Chapter 44 – Day 44

Day 44

“How much longer do we have to go?”

“We should arrive in about 20 minutes.”

Hmm.
20 minutes.

It’s taking too long.

Cheon Seoa grumbled at the response from the sword inspector belonging to the Sword Shadow Corps left behind by the Sword Demon.

She could have just gone to Japan by herself.
Why did she choose such a troublesome method?

Well, still.

“I guess this is a pretty good experience in its own way.”

Cheon Seoa muttered as she looked around.

Accepting the Sword Demon’s invitation, Cheon Seoa had chosen to fly to Japan.
And that too, on a private jet exclusively for her.

Of course, it wasn’t Cheon Seoa’s choice.
She didn’t even have a private jet for personal use to begin with.

All of this was the property of the Sword Demon, one of the nine villains of the Illuminati.

The Seven Sword Emperors reign as owners of major Korean conglomerates.
Similarly, the Sword Demon sits in a position of immense influence over Japan’s economy and politics.

Of course, all of these were backgrounds created while thoroughly concealing their own history as one of the nine villains who established the Illuminati….

‘Having lived for at least decades, or even centuries, it would be strange to be called incompetent if they couldn’t manage this much.’

Hmm-!

While Cheonseoeoh was nodding in understanding, muttering inwardly, the sword attendant who had answered Cheon Seoa’s question approached again.

In the attendant’s hand was something that looked like a dessert.

“What is this?”

“It’s a dessert called Mille-feuille Glacé. It’s a uniquely Japanese dessert made by a master chef personally recruited by the Sword Demon….”

“I thought Mille-feuille Glacé was a French dessert?”

“You’re correct. However, the master who made this dessert traveled to France in his youth to learn it directly.”

“Ah, I see.”

Cheon Seoa nodded in understanding at the attendant’s explanation.

In other words, this wasn’t like that situation from a certain animation in the past.

Meanwhile, just as Cheon Seoa was about to take a bite of the Mille-feuille Glacé, having understood the situation.

Woong-.

“Huh?”

Cheon Seoa, who was about to take a bite of the Mille-feuille Glacé, suddenly tilted her head.

That just now….

‘A barrier?’

Cheon Seoa muttered.
The wave of intangible power she had just felt.
It was very similar to the sensation of passing through a specific barrier that she had felt so many times in the Cultivation World.

Cheon Seoa put down the fork she was holding and looked out the window.

The chartered plane Cheon Seoa was on was still flying over pure white clouds. But in Cheon Seoa’s eyes, which had heightened her spiritual perception, countless lines were visible etched in the clear blue sky where nothing should be.

“By any chance, Sword Demon, did that child put up a barrier centered on Japan?”

“A barrier… you say? As far as I know, there was no such thing.”

“Ah, right. That child probably doesn’t even know what a barrier is.”

Cheon Seoa nodded and muttered at the Sword Guardian’s answer.

Then, the one who spread this barrier…

‘Could it be a cultivator belonging to the Ascension Gate?’

Come to think of it, the Secret Flower Gate that had settled in Jeju Island was also hiding its existence through a barrier.
Although the barrier surrounding Japan was vastly different in nature from that of the Secret Flower Gate, to spread such a barrier encompassing the entire country of Japan, it couldn’t be explained unless it was a sect affiliated with the Ascension Gate.

Thinking about it.

“I should have found one more sect affiliated with the Ascension Gate.”

Since it was a situation where unfulfilled desires could suddenly rear their head at any time, Cheon Seoa had been trying to find an Ascension Gate-affiliated sect that could satisfy such desires in case of any contingency.

But to think she would catch a glimpse of that clue in this situation.

No, still…

“I was in the mood for a light trip today.”

What should I do?

As Cheon Seoa muttered those words, the corners of her mouth twisted slightly upward.

* * *

“Miss-!”

As soon as Cheon Seoa exited the arrival gate after disembarking from the private jet, Geomma, who had been waiting, waved her hand in greeting.

“It’s been a while! Miss!”

“It’s only been two days, though.”

“Those two days felt like two hundred years to me!”

In response to Cheon Seoa’s remark, Geomma replied with a bright smile.

However….

‘Somehow, it seems like her childish behavior has increased subtly.’

Cheon Seoa had felt it while traveling around Neverland too, but as time passed, she felt that Geomma’s attitude towards her was changing to be more like a child throwing tantrums.

Well.

“It’s not bad.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. More importantly, for this Japan trip, Geom…”

“I told you to call me Mio.”

As Cheon Seoa still called her Geomma or “you,” Mio complained with puffed cheeks.
Seeing Geomma… no, Mio’s cute behavior, Cheon Seoa unknowingly smiled.

“Alright. Then, can I leave this Japan trip entirely to Mio?”

