The tear open butterflies were spirits. They were terrible evil spirits that tore at the target until they died. It was impossible to soothe or command these evil spirits. The only way to destroy these butterflies was to burn them using divinity.

......!

The yangbans had thought that Ziks apostle would foolishly die trying to stab the butterflies, thus their hearts sank at the sight in front of them. Flames that completely overwhelmed the Red Phoenixs Breath they had used until recentlyZiks apostle created huge, sacred flames reminiscent of the descent of the red phoenix or Mirs power. The thousands of butterflies turned to ashes and disappeared, and the yangbans couldnt close their open mouths.

Jingle, jingle.

The bells on Chiyous necklace and hair tie shook loudly. It was a reaction to his muscles moving when he smiled. It is worthy of the human who possesses the Red Phoenixs Ninth Heart.

The Ninth Heart!?

The yangbans doubted their ears. One of the 10 hearts that contained the source of the red phoenixs power. A human had it when even the Five Seniors couldnt take it away?

Haejin gritted her teeth. She wanted to erase her past self who had been thrilled to receive the red phoenixs 9,857th heart from Hanul. She wanted to reproach herself for missing the heart that had disappeared when the red phoenix was resurrected.

Dammit! Dammit!!

Haejins face turned red like she would explode. She was ashamed of herself, who was pleased with receiving something inferior to what a human received, and who struggled not to miss something that was received by a human. It was the first time in her life that she felt such a great sense of shame. The feelings of the other yangbans were similar. Those who had lost their hearts because of the red phoenixs resurrection, or those who still had the hearts, but knew it would soon disappear, glared at Ziks apostle with bitter eyes.

Grid didnt respond to their killing intent. To be exact, he couldnt afford to respond.

Did he know that I have the red phoenixs heart?

Grid was terrified as he looked at Chiyou standing in the distance with crossed arms. He noticed that he couldnt have survived unless he revealed himself as the one who resurrected the red phoenix.

The trial itself is a trap.

It was over. He had hoped to gain something from Chiyous Test. However, instead of gaining something, it seemed he was going to die.

I wont be able to recover it if I drop an item here.

The butterflies had already burned, but Grid didnt get rid of the Storm of the Fire God. It was a choice he made to protect himself. Isolated in the midst of Chiyou and dozens of yangbans, Grid couldnt glimpse a way out except for relying on Storm of the Fire God.

I need to find a way out of here while maintaining Storm of the Fire God.

This was a space Grid was moved to when Chiyous Test began. In other words, the current land he was standing on was completely separated from the existing world. It was the mental world of Chiyou that reflected Chiyous will.

Has Braham ever told me about the weaknesses of the mental world?

Ive seen your passion well. Then the third trial will begin.

Jingle.

......!

Grids nervous expression as he maintained Storm of the Fire God completely collapsed. It was because the moment Chiyous bells rang, the Storm of the Fire God disappeared regardless of Grids will. Grid realized ithe was already dancing on the palm of Chiyous hand. The frustrated Grids vision darkened.

* * *

......

What was making such a sad and painful sound?

Grid was awakened by the cries of a young beast and felt the texture of soft carpet. He was like a person waking from a long sleep as he looked around blankly and his eyes slowly widened. He could see the scenery of the area lit with soft lighting.

It was a large and colorful space. The light reflected on the red wallpaper and made the expensive furniture and ornaments look even more luxurious. A few flaws were the wine bottles with a peach aroma scattered everywhere, and the huge iron bars that didnt match the atmosphere of the great hall. The worst thing was the behavior of the young people in blue dopos.

Hahahat! Look at this young beast crying! It is so pitiful! Poor thing!

Isnt it time to be thirsty? How about feeding it another bottle of alcohol?

Why alcohol when there isnt even enough alcohol for us to drink? It isnt enough if we dont urinate.

The young men removed their dopos and started to pee on the iron bars. It was unknown how much alcohol they drank, but the smell of alcohol was coming from the pee stream that continued like a waterfall.

......?

What was this situation? Grid was blank at the unknown situation only to suddenly frown. He spotted the crying cat crouching in the iron cage that the yangbans were peeing on. It was a mysterious blue-furred cat.No, the head and feet were too big for a cat. Seeing the pattern on the forehead, it was a tiger.

