What Ataraxia said meant that he wanted Muyoung to go see Sungmin .
But, that couldn’t be possible .
While Muyoung was away, it was good that Sungmin kept a connection with Ataraxia, but in this situation, Sungmin should have been the one to come see him, not Ataraxia .
“Where is Sungmin?”
“My master is at a very deep place . Please forgive him for not being here, due to unforeseen circumstances . ”
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, you say . ”
However, Muyoung couldn’t feel any sincerity .
Plus, Ataraxia didn’t even tell him Sungmin’s exact location .
As if he was being tested .
That was right, Ataraxia made Muyoung feel like he was being tested .
‘How dare he . ’
Muyoung spread his wings .
And shot thousands of feathers towards Ataraxia .
Swoosh .
Ataraxia avoided his attack .
Normally, thiswas something that could not happen since Muyoung created him and controlled him .
His undead usually accepted whatever Muyoung did to them .
But, right now, he avoided Muyoung’s attack .
This also showed Sungmin’s intentions .
“What a foolish thing to do . ”
Sungmin . He knew Muyoung’s personality .
For him to still conduct this sort of gamble meant he had now totally left Muyoung for one reason or another .
If he had left him, Muyoung couldn’t let Sungmin live .
Sungmin knew too much about Muyoung to let him live . Really, the one who knew Muyoung the best in this world was Sungmin .
At that moment, Ataraxia’s body became faint .
He was cutting through space to move to another area .
He was trying to run away . But, Muyoung wasn’t the type to just let him go .
Swaaak!
Muyoung took out Anguish and wielded it .
Then, the space Ataraxia opened up was sliced .
Muyoung Sword was a swordsmanship that could attack anything . Therefore, you could say teleportation-type mobile skills wouldn’t work in front of Muyoung .
Ataraxia’s body became vivid again .
Craaash!
Muyoung kicked Ataraxia’s body with his foot .
As Ataraxia’s body was shoved to the ground, Muyoung once again raised his wings to shoot out numerous feathers at his body, binding him .
After making him unable to move, Muyoung stretched out his hand .
The soul on top of Ataraxia’s head was still intact .
In this condition, if he was to use Soul Exploitation, Muyoung would be able to fully absorb Ataraxia’s soul .
This would be enough to send a warning to Sungmin .
“I’m sorry . You are really Muyoung . ”
As Muyoung was about to exploit Ataraxia’s soul, another voice emerged from Ataraxia’s mouth .
It was Sungmin’s voice .
A voice that sounded glad and awkward .
Muyoung confirmed that Ataraxia and Sungmin’s souls were in sync .
“Are you testing me?”
“I needed to confirm if you were truly Muyoung . As you had disappeared for the last two years . I had to also consider that you could be controlled by Luciferre . ”
Muyoung crossed his arms .
It didn’t seem like he was lying .
Well, Muyoung did have a lot of problems internally . Although he had spent two years inside Diablo’s flames, if he wasn’t careful he could have lost himself within it .
If that did happen, his body would have been given to Luciferre, or became another being . It wouldn’t be strange for only his body to be his, and the rest be something else .
To that extent, the last two years had been very dangerous for Muyoung .
Sungmin also knew about this a little . As Luciferre was inside Muyoung’s body, and as Sungmin knew that Muyong was very unstable, he had to be cautious .
“I’m not corrupted . ”
Although there had been a possibility, this was not currently the case .
Now, Muyoung would not be shaken .
He spoke as if he was making a pledge .
“Please wait a moment . I will open the ‘gate’ . Ah, could you remove your feathers…”
Muyoung nodded and removed the feathers that restrained Ataraxia’s body . The feathers emitted light and disappeared, as if they had disintegrated .
Then, Ataraxia got up and retrieved a small bottle .
When he opened the bottle and scattered the liquid in the form of a circle on the floor, the circle became black, and became a ‘channel’ connecting to another space .
Ataraxia looked at Muyoung once more .
Swoosh!
Bae Sungmin appeared through the channel .
His appearance had slightly changed .
He wore a black cloak, and held a staff made out of dragon bones . All of his flesh had been stripped, and only his bones were left . However, the the bones had become thicker and were black .
Black bones . But it wasn’t due to an evil sort of energy dying them with darkness .
They had become black by absorbed all light and energy .
He was unable to feel any signs of magic from Sungmin . Like Muyoung, he was absorbing everything within him .
“Amazing . ”
Muyoung admired purely .
Sungmin had raised his ‘level’ on his own .
It was embarrassing to compare him with two years ago .
Muyoung had felt something like this before in the past .
The Lich King!
In the past, the lich that was called the Lich King gave him a similar feeling .
“They say I’m an elder lich . As I completed my work, my appearance has changed . ”
Sungmin’s appearance, that Muyoung hadn’t seen for a while, was truly extraordinary .
Of course, from the beginning, he was far from being a normal lich, but for him to be an elder lich…
Wasn’t it the final form of a lich?
Well, this was probably the reason why he could control Ataraxia’s soul as he wished .
“I have a lot of questions as well . And I would like to show you something . ”
Sungmin looked behind Muyoung .
An endless number of specters and Ellarsigo .
In front of them, it seemed like Sungmin was slightly overwhelmed .
“If you go through here, there is a village I created . Please come in . ”
Sungmin went back into the channel with confidence .
Muyoung pondered for a moment before he spoke to the specters .
“Wait here . ”
“Please let us follow you . ”
The five nine-tailed foxes requested .
