Chapter 208

The thought of breaking her arms behind her to shut her up crossed Isaacs mind, but Isaac needed a place to avoid the non-humans relentless pursuitwhich had continued despite the Directorate of Surveillance formally halting all activities. When she mentioned that not even the non-humans knew of the locations existence, Isaac reluctantly let the two lead him forward.

This is the Land of Atonement.

Land of Atonement?

Isaac asked back with a frown, annoyed by loose feathers flying everywhere each time her wings moved. The woman politely pointed at the cave to her side.

There is someone waiting for you inside.

Isaac smirked at the womans words and grabbed for his cigarette.

Have you heard what happened to that three eyed f.u.c.ker after he ignored me?

The woman looked away from Isaac, but her quivering wings did little to put on a brave front.

We dont have permission to enter. Isaac-nim, you are the first human of this world and the second Invader to step foot in this place.

Hm. I a.s.sume the Queens the first Invader. And do you guys consider me, a human of this world, a Type 3 Invader? Ill take that as an honour.

Isaac watched the winged woman like he would an adorable animaleven though she didnt dare to meet his gaze, she continued to speak. He then walked to where she pointed.

The s.h.i.+ning crystals lit up the cave enough for Isaac to see without trouble. He wondered if this cave was man-made or was a work of nature.

The walls and ceilings looked rugged and natural, but the well-polished floor was evidence of an artificial touch.

After walking on for a bit, Isaac finally exited the cave to enter a long, well-furnished path. To his right and left were countless sculptures. Isaac quickly realised what those sculptures represented with a glimpse.

They are in the shape of non-humans.

Humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen. Isaac had seen many of these races before, but many more of them were his first encounter with them. Isaac was almost baffled by how many races lived in this world, seeing how these sculptures lined the entire path.

With so much time on his hands, Isaac decided to carefully observe each sculpture like he was in an art museum.

Hm? Scale and fins? Did they live in the sea? Actually, a mermaid does seem plausible in this world, although Ive never seen one. I wonder if they taste nice?

If mermaids were present now, they would be furious at what Isaac had said. Isaac smirked, his gaze moving onto another sculpture.

Hmph. Probably a bad idea. Ive definitely seen somewhere that eating a mermaid gives you immortality. Definitely shouldnt eat something that dangerous.

Isaac had been ogling the sculptures in fascination, but it only lasted a little while longer. Having lost interest, Isaacs footsteps grew faster. When he reached the end of the cave, he looked down into the plaza below him and whistled in astonishment.

Wow. Now that is a sight to see.

A half-buried dragons sculpture laid in the middle of the plaza, with tens of thousands of sculptures surrounding it. It reminded Isaac of Qin s.h.i.+ Huangs terracotta soldiers.1EDN: This is in direct reference to the famous tomb of Chinas first emperor, Qin s.h.i.+ Huan. He was buried in a tomb filled with terracotta soldiers, which were meant to protect him in the afterlife. To give an idea on its scale, it had over 8,000 soldiers alonenot counting chariots, horses, other officials, and miscellaneous sculptures. Source: Wikipedia

Thats the f.u.c.kers with eyes in their foreheadthats the winged ones. Huh? Thats the werewolves! Why are they here?

Isaac peered at each of the sculptures as he approached the giant sculpture of a dragon. He reached for a new cigarette. The dragon looked like it was sinking into the mud; only its head was above the surface.

Hm?

Isaac, who was about to light his cigarette, realised the sculptures left eyelid was opening. Isaac looked eye-to-eye with the dragon in a daze. Isaac took a deep breath of his cigarette and muttered.

Holy s.h.i.+t.

Welcome, outsider.

Hm? Now thats an interesting technique. Is that telepathy?

Isaac tapped his own head in surprise and muttered. He exhaled the smoke and asked.

I a.s.sume you are the one who was waiting for me. So whats the reason?

There is something I must tell you.

With that, the memories of the days before 7 Days of Calamity flooded into Isaacs head.

Kuuk!

Isaac struggled to stay on his feet. When the flood of memories subsided, Isaac began chuckling.

Kukuku. What sick joke is this?

Our original sin.

Original sin? Sure, of course. All of this bulls.h.i.+t happened because of you guys.

Isaac rubbed his cigarette on the dragons nostril, extinguis.h.i.+ng it. He then reached for a new cigarette.

So, what?

We merely wished that you knew of our original sin.

Bulls.h.i.+t. You guys got sick of fighting heaven and h.e.l.l and wanted to delegate the job to another world, and when that failed, you realised what a big mess you created, so you guys are atoning for it? In secret, hiding from everyone else?

Isaac climbed onto the dragons nose, looking directly into the dragons pupil. He ridiculed the dragon with a mocking smile.

Let me ask this. Why are you hiding it?

The dragon remained silent. Isaac smirked.

Yeah, of course. If this world finds out that the 7 Days of Calamity started because of you guys, this world wouldnt let Central herd them around like obedient sheep. Theyd be busy busting each others heads in. No wonder the Queen lost her mind.

We

Shut. Up. Im not in a good mood.

So, how did it feel to watch the humans put on a meaningless struggle until the end, all the while devouring each other in greed?

We realised our mistake and wanted to atone for it.

And why does that atonement only apply to this world!

Isaac bellowed and he took out a knife to stab the dragons eye, only to stop at mere millimetres from it. He grumbled.

s.h.i.+t. Id love to spill that ink, or is it gold?2EDN: According to MOYOYO, its a Korean thing to refer to someones pupil as ink because Korean peoples pupils are normally black and brown. Hence, hes figuratively saying Ill suck that ink out of your eye, but hes literally threatening to gouge the eye out. From that eye of yours, but that would cause disaster in the world and the Queen will figure out my location. Hooo.

