Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Terror (1)
January 1st.
The day I turn eighteen.
On the day the new year began, record-breaking snowfall came.
"Did you use magic?"
"No."
Since the Witch had returned to Korea after a long time from the Ice Castle, I thought she had used magic.
The world seemed trapped in a white sponge.
"Oppa! Snowman!"
The snowman danced relying on feet made from tree branches. The small snowmen beside it did the same.
Yuna's pets and the snowmen were having their own festival.
Our parents called Yuna over and dressed her in thick clothes.
"Oppa! Let's have a snowball fight!"
I rolled around in the snow field with Yuna.
Even the Witch was just a kind older sister in front of Yuna.
"Yuna is now a second grader."
"Yeah!"
"Is school life fun?"
"Yeah!"
Her emphatic answer was so cute that I hugged her again.
"Why is our Yuna so pretty?"
"Hehe, because Mom and Dad and Unni and Oppa all love Yuna. Mom said women become pretty when they receive love."
She says things like this now.
"Does Yuna find studying fun?"
"Studying is fun, but school studying isn't fun."
"Why?"
"It's too easy."
Because of my disposition, I know nothing about Yuna's studies. It's because I didn't consider it very important.
"Should I not go to elementary school like Unni and Oppa?"
"What does Yuna want to do?"
Yuna blinked her big eyes and put her finger to her lips. It was a pondering expression.
"I don't know, hehe."
"Then think about it slowly. Then when you decide what you want to do, you can just do it."
"Hehe, I like Oppa the best."
"Do you like me more than Unni?"
Yuna was about to answer when she turned around. The Witch was waiting for the answer with a tense expression.
A match.
This was an absolute match that couldn't be conceded.
"Hehe, I won't answer. Mom and Dad told me not to answer questions like this."
Unfortunately, the match was not decided.
"Good job. You have to listen to Mom and Dad. You can do everything else however you want, but you have to listen to your parents. Got it?"
"Yeah!"
I lifted Yuna up and put her on my shoulders. Yuna raised her arms in celebration from my shoulders, delighted.
After playing with Yuna for a while, I went to the Heavenly Demon Cult headquarters. Training was still in full swing in the closed training rooms.
I confirmed that no one was seriously injured and left.
The next place I visited was the artisan's workshop.
I had given them two houses and a smithy within the headquarters.
There was no sound of hammering. Instead, Torto was sitting cross-legged on the white snow, and Cheollu was meditating while being hit by the falling snow.
They were training in internal energy and mana respectively.
I gave Torto some simple advice about martial arts and left. Cheollu was getting advice from the Witch from time to time.
The last place I visited was the area where the Hundred White Blood Corps families stayed.
The family members had increased to 50 people.
At their lodgings located in the northeast of the Heavenly Demon Cult, there was at least a human atmosphere.
Children were running around, and there were people watching the children while knitting or preparing food.
Among them were the Sword God and his wife, and their son who had just barely learned to walk.
The Sword God greeted me respectfully when he saw me. His wife also bowed her head with a comfortable expression, having become accustomed to this life.
The child was healthy and ordinary.
The Sword God hadn't particularly taught martial arts to the child, and neither had his wife.
'They wanted to live ordinarily.'
That was the couple's characteristic.
I too didn't expect anything from them within the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The Hundred White Blood Corps families all greeted me when they saw me. I asked them one by one if there was anything they were uncomfortable with.
Fortunately, they were living sufficiently satisfying lives. However, there was one problem—they were bored.
"But we're less bored because of the exercises the Sword God taught us. Our bodies are getting healthier too."
The Sword God couldn't be involved in anything in the Heavenly Demon Cult. So he at least taught exercises to the Hundred White Blood Corps families.
I didn't stop even this.
'It's peaceful.'
It was still peaceful enough that boredom was the problem.
'Soon this peace will end too.'
The Hundred White Blood Corps's training was becoming more intense. This meant that a fight was not far off.
