Chapter 325

“Wait, what are you trying to do?”
Ronan stirred from his reading on the couch. He was off the island, staying in a mansion he’d built on his estate.
Sunlight streamed in through the window and across the living room. Adeshan was about to descend the stairs that led to the basement when he stopped in his tracks.
“Huh? I haven’t been to the warehouse in a while.”
“What’s with the duster and dishcloth?”
“I just thought I’d do a little cleaning. What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. It had been three months since she’d been to Nimbuton, and Adeshan’s belly had swelled to a noticeable size. Ronan shook his head.
“Don’t do anything stupid, sit down, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Oh my God, I can’t get out much because I’m so heavy, but at least let me do some chores.”
Adeshan said grumpily. He could understand her concern, but Ronan’s overprotection was a bit much. Ronan, once a wild wolf, had become a bumbler to rival Schlieffen since his pregnancy. He lunged forward and picked Adeshan up like a princess.
“I understand the sentiment, but not now. Ugh.”
“Yikes!”
Adeshan let out a short scream, not one of fear or dislike, of course, but one of intense happiness.
Turning on his heel, Ronan laid Adeshan down on the couch he had been sitting on. She giggled as he placed a hand on her stomach.
“You should know how much your dad loves you.”
“I am in love with you, Adeshan.”
“Don’t say that. You haven’t even had your first child and you want to make a second.”
Adeshan smiled. Usually, having children makes you fat and your hair frizzy, but she was still beautiful. They say a woman becomes beautiful when she loves.
If he got in the mood, he might just do it. Ronan, who kissed her forehead wordlessly, pointed out the window.
“If you’re bored, go for a walk, you’ve done a great job.”
Beyond the glass windows stretched a vast garden. The grounds of Valtouré, barren in the winter, were bright green in the summer sun. Wildflowers that Adeshan had sown were blooming everywhere.
“Yeah. I will. Thanks.”
“I’ll be right out.”
Adeshan nodded. Ronan handed her the yangsan, and only then did she feel relieved to step into the cellar. The dark space, which doubled as a storage room, was, as he’d expected, covered in a fine layer of dust.
“You did a good job of drying it.
He had forbidden the servants to clean it because it contained so many personal items. Ronan looked around the storeroom, brushing off dust and cobwebs. He looked at a shelf.
“This is—.”
Ronan’s eyes narrowed as he spotted something. Five watermelon-sized statues lined up in a row, shattered. In the middle of the debris lay a piece of paper with red writing on a yellow background.
They were the sealing stones of the New World that Sita had once bitten. All but one were horribly shattered, and the cause was unknown.
Ronan, puzzled, was about to touch the only surviving statue. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the statue collapsed.
As if the being that sealed the power had died. His brow furrowed, and he let out a curse word.
“What the hell.”
****
The white moon was beautiful. A huge lake loomed under the still-black evening sky. A dense broadleaf forest surrounded the shore.
It was Qingya Lake, one of the magical landscapes of the New World. It was a scenic and fish-rich vacation spot that attracted many people a hundred years ago, but after the rise of the Fukuma Warriors, it was completely abandoned.
“Oh, if you don’t come out, there’s nothing I can do.”
Asel floated above such a lake. Muttering to himself, he reached out for another moon, this one rising from the surface. It was a tugging motion.
“Kaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A gut-wrenching roar echoed from the bottom of the lake. Countless fish leaped to the surface. Soon, the water’s surface ripped open to reveal the head of a giant salamander.
“How dare you, how dare you do this to me, the Four Heavenly Kings of the Flying Horse Warriors!”
The salamander screamed. At the same time, a purple mist of poison poured from its gaping maw. It was a venom that would kill a human with a single swallow, but not a single particle passed through Asel’s shield.
Ignoring the poisonous fog, Asel continued his salvage operation. With a short incantation, the salamander’s body was uprooted from beneath the water. Asel gulped at the sight of the absurdly large body.
“Hee hee—! Sin, I’m sorry!”
“I will definitely remember your face!”
It was only a whale, with a tail the length of a whale. The amphibian’s slippery skin glistened in the moonlight. The salamander struggled to get back into the water, but it was no match for Asel’s telekinesis. Marja, watching the spectacle from the lakeshore, spoke up.
“The main unit will be inside.”
“Ugh.”
Asel nodded, and with a flick of his finger, an invisible fist slammed into the salamander’s stomach. With a bang, the salamander gagged, and a chunk of something popped out of its gaping maw.
“Off!”
The telekinetic mass screamed in agony. It was an old man, perhaps a hundred years old.
A black robe, the symbol of the Bokmajeon, was draped over his slender body. As the old man stepped out, the turbidity that had engulfed the salamander’s eyes vanished.
“You win!”
“Don’t get caught now.”
Asel released his grip on the salamander while still holding the old man. The salamander dropped and disappeared in a splash as large as his own body. The old man, now crippled, breathed out his embarrassment.
