Silver Dragon Saga
Chapter 41
Boom!
Je-hwa took Yeom Jo-hwi’s fan to the face, and with it, an enormous flame erupted.
Watching this, Yeom Jo-hwi, who had been grinning, soon had her face contort.
Thwack!
“Urk!”
Je-hwa swung her fist, punching straight through the flames.
‘If she gets close, I’m at a disadvantage.’
Je-hwa was fighting with exceptional skill in close quarters. Because of this, Yeom Jo-hwi tried to put as much distance as possible between them.
But whenever she did, Je-hwa would sense it like a ghost and stubbornly stick to her.
Bam! Bam!
A back-and-forth brawl continued: Je-hwa would land a blow, Yeom Jo-hwi would strike back, then Je-hwa would hit her again.
Yeom Jo-hwi didn’t want to fight in such a crude manner, but Je-hwa stubbornly insisted on close-quarters combat.
Her face contorted as she tried to retaliate, but Yeom Jo-hwi suddenly stiffened without realizing it.
‘Is she smiling?’
Je-hwa was smiling. And with an innocent, bright face at that.
‘Wh-what!’
In an instant, she felt chills run down her entire body.
This wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking battle. The boy before her eyes did not fear death.
‘She’s dangerous……’
She was simply enjoying the fight, nothing more.
When strength is roughly equal, one who enjoys the fight can never defeat one who fears not death. Because their very mindset was different.
Now she understood why Je-hwa stuck to such a crude fighting style. Since Je-hwa didn’t even fear death, a few more wounds were of no consequence.
She felt terror at Je-hwa’s appearance, and that created an opening.
Bam!
“Kuh!”
Taking an unexpected blow, Yeom Jo-hwi staggered, and Je-hwa’s fist flew toward her.
Smack!
“Aack!”
Struck by Je-hwa’s fist, Yeom Jo-hwi screamed and collapsed on the spot.
Thanks to the power Je-hwa had been unconsciously emanating, the flames that had enveloped the surroundings had long since subsided.
“Now then…… Would you kindly die now?”
As Je-hwa spoke with a bright smile, Yeom Jo-hwi’s body trembled.
“Stop. A child shouldn’t be so cruel.”
Then, at the sudden voice of a woman, Je-hwa’s eyes went wide and she turned her head.
There stood a beautiful woman with red hair and red eyes, resembling Yeom Jo-hwi.
Seeing her, Je-hwa tilted her head and asked.
“Who are you, lady?”
“The word ‘lady’ is rather grating…… but to introduce myself, I am the Vermilion Bird, the Vermilion Bird Yeom Hwihyeon.”
The Vermilion Bird Yeom Hwihyeon introduced herself with a gentle smile.
Chapter 10. The Vermilion Bird’s Invitation
‘……!’
Hong Yuhwa looked at Yeom Hwihyeon with a shocked expression.
‘Sh-she’s as strong as Father……’
Hong Yuhwa instinctively knew that the woman before her was as strong as her father, the Flame Demon King.
“Child over there, there’s no need to be so afraid.”
Seeming to notice that Hong Yuhwa was trembling just looking at her, Yeom Hwihyeon spoke with a gentle smile.
Je-hwa looked at Yeom Hwihyeon with a blank expression.
Then, after a moment, she puffed out her cheeks and turned her head.
“Oh my?”
At that sight, Yeom Hwihyeon’s eyes went round before she smiled gently and said.
“It seems something is bothering you.”
Then she looked at Yeom Jo-hwi, who had collapsed on the ground, and spoke.
“Pretending to be dead won’t help you.”
She flinched.
Though the voice sounded gentle, Yeom Jo-hwi flinched.
“Now, my beloved daughter, how do you intend to explain this incident?”
“Hahaha! Mother, you see……”
“Hmm?”
“I was just…… bored…… Urk!”
Yeom Jo-hwi, who had been speaking with an awkward laugh, suddenly felt an impact on the back of her head and planted her face into the ground. Before she knew it, Yeom Hwihyeon had stepped in front of her daughter and stomped on the back of Yeom Jo-hwi’s head with her foot.
“You caused chaos in the human world because you were bored? My daughter is quite the troublemaker.”
“I-I beg your pardon……”
“Daughter?”
“Yes……”
“Let’s talk when we get back.”
“……”
At Yeom Hwihyeon’s words, Yeom Jo-hwi made an expression as if she were about to cry and despaired.
Hong Yuhwa stood by Je-hwa’s side, staring blankly at the scene, while Je-hwa wore an indifferent expression.
Looking at the two of them, Yeom Hwihyeon smiled and spoke.
“Won’t you come visit my palace?”
And so, the two of them were invited to the Vermilion Bird Palace.
***
“Heukhwa!”
Hong Yuhwa’s eyes went wide as she saw Heukhwa in the forest.
Behind Heukhwa stood the five Vermilion Bird Divine Beast Warriors who had been confronting her earlier.
No matter that she possessed the strength of a Demon Count or Baron, there was a clear difference in power even among those of the same Count rank.
Heukhwa’s strength was roughly on par with Yeom Jo-hwi, who was currently in Yeom Hwihyeon’s grip.
Therefore, she had been able to fight almost evenly against the five Vermilion Bird Divine Beast Warriors.
Though she had only been defending, of course.
Anyway, seeing her lord calling out to her with a delighted expression, Heukhwa made a resentful face.
‘If you just leave like that, what am I supposed to do……’
In the middle of the fight, Hong Yuhwa had sensed a powerful aura and gone straight to where Je-hwa and Yeom Jo-hwi were.
