Chapter 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: United Hearts (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...It would definitely let the three of us achieve what we want. But is it even possible?"
"There's nothing we can't do."
Tae-hyun replied.
"...Um, but. I'm a little dissatisfied."
Seo-hyun said, crossing her arms.
"Ah, why? What's the problem?"
"No, I mean, why do I have to be the one... Ah..."
Kong!
Tae-hyun jabbed her crown with the side of his hand.
"Ow!"
"Don't whine. You're sixteen, not six."
"...Ugh... Seriously."
For some reason, she—who normally hated even a fingertip touching her—couldn't refuse Tae-hyun.
"Everyone understands, right? Then we'll see each other in the finals."
"Yeah. Got it."
"Okay..."
With their resolve hardened, the three dispersed to their rooms.
And so time passed, until the day of the finals dawned.
Here we go! The long-awaited day of the finals has finally arrived. Everyone's been counting down to this. Today, we'll welcome the four participants who will deliver the ultimate match! Give them a big round of applause!
Applause and cheers erupted.
The four finalists entered the training grounds.
The stands were packed with spectators, and camera drones buzzed about.
With Mainz Tune, who placed fifth, forfeiting, this final will be a four-way battle. The sole winner will claim a total prize of 100 million won, plus a Yoon Family high-grade Mana Manual. Who will be the one to take it all?
The moment Yoon Ji-ae stepped into the arena, she realized it.
The identity of the blue mana enveloping their bodies.
'...Magic?'
Including Yoon Seo-hyun, the other two were also cloaked head to toe in magic.
She couldn't tell what kind, but it was clear all three were using the same spell.
'...No matter what tricks they pull, the result will be the same.'
The high-grade Mana Manual was hers.
It had always been hers, and she'd only come to reclaim what was rightfully so.
Anyone who interfered would be crushed mercilessly.
Even if it was Yoon Seo-hyun...
Yoon Ji-ae's warp magic activated, summoning the four to the arena.
Once again, they warped into the subspace filled with cubes.
Here, even fatal wounds wouldn't kill—victims simply revived.
It was the Yoon Family's private training ground, structured just like their Mana Manuals.
And there, flitting about, was the golden spirit.
The target of this final event.
The golden spirit. To catch it, you'll need to unleash your maximum combat power. Unlike other spirits, this one is incredibly fast. Ordinary magic won't cut it.
As the announcer said, the spirit moved at speeds impossible to track with the naked eye.
But that didn't mean it couldn't be caught.
Now, let the finals begin! Only one will claim the high-grade Mana Manual. Who will it be? 5!...4!
With the countdown echoing through the arena, the match finally started.
Weeeeng-.
The golden spirit zipped about at blinding speed.
No ordinary mage could hope to keep up.
The moment the match began, Tae-hyun spun and dashed off.
Blocking Yoon Ji-ae were the Yoon daughters: Yoon Ah-young and Yoon Seo-hyun.
'I don't know what scheme they're cooking up, but it won't work on me.'
Paat-.
Teleport.
Yoon Ji-ae instantly closed in on Yoon Ah-young.
Ah-young had frozen in place, unable to react.
Grab-.
Yoon Ji-ae clamped down on Ah-young's nape.
"Euk...!"
"Trash is trash... Can't even dodge this."
Freezing.
Yoon Ji-ae's three-circle spell.
Ah-young's neck began to freeze over, starting from the nape.
She targeted the weakest, Yoon Ah-young, first—immobilizing her right at the start.
That would cut their forces by a third in an instant.
Crack, craaaack.
Sorcery Form No. 4.
A sealing sorcery that the current Yoon Ah-young couldn't possibly break.
Sorcery runes coiled around the frozen Ah-young.
In a blink, she was trapped solid in ice, unable to move.
"Well, Seo-hyun. Your trash of a sister is done. What now?"
"..."
Yoon Seo-hyun just glared in silence.
At that moment, Kang Tae-hyun leaped skyward to snag the golden spirit.
'Same as the second round—two to hold me, one to hunt...'
A foolish plan.
She wouldn't fall for it twice, and she'd never dreamed Seo-hyun or Ah-young would come at her.
