Punishment
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Kim Na-yeon gritted her teeth and swallowed a groan as she weathered the terrifying mana impacts hammering her shield.
Surprisingly, the first strike had been manageable.
Last time a single gesture had shattered everything—had her growth into a B-rank hunter made the difference?
"Oh? Even with only a single star's worth of force behind it, mere sword energy cannot break it? A fine protective ability. From which school does that martial art hail?"
"Yeon… stop it! Let's just quit and go home, okay?"
"Come, try blocking this as well."
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Wiji Yeon's smile deepened, and a fiercer storm of mana blades began to pound Na-yeon's shield.
Thud-thud-thud!
"Grrk…!"
The quality of the shocks had changed. Now the shield flickered as though it might wink out at any second.
Believing she could hold even for a moment had been pure delusion. The Yeon before her was merely playing. She was testing the limits of Na-yeon's defense, steadily ramping up the power as if measuring exactly how much the barrier could endure.
Do-yoon's situation looked little better. Though fewer blades swarmed him than the ones battering Na-yeon's defensive stance, plenty still floated around him.
Crack! Crackle!
Blue hair whipping, Do-yoon swept his sword in arcs, batting aside the blades that lunged from blind spots with bursts of electricity. Barely—but with everything he had—he was holding on.
Na-yeon peered past her shield.
"Heh-heh."
Wiji Yeon simply swirled the beer can with a lazy clink, not even sparing them a glance.
Cold sweat slid down Na-yeon's spine. This was the state she was reduced to just handling a handful of floating blades—and those blades were laughably weak compared to the thousands that had annihilated an Ancient Species. Yet Yeon treated the assaults of an A-rank and a B-rank hunter as less than nothing. Would facing an S-rank feel any more hopeless than this?
"Hup!"
Clang-clang! Whoosh!
Do-yoon's form, dancing among three or four blades that curved in to claim him, suddenly accelerated and drove straight to Yeon's feet.
"You little—! Whoa!?"
Thud! Skrrrrt—
While Na-yeon held the line, Do-yoon closed to point-blank range—only for an invisible repulsive force to hurl him far back.
"Wh-what!? A barrier?"
"Did a mere peak expert truly believe he could pierce This Seat's protective qi?"
"Y-you… this brat—whoa!?"
A mana blade shot in at once and sealed Do-yoon's mouth.
Clang-clang!
The attacks quickened; even Do-yoon was starting to look strained.
Na-yeon bit her lip. In a sense this was only a game. The current Wiji Yeon had not even unfurled the overwhelming aura that had trampled an Ancient Species. The details of her condition were unknown, but one thing was clear: the rampage had been triggered by alcohol.
Yet Kim Na-yeon still did not truly understand Wiji Yeon. The rampaging personality. The dangerous aura that usually flickered only for moments now burned constantly. Had she been a tiger all along? Had believing they could handle her been arrogance? Could someone who could not even rein in a little prank truly guide this perilous girl onto the right path?
Na-yeon shook her head hard.
No. Yeon is family now. And I am her guardian. I have a duty to protect her. No matter how far gone she is for a moment, there is no way she would fail to recognize me in the end.
"Wiji Yeon…!"
Taptaptap!
Holding only the shield in front of her, Na-yeon abandoned every other defensive measure and charged in a straight line into the whirling blade storm, eyes locked solely on Yeon.
It's only because it's far and dark that she can't see me. If we meet eyes up close, she'll know. After that I'll educate that body properly—so that from now on, no matter how lost she becomes, she will at least recognize Na-yeon.
Clang-clang-clang! Crackle-crackle!
Blades slammed into the shield; tremendous repulsion slammed back. Crack! The force Yeon called protective qi obliterated the shield in an instant.
The armor remained.
Hum—
Na-yeon poured strength into it at once. Through the Heavenly Demon Divine Art Yeon herself had taught her, she explosively drew up internal energy.
Crack!
Even the armor shattered—yet by fusing with a dense mana barrier and forcing her way through, she succeeded in closing the final distance. Yeon's wide, sparkling eyes, bright with surprise, filled her vision.
"…Hm? Similar energy? Heavenly Demon Divine Art? What are you? While This Seat was away from the Divine Cult, has a new challenger succeeded in the Heavenly Demon Hall's trial?"
The girl's arm rose, ready to fling Na-yeon away.
"But the power is still feeble. For This Seat's successor—who will inherit the Heavenly Demon's true teachings—to be only this much… I shall thrash you thoroughly and educate you properly."
"And even if you're drunk—"
"…Euk!? Why?"
The moment their eyes met at breath-close range, Yeon's body locked. Fury blazing in her own eyes, Na-yeon hurled herself forward.
"You can't even recognize your unnie!"
Grab!
