NOVEL NEXT chapter 100
100
…The underground of the cathedral.
I realized for the first time that Han Seyeon had such a side to her as I watched her ruthlessly attacking August.
‘Is she… angry?’
I had thought she only knew how to smile, so it was surprising to see her capable of anger.
And the reason for her anger seemed to be because I had been kidnapped.
I felt grateful and oddly proud, rather than feeling bad, it made me feel good, but honestly, I was almost scared out of my wits.
I never imagined she would go so far as to try to blow up August.
Well, I must have done it because I didn’t know who the opponent was, and somehow, it was a relief that things seemed to be going well, but…
‘She shouldn’t be angry.’
Han Seyeon’s soul was stained black by Morudo’s influence.
Fortunately, it hadn’t reached a frenzy, but with Morudo’s power exerting over 70%, if I hadn’t been there, there was a high chance it would have escalated into a frenzy.
This was a serious problem.
It was hard to believe that things had come to this just because of my anger, to the point of losing my senses over one person. It was a tale about how things could escalate to this extent when one gets angry.
If it was said that the current state was due to being slightly irritated, then that was an even more serious issue.
“I hope the premise isn’t too low.”
Whenever anger flared up, it was troublesome to reach the brink of explosion like this.
Ironically, I was now benefiting from the power right before that explosion, but even though August was not inclined to attack, Morudo’s power was threatening enough that even Omain had to be cautious.
Anyway.
“Was the Abyss Ring’s performance really that good?”
Han Seyeon was wielding Morudo’s power through the Abyss Ring.
Although it made me raise an eyebrow that she was manipulating a considerable amount of magic with just a low-grade magical tool, that wasn’t the important part now.
“It’s escalating.”
As the attacks failed to penetrate, Morudo’s power was rising as if stepping on the accelerator. Unable to leave it like that, I placed my hand on Han Seyeon’s shoulder.
“Enough.”
As I exerted anti-magic, Morudo, who had pervaded her soul, retreated, calming Han Seyeon.
Perhaps due to her rationality, even a bit of anti-magic was enough to soothe Han Seyeon.
“It’s over now.”
Watching the young blue light on the bracelet gradually brighten, I spoke.
“hahahahaha! Such a remarkable power! Indeed, it’s beyond what I desired!”
August laughed maniacally, gazing at Han Seyeon.
His gaze shifted to me.
“Being able to restrain that power, the more I see, the more astonishing you are. Truly impressive.”
Licking his lips with a snake-like tongue, August revealed his greed.
Kwaaang!
Han Seyeon’s darkness whipped down on August like a lash.
“Han Seyeon! Calm down. Relax.”
“···Okay.”
Having barely calmed down Han Seyeon, whose soul was once again darkening, I inwardly sighed.
“It feels like she could explode with just a bit more anger.”
As the worst-case scenario I had hoped wouldn’t come true unfolded, I felt uneasy.
“Maril was attacked.”
August murmured as he looked up.
A woman in a dress had collapsed.
And the culprit quickly revealed himself.
Kwaaang!
The space where August was standing exploded into pieces.
August had suddenly retreated far back.
In his place, a man who had dropped from above stood holding a staff.
With a fierce look as if not pleased with avoiding the attack, he licked his lips.
“Vice Chairman!”
Shortly after, a woman in formal attire rushed down the stairs in a hurry.
“If you suddenly leap like that…”
The woman, who was about to speak, looked at Auguste and fell silent in surprise.
“Step back, Soyeol.”
“Yes!”
The man, pushing his subordinate behind him, glared ahead with a sharp gaze.
“Auguste.”
“Entering as you please, still as independent as ever. Golgof.”
In response to Auguste’s words, Golgof casually drew his bird shoe.
Kwaaang!
In an instant, a fist, charged with magic, flew like lightning towards the descending bird shoe.
The bird shoe clashed with the fist.
Kiiiiing─!
Magic and mana engaged in a fierce struggle, resonating sharply through the space.
“The young lord seems to be in conversation. Would you mind not interfering?”
Beyond the confrontation, Seorik, locking eyes with Golgof, spoke.
Golgof, looking at him with indifferent eyes, muttered.
“You’ve fallen far, Seorik.”
“!”
In that moment, Seorik’s eyes widened. His fist split, blood spurting.
The split fist, like a snake, twisted to aim for Seorik’s throat.
