Baek Sowol shared the joy of reunion and meeting with Baek Hyuna.

After that, she found a handmaiden and asked for a doctor to treat Ju Wol-lyang.

Since Ju Wol-lyang was not injured or sick but was suffering from malnutrition, he regained consciousness after a short while.

"Ugh..."

"Are you awake? Great Hero Ju."

"Thank you for your concern. But where is this place?"

"This is my residence, so please rest assured."

Ju Wol-lyang scanned his surroundings, and as if he had roughly grasped his situation, he nodded his head and carefully asked.

"May I ask what the current situation is?"

"That's..."

Baek Sowol had Baek Hyuna step back for a moment and quietly told Ju Wol-lyang what had happened so far.

Ju Wol-lyang listened to Baek Sowol's story silently.

"That's just nonsense."

He said without a moment's hesitation.

"Leaving aside the religion, managing people by even performing human sacrifices is just because they lack the ability."

At those words, Baek Sowol recalled the leader.

Leaving aside the strange art of bewitching people, it was hard to agree that the leader himself lacked ability.

"But the leader here didn't seem to lack ability."

"Ah, I misspoke. By ability, I mean the kind that makes people themselves drawn to you."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"So, something to lead people, to put it in a metaphor, he lacks charm."

He said so and scanned Baek Sowol.

It was a gaze that looked at something valuable rather than being sticky.

"Anyone can learn a skill. But that alone is not enough to lead people. But it seems Great Hero Baek has that."

"What? Me, suddenly?"

"At least, that's what I think."

Ju Wol-lyang was full of confidence.

"Even if you don't know it yourself, you can tell by looking from the side. Although I have no martial talent, I do have a few small talents, and one of them is a good eye."

"Hmm..."

Baek Sowol let out a groan.

It was because she didn't particularly agree with those words.

And even if she heard such words now.

"Isn't that something that's not particularly necessary in the current situation?"

"It depends on how Great Hero Baek decides."

At those words, Baek Sowol tilted her head.

"My decision?"

"That's right. You have to decide what to do next, Great Hero Baek, and in my opinion, it seems Great Hero Baek will not leave this place."

"That's right."

Baek Sowol nodded her head and agreed.

Although it was an unpleasant place, she couldn't wander around this vast land looking for her family.

If there were any survivors among them, they would surely come here.

For that reason, Baek Sowol had no choice.

Seeing that, Ju Wol-lyang tapped his head with his index finger.

"Several solutions come to mind."

"A solution? Really?"

"Before that, Great Hero Baek."

"Yes."

"Can you win against the strong people here, Great Hero Baek?"

At Ju Wol-lyang's words, Baek Sowol closed her mouth.

Then she thought about it carefully.

She could sufficiently defeat a martial artist of the same realm as herself.

However, there were seven people with a martial prowess superior to Baek Sowol herself, including the leader.

Can she win against them?

'...If it's one by one, there might be a chance.'

The problem was that there were seven of them.

There was no reason for them to have a one-on-one life-and-death battle with Baek Sowol.

"It seems it will be difficult against a large number, but I think there is a chance if it is one-on-one."

"If it's one-on-one, can you win for sure?"

At those words, Baek Sowol closed her mouth for a moment and hesitated.

However, that hesitation did not last long.

'Although my realm is inferior.'

Baek Sowol recalled her past training and the times she had used her martial arts in real battles.

'The martial art I was taught by Master is by no means ordinary.'

No matter how she thought about it, the martial art she had named the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was not an ordinary martial art.

Although she still couldn't use it perfectly, this martial art was.

'A martial art for standing above the existing martial arts.'

Baek Sowol's hesitation did not last long.

"I can win."

The hesitating appearance was gone, and Baek Sowol answered with a voice full of confidence.

"Then it's settled."

Ju Wol-lyang smiled meaningfully and nodded his head.

And so, three days passed quickly.

"Phew."

Baek Sowol, who had been sitting in a cross-legged position, opened her eyes, let out a long breath, and gathered her energy.

Unfortunately, she could not raise her realm.