The blue mana cloaking them?
Seemed like some body-enhancement skill for bursts of growth.
But thinking that could stop a former family head? Big mistake.
Seo-hyun closed in tight and swung a fist.
Yoon Ji-ae blocked it effortlessly, then slammed a sorcery into her solar plexus.
"Power's improved, but your technique's still lacking."
A paralyzing sorcery.
Seo-hyun's body locked up, rigid.
"It pains my heart."
Thud! Pow! Thud!
For all her pained words, Yoon Ji-ae pummeled her face with full force.
"Kyaa...!"
When the sorcery wore off, Seo-hyun collapsed, face bloodied.
No one could believe a mother would do this to her own daughter.
"Obsession with victory. Killing intent to finish foes for good. You're missing both."
Yoon Ji-ae eyed the airborne Tae-hyun.
He chased diligently, but the spirit eluded him.
She turned toward him.
Whoosh-!
A massive flame pillar erupted, blocking her.
"Cough! Cough...!"
Seo-hyun rose again.
Yoon Ji-ae laughed at the sight.
"Yes... Eyes full of resentment. That should've been lethal, but you endured. Good. What's next?"
"..."
Seo-hyun charged straight at Yoon Ji-ae.
She conjured ice with her magic.
Ice Field.
A four-circle ice spell.
Summons ice around the caster, freezing the surroundings.
Seo-hyun aimed to hold her even for a second.
Kwachak...!
Yoon Ji-ae wrenched her frozen feet free.
"This much won't stop me."
"..."
Craaaack-.
No sooner had she spoken than ice walls formed, shaping into a massive dome.
Ice Field into a chain skill.
Ice enclosed them in an instant, forming an ice prison.
"Oho... Impressive."
Yoon Ji-ae acknowledged Seo-hyun's skill.
A normal ice wall? She'd shatter it with a punch.
But this ice barrier was different.
Only the caster's death or cancellation could break it.
Like Kirius's crow barrier from CDT.
"Grown this much in so short a time? Truly my daughter... Not like that frozen trash from the start."
"Haa... Haa..."
Seo-hyun barely held on, eyes unfocused, legs trembling like she'd collapse any second.
But she endured.
All for the plan.
"You were meant to be the third family head after me. But Yoon Soo-ah stole your place. It breaks my heart. You could've soared higher...!"
A flash of light.
Tae-hyun desperately pursued the golden spirit.
It slipped through his fingertips by a hair.
Yoon Ji-ae unleashed her mana.
"Too bad."
Kwajik-! Kwajik-!
With a gesture, the ice walls crumbled.
'...Cancel?!'
Skill cancel.
A black magic she neither learned the cast nor acquisition for.
Not top-tier, but one of the forbidden arts.
Reverts all skills to nothing.
Before that overwhelming power, Seo-hyun's ice prison shattered.
"Time to end this."
Yoon Ji-ae strode forward.
With her abilities, snagging the spirit would be trivial.
She invoked Flight.
Grab...!
But Seo-hyun clung to her leg.
She wouldn't let her reach Tae-hyun's space, no matter what.
Yoon Ji-ae's brow furrowed.
"...Obsession with victory grows people... but sometimes breaks them."
Thud! Thud!
Yoon Ji-ae stomped wildly on Seo-hyun.
'...!'
Tae-hyun, pursuing the spirit, looked back in shock.
'N... No!'
She trampled her own daughter with inhuman cruelty.
Tae-hyun's fists trembled.
...It's all for the plan. No matter what, just keep her attention.
'...Ugh...!'
Tae-hyun squeezed his eyes shut and rocketed toward the spirit at full speed.
No choice now but to end it fast.
Pow! Thud! Thud!
Yoon Ji-ae kept stomping her daughter.
But Seo-hyun never let go of her leg.
"Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go! Let go!"
Seo-hyun's body became a bloody mess.
Blood splattered and froze on the ice she'd made.
Yoon Ji-ae forgot she was her daughter, stomping madly.
A being of pure madness, sparing no means for her goal.
Broadcasters and audience alike fell silent.
No one could intervene, making it all the more brutal.
Even in a no-death arena, this was too much.
No one in the arena could smile.
