Sabacheon (1)
The Sabacheon Dimension.
It was a world dominated by Chakra practitioners—mysteries who actualized specific concepts and phenomena through their inner microcosm.
The tempering of the microcosm that formed the foundation of Chakra began with properly constructing a Visualization.
Naturally, mental strength was unavoidably prioritized above all other attributes, and as such, they tended to possess especially strong resistance to mental abilities.
“Kyaaa—! Stooop!”
“Kkeuk…! What is…! Uwerek!”
“Ah… no. Ah, Father… I was wrong….”
But just as was the way of the world.
Everything had its limits.
A woman flung out of the shadows as if tossed about grabbed her hair and rolled across the floor.
A hulking man who had radiated an aura as if merged with the giant greatsword in his hands, an aura that seemed capable of splitting everything apart, dropped his weapon and retched.
A young man with bizarre patterns floating in his pupils collapsed to the floor, waving his hands through the empty air as if seeing things that weren't there.
To begin with, resistance only granted considerable defensive power; it did not signify absolute defense.
No, rather, mental attacks that far surpassed that threshold were even more fatal to them.
For Chakra practitioners who took the construction of their Visualization as the foundation of their mystery, the contamination of that Visualization was little different from a death sentence.
“…Impressive. As expected, they aren't ordinary guys.”
While those who had been neutralized in an instant crawled across the floor.
Hun, standing in their midst and slowly looking around, had a strange light in his eyes.
Unlike usual, he had spread mental waves over a wide area, so his output had decreased, but the density of thoughts contained within was by no means low.
Yet despite being caught within this terrifying mental wave, they had maintained their egos without becoming mindless idiots.
'They haven't reached the Extreme… but they're roughly at the stage just below it. All these guys gathered in one place?'
From what he'd heard them saying earlier, they hadn't banded together openly; they seemed to have been hiding in secret to avoid attention.
Hun glanced at those who had lost consciousness and moved toward where Ramyu was, looking around.
'It's underground.'
The hideout exuded an overall gloomy atmosphere.
Though there were traces of effort made for convenience, it was far from a good dwelling no matter how he looked at it.
If Transcendence was the unrivaled strongest above the clouds in that world's power system, Extreme could be seen as the position treated as the highest among ordinary humans.
Those at the level just below that should absolutely not be receiving treatment like this.
'Well, their circumstances don't really matter. First, I need to join up with Ramyu. I'll think about the rest later.'
Fortunately, retrieving her was not very difficult.
Perhaps because she was still a young girl outwardly and had been unconscious at the time of transfer, she had been laid down quietly in the underground prison below.
However, if there was one concern that arose in the process….
“Kuk, you bastards! Do you know who I am? Aren't you afraid of the main family's revenge!”
…the fact that Ramyu wasn't the only one imprisoned.
Hun looked at the blond boy in his early teens shouting noisily from the cell opposite Ramyu's with a strange expression.
His attitude of trying not to reveal his fear despite his terrified face, and the luxurious clothes he wore, did not seem like those of an ordinary status at all.
'No, if I think it through, that child must have been their target from the start.'
The kidnapping of a prestigious clan's young master.
It was a scheme that wouldn't be the least bit strange even if orchestrated by dirty scoundrels.
With that thought, he picked the lock, entered the cell, and was gathering up Ramyu when the boy spoke to him from across the way in a slightly hoarse, surprised voice.
“…Who are you? You don't seem to be with those guys….”
The unidentified man had appeared right after the guard who wouldn't listen no matter how much the boy shouted threats had collapsed foaming at the mouth.
That the man leisurely entered the cell to pick up the girl who had just been brought in made the boy's surprise only natural.
'Hmm, what should I do?'
That worry crossed his mind for a moment, but the conclusion was already made.
Everyone in this hideout was already neutralized.
They hadn't completely become idiots, but with their Visualizations contaminated, it was uncertain whether they could think normally.
'They might even starve to death.'
In this situation, how could he finish his business and leave a trapped child behind?
No matter what choice he made in the current situation, he was already embroiled in a major incident.
Click.
—Having opened the cell door where the blond boy was while carrying Ramyu, the boy, who had opened his eyes wide for a moment, hurriedly came out and put his hands together.
