‘What are they discussing so intently over there?’
Shin Yaja tilted his head in curiosity at the situation.
It was puzzling to see them so deeply engrossed in thought before a mission deed practically impossible.
He had been curt with the player, Seol-Hwi, but in truth, the approach to this mission was flawed from the start.
This mission was exceptionally challenging, even amidst countless story progressions, and solving it was no easy feat.
In so ways, it could be said to be more difficult than defeating the Big Dipper Star.
‘An elder he shouldn’t et right now, one could say.’
They were already at the extre peak of Peak Demon, nearly at their limits.
Typically, in such cases, one would ascend to the peak of the Supre Demon, but for so reason, they remained there.
Thus, the very notion of confronting them with force is fundantally untenable for Seol-Hwi.
Not only that, even if one gains recognition through force and continues the conversation, completing the mission is difficult.
Sorrow, and surprise—To evoke these two emotions, one had to uncover their background.
Gwi-gwi, and Gwi-heo.
These two originally hailed from the Heavenly Demon side.
Failing to gain the trust of the Cult Leader there, they eventually declared retirent and went into seclusion.
It took quite a long ti to uncover those emotions.
In the end, after ascending to the position of Cult Leader, Shin Yaja once resolved surprise and sadness by officially hiring them into the Blood Demon Palace.
First, pass the final test to beco a Shadowless Ghost Twelve Guardian, then co back later to resolve it.
- Should I start telling him to step back?
Observing Seol-Hwi’s increasingly engrossed actions, Shin Yaja felt the need to reveal the answer.
Having been suitably troubled, he believed Seol-Hwi would now respect and treat him seriously.
However, Seol-Hwi did not seem to have any intention of stopping. After exchanging words with the boy who had turned into a sword, he soon appeared confident.
“Ah, I’ll give it a try.”
“Good. Let’s do it.”
Songhwa flapped his body vigorously.
Soon, he began to strain his body, repeating the process.
Eventually, he managed to extract his legs from his torso.
Thud!
Only the blade remained, dropping to the ground with a sound akin to a massive boulder falling.
“Oh. It really separates?”
“Yes. It wasn’t easy due to the powerful spell… but anyway.”
Songhwa, now transford into a yellow chick, blinked his eyes as Seol-Hwi placed him on his palm.
“But… why ?”
“Ah. I’m going to use you as a hostage.”
“What?!?!”
Songhwa flapped his wings in disbelief.
Seol-Hwi grasped him and looked up.
“Let’s finish this quickly!”
The two old people began to move again, as if their conversation had just ended.
The subtle emotions that had been visible earlier had disappeared.
Seol-Hwi’s gaze had also changed.
Since the old people had signaled their intent to attack again, a response was necessary from him as well.
Swish.
The pre-emptive strike ca from the old woman nad Gwi-heo.
Lowering her body, she picked sothing up and assud a low stance.
With the victory token’s string broken, it seed she would use a different weapon.
Rustle.
The sound of the grass rustling once again disturbed Seol-Hwi’s hearing.
Gwi-gwi used the sa technique as before to confuse the mind.
He extended the illusion using the sa technique as before.
Eight in total.
Considering the prowess of a top-tier warrior, they were all likely illusions, not reality.
‘It’s coming.’
Gulp.
As Songhwa barely peeked out and swallowed hard.
Gwi-heo appeared right in front of his eyes.
In her hand was a scythe-shaped sharp weapon.
Curved Blade—A weapon connecting a scythe to a chain, finally revealing the presence hidden behind her back.
Ssssuk.
Seol-Hwi chose to retreat faster than counterattack.
The opponent’s attack was very rough and more aggressive than before.
‘Gwi-gwi will aim for the mont of leap.’
Seol-hwi read the enemies’ strategy and their movent.
The best way to easily neutralize Gwi-heo’s seemingly defenseless attack was by leaping.
But, that would be feeding her.
At that mont, Gwi-gwi would charge in, deceiving the eyes with nurous illusions and attack with a sword swaying like a willow.
‘I will decide the outco here.’
Just then, seeing a large tree behind, Seol-hwi quickly thrust forward what was in his hand.
This was an obviously reckless action.
As expected, the swift blade approached Seol-Hwi’s neck in an instant, aiming to take his life.
“Huh?!”
No. It should have certainly taken it.
However, Gwi-heo stopped the attack in surprise.
Because of what Seol-Hwi held out.
“Oh dear. I almost killed this child…”
Thud.
At that mont, Seol-Hwi moved.
He dove into Gwi-heo’s embrace and struck her precisely on the forehead.
Gwi-heo stiffened like soone struck by lightning and then slowly collapsed.
Chirp, chirp.
Songhwa naturally perched on the fallen old woman’s head.
“Damn it!”
With a scream, Gwi-gwi rushed in an instant.
His swift sword pushed Seol-Hwi aside, and Gwi-gwi quickly checked Gwi-heo’s condition.
Swoosh.
Gwi-gwi examined Gwi-heo’s qi ridians right away.
After a brief silence, his hand began to tremble slightly.
“You. What have you done?”
The voice was low and cold. That made it feel even more monotonous.
“…As you can see.”
Seol-Hwi continued calmly.
“It seed like she loved animals, so I took advantage of that weakness. The old hag naively stopped attacking. In that mont, I swiftly took her life.”
“……”
“How did I know your weakness? I eavesdropped on your conversation earlier. She seed so naive. Even at her age, falling for such an obvious trick. Tsk tsk, does judgnt get clouded with age?”
Gwi-gwi didn’t respond imdiately. He rely stroked the fallen Gwi-heo’s face lightly.
A few tis, that was all. A change appeared in Seol-Hwi’s eyes.
