Chapter 402 - Time to Part Ways
A few days ago.
Azrakan, who was in a cybercafé, decided on his next destination.
"I'm heading to Seoul, South Korea."
The reason was none other than the fact that the first host who died did so at a wedding hall in South Korea.
But that wasn’t all.
"Is that man in the video Black Scythe?"
After watching the widely circulated video of Black Scythe on the news, Azrakan was sure.
He believed that the one who killed all the Seeds, including Rapolai, was Black Scythe.
"There’s a human saying: 'Know yourself and your enemy, and you won’t lose any battle.'"
Even if he tried to flee, he needed to know his opponent, so he searched the internet and found something valuable.
"The one who killed the Seeds was Black Scythe."
Now, he understood a little better.
Why did Rapolai act so inexplicably?
Why did he betray his comrades without any apparent reason?
"He was threatened by Black Scythe and was discarded when he was no longer useful."
Azrakan initially thought Rapolai was a traitor, but it was a misunderstanding.
However, there hadn’t been an opportunity to clear up that misunderstanding.
Now, he was the only Seed left on this earth.
"Black Scythe is probably frantically searching for me."
To protect the humans?
Or for some other reason?
He wasn’t sure, but the only clear thing was that Black Scythe wanted to eliminate the hosts and the Seeds.
"I need to investigate more. I have to learn more about him."
He scoured the internet for information about Black Scythe.
As a result, he discovered that 96 players survived with Black Scythe in the final round.
"And Black Scythe appeared at the wedding of one of them..."
This person was Arin.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that Black Scythe showed up at her wedding.
It must have been because they were comrades in the past, and he couldn’t ignore her.
"That's it! This is his weak spot!"
Having clearly identified his target, Azrakan smiled as he gathered information online.
Information about Seo Arin.
It wasn’t difficult to find her home address, as he could enter and exit all internet networks like they were his own.
"The intercom camera captured this. The faces of Black Scythe and Seo Arin."
He also saw the face of a man named An Sang-cheol.
By hacking the car, he discovered that this man was the manager in charge of Seo Arin.
"To target Seo Arin, it’s best to disguise myself as this human called An Sang-cheol."
Having decided on his target, Azrakan easily located An Sang-cheol.
And when he was alone...
Churrururu!
"Oh!"
He stealthily slipped through An Sang-cheol’s nose and took control of his brain.
"Now I share all of An Sang-cheol’s memories. I’m the perfect An Sang-cheol."
There was no room for suspicion.
Azrakan, now An Sang-cheol, approached Seo Arin.
Under the pretense of protecting her from monsters.
But that’s as far as he got.
"This guy isn’t a manager."
Black Scythe appeared and exposed his true identity.
-----------------
"That guy is the Seed."
Ryu Min said this while looking at An Sang-cheol.
There was no room for doubt.
It wasn’t difficult to identify An Sang-cheol’s true nature by listening to his inner thoughts.
"But who would have thought the Seed would disguise itself as An Sang-cheol to attack Seo Arin..."
Honestly, Ryu Min found Azrakan by chance.
He searched the world each time the Rune of Future Sight cooled down but couldn’t locate him.
It was difficult to identify someone disguised as a human, even in stopped time.
"Unless a specific event or catastrophe occurs, it's tough to find him."
After failing to find him, he went to see Seo Arin, thinking of keeping an eye on her while the Rune of Future Sight cooled down, and there was Azrakan, disguised as An Sang-cheol.
When he first saw him, he was genuinely surprised.
"Did he approach Seo Arin to threaten me?"
Although it was his first time seeing his face, the guy had identified his true nature.
He had used his cunning to disguise himself as a companion and threaten her.
"He’s smarter than the other Seeds. But..."
Now that he’d been detected, Azrakan was doomed.
Though Ryu Min had no intention of killing him immediately.
-------------------
As the world turned pitch-black, Azrakan shuddered in shock.
"What is this...?"
"It’s the space-time barrier. You can’t leave without my permission now."
"Who are you? What kind of power is this...?"
"I’m tired of those questions."
Just as he finished speaking, a flash of light cut across the darkness.
Azrakan’s body was sliced into twelve pieces.
"Kr, krugh!"
"It’s unfamiliar, isn’t it? This kind of pain."
Ryu Min could have killed him instantly with a bolt of electricity, but he didn’t.
He only sliced him with the scythe so Azrakan could feel the maximum pain possible.
-------------------
Azrakan writhed in agony, his body severed into pieces.
He didn’t know why his opponent wanted him dead, but he had to survive.
"Please! Let’s talk! What do you want?"
"What do I want? Not much."
"...What?"
"You know you’re the last Seed left in this world, and I know you don’t have much information about Deorant."
“Then why...?”
