210. Hidden Class: Moon Dancer
210. Hidden Class: Moon Dancer
***
——!
As the pure white light continued to envelop Daji's entire body, she seemed for a moment to be swallowed by the brilliant glow and vanish on the spot.
And in truth, the instant the light abruptly faded, she was gone. As if she had never been there from the start.
Immediately after, Serin's cold eyes turned toward the night sky as though it were only natural.
The predawn sky with its full moon was dark beyond measure even under the soft moonlight, and within that darkness countless stars blazed in every color, each asserting its presence.
Whoooosh!
Suddenly, the great full moon burst with radiant light and illuminated the whole world.
The darkened night sky was dyed in that vast light, and the full moon at its center held an even more brilliant glow.
And from within that full moon, a single enormous star was falling.
—Moonstar Fall (月星落下).
A woman wreathed in brilliant light descended as though bearing the moon itself, as if passing judgment upon all that existed beneath the sky.
A vast surge of moonlight great enough to cover the entire world.
Within the fall of that moon, holding a light so brilliant that no existence seemed capable of opposing it,
Serin slowly raised her hand.
She pointed the blade of her Crescent-Moon Weight toward the sky and unfolded her final move.
—Ten Thousand Demons Tremble Before the Sovereign (萬魔君惶).
Whoooooosh!
Amid the spectacle of the whole world shining bright, the interior of the grand banquet hall lost its light, as though being devoured by a black energy.
Serin's body took on an eerie glow as she poured all of that energy into her Crescent-Moon Weight.
"...What a shame."
Uttering words of unclear meaning, Serin kicked off the ground, met the enormous star head-on, and thrust out a colossal black hand.
WHOOOOM!
The atmosphere heaved violently as the vast darkness crashed against the light illuminating the world, as if to oppose it.
......
At the end of the crossing between the great star of light and the darkness.
The world fell into a moment of silence.
The vast space adorned as a grand banquet hall now showed a gruesome scene in the aftermath of immense destruction, and the two women standing below were in a wretched state.
Slither.
A woman gently touched her silk robes, torn wide and slowly staining red.
Daji, her hair returned to its original jet black, wore a mournful smile upon her noble beauty.
Rustle.
Daji, who had slowly been cut through her silk robes, soon lowered her Crescent-Moon Weight to the ground.
And the act of lowering her Crescent-Moon Weight signified that she was conceding defeat.
The moment their immense energies had erupted and clashed, Daji had realized the outcome of the contest from the very beginning.
No matter how vast her own power might be,
it could not reach the single deep darkness that tore all light to shreds.
And now, having met that end, Daji held neither small regret nor lingering attachment.
She no longer tried to make another move, nor did she have any desire to attempt one.
Toward her, the silver-haired woman slowly approached and raised her hand, soaked red with blood as she gripped her Crescent-Moon Weight.
"You are. A being fully worthy of calling yourself this woman."
In Serin's composed voice as she acknowledged Daji, there was no composure to be found.
Serin's body, after clashing with Daji a second time, had been unable to withstand the force and was bleeding from all over, her clothes in such disarray that even her bare skin was showing through.
In some ways, compared to Daji, whose silk robes were stained red only at the chest, Serin's condition appeared far more severe.
Daji, who had been gazing at Serin as though taking in the sight of her, parted her lips in a gentle voice.
"You need not maintain Descent any longer. I acknowledged your strength long ago, and I accept the outcome of this contest."
Daji smiled softly.
"..."
Faced with Daji's benevolent gaze, which seemed to hold boundless warmth, Serin let out a small breath.
She slowly lowered her raised hand and erased the hostility from the message filling one side of her vision.
'It's over.'
Afterward, Serin wore a strange smile, as if shaking off her emotions.
Even as she claimed certain victory, Serin—no, Cheon Ryuhwa—wore a bitter smile.
"Is that so. So this is as far as it goes."
Even as she spoke, Cheon Ryuhwa slowly clenched her hand, feeling the unfamiliar sensation of this body once more.
A body that was not her own.
Feeling, even briefly, the body of the existence who had permitted the use of her soul stirred a peculiar sentiment, and a faint laugh escaped Cheon Ryuhwa.
'Truly, there is no moment that makes me feel stranger emotions than this one.'
This moment, in which she could feel someone trusting her to this degree, moved even Cheon Ryuhwa, who had existed loftily as the Heavenly Demon,
and stirred strange feelings within her.
She who had reigned at the head of the demonic cult, which worshipped strength above all else.
How many times had she, who had served as a great pillar of that world, ever handled matters while thinking of someone's trust?
In a time when she had simply taken things by force—through destruction, domination, and coercion.
Everyone had feared her, and none had tried to approach.
And now, this existence who had offered her body to her was so very special.
