𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟖𝟏
After accepting the offer to learn about the secret arts of Sancheon from Han Kang-yoon, Cheong Juhwa came face to face with the de facto leader of the Cheong family, Cheong So-ha, who had come to visit her.
And that day, Cheong So-ha handed Cheong Juhwa her own guardian spirit, the Blue-White Sword, and said:
“I hear you have joined the quest to find a way to counter the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. Take this.”
“This is. . . the Blue-White Sword, isn’t it? I heard that not just anyone can use it.”
“That is correct. However, I am confident that you will be able to.”
It was an unbelievable statement.
Even for a senior member of the family, handling the power of the Blue-White Sword was nearly impossible.
Furthermore, Cheong Juhwa was immediately seized by a sense of unease and shook her head.
“I don’t particularly want to be associated with the family. So I don’t want to receive the Blue-White Sword, which is like a symbol of the family.”
“. . .I see. I understand. There was a great deal of cause and effect leading up to this moment.”
However, Cheong So-ha seemed to have already made up her mind and lifted the Blue-White Sword, placing it on the table.
“But even so, the sword has chosen you. It has responded to your will.”
“Huh? What. . .?
“I have no doubt, as we have shared many hardships together. And that means. . .”
Cheong So-ha, who had been silent for a moment, continued, looking at Cheong Juhwa with a serious expression.
“I don’t know about anyone else, but the Blue-White Sword has recognized you as a member of the Cheong family.”
“. . .What are you saying? Are you telling me to be happy that I’ve been recognized by a sword?”
“That’s not it. I just wanted to let you know that it’s your choice now.”
That’s why Cheong So-ha was asking.
Whether she would give up her status in the Cheong family and continue on a separate path.
Or whether she would accept that recognition and become the new master of the Blue-White Sword.
“The choice is entirely yours. And no one can complain about it.”
“. . . . . .”
Cheong So-ha’s demeanor had gone beyond seriousness and reached a realm that could be described as reverence.
That’s why Cheong Juhwa also put aside the resentment and grudges of the past for a moment and looked at herself to find the answer to the current situation.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.」
But when asked if she hated and cursed her own origin, it was funny, but it wasn’t.
Even if she had been forcibly renamed and had not received anyone’s recognition, she was still Cheong Juhwa.
It wasn’t something that someone else had decided, but something that she herself had thought.
That’s why, for Cheong Juhwa, the Cheong family was truly a relationship of love and hate.
“. . .I’ve decided.”
The answer came.
Cheong Juhwa immediately conveyed it with a playful smile, as if she were throwing a tantrum.
“I’ll take the Blue-White Sword. But I won’t feel any sense of obligation or responsibility to the family.”
“. . .So be it. It is now your companion, so cherish it.”
Thus, the past and future of the Cheong family were connected at this moment.
While handing over a book that summarized the experiences gained from using the Blue-White Sword, Cheong So-ha quietly asked one question.
“What do you think a sword exists for?”
“To cut, isn’t it?”
“That’s right, but it’s too basic of a usage. I’m asking about something more fundamental.”
Fundamental.
Cheong Juhwa thought hard about it, but there were too many things that came to mind, and she couldn’t easily come up with an answer.
Sensing her confusion, Cheong So-ha smiled slightly, breaking her formal demeanor for the first time.
“For me, the sword was a beacon. I intended to use this sword to enforce my will and illuminate the world. But that is not the only correct answer.”
As expected of the de facto head of the Cheong family and one of the most outstanding exorcists in South Korea, Cheong Juhwa thought it was a truly grand idea.
“In the end, you’re saying that there’s nothing set in stone.”
“That’s right. Sometimes it becomes a means, and sometimes it becomes an end in itself. In the end, the one who decides that is the one who wields the sword.”
And then Cheong So-ha slowly stood up and left her seat, uttering the words she really wanted to convey.
“When you realize that and truly draw your blade, the Blue-White Sword will respond to your will.”
.
.
.
Clang.
Shing.
It was a blade that she had already tested several times, but it was still heavy enough to make her arm drop.
“. . .How strong do you have to be to swing this around?”
Cheong Juhwa slowly extended the tip of the sword forward, grumbling to Cheong So-ha, who was somewhere in the outside world.
She couldn’t move it much, but she didn’t have to swing it in the first place.
A sword is a blade that you swing with your will.
And Cheong Juhwa had already firmly realized her own will.
「𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙞𝙨, 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙢.」
Ever since she was a child, Cheong Juhwa had wanted to become an exorcist.
There were so many mixed emotions involved, including rebellion against the oppression of the Cheong family, a sense of injustice against the world, and a desire to become someone who could eradicate such absurdity, that it was impossible to define it easily now.
But there was no need to hesitate.
No matter what, there was only one thing she had to do now.
So Cheong Juhwa chanted the incantation and immediately raised the tip of the sword, drawing on her spiritual power, and stabbed it into the ground.
With all her might, she awakened the will to repel evil spirits that had been passed down through the Cheong family in one breath.
That was the declaration of the master of the Blue-White Sword.