Isaac let out a deep sigh. He took a deep puff of the cigarette to stay calm before he continued to speak.

Did you know? We humans like to be compensated for our losses. So what drives us crazy is when the culprit apologises sincerely but without a way to actually compensate the victim for the crime.

I can undo the disaster if that is your wish.

The dragon announced. Isaac snickered and jumped down the dragons nostril.

Yeah. Thats the reason why the Queen lost her mind. I know you arent just saying that. You will release Calamity into the world if I want it. You dontno, cant understand why Im acting like this despite how serious you are with your apology, right? Thats because youre not human.

Isaac spat on the ground and turned around to leave the cave. The dragon called out.

Will you stop the Queen?

Man makes the plan, and heaven decides its success.3TL&EDN: The original saying is in Korean or in Chinese. It has its origins in one of Zhuge Liangs (aka Kongmings) expeditions in the North against Sima Yi, where Zhuge Liang used fire to corner Sima Yi, but it rained, thus allowing Sima Yi to escape. Zhuge Liang never actually said those words, but its used to refer to many situations where even the best-made plans can fail from divine intervention, such as the Manchu invasion of j.a.pan failing due to typhoons. Source: Namu Wiki Its my favourite proverb. I cant stop now, so its up to the heavens to decide the victor. And you better thank that heaven. If the first Invader that came was me and not the Queen, I would have demanded that you undo the seal over calamity without hesitation.

Then why do you not demand it now?

The dragons voice echoed in Isaacs head. Isaac answered without looking back, walking back to where he came from.

That happened 300 years ago in this world. Youve admitted your mistakes and arent a.s.sholes who refuse to make a decent apology for your actions. I may be crazy, but Im not r.e.t.a.r.ded to demand that everyone dies over something youve already apologised for so long ago.

So how did you guys find me?

Isaac asked with a satisfied face after devouring a bowl of rice and kimchi stew made with thick slices of porkstill a complete mystery as to where the girls got it. Kunette, whose mouth was stained red from the stew, answered in the midst of eating.

The Old One brought all the chieftains of every race to him.

Isaac lit his cigarette and asked as he let out the smoke.

Did that thing say everything?

Yes Everything.

Everything huh So thats why you have those complicated expressions from time to time.

Even if everything was an inside job, Isaac did murder Rivelias father. A grudge borne from something like that was difficult to forget. When Isaacs eyes moved to Rivelia, she responded with a bitter smile.

I found my fathers will. And I heard from the Old One too

Hm. I know its weird coming from me, but time will take care of everything.

Rivelia glared at Isaac. His consolation wasnt much of a consolation at all. She turned her head around abruptly.

Sob, sob. Sunbaenim, what do I do?

Youll get sick if you force yourself through spicy food.

Isaac sighed, watching Reisha choke down the stew and rice despite bawling her eyes out with swollen lips from the spice. To think an elf couldnt even handle the spice of a stew. A s.h.i.+n Ramen or anything hotter mightve been enough to a.s.sa.s.sinate an elf.

Meanwhile, Kunette furiously devoured her portion of the stew, almost as if afraid that shell lose it if she didnt. Isaac took a puff of his cigarette.

Leave some for me to eat later, will you?

The three didnt stay by Isaac at all times. They were all very busy, and could visit Isaac only occasionally. Rivelia spent her days working tirelessly as the d.u.c.h.ess of Pendleton. Kunette and Reisha were no different, staying only for a few days before leaving.

Isaac spent his days alone, and whether it was for protection or a watch, non-humans swapped places with Mr. Gonzales as suppliers of food and choyu leaves. Isaac could tell they were trying to make his life easier.

Many winters pa.s.sed, and Isaac spent his days leisurely. One day, all three of them had come together at the same timea rare occasion. They all sat and enjoyed their meals together, enjoying their cups of tea when Rivelia announced.

I need a child.

Rivelias sudden bombsh.e.l.l of an announcement froze not just Isaac but Reisha and Kunette in their tracks. The three looked at Rivelia in a daze. Not even a hint of embarra.s.sment was on her face; her expression was completely serious as she stared back at Isaac.

Isaac quickly took out a cigarette to mask his panic, and Kunette and Reisha finally came back to their sensesrather loudly, too.

Kyack! Rivelia, Ill hit you!

Wow! Youre crossing the red light! Nois it going over the speed limit? Anyway, thats illegal!

Isaac exhaled and directly addressed Rivelia, whose eyes didnt even flutter as the other two kicked and screamed.

Hm I dont know if youre aware of this, but theres this thing called DNA. I may be in this body now, but biologically speaking

I know.

Then do you really need to have a child with me? You can just adopt an orphan.

No. I need your child.

1EDN: This is in direct reference to the famous tomb of Chinas first emperor, Qin s.h.i.+ Huan. He was buried in a tomb filled with terracotta soldiers, which were meant to protect him in the afterlife. To give an idea on its scale, it had over 8,000 soldiers alonenot counting chariots, horses, other officials, and miscellaneous sculptures. Source: Wikipedia

2EDN: According to MOYOYO, its a Korean thing to refer to someones pupil as ink because Korean peoples pupils are normally black and brown. Hence, hes figuratively saying Ill suck that ink out of your eye, but hes literally threatening to gouge the eye out.

3TL&EDN: The original saying is in Korean or in Chinese. It has its origins in one of Zhuge Liangs (aka Kongmings) expeditions in the North against Sima Yi, where Zhuge Liang used fire to corner Sima Yi, but it rained, thus allowing Sima Yi to escape. Zhuge Liang never actually said those words, but its used to refer to many situations where even the best-made plans can fail from divine intervention, such as the Manchu invasion of j.a.pan failing due to typhoons. Source: Namu Wiki