Chapter 155: A Strange Companion**
Jinwoo's sword slashed at Larna's abdomen again. Her neck, chest, shoulders, legs, and even her ankles. He cut at every part of her body, trying to break her skin.

But nothing was cut. It was useless even when he aimed for what he thought were vital points of the human body. He wasn't even sure if they were her real vital points, since she wasn't human in the first place.

"Kyaaak!"

Larna shrieked and tried to flee. He grabbed her wrist, twisted it, and threw her to the ground. KANG! He tried to forcefully stab his sword into her thigh as she lay there, but it still wouldn't penetrate.

"Aaaaargh!"

Larna clutched her bruised thigh and rolled around on the ground. Jinwoo kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying into a wall. She coughed, colok, and rubbed her still-aching thigh.

"Making a fuss over a few bruises. It doesn't even hurt that much."

"It hurts! It really hurts! It hurts so much!"

Jinwoo blinked. What, is she for real? Her voice was so genuine it was impossible to see it as an act.

"You're not even bleeding. What's there to hurt so much about?"

Jinwoo thrust his sword toward the space between her eyes. Larna hastily turned her head to dodge, but her ear was pierced instead. That alone was enough to make her scream and writhe in agony.

‘It hurts, it hurts! Why does it hurt so much?!’

It definitely hadn't been like this before. The first time this human cut her—though he hadn't actually cut her—the pain hadn't been this severe. Just the dull, lurching pain unique to being hit in the abdomen. That was all.

But what about now? Every time the sword cut her, no, every time it grazed her, an unbearable pain surged through her. The pain wasn't coming from the sword. It was a self-inflicted agony, like hundreds of millions of needles stabbing her from within.

‘It would probably hurt less if he actually stabbed me!’

If she were just stabbed and pierced through, would that be less painful? The thought even crossed her mind.

When did it start hurting this much? It was obvious. That command from before, the one to kneel. Something had changed when her body had staggered from that command.

The human man hadn't changed. She was the one who had changed. Her inner self.

‘My body… has recognized something.’

Yes. Ever since her body had recognized something due to the man's command. That's when things had changed.

"I have to… kill him… I have to kill him…"

There was no way she could live like this. To live under the same sky as a being who could inflict such pain upon her. A thread of killing intent began to fill her eyes once more.

"What's this. You're still fine."

"I—!"

Oops! I said that out loud!

What little killing intent she had mustered vanished as if washed away, and in its place was fear. Her instincts screamed at her that she didn't want to be in pain anymore, that she absolutely refused to experience that kind of agony again.

She had always lived according to her instincts, and now was no different.

‘Escape.’

Flee. Get away from Jinwoo and run at full speed. Jinwoo tried to grab her, but by a paper-thin margin, she slipped from his grasp.

"Stop."

Jinwoo's low voice echoed. The space was too vast for his words to cover, and they should have been quickly swallowed up. But that small sound struck Larna's ears and mind like a thunderclap.

"Ugh!"

The strength drained from her legs, and her knees buckled. Jinwoo caught up from behind and grabbed her shoulder. And then—

CHWAAK!

Her arm was severed. It wasn't Jinwoo who had cut it. Larna had cut off her own arm. The entire shoulder that Jinwoo had grabbed.

She abandoned her arm and fled. Jinwoo commanded her to stop once more, but this time, it wasn't as effective. She stumbled for a moment, but she continued her escape with an iron will.

Perhaps the command of the Seed was less effective in the face of the instinct for survival. Or, conversely, it was quite remarkable if it was a command that could only be shaken off in such a life-or-death situation.

"She doesn't seem like the type to think running is disgraceful or to care about her pride."

Jinwoo muttered, thinking of Jerakson. Jerakson's pride was as high as his sky-piercing arrogance. That was why he had so easily fallen for Jinwoo's provocations and, in the end, had his head cut off.

He saw none of that in Larna. It seemed her own life was her top priority.

"She's too fast."

Perhaps because she was born an insect, her ability to flee was excessively fast. Jinwoo was about to give chase, but she had already vanished into the distance. He frowned for a moment, then let out a sigh.

'If fate wills it, we'll meet again.'

As long as he had the Seeds, it was inevitable. Jinwoo turned back to clean up the area.

He had to deal with the massive number of souls still remaining before he left.

Larna had fled without a backward glance, leaving behind a massive number of souls. They were once loyal retainers who had served her in their insect bodies, but they were now countless minions slaughtered by her own hand.

Even so, they had been willing to offer their souls to their queen, but that queen had already fled too far to be seen. Left behind, they wandered aimlessly around the rotten tree.

Jinwoo accepted them.

There was no sound. The movement of souls didn't stir the air, so there was no audible noise.

But there was a feeling of fullness as the massive number of souls entered him. It felt like being submerged in shallow water.

‘There’s quite a lot.’

