WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Returned as a God ◈
Chapter 85: The Temple (2)
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There was nothing between the severed arm and Jung Hyeonseong's body.
Not exactly empty, but the cross-section had gone pitch black.
It looked less like cutting a person and more like severing the arm of a doll.
Instead of blood, something like black mucus oozed down from the shoulder.
Jung Hyeonseong just looked down at the fallen arm, without so much as a scream or a groan.
Something was definitely wrong here.
Had Jihan swung his sword expecting exactly this?
"Wait, did you know?"
"No idea."
Jihan's response came out flat, nothing like what Eunyoung had expected.
Before entering the divine temple, Jung Hyeonseong had been injured.
Unless he was a Hunter carrying around an Elixir like Yu Jihan, there was no way he'd have healed up fine that fast.
Jihan had cut him simply because something about it smelled off.
"You! What if that had really been Hyeonseong?"
"Losing one arm won't kill him."
"Well, that's true, but... That's really Hyeonseong, right? Not, like, a fake or something?"
Jihan pointed a finger at the motionless Jung Hyeonseong.
That thing standing there was already hard to call human.
But not being human didn't mean it wasn't "Jung Hyeonseong."
"It's really Jung Hyeonseong."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Woman. What did you say this place was again?"
"Stop calling me woman. My name's Song Eunyoung."
Eunyoung sighed.
Where was this place?
Hadn't Jihan himself said, just a little while ago, that this was a "divine temple"?
Asking that question again was practically answering a dumb question with a dumb question.
"You said divine temple."
"And who owns a divine temple?"
"Who else would own it? A god, obviously."
"A god has substance but no form. That's why it can't intervene directly in the mortal world. But that doesn't mean there's no way at all."
The tip of the sheath pointed at Jung Hyeonseong.
"A demigod. You can think of it as possession if you want, but strictly speaking, it's a little different."
There were two main ways a god could intervene in the mortal world: possession and Descent.
Possession meant borrowing the body of the possessed to convey consciousness and speech.
Descent could lend a portion of the god's power to a target, but it couldn't achieve the same level of conscious intervention that possession could.
Finally, a demigod was a means of bringing over both the god's power and its consciousness.
Of course, this wasn't something possible for just anyone.
It required the right conditions and circumstances to fall into place.
He hadn't said anything to Eunyoung, but by the time Jihan entered the divine temple, he'd already been one step too late.
The eyeball entity had already dragged Jung Hyeonseong off, leaving Eunyoung alone.
Calling it a choice between Jung Hyeonseong and Song Eunyoung wasn't quite accurate either.
"A demigod? Hyeonseong?"
"Didn't you say yourself that the original Jung Hyeonseong had no god to serve? If he has no god, that makes him more than qualified to be a vessel. Though a vessel's a vessel, there's still a difference between a paper cup and a mug."
As far as Jihan could judge, Jung Hyeonseong fell closer to the paper cup.
The words had barely left his mouth when a black whip lashed out and struck Jihan.
Jihan went flying and slammed into the wall.
It had come from the exact direction where Jung Hyeonseong stood.
Jung Hyeonseong's severed arm sank into the floor.
A black whip stretched out long from the cross-section of that severed arm, the same one that had struck Jihan.
Eunyoung stared at Hyeonseong.
Jihan was right.
That thing was Jung Hyeonseong and, at the same time, something that wasn't Jung Hyeonseong at all.
"Who, who the hell are you?"
"I'm Jung Hyeonseong."
"Is that really you, Hyeonseong?"
"Woman. Don't say anything unnecessary."
Jihan spat out the blood pooling in his mouth.
The whips coiled around his body, pinning him flush against the wall.
Judging by the scowl on his face, he didn't look badly hurt.
Hyeonseong extended his unsevered hand toward Eunyoung.
"Eunyoung-ssi, you said it, didn't you? That someday, if I waited, a god might appear who'd recognize me."
"Uh, yeah. I did say that."
Eunyoung answered, a little uneasy.
Though this definitely wasn't the way she'd imagined it, demigod or whatever this was.
"It's wrong. That's not it at all! Something like that, waiting for it does nothing. A god isn't even the problem here! We... let's go together. If it's you, Eunyoung-ssi, you'll definitely understand."
