This One is the Imoogi.
A mighty spiritual creature that would never be swayed by the likes of humans.
In all the long years This One has lived, never once has there been a being as great as This One.
All the creatures under Heaven trembled in fear before This One, and humans worshiped This One.
Some knelt and begged for This One’s power, while others challenged This One and failed to escape death.
There are countless humans who pleaded for decades and were still never granted My power.
To be chosen by This One is a tremendous, grand occasion.
And yet!
Despite all that!
Though This One has lent power to many humans across the millennia, never has a human treated This One with such disregard!
Never has a human been so arrogant!
How dare she!
How dare a mere child of a human...!
This One is not upset!
It is simply that This One can no longer sit idly by and watch such arrogance pierce the sky!
Namgoong Seolhwa. Let us see what you can do without This One’s power!
This One shall make you come crawling and weeping to beg for Me!
****
From that day forth, the Imoogi ceased to appear before Seolhwa and instead trailed behind her from the shadows.
Even when Seolhwa ate, walked, or slept, it lingered nearby.
When she trained alone, it watched with sharp eyes to see whether she would use its power.
But Seolhwa never used the Imoogi’s power.
Namgoong Seolhwa was publicly said to be in closed-door training, and the Blood Demon Alliance was still too small a force to be tied to the Blood Demon Cult.
The one who had come to this place was not the Lord of the Blood Demon Alliance, nor Namgoong Seolhwa, but a boy named “Jang Cheong.”
To hide her identity, she could not use power—but the Imoogi, unaware of this, simply waited for the moment she would draw on its strength.
Days passed, and Seolhwa headed somewhere.
It was deep in the mountains.
The Imoogi followed behind her into the forest.
[Tsk tsk. How fearless.]
With no power, what would she do if something dangerous happened? Wandering so recklessly into perilous places?
No, no.
She must face danger, feel the need for power, and recognize This One’s greatness—so perhaps it would be for the best if something dangerous did happen.
Seolhwa climbed and climbed the mountain.
She was headed toward one of the Blood Demon Cult’s training facilities, where the children of Blood Demons were gathered.
It was a place where kidnapped street children were raised into Blood Cultists.
One such training facility was the very place where Seolhwa had lived after she was abducted.
Where is she going?
She clearly had a purpose, but the path was leading further and further into a deserted area.
Eventually, she entered a forest so deep it could no longer be called a path at all.
Once again, Namgoong Seolhwa had begun to behave in incomprehensible ways.
The Imoogi quietly followed her.
How far did they go?
Using movement techniques along the way, she passed through a rough path—until surprisingly, faint traces of human presence began to appear.
A bit farther in, an old, half-collapsed pavilion stood alone in the forest.
In a place like this...?
The Imoogi was appalled.
It sensed the presence of dozens of children inside the pavilion.
Children in a place like this?
Why?
This location was not one an ordinary child could reach without martial arts like Namgoong Seolhwa’s.
For children with no martial training to be living here—
They were imprisoned.
Humans could be endlessly cruel.
In all the years This One had lived, This One had seen countless acts of human malice, yet their wickedness knew no end.
No matter how often they were judged and punished, they squirmed forth like insects.
Such vermin must be killed on the spot.
Without mercy.
They are inferior beings, unworthy of life.
—Imoogi.
Just then, the Imoogi, glaring at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the pavilion with blazing eyes, leapt in shock at a sudden sound transmission.
It had momentarily lost track of Seolhwa, who now stood looking at it.
[W-what is it.]
—Just in case, let Me say this now. Do not interfere.
[What did you say?]
Interfere? Me?
[For whom? For you?]
—For any reason.
[Do not make Me laugh! This One is only here to watch you get your comeuppance!]
—Yes. That was the agreement.
Without a backward glance, the Imoogi slid silently into the underbrush.
****
Namgoong Seolhwa charged into the pavilion.
There were five guards.
At most, two were first-rate, the other three second-rate.
Namgoong Seolhwa engaged them in battle.
Three second-rate warriors rushed her at once—she brought them down with ease.
Then the two first-rate warriors attacked.
Naturally, Namgoong Seolhwa...
