Chapter 278
Chapter 278
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 278
Chapter Title: Savior (10)
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***
After Cheon-seong and Karite were trapped in Vermian's unique domain.
Outside, twenty minutes had passed, and the situation was nearly under control.
The instructors unleashed their power in unison, wiping out the monsters across the vast forest until none remained.
And just when it seemed the urgent crisis had been managed.
Someone sensed that something was wrong.
It was an instructor who had been dealing with the aftermath a short distance away, while Kalli was erasing the berserk monsters with her overwhelming power.
It was none other than Kalli's assistant instructor, Hyulran.
*Swish!*
Rushing through the forest, he blinked blankly.
"...Impossible."
Hyulran, who had hastily followed Han Cheon-seong's trail just in case, had grown pale.
He was the one who had been trapped in Vermian's domain last time while keeping a close eye on Han Cheon-seong. Because of that, he was always on edge.
He had already been living with immense guilt since that incident.
Though he had been trapped by another Apostle's power, Hyulran had felt to his very core the crushing weight of failing to protect a cadet under his charge.
Despite a massive search, no other Apostle was found, so the area had been sealed off for the time being.
After that, he received such a harsh reprimand from Kalli that there wasn't an instructor who didn't know about it.
Hyulran felt as if he were witnessing an unbelievable phenomenon.
A long time had passed since he entered the forest. And the sight he now faced... the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
“...”
Cold sweat seemed to trickle down his back.
He had found Cadet Han Cheon-seong's tracks and followed them, but now, they had vanished as if they had suddenly evaporated.
Many casualties had resulted from the unexpected incident. Yet, among the cadets who had tragically fallen, Cadet Han Cheon-seong and Cadet Karite were not present.
'In the first place...'
The Han Cheon-seong he knew was not the kind of cadet who would fall to berserk monsters. He was someone whose growth had impressed even the instructors.
Hyulran's train of thought was brief.
*Fwoosh!*
With a raised arm, Hyulran instantly manifested his unique ability.
*Shiiing...!*
An ice path immediately formed, cutting through the air, heading directly toward the distant presence of Kalli's power.
'I can't figure this out on my own.'
Faced with this anomaly, Hyulran's chosen course of action was not to do something himself.
The place where Han Cheon-seong's trail ended.
He instinctively felt that there was something strange about this area.
Since he couldn't understand it with his own power, the only one who might be able to was his supervising instructor, Kalli.
If anyone could understand this anomaly, it would be her, someone who had reached a level far beyond his own.
Therefore... informing her was the top priority.
*Shhhhh...!*
Hyulran's body began to move like light along the path of ice he had created. The ice path extended endlessly, cutting across the forest in an instant, and he moved at a speed that even most instructors couldn't match.
-An act born from his guilt over Han Cheon-seong.
-A split-second decision made upon facing the anomaly.
Everything Hyulran possessed came together...
and immediately created a 'miracle' that should have been impossible.
***
A powerful trajectory of red light erupted, slicing through the darkness.
It was a destructive force that seemed to erase everything in its path. The moment the red trajectory cut through space, the darkness that was about to swallow Han Cheon-seong touched it and vanished without a trace.
An anomaly.
An unforeseen event had occurred, one that no one within the unique domain could have predicted.
Vermian, the creator of the domain, flinched at the manifestation of such immense power despite having lost his sanity. Even Cheon-seong, who had chosen to die with Karite in his arms, unconsciously opened his eyes.
"Hah... Hah..."
In his vision, a red-haired woman appeared, panting heavily.
As the light of the outside world slowly illuminated the darkness through the tear in space, her figure seemed to shine brilliantly.
"...Ah."
Amidst her completely disheveled red hair, she was the one person he could rely on more than anyone.
The red aura enveloping Kalli's entire body radiated more intensely than ever before. Just by staring blankly, Cheon-seong could feel a fragment of absolute power he had never experienced.
“...”
As he blinked once in a daze.
*Whoosh.*
Kalli quickly assessed Cheon-seong's condition... and then turned her body.
Her gaze fell upon Vermian, who was some distance away.
The master of the unique domain, shrouded in darkness.
*Sizzle...!*
The surrounding darkness sizzled and was erased as if exploding upon contact with her red aura.
...The darkness was literally being crushed and erased by Kalli's energy.
Kalli, calming her breath, spoke carefully.
"...I'm so sorry. I never should have sent you back like that."
Yet, the significant tremor in Kalli's voice clearly showed just how shaken she was.
