Ch.125Mana Amplification

Silence falls. Seo-erin and Ma-seung stand frozen, facing each other. As if time itself had stopped.

The dusty haze clears, revealing the two figures. Ma-seung’s condition was extremely serious. His right arm and shoulder area had completely disappeared. Part of his upper body had also vanished, with red blood gushing from the empty space.

*Thud*

Ma-seung looked down at the small girl with calm eyes. His vision was becoming blurry and faint, signaling that death was approaching. He couldn’t even feel pain. The vital energy that should have flowed to his right hand kept circulating aimlessly.

Only then did Ma-seung realize that a significant portion of the right side of his body had been completely blown away.

“What is the name of that technique…?”

“It has none.”

Seo-erin coldly answered Ma-seung’s question. There was no way a technique she had improvised spontaneously, following her body’s instincts and inspiration, would have a name. She had merely reached out toward the starlight that appeared before her.

Because the starlight had whispered to her.

*Thud!*

Ma-seung’s massive frame staggered and fell to his knees. The blood flowing like a river from his severed body parts gradually diminished. With a face that had turned pale in an instant, Ma-seung spoke.

“I… want to know its name.”

“I have no name to give you. When you face the Judge of the Underworld, tell him you were defeated by a nameless girl.”

Ma-seung smiled at Seo-erin’s curt response. With a faint smile on his lips, he looked up at the sky with eyes that had turned white. Having experienced past lives, he wasn’t afraid of death. He believed he would get another chance someday.

At least.

That’s what Ma-seung believed.

“Two pillars of the Alliance have died. They… will return…”

Ma-seung gasped out these vague words. Mixed with blood, his voice was unclear.

Just as Seo-erin was about to question him, Ma-seung’s labored breathing stopped. He was dead.

“His breathing stopped… is that guy dead?”

A question came from behind her. Seo-erin turned toward the voice. Sephiroth, sprawled on the ground, was slowly waving one arm in the air.

“It’s over.”

Seo-erin stated calmly. As she took a deep breath, the ten swords scattered around flew toward her before dropping to the ground. The effect of having used up all her mana.

In the end, Seo-erin had to move and collect all ten swords herself.

Seo-erin and Sephiroth were only able to send a distress signal after crossing the border. The fireworks they launched burst into light in the sky.

The symbol of the Empire—the blue griffon known as the Sky Emperor—appeared about thirty minutes later. Only then could Seo-erin breathe a sigh of relief.

As the tension left her body, she went limp. The Ice Dragon-Heart’s power couldn’t manifest due to her mana depletion. As delayed pain struck her entire body, a silent scream escaped Seo-erin’s lips.

***

When Seo-erin regained consciousness, she had already arrived at the Blue Wing headquarters. She couldn’t even remember how she had returned. Trying to recall her fragmented memories, she remembered reaching out toward the blue sky.

‘I must have ridden a griffon back.’

Rising from the bed, Seo-erin immediately examined her body. This was a body she needed to return to her younger sibling after accomplishing her goal. Fortunately, there were no noticeable external injuries. Though bandages were wrapped around various parts of her body, they were all covering minor bruises.

It was clear that a few days of rest and proper meals would leave no scars.

The internal injuries were the problem. Sharp pain ran through her meridians where mana flowed. This was likely due to the rapid changes in mana manipulation she had performed in such a short time. Groaning, Seo-erin opened the door and stepped out.

Seo-erin first checked on the well-being of her mission companions. She headed to Flora and Theo’s rooms first, then sought out others she knew well, like Reynard.

Many weren’t in their rooms. They had been moved to the infirmary due to severe injuries. Seo-erin headed to the infirmary with Flora.

Upon arriving, they found two deputy commanders of Blue Wing hospitalized there: Sephiroth and Kanok.

“You two came.”

Only Sephiroth welcomed them. Beside her were piles of fruits and healthy foods, indicating that many visitors had already come.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be able to return to duty after a little rest. It wouldn’t have been possible without Alberich’s holy power.”

