Silver Dragon Legend: Episode 12
Chapter 3. The Boy Who Grows Stronger the More He Fights
It was a dream.
What appeared after piercing through the pitch-black darkness where there was nothing... was his childhood self.
And the self looking at his childhood self was already an adult.
"Huh?"
Je-hwa, who had woken suddenly, let out a dazed exclamation.
He got up from bed, made a puzzled expression, then let out a deep sigh and spoke.
"What was that?"
It was a dream that strangely left a lingering aftertaste.
Right next to the pavilion where Je-hwa was staying was another pavilion where the Murim Alliance delegation was staying.
When Je-hwa came out of the pavilion, he naturally ran into the people from the Murim Alliance delegation.
The first person Je-hwa met was Jegal Hwan.
Jegal Hwan seemed very bothered by Je-hwa, but Je-hwa paid him no mind and passed by, muttering.
"I'm hungry."
To a hungry Je-hwa, other people were invisible.
There are those whose nerves grow sharper the hungrier they get, but Je-hwa not only grew sharper of nerve—his personality also grew gradually more ferocious and nasty.
Ah, was that the same thing?
"I'm hungry and annoyed."
When Je-hwa sat on a rock in the pavilion courtyard, scowling as he looked up at the sky, someone approached him. It was Dokgo Ryeong.
Je-hwa's gaze turned to Dokgo Ryeong, who was cautiously approaching him.
"May I sit beside you?"
At her question, Je-hwa nodded.
"I'm hungry."
"..."
Looking at Dokgo Ryeong, who was staring blankly at him muttering dazedly, Je-hwa asked.
"Don't you have anything to eat?"
"I don't."
At those words, Je-hwa completely despaired.
At the sight of such a Je-hwa, Dokgo Ryeong began to truly doubt whether he was actually strong.
He was a year younger than her and possessed an immense martial might she could hardly dare to imagine. Dokgo Ryeong gradually grew curious about Je-hwa.
"Um... Your name is Eun Jehwa, right?"
"Yeah."
"You're so young, yet how do you have such powerful martial arts?"
At those words, Je-hwa glanced at Dokgo Ryeong with a puzzled expression and asked.
"Why do people keep asking me if I've learned martial arts?"
"...?"
"I haven't learned anything like martial arts."
"..."
Dokgo Ryeong made a dumbfounded expression at Je-hwa's words.
"Are you teasing me? How could anyone say something so absurd?"
"What's so absurd about it?"
"What?"
"What technique do you need to fight? You just punch and kick, and if you have a weapon, you swing it. Why would I learn some martial art just to fight with difficulty?"
"..."
While Dokgo Ryeong was momentarily at a loss for words, Je-hwa, who had been tilting his head, spoke.
"I'm hungry. I'm going to look for food."
He immediately shot away from that spot.
Dokgo Ryeong could only stare blankly at Je-hwa's retreating figure.
"Bye~"
Je-hwa had been rummaging around here and there for food, and when he ultimately failed to find anything and was despairing once again, Sawolrin appeared, and at her entrance, the eyes of the despairing Je-hwa suddenly sparkled.
"Hyek!"
At Je-hwa's terrifying momentum, Sawolrin was startled and let out a strange shriek.
"I'm hungry! Give me food!"
At Je-hwa's shout, which was like a tantrum, Sawolrin's face turned pale and she staggered on the spot.
'J-just how strong is he? J-just from shouting...'
Just how powerful was his inner energy that merely shouting made her head throb and her bones ring? Moreover, the momentum emanating from Je-hwa's body was no joke. A starving man is fearsome.
"S-so you're hungry! The maids will bring you food!"
"Huh?"
Sawolrin grabbed her throbbing head and shouted loudly to escape Je-hwa's momentum, and at her cry, Je-hwa paused for a moment and asked blankly.
"What's a maid?"
"..."
Sawolrin made a dumbfounded expression at Je-hwa's words. No, what kind of nonsense was this? What do you mean, 'what's a maid?!'
Sawolrin, who had been wearing a dumbfounded expression, soon remembered that Je-hwa had almost no common knowledge and let out a deep sigh.
He was a guy who asked what martial arts were—wasn't it possible he wouldn't know what a maid was?
"They're people who work. If you had stayed in your room, they would have come, but the maids didn't come?"
"I came right outside as soon as I woke up to look for food?"
"..."
At those words, Sawolrin began wondering how she could hit Je-hwa and have it be considered a good hit.
No, he was the one at fault for wandering around the wrong places, so why was he unleashing his momentum on an innocent person? She truly felt aggrieved.
But Sawolrin soon gave up the thought of hitting him. He wasn't someone who would be hurt by being hit, and if she tried, who knew what kind of rebuff she might face—how could she strike him carelessly?
"Let's eat and then go somewhere with me."
"Where?"
"To see my father."
