Episode 18: Demon Sword, Cheonma

 

‘……………An unfamiliar ceiling.’

I thought this only happened in novels, but here I am experiencing it firsthand.

‘My body…well, just as expected.’

My entire body won’t move.

‘Must be the recoil.’

Well, considering I pushed myself way beyond 20 seconds, it’s a miracle I’m not dead.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, my body won’t obey me. When was the last time I felt like this…

‘Ah, it was after skiing non-stop for 12 hours at the ski resort.’

That time when my body refused to move, luckily my gym-obsessed friend who came with me didn’t make us take the train instead of driving back. That was a relief.

Thanks to this nostalgic memory resurfacing, I feel absolutely miserable.

“Why didn’t you come out when I contacted you!”

“Hah? After seeing the message, I rushed here in the fastest Void Step of my life from Gangneung-”

“Gratitude my ass! How many times did I save your ass when you and Kang Jinmyeong went crazy together during your student days-”

“T-that’s in the past. Didn’t we settle that with the Jeju Island Gate incident?”

“Bullshit, if you hadn’t brought a healer, I would’ve roasted you alive and hung you on the guild rooftop.”

“Ugh…ah, just now. The girl’s co…no, her Mana Core just activated.”

“……….!!”

-Whoosh!

In an instant, Eve’s gaze snapped toward me.

‘……So this is the Golden Guild’s guild master’s office.’

Normally, wouldn’t an unconscious person be moved to a hospital room or some treatment facility?

“Seah, are you okay?!”

“Ah, just a bit stiff in the fingers, nothing else.”

‘Is it because my mana hasn’t fully returned? My fingers feel really stiff.’

I regret pushing myself too hard to make the Celestial Magic look cool, but this level of injury should heal completely in about a day.

‘Well, if I’m lucky, maybe within an hour.’

Judging by how my whole body feels creaky from lying down too long, it’s probably the latter. I thought it’d loosen up in about 10 minutes, but…

For some reason, Eve’s expression grew increasingly grim.

“………Damn it, it’s my fault…”

‘…?’

Why are you suddenly blaming yourself?

‘If it weren’t for Eve, I would’ve been toyed with by Shena and died.’

“Um…Chairman? I’m fine, really…”

“I’m sorry. I was too late…your fingers…”

Wait, are you thinking about how Shena sliced my fingers?

‘You think my fingers are numb because of that?’

Oh no, this is bad.

‘Someone as important as Eve shouldn’t be this concerned about someone like me…’

“N-no, I didn’t mean my fingers are numb like that! My whole body is stiff, so my fingers are just part of it! If there was really a problem with my fingers, I would’ve noticed something when I was inside that…Gate!”

“……Young lady, lying like that isn’t good.”

“…….?”

‘No, I’m serious.’

My fingers are stiff because I’ve been lying in bed for too long, okay?

If I could, I’d show them perfect psychokinesis control right now to prove I’m fine.

-Zzzzz…!

‘Damn it.’

If the aftereffects last this long, what am I supposed to d…

“Cough!”

Instinctively covering my mouth, I coughed up not blood but something pitch black.

“….!”

Seeing this, Eve and Cheonma went into full panic mode trying to heal me, but…unfortunately, neither their elixirs nor the A-rank healer’s purification magic had any effect.

‘No, I’m just vomiting, that’s all…!’

It felt like my body was expelling waste. The truth was that my body was getting healthier, but sadly, I couldn’t explain this to Eve.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

Well, there was just a lot of waste buildup in my body…

‘No, really, it’s nothing serious…’

“Seah, stay with me!”

“Damn it, what’s the healer doing?!”

In an instant, high-grade potions and the A-rank healer’s spells poured into me.

‘No, my HP is already full…’

“No matter how much we heal, there’s no sign of the healing magic being absorbed! The healing magic itself says she’s already fully healed…”

“How can she be fine when she’s vomiting black stuff like this!”

‘No, really, it’s nothing!’

I need to clear up this misunderstanding quickly…

-Gulp

“Damn it…ughhh…..”

Who would’ve thought it’d take a full 15 minutes to sort out this mess and explain the truth.

…

…

…

Thanks to Cheonma, the Demon Sword, who figured out the situation midway, we placed all the black gunk into a basin under the bed. I then looked at the two with relaxed eyes.

‘I didn’t expect explaining would be this exhausting.’

When I told them it was fine that Shena had sliced my fingers and even wiggled them to prove it, Eve’s face was filled with guilt for failing to protect me. Cheonma looked at me with an indescribable expression, seeing how calmly I stood despite what happened.

Oh, and they already knew about the Mephisto fragment implanted in one of my eyes.

According to the Demon Sword, when he caught me as I collapsed after defeating Shena, one of my eyes had turned completely black like a demon’s.

Luckily, looking in the mirror now, my purple eyes are perfectly normal.

My next thought was, of course, about explaining.

I thought if I said it was an emergency and I had no choice, they might buy it. Surprisingly, neither of them questioned me further.