“Thank you. I am Yun Sohoe of the Seongcheon Yun Clan. I shall surely repay this grace upon returning to my clan.”
“I'm Hun. My original goal was to rescue this child, so you don't need to thank me too much.”
“Whatever your motive, a favor is a favor. As a descendant of the Yun Clan, I cannot simply ignore a debt of gratitude.”
“…Sure, well. I won't refuse if they offer me something.”
Hun shrugged at the old-fashioned speech unbefitting a boy in his early teens.
Pride for his clan wafted heavily from every word he spoke; the boy truly seemed to belong to quite a prestigious family.
And so, blond Yun Sohoe followed behind Hun, who was carrying Ramyu.
The path leading up from underground to the surface.
The moment they arrived at the spot where the dozen or so people taken down first were lying unconscious, the boy who had been quietly following looked around and clicked his tongue.
“…Amazing. These guys are upper-level experts that even our clan's warriors couldn't handle. To think you subdued them all alone?”
He hadn't merely subdued them.
Having trained in Chakra since childhood, Yun Sohoe could feel that the flow within their bodies was severely distorted.
If this was what was visible on the outside, even if they regained consciousness later, their accumulated realm would surely suffer considerable damage.
He couldn't even fathom what method had been used.
'Could he be a practitioner who opened the Gate of Depth? He doesn't look like one… No, it's foolish to guess the realm of someone stronger than me.'
Swallowing hard, Yun Sohoe glanced at the man walking ahead.
Having seen this sight with his own two eyes, he couldn't help but feel the man was even more incredible.
“Ahem, if I may be so bold, may I ask which path of truth you walk? Ah, you must have guessed, but I pursue the ultimate of lightning. Though I am still only of the lower tier….”
After hesitating, he finally cautiously opened his mouth first with a dry cough.
For practitioners who sought to complete their microcosm through knowledge, which path they pursued was a very important factor.
Of course, to Hun, who had never trained in Chakra, it was an awkward question at best.
'There's no need to answer, but.'
Then, feeling a question from Yun Sohoe's words, he turned back slightly and tilted his head.
“Wait, what do you mean by saying I must have guessed?”
“Hmm? Did I not introduce myself? As a descendant of the Seongcheon Yun Clan.”
“Ah.”
“Hm?”
“No, no. Look at my mind. That's right, you did. Haha!”
Feeling something at the other person's words, Hun brushed it off with a laugh and turned his head again.
Then he strode forward, smacking his lips.
'As expected, I need to learn a bit about this place, Sabacheon.'
The number of otherworlds revealed so far reached into the hundreds, so remembering all of them in detail was impossible.
Since he could search on the internet whenever he wanted, there was no need to go that far.
The World Returnees Association's database served as an information source covering not only approximate data but also major events, so that alone would be of considerable help.
'That time is right now. Because information is essential to blend in naturally without feeling out of place.'
Since he would return to Earth as soon as Ramyu woke up, it didn't matter if his identity as an otherworlder was revealed, but neither was it something to easily tell someone he had just met.
“Ahem, so… I have yet to hear your answer.”
“Ah, that?”
Hun shrugged at the sight of Yun Sohoe cautiously opening his mouth again, still seeming to have lingering attachment.
The door leading to the surface, which they had reached before he knew it.
He flung it wide open and answered nonchalantly.
“If you're curious, check it yourself.”
The door opened.
A bright interior was revealed, not a dark underground corridor.
Along with a group guarding the entrance.
“Already coming out, is there something you nee… huh?”
“Who are you! How did you get out from in there!”
“Wait! That's Yun Sohoe! What the hell happened?!”
Decorative doors and wooden floors, and so on.
Western-looking men ill-fitting to the distinctly Eastern atmosphere of the interior hurriedly rose from their seats.
Because of that, cards and bottles on the tables scattered into a complete mess, but no one paid that any mind.
If they let that boy escape here, everyone present would be as good as dead.
Whether from the Yun Clan's revenge or being silenced by their superiors.
“Quick, catch— kkeoheok!”
“Ah, aaaaah—!”
“Kkigik, kkeukigigik.”
Of course, these men who were inferior to the elites in the underground couldn't possibly do anything to Hun.
“Hmm, these guys' level is mediocre at best.”
After a wave of mental energy swept past once.