Clang—roll, roll…
The beer can still clutched in Yeon's hand hit the rooftop and rolled, the sound echoing across the night.
"U-ugh…! Unhand This Seat! Why won't my internal energy answer!?"
"Wiji Yeon!"
Na-yeon crushed the squirming little body against her and lifted her head to stare straight into the girl's face.
"Ugh."
At a distance where breath mingled, the dangerous light in those eyes slowly drained away, returning to pure innocence.
And then—
Grin.
"Oh, it's Na-yeon unnieee."
"Th-this is… Hah… haha."
The tension left Na-yeon's eyes too; she could only snort a helpless laugh.
"Na-yeon unniee."
"H-huh!? Whoa—!"
This time it was Na-yeon's turn to flail. Yeon wriggled deeper into her arms and began rubbing her cheek against her with single-minded enthusiasm.
"This Seat likes Na-yeon unnie so, so much."
"H-huh? Hehe. W-well, unnie likes you too, but… so suddenly?"
Na-yeon grinned even as fluster colored her face. This was the first full-scale aegyo assault she had ever received since taking Yeon in. Was it the alcohol? If she only ever drank in moderation… maybe it wouldn't be so bad?
A man's shadow fell across the woman and girl sprawled and wriggling on the floor.
"…What exactly are you two doing?"
"E-educating Yeon…?"
"Left Protector~ I like you~"
"Eek!"
"…Haa."
Do-yoon shook his head. The darkened city remained quiet. Thankfully the chaos had not escalated. Had the standoff dragged on even a little longer things might have been different, but Na-yeon's reckless charge straight into the blade storm had paid off.
"I was certain Yeon wouldn't actually hurt us."
"For a second my vision went black wondering how this would end. …But like this, will it really be all right going forward?"
"It'll be fine. It was just a little prank, right?"
"A prank…? If Yeon pulls one more prank, this older brother's body won't survive."
"We just need to educate her properly."
Nestled in Na-yeon's arms, Yeon kept her eyes half-lidded, a bright smile on her face, small body completely surrendered, both arms looped around Na-yeon's neck. A giggle floated up.
"Heehee, I like Na-yeon unnieee."
"What about me?"
"Hmm…? Right Protector, stop playing and go make money."
"Kgh."
Do-yoon snorted and carefully extended a hand, wary of teeth. Stroke, stroke. Yeon pouted a little but did not refuse the petting. A broad grin spread across Do-yoon's face.
"Oh—first time I didn't get bitten. …This state of hers might actually be okay?"
"She's a total bundle of aegyo."
"Hmm…"
Kim Do-yoon finally voiced the thought he had been turning over the entire way here.
"I think I've got a rough idea of Yeon's current condition."
"What is it?"
"From everything we've seen, something definitely exists inside her. Something dangerous? Absolute? Something closer to an existence—or a vast body of knowledge."
"Yeah…"
"That enormous consciousness is colliding with a child's body. The ego is like a knowledge program of insane depth, but the operating system running it is a little kid's body. They're not compatible, so it crashes and ramps."
"Then what should we do?"
"Hmm… We probably need to settle one side for good. Or at least make her accept that immature body—that child's OS."
"…Is that so."
"Hm?"
A dangerous edge crept into Na-yeon's voice. Do-yoon broke out in cold sweat at the look on her face. Flames of pure fury burned in those eyes.
"I'll personally engrave into this body of yours—with my own hands—that you're still a child."
"Mmm…"
Whether she sensed Na-yeon's resolve or not, Yeon simply kept nuzzling her face into Na-yeon's arms, eyes still half-closed.
Swoosh.
"Hm?"
Early morning. Even after washing my face and being scooped up by the Left Protector, I sensed no threat at all. Laid face-down across Na-yeon's lap, I turned my head and stared at her blankly.
"Left Protector? Why are you suddenly lifting This Seat's body?"
"Stay still."
"…?"
Smack!
Fire bloomed across my backside.
"Kyaak!"
Sheer fluster.
"N-Na-yeon unnie! Why!?"
"You—do you not remember a single thing from last night?"
"I-I don't know! What did This Seat dooo—! Kyaak!"
Smack!
"G-gh. What is the meaning of this…! H-hurry, protective qi—"
Even in my panic I tried to raise protective qi, yet internal energy refused to connect. Clearly the Left Protector's arms possessed a property that scattered internal force. To render even a Natural Realm expert completely unable to defend… what terrifying sacred treasure was this!?
Smack!
"Kgh…!"
Sharp pain and mortification brought tears welling up unbidden. Yet I could not resist. Instinct hammered home the crushing certainty that I had done something very, very wrong.
"Alcohol is for after you become an adult!"
"I'm sorry! This Seat was wrong, so please stop— Kyaak!"
Smack!
"Is that how a person apologizing behaves?"
"I'm soorryyy…!"
Smack!