Chapter 45 – Day 45

Day 45

“Um… what exactly is going on here…?”

Feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles, the man who had been reluctantly eating sushi gathered his courage to ask.

At the man’s question, Mio’s eyes turned fierce, while Cheon Seoa just smiled and said.

“How much do you remember?”

“Well… I remember that small sun being embedded in my heart. And then feeling a searing pain as if my whole body was burning up.”

“You remember almost everything. Indeed, you nearly died then. I saved your life.”

“But why…?”

At Cheon Seoa’s words, the man looked bewildered.

The Empress had.
Deren wondered why the Empress, who was driving humanity to extinction, would spare his life.

It wasn’t just about the future; even in the present timeline, he had drawn his sword to kill the Empress.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason for the Empress to spare someone like him.

In response to the man’s doubts, Cheon Seoa let out an uncharacteristically low sigh.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to spare you. Putting aside the fact that you went berserk trying to kill me, you also tried to kill Mio.”

Mio…?
Who is that…?

The man, who had unknowingly made such an expression, soon realized who ‘Mio’ was when he saw the fierce glare of the Sword Demon that Cheon Seoa had mentioned.

Who would have thought that the Sword Demon’s name, which remained unknown even as the ‘Day of Destruction’ approached in the future, was Mio?

For a moment, while the man was lost in such idle thoughts.
Cheon Seoa continued speaking.

“However, I made a promise with the Sun Gate. To put it simply, because of that promise, I have no choice but to spare your life.”

Sun Gate?
Where is that?
No, more importantly, you’re sparing my life because of a promise made with an organization that has nothing to do with me?

Cheon Seoa’s brief explanation only served to confuse the man even more.

Well, still.

‘At least I’m not dead.’

Although he had no idea what or where the Sun Gate was.
The man silently expressed his gratitude towards this Sun Gate in his heart.

Thanks to her, he was able to survive, so any person with proper thinking would act like the man did.

“Ah, and.”

While Mio was looking at the man as if he was pathetic, Cheon Seoa took out a book from her spatial storage.

A book with “Nine Palaces Sun Cultivation Method” written on the cover.
That was indeed the highest-level technique that could be called the essence of the now-extinct Sun Sect.

It was a secret technique of the Sun Sect, which was ranked fairly high even in the upper realm.
If this were to be released in the lower realm, or even in the middle realm, countless cultivators would kill each other to obtain this technique.

The reason Cheon Seoa took out such a Nine Palaces Sun Cultivation Method was.

“From now on, you must cultivate this Nine Palaces Sun Cultivation Method. At least… up to the 10-star realm.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Because only then will I be able to kill you.”

…!

At Cheon Seoa’s words, which were like a bomb dropped so calmly, the man’s eyes widened.

No, she said she saved him to fulfill her promise.
Now she’s telling him to learn this technique so she can kill him.

What nonsense is this?

“You know what? I haven’t forgiven you. Although there was no problem in the end, if I hadn’t been there, Mio would have died by your hands.”

After saying that, Cheon Seoa glanced at Mio.

The man also nodded unconsciously, as if agreeing with Cheon Seoa’s words.

If it weren’t for Cheon Seoa’s unexpectedly high level, he would have killed the Sword Demon and even the Empress.

Looking at the man with dead eyes that showed no emotion, Cheon Seoa continued speaking.

“I didn’t save you because I wanted to save you. I saved you to fulfill my promise to the Sun Gate. So.”

When my promise is over, I will kill you.

What would it feel like to watch someone tell you to your face that they’re going to kill you?
And that someone is a monster who could kill you like a bug with just one finger.

It was no easy task to explain such complex emotions, but one thing was certain.

‘I’m screwed.’

* * *

“Then, please train hard and master the Nine Suns Solar True Technique up to 10 stars.”

With those words, Cheon Seoa mends the torn space.

Mio, who had been watching Cheon Seoa from beginning to end, said as if she couldn’t understand.

“I’ve made countless promises and broken them like flipping my palm. Why am I still fine?”

“That’s simple.”

…?

As Cheon Seoa replied with a smile, Mio’s eyes lit up.

Could there be something special about her that allows her to remain unscathed despite breaking so many promises?

While Mio harbored such expectations…

“Mio’s level is still at the Forbidden Stage, right? At that level, no matter how many promises you make, there’s no effect. You need to at least reach the Avatar Stage to start shouldering even minor risks.”

