Not A Regressor-Chapter 345: Black Sky (9)
“What...?” Kwon Oh-Jin’s head spun.
He felt nauseous like he was staring at a mannequin made in his image. An uncanny revulsion crept up his spine.
“What are you so shocked about?” The Heavenly Demon cocked his head as if he truly couldn’t understand the reaction. He spoke calmly and far too nonchalantly, like reciting a math equation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You think the same way, don’t you?”
Kwon Oh-Jin could only remain silent.
“As long as you can protect Ha-Eun, you don’t care what happens to anyone else, right?”
Song Ha-Eun was like a single beam of starlight that lit up his life. She was so precious, he would never trade her for anything else. He could sacrifice anything and everything if it meant protecting her. Both of them thought that way and lived like that.
Kwon Oh-Jin shut his mouth tight. He was now sure of it and could say it with certainty. “You... and I are different.”
Even if they were both Kwon Oh-Jin, they had lived differently and endured different experiences. The lives they carried, the weight on their shoulders, were all different.
“I’m not you.” Kwon Oh-Jin glared at the Heavenly Demon with razor-sharp eyes.
The Heavenly Demon scoffed. “No, you are me. That fact doesn’t change no matter the different lives we’ve lived through.” Shaking his head, the Heavenly Demon quietly continued. “Earlier, you asked why it had to be Vega, right?”
“Why are you bringing that up now?”
“You asked because you were wondering why it couldn’t be one of the other North Stars, right?”
Kwon Oh-Jin was at a loss for words. If it had been Deneb or Polaris instead, would he have felt this furious? Would he have found it this unfair?
“You’re just throwing a tantrum,” the Heavenly Demon said.
Because he had found things he wanted to protect beyond Song Ha-Eun, he was simply being selfish like a child.
“You know what matters most, don’t you?”
If he could protect her, if he could save her, then nothing else mattered.
“A tantrum, huh?”
Just like the Heavenly Demon said, maybe he was throwing a fit because he wanted to protect not just Song Ha-Eun, but everyone else too.
“So what?”
“What?”
“What’s wrong with throwing a tantrum?”
No rule said he could only have one precious thing. He didn’t have to throw everything else away just to protect one thing.
Life wasn’t a math equation. One couldn’t calculate happiness by adding and subtracting.
“Hmm. So, you’re just as stubborn, huh?” The Heavenly Demon chuckled and stood up. “Well, it doesn’t matter to me whether you throw a fit or not.”
Vega would die, and he would vanish too.
“Because it’s all over now.” With a look of relief, the Heavenly Demon glanced back at Vega, still holding her Sacred Ground.
Once time resumed, the Black Heaven would swallow her up along with the Sacred Ground.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s face twisted into a snarl. “Who said it’s over?”
He couldn’t just let everyone die like this.
I have to stop it.
He had to save Vega before the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven devoured her.
The Heavenly Demon shrugged at Kwon Oh-Jin’s furious glare. “You think you can break through Vega’s Sacred Ground right now?” The Heavenly Demon sneered. “Or what, are you gonna try talking her out of it?”
No matter what he said, Vega wouldn’t listen to him.
“Because Vega thinks you’re the Heaven-Defying Star.”
She believed that Kwon Oh-Jin was the only one who could save the world, so she didn’t hesitate to throw herself into the Black Heaven to protect him.
“You’ve already become too precious to her.”
Just as he once risked his life to save Song Ha-Eun, Vega would sacrifice herself without hesitation to save the Heaven-Defying Star.
You even sent the Heavenly Demon back in time just to protect this world.
Watching the Weaver burn brightly in the dark, the Heavenly Demon smiled faintly.
As long as Vega believed that Kwon Oh-Jin was the Heaven-Defying Star, she would never stop.
Kwon Oh-Jin clenched his fists and bit his lip hard.
“I’m... not the Heaven-Defying Star.”
“At least Vega believes you are.” The Heavenly Demon laughed. “You know it too, right? That the truth doesn’t matter. What really matters is what seems like the truth.”
Of course, he knew. Kwon Oh-Jin’s life had always been built on lies.
The Heavenly Demon stepped closer with a bitter smirk. “You think you can just tell Vega the truth now?”
Lies were like a bird falling without wings. One couldn't stop or slow down.
Until they crash and completely break at the bottom.
All he could do was keep piling on more lies.
The Heavenly Demon leaned in until his forehead nearly touched Kwon Oh-Jin’s. “You are the same as me.”
Because of that, he wouldn’t tell the truth and stop her.
“Because you—No, we have always lived that way,” the Heavenly Demon said.
They had never known any other way to live.
The Heavenly Demon turned away with a bitter smile. “Well, it’s about time we said goodbye.”
Kwon Oh-Jin stood frozen, watching his back.
“Still, it was kind of nice to talk to you for the last time.” The Heavenly Demon stepped into the black clouds with a dry laugh. “Take good care of Ha-Eun.”
With that, time began to flow again.