Even now, if she wished it, seizing control of this body would surely be easy enough that making it her own would not be difficult.
But Cheon Ryuhwa had no desire to do so.
Even though it would not be strange for her body to be stolen at any moment, facing directly this existence who entrusted her body to her without hesitation—to her, whom the whole world feared and called the Heavenly Demon—
she could not shake the feeling of being trusted.
Receiving emotions she had rarely felt, emotions she would not otherwise feel, every single moment from this existence.
That was the greatest reason why she, the Heavenly Demon, now lent her strength to Serin without demanding any price.
'Truly... you are a wondrous existence.'
As Cheon Ryuhwa sank into brief contemplation, Daji softly parted her lips.
"Cheon Ryuhwa, this woman shall remember your other name as well, for all eternity."
At Daji's gentle voice, Serin curled the corners of her lips, spoke a single line, and closed her eyes.
"It matters not if you forget."
With those words, Cheon Ryuhwa slowly let her consciousness sink.
To return the body to its original owner.
......
Only a few seconds after Cheon Ryuhwa closed her eyes, Serin slowly opened them.
"...Ah."
The moment she saw Daji's wretched state before her, her eyes flew wide open.
Daji's condition looked serious. The sight of her silk robes completely soaked with blood at the chest appeared fatal.
Serin, who had been about to raise her Crescent-Moon Weight to finish things, had no choice but to stop when she met Daji's gaze.
Daji's eyes, gazing at her with utterly gentle warmth, held neither hostility nor killing intent.
Only then did Serin notice a single hologram flickering at the edge of her vision.
【Cave of Trials Cleared!!】
Along with the message that she had cleared the Cave of Trials, a button to receive her reward caught her eye below it.
From that, Serin could only conclude—unbelievable as it was—that "she" had defeated Daji.
'She really won?'
The gap in power Daji had displayed upon awakening was, to Serin's perception, a gap that could not be overturned no matter what, and considering the nature of a game, she had thought even creating such a variable was close to impossible.
And yet "she" had really done it.
—Heavenly Demon Cheon Ryuhwa.
An existence who had reached the "Absolute Boundary," a title held by only three in Black Ark.
For whatever reason, I had found favor in her eyes, and I had been permitted to use her soul.
And so Serin had fused that into the Dance of the Heaven-Filling Slaughtering Ghosts, which could bring about a massive transformation of the technique while Divine Blood was awakened.
She had placed her soul into the Dance of the Heaven-Filling Slaughtering Ghosts, but in truth, until she used it, Serin had been uncertain whether it would even apply in Another World.
Because she could not win no matter what else she did, it was a move thrown out half as a gamble.
And unbelievably, the technique manifested.
Setting aside rewards or results, what astonished Serin more than anything was that the technique had manifested.
Because through that, it became certain that Black Ark was not merely a past confined to memory.
No matter that I had been stripped of the power I held in that world, and that even my equipment had vanished.
None of it had been an illusion.
It was real.
As proof greater than anything else, Cheon Ryuhwa, whose soul I had been permitted to use—her soul had connected even in this world.
'Or perhaps this Another World is the special one.'
Amid tangled, complicated thoughts, she could not reach a clear conclusion.
But whatever it was, in the end, it was clear that I was far from ordinary.
"..."
Daji, watching Serin sink into deep thought, calmly waited for her to sort out her thoughts.
Because a dancer who had used Descent was bound to feel severe aftereffects even after regaining herself, Daji was being considerate so that Serin could settle down.
And Daji, if anything, was gazing at Serin with even greater favor than before at the fact that she could contain the soul of such a mighty existence.
For Descent, the body of the dancer serving as the vessel was important, but receiving the acknowledgment of the mighty existence who would dwell within one's body through Descent was more important than anything.
Otherwise, it would not be strange for one's body to be stolen by that existence at any time.
...
Afterward, once several minutes had passed and Serin seemed to have gradually stabilized, Daji slowly parted her lips.
"Rin, have you ever heard the term Moon Dancer?"
"No... this is the first time."
As Serin shook her head amid her complicated feelings, Daji smiled brightly and continued.
"I have a proposal I would like to make you."
At Daji's words, Serin set aside her thoughts and looked at her.
"...A proposal?"
The Cave of Trials had already been cleared.
'And yet she has a proposal?'
Belatedly, Serin wondered why the Cave of Trials and Daji had not disappeared until now.
And in that instant, she realized that Daji, speaking before her, was the core of that reason.
*
————
- Great Hero
(An existence granted "Individuality" for having saved countless beings in the past. In word and deed, she gains an inherent "Legitimacy.")
————
*
The granting of Individuality and Legitimacy.
That must be why the trial was cleared when Daji conceded defeat even without dying, and why even this space had not yet disappeared.
"I would like you to become a Moon Dancer."