Chapter 198: Fate (1)

Kergel Magic Tower. Those locked in fierce combat on the lower floors all snapped their heads up at once.

“……!”

“……!”

A chill ran down their spines. They could feel the clash of two immense energies. The epicenter was right above them.

“…This is insane.”

Kang Hyeonseong dropped the mage he’d been holding by the collar. The enemy slid down like a deflated balloon doll. Not just that mage—others lay scattered at his feet.

“What the hell kind of fight is…”

Lee Taebaek left his back to Kang Hyeonseong and headed upward. Soon after, mages arrived at his floor from below.

Clack, clack. Amid the sharp sound of high heels, a woman kicked debris aside as she approached. She stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kang Hyeonseong and spat out curtly.

“That tower master’s up there. But saying that, this place ain’t a picnic either.”

“…Not since you showed up.”

“What, you were doing fine without me.”

Kang Hyeonseong glanced at her, recalling the scene from moments ago. Her bare-handed instant kills on the mages had been shocking.

“…Art Master, didn’t you retire?”

Kang Hyeonseong eyed her suspiciously.

“Real superstars always unretire. It’s a marketing ploy.”

“…….”

She’s indirectly saying Lee Taebaek caught her eye.

He’d heard rumors.

That the Art Master had taught Lee Taebaek some combat techniques.

Rumble rumble rumble boom!

At that moment, the grounds shook violently.

It felt like an earthquake.

“…This is…!”

Everyone, friend and foe alike, jumped in shock.

The sudden quake turned the area into chaos. It doused the heat of their fierce battles like ice water.

“Damn it!”

“We’re getting thrown around!”

The ground twisted wildly; only a handful managed to stay on their feet. Even the Resistance battalion commanders clung to whatever they could.

The few holding steady were.

The Art Master.

“Ho?”

And the former Commander-in-Chief.

“That masked one over there… she’s pretty good.”

“Masked… woman?”

Even in the chaos, Kang Hyeonseong was stunned. He’d served for years without pinning down the Commander’s gender. He’d been curious, sure.

But the person in question showed no interest in revealing it, so no one asked.

The former Commander’s gender and identity were left unspoken. With the title now passed to Lee Taebaek, it was destined to remain a mystery.

“…….”

“Oh? Was that not supposed to be revealed?”

As the world rocked, the Art Master grinned mischievously. The former Commander-in-Chief shook their head.

“I wasn’t particularly hiding it.”

“Really? Then why the mask?”

Fortunately, the ear-splitting whoosh drowned out most listeners. Resistance and mages alike were too busy surviving.

“There were two people I didn’t want knowing.”

“They’re not here now, huh?”

“…Perceptive.”

“Dropping hints like that—what?”

The Art Master seemed intrigued. She must have judged the former Commander-in-Chief worth talking to.

It happened in an instant.

A demonic gale swept the area clean. Debris swirled like in a hurricane. Eyes turned to the wind’s source—the doorway.

A point of light flickered through the open gap.

It shot forward like a beam, extending in a flash.

The Wish-Fulfilling Staff.

Its owner had stormed the tower.

“What, you came too?”

The Art Master tossed out a gruff remark.

The Staff Master, descending from her staff, replied nonchalantly.

“Wouldn’t want to miss the fun on a day like this. I came to liven things up.”

To the mages, it was a bolt from the blue.

But the quake stopped.

In the face of greater calamity, even the earthquake cowered.

Two of the Three Calamities were here.

“S-Staff Master…!”

They panicked in their own ways. The Staff Master eyed the mages coldly, then smirked.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

“……!!”

Her words struck their souls.

The next moment, she spun her staff. A massive typhoon roared. Mages spat blood resisting, but their efforts were futile—they were all blown away. The Resistance shrank back at the Staff Master’s dominance in purging the demonic mages.

Curiously, the Resistance wasn’t caught in the staff’s wind.

She controlled it freely, without being a mage.

Or perhaps it was magic.

The pinnacle of the White Path wielding magic, a tool exclusive to demonic mages. Using the enemy’s secrets for revenge. Proof of bone-deep grudge.

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

As if to prove it, she cackled madly while instant-killing foes. Even the wind couldn’t tear the laugh.

“This tiresome grudge from the martial world… maybe it’ll end today.”

“White Path crashing the party. Things have changed.”

The Art Master kept eyeing the Commander-in-Chief while snarking at the Staff Master. The gale quieted a bit.

Thud.

