Chapter 134: Interlude - Dragon’s Heart
Song Ha-Eun stared at Kwon Oh-Jin, her eyes like a pair of lanterns. “S-So, what you’re saying is...”
Her wide-open mouth stirred up a strange impulse in him.
Hmm.
Quickly giving in to temptation, he popped his index finger right into her mouth.
“Duh hwell?! Ptuh! Ptuh! What the hell are you doing, you jerk?!”
“I dunno," he replied. "You just looked so shocked, I figured I’d snap you out of it.”
She grabbed him by the collar. “How the hell am I not supposed to be shocked?! Haa... So... you’re a Regressor?”
“Technically, I’m just pretending to be one.”
“Right. What the actual fuck?” She rubbed her forehead. “So, that Lee Shin-Hyuk guy was the real Regressor... but you used the Black Heaven thing or whatever and absorbed his Stigma. Now, Vega thinks you’re the Regressor?”
“Spot-on.”
“What kinda fuckery...?” She trailed off, naturally looking dumbfounded. “What even is the Black Heaven? Was it that fart-like stuff you used earlier?”
“Why do you make it sound so pathetic? It’s supposed to be this all-powerful, world-ending force or something, you know. But well, I don’t actually know what it is.”
“So you’ve been using a mysterious power you don’t even fully understand?”
“Well, do you fully understand how Stigmas work?”
“Uh...” She clicked her tongue and scratched her reddish-brown hair. “Fair point.”
Although "Awakeners" referred to those "awakened" by the stars, no one truly understood the nature of Stigmas.
“Is this Black Heaven thing just another type of Stigma?” she asked.
“No, it’s something else entirely.”
He went on to explain the various abilities tied to the Black Heaven.
She looked at him utterly baffled. “What kinda broken ass pull is that?”
He shrugged lightly. “I told you, I don’t know.”
“Haa...”
“Anyway, I have to keep up the act as a Regressor if I don’t want Vega finding out about the Black Heaven.”
“And... what happens if you get caught?” she nervously asked.
“Who knows?” He chuckled dryly, shaking his head. “The Celestials firmly believe this power can destroy the world, so I’m sure it won’t end well for me.”
“B-But it’s not like you’d actually destroy the world!”
“Are you sure?” he asked. Despite having no recollection of it, he'd already destroyed the world once before. “Who knows? If I hadn’t been able to save you this time, I could’ve lost it and done something crazy.”
Song Ha-Eun flinched and fidgeted as her cheeks turned red. “Y-You’re overreacting.”
“Well... destroying the world might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it would’ve been hard for me to stay sane.”
She sighed and shook her head. “So, basically, you want me to help with your act as a Regressor?”
“You don’t have to help,” he answered. It was alright if she just wouldn't get in the way.
“What, you don’t trust me?”
“You wear your thoughts all over your face, you know.”
“H-Hey! No, I don’t!”
“See? You’re doing it again.” He smiled faintly as he watched her huff. “Anyway, don’t worry about it, Ha-Eun. I’ll handle it myself.”
“You’re always trying to do everything alone...” she mumbled, pouting. She found that part of him reassuring, but she also felt a little disappointed.
He laughed quietly as he stepped closer and tapped her pouty lips. “Okay, okay. If I ever need your help, I’ll be sure to tell you.”
“Promise?”
“Yup.”
“Haa... Seriously...” She suddenly grabbed his cheeks and stretched them out.
“Owww.”
“Despite everything that was going on, you didn’t tell me a thing. Are you gonna apologize or not, huh?” Letting go of his face, she carefully kissed his cheek. “From now on... let me help. Stop trying to do everything on your own.”
She quickly looked away, clearly embarrassed—though that only made her seem more adorable.
“Oh, right, Ha-Eun. Here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fist-sized blue crystal—the dragon’s heart that he'd taken from Cheon Do-Yoon's corpse.
“W-Wait, isn’t this the dragon’s heart?”
“Yup.”
That guy said it’s most powerful when used by an Awakener of Draco, so it's only right she gets to use it.
She blinked at him, eyes round with surprise. “You’re giving it to me? Just like that?”
The elixir he'd gifted her before was incredibly valuable on its own, but this was on another level entirely. He was handing her an absolutely priceless Astral Relic like it was some kind of chocolate bar.
He smirked as he stepped closer. “What? Do you wanna give me something in return for it?”
“H-Huh?”Flustered, she instinctively stepped back. Then, she suddenly leaned in with her cheeks flushed.
“What do you... want in return?” she asked, her tone low and teasing.
Before he realized it, his eyes were drawn to the beauty mark on her chest. Her seductive movements caught him completely off guard, leaving him unexpectedly flustered.
“A-Ahem! I-I was just kidding,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm his pounding heart.
What the hell was that?
