Vol 2. Chapter 376: It Must Not Have Been Enough (1)

Chapter 49. It Must Not Have Been Enough

However, there were those who could not simply stand by and watch, unlike Cale’s group.

No, most people could not just watch.

“Hwa In is So Hee?!”

“Th-This is impossible! To commit such deceit!”

Not only ordinary citizens of the kingdom, but even the Lan Kingdom leadership.

With the position of the next ruler of the Lan Kingdom hanging on this martial arts tournament, everyone reacted strongly to the fact that Hwa In was So Hee.

But there were those capable of deeper thought and judgment.

The heads of each organization, or—

“This is—”

When it came to someone like King Tamahi, the reaction was markedly different.

“Martial Arts Master.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Martial Arts Master Cha Run’s voice trembled.

“No matter ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) how I look at it now, Hwa In seems to have been the mask, and So Hee the real face. That means the leader of an entire alliance was operating while hiding her identity, correct?”

The king was the same.

Without realizing it, she was even speaking to Cha Run with the polite speech of her childhood.

“And that power—”

The finger with which she pointed at Kim Hae-Yi was trembling.

“I think I finally understand it now.”

Woooo— wooo—

The moment she saw the dark-crimson force growing larger and larger.

When it had been small in scale, she had not been able to tell.

But now, she thought she understood the nature of that power.

To be exact, she did not know what that power was.

But she had seen something similar before.

“It is undoubtedly the power of those people—the Wanderers.”

The intruders with that overwhelming power, the ones who had made even King Tamahi unable to act as she wished.

It was certainly similar to their power.

Because it was something she had never seen before in her life.

“Though each one is different—”

There had been two Wanderers she had met so far.

“A personal force that only that individual can emit.”

Moments Tamahi had not even dared hope to possess for herself, and so had only been forced into despair.

“...Kim Hae-Yi... is a Wanderer?”

The moment flames were about to stir in Tamahi’s muttering eyes—

“Your Majesty.”

Martial Arts Master Cha Run’s calm voice brushed her ear.

“If that were the case, the situation would be too strange.”

“...I know that as well.”

Because—

No matter who looked at it now—

“The one who is truly suspicious is rather the Cooperative Alliance leader, Hwa In.”

It was then.

Kiiiiiiiii——

A dreadful sound, like the cry of a dying beast, rang out through the arena.

“!”

Even King Tamahi, who had trained for decades, flinched unconsciously at that sound, hunching her shoulders and touching her ear.

“Ugh!”

“Ack, my ears!”

The ordinary citizens of the kingdom clutched their ears or grabbed their heads.

“Your Majesty!”

At the cry of the royal guard, Tamahi looked toward the martial arena.

“!”

Just as the dark-crimson force seemed about to take over the entire arena—

A single line of white rising up.

“Hup!”

Without realizing it, she inhaled deeply.

A pure white that did not shine in the slightest.

That white line, rising like a single thread, was blooming from Hwa In’s—no, So Hee’s—hand.

“Ah—”

A single white line blooming amidst that ominous dark-crimson force.

The instant she saw that line, only one thing came to Tamahi’s mind.

Death.

She did not know why.

But the moment she saw that white line, Tamahi felt as if she were seeing a hallucination of her own neck falling away.

Kiiiiii——

This bizarre sound reaching her ears felt like the final cry, the despair, of someone standing before death.

Black was not the only color of death.

Sometimes, white expressed death even more clearly.

Because it was a blank sheet that permitted not even a speck of dust, nothing but absolute emptiness.

Kiiiiii—

The tip of the white line, which had risen as if to touch the sky, began to split apart.

Kiiiiii—

The line split into eight and drew a semicircle as it spread over the arena.

Kiiiiii——!

The cry grew louder.

Tamahi could not move.

The moment she moved, it felt as though that white line would sever her neck.

And it felt as though that white line would cover the arena.

Ah—

That was why she could realize it.