So Heukhwa’s fight had grown increasingly difficult.
If Yeom Hwihyeon hadn’t appeared then, things would have gotten quite complicated.
Reading the resentment on Heukhwa’s face, Hong Yuhwa’s expression twisted fiercely.
“Are you resenting me right now?”
“No, how could I? There’s no way, right?”
At Hong Yuhwa’s question, Heukhwa completely erased the resentment toward her lord floating in her head.
Looking at that scene with narrowed eyes, Yeom Hwihyeon giggled as she spoke to Hong Yuhwa.
“A delightful lord-and-vassal relationship.”
At those words, Hong Yuhwa scratched her head and asked Heukhwa.
“Anyway, how did you get here? And with them, of all people.”
“That lady stopped the fight and invited me to a place called the Vermilion Bird Palace.”
“Heehh……”
Hong Yuhwa looked at Yeom Hwihyeon in admiration. Then Yeom Hwihyeon spoke with a smile.
“Because you are precious guests from afar.”
She acted as if she knew exactly where Hong Yuhwa and Heukhwa had come from.
“Shall we enter the Vermilion Bird Palace, then?”
As Yeom Hwihyeon spoke those words and waved her hand through the air, a massive gate appeared.
And the moment that gate opened, they were standing before an imposing, magnificent palace.
“Wow~”
Hong Yuhwa looked around with wide eyes.
As befitting a princess of the Flame Demon Kingdom ruled by the Flame Demon King, she had lived a luxurious life.
Naturally, she had encountered many magnificent and luxurious buildings, but a palace with this kind of atmosphere was a first.
Captivated by the red palace exuding a distinctly Eastern, mystical atmosphere, Hong Yuhwa smiled brightly and said.
“Should I build myself a palace like this when I get back?”
“Ohohoho! He said the same thing.”
“Huh?”
Yeom Hwihyeon smiled as she looked at the admiring Hong Yuhwa, and at her words, Hong Yuhwa’s eyes went wide.
“By ‘he’…… you mean?”
Her mumbling with a face that seemed to know something naturally sparked curiosity.
But despite Hong Yuhwa’s question, Yeom Hwihyeon changed the subject.
Of course, even that remark made Hong Yuhwa surprised—it couldn’t be helped.
“Welcome to the Vermilion Bird Palace, Princess of the Flame Demon Kingdom, blood kin of Debireuan.”
Yeom Hwihyeon spoke with a bright smile.
Debireuan. It was the name of the Flame Demon King known as the strongest in the history of the Flame Demon Kingdom of the Demon Realm.
The previous Flame Demon King was none other than Hong Yuhwa’s grandfather.
But for Hong Yuhwa, it was inevitable that she would be surprised when a being from another world knew of her grandfather.
“You knew my grandfather?”
Looking at Hong Yuhwa asking with wide eyes, Yeom Hwihyeon answered with a gentle smile.
“But of course I know him. About five thousand years ago by this world’s time? He appeared suddenly in this world. As the prince of the Flame Demons.”
“……”
At her words, Hong Yuhwa made a blank expression.
If Debireuan had the status of a Flame Demon prince, then by the Demon Realm’s time, this was a story from roughly ten thousand years ago.
“He was truly a mysterious being. The race of demons from another world was quite fascinating. He said he came here by an unfortunate accident.”
Yeom Hwihyeon murmured, gazing into the distance with a face caught in memories. As if recollecting memories from her youth.
Hong Yuhwa anticipated Yeom Hwihyeon’s next words.
Her grandfather was counted among the strongest Demon Kings in history even in the long-standing Demon Realm.
Compared not only to Flame Demon Kings but to Demon Kings of other lineages as well, he was an unrivaled existence.
The being called the Vermilion Bird before her seemed to know her grandfather well.
“At what age did you meet my grandfather?”
“Hmm?”
Yeom Hwihyeon tilted her head at Hong Yuhwa’s words, thought for a moment, then answered with a smile.
“Your grandfather was around six hundred years old?”
Demons hold their Demon Maturation Ceremony at the age of five hundred.
Hong Yuhwa’s current age was 574.
Even though they held the Demon Maturation Ceremony, a six-hundred-year-old demon was nothing but a child to demons who lived over ten thousand years.
“Wow~ So it’s a story from when Grandfather was very young.”
As Hong Yuhwa spoke with a bright smile, Yeom Hwihyeon also smiled gently.
“Indeed. He said he had just held his Demon Maturation Ceremony. I was about a thousand years old at the time.”
“Heehh…… What was Grandfather like back then?”
“Hmm? You mean your grandfather?”
To Hong Yuhwa’s question asked with a bright smile, Yeom Hwihyeon responded with a soft smile.
“A crybaby and a wimp. And his pride was filthy strong despite not having an ounce of strength, so what did he say? That I should come to him? Ahahaha! I just beat him like a dog back then, so he couldn’t spout such nonsense anymore.”
“Ah~ So he was a crybaby and a wimp…… Eh-hehk?”
Hong Yuhwa, who had been nodding along to Yeom Hwihyeon’s words, let out a cry of shock.
What on earth was this? According to Yeom Hwihyeon’s explanation, the childhood of the Demon King who had been the strongest in the Demon Realm’s history was that of a pathetic fellow—a crybaby, a wimp, someone without an ounce of strength yet with filthy strong pride, who had proposed to the woman he liked and gotten beaten like a dog.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
Looking at her making a shocked expression, Yeom Hwihyeon spoke with a gentle smile.
“G-Grandfather was a crybaby and a wimp? Even though he’s the strongest Flame Demon King in the Demon Realm’s history?”