C376 - Insufficient (1~)
But there were people who couldn’t just watch Cale and his group.
No, most couldn’t just watch.
“Hwa In is Sohyi?!”
“T, this is impossible! How dare she commit such a deception!”
Not only the common citizens of the kingdom, but also the leaders of the kingdom.
As the position of the next king of the Kingdom of Lan was at stake in this combat competition, everyone reacted strongly upon learning that Hwa In was Sohyi.
But those who could think and judge more deeply.
The leaders of each organization or-
“This-”
The reaction changed slightly when it came to someone like Queen Tamahi.
“Sword Master.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Sword Master, Charun’s voice trembled.
“Now, no matter how we look at it, it seems that Hwa In is a mask, and Sohyi is her true face. Is it right that the leader of an organization has been secretly operating, hiding her identity?”
The queen felt the same. Without realizing it, she was speaking to Charun with respect, as she had when she was a child.
“And that strength-”
Her finger, which was pointing at Kim Haeil, trembled.
“Now I think I understand that.”
Wooong-Wooong-
The moment she saw the blood-red aura that was getting bigger and bigger. She hadn’t been able to understand the nature of that force when she was younger. Now she believed she could understand it. To be exact, she doesn’t know the nature of that force. But she had seen a similar force before.
“Those guys-, it’s definitely the Wanderers’ strength.”
The invaders who had the power to control Queen Tamahi, and who had the power to make her unable to move.
It was definitely similar to those guys’ power.
Because she had never seen anything like it in her life.
Although each has its unique essence...
The two Wanderers she had met so far.
“Only the aura itself, emanating from themselves.”
Moments when she couldn’t obtain that strength, and had to suffer.
“…Kim Haeil… is a Wanderer?”
The moment Queen Tamahi muttered that, a flame was about to ignite in her eyes.
“Your Majesty.”
The calm voice of the Sword Master, Charun, reached her ears.
“The situation is strange.”
“…I know.”
“The suspicious person is the leader of the Justice Alliance, Hwa In, but...”
It was at that moment...
¡Kiiiing-----!
A horrible sound, like the moan of a dying animal, echoed through the arena.
“!”
Even Queen Tamahi, who had been training for decades, shuddered unconsciously at the sound, shrugged, and touched her ear.
“Ugh!”
“Ah, my ear!”
The common citizens of the kingdom covered their ears or grabbed their heads.
“Your Majesty!”
At the guard’s voice, Tamahi looked towards the battle stage.
“!”
The moment the blood-red aura was about to dominate the entire battle stage. A flow of pure white rose.
She inhaled deeply, without realizing it.
A pure white, that didn’t shine at all.
The white line, rising like a rope, was emanating from Hwa In’s, no, Sohyi’s hand.
“Ah-”
A white line that rose amidst the sinister blood-red aura. The moment she saw that line, Tamahi could only think of one thing.
‘Death.’
She didn’t know the reason. The moment she saw that white line, she felt as if her neck was being cut.
¡Kiiiing-----!
That strange sound reaching her ears felt like the last moan, the despair, of someone who was about to die.
Black wasn’t the only color of death. Sometimes, white represents death more clearly. Because it was a blank sheet of paper, that didn’t allow even a speck of dust.
¡Kiiiing-----!
The tip of the white line, which had risen to touch the sky, began to split.
¡Kiiiing-----!
The eight divided lines traced a semicircle and enveloped the arena.
¡Kiiiing-----!
The moan grew stronger.
Tamahi couldn’t move.
She felt like that white line would cut her neck the moment she moved.
And it seemed like that white line was going to envelop the entire arena.
‘Ah-’
Therefore, she could realize.
‘Spiderweb-’
That white line was like a spiderweb. And she also realized that she was like prey caught in that spiderweb.
It was at that moment...
¡Kuung!
The arena vibrated.
“!”
Queen Tamahi saw the blood-red aura tremble. Also, Kim Haeil was standing in the center of that blood-red aura.
He took a step.
¡Kuung!
The arena vibrated again. And the blood-red aura moved towards the white line, following its movement.
It was then that-
“…”
She could breathe.
Kim Haeil.
“…That person, he’s not an enemy-”
The moment he took a step, moving his aura towards the white line.
“Ha!”
“Ugh, ugh.”
The common citizens of the kingdom began to breathe.
The white line, which had made even Queen Tamahi gasp for breath, made her look away and breathe.
That blood-red aura, which was sinister, but couldn’t prevent people from looking at it, was protecting them.
It seemed like it was especially protecting the common citizens, spreading towards them, creating a thick wall from the battle arena.
“Your Majesty!”
Charun’s voice, who was an elder, was full of despair, and Tamahi stopped.
“!”
Suddenly, someone had approached her.
Whirr-
A blonde man with wind tied to his ankles.
He, who had his face covered with a bamboo hat, opened his mouth.
“We must evacuate everyone.”
Swoosh.
There was a handsome young man, with a delicate face, under the straw hat he had lifted.
At that moment...
¡Kung!
