episode_0082

The strongest melee combatant in South Korea is the Sword Saint. Kim Yijun’s master.

Furthermore, if one were to delve into detailed classifications, the undisputed pinnacle of martial arts was the Fist Emperor, Baek Muyeom. And an existence capable of rivaling even them was Jinyong’s father.

Anyway, the Awakened ones mainly mentioned were those three: the Sword Saint, the Fist Emperor, and the Dragon King.

Because all of them were Awakened beings categorized as special S-rank, just like the Archmages.

However.

Those who knew would know. There was one person whom even those strongest melee combatants considered a super-human on par with themselves.

Once, when a terrorist group consisting of Awakened ones who survived from the North infiltrated.

The one who dealt with the leader of that group, also presumed to be S-rank, was a scout-type Awakened.

The person who severed his neck with a single strike and instantly disintegrated the remaining forces…

None other than my biological mother. Hidden Sword, Yeon Seobaek. She was also South Korea’s least known S-rank Awakened.

That very person stood before my eyes now. I hadn’t given it much thought, assuming she wouldn’t be at the academy yet.

The other person, along with Teacher-nim Seol Hayeon, who had completed me as an excellent Awakened.

Sensing the ominous feeling built from experience, I swallowed dryly. Gulp!

My mother’s sharp eyes glared fixedly at me. At the same time, she scanned Kanzaki, who was trembling behind me.

Soon, she opened her mouth, wearing a chilling, inscrutable expression.

“The line that must be upheld in relations between men and women… I didn’t explicitly teach you about it. But I thought you knew everything.”

“…”

“Isn’t that true? You’re my very smart son, and you’ve been brilliant since you were young, to the point where I felt no need to specifically teach you about morals and ethics.”

At first glance, her words sounded like praise.

But given the situation, I wasn’t particularly happy.

Perhaps it felt that way even more because I knew the words that followed wouldn’t be to my advantage.

My mother continued, spinning a dark red dagger dazzlingly in her hand.

“But it seems I was mistaken. If I had known you were living such a school life, I would have intervened much sooner. It was my oversight.”

I tensed my body, feeling like a herbivore before a carnivore—no, like an ant crawling on the ground. A chill ran down my neck.

“Hmm.”

And my mother took a short breath. I also knew that habit appeared when she was contemplating some kind of discipline.

Was it merely an illusion that the dagger felt as if it would stab me any moment? Or…

“Hyunjin.”

“…Yes.”

Though deeply anxious, I couldn’t continue my thoughts any longer. Before that, my mother called me, and I had no choice but to nod.

I tensed my entire body, ready to react immediately to whatever she might say.

Regrettably, however, her next words far exceeded my expectations.

“A few days ago, Sehui contacted me.”

“…Yes?”

The same reply as just before, but this time it was a question. I genuinely couldn’t hide my bewilderment and dazedly lifted my head.

My mother continued, her voice flat.

“She said it seemed her daughter and my son had good feelings for each other and were dating, so if it was okay, what did I think about having the two children get engaged? She conveyed that to me, explaining the circumstances regarding unique magic as well.”

“…”

“I was surprised, but I thought there was nothing bad about it. If it’s a child you like, I wouldn’t object either, and if it’s the daughter of my old friend, then it’s certainly ideal, wouldn’t you say? Yes.”

She nodded. A faint smile appeared on her lips, and her eyes, as they looked at me, were utterly benevolent. Yes, truly.

…So much so that the fiendish transformation that would appear the next moment became incredibly frightening.

Then, she paused.

My mother stopped the wrist that had been spinning the dagger.

And she sheathed the blade.

Her narrowed eyes gleamed with a faint red light, piercing me.

“Lee Hyunjin.”

The voice that called me was as flat as before, but this time, it held a much colder chill. Even though my mother wasn’t born with an ice affinity like me.

I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head, keeping it lowered. Behind me, Kanzaki, flustered, carefully tugged at my sleeve.

I wanted to reassure her… but it seemed I should first worry about whether I could survive this situation.

I let out a hollow laugh and steeled myself. Ah, that is, I steeled myself for a beating.

My mother smiled faintly and raised her fist.

A terrifying amount of magic surged.

“I never taught you to live such a debauched and disorderly life. Putting everything else aside, it’s an excessive disrespect to the child who is your fiancée.”

‘But *she* was the one who gave permission first.’

…To answer with my honest feelings like that, well, I’m someone who knows my life is precious.

Even if I said that, I doubted she would believe me. It was too absurd for a start.

I simply let out a wry laugh and lifted my head. There was no turning back now.

Anyway, it was pretty much an established fact that I was an unprecedented scoundrel.

But I wasn’t cold-hearted enough to comfortably sever ties with the women I had once embraced.

I had expected that I would have to gain the approval of the people around me one way or another.

And while I was trying to come up with some wisdom, or rather, racking my brain as part of that effort, things blew up.

It was just that I hadn’t expected to be caught so suddenly by my mother.

‘…Well, what can I do?’

