Chapter 457 - Change (變).
On the scorched earth sat a woman, her expression deathly still.
"..."
The heavy, stagnant air mirrored her own exhaustion; her eyes were clouded and dark.
Click.
She grasped the sword before her and used it as a lever to push herself upright.
She couldn't afford to sit idle, not when both body and heart were spent.
She must not show weakness.
Clinging to that resolve, she barely managed to stand.
"Haah..."
Her head swam as she rose. No doubt, a backlash from forcing her qi.
Having stopped mid-channeling, the agony was all the more severe.
"Kuhack—!"
Sogeomseong hacked up a violent cough. Bloody fluid splattered onto the ground, staining it red.
She glanced about, taking stock of her surroundings, and wiped her lips.
"..."
Tap, tap.
After scraping the blood from the ground with her toes, she drew a small bamboo flask from within her robes and gulped down its contents.
Only after emptying it could she finally exhale.
"..."
With hollow eyes, she surveyed her surroundings.
Residual lightning qi still lingered, scorching the earth. Trees uprooted by the raging wind pressure lay scattered in every direction.
Evidence of the fierce battle fought here.
Taking stock of her condition, Sogeomseong turned her thoughts to what had just transpired.
Not a battle review—she had long since outgrown the need for that.
Nor was it the regret of losing Mageomhu.
'If I regret anything, it's rather...'
Sogeomseong thought back.
To the young man who had appeared and intervened just before she clashed head-on with Mageomhu.
"..."
The prophesied figure Muhi had ordered her to bring.
An 'order' to muster her full strength, march on Heukyeomdae's main force, and retrieve one of the individuals there.
She had been given neither a description nor an identity.
Acting on the words *You'll know when you see them*, Sogeomseong had set out.
As expected, she had clashed with the demonic ones.
And she had met him.
The very prophesied figure Muhi had spoken of.
She had recognized him at once, just as Muhi said she would.
'So that's what she meant by you'll know.'
How could she not? He bore an aura that could not exist twice under the same heavens.
And the young man seemed to know of it too.
The resonance was so profound. And so sorrowful.
'...'
Even if his face was different.
Even if his voice, his scent—everything was different.
She could tell he was the Anomaly Muhi sought.
What was more—Sogeomseong knew exactly who he was.
How could she not? It was impossible not to.
Of course, it was scarcely something she could readily believe.
Two identical people existing in the same world was a strange thing indeed.
That was why she couldn't act rashly.
'...'
She thought of the young man who had stepped between her and Mageomhu to stop their fight.
She hadn't been able to bring herself to stop him as he gathered the collapsing Mageomhu in his arms and left.
Only a fleeting exchange of glances in the moment of his departure.
The lingering regret of the words she hadn't spoken faintly traced her lips.
"—What is your name?"
The question she had asked the night before, and the answer she had not received.
Had the young man answered then, what would he have said?
Would he have spoken the name Sogeomseong was thinking of?
Or would he have given some other answer?
Whatever the case, it was already too late.
"..."
Because she hadn't stopped the young man taking Mageomhu away.
No.
It was more accurate to say she couldn't bring herself to.
Sogeomseong hadn't stopped him. She shouldn't have let him leave like that.
For the sake of what lay ahead, she should have captured Mageomhu then and there. Yet the moment she met his eyes, she found she could not.
'...Why?'
Why had he looked at her with such eyes?
The tenderness and inscrutable worry etched in his gaze coiled around her heart.
A look she had never seen from the man she knew.
Why had he looked at her so?
She had wanted to ask.
If you know me—if the aura you carry is truly what I suspect it is.
What we were to each other in your memories.
She hadn't been able to, and the reason was simple.
The weight upon her shoulders was far too great.
"..."
After wiping away the remaining blood at her lips, Sogeomseong surveyed the spot where he had vanished.
A severe backlash would hit before long.
It wouldn't take overly long, but she needed rest. Quickly settling matters, she would need to find somewhere away from people.
"Ah..."
I'm tired.
The thought flickered through Sogeomseong's mind.
Only to be immediately erased.
She couldn't afford to be tired.
Thinking thus, she forced herself rigidly upright.
Struggling to fix her gaze and take a step—
"Would it be alright to let them go as they are?"
"...!"
A cold voice rang out.
Sogeomseong turned toward the voice. It was Cheonjon.
Cheonjon regarded her, his characteristic blue eyes frosted over.
"...Cheonjon...?"
"This is something I cannot comprehend."
Crackle.
Lightning qi flared from Cheonjon's body.
"You had a clear opportunity. Why did you let it pass?"
"..."
"Were you perhaps trying to hand this old man an opportunity as well?"
Cheonjon spoke with a smile, yet his voice brimmed with boundless killing intent.
Slowly, Cheonjon's body began to drift upward.
Though the restrained lightning qi flowed only around him, Sogeomseong felt cold sweat bead against her will at the sheer overwhelming pressure.
"A pity... Had I come a bit sooner, this would have been easier."
"Cheonjon... what are you... wait...!"
