Surviving in a Romance Fantasy Novel-Chapter 171: Cold Wind (3)

– Have you achieved your goal?

It’s a memory that comes to mind whenever my consciousness begins to blur.

The image of an old man, sitting absentmindedly in a pure white clearing, flashed before me. His hunched, frail back was always exactly the same, so much so that it made me chuckle to myself.

Though I always believed there was nowhere I would fall short when it came to wielding a sword, maybe it’s because I’ve been living on thin ice, but the threats to my life come more frequently than expected.

In short, it was a memory that appeared whenever I was on the brink of death. A kind of life flashing before my eyes.

That shabby old man had passed away long ago, and yet, whenever I found myself in moments like those, he seeped into my memory without fail and asked again.

– So, have you achieved your goal?

When I was pushing against the ground with blood-soaked, trembling arms just to keep myself upright, I hardly had the room to be distracted by such an empty question.

And yet, even in that hazy state of mind, I found myself shaking my head without thinking.

– No.

Even though I had been given countless chances across innumerable cycles of reincarnation, I still hadn’t killed the Plague Demonic Spirit.

Then, that old man would probably have scoffed as if looking at a pathetic fool and asked once more.

– Have you upheld your convictions?

And again, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

I wouldn’t raise a sword against people; I would reclaim that Imperial Capital without sacrifice; I would live proudly as a man—

Those had been the convictions I had pledged to myself throughout my life, and yet, seeing how all of them had been distorted, I couldn’t bring myself to nod with confidence in the face of that question either.

A boy who had tightly held his sister’s hand as they escaped from the burning Hayongseol clan had gone on to live a long and difficult life, experiencing all manner of things…

And yet, not once had he ever nodded to both parts of that old man’s question.

It had been the same from the moment he first cut down the bandits and was taken in by the White Immortal.

– Have you achieved your goal?

– Have you upheld your convictions?

Yes, no.

No, yes.

No, no.

There had been times he had nodded to one of the two, but not once did he remember ever nodding to both.

The boy who had trembled in the middle of the severed corpses of the bandits… kept walking and walking and walking.

He grew older as he followed the long, stretching roads, first wearing an apprentice warrior’s robe, then armor, and finally a general’s uniform.

His body became sturdier, his mind more rigid, and the blade at his waist more sharply honed—

But the convictions he had once clung to while crying amid the field of corpses had not changed in the slightest.

And when it came to whether he had truly upheld those convictions, he couldn’t bring himself to nod either.

– Have you achieved your goal?

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the White Immortal Palace on a summer day from his childhood.

Beneath a clear blue sky, a boy sat on the wooden porch, polishing his sword.

The soft hum of cicadas filled the air, and the sky scattered with fluffy clouds, seemed to wrap the Cheongdo Empire in peaceful warmth.

It was during the early days when he had just entered Cheongdo Palace. He was a clumsy apprentice warrior sitting beside the old man who had taken him in.

Still knowing nothing, with no firm sense of right or wrong, this awkward confused boy was once again asked by the old and shabby old man.

It was a question that had followed him throughout his life, so much so that he had grown weary of it… but back then, the boy hadn’t even known what weariness was, so he laid down his sword and sank deep into thought.

The boy, who had just taken his first step into independence as a warrior, mulled over the casual words thrown out by that shabby old man again and again.

He had neither achieved his goal nor upheld his convictions.

When the boy confessed, as if admitting to a crime, the old man gave another hollow chuckle and, as always, clicked his tongue.

– Tsk tsk, pathetic brat.

That twisted old man who never once uttered a word of praise was always like that.

A hopeless brat, a pathetic fool…. he would throw out those harsh words without a second thought, always nitpicking and criticizing. So sharp it left a mark.

Just thinking about him made one click their tongue in frustration, yet when death approached, he inevitably came crawling back into memory.

And, as always, that relentless old man would look up at the towering summer sky and say:

– Still, even if you only managed one of the two, you did well enough.

Even in death, without a single word, he simply lay down and passed like he was just taking a nap atop the White Immortal Mountain’s peak. A strange man who never once cared about those around him.

What great meaning could there be in taking to heart the words of a man like that?

– That’s just how life is.

