There Is No World For ■■

* * *Golden hair tied halfway back, complemented by fair skin, deep green eyes, and long eyelashes; a girl whose eyes curved beautifully whenever she smiled.

If only she didn’t have long ears or at least her family name wasn’t ‘Marx’, even Yeomyeong might have been tempted by her innocent beauty.

Back when he met her at Incheon, he came to know her as ‘Miridith Ipp Marx,’ but at the academy, she was ‘Soe Miri.’

And now, within his state of perfect selflessness, she…

“Just call me Miri.”

“…”

“It’s just a nickname. You don’t need to feel burdened by it. It feels strange to use my full name even in a dream, doesn’t it?”

Her usual calm demeanor was gone, an excited voice taking its place. The joy in her expression was an added bonus.

This wasn’t the kind of behavior one would expect when alone with a strange man, especially not in a forest piled high with corpses. And it wasn’t as if they were on a date or something. So, Yeomyeong didn’t really care.

…Well, this is a dream after all.

A dream was essentially an extension of one’s memories and unconscious mind.

Be it a janitor’s dream filled with fatigue or an enlightened superhuman in their state of perfect selflessness, the core remained the same.

Thus, the Miridith before him was also a fake created by Yeomyeong’s memory and unconscious—though she looked as lively as the real Miridith…

“By the way… are you certain this isn’t a wet dream? If you’re too embarrassed to be honest about it, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“…”

“I was actually a bit curious myself. About the erotic dreams humans have.”

An elf princess definitely wouldn’t say something like that, right?

Why would the pure elf, who had been scouring through the ashes for the keepsakes of her deceased older brothers, be interested in something like erotic dreams?

Shaking off the last of his doubts, Yeomyeong responded firmly.

“…As I said, it’s not that sort of dream.”

“Then why did you summon me in this dream?”

Miridith narrowed her eyes, as if challenging him for an answer.

Yeomyeong sighed and recounted the event that took place before he fell into a trance.

There wasn’t much to tell. He had fought against a temporary teacher due to his Killing Aura, learned the true intention of the martial art, and suddenly fell into a trance. That was all.

“Killing Aura? Enlightenment…? Yeomyeong-ssi, how is your enlightenment related to me?”

“…I think figuring that out is part of the enlightenment.”

“Hmm… Does it mean that entering an elf’s dream itself is some sort of enlightenment?”

While the two were discussing and pondering among themselves, Mara interjected.

- You can see it without catching it, and even if it’s not visible, you can still touch the heavens without difficulty. That is the teaching of Ray of the Sun.¹

The statement was both abrupt and filled with a meaning so profound that Yeomyeong was unable to understand it yet.

Seeing both Yeomyeong and Miridith with question marks above their heads, Mara’s androgynous voice continued.

- This is the true intention of Mārīcī Divine Arts that you stole.

“…That heat haze martial art is a Divine Art? But everyone who has seen it so far calls it a Demonic Art.”

- Hey. Are you denying the name of the Kung Fu you stole, you thief? Can one say there is good or evil in armor made of mana? Do not use the shallow standard of Earth to distinguish between gods and demons.

Mara snorted with a “hmph” and added.

- Anyway, it’s much easier to grasp the true intention of the Mārīcī Divine Arts than that Black Wing Flow or whatever it was. So, hurry up and achieve enlightenment so you can release me from this damn place.

Release him? Yeomyeong looked at Mara, somewhat confused by the statement.

- What’s with that reaction? Don’t tell me… You didn’t know I was trapped here?

“…”

Yeomyeong did not respond. To be more precise, he had nothing to say.

It was an unspoken affirmation.

The elephant’s expression twisted, and his tusk trembled.

-You damn bastard!

Mara swung his trunk in a fit. Yeomyeong reached out to counter, but it proved to be meaningless.

The moment the long trunk touched him, Mara’s entire body transformed into a translucent mist.

- ! …!!! …!!! ..!

Mara’s misty form was unable to say anything. He only gaped his mouth in silence, cursing Yeomyeong.

After observing the scene for a moment, Yeomyeong shook his head and turned back to Miridith.

“Miri, do you have anything to share?”

“Um… me? Not really…?”

“…I didn’t mean to pressure you. No need to worry about it.”

Saying that, Yeomyeong closed his eyes.

Regardless of everything else, he had a strong feeling of certainty that he would only awaken from this state of perfect selflessness by attaining enlightenment.

He fell into deep contemplation, just like when he realized the true intention of the Surging Wave technique. No, rather, he tried to.

However, just as he was trying to enter a meditative state, Miridith suddenly spoke up.

Her voice was thick and desirous, completely different from a moment ago.

* * *“Dung Beetle, I do have something to give you… but can I ask you a question first?”

“…A question? What sort of question?”

“The day the curse was lifted, what did you do with Seti?”

“…”

“The atmosphere between you two was so ideal, that you almost kissed on the rooftop—until her clueless siblings interrupted you.”

Yeomyeong slowly opened his eyes, which he had closed just moments ago, and stared at Miridith. She was poking the ground with a branch she had picked up from somewhere.

“What do they call it again…? Oh, right, did you climb the ‘stairway to adulthood,’ as humans say?”

“…Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

Instead of answering, Miridith stuck the branch she was holding into the ground.

As the branch, with its leaves still attached, was planted into the soil, it looked almost like a small tree.

“I was just wondering if you’ve given up on revenge.”

“…What?”

“You don’t know revenge? Revenge. Revenge for the dead janitors.”