"Permission has been granted."
"...!"
Sogeomseong's pupils dilated at his words.
"Since His permission has been obtained, there is no longer any reason to endure."
Sogeomseong bit her lip.
For she instantly understood the meaning behind them.
"Decide. Will you come along, or remain here?"
"..."
Sogeomseong could give no answer.
Cheonjon said nothing, only shaking his head at the sight.
"I do hope your current hesitation does not persist until the very end."
*Kuwung—!*
Leaving those words behind, Cheonjon's expression turned impassive as he transformed into a streak of lightning and sped away.
Sogeomseong tried to cry out, to stop him, but—
"Kgh...!"
In that instant, the surging backlash overwhelmed her, forcing her to her knees.
"Hurk... hurk!"
Her breathing grew ragged and her vision blurred, yet Sogeomseong tried desperately to reclaim her sword.
Ultimately failing, she lost consciousness for a time.
*****************
The forested path into Sacheon. He ran like a madman, the sun at his back.
The scenery blurred and shifted without pause thanks to his considerable speed.
Even so, he pushed forward like a madman.
'How much farther?'
The destination was the heart of Sacheon.
His eyes had been covered while he was being transported, damn it all, so he had no grasp of the terrain.
He was simply running on a vague hunch that it was roughly this way.
'Ah, fuck.'
Originally, he had intended to move to another area, cover his tracks, and observe for a time.
'What the hell kind of mess is this.'
The one slung across his back made that impossible.
The Thunder Queen—no, Mageomhu—who had been swinging lightning around like a madwoman until mere moments ago was now slung across his back.
"Huu... huu..."
Her steady breathing reached his ear.
Mageomhu seemed to have lost consciousness for the moment.
'Backlash, huh?'
No doubt, having forcibly reached the Noehu Advent state just moments ago, the backlash had come crashing down.
He'd been stunned when she saw him, muttered "Thank goodness," and promptly collapsed.
'...Meaning her body had truly reached its limit.'
He knew the Noe-a was a precious object that inflicted heavy backlash on its user.
It wasn't something Mageomhu couldn't endure.
This situation only came about because she had used the Noe-a while already pushed far, far past her limits.
'So why, dammit.'
His teeth ground together involuntarily.
There had been no need to go this far.
Death is the end.
Having experienced regression himself, he supposed he couldn't be certain—but he didn't think such a thing would happen to Mageomhu.
So live, damn it. Don't just throw your life away.
At the very least, he wished she hadn't done this for him.
'Bloody hell.'
Feeling how light Mageomhu was, he grimaced.
Does she even eat properly? Why is she so light—it's irritating.
He pushed harder with his toes.
The immediate goal was to escape the area, so he glanced over his shoulder.
'...Sogeomseong.'
As he had hoisted Mageomhu onto his back while she collapsed, he recalled the moment his eyes had met Sogeomseong's.
Contrary to his expectation that she would try to seize him, Sogeomseong had simply stood there with a pained expression, watching him.
Had she meant to let him leave?
She hadn't made any move even as he leaped clear of the area. That had to be it.
Had she tried to seize him, he would never have escaped her grasp.
But why she had let him go, he couldn't say.
'Is the you of this world somehow different?'
It was a different world, after all. The Divine Sword he knew might have a different personality here.
No matter how similar she appeared.
"...Nnn..."
Then he felt signs of stirring behind his back.
"Coming to?"
"..."
A quiet call, but no answer.
Still out, then.
'Should I head for the main force like this, then?'
He couldn't do much with Mageomhu on his hands, so heading back to the main force was indeed the priority.
The problem was...
'What am I supposed to say?'
How was he to explain showing up like this?
'...Actually, maybe it'll be fine.'
Mageomhu had barged in to save him and stirred everything up from the outset.
Mageomhu saved him, overexerted herself and fainted, and he carried her back.
It might work if he said that, but—
'Fat chance...'
Remembering the bastard hearing this was none other than *me*, there were serious problems.
Leaving aside the fact that Mageomhu had come to save him.
The fact that the Martial Alliance had wanted him, that Mageomhu was in this state while he was unscathed... so many problems.
'Should I just throw it all out there?'
Just say it to his face.
I'm actually you.
I came from another world. Nice to see you, you dumbass.
He wanted to scream just that, but...
'...Would he buy it?'
If he didn't, it would be the worst-case scenario.
And it was safe to assume he absolutely wouldn't.
That bastard's personality made him impossible to believe.
At least there was one saving grace.
'He won't kill me.'
He would assume he had backing since he returned unscathed.
Being a demonic practitioner, he wouldn't kill him outright.
And Sogeomseong had personally wanted him as well.
In the end, he had returned alive with Mageomhu.
'...However.'
The problem was that in this case, the odds were high that a report would reach Cheonma.
Matters had progressed to the point where Cheonma was bound to hear of it.
If that happened—
'Cheonma might come in person.'
The very heavens of the main cult might descend upon Sacheon to investigate the anomaly.
Then things would truly become hopeless.
He had to either flee or resolve this before that happened.