Chapter 330
Chapter 330
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 330
Chapter Title: Black and White Flower (1)
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Banya gritted her teeth.
-One slip-up, and it could all go to waste. I'm saying this to you, Banya.
'I know.'
Their role was to thin out as many of the trees and National Trees inside the hotel as possible.
By the time Banya's demonic beast reached the vicinity of the fierce battlefield, the plan was already complete.
They had half-dismantled Cradle's system.
And redirected the movements of the Holy Knights and Hunters toward the Reclamation side.
Once they entered Cradle without bloodshed, it was practically over.
All that remained was to wipe out the bewildered National Trees and trees.
Regardless of the fact that the National Trees were gathering under the Sage.
The resistance was fiercer than expected.
-Grrrrrr.
The marks engraved on the foreheads of the two demonic beasts flanking Banya grew larger.
"What the hell are you?"
Shadows swiftly approaching her along the trees.
-Whoosh!
Wolf-like movements encircling her, slowly tightening the noose.
A small shadow flying toward her.
"...What are you guys?"
Banya spat in frustration.
Lee Siheon's and Marronier's movements had long been blocked by Abby.
The battle should have ended there.
Without the Wood Spirit King and Marronier's magic, the hotel interior was as good as an empty shell.
'But.'
Blood trickled from Banya's mouth.
The presence of those two far exceeded her expectations.
The two unknown entities by Lee Siheon's side.
In the first trial, they had left only the impression of being weaklings overshadowed by the National Trees.
-Whoosh!
Banya's face crumpled fiercely, and soon a girl shot out, extending her leg straight toward her.
-Boom!
Banya threw herself to the side. The demonic beast right behind her exploded under the girl's kick.
Barefoot in a pure white dress. Aori, with her fiery red hair whipping around, glared at Banya.
"Found you."
Drip, drip—
The girl lifted her foot, soaked in bright red blood, looking down at her.
Hands on her hips, the girl who had dispatched the demonic beasts with just her feet smiled brightly.
-Fwoosh.
Black demonic energy flared on her foot, evaporating the blood to reveal a pristine white sole.
Dainty toes on an adorable bare foot.
The very foot that had pierced the demonic beast just moments ago.
"Who the hell are you?"
Banya snapped irritably.
Aori blinked her round eyes a few times, then giggled in a sultry voice.
"Do you need to know?"
"......"
"Hmm. Yeah. Hmm? Now that I look again... His Majesty might like you."
She muttered coldly, then eyed Banya's body with a lecherous gaze.
Her torn clothes barely covered her nipples and privates. Her brown skin was tantalizing.
The markings scrawled across her body were points that would drive certain people mad.
Aori licked the corner of her mouth.
Banya, chilled to the bone, assumed a combat stance.
Vines spread from both hands. Magic unfolded with speed and destructive power befitting a National Tree.
-Whip!
But Aori's speed surpassed it.
The girl's figure vanished from sight, only to reappear behind her, wrapping her legs around Banya's head and slamming her to the ground.
-Thud!
Her crown smashed into the floor, briefly scattering Banya's consciousness.
The movement itself was invisible to the eye.
-Grip.
Aori mounted the prone Banya, throttling her neck with both thighs.
She brushed the dirt off her mud-caked dolphin pants, then looked down at Banya as her senses returned.
The Wood Spirit King's granddaughter.
Had the king's victory come to pass, Aori would have become a princess.
Her direct lineage was no lie; the vitality overflowing from her entire body suppressed Banya's aura.
"If His Majesty—"
Boom!
"If you don't want to die, shut up."
She pinned Banya's face as she tried to activate her power.
Her expression twisted in agony, as if her skull would shatter.
"If you catch His Majesty's eye, who knows. Maybe he'll take you into the harem."
"...What are you—"
"I said shut up."
Aori slipped her hand between her thighs, squeezing Banya's throat.
Pressing down on her vocal cords blocked her breath and words.
"No second chances, you worthless cunt."
'What?'
Was that supposed to be her?
A sorceress like her?
"Kuh."
Banya's eyes turned bright yellow, capturing Aori's form.
The moment her divination authority activated, she glimpsed Aori's future and curled her lip.
