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Chapter 289

As Choi Yeon-woo gathered the suspicious sensations from every movement Ray made, it dawned on her that she had grasped some kind of clue.

The capital… bare hands were the most reliable weapons for Ray.

They were unlike the tools that could be crushed at a moment’s notice. A weapon with an indestructible attribute.

It was something that transcended trust—it was a kind of pride in oneself that had reached the realm of certainty.

What kind of martial arts was the heavy swordplay? Slow, yet exerting an endlessly heavy force to press down on the opponent.

Although the heavy sword was known to be used for training, the one wielded by Ray was no flimsy weapon by any definition.

It was a sword meant to firmly subdue or kill the opponent. Like a death row inmate staring blankly at the falling blade of a guillotine, it was a sword that demanded attention.

What Ray pursued was nothing less than a decisive strike that could definitely kill the opponent. Not only that, the many movements served as evidence to support Yeon-woo’s conjecture.

The direction of the muscle movement in his right shoulder, even the creaking of the bones in his left arm provided clues for Yeon-woo’s conviction.

At first, she was baffled by his intentions, but with such clues thrown her way, she had no choice but to realize. What she lacked was neither her brother nor righteousness.

‘Why make it so damn hard to teach me….’

Why not just say a word? Is it too much to ask for a straightforward approach from these martial artists?

In that fleeting moment, the thought crossed Yeon-woo’s mind, but she shook her head, dismissing such impure thoughts.

No, a person renowned as one of the strongest in the world deserves to take some time to present their knowledge, right?

“Are you bipolar or something? Why are you shaking your head all over the place? Do you happen to be a devout Christian? If so, my bad.”

“If you’re not doing anything, why don’t you keep your mouth shut?”

“Well, I’m fighting here. For someone not even in this field, this is quite an impressive feat.”

Still, he didn’t say a word. Ain, who had slumped down behind Yeon-woo, nonchalantly replied while clasping an aura spear reminiscent of a quill pen.

Every time she fiercely pressed the spear into the ground, the enormous aura spheres appearing in the air punctured the Demon King’s Snake.

It wasn’t a javelin—it was a unique magic method enabled by a magic tool. By pressing the ground with her aura like playing chess, the aura sphere appeared from the air to attack the enemy. Ain connected her view with the ground.

Naturally, since both a chessboard and the ground being used need a structure that coordinates with the field of vision, it wasn’t usable in a situation where enemies were flocking from all sides without a front line.

It was a combat method that suited Ain, especially considering her incredibly wide field of vision that was almost unimaginable.

While the power of the aura sphere itself wasn’t groundbreaking, it wouldn’t be accurate to label her as an incredible long-range attacker either.

Wielding her sword with rapid speed toward the approaching army of snakes, Yeon-woo shifted her gaze skyward.

The area above the substantial disk had remained eerily quiet, void of the tumultuous mana surges that had erupted just moments ago.

Had Ray perhaps been killed? She pondered, but that couldn’t be true. The Swordmaster himself, Ray, had previously faced other demon lords alone and returned alive.

As each Demon King possessed unique abilities, the ranking of their combat strength usually ended up being meaningless discussions. However, considering the tales that the Demon King of Shuyo wasn’t exceedingly strong in pure combat prowess, Yeon-woo firmly believed Ray couldn’t have died while no demonic reactions were emerging.

“Ugh, stop bothering me!”

As she thought this, attempting to fend off the Demon King’s Snake by freezing it piece by piece, a voice reached her from afar.

Even though Shar wouldn’t lose to monsters that were not true reptiles, it wasn’t like she could just ignore them.

“President, I’ll head that way.”

“Got it. I’ll just punch some holes; you handle the formation? And since I’m not the president anymore, how about you just call me ‘sis’?”

“Uh~ absolutely not!”

Tsk, Aina clicked her tongue, taking a deep breath before she began to jab her spear numerous times, almost ten pokes in quick succession.

The brilliantly glowing, multicolored eyes gazed toward the direction Yeon-woo pointed. The mana grasping everything on this battlefield drew the best possible straight line to cross over the combat zone.

Like stepping stones, the aura spheres blossomed in mid-air and plunged toward the ground. Yeon-woo sprang up towards the line connecting the dots.

With her body darting swiftly between the silently howling snakes, Yeon-woo’s icy blade energy scattered everywhere. Blood sprayed from the snakes caught in her trajectory, and instantly, they froze into crystallized flowers of ice.

Before she knew it, as Yeon-woo neared the first point, she stepped atop the fading golden aura sphere and pressed down on it, recalling dry ice submerged in ice cream. The dragon calling magic responded to the dragon’s summoning, emitting a chilling cold.

As the cooling air flowed down from the aura sphere, rapidly freezing the massive body of the serpent, Yeon-woo once again leaped forward, heading towards Shar.

