Chapter: 928
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!!!
The night that spread across the ground had consumed the entire field. The area was vast enough to be considered a gigantic lake.
The endless darkness swallowed up the trees and bushes in all directions.
Thus, a realm made entirely of silence was created.
Crispy.
Crispy.
On the black ground, an unknown ash rose like mist.
It felt ominous.
And it was unpleasant.
“….”
The masked woman quietly observed the realm from behind her mask.
She rolled her eyes.
Her aim was to find the being that created this realm.
At that moment—
Sloppy-!
“–!”
Her feet sank into the ground, causing her center of gravity to collapse.
And then—
Shhhhhhhh—!!!
A sharp thorn sprang up from the ground, lunging towards the woman’s neck.
She moved her hand. A sword made of energy sliced through the thorns.
With a strong pull, she freed her foot. She then leaped back to create some distance.
But—
Choaaaak–!!
Countless hands emerged from the ground and charged toward the woman.
Seeing this, she tried once more to swing her sword.
Bam-!
Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The owner of the territory had already moved behind her.
Her vision shifted as she was seized by the neck. Before she could escape the grip, she was thrown to the ground.
Paaaaah—!!
Her body sank straight into the earth.
A slimy sensation, as if buried in mud, enveloped the woman.
Moreover, her opponent wasn’t going to just watch her plight.
Gurrrrrrrr—!!!
Black energy swirled and converged in one place.
Just looking at it, it was sheer, immense pressure.
Gradually, the area began to compress. It wasn’t simple shrinking; it was a compression.
It compacted the tiger by following the swirling vortex.
It might be getting smaller, but it wasn’t losing mass.
As a result, the pressure surged, and a tremendous amount of energy collected.
While adjusting by hand…
The black-haired woman lightly clapped her hands.
Match-!
And then—
Kwaaaa—!!!
The amassed energy exploded in an instant.
The scope of the explosion defied imagination.
The surface where darkness had taken root erupted.
All that remained was a massive, deep crater.
Saaaaah…
The remaining black energy scattered like ash.
The purple eyes of the Heavenly Horse watching it were indifferent.
Processed? No.
She couldn’t deal with it.
In the center of the crater,
the Heavenly Horse slowly lowered her body, which had been floating in the air, to the ground.
There, a small sphere of sparkling magenta light formed.
Creak.
The Heavenly Horse grasped her sword.
Just a light push.
It seemed like a simple movement, but the results were far from light.
A black crescent moon flew toward the sphere, showcasing its heavy form.
Kwaaaaang—!!
The energetic collision with the sphere resulted in an explosion.
The shockwave blasted out pressure, but the sphere remained unaffected.
“Hmm.”
The Heavenly Horse frowned as though displeased.
No impact at all. That part felt strange.
“What’s this?”
Was it weak?
The Heavenly Horse tightened her grip on the sword.
With one blow, the somewhat shallow sword became thicker again.
Let’s hit harder this time.
Thinking like that, the Heavenly Horse prepared her stance and exerted strength.
Pick-!
Suddenly, the sphere vanished, and something sprang out from within.
The woman scraped the ground with the tip of her sword as she barreled toward the Heavenly Horse.
She thrust upward with her sword.
Bang-!
The attack didn’t land.
Because the Heavenly Horse blocked it before the sword could gain speed.
The Heavenly Horse slowly extended her hand.
She aimed to grab the woman’s face as is.
Crunch-!
“Hmm?”
Something broke.
The eyes of the Heavenly Horse shifted downward.
The sword cracked and began to fall apart.
That means—
Shhhhhhhhhhh—!!!
The woman’s sword shot toward the Heavenly Horse’s face.
She quickly turned her head to evade the strike.
The Heavenly Horse nodded her head as she avoided it.
“What the?”
Why did it suddenly break?
The Heavenly Horse couldn’t understand.
However, she didn’t linger on the thought for long.
The attacks were relentless, leaving her no time to ponder.
Fast.
The sound of wind slicing through the air surfaced only after the attack.