A spider web—

That white line was like a spider web.

And she herself was like prey caught in it.

It was then.

Boom!

The arena shook.

“!”

King Tamahi saw the dark-crimson force convulse.

And at the center of that dark-crimson force stood Kim Hae-Yi.

He stamped his foot.

Boom!

The arena trembled again.

And with a gesture of his hand, the dark-crimson force moved toward the white line.

Only then—

“......”

She could breathe again.

Kim Hae-Yi.

“...That man is not an enemy—”

At the moment he stamped his foot and moved his force toward the white line—

“Haa!”

“Huff, huff.”

The ordinary citizens of the kingdom began breathing again.

He had pulled their eyes away from that white line, which had even suffocated King Tamahi, and allowed them to breathe.

That dark-crimson force, ominous and yet impossible to look away from, was protecting them.

As if especially trying to protect the ordinary citizens of the kingdom, it stretched out near them and formed a thick wall between them and the martial arena.

“Your Majesty!”

There was desperation in Cha Run’s aged voice, and Tamahi flinched.

“!”

At some point, someone had already approached her side.

Wheee—

A blond man with wind wrapped around his ankles.

His face hidden by a bamboo hat, he opened his mouth.

“We need to evacuate everyone.”

Within the bamboo hat he slowly raised was a beautiful young man with a pure face.

It was then.

Boom!

The ground shook once more.

One white line struck down outside the arena.

Jiiiiing—!

From that line, along with white smoke, fine threads stretched outward.

Like capillaries.

Or like a spider web.

If all eight of those threads drove themselves into the ground like that and spread such smoke and fine strands—

We’ll be swallowed!

Like prey wrapped tight in a spider web.

Everyone in this arena would become that.

“Damn it! Internal energy doesn’t work on this!”

Someone unleashed a martial technique at those fine strands.

It was not that internal energy did not work on them.

Only that internal energy weaker than the strands could not affect them.

“Out of the way!”

“Aaaah—!”

“W-We have to run!”

The people were full of chaos.

“......”

The man in the bamboo hat.

Staring fixedly at Alberu, Tamahi opened her mouth.

“Begin the evacuation at once!”

At that order, the officials began to move.

Boom!

The beating of drums rang out from all directions, and officials rushed forward, guiding the people and opening the entrance gates.

“We can’t open Entrance Seven! It’s blocked!”

Eight entrances.

Before every one of those gates, white lines descended as if to root themselves there.

One gate was already blocked.

“N-Number Five too, soon—!”

One of the officials cried out in a desperate voice.

“Out of the way!”

Hyun Seong, the elder of the Snow Flower Sect, stepped forward and unleashed a martial technique.

The tip of her spear targeted the white line, but—

Kwang!

Only a thunderous roar rang out, and not a single scratch was left on the line.

Impossible!

The instant Hyun Seong collided with that white line, goosebumps erupted all over her body.

This—

What is this?

Her internal energy had rebounded.

Her attack had not landed.

That white line was a bizarre force.

It was neither aura nor magic.

What could defeat that thing?

Even as Hyun Seong’s thoughts were going blank, the white line seemed about to drive itself down before Gate Five.

“Damn it! Redirect the people somewhere else!”

The moment Hyun Seong turned back and shouted at an official—

“Please step aside.”

She saw a man in a bamboo hat.

A man with red hair.

The moment he extended his sword—

“!”

Another wave of goosebumps ran over Hyun Seong’s entire body.

“Ah.”

A fierce black streak, like lightning, passed by her body and shot forward.

Slice—

The white line was cut apart.

Swish.

The red-haired man raised his bamboo hat, and beneath it stood a man with a gentle face.

“Please evacuate the people.”

Leaving those words behind, Choi Han moved again.

Toward the eight entrances.

To stop them from being blocked.

This is what Cale-nim said.

Amid the spectator stands full of chaos, where everyone was fleeing, he recalled Cale standing alone in stillness, looking down at the martial arena.