Although she was on the verge of reaching it, although it seemed she could grab it if she just stretched out her hand, it slipped out of Baek Sowol's grasp like a flowing stream of water.

'This is why Master always called me a dullard.'

Baek Sowol smiled bitterly.

But soon after, she hardened her expression, burning with determination.

Baek Sowol put on the martial arts uniform she had worn on the mountain.

Although it had become so short that her thighs were exposed because her body had grown a lot in the meantime, she covered that part by appropriately layering cloth.

'Master.'

Although it was much more comfortable to wear other clothes that fit her body, she felt that on a day like today, she had to wear these clothes.

Having dressed, she wore the beloved sword, White Iron Blue Autumn, which she had received from her master, at her waist.

Baek Sowol's gaze was clear.

Her steps were dignified.

"Is it finally today?"

"It seems so. Time flies."

As Baek Sowol stepped forward, Ju Wol-lyang followed.

And so, leaving her quarters, she headed to the place where the large statue was.

Under the clear sky, Baek Sowol's long black hair and the white robe she had put on fluttered.

As she got closer to her destination, the statue looked bigger and bigger, and the crowd also increased.

Because of the memorial service, all the residents of the Heavenly Mountains were gathered here. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Without minding, Baek Sowol continued to move forward.

And so, she arrived in front of the long stairs in front of the statue.

On both sides of the stairs, martial artists with high martial arts levels were lined up.

At the end of the stairs was an altar, and a sacrifice.

"You have come, Saintess."

And there was the leader.

The leader looked down at Baek Sowol benevolently.

"Have you prepared your answer?"

Baek Sowol quietly raised her head and faced such a leader.

A silence flowed.

Sreung.

Baek Sowol slowly drew White Iron Blue Autumn.

And so, White Iron Blue Autumn was aimed at the leader.

"I do not listen to the words of those weaker than me."

Baek Sowol's voice echoed quietly in the silence.

At such an action from Baek Sowol, the martial artists lined up next to the stairs grabbed their weapons.

Baek Sowol grabbed her sword and slowly climbed the stairs.

Martial artists blocked Baek Sowol's path.

Without stopping, Baek Sowol moved her feet and opened her mouth.

"Leader, do not avoid my challenge, and prove yourself."

In Baek Sowol's mind, the conversation she had had with Ju Wol-lyang came to mind.

-Great Hero Baek, which would you choose between a measure where everyone suffers and a measure that you alone have to bear?

At that question, Baek Sowol had answered without a moment's hesitation.

-I will choose the measure that I alone have to bear.

As if that answer were satisfactory, Ju Wol-lyang had smiled with satisfaction.

-I also prefer that side. However, I am worried that the weight Great Hero Baek will have to bear will not be heavy.

-It doesn't matter.

The current path was a path that Baek Sowol herself had chosen.

-This measure is simple. In accordance with their level, Great Hero Baek, you should confidently assert the 'respect for the strong' in front of everyone and request a life-and-death battle with the leader.

-Will that work?

-It will. They have already divided the classes by martial arts. To the common people, it will not look different from what they have been doing so far.

-What if they make an excuse?

-They can't. To make an excuse while all the common people are watching is to deny everything they have been doing so far.

As Baek Sowol, who had ended her thoughts with Ju Wol-lyang's confident face, saw the martial artist who had blocked her path in her eyes.

Baek Sowol swung White Iron Blue Autumn.

Slice.

At the same time as a small cutting sound, the martial artist in front of her was cut in two.

A clean and unhesitating, unrestrained sword strike.

That sword strike was slightly similar to her master, Baek Yoonjun.

At the afterimage of the sword strike that resembled the blue sky, the surrounding martial artists could not take their eyes off it.

"Block her!"

Reacting late, they blocked Baek Sowol.

Without any questions or answers, Baek Sowol continued to swing White Iron Blue Autumn.

Stepping on the movement technique, she avoided the weapons that were flying at her.

But the number of martial artists was large, and since most of them were martial artists whose realm difference with Baek Sowol was not great, she could not avoid them perfectly.

A sword grazed Baek Sowol's cheek, and a red stream of blood flowed from her cheek.

