Ch.84Counting

‘The distance…’

It refuses to close. I enhance my body with mana, occasionally releasing it beneath my feet to gain acceleration. Yet the distance still won’t close.

With a slight gap between us, two streaks of light race toward the deep forest. Long, snow-white hair trails behind like a beast’s tail.

Thud-

‘What is…’

It happened while racing through the forest. Seo-rin felt a strange force gently adhering to her body. Not mana. It was the power of spirits she had experienced in the past when her younger sibling had awakened within this body.

There was no change in her physical senses. That meant her sibling hadn’t awakened. Clearly, the spirits in this forest were sharing their power with her for some reason.

The wind changed direction. It felt like gentle hands pushing against her back. She was now running with the wind behind her. The girl’s body transformed into a gust of cold wind.

Whoosh-

She swings her sword, grinding away everything that blocks her path. Even thick branches couldn’t stand in Seo-rin’s way. When the girl’s figure, racing like a gale, overtook the moonlight—

Seo-rin finally came face to face with her opponent.

Time seemed to slow. Their gazes locked in midair, passing through each other transparently. The unfocused eyes seemed to be looking at something distant. Not the eyes of the living. Yet the body moved and even breathed.

The scent was familiar. The physique was familiar too. It retained the exact appearance from just before death. The opponent she faced was undoubtedly herself.

“You…!”

She thought it couldn’t be. She had deliberately ignored it. She hadn’t considered the possibility. Yet it appeared before her as reality. The words she had prepared never came out, and as if her entire body had frozen, she couldn’t draw her sword.

Time flows, albeit slowly. As Seo-rin’s figure, having leapt forth with the wind, hung in the air bathed in moonlight, the past body stopped in place.

It had given up on fleeing. Seo-rin landed on the ground and faced her past body.

“Who are you…”

A question laden with many meanings. But no answer came to Seo-rin’s inquiry. The white-haired man who had been quietly staring drew his weapons silently.

Swish-

A spear in his right hand, a short sword in his left.

“If you won’t answer…”

An empty echo spreads throughout the forest with no return. The white-haired man moved first. His rapidly advancing figure displayed strange movements, as if riding the wind.

He looked like a wolf racing across a snow-covered plain.

Could he fully control the memories residing in that body? Seo-rin calmly met her opponent. The attack itself wasn’t particularly special. After a straightforward thrust, the sword swung as if to support that movement.

The moment Seo-rin’s figure stepped back, a line of red blood appeared on her cheek. More than the stinging pain, the fact that she had been attacked surprised her.

But her movement didn’t stop. The moment her retreating foot touched the ground, her muscles contracted, creating a strong rotation at her waist. The Black Dragon Sword in her hand traced a slash immediately after.

Strong intent filled her entire musculature. The thought of cutting down her opponent added power to her sword. As the slash flew through the air, a chill permeated it. In that instant, hesitation touched her fingertips. It was a definite restraint, too certain to be a mere illusion. Yet her hand swung nonetheless.

Swish-!

As if the sword tip had touched an invisible barrier, its direction was deflected. Not magic, not martial arts. And there was no trace of any manifestation that would suggest sorcery. If the sword had been struck away, there should have been an impact transmitted to the sword tip.

Seo-rin instinctively realized. This too was the power of spirits. The wind that had approached her upon entering the forest hadn’t just enveloped her alone.

Seo-rin retreated greatly to avoid the successive attacks coming her way. The small girl’s figure leapt a considerable distance as if flying with the wind.

As she landed on the ground and was in the midst of employing the White Dragon Mind Technique for her next attack, her opponent’s figure, which had seemed about to charge straight at her, began to disperse with the blowing wind.

Can’t let him escape. That single thought moved Seo-rin’s body. Her leg stepped forward greatly and struck the ground forcefully. The accumulated mana operation transmitted from her heart to her fingertips.

Simultaneously, a forced transition of techniques occurred. Along with the posture change prepared for the Swift Sword. A throbbing pain spread throughout her body from her heart. But she didn’t stop.

The moment the Black Dragon Sword left Seo-rin’s hand, a jet-black flash extended in a straight line. The simple yet complex techniques of the Formless Flying Sword followed. Swift movements dominated, solely for speed.

