Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Prelude to the Kidnapping Drama
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The sky was smeared with blood-red haze, and the earth was rotting black beneath it.
A nauseating stench of sulfur and the metallic tang of blood vibrated from all directions.
And then there were the earth-shattering roars of colossal monsters that tore at the eardrums.
This was the heart of what was known as the "Demon Realm"—a controlled zone where, after a past Gate Break, thick demonic energy had seeped into Earth's environment, forming its own twisted ecosystem.
A hellish domain where A-rank or higher magic beasts spawned naturally and devoured one another.
A death trap in every sense.
"How's this? No better spot for a quiet stroll without any pesky interruptions."
Baek Seorin said it with a proud sweep of her gaze around them.
Her face beamed with the relaxed thrill of someone out for a leisurely day at a serene lakeside park in spring.
But Han Jaewoo, dragged here by her hand, felt nothing but utter despair—like he wanted to bite his tongue and pass out right then and there.
'Crazy... Brushing against anything here would straight-up kill me!'
Han Jaewoo's legs trembled like aspen leaves.
Last time in Gangwon-do Gate, there had been military backup at least. But this place? A true monster den, utterly devoid of human presence.
In the distance, he could see a troll the size of a mountain range ripping trees out by the roots and hurling them.
Picnicking amid those things? This wasn't a date—it was a meticulously planned mutual suicide attempt.
His survival instincts hit overdrive, and his brain blared an emergency alert.
Stray even a step from her, and I'm done for. Gotta cling to her like a damn barnacle.
He thrust out his shaking hand and clamped onto Baek Seorin's arm beside him.
It was practically him throwing himself into her embrace.
"...Stay by my side."
Han Jaewoo squeezed out the Northern Grand Duke's languid, heavy tone, desperately flirting in his plea.
"Not a single step away."
His blue eyes turned toward her with aching longing.
His inner scream was more like, Don't you dare leave me behind, I'm scared shitless! But to the ears of the romance-shy Heavenly Demon, it landed with world-shattering impact from another dimension entirely.
"...!"
Baek Seorin's eyes widened like they might burst.
The man's large hand gripping her arm tight.
The solid warmth of his body heat traveling up her arm.
Above all, his lazy breath tickling her ear, and that lethal possessiveness wrapping around her like chains.
Not a single step away.
Such blatant, raw affection.
A lightning bolt of shame struck the parched heart of a woman who had lived her life surrounded only by swords and blood.
'Th-this is way too close!'
Baek Seorin's face flushed beet red, like a perfectly ripened radish, in an instant.
Her heart went berserk, as if entranced in a trance.
Too embarrassed to know where to look, she fidgeted, her gaze darting wildly through the air.
"A-hem! Th-the distance is too close!"
She cleared her throat awkwardly, gently shoving his hand away and taking a step back.
If she didn't cool the heat on her face, she felt like she'd explode right then.
She needed an excuse. Something to calm her pounding heart and let her show him her cool side perfectly.
"I-I'll take the lead and clear the path ahead!"
She blurted it out in a voice that cracked mid-sentence.
"The demonic energy up ahead is too thick—it might taint your noble form! Wait here just a moment! I'll slice through this mountain range and be right back!"
"Huh? Wait. Hey! Baek Seorin!"
Han Jaewoo reached out frantically, but it was too late.
Flash—!
The Heavenly Demon bolted like she was fleeing unbearable embarrassment to cool off, kicking off the ground.
Her figure streaked into the depths of the monster horde as a red bolt of light.
Boom, crash! From afar came the screams of beasts and the rumble of a mountain peak crumbling.
She was seriously venting her shame on the monsters, carving up the range.
And so.
In the midst of those horrific, terrifying beasts.
The Northern Grand Duke—with zero internal energy, zero combat power, and a B-rank fragile body—was left utterly alone.
"...Insane."
Han Jaewoo's hand, hovering in the air, shook like a leaf.
His sole shield was gone.
And way too far away.
Grrrrowl...
Kyaaak!
From the opposite woods that Baek Seorin had swept through, other magic beasts caught the intruder's scent, their roars echoing from all sides.
Rustle, rustle.
Enormous footsteps crunching broken branches closed in, tightening around Han Jaewoo's throat.
'Gotta hide. Find some corner to hole up in.'
His face drained of color as he scanned around wildly.
His eyes caught a crack in a massive cliff where the demonic energy seemed thinnest.
He dragged his trembling legs toward it, crawling more than walking.
But.
The more he moved, the stranger the sensation overtaking his body.
"Ughhh..."
His whole body began shuddering uncontrollably.
His teeth chattered top to bottom, and his breath frosted white.
Like being tossed pantless into a midwinter training ground—bone-chilling cold.
An icy grip seized his entire body, stiffening his muscles down to the marrow.
'Wh-what's this? Why's it so damn cold?'
Han Jaewoo huddled, pulling his collar tight.
But the cold didn't relent. If anything, a pain like freezing blood squeezed his heart.
'Is this the killing intent from A-rank beasts... this cold and terrifying?!'
Tears welled in his terrified eyes.
The Demon Realm was no joke. Just the monsters' aura could freeze a person dead.
