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< The Old Man and the Girl >
“You, you···.”
Manbaknogoe was so shocked by seeing Lily that he even forgot the pain of his broken danjeon for a moment.
After a while, Manbaknogoe, who had finally come to his senses, continued speaking.
“···You are the girl that the master spoke of. Lily. Is that the correct name?”
Lily blinked her big eyes for a moment and answered in her broken martial arts language. She still needed Abraxas’s interpretation to understand her properly.
“Yes! I’m Lily! Are you the teacher that Grandpa was talking about?”
“Huh, huh huh···.”
I had heard about Lily’s appearance from the elders, but I had no idea that the girl’s hair was this red.
Red hair and crimson eyes that look like flames were transferred directly from the body.
If you look closely, it seems like you’ll be sucked in.
“Kekeke. I thought you were going crazy because the believers of our church thought you were the incarnation of Mazda…. Well, I would have believed it if I were in that situation.”
Lily’s appearance was unfamiliar to the people of the martial arts world, and to the followers of the Heavenly Demon God, she was a mystery in itself.
“Grandpa, just hold on for a moment.”
Lily grabbed the stakes that had pierced Manbaknogoe’s arms and legs with her small hands and pulled them out with all her might.
Swish.
Blood spurted out as the iron stake was pulled out. For Lily, who had grown stronger through her training in martial arts, this was nothing.
Lily pulled out all the stakes from Manbaknogoe’s limbs and diligently sprinkled the potion in their place.
Swish.
The wound healed quickly, and Manbaknogoe was finally able to control his body properly. He sat with his back against the wall, breathing hard.
“Phew···.”
“Grandpa. Are you in a lot of pain?”
Manbaknogoe forced a smile at the girl who was looking at him with a worried expression.
“It’s okay now.”
However, Manbaknogoe’s face was still pale and he was covered in cold sweat. Although the potion had cured all his other wounds, his damaged danjeon had not recovered.
Lily asked Abraxas, who was wrapped around her neck.
“Grandpa, why isn’t your pain getting better?”
Abraxas, who had been examining the state of Manbaknogoe, shook his head.
[Magic Core, according to the martial arts people, your dantian is damaged. That can’t be cured with potions.]
“Can’t Asga fix it with magic?”
While Lily was learning martial arts at the Heavenly Demon Church, Abraxas also regained his strength and was able to use magic to some extent.
Before coming here, it was Abraxas who created an illusion that looked exactly like Lily on the bed and used invisibility magic to sneak into the prison.
But Abraxas shook his head, saying that it would be difficult to fix a damaged danjeon.
[It’s difficult with my current ability. You need to have a top-tier healing spell, the divine power of a bishop-level priest, or an artifact imbued with the power of a god. A great person might have one, but···.]
“Grandpa, you look very sick…”
When Lily looked at him with worried eyes, Manbaknogoe shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
“Click click click···.”
He told his disciple that he would bring the girl to him, and he found the situation in which he was saved extremely funny.
“Child, I have lived long enough. So don’t worry about me.”
Manbaknogoe straightened his posture and sat cross-legged.
“Phew···.”
Although the physical wounds had healed, his aged body, which had become almost unable to use his internal energy, was like a burden.
Manbaknogoe looked at Lily with a bitter face and said.
“But how did you know I was trapped here and how did you find me?”
“My grandfather, the great-grandfather, told me.”
“···The elder?”
To be exact, I followed the path of the location tracker that was given to the elder as a gift.
The old elder had moved the unconscious Manbaknogoe here, and Abraxas had read the coordinates and come here.
After hearing Lily’s explanation, Manbaknogoe looked at Abraxas with astonishment.
“What a clever snake you are. Can you even understand human speech?”
As Manbaknogoe reached out and tried to touch his head, Abraxas raised his head and bared his teeth.
Kyaaaa!
Other animals are fine, but comparing them to reptiles was unpleasant for Abraxas.
[Lily! Quickly explain the greatness of dragons to this old human!]
Lily sighed and shook her head.
“Ah. Don’t act childishly. You’re a sick and pitiful old man.”
[Don’t you feel sorry for me, trapped inside this stupid snake?]
“Malang isn’t stupid!”
