Seongcheon Yoon Clan (1)
Becoming a practitioner who seeks to elevate their realm beyond the chakra they naturally acquired while engaged in a profession is by no means an easy feat.
Chakra is a possibility open to anyone, but that doesn’t mean everyone can achieve a high level.
Especially the power of lightning, which is particularly destructive among natural forces, is even harder to master.
In the Yoon clan, it was common to see people deliberately getting struck by lightning while holding a lightning rod on stormy days.
Lucette, who was born with natural talent, adapted relatively quickly from the beginner stage, but that talent and the pain she had to endure since childhood were two separate issues.
For an ordinary person, the training she underwent daily, akin to electric torture, was nothing short of excruciating.
What would be condemned as child abuse on Earth was just another day in this land of Sabacheon.
During that harsh period of training, there was someone who served as her comfort amidst the heavy expectations from those around her regarding her innate talents.
It was a small baby who could barely keep herself upright alone.
[The situation seems quite serious, huh? That little young master insisted so much that I came here… Good thing I did, or it would have been a disaster.]
The small, warm touch gently patting her tired cheek drew closer, wobbling as if about to fall.
There were many orphanages and more children than that living in the Yoon clan, but the baby who approached her then felt different from the others in some way.
‘Perhaps it was a sense of kinship.’
Looking back now, it might have been a kind of empathy born from sharing the same talent for lightning.
Seeing what that child, Yoon So-hwa, accomplished later, it would be reasonable to think so.
In any case, the important thing is that during that time, she received much comfort from that child, which helped her reach her current position.
[Excuse me? Lucette? Can you hear me?]
[…Yes, I can hear you.]
[Oh! That’s a relief. I was worried we couldn’t communicate properly because of the barrier. By the way, you seem very used to sending thoughts, huh?]
[I have had similar experiences a few times. No, more importantly, what is going on? Why is Hoon… ?]
She had been waiting for support.
The reason she had been dragging things out and holding on for so long was the expectation that support would soon be dispatched once the regular reports were cut off.
However, she never expected that it would be Hoon, who had just recently joined the Yoon household.
[There were various circumstances. It’s too complicated to explain everything right now.]
[…Is that so? It seems not much time has passed outside after all.]
[You catch on quickly. The time difference between your space and here is roughly eight times.]
[Eight times…]
Just as expected.
However, while Lucette communicated with Hoon, she suddenly felt a small sense of incongruity.
‘Even if it’s okay to connect communications beyond the barrier…’
In fact, that alone was already an impressive feat.
This place was a trap so perfectly prepared that even she, a practitioner of deeper training, could not find a gap to escape.
‘But he has a history of overwhelming numerous upper-tier capabilities. He must have some special means.’
That part, she could force herself to accept.
What made her feel the incongruity was what came next.
‘How is it possible to communicate so smoothly despite such a time difference?’
No matter how it wasn’t verbal communication, such a seamless exchange should normally show some signs of strain.
Just moments ago, she had not been conscious of it at all; communicating with him felt utterly natural, almost as if she had been doing it forever.
“…What’s going on? Who am I having a conversation with?”
However, that thought didn’t last long.
A high-pitched, androgynous voice invaded her ears.
General Bu-ryeong, who was standing opposite Lucette, focusing on her every move, frowned as his green eyes, marked with concentric circles, flashed.
The smooth and discreet communication was swift, but it couldn’t fully deceive the eyes of such a powerful individual.
“Cough, it seems a little rat has snuck in, huh.”
Once he comprehended the entire situation, he raised the corners of his mouth.
He should have been taken aback by the fact that a tail was already caught against his plans, but he didn’t seem bothered at all.
He had already prepared for such a situation.
“It wouldn’t be right to simply leave our guest out here after coming all this way. Come here— Zao Yeon Hwan!”
With a complicated series of hand signs, his command was issued.
At the same time, the chakra forming the barrier resonated, creating a strong pull that crossed into the material realm.
[Uh, huh…?]
Hoon, who was taken aback, tried to respond, but it was already too late to do anything.
Thud—
The sound of something hitting the ground.
Lucette and General Bu-ryeong fixed their gazes in that direction.
“…Whoa, this is how it works.”
There sat Hoon, who had been forcefully sucked into the barrier, staring around in a daze with a bewildered expression.
