episode_0097

Immediately after the black sword fell from the sky and the stadium turned into chaos.

The first to grasp the situation and calmly compose herself was Seol Hayeon.

Perhaps it was because she was known as the Grand Ice Mage. In any case, her judgment was among the foremost of those gathered.

Whoosh…! She summoned mana and immediately spread her perception wide like a spiderweb.

This was to assess the situation more accurately.

So, where were the culprits behind this mess?

‘It won’t be just one or two of them.’

In truth, they had to be considered the ones who attacked the nation’s top academy, currently the focus of nationwide attention, at its most brilliant moment.

Whether they were simply audacious or had the confidence to pull it off remained to be seen, but—

At the very least, it wouldn’t be a job that could be accomplished by a small number of people. Regardless of their level of power, it was purely a problem of insufficient manpower.

There were at least a dozen or so S-rank awakened individuals who had come to the academy alone.

If they attacked a place where such individuals were positioned everywhere… Unless they were truly foolish, they would have prepared countermeasures.

And in a stadium like this, where too many people were gathered to identify everyone—

The answer was, in fact, already set.

Seol Hayeon turned her cold gaze and stared behind her.

‘Taking hostages.’

In other words, it was a timed attack, starting by taking the lives of ordinary people hostage, to avoid confronting all the numerous top-tier awakened individuals directly.

“……”

“A gasp…!”

Through Seol Hayeon’s blue vision, a man came into view.

At the same time, a middle-aged woman was held captive by him.

There was no need to explain why. A sharp dagger was pressed against her neck.

It was a situation where panic wouldn’t be unusual.

Seol Hayeon carefully manipulated her ice, beginning to look for an opening to precisely intercept the man, but it was proving difficult.

Although the objective difference in their cultivation levels was clear, the presence of the hostage held her back.

“……Hmph.”

The man, concealed in a dark robe, twisted up the corner of his mouth.

He then lightly flicked the dagger, aiming it at the hostage’s neck and, simultaneously, at Seol Hayeon’s.

“Don’t try any tricks, Ice Empress.”

“……”

“Subduing me wouldn’t be difficult for you, but… in other words, it wouldn’t be much trouble for me either to cut this woman’s throat in the meantime.”

“……Tsk.”

Seol Hayeon openly clicked her tongue. There was nothing false in the man’s words.

In fact, judging by the aura emanating from him, he was an opponent she couldn’t even guarantee subduing quickly, even if they truly faced off in an undisturbed one-on-one.

‘Where did a guy like this pop out from?’

No, should she say ‘guys’?

Seol Hayeon swept her cold, frozen eyes across various parts of the stadium.

Indeed, similar incidents were occurring simultaneously throughout the entire stadium.

Cheon Sehee, the Sword Saint, Gwon Hwang, and other unmanageable special S-rank awakened individuals, as well as other strong individuals who could pose a threat—all had one or two black-robed figures attached to them.

Of course, they cunningly held ordinary civilians, who had little strength, as hostages.

The black-robed figures were unsettlingly competent, making it difficult to move carelessly…

At any moment, a major incident could occur right here.

The largest-scale Cheongsong Festival ending, stained with blood?

That was something even the Hero’s reputation couldn’t endure. The moment innocent casualties occurred, it was game over.

…To turn the tide, she first had to create a situation where she could move freely.

Seol Hayeon let out a deep sigh.

“Haaah.”

And then she slightly raised her bowed head.

Her eyes flickered with a blue light.

“……What the……”

It was just as the black-robed man standing before her felt an unknown ominousness and was about to put more strength into the hand holding the dagger.

Seol Hayeon, who had suddenly tilted her head up to the sky, briefly parted her lips.

“Mother-nim.”

“──.”

“Just kill him. There’s nothing more to see.”

Swoosh! The black-robed man’s judgment was swift.

The moment the grand mage in front of him reacted unusually, he sensed that things had gone wrong and moved his dagger.

“Hiek?!”

But, should one call it fortunate, at least?

No blade touched the woman.

