Chapter 362:

Chapter 362:

Pretending to be Kang Yu-hyun in front of the Demon Empress, the fake Kang Yu-hyun crossed the Black Thunder Palace to find Kang Hye-rim.

Kang Hye-rim was lying on a pile of stuffed dolls that resembled Yu-hyun in a spacious hall. In front of her, there was a bloodstain left behind.

“...Did you kill someone again?”

“Ah! Yu-hyun!”

Kang Hye-rim got up from the pile of dolls and greeted him happily when she saw Yu-hyun.

The fake Kang Yu-hyun realized that the owner of this small amount of blood was his subordinate who had tried to report the outside situation to her a while ago.

The reason he came here in the first place was because a black lightning had struck the center of the Black Thunder Palace out of nowhere.

“What happened this time?”

“Ah, well, listen to me. This useless guy kept bothering me, saying that the Gate of Rebirth opened and there were trash everywhere outside. I need the Lord’s help. The Lord has to step in. So I got angry and killed him.”

“...I see.”

He basically said that he killed him because he was annoyed. The fake Kang Yu-hyun did not sympathize with his dead subordinate. It was an essential task to always please the Demon Empress who was unstable. If he failed to do that and died, it was his own fault.

“I heard it too. There are rebels gathering outside. The cities near the Gate of Rebirth have already been occupied.”

“Then let’s use the Black Sword Corps to sweep them all away!”

“The Black Sword Corps are all dead too. It seems that there is a powerful person on the rebel side. At least an intermediate transcendent, maybe even more.”

Kang Hye-rim looked up at Yu-hyun’s face with curiosity. Yu-hyun was about to say ‘so you have to step in’, but he stopped and sighed and shook his head.

“Don’t worry, Hye-rim. I’ll take care of it here. You don’t have to bother yourself.”

“Ah, thank you for that.”

Kang Hye-rim smiled brightly. It seemed like he gave the right answer. Of course, the fake Yu-hyun was not flustered by that. Even if he had given the wrong answer, she would not have killed him in front of her eyes. The other fakes of different ranks would have lost their heads for a minor mistake.

That was their relationship.

They did not cross the line, they just existed as illusions, and sometimes licked each other’s wounds.

‘Surely, I can never be real to her.’

He knew it too. Kang Hye-rim called him Kang Yu-hyun and treated him friendly, but she saw someone else through him. Maybe the real Kang Yu-hyun who disappeared five years ago.

Even if he had the same appearance and tone, he could never be real.

‘But I don’t care.’

At least, he was the only one who could take care of her by her side.

The fake Yu-hyun bowed his head to Kang Hye-rim and left his seat.

He didn’t know what the rebels had done, but the Gate of Rebirth that had been closed tightly opened and the rebels were causing trouble.

The rumor had already spread throughout the region, and there was a lot of talk in the cities inside the Gate of Rebirth.

There were already dozens of reports coming in every day that suspicious movements were detected, so he couldn’t even grasp how much anger had accumulated under the invisible surface.

‘The unidentified person who joined the rebel side is the same.’

He also heard that the Black Sword Corps were all dead. An unidentified transcendent killed all 20 of them by himself.

It was natural that the rebels’ momentum rose when such a person joined them.

The cities that heard the news were already showing signs of joining the rebels.

Small fish couldn’t ruin a lake no matter how much they gathered, but if a whale entered the lake, things would change.

‘I have to deal with it on my own.’

He couldn’t let Kang Hye-rim step in. If she did, then a bloodbath that no one could handle would ensue.

Why she was called the Demon Empress from being a Sword Empress.

And why she ruled this land as the Black Thunder Lord.

He hoped that people would never find out that fact.

Yu-hyun passed by a city on his way to the Black Thunder Palace.

It was no use staying in the city anyway, and he didn’t even think about spending a night in the city, so it was his choice.

But as he passed by the city, he couldn’t help but feel some kind of commotion.

‘It’s a mess.’

[They were all shouting that they were liberation army and they should fight the legion.]

‘That’s right. This is the only chance they have.’

Yu-hyun had encountered the liberation army several times and understood what they wanted.