Using the power of communication, he had tried to breach the barrier to connect with Lucette, but before he could do anything, he was dragged inside the barrier instead.
Like a fisherman reeling in a fish.
“Hehe, the Yoon’s scout? To have sniffed out this location already. You seem like quite the capable hunting dog…”
General Bu-ryeong, who chuckled with a thin voice, glared at Hoon.
This space was solely his domain.
Once inside, unless one had strength comparable to Lucette’s, there was no way to resist him.
The gaze in his eyes, marked with concentric circles, whirled as he stripped away the inner depths of his target.
“Hmm? Just at the low-tier level? Surprising. Your body seems quite trained, though.”
There was no way someone of this level could have made it this far.
His frown deepened as he realized something.
“Oh, I see. You are from another world, huh? Then it all makes sense.”
Those who wielded various powers beyond just chakra and showcased capabilities surpassing those of practitioners were numerous among the beings from other worlds supported by the Yoon clan.
Thus, it was not surprising that this man was one of them.
“Unlucky for you. It seems you have some skills, and under normal circumstances, I might have tried to coax you over, but…”
Under normal circumstances, that was when the opponent hadn’t seen something they shouldn’t have.
Since the great game had already begun, it might not matter greatly, but he had no intention of adding yet another variable to contend with just because of this one person.
“Blame yourself for meddling in something unnecessary.”
“Hoon!”
General Bu-ryeong snapped his fingers.
At the same time, Lucette, draped in lightning, moved like a beam of light to block Hoon’s path.
But just as it had been until now, her electric strike was unable to change anything.
Woosh—
As if completely dismissing her, the force swept past, shredding Hoon’s body to pieces.
His form was destroyed to the point where it was unrecognizable.
Addressing the utterly fragmented flesh that began to dissolve like smoke, Lucette’s expression twisted with rage.
“Cough, General Bu-ryeong! You…!”
“…Huh? What’s that?”
But her rage momentarily halted at the flustered expression of her opponent.
He frowned, his face stiff, as he muttered to himself.
“You deceived me? In my domain?”
It didn’t take long for Lucette to understand why he had reacted that way.
“Whoa, what a surprise! Such a vicious attack right off the bat.”
The familiar voice returned again.
Quickly turning her head in that direction, she blinked in disbelief at Hoon standing on a tree.
“Final Technique of Hoon’s Ninjutsu, Shadow Clone Technique.”
His figure, forming hand seals with a serious expression while spouting nonsense, looked so composed.
“…What kind of trick are you playing?”
However, General Bu-ryeong couldn’t let such a sight pass without reacting.
This domain was exclusively his.
Yet, to have completely tricked and toyed with his senses!
This was not something he could simply overlook.
“No, wait. It’s probably that unique skill or whatever that belongs only to beings from another world.”
But he soon regained his composure and glared sharply at Hoon.
It didn’t matter how he had done it.
Regardless of what trick had been employed, it wouldn’t work twice.
‘Yes, I was just careless just now.’
While maintaining the domain, restraining Lucette was a considerable mental strain for him.
On the surface, he appeared to completely disregard her lightning strike, seeming to be overwhelming, but in reality, the effort he was pouring behind the scenes was far from negligible.
In such a situation, there was no way he could focus entirely on what he thought was just an insignificant being.
“I will surely eliminate you this time.”
But now, the situation had changed.
He resolved to clear away that loathsome entity, regardless of any added burden.
Woof—
Ripples emanated from the concentric circles in General Bu-ryeong’s eyes.
As the vision of the ‘Inner Eye’ of the school was invoked to the extreme, the barrier, which had been supported by the domain, began to undulate.
The cries of the wild echoed all around, and an unidentified wave surged like a tsunami.
“…This is unfortunate. There’s no other way, huh.”
A power that crushed the very fabric of space surged forth.
Should anyone be swept up in it, they would be reduced to dust before they even had a chance to react.
While Lucette, capable of defending herself, would likely manage, for Hoon, who lacked sufficient training, a more special method would be necessary for survival.
“Final Technique of Hoon’s Ninjutsu.”
He formed hand seals once more.
In truth, this action held no significant meaning.
He simply felt like doing it for some reason.
‘It’s about time for Hoon to have some uniqueness.’
With a cheerful inclination, he chuckled softly.
