Boy Monster Chapter 87

Because he was obscured by Jang Hwonwoo’s large build, it was impossible to see exactly what was happening. Jang Hwonwoo swung his knife several times and thrust it in deep vertically. Screams howling from the threshold of death burst out multiple times. The sound of blood clots splashing out of the body and the sound of breath being swallowed backward in excruciating pain were transmitted vividly.

“…Aaaargh… Hu-eok…… Ugh… K-keu……”

At the end of his death throes, the former head of the family suddenly vanished. Only blood gathered like a puddle remained.

There was no way to know where he had teleported. He had agonized over whether to counterattack even once and die here, or to flee somewhere and end his life without pain for even a minute longer, and he had chosen the latter.

A forearm lay rolling where the former head’s body had disappeared. Eunho called for Jang Hwonwoo, who was glaring beyond the rear garden.

“…Hwonwoo. He’s dead anyway. Don’t look for him now…. Come here.”

It was important to prepare a recovery plan even a minute earlier. There was no room for pain or sorrow to enter Jae Eunho’s thoughts. It was not yet time to give up. If he utilized the golden time well, he could turn this crisis into an opportunity.

Right now, the information about Hwelju and Yeonri had been erased from their minds. Everything could be framed as a rampage by the psychic who had placed a curse on the corpse. If Lieutenant Hiroshi manages the suppression well and coordinates the story with the royal family quickly, there is a chance of winning. Furthermore, Jae Eunho still had his resonance ability.

Jang Hwonwoo, his face, neck, and the front of his clothes drenched in blood, approached. Jang Hwonwoo took off the shirt inside his uniform. Blood dripped from the chin of Jang Hwonwoo as he tied the shirt tightly above Eunho’s knee to stop the bleeding.

“Hwonwoo. …Pin it all on the former head. We were one-sidedly attacked. You suppressed the psychic’s rebellion. Go to Injeongjeon Hall right now. Go lead the scene and settle things. That’s the only way to avoid suspicion.”

The face of Jang Hwonwoo, devoid of expression, was frozen like a doll’s. Without replying to Jae Eunho’s words, he hoisted Jae Eunho onto his back and flew low toward Gyujanggak. He intended to take him to the place where the left leg had been crushed and perform the regeneration work.

“Hurry. …My leg isn’t what’s important right now, we have to take advantage of this situation!”

Eunho shouted, his hands and feet convulsing faintly. Having lost a great deal of blood, Eunho’s face was haggard. The vanished leg could not be perfectly reattached even with the regeneration ability of a 1st-rank Fire Hwelju. This was because the former head of the family had blown all the burst muscles and bone fragments far away. Eunho’s reconstructed leg did not regain its former appearance.

Jang Hwonwoo, looking at Jae Eunho while slowly lifting his black hair, was like a wolf with nothing left but murderous intent and a desire for revenge. Teardrops condensed by anger gathered in the reddened whites of Jang Hwonwoo’s eyes and fell.

Jang Hwonwoo wrinkled the bridge of his nose where the tears were falling. Seeing him fallen into deep frustration and sorrow, Eunho’s heart crumbled to the very bottom.

The thread of fate was already tangled and overturned. It felt as if he could see the thread winding itself up rapidly.

The era and the light that Eunho had hoped for were by no means a fate easy to defy. For one who had raised a rebellion against a nation and a long history, losing a single leg might be a small price to pay. Although the life of Jae Eunho, born as Sa Yeonri in this era, was something given inevitably, life gives a choice where either side is dangerous and then acts pretentious about it.

But since we have kissed even once and danced together, that is enough. Eunho made this resolution to himself.

Hwonwoo, do not love me next time. When this is over, I will erase myself from you. Though I will secretly linger by your side for a lifetime, you must discard me. After this, never hold my hand. If I reach out my hand and ask you to be on my side, lift your sword and cut me down.

“No matter what happens, I will pull you out of this garbage game.”

Through his dizzy consciousness, Jang Hwonwoo’s final words were heard. The events that unfolded afterward were like a fast-passing dream. The scenes flashing by moment by moment felt only like fragments of a dream and did not feel real. Everything passed in an instant. Until the monster’s skin and breath broke through Jang Hwonwoo’s face.

The military force gathered at Injeongjeon Hall seemed to have formed their ranks fairly well. From the smell of something burning in the flames and the sound of commands, Jae Eunho felt a deep fear.

If Jang Hwonwoo were to find the former head’s body and go to Injeongjeon, a path to successfully settling the uprising would open, but Jae Eunho did not want to let him go. Like a child, he wanted to stop Jang Hwonwoo.

That might have been an invisible intuition and fate that Jae Eunho did not believe in.

Eunho barely suppressed the greed to hold onto Jang Hwonwoo.

“…No matter what, you must settle this. That’s the only way we live. You know, right? Don’t… use your psychic powers….”

A hot, dry body temperature settled on Jae Eunho’s cheek. The last kiss Jang Hwonwoo left in his human form was a promise containing the meaning of affection and loyalty.

Jang Hwonwoo disappeared over the roof of the pavilion.

Immediately after, Jae Eunho spat out the nausea he had been holding back. Inside his dizzy head, the bent and twisted thread fluttered violently and badgered Jae Eunho. You must follow Jang Hwonwoo. You mustn’t just stay here. Go find him right now! Go see him!

That voice was coming from the fallen Manshin. The Manshin, with the veins in her neck and forehead standing out vividly, shouted at Jae Eunho while fixing her pupils, which had turned white, upon him.

Follow him right now! It’s the last time! Hurry!

