Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Cheon Hong - The Child's Crying Doesn't Easily Stop
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It's pitch black.
I've come here again.
I hate it.
This place is scary.
Let me out.
Left Envoy. Geum-gang.
Where are you?
All around me is nothing but darkness.
I can't sleep.
The dark night is so frightening.
Will no one come for me?
Dawn.
Where are you?
"Geum-gang. It's the Heavenly Demon's frenzy. Hold out until the Cult Leader arrives... or knock her out."
Frenzy?
Could you even call that a frenzy?
More than that, the Cult Leader could calm her down?
Geum-gang couldn't believe that the power pouring out was just a fraction of her total strength.
Cheon Hong floated in the air, wrapped in black night.
Her red eyes held not a single spark of light, exuding an eerie aura.
Terror surged in an instant.
A murky energy that even pierced the steadfast mind of Golden Body.
"First, we need to dispel that dark aura."
"I'll approach first. Do whatever you can."
Geum-gang moved before it was too late.
Cheon Hong hovered motionless like a corpse in the air, but the moment Geum-gang drew near, she casually swung her arm.
That slight gesture carried the essence of death.
Geum-gang twisted her body forcibly into a spin.
"You can't just tank it and push through...!"
If she hadn't dodged, instant death.
It had the power to cleave her body in two.
As if to prove it, one of the nearby peaks around the Heavenly Demon Hall had been sliced clean off.
"Insane...!"
"Geum-gang! You can't break through in one go—!"
Jin-ok had experienced Cheon Hong's frenzy several times before.
The night enveloping Cheon Hong couldn't be pierced in a single assault.
Unless you were a transcendent master at the Flower Realm, you had to strike the same spot repeatedly to break through.
"Geum-gang, Hee Yeon. Look—!"
She gathered her inner energy and unleashed slashing waves at Cheon Hong.
"Mysterious Moon Scattering Slash—!"
Each slash carried a razor-sharp edge capable of cutting boulders.
Precisely targeting one spot, it began to chip away bit by bit.
Before they could marvel at Jin-ok's prowess, Hee Yeon assumed a familiar stance.
Striking the same point was Hee Yeon's specialty.
"South Piercing Sword Technique, One Point Five Swords."
A blue glow rimmed the sword tip, then shot forth like a bolt alongside Hee Yeon's body, embedding into the night.
Even Geum-gang saw Hee Yeon's form as a blur of afterimages.
Cheon Hong slowly fixed her gaze on Hee Yeon.
To her, Hee Yeon appeared frozen, moving in slow motion.
Spreading her still fingers, she murmured softly.
"Stop."
A simple command.
Hee Yeon felt as if sturdy thorny vines wrapped around her body.
Like a massive hand gripping her, crushing her to dust.
A grip so vicious no groan could escape.
"Fall."
At Cheon Hong's voice again, Hee Yeon plummeted at terrifying speed, crashing into the Heavenly Demon Hall's facade.
"Hee Yeon!"
No matter how sturdy a warrior's body, at least fractures.
A life-threatening injury if mishandled.
With just two words, a peak master was brought to the brink of death.
"Ah... uh..."
Light began returning to Cheon Hong's eyes as she stared at Hee Yeon.
"Aaaahhhhh—!"
The cry with her wail wasn't mere noise.
Tremendous inner energy infused even the simple sound wave, gouging the ground as if splitting it.
"Ngh...!"
Geum-gang and Jin-ok alike.
They could only plug their ears and endure.
"Jin-ok... how much longer...!"
Jin-ok's ears were already bleeding, yet she prepared her next attack.
"From experience, at least one more incense stick's time. But we'll all be dead before then."
One incense stick.
Short if brief, but against Cheon Hong in that state, even surviving a moment felt grueling.
If this power was just a drop in the ocean, what would her full strength be like?
Geum-gang shook off stray thoughts, tensing her thighs to leap.
Noticing, Jin-ok timed her assault.
"Geum-gang, thrust in! Severing Moon Martial Flower—!"
A massive crescent slash rent the air, revealing Cheon Hong's form.
"Go—! Geum-gang!"
Geum-gang, channeling full power into her thighs, rocketed upward at horrifying speed.
Her body allowed flawless midair maneuvers.
Right now, Cheon Hong wasn't cloaking herself in energy but projecting it outward.
If Geum-gang drove her fist in, it would surely land.
Golden Body Fighting Method.
First Form, One Point Three...
"...!"
Geum-gang halted her fist in that instant.
Their eyes met, unmistakably.
