“Oooooh! Just as I thought!”

The moment I saw the feathered tail, an exclamation burst out of me.

Gun Hye-rin, who had been inspecting Cho’s feathered tail beside me, flinched at my voice and asked:

“M-Master, don’t you dislike hair?”

She must have assumed that since I hated fur, I would hate feathers as well. But that wasn’t the case at all.

Hair and feathers are entirely different from the ground up.

Beast fur is said to have evolved from fish scales, but birds are descendants of dinosaurs. In other words, feathers are an advancement of reptilian skin. Why would I dislike that?

Besides, these weren’t just feathers.

They only looked like feathers—what they really resembled were insect wings.

The feather centipede’s tail is very much like a pair of long insect wings.

‘Damn. That’s really cool.’

I marveled inwardly and cleared up Hye-rin’s suspicion.

“Come on, those aren’t hair. They feel more like insect wings. And I don’t hate feathers. They’re completely different from fur.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Of course.”

She still looked unconvinced, wearing a peculiar expression, but I left her be and stepped toward Cho’s head to check on her condition mid-molt.

“Ah, what am I doing? Cho, are you okay?”

Molting, as you know, is a process that consumes an enormous amount of energy.

Many insects die during molting, so I needed to confirm her condition again. If she’d gotten exhausted mid-molt, it would be disastrous.

But contrary to my worries, Cho’s bright voice rang out at once.

-Tssrr. “Yes, Dad. I’m fine.”

A wave of relief—but at the same time, I couldn’t help being a little startled.

That was because even ordinary centipedes need about a day to dry their bodies after molting, so I had assumed Cho would reply via the group link. Instead, she answered aloud with her chirping voice.

A normal centipede has no such organs, but Cho has the ability to produce that tsrrr sound. To make that sound, she has to vibrate the organ—and that organ can’t make proper noise unless it’s fully dried.

So the fact that she could chirp meant her organ had already dried.

Which meant most of her body was already drying rapidly.

‘Probably because she’s a spirit beast, huh?’

I checked the rest of her body, and as I suspected, the drying was spreading fast. About an hour later, Cho stretched lazily in the grass and let us know her molt was over.

-Tssrrt. “Ahh. That was exhausting.”

Just two hours and it was done.

When I stroked Cho’s head, her body felt incredibly smooth.

Even if she’s dried, freshly molted creatures are soft and supple for a while.

As I ran my hand over her head, belated voices reached us from Princess and Hwa-eun, who had arrived and were waiting.

“Cho, are you all right?”

“Cho looks... amazing now.”

Both were wide-eyed at Cho’s transformation—her size, her changed appearance. I turned to Hye-rin.

“Hye-rin, should we take Cho to the Demonic Cult too?”

“Cho?”

“Yes. Originally, I planned to go with Yeondu only, but since Cho’s molt is finished, I think she can come too.”

“Do as you see fit, Master.”

Permission granted at once.

That meant it was time for a test flight.

‘Let’s gooo!’

***

『“Unbelievable speed!”』

Hye-rin’s astonished cry rang through the group channel.

Cho had pierced the clouds and was streaking across the sky at incredible speed.

The vast blue spread out around us, clouds parting to make a path. Hye-rin and I were sprawled along Cho’s back, with the forest stretching below, the endless heavens above, and a torrent of wind crashing against our bodies as we tore through the gap between them.

Hot on her heels came Cho’s worried voice.

-Tssrt. “Dad, should I slow down?”

She must have thought Hye-rin was struggling. But not at all.

She wasn’t quite at supersonic jet level, but still fast enough that ordinary people wouldn’t last a moment on her back. But we? We’re masters of Flower Realm and Manifestation Realm.

We had the skill to block the wind buffeting our faces and bodies.

A qi barrier wrapped around our front, easily deflecting the headwind.

Hye-rin had taught me before, but I’d never been able to form it properly—until reaching Manifestation Realm. Now, making a barrier was as easy as pie.

Right now, the barrier in front of us was one I’d cast myself.

I reassured Cho there was no need to worry.

『“No, just keep going. Dad and Mom Hye-rin can handle this much.”』

Cho let out a delighted cry.

-Tssrr. “Got it! Then I’ll go even faster!”

“Even faster?”

-Tssrt! “Yes! Hold on tight!”

We were already moving fast—but apparently, this had just been her careful speed for our sake.

My body jerked backward as Cho’s antennae streamed in the wind and she shot forward even faster.

Her feathered tail spread like an aircraft’s tail fins, adjusting pitch and roll as she flew.

‘Insane!’

After about three hours of flight, familiar terrain came into view below.

Already, the border between Sichuan and Yunnan.

A voice of astonishment escaped me.

『“Wow, already Sichuan’s border.”』

“It’s true... incredible.”

We had left just before noon, and now we’d already reached Sichuan. We could probably stay overnight at the Tang Clan, but instead, I asked Cho to veer northwest.

『“Cho, head northwest from here.”』

-Tssrr. “All right, Dad.”

Cho immediately shifted to the direction I indicated, and Hye-rin asked at once:

“Master, why northwest? If we’re going to stay at the Tang Clan, that’s northeast. And the Demonic Cult is also northeast.”

She thought I’d misdirected us.

“No. There’s somewhere we need to stop first.”

“Is that so?”

Our destination: the border of Qinghai and Sichuan.

By sunset, we arrived. I pointed below and asked:

“Hye-rin, those termite towers near the Demonic Cult village—you mean ones like that, right?”

