---

I carefully moved my steps. After all, there was no way I could step outside the Hwasan Sect. There wasn’t really anything to be done by going out.

Thus, I found myself blazing a trail alone, lost in my thoughts.

“You’ve come.”

I already knew where I was headed. The person waiting for me had a stern expression on his face.

“I was somewhat worried about you, but thankfully, it seems you are not wandering alone.”

Shin Noya glanced from me to someone standing beside him. It was the Heavenly Demon.

“Have you finished your thoughts?”

“……”

Thoughts.

At that question, I drew in a breath. Had I finished? Not at all.

Instead, I was tangled up in a web of complications and suffocating delusions.

“Noya.”

“Yes.”

“Do you perhaps remember what you once told me?”

No matter how many times I circled back, I understood that the things I had to do remained the same.

That was the time spent realizing that.

Was I fated to be a calamity? A destiny that had twisted and spiraled away, might it realign with my soul and revert to what it was destined to be?

Such frustrating words wouldn’t change the situation.

All it did was sour my mood. And it was quite a bit, as well.

However.

‘……Just because I’m feeling like trash…’

Doesn’t mean the things I needed to do would change.

So what if I was a calamity?

Clenching my fist and gnawing on my tongue, I spoke to Noya.

“No matter what my situation is, if I think of it as me, then that’s not the case. That’s what you said, right?”

Those were the words Noya had once spoken to me.

It was the same then. When Yeon Ilcheon had declared me a calamity and everything seemed poised to crumble.

Noya had steadied me with those words.

“……Yes.”

It seemed he, too, recalled them, nodding calmly.

“What you said back then, does that meaning remain unchanged even now?”

“……”

The words that set me on my feet.

Are they still unchanged now? At that inquiry, Noya’s gaze turned toward me.

What expression was he wearing? I couldn’t read anything from Noya’s face.

But.

“Yangcheon.”

“Yes, Noya.”

“I will ask you a question now.”

“Yes.”

“Is it truly my will that’s important?”

“……”

“What’s important right now, is it not your will?”

I sealed my lips.

“I don’t believe you came seeking for an answer from me. Moreover, I don’t think you came to verify something either.”

I steadied my breath in the tone of his serene rosy gaze.

Those fierce eyes contained sharpness but also a power that somehow calmed people.

“How do you see it?”

Regardless of what you think,

how do you think of yourself?

As he asked that, I gripped my hand tighter.

Crack—!

I felt the sound of bones in my fingers.

I hadn’t broken anything. Just a twinge of pain.

Feeling the sting, I spoke.

“……I might be a calamity.”

“…….”

“Well, if you listen to how I look and what I say, it does seem like it.”

I made a grimace. Forcing the corners of my lips upwards.

“……Can I just not be?”

If there was a mask, I wanted to wear that.

If I had to hide my expression, I at least wanted something that could do that, but since that wasn’t an option, I just let it out.

“A calamity. If I don’t want to be one, can’t I avoid that?”

Even if the words Noya spoke or the situation were genuine calamities,

‘Just because I feel like trash, doesn’t mean I’ll do it.’

If I hold my ground and say I won’t, then I won’t.

Didn’t I say that if I think it’s not me, then it’s not me?

Then I’ll think just that.

‘By any means necessary.’

Just as I always have until now.

‘I’ll make it happen.’

There shouldn’t be any impossibilities, and this time should be the same.

I would never let anyone dear to me die by my own hands.

“……Hmph.”

Noya rested his chin on his hand, and then.

“It’s been a while.”

He broke into a smirk.

“I like your answer.”

“……”

“If that’s what you’ve decided, then follow through with it.”

With a snap, Noya rose to his feet.

“As I said earlier, there will be a method available, anyway.”

“……Why are you so sure of that?”

“You must know that the arrangements your mother has made are strange.”

“……”

Is it permissible to call it an arrangement?

Honestly, I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

If my mother is the one who tampered with my soul, what reason is there to revert it back?

‘I don’t even know what she hopes for from me.’

I still didn’t understand what my suddenly disappearing mother wanted from me now.

Does she wish for me to become a calamity? If she truly appeared by the will of the world.

There could be that possibility.

‘Then, she wouldn’t have tampered with my soul.’

It was clear there was some intent behind it all.

That could be the arrangement Noya mentioned. Or it could be something else entirely.

It would be naive to trust my mother blindly.

Even though I longed for her.

‘But it’s all uncertain.’

Apart from my longing, the situation remained a mystery. Therefore, I had to consider everything.

Even if it’s fate that I would become a calamity, if I wanted to escape, I had to recognize the situation and devise a plan.

‘Though, as for the plan…’

In the end, not much would change.

I only learned what I didn’t know. What needed to be done would still be the same.

