Ch.16154. Soso’s Awakening as a Blood Demon (2)

    Their eyes met for a moment.

    Soso spoke in a low voice.

    “What… did you just say?”

    “I said you shouldn’t be doing this, senior. Would you like me to repeat it?”

    At Seong Arin’s words, fierce anger began to fill Soso’s eyes.

    Woooong-

    The Payeong Sword in her hand resonated in response. It seemed to be targeting Seong Arin as its new prey.

    “Who do you think you are to dare tell me what to do…”

    “I have the right to say something to you, senior. Because I’m the one who took care of Senior Minsu for two years after his body was ruined because of you and Senior Yuri.”

    Soso fell silent at those words.

    Just moments ago, she had been emanating killing intent as if ready to cut down Seong Arin.

    She clearly reacted to the mention of Minsu. Especially to the words “ruined body.”

    But her anger toward Seong Arin, who stood in her way, hadn’t completely disappeared. She shouted:

    “Anyway, I don’t want to play word games with you. Get out of my sight now.”

    “Hmm. That’s also difficult. The more you rampage like this, the more trouble it causes for the people of Flame.”

    Seong Arin put her hands behind her back and smiled slyly.

    “And if Flame has problems, Senior Minsu will be in trouble. That absolutely cannot happen.”

    “……”

    Soso remained silent at those words.

    But her eyelashes trembled, and the air around her resonated as if being torn apart.

    It was the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, already approaching the 9-star level of completion. And the bloodlust of the awakened Blood Demon was filling in what was lacking.

    Finally, Soso pointed her sword at Seong Arin.

    “How dare you speak so boldly before me! The Heavenly Demon obeys no one’s orders, and no one stands in my way! If you continue to block me so impudently, I won’t spare even you.”

    It was a clear declaration of attack.

    Of course, Seong Arin was no ordinary woman.

    She was a Saint who directly received Ayel’s blessing without filtration into her human body.

    If it were an attack from a low-level demon or villain, it would miss her simply because she wished to avoid it.

    An attack from Soso, an SS-rank hunter, would be different. But if Seong Arin were to draw upon her holy power and use her spells in earnest, it wouldn’t be easy for Soso to harm her in her current state.

    “You still haven’t come to your senses.”

    Seong Arin spoke without showing the slightest sign of tension.

    Then she lightly jumped onto a large piece of debris nearby, sat down, and looked down at Soso.

    “Senior Minsu is really too kind. If it were me, I would never forgive Senior Soso and Senior Yuri until the moment I died. And I would make sure both of you spent your lives suffering with regret for your sins.”

    “Nonsense!”

    Unable to contain her anger any longer, Soso launched a sword strike toward Seong Arin.

    It wasn’t a strike directly infused with aura. Probably just a warning strike.

    But with Soso’s current skill, it contained enough power to seriously injure even an S-rank hunter.

    CRASH-

    But Seong Arin calmly raised her hand.

    Her pale green holy power shone brightly, and something massive was summoned before her.

    It was a huge angelic summon about 2 meters tall. The summon blocked Soso’s sword strike.

    Soso’s expression contorted.

    “What a strange trick…”

    “Hmm. Do you intend to attack even me, just like you attacked Senior Minsu during the Tragedy of Eins?”

    Seong Arin said with a slight smile. But her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

    An ice-cold tension, on the verge of shattering, flowed between the two. Soso silently drew more power from her Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.

    Crack- Crack-

    The surrounding objects were swept up and turned to dust in the terrible storm of aura.

    Watching this, Seong Arin’s gaze grew colder. Finally, as if unable to hold back, her voice rose slightly.

    “If I leave you like this, it will only give Senior Minsu a headache. I’m not Senior Minsu, so I don’t need to be considerate of you as I first thought.”

    “More nonsense…!!”

    “Do you know something, Senior Soso?”

    At Seong Arin’s words, their gazes collided in mid-air.

