Chapter 55: Stay, you are so beautiful.

A few hours before reaching the mainland.

Those aboard the ship couldn’t hide their restlessness.

Yeonkyung had a relatively calm face, but to Byul, that felt like the most intense manifestation of restlessness, paradoxically.

The situation had changed a lot since she had woken up.

Only after talking did she realize that the misunderstanding about Chayeon had really been resolved, and that it wasn’t just Arena and Byul who had been in danger.

Hundreds of demons had suddenly appeared on the island.

Among them, she had heard that there were several royalty-class demons.

She had clearly learned that royalty-class demons were a disaster that the Seven Divine Pillars had to deal with even if only one of them appeared, but there were several of those demons.

It was a story that was hard to believe easily.

She had heard that Chayeon had dealt with almost all of those demons.

Arena and Byul had also been saved by Chayeon, or so she had thought, but she had heard that Rubrum-Luna was the exception and had been dealt with by Arena.

She wasn’t surprised when she heard that Chayeon was Heukgumiho.

That’s because it was somewhat expected for Byul, who had seen Chayeon on a regular basis.

When she had heard that Chayeon was Heukgumiho, and that she had single-handedly subjugated all those demons, Byul’s impression, if she had to say it, was that Heukgumiho was that strong.

The one who Byul was surprised by was Arena, rather.

Oliver, that American man who was one of the Seven Divine Pillars whom she knew, had not only died as a vessel but also had his Shinryeong annihilated, she had heard. And so, what had become the next of the Seven Divine Pillars was Arena’s Pure White Witch.

‘A Seven Divine Pillar couple, both of them are beyond imagination, really.’

Byul just found it funny that her two closest friends, that cute couple, were the Seven Divine Pillars.

The two were inside the cabin right now.

There were a total of ten people aboard the ship, and they were taking turns guarding the outside, and right now it was Chayeon and Arena’s turn to rest.

Yeonkyung and Wolmyo wanted at least one of the two girls to stand guard, but they had no choice because Chayeon adamantly refused to be separated from Arena.

‘Besides……………’

She also thought that it might be okay even if they were sleeping.

She recalled what had happened just a moment ago.

It was right after the ship had just departed, when the people had relaxed somewhat.

“Show respect.”

Suddenly, such a sound rang in the middle of the ship, and everyone around her, including Byul, stiffened.

Before they knew it, two men and women were standing in the middle of the ship.

Yeonkyung was shocked when she saw the two.

“Baal, Lucifer…!?”

Two demon kings whose level of danger was the highest even among the royalty-class demons, and who had also been known to have died a long time ago.

The air trembled.

Byul felt the awe that was rising up in her heart as she watched the two demons.

Not despair, not fear, but awe.

“I have come.”

As the man said that, black clouds gathered in the surroundings in an instant and it began to get dark.

The air was tingling.

As Yeonkyung hurriedly called them through the geas, everyone came running out.

“Everyone has to face them at the same time…!”

Wolmyo, who knew well just how scary Baal and Lucifer were, and the other Ineungnyeokja agreed with those words and took up their battle stances.

However, the battle had ended before it had even started.

Tat.

Chayeon, who had somehow come out of the room, appeared in front of the two demons and lightly raised her sword from below to above.

It was as if a black laser had been shot.

The two legendary demon kings, who had become corpses, were thrown to be fish food side by side.

Chayeon, who had killed the demon kings so easily that the others, who had been so nervous, felt empty, ran back to Arena and entered the room.

‘Heukgumiho is really strong.’

Byul’s impression was about that much.

There was no way Byul could know the fact that Chayeon was a person who was drawing out the power of Heukgumiho more than anyone else in the history of mankind, the vessel of the most powerful Heukgumiho throughout the past and present.

Of course, it was a series of shocks to Yeonkyung and Wolmyo, who knew that fact.

‘It’s adaptation, one of Heukgumiho-nim’s abilities, but……………’

How can she become so strong without limit?

Even in Yeonkyung’s view, who had learned and experienced a lot, Chayeon’s strength was irrational.

Chayeon’s strength was a very reassuring but also an unsettling element.

If Chayeon were to abandon the Ineungnyeokja, humans, even by chance, then everything would be over.

The most problematic thing was Chayeon’s instability.

A child holding a nuclear missile button.

In Yeonkyung’s view, the current Chayeon was such an existence.

It was better to let Chayeon rest for the sake of her mental stability.

The reason why Yeonkyung wasn’t insisting on her own opinion about the dangerous situation where demons were appearing at sea was because of that.

