Chapter 54 – Day 54

Day 54

“…miss.”

“Hmm…?”

Cheon Seoa, who was sleeping on a fully reclined chair, opened her eyes at the sound of her assistant’s voice calling her.

Was it already time for in-flight meals?
However, no matter how good first-class in-flight meals are, there are clear limitations to airplane food.
That’s why she had said she wouldn’t eat the in-flight meal on this flight.

“Is there something wrong?”

Cheon Seoa asked while rubbing her eyes, clearly showing that she was still sleepy.
The assistant glanced back and said.

“We have a small problem.”

“A problem?”

Cheon Seoa, still not fully awake, tilted her head at the assistant’s words.

A problem?
There shouldn’t be any issues.

Ah! Could there be a problem with the plane itself?

Just as Cheon Seoa was about to open her mouth with these thoughts,

“Shut your mouth and stay quiet!”

An angry shout echoed from not too far away.
At the same time, from the direction of the economy class seats, a child’s cry and frightened groans could be heard.

Oh…?
Could this be…?

“Is this a hijacking?”

“That’s correct.”

The agent nodded and answered Cheon Seoa’s question.

Hijacking.
Simply put, it could be called an airplane hijacking.

Only then did Cheon Seoa understand why the agent had woken her up.

However.

“Couldn’t you handle a hijacking on your own?”

From what she could sense, the criminals attempting this hijacking were at best between 2-star and 3-star, according to the newly established ranking system of the Villain Association.
Only the aura of the one who seemed to be the leader barely reached the 5-star level.

This should be something the agent could handle sufficiently.

As Cheon Seoa looked at the agent with such thoughts, the agent nodded as if to confirm her assessment.

However.

“Before taking action, I wanted to hear your thoughts first, Miss.”

Hmm.

Cheon Seoa looked at the agent with a peculiar smile.

The agent was good in all aspects, but this was the problem.
How should she put it?
Should she say he’s too diligent? Or that his dependence on her is too high?

He should be able to think and resolve such minor issues on his own, but instead, he tries to act only after hearing her opinion, like now.

Well, still.

“That must be this child’s cute point.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

When the agent, who hadn’t heard Cheon Seoa’s whispered mumbling, asked again, Cheon Seoa just shook her head.

Speaking of hijacking.

The number of villains who hijacked the plane was exactly 6.
All of them, disguised as passengers, showed no visible weapons.

Well, come to think of it, it made sense.

Although their ranks were low, each of them was a proper ability user.
Rather than trying to smuggle in weapons with a high risk of detection, it would be easier and more convenient to use their own abilities for the hijacking.

Of course, the airline operating the plane Cheon Seoa was on was a somewhat well-known company.
Therefore, they usually deployed ability users hired as mercenaries on each plane to prepare for such hijackings.

However.

“All subdued… no, dead.”

Cheon Seoa said, glancing around the interior of the plane.

They seemed to know that the mercenaries were the biggest threat to them.

Three men and women who appeared to be mercenaries were dead and stuffed in a corner of the plane.

One had been completely burned from the inside, while two others were tattered with all sorts of wounds all over their bodies.

Those tattered corpses seemed to be the work of 2-3 star villains.
The remaining one. With no external injuries, but if you looked inside, all the organs and flesh were roasted to a golden brown – that was probably the work of the 5-star villain.

“What should we do, Miss?”

“Hmm. I wanted to enter quietly if possible. Should we just tear through space and cross over to the United States like this?”

“That’s fine too.”

The Agent answered Cheon Seoa’s question.

It didn’t matter that information about Cheon Seoa had already been recorded while buying tickets and boarding the plane.

That much could be easily manipulated or even completely erased.

Just then, as the Agent was looking at Cheon Seoa with eyes that seemed to ask ‘Shall we tear through space then?’

“Huh? Who the hell are these guys?”

A villain who happened to enter the first-class seating area muttered in confusion upon discovering the Agent and Cheon Seoa.

Surely, when they first attempted the hijacking, they had pushed all the passengers and crew to the back of the plane.

Where did these two come from?

As the villain was pondering this,

“Agent.”

“Just say the word, Miss.”

“It might not be a bad idea to just kill them all.”

“Is that so.”

It might not be a bad idea to kill them all.
That was essentially the same as ordering him to kill all those villains.

Or at least, that’s how the Agent interpreted it.

With that, the Agent slowly rose from his seat.
The villain, who accidentally entered the space with first-class seats, shouted angrily at the agent who was slowly standing up, feeling some kind of uneasiness.

First, the agent and Cheon Seoa.
Just moments ago, he intended to alert his colleagues about the existence of those two whom he hadn’t noticed before.

