Chapter 270

Thud!

It was still early in the morning, yet a loud noise was reverberating through the air.

Awoken by the sound, Se-Hoon naturally opened his eyes, got up from his bed, and pulled back the curtains hanging by the window.

Whoosh!

Building materials floated past his eyes in midair, moving in a specific direction.

Intrigued by the bizarre sight, Se-Hoon opened the window to get a clearer view of the materials' destination.

Thud, thud, thud!

In the distance, the materials placed themselves one by one in a once empty lot, forming a building, while the ley lines’ power rose up from below, inscribing barriers and spells. The destroyed estate was being miraculously restored in what felt like no time as Se-Hoon watched curiously.

Are they using the underground facility?

Recalling the mirrored symmetry between the Inoue family's estate and their underground research facility, which resembled reflections of each other, Se-Hoon contemplated the possibility of using this link to almost instantly restore the estate’s undamaged form.

With the rapid repairs, it’ll be difficult for enemies to break through again unless they can manipulate the ley lines as they did recently.

Moreover, Erika could now control the entire house through the Heaven’s Well, making it next to impossible to bring the area down without completely obliterating it.

Musing over the thought, Se-Hoon watched the buildings being repaired, marveling at how even the Ten Evils would now find it difficult to meddle with the Inoue family’s estate.

“Good morning.”

Appearing out of the blue, Erika casually floated before him—in front of his window on the

second

floor. And while it wasn’t something she couldn’t do before, the difference was that he hadn’t sensed a single telltale sign of her approach.

Her presence has become even fainter.

Previously, he could still tell where she was about to show up, but now, it was more of a vague, “Around here, maybe?”

In fact, he only managed to spot her just now because she appeared right in front of him. Had she appeared behind him, he might have been unaware of her arrival at all.

I could get knocked out and dragged away if I'm not careful.

Feeling a tingling sensation on the back of his head, Se-Hoon scratched it, prompting Erika to give him a puzzled look.

“What's wrong?”

“Oh, I’m still half awake. Anyway, can I ask who's doing the repairs over there?”

Following Se-Hoon’s finger with her gaze, which pointed at the construction materials floating in midair, Erika pointed to herself.

“Me.”

“Just you? No one else?”

“I'm doing it alone as part of my practice. Anyone else would just get in the way.”

“Practice, huh...”

“Wait a moment; I'll show you.”

Whispering something to herself, Erika gazed at the construction site, and a moment later, a translucent fabric flew over and wrapped around her shoulders and arms.

Flap-

Gazing at the winged garment, which fluttered as if it were a living creature, Se-Hoon made a peculiar expression. He had identified it as the same fabric he saw right after the resealing.

It looks similar to the Celestial Feather Garment.

The Celestial Feather Garment was the piece of Mythical equipment that Erika had used before the regression. The spells densely inscribed on it back then had enabled Erika, an S-rank, to confront the Ten Evils head-on.

It looks like it’s still incomplete... I wonder how much power it has.

“You can take a closer look if you want.”

Seeing Se-Hoon examining the garment with his eyes, Erika extended its end toward him.

“Really?”

“Yes. I came here to show it to you anyway.”

At her words, Se-Hoon paused. He hadn’t expected that she intended to reveal it from the start. But since he had permission, he reached for the end of the fabric.

Slap!

“...”

Staring at his hand, which had been swiftly flicked away, Se-Hoon looked up at Erika.

“Seems like it doesn’t like you.”

“Looks that way.”

Instead of apologizing, Erika merely stared at the garment in fascination. Sighing, Se-Hoon reached out for it again.

Whoosh!

Again, the garment tried to evade and slapped his hand away. However, Se-Hoon had guessed it would and had prepared.

Bam!

Immediately activating the Celestial Infinity Blade, he extended a black sword, the Exalted Blade, and pinned the garment against the window frame. Caught, the winged garment flapped widely, trying to escape, while Se-Hoon watched with intrigue.

“Wow... it didn’t tear?”

Despite the Exalted Blade being sharper than most swords, due to consisting of condensed sword aura primarily, the garment remained unscathed.

Based on its durability, it seemed at least of the Legendary tier, prompting Se-Hoon to rub his chin thoughtfully.

Well, since it's come to this, I might as well test how much it can withstand.

Given its nature, repairs would be straightforward.

With eyes gleaming with interest, Se-Hoon reached for his Forgefire Hammer, ready to experiment further.

Swish-

At that moment, however, the violently-struggling garment suddenly relaxed.

