Chapter 27: Celestial Maiden

A familiar aura…?

Just as the question crossed my mind, an urgent shout that was nearly a scream burst from the command center through my earpiece.

—Hey! Who is that?!

—Counselor! Next to you is Ja Hwa-yeon, an Outsider from the Demonic Cult…!

“Ah, yes. It’s fine. We know each other.”

I responded calmly to the frantic voices.

My single sentence was met with the flustered voice of the staff member in charge.

—…What? You know each other? Please… please wait just a moment….

But Ja Hwa-yeon seemed to have no intention of waiting for their fumbling response.

“They’re so frustratingly slow.”

Ja Hwa-yeon glanced back and murmured softly.

Then, she closed her eyes for a brief moment.

Faintly, a crimson-black energy rose around her like a heat haze before vanishing.

She opened her eyes again.

“There. That should do it.”

Do what?

As I pondered the meaning of her words, a different staff member’s voice came through my earpiece.

—Ah… Understood, Counselor. In principle, outsiders are forbidden from entering once the field is deployed, but….

The staff member’s voice was trembling.

—Just now, Lady Ja Hwa-yeon directly conveyed her will to the entire command center via voice transmission, stating, ‘I am here to personally assist my physician.’ Therefore… we will leave it to your on-site judgment and temporarily permit Lady Ja Hwa-yeon to accompany you….

“Ah… I see.”

—Yes… Please, we’re counting on you.

The staff must have been baffled.

I couldn’t blame them.

I was pretty baffled myself.

I could only sympathize.

And so, our party of three began walking deeper into the central area without any further issues.

But then…

—Zzzzzzzzzzzzt… crack!

With a bizarre noise, the shimmering blue center of the Transfer began to twist violently.

From its core, a dark blue distortion, looking as if it would devour space itself, rushed toward us like a wave.

Grasp.

Seeing this, Elice reacted instinctively, pulling me into a tight embrace.

“Hmph.”

But Ja Hwa-yeon, standing beside me, merely scoffed and flicked her hand.

A black energy field bloomed from her fingertips, enveloping us and erasing the encroaching spatial distortion as if it were nothing.

And then, the scenery began to change.

The green grass of Seoul Forest turned to barren rock, and the surrounding forest of buildings transformed into a mountain range of bizarre shapes.

“Sir! Are you okay?!”

“Ah… yes. But what’s happening….”

I managed to answer, my back bent like a bow in Elice’s arms.

To be honest, it felt less like being protected and more like being caught in a powerful wrestling hold.

Still not letting me go, Elice spoke with a grim expression. Her once-perky ears were now drooping.

“I think… it’s a Transfer Erosion….”

Transfer Erosion.

A phenomenon where not only an Outsider but also a temporary portion of their world’s environment is transferred to the site.

Though it’s a temporary phenomenon that fades away, unlike the Outsider… I knew it only occurred when the Outsider’s power was above a certain level.

In other words, it was now highly likely that this Outsider was closer to S-class than A-class.

It was then that Ja Hwa-yeon’s cold voice cut in from beside us.

“Tsk.”

She scanned Elice, who was still hugging me tightly, up and down with a look of disapproval.

“Men and women should maintain a proper distance. Is it not time you separated?”

At her words, Elice hastily released her hold.

“Thank you….”

My body finally free, I offered my thanks to Ja Hwa-yeon. After all, her black energy field had protected us from that wave of distortion.

“It was nothing.”

Despite her words, the corners of Ja Hwa-yeon’s lips twitched in satisfaction at my gratitude.

—Zzzzt….

A sharp static burst from my earpiece.

It seemed that entering the Transfer Erosion zone had completely severed all communication with the command center.

I looked around.

All around me were bizarre rock formations I had never seen before and grasses that gave off a bitter scent. Judging by the open landscape, we were in a high-altitude region of a very tall, rocky mountain range.

This was no Seoul.

It seemed to be somewhere in the lands of Jungwon….

Lost in this alien space with no sense of direction, I felt disoriented for a moment.

“Which way….”

But I was the only one who was lost.

Sniff, sniff.

Elice closed her eyes. Her perky, gray ears trembled for a moment, and then she opened her eyes again.

Without hesitation, Elice’s finger pointed in one direction.

At the same time, Ja Hwa-yeon also slowly pointed her finger in a direction.

Their fingers pointed in the exact same direction.

“It’s here,” Elice said.

“This way,” Ja Hwa-yeon declared.

Ja Hwa-yeon glanced at Elice out of the corner of her eye before continuing, “This is a place I know. It seems my prediction was correct.”

Her voice was filled with the satisfaction of being right.

That simplified things. It was a stroke of luck that Ja Hwa-yeon had come.

“Oh, really? Where is this?” Elice asked with curiosity.

I didn’t know what the Empire was like… but this landscape was probably unfamiliar to her as well.

Ja Hwa-yeon gazed at the distant, fog-shrouded mountain peak and answered in a cold voice.

“A stretch of the Kunlun Mountains.”

She continued with a scornful smile.

