CHAPTER 136: Near Seoul
The wound recovered in an instant. Broken bones were restored, and torn flesh healed in the blink of an eye. An injury that would have caused a normal person to die instantly from shock was healed in a moment.

But the light did not heal. The light that had enveloped her body, permitting not a single shadow, did not return. It was scattered and disordered, spreading indiscriminately in all directions.

[Aaaahhhh!]

As the light vanished and shadows were cast, Prycia writhed in pain. Like a vampire seeing the sun. In her case, she feared the shadows, and they brought her agony.

“Now!”

The Hunters did not miss this timing. Neither did Jinwoo. Amidst the waves of flames and lightning, Jinwoo’s sword tore through Prycia’s body.

That wound, too, would soon be restored. But it didn't seem like the attacks were having no effect at all. Prycia was trying to dodge the shadows, Jinwoo's sword, and the Hunters' attacks all at once; she couldn't relax for a second.

Her stress was rising. An emotion similar to hysteria, different from anger. As irritation welled up, her light swept through her surroundings.

[Why… why in a place like this!]

Just a moment ago, she had been in her garden. The beautiful garden she had made, solely for herself. A sparkling place filled only with light, without any filthy shadows.

Unforgivable. Both Kang Jinwoo, who had dragged her down, and the Hunters, who were taking advantage of the situation. Her light covered the area, sweeping up Jinwoo and the Hunters and inviting them into her domain. The next moment, they were all transported to Prycia’s garden.

“Wh-Where is this…?”

“What in the…”

It was a beautiful place. A place completely devoid of filth. A place where unnecessary thoughts were not needed, where one could live simply by following orders.

Gradually, everyone's consciousness blurred. Their focus scattered, their bodies lost balance, and they staggered and fell. Thud. Thud. The Hunters collapsed one by one. But it didn't hurt when they fell. The soft earth and grass cushioned them.

Soon, light enveloped them, forming oval-shaped eggs. A few Hunters struggled to resist, but it was useless. The light, the power of Prycia's Seed, took their consciousness and made them enter the eggs obediently.

‘I should have done this from the start!’

She had performed a useless ritual. From the beginning, she should have just used the power of her Seed to deal with anyone who stood out.

Although she didn't know much about Earth, she knew well that the Hunters gathered here were the strongest on this star. If she could eliminate them, the rest wouldn't be difficult.

Those who entered the eggs would, after a long time, be molded into new souls. Into bodies suitable for this garden. Some might become trees, others flowers. They might be reborn as insects like bees or butterflies. Their souls would find a suitable next life on their own.

And so, everyone would become a new being and tend to the garden for eternity. This garden that she loved, that was for her.

“So that’s the power of the Seed you possess.”

[…!]

At the sudden voice, Prycia flinched and turned. There stood that irritating man. Kang Jinwoo.

[How…! Ugh, is it Jerakson’s Seed?]

There was no need to answer. Jerakson’s Seed held a power that could not be restrained by anything. Not even Prycia’s Seed could bind it. Therefore, Jinwoo, who possessed Jerakson’s Seed, was not bound by her either.

“Molding souls to change them as you wish… The power to forcibly reincarnate someone is terrifying.”

The ability to shape one’s next life as desired was an incredible power, was it not?

At that moment, Jinwoo was having another thought. The twelve Seeds possessed by the Monarchs had belonged to him in his past life. That meant this power of Prycia’s was also his power from his past life.

Could it be that with this power, he had been reincarnated as the being ‘Kang Jinwoo’? An unremarkable person from the star called Earth. But one who knew how to try, who struggled to regain the memories of his past life.

Perhaps this very moment, facing Prycia's Seed, was all part of a plan he had laid out himself. That was the thought that came to him.

[…Your tone doesn't sound very scared.]

Jinwoo’s tone was so calm that he didn't sound scared at all. Prycia bristled at that.

However, being offended was one thing, but what should she do now? A cold sweat trickled down the back of Prycia’s neck. It was good that she had dragged him into her domain, but this was not a space for combat. It was merely a place where she had created her ideal garden.

Now that the power of her Seed didn't work, how was she supposed to fight Kang Jinwoo? She wasn't as confident in combat as Jerakson. Among the twelve Monarchs, Jerakson's combat prowess was in the upper tier. He was a being who enjoyed invasion and absorbed the essence of the stars he conquered to make it his own power, so it was only natural.

But she was not like that. Of course, being a god, she was infinitely stronger than mediocre beings, but Kang Jinwoo was no such being. He was the man who had defeated Jerakson. And he wasn't even alone; the World Tree was guarding his side.

A 2-on-1 situation. Could she win?

“This is a beautiful place.”

Lost in thought, she couldn't make the first move. In the meantime, Jinwoo looked around Prycia's garden.

It was like a well-crafted, beautiful piece of art. A sense of obsessive order emanated from every object and creature placed within it. A place where everything fit together perfectly, without a single rough edge.