“Uh, how did you—!”
“It’s obvious, you’re going to capture a spirit and harass it.”
Marja laughed. She and Asel had been dealing with the Bokuma for three months now, and she had grown accustomed to their methods. The villains brainwashed their powerful beasts, the so-called spirits, into being vicious.
Looking back, a lot has happened in the past three months. Ever since they received the offer from one of the most prominent organizations in the New World, the Young Wolves, they have put aside their top jobs and focused their energies on hunting down the Fist of Fate.
It was not charity, of course, but a way to expand their influence in the New World. The extermination was nearing its end, and there was no better publicity than helping those who had fallen into disrepute.
‘It’s only a matter of time, given that it’s the Four Thousand King.
At this rate, it was no longer a pipe dream that the top of Caravelle would become the new colossus of the New World. All because of Asel. Marja looked up at him with affection in her eyes.
“Do you think I’ll take this!”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the old man extended his index finger toward Marja. A mass of mana, or qigong as it’s called here, shot out in a straight line.
“Ugh—!”
Marja drew her greatsword just in time to see the mass explode around her. A huge plume of water, several meters in diameter, shot up into the sky. Asel’s eyes widened.
“Marja!”
“Kahahaha, you let your guard down, this is what you get for caring only about your own well-being!”
The old man burst into laughter. A huge pit had been dug right where the qigong had struck. Chaaaaaa–the pillar of water that had risen to the clouds collapsed, pouring black rain. Despair washed over Asel’s face.
“Oh, my God. You almost killed me.”
Suddenly, Marja’s voice rang out. Soon she appeared from behind a huge tree. Luckily, I managed to get out of the way before I was caught in the blast.
“Mara, Mara—! Are you okay?!”
“Sure. That’s perfectly fine.”
Asel cringed. Marja reached out and made the V sign, giving him a pleasant smile. The old man’s face turned grim when he saw she was still alive.
“What!”
It couldn’t be happening. Marja was about to say something about being a man and having so many tears. Asel looked back at the old man, his expression grim.
“—You.”
“What, what?”
The old man’s shoulders slumped. The atmosphere was completely different from that of Nara. He sensed the unusual energy and looked for a way to escape. The force holding the old man in place suddenly increased in strength.
“Kahhhhhh!”
Blood spurted from the old man’s mouth. The sound of breaking bones echoed sporadically throughout his overpowered body. Suddenly aware of the shaking beneath her feet, Marja cried out in panic.
“Whoa, what the hell!”
It was like an earthquake. A strange translucent force field enveloped her body. It was a shield to keep her from getting caught up in Asel’s massive spellcasting. Glancing back and forth between him and the old man, Marja smirked.
“You are now dead.”
“Get off me, get off me, get off me!”
The old man was screaming, his vocal cords torn. His body, still rising, stopped near the clouds. Asel, still chanting, raised his palms upward. The trees and ground around him ripped away from the ground and began to rise into the air.
“What the—!”
The old man was astonished. He had never seen or heard of such a martial art before. The whole landscape had changed.
Asel stared at the old man, still. He didn’t intend to be gentle. The continent of the East valued the compatibility of elements. Fire was subdued by water, water by earth, earth by wood, wood by metal. Finally, metal was to be subdued by fire again.
The old man’s primary attributes were either water or earth. When he finished calculating, he clasped his palms together like a snowball. The floating earth and trees shot toward him in unison.
“That, stop it!”
The old man cried out. Asel did not answer. A mountain’s worth of dirt and trees began to crash into him, targeting his body.
“——!”
The roar drowned out the old man’s cries. It was as if a new star was being formed. Soon, a giant sphere formed beneath the moon.
“Eternal plotting.”
After completing the sphere, Asel cast a new spell. It was a spell that gave objects a semi-permanent floating property. The mana from Asel’s fingertips enveloped the sphere.
Unless something happened now, the sphere that held the old man would remain here forever. It was a sight to behold, glowing black in the backlight. Finished, Asel landed in front of Marja.
“Marja! Are you sure you’re okay? Are you hurt?”
“So they say it’s okay. I’m fine.”
Asel asked for her well-being with tears in his eyes. Marja hugged him wordlessly. She seemed a different person than she had been when she’d hugged the old man.
The gap in this expression drove people crazy. The tears on her lashes were beautiful. Marja, still staring down at him, laughed in disbelief.
“Oh man. You’ve got me hooked.”
“Huh?
Suddenly, Marja grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him roughly to her. Before he had time to say anything, their lips met. Their tongues tangled for a moment, then their mouths parted.
“Pooh-ha, now, wait a minute, we can’t do that here—!”
“Shut up.”
Wiping the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, Marja shoved Asel, knocking him to the ground. He shouted something, but it was drowned out by the lapping of the lake. Night was falling in the New World.