Honcheon Noeje (2)
Honcheon Noeje doubted his ears. What the hell had this madwoman just said?
"Ha! If you're saying you'll become my disciple if I just spare your life..."
"Bring it."
"...What?"
"Your martial arts."
"What the—!" But Honcheon Noeje couldn't finish his sentence. He had to swing his sword in a frenzy instead.
To shove away the lunatic closing in on him in an instant.
Lena, half-lost in a trance-like state, didn't even realize it herself—but right now, she was drawing out even the magi that had lain dormant inside her.
'Much faster than before... But more than that, this woman's gone insane.'
It wasn't just her movements that had changed. Her eyes were different now too.
Until moments ago, they'd burned with desperate calculation, searching for a way out. But now...
'A predator's gaze? No, not quite.'
Yeah. Those eyes now gleamed with the feverish hunger of a maniac, yearning to dissect something utterly fascinating.
Honcheon Noeje slashed endlessly at the opponent pressing forward without pause. Each swing birthed crackling bursts of lightning—zap! zap!—that tore gashes across her skin.
"More."
Blood streamed from her wounds, yet she advanced with a radiant smile. Her beauty was unearthly enough to make anyone believe she wasn't of this world. Even Honcheon Noeje froze for a split second at that breathtaking grin.
"Show me more."
He flinched. A sudden chill raced down his spine.
'I'm clearly in control here.'
So what was this bizarre sensation? It felt like this woman was peeling away pieces of his very being, devouring them bit by bit.
'I can't show her any more of my power.'
It was pure instinct, honed over centuries of experience. The razor-sharp senses of a master.
Gritting his teeth, Honcheon Noeje prepared his most devastating strike.
"Fine... if you want to see it so badly, I'll show you."
He hoisted his greatsword overhead—a stance that abandoned all defense for raw, overwhelming power. It left his body completely exposed, utterly impractical mid-battle, but it didn't matter.
'One strike will end this anyway.'
He could afford a little damage.
Vast lightning surged from the raised blade. A single blow that could obliterate even a mountain, if he willed it.
But Lena didn't waver. If anything, her eyes lit up with delight as she beamed at him.
"As expected of my master...! Amazing!"
"Definitely a lunatic..."
With a sly grin, Lena raised her own sword. Its edge was already chipped and frayed from the lightning barrage.
"I can do something like that too, y'know."
She mirrored his stance perfectly. High guard.
Her grip on the hilt looked almost dainty, while her thrust-forward chest and the sensual curve of her abs added an erotic flair.
'...Is she doing that on purpose?'
Then, an impossibly pure and azure sword aura cloaked her blade—magi so refined it defied belief. Soon, an immense wave of magi blanketed the area, evoking the vast expanse beneath a boundless blue sky.
Honcheon Noeje's breath grew ragged.
The air itself seemed to respond to her, pressing down with crushing weight. An intangible force coiled around his body like iron chains.
Cold sweat beaded on his skin.
His instincts screamed a warning, but he ignored it.
'No way I'll lose to some little bitch like her.'
As Honcheon Noeje gathered his full power, poised to unleash his strike at any moment—
Lena's lips parted. Her voice echoed across the world like thunder rolling through the six directions.
[My advance is like the emperor's.]
Nothing dares bar my path.]
The technique's name burned into his mind like an inscription: Namgung World's Emperor Sword Form. Lena's style.
And suddenly, as if struck by insight, she murmured softly.
"Ah, so that's how it's done."
Lightning began to mingle with the colossal azure aura pouring from her. The thunder swelled, growing to rival his own in scale.
Its crackling bolts etched new words into her mind, like carvings on stone: Heavenly Thunder Form.
Thunder roared, filling the world.
Piiiing———.
His ears rang deafeningly. Tinnitus drowned out everything but the blood trickling from them.
"Wh-what... the hell."
Honcheon Noeje muttered blankly, one knee driven into the ground.
He needed time to process what had just happened.
He'd been far stronger than Lena. He'd been certain his full-powered strike would crush hers.
But the reality before him was devastation.
The landscape looked as if a barrage of thunderbolts had swept through in a blaze of glory—everything reduced to rubble. Dense trees shattered, the ground scarred with dozens of lightning gouges.
"Hah... damn it."
His severed arm must be rolling somewhere amid the wreckage. Normally, the divine power from his otherworldly god would regenerate it in seconds... but the crackling lightning flickering from his empty shoulder prevented it.
