Chapter 4: Apostle of an Outer God
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: Apostle of an Outer God
Above the countless dimensional entities pouring out from the dimensional intersection, a mysterious woman and a man were walking.
One was the Heavenly Demon of Murim, filled with a domineering aura that perfectly matched the phrase "majestic and imposing."
The other, of course, was me.
“Ahyu, do we really have to go like this?”
“I haven't used my power in a long time, so I need to focus my internal energy. Be quiet for a moment.”
We were flying through the sky.
No, to be precise, we were walking.
Do you remember the scene from Howl's Moving Castle where the heroine walks through the sky while holding Howl's hand?
That was exactly my situation right now.
According to her, it was a technique called Void Step (Neunggongheodo), but to me, it just looked like Howl's way of walking on air.
Of course, I was just walking while holding Ahyu's hand.
‘Should I call her Cheon Hong-ryeon in this form?’
After Ahyu returned to her form as Cheon Hong-ryeon, the Heavenly Demon, her personality did a complete one-eighty.
I guessed she was a rare case among returnees—a transmigrator whose soul had possessed another body.
So this must be her true form.
The Ahyu I knew, the Shin So-ra persona, must have been a facade she created to maintain her original Earth self.
Therefore, this domineering aura and ruler-like demeanor flowing from her had to be her real self.
‘It’s a common trait among returnees.’
It goes without saying, but dimensional travel is no easy feat.
Therefore, nine out of ten returnees who came back through dimensional travel were those who had reached the pinnacle of power in their respective worlds.
Thanks to that, the dimensional intersections caused by returnees were often difficult to handle for anyone other than another returnee.
While there were hunters awakened on Earth who could stand against returnees, their numbers were few.
And Ahyu was currently heightening her senses to find the returnee who caused this incident.
Even for her, the Heavenly Demon, finding someone capable of dimensional travel required concentration.
“By the way, why has your way of speaking changed so much? With your appearance changed too, you seem like a completely different person.”
“That other form is one where I suppress my Magi. When I use my Magi in earnest, I return to this state. As for my speech, I was force-fed a strict education as a child because of my Heavenly Demon bloodline, so I naturally revert to this way of speaking in this form. …Do you dislike it?”
“It’s a new side of you, so it’s interesting.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
Even while concentrating, she smiled and answered me familiarly.
Yep, Ahyu was still Ahyu.
The relationship we'd built over four years wouldn't change, no matter what she looked like.
‘I’m looking down at dimensional entities from above.’
Just this morning, I was worried about rent, and now I'm in this situation. It feels surreal.
But my desire to save people was real.
And to save as many people as possible, finding the returnee was the top priority.
We had to close the dimensional gate the returnee had opened, and more importantly, it was an established theory in the field that most returnees were mentally unstable upon their return.
I mean, it makes sense.
Most of the badasses who dominated their other worlds decided to return because their minds had weakened and they were suffering from severe homesickness.
So, if a returnee were to start slaughtering civilians…
The rest goes without saying.
‘Besides, hunters have arrived now.’
Since the dimensional shift occurred in a downtown area, the hunters responded quickly.
Thanks to them, hunters below were busy subduing dimensional entities and rescuing people.
They were the experts when it came to rescues and dimensional entities.
That's why we had to focus on the returnee.
“Found them.”
At that moment, Cheon Hong-ryeon's half-closed eyes flashed open.
Her eyes, the color of deep crimson, were fixed on the rooftop of a building about thirty stories high.
“I’m going to leap. Hold on tight.”
“Hold on?”
I was momentarily flustered.
Cheon Hong-ryeon's appearance was even more striking than when she was Ahyu.
Not only were her slender legs visible beneath her martial arts uniform, but despite the uniform's design not emphasizing the chest, her full bust left me with nowhere to look.
And what about that slim waist?
To be honest, there was nowhere appropriate to grab onto.
“What’s wrong? You can just wrap your arms around me.”
And this girl had become even more mischievous than before.
Annoyed by the sly, smiling eyes she made even in this situation, I suddenly wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Kyaa?!”
She lets out a surprisingly girlish scream.
As I stared at her with a curious expression, she blushed and turned her head away, seemingly embarrassed that she'd screamed even though she was the one who told me to hold her.
“Even in Murim, not a single person has ever laid a hand on my body.”
“You told me to.”
“Mmm, you can… hold on a little tighter.”
“Any more than this and I'll get embarrassed too, so let's just go.”
She really was the Heavenly Demon, saying whatever she wanted even while blushing, but we didn't have any more time to fool around.
Dimensional entities were still pouring out of the gate, so we had to find the returnee quickly and have them close it.
“L-Let’s go.”
The moment the Heavenly Demon said that and stepped into the air, my vision shifted.
When I came to my senses, Cheon Hong-ryeon already had her feet on the wall of the building she had pointed to.
And without hesitation, her feet began to run up the building's exterior wall.
“W-What, do you have glue on your feet or something?!”
“Glue? Good grief. This is a lightness skill called Ascension Flight (Seungcheonbi).”
Dammit, the Murim curriculum was a third-year course, so my knowledge is limited.
While regretting that I should have studied dimensional travel more, we arrived on the 30th-floor rooftop before I knew it.
I felt a little dizzy from the blood rushing to my head as we scaled the wall, but I quickly straightened myself.
It was because of the woman sitting collapsed right in front of us.
She had jet-black hair, wore a black eyepatch engraved with a peculiar symbol, and was dressed in a nun's habit, sitting slumped over while holding a massive, cross-shaped sword in both hands.
At first glance, she looked like a devout believer, but the aura emanating from her felt incredibly sinister, even to me.
‘Where did she come from?’
Having majored in dimensional travel, I had a decent grasp of the dimensions from which returnees had appeared so far.
