Chapter 90: Chapter 90
“When Adjutant Jang said to befriend it… perhaps he meant to first listen to what the Azure Dragon Blade has to say?”
“You think so too, Proprietress?! I knew it, this thing can talk! I felt it from the moment I first held it.”
Haha, that’s not quite what I meant. Hong-ran laughed awkwardly and added.
“They also say that the language of a blade is made up of points and lines. Slashing and thrusting. The path of the blade created in those moments is its language.”
To be precise, those were words she had heard from her father, the Sword Sage Murong Hak, who had been the Family Head.
“Oh…?!”
“So when he tells you to listen to the Azure Dragon Blade, maybe he means to follow along. If you keep following the flow of the blade, you might come to understand where it wants to go next.”
“Ooh?!”
Mao’s eyes went round.
It was a reasonable point. No matter how wildly it thrashed, if he could just anticipate how it moved, there was no reason to be dragged around like a fool.
He could cut with more power, or conversely, knowing its intent, he could redirect its course.
In essence, he would be able to master the thing.
“It’s just my humble opinion.”
“No way. That makes sense. The Proprietress is a genius!”
“Thank you.”
Mao saw her in a new light. She seemed modest, but that was the least of her oddities.
“Come to think of it, back when those Slaughterhouse bastards invaded.”
Flinch. Chwi Hong-ran was somewhat startled by the sudden change of subject.
Did I show off too much? She had plenty to hide, so she had stepped on her own foot.
“The ones who went to Chiseonru were all dead, right? I heard one of them was Rank 3.”
That was definitely the case.
At the time, everyone was too preoccupied to pry, but Color Moon Geum Hwa-bin, Slaughterhouse Rank 3, was indeed among the corpses. In a gruesome state, no less. She was even a renowned master whom Mao recognized.
“This is suspicious. Come to think of it, you’re not an ordinary proprietress, are you?”
Mao pointed at her and narrowed his eyes. Hong-ran swallowed hard with a stiff face and spoke.
“If I’m not ordinary, then what…”
“An extraordinary proprietress, I suppose.”
“…Pardon?”
“What. It’s nothing.”
Sometimes… Mao’s simplicity and indifference shattered common sense.
“Anyway. I don’t know much about you, Proprietress. Your name is Chwi Seon-ran?”
“It’s Hong-ran.”
“Where’s your home?”
“My home?”
At Mao’s question, she startled and blinked.
“What. Don’t you have one?”
She offered a bitter smile.
She had one. But not anymore.
She couldn’t go back even if she wanted to.
Jang I-seo promised that he would make sure she could return someday, but she had no intention of doing so.
‘Even if I went back, they wouldn’t take me in.’
At first, she might have shed tears of genuine longing.
But.
‘In the righteous path. And especially in the Murong Clan, which prizes honor above all else. If their missing youngest daughter returned having mastered demonic arts… would they accept her?’
No, not at all.
They would surely consider it a disgrace to the family. It was obvious they would destroy her dantian, sever the tendons in her limbs, and cast her out.
And Hong-ran absolutely did not want to experience that.
Not because she feared the pain, but because she didn’t want to remember the sorrow of being abandoned by them.
“But what are you two always running around doing together?”
When she looked at Mao, he asked while deliberately looking away, as if he had already lost interest in his earlier question.
Hong-ran replied with a comfortable smile.
“Well. I’m not entirely sure where Adjutant Jang goes either…”
“What are you talking about? Who do you take for a fool? You think I don’t know you two are always joined at the hip? The Hundred Commander’s Seal Father gave me. That’s what you’re trying to use, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve been putting up notices everywhere.”
“You… knew?”
Hong-ran was so startled she covered her mouth.
“You walk a hundred paces from here and everyone’s talking about it.”
It had been too conspicuous. Hong-ran lowered her head with an embarrassed expression.
“I apologize, Young Master.”
“Apologize for what? I wouldn’t understand it even if you told me. You two know better about that kind of thing. So. Is it going well?”
Hong-ran was inwardly amazed.
‘I’m sure he relies heavily on Master. He’s actually made the Seventh Young Master defer to the adjutant. The power dynamic has flipped. In just a few months…’
“We’re searching for suitable candidates.”
“Ah, right? I heard they were openly recruiting at the Third Small Palace.”
“The First Young Master blocked that…”
“R-really?”
“Yes. But we’ll find a way somehow.”
“We’d better…”
Mm. Mao fell into thought with a serious face.
So this side of him existed too.
It was somewhat surprising from Hong-ran’s perspective. She knew he was changing, but she had watched him as a troublemaker longer than anyone else.
“Are you worried?”
“Worried? Nah. It’s just. I don’t really know much, but still, it’s an important opportunity, right? Building a faction. Jang I-seo and you are working hard, busting your asses. And me… I’m just here chewing on fruit.”
Mao gave an awkward laugh.
“So with that in mind. I need to hurry up and get friendly with this guy. Then Jang I-seo will probably be totally surprised, right? Uwahahahaha!”
Mao sprang up and swung the Azure Dragon Blade about.
‘Master should be seeing this.’
And Chwi Hong-ran beamed with pride as she watched him.
They were spending a cozy time together, waiting for one person, when it happened.
Thump, thump!
“Hm?”
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble with a thunderous boom from outside.
“Jang I-seo?”
As Mao turned in excitement and was about to run out, at that moment.
KWAANG!
An explosion erupted at the entrance, and a massive boulder hurtled threateningly toward Mao.
“Wh-what!”
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Mao stood rooted in shock.
“Young Master!”
Right then, Hong-ran flew in like a flash of light and blocked his path.
KWAANG!
