Chapter 153: Who Are You**
"Who are you."

Grunt’s voice was stiff, thick with tension as he asked the question.

The Seed of Erosion was something even the great Lords could not possess more than one of. It was the source of all Erosion, one of the ten thousand evils scattered across the world when the First Monarch tore apart his own body.

Yet, a single soul now held four of them. And despite that, the soul was looking right at him. His eyes were full of reason, and his soul was unshaken. The four Seeds were also calm, showing no signs of rampaging, merely exuding their presence subtly.

"What do I look like?"

"…I didn't ask for wordplay. Answer me. What are you?"

Even at this moment, bugs were swarming the stem where the Seed was sealed. Filth drawn like moths to the power of their master, the Lord of Insects.

Grunt knew he had to eliminate them immediately, yet he couldn't take his eyes off the human before him.

Incomprehensible. Beyond all common sense. There were many reasons, but the greatest was surely this:

‘I’ll die.’

The moment I look away, I will die. He could vividly imagine his own future—his head severed, his body collapsing in less than a single breath. The human appeared to be standing casually, but he was watching for the perfect moment to take Grunt’s neck.

‘A being that gathers the Seeds of Erosion… Does he intend to become the First Monarch himself?’

A being like this should not exist. All filth must be removed from this garden.

Grunt's wind exploded.

KAANG!

Grunt’s claws, lunging like a wild beast’s, were blocked by Jinwoo’s sword. It was a fierce blow, but it was nothing compared to Cain, who was a true beastman spirit and Lord.

Instead, the lingering remnants of his wind swirled around Jinwoo, disorienting him. A blade-like gale, sharp enough to fell a great tree, lashed out several times, trying to tear Jinwoo apart.

Jinwoo clicked his tongue at Grunt for attacking without waiting for an answer. Through it all, his sword remained ever cold. The frigid scent of metal scattered on the wind as his blade pierced Grunt's shoulder.

"Keuk…!"

Grunt was stunned. He was a being born from a wind spirit. He had tried to dissipate his body into wind to evade the sword, but it hadn't worked.

‘My soul is bound!’

Jinwoo’s sword had pinned his very soul, holding him fast so he could not escape.

Having stabbed him, Jinwoo pushed Grunt back, and their bodies slammed into the wall behind them. KWAANG! Rotten wood chips rained down as black dust billowed up.

"Who am I? I'm a human, just as you see."

"Lies…"

Pinned against the wall, Grunt grabbed the blade of Jinwoo's sword, desperately trying to pull it out. Blood flowed from his palm as the edge cut into it, but he paid it no mind. He had to get this sword away from him, even if it meant slicing up his hand.

But Jinwoo showed him no mercy. He pushed the blade in deeper and gave it a slight twist.

Kwajik!

"Kuaaaaargh!"

Amidst the noisy buzzing of the insects, Grunt's scream pierced the air like an awl. Despite the pain, he continued to struggle, but his strength gradually began to wane.

‘My own strength isn’t enough.’

He understood. He had succeeded in sealing the Lord of Insects’ Seed and had even defeated one half of the Lord of Ice. How could he, who had achieved such great feats, be unable to dislodge a single sword?

"Where… did a guy like this come from…"

It was unbelievable. He was someone who always kept his ear to the ground for rumors in the Spirit Realm, especially concerning the Lords of Erosion.

But he had never heard of a powerhouse of this magnitude. Recent rumors mentioned…

‘Ah. Don't tell me?’

Come to think of it, he had recently heard that Silbaern had been beheaded. Silbaern, the Water Forest Dragon who ruled a vast woodland. A spirit who had ascended to this world in the body of a dragon, a being whose simple strength was said to be comparable to that of a Lord.

There was also a rumor that Belkarim's domain, which bordered Silbaern's forest, had retreated. It was believed that Jerakson was the culprit, but amidst all that, there was a strange, unconfirmed rumor.

A rumor that Jerakson had vanished after rampaging through Belkarim's territory. Some even speculated that he might have been annihilated.

‘I thought it was nonsense!’

The name Jerakson carried immense weight in the Spirit Realm. The Spirit of the Sky. A magnificent tyrant who ruled the vast heavens and sought to oppress and control everything on the ground.

According to the rumors, there was someone who had beheaded Silbaern. Someone who had intervened in the battle between Belkarim and Jerakson and had even disposed of Jerakson.

It was so absurd that he had dismissed it as a baseless rumor, but…

‘If it’s this human…’

If it was a human with this much power. If it was this man, who held four Seeds—a feat impossible even for the Lords.

It wouldn't be strange at all if he were the subject of those rumors.

Realizing the difference in their power, Grunt's struggling ceased. He understood that no amount of resistance was futile.

Only then did Jinwoo smile in satisfaction and pull out his sword. Clutching his wounded shoulder, Grunt sank to his knees.

"Now you're ready to talk."

Kneeling on one knee and panting, Grunt looked up at Jinwoo and bit his lip.

Belkarim was busy fending off the swarms of insects near the stem. She was currently serving Jinwoo, and Jinwoo wanted the Seed of the Lord of Insects. She couldn't let mere minions lay a hand on it.

Knowing she was taking care of things, Jinwoo could focus on Grunt. With the now-submissive Grunt kneeling before him, he tapped his shoulder with his sword.

"Name?"

"Grunt."