The Heavenly Demon Chamber at the center of the Cult Leader's residence contained a massive room where the cult leader dwelled.
Sawolma, the cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, sat cross-legged on the grand chair there.
"You've come? So, is this child the one you spoke of?"
"Yes, Father."
Sawolma looked at Je-hwa with an intrigued expression.
Je-hwa tilted his head as he looked at Sawolma.
Though he was hiding his energy, Je-hwa's sharp senses accurately felt Sawolma's power.
Definitely a being stronger than himself. But he didn't feel particularly threatened.
"Who is he?"
"My father."
At Sawolrin's words, Je-hwa looked at Sawolma again.
"Heh..."
Seeing Je-hwa looking at him with sparkling eyes and an amused expression, Sawolma narrowed his eyes.
'Is he ignorant... or simply unaffected?'
Sawolma examined Je-hwa closely.
But Je-hwa paid no mind whatsoever to whether Sawolma was looking at him closely or not, merely slouching and yawning, and at the sight of such a Je-hwa, Sawolrin let out a deep sigh.
'I can't feel anything. But if he can match an expert with physical ability alone and possesses such immense inner energy... does that mean he's as strong as the Elders?'
Perhaps he might even prove to be his equal.
'What is his true identity?'
He felt no malice whatsoever, but humans are beings who can change at any moment.
Moreover, the Blood Cult was active again these days. At this critical moment, the boy named Je-hwa before his eyes might become a dangerous variable.
Having observed Je-hwa before him for quite some time, Sawolma asked him.
"So, your name is Jehwa?"
"Yeah."
"..."
Sawolma was momentarily at a loss for words at Je-hwa's straightforward answer, and Sawolrin was the same.
At that moment, the members of the Heavenly Demon Force who had been hidden inside the Heavenly Demon Chamber appeared in an instant, surrounded Je-hwa, and pointed their swords at him.
Seeing the Heavenly Demon Force members, Sawolrin was startled, and Je-hwa also opened his eyes wide and spoke.
"Oh my? What is this all about?"
He even covered his mouth slightly with his hand.
At Je-hwa's words, the captain of the Heavenly Demon Force spoke to him, radiating killing intent.
"How dare you be rude to the Cult Leader?"
When the captain of the Heavenly Demon Force spoke in a voice infused with demonic energy, Sawolrin's body trembled.
Ma-heuk, the first captain of the Heavenly Demon Unit, was a renowned expert within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, known to possess power rivaling the Elders.
No matter how much Sawolrin was said to be the strongest among the younger generation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, she could not act recklessly before Ma-heuk.
Ma-heuk was so strong that Heukwol couldn't even compare to him.
Sawolrin cautiously looked at Je-hwa.
No matter how amazing Je-hwa was, would he truly be fine facing Ma-heuk?
Whether he knew of Sawolrin's worry or not, Je-hwa simply put on a cheerful, smiling expression.
"If you don't put these away, you'll get hit?"
Sawolrin frowned at Je-hwa, who spoke with a broad grin. Ma-heuk did the same.
Why was this brat before them so arrogant?
Thick killing intent erupted from Ma-heuk's body, as well as from the remaining Heavenly Demon Force members.
At that momentum, Sawolrin's face turned pale, and Sawolma's eyes sparkled as he awaited Je-hwa's next move.
Even facing the Heavenly Demon Force's momentum, Je-hwa merely maintained a relaxed expression.
But that was only for a moment. Je-hwa discovered Sawolrin struggling, opened his eyes wide, then made a fierce expression and glared at the Heavenly Demon Force.
"Remove them."
Je-hwa muttered quietly.
"..."
Even at Je-hwa's low voice, they did not withdraw their momentum. No, rather, their momentum grew even more ferocious.
"Ugh..."
At the moment Sawolrin bit her lip unconsciously under their momentum!
Whooooooosh!
A terrifying chill began flowing from Je-hwa's body, and at that chill, the Heavenly Demon Force members shuddered involuntarily.
"I said remove them!"
At that moment, along with Je-hwa's sudden roar, a terrifying energy erupted from his body and directly pushed the Heavenly Demon Force back.
"Kuk!"
The Heavenly Demon Force members, including Ma-heuk who was flung back by Je-hwa's energy, looked at him with shocked expressions.
They had never dreamed that he would blow them away with momentum alone.
How could someone that age possess such terrifying inner power?
The Heavenly Demon Force ultimately judged Je-hwa as an enemy and charged straight at him.
"W-wait!"
Sawolrin shouted in alarm, but they were the Heavenly Demon Force, who prioritized the Cult Leader's orders above all else. Even though she was the Cult Leader's daughter, they had no reason to heed her words.
Seeing the Heavenly Demon Force rushing at him radiating terrifying killing intent, Je-hwa also snorted and charged toward the Heavenly Demon Force.