Chapter 477: Astarotte (8)

In the land of the elves, Greynif—within the royal palace, Fildagreen—

as always, Rine was absorbed in reading through her library.

And then, at some point—

she opened her closed eyes and—

“It’s been a while.”

murmured quietly.

Though there was no one in the room, Rine spoke aloud.

It looked strange—but right after—

“Oh my, you knew?”

“Of course.”

“How?”

“Hmm... intuition, maybe?”

Before anyone realized it, Yutia was standing in front of her.

Yutia looked at Rine with a hint of surprise.

“...I heard you were on the Empire’s side, Yutia.”

“Mm, that’s right.”

“...Don’t you think it’s a bit tight on time to come all the way here?”

“Hmm— I guess so?”

Yutia answered without hesitation.

At that, Rine looked at her with a subtle expression and continued.

“...You’re not even trying to hide your power, are you?”

At those words, layered with multiple meanings, Yutia looked at Rine silently for a moment—then gave a faint smile.

“Not even trying?”

“......”

“Maybe if you didn’t know—but you already do, don’t you?”

Rine’s expression grew even more complex.

That was only natural.

She had never once told Yutia about her own changes.

After holding that expression for a moment, Rine let out a quiet sigh.

“To be honest, I did expect you’d know to some extent.”

“I knew too. I mean— you’re smart, and your ability is what it is.”

“I figured you’d be the first to realize,” Yutia added in a quiet murmur.

Rine naturally rose and moved toward the table where Yutia sat.

Sitting across from her, Rine poured tea into Yutia’s cup.

Yutia drank the tea silently.

A brief silence passed between them.

Rine, who had been watching her intently, parted her lips.

“...Will it be alright?”

“Which part?”

“The Divine blood Teacher went to deal with this time. With Seollang.”

“Hmm—”

Yutia tapped her slender fingers lightly on the table.

But—

“To be honest, I’m not sure.”

“...You’re not sure?”

“Well— it’s not something I’ve ‘experienced,’ after all. There’s only so much I can do. But— honestly, I don’t think you need to worry that much.”

“...Because Seollang is there?”

“Yeah.”

Yutia nodded without much concern.

Seeing that, doubt rose in Rine.

“...Seollang’s condition didn’t look good, even if I’m being generous.”

“Mm— that’s true.”

“...Isn’t there a chance some variable could arise?”

“If you think that way, maybe. But—”

Yutia paused briefly, then spoke again, still wearing that calm smile.

“Probably not.”

“...You’re saying there won’t be any variables at all?”

“Yeah.”

“...Why?”

Rine was puzzled.

Yutia let out a soft “hmm” and looked at her.

As if she had grasped Rine’s state perfectly, a faintly amused smile formed on Yutia’s lips.

“Rine.”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to know what generation Seollang is?”

“...If you mean the essence of the Golden Mane Tribe?”

“Yeah.”

“As far as I know, counting exactly, Seollang is the 27th.”

At Rine’s answer, Yutia smiled in a way that was hard to read.

“You’re wrong, Rine.”

“...Wrong?”

“Yeah. She’s the 28th.”

At that answer, Rine’s eyes widened slightly.

“...The 28th?”

“Yeah.”

“That can’t be right. She’s the 27th. Including her, there have only been 27 users.”

Even as she said it, Rine ran through the calculation again.

The result didn’t change.

Seollang was the 27th inheritor.

And so she looked at Yutia, unable to understand—

“Even so, she’s the 28th. That doesn’t change.”

Yutia only repeated the same words, sounding amused.

Rine stood there, lost in thought for a moment—

“...!”

Then suddenly realized something, her expression shifting in shock.

But before she could say anything—

“And besides—”

“......”

“Even if my prediction is wrong, you’re not planning to just sit still, are you?”

“......”

“The others are the same, too.”

Yutia’s voice came first.

At those words, Rine fell silent.

And at that silence, Yutia smiled.

“Of course, I trust Teacher.”

She murmured quietly, taking another sip of tea.

####

All the Divine blood fell silent.

No—more precisely, they had no choice but to.

What Seollang had just shown was enough to leave everyone there in shock.

But what shocked them even more—

“......”

was Seollang’s attitude.

Even after delivering that impossible attack,

her expression was utterly calm.

As if she had merely done something obvious.

That expression overwhelmed the Divine blood.

[What is this—]

Even the Descended One, for a moment, was overwhelmed by that composure.

But only for a moment.

Creak—

Realizing it had felt something like that, its pride cracked, and it clenched its fist tightly.

Soon after, it moved.

But the place it rushed toward was not Seollang—

[!!]

[It’s coming—!]

—but the Divine blood gathered together.

To absorb them.

Of course, the Descended One had not yet fought Seollang properly.

