Cheonma's Misunderstanding
The moment that jet-black energy shot toward Brina, I threw myself forward with every ounce of strength I had. Even at a glance, the ominous jet-black aura radiated such intense danger that just being near it made my skin prickle and sting.
Can I pull this off?
The only way to deflect that jet-black energy was Sakwol, a technique specialized for blocking formless auras. I'd recovered some mana on the way home, but what I had left was less than half my usual amount. I couldn't be sure if I could even deploy the mana-intensive Sakwol.
I have to.
Monster or not, Brina was my possession now. I couldn't let her die at someone else's hand.
Engaging an overwhelmingly powerful foe.
Strong One Slayer (C) activated!
All physical stats increase by 4.
Fighting to protect the weak.
Guardian (E) activated!
Stamina increases by 3. Fatigue resistance enhanced.
The foe was judged a strong enemy, triggering Strong One Slayer and boosting all my stats by 4, filling the mana gap. On top of that, protecting Brina counted as defending the weak, activating Guardian and restoring the stamina I'd burned sparring with Siriel. With the skills' aid, I kept my cool and unleashed Sakwol at the incoming jet-black energy.
Chaaeng—
My sword, darkened by mana, traced a black crescent moon ahead. Mana drained out like an ebbing tide; I strained to maintain it, keeping Sakwol intact.
Whoosh!
The jet-black energy hit Sakwol and devoured it like flames, roaring up.
What the—?!
Sakwol, which had blocked Siriel's full-power Blast, shattered helplessly.
"Kuhk!"
The forced disruption sent backlash mana ravaging my insides, blood surging up my throat. But there was no time to care. Trembling, I raised my sword to block the approaching energy somehow.
Just as the black aura that had burned through Sakwol surged greedily toward me, it vanished from sight like a lie. The killing intent enveloping the area vanished cleanly too. I collapsed to the ground on the spot.
I didn't know who the attacker was, but they seemed done fighting. First, I checked Brina. She was out cold, standing amid her mangled body. Through the tattered remains of her tank top and drawers panties—unrecognizable as clothing—wounds covered her despite auto-repair. The worst was her severed left arm, just like when we first met.
Durability was nearly bottomed out, and her vast semen reserves were at 0—drained by auto-repair. I hurriedly pulled semen potions from my inventory, fed them to her, and used Defect Repair. But for some reason, her durability didn't recover as expected.
Repair efficiency sharply reduced due to interfering aura.
Seeing the system message, I fed her every semen potion I had and used Defect Repair again. Only after 15 potions did her durability fill up, her severed arm and wounds regenerating cleanly.
"Hic?! ...Master?"
"You awake?"
Once fully healed, Brina came to, her eyes focusing. She looked relieved at first, then paled, staring at my mouth.
"Master, you're bleeding...!"
"Oh? Ptui! It's fine. Just a minor internal injury."
Brina panicked over the blood on my lips. I spat the pooled blood and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. It wasn't a big deal to me—costly, sure, but a quick heal at the hospital would fix it.
More importantly, what the hell happened? I'd told her to clean the house and stay put if anyone came. How did it come to this?
Brina bowed her head apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Master. I finished cleaning as ordered and was waiting for you when that thug burst in and attacked out of nowhere... As your possession, I can't throw away my life without your permission, so I had no choice but to fight back. But in the process, I wrecked your house and the clothes you gifted me. I'm truly sorry."
"Doesn't seem like your fault, so no need to blame yourself. The clothes were getting replaced anyway—don't worry. More than that..."
"She's still here. That woman..."
As Brina said, the black-clad woman who'd assaulted her lingered. Too focused on saving Brina, I hadn't checked her identity, but her outfit looked familiar.
Where have I seen that before?
While I pondered, Brina supplied the answer.
"Cheonma Han Se-ah. Why would she come to Master's house?"
"What? Han Se-ah?"
A breeze cleared the dust from the clearing. There stood Cheonma Han Se-ah in spotless black martial robes embroidered with a golden dragon, brushing her silky long black hair behind her ear.
"Hmm. You look young, yet your skills are impressive. Blocking Cheonma Aura for even an instant... But why stop me from killing that monster?"
Her voice was friendly, hard to believe it belonged to the one who'd unleashed that intense killing intent. I still didn't know why one of Korea's top 10 hunters was here, but knowing it was Cheonma Han Se-ah explained Brina's unprovoked attack. The public Cheonma despised dungeon monsters.
After eyeing me, Han Se-ah turned to Brina.
"That monster's odd too. A dungeon spawn, yet no mana trace? Wearing human clothes, speaking human words, handling a sword decently—I toyed with it for fun, but its wounds kept regenerating endlessly."
Her gaze chilled as she looked back at me.
"And now, whatever you did healed all its wounds again. How should I take this?"
She uncrossed her arms, Cheonma Aura flickering at her fingertips once more.
"I'll ask again. Why block me from killing that monster? What's your relation to it? You seem to know who I am, so no lies—it's best for your health."
"I'm Master's onah—Mmgh!"
I clamped Brina's mouth as she reflexively started to say it. Desperately racking my brain.
Saying 'onahole' in front of a monster-hater like Cheonma Han Se-ah? No telling what happens. Honesty's out.
That's why I silenced her. Thinking up an excuse, an idea flashed.
I shouted urgently.
"My unique ability is Monster Summoner!"
"Hmm?"
Seeing her react, I rapid-fired.
"She's my summon. Dungeon escapees have mana, right? But as you see, my summon has none. The regeneration's just one of my ability's features."
Fwoosh—
Her Cheonma Aura still flickered, so I ordered Brina.
"My summon obeys human speech well. Brina, hand."
"...Yes, Master."
Brina caught on and placed her hand atop mine.
"See? Obeys perfectly, no aggression toward humans unlike normal monsters. Unless attacked first."
"Hmm. Seems so."
She dispersed the aura, and I sighed in relief. But it wasn't over.
Opponent is attempting to observe your information.
Not fully convinced, she tried forcing open my status window. High-rank status windows let users peek others' like info abilities—and with Cheonma Han Se-ah, hers was surely top-tier.
The system warned me ahead, so I quickly edited my disguised status window's unique ability field via my authority: Monster Summoner.
Judgment successful. Opponent's unique ability Cheonma Spirit (SS) is lower rank than your unique authority Onahole Master (EX), so they cannot view your status window. Displaying disguised status window.
Luckily, the revamped status hid my real one, showing the fake. But isn't Cheonma Han Se-ah's unique ability the S-rank Cheonma Divine Art? Why's the system showing Cheonma Spirit (SS) instead? Never seen an SS-rank before, and the name didn't clarify much.
I had no way to check her status anyway, so I shelved the doubt and looked at her. Her expression had soured—flustered, awkward, sorry, embarrassed, all mixed.
"Something wrong?"
I hid Brina behind me, gripping my sword cautiously. If I'd unknowingly offended her, I had to at least resist.
As I tensed, watching her, she suddenly bowed her head to me.
"I didn't know you were Han Yeoul! I'm truly sorry!"
"...Pardon?"