11 — Chapter 11

Friday afternoon, with the second deadline looming just around the corner.

I was, as always, pouring myself into training.

Some might scoff—what’s the point of sweating it out when I’d already beaten down an Archduke? But that was just ignorance talking.

Muscles weakened if you didn’t use them, and tentacles always went all out, even against goblins.

There was only one good place in the Special Unit where I could train in secret without anyone noticing my ability.

“Hey! You’ve finished your quota—take a break already!”

“I’ll just move these last boxes, sir.”

“Just call me team leader. You’ve got some grit for a young one.”

The logistics warehouse of Division 6.

Supplies piled like mountains were sorted by type and loaded onto trucks bound for disaster zones all across the country.

As I worked tirelessly loading and unloading, the Division 6 Commander, Seong Gwan-il, handed me a bottle of water with a look of pride.

“Good work. If only you’d done this well during the test. You’re so good I wish I could pull strings to get you into our unit—but I’ve already used up my Oaths.”

“Thank you, but I’ll accept only the sentiment.”

“Don’t say that. Once you’re assigned, get in touch and I’ll look out for you. Seriously though, this is impressive. Mages from the Magic Tower don’t even set foot in Division 6, and yet you—you’re using some spell, right?”

“Well, something like that.”

He marveled at the sight of supplies streaming down dozens of conveyor belts and stacking themselves neatly without a single error.

In truth, I hadn’t used a speck of mana.

It was just my 77th Tentacle—the Tentacle of Transparency.

Aside from being invisible, it had no special abilities. But to others, it would look like some form of telekinesis. Suspicion-free.

“Then take care, team leader!”

“Yeah, good work!”

With Seong Gwan-il’s parting gift—an armful of nearly expired combat rations—I headed for my dorm feeling satisfied.

With this much, I could live off it for half a year even if I didn’t make the Special Unit.

Ha Yeri’s Oath was still in my pocket, but I wasn’t without conscience.

After failing every test, parachuting in through favoritism would just mean stealing someone else’s seat.

It was only natural that every time I looked at my pitiful results, I wondered if I should’ve left my dream as just that—a dream.

“Maybe I don’t deserve to be a Special Unit soldier. The only things I’m good at are fighting demons… and making takoyaki without flour.”

『Fear not.』

“You say that’s enough? But I’m not so sure anymore. Before my weakness gets exposed any further…”

Leaving now might not be such a bad idea.

As if sensing my heavy decision, Mala-nim extended a tiny tentacle, wrapping around my finger.

Maybe they knew the lonely, grueling road that lay ahead.

My only companion, once again, offered that warm phrase.

『Are you afraid?』

“No! This has absolutely nothing to do with being sick of the cafeteria menu! It’s not because Commander Seong Gwan-il told me Division 6 warned that, after a Deep Sea Gate appeared off the East Sea, we’ll be eating nothing but octopus and squid starting next month! Definitely not!”

『Fear not!!!』

Damn, busted!

They’d taken my pulse and caught the lie—checking it like some terrifying polygraph.

As expected of the Outer God of Tentacles. What a fearsome touch (pun intended)!

I pressed down on my writhing right arm, looking like it was possessed by a parasite, and quickly changed the subject.

“A-anyway, when’s Division 3’s exam going to open? Today’s supposed to be the last chance…”

『Fear not.』

“Huh?”

At that moment, just as Mala-nim spoke, I lifted my head and spotted a familiar face walking through the Bureau’s front doors.

Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol of Division 3—the one I’d been waiting for.

Excited, I started to run over and greet her—only to slam face-first into an invisible wall.

Thud! Combat rations burst out of the box I was carrying, scattering across the floor.

“H-Hayan, are you okay?”

“Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol…!”

“Why’d you dash into the revolving door like that? You scared me.”

“Ah…”

It had been so long since I’d seen a transparent door… but I couldn’t exactly say that.

Se-byeol pushed the door from the opposite side and came in, crouching to help me gather the spilled rations.

Forcing down what looked like exhaustion, she asked me quietly.

“Good timing. I was looking for you anyway. Remember that robe from the Elder Lich? I got official clearance for it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But remember? They said there’d be conditions…”

I remembered.

Not that it mattered—I wanted it whether there were conditions or not.

Back in the Demon Realm, I didn’t even have scraps of cloth. Now I was stuck living with nothing but the standard-issue tracksuit. Without a robe, even secretly weaving hand seals with tentacles was a pain.

“There’s something I didn’t get to say last time.”

“Yes?”

“If… if you don’t mind, how about joining Special Unit Division 3? I’ll give you this as payment.”

“An Oath…?”

