Chapter 25

There was no sun.

Only black ash drifted through the sky, and the corpses of stars—long dead, no longer shining—floated above.

The air was heavy.

A hot wind pressed into my lungs, leaving a taste like chewing iron dust.

The ground the Sword Immortal had cleaved wasn’t Demon Realm soil, yet it was clear who ruled this space.

I stepped forward into the void, sharp enough to slice the soles of my feet apart.

Thump. Thump.

With each step, tentacles sprouted at my sides like new life being born, only to collapse again.

Every tentacle I summoned was linked to my senses.

Without that connection, fine control would’ve been impossible.

Now I was used to it, but at first, it had been agony beyond words.

I had to survive in the Demon Realm with nothing but tentacles—tentacles sharp enough to slice apart a grown man like blades.

One of the hardest things… was eating.

I could never forget the memory of biting into my own flesh just to survive.

Giving tentacles personalities, playing with them as if they were “others”… that had only been a defense mechanism, a way to trick myself into seeing them as separate from me.

The reason a talentless man like me became strong wasn’t just thanks to the Outer God. It was because I had accepted life and death countless times.

From all that came a handful of single-digit Tentacles.

One of them, the Tentacle of Pursuit, forced others to walk the same road I had, making them endure the exact suffering I’d lived through.

I walked forward slowly.

With every step, the Sword Immortal’s jaw trembled like it might shatter.

No wounds appeared on his body.

Only his mind took on the weight of every torment I had borne.

An ordinary person would’ve collapsed from the death of a single tentacle.

An Awakened could maybe withstand a few.

But to endure fifteen years of condensed agony? Not even a mage with towering mental walls, nor a swordsman forged by endless training, could bear that.

Nine steps in total.

That was the distance I crossed before standing face-to-face with the Sword Immortal.

“I never wanted to use this on anyone short of an Archduke.”

“…”

“Inflicting on others the pain I alone should carry… isn’t that too cruel?”

“Kh…!”

The Sword Immortal’s blade had pierced through the top of his own right foot.

That he hadn’t collapsed outright was impressive.

Even I—someone who could speak coldly to Archdukes centuries old—kept my honorifics here, because this old man’s spirit was worthy of respect.

He twisted his sword and forced out words, meeting my eyes.

“Neither ability, nor magic—something more corrupted by ma (the essence of demons). What in the world is this…?”

“Eh?”

“A force even Archdukes would dread to face. And the aura I glimpsed at the very root of the image you just manifested… it was neither divine nor demonic. Something beyond both…”

“Uh… well, I’m an Awakened, you know?”

Did he sense my Outer God through the Ninth Tentacle?

As he pulled his blade free from his foot, his gaze softened compared to when we’d first met.

He no longer seemed intent on fighting. I withdrew my tentacles in turn.

The clouds parted, and dawn began to brighten the sky.

“You’re not like the scavengers who pick up the powers those decrepit things discard. Tonight, I misjudged a man.”

“Um, if you don’t mind, could you maybe—”

“Enough. If I spoke of what just happened, they’d call it the senility of an old fool. My blade could not reach the one you serve, and you have no intent to oppose me. That alone makes us… comrades enough.”

“Could you, uh, explain that a little simpler? I only finished grade school. Can’t really follow all the fancy words…”

“It means you may treat me as a friend, you ignorant brat.”

“Ahem, thank you.”

At least it seemed he’d keep my secret.

If he’d insisted on fighting to the end, it would have been a real headache.

I wanted an ally in this man—a swordsman who walked the balanced path, unafraid even of the Outer Gods.

“So, you’re serving in the Special Unit under Se-byeol now…”

“That’s right.”

“No young men trying to court her?”

“Well, there is one. Kang Ha-neul…”

Kang Ha-neul getting ambushed by mysterious swordsmen whenever he went out—that would come later.

For now, I’d gotten close to the Sword Immortal, even breaking out the 97th Tentacle, the Tentacle of Massage, kneading his shoulders like a grandkid visiting his grandfather for the holidays.

After much effort to win him over, the words I’d been waiting for finally left his mouth.