If so, then it was do or die.

There was no other answer but a head-on confrontation.

I slowly raised my mana and looked at my mother. She seemed to read my aura, making a bewildered expression as if dumbfounded…

“…Are you in your right mind, son? Surely you’re not saying you’re going to fight your mother, are you?”

“Because I don’t think there’s any other way to get permission besides this.”

While wearing an apologetic expression, I did not withdraw the cold air I had raised.

My mother’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Permission…?”

“Yes, well…”

Boom!!

As I spoke, I lightly stomped on the ground, and at that moment, an ancient tree of ice manifested, soaring high into the sky.

Rumble rumble rumble…!

“Permission for polygamy.”

At that point, my mother’s expression changed. The hint of a dumbfounded smile vanished completely, replaced by seriousness.

She held a dagger in each hand, and I froze both of my arms.

“Gasp…!?”

And Kanzaki, pale with fright, grabbed my sleeve and pulled me back. She looked up at me with a gaze that said she was seeing a lunatic.

“A-a-are you in your right mind?! I-isn’t that person your mother? You’re going to fight someone like that with force now…!?”

“Uh, don’t worry. She’s much stronger than me. Harming her or anything like that, if anything, you should worry about me instead.”

“…No, that’s not what I mean!”

Crash!! Kanzaki’s words couldn’t even finish. Before that, my mother, looking furious, threw a dagger at me.

Of course, I pulled Kanzaki and dodged… but the wall behind us couldn’t.

The concrete outer wall was almost pierced through, leaving a deep scar.

Kanzaki’s jaw dropped in utter astonishment.

“W-what in the world.”

“Do you happen to have any intention of helping? If you don’t want to get beaten together, you should.”

“I don’t think I’d be any help at all…!?”

It was a pity. I clicked my tongue and decided to borrow the power of the Ice Tree.

I extended my hand towards the already manifested branches and gave a command.

Crack, crackle crackle…

Space-control type magic. All the empty space within a certain radius around the Ice Tree began to freeze, and my mother was no exception.

Frost of a pale blue-white settled on the edges of her trademark dark robe.

She’d try to shake it off, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Because today’s me was different from the me of before in many ways.

Whoosh-

Just then, an silver-gray storm of frost enveloped my body. The ice affinity, transformed into wind, swirled around me as if protecting me.

That is, the Frozen Core. Seol Hayeon’s trait.

That power, inherited through my relationship with her, had now become the first cornerstone that would allow me to advance to Archmage-level.

It would be difficult, but if I tried, it wasn’t impossible. I had wanted to face an S-rank at least once.

‘…Looking at my mother’s expression, it seems I’ll have to take care of the consequences and bear them for a long, long time…’

Still, what could I do? When faced with a problem so tricky there seemed to be no answer, sometimes foolishly confronting it with force was one strategy.

I began adjusting my distance and unleashed my magic. My mother also started striding fiercely towards me.

“I trust you won’t regret this, son.”

She muttered a single, utterly chilling sentence.

I, having no choice, nodded.

“How could I?”

“…”

No more dialogue was exchanged.

Now, it was time for a mother-son fight.

As her blade charged with dark-red power, as the storm of frost I created swept the surroundings, and as Kanzaki behind me was on the verge of tears…

A sudden intrusion occurred at that moment.

Crraaaack─!!

“Waaait…!”

“…?!”

It was truly unexpected thunder, so I flinched in surprise and recoiled.

The lightning bolt that fell from the sky split the space between my mother and me.

Thud! What fell was a single figure. Though blurry, anyone could tell it was a woman from her build.

And judging by the voice from moments ago and the distinctive thunder, the owner of that figure was likely…

“Soyul?”

Cheon Soyul.

Just as Kanzaki called out in surprise, it was unmistakably Cheon Soyul’s spectacularly grand entrance.

She, crackling with lightning all over her body as if confused, glared at me for a moment.

Then, turning her head again to meet my mother’s gaze, she swallowed dryly as if in deep trouble, yet clenched her fist tightly.

And before my mother’s dagger could move again, she quickly declared:

“…Mother.”

Her face flushed crimson all the way to her ears, she lightly thumped her chest. Thump thump.

Words were uttered. It was a shocking declaration.

“Please don’t scold your son too much.”

“…What?”

“All of this is because I asked for it.”

Cheon Soyul glared at me resentfully once, then deeply lowered her head.

An expression as if saying, ‘Just you wait until later.’

And I, concentrating mana in my eyes half-instinctively, ‘saw.’

“…Actually.”

Ding!

Her status window had updated.

“It’s because I’m a very bad person who enjoys the moment my lover is taken by another woman.”

──────────────── Cheon Soyul (20) Preference: Obscene Friendships Desire: NTR (New!) Current Libido: 61/100 ────────────────

“…That’s how things ended up like this. Hyunjin is not at fault.”

“?”

“??”

Everyone present had question marks floating above their heads.

Including, of course, me, the person concerned.

‘No, what the…’

What in the world was this?