1.
A journey undertaken in pursuit of happiness.
At the end of the long journey lay the person most dearly loved,
“Can you kill me?”
A request more cruel than any other.
Thus, Han-Ryang shook his head.
“There might still be a way!!”
According to what his master had told him, those afflicted by sorcery could not regain their senses.
“But since you have returned like this, there must be a way!!”
At the moment when a glimmer of hope touched Han-Ryang’s horribly contorted face—
“…No.”
Kwaang!!
A force incomparably stronger than before struck Han-Ryang, throwing him away.
“I can feel it. The moment when this thing devouring my life completely takes over me, I will slaughter even more and ultimately perish in the flames of my own carnage.”
“That’s not true…!! You are still yourself!! There is no way you would do such a thing!!”
His thick hands trembled violently.
Barely suppressing his emotions, Celosia turned toward the wounded and walked forward.
“You still want to kill me. You want to slaughter all living things, and that’s why you’re leading me to a place where there are more people.”
She was no longer the young lady he had known. Her consciousness seemed completely devoured by the curse.
Tear.
A countless number of shadows unfurled around Celosia as she gazed at Han-Ryang and spoke indifferently.
“That is why, Han-Ryang, this is the last chance I will give you. If you do not kill me, I will massacre everyone in this village, then kill you as well, regretting it only too late… and continue this slaughter until this wretched life finally ends.”
Her words carried undeniable truth.
At the tip of a sharp shadow stood a child—one she had once saved.
Han-Ryang thought.
He thought, and he thought again.
How could he save her? How could he resolve this?
But the conclusion he reached after agonizing over it was—
‘…There is no way.’
No method could prevent the inevitable death awaiting her.
And so, realizing that the despairing end was drawing ever closer, what surfaced in his mind were memories of a time when he had been truly happy.
– You said you would give me your life, so I accepted it with my lips.
– You could say something so sweet?
– Puhaha, how cute. Alright, I won’t tease you anymore, so come closer.
Han-Ryang let his tears flow freely as he murmured to Celosia like a lament.
“…Why? Why has such a tragedy come upon us?”
“I do not know either.”
“I was finally ready to be happy, but why must you leave so far away?”
“…I do not know that either.”
“Ahh… I was finally able to return everything you gave me. Only now… Only now did I finally reach that point…”
As Han-Ryang let out a deep sigh of sorrow, Celosia’s fingers twitched for a moment. But without noticing, he continued speaking through his sobs.
“When we meet again, the first thing I want to do is call you ‘my lady,’ then whisper your name on a late night.”
“…”
“I thought five or six children would be fine. Maybe more.”
“…”
“But more than anything…”
Suppressing the sobs threatening to escape, Han-Ryang, who had unknowingly stepped closer, embraced Celosia tightly.
“Celosia… I wanted to stay by your side forever, my most beloved.”
Tears of blood streamed down his face.
Crack.
His molars ground together, his body wracked with sobs.
“So rather than this… I would rather die with you. That would be a far better fate.”
Even as Han-Ryang wept and poured out his despair, she gave no response. She simply stared at the people writhing in agony.
“…”
Being held in the arms of such a large man, no one could see the way her lips trembled.
…Grip.
Celosia clenched her fist once more, then whispered coldly, regaining her icy expression.
“You’ve thrown away your last chance.”
Immediately, countless shadows shot toward the wounded like arrows.
“By being swayed by emotions, you’ve forced me to kill the very people I wanted to protect with my own hands.”
Following her bitter murmur—
Crunch!!
A dreadful, tearing sound echoed.
In the cruel silence that made it seem as if the world had stopped, Han-Ryang spoke once more.
Still holding Celosia in his arms, he whispered into her ear.
“…I’m sorry, my lady. Never… never forgive me.”
His thick hand pierced through her delicate body.
“…You knew, didn’t you.”
For a brief moment, her mind had returned, and she had asked him to kill her.
But Han-Ryang had hesitated, so she had pretended to be fully consumed.
“I told you, my lady… You were never good at acting.”
Understanding her true feelings at last, Han-Ryang had no choice but to grant her request.
“Puhaha… And I had practiced so hard.”
The shadows lost their form and dissipated.
Even the ones that had seemed to strike down others had only been aimed at the ground from the very beginning.
Celosia’s body collapsed.
