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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐𝟔
“Hmm?”
As soon as Cheong Un-cheol noticed the ritual circle unfolding on the ground, Cheong Juhwa and I simultaneously grasped blue talismans and began forming a spell.
According to a quick confirmation I had made earlier, Cheong Un-cheol was level 61.
There was no way we could escape from him with just any technique.
So we had to take a gamble here. Cheong Juhwa seemed to sense this instinctively.
“Your teamwork is impressive, but I’ve already noticed you. What are you going to do now?”
There was nothing we could do.
I glanced at the other side and saw that Cheong Juhwa was planning to use an intermediate or higher-level spell with the cheongwoon talisman.
In that case, I had no choice but to match her, come what may.
「. . .𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝.」
As I had mentioned before, amplifying the power of a spell with Cheong Woon’s talisman made it difficult to control even low-level spells.
But that wasn’t enough right now.
I had to control an intermediate or higher-level spell, no matter what.
That’s why I decided to choose the optimal spell that posed the least risk in the current situation.
Whoosh.
“. . .Azure Serpent Binding.”
Fire!
As I breathed spiritual power into the spell, the talisman began to glow with blue spiritual power, like a spark.
As I had expected, it was quite difficult. I almost lost control several times during the roughly 1 second it took for the spell to fully deploy.
However, the spell was completed, albeit with slightly misaligned aim.
Since it was a vision spell of Cheong Woon’s own creation, I thought it would be compatible, and it seemed I was right.
Screech!
Crash!
Soon, chains of spiritual power began to shoot out of the talisman like bullets cutting through the air.
Rumble!
Boom!
Thud!
Smash!
“Huh, this is more than, tsk!”
Cheong Un-cheol had already prepared for this, but that turned out to be a mistake.
Crunch!
The defensive spell he had deployed, prioritizing speed, was unable to withstand my amplified spell, and Cheong Un-cheol ended up quickly dodging the chains with a click of his tongue, using the power of a physical strengthening spell he had prepared in advance.
However, behind Cheong Un-cheol was Cheong Juhwa, who had been waiting patiently for an opportunity.
She seized the moment when Cheong Un-cheol was taken aback by the unexpected power and fired her follow-up attack precisely.
“Azure Serpent Binding!”
Whoosh.
Rumble!
Smash!
Coincidentally, the spell Cheong Juhwa had chosen was the same binding vision of Cheong Woon’s legacy as mine.
In addition, additional chains extended from the ritual circle she had drawn on the ground, binding Cheong Un-cheol’s feet.
“Tsk.”
Faced with a dilemma, Cheong Un-cheol finally let out a small sigh and stopped dodging, facing the chains shooting at him head-on.
Boom!
Thud!
Screech!
Of course, he wouldn’t take much damage since he was who he was, but this gave us a chance to escape.
We turned around without hesitation and started running.
Whoosh.
Rumble!
“Grab my hand!”
Cheong Juhwa, who had embedded a chain of spiritual power in a tree far away, shouted at me.
It seemed she intended to escape all at once, like using a rope.
“. . .I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Whoosh!
Cheong Un-cheol’s subordinates, who seemed to be exorcists, followed us quickly without missing a beat.
I checked briefly and saw that they were all skilled enough to easily surpass level 40.
Watching them deploy spells from behind, I drew spiritual power and stomped my foot on the ground.
Boom!
“Huh?”
Then, the ground began to rise here and there, throwing off the exorcists’ balance.
It wasn’t very powerful, but it was the effect of a nature spell I had used through the Mental Spellbook trait.
“Ugh. . . . . . !”
In the end, Cheong Un-cheol’s subordinates missed their last chance, and I quickly escaped with Cheong Juhwa, who had grabbed my hand, using her spell.
For the time being, we had managed to overcome the first crisis.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Cheong Yun-seo was an exorcist who served as Cheong Un-cheol’s aide, the second-in-command of Cheong Gi-beom’s faction, thanks to her outstanding ability to handle affairs.
Having failed to capture Han Kang-yoon and Cheong Juhwa and seeing them off just now, she sighed and spoke to Cheong Un-cheol, who was walking towards her confidently, having broken all the spells at some point.
“You seemed so reluctant when Elder Gi-beom gave the order, but did you let them go on purpose?”
“. . .Hmm, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. There’s no way Un-cheol-nim would be held back by mere novices who haven’t even graduated from the academy.”
However, Cheong Un-cheol’s expression as he listened to Cheong Yun-seo’s words was strange.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. If you’re blaming me for not giving it my all, I have nothing to say, but I didn’t have much room to exert my strength in the first place.”
“. . .So, are you saying that they really are that skilled?”
“Well, they’re not strong enough to fight me. But one thing is for sure: both of them have already far surpassed the skills of their peers.”
Cheong Un-cheol clicked his tongue lightly and continued, his expression unreadable.
“I don’t know how they did it, but their spells were strange. They were the same unique spells of Cheong Woon’s legacy, but they were much more violent and powerful than I knew.”