"?"
Aori faltered at the sudden sneer.
'...Already excited at the thought of getting eaten?'
Dismissing it as nothing, she immediately pressed the radio to her ear.
In case Banya didn't petrify her throat, she kept the pressure on.
"Your Majesty. I got her."
Come quick for a taste, she nearly said.
This one's wild-caught.
But then, Banya's body under her pressure began to melt away slowly.
"Huh?"
A sticky black mass clung to Aori's lower body.
Banya's body had dissolved in an instant. The remaining mud doll was pathetically wedged between her thighs.
[What's wrong?] Lee Siheon's delayed response came, and Aori's eyes widened in panic like a [ㅇ_ㅇ] emoticon.
"......I lost her."
[Did you catch her at least?] "I definitely had her."
[That's fine. Good job.] So sorceresses could swap their real body with a proxy.
Aori drooped her head, utterly dejected.
"I thought it'd be time to nourish Your Majesty."
[What are you talking about?] Anyone who knew women well could tell at a glance. Aori smacked her lips in regret.
That woman was top-tier.
*****
At the end of the walking path.
On the mountainside, evacuated civilians sat trembling in terror.
"Have some water."
"Th-thank you."
Yi-hyang wandered around, spreading smiles to those around her.
Seeing her hand out water, people let out awkward chuckles with somewhat eased expressions.
No matter how tense the moment, her plump cheeks always brought a smile.
-Hummm!
The Sage amplified her magic from the center.
Pure white magic spread out, teleporting the seated civilians far away.
Each nation had already been notified, so after the transfer, personnel waiting at the airport would escort them home.
Magic activations repeated several times.
Soon, sweat beaded on the Sage's forehead as she sat on a rock to catch her breath from the fatigue.
"Holding up okay?"
Lee Siheon, who had approached unnoticed, asked the Sage.
"Ten more minutes, and it'll be done. Hope the others are faring well."
"Don't you know best, Sage?"
"I've always said it: even I don't know everything."
Siheon shook his head at the exhausted Sage's smile.
His body looked a wreck on the surface.
No visible major injuries, but his torn and singed clothes, chunks of missing flesh, and caked blood made it clear how much he'd bled.
The gazes of most people sitting nearby turned to Lee Siheon.
Mostly worried looks, but a few eyed him with fear at his appearance.
The people he'd saved now feared him.
Some might feel disillusioned.
Lee Siheon brushed off those gazes indifferently. He even grinned playfully.
"Bear-like again today?"
"......"
The Sage's face flushed ripe as an apple, tempting a bite.
"You really...!"
-Pow!
She smacked his back, making him stumble. He shrugged it off like fleeing and headed down the mountain.
The Sage stared at his retreating figure, unable to muster anger, merely puffing her cheeks slightly.
'...Where does he get off calling himself king.'
The direction Lee Siheon headed was the hotel entrance.
No need to scan with magic to know his final destination.
The Sage turned to watch the still-arriving civilians.
Casualties were far fewer than expected.
Even with National Trees helping him, without reinforcements from the Order, it was a miracle.
An involuntary smile crossed her face. She rubbed her dry face with both hands and stood again.
Raising magic once more to envelop the surroundings.
The end of the brief skirmish was in sight.
*****
The hotel entrance, site of the fiercest battle.
Lee Siheon arrived as the hotel's civilians finished evacuating.
Cadets crushed under the collapsed outer wall.
A few National Trees who gave their lives fulfilling their duty.
Among the seventeen he'd recruited, some were among the sacrifices.
Traces of the desperate fight scarred the surroundings.
Corpses with heads severed from bodies.
Buildings burning from magic.
Thick black smog blanketed the sky. Lee Siheon, trudging through mud, halted at one spot.
-Boom!
Sounds of attacks missing. Bao was holding up better than expected.
"That all you got?"
"Ha."
A bored expression crept onto Plum Blossom's smirking face.
"What'd you say, you retard."
Bao raised both fists.
His expression suggested he enjoyed the fight, but he lacked leeway.
Fighting King. Even if physical abilities rose, stamina had limits. The sole weakness of infinite strengthening.
