My Body Has Been Possessed By Someone - Chapter 180

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 180
* * *
The Butterfly Masked Man emerged from his safe haven. This time, he was no longer a phantom—he was flesh and blood.
“Is Orsini really dead?”
This had been a trap designed from the beginning to eliminate Orsini Adis.
Orsini Adis was a formidable enemy to the Black Apostles, a target that had to be eliminated eventually.
When the opportunity arose to discover his weakness, they had constructed this snare.
Ironically, his weakness was a woman.
“Indeed it is.”
The Butterfly Masked Man approached Orsini’s corpse and examined it closely.
“To die caught in such a pathetic trap—you were truly a pitiful man.”
Throwing away his life for a woman he despised so utterly.
The Butterfly Masked Man sneered and tapped his cheek. Orsini’s lifeless face lolled helplessly to the side.
Just moments ago, he had been the Black Apostles’ most formidable adversary. Now he was nothing but a lump of meat.
Useful meat, at that.
“Collect Orsini’s corpse. He hasn’t been dead long, so his body will still be saturated with vital essence. Perfect material for experimentation.”
The Butterfly Masked Man rose to his feet, smiling with satisfaction.
“Are all the other apostles dead?”
“Yes. I am the only survivor.”
“The price was steep.”
Indeed, the cost had been immense.
Not just the Black Apostles who lay dead now.
To lure Orsini into the trap, they had even exposed the gathering place itself. The Black Apostles who ventured there had to be sacrificed as well.
“Nearly a hundred Black Apostles sacrificed just to kill one Orsini. Truly….”
The Butterfly Masked Man’s voice trailed off.
A chill crawled up the back of his neck. A murderous aura crashed over him like a tidal wave, as if his hair were being torn from his scalp.
“Ahhhhh!”
The Black Apostle who had been moving to collect Orsini’s corpse screamed. He stumbled backward.
“Ah, Al…!”
Those were his final words.
In the next instant, his body exploded into fragments. Blood sprayed in all directions, spattering across the Butterfly Masked Man’s cheek.
“…How troublesome.”
The Butterfly Masked Man’s lips trembled.
“Why are you here, Alexandro Adis?”
“I came to find you.”
Drip, drip. Blood fell from Alexandro Adis’s blade.
He stared at the Butterfly Masked Man as he spoke.
“Take your hands off my son.”
“Of course. Of course I will. Calm yourself.”
The Butterfly Masked Man raised both hands and quickly retreated. Then, in a swift motion, he wrapped his arm around Kanna Adis’s neck.
“Instead, I’ll lay a hand on your daughter.”
“P-please… spare me.”
Kanna Adis began to weep.
That was the end.
Alexandro Adis’s blade drove straight through her chest and pierced through the Butterfly Masked Man standing behind her as well.
Two bodies skewered on a single blade. Alexandro Adis immediately withdrew his sword and caught them both in his arms.
Ignoring the dead Kanna Adis leaning against his chest, Alexandro Adis seized the Butterfly Masked Man by the collar and tore away the mask.
“….”
Alexandro Adis’s brow furrowed. It was a familiar face.
The unmasked gentleman smiled wickedly.
“I’ve been exposed… my master will be troubled.”
Then the wind blew.
With a soft crumble, both Kanna Adis and the Butterfly Masked Man’s bodies disintegrated into sand. The two puppets, mere replicas of someone, returned to dust.
Alexandro Adis lowered his sword. Then he knelt and examined his son’s condition.
He soon reached the same conclusion as the Butterfly Masked Man.
“He’s dead.”
Orsini Adis was dead.
His heart had stopped, and the spark of life had extinguished. It was unmistakable, undeniable death.
This was the end of Orsini Adis.
He had met his death in this moment, on this day, in this place.
Had I not been here, his life would have ended just like this.
“How fortunate that Seon-hee cursed me with eternal life.”
Alexandro Adis murmured softly and reached out to him.
“So that I may share my life with you.”
* * *
Orsini Adis’s eyes opened. He gasped for breath.
“Gasp—”
He jerked his torso upright. He looked around.
The Hunting Grounds were strewn with blood and corpses.
Surely he should have been among those bodies…
Orsini Adis looked down at himself.
His clothes were torn in places and caked with blood. Yet there were no wounds. No pain. Rather, he felt overflowing with strength.
In that instant, Orsini Adis was startled.
His right arm had moved.
He stared blankly at his own right arm and murmured.
“…Father?”
Why? Why had those words escaped his lips?
He looked around uncertainly.
But there was no one here.
* * *
An hour had passed since arriving at the castle, yet Yeon-woo remained unconscious. I placed him in Ren’s room for now.
“He’s just been talking in his sleep. What was he saying? Tick-tock, tick-tock?”
“Tick-tock?”
“Yes. He keeps muttering strange things while he sleeps.”
That was the sound of a clock’s second hand moving.
‘Why would he make such a sound?’
I tapped my fingers against the desk.
‘I mustn’t get close to him.’
I had rescued him because his life was in danger, but I understood that I couldn’t allow myself to grow closer than that.
‘The possibility that my reunion with Yeon-woo is a scheme orchestrated by the Black Apostles is growing.’
Yeon-woo’s appearance before me was no coincidence. Someone had arranged this stage.
‘They must have thought I would keep him close and look after him.’
So I had to keep my distance.
“For now, work as my servant. Teach him the Western Continent language, and show him some self-defense and swordsmanship.”
