Mirror World: Destined Return

“I’m almost there,” Seong-Hwi said as he stared at the creaking compass pointing at Gurzes.

He estimated the remaining distance he had to go. The compass needle had pointed straight ahead in the beginning. It slowly pointed downward the more he traveled, and it was now nearly pointing directly downward toward the deep abyss.

“I should be reaching the water gate soon.”

He had heard it looked like a giant cave made of water, and it felt like going down a blue straw. He went straight for another hour, looking back and forth between the compass and the surroundings. Then, he saw something sparkle from the reflection of the sunlight.

“Is that... an island? Something’s off about it.”

His uneasiness grew the closer he got to the island. The water was red and the bitter scent grew stronger. Death loomed over the area. Anyone could tell from the traces that a battle had broken out here.

Has the civil war already begun? Seong-Hwi wondered.

Just then, he detected several presences underneath the water surface. He was used to the feeling—the bloodlust of a hunter aiming for their prey, filled with excitement and anticipation.

His hand immediately went to his waist once the presences grew closer. Thousands of merfolk jumped up to the surface in an arc like a pod of dolphins, each glaring at Seong-Hwi menacingly.

“This doesn’t look like... a welcome,” Seong-Hwi remarked with a faint smile.

In the first place, he felt more comfortable dealing with those hostile to him than those amicable to him. After all, he only needed to kill them all, and that was that.

This is perfect. The Karma I’ve been getting from the Underfish has been getting low.

“Attack him all at once!”

“Destroy his boat first!”

“Land mammals are nothing once they’re in the water!”

[Activating Skill: Water Bomb.]

[Activating Skill: Spinning Throw.]

[Activating Skill: Flame Strike.]

[Activating Skill: Mana Orb Cannon.]

...

Hundreds of skills were fired at Seong-Hwi. A crack formed on the ocean, and the impact caused a giant water pillar to soar upward. The pillar then sprayed down on them like rainfall. The small boat Seong-Hwi had arrived on had become pieces, its remains floating in the water. The merfolk were certain of Seong-Hwi’s death when they saw the remains of the boat.

“He’s dead!”

“Gahaha! An envoy from the Sēmen is nothing special!”

“The merfolk are invincible in the blue ring!”

Just then, a voice shouted hurriedly, “Look out!”

A golden light flashed from among the spray of water. Upon a closer look, it was a card. The top of the card showed a human face on a moon combined with the crescent, half, and full moons. In the middle was a wolf and a dog barking at the moon, and the bottom of the card showed a crawfish crawling up to land from the lake.

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Maelstrom Crawfish, one of the symbols of No.18 The Moon]

[Freezing Wolf, one of the symbols of No.18 The Moon]

Krrrrrk!

Awooooo!

A blue crawfish appeared and plopped into the ocean, and a blue wolf somersaulted in the air. Just then, a maelstrom formed in the ocean, beginning to pull the merfolk in like an antlion pit.

“H-huh?!”

“The ocean!”

“Swim out!”

Merfolk could even swim their way out of a severe typhoon, so a maelstrom was no issue. They swam quickly to escape it, but the moment the blue wolf that had been somersaulting landed on the water’s surface, the ocean froze instantly.

***

Seong-Hwi landed on the giant glacier that was floating on the water. He had been about to kill every single merfolk who had attacked him, but his thoughts put the brakes on him.

“I will give you a chance to explain your reasoning. I am representing the Sēmen at the moment, after all.”

Right now, he was not Cheon Seong-Hwi of Underground, but an inspector of the Sēmen who had been invited to Gurzes. Whatever the reason, he was sure it would become a big problem later on if he killed these merfolk. Hence, his skill had been to bind them, not to kill.

“Pontus has requested the Sēmen to arbitrate, did it not? So, why would you attack an envoy of the Sēmen!” he shouted in a certain direction.

A male merfolk, covered in dark blue scales and a shark’s fin on his back, was walking toward him from that direction. The sharp scales on the bottom of his feet scratched the ice with each step he took.

“It was not Pontus. It was the ganoid scale tribe’s shallow scheme,” the merfolk said.

He’s a Recorder, Seong-Hwi thought, sensing the fatalistic power that could record history from his voice and confident gait.

The merfolk also noticed the power of the star inside Seong-Hwi. Two stars rose in the sky. One was the silver konpeito-shaped Desire, and the other was the blue, tooth-shaped Clear Flow Tooth. The sky was split in two, commencing the battle between the stars. Desire’s spikes ground against each other as if it were licking its lips, and the silver light expanded its territory as it overshone the blue light.

His magnitude is around nine.

His opponent’s blue star was shining almost as brightly as Desire had been after the Nivalis invasion of the Capital. However, Desire’s magnitude was now 7.5 after devouring the stars of Demens Rabies and Haema Sanguis, Blood of Madness and Blood Moon.

“You are... strong, envoy of the Sēmen,” said the merfolk, Otodus.

“My name is Cheon Seong-Hwi. Actually, I am not from Sēmen, but Underground,” Seong-Hwi replied with a smile.

Otodus’s red eyes shone. “Underground? That’s impossible. Natantes requested support from the Sēmen. Even the small fry know that a member of the Sēmen cannot be affiliated with a faction.”

“Well, it’s complicated... Thanks to that, I am also in the world ranking. Ninety-eighth.”

“Do you take me... for a fool? Ninety-eighth?” Otodus said, staring at the silver star intimidating his own star, Clear Flow Tooth.

