Past Life Returner

“There is a spy. That’s good…”

When Joshua suddenly turned around, the whole background twisted. We were watching them from the perspective of one of the Lusea bastards, so the sight became dark when it was caught by Joshua.

The stage went pitch-black, and only Joshua’s voice was heard. After all, it was his final warning to Yeon-Hee, anticipating that it would be delivered to me.

“Mary, the affection you have for the mainland stems from Na Seon-Hu. Without him, what is the mainland to you? It is nothing more than dust, and you would agree. However, someone who is obsessed with such dust and only fighting endless battles is above us. The pain we had to endure also originated from him.”

Yeon-Hee frowned.

“But the reason I served him was that I could not find any meaning in this life without empathizing with his purpose. However, not anymore. My current master has shown me immortality, finding more valuable meaning in this life. It shines even more in the vastness of the entire dimension.”

The voice cracked a bit, but there was no problem understanding his words.

“You will point your fingers at me and call me a traitor. And you will tell him, my previous master, about today’s events. But think logically. Na Seon-Hu opposes Doom Kaos and the Old One, but what makes him different from these two? Rather, his resolve is nothing more than dust, so my life following him felt meaningless.”

He continued, “You won’t listen to me now, but you will have to think about today again when you lose him. It is not too late now. Help me, Mary. If you need a place to lean on, I will lend you my chest. If you are just worried about him and you don’t like that, make sure you watch him so that he does not make stupid mistakes. Delivering my message would be a way.”

There was a brief silence.

“As you have climbed the stairs one by one, now it is Osiris's turn. I have repeatedly told you how to keep your place from me. Please sincerely listen to our master. You cannot be his match. If you really want the mainland to be safe, just thinking about what kind of scars you have gotten so far will be enough. If my words touch your heart, do not give me a chance to challenge you.”

“What do you think?” Yeon-Hee asked.

To deceive the opponent, you must mix truth and lies skillfully. The truth was the meaningless life he felt and his concern about me, and the lies would be comparing my resolve with dust.

“During the War of New Devil, Entegasto ripped the Undead Emperor with his own hands. Now it seems that Entegasto was blinded by a force. Leave Joshua alone.”

“Seon-Hu… What exactly do you believe in him?”

“Do you know what it means to survive with only a few hundred in Act Two, Stage One? He must have had to abandon everything, including his humanity, to live. However, he never forgot about me until the end. I made a promise to him at that time. I promised that I would never forget that he protected my girl, you, Yeon-Hee.”

I continued speaking to her wavering gaze, “Of course, he knew the power of the two Evil Gods back then. He has betrayed us because of that power? It would be faster for me to give up the mainland.”

She protested, “But situations make people change. Doom Kaos promised him immortality, your Life Vessel.”

“Yeon-Hee, I… I had two disciples after reincarnation. And the two of you have never disappointed me so far. I believe it will be the same this time.”

She said vehemently, “We can’t predict the result if you get over it too emotionally. I never thought that I would say this to you. We should watch him so that he can’t grow any further…”

“Stop, stop.”

I ended up raising my voice. Even then, I remembered the gaze of Joshua, who was painfully looking at me while kneeling on the black stairs.

“Don’t make me repeat this, Woo Yeon-Hee.”

“...”

“Leave Joshua alone. Do not give Doom Kaos an excuse. If you get punished again, then I really don’t think I will be able to bear it.”

That was the most dangerous thing that could happen.

“Now tell me. What is the soul of the Great Gold like?”

***

The stage was restored to its original state. Yeon-Hee was dressed in a two-piece suit, just like she was when she stood on the podium in her school days. Her puppy-like face had not changed a bit from then.

I waited for her mind to calm down, not just her appearance. Her distrust of Joshua was intense. Even when I changed the subject, she was having a hard time starting a conversation. As I watched her struggle, I was fueled with more determination. We had to end this war soon, and Yeon-Hee needed a normal life.

How miserable it is to live a life stuck only on the battlefield, constantly surrounded by doubt and worry?

“You all should help me without doubting each other.”

Her head began to nod at my sudden words. Finally, her lips started to move.

“I don’t know why. One important historical fact about Saint Dragorin is that the Old One and the Gold One, which was known as Saint Dragorin, had fought each other. Did you know that in the beginning, the continent of the dwarves, Elsland, and the Barba’s Land of the Dead were one continent?”

Yeon-Hee’s condition was so bad that she did not notice the presence of the dwarves at the headquarters. So, I told her about my meeting with the dwarves. My story began with the defection of Saint Cassian and continued to the defensive mechanism that was now established on the mainland.

Yeon-Hee’s face brightened for the first time. However, she spoke with a regrettable tone soon after.

