“This. What?”
The fake sect leader Cheon Wol-seong’s expression went stiff.
Looking at Cheon Miryo, he remembered that there was one more person who stepped to Profound Demon.
Moreover, she did not suffer any major damage in the fight before.
As a result, it suddenly became important to subdue this woman and not Seol-Hwi.
“What is this? You are the one I need to deal with.”
“Huh.”
Cheon Wol-seong could not help but laugh at her answer. He could guess the situation.
It had been like that before, and was it not natural that she could not handle this alone? And yet she had confidence?
“Can you do this alone?”
“Mn. It is possible.”
“Let’s not waste our time and instead join forces. Oh, is it difficult because almost everyone is dead?”
The sarcasm from Cheon Wol-seong made him smile.
Cheon Miryo answered in this calm manner,
“Because I roughly understand. The physical ability has been raised higher than before through the AI. And the simulation covers your shortcomings.”
“…!”
“That is the difference between you and the woman. If you rely on something other than your skills, you will have a delayed response to unexpected things. I experienced it too.”
Cheon Miryo lowered her head, then stood up and started to speak again,
“Because I will bite into you.”
“…!”
The first attack she used was an Air Sword using ice arts.
Jjkkkk!
It was an attack aimed at primarily blocking the vision of the enemy and then delivering a devastating blow.
“Kuak!”
Pat!
Was it because of the unexpected number of sword attacks blocking the view? Cheon Wol-seong quickly stepped back, mumbled something, and then threw his sword.
Wooong!
This illusion sword flew easily through the fog. And then it went through the ice barrier.
Swish!
Cheon Wol-seong was there, breaking through the ice barrier and ice air sword.
“Hah!”
Cheon Miryo was not so shocked now. It was natural that he would break through it. This time, the martial arts she chose was the Nine Yin Demonic Arts.
Cheon Wol-seong used the same technique, but the technique which Cheon Miryo used did not have any time bond or time stopping skills.
Instead, it focused on the energy of pure yin which looked faithful to the basics.
Swish!
The yin energy spread out. The extreme yin energy did not just freeze the surrounding water but even the moisture within the air.
It was a rare scene that unfolded in as many as nine ways. This was the power of the ice arts that she used. The energy and strength to freeze everything upon contact poured out and moved towards Cheon Wol-seong.
“How dare you!”
Wheik
In the air which had this yin energy pouring in from all directions, Cheon Wol-seong created the hellfire which did not exist in this world.
Jjkkk!
The hellfire which was summoned from the flaring heat and the extreme coldness began to collide and cancel each other out. The number of attacks used was prevented easily.
“Ah!”
Still, Cheon Miryo did not give up.
Tuk!
This huge spear of ice was pulled out and blocked the attack, aiming for Cheon Wol-seong.
“Hmm…!?”
Cheon Wol-seong raised his sword to cut off this ice spear, but for some reason, he stopped.
Jjkkk!
And then he suddenly began to rotate his body. As soon as that happened—
Wheilk!
The ice spear thrown by Cheon Miryo shattered, and the numerous fragments spread out in all directions.
Cka! Bak!
Most of them were avoided, but some ended up hitting him, and Cheon Wol-seong frowned at that.
“This thief… are you trying to imitate something which will not work?”
The damage done was not much. But his emotions got worse from there. And this was because Cheon Miryo used the one technique which Shin Yaja used a while back.
The wide area attack which throws the sword and shatters it all into a thousand pieces. It does not particularly require any great skills, but it was not nice to see someone else do it.
“Simulation… is it the result of the martial arts?”
Cheon Miryo asked without an expression.
She did her best a little while ago. For any decent opponent, it would have been a rough blow.
However, Cheon Wol-seong defended with his strength, as if they were sparring with each other.
“Ugh. This is why you can never defeat me.”
“…”
Being able to know in advance where and to what extent one was aiming at, that is probably because of the strange thing called Simulation.
Cheon Miryo closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and continued to speak,
“Well… that is what you said. The simulation is omnipotent, but not at the same time.”
“What are you saying?”
“As I said, although it is absolute, it isn’t perfect.”
Tssss.
Cheon Miryo gathered the cold qi once again with those words.
What?
Cheon Wol-seong frowned looking at her.
This was because he had the feeling that she was up to something different from before, something which did not sit well with him.
Flutter
The snow fell.
Thin pieces of ice piled up one by one all over Cheon Miryo’s body, as if loading it all onto her.
North Sea Dark Yin Arts.
