Chapter 29: Domain Manifestation
"Fuck."
The word was said so exasperatedly and with so much resignation, but the effect was immediate.
The moment the word left Cha Hwa Rim’s mouth, a huge wave of something not quite explainable swept through the area. Everyone felt it, including all the agents around.
Everyone who had been heading toward Cha Hwa Rim suddenly stopped as the world seemed to stand still.
That feeling was inexplicable.
Now the two groups—Cha Hwa Rim on one end and the Ascendant team on the other—stood in a standoff, with the world falling silent before somebody on the Ascendants’ team suddenly crumbled.
"We... we are doomed."
The words, filled with fear and anguish, seemed to resonate with each agent there, with soft whispers starting to spread. Yet when Liu Yuning looked back at the agent who had spoken those words, the whispers seemed to vanish, the area returning to silence.
Liu Yuning turned back to face Cha Hwa Rim, trying to put on a brave face even though he too had been shaken by that display of power and authority.
He now understood why the drones weren’t working.
He turned on the comms to report the possibility that they were dealing with a Stage Four Aspect—an Awakened—but just like the drones, his comms seemed dead.
He continued to face Cha Hwa Rim.
Meanwhile, Cha Hwa Rim was stupefied by how the supposed Ascendants were behaving.
Weren’t they here to beat her up?
And what was with the sudden stop?
Were they gauging her strength?
The whole situation seemed to do something to Cha Hwa Rim herself. Initially, Dan Woo wanted to comply and try to explain the situation to the government officials, yet the tone of the words seemed to fundamentally clash with something deep within Cha Hwa Rim as a mantra surfaced from somewhere deep inside her.
Being weak is a sin, but being a coward is even more unforgivable.
If they wanted to fight, then fight they shall.
How could Cha Hwa Rim bend to such flimsy declarations?
Suddenly, the flames on the flaming sword started to flare up as her tattoos grew more and more vivid, with a huge amount of heat rolling off her.
[Ding]
{Active Effect: Judgment has been triggered.}
[Weighing the Scales of Justice.]
Suddenly, a huge phantom form made of golden radiance—a blindfolded woman holding a scale in one hand and a sword in the other—towered over the entire school, washing it in brilliant golden light.
It was the visage of Justitia, the Lady of Justice.
The agents who had been barely holding on suddenly collapsed at the sight of the towering form. Even those who weren’t at the center of the confrontation—those from Team Alpha and Team Beta—fell to their knees before the grand, imposing figure as golden radiance washed over them.
Cha Hwa Rim was left speechless by the ordeal.
This was that familiar feeling, the one the butterfly had just taught her.
Actualization.
Yet she had done it unconsciously.
Soon, several chains began to form. One by one, a chain connected to everyone who had been washed by her golden radiance as the scales in the left hand of the golden phantom slowly began to balance.
Cha Hwa Rim could feel the intrusion of people’s dirty secrets into her mind.
It was an overwhelming feeling, and she struggled to stop the process, desperately trying to stop herself from carrying out the Actualization. She barely managed to contain the chains that shot off in random waves.
"Senior..."
The man who looked to be the leader of the group approached with a much milder, more approachable attitude, his previous domineering entrance having completely washed away.
"You must be a Manifest to be able to deploy such a grand domain. We didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that we were hunting for notorious criminals who might bring about disorder, chaos, and disaster. If you could just forgive us this once and dissolve your domain..."
Cha Hwa Rim turned to Liu Yuning, her gaze piercing.
A flurry of alternating cold and heat permeated the air as unintelligible whisperings pierced through his ears and into his mind, bringing with them waves of anguish. Yet Liu Yuning used his Aspect to bring serenity to himself, dulling the relentless bombardment of chaos, anguish, scrutiny, and the erosion brought about by that higher meaning.
He never faltered.
Barely able to keep up with the overwhelming assault, he continued to endure—
When suddenly...
The wild bombardment of chaos, anguish, scrutiny, and erosion simply stopped.
All the chains vanished.
The domineering golden radiance disappeared.
The overwhelming presence faded with it.
Standing before Liu Yuning was simply a young tattooed woman dressed in leather, her deep eyes quietly meeting his.
The imposing air that had surrounded her only moments ago was completely gone.
"Who are you?" she suddenly asked.
"I am Liu Yuning, a member of the Chinese Bureau of Anomaly Affairs," he answered respectfully.
"Chinese?" she asked, confused.
"Yes. We had a joint mission to carry out."
"Must have been a tough mission. What is the mission?"
"May I decline to answer? Because it’s... confidential."
"Is it?"
"..."
Liu Yuning remained silent, taking a more timid posture.
"I suppose that is okay, but I want to understand. Why are you here, and why did you attack me?"
"...We... we sensed abnormal levels in the area, so we came to take a look, thinking it was an anomaly. It must have been your advancement, Senior, that made such a disturbance."
The woman only nodded imperceptibly.
"If I may ask, Senior... do you have an organization you belong to?"
"What?"
"If I am not intruding, I just wanted to see if you would be inclined to join the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs. That’s if your family is okay with it, or if you don’t belong to any other organization, of course."
The young woman was silent for a second before turning to the two students.
"I will see what can be done."
When Liu Yuning saw her turn toward the students, he hurriedly spoke.
"Uh... Senior, what are you going to do with them?"
"What?"
"The students. I charged at you because I thought you were going to harm them."
"Harm who? Her?" She frowned before pointing. "Can’t you see the fucking resemblance? That’s my fucking sister... and her friend."
"Oh... I see."
"Then—"
But before Liu Yuning could get another word in, the woman disappeared.
Everyone around the area finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A woman slowly walked toward Liu Yuning.
"Captain... why did we let her leave when there is a possibility that she is part of the Children of Entropy?"
"She is not," he simply replied.
"Because that power and aptitude are very different from what the Children of Entropy had."
"But still..."
"Did you want to die... did you want us to die?"
"No... I’m sorry."
"The mission was a failure. We should head back and report everything, including the—"
Suddenly, his comms, which had gone silent, buzzed back to life.
"Captain, can you hear me? Captain."
"I can."
"Can you report back? What is your status?"
"The... the mission was a failure. This must have been a ploy by the Children of Entropy, as we just came face to face with at least a Stage Five Awakened... possibly Stage Six."
"Stage Five Awakened? Are they part of the Children of Entropy?"
"Not confirmed... but highly unlikely."
"I see... Report back to HQ."
"Roger that. Everyone, move out."
"But Captain... what about the unconscious people?" a the woman asked.
"What people?"
"The ones that..." She looked around only to find no one. "...They seem to have left somewhere between all that chaos."
"It doesn’t matter. We still have to find the Children of Entropy. Let’s head back to HQ."