She merely collapsed to the ground as her legs gave out; at least there were no visible external injuries.

Instead, it was the black-robed man whose neck was cleanly severed, gushing red blood.

Behind him stood Yeon Seobaek, shaking off the blood from her silver dagger.

The eyes of an assassin, utterly cold, seeing people not as her own kind.

Seol Hayeon nodded lightly towards Yeon Seobaek and then shifted her gaze.

“……Let’s see…”

To grasp the precise situation, she’d need to observe this place a bit longer, but there wasn’t nearly enough time for that.

Just by seeing how those black-robed figures were acting, whatever their exact desires, their intention to stall for time was perfectly clear.

Was their sole purpose to tie up the Grand Mage and other S-rank awakened individuals here?

If so, it was reasonable to assume they had a separate strike force for their true objective.

It was clear from how they weren’t carelessly killing hostages but merely dragging out time.

It seemed they intended to achieve their goal by holding the entire stadium hostage.

“Hmph.”

Seol Hayeon covered her mouth slightly and let out a hollow laugh.

Goodness, to be underestimated like this.

Among the S-ranks gathered here, who among them couldn’t escape if they truly set their minds to it?

They were simply unable to make a move out of concern for the hostages’ safety.

“Shall we move, Hayeon?”

“……Mother-nim.”

In other words, there were no restrictions on the two S-ranks here, who had immediately dispatched one of the black-robed figures holding a hostage.

Seol Hayeon, narrowing her eyes at Yeon Seobaek’s brief summons, snapped her fingers. Snap!

Crackle!

The small storm of cold that swept through then cleanly froze the headless black-robed man from his collarbone to his toes.

A thick, dense ice statue, so much so that one wouldn’t be able to discern its identity unless they dug through the ice and cold to its very core.

Now, it would take some time for his comrades to notice his absence.

Seol Hayeon exchanged only a brief glance with Yeon Seobaek without another word.

The initial stages of the chaotic terror attack were optimal for making a move.

Yeon Seobaek immediately descended into the shadows and disappeared, and Seol Hayeon also transformed her body into cold energy by snapping her fingers again.

First, leave the stadium, then think.

Of course, they needed to catch the ringleaders.

If they crushed the heads, the minor players here would have no choice.

‘…If possible, joining forces with the Hero wouldn’t be a bad idea…’

As she thought this, at the stadium’s exit, just as Seol Hayeon, who had transformed into cold energy, reverted to her original form—

Halt, her movement briefly stopped.

“……?”

And she turned her head.

Her gaze landed on the stage.

“Uh, um.”

She showed a flustered expression for the first time since the incident broke out. The subjects who should have been there had vanished from where they should be.

The two young men who had clearly been standing on the stage just moments ago.

“……”

Cheon Woohyuk.

And Lee Hyunjin.

They were nowhere to be seen. Their presence wasn’t felt either.

Truly, not anywhere in this stadium.

*****

-Demonic Sword.

An otherworldly armament occasionally found in dungeons or gates, it wasn’t something easily seen due to its special abilities and rarity.

Had I only ever seen one once? It was probably a crude item used by those Moonlight Cult bastards when they caused trouble at the academy.

‘…Of all places, at the academy again?’

I never thought I’d see it again today. Oh, of course, this one was on a different qualitative level, but still, a demonic sword is a demonic sword, isn’t it?

“Haaah.”

I let out a deplorable sigh and lightly stretched my stiff body.

Then I turned my head to look around. Where could this place be?

‘First, it definitely doesn’t seem to be the stadium.’

Is it spatial movement? And forcefully interfering with two mages.

I looked back at Cheon Woohyuk, who was composing himself next to me, and clicked my tongue.

In any case, this was a dark space.

It looked like some kind of basement, but if I had to find a similar image, it felt like the waterways of a medieval city.

“……”

I slightly lowered my stance and touched the floor. It was an attempt to roughly gauge the scale of the space by letting out a faint amount of mana, but—

Crack—!

“Tsk.”

