Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 192

A villain’s life is miserable, while a hero’s life is fleeting.

Now, which side do you want to fight against?

-King of All Things, Sirian

Kang Yoon-Soo was deep in slumber, and as he always did when he slept, he was having a nightmare. Normally, it was the same nightmare of the world being destroyed by the Demon Lord. Unfortunately, it was a different nightmare that had come to haunt him.

‘Give up…’?a voice called out.

Give up?

Give up what?

“I’ve already forgotten about you,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

It took quite a while for him to speak again. “You only appear whenever you want to mess with my mind. Just get lost.”

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo slowly looked away from the voice, but the voice of his child did not disappear, forcing itself into his heart. He had even forgotten his child’s gender and name, but he could not help but miss his child’s voice dearly.

‘Lies,’?the voice said coldly. It continued, ‘I’m just holding onto the things you force yourself?to?forget. Your memories, me, and everything else.’

Kang Yoon-Soo no longer wanted to hear what the voice had to say.

‘You said?I only appear whenever I want, right?’?the voice asked. Kang Yoon-Soo plugged his ears, but the voice continued speaking. ‘No way. I’m just one of?the?regrets you haven’t?forgotten.’

Kang Yoon-Soo began struggling to breathe.

How much longer would he have to suffer from such nightmares?

He desperately wanted to wake up.

The voice’s last words were the final nail in the coffin. ‘I look forward to the day that you’ll be able to forget about me, but will that day come? You?had me knowing fully that I’d just?end up dying…’

Kang Yoon-Soo felt his heart being torn into a thousand pieces.

***

Shaneth had begun to change after her left eye was replaced with the dragon’s golden eye.

“You had a nightmare, didn’t you?” she asked Kang Yoon-Soo.

“No,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, shaking his head as he took a seat at the dining table. Four days had passed since he collapsed from exhaustion.

However, Shaneth firmly continued, “Still, you don’t look so good today.”

Iris, who was spreading red fruit jam on her ham, tilted her head in confusion and asked, “How do you know that, Shaneth? Kang Yoon-Soo is as expressionless as he always has been.”

“His eyes shook more than they usually did,” Shaneth replied.

“You can see that?” Henrick asked before passing the cup of morning alcohol he was drinking to Kang Yoon-Soo.

Shaneth pointed at her golden left eye and said, “The Dragon of Destruction’s eye is incredible. It’s not only my vision that’s improved. I’m not sure if it’s because it somehow ended up resonating with the power fragment, but I can feel that I’ve become more powerful.”

“Amazing… Then, can you guess if I am lying or not?” Iris asked.

“Alright,” Shaneth replied.

“Which one did I like better? The meat pie you baked for me, or the apple pie?” Iris asked.

“That’s… Of course, you liked both,” Shaneth muttered in response.

“Oh my god, how did you know?!” Iris exclaimed, her eyes wide in surprise. Shaneth just smiled awkwardly.

Henrick scoffed and grumbled, “Grow up, will you…”

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo put down the cup in his hand and said, “I have something to say.”

All eyes in the room shifted toward him, and just like that, he confessed his past to them.

He spoke of the Demon Lord, who had appeared every twenty years to destroy the world…

Of himself, and the 999 lives he had previously lived…

Of the White Shadow residing inside Iris, and the changes caused by the ‘One Who Should Not Exist’...

…and the fact that the Demon Lord would appear earlier in this life.

Shaneth and Henrick listened to his confession with their eyes wide in surprise.

“So you’re saying that… you’re living your thousandth life right now? And that this is going to be your final life?” Henrick asked in disbelief. Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in response.

Henrick furrowed his brow and said, “I normally wouldn’t have believed such an outrageous story, but it hits differently when you’re the one saying it. I knew something was up when you seemed to know too many things, let alone the fact that such a young man would be so emotionless.”

Then, he tapped his finger on the table, seemingly deep in thought, before pouring another drink into Kang Yoon-Soo’s cup and continuing, “My life seems like a blessed one after hearing how you‘ve lived yours. You must have suffered a lot all alone, but I hope you won’t try to take on all the burdens by yourself from now on. After all, you’ve worked harder than anyone else in this world.”

Kang Yoon-Soo stared down into his cup, and strangely, the memory of Henrick’s final moments came to his mind.

Henrick licked his lips and grumbled, “Damn it. I’m feeling ridiculous after saying stuff I don’t usually say…” He immediately changed the topic and asked, “I’m guessing you’ve met us countless times then, if you kept repeating your life?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Henrick asked with a serious expression, “How did I usually die?”

“Either by protecting someone or drinking yourself to death,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Hmm… Not bad. What about marriage?” Henrick asked, rubbing his chin.

“None,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“As long as I chose not to instead of not being able to,” Henrick said with a shrug. He then asked, “What about drinking?”

“You couldn’t quit until the day you died,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

“Wow, I guess those were lives well lived,” Henrick said, nodding in satisfaction.

