Ch.166Feeding Trough

The Shadow Knights’ Headquarters. In front of the Griffin Breeding Facility located inside, the former knights commanders of the Karma Empire had been summoned. Each one was a powerful figure capable of handling an entire nation’s army.

Having such individuals gathered in one place for the same mission was an extremely rare occurrence.

“Wasn’t hunting reincarnators Cheong-ik’s job?”

“It’s His Majesty’s order. Follow without question.”

“I never said I wouldn’t follow. I’ll gladly move for the sake of the nation.”

“I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d ride a griffin…”

“Seeing all commanders summoned, it seems this reincarnator is too much for Cheong-ik alone to handle.”

Even though they were merely conversing, the air trembled. This was because the mana unconsciously emitted by the commanders collided and pushed against each other. Se-eorin realized with certainty that she had become considerably stronger.

In the past, she wouldn’t have been able to breathe in this atmosphere, but now she felt completely fine.

‘I might actually stand a chance…’

As Se-eorin’s gaze swept over the commanders, strange smiles appeared on their lips.

“The youngster has some nerve.”

“Were you just gauging our strength? I see you tapping the ground with your toes, measuring the distance too.”

“Wasn’t she called a vice-commander? Karnok, it seems you should take the lead.”

“I was planning to anyway. Everyone, mount up. We’re departing immediately.”

Karnok had been assigned the role of leader for this mission. The Emperor had wanted to give Se-eorin full authority, but she declined, concerned that her youthful appearance might cause problems.

That choice proved correct. At Karnok’s words, the other commanders nodded and began mounting their griffins. However, rather than following obediently, they gave the impression of merely going along for now.

-Screeeech!

Seven griffins took flight simultaneously. Their massive wings flapped, creating a storm. After soaring into the sky, Karnok called out to Se-eorin.

“Se-eorin! Take the lead!”

Se-eorin began flying at the front as Karnok requested. Though it was her first time riding a griffin, she quickly found her rhythm. It wasn’t much different from riding a horse.

Se-eorin led the group in the direction where the golden thread flowed. The griffins raced through the sky, spreading their wings wide and kicking at the empty air with their hind legs.

They covered in an instant what would have taken days on horseback. Unhindered by roads, they crossed directly over treacherous mountain paths impassable to horses.

Whoosh!

Through the rapidly passing scenery, the smell of blood and gunpowder wafted up from the ground below.

After flying for several hours, Se-eorin pulled on the griffin’s reins to reduce speed. The griffin, known as the emperor of the skies, obediently followed this unreasonable request.

Its powerful legs stomped the air, creating gusts of wind. As Se-eorin stopped, the rest of the group following behind also came to a halt.

They had arrived at a ravine formed within a large basin. While others might see nothing, Se-eorin could clearly see the golden thread flowing into the ravine.

“Is this the place?”

“It seems so.”

At Se-eorin’s answer, Karnok moved his griffin to slowly circle the area. Just as the massive shadow of the griffin fell over the ravine below, a pillar of blue light shot up toward Karnok.

Whoosh!

“Karnok!”

“Commander!”

An enemy ambush. The reaction was immediate. Each commander drew their weapons, and some launched attacks toward the ravine. In that brief moment, they had located the enemy’s position.

Boom!

The slashing attacks unleashed by the commanders seemed to shatter the ravine. However, that wasn’t the case. A blue barrier rising from below cleanly blocked all their attacks.

At that moment, beyond the blue barrier, another light flashed. This time, the attack spread in multiple directions. Se-eorin hurriedly deployed Sun Force at full power. As the flashing sunlight collided with the blue light, Se-eorin was struck by a powerful impact and fell to the ground.

The other commanders were in similar situations. Though they weren’t injured, they couldn’t fully absorb the shock and were pushed off their griffins, plummeting to the ground. Only a few with flight abilities managed to stop themselves midair.

Whoosh!

Kallenbach, the middle-aged knight commander of the Wind Knights, who had wrapped his entire body in wind, stopped in midair. His eyes gleaming, he pointed his sword toward the light barrier.

