Requiem of Subdued Souls

Chapter 80: Praying For Rain (28)

As soon as they stepped into the boundary of the mountain, they began to hear the sound of a whistle.

As they ran after the sound, they saw the lake.

It was a sight that made them speechless. That was how serious the situation was.

The place was so full of demonic beasts that it was hard to tell which part was the lake and which was the land, and in the midst of all of that was the flash of swords with “Ack!” “Kuak!” and a series of screams burst out.

It was so chaotic that one couldn’t tell what was happening, but it was clear that the Hwarangs were struggling. However, there were just too many enemies.

If they killed one, two would come out. Even when the heads were being beheaded, the demonic beasts kept coming.

Seol Young felt a sense of déjà vu witnessing this. He remembered the demonic beings he met in the tombs. The ones abnormally moving with hostility.

‘Isn’t this similar to that?’

As they were getting closer, they could see the Hwarangs now. Everyone was struggling and exhausted. Still, they clenched their teeth and went back to slashing down the demonic beasts, and at the same time, they were sending out a request for support.

The two joined them.

First, Zaha’s spiritual qi soared from his sword, and it turned into a huge halo around the lake and lit up the entire place.

It was the Golden Wheel.

The light pierced the eyes of the demonic beings, making them bow their heads and scream.

“ACK!”

And at that, Zaha’s sword mercilessly pierced through them. Everything shattered in an instant. Now, under the protection of the Great Mother, Zaha could move without hesitation.

Seol Young wasn’t going to lose to him.

He used his talismans to burn down those who were far away and his sword to cut down those who were close.

“….!”

When their saviors appeared, the Hwarangs regained their strength. Both sides joined forces to cut down the demonic beings.

Finally, the tide turned.

Compared to their speed of regeneration, the speed at which they were dying became much faster.

Burning, exploding, crushing, slicing…

They handled the situation that way, and soon the last one fell down as well, and the Hwarangs collapsed. Everyone gasped for air.

Zaha asked them,

“What just happened? The demonic beings?”

“There.”

Seo Geom pointed to the lake.

There was a huge corpse floating around.

“After a fierce battle, I killed him. But at that moment, these demons suddenly appeared and came in huge numbers, but there were just five of us, so we couldn’t handle all of them, and so we asked for help, but no one came.”

“I can see how that happened. We barely heard the whistle once we stepped onto the mountain’s boundary.”

“What was that? No, why…”

At that moment….

Dududdu.

…..came a loud thumping sound.

“Uh?”

Everyone looked up, and rain began to pour down. It was a cool downpour.

Seo Geom shrugged his shoulders. His face was exhausted.

“Well…”

“Right. Now that the mission has been completed, let’s all head back.”

“Yes, High Governor.”

The Hwarangs, which were all stretched out on the ground, got up. And two of them approached the corpse.

“Great-rang, here.”

And they pulled out the flute that they had brought.

“Right.”

Seo Geom took it and wiped it with a silk towel.

But then…

“…?”

Seol Young suddenly sensed something.

‘What is it?’

And he turned in one direction. A thick water curtain began to rise due to the rain, and from beyond it, someone appeared and walked toward them while yelling.

“Is it there?”

Seo Geom flinched.

“Um?”

A Hwarang took out a flame talisman and shone it in that direction. It was also a Hwarang.

He had long spiky hair that was messily tied up, and although he looked normal, his face that glanced at the bunch looked bad…

“From the Blue Dragon True Troops?”

Seol Young was shocked.

The man was wearing the same robe as them.

Was there such a man with them? He wondered and looked back.

“….”

Everyone, including Seo Geom, was shocked. Their faces were pale, as if they couldn’t even think of blinking.

And it wasn’t just them. Zaha also seemed surprised.

“Seo Jun…?”

A name that he had never heard before popped up.

Seol Young asked,

“Who is that?”

“Seo Geom-rang’s elder brother….”

Brother?

As he was about to ask, he felt something odd.

Heavy rain was pouring down, yet not a single strand of the man’s hair got wet. And not even his clothes were wet.

And then he vaguely remembered hearing about it when he fought them in the past.

