies. Lightning split the sky. Buried in butterflies, the body moved with terrifying grace. Chief Song’s body went flying like he’d been swatted aside.
It was different, and yet each instant felt familiar. I had seen it over and over through a screen, just like this. The way he ran through the air. That speed, impossible to catch. The curve at the tip of his sword.
He wasn’t the Yuhyun of now. He was someone who had fought different battles, learned under a different master—young Chaos—and walked a different road with the blade. I kept telling myself it couldn’t be true, but my heart shook anyway. My jaw ached from how hard I’d clenched it without realizing.
‘Maybe they sent him for me.’
Even if Seong Hyunjae had drawn most of the attention, there were still transcendents more interested in me. Maybe one of them had deliberately chosen a subordinate that looked like Yuhyun. Maybe it was just an imitation. They weren’t exactly the same. And besides, how—how could it—
“Hyung!”
Park Hayul called out to me. I could see Seong Hyunjae starting to lose ground. My thoughts were a wreck. I—I had to get up first. Right as I was fumbling—
[You finally dragged yourself out.]
The Puppeteer stepped in front of Seong Hyunjae. Long hair whipped violently in the air. I was wondering where he’d gone!
[You’re the Gardener’s subordinate, aren’t you?]
There was certainty in his voice. The Gardener’s? The one who had supposedly helped create the Eclipse? Hearing the Puppeteer say that made me think maybe it really was a fake. If it was the Gardener, then he’d know about me and Yuhyun. He might even be able to send a subordinate mimicking the Yuhyun from before my regression. Right.
“Hayul, do that thing I asked earlier, then wake me up!”
“Already?”
“We need to clear this out before the subordinates start getting their skills applied. And who knows when Yuhyun’ll be back.”
“Okay. Close your eyes, hyung.”
Hayul looked disappointed, but he nodded. Good kid. A dizzy wave of fading consciousness hit me, then everything snapped sharply back into focus.
I opened my eyes.
– Krrrng.
Peace sprang to his feet and came over to me. I patted the head he shoved toward me and cast Teacher on him. I couldn’t sense Yuhyun anywhere.
“Peace, let’s go out with Daddy, okay?”
Peace hesitated, then padded toward the window Yuhyun had carefully shut behind him. He glanced at the rain still pouring outside, then looked back at me with worry.
“Daddy likes getting rained on! Really.”
I had to hurry before Yuhyun came back. The moment I shoved the window open, Peace tapped the railing with one forepaw. He knocked it aside to make room, then wagged his tail like he was telling me to climb on.
Good boy.
“Let’s find Yerim first, okay? And stay away from Yuhyun.”
Peace leaped down in one bound. His wings spread, but they looked different than usual. Instead of being used for flight, they curved around me halfway like a shield against the rain. The streets were empty. In the distance, one patch of sky was choked with unusually heavy storm clouds. Smoke billowed beneath them.
The sight turned my blood cold.
‘No. Absolutely not.’
It was impossible. To begin with, he was moving around just fine. Right—just the fact that they’d hidden his appearance was proof enough. If it were really him, there’d be no need to hide him. So it couldn’t be. But if their goal had been to shake me, it was working a little too well.
“Mister!”
“Y-Yeah, Yerim?”
We ran into Yerim before long. Wait, what? There should’ve been a decent distance between here and where Seong Hyunjae was. Wasn’t Yerim supposed to be fighting subordinates near him?
“Why are you here?”
“Han Yuhyun!”
Yerim flew down, asking if I was okay.
“He suddenly showed up, told me to protect you, and left. Did something happen?”
“What? No, I just woke up and ran out. He left me with you?”
“Yeah. Weird, right? He’d never hand you off to someone else for no reason, and he wouldn’t explain anything either.”
She was right. I’d assumed some subordinate threatening me had shown up nearby, but if that wasn’t it… then why?
“Which way? Where’d he go?”
“Uh, toward that Sesung mister’s place. Which makes it even weirder! Han Yuhyun would never suddenly decide to help those guys. Especially not after leaving you behind.”
“…No, he wouldn’t.”
Yerim’s eyes widened.
“Oh my God, what if it was someone else wearing Han Yuhyun’s face? Like a transforming subordinate, like Yun Yun! …But it did sound like Han Yuhyun.”
At her words, black flames flashed through my mind. The place where Seong Hyunjae was. The moment Yuhyun had suddenly moved.
‘…Right after the Gardener’s subordinate appeared.’
Yuhyun had left me behind, even though he never would. He’d entrusted me to Yerim like he knew he wouldn’t be able to come right back. And in that direction—
black fire.
I remembered his voice asking if it was because of the me from before the regression.
No way.
“Mister? What’s wrong? Are you cold?”
Yerim pushed the rain away as she spoke. I barely managed to shake my head. How had Yuhyun found out about his pre-regression self…?
“No you’re not! Your hands are shaking!”
“…It’s not because I’m cold. Yerim. I—”
I didn’t know what to say. My mind was chaos. So was my heart. What had Yuhyun looked like on that screen again? His face—there hadn’t been shock, hadn’t been confusion. He’d been calm. Like he had been waiting. When Yuhyun asked me about his pre-regression self… I hadn’t really looked at him. What expression had he made? I couldn’t remember. What kind of eyes had he asked with?
“Mister!”
– Krrng.
The breath stuck in my chest broke loose. Yuhyun… Yuhyun had—
“Seen him before.”
“Huh?”
When? How? I had no idea. I couldn’t even guess. But I had to go. Right now.
“Yerim.”
“Mister, I really think you should go back and rest. Your face is a mess right now. I mean it.”
“I can’t. There’s something I have to do.”
I had to go. Before it was too late. And somehow, I had to stop it. I took Yerim’s hand and showed her the movement pattern of a specific mana signature.
“Remember this. If this mana comes near you, don’t reject it. It’s Park Hayul.”
“Huh? Oh, that guy?”
“Yeah. Then find somewhere safe and go to sleep.”
“Go to sleep?”
“As fast as you can.”
Yerim blinked at me, flustered.
“Even if you tell me to, ah—Hyunah unni! She said she’d finish off the subordinate she was fighting and come after me. I’ll be safer with her.”
Yerim shot ahead through the air. Peace and I followed after her. Before long, we spotted Moon Hyunah riding in on a motorcycle.
“What’s with Director Han’s face?”
“Ms. Hyunah, please protect Yerim while she’s sleeping!”
“What? Out of nowhere?”
“Unni! Please put me to sleep!”
Yerim ran up to Moon Hyunah and pointed at the back of her own head.
No, Yerim.
Ms. Hyunah looked between the two of us like we’d both lost our minds.
“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”
“There’s no time to explain. Mister needs to get to Han Yuhyun right now. This is about him, isn’t it?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then go!”
Yerim waved both hands at me frantically, telling me to hurry. I was grateful—really grateful—that she trusted me even without an explanation. After telling Ms. Hyunah I was counting on her, I signaled Peace toward the smoke.
Raindrops slipped past me. A scorched, acrid smell started drifting over the wet road. It still didn’t feel real. I still couldn’t believe it. Maybe Yuhyun had made a mistake.
But from that far away, he had sensed it exactly.
I swallowed hard. Even under the effect of Peace’s fire resistance, I could feel the faint heat. Collapsed buildings. A Flame Horned Lion vaulted over the rubble. Beneath the blurred gray sky, black firelight filled everything.
Black flames.
“Han Yuhyun!”
I shouted with everything I had.
A gaze turned toward me.
Not one gaze.
Two.
It was my little brother.
–TL Notes–
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