[…]

Why the sudden compliment? Prycia watched Jinwoo, not letting down her guard. Still, it wasn't a bad feeling.

She didn't know Jinwoo's past life, but she had heard things. Rondar had told her he was a gardener who tended an incredibly beautiful garden, a farmer, and a carpenter. She heard there were countless other words that described him in those days.

The fact that she had made her garden her domain, her ideal, was partly influenced by that. She wanted to be a being like that, too. She was curious about the being who could make the arrogant Rondar wear such a nostalgic expression.

So she was surprised. By Jinwoo's words. By the fact that her heart was moved enough to be surprised by them.

But his next words made the color drain from her face.

“A beautiful… diorama.”

[What…?]

She asked again. She couldn’t understand what he had said. She understood the words, the sentence, and the hidden meaning, but her mind refused to accept it.

“I can’t possibly think of these as living things. They are all just your accessories. The only thing living and breathing here is you.”

Jinwoo was just stating what he felt. In this pathologically controlled place, he couldn't feel the vibrant pulse of life. There was none of the dignity that comes from disorder, none of the things that could sometimes even surprise a gardener.

In the past, when Jerakson had escaped his cage, he had still loved it. It was a part of the nature and life that he desired.

But if a single bee were to escape from this garden, Prycia would not let it go. She would hunt it down, punish it, and fill the empty spot with a new one.

This place was as beautiful as it was well-organized, but for that very reason, he couldn't feel the clash of life at all.

[You…!]

Prycia was enraged. Blood rushed to her head, and her vision turned red. In her sight, Kang Jinwoo had stopped talking and was walking toward her, step by step.

When she blinked once, Kang Jinwoo was gone. He had already brushed past Prycia and—

Stab.

—had plunged his sword into her chest.

The Black Flame that bloomed from the center of her chest, the small Seed hidden within the Flame. Pierced by Jinwoo’s sword, it lost its form. It wavered and dissipated, then seeped out of Prycia’s body and melted into Jinwoo’s sword.

The garden vanished. The light that had enveloped the Hunters like eggs also disappeared. When they came to their senses, they were back in the original location.

Prycia’s body, having lost its soul and its Seed, fell to the ground. Her turquoise hair fanned out, looking like lotus petals.

Rumble.

Roots from the World Tree erupted from the ground and swallowed her body. Having lost everything, Prycia was simply dragged away, her eyes vacant.

Dragged down from the Spirit Realm, she was now dragged down even from Earth, becoming nourishment for the World Tree. Her soul, stolen by Jinwoo.

It was quite noisy afterward, but there were no major headaches. Countless people flocked to Jinwoo, who had defeated Prycia following the Island, but he handled them all moderately.

Outstanding S-class Hunters like Lin Shenlin and Jang Rye had died, but most of the other S-class Hunters were safe. The time they were captured by Prycia was extremely short, so there were no lasting aftereffects. Though they would have to be hospitalized for now.

“But what happens with the recovery of the Black Lands?”

As the situation settled, people's attention turned to the White Land.

The world didn't know the details of Prycia's identity, but they knew she was the one who had created the White Land.

According to eyewitnesses, her corpse was swallowed whole by a tree root and disappeared underground. As that account spread, people brought heavy machinery and started digging to find the tree that had vanished into the ground.

But no matter how much they dug nearby, they found nothing. Neither Prycia's body nor the tree root that had swallowed it was found anywhere.

“Jinwoo, Mayor Ma Doo-sik contacted me.”

Around that time, Jinwoo was spending his days quite busily. Many Hunters came to see him, and agents from other countries tried to recruit him. People introducing themselves as broadcast station staff or reporters also constantly visited Jinwoo, bothering him.

He was fending them off as best he could, but there were too many, and it was endless. It was while visiting the hospitalized Chartia, partly as an escape, that he heard the news. An urgent message had come from Ma Doo-sik.

“Why didn’t he just call…”

“He said it was very urgent, and a secret contact.”

The fact that it came to Chartia probably meant he was supposed to receive it with her. After confirming no one was around, Jinwoo and Chartia took Ma Doo-sik’s call.

—You’ve done a great thing. The rumors are rampant here as well, Hunter Kang Jinwoo.

First, they exchanged brief greetings. They talked about Jinwoo's exploits and Chartia’s condition.

After the usual pleasantries, Ma Doo-sik showed them a place via video call. It was a very familiar location to Jinwoo.

“Isn’t that my house?”

—That’s right. Please look over there.

What Ma Doo-sik showed him was Jinwoo's house seen from the outside. The place with a small garden and the grass and trees Chartia had planted. But there was a tree there he had never seen before.

Even through the screen, Jinwoo knew intuitively. That was…

—Actually, a White Land has been discovered near Seoul. It was spreading out from the root of a certain tree. We traced the root to see where it was extending from…

Jinwoo’s house. It was extending from his garden. Ma Doo-sik lowered his voice as he spoke.