But Golgof had no choice but to deflect the bird shoe’s descent.
Unbeknownst to him, a crimson specter’s forces were closing in on him.
Kwagwagwagwag!
The bird shoe shattered the specter’s forces at lightning speed.
Seorik took advantage of the opening and stepped back. Golgof’s brow furrowed at the sight.
“I can’t stand by and watch you meddle with my kin.”
Auguste spoke sharply.
Behind him, dozens of magic entities in the form of specters loomed.
“By the way, how did you get in?”
Auguste scanned the surroundings with a puzzled look.
“It’s the Jinmyeong Barrier. I doubt I’ve ever mentioned coming here to anyone.”
The Jinmyeong Barrier.
It was a restraint that targeted only one individual.
The one marked by the barrier could not move freely within it, and their powers were also constrained.
A curse that even brought down high-ranked named mages to criminals.
And now, that curse was activated, centered around the cathedral.
The target was Auguste Repenbaha.
That was him.
“Unleashing a barrier that takes over three hours to establish for a meal ritual first.”
In a situation he couldn’t comprehend, Auguste furrowed his brow.
However, he was not restrained, nor did his magic disappear. It was just a decrease in power that showed.
August, looking troubled.
Gorgoff raised his staff silently. Unprecedented magic gathered, and the space resonated.
Swoosh. The staff came down.
In the next moment, August’s body was split in half.
Crack.
The split body crumbled.
-This.
-Is.
-It.
Different voices echoed from the divided body. Gorgoff raised the staff again to finish it.
A rift cutting through space.
But the rift was blocked by a semi-transparent black barrier.
“!”
It was the moment Gorgoff solidified his expression.
Kiiiiiiing—
With a tearing sound, the scene within the barrier split apart.
When a black space appeared within the split scene, Seoric was suddenly summoned next to August.
The two pupils of the halved August rolled around, staring at Hanseyeon, Lydia, and Neil.
-Later.
-See.
-You.
-Again.
It was when I saw those eyes full of greed that I solidified my expression.
Paaang—
The air tore apart. Gorgoff appeared violently in front of the barrier, staff coming down.
The barrier shattered like a spider’s web. The crescent moon night aimed for August.
But before it could reach him, August vanished into the space.
Kuuung—
Only the crumbling underground wall roared.
“Tsk, missed.”
Gorgoff, nervously licking his lips, scanned around.
Seoric, Lydia, Neil, Undemon’s minds…
The minds that caught his attention trembled.
Gorgoff’s eyes, which had been scanning one by one, stopped on me.
More precisely, he saw my glowing blue bracelet.
“…”
Gorgoff didn’t speak, but inwardly, he was surprised.
The fact that Gorgoff had made it this far was because he had received information from the Hae Yeon Solo he was facing.
Of course, until he received information from his subordinates, Gorgoff did not trust Hae Yeon’s words.
It was absurd that an academy student possessed information that even they could not grasp August’s movements.
Nevertheless, what prompted Gorgoroth to act upon Yihaesol’s words was not to capture August.
It was to make contact with the Undemons.
Of course, at first, Gorgoroth didn’t believe Yihaesol’s claim that she would reveal the Undemons’ stronghold.
However, as Yihaesol made contact with the Undemons’ executives and wore a bracelet provided by the Superhuman Association that allowed for ‘location tracking,’ reaching all the way to the Undemons’ stronghold, disbelief turned into certainty.
In that case, there was a possibility that August’s information about attacking the Undemons’ stronghold was true.
That’s why, prior to the assault, Gorgoroth unfolded the boundary of Jinmyeong centered around the cathedral and personally entered inside.
And what Gorgoroth faced was astonishingly August and his subordinates.
Every piece of information provided by Yihaesol turned out to be true.
But that wasn’t all.
The time it took for him to unfold the boundary of Jinmyeong and enter the cathedral.
Yihaesol understood that August had kept him from leaving after finishing his work.
If it weren’t for Yihaesol, August would have surely seized control of the Undemons’ minds in an instant before Gorgoroth could unfold the boundary of Jinmyeong.
So, the fact that Gorgoroth was able to set up this stage from start to finish to hunt August was solely due to Yihaesol’s abilities.
‘I don’t know how she did it, but she’s remarkable.’
From information to abilities, everything exceeded Gorgoroth’s expectations.
And looking back, outside, his son Nikolai and his classmates were present.
