50. Noble Soul (11)
Soya stared blankly, struggling to understand Baek Yuseol’s words.
‘You want me to kill who?’
He had definitely said Cheolribeon.
A cowardly dark mage who had challenged the Dark Mage King, been defeated, and then fled, saying he would at least preserve his wretched little life. As far as she knew, his whereabouts were still unknown now that he had become a “traitor”…
“Cheolribeon? Did you say Cheolribeon?”
“Yeah. Why? Scared?”
“Ha… You really don’t know anything, probably because you’re human….”
She brushed her hair back over the nape of her neck as she spoke.
“Cheolribeon is one of the worst criminals in dark mage society. If someone simply brought his head to the Dark Mage King, they’d receive an enormous reward. So why do you think no one’s hunted him down until now?”
Because Cheolribeon was strong enough to challenge the Dark Mage King. And because his whereabouts had been unknown for years.
“It’s already been years since he vanished. I tried looking for him myself a few times, but hunting Cheolribeon is impossible—”
“You really do drone on pathetically.”
“…What?”
Since nothing good would come from dragging the conversation out, Baek Yuseol cut off her excuses in one stroke and continued.
“You think I’d make an offer like this without considering something that trivial? I know where Cheolribeon is. And I know you can’t beat him.”
Soya’s expression hardened.
She could not defeat Cheolribeon.
That was an undeniable fact. To begin with, among the dark mages still in existence, how many could beat him? Probably… aside from the Dark Mage King, no one could.
Because of that, Soya had been about to reject the offer. No matter how tempting Baek Yuseol’s “perfect method of absorbing a spirit’s heart” sounded, it wasn’t worth risking her life.
That was why Baek Yuseol had to present terms that would truly tempt her.
“You can’t kill Cheolribeon in a frontal fight.”
“But there is a way to win.”
“What? That’s the same thing. Are we playing word games now?”
“It’s not the same. You’re the one who doesn’t seem to understand.”
Only then did Soya belatedly grasp what Baek Yuseol meant, and her mind flashed awake.
She couldn’t kill him by fighting him head-on… but there was a way to win.
“You only need to bring back Cheolribeon’s head anyway. Is there really any need to face him directly?”
“That means…”
“He has one very fatal weakness. I know what it is. So? Want to make a deal?”
“…Cheolribeon has a weakness? Even if that’s true, how am I supposed to believe you?”
How should he persuade her any further here? What proof could he even offer?
The truth was, every word he had said so far was a lie.
Soya was dangerous.
Not only did she possess a very special ability that let her steal a spirit’s heart, but even judging by physical ability alone, it was obvious Baek Yuseol would lose before they could even have a proper match.
That said, he couldn’t just leave alone a woman who was threatening Iphanel.
‘Use one barbarian to control another.’
That woman could not defeat Cheolribeon.
Even if the heavens collapsed and the world began anew, that fact would not change.
In the original Aether World Online, there had been several scenes where Soya fought Cheolribeon, and every single one of them had ended in an overwhelming victory for Cheolribeon.
The reason was simple: Cheolribeon’s ability was a superior version of Soya’s.
In other words, sending her to Cheolribeon here was simply a way to deal with Soya comfortably, without having to touch her himself.
‘If I really want to lure her in here, then…’
Baek Yuseol was just about to shake Soya’s mind with yet another lie when he suddenly narrowed his eyes at a strange sensation.
As he stared directly into her pupils, he felt something.
[Half doubtful, positive, excited, mildly suspicious, wary, indecisive.]
Fragments of various emotions came into view. This was unmistakably the power of Crimson Spring March.
‘…She’s more positive than I expected?’
He had thought her suspicion would be stronger, but she had already come halfway over to his side.
‘In that case, instead of a clumsy lie…’
Baek Yuseol cleared his throat and tossed the words out in a detached voice.
“You’re more suspicious than I thought. The offer is withdrawn. I made it because I believed your reputation—that you had enough resolve to rip out a spirit’s heart. But now that I look at you, you’re just a coward no different from Cheolribeon. I’ll ask someone else.”
After saying that, Baek Yuseol moved to pick up his shoes, and at that exact moment, Soya’s clone body approached without a trace of presence and seized his wrist.
Smack!
“…”
He had actually been startled, because he hadn’t even sensed the movement, but he had roughly expected this reaction. So he pretended he had known all along, and, without showing any panic, spoke calmly.
“So, changed your mind?”
“…I’ll hear you out first. About that weakness. About whether I can really take his head. And whether you can really help me absorb the heart.”
She had taken the bait.
At Soya’s reaction, Baek Yuseol subtly lifted the corner of his mouth and nodded.
“Good. Let’s talk this through slowly.”
“…Hoo!”
The instant the sensation of the clone body returning reached her, a flood of memories transmitted themselves into Soya’s mind.
Slowly opening her eyes, she shook her throbbing head and mulled over Baek Yuseol’s words.
‘Cheolribeon’s weakness…’
If he really had been tracking Cheolribeon for a long time, then he knew more about him than any other dark mage.
The one and only contractor of Dusk Soil February in the entire world, and the fugitive who had survived even after challenging the Dark Mage King.
‘I don’t know why a mage who isn’t even a dark mage is after him, but…’
Baek Yuseol was serious enough about hunting Cheolribeon that he had even said he would personally step in and help in battle.
‘Why?’
Baek Yuseol was already full of questions from start to finish. Was he really a mage? Was he even truly human to begin with?
There was nothing she could know for certain.
Still, none of that seemed particularly important.
