The Heavenly Star Furnace
If I unleashed my full power without any limits, Leona wouldn't stand a chance against me.
If I killed her in a single blow, there would be no point in dissecting her Hosin Ganggi. That would simply be crushing her with brute force.
'I'll set the same limit as my real self.'
I sprang toward Leona!
"Ehehe, come here~!"
Let's see your bare skin! Show me what's underneath!
As always, it began with the sword. I conjured any blade that came to mind, gripped it, and swung.
Clang! It was blocked by Leona, who had drawn her own weapon in the blink of an eye.
"…Ugh."
Overpowered in the contest of strength, she let out a small groan and staggered back several steps.
This was different from before. Even with my limiter on, I could press her back.
I closed in on Leona as she gripped her sword tightly and retreated. Heavenly Thunder World-Opening Art.
Electric current surged through my entire body. At this point, she could no longer keep up with my speed.
"First, knock the sword away!"
My blade flashed like a streak of light and struck Leona's weapon. Unable to withstand the recoil, she lost her grip.
"Stripping her is best done with bare hands…!"
I carelessly tossed my own sword aside and pressed in even closer.
I thrust my palm forward as if executing a proper palm strike, driving it into her abdomen. The power of Pale Hand Demonic Art flowed through it.
"Kh…!"
Leona grimaced in pain and clutched her stomach.
The Hosin Ganggi prevented any serious damage. As expected, the Holy Church's inner-energy armor seemed to border on the realm of divine techniques. Otherwise, it could never have withstood the killing palm strike of an unrivaled beauty like me.
'Did her body just twitch a little?'
Still, the chilling yin energy of the Pale Hand Demonic Art had apparently pierced the barrier and invaded her body. Leona's movements had visibly slowed.
I had deliberately avoided using lethal internal techniques at first in order to study the Hosin Ganggi, yet the effect appeared anyway. It must have been one of the inherent abilities of the Pale Hand Demonic Art.
'Demonic arts are seriously overpowered.'
By then Leona was reaching toward me.
Come to think of it, I had never seen her fight with anything but a sword. I was curious what close-quarters combat from a former inquisitor would feel like.
With my heart racing, I stepped closer and prepared another palm strike.
"Holy Art Formula."
"Huh?"
"Sacred Territory Barrier."
A radiant wall of light sprang up between us.
My hand, unable to slow down in time, slammed straight into the barrier.
"Ow!"
The impact rebounded as if I had struck myself. My hand throbbed.
'Reflection force!'
It was clearly a shield that returned attacks with equal power. But of course it wasn't invincible. If it could block and reflect everything, the Holy Church would have driven out the Outer Gods long ago and ruled the world.
'So it has limits.'
A powerful strike using the Emperor Sword Form or Heavenly Thunder Emperor Heart Art would surely break through. But that wouldn't be any fun. Leona had just shown me a new technique.
'What if I combine the Pale Hand Demonic Art with the Southern Flower Spring Fist?'
The Pale Hand Demonic Art operated on a completely different principle from techniques like the Emperor Sword Form. It had no fixed forms. It was more like a passive skill, similar to Shaolin's Diamond Indestructible Body. There was no reason I couldn't use the Southern Flower Spring Fist with it.
"Let's see how long you can hold out."
"……."
Leona frowned but said nothing. Maybe it was because her synchronization rate was listed at 99.8 percent. Well, that wasn't important right now.
My body itched with the urge to smash that barrier to pieces.
Boom! I stamped down hard, anchoring my legs firmly to the ground. This way I wouldn't be pushed back by the reflection force.
All that remained was to keep hammering until it broke.
"Southern Flower Spring Fist."
Flying Swallow Barrage.
Thududududu—! Fists infused with the chilling energy of the Pale Hand Demonic Art rained down without pause, following the forms of the Southern Flower Spring Fist.
'It hurts.'
Pain surged through me as if both hands might shatter at any moment, but—
"Still, this is fun!"
An even greater pleasure washed over me.
There seemed to be a limit to how much force it could reflect. The more I hammered it, the weaker the rebound became.
'Now!'
Single Line Heavy Fist.
I drove in the simplest yet most powerful strike from the Southern Flower Spring Fist.
Kwoong—! Crash!
The radiant barrier finally shattered completely. My slowly extended hand came to rest on Leona's chest. She looked utterly shocked and could only flinch in place, unable to counter.
"Whoa."
My senses, refined to the pinnacle of mastery, instantly began reverse-engineering the structure of her Hosin Ganggi.
'This defensive power is truly top-tier.'
The flow of true energy was woven with incredible density. At this level… it wasn't exactly light, but its defensive capability could rival even Gungsim's Hosin Ganggi.
"Incredible…"
I was so absorbed in analyzing the barrier that I couldn't tear my eyes or hand away. Then the Pure Hand Demoness, who had been quietly watching from the side, spoke up.
"…How long do you plan to stay like that?"
"Hm?"
"No matter that you are both women… it is rather unseemly to keep your hand on that part while marveling at it."
