Ch.73Chapter 3. Riders Aren’t the Only Ones Who Transform! (10)

She transformed.

Whether the mid-transformation rainbow glow gimmick applied to just E-rank Ymir or also to EX-rank Ymir, Ymir made herself glow with rainbow colors before immediately changing her appearance.

Her tactical mask and visor had a sci-fi feel, but on her head she wore what looked like a yangban lady’s cloak from a Korean folk village, with the ends falling to her thighs, revealing her legs clearly below.

What should I call this?

Armored noblewoman?

Mechanical young lady from a good family?

While that was the form, the overall color scheme was predominantly black with appropriate touches of red and yellow.

‘No matter how I look at it, it’s the epitome of imbalance, yet somehow it works.’

Perhaps it was because of that strangely eye-catching breastplate.

Or maybe it was the stockings and leg lines revealed beneath the skirt.

It felt like looking at some bizarre concept art, but since Ymir had the figure to pull it off, it was visually appealing enough to make me nod in approval.

“You, w-what is that?”

While I was focusing on the outfit, Ermina seemed to be concentrating on something else.

“You, how do you have such magical power…!”

[I may have enrolled as E-rank, but I was actually an incredible talent all along. Can’t you tell?]

“You, you…!”

Ermina was extremely flustered.

To think that the woman she had endlessly looked down on was actually someone so far above her that she shouldn’t even dare to look at her casually.

“Th-that’s impossible! It can’t be! You, you’re an illusion user! You’re trying to trick me right now!”

[Your delusion has gone too far, really.]

“It can’t be! Someone like you, someone like you…!”

It must feel like meeting a disheveled man in a hotel wearing a black shirt and jeans, treating him with extreme contempt and insult, only to discover he’s actually one of the top ten richest people in the world.

“There’s no way you could be S-rank, something I couldn’t achieve even with a lifetime of effort!!”

Ah.

She’s starting to rage.

One of the patterns that most easily triggers ability users to go berserk has been activated.

Inferiority complex.

And not just any inferiority complex, but one where the hierarchy gets flipped.

The various emotions felt when seeing someone you thought was beneath you suddenly doing better than you.

And the lingering effects of the mana powder she had briefly experienced.

“Die!!”

As soon as these mixed together, Ermina attacked Ymir, clearly in a state of delirium.

AAAAAAHHHHH——!!

It was like a dolphin’s ultrasonic wave.

The voice she expelled carried mana that spread toward Ymir, becoming a sonic boom advancing in her direction.

[Tsk.]

I gripped my Goblin club.

Though she appeared deranged, the trajectory of the sonic boom was aimed precisely at Ymir’s neck.

It was an attack launched with the intent to kill.

She wasn’t completely insane—she was attacking with murderous intent.

I should step in and execute her on the spot.

However.

[Too slow.]

Ymir deflected the sonic boom with a slight flick of her black-gloved hand.

SWOOSH——!

The sonic boom flew toward the sea, dispersing as it crossed the water, and Ymir, with an uninjured hand, casually dusted herself off and slowly walked toward Ermina.

[If that’s all you’ve got, it’s my turn now.]

When Ymir flicked her hand to the side, something like a red rope appeared from thin air.

Should I call it a whip, or a prisoner’s binding rope?

No.

It’s an orat-jul—a red rope.

Unlike modern ropes, it was a manifestation of the red rope used in the Joseon Dynasty, recreated with mana.

While it looked like an ordinary rope, the substance composing it was entirely “magical power.”

The ability to materialize substances using mana.

Indeed, she possessed EX-rank talent.

[Let me show you the difference in power.]

Crack!

As soon as Ymir swung the aura, the rope coiled like a whip and flew toward Ermina.

AAAACK! ACK, AAAACK!!

Ermina kept backing away while letting out strange screams.

She continuously created sonic booms, but Ymir’s red whip deflected them all.

BABABABOOM!!

Sonic booms exploded to Ymir’s left and right, raising dust.

Through that dust, Ymir emerged without a scratch, walking proudly, while Ermina trembled and continued to back away.

Overwhelming power.

Faced with overwhelming magical power that an A-rank couldn’t possibly handle, Ermina’s legs finally gave out and she fell on her backside.

“Ha, haha…! You, you’ve been hiding your identity! That’s it! You had some reason to hide it! I’ll, I’ll definitely expose you! Your true nature!”

[You fool. If I was worried about you exposing my identity, would I transform so openly?]

“Wh-what…?!”

