Ch.141Hayato Subjugation Battle

‘I can’t allow even the slightest opening.’

The opponent was someone who had already escaped several times before.

Seo-rin continued to move. Her heart pounded, her muscles screamed, and every blood vessel in her body seemed to shriek in protest. It was the backlash from having expended everything so intensely in such a short moment.

Nevertheless, she accelerated while holding her breath. When Seo-rin’s form transformed into a streak of light, three hundred swords fell like lightning. Hayato sprang out from between them. The rough texture of his coat was tattered like a vagrant’s clothing, but he appeared to have suffered no physical damage.

“Damn it…!”

Hayato instinctively cursed and had to quickly crouch down. This was because he suddenly faced a golden flash rising before his eyes. It was Sephiroth, the vice-captain of the Blue Wing.

Sephiroth’s extended sword struck Hayato’s shoulder with tremendous force. Kwang-! A sharp sword strike is originally an attack meant to cut through something. However, Sephiroth’s blow couldn’t penetrate Hayato’s special barrier.

Still, even the sturdiest barrier couldn’t absorb all the impact. Hayato was driven downward from his airborne position.

At the same moment, before Hayato could hit the ground, Seo-rin arrived before him and swung her sword in rapid succession. Her extreme swordsmanship flashed white, covering all directions.

She didn’t wait for his collapsed posture to recover. Holding her breath to deliver even one more attack, she pushed her body to the extreme.

At that moment.

Jjeoeng-!

With a rough shockwave, Seo-rin’s form was pushed back significantly. It was because Hayato, who had been allowing Seo-rin’s attacks, had swung his own sword. However, she wasn’t pushed back as much as Hayato had expected.

Jurureuk- As she slid, she extended her leg as if to kick the air, and one of the swords hovering nearby flew to her, becoming a foothold. Immediately after, Seo-rin shot toward Hayato once more.

Kwarreung-!

The combined attack of Seo-rin, Sephiroth, and the other senior knights was nearly perfect. They could freely switch between offense and defense, and could move anywhere using the three hundred swords that Seo-rin controlled as footholds.

“You cowardly bastards! Come at me one by one!”

Hayato couldn’t attempt a proper attack due to the combined assault from Seo-rin’s group. His energy sword technique required large preparatory movements and was unnecessarily flashy. Such impractical swordsmanship was always subject to criticism. However, Hayato refused to change it.

He believed in the blessing he possessed. In a one-on-one situation, he would never lose. His abilities made him the strongest.

But even if he could slow down his target’s time, he couldn’t handle five masters moving at speeds beyond the speed of sound. When he prepared his energy technique to counter one opponent, another attack would come from a different direction he wasn’t paying attention to.

The only reason Hayato was still holding on was thanks to the protection of the world that shielded his body. The protection that had continued from his original dimension was still safeguarding him.

‘If only I could move my left arm…!’

The wound inflicted by Man-geom-je had not yet healed. His left arm had become unusable after allowing that mysterious attack. It wasn’t that the nerves were dead. All sensation remained, but he couldn’t move it.

‘If I just had one breath… just one moment of respite…’

He could escape this place…

As Hayato’s gaze began to move rapidly, Sephiroth, who was attempting an attack, shouted.

“Don’t rest for even a moment! Keep pressing him!”

Seo-rin climbed onto the skeletal remains of the train floor, catching her breath. She needed a brief rest to calm her surging mana even slightly.

Blue lightning and hot steam rose from Seo-rin’s entire body. The simultaneous use of the Fire Dragon-Heart and Heavenly Thunder Flash was putting tremendous strain on her body. Nevertheless, Seo-rin smiled.

The longer the fight continued, the more her enemy’s face turned ashen, the more pleasure she felt. The endorphins filling her mind momentarily made her forget the pain.

‘That barrier…’

She needed to break through that barrier. That was why Seo-rin was recovering her breath. To calm her surging mana and change her mana cultivation method once more.

Pajik-

As the blue lightning faded, the steam emanating from her body instantly vanished. In its place came a wind carrying white coldness.

Shwaaa-

The desolate wind was released, beginning to envelop the space. When one of the swords flying quickly was drawn into Seo-rin’s hand.

Her lips parted.

Inner World Manifestation

A World for the Empress

White snow began to fall on the rapidly moving train. The blue sea turned into a white snowfield, and dark clouds gathered over the once azure sky.

