Chapter 290

Yeon-Hee asked, “What?”.com

I clarified, “My lives.”

This was the first time I had left a precious part of myself in the hands of someone else.

The Life Vessel has been activated.

Before I chose Yeon-Hee as my Life Vessel, I could feel the power pressuring my entire body constantly. However, the black energy escaped from me and moved toward her the moment I made the decision. This made my body tremble.

“As long as you stay alive, I won’t die either,” I said in excitement.

Yeon-Hee nodded silently. When she stared at me with her eyes mixed with combative enthusiasm and affection, the past memories we spent together, the sacrifices, and the romantic passion she had shown me made my body move without me noticing. I unconsciously stretched my arm and pulled her toward my chest. There was no resistance. Her small figure came into my arms.

I continued, “You are me from now on, Yeon-Hee. We are one.”

This duty wasn’t solely given to her because I felt that she was the safest person. I hadn’t put a diamond ring on her finger, but I think she had noticed what I felt about her. That was why I stopped talking. I didn’t want to define our relationship with a banal word like lovers.

“So?” Yeon-Hee asked.

I smiled. “I’m not going to hold back anymore. I’ve done enough.”

As soon as I said that, a sense of freedom and fear overwhelmed me.

“Me, too.”

Yeon-Hee’s small red lips began to get closer to mine. We had suppressed our feelings toward each other for too long, and I truly realized that when my lips touched hers. My intense and sudden emotions escaped towards her, and it was more extreme than the moment I chose her as my Life Vessel. Our kiss wasn’t soft or sweet. For a quick instant, our eyes met and they were filled with a militant passion. Her tongue tasted like blood and the saliva was hot. The whole kiss was very intense.

Yeon-Hee’s pet Kciphos was obviously jealous of me. The way it struggled to get between us somehow could have been cute to Yeon-Hee, but it was annoying to me. Its hideous face was covered by thick fur, but it would be revealed at one point. When it squeezed between us, its sharp fangs were revealed for a few seconds, and they flashed in the moonlight.

I had the urge to kick it immediately, but Yeon-Hee burst into laughter and hugged the monster.

She commented, “This kid must have smelled the ghoul, too.”

It was true that a few groups of ghouls were approaching us, but they were still far away.

I grumbled, “We should send it in that direction then. Hurry up.”

“Yeah, I was about to.”

Yeon-Hee patted the Kciphos’ fur as if she was soothing it, then lightly threw it to the front. The monster sprinted toward the dark wilderness when it landed on the ground.

There was no one disturbing us now, and Yeon-Hee came into my arms again. We couldn’t tell who was hungrier for love at that moment. She kissed me with her hair pulled back, and I hugged her body tight to pull her closer to me. We vented out feelings to each other, looking as if we had been hit directly by Indra’s Sword. I felt a shudder go through both of us. At that time, the moonlight was slipping on the skin of her soft neck.

We were now at the campsite where Sean’s party had left. It was stained with clotted blood, but it was the best place for us to lie down on this stage. Yeon-Hee had stopped kissing for a second and had pulled me toward there. I was fascinated by the smile she had while she dragged me over. The impatience in her expression was making my heart thump.

Our breathing became ragged, and our pounding hearts raised the tension. When I laid her down and looked deep into her eyes, she nodded. The air was filled with trust, the excitement that eventually came to light, and the lung-busting tension.

“I can stay next to you, right? Are you sure I can do that?” she asked.

It was the face of a woman who had been anxiously waiting for me. However, the face reflected in her eyes was no different from hers. It was then that I could completely let go of my fear.

I took off my bloody top, and Yeon-Hee started to take off her clothes as if we were having a competition. At the same time, we pushed anything that was in our way to the side. By the time the cut limbs of the ghouls were removed from the spot, we were naked. I hugged her with a vice grip, and the way she grabbed the back of my neck also contained violent force.

***

We didn’t need contraception. If this was a world where pregnancy was possible, then we would have stopped in the middle. The System had even forced the Awakened to be infertile here. Since it was a world where babies weren’t supposed to be born, they had blocked it. It was one of the few things the System had done well.

When Yeon-Hee’s hibernating sexual drive died down, we slowly looked around us. The place where our love and desire exploded and swirled was a mess. There were many holes that were dug up that others would have thought were done by Yeon-Hee’s pet.

Then, our kiss finally turned more romantic and gentle. I was smoothing down her hair with the same hand I had used to pull her towards me aggressively. She also enjoyed moving her lips away and making eye contact with me. The wrinkles that appeared on her nose every time she smiled were lovely. I wanted to enjoy this time longer, but Yeon-Hee took her body out of my arms. She asked me with a smile, but I felt her sadness from the question: “I can’t hand over the Life Vessel, right?”

