Surviving in a Romance Fantasy Novel

“Listen carefully, Tae Pyeong-ah. The method to kill the Plague Demonic Spirit isn’t wrong. You just have to kill the body it’s inhabiting.”

“I told you, I already tried that.”

“The high-ranking officials who were under its control until now were merely bewitched by its sorcery.”

“Huh?”

As I sliced through the grotesque tentacles that made me nauseous just by looking at them, thick, dark red demonic blood splattered from inside.

The venom emanating from it was of an entirely different nature from that of lower demonic spirits, and for a moment, my mind nearly went hazy. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.

“Kyaaah!”

A tentacle as hard as steel came flying and embedded itself into the lower part of the fortress wall, sending rock fragments scattering in all directions.

Yeon Ri was thrown to the ground by the impact and started gasping for breath.

“White Princess, get a hold of yourself.”

The White Princess who was lying on the dirt ground and struggling to regain her senses looked up at me and widened her eyes in shock.

Seeing me wielding my sword while carrying Yeon Ri amidst this chaos, she finally seemed to regain her reason.

“I-I’m sorry. I just… in this situation…”

“It’s not strange to be afraid in a situation like this, White Princess.”

At this point, breaking through Great Star Gate head-on was impossible.

If I couldn’t lead the soldiers to seize Truth Insight Terrace, then I would have to go in alone and sever the Plague Demonic Spirit’s soul.

“White Princess, you need to retreat.”

Her eyes trembled once again.

She seemed to agree with the idea of retreating itself.

In reality, not retreating would have been the stranger decision. Blood from fallen soldiers was splattered everywhere.

It was a situation where simply staying alive was a struggle.

However, the White Princess brushed the dust off her court robe and stood up as she spoke.

“Retreat?”

“……..”

“Are we even capable of retreating…?”

Though she tried to speak firmly, her voice trembled endlessly at the end.

This was a woman who had never once faltered, even when the White Tiger Palace burned, even when she was chased by demonic spirits, even when she stood at the brink of execution.

Feeling the fear that was creeping into her heart and gnawing away at her, I couldn’t help but shudder myself.

It was a harsh reality, but there was no time to be consumed by fear.

“Would retreat even be possible in the first place…? This is no longer a battlefield… it’s a slaughterhouse.”

“There are still many soldiers holding their ground with their backs against the wall. The Black Moon Unit members are also trying to secure a retreat path. The problem is… I have no way to command them.”

“Ack…! Tae Pyeong-ah! My waist sash! It came undone! My sash!”

“I have to take this fool into the main palace and put an end to all of this.”

The Black Moon Leader could only command the Black Moon Unit. He belonged to the main palace, but there were no soldiers here who would obey his orders.

In Ha Yeon had already been removed from her position as the Vermilion Princess, meaning she no longer had any legitimate authority either.

That left only one person in this place with enough status to lead the army. It was the White Princess.

“Can you… save as many soldiers as possible and bring them back?”

“Bring them back…? Where…?”

“….…”

“To the imperial capital, which is overrun with demonic spirits? Or to Taehwa Pavilion, which is filled with the sick and dying? Even if we manage to save these soldiers and escape, wherever we go, we’ll just end up in another field of demonic spirits…”

“White Princess.”

I held Yeon Ri tightly as she struggled on my shoulder, bowed my head and spoke.

“Please… I beg you.”

“….…”

Just as fear and chaos were contagious, so too was calm.

Even in the most extreme situations, if there was someone who managed to remain calm until the very end, those around them would inevitably be influenced by that calm, and would find themselves a little steadier as well.

The White Princess sat down on the dirt floor and looked up at me. After a moment, she lowered her head and roughly wiped her face with both hands.

“Are you even aware of it? You always ask the most unreasonable things of me.”

“……..”

“People who are born privileged are always like that. Because something comes naturally to them, they assume it must be just as easy for others. They never understand those who have had to claw their way up from the bottom, yet they believe themselves to be wise.”

Clenching the dirt in her fists, the White Princess steadied her breathing before finally lifting her head.

Seeing the familiar arrogance returning to her gaze, even if just a little, was oddly reassuring.

“Then I suppose I have no choice but to become extraordinary in my own way.”

“White Princess…?”

“Listen carefully, Vice General.”

The White Princess took a deep breath, steadied herself, and stood up. Then she grabbed the collar of my tunic and pulled me forward.