Cheng—! Checheing! Cheng!
In an instant...
“Kill her!”
Chechaeng! Cheaeng!
“Uwaaagh!!”
“Die!!”
Chechaeng! Chechaeng! Cheng!
The fight continued longer than expected.
Bizarrely, Namgoong Seolhwa was facing two first-rate warriors without using any internal energy.
First-rates used internal energy.
Even if it only reinforced their sword strikes, the difference in power between using it and not was immense.
Namgoong Seolhwa did not block their attacks head-on, but deflected and redirected them—until she finally prevailed.
Since she had not used internal energy even once, her breathing was rougher than usual.
She seemed to have bled as well.
Before her breath had even fully settled, Seolhwa began scanning the children’s faces, looking for someone.
Apparently, the one she sought was not there—she turned to leave, alone.
Someone was approaching swiftly from a distance.
Namgoong Seolhwa moved in the opposite direction and concealed herself high in a tree.
This One approached.
[Why did you not use internal energy?]
—Because I cannot reveal my identity.
[Those children have no martial arts. Do you think they could recognize your power even if you used it?]
—You never know. One might have sharp eyes, or might have trained in martial arts.
[Who are those children?]
—Kidnapped ones. Mostly orphans. No one to care for them. No one to notice if they disappear.
[And what do they do with such children?]
—They sort and raise them. To create obedient subordinates.
At that moment, those rapidly approaching figures revealed themselves.
It was the beggar from the slums whom Namgoong Seolhwa had met previously, and an old beggar who looked to be quite a skilled master.
[Why did you summon them?]
—Among the captured children are some originally under the Beggar’s Union. I promised to help retrieve their kids in exchange for the rest being entrusted to them.
[So the Beggar’s Union cannot even keep track of their own? They did not even notice children that young were taken?]
—No.
Namgoong Seolhwa looked at This One.
—It is not that they did not know. They pretended not to.
[What are you saying?]
—The ones who hand them over are not the same as the ones who search for them.
[Hmph. The Beggar’s Union is thoroughly rotten.]
They were filthy on the outside—now even filthier within.
How fascinating.
While This One lived buried in the mountains, the so-called righteous Beggar’s Union had rotted this badly?
If that former Beggar Chief from long ago saw this, he would likely go berserk.
—Let us go.
Having confirmed the Beggar’s Union had arrived, Namgoong Seolhwa leapt down from the tree.
[Yes... wait, no.]
This One had instinctively tried to follow her but caught itself.
[I shall not go with you. You go your own way.]
—Still angry?
[Angry?! This One is not swayed by such base emotions!]
This One is giving you punishment!
Namgoong Seolhwa stared fixedly at This One.
With those round eyes, it seemed she might be reflecting.
—Come inside and sleep tonight. I am locking the door.
...Or maybe not.
Who can tell what she is thinking.
****
After that day, Namgoong Seolhwa repeated similar actions several more times.
She located hidden places deep in the mountains where children were imprisoned, slew the watchers, and searched for someone.
The beggars from the Beggar’s Union always arrived late, after the situation had been handled, to take the children into their care.
It was after several such visits.
Shwick—!
[Danger—!]
Kaaang—!
A throwing knife flew toward Namgoong Seolhwa as she was fighting the guards.
She widened the distance from her opponents and turned toward the direction the knife had come from.
Two masked figures revealed themselves.
Unlike the watchers she had met until now, these were clearly martial artists.
They looked to be, at the very least, masters at the Peak Realm.
There was no way to face them without using internal energy.
Yet Namgoong Seolhwa still refused to draw on it.
[If you wish to use This One’s power, I shall personally assist.]
—Do not forget the promise.
[You plan to fight those men without using internal energy? Madness!]
—The promise.
Good heavens, what kind of lunatic is this human?
Has she resolved to die?!
Shwick—!
Before This One could stop her, the battle began.
One used short blades. The other stood far off, hurling knives like a coward.
Ka-ka-ka-kang! Ka-kang! Kang!
A flurry of strikes unfolded faster than the blink of an eye.
Namgoong Seolhwa was struggling.
