Chapter 47

Chapter 47
## Chapter 47: Silent Battlefield

At the very least, this locomotive—outfitted with a specialized barrier generator—was completely swallowed by the Paradox Flame. Even the mechanical roar that should have been thundering from the accelerating train had been incinerated into nothingness, leaving a void behind.

I lashed out with the gayageum at high velocity, yet instead of chords, nothing but obsidian fire surged from the instrument—clear proof that the vibrations themselves had been reduced to ash.

In this vacuum of sound, our strikes were traded. The gayageum, which previously delivered crushing impacts accompanied by ear-splitting shrieks, found half of its lethal potential smothered by the quiet.

The rhythmic chants—whether they were complex spells or binding incantations—that had been empowering Seo Yeon-ju while slowing my steps had evaporated.

And more importantly…

These opponents possessed zero experience engaging on such a mute battlefield. Their clumsy movements betrayed their confusion.

The gayageum and my spear ground against one another. Unlike our earlier exchange, where her weapon seemed untouchable, they now made solid, visible contact.

“…!”

Seo Yeon-ju clenched her jaw and screamed something, but no audio escaped her lips—only trickles of black fire leaked out. She resembled a prehistoric beast breathing embers, a sight so absurd I couldn’t suppress a smirk.

Even a spoiled catch has its uses; the kinetic energy behind the gayageum remained formidable, yet it no longer possessed that absolute, bone-crushing weight that had previously overwhelmed my spear.

These fanatics were straining desperately to generate a sound massive enough to pierce through the Paradox Flame.

The more they struggled, the more greedily the dark flames consumed the noise, spitting out raw mana in exchange. That energy surged directly into my frame, fortifying my meridians at an accelerated pace.

It wasn’t a sudden, explosive evolution like a full awakening. Rather, it was gradual and relentless… like boulders being shaped by the tide, or a reservoir evaporating under a desert sun.

The tide of battle shifted inch by inch. Blue trajectories shimmering in the air around me tirelessly manifested Fourfold Spears and Cannons, pinning Seo Yeon-ju into a corner.

—

Seo Yeon-ju parried a lunging thrust while frantically shifting her weight to avoid a blue streak targeting her Achilles tendon.

*What is this monster doing?* she shrieked internally, but the world remained dead silent. She couldn’t hear a thing. Not even the frantic drumming of her own pulse in this erased reality.

Her adversary showed no signs of exhaustion. If anything, as the duel persisted, his momentum only seemed to sharpen.

This defied logic. Attacks that were impossibly precise, flawless parries, and fluid evasions continued to rain down on her.

He would rush in with feral intensity only to dissolve like a mist, then strike with the speed of a bolt when she thought he had retreated. Every single trade placed fresh shackles on her ability to move.

It wasn’t that his mana capacity was superior to hers. If the truth were told, she still held the advantage in raw output.

However, she couldn’t break the rhythm, and the longer the stalemate lasted, the more lethal the atmosphere became.

A swamp. A Venus flytrap. A snare. A toxin. There were countless metaphors that perfectly captured her current sinking feeling.

The more she thrashed, the further she fell. To stand still was to be consumed instantly.

The placement of the blue trajectories hanging in the air from his spear tip became increasingly ominous. She was forced to track them, and the second her focus flickered, his spear lunged for the gap with cold efficiency.

As she fended off another piercing strike, an even more dangerous path of energy materialized. The struggle cycled through this pattern without end.

*I see it.*

Even recognizing the flow, she couldn’t find an exit. All that remained was a screaming instinct telling her that the situation had turned critical. Flushed with rage, Seo Yeon-ju ripped at the gayageum strings once more.

The instrument coughed out thick, dark embers like bile instead of music.

*He’s growing stronger.*

Bit by bit. In almost imperceptible increments. But the man named Yoo Chan-seok standing before her was undeniably more powerful than he had been at the start. It was a subtle, haunting change, but as the minutes ticked by, his prowess only heightened.