Instead, they seemed to blame themselves for putting me in that position…

‘They should be blaming the sudden Gate appearance and Shena’s ambush. Even if I say they saved me…it probably won’t comfort them much.’

If this causes them psychological trauma that affects future events, that’d be a real problem…

“If it weren’t for you two, I wouldn’t be here right now, so please don’t blame yourselves too much.”

After telling them I was fine and it wasn’t a big deal, their expressions seemed to relax-at least on the surface.

Next came the interrogation for investigating the incident.

Hero Association employees waiting outside the room slowly entered with detection devices. They told me to just honestly recount what I saw, and the questioning began.

Since I was a victim caught in the Gate, the interrogation was quite gentle. I knew enough about lie detectors to exploit their limitations-only detecting true/false answers-so I skillfully dodged and redirected the questions to wrap it up smoothly.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“No, after what happened…we’re sorry for making you go through this.”

‘Hmm…once I told them about what Shena did, the questions got simpler. Who would’ve thought?’

Just mentioning how Shena sliced my fingers, stabbed my stomach, choked me, and drank my blood before I fell into the Gate filled with demonic energy was enough for the Association to treat me as a victim.

“Good, they didn’t ask about what happened after.”

“Yeah, thank goodness.”

“Well, who’d believe you took down that humanoid monster when me and Eve were there?”

‘If they’d asked about after the Gate…that might’ve been tricky.’

If it came out that I defeated Shena, things would get complicated. At minimum, my name would spread worldwide, and worst case, I’d become the primary target of the Seven Archdemons and die before I could even interfere with the story.

“By the way, that magic you used to defeat an enemy even Eve had trouble with…can you explain what it was?”

‘…So he did see it.’

Wait, if you saw me casting Celestial Magic, wouldn’t it have been better to attack Shena instead?

“As for why I didn’t let you handle it, it was to get Eve out of that unknown attack’s range, of course.”

“…Right.”

‘I might’ve gone overboard.’

Maybe I shouldn’t have deployed Sagittarius and just used the Big Dipper to enhance my attacks.

“Do you have any mana potions?”

“Yeah, the one next to you is the highest-grade mana potion. I was going to give it to you when you woke up, but…”

‘A highest-grade mana potion, perfect.’

A suitable constellation came to mind-one that could exponentially boost the Demon Sword’s favorability.

-Glug, glug!

After quickly uncorking the potion, I looked at Eve.

“Chairman, could I borrow some of your mana?”

“………Sure, no problem.”

“Shining star, draw your form in the sky.”

As I chanted, a black sky unfolded around me.

Using the white lines radiating from me as a guide, I carefully plotted the constellation’s points one by one.

‘If my mana had only returned to A+ rank, I’d have to improvise. But with Eve’s support, I can manage.’

Having a real S+ rank mana user’s support instead of my temporary boost made things so much easier.

While Sagittarius was purple, this time, navy-blue stars began to flicker.

“Aquarius, the great celestial water-bearer who bestows life’s blessings upon the parched and cracked earth, let a fragment of immortality manifest here.”

Soon, the constellation took the form of a giant water jug, and I quickly grabbed a nearby tumbler to catch the liquid pouring from it.

Nectar.

A legendary drink with the properties of immortality.

In , it’s treated similarly to the legendary “Elixir,” capable of complete healing of all ailments, diseases, status effects, and curses.

Unfortunately, while the Elixir can be used for weapon enhancement, awakening abilities, and more, Nectar is limited to healing…but that’s fine.

After all, what Cheonma’s daughter needs isn’t awakening or weapon enhancement-just a cure for her curse.

‘Giving too much might lead to misuse.’

Since I know Cheonma and Eve are protagonists in the story, I’m showing them Celestial Magic. But if others realize the value of this Nectar, the world would go crazy, so I’ll only make enough for Cheonma’s daughter.

“I heard you have a daughter-like disciple. This should significantly improve her condition.”

Aquarius.

Its effect is creating Nectar, capable of perfectly curing all disabilities, illnesses, status effects, and curses.

‘Aquarius takes forever and consumes absurd amounts of mana…but with Eve’s support, it’s manageable.’

As the 10th largest constellation, it’s ridiculously time- and mana-consuming. Imagining deploying even larger constellations like Hydra, Virgo, Ursa Major, or Hercules…

‘Ugh. I’d probably die halfway.’

I can already picture myself collapsing from mana exhaustion.

‘I really need to go to Europe and properly learn Celestial Magic.’

“……….”

-Thud!

“Hey! Where are you-”

-Crash!

The moment I handed him the thermos, Cheonma shattered the window and flew off using Void Step.

This should max out his favorability, right?

“Damn it, this is the 63rd floor-!”

“…I suddenly feel sleepy from using too much mana.”

“Wait! We still haven’t talked about that magi-”

“…zzZ”

With Eve fussing over the broken window as my lullaby, I drifted off into a pleasant sleep.

Future me can handle the rest when I wake up.