Shaneth hesitated for a moment before asking, “What relationship did we have…?”

“Wife or lover,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with a straight face.

Shaneth blushed and tears started to well up in her eyes before she murmured, “Really… It must have been so difficult for you…”

Then, she started mumbling to herself in a small voice, but she did not ask anything else after that. Kang Yoon-Soo was thankful that she did not ask him anything about the child they had lost.

Iris smiled brightly at Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “Now Kang Yoon-Soo does not have to take on all the burdens alone.”

Kang Yoon-Soo hoped Iris would not ask him anything about her past, because he had relentlessly hunted her down in every single one of his previous lives and eaten her heart. As such, he immediately changed the subject and asked, “What about the White Shadow? How is it these days?”

Iris grimaced and replied, “The same as always. It is quiet, and only says what it wants to say whenever I try to talk to it.”

Kang Yoon-Soo had heard messages from the White Shadow through Iris from time to time, but according to her, it did not normally say much. The identity of the White Shadow, which was aware of Kang Yoon-Soo’s regression, was a mystery.

Henrick emptied his cup and said, “I have one thing I can’t seem to understand. This ‘One Who Should Not Exist’... Who is that guy, if you can feel its presence? I’m sure it’s someone you’ve met before.”

“I’m sure it’s not an ordinary person, since the goddess herself asked you to kill them,” Shaneth added.

“Perhaps it’s the Demon Lord?” Henrick asked.

“He said that the regression would stop and the Demon Lord would appear earlier because of the ‘One Who Should Not Exist’ so it can’t be the Demon Lord,” Shaneth replied.

They tried to come up with something, but the only conclusion they reached in the end was the fact that they did not have many clues to work with at that moment.

It was then that Iris suddenly came up with a simple solution. She suggested, “Kartheon mentioned that the person who could shed some light on the mysteries would be at the Colossi’s Magic Tower, right?”

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “I have to go to the magic tower and meet Sirian.”

“Sirian…?” Shaneth muttered, tilting her head in confusion. She asked, “You’re not talking about the Ancient Hero, Sirian… Are you?”

“I am,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The only surviving Ancient Hero was the King of All Things, Sirian, and Kang Yoon-Soo had pledged to Minerva that he would kill Sirian.

Shaneth hurriedly asked, “I’m sure you managed to kill him in your previous life, right?”

“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

It was only then that Shaneth was able to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Kang Yoon-Soo had managed to kill Sirian in the past.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “I don’t know if I can this time, though.”

“W-Why so…?” Shaneth asked nervously.

“Because I’m meeting him earlier,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

He normally went to meet Sirian only nineteen years after he regressed, but only a year had passed since then in his final life. That meant his equipment and level were both pathetic compared to what they were in the previous lives where he managed to kill Sirian. In fact, being able to kill the Dragon of Destruction so early in his current life could be considered nothing short of a miracle.

However, he had no choice but to rush, because the Demon Lord would appear earlier than before.

“The King of All Things, Sirian… and the Colossi’s Magic Tower, on top of that…” Henrick muttered. He picked up the alcohol bottle and lamented, “My dream of a natural death is becoming harder to reach by the day…!”

***

Kalriven greeted them when they left the city hall, saying, “I hope you had a pleasant rest, my lord.”

The legion of the undead had all perished in the war against the Dragon of Destruction, and only Kalriven remained. Perhaps because of that, the Death General’s pale face looked lonelier than ever.

The titans and the men lay sprawled out across the ground, drunk after the week of debauchery they had enjoyed. The party walked past them as they climbed up the stone mountain.

The ghostly assistant welcomed them warmly with a cheerful tone.

[My, look who’s here! The savior of the underground! I have heard the news that you defeated the Dragon of Destruction.]

However, the Blacksmith of Fire did not spare them a glance and merely continued hammering away.

“I wish to enter the Dragon of Destruction’s lair again,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, but the Blacksmith of Fire merely pretended not to hear him. In response, Kang Yoon-Soo raised the ring in his hand and said, “I can still trap a soul one more time in this ring.”

The assistant asked a question excitedly.

[Omo! Is that true?]

The Blacksmith of Fire finally turned around and grumbled, “You’re an evil person, corrupt to the core.”

Then, he swung his gigantic hammer in midair while muttering assorted profanity to himself. Space distorted and a rift appeared in the hammer’s wake, gradually widening and turning into a passage to another location.

Once again, the party entered the Dragon of Destruction’s lair.

***

The Dragon of Destruction’s lair was in dire condition. The sky was falling, and the ground was crumbling. The magic that sustained the lair had begun falling apart when its master died, and when that process finally came to an end, the party would be forcefully expelled.

“Let’s hurry,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

They first went to the Dragon of Destruction’s secret treasure trove, which was still filled with shining gold and jewels.

‘The Dragon of Destruction burned the rare and unique items, but the most precious ones still remain?intact in here,’?Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he picked up three items: The Infinite Chalice, Magic Sword of Hemoptysis, and the Seal of Destruction.