Hun passed between the men squirming on the floor like bugs and muttered under his breath.
'Ah, there was a barrier. From here, it's completely cut off from the underground. They're more thorough than I thought.'
He slowly looked around and nodded.
The reason high-level people stayed underground while unremarkable men guarded the surface was probably because of that.
If there were pursuers, wouldn't they obviously target the ones who carried out the kidnapping?
“Wh-what the hell is this….”
Then, from Yun Sohoe, who had watched the situation end in an instant from right behind, a groan full of confusion escaped.
It couldn't be helped.
Most of the men here were only of the lower tier, but they were still ability users who had trained their Chakra.
For such people to all be crawling on the floor in the blink of an eye was inevitably surprising.
“D-Demon Path practitioner?”
“Huh?”
But judging by the reaction, the surprising point seemed slightly different from what Hun had expected.
As he tilted his head and took a step toward Yun Sohoe.
“Hi, hieek!”
“Oh?”
The boy hurriedly stepped back, looking frightened to anyone's eyes.
By now, Hun could quickly grasp the situation.
'This is a very familiar reaction.'
It seemed he had felt something from the mental wave spread out in all directions.
For example… a power that the demonkind of this Sabacheon might use.
'Hmm, this is troublesome. I didn't foresee this.'
Hun, while carrying Ramyu, lightly stroked his chin with one hand and let out a small sigh.
Anything in the world could be opened through Chakra as long as one could 'understand' it.
That included elemental systems like fire and lightning, objects like swords or leather, and even abstract concepts like fate or time.
Of course, the harder something was to understand, the more one's realm advancement naturally slowed, so it was common to train in easy-to-understand Chakra.
But the fact that there were no exceptions meant that anything could become a target of Chakra's opening.
Among Chakra practitioners, there were also madmen who went beyond such ordinary cases and delved into endlessly negative concepts.
Yes, for example.
'Death' or 'madness.'
And those who trained in Chakra called such heretics Demon Path practitioners.
“Wh-why is a Demon Path practitioner….”
To construct a proper Visualization, knowing the target was essential.
If it was fire, one had to put their body into a furnace; if it was a sword, one had to hammer it themselves or be stabbed by it.
But what if it was 'death'?
How on earth could one understand that?
And could the thought process of someone whose heart was filled with death after understanding it be called normal?
The answer was exactly the reaction Yun Sohoe was displaying now.
“Huu, huu… What on earth was that earlier… A Demon Path practitioner of the Depths? Surely not… someone who has reached the Heavenly Gate? No, that's impossible. But….”
The terrified blond boy rambled with a face on the verge of tears.
As practitioners trained their Visualization, they were extremely sensitive to mental waves.
Even though Hun had definitely emitted the mental wave while avoiding him, the boy had fallen into panic simply from feeling the remnants.
“Hmm, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”
With the situation flowing that way, Hun could no longer keep his mouth shut.
Judging by that reaction, sending him off like this would obviously cause problems later, but he couldn't kill a child to keep him quiet over something like this.
Letting out a small sigh, he opened his mouth to explain.
At that moment.
Rumble.
—Kwa-gwa-kwang!
An enormous storm of lightning erupted with a thunderous roar.
Kugugugung—!
It blew away the entire ceiling of the building they were in.
“Sohoe!!”
Beyond the crackling lightning.
A sharp woman's voice called out from the fully revealed sky beyond.
“Noonim!”
“Sohoe!”
A woman flew in like a hawk and embraced the boy.
…If only it had ended there.
Soon, her sharp eyes turned toward Hun.
Filled with clear killing intent obvious at a mere glance.
That she showed such a reaction without hearing anything separately from Yun Sohoe meant she had apparently sensed the aftermath of the mental wave that had occurred here.
'So she's at the Extreme. And quite a high level at that. …By this place's standards, should I call her a Depth practitioner?'
To launch an attack against an expert of that level using “Mental Resonance” still required considerable preparation time.
No, considering the mental barriers of Chakra ability users, it might be even harder than he had anticipated.
“Well, this is something.”
Hun let out a deep sigh.
He checked Ramyu's condition, but there were still no signs of her waking up.
At this rate, he couldn't withdraw like he usually did.
“I'm screwed.”
For some reason, he had thought things were going well.