At that moment, light flashed once more from beyond the barrier. Again, it was the same attack as before. Kallenbach swung his sword with all his might, summoning a storm.

Wind Force.

That was the name of his sword. The powerfully enchanted blade possessed the ability to summon wind using the wielder’s mana.

Roar!

A storm made of mana blocked the path between the light barrier and the group. Having successfully blocked the light attack with the massive storm, Kallenbach shouted:

“I can’t see the enemy! If we continue like this, we’ll be one-sidedly beaten! We need to break through that barrier somehow!”

Even without Kallenbach’s words, everyone was already moving. The first to charge forward was Karnok. His form, which seemed to melt into the air, reached the light barrier, and his sword, wrapped in black and white light, swung down.

Clang!

“It’s tough!”

Even after receiving an attack from a commander-level powerhouse, the barrier remained intact. At that moment, a pitch-black slash silently flew toward the spot Karnok had struck. Though the slash seemed to melt away into the air, its effect was clear.

Crack-

The blue barrier began to fracture. Right after everyone recognized this fact, Dustar, the burly commander of the Claw, dropped down toward the cracking section. He collided with the barrier and swung his fist.

Boom!

Simultaneously with the violent shockwave, the blue barrier surrounding the ravine shattered, and a fierce wind swept through.

At that moment, Se-eorin’s form appeared in front of Dustar. As she arrived, the dark blade drawn from her waist formed a barrier, blocking what lay ahead.

Clang-clang-clang!

It was a barrier of swords formed through extreme swordsmanship. With its ability to negate supernatural powers, it could block all incoming attacks without any impact.

Swish-

Se-eorin maintained her sword stance while staring ahead. Beyond the shattered remains of the barrier, a person was slowly walking out. With a long pipe in his mouth, he maintained a leisurely pace with his arms crossed.

“You blocked that?”

An unfamiliar voice echoed throughout the ravine. The man with the pipe in his mouth gave a faint smile as he smoothed his white, flowing hair. At that moment, a hazy mist began to spread from the man’s mouth, enveloping the surroundings.

[I am Ronin Jegal-cheon. The name of this place… what was it? It’s been so long I can’t remember…]

Hum-

The voice seemed to come from all directions. Se-eorin was the first to react. She immediately summoned wind to try to disperse the mist.

However, the summoned wind, far from pushing away the mist, only made it thicker.

“This is…”

Se-eorin frowned. The reason was that the presences of her companions were gradually disappearing from Ashen’s detection range, which had been widely spread out. The feel of the air against her skin had changed. The smell of the gradually rising wind and the feel of the soil beneath her feet were also different.

These unfamiliar sensations confused Se-eorin.

“A formation technique?”

[You know the concept of formation techniques?]

“…”

Se-eorin silently drew upon her mana. Having absorbed the memories of countless individuals, Se-eorin vaguely knew the concept of formation techniques. It was a skill similar to magic that twisted the natural flow of energy to create a kind of subspace.

“Similar indeed.”

It was similar to a certain technique she possessed.

Keeeeng!

The ring of starlight in her heart began to rotate rapidly. Two mana types of different natures collided, and the resulting shock amplified her mana. Simultaneously, Se-eorin drastically reduced Ashen’s detection range.

Rather than spreading it wide to gather more information, she concentrated it around herself to find just one target.

As the starlight mana spread out from Se-eorin, a deep smile formed on her lips.

“Found you.”

A single target was identified within Ashen’s detection range.

Se-eorin spoke:

Inner World Manifestation

A World for the Empress

Through the hazy mist, a chilling wind began to blow. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the soil beneath her feet had transformed into a snow-covered plain.

[What…]

The opponent’s surprised voice slowly echoed before focusing on one spot. As the white mist that had been spreading disappeared:

Se-eorin’s gaze could find a lone man standing on the snow-covered mountain.

After the ring of starlight formed in her heart, many changes had occurred in Se-eorin’s inner world. The first of these was the numerous stars positioned in the sky. The moment Se-eorin looked up at the sky.

A star in the sky took the form of a sword and began to fall toward the ground.

Swoosh!