“I think it’s saying it won’t resist anymore,” Erika calmly said, speaking up at the sight.

“Really? I haven’t even started yet...

tch

.”

Mildly disappointed, Se-Hoon canceled the Exalted Blade and picked up the end of the garment. It felt thin and soft, despite being tough enough to withstand the sharpness of his blade. And through it, mana was flowing intricately, its paths resembling the veins of a living being.

“Hmm...”

Intrigued, he scrutinized the winged garment for a while before checking its information message.

[ ]

[Tier: Legendary] [Quality: Poor]

A fragment that broke off from a Mythical equipment.

Able to draw power from the ley lines, it can also assist in spell casting by inscribing spells onto it.

However, the support will vary depending on the inscribed spells, which can be adjusted more finely as experience accumulates.

*Can extract power by overloading nearby ley lines

*Spells can be inscribed on it, with its effect varying according to the configuration of the inscription

*Current Configuration: None

Legendary, huh...

Reading through the information message, Se-Hoon’s expression turned contemplative.

The garment itself was originally a part of the Mythical equipment, Heaven’s Well, so it wasn’t unusual for its current form to have somewhat degraded. What stood out despite that, however, was how incomplete it seemed, with various parts appearing empty.

The structure... and more importantly, the fact that its name doesn’t show up is really odd.

The garment had a clear name in his memories: Celestial Feather Garment. And it wasn’t just him either; he remembered plenty of people who had seen it labeled as such in its information message. So why did the garment lack any kind of identification now?

Unable to understand, Se-Hoon was mulling over the anomaly when Erika spoke up. “It needs a name.”

“A name?” Se-Hoon refocused, echoing her words in puzzlement.

Nodding, Erika answered, “Names set the direction for things. It’s an important concept in sorcery.”

“

Hmm

... So what do you want me to do?”

“You just need to inscribe a spell on it that reflects your thoughts,” Erika explained.

At her words, Se-Hoon gazed at the garment, noticing how it remained blank, almost as if it had been intentionally left unfinished.

He wondered if he should stick with the name “Celestial Feather Garment” from his memories, but in the end, he decided instead to follow Erika’s advice.

Pouring his thoughts and intentions into the process, he inscribed the spell with Shadow Thread.

Sssss...

The Shadow Thread wove through the garment as if creating a stitch, inscribing a spell that formed a central spine that extended through the middle. Then, once he had finished, Se-Hoon pulled his hand away.

[Equipment ‘Bound Celestial Garment’ has been completed!

An extraordinary piece of equipment crafted by a blacksmith exploring new realms! Made from fragments of a piece of Mythical equipment, it may one day reach that same Mythical tier.

The tier evaluation for ‘Bound Celestial Garment’ is ‘Legendary’.]

As if they had been waiting, achievement messages popped up in series, and Se-Hoon inspected the changes in the information message.

The name shows up properly now. It also has a new equipment skill.

Based on how the skill was called Sealing Pillar, Se-Hoon guessed it reflected the spell he had just inscribed.

“This should suffice, don't you think?” Se-Hoon asked, handing it back to Erika with a curious look.

Receiving it, Erika silently looked down at the garment, now named the Bound Celestial Garment, and observed. Then, a moment later, she nodded with a rare look of satisfaction.

“It seems fine.”

“Great. So, when are we having breakfast?”

“I’m almost done here. I just need to wrap up a few things. You can eat first if you’re hungry.”

“Alright, I’ll wait then. You can get back to work.”

“

Mm.

”

With a nod, Erika floated back to the construction site.

Watching her go, Se-Hoon glanced at his new Relationship with her.

[Relationship: Desire]

[The moment a person deems something’s value as irreplaceable, the only thing left is a desire to possess.

Living for that sole purpose, they will do anything until they possess what they desire. Where that will lead is unknown, but what is certain is that they won’t stop until their desire is fulfilled.

*A Fatestone is created whenever the subject’s desire intensifies.

*The maturation rate of the Fatestone increases while the subject’s desire persists.

*The probability of the subject’s synesthetic mindscape manifesting inside the Fatestone increases when the subject’s desire is fulfilled by you.

*Currently created Fatestones: 1]

So, this is my second level four bond.

Unlike those he had deep ties with before the regression, Erika was someone he had only gotten to know after regressing. Considering that they had only known one another for six months, establishing such a strong connection was remarkable, and yet Se-Hoon didn’t have a particularly happy expression.

It’s not exactly a bad relationship... but it’s not a good one, either.

