Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 125

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Episode 125

I sat in the middle of the forest with Hweiju.

“I’m much better now. I can run for a short time, and even though it’s a bit nauseating, I can digest food. Thank you, Young Master Lee Cheol.”

Hweiju sincerely expressed her gratitude to Lee Cheol.

She knew how hard Lee Cheol had worked to help her.

Although he said it was just a deal, Lee Cheol was genuinely helping her overcome her constitution.

Every night, when she felt a presence and opened her eyes, the light was always on in Lee Cheol’s room.

Natalia brought countless books on magic almost every day, and Lee Cheol often went out to the forest in the middle of the night to talk to Leshi.

It was too great a favor to simply repay a debt.

But since all she could do for Lee Cheol right now was to say a word of thanks, she conveyed her feelings that way.

“The final day has finally come.”

“Yes.”

At my words, Hweiju took a deep breath.

Hweiju’s condition had improved significantly, but it was not yet a situation where she could be completely relieved.

If she relaxed her guard or stopped training even for a moment, her body could return to its original state at any time.

“To put it in terms of illness, we have been erasing the adverse effects of the disease from every corner of Hweiju’s body. You could say it was a process of preparing for major surgery.”

A situation where the disease could recur unless the source of the disease was cut off.

Changing the environment, changing what she ate, changing her lifestyle, and training in magic were all for this one moment.

“And now, everything will end today. I’ve taught you everything I can, and you’ve followed me much better than I expected. You can do it.”

At those words, Hweiju smiled brightly.

“Young Master Lee Cheol is like my teacher.”

“Teacher?”

“Yes. You’ve taught me so much. I don’t know how you found out, though.”

Hweiju had deliberately avoided that question.

She thought that Lee Cheol would tell her when the time came.

“Anyway, thank you so much. Whether this works out or not, you’ve given me great hope.”

The moment Lee Cheol was about to answer, Hweiju smiled and continued.

“Let’s add one more thing to the deal.”

“Now you tell me?”

“Rather than a deal… it’s a favor.”

Hweiju paused, clearing her throat.

“After this is over, let’s be friends.”

Hweiju spoke in a playful voice, like a child her age for the first time.

“Friends?”

“Yes, as you know, I’ve only ever lived in Yeongsan or Yeongji since I was born. So, I don’t have anyone my age, let alone a friend. Ria is… like my older sister.”

Hweiju swept her side hair behind her ear and said.

“So, please be my first teacher, the benefactor who achieved my bloodline’s long-cherished wish, and my friend.”

I stared at Hweiju.

Hweiju’s eyes were slightly trembling.

I felt like I knew why she was saying this.

“I’ll listen to that request after you’ve accomplished it.”

“…You’re subtly petty, aren’t you, Young Master Lee Cheol?”

“You can do it.”

A short but confident word.

At those words, Hweiju’s eyes widened for a moment, as if surprised, then nodded with a smile.

‘Yes, I can do it.’

For some reason, her calm tone made my tense heart sink.

Hweiju knew.

If she failed this time, she would never have another chance.

Of course, her body would be in much better condition than before, but living like an ordinary person would be forever out of reach.

Conversely, if she succeeded.

She would become an ordinary person.

No, she already possessed as much magic as an entire Yeongji in her body, so she would be a little far from ordinary, but at least she could live ‘humanely’.

“I trust you, Young Master Lee Cheol.”

She slowly closed her eyes.

Slowly, deeply sinking.

Into her own body.

Towards the deep essence where a spirit is mixed with a human body.

* * *

Hweiju was observing her body.

Cozy, fluffy energies were increasing in size within her body, like boiling bubbles.

-You must not be swayed by magic. Magic must ultimately become a power that you can control.

She recalled that voice.

‘I can’t do this.’

Hweiju refocused her mind.

It’s meaningless to just let it grow in size.

-You must consciously handle the part of you that is a spirit. Think of it as a power, just like you handle magic.

She caressed the fluffy, rising energy.

Can I control this?

No, I must be able to control it.

Instead of worrying about whether I can do it, I resolve to do it.

Sigh-.

She inhaled, swallowing magic.

Whoosh-.

She exhaled, releasing magic.

I must not be swayed by magic.

I must wield magic.

‘Ugh.’

A pain like needles piercing her entire body was felt.

The power as a spirit had begun to resist.

I am a part of you. So why should I be in a position to be swayed by you now?

It felt like it was saying that.

Hweiju gritted her teeth.

‘If you’re a part of me, listen to me.’

She manipulated magic.

She manipulated it deeper, she manipulated it faster.

And.

Crack-.

She felt like something was breaking.

All that energy wrapped around her entire body and headed towards her heart.

A magic core was created.

And all the energies flowing through her body began to be classified.

As if cutting out the germs that had taken root in her body, all the power as a spirit gathered in the magic core.

Her magic core was never ordinary.

It did not store magic like a warrior’s magic core, nor was it covered with formulas like a mage’s magic core.

Hweiju’s magic core was just an empty vessel.

It could come in and out at any time according to her will.

And she was certain that this long effort had come to an end.

* * *

How much time had passed?

Hweiju slowly opened her eyes.

‘It’s heavy.’

Her eyelids were heavy.

Her eyes were stinging, she felt stiff from sitting on the floor for a long time, and it was even a little chilly.

Pat, pat-.

A night rain was falling.

Some time had passed since it started to fall, and a hazy mist was spreading around, and the smell of damp soil lingered at the tip of her nose, carried by the fog.

“You did well.”

And Lee Cheol was shielding her body from the rain with Eunhan.

She slowly got up from her seat.

“…It’s cold.”

She stepped out of Lee Cheol’s Eunhan, which was blocking the rain, and into the rain.