That indicated the woman’s sword was swift.
The Heavenly Horse evaded the assault with a stoic expression.
It felt strangely familiar.
Somehow, it felt weirdly déjà vu.
Had she seen something like this before? Who knows?
The Heavenly Horse didn’t quite grasp this part.
It was often like that.
Even if something seemed familiar, the world was filled with things she had never encountered.
It was the same this time.
And even more than that.
Bang-!
The Heavenly Horse was curious about what lay behind that woman’s mask.
As she pushed away the sword with her energy, the Heavenly Horse advanced toward the woman.
Closing the gap.
At the same time, energy emanated from the Heavenly Horse’s body.
It was a grand darkness she had possessed since birth.
All of that darkness began to seep into the woman.
The Heavenly Horse didn’t bother to adjust anything.
She didn’t even know how to control it in the first place.
The woman hesitated upon seeing the energy.
Then—
WHEEK-!
She took a small step back.
Just one step.
Then, she grabbed her sword and twisted her waist.
Immediately, the sword was swung.
At that moment, the Heavenly Horse caught a clear glimpse.
‘White?’
Something white entangled the sword, blending with the purple aura.
The Heavenly Horse stared intently at it.
Her gaze was entranced.
Card slam—!!
Choaaaak-!
As a result, she stared at it while her energy was being torn away and her body covered in scratches.
“Ah.”
That hurts.
The Heavenly Horse grasped her chest and stepped back.
“Ugh….”
She bit her lip.
It was painful—severely so.
Cheeeeek….
An unknown sizzling sound emitted from the wound. The more it rang out, the more contorted the Heavenly Horse’s face became.
“It hurts….”
She removed her hand from her chest.
Her palms were drenched in blood.
Moreover, her clothes were now stained.
The Heavenly Horse grimaced as she gazed at her blood-soaked attire.
‘I feel like I’m going to get scolded.’
She was told to stay put and not to do anything foolish.
She had been cautioned against going anywhere and causing trouble, as she didn’t want to lay eyes upon that face.
“Hmm….”
What am I supposed to hear while doing this?
The more she loathed it, the more her frustration accumulated.
The Heavenly Horse bit her lip while imagining the sight of being told to scram.
Her heart throbbed.
Was it due to the injury? She managed to bear it earlier, but now it was excruciating.
“…Ah.”
So she blinked.
The Heavenly Horse lifted her head and gazed straight ahead.
“This is a big problem.”
The woman, who had just been in front of her, was now nowhere to be seen.
She had missed her while lost in thought.
“…Hmm….”
The Heavenly Horse scratched her head. Then she nodded.
Having missed twice, it made sense to her.
“Next time.”
If she saw her a third time, she’d make sure to kill without hesitation.
She made that promise to herself.
‘What now.’
She lifted her head and glanced to the left.
She felt some energy coming from that direction.
Am I mistaken?
Some ominous feelings were brewing within her, but upon focusing slightly, it didn’t seem significant at all.
“Am I tired or something?”
That could be the case.
She hadn’t slept well for several days.
She wasn’t one for sleep even ordinarily; since coming here, she hadn’t slept a wink at all.
There was so much to grasp and so many things to figure out, there simply wasn’t time for that.
“Should I sleep now…?”
She had nothing to do anyway, so it seemed tempting to just go ahead and do that.
“Regardless, this isn’t the place.”
She sighed as she surveyed her surroundings.
A damp and cold floor.
The air felt uncomfortably heavy and humid.
And the iron bars visible in front of her.
It was strangely familiar territory.
Yeah, she was locked in jail right now.
Even with handcuffs clamping her wrists.
“Heh heh heh.”
A laugh escaped her lips involuntarily.
How long had it been since she found herself incarcerated?
As far as she remembered, it hadn’t happened since her past life came to an end.
Should she find this amusing…?
Iron bars.
She mentally sighed while glancing at the handcuffs binding her.
How did things end up like this?
“Oh, I certainly didn’t expect this.”
She never would have thought she’d be locked up in prison.