It seemed like they still felt that Sungmin, who had suddenly appeared, wasn’t trustworthy .
Muyoung nodded after thinking about it for a bit . The chunglangs and songsongis should be enough to control the group .
“Let’s go . ”
Tacan was already standing beside him . It seemed like he was also curious about Sungmin, and glad to be reunited with him .
After watching Tacan for a short while, he walked into the circle .
***
Although Muyoung didn’t expect much from what Sungmin called a village, what he saw after passing through the circle was amazing .
A few hundreds of houses were spread out in the middle of a mountain range .
And the people gathered here seemed familiar for some reason .
They had a murderous look in their eyes . There were even some whose flesh sagged like a corpse’s . .
However, they were still very familiar to him .
“They are…”
Muyoung couldn’t finish his sentence .
He couldn’t help it .
How could he forget them?
As if Sungmin knew what Muyoung was feeling, he commented:
“It wasn’t easy to find them . They were so spread out . I was only able to find their locations by secretly gathering information from Mulalan City and the Great City . ”
“The assassins of the Forest of Death… you found them?”
“Yes . ”
“How did you know?”
Muyoung had never spoken about them to him .
Although he did react more regarding them, it would beuld hard to make the connection just from that .
Sungmin spoke as he walked into the village .
“Your soul and mine were connected . Especially, for me, it was stronger . Even now, doesn’t it connect from time to time? Thanks to this, although very rarely, I was able to see a few things that were engraved into your soul . I’m sorry . ”
“This is the first time I’m hearing of this . ”
He had never heard of something like this .
Sungmin bowed his head and spoke .
“I also thought it was just something like a dream . Like a dream, I would forget it . But, as time passed, I realized that I wasn’t the person concerned . ”
Sungmin’s memories weren’t exact . There were a lot of blank areas . Even enough for him to forget about Suzy .
But now, he seemed to be stable in many ways .
“Should I have not done this?”
“No . You did well . ”
Muyoung spoke sincerely .
After killing Wung Chunglin, Muyoung had entered Diablo’s Trial right away .
Normally, he would have found all the locations of the Forest of Death and liberated the people .
But, because he was trapped inside, he wasn’t able to do so . Sungmin had done it for him .
How could he not be happy?
Then, Sungmin spoke with a concerned tone .
“Although I have found them, they were already having a lot of problems . ”
“As I’d expect . ”
“Especially in terms of brainwashing, there wasn’t much I could do . I’m able to keep their minds stable by integrating with their soul but…”
If Chunglin’s brainwashing was rooted deep within them, there was nothing Muyoung could do as well . If he were to forcefully remove it, they could lose their self entirely . They could even become braindead .
“How is the village maintaining itself?”
Unlike specters and Ellarsigo, humans were creatures who ‘consumed’ .
To maintain a village on such a scale for a long period, it would be hard without a tremendous amount of resources .
“I’m acting as an information trader . Sometimes, there are people who become free from brainwashing and choose to become my underlings . I’m using them as my informers . ”
Muyoung nodded his head .
Even though it was very unlikely, if they became free from brainwashing, the afteraffects would definitely be there .
If they didn’t serve someone, or weren’t given orders, they would become anxious and commit suicide .
Either way… Muyoung couldn’t take his eyes off of them .
There were also faces he had missed . Although they didn’t remember Muyoung, he remembered them .
Afterwards, Muyoung looked at Sungmin who was walking in front of him .
As for Sungmin, it was a situation where still he needed to be doubtful of him .
If he had shown this village to Luciferre, he would have killed them all .
“Thank you . ”
“…”
Sungmin couldn’t reply right away . It was the first time he had heard Muyoung thank him .
And Sungmin answered a bit late .
“It was something obvious that I needed to do . You don’t need to thank me . ”
***
Muyoung had a long talk with Sungmin .
Although it was mostly Muyoung listening to him, what Sungmin had accomplished in the last two years was quite interesting .
“I have been following Diablo’s footsteps . And, I have confirmed that like the other demon gods, he has been collecting the ‘Fissure Stones[1]’ . ”
“Is there a reason why Diablo is collecting the Fissure Stones?”
“Diablo has summoned numerous armies, and they were all called by using the Fissure Stones . ”
Diablo was collecting Fissure Stones?
A Fissure Stone was a stone that opened and closed fissures . Muyoung had been asked to collect 3 Fissure Stones by Gremory .
“To stop his army, the demon gods have placed a strong evil spirit on the border of the Demon God’s Territory . ”
“Sky Lord . ”
“Yes, it is an artificial evil spirit that was created solely to fight against Diablo . Thanks to this, they say Diablo is unable to enter the Demon God’s Territory . ”
“Artificial evil spirit? You mean someone created it?”
“I’m not sure who created it . But, it is clear that it’s a strong evil creature, strong beyond comprehension . ”
“I also need to enter the Demon God’s Territory . ”
Muyoung needed to go to the Demon God’s Territory to advance to thenext step in his quest . However, if the Sky Lord was blocking the path, it would be problematic .
Sungmin pondered for a moment before he spoke again .
“Devils are able to cross freely . I know a devil . If it is him, he would be able to help us cross . ”
He knews a devil?
And a devil was going to help them?
It was something he had never thought of before .
Sungming continued to talk .
“He is a devil who is obsessed with trades . If we give him something that he wants, he will surely guide us pass the Sky Lord . ”
[1] Fissure Stone – I think it is just another name for the Fragments of the Fissure .
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