TDLHRH 12

Bound in midair and unable to do anything but grind his teeth in frustration, Haerang finally shook off his denial of the situation. He placed a hand on Horang’s shoulder.

“Noona, stop it. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“That bastard tried to grab your neck. How are you, a hunter, so terrible at sensing danger? At the very least, you should never let anything come close to your neck, heart, or solar plexus.”

“It’s not like I can keep dust away from me…”

“You could if you constantly surrounded yourself with energy for protection. Can’t you even do that? Are you really a hunter?”

“I’m an S-rank, noona… And what’s this ‘energy’ you keep mentioning? That strange force you’re using?”

“No, this is something else. I’m talking about that blue energy that dog-faced guy and that kid used. Isn’t that mana?”

“…Wait, are you talking about mana?”

Haerang gathered the mana flowing through his body and concentrated it into a small orb in his palm. Though he held the hybrid title, his foundation was that of a swordsman. Emitting visible mana wasn’t his strength, making the orb unstable and small. Even so, it was enough for Horang to recognize it. She nodded lightly.

Hmph, the Archwitch definitely called something like this energy.

The dog-faced man—Dojin—had exuded a similar energy when using his skills. Horang recalled seeing it somewhere else too. Tracing her memory back, she remembered it resembled what the Archwitch had wielded during their first encounter, back before she became a witch.

While not as refined as the Archwitch’s energy, the essence felt the same. The name might differ on Earth, but ‘Mana, magic energy, it’s all the same thing.’ However, it was the polar opposite of Horang’s “Dark Qi.”

Her Dark Qi was dense, black, and pure despair condensed into energy. While Horang pondered this, Haerang suddenly coughed harshly. It wasn’t a cold. It was as if something inside him was rising, causing him to hunch over and cough into the crook of his elbow.

When he straightened, his complexion was ghostly pale.

“What’s wrong? Did that guy do something to you?”

“No, no! Absolutely not! It’s just… I suddenly feel stifled, like something heavy is choking me. It feels like a suffocating, murky force…”

“…”

At his words, Horang immediately understood the cause. It was her own Dark Qi, the energy she’d been thinking about just moments before.

While the amount she’d emitted wasn’t enough to faze her in the slightest, some people reacted sensitively to even a trace of it. Those sensitive to Dark Qi might cough up blood or even faint from exposure to something as small as a fingernail’s worth.

A demon king for a sister, and a brother sensitive to demonic energy. What an irony.

Still, she couldn’t abandon her use of Dark Qi entirely—it was essential for facing potential threats. The only solution was for Haerang to get used to it, though she disliked the idea of him suffering.

After pondering for a moment, Horang made up her mind.

This is all because Baek Haerang is weak. I’ll try to use less Dark Qi for now, but I’ll also train him until he’s strong enough to handle it.

With her plan decided, she immediately put it into action.

Step 1: Manage Baek Haerang’s mental state.

Narrating the steps to herself, Horang jabbed Haerang in the ribs as he caught his breath, shouting loudly,

“What kind of S-rank is this flimsy? Stop relying on your skills and start training, training!”

Faced with this sudden, lecture-like declaration from his ancient sibling, Haerang wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and nodded silently. Arguing would only press her “Back in my day” button, unleashing a tirade starting with “When I was your age” and ending in “You need to work hard, so work hard!”

While Haerang deeply valued and cared for his sister, enduring such lectures seemed entirely unnecessary. Thankfully, Horang was satisfied with his compliance and released Hyeon from his midair bindings.

However, she left a few thorn-like restraints around his neck, almost like accessories.

For potential dangers, Haerang decided to be satisfied that Horang had at least set Hyeon down. He was, by now, fairly accustomed to her sudden actions.

“Anyway… Guild Leader Jegal wasn’t trying to do anything like that. He was probably just trying to pat my shoulder, right?”

“Yes, as always.”

“You heard that, right? What you’re worried about doesn’t happen here on Earth, at least.”

“You never know. He could lose it and start stabbing people before running off. Taking out an entire continent just to deal with one guy sounds like such a hassle…”

“…Miss Baek Horang, I swear on everything I hold dear, I have never harmed, nor will I ever harm, those who are not evil. This has been my creed ever since I fell into this world from the martial realm.”

Hyeon’s voice was calm, despite the dagger of dark energy wrapped around his neck—a vulnerability among vulnerabilities. He had already half given up.