The quantity of souls was substantial. Even by Jinwoo's standards, it was an amount that would likely bring a significant increase in power. Larna must have been furious to have had to flee and leave behind so many souls.

Whether she was furious or not was none of Jinwoo's concern. His vessel still had plenty of space, and even after absorbing all the souls, he still felt a sense of emptiness.

‘Emptiness.’

Speaking of which, it reminded him of Larna's Seed. A Seed specialized in devouring and digesting all things. It had attached itself to an insect that already possessed an instinct for predation, eventually creating the Larna of today.

"Sir Jinwoo…"

"Belkarim. What happened to Grunt?"

"Here…"

Once the battle had subsided, Belkarim, who had been hiding, approached. She too was a spirit, but she was no match for Larna. Having lost half of herself, she was even weaker, so she had stayed out of the fight.

Where Belkarim stood, there was a small cluster of green light. The form of the smallest spirit. A minimal spirit, before its ego and individuality had blossomed.

"He's returned to the form he had at birth."

"It seems he wasn't annihilated."

"He's lucky he wasn't eaten by Larna."

The being known as Grunt had been completely torn apart by Larna's blade. But thanks to not being devoured, he had somehow managed to survive. He had lost all his intellect and memories and had become his smallest self, but he wasn't dead.

Normally, he would just leave it at that. A spirit this small was of little help other than as a guide. There was no reason to keep it around.

You are…

But he remembered Grunt's final moments. How his eyes had widened upon seeing him. As if he had realized something, as if he had been hoping for something.

He didn't know what Grunt had been about to say. He could guess, but only Grunt himself knew if it was the truth.

And Jinwoo…

"Haa… Let's take him."

He took out the Ego Sword and collected the spirit cluster. The small green lights clung to the old sword and began to fall asleep. With the passage of time, perhaps it might one day regain the powerful strength it once had.

‘Tell me immediately if you see any sign of it becoming a Demon Spirit.’

Of course, he had no intention of raising it as a Demon Spirit again, so he instructed the Ego Sword. If there was even the slightest sign, he would immediately begin its re-education.

Regaining strength was good, but he could not permit a malevolent method like that of a Demon Spirit.

After collecting Grunt, Jinwoo looked at Belkarim.

"And you? Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I have properly recovered the remains of my other half."

In Belkarim's hand rested a small light resembling a crystal ball. It wasn't a literal wolf corpse or anything like that. It was the dregs of a soul left after death. She held a clump of that collected essence.

It seemed she had been searching diligently while he was fighting Larna. Regardless of the process, they had both achieved their goals for coming here, so the outcome was good.

"I'm going to look for the lake now. What will you do?"

Jinwoo said, taking out the lake spirit. The blue spirit resting on his finger indicated that there was a lake nearby. It urged him to go there as quickly as possible.

"I…"

Belkarim fell silent for a moment.

She wanted to go with him. She was certain that if she was with him, just by serving at his side, he would show her many things. Whatever lay in those high places she had not, and could not, reach.

She too was a spirit. And spirits were souls bound together by a strong desire to ascend. Accompanying Jinwoo would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.