While the two were bickering over something trivial, Manbaknogoe closed his eyes and quietly fell into thought.
‘There isn’t much time left. My life will end, and the leader will be devoured by the devil…’
Unless a miracle happened and his dantian was healed, Manboknogoe knew that he would not live for another ten days.
“Phew···.”
Manbaknogoe, who had gathered his thoughts, opened his eyes.
He spoke to Lily, who was trying to make a ribbon knot with a snake.
“···Let’s leave that alone. You run away from the Cheonmasingyo right now and go find Daein.”
Lily’s eyes widened at the sudden words.
“Yes? Why?”
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Manbaknogoe explained the situation step by step.
He talked about how the current leader of the Cheonma cult was possessed by the devil, how dangerous that spirit was, and what would happen in the future because of it.
“If the leader of the cult is devoured by the devil, a great catastrophe will occur. No one will be able to stop him. Even if the Murim Alliance, the Heavenly Demon Sect, and even the Three Kingdoms of Heaven come running…”
Manbaknogoe knew the temptation of Simma better than anyone else.
The moment the leader gives up on being human by falling for that trap, he loses his reason and becomes a great demon who only repeats killing until he dies.
‘Besides, the cult leader has absorbed my magic energy. I can’t even imagine how much stronger my demon will become.’
Manbaknogoe said with a face full of despair.
“Go to the Great One and tell him. Tell him to pull back the Murim Alliance forces at all costs. Tell him to run away until the leader goes crazy and destroys himself!”
There is only one way. Running away.
Waiting until the demon that was eaten by the devil self-destructs is the only way to shed the least amount of blood.
Manbaknogoe grabbed Lily’s shoulders with both hands and said.
“There is no time. Go and tell them right now!”
“······.”
Lily’s eyes shook in confusion at the sudden, unexpected, serious conversation.
“Then what about Grandpa? Aren’t you going with me?”
Manbaknogoe shook his head with a bitter expression.
“I was wrong anyway. Even if we go together, it’ll just be a burden.”
“but···.”
“Go now! If you don’t deliver my message, countless people will die!”
“Okay, just a minute! I need to call the old man!”
Lily took out her magic communicator from her bosom and tried to contact the man. However, the man did not answer the call, no matter what she did. It was the same no matter how many times she tried.
“Why aren’t you answering the phone!”
Lily stomped her feet. Abraxas checked the time and said.
[I can’t stay here forever. I used a welcome spell and came out, but if I leave for too long, I’ll get caught.]
“What about Grandpa?”
[I told you to go by yourself. We heard all the important things, so let’s go back.]
Abraxas spoke coldly. But Lily could not move easily.
“But···.”
Manbaknogoe, who couldn’t understand the conversation between the two, shouted in frustration.
“Why are you just standing there! Go away right now!”
“······.”
Lily bit her lip hard.
If I go back here alone now, this old man who is sick might die soon.
What would the old man do?
The answer came easily.
“Grandpa, come out with us.”
Manbaknogoe sighed and shook his head.
“I am now in a state where I can’t even use martial arts. You will be in danger because of me. So, you must follow my words to the great man…”
Lily didn’t have a long argument with her talkative grandfather.
“Tchcha!”
“What, what are you doing!”
Manbaknogoe shouted in a panicked voice.
Any adult would react the same way if a little girl suddenly hugged him.
“Can’t you put it down right now?”
“Shhh! Be quiet!”
Manbaknogoe, who was being held like a princess by Lily, shook his body and resisted. However, the girl who had recently learned martial arts easily suppressed his resistance.
“Grandpa, be quiet!”
“Ugh···.”
[Anyway, the landlord or you···.]
Abraxas grumbled and cast a spell of invisibility on the two of them.
Swish.
Lily escaped the dungeon carrying the depressed Manbaknogoe in her arms.
‘What kind of embarrassment is this at this age…?’
The prison where Manbaknogoe was locked up was on the lowest floor. As I went up, I saw warriors walking around one by one, watching over the prisoners.
Manbaknogoe, who had given up resisting with his body, sighed and whispered to Lily.
‘Please leave me here. Even if you run away alone, it won’t be easy to escape the sect.’
‘fizzle!’
‘···Did you not understand what I said earlier?’