The Staff Master dropped her staff. The stone slab it touched crumpled like tofu. Tension spiked as the two disasters bantered.

“Amitabha. This is Lake City. Defy the times, and you’re buried—that’s what experience taught me. Thought you’d know, coming from the plains.”

“Well, well. A monk talking sly. Yeah, Lake City means timing it right.”

“Appreciated.”

“Talk is cheap… That’s why White Path folk creep me out. Hypocrites to the core.”

“Shouldn’t you at least pretend? You’re a public figure—too reckless.”

“Reckless? Honest. And in Lake City, who cares.”

“Amitabha.”

“Always with the Amitabha.”

Kang Hyeonseong’s throat bobbed.

Even casual chat choked him.

Indeed, battalion commanders who’d been sane amid the earlier chaos now fainted one by one.

Overwhelmed by the disasters’ casual aura. Kang Hyeonseong nearly blacked out but held on.

“Anyway.”

The Art Master finally turned back to the Commander-in-Chief.

“Masked lady. It’s quieter now. Time for explanations?”

“What needs explaining?”

The mask gleamed impassively. No usual playful emoticon.

“Those moves you mix in occasionally.”

The Art Master swept her gaze around.

“They share roots with these scattered mages.”

“What…?!”

Kang Hyeonseong’s eyes widened like saucers.

The Art Master’s eyes were stern as she continued.

“Anyone else, maybe. Not me. I manipulate muscle down to the cell. Others’ too. Loose clothes won’t hide it.”

“…….”

“Want me to strip you?”

“…I’ll do it myself.”

The Commander-in-Chief reached back. Kang Hyeonseong endured desperately. Curiosity about to be sated. But.

“Sorry, Hyeonseong.”

The Commander-in-Chief released battle spirit. Kang Hyeonseong lost his mental grip. Hair cascaded down the Commander’s back right after.

Silence fell. With two Calamities present, no madman would interfere. If any, they’d vanish in microseconds.

In the deathly quiet.

Crack.

The mask shattered on the stone.

The next instant, the Staff Master—who’d shown no interest—gaped.

“…You.”

Someone she knew.

She thrusts her sword.

Steps forward.

Pulls shoulder back.

Sharpness grazes the solar plexus.

Thrust.

Whooooosh!

Space buckles under the simple stab, exposing its innards.

The world screams transparently.

Dust, fragments, debris sucked into the cleaved dimension.

One arc wounds the world.

The sword follows. Biyeon’s blade bore overwhelming sword qi.

Yet it hadn’t reached the god.

Biyeon spun.

Balanced on one foot, she drew a full moon.

Simple motion.

Infinite sword principle.

Beautiful.

Evoking radiant sword dance.

“I was born from death.”

Biyeon’s sword clashed with the god’s. The human blade bounced. Even if it could cleave all, Lee Taebaek reigned above. Biyeon smirked, stomping again.

“A life marching toward death.”

Crack.

“Once I denied it!”

Fatigue shook her muscles. Each swing shattered her core.

“But I deny it no more!”

Leaps tore dimensions casually. Battle beyond reality and future. Not prediction. Beyond physics. Instinct meshed with cosmic clock—oneness.

First for Biyeon.

New sensation for Lee Taebaek too.

Clang!

Clashed again. Biyeon’s arm whipped back. Twisted elbow protruded broken bone. She switched to mind sword.

Relentlessly targets.

Life gifted by former Heavenly Demon.

Sanctuary built lifetime—spew it all here!

“Nice.”

Lee Taebaek smiled.

Real or inner—he couldn’t tell. Boundaries long crumbled.

Sword stroke nears.

Death on clash.

Unlike before, this blade’s path diverged.

Giant’s skull hallucination looms behind Biyeon.

Born of death.

Challenges god.

Rises from death.

Biyeon is human. Frail flesh, hasty mind bearing life’s weight—meek existence. Such, Lee Taebaek.

“You weren’t born from death.”

“Ha! Blasphemy! Pitying me?!”

“Not at all.”

Lee Taebaek gripped umbrella handle two-handed.

Shoves cold into blade.

Hard ice to freeze the world.

“I affirm your life.”

“…Affirm…?”

“Yeah. Not pity—affirmation.”

“Ha!”

Bliss.

A being craving life so proactively born in his world of denial.

“No regrets even in death today!”

Shoulders frost white.

Blades lock.

Sword wind wave spreads over Lake City. Like global broadcast.