Chapter 93: The Price of Solved Problems

“I… I!”

“Madness.”

The terrifyingly swirling demonic energy began to fade instantly.

As the blackness receded, the clouded vision cleared. Soon, the once colossal and menacing core vanished without a trace.

A belated cheer erupted. Among the crowd, some were even weeping, overcome with emotion.

Yeowon gently patted Sagyeol’s arm, which had finally calmed. It was a silent plea to let go, but while Sagyeol’s grip loosened, he didn’t release his hold.

“Sagyeol.”

“I won’t let go.”

Just when Yeowon thought Sagyeol had regained his voice, that was his very first utterance.

“Sagyeol.”

“No matter what you say, it’s a no. I’m absolutely not letting go.”

“Is it enough if we just stay connected?”

With those words, Yeowon intertwined their fingers. Sagyeol swallowed a groan. ‘Such a cunning one….’

“See? This works, doesn’t it? Now, release your arm. I promised I’d take you.”

His words were baffling. A promise made in the core? With whom, exactly?

Despite his confusion, Sagyeol’s heart pounded. An instinctual premonition hinted at the identity of that ‘someone.’ Yeowon, now free from Sagyeol’s naturally loosened grasp, pulled him forward.

“Let’s go.”

Seven years old.

The feet, once rooted in the past, finally moved. Despite the countless events and years that had passed, this was his first true step.

Before long, a garden preserved in shades of ash and a colossal mansion came into view.

A faint silhouette appeared within. His Mother, smiling gently, looked exactly as she had twenty years ago.

Sagyeol’s breath caught. Though her form was translucent, almost ghostly, it was undeniably her.

“Mother…!”

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the figure standing against the mansion vanished, leaving only his lover, who turned to him in surprise.

Sagyeol laughed through his tears. He felt no sense of futility.

He had finally reached his destination and could now lay his Mother to rest. And, just as importantly,

“Sagyeol, did you see something?”

‘I’m glad I met you.’

Sagyeol simply smiled brightly, offering no reply. It was the genuine smile he had lost in his early childhood.

The good news reached Grisha swiftly, carried by Rephtha.

The complete subjugation of the Flood.

The people were ecstatic. The entire city was swept up in a celebratory mood, but it didn’t last long.

Within days of the news breaking, a somber unease began to stir beneath the surface.

It was because of the Gates. The Gates, which had been diminishing one by one, had now completely vanished.

Nowhere in Grisha did portals to the Demon Realm open anymore. The situation in the Flood was similar, as were the surrounding cities that communicated via airships.

Grisha had once loathed the Gates, holding them responsible for the great disaster. However, with their complete disappearance, the situation shifted dramatically.

Those who had suffered from magical creatures and demonic energy now grieved the absence of the Gates. It was a bitter irony.

Several scholars put forth their theories. The one that garnered the most attention was the ‘Gate Energy Depletion Theory.’

It posited that Gates were a type of energy entity with a finite amount of power, opening at fixed intervals until that power was fully expended.

In other words, the theory claimed that once their energy was depleted, the Gates would become ‘dead’ Gates.

There were, however, inexplicable aspects. It seemed illogical that Gates which appeared a century ago and those in the Flood that emerged twenty years ago would all ‘die’ simultaneously.

Nevertheless, this theory gained traction due to a scholar’s grave final warning.

[A time will come when Gates no longer open.]

The predictions were bleak. The price of magic stones would skyrocket, and the city government and Hunter Association would lose control, leading to anarchy.

Eventually, magic stones would be completely depleted, existing mana-addicted patients would perish, and only Hunters would remain in the world.

While the final part was a leap, the preceding points were quite plausible.

Indeed, the fluctuation in magic stone prices had already begun, showing a rapid increase even in Grisha.

“It’s fine for now, but if we don’t find a proper solution, riots will inevitably erupt.”

“Just when you solve one problem, another pops up, it seems.”

Sagyeol gnashed his teeth, tapping a fountain pen against the documents. He was handling work in the Guild Master’s office for the first time in a very long while.

The profound emotion of achieving his life’s purpose didn’t last long.

The emotion was fleeting; reality relentlessly prodded his back, urging him onward. As he mechanically scrawled his signature across documents, Lee Hyun-su spoke.

“We need to change our plans and quickly tackle the remaining Black Mist.”

The disappearance wasn’t limited to Gates; it also occurred within the Black Mist.