Pow! Thud! Thud!
Seo-hyun's eyes wandered, unfocused.
All her strength was in her grip.
Her hands on the leg, everything else limp.
"Five minutes of clinging while turning to pulp changes nothing. Can't you see? Your pathetic sacrifice. A true family head never sacrifices. They stand at the pinnacle of all."
Whoosh-!
Flames erupted from Yoon Ji-ae's hand.
They shaped into a massive spear.
Great Flame Dragon Spear.
A spear that burned eternally.
One stab, and the target suffered unending agony.
"It's fine. My beloved daughter. Mother will free you from that pain."
Seo-hyun, clinging to the leg, didn't release.
Even as her own legs began freezing.
Still casting ice amid it all.
But before the Great Flame Dragon Spear, it was meaningless.
Yoon Ji-ae's leg thawed, as did the Ice Field that had frozen the area.
'...This is enough...'
Seo-hyun closed her eyes.
Pain no human could endure awaited.
Yet she felt no fear.
They'd sworn to prove it.
They had to settle it within those ten-odd years' worth of time.
Pook-!
The burning spear tip pierced her shoulder clean through.
No blood flowed before it.
The pierced flesh cauterized instantly.
Even in Yoon Family illusion space, pain was real.
They said burning to death was humanity's most agonizing end.
She endured that torment.
"Grrrr... Hnngh!"
"..."
Seo-hyun's eyes snapped open in shock.
The spear in Tae-hyun's right shoulder burned.
"...You're supposed to catch the golden spirit."
Tae-hyun had blocked Yoon Ji-ae's spear.
"...I can't take it anymore. Not like this..."
Tae-hyun was crying.
Thick tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Ah... Ah..."
Tears welled in Seo-hyun's eyes too.
It was sooner than planned.
Tae-hyun had pretended to chase the spirit while erecting a double barrier in midair.
It needed just a bit more time.
But he couldn't hold back.
No, she couldn't.
"I can't do it. Unnie... Why do you always shoulder it alone? Always! Every time... Every single time."
"Seo... Seo-hyun. Seo-hyun."
Tae-hyun gripped the burning spear tip.
Zzzzzz...!
He endured the searing flesh.
Then greater flames devoured the spear tip.
His pierced shoulder charred before blood could spill.
"You... You're."
Yoon Ji-ae faltered.
Cracks spread across the sobbing Tae-hyun's face.
A transformation.
The mana cloaking his body wasn't body enhancement.
From the cracking face of Kang Tae-hyun emerged the sobbing Yoon Seo-hyun.
She didn't know gentle approaches.
From childhood, she'd learned only combat and magic.
Manners, making friends, warmth? No clue.
So now, she'd just clash head-on.
"...Fight together. I won't leave you alone anymore."
Seo-hyun scooped up Ah-young.
Cracks spread across the disguised Yoon Seo-hyun's face too.
"You little...!"
The true identity of the Yoon Seo-hyun she'd been fighting.
The one she'd praised for growth, admired for strength, who held her back—it was Yoon Ah-young.
"...Mother."
A life crushed under her mother's oppression.
Yet she'd held her off for a full five minutes.
And earned her recognition.
Ten years.
Ten years.
After that, could she not last five minutes?
She'd endure five minutes, fifty, five hours.
Yoon Ji-ae panicked.
"You think you can toy with me?"
"Not toying."
A voice from behind.
Yoon Ji-ae whirled.
There stood Yoon Ah-young.
No—Kang Tae-hyun in Yoon Ah-young's form.
And in his hand, the golden spirit.
"How did you...! I cast Form No. 4 on you."
"That was easy. Auntie."
The current Ah-young couldn't have broken Form No. 4.
Even Seo-hyun couldn't dispel sorcery.
But Tae-hyun was different.
Top of the class in theory.
Sorcery was just a type of spell array.
Memorize the Detoxification Array, and dispelling was simple.
"You brat...! Using such cheap tricks...!"
"Shut up. Just hearing your voice..."
Tae-hyun grimaced.
His glare made Yoon Ji-ae flinch.
Killing intent like none other.
"...pisses me off."
A blue aura erupted from his body.
(To be continued next time)