In other words, Cheon Seoa was saying this:

You’re insignificant, so no matter what promises you make, it doesn’t matter.

At Cheon Seoa’s words, Mio’s expression visibly deflated.

Cheon Seoa, as if to comfort the visibly deflated Mio, patted her head and said.

“So, now that we’ve eaten, where are we going next?”

To Cheon Seoa’s question, Mio brightened up again as if she had never been gloomy, and exclaimed energetically:

“Next is Tokyo’s famous attraction! Akihabara!”

* * *

Tokyo Akihabara.
Commonly known as the holy land of otaku.

It’s filled with all kinds of goods shops selling figurines and other items, and furthermore, it’s a place where numerous maid cafes are located.

Such Akihabara is said to attract an average of 3 million tourists annually.

Indeed.

“There are a lot of people.”

Cheon Seoa said, waving her hand as if shooing away flies.

Mio looked at Cheon Seoa with eyes that couldn’t understand her and carefully opened her mouth.

“Is there any problem?”

“Huh? No? Why?”

“Well…”

Seeing Cheon Seoa continuously waving her hand, Mio couldn’t bring herself to speak.
Finally realizing what Mio wanted to say, Cheon Seoa answered as if it was nothing.

“The barrier is a bit annoying.”

“Barrier… you say?”

At Cheon Seoa’s words, Mio tilted her head in confusion.

A barrier?
Was there such a thing in Japan?

At that, Cheon Seoa smiled gently at Mio.

“Mio probably doesn’t know. From the beginning, the barrier covering Japan was only large in size, but its substance was terrible. It doesn’t even reach the level of a parlor trick. It’s just barely called a barrier thanks to its enormous size.”

“Hmm…”

Even with Cheon Seoa’s explanation, Mio puffed her cheeks as if unable to accept it.

No matter how you look at it.
She had reigned over Japan from both the shadows and the light for hundreds of years, yet she hadn’t noticed such a thing.

Perhaps I’m not worthy of being called one of the nine worst villains?

As Mio’s thoughts gradually became more pessimistic, Cheon Seoa gently stroked her head.

“You don’t need to blame yourself too much. It’s just that the difference in level between the barrier and Mio is too overwhelming. To explain it simply… an ordinary human can find a mosquito buzzing near their ear if they concentrate, but no matter how much they focus, they can’t detect microorganisms spread in the air. It’s the same principle.”

“Then what about you, miss?”

“I’m just at a level where such examples don’t apply.”

“Uung-.”

Only then did Mio’s expression soften a bit.
Of course, she still puffed her cheeks as if dissatisfied with the fact that Cheon Seoa could do it but she couldn’t.

More importantly.

‘This barrier. It’s gradually gathering around Mio.’

Cheon Seoa muttered inwardly.

The effect of this barrier covering Japan was just one thing.

‘Monitoring’ the ability users entering Japan.

Among them, there would also be monitoring of whether Repairers existing in other countries were entering Japan.

Moving forward, the Repairers settled in Japan.
Perhaps they are a sect affiliated with the Ascension Gate, and they might be tracking the existence of the Sword Demon in real-time.

That’s understandable.

‘There will be gaps in the barrier centered around Mio.’

Gaps that occur due to the vast difference in level between the barrier and Mio.
The Japanese Repairers are monitoring Mio through these gaps.

Of course, even so, they can only gather information about ‘where Mio is’.

Well, if we’re talking about that, I should be in the same situation.

‘Filling the gaps is no big deal.’

Cheon Seoa was filling in the gaps created by the collision between herself and the barrier in real-time.

That’s why, even though they know that a huge power like herself has entered Japan.
The Japanese Repairers who couldn’t pinpoint her location are probably focusing part of the barrier on Mio to find her.

This could be explained as… the Japanese Repairers have already figured out the relationship between herself and Mio to some extent.

“The Japanese Repairers seem to be quite a bit more advanced than the Bihwamun Repairers in Jeju Island.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. More importantly, where should we go next? I’d like to visit a maid cafe.”

“A maid cafe! Sounds good! Shall we go to a maid cafe then?”

At Cheon Seoa’s suggestion, Mio smiled brightly and took the lead.

Cheon Seoa, following behind Mio, thought.

‘Well, it’s not a big problem. If a problem does arise….’

If the Repairers find other things, that’s fine, but if they’re wasting time, it might not be bad to sweep them away like Bihwamun.

With that thought, Cheon Seoa walked towards a maid cafe somewhere in Akihabara, guided by Mio.