And yet when I reached the end of life, I realized how true those words had been.

I felt the blood draining from me and quietly closed my eyes.

Thud.

“Khak, kuh!”

Just when I thought it was time to take my leave, my eyes snapped open again.

Maybe it was the hands of a girl pressing down hard on my chest, doing whatever she could to keep me conscious.

Only after I coughed up the dark red blood caught in my throat could I open my eyes again.

“Tae Pyeong-ah.”

“…Haa, haa….”

“This isn’t the time to be watching your life flash before your eyes. If you close your eyes now, you’ll really die.”

The dirt floor of the Ancestral Shrine.

I had bled so much that the ground around me was already soaked through.

Yeon Ri seemed no different. Blood pouring from her lower abdomen had turned her once-white collar completely red.

Even so, Yeon Ri clenched her teeth and shook me awake.

“You have to live. You fought and clawed your way here like this, didn’t you?”

The fact that she still had a smile on her face sent chills down my spine.

This girl didn’t just have a strong heart. There were times I truly felt something inside her was twisted.

As if to prove that very thought, even in a scene where blood had been splattered in every direction, the girl smiled gently as she spoke.

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on novelbuddy.cσ๓.

“Trying to die, are you?”

“….…”

“In the afterlife, the White Immortal will probably scold you, you know? Like you’re well aware, once that old man gets upset, he’s really something else.”

My vision kept blurring, and once again, I couldn’t quite make out Yeon Ri’s expression.

Perhaps aware that I was looking up at her, Yeon Ri placed her hand on my chest and spoke in a strangely subdued voice.

“It’s your choice if you want to take it easy….”

Since when did she ever care what I thought, adding such ridiculous words like that?

“…Would it be so bad if you didn’t die?”

That girl, who was probably more familiar with the deaths of others than anyone else in this world, spoke with blood-stained court robes hanging limp.

She let out a breath thick with the stench of blood.

Only then did it feel like clean air was finally reaching my lungs.

When I gently closed my eyes for a brief moment, that ragged old man appeared without fail and asked his question again.

Just how important was that question, really….he would chase me down and ask it every single time I stood at a crossroads, and I was sick to death of it.

The hands that had been shaking me stopped, and in that moment when everything fell silent—

Fwoosh!

I snapped my eyes open again, clenched my teeth, and rose to my feet with my sword in hand.

Yeon Ri, who had been crouched beside me, flinched in surprise and tumbled backward.

Sound returned to a world that had seemed filled only with stillness, and light began to seep back into the landscape that had felt drained of all color.

Just how long had I been unconscious?

The mysterious mist that had filled the Ancestral Shrine was completely gone, and all around us lay the shattered remnants of battle.

Traces of combat.

Who had fought here?

That, I could understand just by looking up at the sky.

– Hoo.

It was a sight that made it impossible not to catch my breath.

***

Perhaps this was also how Yeon Ri had appeared in her prime. The Heavenly Dragon, stretching across the sky, looked as though it were gazing down upon the world.

That figure would have been clearly visible from anywhere in the imperial capital.

The enormous dragon with its head emerging between the clouds was the very image of the Heavenly Dragon that Cheongdo Empire had worshiped and revered for generations.

The envoy of the Emperor of Heaven, the guardian deity of Cheongdo.

If the Plague Demonic Spirit had regained its full strength, it might have tried to seize and swallow that Heavenly Dragon whole, but as it was now, it had not yet recovered all of its power.

At this moment, it was still possible to kill it.

As if to declare just that, the Heavenly Dragon’s front claws slammed into the ground.

Boom! Boom!

Each strike was a disaster.

The battlefield had already expanded beyond the Ancestral Shrine and stretched all the way to the imperial garden, the vast grounds of the palace.

The grasslands were burning, the hills had been split in two, and the trees were all toppled.

Amidst it all, a girl stood like a savior descended.

They say heroes are born in times of chaos.

The girl was pouring out her entire being against the Plague Demonic Spirit, who had taken on the form of her father while suppressing the energy of the Heavenly Dragon.

She was the servant of the Heavenly Dragon.

There was no doubt she was worthy of being called the Heavenly Maiden of Cheongdo.