It was a martial art technique known to be the best in the North Sea Ice Palace. It created a thin cloth of ice from yin qi and then they would use it as they desired.
It was the best attack and defense that she could use.
The reason why all of this was possible is because of the condensed yin energy which overlapped.
“I will now show you how the Simulation destroys martial arts.”
“You are really something.”
Pat
This time, Cheon Wol-seong attacked first. Twelve illusions spread out, and each had a sword with the hellfire swirling around it.
The real one…?
The Heavenly Demon King’s Step was both an illusion and reality. Reality and illusion.
Because of this, even in the eyes of Cheon Miryo, who ascended to the Profound Demon level, it was difficult to recognize which one was fully real.
Then one has to find a way.
“Cold Snow Ice Arts, Cold Rain.”
First she protected her body, and then she unleashed another martial art.
Swish
Countless ice dragons started falling from the sky. They showed their effectiveness in completely erasing the illusions of Cheon Wol-seong running towards them. At the same time, the cold energy which had erased the illusions came back and added strength.
However, in the meantime, the other illusions quickly followed the movement and arrived within close distance of Cheon Miryo.
“…!”
Clench! Clench!
Three illusions which were out of sight appeared from behind her, to the right, left, and from behind to stab her.
“Kuak.”
Cheon Miryo’s eyes were wide open, with blood splashing from the body. Cheon Wol-seong saw this and revealed his teeth.
“You idiot. So why did you withdraw the energy at the end?”
Shhh.
Just then, the two illusions disappeared, and the main body, confident of victory, mocked her while laughing.
But—
For a moment, something felt off. Cheon Miryo, who was clearly wounded, had the a big smile on her face.
“Your Simulation… as expected, is all powerful but not omnipotent…”
“… What?”
“I would assume the most reasonable and normal case. But the enemy… it seems like it cannot predict the extreme cases where people take risky actions to the point of harming themselves.”
Shhh
Cheon Miryo opened her hand. Then, her North Sea Dark Yin Arts which had been condensed until now, spread around.
Shhhhh!
Suddenly, numerous ice walls began to cover the space around them. The scope was large enough to kill not just Cheon Wol-seong, but even herself.
“Eik!”
Cheon Wol-seong hurriedly tried to use internal energy but was unable to break through the large wall of ice. And he hastily raised his internal energy.
“How!”
Cheon Wol-seong tried to destroy everything around him by summoning the third stage of hellfire. In order to pierce the terrifying ice, the hellfire was condensed into this sharp yellow light.
“It is the end!”
Cheon Wol-seong shouted. And Cheon Miryo just smiled.
“Is that really the case?”
“You wench!”
Thud!
Part of the ice had exploded due to the flame. But, it did not pierce through it fully.
Crack! Rumble! Kwakwakwang!
This uncontrollable repulsion, even more violent than ice poured for him.
Like this it became an avalanche.
“…!
And he realized his mistake. The Yin and Yang energies were used in the right amount. The water disappeared and the heat cooled down. But one’s own energy and that of Cheon Miryo were different energies which did not exist at the same time.
What would happen if one threw large ice into the boiling oil pot?
“AH! N-NO!!!!”
Moreover, what Cheon Miryo used was not trying to fuse them together, but instead doing them one after another. Since she has been trapped in hundreds of layers of snow, the explosion would occur with each layer being peeled one after another.
Rumble! Kwang!
“Goodbye!”
Cheon Miryo smiled at him from inside the ice wall. The entire circle was completed.
“Kuak!”
The stiff body bounced back. Seol-Hwi, who was struggling with the points which bound his body, finally managed to break free of them.
“Miss! Miss!”
Cheon Miryo’s endurance led to him being free. With his blood points all blocked, he could not move much. In the end, in order to move properly he had to cultivate, and he managed to open them.
Seol-Hwi opened his eyes quickly and looked for Cheon Miryo, and seeing the huge ice cube in front of him, he knew what she was thinking.
“Enough! Stop now!”
He shouted, but the ice wall she had created did not open that easily.
Seol-Hwi had an idea. The ice wall was Cheon Miryo’s life. As long as it held her, her life would be consumed.
Nevertheless, the reason she kept it there was to trap Cheon Wol-seong in that place and eliminate him.
Bang! Kwag! Bang!
An enormous explosion came from within those ice walls. But the ice wall only shook, it never broke.
One could tell, Cheon Miryo’s determination to handle the opponent even at the cost of herself.
