EP 4 The Blacksmith Hides Her Identity
EP 4 The Blacksmith Hides Her Identity
Wolgeuk Seongun recalled her days as a medical student. Her advisor had been a renowned authority in the field of magical medicine, the kind of mentor who would even share his secret techniques with his favorite disciple. Corpse manipulation, corpse dissection, body incineration, lifespan extension, body replacement, resurrection of the dead, soul adaptation. Each one was a spell that would make anyone’s jaw drop.
Having mastered them, Wolgeuk Seongun began collecting the corpses of ability users so she could use those secret arts more effectively. When her advisor found out, he summoned her once.
“Yoo Sun-ah. You’re quite talented. But magic isn’t omnipotent, and mages are not gods. Learn to distinguish what must never be done. When you use your power, it would be better to think twice and hesitate.”
“Otherwise, one day you’ll stray from the right path. And that will be the end. There will be no turning back… I hope you understand what I’m saying.”
Wolgeuk Seongun finished her recollection and forced her collapsed body upright. Only then did her surroundings come into focus.
“I see.”
A Deity Realm powerhouse trying to kill her. A BBC broadcast van filming the scene. The eyes watching her. Her own fall from grace. The old connections that had abandoned her.
“Kuhk!”
A fist struck her, folding her body like the Korean character ㄱ before sending her flying again.
So this is what it means to stray from the path?!
EP 4 The Blacksmith Hides Her Identity
Wolgeuk Seongun struggled back to her feet. Both arms were still pitch-black and hung limply at her sides. She tried to form hand seals to cast magic, but in this state it was impossible.
She glanced at the BBC broadcast team.
“…What are you staring at?”
She sighed and shot them a resentful look, but they had always been that kind of people. Nothing could be done about it.
Wolgeuk Seongun shrugged off her tattered white robe, revealing a dress shirt and slacks. It was easier to move now, but that was all. She spread her legs into a stable stance. Her arms still dangled uselessly; anyone watching might have thought she was attempting some kind of Chinese martial art.
She looked straight ahead.
I don’t think I can win this.
“Excuse me. How about we talk first?! I don’t know what your circumstances are, but if we just talk we might be able to understand each other—”
Taeheo Shin-gun slid forward and swung her hand blade horizontally.
“Uwaaah?!”
Wolgeuk Seongun rolled across the ground to dodge. Kicks and punches followed in a flurry. She dodged, rolled, dropped flat, and ran to create distance. But it only worked a few times.
While she scrambled desperately, Taeheo Shin-gun’s fist found her stomach.
“Ah—wait a second!”
Shwaaak!
The punch drove deep into Wolgeuk Seongun’s abdomen.
Kwoong!
With a sound like an exploding bomb, her torso ballooned outward like a bubble. For one second it swelled grotesquely before slowly deflating back to normal. Wolgeuk Seongun staggered backward like a puppet with its strings cut, clutching her stomach.
“…Guhk.”
Blood poured from her mouth in a steady stream.
Thud.
She dropped to her knees and stared at the blood she had vomited onto the ground.
…This is my blood?
She slowly spread her mana to diagnose her own body. First, her arms. Mana usage impossible. All nerves burned and destroyed. Amputation recommended. Her torso was harder to assess; the mana had swept through it violently. But her internal organs were all damaged. Replacement recommended. Her legs were exhausted from repeated escapes, yet still functional. Running on them would change nothing.
Wolgeuk Seongun looked up.
“W-wait… just a moment…”
“Stand up.”
Taeheo Shin-gun grabbed her by the hair and dragged her. Wolgeuk Seongun clutched at the hem of Taeheo Shin-gun’s skirt.
“No. I’ll serve you as my mother. Mother. Please spare me.”
“I have never had a daughter like you.”
“Then start today.”
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Three slaps sent Wolgeuk Seongun reeling. She collapsed again and clung to Taeheo Shin-gun’s legs, spitting blood as she desperately rubbed her cheek against the woman’s thigh.
“…I lost. I’ve lost. Do whatever you want. I’ll live quietly from now on.”
The BBC reporter watching shouted into the microphone.
“Aah! Wolgeuk Seongun has declared surrender just two minutes into the fight!!!”
The BBC staff jeered. Wolgeuk Seongun shot them a murderous glare.
“Shut up. Once this is over, you’re next.”
The staff grew slightly somber. They would have laughed off a threat from an ordinary person, but the speaker was a Sacred Lotus Realm mage. Right now she was being beaten into this state by Taeheo Shin-gun, yet she was still a powerhouse who had reached an extraordinary level.
Wolgeuk Seongun dropped to her knees.
“Taeheo Shin-gun-nim.”
Taeheo Shin-gun stepped back, watching to see what she would do.
Wolgeuk Seongun bowed solemnly, pressing her head against her pants pocket. She squeezed the wallet out with her cheek, then picked it up with her mouth.
Thud.
She dropped the long wallet in front of Taeheo Shin-gun.
“…What are you trying to do?”
“This is all I have on me right now, but if you send me home—”
“Kwaaaaaak!”
The moment she said “send,” Taeheo Shin-gun raised her foot. When she said “home,” the heel came down on her knee.
Crack.
The sickening sound of tearing muscle echoed through the air.
“Kuaaaaaak!!!”
Having one’s flesh crushed while still alive was far more painful than anyone could imagine. Even a Sacred Lotus Realm mage was no exception. Wolgeuk Seongun’s face, which had maintained some semblance of dignity until moments ago, twisted grotesquely. It flushed red, then she began making choking sounds as if her throat were blocked. Tears soon spilled from her eyes.
