Im Yeon-hwa detected the unusual situation and kicked the speaker, which was about to emit an alarm, causing it to stop, and looked back at the two language manipulators.

Gong Cheong-hyeon whispered toward the door, while Je-gal Jae-geol carved letters with his fingertips.

Even someone as strong as Im Yeon-hwa could not fully replicate the special power of language manipulation.

She could unleash a shockwave powerful enough to tear the eardrums of her target and blast objects in front of her by screaming at full force, and she could break surfaces by applying pressure to her fingers to write letters, but that was the extent of her abilities.

'Language manipulation is a special power. One must have innate talent and put in effort. The higher beings related to language take good care of language manipulators for a reason. But, hmm...'

Im Yeon-hwa had left the door to be opened by force earlier, thinking that ordinary people might get hurt, but the spell didn’t work well on that door.

There was something off about Gong Cheong-hyeon and Je-gal Jae-geol’s movements.

Both of them had exceptional physical abilities and excellent control over their unique powers.

Im Yeon-hwa knew they were also capable of using excellent language manipulation skills, having seen them demonstrate it.

However, every time Gong Cheong-hyeon whispered to open the door, there was a strange static noise, and every time Je-gal Jae-geol finished writing, the letters were about to disappear.

It wasn’t that their powers were insufficient, so something external must be interfering.

'Something is blocking the language manipulation. There are so few language manipulators in the country, so rather than preparing countermeasures, it would be more efficient to strengthen them.'

No matter how abundant the funds, it was impossible to devise perfect countermeasures for every possible element. Therefore, when making preparations, one must make choices, and the person responsible for this facility had chosen to increase the resistance to language manipulation instead of boosting physical strength.

It was as if they were wary of a language manipulator who would appear someday.

Im Yeon-hwa found that hard to understand.

'Although Je-gal Jae-geol's younger sibling occasionally visits here, that alone doesn’t seem significant. If the exhibition match hadn't been held, there would have been no chance of entering the military district, and if I hadn't informed them, they wouldn’t have known.'

Kwah-aaaang!

The recorder that Im Yeon-hwa kicked hit another device adjusting its angle to film them, causing it to explode.

If the device had been ordinary, it would have been impossible to catch the swift motion of her kick.

As she moved toward another target, Im Yeon-hwa continued her thoughts.

'Could it be that Je-gal Jae-geol is cautious of Gong Cheong-hyeon? Yi-shin said the noble families are reluctant to directly get involved in such matters.'

As though responding to Im Yeon-hwa’s thoughts, arrows poured in.

They looked modest compared to the latest weapons she had seen, but the force behind the arrows was heavier than a regular bullet.

To Im Yeon-hwa, bullets and arrows were the same thing.

Whoooosh!

Im Yeon-hwa quickly extended her index and middle fingers, charged them with her power, and struck the center of an arrow shaft faster than it could move.

The arrow broke and lost all its force as if a taut thread had been cut with scissors, falling to the ground with no strength.

The impact was so strong that some arrows even disintegrated from the point she struck and scattered into powder.

Im Yeon-hwa, considering this, gently grasped the last arrow rather than breaking it.

She examined the arrow swiftly.

'Compared to regular arrows, this one is thicker and heavier, but shorter in length. It's an arrow used for a crossbow. It's slow to load, but it’s designed for a one-hit kill, so it should be used when aiming for a decisive blow.'

The faintly engraved letters on the arrowhead made the identity of this arrow even clearer.

Chakho (捉虎).

It meant "Catch the tiger."

If a noble family member had been here, they might have been able to avoid it, but like Im Yeon-hwa, they wouldn’t have been able to neutralize this arrow so easily.

'In that case, it seems like Gong Cheong-hyeon, not Je-gal Jae-geol, prepared this defense against language manipulation? Would Yi-shin or the noble families not have known about this?'

Im Yeon-hwa soon reached the correct conclusion.

The Ministry of Defense Research Institute had prepared to guard against Im Yeon-hwa’s intrusion as an experiment, but they were more concerned with language manipulators and the noble families.

And if Jo Yi-shin had already suspected this, sending the two language manipulators to a place where their compatibility was poor seemed like a kind of test.

Considering the compatibility and importance of the situation, it would be better for Im Yeon-hwa to take the lead and have the two language manipulators provide support from behind.

Fortunately, Im Yeon-hwa’s worries didn’t last long.

'At this rate, the test should be passed soon.'

Just as her cute disciples could ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) never defeat her even if they trained their muscles, there were limits to suppressing a force using poor compatibility.

Je-gal Jae-geol and Gong Cheong-hyeon, though seemingly gentle and kind, rarely fought in public, and their use of language manipulation was seldom witnessed in daily life.

Moreover, they were quite popular, so if something happened, their disciples would usually step in before they could act, giving the impression that they weren’t martial artists.

But that was just an impression. Both of them were not only skilled with their bodies but also at the highest level when it came to handling abilities.

Paaaah!

The language manipulation powers used by the two teachers overcame the will of whoever was trying to keep the door shut.

It was clear that no one present could block their manipulation of language.

The energy that had sealed the door disappeared.

Now, Gong Cheong-hyeon and Je-gal Jae-geol each grabbed one side of the door and began to push.

As the door began to open, Gong Cheong-hyeon warned.

“There’s more than just intellect beyond this door. Be ready.”

Normally, intellect emits light, so considering that, Im Yeon-hwa narrowed her eyes and adjusted her glasses to secure her vision.

But the area beyond the door was dark.

It wasn’t just dark either.

There were lights in the corridor, so the light should have flowed through, illuminating the interior, but something was wrong.

Instead, darkness was spreading, trying to swallow the corridor.

It wasn’t that the lights were malfunctioning or the output had dropped, but the surroundings were being consumed by darkness.

Realizing that powerful abilities were being used inside, the three teachers enveloped their bodies with their powers.

Then, Je-gal Jae-geol suddenly raised his head as if he realized something.

“I’ve seen a similar ability. In a performance!”

Je-gal Jae-geol had excellent ticketing abilities and often went to great performances with his friends, Kim Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol. Thanks to them, he had witnessed an ability similar to the one being used now.

Although it sounded common to say it was part of a performance, manipulating darkness was very rare.

All powers were usually infused with color and light, so manipulating darkness itself was a rare ability.

Im Yeon-hwa wondered why they would use such a rare power in a performance, but soon an answer came to her.

'I heard a famous player from the Eternal Lake is wasting their talent! No, considering the quality of that performance, it’s not really a waste.'

For the perfect performance of the violinist, Kwon Je-in, the team would do anything. They considered using powers, time, and wealth as trivial.

At the forefront of this was the sub-team master, Jared Lee.

Jared Lee’s alias was ‘Dark Blue Curtain.’

Jared Lee could manipulate darkness like a curtain, enveloping everything around him, but he usually used that precious ability for Kwon Je-in’s stage direction.

The dark curtain he controlled could cover a larger area than just a stage.

“Then is the power being used the Dark Blue Curtain?”

“No. It’s a subtle difference, but the color is different from what I saw.”

Sssrreeek.

There was a sound of something moving beyond the darkness.

The teachers each used their insight skills to peer into the darkness.

Soon, the source of the power using the abilities became visible through the darkness.

It wasn’t just one entity.

But they all had the same face.

Surrounding Yi Yeoreum, who had multiplied, darkness surged.