Standing before the storm that surged in like a tidal wave, he calmly spoke.
“Thought Overload.”
The name sounded grand, but it wasn’t much different from his previous “Mental Resonance.”
However, that ultimate technique, now opening up the communication chakra for the first time—
Gasp!
—carried power on a different dimension.
It pierced through the adversary’s mind.
“Ggghhh! Hrk!”
The general, who was staggering in place, hunched over with a face flushed in anger.
The ferocious storm that had previously surged from all directions was already collapsing into nothingness.
No, it didn’t merely end there.
Rip— Riiip—
The sound of something being torn echoed sharply.
The barrier, disturbed at its core, began to waver and collapse.
“Ahh, no! This… it can’t be happening…”
The general’s face turned pale as he uttered incompleted phrases while clutching his face.
Already, blood was steadily dripping from his seven orifices.
The concentric circles in his pupils, which had been maintaining a stable interval, flickered as they began to fade, carving an erratic trajectory.
“Uh, Hoon? What is this…?”
Thought Overload.
In just those words, the situation had flipped.
Lucette, who had raised her lightning power significantly, cautiously spoke to Hoon with a bewildered expression.
Though she had witnessed the results of that ability during the Yoon So-hwa kidnapping incident, what she was seeing now was on an entirely different level.
‘No way. That General Bu-ryeong?’
There was only a single step separating upper-level practitioners from deep-level practitioners, yet the gulf was impossible to compare.
The deep-level practitioner could be said to have ‘completed’ their inner imagery on their own.
Naturally, they weren’t easily influenced by external stimuli, and their firm psyche wouldn’t collapse, even when faced with extreme situations.
“Ahh! No! I—aaah!”
It was unsurprising that such a sight would seem unfamiliar to her as well.
By all appearances, he seemed to have completely lost his mind!
An ability that could turn a deep-level practitioner into a shell of their former self with a single word?
‘Could it be possible if one opens the celestial gates?’
Perhaps it was possible.
If one were a practitioner touched by demonic ways reaching for the heavens.
She unwittingly swallowed hard.
‘Truly amazing. Maybe with just this, I wouldn’t need any other ability?’
As the crumbling domain came into view, Hoon nodded in satisfaction.
Worried that he might lack output, he even added a bit of “Limit Break” to his chakra, resulting in an exceptional effect.
While his previous “Mental Resonance” felt like injecting poison with a syringe, the recent attack was akin to shoving a sharp steel pipe straight in.
‘Still, thinking of versatility, it would be wise to have other means. This is too extreme.’
Hoon’s ultimate technique had no middle ground.
It either completely failed to work or utterly shattered one’s mind.
When considering various scenarios, it seemed necessary to continue honing “Roots of Ideals.”
“…Well, isn’t it a good thing all around? Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. So-hwa was quite worried.”
“Excuse me? Ah, yes! Thank you so much, Hoon! Following that child, I’ve received help again. I still haven’t repaid the kindness I received before…”
Right after the eerie forest scenery had completely collapsed.
They found themselves standing side by side in the midst of a red-tinted grove.
“Cough… General Bu-ryeong!”
“First, handle the reversing chakra!”
“No way! How could this…!”
Now, with the general squirming on the ground like a mere insect alongside the various practitioners supplementing the domain.
Crackle—!
Lucette stepped forward, sparks flying from her body.
“…I will handle them.”
Feeling indebted for the dangerous moment and seeking to secure witnesses for the interrogation sounded reasonable enough.
General Bu-ryeong, their leader, was in no condition to testify, anyway.
And it was natural.
Even in a state of exhaustion, there was no one present who could stand in her way, a practitioner of deep-level training.
‘Thank goodness it all turned out well. Lucette is safe too.’
In fact, it wasn’t quite time to be pleased.
This incident revealed that one of the high-ranking members of the Hongsan Kingdom, one of the two great powers, had attempted to make a move against the Yoon clan.
While she wasn’t sure how many within the Hongsan Kingdom had colluded in this, it was clear that future matters wouldn’t be smooth sailing.
‘Of course, it doesn’t concern me as an outsider.’
Such intricate matters were problems for the Seongcheon Yoon Clan to resolve.
He only needed to tend to his own growth and consider his own interests.
…Until he realized that the flames of war, which would engulf the entire continent, were already creeping up to his chin.
