Chapter 35: 35. [Two Principles Heart Art]?

Whose arms does he think he has fallen into, sleeping so peacefully like this...?

Of course, she herself was the one who had put him to sleep, but Cheon Hwayeong did not care about that.

She had only imagined how she might break this bastard, but seeing Ryu-o drenched in blood before her...

"Sis... ter...?"

"...Hah. What an interesting bastard."

"He... Heavenly Demon!"

"Rescue... Lord Ryu-o... ah..."

Whatever those defeated stragglers were babbling about, Cheon Hwayeong was not in a particularly bad mood.

Cheon Hwayeong had long since surpassed the feeble level at which one could fall victim to the [Soul-Seizing Art].

There was nothing particularly different when she examined her own body, yet simply holding this bastard left her unable to think of anything else.

Then a pink head rolled across the ground and came to an abrupt stop at Cheon Hwayeong’s feet.

"Oh... what exactly is this guy Jang Ryu-o? Even the Heavenly Demon? Is he some beauty who could topple kingdoms? I really want him..."

Cheon Hwayeong had been through every hardship imaginable, yet even she had never seen a sight like this.

Come to think of it, she had blown apart the body of that bitch who had dared covet what was hers...

"There’s no blood?"

"Correct! Still, do you know how long it takes to make one of these?"

"..."

"I’m the one who saved that girl! Because..."

For an instant, the bitch from the Eon Family came to Cheon Hwayeong’s mind, but...

Crunch!

"Eeeeeek!"

It did not matter right now. She merely crushed the remaining head as well.

Just as she was about to put strength into her leg, someone called out to stop Cheon Hwayeong.

"Heavenly Demon! This is the first time I’ve seen you run away! Is that boy your objective?"

Glancing over, she saw the ducal house’s knights and the commander of the Labyrinth City knights tending to the defeated survivors.

The knight commander was studying what belonged to her with an intrigued expression.

Normally, she would have rushed over to snap that upright neck...

But Cheon Hwayeong, holding Ryu-o in her arms, merely snickered and turned away.

Because she was not particularly angry.

Without even knowing why she was finding it difficult to get angry.

The knight commander’s eyes widened as he watched Cheon Hwayeong vanish in an instant.

"She didn’t fight? The Heavenly Demon? She smiled? Snickered? Hm? Hahaha!"

The knight commander turned around and looked at the prospective raid party members having their wounds treated.

"Hmm... they’re all fairly capable, but..."

Turning back, the knight commander looked up at the Orc Hero’s corpse.

Its back had been sliced wide open, its chest near the heart gouged out.

A strange light flashed in the knight commander’s eyes.

"It wasn’t enough to kill that thing, nor was it the Heavenly Demon’s fist... Then was it that boy?"

The knight commander trembled as he stared at the Orc Hero’s corpse.

The sword path of a novice who had only just been assigned a test to reach the tenth floor.

It was not clean, but it was desperate...

"How splendid."

He could only wonder how someone had torn through those hard muscles so thoroughly.

While happily painting the scene in his mind...

"Knight Commander! Help us! Save Jang Ryu-o!"

He turned his head at the small young lady’s urgent cry.

The Second Young Lady of the House of Duke Velatus was pale as a sheet as she pleaded desperately.

But that was not the knight commander’s primary mission.

"The First Young Lady asked me to protect the Second Young Lady."

"I’m telling you, he’s my companion!"

"I must protect the Second Young Lady no matter what."

The knight commander gestured with his chin toward the Orc Hero.

"What if another thing like that appears?"

"Then... then what about Jang Ryu-o?!"

The knight commander answered with a bright smile.

"Don’t worry! Judging by the look on the Heavenly Demon’s face, she definitely won’t kill him."

The knight commander recalled the Heavenly Demon’s foolish expression and laughed merrily.

"Puhahaha! The Heavenly Demon of all people, completely giddy! I’m dying to know why!"

"Hey! Why are you laughing?! What about Jang Ryu-o?!"

"Come now, I told you she definitely won’t kill him. Once treatment is finished, let’s get out of here quickly, little young lady!"

"I’m an adult!!!"

"Of course you are, of course you are~"

The knight commander smoothly brushed her off, while the prospective raid party members gradually finished receiving treatment.

Clearing the dungeon took no time at all.

With the ducal house’s knights and the knight commander present, the tenth floor was nothing...

Once they emerged outside, they saw Sylvia sitting listlessly on the ground.

"Sylvia?"

"Th-the Heavenly Demon took Lord Ryu-o!!"

Ryu-o here, Ryu-o there.

"What a sinful man!"

Sylvia, in the grip of panic, muttered to herself.

"Ah... I need to tell Arin... Huh? But I don’t know where Arin is staying... What... what am I supposed to do...?"

"Arin?"

What was that supposed to mean? Why was Arin suddenly involved?

"Sylvia...? If you mean Arin, from the Eastern Continent..."

The knight commander was about to ask Sylvia, but...

"The First Young Lady of the House of Duke Velatus has arrived!"

