“Busy, so busy!”

Kwaaang!

Na Rin was so busy that she didn’t have time to check where the doors of Bukcheon Palace were located, so she decided to just crash into any wall and make it into a door.

“Intruder!”

“Stop them!”

As the walls collapsed with a boom and white smoke rose without any warning, the remaining Hyeonmu troops in Bukcheon Palace came running in a frenzy. Their agile movements showed that they had been training well.

“Wow, this is awkward.”

The plan was to sneak in, find the Asura Sword, and get out.

But seeing those blue-green military uniforms makes my blood boil without even realizing it.

‘I even got permission from elder brother.’

A little punch wouldn’t hurt, right?

The moment the corners of Na Rin’s mouth curled up after making up her mind, the Hyeonmu troops were gripped by an inexplicable fear.

“E-everyone stay focused and hold on, uwak!”

“Captain!”

“Don’t die! You tofu-like weaklings!”

And a moment later.

Na Rin headed to the Crystal Pagoda, the sacred place where the Asura Sword was kept in Bukcheon Palace, with the captain of the Hyeonmu troops leading the way.

“T-this is the place.”

“Good work.”

For the captain of the Hyeonmu to succumb to an intruder was an utterly shameful thing, but there was no need to worry. There was not a single person left in Bukcheon Palace who could ridicule him for it.

‘So this is where the Asura Sword was.’

Stripped of its religious meaning, the Crystal Pagoda was just a small garden of salt hills and mercury pools. It didn’t look like an appropriate space to store a sword at all.

“Did they just throw it anywhere because it was too hot to hold?”

It was just a random thought, but upon further consideration, it seemed possible.

The sword that had been kept in a glass case before the offering ceremony turned out to be a fake in the end.

Perhaps the real Asura Sword did not allow anyone without the Heavenly Demon bloodline to directly touch it with their hands, let alone put it in a case to move it.

In other words…

“It might still be here!”

Na Rin immediately lowered her body and took a stance.

The rapidly rotating internal energy and the spiral movement starting from the toes.

The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique. The seventh form.

It was the beginning of Plum Blossom Flurry.

Like plum blossoms fluttering in disarray in the fickle wind between winter and spring, the essence of the volcanic martial arts expresses nature that changes again before even drawing its shape.

Hwaaak!

With just a single form, the salt hills and mercury pools that made up the Crystal Pagoda lost their original form. Amidst the scattered salt powder and mercury droplets, a sword lay there.

“It’s definitely different from the fake one.”

A transparent and beautiful blade that looked like glass or a mirror.

The Yaming Pearl, resembling a full moon even more with the speck of dust on it.

The Asura Sword had returned to Na Rin’s hands.

“Hot! I gotta hurry! Busy, so busy!”

Without even having the leisure to enjoy the emotion of retrieving the real one, Na Rin’s figure soared into the sky. The sky was red enough to hide Na Rin’s crimson afterimage and more.

‘It has begun.’

Dokgo Cheon’s heart was rarely busy as he watched the red sun’s eye slowly closing. Sunset usually starts slowly and ends abruptly.

‘Was it too much after all?’

Dokgo Cheon’s tightly closed lips slowly parted.

It was to give orders to at least provide a meal and drinks to the gathered believers when the sun sets.

That’s when it happened.

Na Rin’s voice was heard from the sky.

“I’m back!”

Whoosh!

When Na Rin really had to move fast, she tried not to step on the ground as much as possible.

It was because her speed would slow down if her toes touched the soil even for a moment.

Before her transformation, she would sometimes step on other people’s roofs, but after opening the Sangdanjeon, there was no need for that anymore.

“It’s a bird!”

“The lady of the Blood Palace has become a bird!”

Therefore, Na Rin literally flew in.

It was possible because the Mannyeonjeon Hall was an outdoor banquet hall without a ceiling.

Thud! Clatter!

Landing gracefully was not in her control.

“Father! The Asura Sword!”

Despite gasping for breath, Na Rin’s face bloomed with a flower-like smile, and a smile also spread across Dokgo Cheon’s face. He wanted to praise her, but there was no time.

“Oh god of light and wisdom, who created the path of the sun and stars.”

Dokgo Cheon raised the Asura Sword towards the sky.

“Bestow the sacred sword of fire upon the hearts of people, which are like battlefields, to fight and overcome all sins, evils, and demons. The descendants of the Heavenly Demon swear eternal struggle to you.”

The faint sunlight from the dying sun transformed into a dazzling light like Venus the moment it touched the Asura Sword.

“Forgive me.”

The following prayer was in a language Na Rin could not understand.

But everyone else except Na Rin seemed to know the prayer, as they all repeated the same words after each verse Dokgo Cheon recited.

When all the prayers were finished, the world had become a blue and dark night.

“……”

Is it over?

Dokgo Cheon nodded with a faint smile as if to reassure Na Rin.

“It’s thanks to you.”

Only then did a bright smile like a cherry blossom bloom on Na Rin’s face.

“Hehehe. Really?”

“Na Rin!”

It was Gong Son Wu’s voice.

It seemed he had rescued Ja Ryong and returned to the Mannyeonjeon Hall while Na Rin was at Bukcheon Palace. Na Rin, feeling guilty, crouched down while holding her head.

“Eek! I didn’t cause any accidents this time!”

“Silly child. People might think I only scold you if they see this.”

Well, isn’t that actually true?

Of course, it’s not entirely Na Rin’s fault for constantly doing things that get her scolded.

“Then you won’t scold me?”

Gong Son Wu laughed heartily and answered.

“How could I scold you when you’ve accomplished such a great deed? Rather, you deserve to be rewarded!”