Yeomyeong didn’t bother asking her how she knew about that.

Her eyes, which had been glowing green just moments before, had already turned blood-red.

“It’s not over. The Korean government and the Player… they’re still alive, aren’t they?”

“…”

“And you know right? Miridith’s brothers were also killed by the Player.”

He knew. The last bodies Dung Beetle had cleaned up were theirs.

“But Miridith has never dreamed of revenge. Why? Because she knew that Dung Beetle would do it on her behalf. You would find the Player and exact revenge that is a hundred, no, a thousand times more brutal.”

“You… Who are y—?”

“Shh. I’m not done talking.”

With her finger on her lips, Miridith locked eyes with Yeomyeong.

“Dung Beetle-ssi, your revenge is far from over, so why are you caught up in romance all of a sudden? Do you like Seti that much? Do you like her enough to give up on revenge?”

“…”

“I’ve been holding back all this while, you know. When you were playing hero in Manchuria, and when you were playing student at the academy… I remained silent.”

Yeomyeong clenched his fists.

Whether his golden eyes turned cold or not, the thing donning Miridith’s appearance kept talking.

“Ah, are you perhaps thinking something along the line of ‘It’s okay because Seti is my partner in revenge’?”

“…”

“That’s a foolish thought. It might have been different if it were only against the government, but the Player is not Seti’s enemy. And above all…”

“…Above all?”

“Seti has sisters, remember? Not just one, but three. And what about you? You have nobody.”

The desirous voice pierced his chest as it entered his ears.

“And when the time comes where Seti must choose between revenge and her sisters, will she really choose revenge? You know she won’t.”

The elf princess licked her lips like a snake eyeing its prey.

“So, you were also planning to run away, right? Because deep down, you want to choose Seti over revenge. Hmph, love, that’s a perfect excuse, isn’t it?”

And before he realized it, Yeomyeong reached out and grabbed Miridith by the neck.

Beneath her soft skin, he could feel her fragile neck bones, ready to snap at any moment.

“You’re starting to get it now, right? The reason you were overflowing with Killing Aura.”

“…Shut up.”

“Here, let me tell you the reason. The Yeomyeong in your head wants to live a normal life with Seti, as a human, but the Dung Beetle in your heart doesn’t want that.”

Crack. Yeomyeong tightened his grip around her neck.

However, instead of diminishing, Miridith’s voice only grew more seductive.

“Your mind and heart are at odds, that is why your Killing Aura is seeping out of your body. That crow bitch said she’d help you, but it’s only a temporary fix. But you already knew that, right? There’s no point in draining the Killing Aura if you don’t get rid of the root cause.”

“…”

“So what’s the solution? It’s simple. Give up on everything except revenge. Think about it. Why bother hunting down the Player when you can just kill all the students at the academy?”

She laughed. With a beautiful smile, she whispered.

“Go back to Korea this instant, storm the meeting of ministers at the Gyeongmudae, and set fire to the National Assembly hall. Innocent civilians will die? So what? The janitors were innocent civilians too.”

Yeomyeong tightened his grip even more. However, the more he did, the more Miridith pressed her body against him.

“Why do you keep pretending to be a good person, Dung Beetle?”

She traced her slender finger along Yeomyeong’s chest, moving from his chest to his neck, and from his neck to his lips.

“You swore in front of their graves that you would kill everyone involved in their deaths.”

Her delicate finger slipped in, brushing against his tongue. The metallic scent of blood filled his mouth.

“And while we’re at it, let’s kill Seti… And the Saintess too. Then you won’t waver anymore.”

“…”

“Her sisters might get in the way, so let’s kill them too. And that Ado boy you couldn’t kill earlier… get rid of him too. The crow? You don’t have to be scared of her. Just ambush her. You saw it earlier, didn’t you? Even a Beastfolk won’t be able to survive a direct hit from your Comet Sword.”

Her breath grew excited as it brushed against his face.

“You’ll do it, right? Revenge?”

“…”

“If you nod right now… you’ll wake up from this trance stronger than ever; with a power that will dwarf the Black Wing Flow or the Mārīcī Divine Arts.”

Her sweet voice continued to tempt him, but Yeomyeong did nothing.

“…Dung Beetle?”

And when the elf princess could no longer contain herself and asked, he chomped hard on her fingers squirming inside his mouth.

There was no severed finger. No scream.

However, the fake Miridith flinched, stepping back in surprise.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Yeomyeong spat out the blood filling his mouth. The faint taste of toothpaste lingering from her blood.

“What I need to do.”

Miridith—or rather, his Killing Aura’s expression—twisted.

“So, in the end, you’re really going to… give up on revenge?”

Thanks to her natural looks, even that seemed beautiful, but beauty alone couldn’t block a punch.

Thwack!

The fist imbued with the mana from the Surging Wave technique struck Miridith’s face.

“No.”

Yeomyeong didn’t stop there. He grabbed her by the collar as she fell.

“This is just a problem… between you and me.”

And with those short words, Yeomyeong began beating her mercilessly.

He didn’t stop until the Killing Aura in his dream could no longer raise its head.

1. 양염 literally means "ray of the sun." It refers to Mārīcī, a local Indian deity associated with sunlight.

Mārīcī cannot be seen, grasped, or touched. The elusive nature of sunlight is sometimes likened to a mirage. In Indian mythology, Mārīcī is described as one of the six sons of Brahma or as the spouse of the sun god. Therefore, it is unclear whether Mārīcī is male or female, although it is often depicted in the form of a goddess.