Chapter 224 - Chapter 224 (2/2)

And as he continued to delay his mission, the opinions of the Rulers that had been focused on stopping the advent of the Shadow Sovereign gradually began changing.

And eventually….

'The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light' sent him a brand new mission.

[Protect the Shadow Sovereign.]

The Rulers had finally realised that they needed the Shadow Sovereign possessing his full powers if they were to stop other Sovereigns and their nefarious scheme.

There was no one else besides the Shadow Sovereign on Earth that could defend against the Dragon Emperor and its Army of Destruction before the soldiers of heaven could arrive later.

It was a huge gamble, considering that no one knew whether the Shadow Sovereign would side with mankind, or with the other Sovereigns.

And the result came out pretty quickly.

Jin-Woo remained on the side of humanity, and the Shadow Sovereign approved that choice.

The newly-reborn Shadow Sovereign was, simply put, Jin-Woo himself.

It was worth risking Seong Il-Hwan's life in order to protect his son, in other words.

"....."

Although it was unfortunate that he couldn't even say a simple hello to his son he hadn't seen in ten years, no one alive was qualified to take a child's parent away twice. Even if that person just so happened to be said parent.

So, quietly disappearing like this was in Jin-Woo's best interest. Seong Il-Hwan looked down at his body slowly disintegrating into ash and consoled himself as such.

It was then. He heard the familiar footsteps from nearby.

Seol Il-Hwan hurriedly got up and used his still-mobile right hand to pull the hood back and hid his face.

A certain someone stood before him, then.

He didn't even have to take a look to know just who it was standing before him like this. It was Jin-Woo.

Even though here was the son whose name he so wanted to call out to, he still resolutely brushed past Jin-Woo's side while hiding his face with the hood.

However, Jin-Woo turned towards the departing man and asked.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't have noticed it if you went away like this?"

Halt.

Seong Il-Hwan's steps came to a halt.

But, how....?

He turned around towards his son, only to spot a certain item thrown by Jin-Woo slowly flying at in an arc towards him.

Grab.

What Jin-Woo returned was a shortsword. It was Seong Il-Hwan's own shortsword that he ended up dropping after his left hand became useless.

He stared at the weapon for a moment or two, before raising his head. Jin-Woo was staring back at him with reproachful eyes.

Jin-Woo could still remember quite clearly that particular shortsword.

When he was a young boy, he got found out while playing around with his father's shortsword and received a scolding worth remembering.

Only now did Jin-Woo consciously realise why his own weapons had been set as shortswords when the previous Shadow Sovereign swept through the battlefields with a longsword, instead.

It was all because of the memories he had of his father.

Influenced in part by his memories, the dungeons generated by the System ended up presenting Jin-Woo with daggers and shortswords as his main weapons all this time.

His hushed voice continued on.

"Are you going to leave again without saying anything, Dad?"

'Dad'.

That one word dug deeply into Seong Il-Hwan's heart and he had to remove his hood.

His right hand was slowly turning into ash as well.

His son flinched greatly after realising the state of his hands, but Seong Il-Hwan formed a thin smile as his reply and spoke.

"I didn't want to show you this sight."

Jin-Woo understood that a body turning into ash after exhausting all lifeforce couldn't be saved no matter what. He hurriedly tried to get closer, but Seong Il-Hwan raised his right hand to stop his son.

His left arm had scattered away in dust and only his shoulder remained by then.

Jin-Woo hesitated, before remaining in his spot, and asked his father.

"Then, what about you, Dad?"

".....?"

"Didn't you want to see me again? Dad?"

Surely, he could still use his right hand for the time being, so how come...

Jin-Woo's question caused Seong Il-Hwan's raised arm to slowly go back down.

"I wanted to see you. Always."

....To the extent that, even if you couldn't see me, I still felt happy from the fact that I could see you from far away.

Jin-Woo finally came closer to his father until he stood right before his face. Seong Il-Hwan reached up with his remaining hand to gently touch his son's face.

Thick tears falling from the boy's eyes wetted the back of his hand.

'This foolish father wasn't able to do anything for you, yet despite that, you have....'

"....Grown up so well."

Jin-Woo opened his mouth.

"Is this the Rulers' doing? Are they throwing you away after using you?"

A scary amount of rage could be felt in Jin-Woo's voice now.

Seong Il-Hwan shook his head, though.

"They only gave me an opportunity to make a choice. I chose to protect you, that is all. And that choice was not wrong."

And now, even his remaining right hand was turning into ash and scattering away.

"I wouldn't have minded talking to you for a little bit longer, but...."

And he wanted to stay here for a little bit longer, too….

He had done something reprehensible.

He ended up making a boy say goodbye to his father not once, but twice now. He tried so hard to hold back, but in the end, tears began flooding out from Seong Il-Hwan's eyes.

"I'm sorry for not being a good father to you."

Those were his last words.

Shururuk....

Seong Il-Hwan's body, all his lifeforce exhausted from fighting against the Sovereigns, turned to ash. Jin-Woo hurriedly tried to embrace his father's body slowly crumbling away, but….

What remained in his palms wasn't a person, but grey-coloured powder.

Eventually.

In the spot where Seong Il-Hwan once stood, nothing remained.

Something from deep inside angrily welled up in an uncontrollable burst. Jin-Woo couldn't hold it back anymore and in the end, raised his head towards the sky and roared out loudly.

"Uwaaaaaah-!!!"

When he did, the Mana in the atmosphere reverberated.

The sky, the air, the ground – they all cried.

And soon, Jin-Woo's mouth began emitting the heavy, grave voice similar to other Sovereigns.

[Hear me, remaining Sovereigns!!!]

If all these events were set in motion simply because the Sovereigns decided to settle on Earth, then….

Then, I shall make them pay an unforgettable price for that.

I shall definitely make it so.

His voice infused with Mana was carried in the airflow and spread out to the rest of the world.

[You shall all pay for today's events, without exception!]

The roar of the enraged Shadow Sovereign shook around both the heaven and earth.

[Are you listening, Sovereigns?!]

On this day, one human who inherited an unparalleled power decided where his abilities should be used on his own accord.

This was the moment that the true opening curtains of the war had gone up.

< Chapter 224 > Fin.