*

“Ugh, take this!!”

With a healthy shout, Shar tore apart the upper and lower jaws of the serpent she gripped. Blood splattered everywhere, but Shar didn’t mind. It was a good excuse to wash up with her father.

As she froze the body of the serpent she had just torn apart, Shar wiped the sweat and blood streaming from her forehead.

Most had been frozen and killed by Yeon-woo, but now that her dad wasn’t around, the place was crawling with them, which was sort of annoying.

“I miss Dad…!!”

Over the past few days, Shar had also put in considerable effort. She had been clearing the conditions required to achieve dragon transformation one by one when Yeon-woo wasn’t watching.

“Shar!!”

“Ah, Dad!! Sis too!!”

Upon hearing Yeon-woo’s sudden call, Shar raised her previously lowered head and saw Yeon-woo sprinting towards her full force, closely followed by Ain, who was panting behind.

It hadn’t been long since they last met, but the faces were incredibly welcoming, and Shar rushed towards them.

Yeon-woo, slicing through a serpent’s head that blocked their path, scooped up Shar and spun around.

“Are you alright, Shar? You didn’t get hurt anywhere, did you?”

“I’m fine!! What about Dad and Sis?”

“Feels like I might die… heh….”

“Stop exaggerating, senpai.”

“I’m seriously feeling wronged here.”

Ain grumbled, looking a little sulky. She acknowledged that being the Academy’s Student Council President came with a lot, but even so, it didn’t mean she had to endure exceedingly harsh conditions that could drain an awakened one’s muscles.

“Dad!! I’m all ready!!”

“What? All set? What do you mean by that?”

“I was thinking I might provide some help while you were focused on how to cut time. I think I might be able to do it now.”

Shar’s sudden announcement made Yeon-woo take a moment to ponder what it meant. Fortunately, it wasn’t a complicated problem, and she quickly found the answer.

Though she found an answer swiftly, it didn’t mean it was easy to believe.

“…What? Really?”

“Yes! Hehe, isn’t that amazing!?”

“Is it really that simple…?”

“Why do you guys keep talking about things I don’t understand? Tell me too.”

Ain, feeling somewhat left out of the conversation, tapped Yeon-woo’s shoulder in dissatisfaction.

Of course, given their connections and because she had heard that Shar lacked the awareness of being a dragon, it wasn’t completely unreasonable not to understand.

“Is it really that simple… ah, guess I can’t comment on your matters?”

Thinking it over, realizing that figuring out how to cut time would undoubtedly be trickier, this might rather be the more normal course to expect.

“Then should we give it a shot…?”

“Shall we?”

Upon hearing Yeon-woo’s voice brimming with anticipation, Shar grinned. In that instant, an enormous surge of mana erupted from the disk hovering above them.

The exploded mana acquired a physical force. A turbulent wind spiraled violently, and a tiny dot was visibly flung off the outer edge of the disk.

“Oh my.”

Surely that wasn’t the Demon King, right? It must be Ray, the one who got flung off. Just after Ray was propelled, an even smaller dot jumped off the disk.

“…I really should take action now?”

Mumbling this, Yeon-woo clasped Shar’s outstretched hand. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it seemed the Demon King was about to make a personal appearance. Before that, they had to drag all their powers out of the binds of time.

However, the problem was that they had to go find each one individually. With the Demon King directly coming down, where would they find time to do that?

As she pondered this, Shar transformed into a mass of mana and entered Yeon-woo’s body. With her hand extended, she wondered if something would start from there, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

[From now on, Dad, just focus on cutting time. The rest, I’ll handle.]

“Okay… Got it. What about you, Sister Ain? I’d be grateful if you could protect us, but I can’t force you.”

“‘Sister’? Not bad considering the context. And honestly, starting to run now would have a low chance of escaping from the Demon King, don’t you think? Thinking that way makes it a reasonable investment to rely on you?”

“Welcome to the investment expert league. I won’t take any responsibility if you crash and burn.”

“At that point, it’d be too complicated to hold anyone accountable.”

With a smirk, Ain squatted down and stared in the direction the Demon King would leap from. Her intentions were clear—she had severed the shared line of sight they maintained until now.

Although she could no longer perceive the flow of time visually, somehow Yeon-woo felt as though she could see where it flowed.

As though enchanted, Yeon-woo drew her sword. Like leaning on a staff, she groped through the air. At some moment, her sword came to a halt.

‘Here it is.’

She didn’t just swing her sword aimlessly this time.

She was certain she could strike now, but there wasn’t much meaning in cutting the flow here. The heaviness of the flow from the east would only return to normal, it seemed.

Yeon-woo decided to wait for Shar. Even if there was no past to cut here, Shar claimed she would handle it.

Then, Yeon-woo would simply wait, being the sword for Shar when she would strike.

(To be continued in the next episode)

 

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