It failed. The mana surged back as if repelled, and I had to quickly pull back to avoid being hurt by the very axe I trusted [a saying about a trusted tool or plan backfiring].

Eventually, I let out a sigh of resignation and turned my head towards Cheon Woohyuk again.

“So…”

“……”

“How much do you remember? I remember up until that demonic sword fell onto the stage.”

My finger pointed to the black demonic sword stuck in the very center of the space.

It was undoubtedly the longsword that had sent us flying through the air once.

Cheon Woohyuk, similarly shifting his gaze to follow my fingertip, frowned for a moment and then shook his head.

“Nothing different. My body remembers being ‘swallowed’ by that sword, but after that, it’s a blank.”

“Hmm.”

I muttered, not particularly pleased with the answer. Then, lightly stroking my chin, I observed the flow of mana surrounding the demonic sword.

The conclusion I quickly reached was simple.

“As expected, it must be a magical phenomenon.”

“……Unless by some unbelievable chance, you and I lost only the exact same memories at the same time.”

I glared at Cheon Woohyuk as I spoke, and with a small sigh, he stood up, seemingly feeling the same thing as I did, his body stiff.

At his posture, which seemed to indicate an attempt to do something, I had to tilt my head.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I have to do something.”

“Surely you’re not going to touch it?”

“……”

I gestured towards the demonic sword with a hollow laugh.

Cheon Woohyuk didn’t answer.

I sighed and raised my arm to stop him.

“Don’t bother. Do you think it’s called a demonic sword for no reason? If we touch it without knowing anything and the space warps two or three more times, only we will be at a disadvantage.”

“……”

And Cheon Woohyuk didn’t offer any different opinion to that. Naturally, he would know it well too. I felt a little relieved.

Still, it was fortunate our opinions didn’t diverge when we only had each other to rely on at a moment like this.

It was then that I was about to open my mouth to suggest another alternative.

Crunch—

…

…

…

“Didn’t you hear something just now?”

I asked Cheon Woohyuk, my expression turning cold, and he, too, seemed to have felt the same thing, turning his gaze stiffly.

We both looked at the demonic sword at the same time.

The only ‘something’ existing here besides me and this man.

“……”

“……”

Crunch, grind-grind-grind, CRACK!!

From that very spot, a very unpleasant, grating noise was emanating.

As if something was being crushed and disassembled… Such a truly unpleasant sound.

Naturally, Cheon Woohyuk gathered lightning in his right arm, and I, too, activated my master’s unique ability in preparation for any unforeseen situation.

Along with the sensation of my body slowly freezing, a sharper chill began to settle upon me…

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

[……Hehehe.]

Had five seconds passed?

The change began then.

Something surged up from the viscous, dark red liquid that stained the demonic sword.

Needless to say, it was a human figure.

Approximately 2 meters tall. It didn’t have proper facial features, but what was clearly visible were its long, slit red eyes.

Furthermore, I wondered if it even possessed vocal cords.

As evidence, the voice that spoke the next moment resonated purely within my mind.

[Truly… what sharp children you are.]

“……”

[If you’d approached without knowing anything, I would have just devoured you whole, you see! Hehehe…]

It was an unpleasant voice. It sounded like an old man’s, subtly echoing and bouncing in my mind, causing a headache.

And around this time… Cheon Woohyuk must have felt exactly the same thing as I did.

We didn’t know the opponent’s identity.

There was only one thing we knew.

The absolute cultivation level it had amassed.

‘At least S-rank.’

Perhaps, even higher.

“……”

Cold sweat spontaneously trickled down.

Was it tension, or perhaps fear?

It wasn’t a thought to be having at a moment like this, but strictly speaking, I hadn’t truly faced many opponents for whom I had to be resolved to die.

In fact, I should probably say I’d hardly faced any at all?

I had a certain confidence in my abilities, and what’s more… for the most part, they were only enemies within a manageable ‘limit’ that I could deal with by receiving help from my surroundings, or from the situation.

Yes. Until now, that is.

Perhaps not anymore.

Sliiiide…!

The demonic sword was drawn by the creature’s hand.