Chapter 161: Anyhow, The Answer is Always Martial Arts (1)

Hi guys, Asta here, starting from next month, protag patreon will see increase in chapter count. 

The mob character would see 1 -> 2

Side character 2 -> 4

Support character 4 -> 6

The protagonist 6 -> 10

And if, next month real world didn't kick me in the ass, I'll increase September patreon into 1$/ chapter for every Tier…

So, feel free to to become our Patron~ starting next month tho… Not now

House of Goblins, New Murim Alliance Headquarters.

In a manor that only the Murim Lord could enter, Seol Jungyeon stared blankly at the scarlet sky above. Accompanying her in the table in front of her was a very rare Murim liquor, Cheonghaju(淸夏酒). The very same liquor she enjoyed all the time when she reigned as the supreme leader of the Cheonma Sect. She indulged in it when there was an event to celebrate such as when a new Expert finally became a member of the sect, when a loyal subordinate achieved new enlightenment, or when it was someone's birthday. Within the beautiful fence of Cheonma Sect, Cheonghaju was always with them whenever they had a happy time laughing and chatting.

So, when she lost the sect and returned to Earth, she no longer drank Cheonghaju. She was afraid that once she tasted it once again, the beautiful memories of that time would flood her mind. And if she kept thinking about those days, her heart would become dull.

Lifting a cup of Cheonghaju with her white hand, Seol Jungyeon could see the reflection of her pink eyes on its white liquid. Those pink eyes, which had softened by much, were once dyed redder than anything else.

Those red eyes had opened the heavens and the earth in the name of the Cheonma Sect and placed the world under its rule. 

At that time, she had nothing to fear. She had people under her that were more reliable than anyone else, stronger than anything else, and more precious than anything else. Until this day, she still remembered their names and faces vividly.

Seol Jungyeon could see her own smile reflected on the surface of the liquor as she thought about them.

Jang Seo-Young, The Great Emperor of Heaven. Goo Yoon-Ak, The Black Horse. Han Do-Woon, The Light-Blooded Warrior…. One by one, their names come to her mind. She had countless family members back then, but she did not forget even a single one. Afterall, how could she forget? Until this day, she still couldn’t erect a tomb for them. So as their monarch, albeit a failed one, she kept their names in her heart.

Even though she had met Yoo Seodam and gained a new life, Cheonma Sect was still heavily etched in Seol Jungyeon's heart.

However,

“Now is the time to let go.”

Seol Jungyeon lifted the Cheonghaju and gulped it all at once. It was bitter yet refreshing, just as she remembered it.

As she put down her cup with a thud, her pink eyes lit up. She had the chance to return to Murim once again. She made a vow to herself that once she returned, she would make a tomb for all her family members.

Because it was time to finally let go.

* * *

Before executing my plan, it was necessary to figure out the location of the passage to Murim. And it turned out to be a much simpler process than I thought.

"Look here."

As Yekaterina points at the monitor, Me, Taylor, Ha Sun-young, the Spirit King and even Smiling Shadow tilted our heads. As if figuring out that she couldn’t show it through the small monitor, Yekaterina burst into laughter and tapped the window of her office.

"Oh oh!"

"Ugh!"

Then, the window darkened. The beautiful scenery that had been there only a second ago had instantly been replaced by a large monitor. Through the corner of my eyes, I looked at Smiling Shadow. Even though he pretended not to be surprised, I knew that he was the most surprised among us all.

“Great.”

After I glanced at the Smiling Shadow who regained his composure with a cough, I turned my gaze back to the monitor. There, a video was being played.

"Video of the demon in Pretoria."

"Correct. If you look at it, the demon first appeared exactly in the west of Pretoria. So, I dispatched a few agents and ordered them to look for its trail, but demonic energy was detected all the way through the west.”

Demonic energy, it was something that could not be measured in a normal way, but for Another League which dealt with soul magic it was possible to some extent. Of course, it doesn't even reach the level of clearly pinpointing a specific target, but it was enough since the demon's magic energy itself was huge.

"To the west, huh…"

“The most important thing here was that the demon had never changed direction.”

"What are you talking about?"

“It’s just as I said, the trail that we found was making a straight line. Ignoring all roads and landmarks.”