But even so, it had already realized something.

That if it fought Seollang now, it would not end well.

And so, no matter how much it hurt its pride, it chose practicality—

to absorb even more Divine blood and match Seollang’s level.

No—

it had intended to.

If Seollang hadn’t appeared right in front of it.

[!]

A chilling sensation wrapped around the Descended One’s entire body.

She hadn’t done anything.

She had simply appeared before it, preparing an attack as calmly as before.

And yet, the Descended One felt an overwhelming threat.

Because Seollang had appeared so suddenly that even it had failed to perceive her.

There was only one meaning behind that.

Her strength had far surpassed even the Descended One’s own.

There was no other way to explain this situation.

Letting out a breath, the Descended One—

[?]

suddenly felt a sense of strangeness.

She had clearly become strong enough to overwhelm it.

She was wielding a power that was abnormal for something it had called a mere tool.

And yet strangely, the way Seollang handled that power felt awkward.

[!]

The Descended One realized it.

That the tool was still struggling to control its own power.

And the moment it realized that, it rushed at Seollang.

If that was the case, it was better to eliminate her before she adapted.

KWA A A A—!

In an instant, the Descended One closed the distance and threw a punch without hesitation.

A blow carrying enough destructive force to call even Divine blood ‘mere.’

It shot forward at a speed faster than sound itself.

And yet, Seollang avoided it with absurd ease.

As if she could see the punch perfectly.

CRACK—!

The attack missed and split the ground uselessly.

But rather, in that moment, the Descended One saw a faint opening.

If she had been accustomed to handling that power, she should have countered immediately—

but Seollang did not.

That small clue reinforced the Descended One’s reasoning—

‘She has to be killed now!’

—and gave it confidence.

And yet—

even as the Descended One poured out attacks like a mad beast,

Seollang still did nothing but evade, without any counterattack.

A completely one-sided assault.

But what Seollang felt in that situation was not impatience or anxiety—

‘...Why?’

—but doubt.

In Seollang’s eyes, the Descended One’s punches looked slow.

Punches fired solely to kill her.

Not just one.

Dozens—hundreds—of fists formed behind it surged toward her all at once.

And yet, doubt continued to fill Seollang’s mind.

It wasn’t because of the newly gained power.

Rather, she already had some idea about this power.

It was overwhelming to the point that if she used it carelessly, even her own body would be destroyed.

...And she had obtained that power by offering up lightning.

What gave rise to her doubt—

was a strange memory.

The power Alon had given her was not something she should have been able to use, even awkwardly.

It was a ridiculous level of power that could destroy her if mishandled.

And yet, strangely, she was using it.

Not because of her natural talent or instinct with her body.

This was a power that could lead her to her own destruction.

And the reason she could use it—

was memory.

Yes. Memory.

For some reason, among the memories of the past inheritors of the Golden Mane Tribe’s essence,

there were memories of handling this exact power.

Not something similar—

but perfectly identical.

Even as that strong doubt lingered, Seollang looked ahead.

The Descended One was still pressing forward, trying to kill her.

And so, instinctively, Seollang took her stance.

And naturally—

the memories of the previous user who had wielded this power began shaping her posture.

“Rangchang rangchang—”

Her open left hand aimed at the Descended One.

Her feet braced against the ground.

Her gaze locked onto it.

It was a stance so strange it could hardly be thought of as one meant to throw a punch.

And yet, Seollang did not question it.

Because the stance she took was one designed by the previous user—

to use this power without placing strain on the body.

And then—

“Short-range force—”

The moment the Descended One’s body came within range,

Seollang’s fist clenched and struck forward in a small motion.

───────────────KWA A A A A A A A—!

The sky split.

Like the Red Sea parting, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the black clouds were torn apart.

Through them, sunlight that had not yet set poured down.

And that sunlight shone upon the Descended One’s body—

the body whose upper half had been erased as if it had never existed,

leaving only the lower half behind.

And then—

only after that—

did the thunderous roar that seemed to tear apart the world finally explode across heaven and earth.

And within that roar, awe surged toward Seollang.

But—

“......”

Seollang paid it no attention.

No—

it was more accurate to say she couldn’t.

She was looking at a memory.

This was something that had happened to her before.

When learning the techniques of previous users one by one—

and when digging deeper into those techniques—

their memories would become clearer and clearer.

This time was the same.

Seollang had used the technique.

And inherited the memory.

But—

why was it that within that inherited memory—

‘I finally did it! I knew you could! You really are a genius!’

her Teacher appeared?

‘See? I told you! I said you could do it! Wasn’t it worth not giving up?’

With a bright smile full of genuine joy—

‘Seollang!’

calling her name?

“......Ah.”

Seollang, blankly inheriting that memory, let out a quiet breath.

...A small realization.