[Congratulations. You have elicited Gwi-gwi's emotion of sorrow.]
Seol-Hwi looked at the quietly erging letters.
In the anti, Gwi-Gwi slowly stood up.
Should it be called a sense of futility?
The drooped shoulders and lifeless eyes conveyed his emotions in his voice.
“Do you know what you’ve done?”
“……What did I do?”
“You took everything from .”
“Oh dear. I’m sorry about that.”
Seol-Hwi chuckled lightly and continued.
“But you two didn’t seem to get along well either… Isn’t it okay that she died? Anyway, if you et another woman instead of that one……”
“Shut your mouth.”
“……”
“I’ll tear you apart right now.”
Seol-Hwi’s expression hardened as he saw Gwi-gwi’s eyes turn bloodshot.
It wasn’t the killing intent the opponent exuded that was the problem.
That qi flow just now.
The qi itself was akin to the power of a Supre Demon.
What was on the tip of the flexible sword blade was the sa.
“You bastard!”
Paaaah—
Gwi-gwi’s footwork. And the blades flying wildly left and right.
Everything was unfamiliar to Seol-Hwi.
Even though he had drawn upon almost all his internal qi out, he almost missed the opponent’s movent for a mont.
‘This person.’
Seol-Hwi’s expression hardened at the sight. It was difficult not only to block but also to dodge.
The speed and swiftness, moreover, the sword’s movents were beyond common sense.
‘Ugh.’
In the blink of an eye, three thrusts flew in.
Failing to block one, it struck his shoulder.
‘The beginning of the Supre? No, higher than that. How can this be…….’
Seol-Hwi was taken aback by the sudden change in the opponent’s strength.
The notion that one’s level increases with anger doesn’t make sense in the first place.
There is only one such case.
Even though everything was in place, he had refused to change himself.
‘Why. Why didn’t he reach the Peak of the Demonic Arts until now? Why on earth!’
Seol-Hwi, amidst accumulating wounds, noticed the fallen woman.
And he realized.
‘Ah! It was because of that woman.’
Though not certain, there was no other explanation for now.
The reason he had refused to advance his own skills.
“You will die. By my handdddddd!”
Chwararararak!
His technique enveloped the surroundings with a blossoming sword qi.
So unfamiliar yet strong and sharp, just parrying it left Seol-Hwi in a daze.
Another close combat ensued.
It was hard to regain composure amidst the sword blades flying from all directions.
Thud.
In the end, he couldn’t dodge and got hit on the head by the flat of the sword.
All movent ceased as Seol-Hwi collapsed to the ground.
Even as he fell to his knees, he realized—This guy, he deliberately didn’t kill him imdiately.
“Last words…”
Gwi-gwi’s eyes were filled with tears, and his hands were still trembling.
He displayed such martial prowess in a situation where it was difficult to control his emotions properly.
“Behind…”
Seol-Hwi continued speaking, fighting against his tongue twisting.
“Look… behind you.”
“Plotting another dog-like sche…”
“You’ll… understand once you see.”
Gwi-gwi didn’t listen. He intended to cut the man before him into dozens of pieces, no, hundreds of pieces as he raised his sword diagonally.
Just as the sword was about to move slowly.
“Old man.”
His eyes shook violently as if filled with turmoil.
And he quickly turned around.
“How… how…”
“I lost consciousness for a mont.”
She was alive.
Gwi-heo, whom he thought was dead, was looking at him.
“Clearly, the breath… there was no pulse. So… that’s why I…”
“It seems you were montarily caught in an illusion.”
“Ah…”
Gwi-gwi let out a groan. He then continued to look at her with eyes full of confusion.
“Why do you keep crying, old man?”
“……”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?”
The old man grabbed his head. Then he spoke, sobbing.
“When you died, I thought of the wolf… that damned wolf kept flickering before my eyes… Sob. Sob.”
“That was a long ti ago. Stop crying now, old man.”
Gwi-heo placed her hands on Gwi-gwi’s shoulders and stroked his back.
As if soothing a child. Slowly, she brushed from top to bottom.
“So you reached the Supre Demon state, right? Why did you follow all the way here?”
Gwi-gwi lifted his head slightly and said.
“You… saw it all?”
“Of course, I saw it all. It was quite disturbing. Even a master at the peak of martial arts would have been cut down by what you did.”
“Well, you know.”
The old man awkwardly smiled. It seed they had already forgotten about Seol-Hwi’s presence.
Tweet, tweet.
Songhwa had approached next to Seol-Hwi.
“You did well.”
Seol-Hwi grinned as he spoke.
“But why did you tell to use the spell for a mont?”
“There’s a reason. I’ll tell you later.”
“Earlier also you said you’d tell later earlier…”
“I’ll tell you that later too.”
Seol-Hwi half-listened to Songhwa’s words.
A choice window appeared in his mind.
This was important.
[Congratulations. You have elicited the emotion of surprise from Gwi-heo.] [You have completed all missions.]
‘I did plan it, but…’
He did manage to induce sadness.
He realized it while fighting.
The martial prowess of the demon he first encountered seed strange to call it simply demonic.
So he wondered if there might be sothing about their relationship.
It was a deliberate act to pretend to kill Gwi-heo to draw out Gwi-gwi’s emotions.
‘Is it an unexpected windfall to even gain surprise?’
Gwi-gwi had done a lot.
Seeing them, it seed like it would be a aningful mission.
Sohow, it felt like emotions were coming back to life.
- How on earth did you do it?
Seol-Hwi chuckled as he looked at the shocked expression on Shin Yaja’s face.
“Isn’t that the difference between you and ?”
Throwing in a remark was a bonus.
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