The owner of a unique caliber of that magnitude could not be merely ninety-eighth.

“That’s complicated, too,” Seong-Hwi remarked.

“Is playing with me your objective?”

“Play with you? Nothing of the sort. I am a serious person.” Seong-Hwi shrugged, then asked seriously, “Besides, that should be my line. Are you playing with me? I am not in the mood to play around anymore.”

Otodus remained silent once his words were sent right back at him. He rapidly scanned Seong-Hwi with his red eyes.

Killing him is out of the question, he instantly judged.

His original plan had been to drown the envoy, but the opponent was too powerful for it to work. However, he had fulfilled his objective. Since the water gate was closed, the human could not reach Gurzes.

“What’s your name?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“You don’t need to know. We will never meet again.”

“What?”

“Go back to where you came from, envoy of the Sēmen. Do not meddle in Pontus’s internal matters.”

Once Otodus clenched his fist, mana that resembled blue waves gathered around it like a storm and flashed brightly.

[Activating Unique Skill: Clear Flow Punch.]

Otodus smashed his fist down on the glacier, shattering it and freeing the merfolk frozen inside.

“Return to Gurzes!” Otodus commanded, not taking his eyes off Seong-Hwi.

“Are you running away?”

“I am luring you. You are more than welcome to follow us if you are confident enough to fight against the merfolk in the water.” The ice Otodus was standing on began to sink. He continued, “Gurzes is located ten thousand meters under the ocean surface. Will you be able to reach it when you’re not even a merfolk?”

With that, he sank completely into the water.

“Hah!” Seong-Hwi scoffed as he looked around.

All that remained were chunks of ice and no merfolk. He wanted to use Catastrophic Thunder on the water, but he was hesitant to attack them when he did not know about Pontus’s internal affairs.

“Ten thousand meters, huh?” he mumbled.

The water pressure alone would be a thousand times that of sea level. It was why the Health stat of the merfolk, an intermediate race, was of superior caliber.

Of course, water pressure would not be an issue for Seong-Hwi. The real issue was that he would have to swim ten thousand meters. That distance was taller than Hallasan, the tallest mountain in South Korea, and Everest combined. Even if he were to swim, the merfolk would not just sit idly by and watch.

“I need a better way,” he mumbled as the gears inside his head turned, formulating various plans and calculating the chances of their success.

What if I operate the Wings of Evolution at their full power and go as fast as I can? he wondered.

The water resistance would slow him down, and he would be vulnerable to merfolk attacks.

What if I make a pathway by having the Freezing Wolf freeze the water?

It was possible, but the ocean was never still. Its currents constantly changed, so he would need nearly infinite amounts of mana to continue freezing the water. Various plans came in like waves, then fell apart like foam.

No... No... No...

Even Seong-Hwi, who had over a hundred skills he could activate, was humbled before nature itself. After a long thought, he had come to a decision.

“I have to clear a path with one move,” he said.

Only a god of the ocean could clear a path through ten thousand meters of water with just one move.

A god of the ocean, he thought as he shuffled the Tarot Deck of Destiny with a smile.

“I’ll give it a shot.”

***

An emaciated black elderly woman was lying on a bed in the recovery room located on the first floor of the Empire State Building, the Union headquarters.

Once she regained consciousness, she grabbed Seo-Yeon and Charles, who had been nursing her, and desperately said, “We need... to bring... Seong-Hwi... oppa... back.”

“What did you say?” Seo-Yeon asked.

“Garuda hyung?” Charles asked.

“He can’t... go there... he’ll... die,” Negrita said.

Seo-Yeon’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Absolute... Death... the prophecy...”

“This granny’s crazy, noona. She’s calling Garuda hyung oppa,” Charles said, glaring at Negrita like a crazy person with his gem-like blue eyes.

“Wait, Charles. Please tell me what you said again, Madam Negrita,” Seo-Yeon said as she pushed Charles aside and got closer to Negrita.

Negrita, the Black Saintess is the greatest of the prophecy D Weapon users! she shouted inwardly.

She had been rescued in the recent covert operation and placed under the Union’s protection. The higher-ups asserted that they needed to use her powers, but were denied.

Because Seong-Hwi oppa did not want her to use them.

Hence, it was highly unlikely that Negrita was lying since she was greatly indebted to Seong-Hwi. The problem was the content of her prophecy.

“Take... this,” Negrita said weakly as she handed Seo-Yeon the note she was gripping tightly.

Seo-Yeon opened the wrinkly note and saw the letters written inside.

A—B—S—O—L—U—T—E

D—E—A—T—H

Seo-Yeon crumpled up the note. She turned to Negrita and asked desperately, “There’s no way this is... real, right?”

However, Negrita’s eyes were slowly closing after using all her strength.

“Dammit! Charles!” Seo-Yeon shouted.

“Yeah, noona?”

“I’m going to go meet the spec force captain and Sir Lee Bong-Seong, so you take this note to the Fence Hotel and show it to Jurie unnie!”

Seo-Yeon handed Charles the wrinkled note and raced out of the recovery room. She sprinted down the hallway as she bumped into people.

“Kyaah!”

“W-what the hell?!”

“Why don’t you apologize after hitting someone?!”

The people around her shouted, but she couldn’t hear any of them.

It’s a lie. It has to be! If not, it’s a false prophecy. I heard Negrita’s abilities have been unreliable lately.

She did not believe that Seong-Hwi, the most powerful person she knew, would die. However, contrary to her thoughts, her heart pounded rapidly as if playing a tune of uneasiness.