Standing tall on the red earth below us were the termite mounds. An empire of ants and towers.

This was the place I’d visited twice before because of Elder Tu-je, where Moji and Soji had hatched.

I’d come to check whether a World-Destroying Golden Toad might have appeared here too, and to confirm if what Hye-rin had seen was truly the White-Towered Termite mounds.

I’d only shown her a drawing before; now I needed to confirm in person.

Hye-rin peered down, nodded, and answered.

“Yes. They look exactly the same.”

So the mounds near the Demonic Cult were likely what I was seeking.

Smiling, I said:

“Then let’s camp here for the night before moving on.”

The sun had set, and it looked like we’d be sleeping rough. Dinner was needed too.

We descended to the ground and prepared to camp. As usual, Hye-rin offered to hunt for food.

“All right. I’ll catch something.”

But there was no need.

Food was abundant here.

“No need, Hye-rin.”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s plenty to eat already.”

“Here?”

She looked at me in disbelief. I grinned.

“Yes, Hye-rin. I’ll cook something delicious for you.”

“Delicious?”

“This is something you won’t taste anywhere in the Central Plains unless it’s from me.”

A dish only I, So-ryong, could prepare.

I’d treat Hye-rin to roasted termite eggs.

‘Too bad I can’t make any for the Princess now. I’ll have to collect some on the way back and cook them at home for her.’

Because I’d promised to love them both equally.

***

Early that morning, I checked the termite mounds again, but there was no sign of the World-Destroying Golden Toad.

The outside was far too dry for a frog to live, and with my perception spread wide enough to probe underground, all I sensed were the movements of ants—no trace of a frog.

By noon, we set out for the Demonic Cult, and by late night we arrived—at the village in the mountains that posed as a fallen backwater settlement but was, in truth, the Demonic Cult.

“That’s the Demonic Cult?”

“Well, calling it the Demonic Cult is a stretch. You could just call it a village of survivors.”

A small mountain village on Mount Halan, at the far edge of Shaanxi Province.

For a mountain village, it was quite large in scale, oddly perched atop a rocky mountain.

You had to climb a cliffside path—so narrow a single person could barely pass—then trek up for quite some time before reaching it.

At a glance, I could tell: they’d chosen this place precisely because it was easy to defend against an assault from the Martial Alliance.

“It’s a good defensive position, isn’t it?”

“Yes. They may be hiding from the Alliance’s eyes, but one can never be too careful. Let’s go down—there, that clearing.”

Hye-rin pointed to the very center of the village.

The open space before what looked like the finest building here.

“Got it. Cho, head down there.”

-Tssrr. “All right, Dad.”

Now nearly nine meters long, Cho glided down from the sky. Not long after, alarm horns echoed throughout the village.

-Piiik. Piiik!

Warning calls resounded as I set foot in the clearing. An old man shot toward me with light footwork, landed before me, and clasped his fists respectfully.

“Honored senior, I do not know who you are, but may I ask what brings you here?”

Riding down on Cho—large enough to be mistaken for a dragon—he must have thought I was either an incredible master or perhaps even an immortal.

I glanced up at Cho, and at that moment, Hye-rin leapt down from Cho’s back to land beside me.

“It’s been a while, Great Elder.”

“Y-Young Lady—no, Heavenly Demon!”

When Hye-rin smiled and greeted him, relief spread across the old man’s face.

So this was the Great Elder she had spoken of—the one who managed the Demonic Cult’s household affairs.

On the way here, Hye-rin had told me roughly about the Demonic Cult: how many people they had, who the key figures were.

According to her, the man before me was second only to her in strength, the one responsible for all of the cult’s great and small matters.

His face was that of a kind old man with white hair, yet his epithet was Black-Eyed Mad Demon.

Even if he looked gentle, once he grew excited his eyes would turn pitch-black, and he’d rampage like a lunatic.

He looked from Hye-rin to Cho above, then to me, and asked:

“And this dragon... and this gentleman?”

So, from the sky, Cho looked like a dragon to him.

At his question, Hye-rin answered in an embarrassed voice.

“Ahem... he is my master.”

“Y-Your master!?”

To someone like me who had lived in modern times, “master” could mean she was declaring herself a slave.

But here in the Central Plains, master was also used to mean husband.

Though not as a title of address the way Hye-rin had just used it.

Usually it was when introducing or speaking of one’s husband to others:

“My master came home drunk last night...”

That kind of usage.

‘Wait... since when has she been seeing me # Nоvеlight # that way?’

So in this situation, her wording wasn’t technically wrong. But within the Demonic Cult, Hye-rin was a living deity, a mother figure of the sect.

And now that mother had brought home a stepfather.

No wonder the Great Elder was shaken to his core.

“Y-Your master, you mean...?”

At the same time, Hye-rin signaled me.

[Now, Master.]

[Are you sure about this?]

[I’m sure.]

[This feels off...]

I didn’t like it, but she was asking for it.

I fixed my eyes on the Great Elder’s feet and pictured an innocent centipede crushed to death beneath his heel, summoning up killing intent.

“Khuhk.”

At once, the Great Elder clutched his chest and staggered down to his knees under the weight of my aura.

Then, drawing Hye-rin into my embrace, I smiled.

“Heh.”

Yes, she had told me to—but this was exactly why I hadn’t wanted to do it.

The gesture screamed: What do you think of your sect leader? Not bad, eh?

And sure enough, the Great Elder’s eyes flew wide in utter shock.