Chapter 50 : A Class Gate – Spring and Autumn (4)

A scream echoed from someone atop the shattered border fortress.

“Why. Why are you doing this? What on earth did we do wrong…”

A soldier, wailing as if having a seizure, demanded while pointing accusingly. Seolhyang replied calmly.

“I told you, didn’t I? In the name of love and- justice.”

At first, she seemed somewhat embarrassed, but Seolhyang was now gradually regaining her brazenness.

Emphasizing the word ‘love’ with a strange accent while puffing out her non-existent chest looked a bit… off.

I didn’t want her to regain her spirit *that* much.

Having destroyed a fortress, Seolhyang asked me in a bright voice.

“Agathe. What should we do now?”

Seeing her ask me in a bright voice. It seemed she didn’t suspect me at all.

…My conscience pricked. I’m not that good a person, and technically speaking, I’m deceiving her right now.

“Yes. Well, nothing much has changed. Just need to take down a few more fortresses, and then Qi will also seriously prepare for a decisive battle. If we break them head-on there and capture the king, this place is finished too.”

Simple logic. Break the enemy. Keep defeating them, and the king will eventually appear.

Capture or kill the king, and take the whole country.

Repeat that a few times, and this ancient China can be unified.

Seolhyang genuinely believed that. Fortunately, she was far removed from governance or the study of kingship. I know that absolutely wouldn’t work properly.

One can conquer from horseback but cannot rule from it. This is a timeless truth passed down through ages.

…Right. There was a fact I hadn’t told either Seolhyang or Caspar.

The most important, and most cruel part of this plan.

The core of the plan that I kept silent about, remembering only by myself.

‘…Yulha too. Is really something.’

Though trustworthy, and sometimes seeming a bit pitiful and foolish… her hatred towards the otherworlds and enemies of Earth is real.

The plan she devised was this:

First, haphazardly unify the surrounding nations, gaining fame by doing so as loudly as possible.

Then… the ‘boss’ of the Gate would make a move.

The important point is this. The name of this Gate is Chunqiu Zhanguo. Though named by the Chinese side, not ours, embedding key information in the Gate’s name is common practice worldwide.

And the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods ultimately ended with Qin Shi Huang’s unification.

‘Someone, someone worthy of being the protagonist of this Gate, must exist.’

Unfolding the crudely recorded map of the Central Plains, I slowly scanned it.

Qin
Yan
Chu
Zhao
Wei
Han
Qi

All states from the Warring States period. The names of the Seven Warring States. I heard it was the Spring and Autumn period when the Gate first opened; it seems the Hunters on that side managed to push the flow of history this far through their efforts.

And. Already Qi and Yan have fallen to us. The other states must have now heard about the emperor of the suspicious foreign empire.

That from the far east. Someone calling himself Emperor is waging wars of conquest with fairy maidens .

…So. The time has come. The time when the hidden dragon, coiled up tightly intending to swallow the world, can no longer bear it and rises.

The time for Qin Shi Huang to appear has arrived.

We don’t necessarily have to unify everything ourselves. The last one standing is the winner.

If so… Isn’t there no need to occupy the vast Central Plains entirely? Can’t we just snatch what belongs to the one who already half-built an empire, and steal the wish-granting jewel Yeouiju from the dragon ascending to heaven?
*(TL Note: Yeouiju (여의주) is the mythical wish-granting jewel held by Korean dragons (Yong).)*

Even if. No matter how many people die in the process… Isn’t it still true that unification was achieved?

This was the idea of the renowned strategist who held the position of Association department head in her mid-twenties.

Normally, it’s an absurd act. Not for moral reasons. If morality wasn’t a concern, they could just launch nukes.

The reason this method is originally wrong… is because it strengthens the enemy.

Following the plot exactly in this kind of Gate is like sticking your head directly into the tiger’s mouth.

The hero defeats the demon king. The protagonist vanquishes the antagonist. The figure called invincible eventually dies. The dragon’s wings are broken. Romeo and Juliet die due to twists of fate.

Plot armor. Inside the Gate, it functions, albeit crudely. Wasn’t the Seocheon Flower Garden raid a battle that utilized this to the extreme?

Therefore, normally hoping for a new Qin Shi Huang to appear is foolish. Because that emperor could end up conquering even China outside the Gate.