"Eeeeeek! Sister!"

Step, step, step!

The First Young Lady of the House of Duke Velatus entered, walking one beat faster than usual.

It was an anxious pace the knight commander had never seen from her before.

The First Young Lady, who always maintained her dignity, scanned the Second Young Lady from head to toe.

"You are unharmed."

"Sorry..."

"The Heavenly Demon was an external factor. If you have done nothing wrong, do not apologize as a daughter of the House of Duke Velatus."

"Sister..."

"Young Lady!"

"Y-Young Lady!"

What an extraordinarily dishonest person.

Anyone could see at a glance that she had simply been worried...

Pretending not to notice, the knight commander approached the First Young Lady.

"I have completed the task you requested."

The First Young Lady swept her gaze over the surroundings and spoke.

"Where is Jang Ryu-o?"

Jang Ryu-o again? Again?

As the knight commander wondered if he should have rescued him somehow, the Second Young Lady shrieked from behind him.

"Young Lady! The Heavenly Demon took him away!! And a dungeon break happened... I mean!"

"Selena, again, with dignity."

"I mean..."

After listening to the neatly organized explanation, the First Young Lady’s brow creased.

That was...

"Form a rescue party immediately, and begin a full inspection of every member of the ducal house."

Consumed by rage, the young lady pulled a sheet of paper from her spatial storage, wrote something on it, and handed it to a knight beside her.

Creak!

"How dare she..."

The First Young Lady’s icy fury descended upon the once-peaceful Labyrinth City.

Jang Ryu-o... I’d like to have a little talk with him...?

Where the heart of this incident was now... only the Heavenly Demon would know.

**

Cheon Hwayeong arrived home in an instant.

After all, every outside force had entered the labyrinth to pursue her.

Those left outside were nowhere near capable of catching her.

Entering the quiet, lifeless house, Cheon Hwayeong laid Ryu-o down on the bed.

"..."

She had brought him here, but...

"..."

Cheon Hwayeong, who had entertained every kind of wicked thought, merely stared at Ryu-o.

At Ryu-o, covered in blood and blue bruises from head to toe.

At Ryu-o, so utterly weak that he could not offer the slightest resistance.

"...I even made you take a [Gu Poison Pill], yet you can’t even earn your keep."

Snicker.

Cheon Hwayeong stroked Ryu-o’s head, where stubborn blood was beginning to dry.

Filthy flakes of dried blood scattered from the surface, while beneath them everything was sticky—a sensation that should have been deeply unpleasant...

"Hah..."

It felt completely different from when she looked upon the cultists.

For some reason, the merchant’s words crossed her mind.

"You will not win his heart."

More incomprehensible than those words, which were still difficult to understand, was herself.

She had wanted him and meant to take him, yet the image of Ryu-o broken and withering away in her imagination stopped her.

Then a pained groan escaped Ryu-o’s lips.

"Nngh..."

Cheon Hwayeong sighed once and placed her hand over Ryu-o’s dantian.

It was a natural action, prompted only because the sight of him feebly groaning made her frown.

When she laid her hand there and sent her qi into him...

"Huh...?"

Her internal energy flowed into him freely, without encountering any obstruction.

Cheon Hwayeong increased the output of what little internal energy she had left.

Even that amount was more than weaklings could possibly accept.

Yet Ryu-o’s body flustered even the mighty Cheon Hwayeong.

He had no acupoints, yet internal energy coursed throughout his entire body, utterly defying all reason.

"This is insane..."

It was a reaction so startling that the Right Protector would have fallen over in shock had she been present.

Watching Ryu-o breathe more easily as he accepted her internal energy, Cheon Hwayeong felt a dark desire rise within her.

She desperately wanted to see this bastard use her martial arts.

A dark desire to stain this clear, pure energy black.

She wanted to teach this body—one that appeared once every thousand years, no, one she might never find again.

Unlike the feelings whose nature she had never understood before, the greed she felt now was clear.

Thus, with her eyes practically glazed over, Cheon Hwayeong poured thick, sticky energy into his dantian...

Swoosh.

"????????"

The dantian... the very dantian itself was pushed aside by that sticky energy and began wandering through his body.

"Huh...?"

It was the stupidest sound she had ever made in her life.

Something so strange had happened that she could not even imagine herself making such a stupid sound.

When something that could never, ever be allowed to happen occurred, Cheon Hwayeong forgot even her delicate control and simply drove more internal energy into him.

Then the internal energy spread throughout Ryu-o’s body gathered in one place...

Hummm.

A second dantian formed.

Cheon Hwayeong had now moved beyond shock and begun to feel fear.

This could not possibly be the legendary [Two Principles Heart Art], so what was this...?

Even the little internal energy she had left was greedily sucked away, draining all strength from her body...

Thud!

"Ha... haha... you insane bastard..."

She was already exhausted, and insomnia only compounded it.

All Cheon Hwayeong could do was collapse beside Ryu-o and spit out curses...

"Fucking insane..."

Cheon Hwayeong laughed helplessly and spent the night awake.

Comments (0)

Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register