“A disgusting place where hypocrites prattle on about the Dao and falsely claim the heavens as their own.”

Then, without asking for our opinion, she commanded, “Follow me. I shall guide you myself.”

Honestly, I was very grateful.

I followed her without a word.

Our formation naturally fell into place with Ja Hwa-yeon in the lead, and Elice and I following behind.

As we walked, Elice whispered very quietly into my ear.

‘By the way… who in the world is she?’

I replied in an equally quiet voice.

‘She was one of my clients.’

‘I see. But… she’s got quite the personality.’

I almost blurted out my agreement, but then I noticed Ja Hwa-yeon’s ears twitch ever so slightly.

She can hear everything.

I shot Elice an urgent look. Then, in a slightly louder whisper than before, I added, ‘Still… she’s an incredible person.’

Elice glanced ahead and seemed to grasp the situation.

She chuckled and played along.

‘You’re right~ She’s so cool~’

At that, Ja Hwa-yeon’s shoulders rose imperceptibly.

Well, there was no need to antagonize the person who had volunteered to be our guide. As long as everyone was happy, that’s all that mattered, right?

We walked for several more dozen minutes.

“Hah….”

I desperately suppressed the ragged breaths that threatened to burst out. The air was already thin at this high altitude, and as the slope steepened, my lungs felt like they were on fire, leaving me constantly short of breath.

“Sir, I could give you a piggyback ride, you know?” Elice teased, patting her back and bottom with a grin.

Her steps were as light and cheerful as if she were strolling on flat ground.

I guess they don’t call you a mountain rabbit for nothing, I thought.

“I’m… fine.”

Her back did look incredibly soft, but my last shred of dignity as a counselor prevented me from accepting her offer.

Just as the question of when we would finally arrive reached the tip of my tongue, Ja Hwa-yeon, walking at the front, muttered, “This is the place.”

But before my eyes was nothing but a giant cliff face.

Elice seemed to have noticed something too, her eyes narrowing.

“There’s something there.”

“It’s not ‘something.’ It is a formation,” Ja Hwa-yeon corrected Elice.

And as she gestured toward the empty air…

—Wooooong….

The space before us began to distort like a heat haze. The image of the rock cliff slowly blurred and faded like spreading watercolor paint.

And beyond it, the entrance to a massive cave, which hadn’t existed before, revealed itself.

“That really doesn’t look inviting.”

Stalactites decorated the cave entrance, making it look like the gaping maw of a monster. It was enormous, and its end was nowhere in sight.

But the atmosphere suggested we were going in anyway, so I prepared myself mentally.

Sure enough.

Ja Hwa-yeon strode into its mouth without hesitation.

Right, I have to go.

What choice do I have?

I was already feeling exhausted on my very first mission.

However, the inside of the cave was surprisingly pleasant. I’d heard that a cave’s interior is usually proportional to the size of its entrance, and that seemed to hold true.

Water dripped here and there, but it wasn’t damp or humid. If anything, the water pooled on the floor, creating a mystical atmosphere.

And so we walked on, into the darkness, deeper and deeper.

How long had we been walking?

At the end of the long, dark tunnel, a blue light finally began to appear.

And at its end, a vast space opened up.

It was hard to call it a cave.

Countless ores were embedded in the ceiling, emitting a brilliant light like stars in the night sky. The moss that covered the walls absorbed that light, re-emitting it to illuminate the massive chamber.

And there, in the middle of a shallow lake, a woman was standing.

Like a hermit sage.

No… like a celestial maiden.

A woman in a pure white martial arts uniform stood in the center of the lake, her eyes closed. Her jet-black hair was half-faded to a snow-like white, cascading down her back like a waterfall.

As I stood there, momentarily captivated by the surreal sight, Ja Hwa-yeon, standing beside me, muttered quietly.

“…So it was you.”

At that moment, the celestial maiden standing far away slowly opened her eyes.

Her ice-cold, blue eyes met mine.

As I received her gaze, I instinctively activated my ability, just as a counselor would, and in that very instant—

[???]

[Main Stance]

[Demonic beings have trespassed into her sealed training grotto.]

[Optimal Response] [Satisfaction Rate 100%]

[DODGE!!!!!!!!!!! QUICKLY!!!!!!!!!!!]

My System frantically flashed a warning that was practically a scream.

Dodge wha—

—CLANG!!!!!

Before I could even finish the thought, I blinked. My vision was filled with the sharp heel of Elice’s boot and a blast of crimson-black energy from Ja Hwa-yeon’s hand, both intercepting a sword.

The important part was that they had blocked a sword.

Two hunters had moved simultaneously to protect me.

“The only thing that’s changed is your hair color. How is it that your venomous nature hasn’t changed one bit?”

Ja Hwa-yeon sneered and lightly batted the celestial maiden’s sword away.

I stared blankly at the scene before shaking myself out of it and reaching into my pocket. My finger moved toward the button of the emergency beacon issued by the Association.

I had to at least press the ‘caution’ alert button….

I found it.

Click, click, click.

But then I realized.

Ah.

The connection was severed.

I had just been mashing a useless piece of plastic.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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