Chapter 91: The Dragon Demon’s Embrace

Creak.

I pushed the door open with both hands. Inside, a colossal hall unfolded, seemingly designed for a grand ball.

Ordered columns soared to a lofty ceiling, and a terrace curved inward from the second floor like a gentle wave. The walls were adorned with a series of immense, arched windows. Involuntarily, I lifted my gaze.

Where a chandelier should have hung, a cluster of stars shimmered with brilliant light. Beyond them lay the night sky, with dimly glowing clouds drifting along the ceiling’s edge.

“Finally.”

The voice reached me not through my ears, but through the very air itself. Startled, I whipped my head around.

Midway up the grand staircase, at the landing where it branched, two chairs were positioned. On the left, a skeletal figure in a suit lay slumped, while on the right, an exquisitely beautiful woman, also clad in a suit, gazed down at me.

Our eyes met. Instinctively, I clenched my fists.

‘There’s no life in them.’

Neither color nor vitality emanated from her. She reminded me of the dried flowers outside the mansion, and my perception of her was precisely the same.

“You are correct in your assessment.”

She affirmed.

“Is it not amusing that the owner of a taxidermied mansion is still among the living?”

“You… speak remarkably well.”

Her fluency was astounding, utterly unlike the person who had previously uttered only fragmented words.

“Because the physical distance has lessened.”

Answering without a change in expression, she rose from her seat. That simple action alone sent a crushing pressure through my chest, a familiar sense of déjà vu. The reason for it sprang from her lips without delay.

“I am Illeis Regiatus, the Dragon Demon of Chaos.”

“……?!”

It was an identity I could never have conceived. The name itself was familiar; I had only heard it a few times, yet it was unforgettable. How could I forget? She bore the surname ‘Regiatus’ and was a demon who had greatly assisted my return to the mortal realm.

However, unbeknownst to me, my connection with her had begun even earlier.

“The fragment you swallowed when you crossed into the Demon Realm was mine. I embedded the Void within it.”

This revelation was even more astonishing than her identity as Illeis. Yet, despite the shock, I found myself nodding in understanding, thinking, ‘So that’s how it was.’

It would have been far stranger for an eight-year-old child, merely an F-rank, to survive the Demon Realm without a reason. The sudden blossoming of an attribute I hadn’t even known existed in the mortal realm, only to appear in the Demon Realm, also made sense. To think all of it was due to the power of the Dragon Demon before me — it was, in fact, quite plausible.

“I apologize, but I must reclaim it.”

Slowly, she descended the staircase. The floor vibrated faintly with each step. I had believed no one in the world could rival Kratus, but I was mistaken. A pressure akin to his, possessing a similar essence, weighed heavily upon my entire body. Despite this, I found myself strangely unafraid.

“What is your reason?”

I asked calmly. Though I hadn’t intended to speak formally, the honorifics slipped out naturally the moment I opened my mouth. Illeis, halted midway on the stairs, tilted her head to the side. It was a gesture strikingly similar to someone I knew.

“Are you not afraid of me?”

I wasn’t afraid. While I knew this situation should undoubtedly inspire fear, my lack of it was perplexing, yet I also had a inkling as to why.

“There is something I wish to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know Sagyeol?”

For the first time, Illeis’s impassive expression fractured. Her hair flared out wildly in every direction, and the very middle of the staircase, where she had been descending, split with a resounding crack.

“What is your relationship with that child?”

Having lost her composure, she displayed hostility for the first time. That alone was a sufficient answer.

“Illeis. You were his mother.”

The reason why a magic-wielder could tear through magical creatures bare-handed was now clear. Sagyeol possessed the bloodline of a demon, specifically a royal Dragon Demon.

‘Most likely… a hybrid.’

“I heard you were dead. Were you alive all this time?”

“Do not test me. You already know, do you not?”

Illeis, her expression once again impassive, stated calmly.

“Great power can sometimes gain a will of its own. Such is the case with me. I am Illeis Regiatus, but I cannot be considered her complete, true self.”

It meant she was akin to a type of ‘thought-form,’ with only her will remaining.

“What exactly happened?”

“It was foreseen, and what was destined to happen simply did.”

Her gaze drifted to the figure behind me.

Lee Myeong-hwan.

The man who had worn a mask was now a pathetic skeleton, draped over the chair. Strangely, I felt no emotion whatsoever. When I had jumped from the airship, the hatred was unbearable, yet now, every nerve was quiet.