“Of course! First, let’s go eat!”

“What’s on the menu?”

“If you’ve come to Japan, you must try sushi!”

Mio answered Cheon Seoa’s question like that, then grabbed Cheon Seoa’s hand saying, ‘Let’s go quickly!’ and moved forward.

Meanwhile….

‘Hmm-.’

As Cheon Seoa walked along, led by Mio, she briefly looked somewhere, then soon showed a strange smile.

Just as Cheon Seoa completely disappeared from the airport with Mio.

“What…”

At the place where Cheon Seoa’s gaze had fallen.
The space there rippled for a moment, and a man appeared, muttering in disbelief.

The man’s eyes were trembling with rising terror….

“What on earth is that monster…!”

The man muttered in a shaking voice.

Just moments ago, the man had made eye contact with Cheon Seoa, who had precisely pierced through his concealment.

Although the time their eyes met was so brief that even calling it a moment would be an exaggeration, the man felt as if that short time had lasted for an eternity.

Especially.

“How can such a vast and empty universe be contained in a person’s eyes…”

The moment he made eye contact with Cheon Seoa, the man realized he had fallen into the center of a universe that was so vast he couldn’t see its end, yet simultaneously as empty as the bottom of an abyss.

At the same time, there were thousands, tens of thousands of massive stars in that universe.
They weren’t simply stars situated in a vast universe.

Each one was an eye.

One by one, eyes the size of stars.
The moment thousands of such eyes gazed upon him, the man felt as if his mind was crumbling, and only then could he return to Earth.

No, perhaps if the gaze of those eyes had lasted even a fraction of a second longer, the man was certain that his mind would have truly collapsed.

No, first.
Now. Rather than that.
Quickly. No. Is this right?

Has something gone wrong with the mental aspect?
The man realized that his thoughts were not flowing normally.

Words were disconnected, jumbled, rising and sinking repeatedly.
While the man was bewildered by this strange phenomenon, as if a programming code had become tangled and bugged…

“Report. Go. Must. Monster. Danger. That!”

The man who muttered like that, with somewhat cloudy eyes, moved urgently towards somewhere.

* * *

“How is it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Right? I come here often too, and the sashimi is quite fresh and good.”

Mio said with a bright smile, and Cheon Seoa also stroked her head with a gentle smile.

Indeed, this sushi restaurant she had brought him to was quite good.

Cheon Seoa himself wasn’t the type to enjoy fine dining, except for ‘desserts’.

To put it bluntly, he could be considered the type who found everything delicious regardless of what he ate, yet this place felt somehow different enough to be noticeable.

However.

“Did you rent out the entire restaurant?”

“Yes. I can’t let other bugs interfere with my date with the young lady.”

To think he rented this place, where a single meal would cost hundreds of thousands of won, just to enjoy time alone with her.

Certainly, be it the Seven Sword Emperors, the Mara Monk, or the Sword Demon Mio before her eyes.

In their respective domains, both in the shadows and in the light, they had all established firm positions. Cheon Seoa couldn’t hide her sense of pride…

“Oh? You’re already up?”

Cheon Seoa, who had been munching on sushi handed to her by Mio with her small mouth, muttered as if surprised.

As Mio, sensing something instinctively ominous, was about to shout something urgently.

“Come out.”

Ziiik-.

Before Mio’s lips could part, Cheon Seoa moved.

As Cheon Seoa lightly gestured, space tore open, revealing a world of raging flames beyond.
Simultaneously, a man jumped out from those flames with a thud! and rolled on the floor.

“Huff-! Huff-! Wh-where is this?”

The man who had leapt out from the burning world muttered while catching his breath.

“Ah, really.”

Mio’s expression contorted as she looked at the man.

And for good reason, as the man who had jumped out from the space Cheon Seoa tore open was a self-proclaimed returnee.
He was the bastard who had attacked Cheon Seoa, aiming for her life, in Neverland a few days ago.

“Why aren’t you killing him?”

“Is that a promise then?”

“As a lady, you could easily break such a trivial promise, couldn’t you?”

“In the past, yes. But not now. A promise made with my name at stake is a promise with my existence at stake. For a Repairer who has reached my level, breaking such a promise would come with great risks.”

To the grumbling Mio, Cheon Seoa explained calmly with a gentle smile.

Meanwhile, the man who had fainted with a small sun, the Small Sun Orb, embedded in his heart, barely opened his eyes…

“Em-Empress? And… even the Sword Demon?”

Shocked to see Cheon Seoa and Mio together in front of him, he slowly backed away.
In the man’s eyes, undisguisable fear was flickering.

“Are you hungry? Do you like sushi?”

Cheon Seoa simply offered sushi, disregarding the fear in the man’s eyes.