Chapter 60
[Dawn Departnt Store (6)]
Sotis he dread.
It was an inevitable dream, especially on days when I felt the buildup of mana in my body weighing down my entire body.
It was a vivid dream, morable even when you woke up.
You want power?
A world of white.
No latitudes above or below, no front or back.
No yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.
A world where no concepts existed.
In that world, she was alone.
Alone, really?
The question ca out of nowhere.
Because in that world, where nothing existed, sothing spoke to her.
Do you want power?
Like this.
It was the voice she heard every day when she lay in bed, unable to release her mana, her body feverish.
A voice that seed to be neither male nor female.
She listened to the sound echoing in the white world, and.
Dont listen.
One day, she rembered what Eunha had said in a serious tone.
He had said.
You must not listen to the voices.
Never again, no matter what.
It was the advice shed heard when shed woken up in her grandmothers house.
Why?
Because its dangerous. It may have worked this ti, but theres no guarantee it will work next ti.
So dont listen.
Dont ask for anything.
Because whatever you want, Ill make it happen.
And what do you want, Eunha?
Huh?
Eunha couldnt hide his embarrassnt.
Euna kissed his cheek and promised herself.
Then what you want, I will make it happen. What I want, you make it happen.
Yeah, I promise. Promise not to listen to the voices again? Its a promise.
Yes, a promise!
It was a promise made on a chilly morning, with a lingering coolness in the air.
Youve never killed anyone, have you?
Huh?
Youve never killed a monster either, right?
It was only in hindsight that she realized he was looking at her as a player.
She wasnt a player, she was just an elentary school student.
There was no way she could kill a human if she hadnt killed a monster yet.
If she was a sane person, there was a brake sowhere in her subconscious that said she shouldnt kill a human being, no matter how heinous a criminal he was.
So the bomb of mana shed unleashed in front of him hadnt done much damage. With that much mana, she could have wiped out the entire area, but it was nothing more than a bomb of light and sound.
The sa was true when she attacked his vulnerable spot. The mont she kicked his vulnerable spot, she inadvertently lessened the force.
Although the man was montarily flustered by the sudden attack between his legs, he didnt feel any pain at all.
As long as she had a normal mindset, there was no chance of knocking him down.
Like this.
Here.
He handed her the knife on the floor.
Huh?
She took the knife with the broken tip and looked up with an unreadable gaze.
Stab it. Stab this and Ill let her go.
The mans temptation to stab him.
A knife in her hand.
A weapon that could kill a man.
Its okay, I wont be mad at you. Stab , here, once.
The man pointed to his chest with his hand, then tugged on my arm, helping
to stab him in the chest.
If you stab
right here, Ill die, no matter how strong I am.
Youve seen it in movies and dramas, right?
She looked at herself, the sharp blade reflecting off of her.
The hand holding the knife trembled.
The man was defenseless.
The weapon was in her hand. She could end this if she wanted to.
She could, but her hand wouldnt move.
You have a nasty temper.
The man with Julieta over his shoulder frowned.
What he was doing with her was nothing more than light entertainnt.
He was sure she couldnt stab him.
Even if she did, it didnt matter; hed shield himself with mana in an instant, and he wanted to see her cry out when her act of abandoning normal thought failed.
Lets do it right and go ho.
Hed accomplished his goal. As a bonus, I got the girls.
The monster that had covered the first floor in sli was showing signs of dissipating.
At this rate, theyd be caught before they could escape.
Ah, yes.
The man who had unbuttoned his shirt agreed with the man in the beanie.
Crack!
Euna stabbed the man in the arm with the knife she was holding.
The man reflexively shielded himself, but was caught off guard by an unexpected point.
His skin ripped open. His pure white sleeve turned red.
Haa, haa!
Dont think about it.
Dont think about it.
Stabbing the man in the arm and running away, Euna sohow tried not to listen to the sound of sothing calling out to her.
Tears threatened to fall. Her hands were shaking, and she felt nauseous.
This bitch is so.
Boom!!!
Floating across the floor, Euna fell to the ground just before she reached Julieta.
The man who ran after her pushed her down from above.
Her head hit the floor. More terrifying than the impact of her forehead hitting the floor was the dizzying sensation of blackness in front of her eyes.