He was well aware extreme traits tended to deviate Relationships in one way or another. For instance, Eun-Ha’s Relationship, Empathy, began as a simple bond over a shared appreciation for weapons but gradually morphed into an obsession with him due to her traits.

She thought I was the only one who understood her and feared that I might disappear at any moment.

His relationship with Eun-Ha was proof that even positive connections could take an extreme turn depending on the situation and unique quirks of the individual. Thankfully, he had managed to smooth things out with her through a conversation, since her behavior wasn’t fundamentally twisted.

But Erika was a different case.

Her connection with me is quite extreme, and neither her situation nor her quirks are favorable.

As an artificial being solely created to control a piece of Mythical equipment, Erika

needed

him to achieve her goals. From a positive perspective, he was irreplaceable to her. But that also meant she could just as easily decide to imprison him without hesitation.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

I knew the Inoues were far from normal... but they turned out to be such a mess that I have no idea how to deal with them.

Why did the Inoue family research the Heaven’s Well and create an artificial being like Erika? Was it simply to produce powerful descendants like the Myers family? But even that didn’t fully explain things.

Are they planning to create a Harbinger of Destruction by joining forces with the Watchers? But if that was their goal, there wouldn’t have been any need to sacrifice lives to seal it...

Se-Hoon furrowed his brow, his mind racing with theories. He had uncovered so many secrets, yet the core theme connecting them remained elusive. Deep in thought, he was suddenly struck by a certain thought.

“...Ah.”

A particular person came to mind. It seemed unlikely, but he couldn’t dismiss it given that his hunch about Erika’s true nature had also been correct.

Rushing a bit, Se-Hoon activated the power of Boundaries to summon the Seeker.

“

Hmm...

You’re a diligent one, aren’t you? It’s summer break. Shouldn’t you relax a little?”

“It’s hard to relax when work keeps piling up. I have a question for you, though.”

“What is it? You want to know if the Inoue family ever collaborated with me?”

It seemed the Seeker had already guessed part of the situation.

“No, that’s not it. You said before that none of the families from the past were left except the Myers, right?”

“

Mhm

, so what?”

“Is it possible to create a complete living being using spells?”

Although Se-Hoon was somewhat confident in his theory, he wanted to hear other opinions to become absolutely certain.

The Seeker smirked.

“Creating a living being using spells? Now that’s an intriguing topic. Do you know how much I used to dwell on this...?”

“Just give me a straightforward answer.”

“...You’re mean.”

The Seeker, who had been excited to explain her research, let out a deep sigh before answering, “It’s not impossible. Strictly speaking, even

shikigami

created through sorcery can act like living beings.”

“But—”

“Yes, yes. Without an original synesthetic mindscape and its own mana supply, the body can’t be sustained. But if you flip that, what does it mean?”

Pondering over her words, Se-Hoon came up with the answer he sought. “...It means you can make a living being using spells, as long as you can solve the issues with the synesthetic mindscape and the mana supply.”

“Exactly. Honestly, you don’t even need the synesthetic mindscape. As long as the body is stable, you can maintain it through periodic adjustments.”

“...Sounds like you’ve made quite a few before,” Se-Hoon noted.

“You don’t know how difficult it was to just survive back then. These days, with all these regulations and agreements... everyone has lost their edge,” the Seeker said wistfully, reminiscing the days when ethics and morals were of little concern.

Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes at her words.

However, he didn’t argue. After all, he, too, had been dangerously close to crossing that line before the regression.

“So, how difficult is it?”

“Extremely. One wrong step and the synesthetic mindscape and spells could get warped. Eventually, constant adjustments became the norm because the original method was simply too inefficient.”

Se-Hoon fell into thought.

The Inoue family, being of noble origin before the war, wouldn’t have discarded their pride to partake in such an experiment directly.

Did they bring in someone from outside?

If Erika's deceased mother had a connection to those with the Seeker's knowledge, such as Succession, that would also explain their link with Watchers.

Se-Hoon’s racing thoughts began to coalesce.

“But seriously, why do you always come to me with these suspicious findings—oh?”

The Seeker’s voice abruptly cut off, and simultaneously, Se-Hoon’s gaze naturally turned to the door.

Screech-

“Pardon my intrusion.”

The sliding door opened gracefully to reveal a kneeling man, his face concealed by fabric.

A shikigami.

While it looked human, it was emanating palpable, unusual mana.

“The head of the household wishes to see you, Mr. Lee.”

As he stared at the

shikigami

, Se-Hoon realized the awaited moment had finally arrived.