“Grand spell, Cheonghwajin.”
Immediately, everything in front of her was swallowed up by a clear blue light.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The first technique contained in the Blue-White Sword illuminated the world and simultaneously neutralized the Blood World Array that had filled the area with Xue Laifu.
And of course, I didn’t miss that perfect opening.
“Death Transmigration.”
Screech─!
A wave of fearsome curses swept over Xue Laifu.
Xue Laifu, who had skillfully received numerous attacks until now, seemed to be losing his composure as his opponent repeatedly caught off guard.
With Yoo Ha-on’s Faithful Broken Shadow weakening the Blood World Array, and the death energy of Death Transmigration added to that, Xue Laifu couldn’t hold it back and let out a scream possessed by evil.
“Kyaaak─!”
The light flickered, and the impact, which was impossible to measure, tore apart the surrounding ground.
Boom!
A moment later, the sight that emerged from the rising dust was Xue Laifu, sitting there as if he had lost his mind, with one arm completely consumed by the curse.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙!」
I could tell for sure.
The technique had hit perfectly, more perfectly than ever before, and Faithful Broken Shadow, imbued with the power of Anti-Demon, and Death Transmigration, which had gained karma value, had certainly dealt a fatal blow to Xue Laifu.
Xue Laifu, with a strained expression, prepared his next move, and opened his mouth in a hoarse voice.
“Ugh, ugh. Is this. . . all you got? I didn’t underestimate you, nor did I let my guard down.”
As he said, Xue Laifu had completely cornered us and almost brought us to the brink of defeat.
Just when we were convinced that we had gained some advantage, Xue Laifu raised his exhausted body and muttered in a maddened voice.
“Then now. . . I have no choice but to use my last resort.”
“What?”
Everyone attacked Xue Laifu again with weary expressions, but he didn’t even try to block it, and continued to chant even as his body fell apart.
“Kuh-huh! Oh, veins of blood! I offer all the remaining marks as a sacrifice, and manifest here using my flesh as a medium!”
The momentum rising from Xue Laifu’s entire body was extraordinary, and I was sure that we would face another crisis the moment it was completed.
To think that there was still a move left in this situation, he truly was a vicious and tenacious being.
As everyone hurriedly bit their lips, Xue Laifu’s strength suddenly drained away, and the unknown subject of consciousness disappeared.
What burst out instead was Xue Laifu’s voice, filled with bewilderment.
“W-What happened to the marks. . .? I’m sure I had gathered many more!”
“. . .This?”
Everyone turned their heads towards the voice that had suddenly interjected.
And there, stood Arietta, a peculiar aura in her hand.
She was holding a mark. That was the only way to describe it.
To be precise, it was a form created by the gathering of some kind of aura, and Xue Laifu, upon seeing it, screamed in rage.
“How! How is that possible! You took the marks from me, and you can manipulate them like that, as if. . . as if. . .”
Xue Laifu paused for a moment, then burst into hysterical laughter as if he had lost his mind and chanted in despair.
“Kuh, kuh-huh. An outsider. An outsider. This is too funny. Could such a cause and effect really exist. . .!”
Everyone looked at Xue Laifu with puzzled expressions, but only Arietta seemed to understand its meaning completely.
She stepped forward with a bitter expression and looked at the mark in her hand, opening her mouth.
“. . .When I was cornered by your attacks, I was able to capture and extract the source of your power for a brief moment. And now I think I know.”
Nodding her head, Arietta immediately turned to Xue Laifu with an unwavering expression and gave him her own answer.
“The Elixir of Immortality that made me what I am now. If we trace it back, it’s probably deeply connected to you, isn’t it?”
“Ugh, ugh. I don’t know. There’s no way I could know that. I’m literally a being of the past. But there’s no other explanation for it. . .!”
In other words, the Elixir of Immortality that Arietta was involved in also had its origins not much different from Xue Laifu.
In some form or another, Xue Laifu was involved in its origin, and that was why Xue Laifu felt a sense of kinship with Arietta, and why Arietta was able to interfere with Xue Laifu’s power.
It was a cause and effect that came about because we were later humans from the outside.
“. . .I thought it was a little strange from the beginning. We handle the same type of power, but even so, it wasn’t too unfamiliar.”
Come to think of it, the Elixir of Immortality was also an ancient artifact that had appeared in modern times through the Scapula Chamber. There was nothing illogical about it.
But it was such a bewildering thing that we had been slow to notice it.
“Your tricks absolutely require this 「𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠」, don’t they? So that’s why you retrieved the marks you had planted in other yokai before.”
“. . . . . .”
“. . .You have no more moves left. Surrender now.”
As she said that, even Xue Laifu’s eyes, which had been desperately searching for his next move, now showed a glimmer of resignation.
Seeing that, I stepped forward before finishing him off and spoke to him softly.
“Xue Laifu, I have something to ask you.”
As Han Seo-ah had said before, such powerful yokai were likely to have acquired a great deal of information in this era.
So.
“Tell me everything you know about Polar Night.”
At those words, Xue Laifu slowly raised his bowed head.
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