Four Days Until It Blooms
The voice concluded, “That wraps up the report on currently identified monster locations, their predicted movement routes, and the zones where mana patterns have been obscured by territorial disputes and combat.”
The electronic board used color-coding for each pattern, making distinctions simple. Blue marked human-side unit operations, sensors, and surveillance systems such as drones. Yellow indicated confirmed yokai packs. These were merely loose gatherings without a dominant leader, so they posed no major threat. Purple highlighted areas where the flow of energy had twisted for unknown reasons, creating chaotic interference. These were communication dead zones that could, in some cases, negatively affect the nerves. And black...
“Gangcheol’s range has shifted a little farther north than our initial reports suggested.”
It was Gangcheol’s territory. From that boundary onward, the energy of fire overflowed with pure aggression. The colossal violence shattered everything in its path, and the scorched wreckage birthed ash winds laced with toxic fumes that could inflict burns on ordinary people at the slightest touch.
“...It looks like he’s weighing whether to push north, slaughter humans to build his strength without immediate losses, or commit to an all-out war with us,” the operations officer said in a somber voice.
Either choice spelled trouble for their side. They had labeled it the DMZ for convenience, but the active zones overlapped that buffer and had taken root inside former North Korean territory. Still, complacency was not an option. On the sixth day of the incident, Gangcheol had attempted a southern advance. They had only driven him back after infusing every last shell with energy and expending their entire arsenal. Since then, every Awakened gathered here had been radiating their power to halt the Imugi’s advance.
It was an undeniable stopgap. They could not delay forever; a moment when blood would have to be shed was inevitable.
“Meow.”
At that moment Hyeonro drew every eye with her adorable cry as she emerged from the sleeve of my robe. Several quick-witted Awakened even began raising their energy to charge, but I lifted a hand to stop them.
“It’s fine. She is a spirit I’ve contracted with. She will pinpoint the active offender’s exact location.”
“...Looks like the deal you struck differs somewhat from the official guidelines.”
“The situation grew complicated. It simply happened.”
An Awakened who had constantly picked fights with me back when we shared the same meals began to nitpick. Seong Yuchan, I believed his name was. Perhaps it was because I was the only one among the gathered Awakened granted permission for free movement. Still, it left a foul taste in my mouth, so my tone grew rigid. The GP commander had to accommodate them for now and therefore remained silent; I had no choice but to endure.
“From the beginning, many of my comrades—including myself—oppose this operation if it carries any risk of interfering with Gangcheol’s domain.”
Opposition even in the middle of the briefing. I wanted to ignore it, yet I needed to persuade the rest.
“We must capture the heinous criminal. He is an active perpetrator who slaughtered roughly two hundred people in five seconds and possesses a realistic plan capable of toppling Seoul.”
“Seoul? The official notice only called him a vicious drug peddler. Our Great Hero seems prone to exaggeration.”
Great Hero—the nickname they had saddled me with. I quickly concluded the man could not be convinced and that further time was being wasted.
“I will omit the finer details. This spirit will indicate the precise spot where the active offender is hiding on the map.”
“...I said I cannot accept this.”
“I did not come seeking your acceptance. I delivered the notification and arrived only to obtain the information.”
“Hey—”
“Enough. I understand how much you are sacrificing, but do not cross the line. She is affiliated with the Blue House.”
Fortunately the GP commander intervened before genuine hostility could erupt.
“Meow.” At just the right moment Hyeonro indicated the target. The location was dangerously close, yet still outside Gangcheol’s active range.
I agreed. When Molly lamented through communication magic, the rest of the party echoed the sentiment. They were not flaunting killing intent or swaggering, yet the natural energy humans carried and the stifling atmosphere created the illusion that the very air had grown heavier.
The elf archer Roya watched the Awakened speaking from the center of the opposing faction.
Is that mana from the earth? No, perhaps the Steel from the east? And it is remarkably refined.
Roya began scanning every Awakened in the room one by one. All of them possessed polished mana. It made sense indoors compared to the personnel outside who were releasing theirs freely, yet she had not expected them to refine it so naturally to this degree. And in that state they had seen through the spirit.