It wasn’t that the disappearing labyrinth had a different reason as one approached the core. Rather, some of these ‘nests’ simply retained their form for quite a while even after the magical creatures vanished.

Once the core was successfully conquered, the black labyrinth began to crumble as if on cue.

This was also why Yeowon wasn’t there; he had returned to the Flood to salvage even one more magic stone.

“No. He’s already overexerting himself enough.”

Sagyeol set down his fountain pen with a near-toss and looked at Lee Hyun-su. Lee Hyun-su, about to say ‘but,’ slowly bit back the words on his tongue.

“Many people will die.”

“That has nothing to do with Yeowon.”

It was true, but if Yeowon pushed himself to rush the subjugation, they might buy a little more time.

Knowing this, Sagyeol still drew a line. Lee Hyun-su said nothing further, simply bowing his head.

Sagyeol picked up the fountain pen he had tossed aside.

“If we can’t solve the magic stone problem, that’s exactly what will happen. I know. We need to find a solution before then.”

His words were vague, yet there was no immediate, clear solution.

Silence descended. For a while, only the scratching of a pen nib filled the office.

“How will you handle the funeral?”

It was a sensitive question, but one that absolutely had to be asked. The fountain pen paused, though only for a moment.

“The land I bought in the most secluded part of the outskirts. I’ll build a structure there.”

“Surely not…”

“She’ll be enshrined there.”

“The body, just as it is?”

“She’s crystallized, making cremation difficult. And I can’t bring myself to shatter my own Mother.”

*Scratch.* He nonchalantly signed yet another document.

“More importantly, she might become a ‘Gate.’ A normal funeral is out of the question.”

“…”

Illeis Regiatus was found in the mansion’s basement.

It was a massive facility, clearly used for some kind of research.

Amidst the bodies in lab coats and armed skeletons, she alone remained exactly as she had been in life.

However, her composition was different. From her skin to her hair, everything had transformed into a white, transparent crystal.

To the touch, she was cold as ice, and she emitted a subtle, gem-like glow.

Yeowon’s face fluctuated from pale to white before settling into a complex expression as he revealed her secret.

Sagyeol froze, his face reflecting a profound inability to comprehend what he was hearing, even as the words registered.

His Mother was a demon, specifically a royal dragon demon. Now, she had become an energy mass capable of transforming into a Gate.

Even those facts seemed secondary.

‘I… I’m a demon hybrid?’

Sagyeol, initially horrified, soon accepted the truth.

It was because, upon realization, many things began to make sense.

The most significant instance was when he cleared part of the Black Mist labyrinth immediately after the airship incident.

No matter how much the ice mountain had suppressed it, he had been caught in a storm of demonic energy, yet he had only suffered from acute mana poisoning.

‘That meant it wasn’t just luck.’

“I intend to bury her. Only Yeowon and I will know the location.”

Creak.

Sagyeol, holding the organized documents, rose from his seat. He walked around the desk to Lee Hyun-su and handed him the stack of papers.

“Are you disappointed?”

“No. I think it’s a wise decision. You never know what might happen in life, after all.”

With downcast eyes, he replied expressionlessly. Sagyeol chuckled faintly.

“Like how you’ve repaid a debt I thought could never be settled?”

“…”

“I’m not trying to be sarcastic, so relax your expression. Frankly, if you’ve truly repaid all your debts, why the reaction?”

Sagyeol tossed the words out as an aside.

“It’s time for you to finally find some peace, too.”

“…!”

*Ding.*

The quietly moving elevator deposited a person. It was Yeowon, fresh from the Flood. He paused, sensing the tense atmosphere as he slowly walked in. Sagyeol threw his documents aside and rushed over.

“You’re here, darling?”

Yeowon sighed.

“I asked you to stop calling me that, didn’t I?”

“Then what should I call you?”

“My name should suffice, shouldn’t it?”

“But we’re dating. Calling you by just your name sounds so stiff, like there’s no affection.”

“What’s wrong with that? The presence of affection is something only you and I need to know.”

Sagyeol paused, then smiled as if defeated.

“You’re absolutely right.”

Before Yeowon, who had sensed something strange, could escape, Sagyeol quickly clung to him. He wrapped his arms around Yeowon’s waist and buried his face in his neck. Yeowon, flustered, began to glance nervously at Lee Hyun-su.

Lee Hyun-su’s face had grown utterly cold. ‘I hope everything just goes to hell. Or at least, I wish this disgusting couple would just break up.’

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