Taeheo Shin-gun, the BBC crew, and the onlookers all stared in shock.
“…Are you crying?”
Crying in dramas and movies looked beautiful, but that was acting. In reality, a person’s nose ran, their mouth twisted, and they made ugly, pitiful sobbing noises. It made them look utterly pathetic.
If she still had arms, she would have covered her face. It was too humiliating. But Wolgeuk Seongun’s arms hung uselessly at her sides. On live afternoon news, the world was watching her kneel and sob after being beaten. This was the greatest disgrace of her life.
Taeheo Shin-gun scratched her head, as if she had come to some realization.
“Well… shall we end it here, then?”
Wolgeuk Seongun’s eyes widened.
“…Yes. If you would, I would be truly grateful. I will never forget this kindness!! Sniff.”
Wolgeuk Seongun smiled obsequiously. It was shameful. Infuriating. But if it meant she could survive, that was enough. There was a saying that it wasn’t the strong who survived, but the survivors who were strong.
She looked at the BBC van staff and the reporter. She also looked at Yoo Hyun-ah. She memorized their faces so she could find and repay each one within a year.
Taeheo Shin-gun waved her hand.
“Then bring that over.”
“That?”
Wolgeuk Seongun saw a woman in a Republican Party jumper standing at a distance with the BBC staff. The two of them opened the trunk of a vehicle and were struggling to carry something over. A large black box.
What is that? A contract?
No. That couldn’t be. A contract wouldn’t be that heavy.
Wolgeuk Seongun’s imagination raced ahead.
A magical contract!
She had heard of them before. A contract that engraved a seal upon a person’s soul or body, forcing them to obey its terms. Such contracts required special equipment. Of course, higher-quality ones were lighter, but Taeheo Shin-gun and her group probably hadn’t prepared anything that expensive.
Wolgeuk Seongun frowned. The contract would definitely include a clause forbidding revenge.
…I suppose there’s no choice.
Wolgeuk Seongun was not a mindless demon. Over the past decades, she had achieved many things with this power.
And I have a husband, after all.
I’ll retire according to the contract, run the hospital, and spend the rest of my life with my husband.
…I wanted to live together much longer.
With that regret, she looked straight ahead. The golden basin cleansing ritual—an old Eastern custom of washing one’s hands in water before others to sever all ties of gratitude and resentment.
Well… even if it ends here, it wasn’t such a bad life.
The two women grunted as they set the black box down in front of Wolgeuk Seongun. When Taeheo Shin-gun tore it open, an iron device was revealed inside. Two blades were joined at the end like scissors. One blade lay flat with its spine on the ground while the other stood vertically, pointing skyward. A leather-wrapped handle was attached to the end for easy gripping.
It was what people called a guillotine blade.
Wolgeuk Seongun blinked several times. Beside her, Taeheo Shin-gun put on white gloves.
“Stop! Stop! Wait a second! Just a moment!!!”
Wolgeuk Seongun knocked the hand reaching for her neck away and thrashed.
“Uh—wait! Wait! Just hold on!!!”
After shouting several more times, she finally stared directly at the guillotine blade before her. A Sacred Lotus Realm body was too durable to be cut by ordinary means. That was why they used heavy, specially forged steel weapons for executions. She had known that. At least, she had known it as knowledge.
Wolgeuk Seongun screamed at the broadcast van.
“Are you really going to air this on public news?!”
She looked around desperately. Someone to help. Someone to help. Her connections were severed. The BBC were lunatics who enjoyed watching others fall. Then hunters. As she scanned the S-rank hunters, her eyes found Song Hye-na.
“Song Hye-na! I—I’m your sponsor. Do something about this crazy woman!!”
“…Who are you calling a crazy woman…”
All eyes turned to Song Hye-na. The magical girl in her Black Priestess transformation outfit looked around and shrugged.
“But… what exactly am I supposed to do in this situation…”
“.......”
Wolgeuk Seongun stared blankly at those words before lowering her head. Even an S-rank hunter couldn’t possibly do anything against a Deity Realm opponent.
Taeheo Shin-gun gripped the end of the guillotine blade.
“……Didn’t you say you wanted to end this? I looked at your record. You’ve tormented quite a lot of people in various ways. Think of this as karma finally catching up to you.”
Wolgeuk Seongun’s hair turned stark white. Sweat poured from her entire body. She panted several times before speaking.
“I was wrong.”
“? No. You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. And I don’t feel any value in your apology anyway.”
“I was wrong. Please spare my life.”
Taeheo Shin-gun scratched her head.
“This is difficult. I promised to take your head.”
“…What?”
Taeheo Shin-gun, who had been standing with her arms crossed in discomfort, suddenly stopped breathing.
“…Huh?”
Wolgeuk Seongun turned her gaze as well.
A woman wearing a hood over a cap was running toward them in a hurry. She was out of breath, gasping at the parking lot entrance.
Hermes.
Wolgeuk Seongun immediately rushed over and slammed her head to the ground.
“Please save me! I beg you. I was wrong! If you spare me just once—just once—I’ll repay you for the rest of my life!! Hermes-nim!!”
With a face ruined by tears, she threw herself at the woman and screamed. It was the greatest plea for her life Wolgeuk Seongun had ever made. Exclusively broadcast live by BBC. The beginning.