The Heavenly Dragon, having descended, now filled the skies above Cheongdo.

They saw it.

The people of Cheongdo simply looked upon the scene.

The Black Princess who sat in Taehwa Pavilion and kept the court officials under control looked up and saw it.

The Azure Princess who was casting spells and repelling demonic spirits looked up and saw it.

The White Princess who was leading soldiers and pushing into the main palace looked up and saw it.

In Ha-yeon who did not pause her sword strikes in order to slay even one more demonic spirit looked up and saw it.

Warrior Commander Jang Rae who was bleeding as he advanced across the battlefield saw it. Chief Secretary Wang Han whose vision was slowly blurring smiled faintly and saw it. Emperor Woon Sung and the Crown Prince who were commanding soldiers in an effort to reclaim the main palace saw it. The court officials in Taehwa Pavilion saw it, the citizens of the imperial capital saw it, and… even the sworn enemy, the Plague Demonic Spirit, looked up and saw it.

With a single sweep of its arm, it grasped the world in its hand.

With a single sword strike, it scattered the raging shockwave and charged forward to cut down the new Heavenly Maiden.

Even if she was said to be the greatest Heavenly Maiden in history, her abilities had only just begun to blossom.

No matter how much she played with that immature power for days on end, she could never become a match for the Plague Demonic Spirit whose body had already fully adapted to Seol Lee Moon.

If that girl stood in its way, it would simply kill her.

If she were left alive, she would only cling to its ankles like the former Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun.

Having reached that conclusion, the Plague Demonic Spirit charged forward with its large Heaven and Earth Sword.

If not now, it wouldn’t get another chance to kill the newly blossomed maiden. With that in mind, it lunged swiftly, aiming to tear her apart limb from limb.

Whooooosh Slaaaash!

Claaang! Claang!

She swung her mysterious energy and summoned the wind of the Heavenly Dragon to push it back, but… she couldn’t completely block the attack of an enemy who had lowered his head and rushed in.

The edge of the Heaven and Earth Sword grazed Seol Ran’s skin.

Blood spurted out, and the girl’s face twisted in pain. Even so, she clenched her fist once more and slammed the leaping Plague Demonic Spirit into the ground.

Her body was filled with a power she had yet to fully master.

The moment it recognized her inexperience, the corners of the Plague Demonic Spirit’s lips curled upward.

It would kill her with the next blow.

Rising from the cloud of dust, the blade of the Heaven and Earth Sword caught the moonlight and gleamed.

[Those cursed Heavenly Maidens who serve the Heavenly Dragon. They swarm like insects.]

Even the former Heavenly Maiden Ah Hyun, in her prime, had not been a match for the Plague Demonic Spirit.

Having already crushed the strongest Heavenly Maiden in recorded history, it felt no fear at the arrival of yet another one.

Every blood vessel in Seol Lee Moon’s body bulged grotesquely and twisted in unnatural ways.

Blood gushed from the five sensory organs on his face, and he pushed his body to its limits in an attempt to kill his opponent.

No matter how much power she received from the Heavenly Dragon, her body was still nothing more than that of a fragile young girl.

They were like sheets of paper, ready to be torn apart by a single strike of the sword. Humans had always been that fragile.

Thus, the Plague Demonic Spirit kicked off the ground and leaped.

Rising into the sky, it soared with arrogance in its gaze, aiming to sever the neck of the Heavenly Dragon that looked down upon the world. From the earth, it shot upward toward the lofty heavens.

Seol Ran released her energy with movements still filled with inexperience, but the Plague Demonic Spirit’s strike erased all of its aftereffects.

In an instant, it grabbed Seol Ran by the collar, and her eyes widened in shock.

“Urgh!”

[This one must not be allowed to live. If she isn’t killed now, she will become a grave threat.]

With that, the Plague Demonic Spirit dragged Seol Ran down and slammed her back to the ground.

Dust burst into the air from the impact of her crash, and as the demonic spirit descended after her, it tightened its grip on the Heaven and Earth Sword.

Seol Ran was slowly adjusting to the power with each passing moment.

There was no reason to give her time to fully wield that strength.

The Plague Demonic Spirit would end the fight in a single strike.