“Hmph. Come to think of it, didn’t you say you had a request?”

“Ah, right! Yes, please hear me out.”

I laid out my perfect plan.

Below, the Special Unit struggled against the Tartaruga.

We had to end this quickly and activate the magic circle.

If the Sword Immortal held off Cheon So-baek, I’d have the perfect chance to erase the foul power dwelling in his granddaughter’s body!

And since he’d already promised to keep my secret, I’d even get a bonus—full cooperation from the Old Gods’ Wound the next time they had to face an Archduke.

When I finished, the Sword Immortal rose to his feet. Then he turned suddenly, asking,

“How?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Since the Eighth Night, I’ve known something changed in Se-byeol’s body. But even your Bureau’s Commander declared the price too high to remove it.”

His tone dripped with affection for his granddaughter, yet his sharp gaze down the mountains concealed a flicker of fear.

He was worried that I—the one who’d driven him nearly to his knees—might harm Yoo Se-byeol.

It was nothing but baseless worry, but I couldn’t say anything in my defense.

Because the truth was… I’d been doting on his precious granddaughter, spoiling her with all the earnestness of someone—

Biting. Sucking. Licking.

Yeah, no way I could say that out loud. My mouth clamped shut at the thought.

“Don’t tell me…”

“No! Absolutely not! I mean, sure, it’s efficient, cost-effective, and maybe it was considered early on, but in the final decision-making process, it was NEVER—ABSOLUTELY NEVER—adopted as an option…!”

Shrrk—

His blade came free once again.

The air froze as the Sword Immortal’s glare fixed sharply on the trembling tentacle still resting on his shoulder.

It took stacking plenty of extra torment into the Tentacle of Pursuit before he finally let me talk my way out of it.

“Can’t see~ a thing~!”

“What was that, Commander?”

“I said I can’t see the damn thing! Where did the magic circle go?”

“The… magic circle?”

Cheon So-baek shielded her face from the rising sun, scowling.

The Special Unit and the Old Gods’ Wound were throwing everything they had at the Tartaruga, whose massive body was fused with Mount Cheonsan itself.

Trees and rocks steeped in mana had become its flesh and bones, giving it overwhelming defense.

Every step reshaped the terrain, while smaller Gates opened across its shell, spilling monsters onto the battlefield.

“Go for its legs!”

“Don’t let it cross the range!”

“What happened to bombardment support? Didn’t you brag about the turrets? Are they busted already?!”

“Damn it, you idiots were the ones who smashed them up!”

Members of Division 3 and Division 4 swore at each other, but still fought in sync to stop the colossal Familiar from advancing toward Seoul.

“Haaaagh!”

The Butcher of Bishkek, Alexei Mikhail Gorgochov, drove his axe into Tartaruga’s left leg.

He hauled with all his might, and the massive stone that had been reinforcing its insides ripped out along with it.

“That ability… it separates flesh from bone…”

“Heh. Bet he makes eating chicken real convenient.”

Cheon So-baek’s magic blasted the gap Alexei had opened, an explosion tearing through the wound.

At last, the Tartaruga’s balance broke. As it staggered, Special Unit members unleashed a storm of attacks from every side.

Now was the time to trigger the magic circle and bind the beast.

Cheon So-baek scoured the battlefield for Hayan as she prepared to activate it, but suddenly clutched her robe and cursed in frustration.

“Oh, for—what the hell is this now?!”

From somewhere above, a sword strike carved down, splitting space itself at the bend of her bowed head.

Dozens of Channels hovering in the air shattered at once, and spells fired skyward failed to pass through the path the blade had drawn.

On the Tartaruga’s shell, down the mountainside, an old man laughed broadly at her.

“Still the same mischievous brat. That iron lump, too—always had a taste for unusual toys, ever since you were little.”

“Ugh…!”

Cheon So-baek clicked her tongue and stepped back.

She hadn’t ruled out his appearance, but she’d thought the odds low.

The Seven Immortals rarely meddled in Gate ownership disputes.

And the Sword Immortal, who had distanced himself from the world more than anyone, least of all.