‘No. Asga explained everything I didn’t know.’
But not to worry, Lily smiled at her grandfather.
‘Don’t worry. Our uncle will come and scold that bad guy.’
No matter how strong the opponent is or how serious the problem is, when the old man comes, everything is solved.
Lily was sure it would be the same this time, because it always was.
‘Didn’t you say that it was impossible? No one can stand against the current leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult!’
Perhaps because the voice of the Manbaknogoe was a little loud, one of the warriors patrolling the brain prison walked towards them.
“Who’s there?”
Slurp.
The warrior drew his sword and slowly walked towards us. The passage was narrow, so there was no room to run left or right.
Lily swallowed hard and sent a message to Abraxas.
[Ah. What should I do? Should I fight?]
[Don’t use flames. You’ll be revealed right away.]
[Then, can I just not use fireworks?]
[···What are you going to do?]
Lily took a few steps back, then ran towards the approaching warrior with all her might.
Bam!
I don’t know a single proper martial arts technique, but anyway, the kick containing the power of a master was explosive.
“Ugh”
The warrior fell to the ground, clutching his chin. Lily quickly jumped over the fallen warrior and started running.
The warriors who came running upon hearing the screams shouted when they saw their fallen comrade.
“It’s a prison break!”
“There is someone who escaped from the prison!”
“Identify the criminals now!”
Torches lit up everywhere, and warriors of the Heavenly Demon Sect poured out.
“Who escaped from the brain prison!”
Shouts erupted from all directions, and in an instant, the entire Cheonmasingyo Church was lit up and a net of heaven and earth was spread out.
““Find it-!!””
Everyone was surprisingly quick to react, as they were preparing for war recently.
‘Shhh! Be careful.’
Lily crept through them, holding the Manbaknogoe in her arms.
***
Lily climbed up onto the roof of a nearby building, looked down, and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Phew… I almost got in big trouble.”
Manbaknogoe, who got down next to Lily, shook his head as if he was tired.
“That’s why I told you to run away alone.”
Lily said, glaring at the Manbaknogoe.
“I almost got caught earlier because of Grandpa.”
“That’s… Yeah.”
Even if he had ten mouths, he had nothing to say, so Manboknogoe kept his mouth shut. The old man who couldn’t use martial arts felt sad.
Then Lily, who noticed the warriors approaching them, put her finger to her lips and whispered.
‘Now, shhh again!’
“Ugh···.”
Lily picked up Manbaknogoe again. The old man seemed to have given up and held her gently like a baby.
The two moved without making a sound.
‘What are we going to do? Even if we use a magic that makes our bodies invisible… If the masters and sorcerers of our school come out, they’ll find us right away. It won’t be easy to escape.’
‘I’m not going to run away.’
‘what!’
‘We’ll just hide Grandpa and go back to the room. You can call him later and let him know.’
Lily explained what a phone was, and Manbaknogoe, who had a rough idea, sighed and nodded.
‘Yes. That being said… Now that the net of heaven and earth has been spread out, there will be no place for me to hide in the main school.’
Manbaknogoe was once the leader of the Cheonmasingyo cult.
He knew everything about the structure of the school, including hidden places that others didn’t know about.
By now, word has reached the cult leader that he has escaped. He will search every place where people might be hiding to find him.
‘I don’t care if I die. But you shouldn’t be caught and treated badly. So leave me here. Hurry up···.’
‘But is Grandpa always that talkative?’
‘Ugh!’
He was a man who would hit the back of a person’s head if he didn’t like them, but he couldn’t do anything to this little girl.
‘Why are you trying to save me like this?’
‘The old man said to be kind and help the poor. And if you succeed later, he said to get ten times more.’
Manbaknogoe, who had suddenly become a pitiful old man, groaned inwardly.
‘You big punk. Why didn’t you tell me that this kid is worse than you…?’
Instead of moving outside the Heavenly Demon Church, Lily went inside.
‘Where on earth are you going?’
‘Shh! I’ll know if you go.’
The closer you get to the center, the fewer warriors you see.
After a while, they arrived at their destination. Lily put the Manbaknogoe down on the floor.
Manbaknogoe opened his eyes wide and looked around.
“Why here···.”
< Old Man and Girl > End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