His eyes glazed as if from repeated jaw hits. His clenched fists occasionally lost aim and shook.
Plum Blossom, similarly battered, remained unscathed.
"If only she could unleash..."
Suyeon, sword in hand, scanned the surroundings.
No more civilians, so she could use her full power? Was that her judgment?
Her face visibly stiffened upon locking eyes with approaching Siheon.
"......"
Saku, standing far off, was covered in wounds rendering further combat impossible.
Her wide eyes lacked focus.
"Hah, hah..."
She heaved ragged breaths, facing the sister before her.
Even on the brink of death, she hadn't unleashed—everyone knew it was to avoid collateral damage.
"Saku."
"...Yes."
"You can now."
As Suyeon's permission dropped, staggering Saku gritted her teeth and rose.
-Crunch.
After enduring so long, venom now filled Saku's eyes.
Her gentle heart now burned with rage.
"Think unleashing now will change anything?"
Haku brimmed with confidence, Saku narrowed her eyes.
-Step.
Footsteps grew louder behind them.
They'd held out long.
Precisely, Plum Blossom had been toying with them.
Had she gathered all her strength seriously, she could have killed any number.
He knew, but she saw people as entertainment.
[Tweet] A tiny bird descended, landing on the shoulders of a man who looked like a corpse.
Then, a resounding explosion followed.
-Boom!
A white ring formed, and arrows tangled with demonic energy poured between Plum Blossom and Bao just as they clashed.
A massive blast engulfed most people there.
Riiiing—
Magic so intense it caused tinnitus beyond the blast.
Saku and Suyeon, barely escaping the explosion, stared at Lee Siheon in shock.
"...Si, Siheon?"
"You..."
What the hell was he trying to do?
They'd nearly been swept up and killed.
Demonic energy pressed down on the ground, prickling nerves with lethal threat.
Bao had even been singed briefly by the blast.
"Ah, that bastard really..."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Haku and Plum Blossom's gazes turned there too.
"Lee Siheon?"
A creepy smile spread on Plum Blossom's lips. Haku's face hardened.
"Why's that bastard here? Abby clearly... Damn that night speck. Can't even catch one between them? Hey, Plum Blossom."
"Lee Siheon..."
"Ah, that bastard's lost it."
Lee Siheon moved without responding.
Tree Footrest on his shoulder conversed briefly with him before flying into the air.
Plum Blossom's eyes fixed on Lee Siheon.
-Flap!
As Tree Footrest moved, the two men met eyes.
"Lee Siheon...!"
Plum Blossom uttered the name again.
His murderous eyes quickly scanned Siheon's body.
"...White Path's disciple. That's what I heard."
A childlike smile filled his face.
"White Path?"
Siheon reacted to the innocent tone, unusual for words from Plum Blossom's mouth.
Plum Blossom moved.
Walking step by step, accelerating toward Lee Siheon at a distance.
Bao reacted but couldn't match the speed.
-Boom!
An arrow sprouted above Lee Siheon's shoulder, shooting toward his brow.
-Crash!
"......Kuh."
He charged heedless of the arrow covering his face.
"Siheon!? Run—"
Just before Plum Blossom's unscathed body collided.
Saku's words cut off. Her pupils trembled as if seeing something astonishing.
"Guh, grrrk."
Plum Blossom's charging body staggered, slamming into the ground.
-Boom!
A crushing sensation pinned him. Reminiscent of the first trial, Plum Blossom laughed as he lifted his rigid body.
Creaking muscles, sweat, bloodshot eyes.
"Kuhuhu."
Plum Blossom took in Lee Siheon standing before him.
Siheon frowned at the pleasure-glazed eyes.
-Whoosh!
Suddenly, something flying from afar.
From high in the sky.
Like lightning.
A chill touch made Plum Blossom's head tilt up lightly.
"......"
Far away.
Hundreds of dark crimson deformed spears densely drawn across the dark sky.
Sharpened spears emanating ominous magic, forming a magic circle into long spear shapes.
Almost simultaneously, meteors enveloped the creaking Plum Blossom like a net.
"Stupid bastard."
"...Heh."
Plum Blossom laughed.
The bombardment large enough to swallow a small city struck him in mere moments.