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Chapter 275

“Graaah!!”

Mikhail screamed in agony as his arms disappeared, and Yeon-woo looked down at him with cold eyes. All she could think was how he rolled around like a bug.

The gap was so enormous it could easily take a life. Showing off your pathetic martial arts skills in front of a master reached such a level was just silly.

Yeon-woo was definitely not weak. No, saying she wasn’t weak would be inaccurate. She belonged to a category that was strong enough.

Considering that the latter half of Aura Experts is the destination for warriors with ample talent, it was evident. Edward was just like that.

Even a hero hailed in his youth couldn’t enter the realm of Aura Masters before aging.

‘The pre-rebirth Choi Yeon-woo could never have imagined this.’

It hadn’t even been a year to reach this point.

Thanks to Yuri’s teachings hitting the spot, the fortunate repetition of numerous enlightening battles that could be called lucky, she could only say that it was a fortunate flow.

‘It’s a good thing; thanks to this, I can kill demons like this.’

No matter how much her realm advanced, her physiological aversion to demons didn’t fade. It was like a shadow that grows darker the brighter the light shone.

Still, the reason Yeon-woo hadn’t killed the demon in one strike was partly due to a malicious desire to inflict more pain, but not just that.

“Ha, ha ha, you let your guard down, kid…!”

Before she realized it, Mikhail was slowly rising. Did I really look that careless? She had intentionally refrained from finishing him off.

Yeon-woo shifted her gaze to Mikhail’s severed arms. Snow-white bones were beginning to grow from the cut surfaces. It was essentially turning into an Undead.

Yeon-woo knew this all too well. Most demons affiliated with Oblivion exhibited such patterns. She had killed quite a number of those who boasted of receiving eternal life from Saturday, so how could she not know this?

Seeing such a familiar sight, Yeon-woo couldn’t help but chuckle and posed a question that always drifted through her mind.

“Just how far can we define a human?”

“You’re spouting nonsense, kid.”

“I was just thinking it was a good opportunity to test your abilities.”

Just how much can she cut off before he becomes a monster? Since she couldn’t absorb Elemental Mana from a human, Yeon-woo saw it as a perfect chance to resolve her curiosity and shook off the bloodied sword.

It might be a bit tiring, but a suitable test subject had appeared before her.

*

“D-Dad….”

Shar could only watch from behind. She knew her father harbored an unusual hatred towards demons.

Wasn’t it when she first witnessed Yeon-woo’s expression filled with anger that it had something to do with demons?

However, she never considered how he would react to an actual live demon in front of him.

That demon was different from Baek In-hwa. It was nothing like the boy who was forced back from a calm death and had his body violated.

This one was a true traitor of humanity, having voluntarily sided with the Demon King.

Although she didn’t expect him to unleash such fury, it was completely understandable.

Yeon-woo had witnessed countless people meet their deaths at the hands of demons and their king.

Despite not being one of those killed nor being close to any of them, she was still furious at the deaths of such individuals.

While Shar thought this immensely showed Yeon-woo’s character, she couldn’t help but worry.

Maybe Yeon-woo had risen through realms too fast, she pondered.

Raising one’s realm through good teachings and understanding is never a bad thing. It’s natural.

Yet, sometimes, a bad lesson can carry a greater significance.

Both good and bad must be accepted to become a complete human, but Yeon-woo seemed to have embraced only the good excessively.

The aura of chaos was approaching. It was blatantly clear.

Even so, Shar couldn’t muster the courage to intervene. The reason was simple.

If she intervened, that rage might direct itself towards her.

‘Though I know Dad isn’t that kind of person…’

Shar had also faced the wrath of someone before. Not only Yeon-woo, but Shar had never recklessly acted without prior bad experiences.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I should have done something to make Dad mad!’

*

The front paw of the Chimera Zombie shook the ground. The snow that blanketed the floor trembled violently under the intense impact, flipping over.

However, Baek In-hwa had already moved away from that spot. Her movement was as graceful and beautiful as a dance.

It seemed like the specialized zombie Chimera was created to counter the Ice Palace. Just a taste made it clear; no cold was successfully permeating her senses.

‘How did Father deal with this?’

As she briefly thought about it, Baek In-hwa evaded the mountaineering blast emitted by the Chimera. The ground began to melt away, revealing the dirt beneath, as a few drops splashed on her skin leaving a stinging sensation.

She might have nullified the cold resistance by penetrating it at the cellular level or maybe even froze the inner skin by applying the physical force of ice to the joints, which are generally considered Chimera’s weaknesses.

Or, she could have frozen the Chimera whole with overwhelming output.

However, that was beyond Baek In-hwa’s capabilities.

If she concentrated, it might be possible, but manipulating to such a precise level against an opponent she couldn’t afford to let her guard down was too much.

Before she knew it, all the Undead in the area had been cleared away, and she sensed that the battlefield had quieted down, save for the Chimera.

Most warriors had advanced into the tomb, leaving only the current chief and some elders of the Ice Palace behind.

From that moment on, this battle became a test. A test of whether the current leader truly suited the position of future leader.

How far could the daughter of the Baek family go? Now that she had grown up, it was time to assess how much she had developed to take over the position of chief.

“…I must.”