But Baek Sowol did not stop her steps and continued to swing her sword.

And she shouted.

"Are you cowards? I have clearly requested a life-and-death battle with the leader."

"Shut up!"

Baek Sowol swung her sword at the martial artists who were continuously rushing at her.

This was also something that had been in the conversation with Ju Wol-lyang.

-The best thing is for that leader to fully accept the life-and-death battle that Great Hero Baek has requested, but if not...

Baek Sowol silently moved forward without looking back once and swung her sword.

-Never look back and move forward.

Following that advice, Baek Sowol moved forward.

She blocked the attacks flying at her back by stretching her sword back, and if even that was difficult, she twisted her body and avoided only the fatal wounds.

And so, Baek Sowol, who had been silently swinging her sword and moving forward, had her vision cleared.

Stairs unfolded before her eyes.

Baek Sowol's condition, who had escaped the encirclement, was by no means intact.

Her whole body was covered in blood, and sword wounds were continuously drawn.

Nevertheless, Baek Sowol stood upright and looked ahead.

She moved forward.

The strong.

Although Baek Sowol's appearance was precarious, to anyone who saw her, it was the appearance of a strong person.

And Baek Sowol's back was naturally empty.

The martial artists aimed for such a Baek Sowol's back.

At that moment.

"Are you not ashamed!!"

At the shout from below the stairs, the martial artists flinched and looked down.

There, Ju Wol-lyang was looking at the martial artists as if he were looking at a pathetic person.

"Great Hero Baek has fairly requested a life-and-death battle with the leader in accordance with the rules of respect for the strong here! To block the path of such a person, are you martial artists?"

Originally, there were no rules of respect for the strong here.

But the martial artists, hearing those words, could not move at all.

It was because all the people below were looking at them with the same gaze as Ju Wol-lyang.

They had controlled the common people as the strong.

Whether they wanted it or not, that had become the path of their martial arts.

But now.

They had attacked a single girl as a group.

And they had not even been able to stop her.

Then they had aimed for her back.

It was the moment when they, who had been no different from the sky to the ordinary people, had become the weak, just like the ordinary people below them.

Leaving the weak behind, Baek Sowol moved forward.

"You brat!"

A martial artist blocked such a Baek Sowol.

It was one of the martial artists who had been with the leader in the red-roofed building that Baek Sowol had seen.

A martial artist of a clearly superior realm to Baek Sowol.

"Do you, a brat who is even lacking in realm, have the qualification to challenge the leader!"

"I have no business with a brat who can't even distinguish between a girl and a man. Step aside."

The martial artist who had blocked Baek Sowol's path had his face redden at her words.

The large axe held in the martial artist's hand was held over her head.

Baek Sowol raised her sword and blocked the axe.

A weight as if of a thousand catties seemed to crush Baek Sowol.

In such a Baek Sowol's mind, her master's words came to mind.

-Do not necessarily confront the attack of an opponent with strong power, but let it flow.

As that thought came to her, Baek Sowol let out a small, genuine laugh.

'No. Now.'

Without letting it flow, Baek Sowol received the axe and moved forward.

A crumbling sound came from her clenched teeth, and blood flowed freely from her gums.

In her wide-open eyes, the capillaries burst, and her vision was dyed red.

But Baek Sowol did not even bend her back and moved her feet forward.

"Keueueuk."

A groan flowed from the martial artist who had blocked Baek Sowol.

Although his own power was clearly superior, Baek Sowol did not bend at all and was moving forward while blocking the axe.

A phenomenon that he could not understand at all.

Even his own axe began to be pushed back little by little at the same time as Baek Sowol moved her feet.

Although the martial artist held the axe with both hands and struggled, he could not stop the axe from being continuously pushed back.

And so, when the martial artist's axe was pushed back to his own shoulder.

Slice.

Following that, at the same time as a small cutting sound, the axe was split in two, and the martial artist's head flew into the air.

Slowly, the martial artist's large body tilted towards Baek Sowol.

Without avoiding the falling large body, Baek Sowol stood upright, received it, and then struggled to throw it to the side.

Then she moved forward again.

(End of Chapter)