The ground vibrated again.
A white line was embedded outside the arena.
¡Ziiiing---!
Straight lines extended from that line, along with white smoke. Like capillaries or spiderwebs.
If eight straight lines are embedded in the ground like that, and emit smoke and straight lines like that-
‘It will eat us!’
As if it were prey, completely enveloped in a spiderweb. Everyone in this arena will be like that.
“Damn it! My inner energy doesn’t work!”
Someone launched a martial art towards those lines.
Inner energy wasn’t that it didn’t work.
Simply, the weaker inner energy couldn’t affect the lines.
“Get out of the way!”
“Ugh!”
“W, we have to run!”
People were filled with confusion.
“…”
The man with the bamboo hat.
Tamahi, who had been staring at Alberu, opened her mouth.
“Begin the evacuation immediately!”
The ministers began to follow that order.
¡Dong!
The sound of the drum echoed everywhere, and the officials ran out, guiding the people, opening the entrance gates.
“Entrance number 7 can’t be opened! It’s blocked!”
Eight entrances.
The white lines, which seemed to be rooted, were descending in front of all those gates.
One gate was already blocked.
“Number 5, number 5 soon too!”
One of the officials shouted, with a desperate voice.
“Get out of the way!”
Hyun Sung of the Snow Death Flower, came out and launched a martial art.
The tip of her spear aimed at the white line.
But...
¡Kwaaang!
A roar echoed, but she couldn’t make any scratch on the line.
‘It can’t be!’
The moment Hyun Sung collided with that white line, she felt a chill all over her body.
This-
‘What is this?’
Her inner energy bounced back.
The attack didn’t reach.
That white line was a strange aura.
It wasn’t aura or magic.
How can I defeat that?
As Hyun Sung’s mind turned white, the white line seemed about to embed itself in front of entrance number 5.
“Damn it! Take the people somewhere else!”
The moment Hyun Sung shouted back, to the officials.
“Get out of the way.”
She could see a man with a bamboo hat.
A red-haired man.
The moment he extended his sword.
“!”
Hyun Sung felt another chill all over her body.
“Ah.”
A rough flow, like lightning, passed and advanced.
Swoosh-
The white line was cut.
Swoosh.
The red-haired man lifted his bamboo hat, and a smooth-faced man stood beneath it.
“Evacuate the people.”
After saying that, Choi Han moved again.
Eight entrances.
To block them.
‘Cale said.’
He remembered Cale, who was standing silently, looking down at the battle stage, the only one who wasn’t running away, amidst the crowd that was full of confusion.
‘Choi Han. Your Highness.’
Cale opened his mouth.
‘It seems like that force, is a power related to a domain.’
Cale told his companions what Super Rock had told him.
‘That white line is also a kind of aura, like Choi Han’s. It seems like she has created her own power, beyond a simple aura.’
Super Rock had said.
‘Like the Ancient Powers.’
-That, is an ancient power. It’s like ours.
-But it’s stronger than ours.
-If we are sprouts, he is a tree.
‘If we get caught in that domain, it will be a problem.’
Cale had decided what to do the moment he saw the white line.
‘Your Highness, go with the queen.’
‘And Choi Han, you help evacuate the people.’
Wooong-Wooong-
Choi Han heard a low vibrating sound.
It was a very weak aura, that others couldn’t notice yet, that was near Cale.
The Heavenly Demon.
Sohyi.
Cale was the existence who had a powerful aura, that no one in this place could compare to.
‘If the Heavenly Demon has difficulties, I will help him.’
Therefore, Choi Han couldn’t refute Cale’s words, and had to leave his side.
“…”
However, he planned to move the moment Cale was in danger.
The Wanderer.
That guy was his prey.
¡Kung!
At that moment, the ground vibrated again.
Choi Han’s gaze turned to the battle stage for a moment.
Although people were running away, the competition wasn’t over yet.
“I have to catch you.”
Sohyi, the Wanderer, extended her hand towards the Heavenly Demon, with a smile.
The white line was in her hand, like a sword.
¡Kiiiing---!
With a horrible moan, that tore through the air, the white line moved towards the Heavenly Demon.
That line, where death was clearly felt.
“Ha, haha--”
The Heavenly Demon began to laugh, as he looked at that line.
Choi Han looked away and muttered softly.
“…He’s definitely crazy.”
The Heavenly Demon.
He was referring to him.
But a subtle smile appeared at the corner of Choi Han’s lips.
“But I understand.”
No one could hear that last sentence, and Choi Han didn’t have time to tell anyone.
Swoosh-
His sword moved non-stop, not allowing the white line to enclose the people.
“Hahaha-”
The tranquility that had enveloped the Heavenly Demon, who kept laughing, had disappeared. He was laughing merrily, as if he was having fun.
Wooong-Wooong-
The white line, which was approaching him without hesitation, no matter the blood-red aura, was staring at him. The Heavenly Demon was looking at that. He could also see Sohyi behind her.
Snick.
Sohyi was smiling.
After extending the white line, her energy was like a calm sea.