I couldn’t comprehend it. This wasn’t the emptiness one feels after achieving a long-sought goal. Why? I had suffered so much, my heart had festered with such anguish. Why now?

No answer came, and my interest quickly waned. Instead, my gaze remained fixed on Illeis. My sole desire was to somehow convey everything about her to Sagyeol, who was outside.

‘So that’s it.’

The end of all my stories. The man who had promised to ponder the ‘after’ with me had, in a sense, become the ‘after’ itself.

“Now, you must answer. How do you know that child?”

“……”

‘I’m in a serious relationship with your son.’

…But I couldn’t possibly say that. The words caught in my throat. As I hesitated, Illeis’s eyes turned cold.

“No matter. I will simply see for myself.”

Illeis’s form vanished in a flash, only to reappear directly before me. She extended a hand and covered my face. I tried to pull away, but it was already too late.

“Wai-”

Intangible fingers delved into my mind. From our intense first meeting to the day we fell asleep leaning against each other on the sofa, almost every memory flashed by. Among them, there were *those* kinds of moments. Illeis flinched, pulling her hand away.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence settled between us. She hesitated, then spoke.

“It is good to meet you, daughter-in-law.”

Her hostility melted away like snow. Her demeanor towards me became far more cautious, yet I almost wished she would remain hostile. I let out a small sigh. Still, it was a relief that things seemed to be resolving easily.

I shoved Lee Myeong-hwan’s skeletal remains into a corner. Taking the empty chair, I faced Illeis. She struggled to meet my gaze, vaguely averting her eyes as she recounted the events of twenty-two years ago.

As expected, Lee Myeong-hwan was the root cause. He had planned a project to artificially create Returnees by opening gates using fragments of Illeis. The problem lay in the attribute of Chaos. Lee Myeong-hwan seemed to have regarded it merely as a convenient tool, but it was an immense and perilous power.

He had continuously cut and reshaped a power that demanded delicate and careful handling. Thus, Illeis’s assertion that ‘what was destined to happen simply did’ was not incorrect.

In the end, Chaos spiraled out of her control, running rampant. This vast, watery devastation was the direct result of that rampage.

“Wait a moment. What about the thousand gates, then?”

“What do you mean by that?”

I belatedly realized our conversation was subtly diverging. As I explained the situation outside, Illeis’s expression hardened.

“Neither I nor my fragments are in the Demon Realm. Gates opened here merely send things from this side to the Demon Realm. They cannot bring anything from the Demon Realm here.”

“Then who, exactly, created the fragments in the mortal realm-”

My mind flashed back to the eyes that had peered at me from the rift in the sky long ago. That unknown gaze. A chilling sensation ran down my spine, and I clamped my mouth shut.

Illeis speculated that it might have been left behind by a Dragon Demon from a previous generation. In my opinion, that was the most probable scenario.

“Then couldn’t Kratus also separate his power to open gates?”

“That is not the case. The power to open gates is an inherent ability of Chaos.”

“Pardon?”

“We call it [Chaos] for convenience, but it is composed of [Void], [Ice], and [Time]. Two of those are within you and Sagyeol. All that remains with me is [Time].”

This was the moment the mystery of the taxidermied plants and the mansion, which felt lived-in despite its owner’s absence, unraveled. It was ironic that someone capable of such incredible feats was already deceased, merely a shell.

‘No, if she possessed the power of [Time] from the beginning, why was she so helplessly defeated?’

“Do not look at it that way. It is merely called [Time] for convenience. It is not the omnipotent power you imagine. If Kratus wields overwhelming brute force, then my power is a formidable one that is difficult to counter.”

Startled that my thoughts had been read, she offered a wry smile.

“Such is the nature of a thought-form.”

She briefly explained the nature of a thought-form: the ability to read minds, the blunting of emotions, the obsession with and entanglement in the past.

She also mentioned being rude and self-righteous, but from my perspective, that was far from the truth. The Illeis I saw was refined, elegant, and exceptionally considerate. However….

“Naturally, humanity is lacking, and there is no such thing as compassion.”

‘I suspect this isn’t because she’s a thought-form, but because she’s Sagyeol’s mother.’

“Hmm, now that you mention it, that also seems to be true.”

“……”

‘Right. She could read minds.’

I flinched belatedly, and she offered a faint smile. It was so subtle that one might miss it entirely, or mistake its meaning even upon seeing it.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Underdog Connection

ChaebolContemporaryObsessiveLove

Read Now →
Not interested