Chapter 74: Soul Grapple (2)
The dryad then removed her vines, letting Anna free. YuWon was now in control of her body. It was a strange feeling, being inside someone else's body. But overall, he could control her body like his own.
[Soul Grapple successful.]
[The Awakener will return to their body in 5 minutes.]
"Five minutes is more than enough," YuWon mumbled in Anna's voice. "Protect my body. I'll be back in five minutes."
"As you wish, Savior." Lysandra bowed and gently covered YuWon's body in a cacoon of vines.
Once in control, YuWon threw a couple of punches, getting used to Anna's superior stats.
"No wonder you were so confident," YuWon said, looking at her stats. "Too bad all of it will go to waste."
"Please don't do this..." Anna's voice echoed in his mind. "If you have a problem, then kill me—"
"You should have thought about it before the things you did. Besides, I used so many souls. I need to recover my losses, don't I?"
YuWon cut her off and picked up both crimson blades, one that Anna used and the other that he had brought from the penalty zone. With two blades, he would be more efficient at dispatching the bastards.
Without hesitation, YuWon walked toward the allies. They were overjoyed to see her return and YuWon's corpse lying on the side. Little did they know how wrong they were.
They thought Anna was there to help them subdue the people suddenly attacking them. But the blade came crashing down, killing one of her commanders who had come to update her on the situation.
They didn't even have the time to react before several heads rolled down to earth. Their bodies fell, their blood mixing to form a pool of blood.
"No! Stop this! I'll do anything, just don't kill them!" Anna begged.
However, no one could listen to her. The one who could hear her was the one responsible for her misery. One after another, her closest allies fell at her hand, believing she was the one who had betrayed them.
Anna made him kill Gina, so it was only fair she got a taste of what it felt like. Since she took everything from him, it was her turn to lose everything she cared about.
***
YuWon, still inside Anna's body, stood on the blood-soaked battlefield. Dead bodies of Anna's allies were scattered everywhere. Blood dripped from the swords, adding to the pool of blood underneath her feet.
"Got nothing to say?" YuWon asked, but once again, there was no reply.
It had been a while since Anna stopped begging him. It was strange. He thought his actions would trigger Anna to fight back harder. But that wasn't the case.
So boring...
YuWon sighed and walked back to his body. Lysandra and Yeji were waiting for him there. As he arrived there, Lysandra didn't waste any time wrapping Anna up in vines.
A moment later, YuWon's soul returned to his body. His head throbbed in pain, probably because it would take him some getting used to the skill. But otherwise, he was completely fine.
Eventually, his eyes shifted to Anna, expecting her to throw a tantrum. However, her once fierce eyes were empty. She had the same expressionless face Gina had when YuWon first saw her.
"Any last wishes?" YuWon asked, raising his sword.
Anna stared back at him. She opened her mouth to say something before she shook her head. With the dagger sealing her abilities, there wasn't much she couldn't fight back either way.
"I thought so."
With no hesitation, YuWon brought the sword down on her, severing Anna's head from the rest of her body.
Just like that, it was over. Anna, the regressor, would never return to haunt him.
He thought killing her would bring him peace. But that didn't happen. Gina was gone, and the world had turned to shit. There was nothing left to do for him.
Lysandra, sensing the turmoil in his heart, walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Do what you have to, savior," she said. "I'll be waiting for you."
But YuWon didn't say or so anything. He just placed the swords in his phantom bag before looking at the sky above.
There's still much left to do.
[Skill: Load has been activated.]
[Please select a checkpoint to respawn at.]
[-> Penalty Zone: Autosave.]
[-> Gangnam Station: Autosave.]
[-> Alanjas Worm Pit: Autosave.]
Gangnam Station.
As YuWon selected the saved location, everything went dark before him. Unlike using [Respawn], the [Load] skill was different. Respawning was a quick process, but loading felt like he was being teleported to somewhere at an astonishing speed.
Through the void, a voice called out to him. YuWon knew it was Gina's voice and when he opened his eyes, she was the first one he saw.
"Gina…" YuWon choked up.
She was alive and standing right in front of him. There were no scars on her body, no soulless eyes. She was his Gina. Without thinking about anything, he pulled her into his arms.
Gina let out a surprised gasp as he hugged her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder.
"Husband... what's wrong?" Gina asked, but YuWon didn't say a word.
He just kept holding her tightly, as if she would disappear if he let her go. Gina wasn't the only one confused. Yuna and Yeji too looked at each other, confused.
Anna, standing further away, was more surprised than any of them. She remembered the scene of YuWon first meeting her. But never in her regressions had she seen him act so affectionately towards Gina.
Something felt off about it, and the look YuWon gave her confirmed her fears.
He knows!
However, before Anna could act, the sudden rumbling of the ground alerted everyone. A moment later, the ogres appeared again. People were taken aback, but after everything YuWon had been through, the ogres seemed nothing more than insects to him.