episode_0155

155.

“…!”

Chyaah.

Blood spurted out.

Dark, murky blood splattered in droplets.

Sharp blades sliced through flesh. Like a shark tearing into flesh, blood and flesh were taken indiscriminately.

A sharp, stinging pain spread through the nerves.

The metallic scent of blood gently tickled Yoo Dahee’s nose.

Yoo Dahee unconsciously furrowed her brow.

Ha. Look at this?

Interesting.

Truly a near-perfect ambush.

It was fast, precise, and covert.

If the target of the ambush wasn’t Yoo Dahee but someone else, they would have undoubtedly suffered serious injuries.

Yes.

If it wasn’t Yoo Dahee.

But who is the person that Jin Soyeon attacked?

It’s Yoo Dahee, Yoo Dahee. Would the renowned Yoo Dahee retreat from such an attack?

“Hup!”

“Huh?!”

Yoo Dahee twisted her body in an instant.

It was a speed reminiscent of a flash of light.

She evaded the trajectory of the blade that had viciously pierced into her flesh.

The sharp blade narrowly grazed only the flesh.

Jin Soyeon was slightly surprised by this sight.

Wow? She dodged it like that?

Indeed. As expected, Yoo Dahee, your skills are as rumored.

“Hoo. Not bad, Jin Soyeon. Your skills have improved a lot.”

Yoo Dahee subtly stepped back.

“Are you a bit surprised, honestly?”

Blood droplets were falling from Yoo Dahee’s arm.

The droplets of blood flowed down her arm, past her wrist, the back of her hand, and the fingertips, falling to the ground.

Yoo Dahee glanced down at her bleeding arm.

Ouch. It stings.

Fortunately, it seems that the muscles and bones are not damaged.

“But is this the end?”

Yoo Dahee shook her wounded arm mockingly, laughing lightly.

“You put on a great ambush, but all you did was scratch my arm a bit? That’s a bit disappointing, Jin Soyeon. I’ve heard all about your reputation.”

Yoo Dahee teased with a hint of mockery.

But deep down, she was quite surprised.

That single strike was not ordinary.

Yoo Dahee could roughly gauge Jin Soyeon’s abilities from that attack.

She swallowed a sigh mixed with admiration.

Jin Soyeon, this is not ordinary, is it?

If the person who ambushed her just now was Han Inchul, Baek Namil, or Hong Daye, could they have caused even a minor injury to her?

No.

It wouldn’t have happened.

Even if they found a small opening in Yoo Dahee’s defense, they wouldn’t have been able to penetrate it so easily.

But Jin Soyeon?

She did it as if it was nothing.

She pierced through Yoo Dahee’s defense and inflicted a wound.

To achieve this, something beyond experience, skill, and strength was needed.

It was innate intuition.

In other words, talent.

“By the way, Jin Soyeon… you cut me. I was definitely protecting myself with my defensive skills. But you managed to cut me so easily.”

Yoo Dahee’s impenetrable defense, which could easily block attacks from top-tier heroes, was cut through like a piece of paper.

If she hadn’t dodged in time, her bones might have been severed.

Jin Soyeon possessed exceptional talent.

Yoo Dahee knew she had remarkable talent, but she never expected her to grow so rapidly in such a short time.

She seemed even stronger than what Yoo Dahee had heard before.

Jin Soyeon is quite a talent.

Just like me.

“Blood.”

“Huh?”

“You drew blood?”

“So what if I did…?”

The blood-stained battlefield of Yoo Dahee.

The blood-red blade, like a drop of blood, greedily absorbed Yoo Dahee’s blood.

And true to its moniker of the cursed blood sword, it began to activate one of the dormant abilities through Yoo Dahee’s blood.

“Huh?”

Charruk. Clang, clang.

A murky, red chain-like object materialized around Yoo Dahee’s neck like a collar.

The opaque crimson chain eventually connected Yoo Dahee and Jin Soyeon. It felt unpleasant.

This ability doesn’t seem normal. Could it be the ability of that sword? In that case, is it a cursed artifact?

“What is this now?”

Yoo Dahee furrowed her brows, trying to remove the chain, but to no avail.

The physical chain that held her was impossible to break free from.

That chain was a curse.

A curse made from blood.

“One of the abilities of this sword.”

Jin Soyeon stood up straight, explaining.

“Known as the curse of blood restraint, it prevents the target from moving a certain distance away from the user.”