Maybe it was because of how similar the other commanders had acted. The word just slipped out of my mouth automatically.

“No, no! It’s just a recommendation. An Oath? Do you… need one?”

“No, not at all! I’ve been waiting for Division 3’s test anyway.”

“Really? Good, that’s a relief. I was worried I was too late and you’d gone somewhere else.”

“I just thought you were about to hand it over like the others did out of the blue… but it’s fine. I should pass on my own merit.”

“…Huh?”

Because from the start, the place I’d aimed for was none other than the Frontline Breakthrough Unit.

This time, I was going to prove my worth and get my name on that scoreboard fair and square.

“You… you already got one? Someone gave you an Oath… already?”

Hearing that, Yoo Se-byeol froze, her face twisting in shock as if the entire world had been stolen from her.

---

“Ready?”

“Uh, well…”

Somehow, I was now standing across from Yoo Se-byeol, who was holding a wooden practice sword.

No matter how I retraced it, I couldn’t figure out how it had come to this.

I remembered her face hardening when Oaths were mentioned, her trembling voice saying, ‘Fight me right now. If you lose, you’re coming to Division 3.’

Next thing I knew, I was at the Division 3 training grounds. Judging from the gaps in my memory, I must’ve been knocked out and dragged here. Between flashes, I recalled mutters like ‘It was stolen from me’ or ‘I asked first.’

Anyway, it was terrifying.

“Just grab anything behind you and come at me. Our test is simple—one-on-one dueling.”

“I’m a mage. I don’t use swords.”

“So you’re saying you’d rather die than join Division 3?”

“I never said that…”

Yoo Se-byeol’s eyes were half-dead as she gripped her sword. With no choice, I pulled out a wooden one myself.

Normally, the closest I got to using one was leaning on it like a walking stick.

But honestly, I’d been wanting to test myself against her anyway.

Because I had to find a way to extract the Star Scar from her.

So far, I’d stripped Archdukes of theirs after overwhelming them in battle. I had a vague conviction that fighting her might reveal the method, too.

“Of course, unlike them, I can’t push her to the brink of death or soul extinction. I’ll have to approach carefully.”

『Fear not.』

I ignored Mala-nim’s lazy suggestion… ‘Too much trouble, just kill her.’ …and stepped onto the dojo floor.

Feeling me accept the duel, Yoo Se-byeol relaxed slightly, then shifted her stance and raised her blade.

Her posture was flawless.

If she released sword aura, her talent would easily brush the entry of the Upper Level.

“I’ll control my strength. But I won’t hold back… not ever.”

“…Please go easy on me.”

If that was the case, then I had to draw out everything she had.

I began to slowly pull up my mana.

Officially, the only magic I could publicly use was third-rank White and Black Magic.

But that alone wasn’t enough to probe her limits.

So the moment Yoo Se-byeol closed in with that blinding speed of hers—the same she’d shown against the Elder Lich—I formed different hand seals with each hand, blocking her approach.

“Extreme Magic—Endless Outer Path.”

The space between us stretched, granting every attack she launched an uncloseable distance.

This was the spell I’d meant to test on the Magical Siege Turret back in Division 4’s exam.

The wooden sword that should’ve cut right into my neck instead sliced through empty air.

Taking advantage of her brief confusion, I slipped out my 77th Tentacle and brought it down from the front.

Trusting in her scabbard, she had braced for a magical counterattack—but when an invisible tentacle slammed into her, Yoo Se-byeol dropped to one knee.

“Hmph, that won’t work on m—urk!?”

Just because something was invisible didn’t mean it had to be magic.

Clearly, despite her talent, she lacked experience.

But I knew it wouldn’t work twice, so I quickly recalled the tentacle.

Then I noticed she was gathering mana in her still-unbent leg.

The Magical Siege Turret had collapsed before I could truly test Endless Outer Path, so I’d never seen how it held against a counter. But this time would be different.

“Watch your head, Hayan. If this lands, it’ll hurt.”

With that, she stepped in—and this time her speed shot up.

Her technique wasn’t just swordsmanship—it was a blend of ability and martial art, like the way I fused tentacles with magic.

My guess: it was the ability known as Earth Pulse Step, a legacy technique of The Old Gods’ Wound. Like a step technique that compressed space underfoot.

She had forced herself up to Middle Level in a burst of power.

Admiring how smoothly she shifted gears, I released Endless Outer Path.

“Eek!?”

“Careful there.”

“Y-you…!”

“Apologies. I lost control—my spell unraveled.”

She crashed into me at full speed.

Even though I twisted to soften the blow, the one who hurt more was me—the mage.