Those eyes she had stroked gazed back tearfully.
In that brief gap, Cheon Hong's hand opened toward Geum-gang.
"Plummet."
Pointing from sky to earth, Geum-gang's body obeyed without resistance, slamming down.
"Ah.... agh...!"
A crushing pressure like being buried under a mountain began crumbling her body bit by bit.
"Ngh...!"
Even her sturdy frame couldn't budge against the overwhelming area and weight.
Think.
Think.
Heavenly Robe?
No.
Geum-gang's instincts rejected inner energy.
Using unstable qi before 'that' felt wrong.
She had to push through with pure body alone.
Four Stages.
Now.
Here...!
Geum-gang summoned all strength to accelerate her mind.
She had to think.
What body was needed to withstand such vast area and weight?
One layer wouldn't do.
Two, three...
No, stacking simply would shatter them all together.
The Right Envoy had said it.
Deflect it.
'Geum-gang. Why stand still taking hits like this? Move a bit.'
'It's easier to focus if I stay still.'
'Nonsense. A warrior deflects force while moving. Look, hit again?'
Move?
Deflect?
Even as her thoughts raced, the heavy pressure relentlessly crushed her body.
At this rate, she might be pulverized to death.
Jin-ok gripped her fan with both hands and charged at Cheon Hong desperately, as if protecting her own child.
'If she dies here, the Cult Leader's plan is ruined! Must save her.'
Of course, her heart whispered otherwise.
Having faced Cheon Hong for years, she endured longest, but ultimately Jin-ok was smashed into the courtyard center.
"Cough... hack...!"
As Jin-ok fell, Cheon Hong gazed at the distant sky.
As if calling something.
"No!"
'Geum-gang or whatever, if ■■■■■ descends, the grand plan ends...!'
Jin-ok screamed hoarsely, but Cheon Hong reached for the sky.
A form took shape in the darkening heavens.
And, for a brief moment.
As if earth and sky flipped.
Dawn light pierced the pitch-black sky.
"Don't do it. That."
Geum-gang rose nobly, bearing the pressure.
Jin-ok saw a familiar woman in her silhouette.
"Ha Jin...?"
"I nearly died for real, Heavenly Demon."
Geum-gang rolled her shoulders as she stepped forward.
No exaggeration.
She had been one breath from being crushed.
At the edge of fading consciousness, she glimpsed the Right Envoy's palms sliding attacks endlessly.
On death's doorstep, she succeeded in splitting one into ten.
Severing her entire musculature into ten layers, each sliding in different flows.
Any force deflected tenfold would dissipate.
Geum-gang's body now possessed that power.
At Four Stages, even unseen things became visible.
'I see it. That's the flow of inner energy.'
Around fallen Jin-ok, and the massive shroud encircling Cheon Hong.
Crystal clear.
'I can cut it.'
The lines of qi flow.
Finally, her master's realm peeked through.
Geum-gang looked at Cheon Hong staring blankly at her.
"Heavenly Demon, come down. I'll stroke your head."
Cheon Hong's eyelids twitched faintly, then she extended her hand like a corpse again.
"Be severed."
Ominous energy crept up, slashing waves flying from all directions.
The previous Geum-gang couldn't have dodged, but...
Now she could.
Her attacks, once unknowable, were faintly sensed by Golden Body.
Once visible, no more brutish simplicity.
Condensing inner energy into lines and launching.
That earlier weight was surely just massive qi pressure.
Adapted, Geum-gang swiftly dodged and closed in.
One hit would sever her, but unavoidable strikes were nullified by slicing their lines.
Geum-gang advanced step by step.
Cheon Hong stared blankly at the sky, unfocused, whether Geum-gang dodged or not.
Tears flowed with it.
Geum-gang surged blood flow, dashing to Cheon Hong's eyes in one burst.
Now, what to do.
Geum-gang pondered.
How to stop this troublemaker.
Is a spanking best for a crying child?
What did they do when I cried as a kid.
'.....'
Geum-gang unclenched her fist, spreading her arms wide.
Then, drawing maximum strength, she hugged Cheon Hong tightly.
Like a bear embracing its cub, with immense pressure.
Jung-seok never once.
Received comfort while crying.
This girl must have been the same.
"Throw your tantrum until it passes...! I'll take it!"
Pressure on her body, Cheon Hong thrashed wildly, staring at the sky.
Pouring energy everywhere to shake Geum-gang off.
The heavenly form faded more with each struggle.
"Release me—!"
"Urgh...!"
