Chronicle of the Silver Dragon: Episode 46
On a dark night, a middle-aged man was moving cautiously.
The leader of Biamdan, a martial organization counted among the foremost of the Sichuan Tangjia, was hastily heading somewhere.
“Stop.”
Then, someone blocked his path.
“W-who……”
The leader of Biamdan, Hoyeon, looked at the one blocking him with a bewildered expression, his face stiffening completely.
“I-it’s you……”
It was the boy infamous for pulverizing the Blood Cult’s Steel Fortress with his bare hands.
“Blood Cult.”
“……!”
At those words spoken with narrowed eyes and a smile, Hoyeon’s face hardened.
“Ugh~ the stench! Why do these Blood Cult freaks reek so badly?”
But when a resonant voice rang out once more, Hoyeon spun around in fright.
There, a beautiful girl was pinching her nose with a displeased expression.
Her name was none other than Hong Yuhwa.
“What? Why are you here?”
“Can’t I come? Anyway, this guy, can I kill him?”
“I’ll kill him.”
“Tch!”
Listening to their conversation, Hoyeon’s face grew paler and paler.
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
“Why are you screaming like that!”
When Hoyeon let out a deafening scream, Jehwa’s face twisted fiercely.
Even Jehwa knew that screaming here would make things bothersome.
Thwack!
“Kuh!”
Jehwa’s fist struck Hoyeon’s chest, sending him tumbling across the ground.
“I-if you kill me, you’ll be in big trouble! People will swarm here soon!”
“I doubt there’s a human who heard that scream.”
“W-what?”
“I cleanly blocked the sound with magic, you see? For demons, a race of magic, this is a piece of cake!”
Hong Yuhwa grinned as she spoke, and Jehwa tilted her head.
“Magic? What’s that? Is it edible? Is it tasty?”
“There’s such a thing. Why do you connect every word you hear for the first time to food? That’s a disease.”
At Hong Yuhwa’s words, Jehwa puffed out her cheeks, revealing her displeasure, and Hong Yuhwa quickly changed the subject.
“Ah, anyway! Deal with this guy.”
Seeing Hong Yuhwa pointing at Hoyeon as if he were some insect, Jehwa raised her fist with a bright, refreshing expression.
“N-no!”
But that bright, refreshing face of Jehwa looked like the face of a reaper to Hoyeon.
Thwack!
Jehwa’s fist smashed into Hoyeon’s head, and it burst just like that.
“He’s dead. Let’s go!”
As Jehwa, who had killed Hoyeon all too simply, spoke with a grin, Hong Yuhwa sighed and said,
“You should clean up before we go.”
Hong Yuhwa spoke thus and lightly snapped her fingers.
Snap!
Fwooooosh!
Hoyeon’s body began to burn.
“Heh… Fire really is convenient. Ice is such a hassle for me.”
Hong Yuhwa laughed at Jehwa’s words and said,
“Hmph! Fire is convenient indeed.”
“But it’s hot. That’s why I hate it.”
Fire and ice are polar opposites, so in terms of compatibility, Jehwa and Hong Yuhwa were the opposites of opposites.
“…….”
At Jehwa’s words, Hong Yuhwa’s face twisted fiercely.
“Fire is amazing! It’s far more necessary for people than ice!”
“So what?”
Jehwa snorted lightly at the protesting Hong Yuhwa.
The eyes of the two bickering people turned to one side in an instant.
“There’s more over there.”
“They’re a bit better.”
Jehwa and Hong Yuhwa spoke with bright smiles.
***
“……!”
Hyeolgwi and Hyeolyeong’s faces hardened completely.
“We’ve been found.”
“Can we… escape?”
They glanced at each other, muttered, and then leaped away simultaneously.
“Trying to run?”
“Wanna die?”
But Jehwa and Hong Yuhwa appeared before their eyes in an instant.
“You’ve got no fear! Did you come here to die?”
Jehwa spat out vicious words while smiling beautifully and brightly.
She could smile so prettily while saying such things.
A moment later, Jehwa tilted her head while smiling like that.
“Come to think of it, you……”
Thick killing intent began to flow in Jehwa’s eyes as she stared directly at Hyeolgwi.
“So you were alive.”
At Jehwa’s words, Hyeolgwi’s body trembled.
“What, you know him?”
“Yeah. He jumped off a cliff last time… So he survived.”
“Heh……”
Hong Yuhwa made an amused expression at Jehwa’s words.
“Came back to die? Then I’ll gladly kill you.”
Jehwa swung her fists with a whooshing sound and approached Hyeolgwi, who stepped back in response.
Just as Jehwa was about to lunge at Hyeolgwi……
“Um……”
“Hmm?”
Jehwa’s gaze turned toward the voice that suddenly rang out.
“Can’t you spare them? They may look like that, but they’re under contract with me.”
“What, when did you get here?”
There, Yeom Johwi was smiling with an awkward expression.
Looking at Jehwa, who was speaking with a frown, Yeom Johwi let out a deep sigh.
“Just now. Anyway, please spare them.”
“Are you crazy? Why would I spare them?”
Jehwa snorted at Yeom Johwi’s words.
Seeing that, Yeom Johwi looked at Hong Yuhwa.
The two women had grown quite close over the course of a day.
Hong Yuhwa met Yeom Johwi’s gaze, let out a deep sigh, and opened her mouth.
“Jehwa, let’s spare them. We can always find and kill them later.”
“It’s annoying to find them again. I should just kill them right here and now.”