Choi Han. Your Highness.

Cale had opened his mouth.

I think that power is something related to a domain.

Cale relayed to his companions what the Ancient Tree had told him.

That white line also seems to be a kind of aura like yours, Choi Han. It looks like she has gone beyond simple aura and created a force of her own.

That was what the Ancient Tree had said.

Like an ancient power.

—That’s an ancient power. Same as us.

—Only stronger than us.

—If we’re seedlings, then that one is a tree.

If we get trapped inside that domain, it’s going to be troublesome.

The moment he saw the white line, Cale had already decided what needed to be done.

Your Highness, please handle the king’s side.

And Choi Han, you help evacuate the people.

Woooo— wooo—

Choi Han heard a low vibration.

A faint force, so slight that the others still could not notice it, was lingering around Cale.

The Heavenly Demon.

So Hee.

Of everyone here, the being with an aura so overwhelmingly powerful that none could compare—

was Cale.

If the Heavenly Demon starts having trouble, I’ll help him.

Because of that, Choi Han had been unable to object to Cale’s words, and had no choice but to leave his side and move.

“......”

But the moment Cale was in danger, he intended to move at once.

A Wanderer.

That bastard was his prey.

Boom!

At that moment, the ground shook again.

Choi Han’s gaze turned briefly to the martial arena.

Even while people fled, the match was not over yet.

“I have to capture you.”

Wanderer So Hee, wearing a smile, extended her hand toward the Heavenly Demon.

A white line was gripped in her hand like a sword.

Kiiiiii—

With a dreadful cry that tore through the air, the white line moved toward the Heavenly Demon.

That line made death feel vividly real.

“Hah, hahahaha—”

Looking at that line, the Heavenly Demon began to laugh.

Turning his gaze away, Choi Han murmured quietly.

“...He really is insane.”

The Heavenly Demon.

That was who he was talking about.

And yet there was also a faint smile at the corner of Choi Han’s own lips.

“I think I understand.”

There was no one to hear what he meant by that.

Nor did Choi Han have any time to tell anyone.

Slice—

His sword moved without rest, unrestrained, so that the white lines would not imprison the people.

“Hahaha—”

The ennui that had wrapped around the still-laughing Heavenly Demon had vanished.

As if delighted, he smiled brightly.

Woooo— wooo—

A white line advancing toward him without hesitation, regardless of the dark-crimson force.

The Heavenly Demon quietly watched it.

And he took in So Hee beyond it as well.

Grin.

So Hee was smiling.

After unfolding the white line, her presence had become like a calm sea.

Without the slightest wavering, and with no end in sight.

Kiiiiii—

That stillness, so ill-matched with that grotesque crying sound, made her seem less than human, something impossible to approach.

“It isn’t easy, is it?”

So Hee spoke in a low voice.

And at the end of those words—

Woooo—

Passing through the dark-crimson force, the white line reached right before the Heavenly Demon’s nose.

A snicker slipped from So Hee’s lips.

“Individuality without a formed shape isn’t of much use.”

The Heavenly Demon stretched out his hand.

The dark-crimson force touched the white line.

Chiiiiii—

With a sound like burning away, the dark-crimson force was pushed back.

The smile vanished from the Heavenly Demon’s lips.

So Hee’s smile deepened.

Kwang!

Just as the Heavenly Demon’s hand, wrapped in dark-crimson force, tried to seize the white line—

“Mm.”

The Heavenly Demon’s body, along with his hand, was knocked backward.

“......”

He took one step back.

He looked down at the foot that had stepped backward.

“Hehe—”

So Hee laughed and waved her hand.

As though it were her own hand, the white line moved naturally with it.

Kiiiiii-!

Cutting through the air, the white line moved as fast as the wind and seized the Heavenly Demon’s wrist.

Sss—

Then it climbed upward.

In an instant, it wrapped one of the Heavenly Demon’s arms like a bandage.

