NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1014
<1014 – Eastern Chronicles (13)>
While the Myung clan and the Myungwol Yudo Association crumbled overnight, losing key swordsmen and the behind-the-scenes wizard Cheongwoo, even their spiritual vein in Myungju was lost.
There were also swordsmen who made a deal with the Mini Noddy that sought negative emotions rather than positive ones.
“Isn’t fear the very emotion that makes us cowards and dulls our senses? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to strip it away?”
“True. Without fear, there’d be no incidents of being paralyzed and not being able to showcase one’s true skills. One could respond optimally against the weird creatures.”
“May our head guide us down the path with the sage advice of our elders.”
Jangmyohwa, the head of the Jang clan’s Jangpan Clan, was a rare female master of a female sect, harboring a quiet rage at the cunning habits of the elders.
‘Those cunning ones are already laying the groundwork to shift all responsibility onto me and boast about their achievements as if it’s thanks to their advice!’
– What’s the hassle? We could just force their sacrifices at the head’s command.
‘They claim that three of them together can create a nonexistent tiger, meaning authority and orders have no effect. All my directives are being ignored, leaving only my face tarnished. What can I do except take the lead myself?’
Her anger bubbled over, revealing her well-defined abs as she punched her abdomen.
Jangmyohwa believed that most of her martial prowess stemmed from the desire to hit those fellows, but unlike the comforting wizard’s advice, today she made the choice to bend slightly.
“As the head, how could I not take the lead against an unknown threat? I willingly offer my inner fear to receive the elixir to escape this crisis.”
“Hehehe. A deal made? No turning back now!”
The fear-harvesting Violet Noddy eagerly plucked the energy of fear from within Jangmyohwa and swallowed it whole.
“What do you think, head?”
“Has courage surged now that fear is gone?”
Quickly take the lead and charge ahead, carving a path for us. Ideally, die instantly and hand over the position of head!
The swordsmen frowned at the greedy gazes of the elders.
Unlike Jangmyohwa, who regained the beauty of her twenties at the age of forty due to her high level of skill, the elders looked like faded middle-aged crones, desperately clinging to their dimming beauty.
Everyone knew that the malicious old witches were tormenting the young and capable head.
“Indeed, with the absence of fear, courage unlike any before has arisen. I feel like I could take on anything without hesitation.”
“Good. Then go ahead and do it.”
“We’ll take full responsibility for what happens next!”
At the elders’ cries, the head smiled willingly.
It wasn’t a forced smile swallowing her pain, but a pure smile blooming from her heart, enhancing Jangmyohwa’s beauty.
“Thank you for the elders’ consideration. I will gladly do so.”
The moment Jangmyohwa clasped her fists together in a show of camaraderie, the faces of the elders twisted as if struck by misfortune.
‘That wretched girl…!’
‘What an ungrateful brat. Just because her skin’s nice, she acts out!’
“Yeah, hurry up and lead. And then die already!”
The elders, trying their best to feign smiles, reverted back to their original expressions.
Without hesitation, one of the elders stepped up and was met with Jangmyohwa’s blade, falling to the ground.
“Head…?”
“You’ve slain Elder Pyo! What is the meaning of this?!”
“Have you lost your mind, head?!”
The elders pulled out their weapons in shock.
Jangmyohwa tilted her head.
“Lost my mind? The girl is more sane than ever.”
“Girl? How can the head refer to herself so shamefully as a girl!”
“There was a time when I couldn’t even call myself that under the elders’ intimidation, but if I don’t refer to myself as a girl, what should I call myself?”
“Act your age!”
“Haha. I may not know how to act my age, but I do know how to take care of my looks. Now that I’m no longer afraid of you all, I will live as I am and do as I please.”
Jangmyohwa, free of fear, boldly revealed the feelings she had suppressed due to fear, courageously provoking a civil war with the elders.
The wizard, with a face like a hundred-year-old senile person about to collapse, clenched his fist in excitement.
– After feeling a crushing pain in my chest for years, I finally feel unburdened! You can forget about that old sorrows!
The wizard didn’t hold back his cheers of support!
With worries that never ceased, the head’s transformation had him personally spreading gifts of gratitude from his own wealth.
– I genuinely thank you for taking fear from that cowardly fool!
“Hehehe. I simply made a deal, and I find it embarrassing to receive compliments like this! Because it feels wrong to just take, I’ll let you know about the side effects in return!”
– Side effects…? Is having a proactive and vigorous mindset in life a side effect?
Contrary to the wizard’s expectations, the side effects were far from harmless.
“If a person has no fear, they won’t stop. They can attempt anything that comes to mind. Because there’s no fear.”
– Isn’t that a proactive attitude?!
The wizard’s joy was short-lived.
“Breaking laws and morals is no longer frightening.”
– What…?
“The tragedies that arise from acting on sudden impulses don’t scare me.”
– Wait a minute.
