Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: I'll Show You
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"S-Sir?"
"If you're okay, could you hurry out of there? I can't hold on much longer..."
Dang Ayoung looked at me with a smiling expression.
-Tremble tremble
Even though I could clearly see her hand shaking as it gripped the bloodsucker's wrist, she was forcing that smile to keep from worrying me.
"I-I want to move, too...!"
But my body, which had been gripped by the terror of death just moments ago, refused to listen.
The moment I thought we were all done for if we stayed put like this—
-Thwack!
"Hold on tight!"
The long-armed man returned and scooped me up.
We sped away from Dang Ayoung and the bloodsucker.
I worried for her, but the harsh reality stabbed through me like a dagger: even if I stayed, I couldn't help at all.
"Huff... huff... This should be safe enough."
"..."
The man set me down gently.
"Why are you frozen like that? You hurt anywhere?"
"Is... sir safe?"
"Ha, who're you worrying about right now? You think you're in any position to fret over her?"
A civilian caught in a superhuman brawl.
That was my situation.
One blind swing of the blade, and my life was over.
'Damn it...'
Why was I stuck with a body like this?
What sin had I committed to wake up in this dangerous world without a shred of power?
I had nothing but my looks, and even those I had to hide just to stay safe.
Because I lacked the strength to protect myself.
'I tried, you know...'
I'd tried learning martial arts with my shattered dantian and nearly died for it.
I'd scoured every means, even the shop, to restore it, but found nothing.
I'd tried training my body even without internal arts, but not a single muscle would build.
So in the end, I learned divination.
To know if someone was dangerous, to spot perilous places and avoid them.
In the end, my choice was flight and evasion.
And just now, feeling the terror of death with every fiber of my being, I'd realized it.
This world was far more dangerous than I'd imagined.
"Coming back to your senses now?"
I barely poked my head out from the fear clouding my mind and faced reality.
In the fight between Dang Ayoung and the bloodsucker, I'd honestly thought her odds of winning were low.
The bloodsucker had regenerated all its wounds after feeding, and we'd lost the people drawing its attention.
But reality defied my expectations.
"...She's holding her own pretty well?"
"There's a common misconception. People think you can win against a Tang Clan warrior just by closing in."
It was basic common sense.
A poison and hidden weapon specialist who reveals themselves and allows approach naturally weakens dramatically.
"If that were true, the Tang Clan wouldn't be one of the Five Great Families for nothing."
But Dang Ayoung wasn't some run-of-the-mill assassin.
-Crack!
Dang Ayoung's palm struck the bloodsucker's solar plexus.
As the bloodsucker swung its claws, a hidden weapon shot from somewhere and sliced off its fingers.
Sometimes flashy to deceive the eye, sometimes brutally precise to hit vitals.
She couldn't leverage the advantage of vanishing completely like before, but she wasn't being pushed back against the bloodsucker.
"And who is that girl? Poison Phoenix, right? She took second place in the last Junior Summit Tournament."
"...Didn't know she placed that high."
"For a fortune teller, you sure don't know much."
Runner-up in the tournament, huh...
Wait.
"Don't they restrict poisons and hidden weapons in sparring matches?"
"Of course. It's not about killing your opponent."
So she placed second without using poisons or hidden weapons?
"She's incredible..."
I'd thought of her as just a rich, strong girl.
Turns out she was even more amazing.
As time passed, wounds multiplied on the bloodsucker's body.
Dang Ayoung looked exhausted too.
She was dodging everything now, but her defense wouldn't hold up to those nails slicing tofu like butter, so it wasn't time to call the fight hers yet.
One hit would be fatal.
'Heavenly spirits, if you're listening, could you help her out just once?'
I prayed to the unresponsive sky, as always.
Her loss meant our end too, so yeah, my life hung on her—but I genuinely wanted her to live.
She'd helped me more than anyone since entering the secular world.
We'd built up some bond.
She wasn't a saint, but she was good to me.
I'd joined this subjugation squad because of her, but I'd accepted fair pay and chosen to come, so I couldn't blame her.
All I could do now was pray.