Ermina frowned, but in the blink of an eye, Ymir rushed over and grabbed her by the collar.

“Kuh, kuhak!”

[Do you think I’d be afraid of my identity being revealed? Nothing happened here, and nothing happened to you either.]

Ymir aimed her hand at Ermina’s heart.

[If you speak of this, you’ll die on the spot. Have you heard of a prohibition? Or perhaps you’d understand if I called it sorcery? A curse? The moment you try to reveal my identity, you’ll die immediately.]

Slither.

The red rope began to wrap around Ermina.

The mana-composed rope instantly bound Ermina’s entire body…

‘Wait.’

Isn’t that turtle shell binding…?

Whirr.

Just as the rope seemed to flash, the bindings restraining Ermina’s body instantly disappeared.

And I saw it.

Inside Ermina’s body, on parts covered by clothing, red magical traces of the turtle shell binding remained.

If she were to undress, the red marks of the turtle shell binding would be immediately visible.

“Wh-what did you do to me?!”

[I left a magical tattoo that won’t fade for a year. The moment you decide to reveal my identity, the red rope engraved on your skin will start to tighten around you. Go ahead, try to say it. Say that Ymir was hiding her power.]

“Y-Ymir was… AAAACK!!”

Ermina screamed and buried her face forward.

It wasn’t an attempt to create a sonic boom—she was genuinely crying out in pain.

[How is it? Someone of my level can do things like this. So watch your behavior from now on. Don’t look down on people carelessly. I’m letting you off easy because it’s me. Understand?]

“Kuh, kugh…!”

[Look at you glaring with your eyes wide open. Don’t you understand the situation? I could kill you right now, but I’m sparing you because it would be troublesome not to?]

“What…?”

At first glance, it seems illogical.

But those words are correct.

[I wouldn’t mind killing a woman like you. But killing you would just be troublesome afterward. An A-rank, Stern’s granddaughter, died. Naturally, they’d make a fuss trying to get information from me. Ah, how annoying. I’d rather not deal with that.]

“Y-you…!”

[Ermina could die, or be killed, and it wouldn’t matter, but the death of the great Sternfeld lady would be troublesome for me. Understand? So you—]

Just as Ymir was stroking Ermina’s head and about to step back.

“Die!”

Ermina thrust her hand forward from below.

Her hand was flashing with mana like a blade, and it stabbed precisely at Ymir’s lower abdomen.

CLANG.

There should have been the sound of flesh being pierced.

But no such sound was heard, and Ymir calmly stepped back with an unfazed expression.

[This is bulletproof hanbok. No, should I call it blade-proof hanbok?]

“The, the clothes…?”

[Your attacks won’t work on me. But really… this is disappointing. I was going to spare you, but then you try to stab me. If I had been a weaker person, I would have been stabbed and collapsed right there. And died.]

Ymir tilted her head to the side without changing her expression—though it wasn’t visible because of the mask, something in her voice gave that impression.

[What should I really do with someone like you? Hm? Are all ability users in this world just idiots who get angry by themselves, rage by themselves, and are satisfied once their emotions are fulfilled?]

“Sh-shut up…! I’ll, ugh…!!”

[Sigh. What am I supposed to do.]

Ymir lamented sincerely.

Probably experiencing a reality check due to her deep disillusionment with Ermina.

I became a villain to avoid feeling such things.

If it were me, the moment I took that attack, I would have claimed justification—

[If I were the Goblin, your head would have flown off the moment you stabbed my stomach. Self-defense, you know.]

…Ymir mentioned the Goblin.

I hope she hasn’t noticed that I’m here.

‘Should I step in.’

To kill Ermina instead of Ymir?

Or to discipline Ermina properly?

‘I’ll step in.’

Whether Ymir forgives her or not.

If Ermina is to truly repent, she needs a beating first, as is only natural.

Someone who tried to stab another person.

Someone who tried to behead another person.

Since Ymir has shown leniency, giving her 50 strikes on the buttocks with the Goblin club would be appropriate.

‘Then—’

Just as I was about to step out to persuade Ymir and then administer corporal punishment to Ermina.

Suddenly.

Far away.

Someone was running from the sea.

Black hair.

Black mask.

And black hanbok.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO——!”

[Oh, shit.]

A madman appeared.

“Such a splendid and excellent Geumbudo-sa…! This beauty that has reborn tradition and elegance to match modern aesthetic sensibilities…! Ah, who might you be…?”

[Who are you?]

“Ah, as for me.”

The madman bowed elegantly at the waist.

“I am Dueoksini.”