Hearing her voice, Cheon-seong instinctively opened his mouth.
"No... it's not."
"So, what's Karite's condition now...?"
Kalli's words seemed to jolt Cheon-seong's mind awake.
He had let go of everything, ready to accept death alongside Karite.
Cheon-seong had given up because he could find no hope, no answer.
Even if he could kill Vermian, he had chosen death in the face of the reality that he couldn't save Karite with his own hands.
But now, an immense hope had appeared before him.
A hope that shone so brilliantly... and powerfully.
"Karite needs treatment right away... *Cough*!"
As Cheon-seong shouted urgently, the strain on his body caused him to vomit a large amount of blood. Kalli nodded, her eyes trembling.
Except for the first moment she appeared, tearing through the domain, her gaze never once landed on Cheon-seong.
"I'll create an opening now. Get outside immediately... and find a medical officer."
Hearing Kalli's calm voice, Cheon-seong nodded hastily.
And in that moment.
Kalli unleashed her power even more forcefully and took action.
*Szzzzzzzzzle...!!*
The tear in space she had made upon entering the domain. It was already narrowing significantly, blocking out the light again.
*Shnk!*
Kalli forced her hand into the gap and focused her power.
*CRACK!*
The red aura around her body seemed to converge, following her hand as she began to forcibly pry the gap open.
"...Now!"
The moment Kalli shouted, Cheon-seong was already moving.
*Fwoosh!*
In the split second that Cheon-seong, holding Karite, leaped through the tiny gap leading to the faintly lit outside world.
*Swish!*
Vermian, who had been instinctively watching Kalli despite having lost all reason, suddenly swung his hand wide.
The action looked like a casual gesture, but Kalli's eyes, which had been fixed on Vermian, narrowed for an instant.
*SHWAAAAA—!!*
Immediately after, darkness from all directions surged sharply, lunging toward Kalli and Cheon-seong.
With one hand occupied holding the space open, Kalli was forced to face the encroaching darkness with just one hand.
Nevertheless, there was not a hint of wavering in her eyes.
*BOOM—!*
A single, massive wave of red light erupted from Kalli.
The resonating power of the vibration spread out, refusing to let the darkness from all sides approach her.
Instead, as the red ripple expanded, the surging darkness twisted, crumpled, and dissipated.
"How dare you..."
As Kalli's suppressed voice echoed even louder through the space, Cheon-seong managed to escape outside safely with Karite.
“...”
Realizing this, Kalli instantly withdrew the hand that was holding the gap open.
*Shwip!*
The opening immediately vanished, like a chasm in the earth being filled by a great river.
*Sway...*
Although the space rippled with complete darkness, Kalli looked down at her hand.
“...”
It had only been a few seconds of forcibly tearing open the unique domain. Yet, the skin on her hand was peeled back, stained bright red.
She didn't even blink at the pain from her discolored hand.
*Grit...!*
Instead, she ground her teeth fiercely, her eyes once again fixed on the Apostle in the distance.
She wasn't grinding her teeth because of the pain of her flayed skin.
Realizing the power of the unique domain manifested by the Apostle, her heart was churning as if it would burst.
“...”
A power that far surpassed that of an ordinary Apostle.
And such a dangerous Apostle... had been targeting Cadet Han Cheon-seong.
—If she had been just a little bit later...
Kalli's fiercely churning aura began to shake the darkness even more.
The future that could have been.
Just imagining the horrific future that might have unfolded filled Kalli's heart with pure hatred.
*Shwaaaaa...*
The red aura enveloping Kalli's body began to surge and churn even more violently.
Each time, the surrounding darkness would strangely explode. As Kalli's presence began to shake the entire domain, the mindless Vermian hastily reached out his hand.
In that instant.
*Pop!*
...Vermian's hand, shrouded in darkness, suddenly exploded.
"..."
Vermian, staring blankly at his missing forearm, furrowed his mindless brow.
*Whip!*
Then his head snapped upward.
In Vermian's vision, a wave of red light, which seemed to have appeared from nowhere, was crashing down.
—A circular band of red light.
The red wave, slowly expanding its radius and swallowing the darkness, was not just intimidating but utterly alien.
And he could clearly see it slowly descending, about to consume him.
An aura containing a power of overwhelming destruction.
"..."
As Vermian's eyes trembled while taking in the massive red wave.
Kalli had already closed the distance.
*Grab!*
Kalli's hand, skin peeled back and stained red, forcefully gripped Vermian's face.
"Die."