F-Class Destiny Hunter

Chapter 78:

Chapter 78

Shin Sooah made no response to Seo Gangrim's words and tried to push his hand away. But she was already struggling just to breathe. Feeling her weakly squirming in his hand, Seo Gangrim opened his mouth, saying, "It hasn't been even 30 minutes since the last chime. There's still time until the next one."

Only after hearing these words did Shin Sooah let go of the dagger. With a clinking sound, the dagger fell to the ground. She slowly rolled her eyes and looked at Seo Gangrim.

"You said you wouldn't come..."

"I didn't say I wouldn't come. I said I'd be late."

Seo Gangrim gave Shin Sooah a little more of the healing potion. She initially tried to resist, but Seo Gangrim's determination prevailed.

With a bit more of the potion, some life returned to her eyes. Thinking that she would attack herself again the next time the drums sounded, Seo Gangrim quickly got to the point.

"Why did you do this? Shin Sooah-ssi, you could have easily defeated them."

"No, I... I can't defeat my own shadow."

Her voice sounded more like conviction than resignation. Shin Sooah stared at him with eyes as unyielding as wood.

"You should understand, Gangrim-ssi. You know what my ability is..."

Her ability? Seo Gangrim urgently opened her Destiny window. After seeing it, he finally understood her.

The last time she entered the Demon World, Shin Sooah had acquired a new ability. He already knew what this ability was. It was an ability she had possessed in her previous life, but the timing was different. In her previous life, she had gained these abilities after leaving the educational facility. The abilities themselves were not inherently bad, but the timing was unfortunate.

[Ability] Bloodlust

[Rank] Spirit Third-class

[Description] Upon contact with human blood, this ability increases. The more it is used, the greater the dependence on this ability. When the ability is used to cause someone's death, karma is gained.

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[Ability] Weight of Karma

[Rank] Divine Third-class

[Description] The more karma accumulates, the stronger this ability becomes.

This was an ability that became stronger the more it harmed people. It was similar in nature to Seo Gangrim's "Destiny Theft" or Nam Yoojun's "Murderous Impulse."

While most people would gladly accept these abilities, Shin Sooah was different. She didn't use these abilities. Some might call her foolish for not using an ability that became stronger the more she harmed others, but there was a downside: dependence. Even if someone had their sanity intact at first, over time, their violent tendencies would increase. They would start to enjoy becoming stronger by hurting others. Shin Sooah knew this fact and avoided harming people as much as possible. If, by any chance, she came into contact with a large amount of human blood, she would lock herself in her room for several days to suppress her urges.

"I won't use Bloodlust, but my shadow... It's different. After every attack, my shadow becomes stronger," Shin Sooah said in a voice that sounded exhausted.

The shadow merely copied Shin Sooah's abilities, not her moral beliefs. Seo Gangrim could see how terrifying a demon with a "Bloodlust" could be. Moreover, with Shin Shooah's other abilities, most people would not be able to antagonize her shadow.

"So... Gangrim-ssi, you should leave with the others as soon as possible."

"And what about you?"

"I'll take care of it on my own..."

Was she planning to die here? Seo Gangrim looked into Shin Sooah's eyes and reproached himself. The situation was changing, and he should have considered the possibility that she might gain the ability first.

"...I've talked too much. I need some rest."

With a weak voice, Shin Sooah closed her eyes. Her thin eyelids were trembling. Seo Gangrim stared at her for a moment and then left the cell.

"Ah, Master."

Yoon Bom, who had been waiting outside, stood up abruptly. There was a somewhat guilty expression on her face, as if she felt responsible for something.

Jang Taeheon felt the same way, and said, "We shouldn't have let her do that. Even if she said so, we should have stopped her..."

But they probably couldn't have stopped her. How could ordinary people prevent someone who was acting irrationally? Instead of blaming them, Seo Gangrim took a seat.

"No, no one could have stopped Shin Sooah's stubbornness."

Despite the complicated situation, he couldn't afford to waste energy in unnecessary things.

'I need to get people out of here as soon as possible, and then I should leave too.'

Seo Gangrim's shadow, like Shin Sooah's, would become stronger the longer it remained active here. In fact, his situation was worse than Shin Sooah's. Seo Gangrim touched the Geohae's Shackle hanging around his neck.

"Master!"

Just then, one of the doors opened, revealing Yoon Geoul. Beside him, there were Father Yohan and Dokgo Jun. Father Yohan approached eagerly, as if he were delighted to see him.

"Brother! It's so good to see you."

"Yes, I'm glad too. And you've lost this."

Seo Gangrim took out the rosary from his pocket and handed it to Father Yohan, who received it gratefully.

"Thank you so much! I had given up on it..."

"Then it's fortunate."

"But meeting Brother Seo Gangrim is even more joyful than finding the rosary! Brother Dokgo Jun came two days ago, and today, Brother Seo Gangrim is here."

"But weren't you with Dokgo Jun from the beginning?"