And it sure as hell wasn't his lightning.
"Kuh..."
Regeneration was sluggish. Worse, this cursed electricity ravaged his internals too, churning everything to chaos. He couldn't even stand properly.
'I... lost?'
To some no-name girl?
Unbelievable.
So where was the culprit, Miss Regina Diabolos, in all this?
"Ughhh..."
She'd collapsed right after her swing, dry-heaving nonstop.
In the Fantasy World, it might've been fine—but her real body, still unaccustomed to magi, had overexerted with far too much power.
She'd dominated the clash without taking extra wounds, but her condition was a mess all the same.
'My internal injuries are too severe...'
This body had unleashed such ferocious martial arts for the first time. And she'd recklessly tapped that lightning right after her sudden epiphany.
The backlash: serious internal damage.
Her first taste of it, ever.
"Eeeeng. It hurts so much."
Tears welled up.
Now she got it. Her soul had reached heights her flesh couldn't match.
Should she give up here? Let Honcheon Noeje go without finishing him off?
She tried to move, but her body wouldn't obey. Her eyelids felt like boulders; just keeping her eyes open was agony.
Circulating magi only brought pain and a spray of blood from her mouth.
Staying conscious was her limit.
If this kept up... she'd die.
Honcheon Noeje could regenerate with his otherworldly god's power. But her?
Then his shout rang out.
"What are you doing, you worthless scum?! Kill that woman now!"
Something she'd forgotten hit her: he hadn't come alone. There was that other ragged avatar he'd failed to control at first.
'...Ah, is this it? So sleepy...'
All that training, down the drain in one real fight? Dying so pointlessly?
Unfair...!
Amid her fading senses, two presences rushed toward her.
The ragged avatar come to finish her off, no doubt...
Wait—two?
'Even with regeneration, Master (Honcheon Noeje) shouldn't be mobile yet.'
Besides, these presences felt different from his. Painfully familiar ones.
The kind that never made footsteps, only the faint rustle of clothes now and then. That cheeky maid's presence.
A sweet, nocturnal fragrance wafted in.
All too familiar to her.
Soon, it mingled with the faint scent of blood.
Through her blurring vision, she glimpsed the ragged avatar's head tumbling free.
"There you are, miss. Must've been tough wandering around like that."
The voice.
"When we get back... you know what happens, right? Running off like this means punishment. Lady Lilith is furious."
The mischievous lilt of the maid who always stroked her hair without permission upon waking.
"So... rest easy for now, miss."
Her soft embrace enveloped Lena.
Just a cheeky maid's voice—why did it soothe her so?
She fought to keep her eyes open, but Bella's hold was too warm, too comforting.
"When you wake up from a good sleep, it'll all be over."
Lulled by that voice laced with gentle amusement, Lena slipped into slumber unawares.
Honcheon Noeje rose, extending his remaining hand toward the greatsword. It flew to his grasp, responding instantly.
All while keeping his eyes locked on the sudden intruder.
"...A maid?"
"Yes, a maid."
The unexpected reply came without hesitation. Her deep purple gaze pierced him.
As they stared in silence, Bella tilted her head coyly.
"Planning to stay like that?"
She toyed with the scythe dangling casually at her side.
Her tone was polite, but the message was clear: fight or flee?
Honcheon Noeje had already calculated.
He'd witnessed her sever the fourth disciple's head in one strike. Even at full strength, she'd be a nightmare.
"If I leave now, you'll let me go quietly?"
"My duty is protecting miss. I couldn't care less about tearing apart trash like you."
Go ahead and scram, then.
Honcheon Noeje decided to withdraw meekly. Battling such a foe in his battered state would be idiotic.
He slashed the air with his greatsword, ripping open a spatial rift.
One last glance at Bella and Lena, then he vanished through it.
Bella watched the rift seal completely before scooping up the fallen Lena.
"Euuugh..."
A cute whimper escaped her lips, stirred by the motion and her wounds.
Bella smirked faintly, playfully pressing her fingertips into Lena's furrowed brow.
"What am I going to do with you, miss? Always causing trouble."
She wanted to let loose, but her former master's final order tied her hands.
Cradling Lena, Bella retraced her steps, murmuring softly.
"Well, you're still young, so I'll hold back. Right, miss?"
She posed the question to the soundly sleeping girl, who couldn't hear a word.