It was cold.

It was humid.

It smelled musty.

Everything was so realistic.

“Rain is originally cold.”

I replied with a smile.

“It’s strange. It’s really, really strange…”

A strange sense of loss was felt.

During the spirit transformation, she had actually felt a certain warmth, as if she had become one with nature.

But when all of that disappeared, and the part of herself as a spirit came under her control, she felt that this whole world was very unfamiliar and distant.

It was like being dropped in the middle of a world she knew nothing about.

The feeling that all beings born as humans feel.

She was able to smile because she felt that feeling.

“I succeeded. Young Master Lee Cheol!”

She ran and danced, bursting into a bright smile.

At that moment, all the raindrops falling towards the ground bounced off as if blocked by a transparent membrane.

The bushes she stepped on gained vitality, and the overgrown trees trembled whenever her hand was waved.

-Oh, oh, oh…

And countless spirits emerged from the darkness of the forest, exclaiming.

-The shackles that have been passed down for so long, for so long, have disappeared…

-Our friend…

-Ah, ah, ah…

It wasn’t just Leshi.

Numerous objects in the form of fire, water, and earth flew and wrapped around Hweiju’s body.

“Young Master Lee Cheol!”

She approached me, wrapped in such numerous energies.

Although still weak, her vitality was clearly shining, and her magic was leading the surrounding spirits.

I looked at her.

The world’s first, the birth of a Spirit Master.

* * *

Hweiju, who had regained her human body, ran around for a long time before collapsing from magic exhaustion.

I carried her to Natalia.

She was also a top-notch warrior.

As soon as she received Hweiju, she sat down and burst into tears.

“Thank you. Thank you…”

There was a story I heard from Hweiju.

Natalia was apparently a child taken in by the previous Hweiju, that is, the current Hweiju’s father.

Natalia’s family was the owner of a famous martial arts clan, but they were caught up in a conflict between the Russian mafia and the military and died.

At that time, Natalia was only 10 years old, and the previous Hweiju took her in and raised her like a daughter.

To Natalia, Hweiju was like a younger sister.

“I’m sorry. I will definitely atone for suspecting you, Young Master…”

“It’s okay, so go take care of Hweiju. She’s a normal person now, so she can catch a cold. She’s been in the rain for a while, so hurry.”

At those words, Natalia stood up as if she had never cried and dragged Hweiju to the bathroom.

After that, Hweiju didn’t wake up for two days.

Whether it was due to deep fatigue or magic exhaustion, she opened her eyes on the second day with a huge rumbling sound from her stomach.

“I’m, I’m hungry.”

Then she began to eat the thin porridge ravenously.

She often choked and coughed.

It seemed to be a process of adapting to the human body.

It seemed that she was coughing because she was unconsciously stopping her breathing and then trying to breathe regularly again, and she was choking because she had to breathe at the same time as swallowing rice.

And that evening, I received a visit from Baek Gyeong-hui and three people I had never seen before.

“I am Tsutsumikado Fuyume, the head of the Japan branch.”

“I am Wang Yicheong, the head of the China branch.”

“I am Nadet Kukimiya, the head of the Southeast Asia branch.”

The four branch heads who formed the backbone of the Black Crow Society, including Baek Gyeong-hui, had come to me.

The Tsutsumikado family, descendants of the Abeno clan, was like the head family of the Japanese occult world.

Moreover, if that man who took over as the head of the Chinese branch was from the Wang family of the Four Families of Kowloon [influential Hong Kong families], it meant he was the backbone of the Council of Elders.

Similarly, that man who identified himself as ‘Nadet’. Nadet may have been a descendant of a famous Thai martial arts family.

Each one was quite a big shot.

I looked at Hweiju at the unexpected visit of the four.

“Young Master kept his promise, so I thought it was my turn to keep my promise, so I called the four of you.”

Hweiju looked at me with a much more vibrant face.

“Now, the Black Crow Society will be with Lee Cheol. As a friend and as a trading partner. We will respond to your requests at any time.”

The requirement I made to Hweiju was nothing else.

It was the establishment of a cooperative system.

It was similar to a formal contract, but a little different.

If that was a promise with the organization, this was a promise with Hweiju, the owner of the organization.

And in order to keep that promise, Hweiju showed me the four executives, who could be said to be the most important secrets of the Black Crow Society.

“This is a card that proves the Hweiju of the Black Crow Society. If you use this, you will be able to use the same authority as the Hweiju of the Black Crow Society.”

Natalia handed me a black card.

“Thank you.”

I smiled as I accepted the card.

But Hweiju said with a meaningful smile.

“I owe Young Master a great debt. A debt that cannot be repaid with just that one card.”

“It was a deal. I hope you don’t feel too burdened.”

“No. I think I should feel a little burdened.”

Hweiju said with a playful smile.

“So I thought about what kind of reward I should give you. I thought you would definitely refuse money, and it wouldn’t make sense to give you secret manuals since you’re a direct descendant of the Sungmoo Yi family [a prestigious martial arts lineage].”

Hweiju winked at Natalia.

Natalia approached me with a small box.

“I’ve heard a little about you, Young Master. It seems you don’t have much greed for other things. So I thought a lot about what I should give you.”

I looked at the small wooden box.

A dark energy was flowing out of the luxuriously decorated wooden box, to the extent that even I couldn’t easily gauge it.

“In the meantime, I found out that the only thing Young Master Lee Cheol is greedy for is equipment. Please accept it.”

“What is this?”

“It’s the sacred object of the Black Crow Society.”

I accepted the box as if drawn to the energy flowing out from inside the box.

“The Black Crow’s Feather. It is a sacred-grade weapon. I will give this to Lee Cheol as a token of my promise.”