Chapter 12 - I Forgive You

His last memory before returning to the past: taking Yu Na-gyeong’s hand and being teleported into a basement packed with explosives. Limon’s expression turned bitter as he recalled barely escaping the collapsing building after the blast, only to find himself facing countless gun barrels.

“... TNT? A trap? What are you talking about?”

Na-gyeong blinked blankly. Looking so clueless she was almost comical, she hardly seemed like the person who had arranged Limon’s death. But he ignored her words entirely. His golden eyes dimmed with sorrow, and he murmured a quiet lament.

“I was such a fool. There were plenty of things that didn’t add up.”

A low-ranking PAB employee could hardly have found the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters when even the intelligence agencies had failed. Na-gyeong, who cared nothing for promotions or money, had no reason to push so hard for an operation against them. And for a group supposedly caught by surprise, the Brigade had been far too well armed and prepared.

He should have noticed sooner. His trust in Na-gyeong had blinded him to it all.

“There’s no way you’d be in danger while you’re with me.”

There had been one more crucial clue: the ominous feeling he’d had on seeing her constellation, the sense that Na-gyeong was in danger.

Thinking back, that made no sense. Whether he faced an army of a million, fell into the most elaborate trap, or fought a Monarch-class player, Limon could always protect one person while making his escape. All the more so if that person was a high-level player like Na-gyeong.

From the start, there had been only one way she could be in danger.

“... Unless I’m the one who kills you.”

The thought was so painful it left a bitter taste on his tongue. Yet he did not lower his sword. He had lived too long as a swordsman to let emotion make him forget what he had to do. Keeping his blade trained on his “enemy,” he asked evenly, “Why, Na-gyeong?”

“I—Team Leader? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re scaring me, you know? Could you please stop joking around?”

Her large, clear eyes did not waver. She really was a clever subordinate. Few people could keep playing innocent to the end, even if they knew it was their best option.

But she lacked experience. If she truly had no idea what he meant, her eyes should have betrayed her anxiety. Instead, she was too calm—a composure born of trying too hard to be clever. It told him more clearly than an admission could.

“Are they holding someone hostage?”

“...!”

Her mask cracked. Na-gyeong struggled to look composed, but the damnably keen senses of a Sword Master caught the pounding of her heart.

“You’re an orphan, so parents or blood relatives wouldn’t mean anything to you. They must have threatened the younger kids at your orphanage.”

Limon knew why Na-gyeong was always so bright and talkative: she longed for affection. He knew she spent most of her salary caring for the children at the orphanage, and how much she adored them.

So he felt no anger. He only said sadly, “I understand your choice.”

Perhaps she could bear it no longer. Her mask finally shattered, revealing a face on the verge of tears.

“... How did you know?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“You’d never betray me for money or because someone ordered you to.”

“You really are perceptive.”

Those few words held a flood of emotions: admiration, resentment, and something close to a sob. Limon met her eyes, where even more emotions mingled than in her voice, and asked:

“Is there another way?”

“Do you think there was?”

“No.”

“That’s right. At least one of us—you or me—has to die here.”

“I thought so.”

He had known before he asked. If there had been another way out, someone as quick-witted as Na-gyeong would never have resorted to this. She had been unable to tell him what was happening and ask for help because there truly was no other way.

The memory of the future had finally returned to him. Na-gyeong’s sorrowful face as she detonated the bomb after teleporting with him into this building’s basement proved it.

It was hardly an unfamiliar predicament. Long ago, when he fought the seven dragons who ruled the world, when he battled the black mages who had summoned the Demon God, and when he stopped the Seven Dragons Society’s rampage across Asia, enemies who could not handle Limon had tried, at one time or another, to use people close to him as hostages or threaten them. Even in the days when Sword Masters were supreme, he could not foil every such scheme. That was why his response in situations like this had always been the same.

“Let me ask you one last thing.”

Limon swallowed his bitterness. He looked quietly at Na-gyeong with his golden eyes and asked, “Are those children more precious to you than your own life?”

It was not a question but a confirmation. Na-gyeong did not look away from the eyes of a superior trying to fulfill what little responsibility remained to him after failing to protect his subordinate. She met his gaze and answered firmly, “Yes.”

“... You could at least hesitate a little. Now I’m embarrassed I asked.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be very sorry. Stabbing your exalted superior in the back wasn’t enough—you’ve left me all the cleanup, too.”

Limon gave a small laugh. She must have understood what his question meant, yet she had answered without hesitation. Even after his long life, he could not help acknowledging what an extraordinary person Na-gyeong was. That made his decision a little easier.

“But I forgive you.”

Her pupils widened as if she could not believe what she had heard. Before Na-gyeong could recover from the shock, he stepped forward.

One step to move into her blind spot. One step to draw his sword back slightly. One step to slide it gently into her heart.

THUNK!

“So rest easy.”

As though time had stopped, Na-gyeong stood motionless with Limon’s sword in her chest. Only after a long moment did she begin to crumple, and he quietly caught her.

