Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress's Trial
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"...?"
I peered into the painting. The sharpness lingering at the tip of the ink.
What was depicted was a woman who seemed like a single masterpiece. Her beauty had reached its absolute peak-a painting so captivating that no one could tear their eyes away.
---Tap.
A set of footsteps approached from the side. When I turned my head, a woman in a mask stood there.
"...Soul-Entrancing Enchantress?"
"It's my portrait. I had it painted by envisioning my future self from my childhood face. Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Let me go."
"Not yet. You're in the middle of a trial."
"The only thing I'm interested in is the road to Akmin."
"The road to Akmin lies beyond here. You'll have to pass through this path anyway."
There was no arguing with stubbornness like this.
In the end, I followed her. The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress Black Orchid chattered away beside me.
"Do you know how I got the name Soul-Entrancing Enchantress?"
"No idea."
"Just as that warrior told you earlier, I've been searching for my future husband. The man who can reach me beyond the Demon Illusion Formation. In all these years, only a handful have made it through that array."
"..."
"Even the most noble man loses his mind when his ideal type tempts him right before his eyes. He tells himself 'just a little,' then surrenders to the flow. After that, it's like a beast. You know how it is, right? It gets worse when lust kicks in. Drunk on the scent, unable to tell front from back."
"When does this path end?"
"Don't be so impatient. We haven't even started yet."
The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress moved the fan she held. In an instant, the scenery shifted.
A grand mansion. In front of it stood a single girl holding a fan.
The atmosphere wasn't dark at all. Music from instruments reached my ears as if a feast were underway, and I could see people laughing brightly all around.
The ones laughing the loudest were the two people in front of the girl. Their applause, following the movements of her fluffy little hand waving the fan, was thunderous.
"What is this?"
"Me. Pretty, right?"
I peered at the girl's face. A youthful visage. Yet even so, she was a flower bud brimming with promise.
She was right. This child, not yet fully grown, was proclaiming with her entire being that she would bloom into true beauty. But that wasn't what had captured my attention.
The fan's movements. They were anything but ordinary. At a glance, it looked like a dance, but they contained the principles of martial arts.
...What mattered wasn't her appearance, but those movements.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was born with talent.
"Impressive."
"Really?"
"Yes. Those movements are no joke. You've had exceptional martial talent since childhood, haven't you?"
"...That wasn't what I wanted you to notice. But you're right. I was a prodigy. A genius born not even into a renowned noble house, but somewhere middling-not poor, but not wealthy either."
The fan fluttered.
The scenery changed.
Petals in full bloom. A child sat atop them. Unlike before, her subdued eyes took in the view stretching out below the cliff.
"There were more moments when I needed to steel myself than joyful ones. Born the eldest daughter of such a family, with both martial talent and stunning looks, I naturally monopolized their attention. I was their pride, their future. A treasure fallen into a house with nothing to boast about."
"........."
"Whenever it got tough, I'd sit like that and gaze down at the village. I did ponder the weight I'd carried since birth... but how deep can the worries of a ten-year-old really go? I just wanted to rest-that was about it."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"We're still far from the end of the path, warrior. Hear me out a bit longer."
The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress tapped the tip of her fan against her palm.
The scenery shifted once more. The formation's myriad changes unfolded before my eyes, revealing a youthful woman.
World's Greatest Beauty. She truly deserved the title. Her slender eyes and long lashes, with that natural allure beneath, effortlessly stole one's gaze.
A bewitching grace flowing even before full bloom.
She danced again in that same place from before. The fan's tip blossomed gracefully, the energy naturally infused at its end swirling around her body like a dance.
Even just watching the illusion, her profound inner energy seemed to reach me here. Amid the fluctuating qi, her core shone resilient. The arrogance in the fan's tip was utterly natural.
And she had every right to that arrogance. As a swordsman, I could sense it instinctively.
"...A genius."
"I told you. A prodigy. Talent too great for my family to contain. That was me."
"Not anymore?"
"Not to that extent."
---Tap.
With a crisp sound, the illusions around us vanished. What reappeared before my eyes was a deep, dark corridor.
Black Orchid, walking ahead, spun around gracefully. Her fluttering robes danced with the motion.
"Suitors never stopped coming, and the line of men who wanted just to touch my fingertips stretched beyond the village."
"........."
"Some envied me, others were jealous. I felt entitled to it all, thought all that attention was only natural."
"........."
"I was like a child born to be loved. A beauty who naturally drew gasps of admiration. The World's Greatest Beauty. My figure was flawless too-a seductress who could captivate any man."
Black Orchid glanced up at me sideways.
"Curious about what's behind this veil?"
"Not at all."
"But deep down, you are, aren't you? Even that beauty from before was before it fully bloomed. I'm even more stunning now. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say so. So..."
The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress raised her fan. She tapped its tip with her fingers.
The endless corridor compressed in an instant. The space around us twisted wildly, and a vast chamber unfurled before me.
The scent of roses brushed my nose. In the center stood a bathhouse with warm steam rising.
Black Orchid spun around and shed her outer robe. Amid the rustle of silk, she slowly stepped inside.
"Come in. Join me. If you want to hold me."
Her thin undergarments were sheer enough to reveal everything. And that sickly sweet fragrance.
My spirit sword White Night let out a low hum. But I'd already sensed something off before its warning.
This interior. This space within.
The faint steam rising wasn't ordinary at all.
It carried a dangerously toxic scent. As if mixing with it meant death.