Baek In-hwa murmured softly as a shiver ran through her body. The acceleration was so fast it seemed invisible.

Her father’s ice techniques were, in essence, the epitome of delicacy. To freeze an enemy whole was indeed an act of violent use of aura, executed with an incredible level of finesse.

However, Baek In-hwa found such delicacy didn’t suit her taste. She had come to realize it recently. She preferred something a bit more rugged.

Rough, precarious, intense. A foolish man who couldn’t help but injure himself while rushing to save someone.

“Truly, I like this sort of thing.”

Gathering her twin daggers at her waist, she thrust them directly into the Chimera’s body.

What exploded forth was overwhelming ice and snow, a bomb packed tightly with blizzard.

No matter how sturdy the Chimera was, this overwhelming output would force it back.

The important thing was to straighten herself. Above all else, recognizing oneself must take precedence over martial arts.

One must have a firm conviction in oneself to hold confidence in the path they must take.

From there, the flow was carried forward. She danced a waltz. Round and round, she twirled.

With every turn, a blow of cold surged forth. An infinite cycle and rotation. Where would it ultimately lead?

It was a great pity there was no one to dance with.

Even if Baek In-hwa’s hands, which were converging with condensed cold, might cause someone’s death upon contact, she hoped someone might hold those hands.

‘That would be nice.’

Boom!!

In thoughts like those, she barely dodged the Chimera’s strike. It couldn’t be said she dodged it adeptly, as it had only occurred due to the force accumulating in the midst of her movement. The rock shard lodged into her abdomen felt exceptionally hot.

“~♬”

Singing a cheerful tune as if mad, Baek In-hwa unfolded an all-out attack.

What erupted as a result was nothing short of the ultimate primitive violence. Just shooting sharp icicles packed with overwhelming physical force was an act akin to launching a cannon with a human body.

The technique, once dubbed “Legendary Ice Cannon,” was manifesting into an even more distinct and recognizable form unique to Baek In-hwa.

…In short, it meant that Baek In-hwa was blind and reckless in love.

*

Mikhail was certainly not an easy opponent. She couldn’t help but recall this fact as he replaced his body more and more with that of the Undead.

Like grafting onto a tree, Mikhail began to attach other undead bodies to his own transforming one.

Through this, he absorbed and repeated the martial arts that the undead recalled from their bodies.

As a result, Mikhail had managed to rise to a level quite befitting a formidable warrior. Even though his form had grotesquely strayed from that of a true warrior.

He had long since discarded the shape of a human. What remained was only an anger-filled face intertwined grotesquely like some horrific creature, along with the area around his heart.

The rest was all that Yeon-woo had severed, leaving it to roll about like trash.

“Completely turned into a monster.”

Yeon-woo muttered upon seeing this. After attaching bones from the outside, it was only natural that he would take on such a strange form.

While his perception had risen to distinguish between Yeon-woo’s strikes, the fact that he had become a form that couldn’t be considered human meant he couldn’t properly utilize martial arts.

At some point, Yeon-woo began to gradually absorb the curse of the Demon King that resided within Mikhail’s heart. Most likely, it was after he had severed both arms and legs.

By then, he still bore a shape relatively close to that of a human, yet he had begun to absorb the curse little by little.

‘Am I not considering him to be human, that’s why?’

It was also possible that his abilities were influenced to some extent by Yeon-woo’s mindset.

Wasn’t absorbing mana nothing but a dragon’s ability?

Still, well, she felt like she had absorbed enough by now. The curse of the Demon King was material for accelerating the demon’s search.

Her choice to torment Mikhail instead of killing him stemmed from hatred, but there was also that calculation behind it.

“Let’s finish this, monster.”

[Kuh, I can no longer make sense of this!]

“I see your speech has turned slurred…”

Ew, that sounds awful. Thinking this, Yeon-woo gripped her sword. In that moment, Mikhail also readied himself.

A cold atmosphere spread through the underground tomb. Without a word, both moved at once.

Mikhail charged at Yeon-woo with numerous arms blocking the path, using his largest two arms to attempt to crush her.

With an overwhelming reach and a mindset that allowed for a few cuts from his many arms, she judged this was a quite effective tactic.

On the opposite side of Mikhail stood Yeon-woo, instead of swinging her sword, she reached into her robe.

In her hand was a rounded glass vial.

“Here.”

“?”

Whirl, the glass vial thrown into the air collided with Mikhail’s body, shattering with a clear sound.

It was the purification potion she had obtained from Sullivan as a prototype long ago. It differed fundamentally from those currently sold in the Ice Palace.

What was that difference, you ask?

Whoosh!!

Instead of turning the undead to dust, flames would ignite. It could cause collateral damage during warfare, which was why it had been amended for future use.

Blue flames began erupting from Mikhail’s entire body.

What he had attached were merely ordinary Undead, nothing impressive.

Thus, on average, it could be classified as intermediate. It would be fortunate if even an advanced undead was mixed in.

At such a level, it became the target of the purification potion. Mikhail started to scream in agony.

[Graaah!! What is this…!!!]

“Turning a demon’s corpse to ash, Choi Yeon-woo has lost all sense of restraint.”

Watching this, Yeon-woo squatted down and laughed heartily.

(To Be Continued in the Next Episode)

 

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