However, that didn’t mean that she could just let her rest unconditionally.

Yeonkyung glanced and saw Byul going to call Chayeon for her shift.

Knock knock.

“I’m coming in?”

As soon as she knocked and opened the door, what entered her eyes was Chayeon, who was leaning on Arena’s chest and sleeping soundly.

“It’s already time.”

“Yeah, but it’s okay.”

Byul stopped Arena, who was trying to wake Chayeon up.

“Chayeon-ssi, you said you put in a lot of effort. I’ll just keep doing it. I’m perfectly fine.”

At those words, Arena thanked her instead and stroked Chayeon’s hair with affectionate eyes.

“Lena-ya, you’re going to have honey dripping from your eyes.”

“Huh?”

She had clearly thought that she would be embarrassed while saying ‘Wh, what are you saying!? This is, th, that is!’, but the reaction that she showed was too unexpected to Byul.

“That’s right.”

She smiled softly and was still stroking Chayeon’s hair.

“Uuh…….”

With things being like this, it was Byul who was embarrassed, rather.

What’s going on? Could it be that Lena had also died and come back to life?

The atmosphere had changed so much that she couldn’t explain it otherwise.

Arena’s eyes had returned to their golden color.

Because of that, Byul, who couldn’t find any other differences in her appearance, just felt that this change in Arena was unfamiliar.

“Byul, does your phone work?”

After adjusting her posture so that Chayeon could lean on her more comfortably, Arena, who had embraced her, asked that.

“Uung, not yet.”

Byul shook her head.

I see, Arena muttered.

She didn’t know since when, but at the point when one of them had confirmed it, all of the group’s phone devices had become out of service range.

Even though it wasn’t a sea area where she was out of service range.

The internet also didn’t work.

It meant that something strange had happened on the land.

Perhaps it wasn’t just the island that had been attacked.

That was why the people had been restless since earlier.

Perhaps the problem wasn’t just Jindal…………

“It’ll be okay.”

She spoke as if to reassure Lena, but in truth she was comforting herself.

While being unable to take her eyes off ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’, who were listed in the missed call list, Arena nodded as if agreeing.

“Then I’ll come again later.”

“Thank you, Byul.”

After leaving the cabin, she went to Yeonkyung and conveyed her opinion.

Yeonkyung called Byul as she was about to turn back.

“Just a moment.”

“Yes?”

“…What happened that day, in the prison?”

She could tell right away that she was talking about the day they had escaped.

When Byul briefly conveyed the scene that she had seen at the time, Yeonkyung muttered.

“Was that the direct cause?”

Yeonkyung was glancing at the cabin where Chayeon was.

Byul also realized what she wanted to say.

There was one man who was unusually large among the people who were aboard the ship.

He was a teacher who lectured about talismans and seals at Jindal, and he was someone that Chayeon, Arena, and Byul had all seen several times during their 1st grade classes.

A face that Chayeon would also be familiar with.

However, Chayeon’s reaction was strange.

Whenever he passed by her on the ship, or when they ran into each other occasionally, Chayeon would flinch.

It was obvious that her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were trembling, it was to the point that she could see it from here.

Fortunately, Arena, who was always with her, calmed her down quickly, but the reaction that Chayeon was showing was clear PTSD.

Although they had lived together for two months, since they had only seen the girls and the old couple, Byul had never imagined that Chayeon would be in this serious of a state.

Because she hadn’t shown it at all.

“Umm…….”

Yeonkyung continued to worry about something.

“Is that all?”

“Yes?”

“Chayeon-nim holds Heukgumiho-nim inside of her. Generally, Heukgumiho-nim’s vessels are not that weak.”

Heukgumiho takes care of the vessel’s mind.

Chayeon hadn’t been granted it, but it was another ability of Heukgumiho, a type of mental manipulation that was different from the demons, that Yoona had been granted.

Although it was brief, it was a brutal assault that would have felt long to the victim.

If they were people with tender hearts, it was only natural that they would have aftereffects.

The problem was that Chayeon was a vessel of Heukgumiho.

“Aren’t you speaking too rashly just because it’s someone else’s problem?”

At Byul’s words, Yeonkyung came to her senses abruptly.

It was true that it could be felt that she lacked consideration.

Unlike those who had experienced the ups and downs of life, the three girls were still children who had never really experienced scary things.

“I’m sorry.”

Yeonkyung apologized willingly.

That she wouldn’t have that level of trauma just from being beaten for about an hour, that there must be something more.

She only kept such thoughts in her heart.