‘Seo Geom-rang had a brother, but he died…’

While on a mission with the other Hwarangs, he was killed by the God of Cataclysm.

That was what he heard. So how did he appear here now?

“Ah.”

While avoiding the light that was dazzling his eyes, Seo Jun said,

“I was wondering who it could be. You were the ones sending the signal?”

He looked around, and his gaze stopped at the lake.

“It seems to be a strong one. But it looks like the situation has been handled.”

And he shrugged.

He looked fine. He looked like a living person, but there was this energy about him that couldn’t be explained.

Seol Young looked around.

A small cave was visible through the trees, and after winking at Zaha, he went inside by himself and prepared for anything to appear by raising his spiritual qi.

Zaha stepped forward.

“Seo Jun-rang.”

“Um?”

Seo Jun turned to him.

“Governor!”

His face flashed with happiness.

“Was it the Governor who cleaned up the demons? I guess I didn’t have to rush here.”

He was grinning.

“…”

Seo Geom and the others silently watched him.

Seol Young realized one thing. After Seo Jun appeared, Seo Geom didn’t speak. A dead person coming back was such a strange thing.

But weren’t they brothers?

He should have missed him, or his unspoken feelings should have been flaring up. There should have been such feelings, but nothing could be felt on Seo Geom’s face.

He was just hard and cold.

Even though his younger brother was showing feelings close to hostility, Seo Jun didn’t seem to care.

“Well, what kind of help can I even do in…”

While talking, he suddenly frowned.

“But it is odd. It seems like I am forgetting something important.”

“Should we head over there?”

Zaha cut off Seo Jun’s words.

“The cave there. Shall we go and talk there, away from this rain?”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo Jun brushed his hair, which wasn’t the least bit wet.

“It is really pouring down heavily. It rains a lot this time of year. Even on the day that I left the kingdom…”

And he paused.

The expression on his face vanished, and his face looked like he had a mask on.

“Seo Jun-rang?”

Zaha called him.

“Governor.”

Seo Jun looked at him blankly.

“I know what I forgot.”

With blank, dead eyes, he turned his way.

“I, I… I….”

His lips twitched like he wanted to say something…

A powerful force began to rise from his body.

“ACKKKKKK!”

He screamed like he was in pain, and a light shone in both of his eyes. He was brandishing his long nails like he had gone insane.

Seol Young stretched out his hand.

Puak.

A blue talisman moved from the cave and exploded on Seo Jun’s body.

Then the talisman turned into lightning and struck him. A crackling of lightning could be seen on Seo Jun’s body, and he staggered in shock.

Zaha hit him with the handle of his sword.

“Euk!”

Seo Jun collapsed.

“Done.”

Zaha raised his sword and pressed it against his throat.

The scream of a ghost could be heard. Seo Jun tried struggling, but in the end, his energy ran out, so he slumped.

The light went dim in his eyes, and his huge nails were back to normal. Seol Young came out of the cave, and everyone in the rain looked at Seo Jun.

“Why….”

Seo Geom mumbled.

“What is this?”

Seol Young knelt down and put his hand on Seo Jun’s body.

“This is an entity.”

Zaha asked.

“Is he alive?”

“No, he just exists.”

Not like you… said Seol Young with his eyes.

“He doesn’t breathe or have a body temperature, but his body has a spiritual form like the spirits. But it doesn’t mean he is an evil spirit. Seo Jun-rang is really here.”

“It makes no sense.”

Seo Geom mumbled.

“His body has been cremated, so how…”

He looked down at the man. He wasn’t his older brother. He was something else.

And then he looked up.

“What do we do?”

He turned to Zaha and asked.

“For now…”

Zaha looked at Seo Jun, who was on the ground.

“I have to do something before someone sees him.”

His gaze moved somewhere.

“There is a way. Follow me.”

“Yes, High Governor.”

And so the Hwarangs dragged Seo Jun’s body and followed Zaha.

The rain fell hard, and the misty air hid their appearance.

TL/N: The raws used the term entity specifically because the body isn’t wounded and holds its form before he got killed.