“Fine. Just as you wish, I will save as many of these soldiers as possible, break through the pursuit of those ridiculous monsters, somehow escape to somewhere, somehow regroup, and somehow rally our morale again. It’s an absurd request, but I’ll do it.”

“……..”

“You’ve demanded something not even famous warriors or general-level officers would dare attempt. So you’d better be prepared to match that level of resolve.”

Without warning, the White Princess rose onto her toes and stole a kiss from me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

What in the world was happening? Of all times, why now? There were limits to how sudden something could be, yet the White Princess nonchalantly released my collar and shoved me back.

“I’ll take this much as an advance payment. Not that there’s anything romantic about it, given the situation and the taste of blood in the air.”

“U-Uwaa….”

Yeon Ri who was completely oblivious stuck her bottom out from my shoulder and covered her mouth with both hands.

I was completely caught off guard. I had never imagined that, in a situation like this, my lips would be stolen so suddenly. For a moment, I was left utterly speechless.

“White Princess….”

“I’m possessive and love to show off. I take great pleasure in seizing what others hold dear. It’s no different just because it’s a man.”

“….…”

“What? Is this your first time meeting someone with such a rotten personality? Or is it because you’re a warrior that you’re still so naïve to the ways of politics?”

Only then did the White Princess speak in her usual confident tone with a smug smile playing on her lips.

“You were acting like you were busy just a moment ago. Why are you just standing there now? Get lost.”

“….…”

“I’m busy too.”

With that, she turned sharply on her heel with her robes fluttering behind her as she took off running. Annoyed by the cumbersome hem of her uniform, she tore it off without hesitation and gathered what little energy she had left.

Then, channeling every bit of her remaining strength, she let out a resounding command across the battlefield.

“The ground before the Great Star Gate is untouched by those creatures! Regroup there!”

Even amidst the gripping fear, the White Princess had already analyzed the situation. Those monsters only emerged from the harbors.

That meant if they gathered in front of the wooden gate, where no harbor existed, they could somehow form a defensive line and fortify their position.

Even while trembling, she instinctively sought a way out of the crisis.

She might have thought of herself as nothing more than a talentless commoner who had clawed her way up through politics and scheming….

But by now, not a single one of her followers doubted her abilities.

***

“The general-level officers being controlled and acting like traitors was nothing but a smokescreen spread by the Plague Demonic Spirit.”

Tak, tak!

Tak!

The plan to break through the Great Star Gate with the soldiers and secure Truth Insight Terrace had been scrapped for now.

However, infiltrating the main palace alone. That was still possible.

With a small number of the Black Moon Unit and their Leader Cheong Jin Myeong, at my side, I kicked off the protruding edge of the stone wall and vaulted over.

The archers stationed at the top of the fortress resisted, but I took them down without much difficulty and pressed forward. I then leaped over the Great Star Gate and slipped into the main palace.

Only the best Black Moon warriors could keep up with movements this swift and precise.

Including their leader, there were only sixteen of them.

Their numbers were far too few to turn the tide of battle. On top of that, some had been left behind to assist the White Princess. So our forces were so small it was laughable to even call this an army.

Beyond the Great Star Gate, past the Truth Insight Terrace, and deeper into the main palace, no matter where one looked, there were fields of demonic spirits.

One by one, we cut our way through, all the while listening to Yeon Ri’s voice as she spoke from where she clung to my shoulder.

“A smokescreen? What do you mean?”

“The Plague Demonic Spirit never actually possessed their bodies. It only controlled their minds! Among the higher demonic spirits, there are plenty with the ability to dominate a person’s mind! Even Moon Demonic Spirit Yoran’s illusion arts were a gift from the Plague Demonic Spirit in the first place!”

“Then…”

“That’s right. The Plague Demonic Spirit has never once left the body it originally took over.”

The method of killing it was simple. That was to destroy the body it possessed.

From the very beginning, the method we had been told was, in fact, correct.

“Tae Pyeong-ah, spiritual energy and the body influence each other immensely. Even if it can switch hosts countless times, the longer it stays in one body, the more its power settles into it and—kyaah!”

A demonic spirit’s claws came flying at us out of nowhere, slicing off the very tips of Yeon Ri’s hair.

In an instant, I lowered my stance, twisted my body sharply, and delivered a low kick straight into the lower demonic spirit and sent it flying.

After passing Anhwa Gate and Jeongseon Gate, which lay beyond the Great Star Gate, the main palace finally came into view.

I subdued the demonic spirits one by one and tightened my grip around Yeon Ri’s waist.

“H-Holding me like this makes me feel like some kind of ornament dangling off your shoulder…!”