“Miss! Stop now…”
But, by the time his voice had turned hoarse from shouting, part of the ice wall broke.
Crack.
And inside, two figures fell to the ground.
“Ah… ah…”
Tuk!
Seol-Hwi’s eyes wavered as he saw this.
Fortunately, there were no cuts. Rather her face looked calm, like she had fallen asleep.
But—
“Miss.”
Srrrp
Wrinkles began to form on her once beautiful face. That extreme cold which had frozen her life and the flow of time which passed, spread.
“Miss, Miss… Miss.”
And it flowed, like water in hand.
Cheon Miryo felt like her life was slipping from her fingers at every moment.
“I am listening,”
She answered, and this made the eyes of Seol-Hwi widen. At the same time, his face distorted.
So many emotions were within those eyes. But he could not decide on what to say.
“Do not cry. Young lord.”
She raised her hand. A hand as white as the cold ice was put on Seol-Hwi’s cheek.
“I am glad… that I was of help.”
“…Miss. I am… so pathetic…”
“Not so. You really did your best.”
“Kuak…”
Seol-Hwi bit his lip.
It was all in vain.
Just how far? To what extent does he have to lose the people he cared about?
Anger at himself. Guilt. The shame of not being able to protect himself from all this.
“Do not worry. This won’t be the last time.”
“…”
“Because we will win the fight against him who twists this world and manipulates the fates of people. If we kill him, we can meet again.”
“But… still, we won’t be able to see Miss next time though?”
“It used to be that way, but not anymore.”
Cheon Miryo smiled slowly.
“Because I am within the system now.”
“…!”
If one thought about it, it was like that.
Unlike in the past, she had now entered the system. At least they were now aware of Cheon Miryo.
“I will definitely see you then. Let’s meet again…”
Shhh
Her hand lost strength and fell limp.
“AHHHHHHH!”
Seol-Hwi held her hand and cried.
He forgot.
He had not felt such sadness of losing a loved one for a while. It stuck in his chest which made Seol-Hwi incredibly pained.
Forever… He would never get used to it. How can this kind of pain be familiar at all?
“…What is this?”
How long was it?
As Seol-Hwi was sobbing, this familiar voice came into his ears. Seol-Hwi calmed down and turned his head.
And… it was the voice of the Earth Demon.
“This. What?”
The fake sect leader Cheon Wol-seong’s expression went stiff.
Looking at Cheon Miryo, he remembered that there was one more person who stepped to Profound Demon.
Moreover, she did not suffer any major damage in the fight before.
As a result, it suddenly became important to subdue this woman and not Seol-Hwi.
“What is this? You are the one I need to deal with.”
“Huh.”
Cheon Wol-seong could not help but laugh at her answer. He could guess the situation.
It had been like that before, and was it not natural that she could not handle this alone? And yet she had confidence?
“Can you do this alone?”
“Mn. It is possible.”
“Let’s not waste our time and instead join forces. Oh, is it difficult because almost everyone is dead?”
The sarcasm from Cheon Wol-seong made him smile.
Cheon Miryo answered in this calm manner,
“Because I roughly understand. The physical ability has been raised higher than before through the AI. And the simulation covers your shortcomings.”
“…!”
“That is the difference between you and the woman. If you rely on something other than your skills, you will have a delayed response to unexpected things. I experienced it too.”
Cheon Miryo lowered her head, then stood up and started to speak again,
“Because I will bite into you.”
“…!”
The first attack she used was an Air Sword using ice arts.
Jjkkkk!
It was an attack aimed at primarily blocking the vision of the enemy and then delivering a devastating blow.
“Kuak!”
Pat!
Was it because of the unexpected number of sword attacks blocking the view? Cheon Wol-seong quickly stepped back, mumbled something, and then threw his sword.
Wooong!
This illusion sword flew easily through the fog. And then it went through the ice barrier.
Swish!
Cheon Wol-seong was there, breaking through the ice barrier and ice air sword.
“Hah!”
Cheon Miryo was not so shocked now. It was natural that he would break through it. This time, the martial arts she chose was the Nine Yin Demonic Arts.
Cheon Wol-seong used the same technique, but the technique which Cheon Miryo used did not have any time bond or time stopping skills.
Instead, it focused on the energy of pure yin which looked faithful to the basics.
Swish!
The yin energy spread out. The extreme yin energy did not just freeze the surrounding water but even the moisture within the air.
It was a rare scene that unfolded in as many as nine ways. This was the power of the ice arts that she used. The energy and strength to freeze everything upon contact poured out and moved towards Cheon Wol-seong.