Countless dimensions, cataloged based on past returnees, were still being discovered, but occasionally, multiple returnees would emerge from the same dimension.
Since time flows differently between dimensions, it was entirely possible for a new returnee to appear from a world that had already produced one.
And this time, luckily, I was able to deduce her origin by looking at the symbol on her nun's habit and eyepatch.
“Serlintium.”
[Classification: Fantasy · 14]
Returnee Emergence: March 12, 2012
Name: Seong Ho-ram (Aegis Seiya)
· Characteristics
1. A theocratic world that worships a god named Aegis.
(Symbol of the Aegis Order attached as a photo.)
2. Caution: Witch hunts to exterminate heretics are common. Mentioning anything related to gods is strictly forbidden.
3. Clerics use divine power inherited from their god. They can repeatedly restore flesh, even to the point of making an enemy's body explode.
4. Heretical Outer Gods exist, and the priests of Aegis react to them with extreme hostility.
5. Prominent Outer God Symbols
(Symbols of the Outer Gods attached as a photo.)
...
The information scrolling through my head matched one of the Outer God symbols from the world of Serlintium.
Fortunately, it had been on a university assignment, and I'd memorized it like crazy to keep my full scholarship, so it was still fresh in my mind.
As proof, when I inadvertently uttered the word "Serlintium," her gaze shot toward me from beneath the eyepatch.
‘An apostle who worships the Outer God, Aulaps.’
Having guessed her identity, I glanced at Cheon Hong-ryeon.
Still radiating a domineering aura, she didn't seem particularly concerned about the apostle of an Outer God.
But that woman was also a powerhouse capable of dimensional travel.
I didn't know how strong Cheon Hong-ryeon was, but we needed to be cautious.
“...Ahyu, I've identified the returnee. And I know what kind of abilities she uses.”
“You even know that?”
“Because I studied. I only know because this world has been documented. It's a bit of a peculiar case.”
Don't underestimate a full scholarship student from Korea's top hunter university.
I still have a perfect grasp of everything I studied, even after five years.
‘Truthfully, I've also been keeping up with newly updated information on returnees.’
Ever since my sister disappeared, I'd been checking information related to returnees whenever I had time, clinging to it as my last hope.
It was the only way I might find even the smallest clue about her.
Thanks to that, the returnee data in my head was always up-to-date.
In any case, we had to do something about the nun in front of us.
‘Returnees can basically communicate.’
They were originally from Earth, after all.
They aren't invaders.
‘But she…’
…is a special case, so there was a chance we couldn't reason with her.
“Aegis Seiya. Where is he?”
Just as I was wondering what to say first, her voice echoed out.
For a moment, my mind reeled, and my vision went black.
“You know.”
Her voice rang out again, throwing my thoughts into chaos.
The Outer God Aulaps specialized in illusions and mind control.
Its apostles possess the power to dominate a target's mind just by making eye contact or letting their voice be heard.
“Hah.”
But that lasted only a moment.
With a simple flick of her long index finger in the air, Cheon Hong-ryeon shattered the mind control that had taken hold of me.
Realizing this, the nun's gaze shifted to Cheon Hong-ryeon.
She, too, must have sensed the extraordinary aura coming from the Heavenly Demon.
“How dare you touch my partner in front of me?”
Hey, I never agreed to be your partner.
We're just gaming friends.
But I couldn't say that out loud right now.
Because her bright red hair, as if in a rage, was defying gravity and slowly rising toward the sky.
Scary.
“I was merely asking what I needed to ask.”
“Silence. The buzzing in my head is as irritating as a mosquito flying around my ear.”
At the same time, Cheon Hong-ryeon's eyes began to gleam with a killing intent so intense it sent a chill down my spine, even though I wasn't the target.
“Besides, if you had only intended to ask, you wouldn't have deliberately brought those mongrels below with you.”
My eyes widened at her words.
She brought the dimensional entities on purpose?
But why?
The nun didn't answer.
Cheon Hong-ryeon glared at the nun with a look of utter contempt.
“Domi, listen well. You seem to think all returnees are victims.”
As Cheon Hong-ryeon channeled a dark red sword energy over her blade, her figure blurred.
“But you should know that not all returnees harbor such pure intentions.”
Clang!
With those words, Cheon Hong-ryeon was already lunging at the nun, her sword flashing.
The nun, as if she had already anticipated it, drew her cross-shaped greatsword and began to counter the attack.
Witnessing a battle between returnees for the first time, I felt like the sheer wind pressure they generated could slice through my skin.
One thing was certain: we could communicate with her without any issues.
I'd been worried we wouldn't be able to, but it seemed that wasn't a concern.
Nevertheless, I kept my eyes glued to the situation, watching tenaciously.
The information about the Outer God Aulaps was in my head.
‘The nun's objective is Seiya.’
In that case, rather than killing me, who knows about Seiya, she'll want to interrogate me to find out more.
Cheon Hong-ryeon had advised me that not all returnees have good intentions, but I already knew that.
Numerous research papers on dimensional travel documented cases where returnees acted with impure motives.
There are criminals among returnees.
But there are also victims.
I believe that persecuting and cornering them from the moment we meet isn't the answer, which is why I simply want to save them.
‘I don't know what her circumstances are, but…’
The fact that the nun intentionally brought the dimensional entities is a problem.
In other words, to resolve the situation, we have no choice but to subdue her.
Therefore, I had to provide Cheon Hong-ryeon with the information I knew as the situation demanded.
I may not look it, but I graduated at the top of my class in the Hunter Guidance department.
The purpose of the Hunter Guidance department is to help hunters by giving directions and making judgments on how they should move.
Cheon Hong-ryeon must have known that, which is why she brought me here.
If so, I have to do my part.