“Do I bother you?”
Ryu Min extended his hand to conclude.
“Because you targeted someone important to me.”
"What...? Aaaaah!"
The lightning from his hand engulfed Azrakan.
An Sang-cheol’s body burned to a crisp, and Azrakan perished as well.
"With this, I’ve wiped out all the Seeds."
Ryu Min had eliminated all 12 Seeds and the 300 hosts.
Now, Seo Arin’s timeline wouldn’t collapse.
‘Plus, I managed to gather some information.’
While torturing Azrakan, Ryu Min read his thoughts.
Although he didn’t get much information about Deorant, he wasn’t out of options.
‘I saw him using Elcis’s rewind ability. The conversation he had with Deorant.’
Ryu Min recalled their exchange.
Lord Deorant, why did you appoint me as commander?
Reason? Among the Seeds in the timeline I’m sending, you’re the most outstanding and intelligent.
Does that mean I’m inferior to Seeds from other timelines?
Are you jealous? No need for that. After all, none of you are my creations. Whether one is better or worse doesn’t matter to me. You’re all the same in my eyes.
From the conversation between Azrakan and the old white-haired man, Ryu Min gained a clue.
‘It’s not much, but at least I know one thing. Deorant considers the Seeds and hosts he creates as his children.’
If what he told Azrakan wasn’t a lie, Deorant wouldn’t accept the death of his creations lightly.
‘If I keep traveling across timelines and eliminating Seeds and hosts, Deorant, enraged, will eventually be forced to reveal himself.’
With this small clue, Ryu Min dismantled the spatial barrier.
As the dark curtain lifted, Seo Arin smiled at seeing Ryu Min appear.
"Black Scythe! Are you okay?"
"I’m fine. How about you?"
"I’m okay too. But what about the manager?"
Seo Arin’s gaze fell to Ryu Min’s feet.
There lay a charred body, believed to be An Sang-cheol.
"I killed him. He was possessed by the Seed, so I had no choice."
"Ah... And the Seed too?"
"Yes. The one parasitizing An Sang-cheol was the last Seed remaining. With that, all the Seeds and hosts in this world have been eliminated."
This meant that Seo Arin’s timeline was now at peace.
Seo Arin sighed in relief.
"Phew... What a relief. There won’t be any more victims. It’s unfortunate what happened to the manager, but... there was no other choice, right?"
"No, there wasn’t."
"But how could the Seed get close to the manager? They didn’t even know each other."
"It seems it joined forces with An Sang-cheol to keep an eye on me. To get close to you."
"To me?"
"It probably thought it could threaten me if it took you hostage."
"Ah..."
Though Seo Arin understood the situation, a question crossed her mind.
"If I had been taken hostage... what would you have done, Black Scythe?"
"I don’t know. We never got to that point."
"Ah..."
It wasn’t the answer she expected, and Seo Arin lowered her head.
"But what’s certain is that I would’ve tried to save you."
"..."
"No matter what happens, you’re important to me. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t have bothered traveling through timelines and going through all this."
"Ah."
A smile appeared on Seo Arin’s face.
That answered her question.
"Thank you. For saying that."
Seo Arin smiled, relieved.
It seemed like Black Scythe truly valued her.
‘Just like always. Just as I’ve respected and loved him.’
She wanted to marry Black Scythe, Ryu Min, and wished for him to love her back.
It was a selfish desire, but in this place, she hoped her dream would come true, and she was close to achieving it.
‘Even though Min was severely wounded by the hosts... if it weren’t for Black Scythe, this world would’ve been in danger.’
It wasn’t a total destruction, so that was a relief.
There was still a glimmer of hope.
"What will you do now?"
"I’ll move on to another timeline and continue hunting Seeds and hosts."
"Then… we won’t see each other again?"
"Probably not."
Even though they had found peace, their reunion was now at its end.
Seo Arin felt a pang of sadness, but she was content with having met the real Black Scythe once more.
"Thank you. For saving me and Ryu Min..."
"It feels strange to say I saved myself."
"Yeah... it feels strange for me too."
Even though Ryu Min stood before her, the feeling was slightly different from the man she loved.
‘It’s probably the difference between his Black Scythe self and his normal self.’
Seo Arin thought as she turned away.
It was truly time to say goodbye.
"I hope we can meet again if the opportunity arises."
"Yes. If there’s a chance, I’ll find you."
Black Scythe, Ryu Min, prepared to leave.
Until Seo Arin received a call that made her freeze.
"Hello? What’s going on? What?!"
Her rabbit-like eyes widened as she listened to what was being said.
"What… how…? I’ll be at the hospital right away."
There was no need to ask what happened.
Ryu Min knew from her thoughts what she had just been told.
‘The Ryu Min of this world… has died?’