Etranger

It was Sil’s first time ever having a blemish on her precious body since she was born.

Biyeon’s sword only stopped after piercing Sil’s right hand clean through while San’s sword left various scars on her body. Sil stepped back to a safe position and took a quick look at her body. Her right hand that blocked the Archon-bone sword was not recovering. The skin, which the sword passed by for a moment, peeled off as if explosives had burst within. Her flashy clothes were scorched black.

San and Biyeon were properly using their swords and their properties. Whenever they successfully attacked, her Acceleration powers became weaker.

‘Are you saying it’s not that simple?’

A hint of anger spread over Sil’s face. Her opponents weren’t simply aiming for a physical blow with their swords. Every attack involved a subtle chemical reaction. If their target had been anything other than the strongest creature in this world, Sages, the target would have turned into powder just by having their swords pass by. Furthermore, all the scars on her skin had different characteristics originating from various novel attack methods. What did this mean?

“This… they’re more amazing than I thought! How did you think of that skill? That’s so creative!” Sul said from behind while clicking his tongue.

“Shut up!” Sil shouted fiercely before stepping forward again. She was a little nervous now. No, to be precise, she was a little more cautious.

‘Second-level Awakened Warriors (4th Stage of Acceleration)… this is becoming more and more of a spectacle.’

San and Biyeon’s expressions didn’t change at all. Sil had no clue as to what they were thinking or intending to do. They were never in a hurry. There was also no courtesy in their attacks. San, an arrogant human man in Sil’s eyes, was coming in to attack once more. Sil began feeling worse and worse.

‘Trivial beings…’

She raised both of her hands. With the palms facing towards each other, she spread her hands to the width of her shoulders. Five lines were made between her ten fingers, each finger on one hand’s line connecting to her opposite hand’s finger. The lines were all different in color, and the shape was like the lines on sheet music.

She fluttered her ten white fingers in the air. The five lines surrounded her space like the actualization of musical melody. It was like she was playing a Sage’s song. The musical lines were very dangerous. Especially for those who called themselves Awakened… San, who was rushing towards her, suddenly changed direction and shot up vertically into the air.

‘Shh-shh-shh-shh-’

Biyeon, who was following San closely behind, threw four small stones and changed directions, going directly backward. As soon as the four flying stones touched the five rows of lines, they burst into dust. Sil quickened her pace. San’s face hardened as he looked upon this change. Five lines covered them from above, like a net.

San swung his sword. Biyeon quickly followed the trajectory of his swing. Sil’s lines passed through their bodies like a ghost and wrapped around their space like a grid of spatial coordinates in 3D graphics.

San’s eyes flickered. His sword holding right hand didn’t move. The flow that was driving his Acceleration stopped. Then, something near his chest seemed to disconnect. He couldn’t breathe. His senses started getting tangled in his head. The heightened sensory input that was driven by Acceleration and those from non-Acceleration were crashing into his mind, causing his world to turn as if he was drunk. Biyeon also staggered and knelt. Something had disconnected in her leg where the line had just passed through. The pain was like those of broken bones. Then something burst again.

Biyeon suddenly cocked her chin to one side as she made a pained face. She lifted her head and looked at Sil. She was laughing.

‘Abominable bitch!’

With the sound of ‘Puk-’, one side of Biyeon’s world ceased to exist. Her left eye was engulfed in darkness. In an increasingly blurry world, Biyeon looked for San. He was looking at her. As they always did, their eyes met. Saliva flowed from her distorted jaw. She didn’t want to show him this broken look anymore…

San was collapsing in front of her. His gaze was still on Biyeon. She simply nodded. She moved her fingers about, blinked her eyes… wasn’t this like the conversations of yesteryears? Recalling the memories of the physical signifiers they had learned to communicate with in the past… San seemed to be laughing.

‘This is enough, right?’ they seemed to say to each other.

Sil tilted her head. Her expression was one of curiosity. Sul walked over and looked at the ‘results’ over Sil’s shoulder. This time, her attack went as expected. It was a normal, expected outcome. Thus, the two Sages were satisfied. The samples were successfully secured. In front of them, two ‘people’ were laying on the ground. They were still staring at each other with their eyes open…

“What’s the problem?” Sul asked.

“It went as expected,” Sil replied.

“Why is that a problem?”

“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. I was hoping there would be something else.”

“Against a four-dimensional grid net? Has there been any human that’s successfully avoided one since it was developed?”

“No.”

“But you thought they would be an exception?” 

“Well… maybe.”

“Why?”

“They took no evasion action.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. They didn’t avoid it, so I caught them.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Well… I guess I’ll open up their bodies first. We’ll also have to collect samples…”

Episode 2. Book 4: Choice – Chapter 10

“Closed to the public?”

Hanyoung frowned. He was bothered by the turn of events.

