Chapter 71 – Day 71

Day 71

“Huff-, persistent, aren’t you.”

The man who stopped the moment he arrived at the hill said, turning to look at Cheon Seoa.

Cheon Seoa looked at the man with an interested gaze.

That ‘child’ really.

“Returnee?”

Could it be a returnee appearing in a novel?

No, if you think about it that way.

“Am I a returnee too?”

“What are you mumbling about?”

The man frowned at Cheon Seoa, who was muttering to herself.

However, while the man appeared unfazed on the outside.
Inside, he was completely flustered.

And for good reason.

[What is ‘that’?]
[Why is ‘something like that’ in your homeland?]

The confused voice of the contracted beast Kargel echoed in his head.
The man had never seen Kargel this flustered before.

It was understandable, as Kargel had been the ruler and king of a world before being reduced to a contracted beast after being defeated by him.

He had barely managed to defeat Kargel and form a contract with him.

‘So, do you know what that is?’

[I don’t know. That shouldn’t even exist in the first place. Therefore.]

Run away, Kang Hangtae.

In a stiff voice, Kargel tells him to run away.

Kargel, who had never retreated from any battle before.
That even against the strongest enemy, Kargel, who never lost his fighting spirit, is telling him to run away?

It was the moment when Kang Han-tae had such a doubt.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Flinch-!

When did she move?

Kang Han-tae shuddered at Cheon Seo-ah, who suddenly appeared in front of him, speaking with an innocent and naive smile.

At the same time.

“Ha-!”

Kang Han-tae releases his power with a shout.

The world he fell into was called the land of struggle.

The only truth there was the survival of the fittest.

A world where the weak are eaten, and the strong take everything.

There, Kang Han-tae fell with his bare body and returned as a king after struggling for hundreds of years.

The moment Kang Han-tae’s power was released, an enormous fighting spirit burst out, and his appearance had already changed.

The modern clothes he was wearing had already transformed into pure white armor that a knight from a fantasy world might wear.
On his back, a huge greatsword made from some creature’s bones took its place.

Without hesitation, Kang Han-tae drew this greatsword and swung it down towards Cheon Seo-ah.

Kwang-!

As the greatsword slicing through the air collided with the ground, a thunderous sound and intense shockwave spread in all directions.

However.

“Quite an active child, aren’t you?”

Cheon Seoa, who dodged Kang Hantae’s attack by a hair’s breadth, smiled brightly.

Kang Hantae’s expression hardened at Cheon Seoa, who had avoided his attack far too easily.

How on earth.

“Was this not Earth after all?”

In the Earth he knew, such monsters did not exist.

There were numerous superhumans.
And those superhumans were divided into heroes and villains, fighting each other.

Nevertheless, in Kang Hantae’s memory, there was no superhuman who could dodge his strike.

In other words, the very existence of such a monster meant that this place was not the Earth he knew.

Just as Kang Hantae became ‘certain’ of this thought he held inside, Cheon Seoa shook her head and said.

“No, this is the Earth you know. It’s just…”

‘I myself am an irregular existence.’

Shudder-!

At Cheon Seoa’s words, Kang Hantae’s body trembled once again.

Had she read his thoughts?
Of course, such abilities did exist.

Even among the superhumans on Earth, there were those who could read others’ thoughts.
And in the Land of Struggle, he had seen countless beings who could read their opponents’ thoughts and use them against them.

However.

“You read my thoughts?”

The reason Kang Han-tae was surprised was not simply because of the ability to read others’ thoughts.

It was because Cheon Seo-ah had read ‘his’ thoughts.

The fact that the other person had read his thoughts meant that they had broken through his mental barrier.

While it might have been possible in the past, Kang Han-tae had prided himself on having a mental barrier that even a god couldn’t penetrate now.

Kang Han-tae’s expression distorted at the fact that his mental barrier had been breached.

[Get a hold of yourself-!]

At that moment, Kargel’s shout echoed in his head.

[It’s a bluff! That monster didn’t read your thoughts!]

‘What do you mean?’

[Exactly what I said. If that monster had broken through your mental barrier, I would have noticed. In other words, it’s just a bluff.]

“Kuk-.”

At Kargel’s words, Kang Han-tae let out a low groan.

Certainly, if Kargel, who was mentally connected to him, said this.
The opponent truly hadn’t broken through his mental barrier and read his thoughts.

Then, how on earth?
Had they simply read his expression and predicted what he was thinking?

While harboring such thoughts and glaring at Cheon Seo-ah, she smiled and said.