She probably felt no pain. She likely never even knew she was dying. Yet the smile left on her lips, faint but unmistakable, told him she had accepted her death. With a cold expression, Limon closed the eyes of his clever, cheerful—and foolish—subordinate.

Something stirred softly.

Then the world turned black, and what had been invisible came into view. The snake finally drew its fangs from Na-gyeong’s neck. It flicked its tongue, making a sound that seemed to mock him. The instant their eyes met, Limon seized it by the throat.

He meant to take the faintly glowing orb it had pulled from Na-gyeong and held in its jaws.

“Give it back.”

Whether the snake was shocked to have been caught or furious at losing the orb, it writhed as if in a fit. Limon did not so much as raise an eyebrow.

“This isn’t yours to covet.”

He did not know what the glowing orb was. But one thing was certain: it belonged to Na-gyeong. That alone was reason enough to take it from the snake.

The snake did not accept his reasoning. Baring its fangs, it lashed its tail toward him like lightning. Unfortunately for it, Limon was faster.

“Now get lost.”

CRACK!

The snake’s neck bent at a right angle, and its remains melted away like an illusion. Limon paid it no further mind. He gazed at the glowing orb, which felt strangely familiar, then laid it on Na-gyeong’s chest as though hoping something might happen.

But even after it dissolved back into her body, no miracle brought the dead woman to life. Limon’s expression turned bitter at that inevitable truth.

KABOOOM!

With a roar like the sky collapsing, a vast blast of fire erupted from the basement and engulfed the entire building, Limon and all.

* * *

KABOOOM!

‘... Is it finally over?’

The Liberation Brigade’s headquarters bore a sign reading Haecheong Trading Co., Ltd. Until moments ago, the building had stood beneath the soft moonlight like a lighthouse. Watching it collapse amid towering flames, he sighed.

‘I’m exhausted.’

He had buried 144 tons of TNT there. He had also used dozens of explosive items to amplify the blast and barrier items to prevent escape. If Na-gyeong had brought Limon into the building’s basement as planned, not even a Monarch, let alone a Sword Master, could have come out alive.

Many had argued that his precautions were excessive. He had pressed ahead anyway. It would have been different if he had never begun, but once he tried to kill Limon, he knew all too well there would be no second chance if he failed.

Now his anxious vigil was over. With humanity’s last Sword Master gone, he no longer had to worry about insomnia, stomach pains, or hair loss.

Or so he thought.

“Ah, fuck.”

A low voice drifted from the thick cloud of dust hanging over the burning wreckage.

“What the hell did I do in a past life to deserve going through this twice?”

“...!”

He held his breath without realizing it. No, he told himself. That was impossible. He had misheard. The owner of that voice was already dead.

WHOOSH!

A sudden gust swept away the dust. Against the backdrop of flames, a white-haired man stood in the ruins with a woman in his arms. The sight emptied his mind.

He was not the only one shaken. Everyone stationed around the building in case the worst happened stood stunned now that it had. ‘How?’ The same thought struck them all. That anyone could survive such a terrible explosion and collapse defied everything they understood.

“Stop right there, Limon Aspelder!”

Fortunately, there was one exception. Perhaps he was unusually strong-minded, or perhaps his ambition had overwhelmed his judgment. While everyone else stood frozen, one man stepped forward with a megaphone and called out boldly, following the prepared manual.

“You are under arrest for the murder of a PAB agent and—”

“—terrorism and treason? You’re placing me under emergency arrest and ordering me to kneel and surrender?”

“Y-yes. If you—”

“—I don’t comply, you’ll subdue me by force?”

“... Yes.”

Why? How did this man know what I was going to say? Had he read the manual?

He had stepped forward to earn himself some credit, only to have every line stolen from him. His face reddened as he found himself reduced to an extra with nothing to say.

SPLAT!

Limon’s sword skimmed the ground. The man’s head burst like a watermelon.

“Go ahead and try.”

“...!”

Red blood rained down. The megaphone, smeared with brains, fell to the ground. The headless lump of flesh toppled over. Through it all, he stood frozen, staring.

And he was not alone. The hundreds watching Limon could not move either. It was not merely that none of them had seen Limon flick a grain of sand with his sword tip, making it look as though the man’s head had burst on its own.

“Anyone else?”

Limon looked around calmly, though he had just killed a man. His golden eyes told them that anyone who stepped forward would meet the same fate.

As if mocking their deathly silence, he wore an icy smile. Then he slowly turned his head and looked straight toward one section of the wall of people surrounding him with their guns drawn.

“Well? Doesn’t look like these people want to be your shield.”

“...!”

His heart seemed to drop. Limon was looking directly toward him.

Reason told him it was impossible. He had concealed his presence with a perception-distorting item. Not even a Monarch could have found him instantly from this distance.

“Will you come out yourself, or shall I drag you out?”

Limon’s cold words cut through that certainty.

“Kang Jeong-su.”