Rustleâ¦
The monsterâs body scattered into the wind, leaving only the White Demon Stone behind.
The mana stone stood there, unnaturally perfect, as if someone had deliberately placed it.
It appeared translucent yet sharply white, emanating an immense aura from within.
Even compared to the highest-grade elixir, the Dokcheon Pill, its energy was far more abundant.
I knew obtaining it would be a great help.
â...â
But I couldnât bring myself to touch the stone.
It wasnât just the lingering stares I felt behind me that stopped me from using the Devouring Sky Technique.
It was the memory of the moment right before.
âWhat was that?â
Why did I feel so unsettled?
What exactly did I just hear?
["Thank... Thank... youâ¦."]
â...â
Before it disappeared, the monster had thanked me.
Its voice was awkward, but there was no mistaking the words.
Could it have been a misheard phrase? A hallucination?
NoâI knew better than anyone that it wasnât.
âWhat the hell.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Hearing a monster speak wasnât particularly surprising.
Creatures like dragons couldnât be lumped in with ordinary monsters.
Even Mang from the North Sea had spoken to me clearly.
So this shouldnât have shocked me.
And yetâ¦
âWhyâ¦.â
Why did it choose to speak to me only at the very end?
And of all things, why express gratitude?
The fact that it had said thatâthose wordsâleft a suffocating unease lingering in my chest.
What did it mean?
I couldâve brushed it off as meaningless, but the thought stuck like a thorn in my mind.
âDamn it.â
I scowled.
Why couldnât it have just died like any other monster?
Why leave me with this unsettling feeling?
âNothing in my life ever ends cleanly.â
Thatâs just how things always were.
Shit.
Ignoring the knot in my chest, I slumped to the ground.