They had become proficient in magic too, so they wouldn't be out of place being called Magic Swordsmen.
The reason Torto was devoting himself to individual training was also because there was nothing more to teach him.
'Enjoy it. You have to enjoy leisure when it's peaceful.'
I confirmed their leisure and was about to turn around when the Witch called me from afar.
The Witch had a serious expression and took me to the Teleport warehouse.
"What's wrong?"
Instead of answering, the Witch pointed to the Teleport regions marked on the world map.
I couldn't find anything strange just by looking at it.
Thanks to Fairy and me traveling around the world marking points, Teleport was now connected to most countries. Only the African region was a bit sparse, while regions like Europe and America were densely dotted.
"Hm?"
While examining the dots, I discovered something strange.
"The dots in Australia have disappeared?"
Australia had three Teleports marked when Fairy went there for a concert. But now all those dots had disappeared.
"What happened?"
"Someone dismantled the Teleports."
This was something that hadn't happened until now.
"Only the ones in Australia are gone? That's strange."
While checking if the other Teleport formations were safe, Jimun Seo-saeng came over.
"Cult Leader, Miss Yuri. Please look at this."
Breaking news had come up.
—Australia will cease all international activities within three months.
A country that hadn't even participated in recruiting reincarnators until now had suddenly made this announcement.
Welcoming the new year, all aircraft with Australian nationality stopped operations, and all visa applications from foreigners were rejected.
—Those without Australian nationality are asked to return home within three months. Visa extensions are not possible.
The three months they mentioned was time for foreigners to leave safely.
Trading companies with Australian nationality had already stopped activities, and all diplomacy was cut off.
"What do you think?"
"Under normal circumstances, this would be impossible."
Jimun Seo-saeng's thoughts were the same as mine.
In modern society, you can't live by cutting off international exchange. Moreover, numerous economic problems arise, starting with foreign companies that have already established themselves.
Yet Australia had declared this.
They had already announced compensation plans for this.
There was even talk of withdrawing from the United Nations, so it seemed the decision wouldn't be reversed.
"Someone intervened."
"Australia is a region that could sufficiently survive on domestic activities alone."
The feeling was not good.
The Witch, thinking the same, spoke seriously.
"It has been too quiet until now."
Nothing special had happened in the Australian region. So I hadn't paid much attention to it.
"We need to reopen the Teleport at least."
"There's no way to enter Australia."
Australia had already announced thorough surveillance of its territorial waters and airspace.
If the plane I took was shot down or the ship sank, even I wouldn't have a way to survive.
"I don't have any slaves with Australian nationality either."
The only people who could enter Australia now were Australian citizens. It was an unpleasant situation in many ways.
"Even if I made a new slave, they'd definitely get caught in the inspection."
If they had gone this far, the surveillance would be thorough too.
"There's no choice. For the time being, we can only watch."
There was nothing I could do right now.
During the passing winter, Australia underwent drastic changes.
The giant island nation in the south became the most closed-off group on Earth, and all information was blocked.
They condemned surveillance of their country by satellite as illegal and even made statements that there would be retaliation for this.
Therefore, information about Australia could not be officially discussed.
And when spring came.
Even unofficial information was blocked.
The last satellite photo received through the United States showed 20 giant towers being created in Australia, and after that, all transmissions were blocked. Even in satellite photos, Australia only appeared as white light.
They had completely hidden themselves.
No one could know what was happening in Australia.
Aircraft and ships that actually violated territorial waters and airspace were even shot down.
Australia thus disappeared from everyone's eyes and ears.
Early spring.
That day too, I was training as usual. Then I received an urgent message late in the evening.
"It's an attack."
"Where?"
"Singapore. Fairy's concert."
I immediately teleported to Singapore.
The place I arrived at was a warehouse inside the concert hall. Already messy screams could be heard from outside the door.
Kwang! Kwang!
When I stepped into the corridor, explosions occurred at the door leading to the concert hall. Spectators caught in the explosion collapsed, bleeding.
This was clearly terrorism.