Amid the command and erupting qi shredding her skin, veins bulging, Geum-gang held tight.
As if never letting go.
"Won't let go...!"
Cheon Hong resisted fiercer, shattering Geum-gang's bones.
"Argh...!"
Muscle fibers tore finely, waist nearly severed.
Cheon Hong's fit stopped just before Geum-gang died.
"Nghhh...."
As Cheon Hong fainted and collapsed, Geum-gang slumped too.
Blood-soaked, Geum-gang somehow stanched the bleeding.
Any more and she'd die from blood loss, so recovery first.
Amid extreme fatigue, she mended fractured bones, sutured torn muscles.
Staggering to check Cheon Hong, she slept, fainted.
Jin-ok, awake, approached the slumped Geum-gang.
"Are you mad, Left Envoy? Such recklessness..."
"Don't know. Let me rest... Take care of Hee Yeon... and cleanup..."
Geum-gang flopped beside Cheon Hong, collapsing gracefully.
"So irresponsible..."
Managing the devastated Heavenly Demon Hall fell solely to Jin-ok.
Restoring the Heavenly Demon Hall took over a full month.
Hee Yeon suffered worse than thought.
But an elixir procured from somewhere sped her recovery dramatically.
Jin-ok, minor injury, quickly recovered and resumed duties.
Geum-gang, tough as ever.
For a month, Cheon Hong holed up in her room, not emerging.
Due to the laborers from the Cult Leader, or memories of that day.
No matter how Geum-gang called, no answer.
Only cries and scream-like groans filled the air.
Clearly tormenting herself with guilt.
"Heavenly Demon. It's fine, really. We're Left and Right Envoys, right?"
"When you're tired of crying, come. Door's open."
Geum-gang visited often, leaving such words.
Five days after cleanup ended, one night.
A familiar tapping reached Geum-gang.
Knock knock.
Geum-gang bolted up unconsciously, opening the door.
Empty hall, one small stone left.
A tiny, prettily carved stone.
Next day too.
And the next.
New stones kept appearing.
As they piled like a tower, Geum-gang set a trap, waiting for the knock.
Right at the door, she flung it open at the sound.
Sure enough, huddled Cheon Hong.
Grabbing the startled fleeing girl, lifting her, Cheon Hong trembled.
"Le... Left Envoy. Let go. Let go."
Seeing her struggle recalled that day's destruction, the demon god.
Geum-gang shook it off quickly, but children notice expressions.
Before Geum-gang could correct, Cheon Hong's lips quivered.
"Left Envoy, Geum-gang. Now I'm scary to you...?"
Before her, a teary-eyed Heavenly Demon.
"You hate me now?"
A Cheon Hong fighting back tears.
"Geum-gang, my dawn. I..."
A bawling child.
Geum-gang hugged the sobbing Cheon Hong, stroking gently.
"Wasn't the night scary?"
"Geum-gang, sorry. Don't hate me..."
Geum-gang held Cheon Hong, face buried in her chest, for a long while.
"Don't hate you. Don't hate."
"I hurt the Right Envoy. Geum-gang, I saw. I did it. Jin-ok too..."
"Jin-ok's fine even if hurt a bit."
"Geum-gang. It wasn't my will."
"I know. I know."
She kept stroking as if knowing all.
Cheon Hong, who wailed as if the world ended, now just sniffled, tears dried.
"Really don't hate me...? My father feared me too. Someday I might kill you."
"Not now. And if scary, I'll just get stronger. Right?"
Sniffling nosily, Cheon Hong finally stopped crying, asking repeatedly.
If she really didn't hate her.
If they'd watch fireflies together again.
"Of course. Let's go."
Cheon Hong fidgeted anxiously until Geum-gang hooked pinkies.
Clinging like a puppy, she suddenly hopped down with an idea, dashing to her room.
"What, says her piece and leaves."
As Geum-gang turned back baffled, Cheon Hong rushed in.
Dragging a blanket her size, rolled up.
"Dawn. Geum-gang. Wait."
"Where'd you go?"
To Geum-gang's question, Cheon Hong proudly displayed her bedding.
Adorably boastful.
Fidgeting long, she clutched Geum-gang's collar.
"Left Envoy, you said I'm not scary. And that you like me."
"Uh... didn't say like exactly, but anyway. So?"
Feeling uneasy again, Cheon Hong gazed with a pouty face.
"Then, I want to sleep together tonight..."
"Pardon?"
The Heavenly Demon thus invited her Left Envoy to share a bed.