“I have been instructed to close the square to all visitors for 7 days,” the guard said in front of the gates of the closed Sirid Square.

“May I hear why?” Hanyoung asked again with his face hardened.

“The overseer of Sirid Cemetery requested it. I don’t know the reason why,” the guard replied with a nervous tone. He knew who he was talking to. If the person in front of him walked in, he couldn’t do anything about it…

“I have something to see inside. Are you going to stop us if we go in?” asked Sohun from behind. It was the voice of another famous warrior from the Han-Sung Clan. This time, it was from a famous second-level Awakened Warrior.

“I will do my best. However, the leader of the Ki-Jang Clan will be very disappointed,” the guard answered cautiously.

“Hmm-”

Hanyoung groaned. Sirid Cemetery was a branch institution of the ‘Mercenary Empire’, part of the Ki-Jang Clan. Along with the ‘Master of Weaponry’ Dong-Myung Clan, the Ki-Jang Clan was one of the three Absolute Clans, the most powerful clans on the continent. Though the Han-Sung Clan was the other Absolute Clan, and quite possibly the most powerful of the three, it was still burdensome to be hostile to the Ki-Jang Clan for such a trivial matter.

“Then let me ask one question. We are looking for two people. Their appearance…”

The guard listened quietly and nodded.

“Such people went in this morning.”

***

Four days had passed since their captains disappeared.

Yeria and Yekin visited the Temple of Diana. The Temple of Diana was built by stacking granite stones that came from a nearly untouched forest, which fit the image of the goddess of hunting perfectly.

Usually, there was a small village behind every temple. It was a place to accommodate the apostles and priests that worshipped, practiced, and trained at the temple.

Yeria and Yekin made a sacrifice to the goddess and prayed. They then asked the receptionist for a meeting. The receptionist’s name was Diom. She was in her 50’s. She listened to their request and thought about something before giving her two visitors a strange expression.

“Unfortunately, Apostle Dite went out three days ago. No one knows when she’ll be back. Where are you two from? There aren’t many believers who visit individual apostles directly…”

“I don’t believe you’ll recognize the name of the place we’re from. We are from Count Essen’s Estate, located at the foot of the Orom Mountain Range in the far north. We traveled with Apostle Dite to this point.”

“May I see your family crest?”

Yeria tilted her head. Priest Diom stared at them, waiting for their next action. Yekin held his sword upside down and showed the priest his sword’s handle. The crest of Count Essen was clearly engraved on the handle.

“Ah, of course. It’s you…”

Diom smiled brightly.

“Do you know us?” Yeria asked in surprise.

“I have an item that Apostle Dite left for me to hand over to you two. She told me to show it to you if you come, so I think you came to the right place.”

“Did you say it was a thing?” Yeria asked.

“Would you follow me?”

Diom turned around and walked inside instead of answering. The two passed the temple and entered the first annex building. The building was filled with all kinds of sacred objects and offerings on full display. Diom prayed for a moment and then swiped something off one of the showcases. The display case swung around, and another display case appeared.

On the display case was a strangely sealed box with a tag that read, ‘Dite’. The box was made of shabby, coarse wood. Its dimensions were about 20 x 30 cm. On the top of the box was the emblem of the Goddess Diana and the Count Essen family crest.

Diom handed the box to Yekin.

“What… is this?” he asked.

“I don’t know. The goddess’ emblem means a pledge from the Apostle Dite. It also shows the Count’s crest, so no one can open the box unless a member of Count Essen’s household and Apostle Dite open the box together.”

“Does that mean we can’t open it now?”

“That’s correct.”

“Why would she do something like this?”

“It may be because it contains something that others shouldn’t know about, or because Apostle Dite forbids others from seeing it. I think you two should know why?”

Yekin looked at Yeria. Yeria shook her head.

“I can’t even venture a guess,” Yeria responded.

“Really? That’s interesting,” Diom said as she smiled.

“Can we take it?” Yekin asked.

“I was told to pass it on, so you can take it with you. However, you must be careful. You probably already know based on what I said…”

“?”

“Don’t... No matter how curious... Don’t open the box until you meet Apostle Dite! If an unauthorized hand breaks the seal, that person shall face the wrath of Goddess Diana.”

“…!”

“Additionally, the person who opens the box without proper authorization will make enemies with all the apostles and priests from the Temple of Diana.”

“Okay… we’ll keep that in mind.”

The two left the temple with the shabby wooden box wrapped in plain cloth. In the eyes of others, it would appear as if they were bringing back leftover items after offering goods and praying to the Goddess.

Yeria looked back. Diom was standing alone on the temple’s entrance footstep, looking at them.

***

“What did Priestess Diom mean at the end? It sounded like a holy promise. Honestly, I was scared,” Yekin said. 

Yeria nodded. Her shoulders were still shaking.