The being standing before him, whose humanity was questionable, casually remarked that wiping out a continent covering half of Earth wouldn’t be hard, just bothersome. There wasn’t a hint of deceit or bravado in her voice.

Hyeon had encountered beings like this before in the martial realm. Those who defied common sense. Heavenly Demons or Blood Demons, who could overturn the world as easily as flipping a table. If such beings were even a little more combative or ill-tempered than average, war was inevitable. They would unhesitatingly turn the world into a living hell. Depending on their disposition, their existence alone could either bring unparalleled safety or unimaginable horror—a true Deus Ex Machina. No matter how much one trained in martial arts or honed themselves as a hunter, a mere human could not stand against such a being.

It might seem laughable to use the term “god” while looking at Horang’s petite, almost frail frame, but to Hyeon, it was anything but a joke. Haerang, on the other hand, either didn’t realize how dangerous his sibling was or was ignoring it intentionally. Facts were facts.

Hyeon resolved to pacify this walking time bomb and steer her down the right path—for as long as possible, at least. Until she opened her mouth and caused a storm, that is.

“Hm… By the way, there’s something odd mixed in with that energy you’re using, along with what I assume is mana. What is it?”

“If it’s something mixed… you must mean internal energy.”

“Internal energy, huh? I feel like I’ve seen something like this before…”

Horang made no effort to hide her ability to analyze and identify the energy she observed, causing cold sweat to drip down Hyeon’s back. Memories of internal energy? The idea of her seeing the flow of energy inside a body was absurd. Moreover, no one else who had returned to Earth came from the martial realm like Hyeon. For Horang to remember internal energy, she would have had to visit the martial realm herself.

Horang had no qualms about ending the lives of those she deemed threatening. If such a being had visited the martial realm, it would either be in ruins or destroyed outright. As dread crept over him, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Hyeon’s forehead.

“Ah, I remember now. ‘Die.’ It sounded something like that. Was that a phrase from your world?”

“How… How do you know the language of Zhongyuan?!”

“Oh, nothing much. Everyone I met there kept saying things like that to me. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it sounded like ‘die,’ right? Funny, isn’t it? Maybe I should meet the other returnees sometime.”

“…What happened to the people of that world…?”

“What do you think? They all died. Not a single one who bared their fangs at me survived.”

Crack.

Hyeon’s face twisted into a demonic grimace as his earlier composure shattered. His jaw clenched, and the grinding of his teeth echoed loudly. An uncontrollable fury engulfed him. The surging energy of mana and internal power was enough to make Haerang step in front of Horang, drawing his sword in desperation. Planting the gleaming white blade into the ground, Haerang unleashed a burst of light that formed a hemispherical barrier around Hyeon.

“Guild Leader Jegal, please calm down…! My sister… she probably hasn’t adjusted to Earth yet and is just spouting nonsense…!”

“Step aside. Your sister is a demon. No, worse than that. She will undoubtedly become a force of destruction for Earth.”

“No, my sister is an ordinary human. Guild Leader, you’re overreacting!”

Though the barrier temporarily trapped Hyeon, it was clear he could break free with effort. Doing so would likely injure him, but if he focused solely on attacking Horang, it was unclear whether she could remain unscathed. Haerang couldn’t bear to see her hurt, no matter how minor the wound. …He was tired of seeing people around him get hurt.

While Haerang and Hyeon were locked in their tense standoff, Horang, as if observing a child’s squabble, calmly stepped out from behind her brother. Before Haerang could stop her, she approached the edge of the barrier, met Hyeon’s gaze directly, and whispered,

“Comparing me to a mere demon? That’s insulting. I’m the Demon King, after all.”

The whispered words, concealed by a soundproof barrier around Haerang, caused Hyeon’s eyes to widen in shock, blood vessels bursting in his sclera. Hyeon screamed, his voice trembling with fury and despair.

“You filthy, disgusting monster…! How dare you… my senior… my brothers in arms…!”

“I enjoy seeing people like you. Makes me feel alive. Hmm, what was that phrase again…?”

“‘For the honor of my sect, I will kill you painfully! Your skin…!’”

“Ha, what a failure of a Demon King I am. I’m supposed to taunt the dead to make you angrier, but unfortunately, none of them were memorable. Weaklings are always the problem, don’t you think?”

“You…!”

Consumed by rage, Hyeon entered a state of inner turmoil. Blood vessels bulged across his body, and the whites of his eyes turned crimson. Unable to contain his fury, Hyeon shattered the barrier, his body covered in wounds, as he charged at Horang.