"Are you telling me to serve whatever god you're serving now?"
She said it, but Eunyoung still couldn't quite process the fact that Hyeonseong had gotten a god at all.
Even hearing the explanation about demigods, she'd never experienced anything like it, so she had no way to grasp what it actually felt like.
"Something like that."
"I'll pass."
"Why?"
"Because it's too late."
There wasn't some grand reason behind her refusal.
If Eunyoung had heard something like this before she met Kang Hangyeol, before she met the god Soter, there was a decent chance she'd have taken that hand.
She couldn't deny that she'd wanted someone, anyone, to reach out to her that badly.
But now?
Kang Hangyeol, who'd made her a follower of the god Soter and then all but abandoned her in a dungeon for over a month, and Choi Suhyun, who wasn't even a follower of Soter but still meddled like some kind of guardian, both of them were absurd in their own ways, no question about it.
Even so.
Eunyoung wanted to trust these two reckless men.
If Choi Suhyun hadn't grabbed her by the collar and stopped her, she might have gotten seriously hurt, or died, fighting monsters.
Even if she'd somehow survived all that through sheer luck, she'd probably have gone on making trouble somewhere else, unable to let go of her attachment to being a Hunter.
It wasn't a method she liked one bit, but because Choi Suhyun had done what he did, she'd been able to endure the time that followed.
Because Hangyeol had reached out his hand, she'd been able to start over.
Hearing Eunyoung's answer, Hyeonseong's face went pale.
"Why, why does something like you even exist? This shouldn't be possible! If only I'd known of your existence a little sooner!!"
The voice came out of Jung Hyeonseong's throat, but the way of speaking wasn't his.
Anyone could tell it was a different personality entirely, one living inside Jung Hyeonseong.
"I already have a god."
Jung Hyeonseong tilted his head at an odd angle, staring at Eunyoung.
The angle was so unnatural it sent a chill down her spine.
Inside Eunyoung existed the presence of an unknown god.
"You mean that little god?"
The tone had shifted again.
"Severing a bond that shallow wouldn't be difficult at all."
Eunyoung broke out in a cold sweat.
She understood after trading a few words. This thing was wearing Jung Hyeonseong's shell, but it was an entirely different being underneath.
Hyeonseong reached out a hand, and a massive shadow appeared and lunged at Eunyoung.
All it needed was Eunyoung's vessel. What happened to her sense of self didn't matter to it at all.
Jihan was pinned down.
Thinking she had to do this herself, Eunyoung clenched her fist.
At that moment, something came flying toward her.
She caught the object on reflex before the shadow could reach her.
What's this?
The massive shadow bound Eunyoung's body completely.
Jung Hyeonseong, now holding her captive, slowly lifted his head.
Jihan stood in front of him, having already cut through whatever had been binding his own body.
An unusual presence hung in the air around him.
Jung Hyeonseong. No, the god Beritaas occupying Hyeonseong's body, frowned.
"I thought you were just some nuisance getting in my way. Guess I was wrong."
"I sense the same presence as that woman, coming off you. Strange. How did such a small god manage to create a monster like you?"
"Go ask some random passerby which one of us looks more like a monster."
Jung Hyeonseong's form had begun to warp so badly it was hard to call it a normal human shape anymore.
Jung Hyeonseong's vessel wasn't sufficient to hold the god Beritaas.
The blackened arm was slowly melting away.
[You. Intend to interfere?]
A voice too hideous to be human echoed inside Jihan's head.
Instead of answering, Jihan gave a light shrug.
The clump of shadow gripping Eunyoung rippled.
"Wha, what...!"
An explosion far too powerful to contain erupted from inside it, and the mass burst apart in every direction.
Flames that refused to die spread out through the cracks.
"Aaah! What is this!"
The fire burning at her feet died down, and Eunyoung reappeared.
Her entire body was covered in a thick black substance, like she'd been drenched in ink.
Right before Jung Hyeonseong's attack landed, Jihan had thrown Ishtar's Ring at Eunyoung.
Eunyoung had already seen this ring before.
The ring Hangyeol had borrowed from Choi Suhyun.
Ishtar's Ring, the item known as Choi Suhyun's signature piece.
The ring's flame melted away the black liquid clinging to Eunyoung's body.