Like a spider binding prey that had entered its home.

“......”

The Heavenly Demon still looked down at the foot with which he had stepped back.

“You’re just standing there?”

So Hee did not hide her smile.

“Ah—”

She lifted her head.

Through the white lines, the sky was visible.

Soon, that sky too would be trapped inside her cocoon.

“I should’ve just killed everyone like this from the start.”

I moved around in such a troublesome way.

I should have just done this.

“It’ll cut down on annoying work.”

“Yes.”

—!

So Hee halted.

She lowered her head.

Kim Hae-Yi was still lowering his own head.

And yet it had definitely been the Heavenly Demon who had just answered, Yes.

Again, his voice reached her.

“Yes. Thanks to you, annoying work has been cut down.”

The corners of So Hee’s eyes twisted.

“What... did you say?”

What exactly was this bastard saying right now?

She had not intended to kill him immediately because she was far too curious about his identity.

But something about that inexplicably arrogant manner made the corners of her eyes flicker.

And the Heavenly Demon answered.

“It’s nothing much.”

He raised his head.

The Heavenly Demon was smiling.

“I’m thanking you.”

“...What?”

So Hee stopped in the middle of asking back.

She lifted her head.

The Heavenly Demon’s voice reached her ears.

“Thanks to you, I figured out how to use this power. I’m truly grateful.”

That voice was calm beyond all measure.

“Individuality, was it—”

Something unique.

“Create a form of my own—”

It had been very good advice.

Very fitting advice.

The first form of this power that the Heavenly Demon had seen had been Choi Han’s, but—

Individuality and form.

The moment he saw it, an answer had come to him.

“...Kim Hae-Il—”

Kim Hae-Il, who handled nature itself. No—Cale Henituse.

More than the So Hee before him—

his power was more like that of a god.

Ah.

He had seen the answer.

The Heavenly Demon had found a path beyond Choi Han, and beyond that still.

You’re saying I can do something like that with this force of mine?

The answer to that question came quickly.

Looking at the foot of his that had been pushed back, the Heavenly Demon thought:

I cannot be pushed back.

Why?

Because I am the sky of the Demonic Cult.

“Yes.”

I am—

“the sky.”

The god and sky of the Demonic Cult.

“...Th-This... this can’t be—”

So Hee’s eyes, which were looking at the sky, shook.

And Choi Han, in the middle of swinging his sword, stopped and looked up at the sky.

“So you realized it too, after all.”

Only—

“I was late this time.”

A smile filled with fighting spirit touched the corner of Choi Han’s lips.

“Ha!”

Crown Prince Alberu, too, now truly felt the path that Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon had reached, a place he himself had not touched.

And at the moment yearning boiled in his eyes—

—Cale.

Cale looked at the sky and heard the Ancient Tree’s voice.

—It isn’t a sky attribute. It’s cloud.

Deep admiration lingered in the Ancient Tree’s voice.

—A cloud great enough to cover the sky—

As if seized by intense emotion, he spoke only after a long while.

—...An ancient power is being born!

The spider web made of white lines.

The sky beyond it—the real sky—rippled.

Clouds formed.

Those clouds gradually turned dark crimson.

And they writhed.

It was like watching a ferocious beast, a tiger, uncurling its body after crouching at rest.

“Hah, seriously.”

Cale stared at the Heavenly Demon, dumbfounded.

Grin.

The Heavenly Demon was already looking at Cale.

He flashed Cale a smile once, then turned his head.

And moved his hand.

“Ugh!”

So Hee lowered her head.

She looked down.

One of her feet had been dragged a step forward.

She stared straight ahead.

There, the Heavenly Demon was gripping the white line wound around his hand and pulling on it.

“...You bastard—”

So Hee bit her lip, yet could not act easily.

Rumble—

The sky began to cry.

No, the clouds.

Ominous yet fascinating dark-crimson clouds covered the sky.

It was the sky the Heavenly Demon had made.