So, in other words, the demon walked in a straight line before finally arriving at Pretoria?

Yekaterina opened a map and zoomed it out, revealing the demon trail before it arrived at Pretoria.

“It goes through Rustenburg and goes all the way to the border of Botswana…after that the trail was completely cut off. We presumed that the demon only activated its power from the moment it crossed the border. First, we were investigating the southern part of Botswana…”

However, it continued for a long time to the west of South Africa, and in the south of Botswana, if it were a place where a ‘passage’ could be created, it would be…

“The Kalahari Desert?”

"I think so.”

Crazy! The estimated distance alone was over 400 miles.

“The west of Pretoria…. to be more precise. If someone walked 700 km to the ‘east’ from the origin of the devil without turning once. I’m not sure what this means, but I think we should be careful.”

Thinking about it in a normal way, It might be that the demon just visited the big city with the most human traces and exerted its power. However, the fact that it moved in a ‘straight line' without any change of direction even in the slightest was really bothering me. What if that distance and direction are the conditions for the first manifestation of the power of the demon?

“Anyway, I have to go to the Kalahari Desert. In the meantime, Yekaterina, you have to study the soul magic as much as you can, and find out who the demon possessed.”

"Okay. Ah.. Seodam-nim, currently, we are checking through all airports around the world to find out who entered the Kalahari Desert.”

I nodded at her words. It won't be easy. The Kalahari Desert spans through many countries, so thousands of people can enter the country every day, so how could you check every single one of those people?

The only hint we currently had was that the culprit is a ‘witch’, and the general public would not be able to even go near the Kalahari Desert, let alone dungeons, so if you research based on superhumans, the answer will surely come out someday.

"Then… Seodam-nim, are you going to that dungeon, that is, Murim?"

I could see Ha Sun-young's expression became slightly rigid as he heard Yekaterina’s question.

To this day, there were still many Murim people who wanted to return to Murim. And many of those people were following Bang Ho-win and even created an organization called Murim Hohyanghoe. So, I was thinking of using this event and returning all members of Murim Hohyanghoe to Murim…

“Probably, in order to pass through the passage, you have to be at least an SS rank or higher. Any lower than that and there’s a chance that you will never be able to return.”

Even for SS rank or higher, just passing through the passage would take a great toll on their body.  And for that very reason, I needed a protective suit to take Seol Jungyeon noonim safely.

* * *

Speaking of protective suits, it was just an ether-coated suit that was strongly enchanted with ‘spatial defense magic’. Of course, making special protective clothing to protect against spatial magic, which does not exist in modern times, could only be said to be a waste of money, but Another League's capital was now quite strong, and it had received support from several companies for its production materials. So, it was possible to make it almost for free.

Moreover, who would dare to say anything when he said that he would make a special protective suit for experimenting with space-based magic? The whole world was still ignorant of the intricacies of magic. That was why it is possible to do embezzlements like this and it was a very nice feeling. Afterall, Korea is a country that was amazingly good at embezzlement.

Another League Laboratory.

In the huge cavity located on the 7th basement floor, while I was watching the two black suits that were almost finished, researchers in white robes approached me and politely explained the suits. I don't know the details, but it looks like they're paying close attention to its defensive capability.

“This should be enough.”

As I muttered, the automatic door opened from behind and someone came in. It was Taylor Nine.

“Hey, I’m going with you too.”

"Uh? Suddenly?"

She frowned as if she was unhappy with my answer.

“I was told that you’re going there with that girl.”

“Uh… for now, yeah, it’s only me and Noonim.”

“That's why I’m saying that I will go too. I also want to see the other world. I'm also SS rank, so I can go, can't I?"

Yes it is.

“Ah, yes, but… why did you want to go? Are you someone from Murim?”

“How do I look like to you? Do I look like a martial artist?” Then she smiles and says. “Well, wouldn’t anything be fun if I go with you?”

I nodded my head with a bewildered look on my face. I don’t think it’s right but at the same I think it was right….

Taylor was a very rare long-distance combat warrior, and had the ability to quietly subdue a large number of people faster and more accurately than me or even Noonim. Her utility that could transform light into various shapes would definitely become very useful.

If there's something that bothers me a little…

‘Will Noonim and Taylor get along well?’ 