"You, you, cough. Where'd you get this?"
"Some low-life piece of trash left it lying around, so I gave it back."
"What's that supposed to mean? This ring belongs to that jerk..."
Only then did Eunyoung realize why Jihan had let her go.
Jihan had his own reasons for sparing her, but that wasn't the whole story.
Ishtar's Ring was an item Choi Suhyun treasured like a treasure.
Though for a treasure, it sure got handled pretty pathetically.
Whether Jihan kept it or tossed it, the fact remained that Choi Suhyun had handed the ring over to Jihan.
If Eunyoung died, that would give Choi Suhyun a nice, convincing pretext against Yu Jihan.
The thief who stole his ring.
If Yu Jihan killed Song Eunyoung, Choi Suhyun would definitely use the ring as an excuse to come after him.
Even if Song Eunyoung didn't die by Yu Jihan's own hand inside the divine temple, there was no way Choi Suhyun would ever believe that.
With no reason to fight Choi Suhyun over Song Eunyoung's death, Yu Jihan had no choice but to save Song Eunyoung.
In the end, it had all played out exactly as Choi Suhyun intended.
Calculating all of that in that split second and throwing the ring anyway, that was such a Choi Suhyun thing to do.
Eunyoung clenched the fist wearing the ring.
This was Choi Suhyun's ring.
Even if Choi Suhyun had tossed it to Jihan, that didn't mean Jihan got to keep it.
Eunyoung figured she was just taking back what rightfully belonged to someone else.
Anyway, what kind of ring is even this?
Even Eunyoung, who'd never used any special items before, could tell the instant she poured mana into it that this ring was no ordinary object.
Honestly, part of her hated to give it back, and part of her wanted to grab Choi Suhyun by the collar for tossing around something this insane so carelessly.
"Heh heh, hahahaha! You think that changes anything? This is my divine temple!"
The killing intent kept thickening, and Eunyoung clenched her fist.
A faint aura flowed out from the mana-infused ring, wrapping around her protectively.
Eunyoung took a deep breath.
"I'll save you."
"Save me? Who's saving who here!! Foolish mortal! You..."
"That's the right idea."
"Huh?"
"Stay out of this."
Yu Jihan twisted his body slightly and kicked at Eunyoung.
She blocked his foot with both arms, but the force sent her flying straight into the wall.
"This crazy bastard..."
"Don't get cocky just because you're holding one ring."
Jihan raised a hand over his head, and a sword appeared in it.
Drawing the blade, he blocked the black mass that shot out from Jung Hyeonseong's arm.
A sound like metal striking metal rang out.
[You. Why do you. Interfere! You have no reason to!]
Jihan let out a breath.
He spun his body, sword moving with him.
A trail of violet afterimage lingered wherever his blade passed.
It wasn't just an ordinary afterimage.
It carried intense killing intent, something close to a grudge.
Jung Hyeonseong stepped back and pressed a hand to the ground.
The cramped space rippled and expanded in an instant.
A black shape in the form of a serpent took form.
What she'd taken for skin turned out to be thousands of eyes, large and small.
At Hyeonseong's signal, they opened their mouths all at once and dropped down over Jihan's head.
Jihan set the tip of his sword lightly against the ground and settled into a stance.
He raised the blade slightly over his head.
He swung the sword at the serpent-shaped things closing in on him one after another.
One at a time. Each cross-section sliced clean, like cutting paper.
Eunyoung, back on her feet, took in the sight.
Jihan's attack looked less like swordplay and more like a sword dance.
The blade moved fast, yet it looked slow, every motion vivid and beautiful.
The tip of Jihan's sword traced out violet petals.
The petals scattered in every direction, tearing the serpent's body apart without mercy.
Time felt like it had slowed down.
Maybe it wasn't actually slow.
This space, this time itself, was being overwhelmed by Jihan.
It was an incredibly fast sword.
Jihan lowered his blade and let out a breath.
The time that had felt slow snapped back to normal.
Black blood poured from the eyes clinging to the skin, weeping tears of blood and screaming.
It scattered into hundreds of fragments, flung out in every direction.
Jihan spat out a piece of the mass that had landed in his mouth and wiped his cheek.
"Who the hell interfered first and now you're bitching about interference? You want to die?"
Footnotes:
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