Seo-erin nodded. Indeed, traces of holy power could be faintly felt within the infirmary.

“What about Deputy Commander Kanok?”

Flora asked. Sephiroth, who had been biting into a large apple, stood up using crutches.

“Follow me.”

A knight’s excellent sense of balance shines even when using crutches. Despite her condition, Sephiroth walked without the slightest wobble. Seo-erin and Flora followed behind.

Sephiroth led them to the adjacent room. It was eerily quiet. As the three entered, they saw Kanok lying on the bed.

“Is he sleeping?”

In response to Flora’s question, Sephiroth shrugged.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t woken up once since we arrived. The doctors say there’s nothing physically wrong with him…”

Sephiroth’s gaze turned to Seo-erin. The last time Kanok had been conscious was before he allowed Seo-erin to land a strike on him. Perhaps this small girl knew something.

“Does anything come to mind?”

“Hmm…”

Seo-erin looked down at Kanok with her arms crossed. Nothing came to mind. It seemed unlikely that a deputy commander would remain unconscious just because he took a punch to the chin.

The doctors had said there was nothing unusual, after all.

Seo-erin shook her head.

“I have no idea.”

***

A week had passed since their return. Seo-erin had been busy during this time. She wrote various reports and had private meetings with the intelligence department. This was due to the investigation into the “Alliance” that Ma-seung had mentioned before his death and the merchant group that had been cooperating with him.

The Shooting Star Merchant Group, they called it. The imperial intelligence department had gathered substantial information within a day. Blue Wing immediately organized and dispatched additional subjugation teams.

Having just returned from a mission, Seo-erin couldn’t join these teams.

It was a clear night without a single cloud. Seo-erin was alone in the training grounds, practicing. The pre-dawn training grounds, when everyone else was asleep, had always been Seo-erin’s private time.

Blue Wing’s training grounds were always a mess. Regular maintenance did nothing to change this. The once-smooth marble floor was cracked like a spider’s web, and the thick walls and ceiling that enclosed the training grounds had large holes scattered throughout.

Starlight from the sky strangely clung to her. Seo-erin reached out toward the dim light shining through the ceiling. This was already the third time she had experienced it. The sudden inspiration had left an unforgettable sensation in Seo-erin.

But she couldn’t reach it yet. It seemed like she could touch it if she just reached out or stood on tiptoe, but it remained elusive. She had been swinging her sword for days now, trying to ease her frustration.

*Whoosh!*

As she swung her sword, she thought: it’s okay if she couldn’t fully grasp it. Even capturing a small fragment of that rotating starlight would change many things.

‘Rotation…’

Seo-erin rotated her mana. The mana she released outside her body formed a white crystal at the tip of her sword. It began to rotate rapidly. However, no miraculous effect appeared.

Just when she seemed about to touch something, the white frozen mana crystal shattered.

Sitting on the ground, Seo-erin’s gaze suddenly fell on fragments scattered across the training grounds. Blue Wing members’ training swords frequently broke. Since they constantly infused them with more mana than ordinary iron swords could handle, breaking or snapping was common.

These were the fragments Seo-erin had discovered.

Suddenly, Seo-erin reached out her hand. It was as if a sudden inspiration was whispering for her to do so.

Seo-erin’s hand pointed toward her room. Her mana spread widely and summoned all ten swords from her room.

The ten swords quickly flew to her and positioned themselves behind her back. Then the blades began to rotate in a circle, facing outward. The initial speed was incredibly slow. The blades moved sluggishly until frost began to settle on them.

“Hoo…”

The moment Seo-erin exhaled deeply and wrapped her mana around the ten swords, the slow rotation gradually accelerated, eventually forming a pure white circle.

The circle’s speed continued to increase. The mana required by the swords also kept growing. Then it happened. From behind her came a sound Seo-erin remembered.

*Keeeng-!*

Mana collided with mana, expanding in size. Amplification through rotation. That was the sound marking its beginning.

But the next moment.

*Clang!*

Two of the swords rotating behind Seo-erin shattered, unable to withstand the mana.