A roar followed, and an enormous cloud of dust engulfed the surroundings.
“Pr-proprietress?!”
Having narrowly avoided the threat, Mao gasped as he saw the woman standing before him.
Flowing snow-white hair and long red nails.
And blood-red eyes that had turned completely crimson.
She was truly no ordinary proprietress.
‘She’s a demon hag!’
It was just a side effect of her demonic art.
“Be… careful.”
At Hong-ran’s strained words, Mao finally snapped back to his senses.
The proprietress had deflected the flying boulder with a palm strike, but this was only the beginning.
KUNG! THUD!
Once more the ground shook with a boom, and through the billowing dust, the shadow of a giant man emerged.
A rude intruder who had smashed through the gate that was still under construction.
“…W-Wang-u?!”
His name was Wang-u.
The Fifth Young Lady’s adjutant, known as the Great Giant.
And behind the settled dust, a young girl walked in with quick, light steps, beaming with a bright smile.
“So this is the Seventh Small Palace.”
The Laughing Demon Wheel, Fifth Young Lady Maeng Won-won.
She had come to the Seventh Small Palace.
“Mao, it’s been a while.”
The Seventh Young Master’s adjutant, Jang I-seo.
She had come to meet him.
“Why in the world are you…”
“‘You’? You should call me Sister.”
“Sister? To a kid like you?”
“If you don’t like it, you can step down from the Seventh Young Master position.”
Maeng Won-won smiled brightly and looked around the Seventh Small Palace.
Then she looked at the white-haired witch standing before her, Chwi Hong-ran, and asked.
“Oh my, are you Jang I-seo? You’re a woman, not a man?”
As if. But whatever the truth was, it no longer mattered.
“But. Why… are your eyes like that?”
Because Maeng Won-won’s mood had soured considerably from the vicious killing intent Chwi Hong-ran was radiating.
She hadn’t intended it.
It was simply that the White-White Blood Demon Art Hong-ran had mastered was inherently like this.
Once activated, she couldn’t return to normal until a certain amount of time had passed, and her mind became filled with killing intent.
The same was true now.
“Wang-u.”
The problem was that Maeng Won-won was not the type to quietly overlook such insolence.
At her call, the Great Giant Wang-u stepped forward with his heavy mass. Thump, thump.
“H-hey! What is this? What are you doing!”
Startled, Mao backed away and shouted.
But it was already too late.
FWIIIISH!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang-u fired his massive fist toward Hong-ran.
Despite his appearance, his speed was tremendous.
‘Even if the proprietress is a demon hag, she can’t dodge this!’
The moment Mao was about to rush in out of desperation.
SCHING!
“Hm!”
An unexpected result unfolded.
The white-haired witch was perched atop Wang-u’s outstretched wrist like a cat, and blood dripped steadily from his arm.
Not only had she dodged the blow, she had sliced through him three times with her long red nails in the process.
“You’re pretty good, aren’t you?”
At this, Maeng Won-won’s lips curled upward.
But Mao knew.
That wasn’t a sign of pleasure. It was a signal that she would absolutely kill her opponent.
‘I have to stop this. If that crazy bitch snaps…’
Those who didn’t know better might see Maeng Won-won as gentle and naive at a glance.
But they’d be dead wrong.
In Mao’s eyes, the evil woman most befitting the word “demonic” was her.
A demon who would tear out your liver and gallbladder without batting an eye, all while looking at you with those clear, innocent eyes!
“What are you all doing! Stop right…!”
The moment Mao stepped forward to intervene.
FWIP!
A round wheel embedded with saw teeth shot past his neck, spinning violently.
It curved widely and landed back in its master’s hand.
The Broken Moon Wheel.
It was the divine artifact Maeng Won-won had received from the Cult Leader!
“Mao. If you move… next time, your head comes off?”
Tremble.
T-that… that… that crazy bitch!
“Are you out of your mind?!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill her. I’ll just take her limbs.”
That’s the same thing!
Mao ground his teeth.
Meanwhile, the fierce clash between Wang-u and Chwi Hong-ran had resumed.
“KRAAAAH!”
Wang-u let out a monstrous scream and began swinging his fists in earnest.
Far faster and stronger than before.
BANG! KWAANG! BANG BANG BANG!
Even though he was merely pounding the ground, his long, massive arms struck like pillars.
Of course, she wasn’t just taking it either.
SCHING!
“KRAAAAH!”
Like a true demon, she scattered afterimages without any footwork, battling Wang-u.
No, at this level, she was clearly a cut above.
So it was only natural that both Maeng Won-won and Mao were stunned.
‘What’s with her? Who is she? Nobody said anything about someone like her being here!’
‘The demon hag… is strong!’
This was on an entirely different level from when she had faced Slaughterhouse Rank 3, Color Moon.
Naturally.
The position of adjutant was a Third Grade Ghost, higher than even a division commander.
In other words, there wasn’t a single one who wasn’t a monster.
To put it even more simply, being part of the One Hundred Demon Stars, the cult’s official top one hundred, was the bare minimum!
“KRAAAAAAH!”
Wang-u, pushed entirely to the defensive, finally let out a roar of agony.
Hundreds of red thread-like lines were already carved across his entire body.
“The Proprietress is incredible!”
Mao clenched his fists, sensing victory.
However, that was wishful thinking.
“Hoho, you really think Wang-u is going to lose?”
“What are you talking about? Anyone can see he’s losing.”
“Look closely.”
Maeng Won-won declared with a confident nasal tone.
Mao furrowed his brow and examined the battlefield.
‘What… the demon hag is panting.’
It was true.
Despite the fact that Hong-ran had rained down attacks without pause, it wasn’t Wang-u who was exhausted. It was her.