Normally, if he teased her like this, she'd be the one flailing shyly. Instead, he ended up receiving a blow this time.
“Anyway... it’s yours, Ha-Eun.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She smiled as she accepted the dragon's heart. “So, how do I use this? I don’t have to shove it into my chest like that crazy geezer, right?”
“I’m not sure, but I doubt that’s the only way.”
He refused to believe the only method involved jamming the crystal into one’s sternum like a knockoff Iron Dude.
“Right? I mean, I know it’s a legendary Astral Relic and all, but I really don’t want lightning tiddies.”
What the hell are lightning tiddies? he wondered.
“Well, maybe try holding it up to your Stigma first?”
“Oh, that’s not a bad idea,” she remarked.
Since the dragon’s heart was supposedly most effective with the Stigma of Draco, maybe a direct interaction would trigger something.
She studied the crystal for a moment. Then, her eyes gleamed as though she'd just come up with a brilliant idea.
“Hmmm.” Smiling mischievously, she held out the dragon’s heart toward him. “You should bring it near my Stigma.”
“What?”
“If I do it myself, some kind of mana resonance thing might happen, and I could drop it. It could be dangerous for a method like that to get interrupted halfway, you know?”
Kwon Oh-Jin silently pondered it.
She's technically not wrong. When absorbing an elixir or an Astral Relic, an unexpected disruption can lead to serious consequences like being incapacitated... but it doesn’t seem like that’s what she’s got on her mind.
Seeing her eyes sparkling with anticipation, he sighed and took the dragon's heart from her. “Fine.”
Ever since she confessed to him, she'd been acting more and more audaciously.
“Nice!” She threw up a small fist pump in victory. “Alright, then...”
Gulp.
She slowly tugged her shirt down, revealing more pale, smooth skin that reminded him of freshly fallen snow. Etched on the left side of her chest was the Stigma of Draco.
Heat rushed to his face. Shit...
His hand trembled slightly as he lifted the dragon’s heart and gently pressed it against the Stigma. A surge of mana erupted, and the heart burst into a brilliant blue glow.
Woong!
“Agh!”She winced as the mana resonance she joked about began to manifest for real.
“Ha-Eun?”
“I-I'm fine! Agh!”
She bit down on her lip, bracing herself as a tidal wave of power surged into her. The glowing dragon's heart began to melt slowly like ice cream under the sun as its energy was drawn into her Stigma.
This was nothing like what happened when Cheon Do-Yoon used it.
She untied the eyepatch over her left eye like peeling off clothes that had become too tight to bear.
“Haa... haa... haa...!”Her Draconic Eye flared wildly. The root-like veins around it crept down her cheek and her neck. “Ahh...! Ugh! Haaaah...!”
Kwon Oh-Jin wanted to say something to encourage her, but he also knew that he had to trust her and wait. If she lost focus for even a second, she could succumb to the flood of power and be incapacitated like Lee Shin-Hyuk.
If that happens...
His eyes gleamed sharply as he summoned the Black Heaven with his free hand, preparing to absorb the excess mana should worst come to worst.
However, his worries were soon put to rest.
“Haa... haa... hoo...”
Her pained gasps gradually steadied.
The thick veins gradually extended toward her Stigma. Upon reaching it, they released a brilliant light.
Fwoosh!
Red flames spread outward like a flowing veil. However, they weren’t raging and destructive. It was warm, gentle, and strangely comforting.
He glanced around the room, astonished. “This is...”
The flames pouring out of her washed over him and all the furniture in the room, yet nothing was burning. It was like a surreal scene straight out of a fairy tale.
Woong!
Fully absorbed by her Stigma, the dragon’s heart finally vanished.
“Argh!”
The warm flames that had filled the room surged back into her, and the grotesque veins that crawled down her neck and chest began to fade away.
“Oh-Jin...”
“Are you okay, Ha-Eun?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she mumbled in a daze, wobbling slightly. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a tight embrace so she wouldn’t fall.
“Did you absorb all the mana from the heart?” he asked. He could feel her breath against him.
“I did... but I don’t think I can fully control it yet.” She gently touched her Stigma. “It feels like there’s a lump of mana stuck right under my Stigma.”
“Like a breast implant?”
She scoffed. “Really? That’s your analogy? It’s not like I even need implants.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Hehe.”
“Does it hurt anywhere?”
“No, not really, but—Argh!” She suddenly frowned as she examined herself.
Woong!
Her Stigma flared with a brilliant blue light.
“Ha-Eun?!” He instinctively reached for her—then froze. “No way...”
He gaped at the Stigma of Draco on her chest, where he could see an additional stroke forming beside the eight that were already there.
Her jaw dropped as she stared down at herself in disbelief. “O-Oh-Jin. I think... I just became a nine-star.”