They were the people who had been oppressed under the Black Thunder Lord and had finally unleashed their pent-up rage. It was not only the city that Yu-hyun had just passed by, but also other places.

‘The liberation army is spreading rumors and gathering people.’

[...There will be a bloodbath.]

Yu-hyun had played a significant role in stirring up the liberation army. He had no intention of doing anything with them, nor did he join hands with them, but they thought differently.

[Those people, they regard you as some kind of savior. Are you okay with that?]

‘I expected this to happen anyway.’

The liberation army had incited the people by proclaiming Yu-hyun as their savior and a new hero who would overthrow the Black Thunder Lord.

They were not entirely lying. It was true that Yu-hyun had defeated the legion and wiped out the Black Sword Sect, and the rumor had spread like wildfire.

“You want me to talk to someone who’s imitating me?”

“...Please stop going to see her.”

The fake did not answer Yu-hyun’s question and went straight to the point. Yu-hyun frowned and showed his displeasure.

“Do you think I’ll listen to that? I’ve come this far and you want me to back off?”

“...I can tell that you are the real one. Even if we ignore your face and demeanor that she mentioned, your power is something that no one can imitate.”

“Knowing that...”

“Because I know!”

The fake glared at Yu-hyun with a flickering gaze.

“...I’m trying to stop you. Do you think she’ll be happy to see you?”

Yu-hyun bit his tongue and suppressed what he was about to say.

He didn’t want to argue with him.

“That’s not a reason for me to stay away.”

“...I guess so. The real you that she told me about is not someone who would stop for a few words like this.”

The fake Kang Yu-hyun laughed sarcastically as he spoke.

“...Why, why did you show up now? You left her alone all this time, how dare you show up again?”

“...”

Yu-hyun did not answer.

This fake didn’t know what he had been through. If he knew, he wouldn’t have said that. But he had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding.

The fake’s words, which twisted his face as if he was the most miserable one, pierced through Yu-hyun’s guilt.

“Leave her alone. Just like this... let her live like this. If you step in, she’ll suffer more than she does now. She might even fall apart.”

He didn’t think that Kang Hye-rim, who had gone mad, would regain her sanity.

No, rather, if she came to her senses, it would be the worst situation for her.

Could she bear all the sins that she had committed as the Black Thunder Lord?

That was what the fake Kang Yu-hyun was worried about, and Yu-hyun knew what he was trying to say.

“You... you really care about Hye-rim.”

Yu-hyun’s words, mixed with admiration, made the fake laugh self-deprecatingly.

“You can laugh at me. A fake who borrowed your appearance has no right to have such feelings.”

“I’m not laughing. At least I’m not.”

“Then...”

“But I can’t stop.”

Yu-hyun’s words made the fake frown.

“What did you hear me say? She won’t change even if you go to her!”

“I know what you’re saying. I know what you’re worried about.”

“But why...”

“People died.”

The fake was speechless at that.

What was this man talking about?

“People, many people died. They’re still dying, and they’ll die more in the future. By her hands.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t want to watch it anymore. I didn’t live this long to see a world where someone has to die under someone else’s control.”

“Do you still think this is the old world? The world has changed. This is not Earth, but a mixed world where everything is ruled by power and stories. In such a place, is it so easy to accept someone’s death?”

“The moment I take that death lightly, I become one of them.”

“Then... are you really going to meet her? After hurting her so much, are you going to hurt her again? You, who she longed for so much, more than anyone else?”

“...”

“I don’t wish for her salvation or anything like that. I just want to leave her alone as she is. I know too. How much evil she has done. That there is no salvation for her future. How many eons of suffering she would have to endure if she atones... I can’t even say it. But you, knowing all that...”

“Yes.”

Yu-hyun nodded with a heavy face.

Was he acting like this because he didn’t know what would happen if he met Kang Hye-rim?

No. In fact, he knew better than anyone what was going to happen.

He wanted to meet her even though he knew that, because someone had to end this all.

Even if it was really sad, painful, and agonizing.

“Because I have to.”

He had to accept it. So did Kang Hye-rim. She had to face her sins.

With a calm answer that had no lies or exaggerations, the fake was speechless for a while.