Chương 18: S.04 Memory of the Clock 04(03)

Scene 09. Ye-ju had fastened blades at both sides of her waist and was making ready to go out together with Yu-seok. Yu-seok, for the first time in a long while back in his own estate, watched their preparations in silence. As though there was nothing in particular he needed to prepare, he adjusted the folds of his thick Durumagi and waited for everyone else to finish. Ye-ju: Unexpected. You show up out of nowhere and just like that, tell us to take the Headquarters. Yu-seok: You don't have to come. I'm going in.

Stay here if you want, all of you. Ye-ju: Hm. I'll admit, it's not entirely trustworthy. But we can't stay holed up here forever either. It's galling to have no other option, but there's nothing for it. After handing down the instruction to Ye-ju, Yu-seok looked briefly at the people gathered in the courtyard outside. Having completed all their preparations, they seemed to be waiting for Yu-seok's orders. There was a fair number still.

They had not been following the two of them, but since they could not simply defy Yu-seok's word, everyone present stood with all their preparations finished, waiting for his next instruction. Ye-ju: Still, aren't there too few of us? Headquarters has to have at least six hundred people, if not more. Aren't there, what, barely fifty here? Yu-seok: Scared? Ye-ju: It's fucking rough, though. We're too outnumbered. What, is Kwon Su-jeong coming or something? Looked like they had the numbers too.

Yu-seok: They'll be busy in their own way. They didn't say a word to us. About anything. Ye-ju: Fair. Yu-seok: We'll move separately. Without regard to them. Ye-ju: But it is doable, right? Yu-seok: I'll bring it about. Without fail. Ye-ju: By the way. Where is Yeong-min sis? Yu-seok: Handling her own thing. Turning his back to Ye-ju, who had finished her preparations, Yu-seok looked at the fifty-odd people standing in the courtyard. A cold wind lifted the dirt on the courtyard floor.

After scanning the surroundings, Yu-seok spoke in a composed voice. Scene 10. I-seon, dressed in her martial robes, let out a deep sigh. She had no measure of where to begin. At times like this she really did envy Hee-jin, so quick-tongued and clever. As if pressing I-seon to move on from the silence following her heavy sigh, Eun-jae cleared her throat quietly. The officials seated around the greatest conference hall of the Grand Chamber were all watching I-seon's mouth.

I-seon sighed again, and this time opened her lips and conveyed what she had been turning over. I-seon: Today — they will come to encroach once more. Unlike the heaviness of I-seon's voice, the officials seated in the conference hall showed nothing in particular. At the absence of any reaction to I-seon's hard-won, heavy words, I-seon shot Jeong-in, seated nearest, a look that pleaded for help. Jeong-in twisted her lips, stifling a laugh, and gave a small cough.

It was a matter too weighty to simply laugh at, and so Jeong-in cleared her voice and let her meaning show. Jeong-in: Well, that's obvious. They were never the type to hold back and stay put. Soo-a: Only, why come at this point. Had they struck before we had set things right, it might have been far easier for them. I-seon: What is this, why is everyone so unruffled. I am right now — Eun-jae: Ah, come now, just speak up. It's going to take time to get out and mount a defense. I-seon: Uh, yeah.

That's — um — Jeong-in: The Strategist said as much, did she not? I-seon: Y, yes. Jeong-in: Eh, in that case, well. Jeong-in, with a careless smile, folded her arms. Her look suggested that if it was the Strategist's word, all preparations were already in place. I-seon: And — she said we have to yield a part of it to them. That is, a part of the Derived Relics we have left. At I-seon's voice, no one carried the words on for a moment.

I-seon: That is, so — Soo-a: Without the Transmission of The Oldest, to exchange anything freely, it can only be through Derived Relics. It means then that Conduits will be the ones coming in, in full. I-seon: That — that is probably not it. Soo-a: Mm. Then, they would open the gate, blind the eyes, and rob the Derived Relics by force — something along those lines, perhaps. Eun-jae: The unnatural creatures on the side of the world of the dead may come too.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Jeong-in: Ah, on that one, by ourselves alone, we'd be a bit hard-pressed. At Jeong-in's muttered grumble, I-seon, her voice turning a little more self-assured, tipped her chin up slightly and spoke with a jutting-out edge. I-seon: I. I'm going to go fetch her. Right now. Myself. At I-seon's voice, all of them, a little startled, fixed their eyes on I-seon. I-seon: The fifty-sixth The Oldest.

I'm going to bring her. Now. At once. So — while I'm not here, nobody die. Go ahead and run, rather. If it looks like we'll lose — At I-seon's clumsy worry, Eun-jae showed her prominent front teeth slightly and cut I-seon's worry short. Eun-jae: Aigo, that Kim son-in-law over there, still the same as ever. (A Dokkaebi_Goblin always lumps humans together and calls them "Kim son-in-law.") At the gruff pronunciation drawn from such a cute face, everyone in the conference hall let a light smile rise.

