Chapter 18 – Day 18

Day 18

“Hey, Yuri Jin! Are you crazy?”

“Ah, no! That’s not it…”

Yuri Jin wore a bewildered expression at Yeseul Kang’s angry shout.

Yuri Jin was just as confused and flustered.
No, it was even worse for her than for Yeseul Kang, who had only been watching.

After all, she, a 2nd-class hero, had used her ability to charge at an ordinary girl who looked to be about 15 or 16 years old.

But.

‘Why did I rush at Seoa?’

After a moment of confusion, Yuri Jin suddenly had this question.

Meanwhile, Seoa Cheon looked alternately at the two people who couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the sudden situation and said.

“I think I’ll be leaving now.”

“Huh? Ah, no, why?”

“Because I can’t cause any more trouble.”

Cheon Seoa responded with an indifferent expression to Jin Yuri, who was speaking in confusion.

However, Jin Yuri thought differently.
She believed that Cheon Seoa was afraid of her, who had just charged at her using her ability, and wanted to escape from this place.

Just as Jin Yuri was about to say something.

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

Kang Yeseul asked, interrupting Jin Yuri who was about to speak.

“I should go home now.”

Cheon Seoa answered Kang Yeseul’s question.

With that, Kang Yeseul was convinced that Cheon Seoa was not an ordinary runaway girl as she had expected.

Indeed, it was quite a stretch to consider Cheon Seoa a runaway girl.

Even setting aside her attire and behavior.
There was something about Cheon Seoa that didn’t give off the typical runaway girl vibe.

What Kang Yeseul sensed from Cheon Seoa was just one thing.

A momentary deviation of a rich young lady from somewhere. Nothing more, nothing less.

But.

“Well, since it’s late, why don’t you stay here tonight and go back tomorrow? Oh, I’ll explain it well to your parents.”

Was it a hero’s sense of duty… something like that?
Or was it just her natural disposition?

Jin Yuri, thinking that she couldn’t let a young girl go out alone at this late hour, tried her best to persuade Cheon Seoa.

However, it was of no use.

Cheon Seoa had already decided to leave this house long ago.
Once Cheon Seoa’s decision was made, no one could change it.

Still, they weren’t such bad people.

“I’ll come visit later. That’s okay, right?”

“Huh? Oh, of course it’s okay.”

Smiling brightly as she spoke, Jin Yuri nodded and answered without even realizing it.

* * *

“I’ll be going now.”

As soon as they left the house where Jin Yuri and Kang Yeseul lived together and entered a deserted alley, Cheon Seoa spoke.

However, in the dark alley where dim streetlights were the only source of light, not even a single stray cat was to be seen.

“Seven Sword Emperor. He sent you, right?”

Nevertheless, Cheon Seoa continued speaking as if someone was certainly somewhere in this dark alley, as if it was nothing unusual.

How long had Cheon Seoa been standing alone in the alley, where only a heavy silence lingered?

“If you keep doing this, I’ll have no choice but to tell the Seven Sword Emperor. So, if this is a joke, please stop here.”

Gradually, the emotion disappeared from Cheon Seoa’s eyes.
The voice coming from her small mouth also began to grow infinitely cold.

At that, the surrounding shadows rippled, and several people revealed themselves.

“Tsk, she’s quite sharp. Or does she have some kind of special ability?”

The people who emerged from the shadows were a group of three men and women.

Among them, a young man exuding a particularly carefree atmosphere clicked his tongue and made no effort to hide his displeasure towards Cheon Seoa.

“I wonder what our master sees in such a little brat, really.”

“Shut your mouth. We only need to carry out our master’s orders.”

The woman with a sharp, sword-like aura spoke to the complaining, carefree young man.

She was wearing a neat black suit and black sunglasses covering her eyes, looking similar to a bodyguard from a drama.

She frowned at the young man who was still not hiding his displeasure, then bowed her head to Cheon Seoa.

“I apologize for the rudeness earlier, miss.”

The woman’s behavior and tone were thoroughly submissive, treating Cheon Seoa as a superior.

However.

“Do you know something?”

Cheon Seoa said with a slight smile towards her.

“To be honest, I didn’t feel anything from that ‘child’s’ actions and words.”

Child?
Shit, did this little brat just treat me like a kid?

At Cheon Seoa’s words, the delinquent young man shouted, but was quickly subdued by another man standing nearby.
A strange being whose entire body was made of flickering shadows.

Meanwhile, the woman who had bowed her head to Cheon Seoa showed an expression of not understanding what Cheon Seoa was saying.

“I’m past the age where I would be swayed by the clumsy emotional expressions of an immature child. But you know, even at this age, there are a few things I dislike.”

“Things you… dislike, you say?”

Although she couldn’t exactly understand what Cheon Seoa was saying, it was an order from their master.
One of the nine rulers of the Illuminati, the Seven Sword Emperor.

Therefore, the woman maintained a thoroughly subordinate attitude even in this situation.