‘These are all legendary items.’

They were also the items that the Dragon of Destruction had treasured the most. Such legendary treasures were not things anyone could use simply by stealing them from the dragon, but Kang Yoon-Soo had gained the right to use them after killing the Dragon of Destruction.

“My lord, we do not have much time remaining,” Kalriven said in an uncharacteristically impatient manner.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in response and said, “Let’s go to where the Dragon of Destruction’s corpse is.”

“Where is that?” Shaneth asked.

“The deepest part of the world,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The party then killed a few of the creatures flying in the sky. They were monstrous birds with massive wings, of a kind never before seen on the continent.

“Mass Raise Dead,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered.

The monstrous birds were reanimated as undead, and each of the party members hopped onto one. Then, they flew down into the hole that contained the battlefield where Kang Yoon-Soo and the Dragon of Destruction had fought their final battle.

“This is a really deep hole,” Iris murmured, looking around in amazement.

They flew down for quite a while before eventually seeing the Dragon of Destruction’s bloodied corpse lying across the mantle. It was missing its heart and an eye because Kang Yoon-Soo had harvested them, and the scales on its body were in tatters, while its limbs had been severed. It was a truly grotesque sight.

Henrick clicked his tongue and said, “To think you managed to reduce that scary dragon to… this. You really are a monster.”

Shaneth observed the grotesque corpse of the Dragon of Destruction, which anyone else would have found repulsive to even look at, then said, “Quite a long time has passed, but it's not showing any signs of decomposing. Still, wouldn’t it be difficult to raise it from the dead, since it’s been chopped to pieces?”

She had a valid point. It was difficult to use corpses that had been chopped up to summon undead; the only undead that could be summoned with such mangled corpses were skeletons. Additionally, if one wished to raise a dragon’s corpse from the dead, one would need an amount of mana that rivaled that of the Ultimate Necromancer, Nakron. Kang Yoon-Soo and Mini-Lich’s skills in raising the dead were not at that level yet.

It was then that the Death General, Kalriven stepped forward and said, “That will not be a problem.”

Kalriven pulled out its sword and pointed it at the Dragon of Destruction’s corpse, which slowly started to move. The body was gradually sucked into the sword, disappearing from view.

“Nakron-nim has tasked me with raising the Deathless Dragon, and that is my final duty,” Kalriven said.

“Kalriven!” Iris shouted in surprise.

Kalriven’s body slowly began to break down, while its sword began growing larger the more of the dragon’s corpse it absorbed. It was finally time for the Death General that had successfully carried out its final duty to return to the ground and enter its eternal rest.

The Death General said as its body broke apart, “Nakron-nim made it so that my life would end once the Deathless Dragon had been created. That is because an undead being that has fulfilled its role is no longer of any use.”

“That’s not true,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Kalriven looked at him with sadness in its eyes before saying with a smile, “My lord. An undead being is only created temporarily, to be used and destroyed. We act as shields to protect our allies, and I am the only one who remains after the war has ended.”

“You don’t have the right to determine whether your life is valuable or not. That right belongs solely to me, your lord,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. As Kalriven’s eyes started to tremble, Kang Yoon-Soo took another step forward and continued, “You’ve faithfully carried out your mission, even while knowing you would meet your demise if you were to succeed. You’re a true knight worthy of being called the best of your kind, not just another undead being.”

Then, he said in a decisive tone filled with authority, “I have lived for a thousand times, and I have seen your sacrifice countless times, so I will do as I have always done for your loyalty. I will build you a grave.”

“My grave…?” Kalriven muttered in disbelief.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded in response.

A grave for an undead being? Who in their right mind would build a grave for a being that had been raised from the ground only to return to it after it had fulfilled its purpose? In what world did such a lunatic exist?

However, Kang Yoon-Soo’s eyes did not show any emotion, other than a serious commitment to the declaration he had just made.

Kalriven stared at him for a while before bursting out into laughter. “Hahaha…!”

Forlorn laughter rang out from the deepest part of the world.

After laughing to its heart’s content, Kalriven suddenly got down to its knee and said in a booming voice, louder than it had ever used in its life, “Kang Yoon-Soo! The second lord I have served after losing my life and returning from the grave!”

It stabbed its sword into the ground and pledged its loyalty to Kang Yoon-Soo. “My loyalty will remain in my sword, which will become a weapon that can summon the Deathless Dragon. I hope that my lord will accept my sword.”

The Death General’s voice slowly started to fade away as it said its final words. “Kang Yoon-Soo, you… It has been an honor for me to serve you as my lord.”

Thus, Kalriven accepted its second death and completely turned into dust as its sword fully absorbed the Dragon of Destruction’s corpse. All that remained in its place was a dark sword embedded in the ground. It was a sword left behind by a true knight that had faithfully served its master for many years.

“Thank you, Kalriven,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, before gripping the sword’s hilt.