Only Soo-a, as though unable to loose a smile so easily, carried a deep thought with her. Eun-jae, catching Soo-a's look first, covered for the teasing she had just let out with a small cough. Eun-jae: No one will die, and we will not lose, not for anything — so go and bring her safely back. Scene 11_Falsehood. Every last ray of sunlight had faded. Over the pitch-dark apartment complex, only a skin-crawling stillness had settled.

So-hui, as though having finished every preparation and resolve, sat in the living room and drew a deep breath. She, who had kept her gaze beyond the window, spoke in a composed voice. It was a voice that had not turned her line of sight by a single degree. So-hui: Please, sit. If you would. Unlike So-hui's composed voice, the fingertips sitting in the darkness were faintly trembling.

The presence that had heard So-hui's voice stepped out from the deep darkness, came forward to the middle of the living room, and slowly revealed its form. Su-jeong: How did you know. May I ask. So-hui: I am the Guide. Su-jeong advanced to before So-hui, carrying a sodden presence through sound alone, and lowered herself to sit right in front of her. Su-jeong: I brought nothing but dead things. So you would not know.

There is no one here who could pull off the absurd stunt that happened at the police station the other day. This whole building is packed only with dead things. There is no way you could have known I would come here. How did you know. So-hui: Is that so. Su-jeong: Speaking as though you hadn't known that much. It makes you more suspicious. So-hui: No. There is nothing to suspect, nothing for or against. I shall tell you everything. Su-jeong: Tell me what. So-hui: One more living person will come here.

Through that person's eyes, I was able to deduce it. Su-jeong: Who. At So-hui's answer — offered without a flinch — Su-jeong let out a heavy sigh. So-hui: Baek Seong-hyeon. Su-jeong: Again. Song Hee-jin wove this. So-hui nodded in silence. The truth she had seen beyond death through Si-yeon, she meant never to disclose to the last, and so So-hui draped one more screen of smoke with Seong-hyeon as the pretext. So-hui: And through this affair. You will fall back into the Strategist's grip.

Realizing that you — unable to do anything — are a lowly thing. Su-jeong: I have never been out of Song Hee-jin's grip. So-hui: You cannot bring yourself to believe that, though. Su-jeong: That will always be so, no matter what. So-hui: Isn't it strange. Su-jeong: What is. So-hui: That it is me, not Si-yeon, who is here. Su-jeong: True. So-hui: I faced you to say thank you. Su-jeong: To me? So-hui: Yes. Su-jeong caught, in that instant, the sensation that something had gone wrong.

At So-hui's wrist, a green thread was fluttering. So-hui: The other Relics, I cannot say. But this time. Facing Bae Ju-hee, I was able to learn something. Su-jeong: Learn what. So-hui: That the insides of your heads, at least, I could catch hold of. That I, at least, am not a perfectly useless bitch. Scene 12_01. Su-jeong, spilling Black Water, opened the eyes she had shut. The green thread-coil wound about Su-jeong's neck snapped, shoving So-hui — who had been drawing her consciousness — out whole.

In the wide underground parking lot of the apartment, deep in darkness, Su-jeong, who had collapsed sitting, drew her breath in a rush and barely regained the consciousness she had lost. She glared at So-hui, flung out into the Black Water like something cast aside. So-hui, gathering her toppled body, rose to her feet with Si-yeon's help. With Si-yeon and So-hui at the center, every corpse that had just barely recovered consciousness revealed an all-at-once hostility.

Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee, having barely recovered their broken consciousness, slowly rose to their feet. They looked around. Every figure that had touched the green thread-coil So-hui had spread was revealing nothing but blind hostility, with a bearing that they could not in the least grasp what was happening. Su-jeong, forcing down the shock, asked So-hui. Su-jeong: What. You. All of this, here. Just now. So-hui shook her head with effort.

So-hui: If I had been so great as that, if I had been just a little better than this. Having barely managed a breath out, So-hui laid bare the self-reproach she had kept down deep, bitter and buried. So-hui: I would not — I would not have let my sisters. I would not have let my mother. End up the way they did. She took it as water already spilled. Now it was only a matter of mopping it up. So-hui stood light and unburdened.

A great many people were filling the wide apartment parking lot thickly, hemming Si-yeon and So-hui in. There had to be hundreds. The intent to trample them by killing off all these people was more revolting still. Su-jeong, who had collapsed onto the parking-lot ground, rose at last with the help of Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee. Carefully easing off the two's support, Su-jeong stood straight. Past hollow eyes, she glared at So-hui and Si-yeon.

Catching Su-jeong's signal, Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee, with a jerk of the chin, sent everyone behind them out to their respective positions. A great many corpses went into the apartment. Su-jeong: If I hold you, Kang Ji-young will come. Until Kang Ji-young comes — Su-jeong's spent-vacant face met So-hui's squarely. Su-jeong: If I cut off your fingers one by one, that'll do. Then the tongue, then the mouth, then — Facing Su-jeong's futile hatred, Si-yeon stepped lightly in to cover So-hui and cut off her words.