“How dare you!”
Wheik
In the air which had this yin energy pouring in from all directions, Cheon Wol-seong created the hellfire which did not exist in this world.
Jjkkk!
The hellfire which was summoned from the flaring heat and the extreme coldness began to collide and cancel each other out. The number of attacks used was prevented easily.
“Ah!”
Still, Cheon Miryo did not give up.
Tuk!
This huge spear of ice was pulled out and blocked the attack, aiming for Cheon Wol-seong.
“Hmm…!?”
Cheon Wol-seong raised his sword to cut off this ice spear, but for some reason, he stopped.
Jjkkk!
And then he suddenly began to rotate his body. As soon as that happened—
Wheilk!
The ice spear thrown by Cheon Miryo shattered, and the numerous fragments spread out in all directions.
Cka! Bak!
Most of them were avoided, but some ended up hitting him, and Cheon Wol-seong frowned at that.
“This thief… are you trying to imitate something which will not work?”
The damage done was not much. But his emotions got worse from there. And this was because Cheon Miryo used the one technique which Shin Yaja used a while back.
The wide area attack which throws the sword and shatters it all into a thousand pieces. It does not particularly require any great skills, but it was not nice to see someone else do it.
“Simulation… is it the result of the martial arts?”
Cheon Miryo asked without an expression.
She did her best a little while ago. For any decent opponent, it would have been a rough blow.
However, Cheon Wol-seong defended with his strength, as if they were sparring with each other.
“Ugh. This is why you can never defeat me.”
“…”
Being able to know in advance where and to what extent one was aiming at, that is probably because of the strange thing called Simulation.
Cheon Miryo closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and continued to speak,
“Well… that is what you said. The simulation is omnipotent, but not at the same time.”
“What are you saying?”
“As I said, although it is absolute, it isn’t perfect.”
Tssss.
Cheon Miryo gathered the cold qi once again with those words.
What?
Cheon Wol-seong frowned looking at her.
This was because he had the feeling that she was up to something different from before, something which did not sit well with him.
Flutter
The snow fell.
Thin pieces of ice piled up one by one all over Cheon Miryo’s body, as if loading it all onto her.
North Sea Dark Yin Arts.
It was a martial art technique known to be the best in the North Sea Ice Palace. It created a thin cloth of ice from yin qi and then they would use it as they desired.
It was the best attack and defense that she could use.
The reason why all of this was possible is because of the condensed yin energy which overlapped.
“I will now show you how the Simulation destroys martial arts.”
“You are really something.”
Pat
This time, Cheon Wol-seong attacked first. Twelve illusions spread out, and each had a sword with the hellfire swirling around it.
The real one…?
The Heavenly Demon King’s Step was both an illusion and reality. Reality and illusion.
Because of this, even in the eyes of Cheon Miryo, who ascended to the Profound Demon level, it was difficult to recognize which one was fully real.
Then one has to find a way.
“Cold Snow Ice Arts, Cold Rain.”
First she protected her body, and then she unleashed another martial art.
Swish
Countless ice dragons started falling from the sky. They showed their effectiveness in completely erasing the illusions of Cheon Wol-seong running towards them. At the same time, the cold energy which had erased the illusions came back and added strength.
However, in the meantime, the other illusions quickly followed the movement and arrived within close distance of Cheon Miryo.
“…!”
Clench! Clench!
Three illusions which were out of sight appeared from behind her, to the right, left, and from behind to stab her.
“Kuak.”
Cheon Miryo’s eyes were wide open, with blood splashing from the body. Cheon Wol-seong saw this and revealed his teeth.
“You idiot. So why did you withdraw the energy at the end?”
Shhh.
Just then, the two illusions disappeared, and the main body, confident of victory, mocked her while laughing.
But—
For a moment, something felt off. Cheon Miryo, who was clearly wounded, had the a big smile on her face.
“Your Simulation… as expected, is all powerful but not omnipotent…”
“… What?”
“I would assume the most reasonable and normal case. But the enemy… it seems like it cannot predict the extreme cases where people take risky actions to the point of harming themselves.”
Shhh
Cheon Miryo opened her hand. Then, her North Sea Dark Yin Arts which had been condensed until now, spread around.
Shhhhh!
Suddenly, numerous ice walls began to cover the space around them. The scope was large enough to kill not just Cheon Wol-seong, but even herself.
“Eik!”
