The Magical Girl (2)
The sudden turn of events left me momentarily stunned. I had definitely been hit with some strange sorcery from Sim Jin-myeong. Naturally, I had even deployed my Body Protecting Qi to guard against it. Yet instead of what I expected, I had turned into a woman. Judging by how even my clothes had changed, this wasn’t simply my original body being altered into a female one. It seemed I had been transformed into an entirely different person altogether.
‘Now that I think about it, where even am I?’
I quickly scanned my surroundings. Towering buildings that reminded me of massive mountains stood all around me in neat rows. Not only that, bizarre-looking carriages of some kind were passing by. ‘Everything here is completely unfamiliar.’
As I racked my brain to assess the situation, someone suddenly shrieked at me.
“Chae-rin, what the heck are you doing?!”
“?”
A small white weasel-like creature was floating in the air, chattering away. Seeing a weasel fly through the sky, it was obviously some kind of spirit beast. I pointed at myself in response to its words.
“Are you talking to me?”
“What are you suddenly saying?!”
The spirit beast kept adding strange sounds at the end of its sentences and making a fuss. I ignored it and fell into thought. ‘Putting that spirit beast aside, something feels off.’
The language it was using was clearly different from the one spoken in my original world. Just looking at the shape of its mouth, the pronunciation itself was completely different. So why could I understand it so clearly?
“What are you doing?!”
“Shut up!”
-Grab!
I snatched the chattering creature by the head. It flailed its limbs in clear panic.
“Why are you suddenly doing this?!”
“You’ve been yapping next to me this whole time. Who the hell are you? How is a weasel talking?”
“What are you even saying?!”
“Hmm. Maybe if I dissect you, I’ll figure something out.”
When I seriously considered it, the creature shrieked in terror.
“N-now’s not the time for that! Look over there!”
At its words, I shifted my gaze. A massive spirit beast made of black wolves was charging straight toward us. I held up the spirit beast in my hand like a shield.
The next instant, its eyes widened in shock.
“W-wait a second!”
“Hmm. The fact that it’s not doing anything even in such a dangerous situation means I probably won’t get stabbed in the back.”
The creature stared at me with an incredulous look. I ignored its gaze and tossed it aside like garbage. Then I turned to face the charging wolf.
‘For now, this girl’s internal energy is quite impressive.’
Honestly, I had expected her to have none at all. After all, this was another world, and she looked quite young. Yet contrary to my expectations, her internal energy was at the level of a Johwa Realm beginner. Even if it was weaker than what I once possessed, I couldn’t deny that she had a considerable amount stored within her.
‘On top of that, her external arts are also outstanding.’
At this level, she could easily handle most opponents. After quickly assessing my new body’s condition, I poured my internal energy into the staff in my hand. In the next moment, sharp black energy took form.
‘So the demonic energy remains the same.’
With that thought, I swung the staff at the charging wolf. A razor-sharp slash hurtled toward it. At the same time—
-Vvvvvvvvrrrrr!!
The black slash slowly absorbed the natural energy around it. The farther it traveled, the larger it grew.
-Kwaaaaaaaaang!
-Kyaaaaaaaak!!
The wolf that had been charging took the slash head-on. It thrashed violently, blood dripping everywhere from the intense pain. Its rampage smashed apart the iron carriages around us. If this continued, it would cause trouble for everyone nearby. Though most people had already fled far away.
“So noisy.”
I dashed straight at the creature. Maintaining the Sword Aura Blade, I thrust the staff forward in a straight line.
Heavenly Demon Sword Art - 1st Form.
In the next instant, internal energy scattered in all directions from the staff. It instantly transformed into countless razor-sharp blades.
-Shashashashashak!!
They mercilessly shredded the wolf before my eyes. Crimson blood sprayed from its body.
-Kyaaaaaaaaak!!
The beast lifted its foreleg and swiped its claws at me.
-Whooooooosh!
The massive claws tore through the air as they approached. They pierced straight through my body.
