Chapter 452 - Which World.
"I am called Muhui."
The woman wearing a veil, who had emerged from the suddenly opened demonic realm gate, introduced herself as such.
It was strange enough that she appeared by tearing open a dimension out of nowhere, but I was more focused on the first words she spoke upon appearing than on her entrance itself.
"-I greet an existence from another world."
‘An existence from another world?’
A chilling statement.
Those words felt as if she knew I was not a person of this world.
Hiding my bewilderment with effort, I looked at the woman and opened my mouth.
"Are you the one looking for me?"
Was this woman the one who had sent the Divine Sword to find me?
If so, who could she be?
At the very least, she was someone I was seeing for the first time.
‘I never met her in my past life.’
Not only in my past life, but even in my present life, I had never seen a woman radiating such an aura.
This made it difficult to grasp what this woman's true identity was.
‘Is this world truly not the world I know?’
I was gradually realizing that I couldn't dismiss it as an illusion anymore.
It was strange from the very beginning.
If this were an illusion created based on my memories, it would be normal for it to be unable to create things I didn't know, yet this world was not like that.
This was something I could have recognized within just a few days of falling here.
No.
It would be more correct to say that I had been desperately pretending not to know and ignoring it.
As I frowned and looked at the woman called Muhui, she brought her hands together respectfully and gave me an answer.
"I do not have the qualifications to be such a person."
"Qualifications?"
What did she mean by not having the qualifications?
Could it be that she was merely someone delivering a message?
‘Muhui.’
It was a name I felt I had heard somewhere.
Of course, the word "muhui" itself was something anyone would know, but of all things, Muhui?
‘Where did I hear it?’
I clearly felt as if I had heard this, importantly, somewhere before.
‘...!’
The moment I struggled to recall it, a memory regarding this flashed past before long.
It was a few years ago.
Around the time I was participating in the martial arts tournament at the Yongbong Branch.
It was during the final moments of the duel with Jang Seon-yeon in the finals.
The Blood Demon who had descended through Jang Seon-yeon's body at the time had once spoken to me thus.
"-If you happen to meet Muhui...."
Had he not told me to tell her that he was searching for her?
Back then, the word Muhui had definitely been mixed into the words the Blood Demon spoke.
That meant....
‘Does it mean this woman is a figure on the Blood Demon's side?’
My eyes naturally furrowed.
Then I looked at So Geomseong.
She was standing with a calm expression, showing no particular reaction even to Muhui's appearance.
Though I could sense a small discomfort within her, she didn't seem especially surprised.
In other words, Muhui's appearance itself was not something strange to her.
‘What is this?’
If the Blood Demon truly stood behind this woman called Muhui.
Did So Geomseong also know of the Blood Demon's existence?
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.
As I bit my tongue repeatedly at the tingling sensation.
"It is truly regrettable that we must meet in this manner."
Muhui continued speaking to me.
"...How did you know I had come?"
"There was a prophecy. My master said that an existence from another world would appear in this world, and commanded that we find and escort you posthaste."
So it meant there were words saying that I would appear.
Then truly....
‘This means this place is no mere illusion.’
Did they call it a trial and truly send me to another world?
Then where in the world was this place?
‘A world that resembles my past life, yet is somehow different... what should I call this?’
Whatever it was, what was important was the question of why she had sent me to this place.
Unable to hold back the irritation rising at the complicated situation, I let it seep into my voice.
"Prophecy or whatever. How did you know it was me?"
Whoever uttered the prophecy wasn't important.
The problem was how they could be so certain that I was someone from another world.
Regarding this, the answer came not from Muhui, but from So Geomseong.
"...Because our energies resonated."
When I heard those words and glanced at her, So Geomseong was speaking without looking my way.
Listening, I thought inwardly.
‘So it was that, after all.’
This was also a reason I had already anticipated.
I had merely gained conviction through her words.
They had figured out I came from another world because the energy of the Divine Sword within my body resonated.
So Geomseong herself had said she was certain it was me because of that.
Though that was indeed correct.
‘Can this truly serve as a reason?’
I still couldn't properly understand this part.
In the midst of this, Muhui looked at the handcuffs wrapped around my wrist and sent a glance toward So Geomseong.
"Please release him."
The moment those words came out.
*Tap.*
The handcuffs encircling my wrists were sliced off with a *shhk—!* and fell to the ground with a clatter.
Looking at the fallen handcuffs on the floor, I turned my gaze to So Geomseong.
‘When did she draw it?’
Before I knew it, she was holding a sword in one hand.
She had cut the handcuffs in the brief moment before I could even notice.
Not only that.
*Boom—!*
My blocked inner energy stirred and began to surge with vitality throughout my entire body.
It meant the restrictive seal blocking my dantian had also been undone.
This, too, must have been So Geomseong's doing.
After moving my hands a few times to check my condition, Muhui approached me.
"Circumstances being what they are, I am deeply sorry that I cannot show you a more favorable sight."
Outwardly, she appeared polite, but her voice and gestures were coldness itself.
It felt as though I was conversing with a wooden statue.
"So.... enough of that. What do you want from me?"
I refused to let things get any more complicated, so I wanted to get to the main point immediately.
So, in the end, what was it they wanted from me?
In response, Muhui spoke to me cautiously in the same posture as before.
"My master wishes to see you."
In the end, it meant that her master herself could not come.
The moment Muhui spoke those words.
*Groooan—!*
The demonic realm gate that Muhui had just walked out of began to open once more.
'Surely she doesn't mean for me to follow through there?'
When I looked at her with a strange expression, Muhui continued.