"This lady finds it quite a pleasant sight, though?"
"I told you to stay quiet, you old demonic hag."
Hmm… she had a point.
I had somehow ended up with my hand on her chest. But since the Hosin Ganggi was there, it shouldn't matter, right? It was basically the same as touching armor. The surface was hard, so I couldn't even feel any soft, bouncy texture.
"Right?"
I looked at Leona with that thought in mind.
"Leona?"
"……."
I instinctively withdrew my hand with care.
'Why the sudden frightened-female-animal expression? It's unsettling…'
You. You were about 0.7 Rena levels of cute just now.
"See? Even that young lady is feeling embarrassed, is she not?"
"It's a misunderstanding. I'm not a pervert."
"Did you not say your race is succubus?"
"That's racial discrimination. Are you a racist too?"
"I would appreciate it if you spoke in a way I could understand."
I was busy dealing with the unusually cranky Pure Hand Demoness when the sound of light footsteps approached. The Pure Hand Demoness had drawn right up beside us.
"Pretty child. This lady has something she wishes to ask."
"What is it?"
"Not much time has passed since this lady guided you into the Pale Hand Demonic Art, yet your achievement is already quite remarkable. Did you experience some form of enlightenment?"
"No?"
I just breathed and somehow got stronger.
She blinked a few times, stood there in a daze for a moment, then burst into loud laughter, turned around, and walked off somewhere.
What was that about?
* * *
"Miss. You need to wake up."
"Mmm… just a little longer…"
"If you don't get up soon, I'm going to tickle you."
"Rena, up!"
Today was another powerful and strong morning!
I bolted upright and looked around. The only one fully awake was Bella.
Leona lay there with a sour expression, as if she'd had an unpleasant nightmare, staring at the ceiling.
'Why is she just lying there like that?'
Yong-bagi was curled up in the corner, crumpled into a ball and fast asleep.
Hmm. I could lie down a bit longer.
The moment I tried to lie back down, Bella narrowed her eyes in clear displeasure.
"Miss~?"
"If you can make me stand, go ahead and try."
"Honestly. If you were a man instead of a woman, getting it up would have been as easy as drinking cold porridge, you know?"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
In the end I gave in and let Bella pull me to my feet.
"You said we would arrive today?"
"…Yes. At our current pace, we should reach Cheonseongro by tonight."
Leona had already risen and finished preparing. Her answer was crisp.
Fast. Wasn't this only the third day? The bishop had said the round trip would take about two weeks.
"That estimate probably included the time needed to forge the weapon, Miss."
"I suppose so."
Anyway, the sooner we arrived the better. We wouldn't be late for the entrance ceremony.
I watched Leona grab Rian's head and shake him awake, then headed to the bathroom and splashed water on my face.
Before long everyone was fully awake. We gathered the luggage Bella had packed earlier and set off immediately.
While walking, I asked about something that had been bothering me.
"Leona. You seem to be in a bad mood today."
"…I had an unpleasant dream."
"Really? What kind of dream?"
I slowly turned my head until our eyes met. For a moment her pupils shook with confusion.
Then Leona abruptly looked away and answered in a stiff tone.
"There is no reason for me to tell you."
Still as rude as ever. I'll let it slide because you're pretty.
After that, we continued walking and only exchanged trivial conversation.
I bantered back and forth with Bella as usual, scolded Rian when he cluelessly interrupted to talk about the Mad Dragon again, and got ignored by Leona when I tried speaking to her.
We walked like that for a long time. The sky was beginning to darken when—
"We have arrived. This is Cheonseongro."
"This is Cheonseongro?"
There was nothing here.
No matter where I looked, nothing was visible. No forge, not even a single building. Just an empty clearing.
'There is what looks like a cave far off in the distance, though.'
I couldn't sense any particular presence. If anything, it felt like a trap designed to lure in people who discovered the cave, just like me.
"Where is the blacksmith?"
"I will open the gate."
"Gate?"
Leona knelt on one knee and placed her hand on the ground. She slowly poured holy power into it.
"Oh."
Her golden holy power was sucked downward as if drawn to something beneath the earth.
Then, at a certain point, the holy power suddenly surged back upward.
Tzuzuzut.
With a strange sound, a golden line was etched into the empty air.
"This is the entrance to Cheonseongro."
Opening the gate to Cheonseongro seemed to consume quite a bit of stamina. Leona was sweating coldly.
She gave Rian a slight glance. He nodded in understanding, stepped forward, and placed his hand on the golden line.
Then, with a heavy rumble, the line began to widen until it formed a doorway large enough for a person to pass through easily.
"To hide the entrance so thoroughly in such a remote place…"
Just what kind of location was Cheonseongro?
"Please follow me."
Rian and Leona entered first. There was no reason to hesitate, so I followed right after.
"…Whoa."
The sight that unfolded was a space that looked identical to the empty clearing we had just been standing in.
Except an aurora that stole one's breath filled the entire sky.
"…A house?"
A single house that hadn't been there before had appeared out of nowhere.