On this blood-soaked, iron-hard ground, I was just a frail fortune teller.
Even my one skill, divination, I couldn't muster the nerve for now.
What if I peeked at the heavens' records and saw her death written there?
With things like this, even the shop items were useless.
Even if I had them,
I had no confidence to jump into that fight.
"Graaaargh!!!"
The bloodsucker swung its claws at Dang Ayoung.
I prayed she'd dodge again, but she seemed at her limit.
-Rip!
The sharp claws tore her clothes and left a long gash on her arm.
My heart sank.
But what she did next made me doubt my eyes even more.
-Crunch!
She shoved her wounded arm straight into the bloodsucker's mouth.
It wasn't just to attack the interior— the wound itself went right in.
'What is she planning...!'
From what I'd seen, the bloodsucker regenerated by drinking blood.
So feeding it willingly like this—what good could that do?
I wanted to believe she had a plan, but grim thoughts crept in anyway.
-Spurt!
Blood gushed from the wound into the bloodsucker's mouth.
I braced for another grotesque regeneration scene,
but
"Grahhhk! Kek!!"
"...Huh?"
Far from regenerating, the bloodsucker clutched its throat and dropped to its knees.
Like someone force-fed something inedible.
-Crunch!
"Kyaaagh!!"
Dang Ayoung's foot smashed into the bloodsucker's face.
Something snapped.
-Crunch!
Again.
-Crunch!!
Once more.
-Thud! Crack! Crunch crunch!
She kept stomping the bloodsucker relentlessly.
Her rage didn't seem sated; I could feel it from here.
"...That's a bit much. Guess I should go stop her."
"Too much...?"
"We need to take it alive for a bigger bounty."
"...Ah."
That kind of too much.
I followed the man toward her, just in case the bloodsucker got up.
-Whoosh!
She sensed us and turned,
but
-Chill
Her terrifyingly cold expression froze me solid...
-Bright smile
"Ah, you're safe!"
Her face lit up in an instant.
"Uh...?"
"No injuries? Sorry I was cold earlier. It was really urgent then, no choice."
"No... just now..."
"Just now? Oh, why the bloodsucker's like that? In the Tang Clan, they feed us poison from childhood..."
Seeing her back to her usual bright smile, so casual, I figured I'd imagined it.
Dang Ayoung would never make a face like that.
Probably just muscle fatigue from the grueling fight.
"...Is sir okay?"
"I want to say yes, but... I can barely stand now..."
I rushed to support her as she staggered.
-Plop
Thankfully, I caught her before she fell.
'But... what now if she collapses like this?'
Who handles cleanup?
Don't we need to drag that bloodsucker back?
"Uh..."
"I'll handle the rest. Take her to the carriage. She looks beat."
"...You sure you can manage alone?"
The man pulled an incredibly thick rope from his pouch.
"Murim Alliance supplied it. Says even peak experts can't break it once bound."
'What kind of rope's thicker than my arm?'
Supporting Dang Ayoung, who leaned heavily on me, I headed to the carriage.
"Um..."
"What's up, sir?"
"I really gave it my all... Could you call me by name, just for a bit?"
I didn't know why, but it wasn't a tough request.
"Ayoung?"
"Ahh..."
She let out an odd sound.
Like a vengeful ghost finally ascending.
And to think such a simple ask satisfied her—she was more modest than I thought...
"And one more favor...?"
Spoke too soon.
"What?"
I sighed inwardly.
I'd half-expected this anyway.
"Show me your face...?"
Yup, right on cue.
Not surprised. She always begged whenever she got the chance—what else would she ask for?
"Sorry, but my face is off-limits..."
As I started my usual refusal, her image flashed: battling the bloodsucker alone, saving me when it had me dead to rights.
A lifesaver, really.
"..."
"I did all this... and you still won't? What do I have to do...?"
"I'll show you. Later."
"..."
Dang Ayoung's breath hitched.
"R-Really?"
"Not right now. Later. For real, way later."
"S-So someday, you'll show me?"
"Yeah, yeah."
I hadn't forgotten Master's words,
but somehow,
I felt I could trust this girl.
That's what I thought.