Subdued Soul Chronicle

<Spiritual Writing for Sorcery>

The words written in the book came to his mind.

It was a book that recorded the sorcery that was practiced among the sorcerers. And all the other books scattered next to those had the same content.

‘For sorcery, and…’

Seol Young raised his gaze and looked at the blurred shapes in front of him,

‘The tomb ghosts taught me sorcery.’

Was that the reason why all of these things were here?

He finally understood what Zaha secretly did for four days.

‘… he learned Memory Projection.’

It was as if he had been hit hard on the head.

The bones, the clothes, the sword, and the jewelry all belonged to the dead. He looked at the books, and with the help of the tomb spirits, he learned and practiced it.

But why?

The reason for it immediately felt so apparent.

-Even though the ritual for peace ended as such, there is no other way. There is only one way to find out the secret, and that’s by using the bone fragments to look directly into its soul.

And the words he said as soon as he woke up after being covered in blood for three days due to a failed spell,

-Is there really no other way? I am the only one who can do Memory Projection.

He said that in a situation where he hadn’t even recovered, and after hearing that, Zaha seemed to have decided to try it.

Since he had already learned a few sorcery spells, he had no reason to hold back.

-Doing a Memory Projection isn’t a tough job. All you have to do is keep your spiritual senses open, awaken the memory of the deceased left in the keepsake or remains through sorcery, and read it.

Since Seol Young taught him that, he would have easily understood all of it. Besides, the bone fragments of the God of Cataclysm were in Zaha’s hands…

So, it was rather strange for Zaha not to attempt it after all of that.

‘Why didn’t I realize it? Why?’

Looking back now, he didn’t even think of such an obvious thing at the time. Zaha didn’t say or show anything.

He must have thought of learning all this without anyone knowing.

‘It’s fine, Seol Young-rang. Because I already found out the identity of the God of Cataclysm through you. Even if you use the Memory Projection, I can’t keep up with you.’

He must have thought to surprise him with such words.

But…

When he saw all this, everything felt chaotic.

Because the true identity of the God of Cataclysm was an existence beyond their thoughts. Seol Young, who had such experience, couldn’t figure it out either.

So, no matter how smart he was, Zaha was a beginner with sorcery. He couldn’t read the story of the God of Cataclysm that easily.

No matter how many times he tried, he would still fail.

On top of that…

He would have tried to read other things—another memory of the God of Cataclysm.

The fateful day from eight years ago.

The scene that Seol Young had witnessed.

The sorcery spell that was known to have disappeared from his memory and the book that had burned.

But through Memory Projection, he could see it again. The secret art of Die Together Circle, which had disappeared from this world.

It was as if he could see Zaha actually doing it.

‘At that moment, he must have thought it was his destiny, like I did.’

When he once again managed to see the secret art in such a way, Zaha must have also made up his mind.

If the worst happens, and if everything they have tried fails, then…

At that time, he would use the same technique as eight years ago.

And end it forever.

Learn the spell to catch evil spirits from the tomb spirits, practice summoning techniques through the bone fragments, and the other ones needed to bind the God of Cataclysm…

‘… right.’

The slowly rising light shone on the items in the tomb. He couldn’t deny it any longer. Everything that was here was revealing the truth.

‘How could I not realize anything?!’

During the day, he made up his mind and made preparations in the tomb, all alone, and he talked with such a casual face.

‘How could I not realize even a small thing?’

He felt dizzy again.

The shadows in front of Seol Young’s eyes vanished one after another. It was time for them to leave.

In the meantime, he continued to hold onto odd thoughts, but no matter what he did, nothing mattered.

And someone whispered in his ear.

‘Everything that has been born grows and comes into existence and will crumble one day…’

“I asked him not to leave, so how could he?”

Everything felt white.

Like the letters erased from a well-written book, all the thoughts in his head vanished.

The voices of people moved away and then echoed.

“Seol Young!’

Someone called his name.

“Why are you doing this? What happened? Where is the High Governor?”

Was that Sam-rang? What’s in his hand now?

