Chapter 93
Exposure (3)
The dense green mist was filled with the sounds of explosions and screams.
T hi s w a s c o pi e d f ro m ki ng mt l . or g
In the muddy chaos where it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe, Baek Seoyeon put up a barrier spell to block the poisonous mist and calmly walked forward.
A few enemies tried to attack her unexpectedly, but she mercilessly fired particle bullets to easily deal with them.
Soon, the shadow of someone bursting into maniacal laughter began to flicker before her.
T h is wa s co p i e d fr o m k i n g m tl .org
Yeon Jeongmun, standing in the mist, was spewing blood from every orifice on his face with bloodshot eyes. He truly looked like a demon crawling out of the pits of hell.
He suddenly turned his head while turning someone who had rushed at him into a beehive.
Just as Seoyeon recognized him, he too noticed her presence and stopped laughing, meeting her eyes.
Then he clicked his tongue lightly as if disappointed.
“Tsk. It seems it doesn’t work on those with high ranks yet. I wanted to see the self-proclaimed strongest of the current generation go crazy and run amok.”
“Yeon Jeongmun. You’re truly out of your mind.”
Seoyeon spat out words filled with sincere contempt, but he smiled widely as if he didn’t care at all.
“What a pity. If I had just a few more days, I would have covered the entire capital with this mist. It’s my eternal regret that I couldn’t see your father dying in it.”
“You’re to be executed on the spot. Surely you don’t expect to keep your life after committing such atrocities one after another?”
T hi s wa s c o p i e d f ro m k in gm t l. o r g
Seoyeon murmured as she pointed her sharply honed ice blades at him. Her aura was so chilling that it felt like one could freeze just by meeting her gaze.
“Hahaha! The moment I failed, my life was as good as forfeit! Do you think I, Yeon Jeongmun, would cling to such things now?!”
After laughing as if it didn’t matter at all, Yeon Jeongmun suddenly stopped laughing. Then he stared at Seoyeon with piercing eyes.
“But I can’t just meekly offer my neck. How could I face my ancestors and that beloved child with such a face? Shouldn’t I at least take one Paechun head with me on my way to the afterlife?!”
Before he could finish speaking, he rushed at Seoyeon, spraying blood.
It was an extremely swift speed, difficult to follow with the eyes. Seoyeon just stood in place, glaring at him without moving a muscle.
And just before his hand was about to grab Seoyeon’s neck.
-Squelch!
At the squishy sound of flesh being pierced and the chilling pain spreading throughout his body, Yeon Jeongmun instinctively looked down at his chest.
“Kuhuk…!!”
What entered his view was the tip of a sharp ice spike that had pierced through his abdomen from behind.
He was lifted up, entangled in a giant icicle that had grown upwards from the ground. His feet dangled in the air, unable to touch the ground.
He kept making deflated sounds from his mouth.
T hi s wa s c o p i e d f r om k i n g mtl . o r g
There was never a way for the man to take Seoyeon as a companion to the afterlife. His body had already reached its limit, and he no longer had the mental capacity to make rational judgments.
Seoyeon slowly opened her mouth as she watched his figure, hanging as if on a scaffold.
“Yeon Jeongmun. Don’t feel too wronged. This is revenge for the crimes you’ve committed.”
“Kuhuk…! Revenge…!! What on earth…”
“Two years ago. Do you remember sending demons to a small pioneer village in the north?”
“I think… kuhuk…! I did something like that…”
Seoyeon again tried hard to calm her rising anger.
“Yes… That’s right… At the request of Paechun’s heir at the time… I used those beasts that had come down south… Did that woman leak even such information… But why…”
“The person who was in that village… was me.”
“What…?”
Yeon Jeongmun’s eyes widened as if he had finally realized something.
And at the same time, Seoyeon plunged the ice blades floating behind her, emitting sharp cold, straight into his heart.
“Kuhuk…!”
T his w as c o p i e d f r o m k i ng mt l. o r g
He, who now looked like a porcupine, coughed violently.
His hands and feet, which had been struggling forcefully, went limp towards the ground.
“Fi, finally… I can see… that child… again…”
The light gradually faded from the man’s eyes as he uttered a small lament.
“But don’t be too heartbroken. I’ll soon send that person you’ve been wanting to kill all along to join you.”
Seoyeon muttered as if talking to herself, but there was no way to know if those words properly reached Yeon Jeongmun.
A momentary feeling of relief and elation brushed past her. Only then did Seoyeon look around.
Although they had suffered considerable casualties due to the unexpected dark magic and interference system magic, the commander-level figures, including herself, were still maintaining their sanity and keeping their battle lines intact.
The poisonous mist was also gradually thinning, revealing the surrounding landscape. Due to the overwhelming difference in numbers, the suppression of the last remnants was progressing slowly but surely.
