Chapter 25 – Day 25

Day 25

That young girl is the intruder?
What in the world is going on?
W-what should we do?

The Restorers belonging to the Bihwamun were whispering among themselves.

Suddenly, a powerful impact shook the Bihwamun, and furthermore, the formation set up in Baengnokdam was shattered.

To think that the one who appeared right after was just a single young girl.

What should we do?
Is she really an enemy?
Should we kill her? Or just subdue her?

While the Restorers were hesitating in this confusing situation, unable to move decisively.

“My name is Cheon Seoa. I’ve come here today to kill all of you and erase the Bihwamun.”

…!

The moment words like ‘kill’ and ‘erase’ came out of Cheon Seoa’s mouth, anger and killing intent flickered in the eyes of the Restorers.

Just as some hot-headed young Restorers were about to rush towards Cheon Seoa.

“May I ask why you’re targeting us?”

An old man stepped forward and spoke.

The surrounding Restorers quickly bowed their heads, as this old man was none other than the current leader of Bihwamun and…

“A Golden Core stage, I see?”

A Restorer who had achieved the Golden Core.

Meanwhile, the old man stiffened his expression, startled that Cheon Seoa had seen through his level at a glance.

In his eyes, Cheon Seoa appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary person who hadn’t cultivated any techniques.

Yet, this seemingly ordinary person Cheon Seoa had seen through his level.

There was only one fact that this revealed.

‘A Restorer with a higher level than me! Yuan Ying stage? No, it might even be Hwa Shin stage.’

Beads of cold sweat rolled down the back of an elderly man.

One should not judge a cultivator by their outward appearance.

No matter how young they may look, there’s always the possibility that they could be a centuries-old monster inside.

With that in mind, the old man spoke again in a somewhat stiff, tense voice.

“I don’t know which deceased person you are, but why do you say you’re going to erase our Bihwamun?”

“Huh? Isn’t that obvious? You are the orthodox sect. Whereas I…”

Woong-.

Cheon Seoa trailed off as she raised her hand.
Thick magical energy was seeping out from it, and the old man’s eyes widened as he saw it.

Could it be…that!

“Magical energy?”

That means the monster before him is a practitioner who has mastered magical arts!

The situation had become seriously complicated.

He had hoped to somehow talk his way out of this crisis, but of all things, the opponent turned out to be a mage who had mastered magical arts.

At this rate, Bihwamun would disappear without a trace from the face of the earth.

In that case, rather…

“Everyone, run away!”

Hwareureuk-!

The old man, erupting in golden flames, shouted as he charged towards Cheon Seoa.

Although he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out, the old man intended to burn his life to buy time for the young disciples of Bihwamun to escape.

Just one.
If even one disciple survives, the legacy of Bihwamun will not be broken.

Go forward.

‘I never imagined there would be another Mage who learned the magic technique besides those nine!’

The existence of Cheon Seoa must be reported to the Heaven God Cult.

“You-! Burn to death-!”

Whoosh-!
Clash!

Leaping hundreds of meters in a single step, the old man arrived in front of Cheon Seoa in an instant and swung his twin palms.

The old man’s twin palms, wrapped in golden flames, were thrust into Cheon Seoa’s abdomen without any hesitation, but….

“Wh-What-!”

The old man stumbled back in confusion.

Cheon Seoa’s abdomen, where the old man’s twin palms had struck.
There was something like a turtle shell made of eerie magical energy occupying that spot.

What kind of technique is that?

For a moment, the old man harbored such thoughts, but soon erased them.

From the beginning, the technique the opponent mastered was magic.
It’s not something he could figure out just by pondering.

For now, just.

‘Buy as much time as possible-!’

With such determination, the old man desperately drew up his spiritual energy.

Whoosh-!

The golden flames that had been confined to the old man’s palms now swelled in size.
Soon, the old man was engulfed by the golden flames, becoming a giant of fire.

His appearance resembled Surtr, the fire giant from Norse mythology.

Perhaps.

“Maybe all the myths spread across the Earth were based on the Repairers.”

Of course, that possibility doesn’t seem very likely.

Meanwhile, the old man, now transformed into a fire giant, shouted angrily at Cheon Seoa, who was acting nonchalant in front of him.

[You! Let’s see how long you can keep that composure!]

Whoosh!

The fire giant began to move.
As the giant’s hands swept through the air, waves of golden flames surged towards Cheon Seoa.

“How interesting.”

Hiss-.