Gorgoroth was very pleased that his son had befriended Yihaesol.
However, despite this stage being set, the fact that he missed August was solely Gorgoroth’s responsibility.
‘Pathetic.’
With a grim expression, Gorgoroth threw the Buddishu.
***
Meanwhile, August, who had emerged from underground, headed towards the cathedral’s garden.
As the space opened up, August’s split body stumbled and merged back together.
“August!”
The surrounding people were surprised by August’s sudden appearance, but he paid no attention to their gazes.
Those who could interfere with his boundary were not present in the yard.
August’s gaze shifted towards Maril, whose body and head were separated.
“Get up.”
“······.”
“How long are you planning to lie down?”
Ssshh—
In an instant, a bundle of black spider silk emerged from Maril’s neck, then merged the separated head back together.
“I can’t use that.”
Having glimpsed the fallen pawt on the ground, August retrieved the unconscious Maril and disappeared.
***
Once the underground events concluded, I followed Gorgoroth up to the sanctuary.
Hanseyeon seemed to be holding onto my arm tightly, perhaps due to the fact that I had been kidnapped, unwilling to let go.
At that moment, Lydia and Nie ran off somewhere in a hurry.
“Ivonne!”
“It was scary!”
The chair in the chapel. Ibonne, injured, was sitting there.
Ibonne looked at me, stroking Lydia’s and Neil’s heads.
“You’re unharmed.”
“Yes, fortunately.”
I was truly lucky.
When Han Seyun blew away August, I thought it was my end.
Thankfully, he’s insane.
At that moment, Gorgoff approached me.
“Are you Ibonne?”
“Yes.”
“I want to talk.”
“Haesol, could you take care of the kids?”
“Yes, of course.”
I sat away from the two with Lydia, Neil, and Han Seyun.
“What are you doing?”
“Why are you so quiet?”
“Seyun, play with them.”
“Okay.”
I covered the mouths of the noisy twins and entrusted the two kids to Han Seyun.
“Sigh!”
“Eek!”
As Han Seyun stroked their heads, the two kids suddenly fell into contemplation, tightly shutting their mouths.
“Maybe they saw something.”
Well, considering the initial image, it’s understandable they’d be scared.
I casually focused my energy on listening.
I was curious about the conversation between Gorgoff and Ibonne.
While eavesdropping with magic might be risky, using energy posed no threat of being caught.
And so, the conversation between Gorgoff and Ibonne began.
“Oh, I can hear well.”
Gorgoff, sitting cross-legged, spoke first.
─I’m busy, so I’ll be direct.
─Please speak.
─Come under my wing.
Ibonne’s expression stiffened.
─…Are you talking about what the Association did to the Undemons?
Undemons are those forcibly turned into mines by August.
The Association brought them under the guise of returning them to humans, overseeing them for continuous research.
However, their research was far from the promise of turning them back into humans.
They confiscated their freedom, repeatedly dissected and treated them, considering whether they could be used as “weapons.”
That’s why the Undemons, along with August, mistrusted the Association the most.
To them, the rights of demonspawn did not exist.
They simply guaranteed safety, not as subjects for research, nothing more, nothing less.
Gorgoff’s words were akin to an invitation to step into that place.
─I didn’t say “Association.” I said come under my command.
“······.”
─The Council conducted research on demonspawn. I have no affiliation with them.
Gorgoff spoke, looking at Ibonya, who had fallen silent.
─I will ensure your safety. You may continue your activities as you wish. Of course, if you refuse, I will let you go.
─Is the reason for the offer because we are deemed useful as weapons?
─That’s right.
Gorgoff was an honest man who did not know how to lie.
─This is not for me to decide; each of you should answer for yourselves.
─And you?
─I will refuse.
Ibonya shook her head as if there was no need for further thought.
─You must know hiding is futile, right? As long as August’s contract remains, he can come back at any time.
─I’ll have to deal with it.
I chuckled, shaking my head.
What made Ibonya refuse Gorgoff’s offer?
The Vice-Chairman of the global organization known as the Association of Supernaturals. And it was Gorgoff, the leader of the mighty ‘Ovollen’ family, who led it.
For Gorgoff to guarantee safety and even tolerate their activities, it was indeed a tempting offer for Ibonya.
─Pity.
Gorgoff rose from his seat without saying another word. At that moment, Ibonya’s eyes were fixed on something.
On me.
‘···Huh?’