At this rate, it seemed certain that everything would be wrapped up before dawn.
However, just as she was about to rejoin the battle line.
Suddenly feeling a presence, Seoyeon turned around and met two red eyes wandering lost in the mist.
She immediately took a combat stance, but Yeon Minha’s gaze was fixed not on Seoyeon, but behind her.
“Fa, Father…?”
Yeon Minha could easily recognize the owner of the ice tomb.
“Ah… Aeu… Ah…”
Yeon Minha let out a low scream close to a wail.
The miserable corpse and the ice covering it completely, emitting coldness. It wasn’t difficult to deduce who had killed him.
The light in her red eyes gradually dimmed, and finally, her reason that had reached its limit evaporated without a trace.
T hi s w a s c o p i ed f r om k i n g mt l . or g
“Baek Seoyeon!!”
T h is w a s c op i e d f r o m k i n g mt l.o r g
-Boom!
T h i s w a s c op ied f r o m k i n g m t l . o r g
“Huk…!”
Seoyeon frowned at the tremendous shockwave that suddenly erupted. Yeon Minha’s directionless anger and resentment were undoubtedly aimed at her.
“…Hah.”
Facing Yeon Minha’s anger, Seoyeon let out a small sigh in a chilling voice.
***
-Boom! Bang!
-Clang! Clatter!
-Argh! My eyes… my eyes…!
-Kaehang! Kaeng!
All sorts of noises mixed chaotically, painfully assaulting the ears.
Although I barely managed to put up a barrier to block the poisonous mist, my condition wasn’t very good due to the poison that had started circulating throughout my body in earnest.
My skin felt hot and feverish, and my mind was hazy. My vision kept blurring and clearing, making it difficult even to get my bearings.
Looking around, I couldn’t see Yeon Minha anywhere, perhaps due to being blown away by the shockwave.
I got up with my heavy body. Then I picked up a blade that had fallen in the melee and headed into the mist to find her.
I desperately tried to organize my complicated thoughts.
There was only one certain fact. Jeokhwa was finished. The things Yeon Jeongmun had done were clearly incriminating to anyone. The lady of the house had already died by his hand, and he too wouldn’t be able to keep his life.
Yeon Minha had nothing to do with it, but unfortunately, those who had obtained the information and invaded were Paechun’s elites.
Sworn enemies of Jeokhwa who had been waiting for an opportunity to bring each other down.
If Yeon Minha falls into their hands, what happens next is obvious. No matter how I think about it, the possibility of her being implicated and dealt with seems higher than the chance of a proper investigation.
However, since they have the justification, if I interfere recklessly, it might become even harder to protect Yeon Minha.
For now, the best course of action is to find her somehow and escape from this place to hide.
But it’s not like there’s a suitable place to hide either.
The Cradle, which has extraterritoriality, is too far, and I don’t have any connections in the capital.
What should I do?
As I pondered deeply while making my way through the mist, suddenly something I had forgotten came to mind.
There is.
There was exactly one place where I could entrust myself.
‘Remember this well.’
‘…What is this?’
‘You’ll find out later. If something happens to you, we’ll come, but if the situation is urgent, just go to this address and ask for help.’
Before leaving the northeastern garrison for enrollment at the Cradle. The commander had handed me a note with an address written on it.
T h i s w a s co p i e d f r om k i ng m t l . o r g
I did receive it, but since nothing special had happened afterward, I had tucked it away in a corner of my mind.
I only know the address and nothing else is certain, but for now, it’s the only thing I can pin my hopes on.
Surely the commander wouldn’t have given me such an address without any thought.
Meanwhile, the sound of flapping wings gradually grew closer, and Yeon Minha’s crow, now familiar to me, suddenly dove into my arms.
It had created a round membrane similar to a barrier to protect itself from the mist. Despite its appearance, it’s certainly a 1st-grade magical beast.
-Caw!
Yeon Minha’s crow, after catching its breath for a moment, stared at me intently. Its eyes seemed to contain a silent urging to quickly go find its master.
As I got up, the stubby crow that resembled a sparrow also spread its wings again and slowly began to lead me.
Shadows and shouts intertwined and unraveled repeatedly beyond the mist.
Among them, there were those who rushed at me, but most of them charged without thinking, as if out of their minds, so subduing them wasn’t too difficult.
As I was advancing, following the crow’s guidance. A familiar woman in heavy armor blocks the way ahead.
Round glasses and hair braided into two plaits. Choi Ireh, a second-year at the Cradle.
She greeted me with a bright smile, as if genuinely pleased to see me.
T h i s w as c o p i e d f r o m k i n g mt l . org
“Nice to see you, junior.”
End of Chapter