Especially the ice one.
It was on the level of an ordinary civilian. Roya wondered whether her current self could control mana with such precision.
That was when the doubt struck.
Why did they choose us?
Awakened with superior skill were right here; any of them could surely support Dowol. Yet the party ultimately selected was the one led by the vice-guild master of the traitorous Geum Ok-se’s guild.
It’s strange. On what basis did they judge that we could assist Dowol better than these people?
Roya agonized, wrapped in that uneasy feeling.
Before long people began rising one after another. The briefing had ended, and Dowol along with the government agents would now begin their pursuit.
Though the communication came through telepathy, Nam Hongryeon’s voice carried the tension of gritted teeth. Everyone had already resolved themselves. Stopping here would make them traitors. Even if they had not performed the deed, sharing the same boat meant they had to cover it up.
“Gugyek!”
The short death cry, laced with bloody foam, burst from the yokai’s severed head as inertia sent it flying. Yet the one who had delivered the strike did not spare it so much as a glance. As though she possessed no leisure to focus on anything so trivial, her gaze and blade had already moved on to the next target.
She cut again. She ran again. The entire sequence flowed not as simple thrusts but as smoothly as oil through an engine.
“Haa, I see. She didn’t pick up the sword merely to assist her sorcery—she was a swordswoman from the start.”
Gazing at Dowol within the crystal orb, the man with bloodstains at the corners of his mouth murmured quietly.
“I expected it would happen eventually, but this is faster than anticipated.”
How long had it been since they parted? Barely half a day, yet had she missed him that badly?
“Hehe. I never imagined the daydreams of my youth would become reality in quite this way.”
The man let out a hollow laugh, never having thought his old wish—for a woman like her to cling to him—would be granted in such a manner.
“...For her to arrive like this, she must have traded with a fairly powerful spirit as a means to find me. That also means she possesses considerable sorcery skill. My sorcery may be superior, yet… she also wields the sword.”
“Have more confidence, Lee Han. Looking at it the other way, it simply means your sorcery is one step above hers.”
A soft crimson lock of hair and the accompanying voice brushed against the side of Lee Han’s face.
It feels like my eardrums are about to burn.
The heat was intense. Because of that scorching energy, Lee Han felt as if not only the skin of his ears but even the eardrums inside would cook.
“Exploit your strengths. Are you not my contractor? With overwhelming power, you need only burn away both your weaknesses and your enemies.”
Easy for you to say.
Given their opposing natures, that degree of power gap was virtually impossible.
If Ha Dowol stands before me…
Defeat. Lee Han instinctively sensed that a head-on clash within a distance she could close in a few leaps would end in his loss.
“So your ambition was nothing but hot air. As expected, at the core you were merely a commoner who had abandoned everything under the excuse of waiting for death…”
“Nonsense! The Great Work will absolutely be accomplished!”
Unable to endure the momentary provocation, Lee Han shouted.
“Kuhuhu, hahaha! Yes, to stand with this one you need at least that much spirit. However… even should you win against her, you will likely not escape becoming a cripple.”
The voice laughed heartily at first, then gradually cooled into a detached, icy tone.
This bipolar bitch…
Lee Han cursed the voice’s violent mood swings inwardly but knew he had to endure. For the Great Work he had joined hands with a non-human and stained his hands with blood. No—he had to create a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
“What we need is not a duel with Ms. Ha Dowol, but the Great Work itself.”
The Great Work required time; a direct confrontation had to be avoided. The voice agreed.
“Even at the earliest, it will still take four days for it to bloom.”
Four days. He had to endure four days against a monster that had flown here in merely half a day.
“Incidentally, Lee Han, do you know anything about those stragglers beside her?”
The voice indicated the black carrier pigeon next to Dowol and the Nam Hongryeon party.
“At a glance they look like three assassins teamed up with mercenaries.”
Lee Han adjusted the crystal orb’s focus slightly. There, Nam Hongryeon’s party was subduing yokai—precariously, yet keeping pace with Dowol’s speed.
“Tsk, not a level we can overlook. No—wait. I’ve just had an excellent idea.”
A sinister note crept into the voice’s final words.