However, the world thus created never took on a complete form. It slowly disappeared as soon as it was formed.

“What…?”

As the one who had summoned the inner world, Seo-rin could understand. Hayato had not been included in the range of “A World for the Empress.”

Inner World Manifestation was a technique close to magic that allowed Seo-rin to enter a kind of subspace with the target she had captured. If she couldn’t capture the target, if there was no one to bring along, the inner world would not be completed.

‘That barrier…’

What could it be that it could even escape target designation?

“Seo-rin! What are you doing? There’s a gap! Rejoin quickly!”

At Sephiroth’s urgent call, Seo-rin rushed toward Hayato again. Mixing into the fierce battle, she calmly assessed the situation.

It seemed that none of the Blue Wing members, including herself, had a technique that could definitively penetrate Hayato’s barrier. Anxiety was gradually appearing on faces that had initially been composed.

Meanwhile, Hayato was regaining his composure. Although he was starting to cough blood from the damage that penetrated his barrier, he was confident he could escape without dying.

“Vice-Captain Sephiroth! Don’t you have something?”

“Wait! I need preparation time to activate my blessing!”

Sephiroth answered a senior member’s question. Seo-rin could tell the answer was a bluff. After all, Sephiroth’s blessing had nothing to do with combat.

At that moment, Seo-rin spotted Clara and Alberich treating the wounded in a corner. Perhaps her brother Sei-ran could resolve this situation.

It was Sei-ran who had fought on equal terms with that Void Lord.

Seo-rin retreated and landed beside Alberich.

“Why are you here?”

“Alberich. Can you infuse me with holy power right now?”

“Holy power…? I don’t see why not, but…”

The woman’s clear eyes resembled the girl before him. After imbuing Seo-rin with holy power in the past, Alberich had vaguely realized, like Clara, that she housed two souls in one body.

Alberich pondered for a moment. His holy power reserves were running low. It was barely enough to treat the wounded. And there might be additional casualties in this situation.

“If I do as you ask, can you definitely take that guy down?”

“I can’t promise, but…”

Alberich’s deliberation ended. He extended his hand and grasped the girl’s small hand.

Immediately after, warm golden energy began to flow from Alberich’s hand into Seo-rin. It was holy power that protected both soul and body. Seo-rin felt her wounds healing instantly.

The holy power that entered her body attempted to interfere with her soul beyond physical recovery. A body can naturally contain only one soul. Sei-ran’s soul, which had given up its place to allow two souls to coexist, began to regain its original form.

Seo-rin could feel it. The presence of another soul breathing within her—her brother’s existence.

Kurreung-!

As Sei-ran’s soul awakened, dark clouds began to gather in the clear sky. Thunder struck, and the calm sea waters began to surge with waves.

“Sei-ran…?”

-Brother.

It’s been a while since we talked directly. Seo-rin could hear the faint laughter echoing in her mind.

Finally, finally they met.

At that moment, Seo-rin’s left hand moved on its own, independent of her will. It was Sei-ran’s will moving the left hand.

Sei-ran moved his hand to caress his brother’s cheek, which was also his own. Who would have known that sharing a body with someone you love could feel so good?

Although he had been unable to do anything for years, Sei-ran did not regret his choice.

Seo-rin left his independently moving left hand alone and pointed his sword at Hayato with his right hand.

“Sei-ran. We need to deal with that guy… the enemy of our tribe. Can you lend me your strength?”

-If that’s what you want, brother.

At that moment, as Sei-ran answered, all three hundred swords hovering around flew at once to position themselves behind Seo-rin. Spread wide, they looked like steel wings made of swords.

-This is how you do it, right?

Sei-ran had watched everything from within the small body. If his brother could do it, so could he. Sei-ran immediately began rotating the three hundred swords positioned behind him.

Kiing-!

With the rotation, about fifty ordinary iron swords that couldn’t withstand the impact shattered into powder and scattered. Simultaneously, Sei-ran frowned.

Having only taken half the control of the body, only his left eyebrow twitched significantly.

They amplified mana by simultaneously operating mana cultivation methods of opposing attributes. It was no easy task. Even Sei-ran felt the mana within the body turbulent to the point of being overwhelming.

Sei-ran said:

-You operate one opposing mana cultivation method, brother. I’ll handle the other.

The energy of the fire dragon swirled in the left hand, while the energy of the ice dragon swirled in the right. The siblings held hands for the first time in years.

Simultaneously, light erupted.