“L-Lee Chae-rin?!”
The spirit beast that had only been watching let out a startled cry. But at that moment—
“Huh?”
My figure that had been there until just now slowly faded away. I had already moved behind it. Tapping the staff lightly, I said,
“Sorry, but that was an afterimage.”
-?!
The wolf whipped its head around in shock. It tried to swing its claws again, but it was already too late.
“Looks like I’ve seen everything I needed to see.”
With my Body Protecting Qi active, I placed my hand on its body and slowly injected my internal energy.
Heavenly Demon Fist Art - 1st Form.
Normally this would be extremely dangerous. If I wasn’t careful, I could end up injuring myself. However, my internal energy was a little special. Unlike ordinary qi, mine had a violent nature. As long as I didn’t control it, simply pouring it in could inflict severe internal damage on the opponent. And that applied even to spirit beasts.
-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!
The inside of its body began to twist violently. The pain must have been so terrible that being cut by a blade would have been preferable. It struggled desperately to escape my grasp. But—
-Kieeeeeeeeeek?!
Unfortunately for it, it was already too late to run. That’s why I had been holding onto its fur. A moment later—
-Thud!
The wolf collapsed powerlessly. I quietly looked down at it. Since it wasn’t breathing, it seemed my last attack had definitely killed it. I shook the blood off my staff and clicked my tongue.
“What a mess the moment I arrive.”
Anyway, that was that. There was something I needed to confirm from this thing. I channeled energy into my hand and thrust it into the wolf’s corpse.
‘Let’s see… I definitely felt it.’
I rummaged through its body as if searching a pocket. Soon, I felt something hard in my grasp. I grabbed it firmly and pulled it out. A black gem appeared before my eyes.
‘As expected, I can sense an unusual energy from inside it.’
As I examined the object with admiration, the spirit beast that had been watching finally rushed over in a panic. It started bothering me again from the side.
“You have to purify that now!”
“Purify?”
“Yes! Use the power of mana in that staff to purify it!”
I tilted my head at its words. I could feel a considerable amount of energy inside. Purifying it seemed like an incredibly wasteful thing to do.
“What nonsense.”
“?!”
I ignored the creature and poured my internal energy into the object in my hand. My qi wrapped around it and began absorbing the energy within.
-Vrrrr.
Normally I would need to perform Qi Meditation, but my internal energy was special. I could store it directly in my dantian without needing to circulate it.
‘Of course, I’ll still need to refine it completely through Qi Meditation later.’
Not long after, I successfully absorbed it all. At this rate, I would soon return to my original realm.
‘No, I might even reach the Saengsa Realm that I couldn’t attain before.’
With that thought, I crushed the black gem in my hand. The spirit beast’s eyes widened in horror.
“What are you doing?!”
“What does it look like? I crushed it.”
“Y-you were supposed to purify it!”
“Why would I?”
“B-because that’s how the monster’s soul becomes clean!”
“Hmm.”
I stared quietly at the creature. As I continued watching, its eyes began spinning wildly. This spirit beast was definitely suspicious. I grabbed it by the neck.
“K-khhk!”
“You seem to be hiding something, don’t you?”
“W-what are you talking about! Friends don’t hide things from each other!”
“The ones who always bring up ‘friends’ are usually the most suspicious. Should I just kill you?”
In that instant, the creature’s trembling eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck. Then it blurted out something unexpected.
“I-if you kill me, you’ll die too!”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s because you and I formed a contract… huh?”
The creature suddenly made a stupid face. From its reaction, it seemed some variable had appeared.
‘So it had formed a contract with the original owner of this body.’
In that case, it had nothing to do with me. I still didn’t know exactly why I had ended up in this girl’s body, but since our souls were completely different, the contract didn’t concern me. I gave the flustered spirit beast a sly smile.
“Looks like there’s a problem related to that contract.”
“N-no, that’s not it!”
“A strong denial is basically a confirmation. Shall we form a new contract then?”
Of course, it would be one where I held all the power.