But!
She could still do this.
She released her mana like she was unlocking a locked box.
This is!
The man panicked. She had released her control over the mana in her body.
Uncontrolled mana was a double-edged sword. It beca a blade, striking him and gnawing at her body at the sa ti.
Ugh, it hurts!
Euna cried out in pain as sothing bit into her body.
Her mind flashed open, but her head was burning. It was hard to move her limbs.
Still, she had to get up.
She could still do it.
That little bastard! Shes causing suffering to people!
If she went on a rampage here, she wouldnt be safe.
The profanity-laced man had stepped through the raging storm.
He needed to stun her, if only for a mont, so the mana that was beginning to sweep through the area could be dispersed.
If he made a mistake, he could die before he could escape.
The man who had stumbled into the center struck her in the head with as much force as he could muster.
Crack!
Although she couldnt control the mana in her body, she could increase the amount that flowed out.
Just before the mans reach, she montarily increased the amount of energy she released and struggled to save Julieta.
Just a little more.
She could do it.
Are you crazy!
The man waved his hand in an urgent tone.
The mana in the air was unnerving. Any more and shed blow up the entire neighborhood, not to ntion herself.
Are you trying to kill us all?
Just a little more, more!
Just a little more.
She struggled to get away from him.
Just, just go to sleep!
Just a little more.
She could still do it.
A little more, I need strength.
So gather strength.
Strength to save Julieta unnie.
Strength!
Do you want the power?
It was then that I heard a voice.
Eunha had told
not to listen to it.
I had promised.
I would never listen to it again.
But I couldnt help but listen.
Im sorry. Im sorry, Eunha.
There were things I wanted to protect.
There was so much I wanted to protect.
Like that day, I didnt want to feel the fear of losing soone I cared about.
I didnt want to feel helpless, like I did that day, watching alone.
I wondered what Eunha would do.
Eunha would do anything to protect her.
Even if it ant breaking a promise.
too,
too!
Whatever it takes, even if it ans breaking a promise.
I needed strength.
Strength to save her.
To turn things around.
Power to shake off the feeling of helplessness.
I would give anything for the power.
So give
strength,
Strength, Lord!
Huh?
The white-washed world shattered like a pane of glass.
The shards that fell to the floor lted into transparency, and color spread out from where they had fallen.
The world was once again filled with color and sound.
Bruno, sir?
A large shadow lood over the crumbling world.
Hands off my wife.
The angry bear spat.
A dark mana enveloped him.
Just standing there, he exuded an overwhelming sense of power.
Still, he didnt stop.
He surveyed the situation from the corner of his eye, and finally, his eyes lit up when he saw the woman on the shoulders of the man in the red beanie.
Speculation exploded.
Boom!
The mana was so thick that it was painful to breathe.
It was only a matter of monts before Geohan filled the area with speculation, life, and mana. (1)
Bruno, Uncle. Julieta, unnie, shes.
Good. Leave the rest to .
Bruno comforted Euna on the floor.
The next mont, a mana explosion knocked her unconscious. Apparently, she had used too much mana in her body, but it was fortunate that she had survived this far at such a young age.
Geohan covered her with his jacket.
Then he took a step.
Just one step.
It seed to shake the whole place. The air shuddered.
Whatwho are you?
The man who had unbuttoned his shirt spoke, overwheld by the feeling of power.
Just making eye contact was enough to take my breath away.
This guy, who the hell are you!
He hadnt thought there would be soone this strong.
He hadnt even realized that he was this powerful in the first place, but this was the first ti he had ever seen Geohan.
We have to run!
The man who had ripped off his shirt a mont ago had used up quite a bit of energy trying to stop the mana surge.
There was no way he had any strength left to deal with Geohan.
He wasnt even sure if he had been able to take him on in the first place.
The man didnt wait for an answer, but ran for his life.
Lets go.
Huh!
The mans shirt was unbuttoned and he tried to stretch out his arm.
But his arms wouldnt move.
Neither did his legs.
But his arms wouldnt move.
Neither did his legs.
The mana swirling around him had turned into thorny vines, entangling his limbs.
The man struggled to free himself from the thorns.