Cheon Seoa said with a smirk.
At the same time, the waves of golden flames created by the giant instantly dissipated.

“Is it my turn now?”

Shudder-!

Lifeless eyes devoid of any emotion.
The moment it gazed upon itself, the fire giant. No, the old man who had become a fire giant felt a chilling fear.

Simultaneously.

Whoosh-.

As both hands separated, black flames rose between them.
Cheon Seoa played with these black flames, gesturing here and there, then fixed her left hand in the air and pulled her right hand back as if drawing a bowstring.

With that, the black flames that had been flickering in the air took the form of an arrow.

“Somehow, I feel like I should say this line.”

Cheon Seoa smiled and whispered.

“Fuga-.”

The casually uttered word dissolved and disappeared into the air.

[Kuhek-!]

Thud-!

The fire giant clutched its chest and fell to its knees.

The arrow of black flames that Cheon Seoa had playfully created.
In the blink of an eye, it had leaped through space and accurately pierced its heart.

Cough, cough-.

The fire giant had now reverted to the form of a decrepit old man.

With eyes gradually losing their vitality, he glared at Cheon Seoa and said.

“Kuh-, don’t think you’ve won with this. By now, the disciples of Bihwamun would have revealed your existence to the world…, cough-!”

Despite continuously coughing up blood, the old man displayed a victor’s smile.

Certainly, there was no one left inside the Bihwamun.

However, that doesn’t mean the disciples of Bihwamun had escaped from this place.

As if to prove that.

“Ah, are you referring to these people?”

Ziiik-.

As Cheon Seoa drew down in the air, space itself tore apart.
Beyond the torn space, another world unfolded, a terrifying world with dead black earth, black sky, and a black sun.

Simultaneously.

“What…!”

The old man’s eyes trembled.

The disciples of Bihwamun, whom he had risked his life to help escape, were all writhing in agony in that black world, without a single exception.

Cheon Seoa, with lifeless eyes, spoke to the old man who had fixed his gaze on the torn space.

“It’s simple. Designation, separation, and transfer. I just used these three concepts a little.”

“Just what are you…”

Thud-.

At Cheon Seoa’s explanation, the old man’s head fell limply as he muttered in disbelief.

Even for a practitioner of forbidden techniques, he had lost his heart.
Moreover, Cheon Seoa’s demonic energy was spreading throughout his body through that wound. In a way, it was a miracle that he had managed to cling to life until now.
Cheon Seoa looked down at the old man’s corpse and said.
“It’s a bit of a shame to have blown away his heart. Still, the corpse of a cultivator who achieved forbidden techniques should be a useful material in its own right.”

By the way.

“I wonder how we should destroy this place to send a proper warning to Seungcheonmun.”

As she closed the torn space, Cheon Seoa looked around the vast Bijukmun while letting out a deep sigh.

* * *

Clunk-.

“M-Miss, you’re out.”

Late at night.
After dealing with Bihwamun, Cheon Seoa returned home, and as she went out of her room, Sin Daejin awkwardly greeted her.

“I guess you’re on duty tonight.”

“That’s right.”

To Cheon Seoa’s question, Sin Daejin nodded awkwardly with a smile.

To be honest, Sin Daejin was still uncomfortable with Cheon Seoa.

It was because her identity was unknown, but.
The biggest reason was still….

‘Those eyes are still chilling.’

It was because of those dead eyes that showed no emotion.

Sometimes emotions seemed to dwell in those eyes, but they caused discomfort as if a machine was imitating human emotions.

What was that called again?

‘The uncanny valley, wasn’t it?’

Just then, while Sin Daejin was blankly staring at Cheon Seoa and thinking.

“By the way, I’m hungry. Could you make me some ramen?”

“Ramen, you say? Why of all things…”

“I suddenly felt like having ramen after a long time.”

Even though it was late, with just a word from Cheon Seoa, a first-class chef would rush over to prepare the finest dishes.

Despite this, Shin Daejin couldn’t understand why Cheon Seoa wanted ramen, but he obediently headed to the kitchen.

“Oh, by the way. Where did that Seven Sword Festival child go?”

“If, if you mean the master, he waited for the young lady to come out of her room and then returned to the company. He, he said that the bug he had been waiting for was finally caught.”

“I see.”

Cheon Seoa nodded at Shin Daejin’s answer, and then.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and make the ramen.”

“So, sorry!”

She said that to Shin Daejin, who was staring blankly at her.