At those words, Hong Yuhwa looked at Yeom Johwi and shook her head.
“Try to do something. Mother told me to wrap up this matter and come back. She said to keep the contract, no matter what kind of contract it is. Killing Jehwa was the contract, but since that can’t be done, I have to at least save those guys.”
“Hoo? What did you just spew?”
“Heok!”
In an instant, Jehwa’s eyes flashed terrifyingly.
And Yeom Johwi cried out in alarm and covered her mouth, but the words that would flip Jehwa’s lid had already long escaped her lips.
“Come here, I’ll kill you.”
Before anyone knew it, all of Jehwa’s killing intent was directed at Yeom Johwi.
“D-do something.”
“Even if you say that……”
Yeom Johwi spoke to Hong Yuhwa while looking at Jehwa, who was radiating an intimidating aura with a bewildered expression, and at those words, Hong Yuhwa could only let out a deep sigh.
Grab!
“Huaak! S-spare me!”
Before anyone knew it, Jehwa had grabbed Yeom Johwi by the collar, and she began to scream.
Watching that, a brilliant idea flashed through Hong Yuhwa’s head as she put on a pained expression.
“Jehwa, I’ll buy you something tasty. Let them go, and let Yeom Johwi go too.”
Was that really a brilliant idea?
“Huh? Something tasty?”
Jehwa reacted precisely to the words “something tasty.”
“What will you buy me?”
“Anything you want to eat.”
“You have money?”
“Hmph! I have more money than I know what to do with.”
Jehwa stared at the smug Hong Yuhwa for a moment, then soon released Yeom Johwi’s collar and spoke with a bright smile.
“Great! Let’s go!”
“Huh? Right now, in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah.”
This time, Jehwa grabbed Hong Yuhwa by the collar and started dragging her away.
“Ugh…… I’m alive.”
Yeom Johwi let out a sigh of relief and spoke to Hyeolgwi, who was making a blank expression.
“Our contract condition was to kill that one, but… as you can see, she’s not someone I can handle freely either. Instead, I’ll save both your lives, so could you let this slide?”
“…….”
At Yeom Johwi’s words, Hyeolgwi let out a deep sigh.
“You are certainly strong. To me, you looked stronger than that monstrous one. Yet you can’t handle her either?”
“Her hidden power is incredible…… Moreover, that one…… keeps getting stronger.”
“…….”
For a moment, Hyeolgwi lost his words.
“Is there anyone in this world who can defeat her?”
“Absolutely none among humans.”
Yeom Johwi replied to Hyeolgwi with a deep sigh.
“Your Blood Cult…… seems to have picked the wrong opponent.”
Having spoken thus, Yeom Johwi vanished in flames.
***
Where Jehwa and Hong Yuhwa had come was the entertainment district of Sichuan.
“So, got anything tasty?”
“This doesn’t seem like a very good place for a child’s upbringing.”
Watching the women soliciting men on the streets and the drunkards collapsed here and there, Hong Yuhwa muttered with a face devoid of interest.
Don’t say stuff about it being bad for upbringing with a face that shows no interest!
Anyway, this was absolutely no place for children.
Hong Yuhwa was actually over five hundred years old, but outwardly she looked no older than a late teenager.
As for Jehwa, there was no need to even mention it.
And when children wander places like this, trouble is bound to follow.
“Oh my, what a cute young master!”
“Hmm?”
A woman called out to Jehwa with a bewitching smile.
“I’ll show you a good time. Won’t you stop by?”
“Huh? How will you show me a good time?”
“Come and find out. Ohohoho! Let’s heat up together.”
Jehwa tilted her head at the woman’s words and was about to go to her.
Then……
“Hey.”
Hong Yuhwa blocked Jehwa’s path and spoke in a low voice.
“If you want to heat up that badly, shall I burn you myself?”
Vwooooh!
A terrifying aura began to pour from Hong Yuhwa’s body. It was an enormous aura, enough to noticeably heat the surrounding space.
Hong Yuhwa’s appearance as she looked at the woman with murderous eyes was truly frightening. Even Jehwa found herself stepping back unconsciously.
If even Jehwa was like that, how much worse must it have been for the woman receiving that aura head-on?
She trembled with a deathly pale face and spoke.
“I-I’m s-s-s-s-sorry! I-I’ve been rude!”
And she quickly fled from the spot.
The people who had been nearby had already fled long ago.
“B-but…… That woman said she’d show me a good time……”
As Jehwa stammered without realizing it, Hong Yuhwa’s gaze turned to her.
“Eek!”
Jehwa cried out in terror and backed away at her terrifying gaze.
“If you ever fall for such cheap temptations again, you’ll die by my hand!”
“Who are you to kill me…… Heok!”
“Did you get it, or did you not get it!”
“I-I got it……”
Jehwa mumbled her answer, intimidated by Hong Yuhwa’s momentum.
Seeing that, she put on a satisfied expression, then spoke with a rather serious face.
“Anyway, all sorts of bugs are bound to swarm around you. Besides, I can do the fun thing that woman offered too.”
“Really?”
Perhaps displeased with being suppressed by Hong Yuhwa’s momentum, Jehwa asked back with a slightly sulky face.
“Shall I do it for you instead?”
“No thanks! Judging by your reaction, it doesn’t seem like a good thing anyway.”
“Really?”
Hong Yuhwa made a disappointed expression at Jehwa’s words, but soon smiled sweetly.
Unlike with Sawolrin, time was something Jehwa and she had in abundance.