So-hui, entrusting her back to Si-yeon that way, turned and faced Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee. Si-yeon: Never shuts the fuck up, does it. Right? You bitch. Su-jeong: You may think that because you hold the Envoy, you're above me. Don't forget. Ju-hee and Jeong-hyeon drew their defiled martial instruments, gripped them, and faced So-hui. Su-jeong took a step, heading toward where Si-yeon stood behind So-hui. Su-jeong: That I have already given up on myself.

Facing the great killing intent from both sides, Si-yeon and So-hui. A cold wind swept through the entrance of the parking lot, biting enough to freeze the place on the spot. Su-jeong shot out like an arrow, brushed past Si-yeon, and went for So-hui. Ju-hee too brushed past So-hui, lunging to intercept Si-yeon. Si-yeon, one eye stained black, tried to cut down Su-jeong with her blade as she closed on So-hui from behind. So-hui moved to bind with her thread-coil the onrushing Ju-hee who had aimed at Si-yeon's back.

The furious dance laid bare its ferocity. A portion of So-hui's 수월래(Suwollae_the Circle Dance) figure loosened and spilled free. At the onrushing momentum of 기와밟기(Giwa-balpgi_Tile-Treading), Ju-hee faltered and drew her step back. Si-yeon unfolded, from among the 황창검무(Hwangchanggeom-mu_Hwang Chang-rang Sword Dance) of the Silla legend, the 동자가면무(Dongja-gamyeon-mu_Young-Boy Masked Dance) — a dance performed by a masked boy-child.

Though she wore no mask, Si-yeon's dance-figure was too swift and too flowing to catch her face properly. Su-jeong became certain inwardly that unless she shut Si-yeon down first, they would all be taken. Su-jeong's Black Water blocking Si-yeon's onrushing blade was closing in on Si-yeon's sword dance. Si-yeon finally stained both eyes black and swept away in a single stroke the Black Water path Su-jeong had driven forward. Su-jeong's body scattered apart, hiding her form inside the Black Water path.

Si-yeon did not let go. Before the Black Water spilled onto the ground, Si-yeon quickly reached out her arm, seized the neck of the Su-jeong who had tried to hide, and hauled her out. Onto the frozen asphalt of the snow, Si-yeon gripped Su-jeong's neck and drove it down with all her strength. Su-jeong's head struck the asphalt and Black Water scattered in every direction. Si-yeon meant to finish Su-jeong off here and now. She was toying with her prey.

Su-jeong, her throat seized, could not pull free, and the flesh at the back of her head was being ground away against the asphalt until the back of her skull was going missing. Black Water lingered only as shards. Si-yeon snapped the neck-bone of Su-jeong she had seized, then hurled her toward the apartment's entrance. It flew with force enough to collapse the empty security booth. Su-jeong, crushing and tumbling through the structure, took a heavy blow. Si-yeon chased Su-jeong, sharp as a beast.

As Si-yeon toyed with Su-jeong as though with a plaything, So-hui's dance-figure was growing duller. Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee did not miss So-hui's increasingly dulled dance-figure. Jeong-hyeon's scythe severed So-hui's red thread-coil. So-hui's 마당씻이(Madang-ssisi_The Courtyard Cleansing) — of a nature akin to the 벽사의식무(Byeoksa-uisik-mu_Evil-Expelling Ritual Dance) — faltered briefly. Jeong-hyeon and Ju-hee slipped into that very gap.

Ju-hee shot forward in a flash and drove long needles into So-hui's shoulder and thigh. Jeong-hyeon's great scythe pierced So-hui's shoulder from behind and went through, forcing So-hui to her knees. The two, cut to ribbons by So-hui's Courtyard Cleansing, were not unscathed either. Ju-hee, sliced to ribbons, came toward So-hui with breath drawn heavy, in a state not yet put back together.

As So-hui, having agonizingly dropped to a seat, was being shown — with the long needle driven into the nape of her neck — to be toppled to the floor. Ju-hee, holding only a single needle, aimed it at the crown of So-hui's head and called Si-yeon over with a taunt. Ju-hee: Give it a rest. Ju-hee, with Black Water draped across her face and body, was not about to be whole either. But that it was a match that had been too much for the already worn-out So-hui to meet was also the fact.

In So-hui's small body, several needles were embedded. So-hui's red thread-coil, it seemed, had not managed to cut down the already-dead Ju-hee. So-hui sat on the floor, overpowered by the needles, on her knees, and let her strength go. Ju-hee took the largest needle in hand, held it over the crown of So-hui's head, and flicked her fingers as though about to thrust it in. Si-yeon held her beast-coarse breath still. There was no way she would leave alone a thing that mocked her. Ju-hee: Ah, by the way. The Envoy.

How does one break it, though? I don't know that one.