However.

“Shh-.”

Mmph!
Mmph mmph!

Just before the villain could shout something, the agent put his index finger on his lips, gesturing to be quiet.

With that, the villain’s mouth disappeared instantly.
It wasn’t as if someone had artificially torn it off or burned it into one piece.
Literally, the villain’s mouth had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed in the first place.

While the villain was looking at the agent with frightened eyes, surprised that his mouth had disappeared.

“Then I’ll go back to sleep. Please wake me up when we arrive in America.”

“Understood, miss.”

The agent, who answered Cheon Seoa like that, turned to the villain with a chilling smile.

* * *

A plane that departed from Japan landed on the runway of Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport.

Cheon Seoa and the agent.
The plane they were on slowed down and eventually stopped as if nothing had happened.
The expressions of the passengers disembarking from the plane were also as if nothing had really happened.

They just had expressions full of thoughts about enjoying Las Vegas, where they had just arrived.

Cheon Seoa looked around at them and said.

“Quite skillful.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

In response to Cheon Seoa’s words, the agent replied with a humble expression.

Passengers and crew members acted as if nothing had happened.
It wasn’t strange that they had such expressions.

As soon as Cheon Seoa gave permission, the agent killed all the villains and swallowed their bodies directly.
Furthermore, they erased all traces of the ‘hijacking’ incident.

They did this by manipulating the memories of hundreds of people.

By the way.

“Las Vegas. I certainly wanted to visit here at least once.”

Las Vegas.
A miracle city built on the desert.

Las Vegas, filled with all kinds of casinos and hotels, is commonly called Sin City.
It’s not called that because it’s full of all kinds of crimes, making it impossible for people to live there. It’s just called that due to the city’s characteristic of ‘living off gambling’.

So.
Now.
We.

“Where should we go?”

“I’d be grateful if you could just trust me and follow along.”

Cheon Seoa’s question was met with a confident smile from the representative as he walked ahead.

* * *

“Following Korea, Japan has also disappeared.”
“Who on earth could do such a thing?”

A vast cavern where darkness had settled.
Among dozens of stone tablets emitting different lights, only two failed to shine.

This was because the owners of the tablets gathered here were all the heads of the branch families that formed the Ascension Gate.

The only two tablets that didn’t emit light belonged to the ‘Korean’ and ‘Japanese’ branch families.

They were discussing who could have possibly annihilated the Korean and Japanese branch families.

Could it have been the nine villains in action?
That wasn’t the case.

The investigation team sent by the Ascension Gate had thoroughly examined the locations where the Bihwa Gate and Yin-Yang Gate were situated, but they couldn’t find any traces of the unique magical energy from magic engineering.

The nine villains were mages who had mastered magic engineering.
When they use their power, traces of that magical energy are inevitably left behind.

However, they couldn’t find any traces.

Yes, not a single trace.

Not only was there no magical energy, but there wasn’t even any evidence that a branch family had once existed there.
Moreover, the situation where not even memories lingered in the earth or space was clearly abnormal.

For such a feat to be possible…

“One would need to reach the realm of Incarnation.”

“Of course, if one were in the realm of Incarnation, such a thing would be possible, but it couldn’t be erased this thoroughly. To erase everything this meticulously, it must be…”

….

Everyone fell silent.
A truth that everyone knew but wanted to deny.

Someone had forcibly dragged out that uncomfortable truth.

“A monster who has reached the realm of human selection… Is it hostile to our Ascension Gate?”

“Calling it hostility is an exaggeration. Maybe it was just a conflict with the two sects, Bihwa Gate and Yin-Yang Gate.”

“But!”

Thud-!

As voices began to rise, a heavy impact spread from the stone tablet at the center.

When that shock swept through the surroundings, the cultivators who were simply communicating through the stone tablets experienced a substantial spiritual shock.

[Enough-.]

A voice, cracked like a dry field, flowed out.

At that, the rest of the stone tablets fell silent.

[The ascension is just around the corner. I inform all sects that we have invested nearly a thousand years to prepare for this event.]
[From now on, no sect should engage in any external activities.]

….

The stone tablet at the center.
No one expressed any dissatisfaction with the command-like words from the stone tablet that uniquely emitted a light appropriately mixed with black and white.

This was because the owner of that black and white stone tablet was the true master of the Ascension Gate to which they belonged.
And a monstrous cultivator who had reached a realm that could reduce them to less than insects.

[I believe everyone has understood well, so I shall withdraw now.]

With those words, the stone tablet lost its light.

“When the owner of the black and white stone cut the connection, the owners of the remaining stones also began to cut their connections one by one.

Only a few.

‘End it like this?’

That was the only thought they had.