"A spirit?"

"A Demon Spirit. Born from the wind."

"Hoh." Jinwoo let out a small sound of admiration at the words "Demon Spirit." Demon Spirits were malevolent beings that lost their reason and preyed on other spirits, but the story was different if one managed to ascend to the Spirit Realm.

Vile dark magic could twist a human's ego, but even such a human could attain enlightenment and become a sage if they reached the pinnacle. Of course, they wouldn't become a benevolent being—they would remain evil—but they would nonetheless be a being who had reached a higher state.

It was the same for Demon Spirits. By raising their own class and repeatedly attaining enlightenment, they could become beings no different from other spirits.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was sealing the Seed."

He already knew, but he asked for confirmation.

"The Seed of the Lord of Insects, you said."

"You know of her. Along with Jerakson, she's one of the top contributors to the decay of the Spirit Realm. What about you? Are you here for revenge on her behalf?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I've never even met the Lord of Insects."

Grunt's expression darkened. It would have been better if the motive was something simple like revenge, but it wasn't.

In that case, was this human's goal to collect the Seeds themselves? What did he plan to do with them?

"You say you dealt with a being rotting the Spirit Realm. Does that mean you acted for a greater cause? That it was the right thing to do?"

"Of course. I have a duty to protect this land. No, it would be more accurate to say I am cleaning it. Filth like Erosion has no place in the Spirit Realm. This place is the paradise He once tended."

"He?"

"…You don't need to know."

In his excitement, he had said something unnecessary. Grunt clamped his mouth shut with a look of dismay. Jinwoo pressed his sword against him and asked again, but on this matter, Grunt remained stubbornly silent.

"Who is 'He'?"

"I will not say. I will tell you anything you want to know about me, so be satisfied with that."

"Your motives and beliefs are tied to this 'He.' Keeping that a secret is the same as saying nothing at all."

"It can't be helped. If you're dissatisfied, then just kill me. I'm not one to waste my life, but I would rather die than blabber on about Him."

It was a rather stubborn mule-headedness. To put it nicely, you could call it loyalty.

In any case, for some reason, he had taken on the duty of cleaning the Spirit Realm, and it seemed that subjugating the Lord of Insects, Larna, and killing Belkarim were part of that duty.

The wind that had attacked him earlier must have been a reaction to detecting the presence of the Seeds within him.

"You killed Belkarim too, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Grunt glanced to the side. In the distance, he could see the maid, Belkarim, dealing with the endlessly charging insects.

"She was only half a being, so she was much easier than the Lord of Insects. In any case, she was no match for the power He bestowed upon me."

"There's that 'He' again. What power did you receive?"

"You need tools to clean, don't you?"

Now he understood why a Lord like Belkarim had died so easily to this opponent. It seemed he had used some kind of power received from another, not his own.

But why wasn't he using it now?

"...It's not an infinite resource."

Grunt lowered his head, and Jinwoo understood the nature of that power. Jinwoo raised his head. The giant tree that was sealing the Lord of Insects' Seed—now completely rotted and decayed—came into his view.

"Is that tree the power you received?"

"…"

"…"

He had used it to defeat the Lord of Insects, Larna. He had extracted the Seed and sealed it tightly to prevent any Erosion from leaking out.

Even after that, he had enough power left to defeat Belkarim, but it seemed that was his limit.

Even if it was his limit, it was enough to defeat two Lords. He could well imagine how formidable it must have been. To so readily hand over such power to someone who called himself a cleaner…

"Who is this 'He' you speak of? Is he a tender of gardens?"

"I told you I can't say… Huh? What did you say?"

"Was there a Gardener who tended the world? And was this Spirit Realm the garden he tended?"

"That's…"

Grunt's eyes wavered. He didn't understand what Jinwoo was saying. He understood the words themselves, but he couldn't comprehend why the word 'garden' was coming from Jinwoo's mouth.

'Belkarim's snowy mountain. She said that was where the first Seed was found.'

The Seed of Erosion was connected to his past life. That meant his past self was a being who existed in the Spirit Realm.

And his past self was one who cultivated the lands of the world, purified the waters, and raised trees. If that was the case, the one who gave Grunt the power of the tree was…

"No way, that can't be… but then…"

Grunt was no fool. He knew Jinwoo's question held a hidden meaning and tried to deduce it himself. He came up with several conclusions, but all of them were absurd. Yet, within that absurdity lay the truth.

"You are…"

Finally, Grunt raised his head and looked at Jinwoo. The sullenness in his eyes from just moments ago had completely vanished. In its place were emotions like hope, desire, and a powerful longing.

Just as his mouth was about to form the next words…

What shot out of his mouth instead was a sword. A blade like an extremely thin membrane, like the wing of an insect.

"Grunt!?"

Even Jinwoo was startled by the sudden turn of events. It wasn't just because of the sword. It was because a Seed had abruptly appeared within Grunt's body, within his burning soul.

The Seed that the tree trunk had been sealing so tightly had pierced through Grunt's soul as if the seal had never mattered in the first place. Although there was a considerable distance between Grunt and the tree trunk, the Seed's movement, which traversed from soul to soul, was unhindered by physical distance.

"This is…"

The focus faded from Grunt's eyes. The sword that had shot from his mouth vertically sliced through his stomach and chest, simultaneously lashing out to strike at Jinwoo's neck.