It didn’t move, and it had no end.
¡Kiiiing---!
That silence, which didn’t match the strange moan, made her seem like an existence that wasn’t human, an existence that was difficult to approach.
“It’s not easy, is it?”
The words Sohyi said softly. And at the end of those words...
Wooong-
The white line passed through the blood-red aura and reached in front of the Heavenly Demon.
Sohyi smiled.
“The singularity, which can’t take shape, is quite useless.”
The Heavenly Demon extended his hand. The blood-red aura touched the white line.
¡Ziiing---!
The blood-red aura was pushed back, along with the sound of something burning.
The Heavenly Demon’s smile disappeared.
Sohyi’s smile intensified.
¡Kwang!
The moment the Heavenly Demon’s hand, who had the blood-red aura, was about to grab the white line.
“Hmm.”
The Heavenly Demon was pushed back, along with his hand.
“…….”
He took a step back. He looked down at his foot, which had stepped back.
“Jaja-”
Sohyi smiled and waved her hand. The white line moved naturally, as if it were her hand.
¡Kiiing-!
The white line, which moved quickly like the wind, cutting through the air, grabbed the Heavenly Demon’s wrist.
Swoosh-
And it extended. It wrapped around one arm of the Heavenly Demon, quickly, like a bandage. As if a spider were tying up its prey, which had entered its home.
“…….”
The Heavenly Demon kept looking down at his foot, which had stepped back.
“Are you staying still?”
Sohyi didn’t hide her smile.
“Ah-”
She raised her head. She could see the sky through the white line. Soon, he will be in that sky, trapped in his cocoon.
“If I had killed everyone from the beginning, it would have been easier.”
It was too complicated.
She should have done this.
“There would be fewer annoying things.”
“Yes.”
-!
Sohyi stopped.
She lowered her head.
Kim Haeil, he kept his head down. But definitely, the one who had answered ‘Yes’ a while ago was the Heavenly Demon.
Again, the voice reached her ears.
“Yes. Thanks to you, there are fewer annoying things.”
The corners of Sohyi’s lips distorted.
“What… what are you saying…?”
What is that guy saying?
She didn’t intend to kill him immediately, because she was very curious to know who he was. But his arrogance made her eyes blink.
And the Heavenly Demon replied.
“It’s nothing.”
He raised his head. The Heavenly Demon was smiling.
“I thank you.”
“…What?”
Sohyi asked, and then stopped. She raised her head. The Heavenly Demon’s voice reached her ears.
“Thanks to you, I have learned how to use this force. I truly thank you.”
His voice was incredibly calm.
“Singularity-”
Singularity.
“Can also have its own form-”
It was good advice.
Although Choi Han had been the first to see the form of this force-
‘Singularity and form.’
Seeing that, an answer occurred to him.
“…Kim Haeil-”
Kim Haeil, who controlled nature itself. No, Cale Henituse.
More than Sohyi, who was in front of him-
His strength was more like a ‘god’s’.
Ah.
He saw the answer.
The Heavenly Demon had found a path beyond Choi Han.
‘Can I do that with this aura?’
The answer to that question came quickly. The Heavenly Demon, looking at his foot, which had stepped back, thought.
I can’t be pushed back.
Why?
Because I am the Heaven of the Demons.
“Yes.”
I am,
“The Heaven.”
I am the God of Demons and the Heaven.
“…T, this can’t be-”
Sohyi’s eyes, which were looking at the sky, wobbled. And Choi Han, who was wielding his sword, stopped doing so and looked at the sky.
“As expected, you knew too.”
However...
“I’m late this time.”
A smile full of ambition appeared at the corner of Choi Han’s lips.
“Ha!”
Alberu, the crown prince, finally realized the path that Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon had taken, a path that he hadn’t been able to reach.
When longing boiled in his eyes...
-Cale.
Cale heard Super Rock’s voice, as he looked at the sky.
-It’s not a celestial attribute. It’s a cloud.
Super Rock’s voice was full of admiration.
-A cloud that can cover the sky-
He, who seemed to be enveloped in intense emotion, said after a while.
-…An Ancient Power is being born!
The spiderweb made of white lines.
The outer sky, the real sky, was trembling.
Clouds formed.
Those clouds became increasingly blood-red.
And they twisted.
It was as if he was watching the movement of an animal, a tiger, stretching after resting and shrinking.
“Ha, truly.”
Cale looked at the Heavenly Demon in disbelief.
Snick.
The Heavenly Demon was already looking at Cale. He smiled at Cale, and then looked away.
And he moved his hand.
“Ugh!”
Sohyi lowered her head.
She looked down. Her foot had been dragged one step forward. She looked forward. There was the Heavenly Demon, who was grabbing the white line with his hand wrapped in the white line, and pulling it.
“…That bastard-”
Sohyi bit her lip, but she couldn’t act easily.
Rumble-
The sky began to cry.
No, the cloud.
The blood-red cloud, sinister and fascinating, began to cover the sky.
It was the sky that the Heavenly Demon had created.