‘Whether Yarang moves by my mother’s wishes or not…’

What I had to do now was singular.

“Noya.”

“Yes.”

“……I’ll first look for the Divine Tree of Yawol.”

I needed to find the Divine Tree.

In the quest to find it, I would have to confront my mother.

Even if she might not be my mother and simply a master.

‘Even if I might become a calamity…’

I still had to return. No matter what, I had work to do.

“……Are you thinking of going back immediately?”

Noya’s eyes widened, astonished.

Was I really going to charge off after hearing such shocking news? His gaze questioned me.

“No, I won’t be going right away.”

I had no intention of heading back immediately.

After all…

“I have to wait for night to fall.”

I had to make use of what I had gained.

*

The moon was now hanging in the void.

Not one, but two.

It was the same moon I faced upon arriving in Yawol. The brilliant extreme light in the sky gracefully spread out, as if nothing had changed since that time.

As I watched it, I landed softly.

My body settled on the walls surrounding me.

There were figures standing guard atop the walls, but they didn’t notice me.

As soon as I touched down, I sprang into action.

The wind whipped around me, instantly transforming my surroundings.

Even at an aggressive speed, I descended as lightly as a feather landing.

There was hardly any rebound. No, it meant my body was strong enough to utterly cancel out any rebound.

‘Haha.’

I admired my own body.

So this is what I could do.

Hiding in the darkness, I gradually loosened up my body.

I had to be cautious. The moment the moon rose, my already exhilarated body would strain against my will.

Rustle.

As my tail moved, the newly formed ears on my head were a nuisance.

I maintained my awareness of the sensations while moving my legs.

The moment night fell, my body transformed once more.

The flesh of the Moon Wolf.

It mixed together the traits of a beast and a human.

Along with my grip and energy. Plus, all five senses were amplified.

Thanks to that, I could hardly keep my body upright.

Originally, the strength had burst out harder than I’d anticipated, wrecking everything around me, yet after several attempts to envelop it, this was what I had achieved.

A rapid change in realm.

You could say it resembled a similar state.

‘No, if we were to argue, it would be more.’

It wasn’t just a change in realm; it was an overall enhancement that felt distinctly different.

Moreover, I was continually stirred by the changes that had occurred.

If just moments ago I was heralded as a calamity, now exhilaration surged the instant night fell.

‘Is this also a symptom of my body’s transformation?’

Things I should have attained a long time ago.

If swallowing the Fruit of God restored my soul back to its original form, then this must have been the result of that.

‘Why does it only revert to being a dragon during the day?’

Why can’t I maintain this form at daytime but can only become it at night?

‘No, if I say it reverses, that’s not right.’

If I was meant to originally be a Moon Wolf due to my mother, it would be correct to say it only becomes apparent at night, rather than reverting.

Regardless…

“This….”

“That direction….”

My expanded senses were gathering information from all around.

My sense of smell caught scents I couldn’t fathom before, and my hearing resonated widely and accurately with the sounds around me.

As I absorbed the flood of information, I moved forward.

Did I wear my mask properly? How about my clothes?

Was my Body Transformation Technique working as intended?

I checked everything.

Especially with my physical state transformed, I had concerns about whether the Body Transformation Technique would face challenges, yet

‘It was actually easier to use.’

The physical state of the Moon Wolf made it possible to utilize the Body Transformation Technique even better.

Whether it was due to more flexible muscles or a sturdier form to endure, it had become far more precise and detailed.

Thanks to that, in the night, battling while in this form seemed like it would be effortless.

‘That is, if it wasn’t the case, I’d still be far better off.’

With this level…

‘It feels as though I wouldn’t lose even against the Three Eminent Beings.’

Although I hadn’t properly fought them yet, I thought it wouldn’t be too hard to take them on.

This meant that

‘It would also mean I would stand a chance against generals.’

Deemed on par or slightly inferior to the Three Eminent Beings, I could potentially win against a general.

‘Nice.’

After all, I quite possibly had to fight them soon enough.

If I could utilize the night, then I could turn the tide in my favor.

With that thought, I gripped the door in front of me.

There were no guards. I had visited before, so I knew they didn’t seem to post guards around here.

I wondered why it was like that, but it was rather convenient for me.

Creeeak—!

Just as the door began to swing open, preparing to step inside.

“Excuse me, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“……”

I froze, gripping the doorknob tightly.

A voice reached me.

It was right behind me.

All the way from behind, could it really be something? My thoughts raced at the question.

“May I enter first?”

“……”

First of all, I hadn’t sensed anyone nearing until they approached this close, and second—

“It’s rather urgent, you see.”

The voice smiling at me was unmistakably.

It belonged to my mother.

 

---