What mattered was that, this once, Baek Yuseol’s objective and hers happened to align.
That was all she needed to think about.
Read only on MugenCodex
“Soyaa~ So you’re finally back?”
At the sound of a woman’s voice from behind, Soya turned her head with a hardened expression. There stood a woman wearing clothes so revealing that calling it a robe that covered the whole body felt absurdly ironic.
The woman’s pale green robe fluttered as she walked over elegantly, then leaned in and whispered to Soya.
“Toa sent me. Lately, it sounds like you’ve been up to something foolish… He says he’s been itching to kill you.”
“…The Lord of the Pale Green Tower said that to me? Hah, wow. That’s ridiculous.”
Soya let out a derisive snort, but she couldn’t dismiss the woman’s words lightly.
Toa Legron.
A 9-Class mage, and the Lord of the Pale Green Tower—her master, who was none other than the King of the Pureblood Witches.
Very few beings in this world had inherited the bloodline of the pureblood witches.
Even Soya, as a half-witch, was closer to a human—or a dark mage—than to a witch.
“Including you, there are barely enough witches left in this world to count on one hand. You may only be a half, but she still doesn’t want to kill one of the few witches left with her own hands. So how about trying to stay a little quieter?”
No matter how powerful witches might have been, in the end they had nearly been driven to extinction by witch hunters and mages.
So if she did anything conspicuous, she would inevitably become a target in an instant. Toa Legron’s master did not want that.
“Ha, coming from a mere mage… how arrogant.”
“Hm? Is that so?”
“Why don’t you stop meddling in my business and go on your way? I might start wanting to kill you.”
“Oh my. How scary~”
The woman put on an exaggeratedly shocked expression, then lightly waved her hand and turned away.
“I was already about to leave anyway~ My master has recently taken an interest in a certain boy. Baek Yuseol, was it?”
“What?”
“Hm? Have you heard of him?”
At the woman’s words, Soya reacted on instinct for a split second, then paused and shook her head.
“Hm. Anyway, I’ll be on my way now, so do try to stay! Qui! Et! Then goodbye~!”
After she left, Soya licked her lips with her tongue and organized her thoughts.
‘That old hag has taken an interest in him…?’
In all matters of the worldly realm, she had never shown interest in anyone but witches. The fact that she had set her sights on Baek Yuseol at all was already proof that he was no ordinary person.
‘He’ll definitely be useful.’
Cheolribeon’s head.
And the spirit’s heart.
At the thought that she might really be able to obtain all of it, her smile deepened.
Crack!
“Kuheok…!”
He snapped a dark mage’s neck bones with both arms and broke them. Of course, that alone wouldn’t kill a dark mage.
Only by piercing the heart precisely and crushing it—destroying the source of that dark mana—could its life be completely extinguished.
Squish!
As casually as if swatting a mosquito with a flyswatter, Cheolribeon tore a dark mage’s heart out with his bare hand and let out an annoyed sigh.
“Hoo~ I handled that quietly enough.”
He had been careful to keep as much dark mana as possible from leaking outside. This time, he realized that fighting without opening up his power was harder than expected.
“So this time, I can probably pass through quietly, right?”
As Cheolribeon dusted off his hands and muttered that—
“Who said you could?”
A young man’s voice echoed through empty air.
The voice was so familiar it was irritating, and the moment he heard it, Cheolribeon’s expression twisted.
“…What are you?”
He slowly lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
There, as though he were walking down invisible stairs in midair, he met the eyes of Aryumun Bleushun as he approached.
“Took a lot of work to find you. If those vermin hadn’t picked a fight with you, it might’ve been even harder….”
A languid, leisurely voice.
That peculiar tone, the kind that sounded so listless it could make even the listener sleepy, only irritated Cheolribeon more.
“Haa… Wouldn’t it be possible to let this one pass too? Are we really going to fight here? Not that I should be the one to say it, but if we do, this World Tree will collapse completely, and innocent people will die.”
“I don’t care.”
This time, someone else answered.
When Cheolribeon quickly turned around, a woman wrapped from head to toe in a black robe was walking toward him with elegant steps.
‘The Elf King.’
He knew it instantly.
No one else could possibly carry such special, vivid World Tree energy.
In fact, even the World Tree itself would not be purer than that woman.
“The World Tree won’t be harmed.”
“…Now that’s a bit troublesome. For what reason has the Elf King graced this place? Don’t tell me it’s to catch me?”
“It isn’t for such a trivial reason, so don’t worry. In the middle of ‘a very important matter,’ dealing with you is nothing more than a bit of side work I have to take care of for a moment.”
Kkotseorin looked genuinely displeased. He had no idea what that “very important matter” was, but the fact that it was apparently more important than Cheolribeon himself—a figure whose name had spread as something of a legend—was rather shocking.
“I’m not exactly at the level where I should be treated like this….”
What should he do?
Cheolribeon engraved into his senses the presence of the Elf King blocking him from one side and the Association Head blocking him from the other.
One was a 9-Class mage.
The other was a high elf blessed by the World Tree.
No matter how powerful Cheolribeon might be—even powerful enough to have challenged the Dark Mage King—it seemed unlikely that he could avoid a difficult battle.
‘But… I suppose there’s no avoiding this fight.’
Once he reached that conclusion, he actually found himself delighted. Slowly splitting the corners of his mouth upward, Cheolribeon formed a grotesque smile. A smile filled with utterly pure delight.
“Good… I was getting bored anyway.
Then come at me, both of you.”
He cracked both wrists.
“But one of you should be prepared to offer up your head.”