Just as it charged toward the place where Seol Ran lay amid the dust—

Fwoosh!

A sudden surge of energy scattered the dust into the wind, and it caught sight of Seol Ran reaching her hand up toward the sky.

She had just fallen from that great height. With such a delicate body, it wouldn’t have been strange if several bones had broken.

Even so, Seol Ran extended her hand to the heavens and recklessly unleashed the power of the Heavenly Dragon.

The target of her unleashed energy was not the Plague Demonic Spirit.

It was toward the spell of the White Demonic Spirit that cloaked the sky.

Claang!

Overwhelmed by the energy of the Heavenly Dragon that had transcended its limits, the spell that was infused only with a fraction of the Plague Demonic Spirit’s energy shattered and vanished.

It was a spell that had forcibly raised the moon and forcibly cast darkness, turning the world into night.

For the demonic spirits who thrived in the night, this spell of the White Demonic Spirit that bathed the battlefield in darkness had been their source of power.

The sun, which had been hidden behind that corrupted energy, revealed itself once more, and at last, dawn broke over the world.

If night was the era of demonic spirits, then day was the era of humankind.

It was the very yang energy of the newly risen sun that was the natural enemy of the demonic spirits, and it was the only method capable of wiping out the horde of demonic spirits that had thoroughly begun to consume the world.

Saaaak!

Smoke began to rise from the body of the Plague Demonic Spirit.

Even witnessing it with its own eyes, it couldn’t believe it. That Heavenly Maiden named Seol Ran was she really thinking of purging the other demonic spirits of the Cheongdo Empire, even with the king of demonic spirits standing right before her?

The Plague Demonic Spirit didn’t know whether to call her foolish or reckless.

Was this really the time to worry about another battlefield? Death was arriving right at her doorstep.

Acknowledging at least her grand sense of sacrifice, the Plague Demonic Spirit gripped the Heaven and Earth Sword and plunged straight down, intending to slice Seol Ran in half.

Fwaak!

However, the reason the girl was able to concern herself with the darkness cast by the red moon was because she had something she could rely on.

Though she was the protagonist walking the path of a hero in this world, she had never walked that path alone.

There had always been a boy, like a shadow, who followed her as she walked down the grand stage.

Thunk!

The Plague Demonic Spirit’s eyes widened in shock.

With a beastly gleam in his eyes, the blood-soaked Sword Master who was holding his broken sword in a reverse grip shot up through the energy of the sun.

He had faced off against countless general-level officers in the Taehwa Temple, had cut down numerous demonic spirits, and had been struck several times by the Plague Demonic Spirit himself.

His entire body had been wrecked, to the point where he shouldn’t have been able to move properly anymore.

Though his life had been nothing but hardship, constantly battered by the cold winds of fate, he now stood bloodied yet proud and charged in like a monster.

Was he even conscious?

No, the fact that his body was moving at all was a miracle.

And yet, that monster had leaped in and… drove the broken sword straight into the neck of the Plague Demonic Spirit.

[Guhak!]

The Sword Master’s strike, which had plunged deep into the Plague Demonic Spirit’s chest, completely threw its balance off.

In the moment it tried to steel its mind and begin healing its wounds, the demonic spirit’s gaze finally caught sight of the girl. She met its eyes and raised her arm.

A single moment in which resistance was impossible.

As if she had been waiting for the moment the sword pierced its neck, the girl clenched her fist tightly.

The Heavenly Dragon also clenched its fist.

Thunk!

Every demonic spirit that had dwelled within was destined to vanish into nothingness.

It was as if the Emperor of Heaven himself had declared it so.

Beneath the bright sun, a blood-soaked Sword Master tightened his grip on his sword.

He twisted and yanked free the blade embedded in the throat of the fading Plague Demonic Spirit.

Dark crimson blood from the demonic spirit surged high into the sky.

“I’ve grown tired of this too.”

The tattered boy murmured as though bringing a long, bitter trial to its end.

“Let’s just finish this already.”

In the fading landscape, the Plague Demonic Spirit looked up at the Sword Master… who didn’t even show a hint of emotion.

He simply raised his broken sword once more for the final strike.

– Hoo!

At last, with the following blow, the creature’s body was cleaved in two.