But the more he struggled, the tighter the vines beca. The more he struggled, the tighter it got. The sharp thorns absorbed his mana, expanding his body.
What is this?!
Before he knew it, the man had been devoured by the thorns and was nowhere to be found.
Geohan, no, Bruno, pulled the mans head out of the vines.
P-Please spare
No use pleading.
The face-grabbed man begged desperately, but he was unforgiving.
The re force of his grip cracked the skull.
N-No, stoooop!!
The sound of his own skull cracking was beyond eerie, it was horrifying.
The indescribable sound gradually widened in wavelength until it beca the sound of sothing breaking.
By the ti the man realized what it was, his skull had been smashed in.
Crazy.
The man in the red beanie ca to his senses late.
The man in the beanie backed away as Bruno threw the remaining shards in his hand downstairs like a rock.
He knew firsthand what terror was.
He didnt want to experience having his head smashed in.
Shit!
The man threw Julieta, who was being supported by his shoulder, out onto the sli-covered plaza of the first floor.
Bruno froze.
As soon as the man saw Bruno leap to the ground floor plaza without hesitation, he fled the scene.
It was as he had expected. Geohan had prioritized saving the won over killing him.
If he hadnt, he wouldnt have gotten away.
The man in the red beanie had descended to the third floor, barely relaxing.
-You bastard, how dare you.
A low, bass voice sounded.
The man jerked his head in the direction of the sound.
Huh!
There was a loud thud.
There was Bruno. He had Julieta slung over his shoulder with one hand and was clinging to the third-floor railing with the other.
Throw Julie off, and-
The veins bulged in his forearms as he gripped the railing.
Bruno, who had climbed to the third floor as if doing pull-ups with one hand, glared at the man in the beanie.
What did you do to Julie?
His eyes were glowing red.
No, they werent glowing.
They were just wrapped in a thick layer of mana, making it look like his eyes were glowing red with speculation.
What What is this?
The man in the red beanie couldnt believe what was happening before his eyes.
Brunos body was swelling.
It wasnt an illusion.
His clothes he was wearing were actually tearing apart, and his muscles bulged out from the gaps.
P-Please, spare .
The man in the beanie suddenly understood why the woman he had killed had begged for his life.
When death lood in front of you, the instinct to live kicked in.
He threw away his pride and everything else.
To get down on his knees and beg.
His opponent was a bear.
The man in the red beanie begged in a trembling voice, as if facing a fierce monster.
Pay
back with death.
Bruno didnt listen.
He swung his right arm with all his might, striking the man in the red beanie across the right cheek.
He was lucky his head didnt separate from his body.
!
The attack didnt end with a single blow.
Before I could let out a groan, my left cheek shook.
I heard the sound of sothing shattering.
I couldnt see what had broken.
My vision swam in and out.
It was horror.
With the sound of bones breaking in my head, I tried to block out the reality. I wanted to forget.
I wanted to lose my mind.
In the face of the overwhelming fear of death, I couldnt even ask for help.
The man realized that a plea for help could only co when there was room to live.
Now he wanted to die.
It seed like an eternity had passed, even though it was only a few seconds.
When the attack was over, it felt like my head and body were separate.
Strangely, I couldnt feel anything in my head.
The pain didnt end there.
.
I couldnt move my mouth.
I couldnt even recognize what was in my mouth.
I couldnt tell if it was a tooth or a piece of bone wiggling around in my mouth.
Oh, a tooth, a piece of bone.
In the midst of the hellish pain, the man let go.
The pain didnt seem real to him anymore, one pain suppressing another, so he didnt even think it hurt.
But it was terrible to feel things disappearing from his body, to feel things exploding inside him, to see his body grotesquely disfigured in his vision at tis.
It was worse than pain.
Che il diavolo ti porti.
May the devil take you.
Bruno lifted the unrecognizable form, a mass of blood that should be grateful to be breathing.
There was no hesitation in hurling the mass in his hand over the railing.
The man, who had just lost his footing, was unable to protect himself with mana and fell directly to the ground.
Like a dead worm, he was pressed to the ground and twitched gently.
That was the end of the n.
Notes!
(1) Geohan: THE REAL NA OF BRUNO?! Could be.
E/N: Bravo! We love happy endings right?
Buona lettura! Happy reading
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