Swoosh-!

The moment she released the flying sword, she realized. It wouldn’t reach. As Seo-rin’s expression crumpled, the Black Dragon Sword plunged into the ground, causing it to explode.

Boom-!

“Huff…”

Her heart pounded. Sweat flowed despite her body not being tired. It was because she was overly excited.

‘Lost him.’

He disappeared without a trace. She didn’t know what method he used. If he had left even a scent, she would have continued tracking it. But he hadn’t left even that.

He had vanished as if he had truly become the wind.

Seo-rin turned her head. Not far away, two presences were rapidly approaching. Her juniors whom she had left at the campsite. They must have felt the shock from the fierce battle and were coming here.

Seo-rin turned her body. As a gentle cold breeze caressed the Black Dragon Sword, it naturally rose and returned to Seo-rin.

Clack-

The Black Dragon Sword found its home.

Would it have been different if all three had been together?

Seo-rin spoke as she looked at the two approaching juniors.

“S-Senior!”

“What happened!”

The two juniors spoke before Seo-rin, each with their weapons drawn. Not bad preparedness. Seo-rin, who had muttered softly, said:

“I lost the reincarnator.”

There’s much to discuss upon return. Continuing the pursuit right now is nearly impossible. It’s late, and monsters are gathering due to the sudden mana fluctuations. The main reason was also that she had lost the reincarnator’s trail.

“Let’s head back for now.”

Seo-rin turned around. She lightly wiped away the blood flowing down her cheek. Being a shallow wound, it had already started to heal. It was the mysterious power of her sibling’s body.

The pursuit of the reincarnator resumed early the next morning. They settled for a light meal of jerky. The three people, rolling the hard jerky in their mouths, began the pursuit based on where the reincarnator had disappeared.

“I first spotted him near the ruins. He fled into the forest after I discovered him. If we can’t find traces here, we’ll return to the ruins to search.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Humans can see more during the day than at night. Many traces that couldn’t be seen without light became visible in the morning. The direction of broken branches and the wolf hair caught on them were undoubtedly traces of the reincarnator.

Wolves with snow-white fur typically live only in cold regions. They don’t inhabit places like this. It must be a trace that fell from the wolf fur vest the reincarnator was wearing.

Sniff sniff-

The scent is familiar too.

Seo-rin gathered her two juniors.

“These are the reincarnator’s traces. Judging by the direction of the broken branches, he went straight ahead.”

“Oh…”

“Wow… where did you learn this?”

“I didn’t learn it. I figured it out myself.”

She didn’t neglect the education of her juniors. Seo-rin imparted the knowledge necessary for a hunter to the two.

The direction of the traces headed toward the mountain range. Since that was their original destination anyway, there was no hesitation in proceeding.

“Oh…”

“Is this the ancient mages’ ruins…?”

Upon arriving just below the mountain range, Parna and Bigart gaped in awe. They had glimpsed the traces from afar, but up close, the scale of the ruins was beyond imagination.

It was incredibly massive. And majestic. Though much of its past appearance had been eroded by time, enough remained to infer its original form.

Seo-rin plunged fearlessly toward the massive ruins.

“Ah! Wait for us!”

“Huh…!”

Seo-rin didn’t look back at the two. More precisely, she didn’t have the leisure to. Somehow familiar hieroglyphs caught her eye throughout the massive ruins.

“This is…”

“Could it be that you can read it?”

Seo-rin, who had stopped in front of a large wall, caressed the faint characters. The primitive form of writing was clearly similar to what the White Frost tribe used.

“I’m not sure.”

“Ah…”

Wind, sky, bird.

She traces the faint characters, cautiously inferring their meaning. With many collapsed and broken parts in between, they didn’t form proper sentences.

‘If just a few strokes were added, it would be identical…’

It was then. A gentle breeze caressed Seo-rin’s cheek. As if suggesting where to look.

A wind with intent. Seo-rin followed the spirit’s guidance and shifted her gaze. A faint wind slowly advances along the path of the ruins. At the place where the girl’s gaze arrived, there was a large building. A place entirely covered in dirt due to a landslide.

“The wind…”

The wind continues. Into the collapsed building.

Seo-rin followed the wind. Behind her, the two juniors hurriedly caught up.