Woong!
A brilliant silver light ignited, and Vega pressed her hands together in a prayer-like gesture to summon her power.
“Agh!”
The restrictions of the Law struck her with searing pain.
“My... child...”
As long as she could protect Kwon Oh-Jin, the Heaven-Defying Star, this kind of pain was nothing.
Kwon Oh-Jin stared blankly at the blazing silver light.
If he just stood here and did nothing, everything would be resolved. He would lose Vega, Riarc, Isabella, and Cassia.
But Ha-Eun will still be here.
As long as Song Ha-Eun survived, wasn't that enough? The others would die, but why should he care?
He let out a dry laugh. “Ha, haha.”
Once the Heavenly Demon died and all who carried the Black Heaven’s power vanished, they wouldn’t have to worry about anything anymore. Even if it wasn’t him, other Awakeners would take care of the remaining monsters on Earth.
They wouldn’t need to fight anymore. No more struggling and no more pain to endure. He could just go home and live peacefully with Song Ha-Eun. Money was no longer a concern. They could travel the world and enjoy a quiet life together.
Just like the Heavenly Demon said, it was all over now.
“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Kwon Oh-Jin gritted his teeth and bit his lip.
Who said it was over?
Woong!
He charged toward the brilliantly blazing silver light, but bounced back after hitting the invisible wall. The overwhelming force tore his skin. Blood trickled down, but he didn’t stop. Again and again, he repeated the same action.
Vega turned toward him and shouted, “Stop it!”
“You’re the one who needs to stop, Vega,” Kwon Oh-Jin replied. “Remove the Sacred Ground.”
“I can’t.”
“I said, remove it.”
Vega looked down at Kwon Oh-Jin with sorrowful eyes. “My child...” She slowly floated toward him while keeping the Sacred Ground intact. “I don’t want to be apart from you either.”
Tears welled up in her golden eyes. She didn’t want to say goodbye to him. She knew it was selfish, but she finally just confessed the feelings she had kept buried deep inside.
She wanted to stay with him longer. If possible, she wanted to be recognized by Ha-Eun like Isabella had, and get just a little closer to him. To nestle in his warm embrace and whisper sweet words of love like any other couple.
“Before I am a woman, I am a North Star Celestial.”
As a Celestial, it was her duty to maintain and protect this world. She couldn’t allow the Heaven-Defying Star to be devoured by the Black Heaven.
“You have a greater mission, don’t you?” she asked.
“A mission...?”
Vega faintly smiled and nodded. “You’ve already seen the world consumed by the Black Heaven once before.”
Kwon Oh-Jin was a Regressor, someone who had turned back time.
“Only you, the Regressor who bears the Heaven-Defying Star’s destiny, can stop the Black Heaven.”
Kwon Oh-Jin could only remain silent.
“Do not worry. Even without me, I’m sure you’ll save this world.”
Saving the world, being the Heaven-Defying Star, and a Regressor...
“Ah... ugh.” His lips trembled, and his face drained of color.
He wanted to deny it. For some reason, no words would come out.
The Heavenly Demon’s voice echoed in his head.
“Because you—No, we have always lived that way.”
He was right. The truth tasted so bitter, he had to coat it with sweet lies just to swallow it.
“Vega...”
“There’s not much time left.” She turned toward the approaching wave of black clouds. “My child.” She smiled faintly. “Be happy.”
Vega advanced toward the Black Heaven as Kwon Oh-Jin blankly watched her retreating figure.
In his dazed consciousness, one thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
What am I supposed to tell Ha-Eun?
What could he say to deceive her in a way that wouldn’t hurt her?
“Ha.” He laughed at the question that came to him instinctively.
There it was again. Again and again, he thought of a lie first.
In the end...
Just like always, would he keep living without speaking even a grain of truth? Kwon Oh-Jin’s expression twisted like he was fed up with it all.
What do you mean, “Because we’ve always lived that way?”
He could dress it up all he wanted, but wasn’t he just a coward too scared to face the truth while doing everything he could to avoid it?
If that was what it meant to live as Kwon Oh-Jin—
“Then tell him to go eat shit.” He placed his hand over the left side of his chest. “Those who pass by me...” he muttered the incantation.
Black clouds burst out from Kwon Oh-Jin like an explosion.
Rumble!
A blue flame blazed from within the black clouds.
“Ugh!”
Kwon Oh-Jin grabbed Vega’s Sacred Ground with both hands and tore it open. He could feel the transparent wall blocking his path begin to crack.
“M-My child? W-What are you...?” Vega turned toward him, her face filled with shock at the black clouds swirling around him.
He began walking toward her and quietly said, “I’m not...”
“Y-You’re not what? And more than that, your appearance...”
Kwon Oh-Jin had lived a life stitched together with lies. He always denied the truth and clung only to what seemed true because he didn’t know any other way to live. Rather, he had never even tried to live differently.
“I’m not a Regressor.”
Now, he would no longer live that way.
