Chapter 343

Da-hee-ssi's eyes changed when she heard those words.

Deep anger, guilt, and melancholy disappeared; she became expressionless. It seems Seo Dawon had hit a sore point.

"I didn't expect to hear something like that from an undead. Perhaps you don't fully grasp the situation." Da-hee-ssi muttered as she raised her left hand. Answering her call, the blond man posed as if he were ready to walk.

Da-hee-ssi openly ridiculed him with her cynical remarks, "If Jae-ho is a fleshbag full of preservatives, then what are you? You didn't even leave any flesh behind."

However, disregarding her provocation, Seo Dawon smiled refreshingly, "Haha, what kind of joke is that? Lee Jae-ho and I are completely different. I chose this state voluntarily, but... what you're doing is humiliating the dead, right?"

"...Shut up!" Eventually, Da-hee-ssi lost her composure and attacked Seo Dawon.

The blonde man-that is to say, the man that was once Lee Jae-ho, reacted immediately to Da-hee-ssi's shout, jumping to a height that would have made him almost invisible to an ordinary person, before flinging his sword aura towards the top of Dawon-ie's head.

I instinctively flinched, but I couldn't move my body because the Mage's arms were holding me tightly. Dawon-ie patted me with his hands as if to reassure me.

"[Hellfire]." He immediately unfurled a large-scale magic attack that seemed to have been prepared in advance. As soon as the skill was called out, a darkness that one wouldn't dare stare into-like a black hole opening its maw on the floor-appeared.

"[Perfect Barrier]." Afterwards, Dawon-ie summoned a large shield and placed it in front of me. Lee Jae-ho's attack was blocked by that shield, and the puppet was unable to further its attack.

Screeeech-!

Its blade scraped sharply against the shield, but the winner of the power struggle was Seo Dawon. Da-hee, realizing that the shield was too strong to penetrate, glared at us before waving her hand. Lee Jae-ho retreated.

That's when the unexpected happened.

As soon as Lee Jae-ho stepped back and its feet touched the floor, something black and sticky began to cling to its shoes.

At first, I had no idea what that was, but I soon found out. Black smoke began to billow out, and Lee Jae-ho's body caught on fire. The flames of hell summoned by [Hellfire] began to devour its body.

At first, it was a very insignificant flame, so the puppet didn't care about it; but, as Lee Jae-ho continued to move, the flame crawled up its body like a snake. Until its calves, the flames burned quite slowly; past the thighs, its whole body suddenly burst into flames as if someone had poured oil all over its torso.

Da-hee-ssi screamed in horror at the sight, "No!!"

She desperately tried to put out the fire on Lee Jae-ho's body by fanning her hands, but the flames only burned brighter as it used the puppet's body as fuel.

In the end, Da-hee-ssi, with tears streaming down her face, reached out her hands to directly touch Jaeho's burning body. And, horrifically, the flames transferred to her hands.

"No! No!! Arghh!"

But, even as her own hands were engulfed by the flames, Da-hee-ssi was more concerned with the flames on Lee Jae-ho's body. She tried to rescue the puppet's melting body from the fire, but strangely the flames didn't transfer onto the rest of her body.

However, her hands soon began to burn black as she tried to bat away the flames with both hands to save Lee Jae-ho.

Da-hee-ssi completely lost her sanity as she witnessed her lover being reduced to a pile of ashes by the relentless flames that refused to extinguish. "Stop it! I said, stop!! AghhhH!!"

"......"

"No! NO!!! Please!"

I couldn't bear to watch anymore, so I eventually turned my head away. They weren't pitiful or anything...It was just too difficult to watch until the bitter end; I stood arms crossed as if I wasn't affected.

However, Seo Dawon left it like that for a few seconds, and only when Lee Jae-ho had almost completely burned away into a pile of ash did he stop the skill's progression with a flick of his finger.

I thought Seo Dawon had timed it that way in order to interrogate Da-hee-ssi. But, when I looked up at his face, I realized that I thought wrong.

"Dawon-ah..."

Seo Dawon was smiling.