Even if some anomaly cropped up on this mountaintop stretching to the DMZ in the north, to him it was hardly a calamity.

Her instinct proved right—shock spread across even the Old Gods’ Wound as the Sword Immortal appeared.

Their officers rushed forward at once to bow in respect.

“We beg your pardon for disturbing your abode, Elder. We’ll cut off this Familiar’s head at once and drive the others back.”

“Enough. Since when has this mountain been ours to claim?”

His refusal to intervene directly reassured many.

But Cheon So-baek, standing face-to-face with the old man blocking her path, voiced her dissatisfaction.

“What do you want?”

“It’s been a while. Let’s talk. How’s the Cheon family doing?”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, old man. I’m busy.”

She had to find the magic circle. Why was he stalling her?

Cheon So-baek, frowning in irritation, suddenly realized something.

“Wait… Are you trying to block me right now?”

“You catch on quick.”

“How did you—… No, if word of the plan leaked, there’s only one source.”

It had to be Hayan. Whether he’d confessed willingly or not didn’t matter.

With a long sigh, she shrugged off her robe.

She tied her hair back with a ribbon, ignoring the Sword Immortal’s warning as she extended her mana toward the mountain range.

“Whatever deal you two made, I doubt you intend to just send that precious thing back into the dirt.”

“That’s right.”

“Let me warn you, even if I can’t beat you, I can still find that magic circle.”

There was no way Hayan had the mana to operate the circle.

That was why she had left the analysis and placement of the sigils to him from the beginning.

Once the circle was located, she could pour her mana into it remotely to seize control of the Tartaruga.

As she formed the plan in her head, the Sword Immortal suddenly laughed.

“Ku-hu-hu. So-baek, the reason you can’t reach the truth despite your brilliance is because you miss what’s right in front of you.”

“What?”

“How can you hope to build a cottage when you can’t even tell a trowel from a nail? Do you know why I came here?”

Why he came? Hadn’t it been because he sensed the Familiar’s emergence?

“It was because someone was doing strange things on this mountain.”

“Strange… things?”

“Yes. As if the land were a canvas, they’d drawn great lines across it.”

Puzzled, she watched as he sheathed his blade and spoke.

“No matter how vast your mana, pouring power into a circle that size won’t be easy.”

At the same time.

Moon Ah-rin was rattling up the mountain in the truck.

Because she’d received Hayan’s message asking her to come.

SenaChok — Please bring the truck to the spot I mentioned earlier

SenaChok — We don’t have time, hurry

SenaChok — You’re not too busy getting congratulated to check your messages, right?

SenaChok — Photo

SenaChok — Gifticon

“Hayan~ Are you there…?”

The Tartaruga had gone quiet, but driving over the back of such a massive Familiar was still terrifying.

Up above, the terrain looked like a bomb had gone off, everything twisted and rearranged.

Checking her smartwatch, she finally reached a flattened clearing.

There sat Hayan, his robe in tatters. She leapt from the truck at once, crying out.

“Hayan, this is bad!”

“Glad you’re not late. Steep climb—did you have a Class 1 license?”

“Th-that’s not the point! The other members are all saying I’m the hero of training, calling me the Saint of Salvation! It’s a huge misunderstanding, I’m nothing…!”

“Ah.”

Hayan climbed into the driver’s seat, spun the truck around the clearing, leaving tire marks, then hopped out again and opened his grimoire, glancing at the sky.

“They’re even calling me the White Tower’s hero, or Division 4’s next Commander. At this rate I’ll die of a heart attack! Please, you have to help me!”

“Of course! I’ll help. First, stand right here.”

“Here?”

“One step left. Yes, good. That’s the center of the magic circle.”

“Magic… circle?”

Obediently standing where he pointed, she blinked in confusion.

“Yes. You’ve been drawing it with me all day.”

“Me? All I remember is walking in circles around the mountain…”

“Exactly.”

“…What?”

Then came the thunderclap of his declaration.

“Moon Ah-rin, from this moment on, you are the second master of the Tartaruga.”

Her face drained of all color.