“Were you thinking about that the whole time? Since when?”

Yeon-Hee smiled quietly and continued to say, “You are carrying so many things. Why should you be the only one taking care of everything? How far is the System trying to push you? I will continue to use the Life Vessel to resurrect you if needed, so don’t worry about that and focus on fighting. The System is no different from the Seven Demon Kings.”

Yeon-Hee added without hesitation, “So we should consider what we should do if the System abandons us. It has no choice but to use you now, but it has always abandoned people when the war is over.”

I shook my head. “It won’t be able to control the Life Vessel. It paved the way for me to get it, but this vessel is technically a power from outside.”

She grumbled, “I know the malicious parts of the System have disappeared, but I still can’t believe that.”

The unknown was bound to cause dread. I didn’t know if the System’s purpose was to protect our humanity or protect itself, the Old One. We could tell that the System was only using the Awakened as soldiers behind the curtain, so that was what Yeon-Hee was referring to.

I added, “However, the situation is getting more unexpected to keep that in mind.”

“I know,” she replied.

I sighed. “Well… we will see.”

I got up after taking my hands off from Yeon-Hee’s soft skin. She also looked around for clothes she had taken off. They were scattered in a disorderly manner along with the arms and legs of the ghouls that had been sliced off.

“We shall see, but it seems that the Final Stage isn’t far away. It might be the next stage.”

“...?”

“The fact that our time and space stopped doesn’t mean that the invasion of the Seven Demon Kings has stopped. They are busy trying to squeeze through and attack us in their own way. We have confirmed two ceremonies, one from the Maruka clan and the other from the Baclans. You should remember that too. The ritual we witnessed on the Baclan mainland.”

Yeon-Hee nodded.

“The power of the System is not infinite, which means it can’t stop time and space as much as it wants. The System will try to put an end to this war within the time limit. I think the System has lost the power to proceed with the scheduled battles in Act Three. It will try to finish within Act Two, Stage Five.”

“Are you saying that Act Three won’t happen?” Yeon-Hee asked.

I smiled bitterly. “It’s highly likely. I also wasted a lot of time and energy releasing myself from the seal.”

“...You said you confirmed the Maruka clan’s ritual, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, it must be better to bring Orca around. What do you think?” Yeon-Hee turned her head toward the sealed dungeon. “Even if we have to shackle it.”

I nodded. “Yes, we need Orca.”

To be exact we needed the vast memory warehouse that could be accessed through Orca, not the individual creature itself.

Anyway, Orca seemed to have thought that we would never come back. It acted like it would do anything if we took it out of the dungeon. It kept chattering in the Maruka language, then it suddenly stopped. It was right after Yeon-Hee’s eyes turned black. Orca was already wary of her, but it had nothing it could use against her. The time she spent a longer time focusing on it..com

After a while, her eyes turned back to normal, and Orca begged us as if it was crying. However, Yeon-Hee ignored its clear distress at being manipulated so easily. Instead, she stated in a matter-of-fact manner, “They were overhauling the invading army. On a large scale.”

This was clear evidence that there wasn’t much time left before the time and space would be breached.

Is this how it will end up?

I estimated that the Stage of Advent would end in the next stage at the latest. I wasn’t sad that I would miss the hidden rewards in Act Three because they would have been used as munitions for this war anyway. I was just not certain of the next stage’s difficulty. There was a high chance that the System would push Awakened to the brink as time was limited, and the battles it had planned for Act Three were not going to be carried out. The System would try to reverse the tide at once, and it might make us encounter the Seven Demon Kings directly. It had been driven to a corner.

I explained, “I will be honest with you. You must stay away from me when we confront beings like the Seven Demon Kings in the next stage. Other than me, everyone and anything else would just be a burden. Even if it’s you, Yeon-Hee.”

She protested, “I can’t listen to you even if you ask me earnestly. I now have a reason to live. It will be a lonely fight.”

I shook my head. “No, it won’t be lonely. We can meet again even if I die. Don’t forget. As long as you stay alive, I’m not dead even if I die.”

“But we should prevent the Life Vessel from activating as much as possible. So, Seon-Hu…” Yeon-Hee looked at me as if she was pleading.

I said while looking back at Orca, “Yes, I have told Sean and his guys that we won’t intervene, but it seems like we will deal with everything.”

“Orca… I can’t believe I’m calling a monster a pet. Follow me.”

Orca seemed to understand quite a bit of Korean as it teared up right away. It was a weird combination no matter how many times I thought of it. Two monsters and one human couple…

Yeon-Hee urged, “Let’s hurry up, Seon-Hu.”

Yeon-Hee held my hand, crisscrossing her fingers with mine. I gently clenched her hand back, and it was something I never wanted to miss again.