Seo Yeon-ju instinctively threw a look behind her. For Lee Ha-yoon to join the fray, she needed to speak, to weave her verbal curses…

Suddenly, hundreds of paper talismans erupted from the robes of Lee Ha-yoon, whose features were twisted in a mask of desperation. It was the same technique that had previously paralyzed Lee Se-eun.

*No, stop—the commander specifically told us not to attempt that.* Seo Yeon-ju screamed a warning, but her voice died in the silence.

The swarm of talismans swirled around Yoo Chan-seok, snapping into a complex seal in an instant. Simultaneously, every drop of color fled from Lee Ha-yoon’s face.

“Damn it, Lee Ha-yoon! You were ordered to stay away from that!”

“We have no alternative! If we can pin him for just a second, move now and reclaim the generator…?”

Sound returned. The absolute void of a moment ago was shattered.

The black flames dancing on the spear point burned through the violet ward—a barrier forged from hundreds of charms that had stalled even the renowned Candy Lady for nearly an hour—and broke through.

It looked as effortless as a red-hot needle passing through thin silk.

“Ka… urgh!”

Lee Ha-yoon buckled, coughing up a spray of crimson blood. And through the gap in the melting seal, Yoo Chan-seok flashed a predatory grin.

—

Of all the tricks to pull, they tried that on me.

“You really should learn to pick your battles.”

The center of the seal where my spear struck couldn’t endure the Paradox Flame and dissolved. Moments later, the black fire crawling from the breach burned the rest of the enchantment to cinders.

Another wave of concentrated mana flooded my system. Because the seal had been sturdy enough to halt Lee Se-eun, the sheer volume of mana it surrendered as it burned was immense.

The surrounding energy rushed into my marrow, and with a metallic grinding sensation, my meridians hardened and expanded at high speed.

“Hngh… haa… huff…”

The shamanistic bastard was incapacitated the moment his spell failed. Now, only the woman with the gayageum stood in my way.

“One down!”

At my roar, the eyes of the Dan-gun’s Descendants and the defending hunters snapped toward us.

“Lee Ha-yoon…?”

They were met with the sight of Lee Ha-yoon, looking like a ghost on the verge of death, drenched in blood. Their morale was crumbling.

No matter how blinded they were by fanaticism, courage fails when one of their high-ranking officers starts choking on her own lungs.

“Right then, let’s get back to the silence.”

Paradox Flame surged across the train cars again, swallowing all noise. Seeing the flames return, Seo Yeon-ju panicked and reached for her ear, activating a device.

The immediate objective was simple: finish off Lee Ha-yoon, who could barely remain upright.

Seo Yeon-ju would be forced to play defense if she didn’t want to see her partner executed. In this soundless realm, Seo Yeon-ju and I had been fighting on equal ground.

Now, I was empowered by the mana of the destroyed seal, while she was burdened with protecting Lee Ha-yoon.

Just now.

She had adjusted her earpiece. She likely made a request just before the sound vanished entirely. Unlike her earlier aggression, her stance was now purely reactive.

She was hunting for an escape route. I maintained the pressure, then found a split second to point my gauntlet at the fake shaman.

A small projectile capsule I launched buried itself deep in his midsection. Immediately after, I aimed the gauntlet at the reinforced exterior of the train.

A tracking marker was etched onto the steel, and the tether from the capsule inside his body snapped shut, anchoring him to the wall.

A basic capturing mechanism. If I could take him alive, the intelligence would be priceless.

Dragging that man along while trying to flee would be a nightmare…

The pale, shaking man drew a fresh dagger and shoved it into his own gut. His jaw hung open, exhaling Paradox Flame. His silent scream of pain was literally burning as he stabbed himself.

*You… absolute lunatic.*

The capsule was deep. Ripping it out would have brought his internal organs with it. But he didn’t blink.