Looking closely at the chains, she spoke a tad louder.
“Hey.”
A slightly louder noise drew attention from outside the bars.
“Be quiet.”
A figure in black appeared and warned her. She couldn’t help but grin and ask him.
“How long must I stay here? I mean, but as a guest, this feels a bit excessive.”
“Guest?”
The man before her scoffed.
“Why do you think you’re a guest?”
“A guest, of course! I went through great lengths to bring that fellow Gubong. Considering how much trouble it took, you could at least treat me properly…”
“Shut up!”
The man erupted in response to her remark.
Whoa, hell, scare me like that!
“Why are you yelling?”
“Do you know who that person is and yet you utter his name?”
It seemed mentioning Gubong was a grave mistake.
So she replied nonchalantly.
“Who is he? By the looks of it, he could be this family’s son.”
“…”
“Is he the firstborn or the second? Or an only child, perhaps?”
“… You brat….”
His growl bore the sound of an actual beast.
She chuckled slyly and remarked.
“It doesn’t really matter, does it? By the way… when am I actually getting out of here?”
She added while tapping the floor lightly.
“I’m a bit more of a precious child than you think; I can’t sleep in a place like this.”
Truth be told, while she could sleep comfortably on a mud pile, that wasn’t the point.
Thud.
The man, with clenched fists, trembled momentarily, then suddenly splayed a grin.
“Well.”
“Hmm?”
“I haven’t been informed of when I can release you. You might never get out.”
“Oh, that’s a tad troublesome.”
Plopping down, she propped her chin on her hand while scowling.
“I also have some important matters to attend to, so indefinitely isn’t an option. Can’t you speed things up a bit?”
Ha.
The man let out a laugh tinged with disbelief.
“If the chief has fixed the laws, then that’s the truth here. Do you truly think your opinion matters? Those wretches in the volcano sure have high hopes.”
“… Hmm.”
She scratched her head.
It seemed she had probably poked too much fun, as the man had harbored true resentment.
“Then, are you really going to keep me here?”
“Right. So just shut your trap and sit still.”
“No, really?!”
“Are you deaf or something?”
“Oh… this is bad.”
She lowered her head, feeling dejected.
Only then did the man nod, obviously satisfied.
“Now you seem to have grasped your position….”
“At least I thought you would treat me like a guest. This is bothersome. If you keep it up, I’ll have to start being a nuisance myself.”
Before he could finish speaking, she sprang to her feet.
And then—
Kwajik-!
She effortlessly tore the handcuffs off her wrists.
“What—!”
The man reacted in shock, but she seized the iron bars with her free hand.
After that, everything continued as before.
Kwajijijik-!
She clutched the iron bars and ripped them apart.
The sudden turn of events widened the man’s eyes.
Observing his shock, she relaxed her wrist slightly and said.
“If you don’t treat me like a guest and treat me like a criminal… well, I have no choice but to reciprocate.”
“This guy right now—!!”
The man lunged toward her. No, he meant to rush at her.
CRACK-!
“Guhh!”
She reached out toward the charging man and grabbed his cheek.
His mouth yawned open against his will.
She could see his teeth quite clearly.
So, she seized a fang and yanked it out.
Pick-!
“…!!!”
As soon as the fang was yanked, the man’s body began to shudder.
She could feel him struggling, but he couldn’t shake off her grasp.
Yet it seemed he had some pride, as he refrained from screaming.
“Listen carefully.”
Crunch!
She crunched the fang before his eyes.
“I have a few questions for you.”
“G-guh….”
“If your answer doesn’t sit well with me, I’ll start pulling out your teeth one by one. Next would be your fingernails. Then your eyes. Finally, your bones. If you want to avoid hurting, keeping your mouth shut is totally fine. Honestly, that would be great.”
She loosened her grip just enough to let him respond easier.
“Now, the first question.”
With a grin at the frightened expression on his face, she asked.
“What kind of guy is Gubong?”
She grinned, her face lit up with excitement as it had been a while since she had tortured someone.
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