    “If you keep trying to manipulate me with words, I won’t be as patient as before…”

    “Senior Minsu will die soon.”

    Soso’s eyes wavered at those words.

    ***

    The aura that had been destroying the surroundings subsided.

    And the deadly intent that had been emanating from Soso’s eyes instantly disappeared.

    “What… what did you just say?”

    “I said Senior Minsu will die soon. His mana heart is already in tatters. So much so that an ordinary awakened person would have died long ago.”

    At Seong Arin’s words, Soso withdrew all her aura in an instant.

    “Wh-what nonsense is that…”

    And like someone gripped by terrible fear, all color drained from Soso’s face.

    Her body trembled momentarily.

    To an extent that anyone who had witnessed Soso’s prowess on this battlefield would never believe.

    In an instant, Soso’s expression changed to that of an ordinary person facing a demon—weak and vulnerable.

    Her eyes shook wildly, and she hurriedly cried out to Seong Arin:

    “Don’t lie! Y-yes! You like Minsu too… you hate me… you’re lying to interfere between Minsu and me, just like that Yuri girl, aren’t you?”

    So flustered was she that she forgot the Heavenly Demon’s manner of speech and spoke in the tone of an ordinary woman.

    But Seong Arin’s answer was cold.

    “I swear in the name of the righteous and merciful great light, Lord Ayel. Senior Minsu will soon die.”

    It was like a confirmation kill.

    Seong Arin was a nun of the White Cross Society. A vow made in Ayel’s name was absolute.

    Moreover, Seong Arin was not an ordinary nun but the only Saint on Earth. As such, her vow contained only absolute truth.

    “Th-that can’t be… Minsu definitely said… that his body was getting better… Th-that’s true… otherwise, how could he use fire spells like he does now…”

    “Yes. Senior Minsu completed his new fire spell by shaving away what little lifespan he had left. To take responsibility for the Tragedy of Eins.”

    Seong Arin looked down at Soso with eyes colder than ice.

    “Yet the two who should truly take responsibility with their deaths are Yuri Tarkovskaya and you, Yeon Soso.”

    At those words, Soso’s body froze in place.

    The light in her eyes completely disappeared. With that dead gaze, Soso collapsed to her knees on the spot.

    “Wh-what are you saying… Minsu… is dying…?”

    The fearsome SS-rank hunter, the junior leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect, was nowhere to be seen.

    Tears were already flowing from Soso’s bowed head.

    “It’s… it’s a lie… It can’t be… It absolutely can’t be… Right? Y-you’re lying to make fun of me now, aren’t you?”

    Even as she denied it, Soso’s body was honest. Her voice changed as if wailing.

    And suddenly, as if feeling terrible fear and chills,

    Soso hugged her chest with her arms and trembled violently.

    ‘If it’s Seong Arin… she can’t lie. Especially about Minsu…’

    The Saint’s vow. And Soso, as a woman, already knew how much Seong Arin loved Minsu.

    She had stayed by the side of an academy senior who wasn’t even family.

    Even when there was no hope of him returning to consciousness, it was Seong Arin who had remained by his side.

    And unlike Yuri or Soso herself, Seong Arin wasn’t even responsible for the Tragedy of Eins. That’s how much she loved Minsu.

    ‘And that Seong Arin… said Minsu… is dying.’

    The undeniable reality enveloped Soso.

    Minsu would soon die. And at that thought, Soso became the weakest woman in the world at this moment.

    But Seong Arin, seemingly without a trace of sympathy, looked down at her with cold eyes and spoke.

    “But even in that little time he has left, Senior Minsu gave you three months. Those three months in Busan.”

    At those words, more tears flowed.

    As Arin said, Soso had monopolized Minsu during those three months.

    They hadn’t just spent time as simple friends. They had spent three months as lovers and shared their first times with each other.

    “You know well. Senior even gave you his first time.”

