Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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60.

Honestly, there was nowhere to escape within the school. Above all, since classes were in session, I couldn’t afford to draw the attention of other teachers.
So I needed to find a place to hide appropriately. But I had no idea where such a place might be.
And so, wandering aimlessly through the hallway, I somehow arrived at the Principal’s Office.
The Principal’s Office had come to mind as an inconspicuous location. But I couldn’t simply walk in there boldly.
The most troublesome person was there, after all.

‘Should I just go back to the classroom….’

As I was thinking this and about to move, that moment arrived.

“Jiho, hey there? What are you doing here?”

A familiar voice. Yet it was a voice I shouldn’t have heard at this moment.
I turned my head. A girl smiling grotesquely.
As if she’d been waiting here all along.
Ah. As if I’d understood something, I let out a quiet sigh. Simultaneously, a chill enveloped me.
The sinister aura emanating from Kim Seulgi filled the entire hallway.
Perhaps from the very beginning, my destination was never the Principal’s Office.
It was Kim Seulgi’s trap.
The space turned pitch black in an instant. I had experienced such a space before.
Back then I was helpless, but not anymore.

“Want to play with me if you’re bored?”

With Kim Seulgi’s whisper, the ground beneath me crumbled with a deafening crash. I was hurled into the air. In that instant, a brilliant blue light burst from my necklace. The beam of light transformed into a chain, extending toward Kim Seulgi.
Caught off guard by the counterattack, Kim Seulgi cursed under her breath and dodged the chain. The source of this power was unmistakable.
Cheonuyhua. It could be no one else.
There was no one but Cheon Yu-hwa.

“Can you do it?”

A memory of what the master had said before setting the trap for Ryujiho flashed through Kim Seulgi’s mind.
When she’d declared that she would lure Cheonhaerang and capture Ryujiho, the master had asked her something.
As if there were no expectations whatsoever.
Eul, whom the master constantly kept by her side.
Eul, who acted as though he’d earned the master’s favor and become the master himself.
And the master, who allowed it all.
That’s why Kim Seulgi wanted to prove herself to the master. That she could do better than Eul, who only failed.
Moreover, with the Jade Emperor appearing, Kim Seulgi grew impatient.
She hadn’t failed to anticipate such a device. Thus, the master had even distributed her power accordingly.
With a sharp metallic sound, Kim Seulgi reached toward the chains extending in all directions.
Boom—!
It was a deafening roar that shook heaven and earth. The chains shattered as the power of two deities collided mercilessly.

Jiho had no time to feel dismayed. What mattered was time. She had to buy time now.
If not for this opportunity, she might never be able to kill Kim Seulgi.
Jiho hastily drew her gun. She pulled the trigger toward the woman whose mouth was twisted into a grin as she stared at her.
Bang. Crack—!
Cyan fire scattered from the gun’s muzzle, flying toward the woman. In that moment, Jiho transformed.
Plump feet shimmering with blue light raced swiftly through the air.
But several mountains that towered even into the sky blocked her path.
Jiho gritted her teeth. She prayed for the Jade Emperor to arrive quickly. The gap in power between her, who had never fought properly, and Kim Seulgi was far too great.

“One day, you’ll need something from me.”

In an instant, Seowangmo’s words flashed through Jiho’s mind.
The bow that Seowangmo had given her.
Whether it was right for her to use it. Whether she could truly use it properly—she had doubts.
Jiho, who had stopped running, transformed back into human form. Then a pristine white bow appeared in her hands.
Jiho drew the bowstring toward the woman rushing at her. A white-glowing arrow flew toward the woman.
And then.
A sharp cutting sound.

‘…What?’

Something had been severed. Kim Seulgi looked at her arm.
This couldn’t be. This shouldn’t be possible. Kim Seulgi couldn’t believe it.
Blood gushed from the severed arm as if she were merely human.

“What the—aaahhh!”

Kim Seulgi screamed. Her severed arm felt as though it were burning away.
The pain was unbearable. She had never experienced agony like this before.
Her arm, which should have regenerated by now, remained severed. It was incomprehensible.
Kim Seulgi understood instinctively that even with the Master’s grace, it would not be restored.
Fierce rage engulfed Kim Seulgi. Her eyes burned crimson.
She ground her teeth and glared at Ryujiho. The pain was consumed by her fury.

“How dare you, you bastard—!”
“For the sake of our friendship all this time, I can end it here.”
“Ha, friendship? That’s a joke. I knew what you were from the start.”

With Kim Seulgi’s words, clods of earth flew at Jiho from all directions.
She was Baekho in her own right. Had this not been a trap, she could have controlled the earth, but now it was impossible.
Dodging would have been the wise choice, but Jiho did not dodge.
Instead, she raised her bow skyward. She fired it.
Soon, white-light arrows rained down like precipitation.
Boom. Boom. The earth clods pierced by arrows exploded with deafening force. Black ichor streamed from the shattered clods.
Kim Seulgi stared in disbelief.
It was impossible. Mere arrows were destroying her strength, shattering her attacks.

“You, bitch—!”

Kim Seulgi rushed toward Jiho in a single breath. A mountain erupting from the earth moved in tandem with her.
Jiho detected Kim Seulgi closing in on her. The distance was too short to fire her bow.
Or rather.
It was too late.

‘Damn it—!’

Jiho cursed inwardly. How long had it been since the necklace activated? The Jade Emperor still had not arrived.
Kim Seulgi’s hand was about to swallow her whole.
That was the moment.
Crack—!

“…Huh?”

Kim Seulgi spoke in a low voice. Her gaze dropped downward.
Her chest was pierced. It wasn’t an arrow.
A finely honed blade shimmered with an otherworldly blue light.
A power similar to yet entirely different from my master’s. It was subtly distinct from what I’d felt in Ryujiho’s pendant.

“Ugh!”

Kim Seulgi coughed up blood. This couldn’t be happening. I shouldn’t have been wounded by a mere blade.

“Cheon… haerang… you… dare… cough…”

All strength drained from my body.

“Can you do it?”

I wanted to prove it to my master. I could have proven it…
Blue chains of light wrapped around Kim Seulgi’s body. The blade embedded in her heart twisted.
Kim Seulgi closed her eyes.
Whoosh.
A wind from nowhere scattered her to ash.
It was complete annihilation.
Jiho, who had been watching silently, felt the warmth of an embrace drawing her close.
Jiho gazed at the light seeping through the torn space and patted Cheonhaerang’s back. He held her without saying a word.
A breeze carrying the scent of verdant greenery wrapped around them and passed. Jiho recognized this vast space. It was the Archery Range behind the school.

“Jiho. Jiho…”

A sorrowful voice called her name pleadingly. Jiho answered him gently.

“Yes, Cheonhaerang.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Jiho.”

Jiho’s hand, which had been patting Cheonhaerang’s back, faltered. His words continued.

“It’s all because of me. Because of me, you’ve become like this…”

Cheonhaerang was crying. Even more than when they’d reunited.
I gently pushed away Cheonhaerang, who held me in his arms. He yielded without resistance.
I looked up at him. Large tears streamed down from his glistening eyes.
Seeing the one I loved cry before me sent an inexplicable thrill through me.
I felt a damp satisfaction wash over me as I wiped away his tears. Then I spoke.

“I chose this, Cheonhaerang.”

His tear-soaked lashes fluttered. Through the blur of tears, Cheonhaerang gazed at me.
My face was clear to him. For some reason, I was smiling.

“Because I love you. That’s why I chose to protect you.”
“….”
“So none of this is your fault.”

At my tender confession, Cheonhaerang could only weep.
Silently, for a long while.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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