Hmm. It’s probably best not to mention that I destroyed Bukcheon Palace, beat up the Hyeonmu troops, and scattered the sacred Crystal Pagoda.

“Blood Palace lady.”

Turning to the voice, there stood a boy with cute features but dressed in roughly rolled clothes.

“Brother Ja Ryong, you’re safe!”

“Yeah. Thanks to you and the Four Heavenly Kings.”

Ja Ryong spoke in a shy manner, as if he wasn’t used to saying such things.

“Thank you. I won’t forget this favor.”

“……”

It was a strange feeling.

‘I didn’t do it to be thanked.’

Na Rin just wanted the event to proceed smoothly.

Then a problem occurred, and in the process of solving that problem, she just ended up saving the person who got involved. But still…

‘I’m glad I did it.’

Na Rin’s cheeks flushed slightly.

It was hard, but she felt good thinking that she did well to persevere.

“Hehehe! Hehehehe!”

Ja Ryong’s lips also curled into a smile at the sight of Na Rin giggling while covering her mouth with both hands.

“You have a really funny laugh.”

After that day when the New Year’s ceremony, the Demonic Cult Lady appointment ceremony, and the Asura Sword offering ceremony were all held at once.

Na Rin caught a cold.

“Oh dear, oh dear. I’m dying.”

“That’s what you get for flying around in the sky. It’s only natural that your dantian gets damaged if you use your abundant internal energy so recklessly. You reap what you sow.”

‘It’s not entirely because of that.’

Na Rin pouted her lips.

When the offering ceremony ended, Gong Son Wu seemed like he would carry her around, saying, ‘Oh my wonderful disciple, you’re so great!’, but after learning about the devastation of Bukcheon Palace, he returned to his usual nagging self.

At least the fact that she wasn’t scolded meant he probably considered the rewards and punishments as even.

‘Argh! What a waste! I should have quickly received the reward before getting caught!’

Na Rin was greedy despite not really needing anything.

Time diligently passed even while Na Rin was lying sick.

The articles slandering Na Rin in the Demonic Cult News disappeared, and the Demon Marquis, who had been mean to Na Rin for no reason, was sentenced to not leave Mount Bukmang for 10 years.

This much could be considered as achieving the original goals.

But not everything in the world goes as desired.

“Ja Ryong ended up resigning after all.”

“Why?”

“There are probably many reasons.”

Dokgo Ja Ryong, once called the all-around prodigy closest to becoming the Junior Cult Leader.

He was the one who lost the most from this incident.

For whatever reason, the fact that a person with the Heavenly Demon bloodline went into the Demon Prison and came out was a dishonor in itself, and the fact that he fell for Jeok Gun Ak’s temptation and became a victim of his schemes made Ja Ryong look foolish and weak.

It must have been a situation that the perfectionist Ja Ryong found hard to endure.

“Then the next Junior Cult Leader will be elder brother Ja Maeng.”

“Not necessarily. If Ja Ryong is a solid fortress, Ja Maeng is a hastily built mountain castle. Even if they’re both castles, the difficulty of siege is vastly different.”

Na Rin thought about the impression she had of Ja Maeng from their brief encounter and nodded.

He was a bit rough, but it was easy to deal with him since his inside and outside matched.

“Come to think of it, what happened to that jerk Jeok Ga?”

Gong Son Wu clicked his tongue as if he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Insufficient evidence.”

“You can’t be serious!”

Na Rin sat up abruptly but felt dizzy and slowly lay back down.

How could Jeok Gun Ak be found not guilty when he made a fake Asura Sword, staged a theft incident, and even framed Ja Ryong?

“How can he be acquitted when Ja Ryong went to Bukcheon Palace of his own accord? It’s also true that he had a scuffle with the Hyeonmu troops. And in the midst of that, the Asura Sword went missing, so it’s only natural that Jeok Gun Ak suspected Ja Ryong, according to public opinion.”

“How can that be…”

Na Rin was convinced that Jeok Gun Ak had lured Ja Ryong to come see the Asura Sword, but this was a story without evidence.

“Then what about the Asura Sword? It’s clear that jerk Jeok Ga made the fake one!”

“Circumstantially, yes. But that also lacks clear evidence.”

“But there’s no one else who could have made it except Jeok Gun Ak!”

Seeing Na Rin so frustrated she could die, Gong Son Wu remained silent for a moment before continuing.

“Ja Ryong was the same.”

“…!”

Na Rin couldn’t help but be at a loss for words.

The biggest reason Ja Ryong was made the culprit was also because the circumstantial evidence was too clear and there were no other suspects.

“If you wanted to punish Jeok Gun Ak, you should have found the craftsman who made the fake Asura Sword in Bukcheon Palace and heard their testimony, or had indisputable physical evidence.”

“There wasn’t any?”

“More precisely, it couldn’t be found.”

Gong Son Wu sat by the bedside, looking intently at Na Rin as he spoke.

“Some Demonic Cult lady smashed Bukcheon Palace to pieces.”

“I didn’t smash that much!”

“Even if what you say is true, it’s already too late. Construction materials and workers have been coming and going from all over to repair the broken palace, so the evidence has long disappeared.”

“This is unbelievable.”

Na Rin was utterly dejected.

Although it was unavoidable because she was busy, she felt bad thinking that she had given Jeok Gun Ak an excuse to escape.

“Don’t be too heartbroken. That guy’s nature is rotten, so he will surely commit more evil deeds. When that time comes, we can make him pay for this incident as well.”

Na Rin just nodded silently.

In the end, it meant to wait for later.

To change the mood and comfort the upset Na Rin, Gong Son Wu spoke.

“By the way, quite a few gifts have arrived for you. It means your presence as the Demonic Cult Lady has grown significantly through this event. Do you want to take a look?”