In particular, his cruel smile was fixed upon Lee Da-hee who had lost her mind as she stared vacantly at Lee Jae-ho. He was savoring her expression, as if her despair was a sweet dessert.

Ignoring me, Seo Dawon whispered to Da-hee-ssi, "Ask Moon Issak."

"......"

"Let's see if he can save that pile of ashes."

Da-hee-ssi raised her vacant eyes and stared at Seo Dawon. Then, behind our backs, I heard Moon Issak roar, "Seo Dawon-!"

It seemed that he had finally been released from the Mage's hypnosis.

Moon Issak kicked away the completely shattered scarecrow with his foot and approached us, visibly angry. After regaining his composure and surveying the surroundings, he paused for a moment when he saw Dahee sitting there. The investigator seemed to be trying to assess the situation.

The words that soon fell from his lips were so cold that I could hardly believe the two were on the same side. "What a fool... You should have dragged Kim Sangyoon out and taken him hostage to buy time."

"......"

"Useless. You or anyone else."

That was truly a line that a despicable villain might spout. How did this world become so twisted that a thug like that received a scenario that may reward him with becoming a pope.

After making such a shameless remark, Moon Issak stretched his body; there was a cracking sound as he turned his neck from side to side. Then, he stared at Seo Dawon with narrowed eyes.

It didn't stop there. He glared at me, still deep in Seo Dawon's embrace. The investigator's gaze was even more relentless than when he looked at Seo Dawon.

I involuntarily grit my teeth at Moon Issak's persistent, sticky gaze. Seo Dawon quickly shifted his body to block that gaze.

"Choi Lee-kyung..."

Through my blocked perspective, I could hear Moon Issak's simmering voice.

I strained my ears to follow his voice, but I couldn't understand him. I had given up on understanding the man, but when our eyes met earlier, Moon Issak had glared at me as if I had betrayed him and had an affair with Seo Dawon.

'Resentment...'

Clearly, there was more than just anger in him. His shameless gaze exuded his resentment and obsession towards me.

How unfair. Even when I had lost my memory, I had no relationship with Moon Issak. As my foggy mind gradually cleared after meeting Dawon, the memories of our time together started to emerge. They were filled with nothing but pain and shame.

However, that only reaffirmed the fact that he enjoyed the violence-all those moments I felt stifled and suffocated... enough for him to feel 'betrayed'.

The overwhelming difference in our positions and perspectives shattered all my efforts to avoid thinking deeply, dragging me into a vortex of hatred. The days when I helplessly succumbed to Moon Issak kept becoming more vivid in my mind.

'I want to kill him...'

The most terrible thing he would do was to appropriate and disguise himself within my memories of Seo Dawon and hit me. Whenever I was slapped around or treated like a tool by someone I liked without knowing the reasons why, I had shed incredibly sorrowful tears. And, Moon Issak would take pleasure in my tears each and every time.

"Hooo..." However, I tried to cut off such thoughts. I didn't want to shed any more tears over that man. Instead of crying, I bowed my head and regained my composure in Seo Dawon's stable arms.

From that moment on, the bloodlust pouring from Moon Issak became even more intense. In a growling, sinister voice, he threatened, "You'll never be able to leave the basement for the rest of your life."

I trembled because I remembered the basement that Moon Issak was referring to. I was very frightened, and I also felt ashamed of myself for being afraid.

However, I clenched my teeth and retorted, "Let's see who rots underground forever."

As soon as I finished speaking, Moon Issak laughed despicably, "Are you all fired up because you managed to summon Seo Dawon? Just him? How cute."

Then, after a pause, he continued meaningfully, "You personally told me your weakness-you can't summon for an extended period of time."

"......!"

"I'll win just by dragging time. Isn't that right, Lee-kyung-ah?"

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TL: First things first: Holy shit, absolutely COLD from Seo Dawon. Although, I'm glad he did it. I know Da-hee was "kind" to Lee-kyung, but she wasn't kind enough to stop Moon Issak from "using" Lee-kyung.

Second-Moon Issak truly is every toxic ex-boyfriend ever, huh?