“Don’t touch him. That ‘child’ is mine.”

Flinch-!

Cheon Seoa’s voice rang out clearly.
At that moment, Kang Hantae flinched, belatedly sensing the presence surrounding him.

“But, Miss!”

In an instant, nine villains appeared behind Cheon Seoa, glaring at Kang Hantae.

They too had detected Kang Hantae’s arrival on Earth, having crossed dimensions.
Furthermore, they had just realized that Cheon Seoa was pursuing Kang Hantae and had moved belatedly.

To the nine villains, Kang Hantae seemed dangerous.

His outward strength appeared to be on par with their own.
The nine villains couldn’t simply stand by and watch such an opponent clash with their Miss.

However.

“Don’t worry.”

As Cheon Seoa smiled gently and spoke, the nine villains reluctantly backed away.

As the nine villains retreated and created distance, Cheon Seoa turned to Kang Hantae and said,

“Those children won’t interfere. So, don’t worry and show me all the power you possess. I’ve become curious to see what the power of ‘another world’ is like.”

“Tch-!”

At Cheon Seoa’s words, Kang Hantae clicked his tongue lowly and moved, kicking off the ground.

He didn’t believe the words of that monster wearing the shell of an innocent, naive girl.
Therefore.

‘Kargel.’

[I know.]

Kang Han-tae’s call was answered by Kargel.

With all their might, they would defeat the monster before them.
And escape this place.

Kang Han-tae and Kargel began to exert their power with such determination.

“Haap-!”

Kwagagang-!

As Kang Han-tae swung the massive greatsword held in both hands, an absurdly large number of slashes poured out and extended towards Cheon Seoa.

In sync with this, the surrounding shadows writhed and eventually rose up as hundreds of spears with ‘mass’, equally aiming for Cheon Seoa’s life.

However.

“Hmm, this can’t be all you’ve got, right?”

Jjeojjeong-!

Cheon Seoa said, tilting her head.
The barrier of magical energy that spread around Cheon Seoa blocked the attacks from Kang Han-tae and Kargel far too easily.

They might have been surprised at how easily their attacks were blocked, but Kang Han-tae and Kargel moved as if they had expected this, seemingly unfazed.

“Hup-!”

[Strong Strike.]

Kang Han-tae appeared in front of Cheon Seoa, who was surrounded by the magical barrier, and brought down his greatsword while letting out a battle cry.

The greatsword, imbued with immense fighting spirit, contained enough power to seemingly shatter the sky.

[Shadow Binding!]

Chwaralak!

Accordingly, Kargel’s magic manifests.

Chains sprung out from the surrounding shadows, wrapping around Cheon Seoa’s body.

These chains clearly showed the intention of preventing Cheon Seoa from avoiding Kang Hantae’s strike.

Meanwhile, as the greatsword aimed at her fell, Cheon Seoa.

“Something…, I guess the expectations were too high.”

Kuung-!

As Cheon Seoa muttered with a hint of disappointment and moved lightly, the shadow chains restraining her entire body shattered.
Simultaneously, Cheon Seoa raised her hand and caught the falling greatsword.

Although her body was driven into the ground by the immense power imbued in the greatsword, creating a crater hundreds of meters wide around her.

Cheon Seoa’s body, which had received Kang Hantae’s strike, bore not a single wound.

“What-!”

Kang Hantae showed a surprised expression at Cheon Seoa, who had so easily received his attack.

Strong Strike is one of the few techniques Kang Hantae possesses.
And, each of Kang Hantae’s techniques is designed to be a one-hit kill, used only when he intends to kill an opponent with ‘all his might’.

Yet, not only did she receive his ‘technique’ so easily, but she also didn’t suffer a single wound.

Just how.

‘Why is such a monster here!’

[Don’t panic!]

As Kang Hantae shouted inwardly, Kargel’s voice echoed in his head.

[It’s not the first time your technique has been blocked, is it!]
[Even I have received your techniques several times already!]
[So, don’t be flustered!]
[Also! Even if it looks like nothing on the outside, we can’t ignore the possibility that it’s just another bluff!]

‘That’s right.’

At Kargel’s shout, Kang Han-tae’s eyes sank with gravity.

It was just one technique that was blocked.

The real fight hasn’t even begun yet.

With that thought in mind, Kang Han-tae stepped back and began to gather his fighting spirit.

Seeing this, Cheon Seo-ah.

“Ah, so it’s starting now?”

She muttered, looking at Kang Han-tae with somewhat expectant eyes.