At that, Ren spoke with utter arrogance.
“I am quite expensive. Can you afford me?”
“How much?”
“At minimum, I require this much.”
He held up five fingers.
“Are you a thug?”
“I told you—I’m expensive.”
A subtle smile played at the corners of his lips. He leaned down and whispered.
“Or, if you prefer, we could continue what we stopped last time.”
“What we stopped last time?”
“When you straddled me—do you remember?”
He raked his gaze over her face with a suggestive look.
“If you wish to continue from there, I need no money. I’ll follow whatever you command like a dog.”
“I don’t need a bastard like you.”
“You said dog, not bastard.”
“Oh, did I?”
I responded with feigned nonchalance, though my thoughts were anything but.
‘This man’s asking price is astronomical.’
A mercenary’s value truly seemed remarkable when one could simply name their price.
‘I could solve this instantly through alchemy by transmuting gold, but…’
I had no intention of creating a rift in the world for such a reason. I resolved to liquidate my valuables instead.
“Fine. I’ll pay you everything at once when we return. Let’s draw up a contract.”
After dismissing Ren, I exhaled heavily and stood before the mirror. Then the most fundamental question surfaced in my mind.
‘Who knew? How did they find out? And how did they bring him here?’
Who in this world could possibly know Yeon-woo?
It should be impossible unless they shared my memories.
‘…Wait. Unless they share memories?’
There was indeed such a being.
Lee Ju-hwa. The entity that had possessed my body.
But Ju-hwa is not in this world.
However, if I assume that Ju-hwa has come here.
The moment I thought that, the scattered puzzle pieces began to fall into place all at once.
A genius physician from the Eastern Continent who appeared three years ago.
The physician who cured the Empress’s skin disease that I created through alchemy. Someone who knows of Yeon-woo’s existence.
Suddenly, chills ran down my spine.
‘If Ju-hwa has returned, everything fits perfectly.’
My head throbbed with pain.
‘Ju-hwa, if you’ve truly come here….’
Who brought you? How?
‘It must be the Black Apostles.’
The Black Apostles who draw upon the power of other worlds. Perhaps they know how to summon people from other worlds.
‘But it wouldn’t be easy.’
If summoning someone from another world were simple, they would have brought dozens or hundreds and used their blood as material long ago.
‘Summoning someone from another world must be extraordinarily difficult. Impossible without specific conditions.’
But then again, with the right material, things change. Excellent material capable of channeling alchemical power.
For instance, the blood of a foreign entity.
‘My blood.’
If that were used as material, it might be possible to summon Ju-hwa.
A moment suddenly came to mind.
When I entered the Divine Temple for the annulment ceremony with Silvien Valentino, I had to offer blood then.
‘Did the Black Apostles steal my blood and use it?’
They summoned you here and tempted you. Just as Jerome had tempted me.
If they obtained Ju-hwa’s blood and used it in alchemy.
‘The reason the Black Mist has intensified over the past three years is explained.’
Everything fit together perfectly.
Then the door burst open. I spun around in surprise.
“What are you doing?”
It was Orsini Adis. He walked quickly and seized my wrist.
“Your fingers are still attached.”
“Of course they are. Why, were you hoping I’d come back missing some?”
“I saw a woman who looks exactly like you.”
My face darkened. A woman who looks exactly like me?
‘It must be my doll.’
Now I was completely certain. There was no room for doubt.
‘Creating a doll requires high-grade material like my blood.’
With Ju-hwa’s blood, another foreign entity, it’s possible. Ju-hwa has returned to this world.
‘But creating puppets requires knowledge of ancient alchemy….’
Among the materials Seon-hee had left for the Black Apostles, there appeared to be a ritual diagram for puppet creation. And by now, Orsini would have surely realized that this was alchemy—the Black Apostles’ special technique.
He seized Kanna Adis by the collar roughly. His gaze turned savage.
“When you fled Rivensum, something that resembled you played dead. They even held a funeral for it. It was probably similar to the fake I encountered today.”
He had figured it out after all.
“Where did you get that fake who pretended to be you on Rivensum?”
“….”
“Are you a Black Apostle?”
Kanna Adis glared at him before letting out a soft laugh.
“And if I were?”
Orsini Adis’s lips pressed into a rigid line. His eyes trembled violently.
“What if I said—I am indeed a Black Apostle. I approached you to tear Orsini Adis to pieces…?”
Kanna Adis smiled gently.
“Answer me. If I were destined to kill you someday, what would you do?”
It was not a question asked in ignorance. She already knew the answer anyway.
“If I were a Black Apostle, then this time you could finally kill me.”
Kanna Adis offered a melancholy smile.
“But alas. Unfortunately for you, I am not a Black Apostle….”
In the next instant, he seized her collar roughly and pulled her toward him.
“…!”
Their lips collided.
Or rather, they nearly did.
Just before contact, he stopped. Then he pushed her away. Kanna Adis stumbled backward without resistance, and as she met his eyes, confusion flooded through her.
He was furious—like a man whose soul had been stolen. She could not fathom the rage burning in his gaze, a fury that bordered on anguish.
Orsini Adis stepped back.
Like one who had glimpsed a demon crawling up from hell, like one who had witnessed the harbinger of the world’s end, he withdrew with a deathly pallor.
Then he kicked open the door and strode out with long, hurried steps.
The manner of his departure seemed almost like flight.
From her.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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