I had never seen the two of them meet, so I don't know. But in the end, there was no reason to refuse either. After all, I had decided to not try to solve everything by myself anymore.

"Okay, you can come."

“Yes! When are we leaving?”

“We can’t go right away. If you are also going, we should make more protective suits.”

"Why? I see two suits there.”

“It’s two suits per person. Each time you pass through the portal, your suit will probably be completely shattered. If the protective suit is gone, you have to survive on your own strength. That’s why I said that only superhumans with SS rank or higher could do it.”

“Huh…?”

Taylor, who had focused more on attack rather than defense, trembled at my words.

“Bah! If it’s defense, I’m doing well now.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Taylor looked closer at the protective suit. It's all black, a tight suit with no design or anything adorning it. Since it was a suit that specializes in movement rather than durability. The pure defense itself will be very low.

“Anyway, I’m going too, alright?”

Saying so, Taylor Nine looked strangely happy.

* * *

Three days later.

The news of Another League’s Master, Yoo Seodam, going through Botswana to go to the Kalahari Desert had spread throughout the world. It was only natural, because he was the only one who knew how to deal with the demon in the whole world. He had also dispatched a huge force called Taylor Nine to the immediate vicinity of the area where the demon first appeared.

In every channel, you could see Yoo Seodam and Taylor Nine walking through the Seritz Kama International Airport located in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.

Countless cameras focused on them as they walked proudly with sunglasses covering their eyes. Even the president of Botswana welcomed them at the airport to simply shake their hands.

Yekaterina glanced at the news as she slowly read through the soul magic book. The unknown realm of the soul was a very difficult study even in Another League, where magic, science, and martial arts were all mastered. In the first place, it wasn't even clear whether the soul actually existed or not.

Here's a brief summary of what she'd learned so far:

‘The soul has no form. It is right to view it as the essence of life, that is, the aggregate of emotions and thoughts.’

‘Even without the body, the soul can still function.’

‘Interfering with the soul is impossible for any living things belonging to the physical world.’

‘However, it’s irrelevant if the power to control the soul is present in the body.’

In other words, no matter how much research would be continued here, there was no way to hunt the demon. The degree of emotional confusion caused by the demon might be able to be stopped somehow… But there were still limits on it too.

For now, the fundamental problem would be taken care of by Yoo Seodam. As always, perhaps he would go to another world that she does not know where and destroy the essence of the devil before returning to Earth.

But before that happened, suppressing the demon’s activity was all up to her who stayed on Earth.

‘If only I could put a spell on any suspect…'

There was always one soul in a person's body. And the spell Yekaterina wanted to cast was a spell that could determine ‘how many souls’ exists in the other party, and of course, most people would get the result that ‘one soul exists'.

But, what if by chance, she discovered a person with two souls? It would mean that the very person was the possessed body of the demon.

‘For that to happen, it was necessary to make the spell known worldwide.’

Each of her information would soon be equated with money, but Yekaterina wasn’t a type of person who was greedy for money. As long as she could save more people, she was willing to spread all the knowledge.

And by the way, Another League had a YTube channel that has already surpassed tens of millions of subscribers and was on its way to billion subscribers.

‘At least, until Seodam-nim returns, I’ll try to find the culprit.’

With that thought in mind, Yekaterina turned her gaze back to the TV, and for some reason the noise on the TV had considerably waned. Soon, Yekaterina understood the reason.

"Ah…."

As she watched the TV, she had an illusion that the sound of the woman on TV’s heels could be heard all the way to her. The woman who just arrived at the airport had brilliant platinum hair which mixed well with her pure white outfit. light fades as people seem to forget to even press the camera shutter. Even the announcer that had narrated the news since earlier had lost her words.

Yekaterina swallowed her saliva at the woman’s alluring appearance that seemed to steal her soul. Transmitting from the TV, Seol Jungyeon walked proudly but gracefully and slowly approached Yoo Seodam, who was standing still.

Then, she looked at Taylor Nine…

“….”

Momentarily stunned, Yekaterina bit her lips.

‘Don’t tell me…' To others, it may look like the two beautiful women were just looking at each other’s eyes, but Yekaterina knew the truth. ‘…They are going there just to fight each other?'

She couldn't believe it, but it seems like her guess was true.