When I hurriedly entered the concert hall, an even more cruel scene unfolded.
The stage had collapsed, and spectators numbering 2,000 lay as corpses.
Kwang! Kwang!
Fifteen Magic Swordsmen.
Cheong Ak-sal and So Iryeon were blocking them.
Five Magic Swordsmen had already fallen, but Cheong Ak-sal and So Iryeon weren't normal either.
A situation where 20 Magic Swordsmen had intruded, killing even spectators.
I ran toward them.
But as I entered the range, my body became drastically heavier.
'Damn it.'
A magic formation again.
They must have already created the magic formation the moment the concert was confirmed. Fairy had proceeded with the concert without knowing this.
Kung!
Frost formed on my body. Then my body became much lighter.
The Witch passed by me as I became lighter and cast magic at the Magic Swordsmen.
But when the Witch and I appeared, the Magic Swordsmen simultaneously threw fireballs and created explosions.
'Running away?'
They didn't seem intent on fighting. They created explosions and hurriedly tried to escape the concert hall.
'Where do you think you're going!'
I chased them with Yongcheon and grabbed the necks of two people. Then I threw them inside.
So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal would handle the cleanup.
The Witch also broke through a wall and blocked their escape route.
The Magic Swordsmen broke through the concert hall's outer wall and went outside.
The outside was full of spectators escaping the concert hall. The Magic Swordsmen jumped among the spectators.
The Witch tried to use magic, ignoring this.
"Leave it to me."
I blocked the Witch's magic and started the pursuit.
I moved by stepping on civilians' shoulders and caught three more people. But right before they were caught in my hands, the bastards swung their swords recklessly to the side.
Civilians nearby collapsed, spraying blood.
In that gap, three people attacked me simultaneously.
Pung! Pung!
Whenever I blocked their swords with Strong Fist, explosions occurred.
Explosions could be protected against with Shield and Gangqi, but the problem was the noise and vision. It wasn't easy to grasp the opponent's movements due to the explosions.
I changed my thinking and tried to handle them with fast attacks.
But their bodies scattered, creating clones.
The moment three people became nine.
Jjeojjeok!
Ice pillars rose over six illusions, and ice spikes fell on the three Magic Swordsmen.
Briefly but with the civilians having escaped, the Witch used magic.
Just before the Witch's magic reached them, magic formations floated up from the Magic Swordsmen's skin. Automatically generated Shields blocked the Witch's magic.
Whether it was a fairly sturdy Shield, the Witch's magic dissipated.
But that small gap was an opportunity for me.
Uduk!
I broke one person's neck, turned my body, and burst another person's head with my elbow.
And I pressed the Blood Path of the remaining one. I was thinking of leaving the investigation to the Witch.
'What?'
The moment I pressed the Blood Path, intense electricity flowed into my body. And the opponent moved perfectly fine.
When the Blood Path attack came to nothing, I ended up giving the bastard an opening.
The bastard's fist flew toward my face.
It wasn't to the point where I couldn't block it, so I caught it with my palm.
Pat!
Intense sparks covered my entire body. It was a shock painful enough to feel.
"How dare you!"
I pulled the bastard's arm and burst his forehead with my knee. The bastard collapsed, spilling brain matter.
After handling three people, I was about to pursue again when I felt a chilling energy from behind.
When I turned my head, I saw the Magic Swordsman whose neck I had broken first extending his sword in a grotesque form.
'Damn it.'
I discovered it too late. The blade had already approached to close range.
I hurriedly raised Shield and Gangqi.
Kkaeng!
The blade bounced off my body with a light sound. A thick ice shield was layered over the Shield I had created.
"Aim for the head."
The corpse with its head smashed didn't move.
Recognizing this, I burst the head of the bastard whose neck was broken.
'Wait.'
An ominous premonition flowed through my entire body.
There were five Magic Swordsman corpses inside the concert hall. Their heads were intact, not burst.
"Damn it!"
I ran toward the concert hall again.