At this rate, he'd freeze solid before they even ate him.
But Han Jaewoo was gravely mistaken.
What was freezing him solid wasn't the Demon Realm's environment or the monsters' malice.
The true culprit was the object carelessly shoved deep in his inner pocket.
Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Snow Ginseng.
The legendary elixir said to hold the ultimate yin energy of the martial world.
Just hours ago, he'd stuffed it in his chest as a makeshift ice pack because it was hot, and it felt refreshingly cool.
But that was merely a fraction of the chill it emitted.
Normally, such an elixir required a martial artist with internal energy to suppress or absorb its power gradually through meditation—a dangerous item otherwise.
But Han Jaewoo, with no internal energy whatsoever, carried this lethal thing with zero protection.
Unchecked by any master, the elixir's extreme yin energy began rampaging in earnest from his chest.
A deadly frost no ordinary body could withstand gnawed at his heart and meridians, freezing them solid.
"Hah... hah..."
Han Jaewoo's breath crystallized and plinked to the ground.
His vision blurred, sensation fled his fingers and toes.
He barely dragged his freezing body into the cliff's cracked crevice for cover.
He couldn't move another inch.
Finally, his brain activated its last resort against the extreme cold: halting all vital functions, minimizing his heartbeat—a hibernation state.
In other words, he slipped into a coma.
Thud.
His body slumped against the cliff wall, sliding down languidly.
His consciousness sank into abyssal depths.
But.
Even as he collapsed, even in that freezing moment.
The SSS Plausibility dominating his flesh worked overtime like mad.
A normal person on the brink of hypothermia would be snot-dripping, face blue, body twisted grotesquely.
Not Han Jaewoo.
No drool escaped him, nor did he huddle pathetically.
In his pitch-black designer suit, leaning diagonally against the cliff in slumber.
Long legs stretched out, head tilted slightly back.
Over his porcelain-pale skin, the ginseng's chill bloomed into exquisite frost flowers.
Diamond-like snowflakes settled on his long lashes and dark hair.
Like a cursed prince bearing the world's solitude, lost in deep sleep.
A perfect frozen statue exploding with decadent elegance, chilling beauty, and ethereal grace.
Not long after Han Jaewoo passed out.
Beyond the crevice where he'd frozen and fallen, a space hidden by illusion shimmered into view.
A modern pinnacle of civilization, secretly tucked into the Demon Realm's central cliff.
The penthouse of Ibia, unregistered Hunter and Vampire Lord, ruler of the night.
Ding—.
The penthouse's automatic door slid open amid soft classical music, and a woman stepped out onto the cliffside terrace that served as her front yard.
Long silver hair gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
Ibia, draped in a blood-red silk dress.
In one hand, a crystal goblet of the finest refined human blood wine.
"...Hm?"
Her elegant sway halted as she swirled her wine, about to admire the Demon Realm's nightscape.
Her crimson eyes locked onto something collapsed in the corner of her front yard—right outside the illusion barrier.
A person.
That arrogant man from the hologram news a few days back.
The very one who had shredded the polite blood-red invitation (the blood beast from the Slime Dungeon) she'd sent with goodwill, treating it like trash.
"...Oh?"
A intrigued curve graced Ibia's blood-red lips.
"Well, well. Who might this be? So brazenly rejecting my courteous invitation, yet here you are, slumbering so defenselessly in my front yard?"
She approached with slow, cat-like grace.
The closer she got, the more her brows furrowed faintly.
The aura emanating from the man was far from ordinary.
Ibia leaned in close to his face.
The beautiful frost blanketing his features.
She extended a slender finger, gently brushing his pale cheek.
"...!"
Her eyes shook violently for a split second.
The sensation at her fingertip.
It wasn't just cold.
An undead who had lived centuries.
Even she, a vampire with blood long frozen, felt overwhelmed by this pure, absolute chill.
100% purity dizzying yin energy.
Like cradling an entire ancient glacier—the ferocious cold stabbed through her finger, electrifying her body.
"Haa..."
A hot sigh escaped Ibia's lips.
Her gaze raked over his face with greedy hunger.
Frost-kissed long lashes.
Sculpted jawline, pale lips parted slightly.
An SSS-grade decadent beauty transcending human limits, enough to mesmerize even a vampire.
And wafting that ultimate cold aura vampires craved instinctively (the rampaging ginseng)—perfectly to her taste.
Face, vibe, even the delicious scent—flawlessly hitting every preference for prey.
"A man colder than a vampire, and maddeningly beautiful."
Ibia's eyes flashed with the dangerous gleam of a nocturnal predator.
For the night sovereign bored through endless years, no toy could be more perfect.
No—not a toy. The makings of a perfect companion to possess.
While the Heavenly Demon smashed mountains and slaughtered monsters.
Her man was now perfectly ensnared in the Vampire Lord's front yard.
"Let's see if you can handle my leash. I'll check in my deepest chamber."
Ibia tossed her wine goblet into the air.
Crash! Crystal shattered.
She scooped up his comatose, frozen-solid body—gently yet firmly.
With a seductive smile, she dragged him into her hidden penthouse lair.
In the Demon Realm's darkness, the grand farce of an abduction began to unfold.