“Is everything alright? Did he decide to cast off the evil spirit and come back in another direction? Seol Young-rang. He did, right? There was another passage, right?”

Was that Seo Geom-rang?

The words weren’t reaching his head.

‘I see. Now I need to let everyone know about it.’

Because they should know it.

In his dazed manner, his lips moved, and from there, the words came out,

“The High Governor is…”

Even to him, nothing felt right.

Time and place were all jumbled up in his memory. Going back to the past, then skipping momentarily, the story continued to move along his consciousness.

“…”

The tomb went quiet.

Everyone looked at Seol Young, and shock spread across their faces.

They couldn’t believe it. They wanted to deny what Seol Young said. They couldn’t accept that someone they had respected all their lives had made such a choice.

The truth, which no one could accept, felt so burdensome. It was like time had stopped, and in the silence full of shock, someone’s voice came,

“Yes. It’s true that when everyone came down from Mount Danseok…”

A trainee, who was standing outside the tomb, spoke in confusion, and another voice came,

“Then, I should go there too! What if he is still in there?!”

It was Zaun.

Her tone was firm and cold, but her pronunciation was shaking. It was the voice of someone who knew everything.

“My Lady, don’t push yourself too much. Just think about your body…”

“That is something I can think of for myself!”

The Hwarangs and the trainee didn’t try to stop her after a few words, and a new light shone.

And those who were in the tomb only saw it then. There was another door other than the passage from the ceiling. It was the real entrance to the tomb.

“If this is nothing, then why the hell did everyone have to come in running? What’s in this place?”

Zaun shook everyone and went inside.

Her eyes were red, and her hair scattered. Her clothes had torn near her foot, as if she had stepped on it when running.

As the eldest daughter of a reputable family, no one had ever seen her like this. But Zaun herself didn’t seem to care. Her eyes trembled as she looked around the tomb. But she couldn’t find what she was looking for.

“Where is he?”

Zaun asked in a raised voice.

“Where is your High Governor! If you are a Hwarang, you need to follow your leader, so where is your High Governor? You are always together, so why isn’t he the only one here?”

No one could answer her question, and all they could do was grit their teeth.

They just kept their heads down.

And seeing this, Zaun’s body stumbled to the side.

“Zaun-rang!’

The Hwarangs and the trainees all surrounded her.

A cry full of grief that couldn’t be suppressed erupted in the middle of it and resonated throughout the tomb.

“Please don’t be sad.”

Seol Young mumbled blankly.

‘Everything I love has no choice but to disappear, no choice but to part, no choice but to change…’

His mind thought of something else.

Who was he asking this of? Seol Young shook his head.

“I am fine. Since the first time we met, I never thought of him as a living person…”

He didn’t even want to say anything or even think about it. He just wanted to walk to a place with no sound and no light.

Seol Young left the spot as if he were walking on air, and when someone tried to stop him, he just walked out like a ghost.

When he got out, he couldn’t hear anything else.

Everything felt like snow and shadows.

Seol Young continued to walk, not knowing where to go. He slipped and bumped into people as he aimlessly moved.

Then, all of a sudden, he stopped. His gaze wandered to one spot.

A small child was walking across the street.

The boy, who was walking, found Seol Young in the middle of the forest path.

The boy stopped walking and then ran happily to him.

“You are the Hwarang of that time, right? Remember me?”

Seol-yeong’s gaze traced his frozen, red face wrapped in a tightly wrapped cloth. He was clearly someone he knew in the past.

“Ah, right.”

The boy put his hand in his pants, like he remembered something. Then he carefully pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from his many layers of cloth.

“Do you remember now?”

On his frozen hands, there were traces of a jade plaque made with red ink.

And Seol Young looked at it.

“We met in Apyang and you asked me for directions. Then you gave me this when we parted. You told me to come to the palace if I wanted to be a trainee. I was going to come in time for the winter solstice New Year, but ended up coming late.”

The boy continued to talk, and then,

“Ah, right…”

The child’s gaze wandered around, like he was looking for someone else. And something snapped.

Seol Young couldn’t handle himself any longer and collapsed on the spot.