The Manshin suddenly stood up with a jerk and snatched Jae Eunho’s collar. The ability-control talisman was torn away in an instant. Whether she was surely possessed by a ghost, the Manshin led Jae Eunho with superhuman strength. Eunho, who was crawling on his knees toward Injeongjeon following the voice of the ghost, encountered a soldier searching the palace.

“I was attacked by the psychic…. Injeongjeon… please take me to Lieutenant Hiroshi.”

“Aren’t you in league with that psychic? Your clothes are suspicious, come with me!”

The soldier pointed his gun at the Manshin and Jae Eunho and took them into custody. Yes, it’s better to be dragged away like this. I have to go and help.

…The seal has been broken… The heavens and earth are enraged… Soon the divine power shall descend…. While the Manshin muttered, a great breath swelled from Jae Eunho’s heart. To the point where he was momentarily afraid his chest might be burst by psychokinesis, spiritual energy surged like an explosion from his wildly racing heart.

Unable to know that it was a phenomenon reacting to Sa Hwelju who had come outside, Jae Eunho was overcome by the fear of death.

“I… when this is over, I’m going to leave Hwonwoo. Shaman, please… him.”

Protect him, he could not finish saying. The Japanese army dragged away Jae Eunho, who had fainted from the earlier heart shock and blood loss.

Flames were soaring high atop the Woldae. A lump of flesh that could not be recognized was thrown onto the stone path. It was a corpse that had become a bloody pulp. On one side of the courtyard, two burned corpses were also visible. Lieutenant Hiroshi was in charge of the scene and directing it.

“Evacuate the guests to safety first and find those who were complicit in the terrorism! Leave the fire and conduct a search of the palace first!”

Jang Hwonwoo, witnessing Prince Euichin’s evacuation out of the palace, let the Irworobongdo screen burn. The boy’s resolve to pull Jae Eunho out of the quagmire no matter what gave birth to a mad determination to burn the screen to death.

Following this, the strategy Jang Hwonwoo momentarily displayed proceeded smoothly. Jang Hwonwoo shot and killed every soldier who witnessed his flight. He used the gun he had used to shoot Doctor Gallia and the assistant. He hid that gun with the former head’s body to frame it as his doing, and he restored the traces of damage caused by psychokinesis on the former head’s body to their original state.

When he crushed a couple of his own ribs to leave evidence of a decisive battle, even the military ministers did not suspect Lieutenant Hiroshi. It was now a point where he only needed to create a few fake spies who were complicit in the former head’s rampage and terrorist plan.

Jang Hwonwoo had done everything Jae Eunho instructed. Now it was time to move to the next step!

The moonlight that had been brightly illuminating Injeongjeon vanished all at once.

The air was pitch black as if all the blue moonlight had been absorbed somewhere. The full moon hanging in the sky was clear, but its light did not descend to the earth. The symbols of death gathered atop the full moon had no form and were invisible to the eyes of ordinary people.

There was an accumulation of a certain fundamental power that had escaped from the burned screen.

The being that was a power, a god, and had been born and lived with this land sensed Sa Yeonri’s spiritual energy and raged even more secretly. A murky black wind blew through the palace. The seal was broken, but no body to descend into was visible. The wind that had been circling the wide sky flew down to the earth where flames and smoke were rising.

The god who had sucked in the moonlight saw the back of a man.

Murderous intent. Hostility.

The power first sensed the yin energy that was a threat to survival.

It is one who wishes to kill all of my bloodline and bury my divine power forever so the world does not know of it.

He is not just trying to eliminate the master of my body. Beyond the head of the family, beyond the King, he covets my existence itself.

The god shifted the direction of the formless wind and hovered like a cloud over the head of the man whose uniform was soaked in blood. The power shuddered at the threat. It is the one who tried to burn and destroy the sacred object where I was sealed. He is the human trying to kill every body I could descend into…!

The nature of the power that takes and gives life prioritized the act of killing. That was the darkness that power had possessed since the beginning of time.

A human who is not of the appropriate bloodline cannot withstand my power and will burst and die.

It did not take long for the god to make a decision.

A soldier arrived at Injeongmun Gate, having taken a man in a Joseon overcoat and a shaman into custody. It was when Jang Hwonwoo approached in a single stride, kicked the soldier hard, and reprimanded him for why he had brought Jae Eunho to a dangerous place. Eunho opened his eyes at a single drop of hot liquid falling on his cheek.

…Hup.

A familiar voice swallowed a solitary scream as it was sucked into deep darkness.

Drip, drip, drip….

Drip….

Hot blood fell in drops on Eunho’s cheek and forehead and then trickled down. The first thing the awakened Jae Eunho saw was Jang Hwonwoo’s right eye. It was the gray pupil he always faced. The next sight that entered his eyes was the left cheek where blood was bursting and flowing. A hard horn that had torn through bone and skin was surrounding the left side of Jang Hwonwoo’s head.

Jae Eunho raised a trembling hand and cupped Jang Hwonwoo’s cheek. Fear flashed in his ashen eyes, and then, with a crack, stone-like fragments like deep-brown armor tore through the remaining skin and burst out. Jang Hwonwoo barely opened his mouth.

“…In, my pocket…”

However, he stopped speaking. Even at that moment, a horn like a rock pierced through his head near his right eyebrow. A stream of blood like fire rose from the boy’s head. When a faint glimmer shone from his one remaining pupil, at that moment, the boy seemed to think this was the final second. He quickly moved his lips, which were on the verge of bursting.

“…I don’t… regret it. Anything. Teacher, follow…”

The words spat out breathlessly ended there.