"I'm right here, warrior."
She whispered. For a moment, her voice splintered into dozens, echoing around me.
This wasn't just the power of the formation. It was laced with drugs-aphrodisiacs that shook the mind, mingled with strange odors.
"Let's have that overdue talk. In here."
I let out a sigh.
"Is there no option to stay out?"
"No. This is the final trial."
"......"
I shed my outer robe. My spirit sword White Night growled lowly.
I had no idea why it hated this so much, but I was still in full control of my senses. I soothed it before stepping into the water.
The Soul-Entrancing Enchantress marveled.
"What a beautiful body."
"........."
The moment I submerged myself, my head throbbed sharply. A natural warning. But I'd deliberately fallen for her ploy for a reason.
Heavenly Tribulation was howling. Unlike before, this faint, joyous cry was proclaiming its confidence at full volume.
The same attitude as when it devoured the qi-dispersing poison Jin Wi-ryang had fed it-eyeing what lay before it, hungry to consume.
I didn't know exactly what she was after. But I instinctively realized that overcoming this would grant Heavenly Tribulation immense power to bestow upon me.
I looked down at the water I had to immerse myself in. Clearly thicker and more viscous than ordinary liquid, some unknown fluid.
I didn't know its exact nature, but it screamed danger.
Even without fully grasping her scheme, Heavenly Tribulation wailed desperately. At its frantic plea for a chance, I sighed.
In the end, I acquiesced. I'd abused Heavenly Tribulation through White Night all this time, and it had healed my broken body countless times.
It was only right to indulge it once.
Heat began rising from my slowly submerged body. Not a natural warmth, but something artificial.
The masked Soul-Entrancing Enchantress approached me slowly. She placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered lowly.
Sweetness wafted over. An intensely cloying scent.
"Warrior."
I could see the strap of her half-undone undergarment slipping down.
"Deeper."
A soft hand pressed on my shoulder. I sank slowly, fully submerging into the water.
The rippling surface. My eyes met a sunken rose petal.
The water level felt wrong. It should have been waist-deep...
But I kept sinking endlessly.
Like plummeting into an abyss.
...
---Tap.
A sound rang out. I found myself dropped somewhere, facing myself? No.
"........."
Nothing was visible around me. My memories were clear; I even distinctly recalled the last scene I'd seen.
I'd expected the Soul-Entrancing Enchantress to show me something, but there was nothing. Just endless blackness.
I walked anyway. But nothing appeared, no matter how far I went.
"...Is this the trial?"
"No."
A voice answered. I turned back toward where I'd come from.
A small child stood there. Silver hair. A somewhat dazed gaze.
A cute little girl looked up at me.
"Wrong."
"...Who...?"
"I blocked it."
The child wiggled her hand. A gesture beckoning me to crouch. I complied.
The girl placed her hand on my face. Her touch was chillingly cold.
"...This feeling."
"........."
Could it be? I asked.
"White Night?"
"Yes."
She withdrew her hand from my face, speaking flatly.
"Give me your body."
"...Can't do that."
"Then stop falling for weird stuff like that. You knew it was bad for you, yet you went ahead anyway?"
"True."
"Why?"
Before answering, I scooped her up. Her body lifted effortlessly without a struggle, stretching out like a held kitten.
...She's adorable. Is this really that ill-tempered one...
"Put me down."
---Crack.
My arms froze. I was certain now-this was White Night.
I set her down and gave a simple explanation.
"Heavenly Tribulation wanted it."
"You listen to that sword-beast but ignore me?"
"I figured I could handle it."
"That thing only cares about its own hunger. Even if you suffered enough to die, it wouldn't bat an eye. This time proves it."
"This time?"
Her expressionless brows twitched.
"It squeezed you dry. Hard."
"......?"
"That wasn't meant to be passed. What I forcibly blocked leads to a trial no man could survive. A nightmare that drains every drop of innate essence."
"But Heavenly Tribulation clearly..."
"It would've absorbed it into power, sure. Gorged itself. But before that, it'd have wrung you to near-death. You wouldn't die, of course. But the losses would outweigh the gains."
I'd nearly had a disaster on my hands.
I let out a sigh.
"You helped me?"
"...No?"
"Then?"
"It annoyed me. Why fall for that on purpose? I intervened because I couldn't understand you charging in knowingly."
White Night wiggled her hand.
"If you want to go, I can send you now."
"I'll pass."
I met White Night's gaze. Her tone was rough, but beneath that blank expression lay a gentleness.
For all her tsundere antics, we'd grown closer after all. Still, her appearance was a bit unexpected.
I knew the sword spirit bound to a spirit sword was newly formed and thus young...
But this was a real little girl.
...No. Sword spirits transcend human logic, so I shouldn't judge by my standards.
I glanced around. It seemed we'd be stuck here for a while.
I couldn't feel it directly, but I could hear Heavenly Tribulation devouring away. Instinctively, I knew what to do during this stretched time.
I sat before White Night. Our eyes met, and she blinked.
"...Why?"
"Just."
I reached out and gripped her tiny hand firmly.
"Thought we could chat."
I'd instantly grasped the intent behind her usual words. Like our minds were linked, her babbling echoed in my thoughts.
But we'd never had a chance to open up like this. My distant goal had me relentlessly driving myself, leaving no room for personal talk with her.
Now was the perfect time to learn about each other.
"What do you like?"
"........."
White Night stared down at me as I sat.