“If Gold was still alive, then it would have been a great help to you, but it still causes trouble even after its death. They are helpless. Although Gold is dead, his soul did not completely disappear. His soul fled to another dimension. It was quite a powerful form of mentality, I guess, as it was even determined to escape from the Old One.”

I had felt Gold’s gaze once. Did it manage to escape?

“What I am telling you now is unverified, so just take it as a reference.”

She continued, “The Old One could not capture Gold's soul because Doom Kaos had blocked him. Doom Arukuda had chased Gold at that time. In the end, Gold could not flee from Doom Arukuda.”

“Did you hear that from the spirit?”

“Spirit King of Wind, Sylphid. The second crime of ‘conspiring with the enemy’ was that.”

“That is strange.”

“Why?”

“I had felt Gold’s gaze before. It was not too long ago.”

Yeon-Hee frowned, “They are all liars.”

No, the reason the spirit told her that was because they had only seen up to that point. However, when thinking about the power of Gold, who was able to escape from the Old One even in soul state, and the Arukuda’s small mouth that couldn’t even swallow the Great Green…

There was one thing that came to my mind. I couldn’t wait to go find Gold immediately and verify it. Nonetheless, the problem was that I did not know in which dimension Gold existed.

The dimensions where Doom Kaos’s light pillars were installed belonged to the same context. Although I had clearly seen with my own eyes that the origin of the Doom Kaos’s power lay in the light pillars, the only light pillars I knew of were the ones I experienced in the Stage of Advent. Even those had been destroyed and rendered useless.

The location where Gold sent me its gaze, and where Doom Kaos’s light pillars stood were hidden behind a veil.

“The Spirit King Sylphid…” I muttered.

“Huh?”

“I should catch him.”

***

The reason I could specify the homeland of the Lusea bastards was because of the traces they left when they came into our mental world. This was the world where Yeon-Hee and I were in charge. Strictly speaking, it was a world created by Yeon-Hee and where my control was the strongest.

Indeed, Yeon-Hee quickly grasped the nuances of my words.

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?” she asked.

“The Spirit King?”

“No. Do you think I was talking about the Spirit King? I’m just saying that Doom Arukuda is involved in the incident with Gold.”

I shrugged. “Gold’s soul still exists. It is worth checking out. What is the spirit world like? I wonder if there would be any problem if I entered there.”

“There seems to be…a problem. It is a nightmarish place filled with only the immaterial of the spiritual world. Even you would have a hard time adapting to it immediately.”

Despite her negative tone, her expression was not too bad. Her look was not completely bright because of Joshua, but she smiled slightly while showing her hand. There was a ring on her finger that I had not seen before.

[Sylphid’s Ring of Contract]

“You don’t have to enter as well. But, just promise me not to kill the king.”

“Did you capture Sylphid?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not that, but I can say that we are using each other.”

“Let’s say that it is a symbiotic relationship with the enemy.”

“You said a barrier was cast on the mainland, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you should deal with that first. Shall we go out?”

There was something that Yeon-Hee did not fully understand because there was no time to explain about the power of divinity. That power was not restrained even in the spiritual world. If the time outside was completely stopped, then it would have been a different story, but since the time was flowing very slowly, resetting the defense mechanism was possible even here.

[* System]

[The magic defense device has been reset.]

[You have allowed the entry of the Spirit King Sylphid.]

“I am ready.”

Yeon-hee looked at me with a puzzled expression. Then, she widened her eyes in surprise as she realized that the ability to summon Sylphid worked. In her understanding, the spiritual world was a separate world isolated from the outside, so it was a natural reaction.

[The Spirit King Sylphid has entered the spiritual world.]

[Stage: A middle school classroom in 1997]

Sylphid was the Spirit King with the attribute of wind. However, the whirlwind it caused started to fade at a glance from me. It was nothing more than a weak wind that could not even knock down a chair in the classroom.

When even that fully vanished, a figure resembling a human appeared. It was a tall woman with silver hair. Her eyes were cold, and many thoughts were contained in her glance. Then, as her eyes bulged while staring at me, a gasping sound burst out from her mouth.

I opened my fingers and quickly grasped her neck.

I said sternly, “If you know who I am, do not resist. I will keep my promise with Mary.”

I gripped her neck more tightly. A group of memories rushed in, and the spectacle of the spirit world that Yeon-Hee had warned by calling a ‘nightmare’ poured out.

However, what I wanted to see wasn’t something like this. It was neither the power this figure held right now.

“I heard you witnessed the end of Gold. Where did he escape to?” I asked.

Bam!

[The map ‘The Great Gold’s Escape Location’ has been added.]