"Unfortunately, my master is in a situation where movement is difficult, so she is hoping you will come to her if possible."
Though it was said as if it were an explanation.
"What happens if I don't go?"
At my words asking what would happen if I refused to see her master, Muhui merely looked at me without offering any answer.
She wasn't saying I didn't have to come.
‘Her words are kind, but ultimately they're no different from a threat.’
I smiled bitterly.
Everyone was so violent.
It was precisely because this world was such bullshit that I had to frantically build up my strength.
I looked at Muhui, shook my head once, and spoke.
"Do I just follow you in?"
"Thank you for understanding."
Like hell I understood.
Whether she knew of my rotten expression or not, Muhui walked toward the demonic realm with the same gait as before.
Seeing that, I followed without hesitation.
It was for the best anyway.
Rather than continuing to brood over this world I knew nothing about, it would be faster to go find someone who knew and ask.
‘Just what kind of godforsaken world is this. Let's go find out.’
Thinking thus, I strode into the demonic realm.
Soon after, I closed my eyes against the rushing light within the demonic realm.
When I opened my eyes again.
"Hm?"
A massive ice palace stood before me.
******************
A room shrouded in silent silence.
A dark blue rod lay upon a wide table.
Though it appeared to be a worthless antique, this was Lei Ya, the treasured object of the Namgung Clan, said to be called one of the Five Great Famous Swords of the Central Plains.
Setting aside how an object with only its handle remaining could be called one of the Five Great Famous Swords.
The eyes of the woman looking at it were so cold that meeting them felt as though one might be cut.
The woman, who had been quietly staring at the handle, looked at the man sitting before her and opened her mouth.
"...Why... did you do it?"
Anger and resentment.
Such emotions were clearly felt, deeply embedded in the woman's voice.
Hearing the woman's voice, the man raised his head and looked at her.
"What are you saying?"
"Why... did you send him...?"
At the man's indifferent reaction, the beautiful brows of the Demon Sword Queen furrowed.
"...You shouldn't have sent him...."
"He said he would go himself. I merely respected that."
"...Lies...."
The Demon Sword Queen firmly denied the Demonic Emperor's words.
"The Great Lord... doesn't know a thing about respect...."
"..."
At the Demon Sword Queen's words, the Demonic Emperor's face contorted.
It seemed those words had soured his mood considerably.
"...Vice Patriarch. Just what do you think you are doing right now?"
Though the Demonic Emperor revealed his displeasure without reserve, the Demon Sword Queen's words remained the same.
"You shouldn't have sent him."
"You merely repeat the same words. Have you truly lost your mind?"
*Boom—!*
The table crumbled apart from the Demonic Emperor's lightly struck fist.
"Unnecessary emotions are mixed within you. What attachment is so deep that you harbor such lingering feelings?"
"..."
At most, a few days.
It had merely been a few days spent with the young demonic human who had appeared bearing the name of the Heavenly Demon.
Paljeolyeop, was it?
His name was clearly an alias, and even if one searched for information, nothing came up.
A martial artist who had surpassed the wall of the Transformation Realm at that age, yet of whom nothing was known?
By his own words, he had lost his family to the orthodox sects and became a demonic human for revenge, but among the Black Flame Squad, not a single demonic human believed those words.
They merely didn't dig deeper than necessary because he had uttered the name of the Heavenly Demon.
Demonic humans do not trust one another.
They trust only the Heavenly Demon.
"I cannot understand."
He had avoided unnecessary battles, recovered Lei Ya, and eliminated a suspicious individual.
The results were excellent, so how could the Demon Sword Queen show such a reaction?
The Demonic Emperor could not understand. Moreover, he felt frustrated.
The Demon Sword Queen's gaze as she looked at the Demonic Emperor changed subtly.
Within the eyes that had held anger and resentment, one more emotion was added.
The Demonic Emperor thought it was pity.
The moment he was about to erupt in anger, asking why she looked at him with such eyes, the Demon Sword Queen looked at the Demonic Emperor and spoke.
"...The one in whom unnecessary emotions are mixed... is not me...."
"..."
At her words, the Demonic Emperor's face twisted savagely.
"...It's you...."
*Crash—!*
The shattered pieces of the table passed by the Demon Sword Queen's side and crashed into the wall, breaking apart.
It was because the Demonic Emperor had been unable to hold back his anger and thrown something.
"Vice Patriarch. Do not cross the line any further."
"..."
It was his final warning.
It meant that if she uttered another word, he would not let it pass.
Hearing this, the Demon Sword Queen did not show any further reaction, merely retrieving Lei Ya and holding it to her bosom.
And as she moved her steps toward outside the room, just before opening the door and leaving, she left words directed at the Demonic Emperor.
"I... will not give up on you.... No matter what happens."
They were incomprehensible words.
The Demonic Emperor tried to raise his voice, asking what nonsense this was, but the Demon Sword Queen had already left.
*Crack.*
Strength gradually surged into the Demonic Emperor's clenched fist.
Eventually.
*Boom—!*
His clenched fist swung and smashed the wall with all his might.
"..."
*Thud, thud, thud.*
Fragments fell from the wall and filled the floor.
The Demonic Emperor repeatedly struggled to calm his rough breathing.
The reason he was so furious was not because the Demon Sword Queen had pressed him, saying she could not understand his actions.
The problem was the words the Demon Sword Queen had spat out in succession.
"-...The one in whom unnecessary emotions are mixed... is not me...."
"-It's you."
Those words were, quite literally, words that pierced to the heart of the matter that the Demonic Emperor had been desperately trying to hide.