“Can you give me a hug?”

“Okay.” Jaehwang carefully hugged Sooji.

“Being in your arms… It makes me feel a lot better…” She said with a voice filled with relief.

The spirit then shouted, “You have to hurry and save her!”

“Wait right here,” Jaehwang said.

The spirit tried to heal her but it wasn’t enough.

“The wounds are from the inside. We need to find someone else who can help… Keep fighting them off for now,” The spirit said. Jaehwang took a look back at Sooji. “I can keep trying but, I don’t think it’ll be enough. I’m sorry.”

Jaehwang tried to keep himself calm through all of the bad news.

“It’s cold.”

“It’s okay! Everything will be okay!” Jaehwang shouted while holding Sooji and she then nodded.

“No, it’s okay. Things seem too tough right now. I’m happy that I’m able to see your face again… It’s just how I remembered it.” Sooji said as she stroked the side of Jaehwang’s face with her hand.

“Just hang in there a bit longer!” A tear then fell down Jaehwangs face.

“I’m happy to be with you at least for right now…” Sooji said with her shaking voice.

“And thanks for all your help too” She said to the spirit.

“You’re not going to die. We don’t have to say goodbye right now.” The spirit said with a smile. She tried her best to keep a brave face to make her feel better.

“I shouldn’t have hurt you back then… I’m sorry… and… I love you…”

Those were her last words as her hand fell from his shoulder.

“No.” Jaehwang said quietly.

A dreaded moment of silence then came.

“No!!!!” He shouted with tears streaming down his face.

***

Jaehwang went back to the airbase and into the emergency center. He couldn’t give up on her.

“That idiot” The first person to approach Jaehwang was Dongchul.

“…”

Jaehwang didn’t say anything, he just kept staring out of the window as he sat on one of the hospital beds.

“Was it the troops from the Daehyeon clan?”

“It’s just an excuse. That Songjae guy really is the worst. How could he do this to his fiance…” Jaehwang then quietly said, “I guess I underestimated him.”

Jaehwang was in deep regret. He was overconfident. He thought that Sooji would still been alive if only he had been more careful. “Who were those people that went after me?”

“I’ve noticed some people who were connected to this situation. I tried to ask the nation hunter association about it but they were all unenrolled.”

“I just don’t understand it. I can see why they were sent to assassinate you but what would they want her dead?” Dongchul said and they then heard a deep voice.

“The people who tried to assassinate you must have had to be someone unexpected.” The guy said as he walked towards Jaehwang. It was Choi-han.

“Could it have been the Japanese clan?”

“Of course it was. Every clan competes with each other while the Japanese clan gets all the praise and attention. The Japanese clan’s treasury is filled with artifacts that they’ve taken from the others. They have something to do with everything that happened.”

He handed him a knife that had a lot of strange designs marked on it. “I found this, I think it’s from the ones that escaped.”

He was sure that it was something that they had attacked Jaehwang with.

—Do you think you could take a look at that?

The spirit asked Jaehwang who still haven’t said a word.

“Can I take a look at that for a second?” Jaehwang asked.

“Sure. It’s just a simple artifact but here.”

“Thanks.” Jaehwang said as he handed him the artifact.

Lee Juki Conscious Knife — Normal rank artifact

Owner: No one

Special skill:

Lifeforce extortion

Hidden sense

The knife gave off an uneasy feeling.

— This could be it.

— Huh?

Jaehwang asked.

— We have to check everything first.

— Okay.

Jaehwang replied and handed the knife back to Choi-han.

“I need to be alone for a moment.”

Choi-han nodded and replied, “The Daehyeon clan members have been assigned to a new hunting ground.”

“Thanks.”

Jaehwang was about to leave but Dongchul put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Hey, take it easy. You should rest for the day.”

“Don’t worry. I will.” Jaehwang replied before he left the hospital room. He then went into an empty room and spoke with the spirit.

— Okay, what is it?

— First, I’m going to say this one thing. I couldn’t tell you this before because of a promise I made with your ancestors. However, I realized that this is something you have to know.

Jaehwang tilted his head as he didn’t understand what she meant at all.

— What are you saying?

— Listen carefully. Since I’ve decided to break the promise, I’ll give you two choices.

— Okay.

The spirit then explained everything.

— Either you’ll continue to live without knowing much just like what you’re doing now or, you’ll get to know your roots. All of your ancestors already had a destiny when they were young. I didn’t think that I would be telling this so soon but you have to know what’s going on.

— Destiny?

— That’s right. I’ve been warned but you just have to be cautious. Your blood isn’t necessarily mixed with your destiny.

Jaehwang was buried in his thoughts as he tried to made sense out of everything.

— But don’t worry, you’ll be fine and you have all the help you need.

It all was so confusing for him but Jaehwang just went along with hit and decided to just trust her words. He then remembered the dream he had when he met his parents.

— Tell me.

Jaehwang asked and the spirit began to speak quietly.

— You must know your ancestor’s true identity…

She then began to tell Jaehwang everything she knew.

She no longer had a reason to keep quiet. It was a really long story and Jaehwang listened to it carefully. He was surprised about what he heard and he felt sorry for his ascenstors. They should have taken a better precaution during their struggles to avoid themselves getting cursed. She told him how his ancestors spent a lot of time fighting because of the pack and now, he is his family’s last hope.

— Maybe you could find some traces of who they were fighting with on that knife. They had used many spells… it’s been so long so I couldn’t remember too clearly but the moment I saw that knife, I remembered. This was the root to all of their spells.

— This is what they used?

— Yes. You’ll be fighting with them in the future and you’re gonna need someone or something to help you.

He got confused as he tried to sort things out in his head. The fate of those who punished his ancestors no longer made any sense to him. However, something made sense for a different reason.

— But, why?

— What?

— Why can’t I understand any of it?

He asked and the spirit then whispered,

— They weren’t just any strong gods that could punish them. Maybe that’s why you’re not getting it. All powerful Gods are equal in this world. Human emotions are meaningless to them. But how could their madness have to do anything with your family? They must have sensed something in them because if they didn’t, they shouldn’t have died in the first place.

— Did they murder them?

— No, not exactly that. They basically just cursed them and you have a chance to break that curse.

The spirit remembered something from a really long time ago. She told him the entire story now that Jaehwang had grown old and strong enough to be able to fight it.

— Are they strong? Could they stop me?

Jaehwang asked. If they were god-like spirits as strong as the one helping him, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

-They are really strong. They trained for so many years to the point that you’d call them monsters.

-I see.

Jaehwang replied. If it was anything like Gwanjae’s training then he understood how intense it could be. They seemed like a strong group of spirits. He knew that they had to be much stronger than he could imagine.

— Do you have like… your descendants?

— Do you think that we have a chance against them?

— Yes.

— Well… by the way, do you really think that there’s just the two of them?

The spirit asked and Jaehwang nodded his head. Of course it could never be just two.

He knew that he could put off a good fight and he had a good chance of succeeding but…

— They’ve already finished preparing a trap.

Jaehwang then felt more serious and determined than before.

Sooji’s Death 2, The end.