Cheon Seoa looked at her with emotionless eyes and said.

“Liar.”

Flinch-.

The moment the word “liar” came out of Cheon Seoa’s mouth, the woman’s body shook violently.

“Of course, some level of lying is inevitable for social life. However, there’s no need to act like such a liar in front of me.”

Ha-.

As soon as Cheon Seoa finished speaking, a low laugh burst from the woman’s mouth.

Really.

“Since when did you notice, kiddo?”

The woman’s tone changed.
No, it wasn’t just her tone.

“Well, from the beginning? No, to be more precise, it would be accurate to say… from the moment our eyes met.”

“Was it a mind-reading ability? Ha, this is completely ruined then.”

The woman suddenly changed.
Rather, it was the carefree young man and the shadow-like strange person who were surprised by this.

They had been working with the woman for a full 3 years.
During that time, they had never seen this side of her before.

Surprised, the young man spoke to the woman.

“Si-Sister? Why are you suddenly…!”

Bweok!

“Kuhuk-!”

A sound like bones breaking echoed, and the young man collapsed with a painful groan.

When did she move?

In the blink of an eye, the woman had instantly moved to subdue the young man, startling the mysterious figure.

“You, who are you!”

Chwararak-!

The mysterious figure unraveled the shadows that composed its body like threads, simultaneously swinging them towards the woman.

Dozens of shadow whips poured out from all directions.

However, the woman swung her fist as if annoyed by the mysterious figure’s attack.

Peobeobeong-!

The woman’s fist moved at an invisible speed, completely deflecting all the shadow whips aimed at her.

The mysterious figure’s eyes widened in surprise.

The ability it knew the woman possessed was teleportation.
Therefore, her physical abilities were supposed to be considerably lower compared to other ability users.

But now, her physical abilities were on par with those of ability users specializing in body enhancement.
At least equivalent to a 6th-grade level.

“Hmm…?”

The mysterious figure, who had been staring at the woman with heavy eyes, suddenly let out a low rumble.

Was it because she hadn’t completely blocked its attack?
Or had she been injured by the impact of the recent collision?

There was a faint scar on the left cheek of the woman.
However, rather than red blood flowing from the wound, another layer of skin was visible.

“What…?”

“Ah, don’t you know? This is called a ‘human skin mask’!”

As the shadow monster shouted in shock, the woman grinned and peeled off the human skin mask she was wearing.
The real face of the woman was revealed as the incredibly realistic human skin mask was torn off.

The shadow monster’s body trembled as it recognized that face.

“Mad… woman…?”

“Damn it! Who are you calling a mad woman!”

The woman, the mad woman, shouted at the shadow monster’s muttering.

“Damn, why am I really a mad woman? I really can’t understand… this!”

Bang!

“Guhak-!”

In an instant, the mad woman’s fist struck the shadow monster’s abdomen, and the shadow monster screamed and flew backward.

Thud.

The shadow monster finally stopped rolling on the ground after flying dozens of meters.
It managed to survive the mad woman’s single blow only because it was constantly using its ability, but it couldn’t avoid being hospitalized for a while.

Meanwhile, the mad woman, who had subdued even the shadow monster.

“Hmph, is this little one the child that the great Seven Sword Emperor cherishes so much?”

The mad woman looked down at Cheon Seoa with eyes flickering with faint madness as she spoke.

He opened his mouth lightly to Cheon Seoa.

“You, how did you get that?”

“Huh?”

“That, it’s something you can’t get on Earth.”

“You little brat, what have you been babbling about?”

With each word she utters, the madness in the madwoman’s eyes grows deeper.

Cheon Seoa stared directly into the madwoman’s eyes and said.

“Light Dragon. That’s not a body cultivation technique permitted to humans.”

Flinch-!

The moment the word ‘Light Dragon’ came out of Cheon Seoa’s mouth, the madwoman’s body shook violently.

Simultaneously.

Grab-!

The madwoman’s hand roughly grasped Cheon Seoa’s neck.

“You, where did you hear that.”

As the madwoman spoke like a fierce beast growling, Cheon Seoa’s eyes curved like a crescent moon for the first time since arriving on Earth.

“I wonder?”

“You bitch-!”

Realizing that Cheon Seoa was clearly mocking her, the madwoman exploded with anger and swung her empty left hand.

The madwoman’s left hand swung in a shape resembling a dragon’s claw.
Just as it was about to tear through the air and rip Cheon Seoa’s head to shreds.

Swish-.

A clean cutting sound echoed.

“Uh… ah…?”

The madwoman’s body, starting from the hand that was gripping Cheon Seoa’s neck, crumbled into hundreds and thousands of pieces.

Behind the collapsing madwoman.

“I apologize.”

The Seven Sword Emperor.
The Seven Sword Emperor, one of the nine rulers of Illuminate who was said to have never bowed to anyone, bowed his head towards Cheon Seoa with a stiff expression.