“. . .Certainly, there was something strange about the Azure Serpent Binding just now.”
“At first, I thought it was just Cheong Do-yool’s desperate attempt to shift blame, but now I’m wondering if there’s something else we don’t know about.”
Cheong Yun-seo nodded slightly, impressed by Cheong Un-cheol’s words, which implied numerous possibilities.
Cheong Un-cheol was known as the fool of Cheong Gi-beom’s faction among other forces, but his intuition and insight were undeniable.
“So what should we do from now on?”
“Hmm. Let’s just watch the situation for now. They’re not the kind of people who can be caught so easily, anyway. Not after they escaped from me.”
“. . . . . . .”
It wasn’t a wrong statement, but Cheong Yun-seo, who had to report to Cheong Gi-beom, wasn’t very happy about it. Cheong Yun-seo sighed softly and muttered to herself.
“. . .Even so, it would have been better if they had been caught by us.”
“That’s true.”
Cheong Gi-beom’s faction had planned to use Cheong Juhwa as a bargaining chip, but the other side clearly had a more aggressive goal.
If they encountered Cheong Do-yool’s exorcists, they might end up in a life-or-death fight right away.
After observing the situation for a while, Cheong Un-cheol called his subordinates and said meaningfully as he left.
“. . .It’s strange, though. I heard that she was born of violation of the family taboo, being full of impurity.”
“Is there something wrong?”
Cheong Yun-seo nodded at Cheong Un-cheol’s question.
She thought that he was probably the only one among their group who had faced them directly and could feel it.
“Then what is it. . . . . . ?”
“Well.”
To Cheong Do-yool’s faction, including Cheong Do-yool himself, she was a symbol of impurity that was unpleasant even to mention, but to Cheong Un-cheol, on the contrary.
“. . .She seemed to be more blessed by the blood of the family than anyone else of this generation. That’s how talented she was.”
Cheong Yun-seo couldn’t help but swallow her saliva unconsciously at his unusually solemn words.
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“. . .What should we do now?”
After putting some distance between themselves and Cheong Un-cheol’s group, Cheong Juhwa, who had been pondering for a while, spoke with a troubled expression.
Certainly, judging from the current situation, it was reasonable to assume that the exorcists sent by Cheong So-ha had been detained by someone.
At the very least, they would be in a situation where they couldn’t join us right away.
「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙢𝙖.」
Not to mention, Cheong So-ha, who could be considered our strongest force right now, hadn’t been reachable since earlier. That meant we didn’t have much time to spare.
“Hiding in a secluded place might buy us some time, but it won’t work against skilled people above a certain level, like just now.”
“That’s true.”
Besides, the encirclement itself would gradually narrow, so it would be difficult to use the same method multiple times.
In the end, we had to join forces with a group that would protect us first and foremost, or we wouldn’t have any way out.
As I was contemplating the options for a moment, Cheong Juhwa, who had a hardened expression next to me, spoke again.
“. . .What did I do wrong for those people to do this to me?”
Well, from Cheong Juhwa’s point of view, it must have been something she couldn’t understand. She was literally just born into the world like everyone else.
“It’s frustrating now, but it’s futile.”
“Cheong Do-yool is just targeting you to protect his position. You don’t have to worry about it.”
I said that, but of course she couldn’t help but worry. It wasn’t easy for anyone to experience the malice of so many people like this.
Besides, she had been in that situation ever since she was a child.
“I changed my name and lived like a mouse, but I guess that was just a simple escape.”
She seemed to be discouraged at first glance, but I, who had been watching over her for a long time, could feel the strong will hidden in her eyes.
“To change all this, I can’t just distance myself from the family and turn my back on them.”
“. . . . . . .”
“You must have thought so too, right? For a long time now.”
Cheong Juhwa had reached the vision of the future that I had been secretly planning, it seemed.
And her words were correct. In the end, to break her unreasonable position, she had no choice but to grow stronger within the family and rise to the top.
Cheong Juhwa looked at me with a mixture of doubt and agreement when she saw my reaction.
“And for some reason, that’s what you need.”
“. . .That’s about right.”
“I’ve thought so before, but you really do think big.”
Cheong Juhwa, who had uttered those words, had lost her hesitation at some point.
She probably had a clear idea of the path she would take from now on.
“To do that, we have to overcome the current situation somehow.”
I looked at Cheong Juhwa in silence and quickly came up with an answer, I soon organized the thoughts that had been clashing countless times in my head.
“I have an idea.”
“. . .Already?”
“I thought of something when I heard what you said.”
As Cheong Juhwa had said, there was an old saying that to catch a tiger, one must enter the tiger’s den.
I turned around and changed my destination, quickly starting to walk again.
Cheong Juhwa, who saw this, widened her eyes and asked what I was doing.
“Why are you suddenly going that way? That way is clearly. . . . . . .”
Her reaction was only natural.
The place I was now heading towards was the exact opposite of the path we had taken until now—in other words, the direction of Cheong Un-cheol’s group, with whom we had just had a fight.