“Huh.”

Yoo Dahee snorted.

“You want to stop me? Do you want to die?”

Yoo Dahee chuckled bitterly.

Quite an interesting artifact. Lucky me. Let’s try to take it away.

But where did that girl get such an artifact?

She used some strange shield-like artifact in Busan.

“Usually, these kinds of artifacts are released when the user dies, right?”

“Right.”

Jin Soyeon nodded affirmatively.

“If the user dies, loses consciousness, or the artifact is destroyed, the blood restraint is released.”

“Huh? Aren’t you teaching me too easily?”

“Well, I’m confident.”

“Oh. Confidence. Impressive.”

It wasn’t just because of confidence.

It was to divert Yoo Dahee’s attention to Jin Soyeon.

“Well, is that so?”

Yoo Dahee thought about Jin Soyeon and the other heroes.

What should I do now?

Jin Soyeon’s appearance was unexpected.

She doesn’t seem easy to deal with.

Oh, of course, I could probably win without much difficulty in a one-on-one fight.

But she’s not alone. It would be troublesome to be surrounded in this situation.

“Well, there’s no choice. I have to call the others.”

A little disappointing, but there’s no need to be stubborn in a situation like this.

You have to know when to retreat.

And so, Yoo Dahee turned on her communicator.

She discreetly signaled Ryan and Sung Baeksan to join her before giving her command.

If these two join, we can easily defeat those guys…

Kwaaaaang!

“Huh? What’s that?”

Just then.

A loud explosion echoed in Yoo Dahee’s ears.

Oh. That startled me. What’s with this loud noise? Yoo Dahee glanced discreetly at the source of the explosion.

On a building a little further away.

Unknown loud noises and the commotion of many people could be felt from the building where Ryan and Sung Baeksan were secretly waiting.

What are they doing?

Could it be that heroes are attacking them?

Ryan and Sung Baeksan?

Yoo Dahee quickly called Ryan through the communicator.

“Ryan! What’s going on?”

“Yoo Dahee.”

“Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“Several heroes have attacked. It seems to be members of the SL Group and the Black Shadow Clan.”

“What?”

SL Group? Black Shadow?

Why are they here?

No, what is going on?

I thought those heroes weren’t participating in this festival.

But why did they secretly gather and attack Ryan and Sung Baeksan?

“I’m sorry, Yoo Dahee. There are quite a few of them, so it might take some time to deal with them.”

“…I understand.”

Yudahee responded as if there was nothing she could do.

And then immediately.

“Yudahee? Can you hear me?”

“Isabel?”

This time, contact came from Isabel’s group, who had been chasing Aisha to retrieve the bead.

“It was indeed a trap. Right now, there’s a battle going on between the church faction, Gaon Nuri, Oseong Group heroes.”

“What?”

She expected the church, but Gaon Nuri and Oseong Group too?

“It’s as if they knew we were going to participate in this festival in advance and set a trap. Be careful, Yudahee. We will try to wrap things up as quickly as possible and come to help.”

“….”

The communication was abruptly cut off.

Yudahee bit her lower lip for a moment.

The sudden attack of heroes. And the unexpected appearance and battles of various groups, clans, and heroes.

It was like a timed bombing. That’s why it felt even more uncomfortable.

Why are clans like SL, Black Shadow, Oseong, Gaon Nuri joining forces to attack?

As if they anticipated our appearance here, according to Isabel’s words.

Could there be someone among them with the ability to foresee the future?

“No, that’s impossible. Someone who can predict the future… that guy is already dead….”

“Yudahee.”

In the distance.

A pair of a man and a woman started walking towards Yudahee.

Thump, thump. Light, casual steps. Yudahee frowned and looked at the man’s face.

“Have you been well?”

The man had a cap pulled down deep, so his face wasn’t clearly visible.

But Yudahee unconsciously realized who that man was.

Even though reason whispered that it couldn’t be, Yudahee’s animal instinct was already convinced.

The man’s identity.

“It’s been a while since the Busan incident.”

“You’re….”

“It’s been over half a year already. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

The man raised a hand and slowly took off the deeply pulled cap.

Then, Yudahee could see the face of a young man with black hair.

A fairly handsome young man in his late teens to early twenties.

Could that guy be…?

“It’s nice to see you after so long.”

“What are you doing here? How?”

“I missed you so much that I came back to life, why?”