His viscera spilled from the self-inflicted tear. The capsule was tangled in the mess. Without a single thought for his own survival, he hacked away the piece of himself containing the anchor.

Seo Yeon-ju snatched him up and threw herself off the moving train. I spat on the floor in irritation.

“Fine, run. Get out of here, you stubborn freak.”

I had to let them slip away. There was no other way. I wasn’t in a state to pursue them across the countryside.

The remaining Dan-gun’s Descendants were still clawing for the barrier generator, and the math wasn’t in our favor—they still had the advantage in numbers. If I went after the leaders, we’d lose the objective.

“I’ll finish the cleanup here first.”

The plan was to link up with Lee Se-eun in the Netherlands. With that resolved, I turned my attention to the remaining Dan-gun’s Descendants foot soldiers on the deck.

—

Lee Se-eun’s heavy blade came down with a roar, deleting an entire structure from the map. A shadow darted from the debris, releasing a storm of arrows that turned the asphalt into a lunar landscape.

Hamburg was already a graveyard, with almost nothing left standing. It appeared as though a carpet bombing had occurred—craters pockmarked the earth, buildings lay in ruins, and the streets were pulverized. No observer would believe this level of ruin was caused by a mere two combatants.

“What exactly are you?”

Lee Se-eun held her massive sword ready, staring down the man across from her.

“You’re the one pulling the strings of Dan-gun’s Descendants.”

She could infer that much. A warrior of his caliber wouldn’t take orders from a subordinate.

“Why not dedicate that talent to something that actually benefits the world?”

She mentally cataloged her status and equipment while she spoke.

Her internal mana was still high.

Physical reinforcement, temporal acceleration, mana boosting, kinetic dampening, regenerative healing, magical resistance…

The high-end features she’d curated from her years as a Partner Hunter were all functioning. However, the man in the military uniform holding the bow possessed a repertoire of gear that was just as varied.

*I’m losing.*

That was the core issue. Lee Se-eun was being outmatched. It wasn’t a landslide, but she was definitely being pushed back.

“Something beneficial to the world, you say?”

The archer scanned the wreckage and replied.

“We’ve already leveled roughly 80% of Hamburg.”

“Entirely because of you.”

She couldn’t afford to worry about the infrastructure. The only saving grace was that Hamburg had been cleared out due to the poison gas he and his men had deployed, meaning there were no civilians to die.

A hunter of Lee Se-eun’s rank was naturally immune to such toxins anyway.

“Killing you was never the goal today.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The man toyed with an arrow and went on.

“Dan-gun’s Descendants view you with pride. You are the ultimate evidence of Korean dominance.”

He had only ever intended to stall her.

Lee Se-eun’s greatsword cut through the air, creating a shockwave that carved yet another trench in the road.

“You don’t actually believe that delusional propaganda, do you?”

The soldier provided his answer.

“The idea that Gojoseon conquered all of Eurasia in the Stone Age? That we invented modern technology thousands of years ago?”

He let out a short laugh.

“Nobody with a brain believes that.”

“Then why lead them…?”

“Does my personal belief change anything? What matters is that the people following me believe it, and that conviction makes them tools for my greater objective.”

He lowered his weapon and prepared to leave.

“Faith requires no evidence. You simply hold it. That is the only thing of value.”

“You’re nothing but a fraud.”

“No, I am a patriot who puts the nation’s glory above all petty morality.”

He clicked his tongue with a hint of annoyance.

“Events have strayed from the script again. I need to depart.”

“I didn’t give you permission to—”

He suddenly unleashed a blinding hail of arrows at Lee Se-eun and vanished into the smoke. Looking out over the shattered remains of the Hamburg district, her expression went cold.

She drove her sword into the cracked earth and closed her eyes tight.

“Pathetic.”

She was only breathing because he hadn’t wanted her dead. There was a glaring gap in strength between her and the ghost who had just fled.

Stifling her pride and fury for the moment, Lee Se-eun turned her gaze toward the path to the Netherlands.