However, in a time when time is more precious than gold, if excessive force like three S-rank Hunters—well, one for now—is concentrated…

It’s possible.

More than enough.

Watching the receding Seolhyang, I gently closed my eyes.

Her dress had somehow faded in color. Like a grey Daoist robe.

***

Seolhyang thought.

Gradually… It felt like she herself was changing.

“Seolhyang. By the way, that greatsword… can you use it outside too?”

She realized this fact after Caspar asked the question following the destruction of two states.

Meanwhile, Agathe sat at Caspar’s feet, calmly wiping blood off a blade, her appearance while acting cute strangely chilling.

It felt like facing the female masters of the Deviant Martial World from long ago—enough to cause such unpleasant thoughts.

“Probably. But in that case, I’d have to give up the Magic Girl power. A sword that large doesn’t really fit with being a magic girl.”

She had two identities.

The identity of a Magic Girl. And the identity of an Orthodox Martial Artist…

When her homeland vanished without even ashes remaining after the nuclear baptism, her identity as a martial artist had almost disappeared.

…Or so she thought.

“Is that okay? This means you have to give up one of them.”

Though Caspar’s casual concern was welcome, seeing someone else glaring at her from an angle invisible to Caspar quickly dissipated that grateful feeling.

“Ah. No. It’s okay. I mostly operated using only the magic girl ability anyway.”

But somehow.

The words that she would continue operating only with that ability didn’t come out.

Why?

Could it be because the identity she had forgotten for so long suddenly resurfaced?

Perhaps. She had always called herself by the ridiculous title of Wudang Sect Leader.

Carrying around a factory-made sword named Songmun Ancient Sword too; thinking about it, if her martial artist identity were to emerge, it should have happened long ago.

‘…Is it because of the pressure?’

That might be possible.

Until now, she and the Association President were the only S-rank Hunters in Korea, and the President was engrossed in the Seocheon Flower Garden raid.

Having single-handedly managed half of the Korean Peninsula’s security, perhaps she put forth a more flamboyant and less substantial identity as a defense mechanism.

Or perhaps to suppress her desire for revenge.

The martial artist Seolhyang remaining within screamed to kill the Association members, the sworn enemies who destroyed her sect, but conversely, Magic Girl Magical Sword Star argued they were righteous people fighting for a noble cause and the people.

Right. If she had asserted her martial artist self back then, wouldn’t it have just led to mutual destruction?

Forcibly convincing herself, Seolhyang turned her head towards the next destination. Yet the internal question clung stubbornly.

‘Both a Wudang Daoist priest and a fantasy Magic Girl should be righteous beings, yet does it make sense for them to hold conflicting opinions?’

‘If so. What is righteousness?’

‘Am I… qualified to claim goodness?’

As always, it was a question without an answer. The method to evade the answer was also the same as always.

Just smash the evil. Wield the sword, cut down the obvious villains with its sharp edge, and protect ordinary people.

That would be… at least the second-best option, if not the best.

Coincidentally. Aren’t the rulers of this land all wicked conquerors? They would be opponents one could punish with the sword without hesitation.

Sarak.

Seolhyang took a step, surrendering her body to the incomprehensible ecstasy rising again. Each time she used Qinggong, each time she displayed overwhelming martial arts, her toes tingled with a strange pleasure welling up.

The soldiers at the border were looking at her with awe-filled eyes. Seolhyang looked back at them calmly, seemingly indifferent.

Fortunately, thanks to her transcendent martial arts and splendid attire, there was little resistance. She also acquired the misunderstanding of being a fairy maiden, but considering her age and skill, wasn’t she worthy of being called a Sword Immortal?

Just then, a soldier who served as a messenger, relatively trustworthy, ran up and knelt.

“F-Fairy Maiden! Urgent news. It is said the state of Zhao has fallen.”

…The news brought by the messenger was. Shocking beyond belief, yet evoked a strangely familiar feeling.

It said. A new supreme leader calling himself the Heavenly Demon had appeared.
*(TL Note: Tian Mo / Cheonma is a common title for powerful demonic figures or leaders of demonic sects in Murim fiction.)*

“…”

Seolhyang sat cross-legged. Half-closing her eyes, she slowly organized her thoughts.

Heavenly Demon. Righteous-Demonic War. Familiar terms. Nostalgia surfacing again.

And.

Old enemies.