“At least ornaments are pretty…!”

“H-Hey! I’m pretty enough, okay…! Ugh… I think I’m gonna be sick….”

Yeon Ri who was clutching my elbow tightly fought to steady her dizzying senses.

“Anyway, the longer the demonic spirit stays in one body, the more it adapts to it and grows even stronger.”

“…Then…”

“That’s right. The person who was possessed by the Plague Demonic Spirit the longest, as far as we know….”

Sword Master Seol Lee Moon.

Once I reached that conclusion, a flood of other questions unraveled all at once.

The way the Plague Demonic Spirit controlled a person’s mind was likely not so different from Moon Demonic Spirit Yoran.

Yoran was a demonic spirit that branded those nearby, showing them illusions and manipulating them at will.

Just like how it had effortlessly controlled the soldiers of the Great Star Gate earlier.

The stronger and more capable the individual, the more time and effort it would take to dominate them. That was why the spirit had to remain hidden near its target for a long period.

This explained why those who had fallen under the Plague Demonic Spirit’s control were all high-ranking officials of the third rank or above. These were individuals who had dedicated years of service to Cheongdo.

—They had all, in some way or another, encountered Seol Lee Moon.

Those who had spent time close to him within Cheongdo Palace had been branded so that their minds could be consumed at any time.

Intermediate-level officials of the fourth rank or below, as well as young, inexperienced officials, had never come face to face with Seol Lee Moon.

That was why the Plague Demonic Spirit’s grasp had yet to reach them.

“Then… somewhere within this palace… Seol Lee Moon’s corpse must be here. The man who was once my father.”

“….…”

“If he’s consumed all of the Plague Demonic Spirit’s power, then he must be even stronger than he was in his prime.”

Seol Lee Moon had already been a legendary figure among swordsmen.

That monster, who had slaughtered general-level officers as if slicing through tofu, had now absorbed the power of the Plague Demonic Spirit as well.

“If he were to appear right now and wreak havoc in the palace, I don’t think there’d be any way to stop him.”

The situation within the palace was already hopeless, yet something still felt off.

Through countless cycles of reincarnation, the Plague Demonic Spirit’s soul had likely grown more accustomed to Seol Lee Moon’s body.

Just as Yeon Ri had grown mentally stronger over time (or did she really?), the Plague Demonic Spirit had also been adapting to its host in its own way.

Now that it knew this would be the final cycle of reincarnation, wouldn’t it be best to just burn the entire palace to the ground and overturn everything?

And yet, no matter where I looked, Seol Lee Moon’s body, which was the true vessel of the Plague Demonic Spirit, was nowhere to be seen.

“So he plans to stay hidden until the very end until he fully regains all of his power.”

“What an infuriatingly cautious bastard. Even with things having come this far, he’s still choosing to hide?”

“…Yeah, seriously. At this point, it’s not like we’d have any way to stop him no matter what he does, so why isn’t he showing himself?”

“I don’t know what his intentions are, but….”

Thud!

Through gritted teeth, I stomped on the neck of a lower demonic spirit that had lunged at me, crushing it completely.

For a moment, the rising surge of demonic energy made my head spin, but I steadied my breathing and shook my head sharply to clear my mind.

“It won’t go exactly as you want….”

At least now, my course of action was clear.

If Seol Lee Moon’s body was somewhere in this palace, then all I had to do was find it and put an end to him. Then maybe I could salvage the situation.

Kicking aside the crushed remains of the demonic spirit, I flicked my sword clean before straightening my bent posture.

The Black Moon warriors who had followed me inside gripped their swords tightly with their heads bowed.

I had lost count of how many people I had killed in just a single day.

Wasn’t it said that the Plague Demonic Spirit possessed the body of Sword Master Seol Lee Moon?

Yet today, I had slain more generals than when Seol Lee Moon had first thrown the palace into chaos.

Lowering my gaze, I looked down at my uniform. It was soaked in a mixture of human blood and demonic spirit’s blood.

Seol Lee Moon had once walked toward the Imperial Palace, dripping in blood, his steps heavy as he made his way to where the Emperor resided.

—In the end, I was no different from him.

When I lifted my head, all I could see was a battlefield overrun with demonic spirits.

The air was filled with the screams of dying humans from all directions.

The once-beautiful Cheongdo Palace was engulfed in flames with thick smoke of despair rising into the sky.

I continued walking forward, straight into the inferno.

Drip, drip—little by little, raindrops began to fall.