Her eyes lost their light once more.
Her breath became shallow.
Though her vision had not yet faded, by sheer habit, she reached out and caressed Han-Ryang’s face.
“You have finally become a Jangseung. It is said to be extremely difficult, but I am proud of you.”
“…Thank you.”
Swish.
Ssshhh…
As the dark energy dissipated, Celosia’s vision began to blur once more.
Realizing she had little time left, she forced her heavy eyelids open.
“I wanted to call your name too, Han-Ryang. And if you ever called mine, I was planning to tease you, saying, ‘Where does a mere attendant think he’s addressing his lady?'”
“…”
“Of course, we would have had at least eight children. Sturdy like you, beautiful like me—they would have shined like no other.”
“…My lady…”
“But more than anything…”
Her breath grew unstable, and soft pink eyes filled with tears.
“I wanted to spend my entire life by your side, Han-Ryang. With you, my most beloved.”
As those words left her lips, her vision went dark.
A pitch-black darkness engulfed her once more, and Celosia, gripped by fear, frantically reached out.
“Han-Ryang, are you there?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“…I see. You are still here, after all.”
Celosia was afraid.
Her vision had been taken once more, and death loomed so vividly before her.
An unseen death was far more terrifying than anything else.
In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to cling to Han-Ryang, to cry and beg him not to leave her alone.
But—
‘…If I do that, Han-Ryang will spend the rest of his life in guilt.’
Celosia swallowed her fear and whispered to him.
“Listen carefully, and never forget this.”
2.
Unfortunately, Han-Ryang could not recall Celosia’s final words.
It was as if someone had carved that memory away.
No matter how hard he tried, he failed to bring it back.
And then, he learned the truth.
– [It appears to be an attack carried out by a secret unit under direct orders from Reina Babylonia, the current Empress of the Babylonia Empire. However, there is no evidence.]
Han-Ryang thought,
‘If I take revenge, maybe I’ll remember.’
From that point on, things were simple.
He relinquished his status as a Jangseung, assumed a false identity, infiltrated Babylonia, and mastered the Empire’s language.
Every time he repeated the strange expressions of Imperial speech—eupnida, eupnikka—he wondered how much his lady would have teased him if she had heard them.
That was when he met Black Wolf.
– Your speech is unusual. Are you from the East?
– …Who, ─eupnida?
– I’m the one who came to save you.
– I didn’t quite hear you─eupnida?
It was the day before the planned assassination of the Empress.
A sudden battle broke out, but in mere seconds, Black Wolf subdued Han-Ryang and said,
– With that pathetic skill, you will never kill her.
– Kgh─!! I will handle it─eupnida!!
– Do as you wish. I’m sure your lady would be overjoyed to hear that.
-…? How do you─
– [I am also from the East. The tragedy that befell the Cheon family is famous far and wide.]
– […I see.]
He explained his plan.
His goal was to overthrow the tyrant rotting away the Empire and restore it to its rightful state.
Black Wolf made a promise to Han-Ryang.
– One day, if everything unfolds as I have planned and I gain enough power… I will help you recover the last words your lady spoke—the ones you have forgotten.
Han-Ryang let out a bitter laugh.
– [Foolish man. You bark well.]
– […I understand Eastern speech, you know. I already told you, I am from the East.]
– [……] ─Eupnida.
– [I heard everything.]
A man as sharp as a blade—yet paradoxically warm, as if his very presence could mend wounds.
Han-Ryang, who had spent countless days and nights being pursued by him, eventually decided to trust him.
For reasons he did not fully understand, he felt that if anyone could retrieve Celosia’s final words, it was this man standing before him.
Of course, he had no great expectations.
Even if he recalled what she had said, his goal would remain unchanged.
But if he could wish for just one thing—
‘If only, for a single moment, I could see you again, Celosia…’
Like a fleeting regret drifting through the air, his longing dispersed into nothingness.
.
.
.
And yet, somewhere—
‘…That wish, I think I can grant it.’
Someone gathered up every last fragment of that vanishing regret.
【Due to the contract between <Black Wolf (EX)> and <Aria (???)>, No. 3—<Han-Ryang (S)>’s lingering attachment has taken form in this world.】
【The one who was never saved—<Cheon Celosia (E)>—will briefly manifest in the present world.】
A miracle had been born.