Grunt’s body began to transform, cracking apart like wood. He was originally a Demon Spirit of Wind, but the power he received from his former master had transcended his origins and mutated him.
Of course, he hadn't rejected it. Thanks to that power, he was able to defeat a Lord and seal the Seed. That power was connected to him.
'It rode that connection to get here...!'
That was how Grunt realized it. He understood how the Seed had moved.
Physical distance might not matter to it, but spiritual distance usually did. It couldn't just travel to any random soul.
It had broken the seal from the inside, rode the flow of that power, and reached its root—Grunt. The Seed, having successfully embedded itself in Grunt, exploded from within him, driving a blade out just as it was doing now.
'Was the seal imperfect? No, that can't be! It’s impossible...'
As his consciousness faded, Grunt desperately racked his brain. He felt like he was about to die at any moment, yet his thinking did not stop.
The seal was perfect. He had checked it thoroughly. So how did the Seed break the seal and escape?
Did it pretend to be sealed? Impossible. There was no reason to, and he had checked multiple times.
The fact that it escaped despite that meant...
'I was... eaten...'
Even as his thoughts grew sluggish, he realized the answer. The power of the Insect Lord, Larna, was to consume power and nutrients through predation. The Seed attracted to her possessed the exact same authority. The ability of Larna's Seed was the act of eating.
It had been gnawing at the seal from the inside. From the day it was sealed long ago, right up until this moment.
He had certainly defeated Larna and succeeded in sealing the Seed. But in the end, it resulted in him feeding it power.
Because it had gnawed away every bit of the power he received from his former master from the inside out...
'I am sorry...'
His vision narrowed rapidly, and his consciousness flew away.
Kuurururung!
The insects began to riot, moving with even greater agility. Grunt had been mistaken. He thought the insects were swarming to retrieve Larna's Seed.
But that wasn't it. They knew their Queen was about to resurrect and had gathered to bless her.
Pasak!
Grunt’s body turned into dry, twisted tree bark and crumbled away. From within, she burst forth.
Long, black hair. She was somewhat short, but her hair seemed to be twice the length of her height. The black hair covered the upper part of her face, obscuring her eyes, but her nose and lips were neater than expected. In a way, she even looked like a young child. However...
Kang!
Thick killing intent dripped from her sword. The power to destroy and devour everything in sight. And the will to do so.
Great power possesses a will of its own. To wield it properly, one needs reason and intense instinct that exceeds that power. However, Larna's ego had been no different from the will of the Seed since her birth.
To eat. She had lived solely for that purpose, and that hadn't changed.
Perhaps that was why the Seed of Predation, which had wandered through countless stars, settled within her. The connection between her and the Seed was impossibly strong; it wouldn't be strange to say she was the Seed and the Seed was her.
"You, who?"
Larna asked in a surprised tone as she looked at Jinwoo, who had blocked her sword. The blade, shaped like the thin wing of an insect, was extremely sharp—there was nothing it couldn't cut. Yet, Jinwoo's sword remained perfectly fine.
"Insect Lord, Larna. Is that it?"
"Right. Know me?"
Larna spoke with a bright smile. There was absolutely no hostility in her innocent appearance. However, the killing intent was genuine. That was proof she perceived Jinwoo not as an enemy to fight, but as something to eat.
Kugugugung!
At that moment, the riot of the insects became even more violent. Belkarim could no longer withstand it and was bounced away.
Since the seal was broken, there was no reason for her to guard the stem anymore.
"Noisy."
Larna drew a line with her sword. From left to right. A single flash that divided the world created silence.
The ear-splitting sound of wings stopped all at once. The headache-inducing cries, and the worship toward the Queen that only she could hear—all of it stopped.
All the insects in the area died. And their Black Flames were sucked into Larna. Even in death, they praised their Queen and chose the path of being willingly eaten by her.
"Haa."
Since the quantity was so vast, the amount absorbed was enormous. She had already filled her stomach by gnawing on the seal, yet she did not stop eating. She was a being who could eat infinitely, no matter how full she was.
Amidst that ecstatic ritual, Jinwoo's sword moved. He cut through a massive flow heading toward Larna, creating a scratch.
The flow, which had been flawlessly clean, fell into disarray because of it. It was cut, exploded, and a portion was sucked into Jinwoo.
As their powers rivaled each other, the flowing souls lost their way. They poured from the sky to the ground, and soared from the ground to the sky; their source simply covered the surroundings, having lost its destination.
Is it Larna, or Kang Jinwoo? Even though they had willingly offered their bodies to Larna, they could not completely go against Jinwoo's command. That hesitation created this space.
"You, what are you?"
Anger lodged in Larna's voice as she looked at Jinwoo, who had cut in and messed things up.
"Can I... leave? I need to recover my other half."
She needed to reabsorb the remains of her other half. She also needed to regain the power lost in that process. It was good that the Seed had fallen [from Grunt], but she needed enlightenment to replace the power of the Seed.
For various reasons, she decided to leave. She knew she could achieve nothing by training by Jinwoo's side in her current state.
"Suit yourself."
"Okaaay..."
She felt a trace of sadness at his lack of attempt to stop her. And she was surprised at herself for feeling that way, yet relieved. Having such emotions meant she felt a connection to him.
"I'll come find you later."
"Sure. If it’s meant to be, we'll meet again."
Jinwoo spoke while recalling the thoughts he had toward Larna. Then, a small sound of laughter came from inside the cloth covering Belkarim's face. She seemed happy.
Like that, Belkarim also left, leaving only Jinwoo and the Spirit of the Lake. The Spirit flew around frantically, urging them to really depart now.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
Laughing once at that sight, Jinwoo moved his feet. The Spirit flew toward the lake it sensed, and Jinwoo followed behind.
Had half a day passed? Jinwoo suddenly looked back.
Nothing was visible. Only the path he had walked; there was absolutely nothing special.
He walked forward again, and after a while, looked back again. Of course, there was nothing special this time either.
Jinwoo snorted and spoke.
"Instead of sneaking around following me, why not just come out?"
Just because nothing was visible didn't mean no one was there. No matter how special the means used to erase one's appearance and presence, the soul could not be erased.
To Jinwoo's eyes, the sight of Black Flame rippling was clearly visible. Just like her black hair.
"...!"
Larna, whose eyes met his, hurriedly ran away. However, she didn't go far, keeping a set distance and tagging along again.
She showed no sign of approaching, nor any sign of attacking. She just stuck to the rear.
After observing her state for a moment, Jinwoo shrugged and headed forward. Every time he took a step, she also took a step. A strange companionship began, maintaining quite a distance.