    It seemed that Seong Arin, as a Saint, had read Soso’s mind, which was completely open from the terrible shock. Seong Arin continued:

    “You still don’t understand Senior Minsu. He’s an extremely rational person, but Minsu’s essence is fire. His emotions are extremely sensitive.”

    She knew. During those three months, Soso had fully felt the emotion of being loved by Minsu.

    Having been his closest friend at Eins, she could clearly distinguish between feelings of friendship and romantic feelings.

    “That’s why I’m upset. The person who took those precious three months of Senior’s time is now running wild like this. Get a grip, Team Leader Yeon Soso.”

    Seong Arin’s cold gaze turned back to Soso.

    “We are the Sages of the East. And with Guild Leader Yuri, we must help Senior Minsu, the Colorless Key… to walk the path to prevent the foretold end.”

    Saying this, Seong Arin came down.

    And turning away from Soso, she spoke once more.

    “That is the only atonement you and Yuri Tarkovskaya can offer to Senior Minsu.”

    With that, Seong Arin left Soso’s side.

    ***

    After returning to the allied forces, there was no time to rest for several days.

    Contrary to expectations, a full-scale battle did not break out in Tokyo.

    Seo Munyeom and Juan Soriano.

    The leaders of the Twelve Apostles seemed to have decided to preserve the core strength of the Red Lake rather than expend their forces against the leaders of the three-nation alliance. The villains’ main forces retreated.

    So the elite of the allied forces also decided to withdraw.

    After that decision, countless local battles with the remaining villain forces took place in Tokyo.

    Although it wasn’t an all-out war,

    they were accustomed to terrorism and ambushed the withdrawing forces, summoning demons with sorcery. Both Yuri and I, having returned, had no time to come back to the barracks while dealing with those villain forces.

    The good news was that Soso, who seemed to have awakened as a Blood Demon, was surprisingly normal. So for those three days, I also focused on Flame’s battles, spending all my time there.

    Now, three days have passed since our return.

    The elite forces led by Jeon Taehyun, Grand Duke Andrei, and Yeon Sehwi had completed their withdrawal.

    And on an autumn night in early October, Flame’s executives entered a meeting for tomorrow’s withdrawal.

    “We will begin our withdrawal tomorrow morning.”

    Executive Director Maria, who was in charge of the briefing, said. The executives all looked relieved.

    “Finally, we’re leaving this Japan,” said Pyo Seonghun.

    Although it wasn’t an all-out war where mutual annihilation was expected,

    the absolute number of villain forces was still several times that of our allies. So the guild members had carried out a war incomparable to dungeon raids.

    It was a war that crossed Honshu, Japan’s largest island, so everyone had reason to be sick of Japan.

    “But we must not let our guard down. The villains will be looking for moments when we’re careless.”

    All attendees nodded. Flame, as an independent regiment, was second only to the elite units of the allied forces.

    So now that the direct units of the Five Great Celestial Sects participating in this war had withdrawn, Flame’s elite were next in line to withdraw.

    “For the villains, if their terrorism and surprise attacks succeed, they can greatly damage the allied forces’ strength. Until we reach Yokosuka, no one should let their guard down!”

    Flame’s next destination was Yokosuka City, a port city in Kanagawa Prefecture right next to Tokyo.

    There was a naval base that had been used by Japan’s regular army. The allied forces’ transport planes and ships were arriving at that base.

    To complete my final mission, I had to reach that place safely.

    ‘From there, I need to head to Italy.’

    Specifically, the Vatican. Now that all the Sages of the East had awakened, I needed to meet with the Pope in the Vatican to find the sacred spear Epitheus.

    That was a secret known only to me and the three Sages of the East.

    Our group planned to pretend to head to Korea, then carefully change our destination to Italy.

    Until then, we needed to focus on the withdrawal to maintain secrecy.

    As night passed, the day of the planned withdrawal arrived.

    And that morning, Tokyo burst into flames.


    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period.
    Note
    // Script to navigate with arrow keys