“I’m not afraid of the consequences my actions might have on others. Not even for myself.”
This was no blessing.
Just irreversible ruin.
Such a premonition of disaster unfolded right before their eyes.
“I’ve thought for a long time, but our Jangpan Clan’s members are too cowardly. As for me, my martial skill is fine, but it would take you a hundred years to get close to my level, right? At least I’m here as an idiot.”
There was not a shred of malice in her words.
Only a conclusion made purely from goodwill.
“Is such an effort not utterly despairing? I’ve thought so long. Spending a lifetime devoted to meaningless training, suffering against walls, only to degenerate like the elders, I’d rather die early. So I want you to kill me.”
The impulsive thought of a moment.
No, the impulse that had been suppressed all her life.
But it was something that should never come to fruition, the thought of the consequences frightening her.
In that moment, the shackles named ‘fear’ that had held her back were lifted.
That was why Jangmyohwa’s hand was poised to behead her subordinates without any hesitation.
<The Rearguard>
Yet, Jangmyohwa’s blade was deflected by another blade that struck faster than her own.
A female swordsman landed like a tempest, uprooting the ground beneath her.
The hem of her cheongsam fluttered beyond her long legs, revealing the curves of her thighs and calves.
“That’s as far as you go, Jangmyohwa.”
“You… who are you?”
“The only person I’ve deemed decent among the trash of swordsmen. Just a little brat I was grateful to before.”
The one who caught Jangmyohwa’s blade was none other than the Lonely Eastern Swordsman, Sing.
“A grateful little brat?”
Jangmyohwa recalled past memories.
It was rare for her to have aided someone outside her junior disciples.
“Is that from several years ago?”
“It’s been over ten years.”
“If that’s the case… could it be the little brat that challenged the task for the sake of her younger sister?”
She was surprised that he remembered.
Sing nodded with slightly wide eyes, but Jangmyohwa was more astonished.
“I remember the child being a bit delicate… But is that you now?”
A boy with long hair filled with malice.
It was quite a surprise considering she’d expected an undisciplined wild dog.
“I know I’ve changed from the past. Still, my desire to protect my younger sister remains the same. You must feel the same, right? The sentiment of caring enough to meddle with a complete newbie.”
“Of course.”
“Then please don’t kill me. Despite being dull-witted and struggling to overcome the wall of talent, I know a brilliant training genius who could teach a way to surpass it.”
Jangmyohwa’s extreme mindset began to settle gradually.
Even after losing her emotions to the Mini Noddy, she succeeded in controlling the side effects.
Sadi genuinely admired the scene.
“That’s the second time. Someone has offered their emotions as a sacrifice and still managed to overcome the side effects.”
After barely calming down Jangmyohwa, Sing found himself startled by Sadi’s words of “the second.”
Had someone else endured such strong recoil from a blow of this magnitude without receiving any help?
The other swordsmen who did not receive Sing’s choice…
Intentionally watched their own demise in melancholy.
No emotion is without value.
The ‘Mini Noddy Sisters’ especially aim for significant feelings.
Feelings so massive they could shatter a person’s world upon loss.
Instinctively, they primarily feed on such ‘large prey.’
Yet miraculously, there stood one still intact.
“Hey, friends of my older sister! Look at this! Even though she sacrificed her pure love, she’s still protecting the man. Isn’t it amazing?”
A woman guarding a man donned in a red ceremonial robe that signified they belonged to the Heavenly Sovereign’s family.
Sadi chuckled, looked closely at her, and said, “Oh my, what’s this?”
“What’s wrong?”
“That woman, she has no ‘fluctuation’.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because she never loved a man from the start, even after losing her love,her attitude didn’t change.”
Her highly suspicious demeanor was clear to see.
Jangmyohwa trembled as she followed Sing to witness the odd couple.
“Oh? Why are my hands like this?”
“Heh. This is getting more interesting.”
“Sadi, do you have any idea why Jangmyohwa’s body is acting this way?”
“Of course.”
Sadi revealed the cause.
“She’s feeling fear.”
“Fear? Just a moment ago…”
“She sacrificed it as a donation. But her instinct kicked in again. Someone who has forgotten what fear is instinctively relearns the concept of fear.”
A woman with an unusual bitterness, pretending to love the bloodline of the Heavenly Sovereign without knowing what love truly is.
She turned her head towards Sadi, Sing, and Jangmyohwa.
“It seems I’ve caught your attention, dark sorcerer from the Western world. And… the woman with a fondness for revealing outfits.”
“!”
“You may not have realized, but allow me to introduce myself. I am the Rank 2 wizard from the Alliance of Necromancers. The Gold Dragon Sorcerer, that is me.”
Sadi was shocked to learn that the Gold Dragon Sorcerer recognized her identity.
Sing was surprised in a different way.
A wizard with the insight to recognize Sadi’s identity classified her as a woman!
‘Am I being acknowledged?’
Sing felt a little proud.