Cheon Wol-seong hurriedly tried to use internal energy but was unable to break through the large wall of ice. And he hastily raised his internal energy.
“How!”
Cheon Wol-seong tried to destroy everything around him by summoning the third stage of hellfire. In order to pierce the terrifying ice, the hellfire was condensed into this sharp yellow light.
“It is the end!”
Cheon Wol-seong shouted. And Cheon Miryo just smiled.
“Is that really the case?”
“You wench!”
Thud!
Part of the ice had exploded due to the flame. But, it did not pierce through it fully.
Crack! Rumble! Kwakwakwang!
This uncontrollable repulsion, even more violent than ice poured for him.
Like this it became an avalanche.
“…!
And he realized his mistake. The Yin and Yang energies were used in the right amount. The water disappeared and the heat cooled down. But one’s own energy and that of Cheon Miryo were different energies which did not exist at the same time.
What would happen if one threw large ice into the boiling oil pot?
“AH! N-NO!!!!”
Moreover, what Cheon Miryo used was not trying to fuse them together, but instead doing them one after another. Since she has been trapped in hundreds of layers of snow, the explosion would occur with each layer being peeled one after another.
Rumble! Kwang!
“Goodbye!”
Cheon Miryo smiled at him from inside the ice wall. The entire circle was completed.
“Kuak!”
The stiff body bounced back. Seol-Hwi, who was struggling with the points which bound his body, finally managed to break free of them.
“Miss! Miss!”
Cheon Miryo’s endurance led to him being free. With his blood points all blocked, he could not move much. In the end, in order to move properly he had to cultivate, and he managed to open them.
Seol-Hwi opened his eyes quickly and looked for Cheon Miryo, and seeing the huge ice cube in front of him, he knew what she was thinking.
“Enough! Stop now!”
He shouted, but the ice wall she had created did not open that easily.
Seol-Hwi had an idea. The ice wall was Cheon Miryo’s life. As long as it held her, her life would be consumed.
Nevertheless, the reason she kept it there was to trap Cheon Wol-seong in that place and eliminate him.
Bang! Kwag! Bang!
An enormous explosion came from within those ice walls. But the ice wall only shook, it never broke.
One could tell, Cheon Miryo’s determination to handle the opponent even at the cost of herself.
“Miss! Stop now…”
But, by the time his voice had turned hoarse from shouting, part of the ice wall broke.
Crack.
And inside, two figures fell to the ground.
“Ah… ah…”
Tuk!
Seol-Hwi’s eyes wavered as he saw this.
Fortunately, there were no cuts. Rather her face looked calm, like she had fallen asleep.
But—
“Miss.”
Srrrp
Wrinkles began to form on her once beautiful face. That extreme cold which had frozen her life and the flow of time which passed, spread.
“Miss, Miss… Miss.”
And it flowed, like water in hand.
Cheon Miryo felt like her life was slipping from her fingers at every moment.
“I am listening,”
She answered, and this made the eyes of Seol-Hwi widen. At the same time, his face distorted.
So many emotions were within those eyes. But he could not decide on what to say.
“Do not cry. Young lord.”
She raised her hand. A hand as white as the cold ice was put on Seol-Hwi’s cheek.
“I am glad… that I was of help.”
“…Miss. I am… so pathetic…”
“Not so. You really did your best.”
“Kuak…”
Seol-Hwi bit his lip.
It was all in vain.
Just how far? To what extent does he have to lose the people he cared about?
Anger at himself. Guilt. The shame of not being able to protect himself from all this.
“Do not worry. This won’t be the last time.”
“…”
“Because we will win the fight against him who twists this world and manipulates the fates of people. If we kill him, we can meet again.”
“But… still, we won’t be able to see Miss next time though?”
“It used to be that way, but not anymore.”
Cheon Miryo smiled slowly.
“Because I am within the system now.”
“…!”
If one thought about it, it was like that.
Unlike in the past, she had now entered the system. At least they were now aware of Cheon Miryo.
“I will definitely see you then. Let’s meet again…”
Shhh
Her hand lost strength and fell limp.
“AHHHHHHH!”
Seol-Hwi held her hand and cried.
He forgot.
He had not felt such sadness of losing a loved one for a while. It stuck in his chest which made Seol-Hwi incredibly pained.
Forever… He would never get used to it. How can this kind of pain be familiar at all?
“…What is this?”
How long was it?
As Seol-Hwi was sobbing, this familiar voice came into his ears. Seol-Hwi calmed down and turned his head.
And… it was the voice of the Earth Demon.
