Beyond the Eternity

Chapter 234 Self Discovery [3]

The grey fog clung to the sky, casting a pall over the city, yet the air carried an unexpected freshness. A breeze from the east swept away the lingering stench of monster blood. While the number of monsters had visibly thinned in recent days, a few stragglers remained, lurking in the shadows.

Seoul had become a place where nightmares lingered and swayed, the date etched into its fate — January 1st, 2024.

On that fateful day, the Old World came to an end. From the ashes of its ruins, a New World arose.

When Earth's planetary system was integrated into the «Link» and the Main Stories emerged, humanity was caught utterly unprepared. Monsters of the Abyss—soon to be known as the Night Terrors—overwhelmed national militaries, plunging the world into a cataclysm of unprecedented scale.

It was destruction on a global scale.

No one understood the Link, the Main Stories, or how to fight against the overwhelming force. The result was catastrophic: ninety percent of the world's population was wiped out in just a single day.

In the aftermath, it was the Walkers — the survivors of the First Story who had endured and risen above adversity — who put an end to the carnage. Armed with extraordinary abilities awakened during that narrative, they restored a semblance of peace and established a fragile new order for the remaining survivors of the New World.

A ruined world could not be rebuilt in a single month. Even so, the paralyzing fear of venturing outside had begun to recede. People had learned to kill, to survive, with their own hands.

Now, the sound of clashing steel echoed through the air.

A close-quarters sparring match played out between two figures. Kagura, wielding a Japanese sword, and Angelica, armed with a longsword, clashed in a rhythm that resembled a deadly dance.

Kagura, wielding the two-meter nodachi, "Izanami," possessed a unique constitution that amplified her physicality. Thus, she could launch devastating, heavy blows from a distance, using the length of her sword to her advantage, while also unleashing powerful gusts of wind as a form of attack.

Angelica, on the other hand, possessed the overwhelming advantage of her authority, King's Treasury, which allowed her to dominate her opponents from all angles and directions.

However, she refrained from using this cheat-like ability.

This was training, after all. Angelica saw no need to use her full strength. Instead, she deliberately held herself back, focusing on refining her stamina and honing her swordsmanship.

Kagura too, was not fighting at her full might, but Angelica couldn't afford to carelessly take one of those hits. A direct blow from Kagura's nodachi could easily leave her with broken bones.

That was the tremendous physical gap between them.

Clang—! Slash—!

Strike after strike, slash after slash, their swords collided, smoothly transitioning between offense and defense.

On the sidelines, Lee Suhye sat cross-legged, casually munching on jjin mandu (steamed dumplings). Her blissful expression betrayed no concern for the intense match before her.

Some say that food made by someone else really does taste better than one made your own hands.

The "someone else" in question was Jakga Kim, whose culinary skills seemed almost as impressive as his other talents.

Her euphoric expression seemed to scream, "This is amazing!", as though the duel taking place was nothing more than background noise.

"Ack!"

A few well-placed hits from Kagura forced Angelica to stagger backward. Her body shook from the impact, and moments later, her longsword slipped from her grasp, clattering to the ground as she collapsed onto her rear.

Then she gulped on the chilly sensation on her throat.

In front of her, Kagura pointed the tip of her nodachi 'Izanami' at her.

She had stopped the nodachi at a paper-length away because they were practicing. But if this had been a real fight, she would have lost her life for sure.

"That's it for me." Facing the casually dressed woman before her, Angelica offered a resigned smile.

Kuro Kagura lowered her nodachi with a softened expression.

Her long hair was tied back into a neat ponytail, strands swaying gently with the lingering breeze. She slung the massive nodachi at her side, the way one might holster a Western pistol—an unexpected contrast to the traditional image her weapon evoked.

"You did better than last time."

"Really?"

"Yes. Your technique is definitely improving, but your foundation is still weak."@@@@

"Hah... just give me a minute... I can still..."

Angelica attempted to rise but collapsed back down. Her body was too drained to continue. She frowned in displeasure, whereupon.

"Angelica-ssi, catch this!"

Lee Suhye, still nibbling on a dumpling, called out, then tossed a chilled sports drink toward her.

Angelica caught it and narrowed her eyes at the drink. She immediately recognised it. "Is this from that broken vending machine you looted earlier?"

"I see. I'm sorry for asking something sensitive."

Kagura shook her head. A faint, unreadable smile touched her lips. She murmured softly:

"It's nothing, really. While my sister lived with my father, I stayed with my mother and grandfather. He owned a dojo. When I wasn't helping my mother with her duties as a shrine maiden, he'd teach me kendo in my free time."

"Was there any particular reason for that, or was it just for self-defense?"

"A mix of both. There was an incident where a stalker followed me home."

"That's... creepy."

"You don't have to worry. He was quickly discovered and beaten up by my grandmother, who happened to be nearby. Sadly, the stalker managed to escape before the police arrived."

Kagura sighed. Her expression was tinged with regret, as if she wished the stalker had been caught and received more passionate hits.

"There were a few other incidents where I was followed by people with bad intentions. By then, I'd become capable enough to defend myself, so I usually just beat them up and chased them away."

Her voice grew serious.

"But it would be absolutely terrible if they had a gun. Since no one walks around with that kind of weapon openly, it's usually concealed, so you have no way of knowing whether someone's armed."

She continued,

"I usually run if there's even a hint of danger, and I only confront people when I'm certain they're unarmed. Kendo is great and all, but it's completely useless if the other person has a gun... or if there are more than two of them."

Lee Suhye let out a low whistle. "Life in Japan sounds really tough."

Kagura shook her head with a soft smile.

"Not really. Japan has a lot of great aspects. There's no such thing as a perfect place, so bad things are bound to happen sometimes. Those incidents were rare, thankfully."

"I see," Suhye said thoughtfully. "Your grandfather must've been amazing."

"He really was."

After a brief pause, Lee Suhye hesitated before asking, "Do you think he's still alive?"

"Maybe. Who knows? But knowing him, he's definitely not the type to go down without a fight."

Kagura let out a quiet chuckle and shifted her gaze upward. The gray sky stretched endlessly, as though mocking her. Even the constellations hidden within the dark clouds were silent.

In the end, to them, her story was just that—a story.

Silently, she lingered under the grey expanse for a long moment, her thoughts hidden behind her stillness. Finally, she spoke.

"Let's start right away."

"Alright."

Following that short exchange, the two positioned themselves and erased their smiles.

It was as if the casual conversation had never happened.

Just as Kagura reached for the hilt of her nodachi and Lee Suhye prepared to raise her customized assault rifle—

KABOOM!! A deafening explosion shattered the air!

"...!!"

"...!!"

"...!!"

The three of them, Angelica, Kagura, and Lee Suhye all turned their heads toward the source of the blast in unison.

In the distance, a thick cloud of smoke and dust billowed up from a building. Given its location and direction, it unmistakably seemed near their base, Night Management.

... Or could it have come from within Night Management itself.

Were they under attack?

"...!!"

As the thought crossed their minds simultaneously, none of them said a word. They immediately sprinted toward the explosion, synchronized, with a sense of urgency.