I thought about cushioning it with a tentacle, but her senses were sharp. Too risky.

For a few short seconds, I caught everything—her reddened nose, her eyes glistening, tiny tears trembling at the ends of her long lashes.

When our gazes locked, she panicked, averting her eyes in disarray—choosing the shortest escape, closing them.

That was when I found it.

Slip—

I raised a hand toward her face, and a white tentacle brushed against the corner of her eye.

It vanished just as quickly, but when she reopened them, her beautiful pupils rippled like a lake, filled with resentment, self-mockery, and flustered confusion.

“Wh-what was that. That didn’t feel like comfort at all.”

“I didn’t do anything. Something bothering you?”

“It’s that way you clam up that irritates me most. We’re not finished yet—fight me.”

“……”

Her grip tightened again around her sword.

Meanwhile, I felt it—the stirring of Mala-nim, regaining a fragment of power that had been stolen. And with it, the answer.

“So it’s bodily fluids… Absorbing them is the key. I understand now.”

『Fear not.』

“Hm. There’s a far better method than… that kind of obscene act too shameful to even say aloud. Ever heard of a blood transfusion?”

『Fear not.』

I ignored Mala-nim’s unhelpful suggestion for how to extract the Star Scar from Yoo Se-byeol and blocked her next attack.

“Extreme Magic—Singularity.”

I scattered singularities like floating mines, forcing her sword into restricted paths.

But Yoo Se-byeol’s wooden blade danced strangely, predicting the future 1.2 seconds ahead.

A flurry of strikes, rushing at my vital points like a raging torrent.

I didn’t panic. Calmly dodging, I once again stretched the distance with Endless Outer Path.

“How long are you just going to keep running?”

“Until I find a way to defeat you, Deputy Commander.”

“…Do you hate me that much?”

“No, it’s not that… I’m just caught between pressures on both sides. What I meant is—it’ll be over soon.”

Her stance didn’t falter, but her emotions bled into her mana, releasing an impure stench that prickled my nose.

If it was like this… maybe I could risk something stronger.

After all, she carried the Incarnation of an Archduke. My fighting spirit began to boil again.

As Yoo Se-byeol closed in with her step technique, I extended my left hand this time.

Black Magic—Touch of Darkness.

A spectral third hand controlled by thought alone, cursing anything it touched.

It was third-rank magic. Her scabbard might reduce its power, but it couldn’t completely deflect it.

Hemmed in by my Singularities, she chose to break through head-on.

“Tricks won’t work on me now!”

In a flash, her sword cleaved the violet fingers like brittle sticks. Some grazed her shoulder and knee, but the spell’s core shattered and dissipated.

Then she was right before me, lifting her sword overhead for the finishing blow.

I raised the same hand that had cast the spell, posing like a terrified mage trying to block.

Through my fingers, I caught the corners of her lips curling upward, as if certain of victory.

“Splendid. But you won’t defeat me here today.”

“What?”

“Because…”

Nothing blinded more than ignorance itself.

Extreme Magic—Karmic Recognition.

The dojo’s lights flickered out, and Yoo Se-byeol’s vision went pitch black.

The spell imposed restrictions equal to the opponent’s ignorance of their own essence.

If conditions aligned, it was both the perfect defense and the perfect attack. It was also one of the reasons I could conceal my tentacle ability.

Even Archdukes who threw everything at me couldn’t bring me down because of this.

The magic applied to both caster and target, but unlike her, I already knew much about Yoo Se-byeol.

Not enough to toy with her frozen body at will—but enough to cast one more spell.

I aimed at the midpoint of her wooden sword.

Breaking it just slightly would be enough.

But then…

I noticed something strange.

Her sword began to lower.

Or rather, everything in the dojo was rising upward around the axis of her downward swing.

Even my Singularities failed to connect with her weapon.

“Oh… this is?”

『Fear not.』

“So the Sword Immortal’s granddaughter truly does have this much willpower. Or perhaps it’s because she bears the Incarnation of an Archduke.”

There were many ways to break through Singularity, but the simplest was to twist the entire domain itself.

The 36th-ranked Archduke, Stolas, nullified mine with a technique called Celestial Shift.

What Yoo Se-byeol had just shown was similar.

I didn’t know its name, but it was certainly akin to Heaven-and-Earth Transposition—a martial art that shifted sky and ground.

Watching the beautiful slow arc of her descending sword, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Look, Mala-nim. One day, that blade will reach even the neck of an Archduke.”

『Fear not.』

But not yet.

Mala-nim, clearly bored, urged me to finish it already.

“True enough.”

I nodded calmly and shattered her sword with a second Singularity.