To that, Dokgo Jun smiled wryly and replied, "Yeah. I arrived a bit late because of the deadline. That's why I got separated."

Seo Gangrim stared at him intently. He hadn't seen Dokgo Jun since the door opened that day. While Seo Gangrim was training alone in other stages, he never crossed paths with him.

'Did he come in while I was busy training in the Demon World? Something feels off...'

For some reason, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. Seo Gangrim fell silent, and Father Yohan suddenly spoke up in a fluster.

"Oh, right. I'll go check on Sister Shin Sooah's condition."

"I just gave her a healing potion, so she should be fine."

"Oh, you've already seen her?"

Father Yohan nodded, and there was nothing more to be said; his gentle eyes held a touch of sadness. Others wore similar expressions, except for Dokgo Jun, who maintained his usual demeanor.

Yoon Bom tried to change the atmosphere deliberately by raising her voice. "Now that Master is here, and we have more search personnel, we should be able to find them soon!"

"That would be good, but if Gangrim's shadow is even stronger than he is... The shadow seems stronger than the original," Jang Taeheon said with a sigh.

Hearing this, Yoon Geoul looked puzzled, and asked, "Stronger than the original?"

"Yes. It seemed stronger than me. It was faster too."

At that, Yoon Geoul still looked puzzled. "I was at a similar level with it. How about you, sis?"

"It was similar to me. I didn't feel like it was particularly strong..."

"But Sister Shin Sooah-ssi's shadow is stronger than her. That's why she's weakening it like that."

"Isn't that because of Bloodlust?"

Listening quietly to their conversation, Seo Gangrim suddenly felt someone's gaze on him. He turned to find Dokgo Jun looking at him, grinning as if he found something amusing.

"Seo Gangrim, you've done something interesting to your neck."

Seo Gangrim had tried to cover it with his collar, but apparently, it had showed during the recent battle. Upon hearing this, everyone else looked at Seo Gangrim's neck. They all had the same shocked expression.

"Is that, Master, on your neck?"

"Yes."

"Then you're going to die...!"

"Before that happens, I'll leave. I've only been here for a day."

Seo Gangrim was more concerned about the others than himself. The rest of them had been here for four days, so they were running out of time. There was no time limit, but there was hardly anyone who wanted to experience the pain of having part of their body severed.

"Who's the next most serious after me?"

Dokgo Jun had the belt on both of his wrists, while Shin Sooah had it on her left arm. Yoon Bom and Yoon Geoul had their ears affected, Jang Taeheon had his on a few fingers, and Father Yohan had one on his little finger. While losing fingers or ears would undoubtedly be painful, it was not comparable to losing an entire arm, as Shin Sooah had.

Father Yohan seemed worried about Shin Sooah and glanced towards the prison area. "We need to find Sister Shin Sooah's plaque as soon as possible and get her out. Can we find it before a week passes?"

"Don't worry, Father! We'll find it. Let's go back to search again."

"Yes, yes. But other teams may come, so someone needs to stay here to watch over Sister Shin Sooah..."

It was clear what would happen if the weakened Shin Sooah encountered members from other areas.

Yoon Geoul glanced at Seo Gangrim and said, "Master, how about you stand guard? You seem to be injured."

"Yes, Master. Just in case, please stay here."

Seo Gangrim didn't reject their suggestion and nodded. He also had more to discuss with Shin Sooah.

"But one more person should stay behind. Who would like to volunteer?"

"Oh, Father. I'll stay with Gangrim for guard duty. I'm feeling a bit tired."

Dokgo Jun said, his expression not showing any signs of fatigue. While a few people exchanged skeptical glances, Father Yohan simply smiled.

"Is that so? Well then, I'll leave it to you, Brother Dokgo Jun."

"Father, it seems like Dokgo Jun is just making excuses..."

Jang Taehun also seemed to agree with Yun Geoul's words. However, Father Yohan just gently pushed them forward.

"Yoon Geoul, my child, you shouldn't suspect others. Now, let's hurry and search for the plaque."

The others followed Father Yohan out of the room, leaving only Seo Gangrim and Dokgo Jun at the entrance to the prison.

Left alone, a tense silence descended upon them.

Seo Gangrim gazed at the floor, not looking at Dokgo Jun as he said, "Wouldn't it have been better to choose a different location? Was it necessary to leave Shin Sooah-ssi in the prison?"

Dokgo Jun turned to Seo Gangrim, grinning as he replied, "Well, that was Shin Sooah-ssi's choice. She thought that with no soil or plants here, the shadow would weaken."

Indeed, this place had nothing but stone and metal. It was a place where her ability would weaken slightly, but Seo Gangrim still didn't feel comfortable with it.

A woman lying on a stone floor, covered in blood.

"Is that the only thing you wanted to ask? I thought you might ask about something else." Dokgo Jun had a strange expression on his face, as if he found something amusing.

Seo Gangrim glared at him and asked, "Did you send the Temporal Arrow?"

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