...Ah! Grid realized the identity of the tigerit was Blue Tiger. This was the childhood of the blue tiger, hundreds of years ago.

These damn XX...!

Grid didnt know what was going on, but he had come to the past. He roughly grasped the situation and focused on the scene in front of him. In order to help Blue Tiger, he ran to the iron cage and pushed the yangbans away.

Eh?

The yangbans were unable to control their drunken bodies and staggered like reeds before falling to the ground. They tangled together and peed on each other. Their eyes widened and they screamed.

Pagma! You have finally gone crazy!

Pagma?

Was he called Pagma just now? The flustered Grid found a mirror next to him and looked into it. He was stunned and stepped back. In the mirror, a face that was beautiful even for a woman was staring at himself. It was far younger than the image of Pagma that Randy reproduced, or the Pagma witnessed in Chreshlers recollection. It was Pagma in the time when he was just reaching his 20s.

What?

Am I possessing Pagma in the past? Why? Chiyous voice was heard in the midst of the chaos.

Then the third trial will start.

...Thats right. He was currently in the process of going through Chiyous Test. Grid finally grasped the situation while a yangban strode closer to Grid.

This crazy guy!

Numbness. Tears filled Grids eyes as he was hit hard by the yangban. It meant that the yangban was strong, but it was also evidence of the decrease in Grids defense. Grid held his hot cheeks and opened his status window.

[Name: Pagma

Level: 256

Species: Yangban

Class: Beginner Swordsman, Beginner Blacksmith

......

......

......]

All of Grids stats were corrected to Pagmas stats from hundreds of years ago. The same was true for his equipment and skills.

Isnt this bullshit?

No matter how long ago this was, he couldnt help wondering if these were really yangbans. The man who slapped Grids cheeks followed by grabbing his collar.

This guy, you are even protecting beasts now. I hate the fact that a crazy person like you is the same as me. It is disgusting and my nausea is rising.

Grid was familiar with these eyes full of disgust and anger. He stared at the man holding him by the collar and shouted with surprise, G-Garam!

Hah! Why? Do you want to say that you dont know who I am?

Garam scoffed and pushed Grid away. He spat on the ground and left the great hall with the group.

Garung...

A young blue tiger inside the iron cage stared at Grid. The bright, round eyes were pure, the breathing sounded sad and made being trapped in the iron cage look even more pitiful.

Are you okay?

Grid finally stood up and used the Red Phoenixs Breath seen in the skills list. The warm flames covered the wet Blue Tiger and energized her body.

They are real XX guys.

Grid trembled as he looked closely at Blue Tiger. There were ugly whip marks and bright red blood on the blue tigers small body.

Im sorry I didnt help you quickly. Im sorry.

Grids expression was dark as he stroked the body of the blue tiger. He shouldve stopped it before the yangbans pissed. He resented himself for being dull and not being able to quickly grasp the situation. Blue Tiger barely pushed her head through the iron bars and rubbed her head against the crouching Grids legs. She seemed to be saying it was okay and was thanking him.

Shit...

This was just a reproduction of a scene from the past. The things he did here didnt affect the future, which was reality. He was in a position where he had to focus on the contents of the third trial. He had to prepare for the trial that could take place at any time in an unknown form.

Grid obviously knew all of this. Even so, he pulled out the soft sword hanging from his waist. It was classified as a sword mastery skill, but his Yangbans Swordsmanship skill was only at the beginner level.

Pagmas Swordsmanship.

The only sword dances he knew were Link and Wave.

Wave Link.

Grid did his best to cut the padlock off the iron cage. The door opened and he reached out to the blue tiger, who was frightened and retreated.

It's okay. I wont hurt you.

How much violence did she experience every time the yangbans opened the cage for her to tremble so? Grid hid Blue Tiger in his arms and immediately ran out of the great hall.

You! What did you do? Stop!

Garam and the yangbans ran out of the tiled houses. Grid had hit the lock dozens of times so it seemed they were attracted by the loud noise.

Stand still!

Would you stand still if you were me?

The yangbans preparations were late and they were still putting on their dopos, hats, and silk shoes while Grid was hurrying to escape. Some of the yangbans were even carrying smoking pipes. Thanks to this, Grid managed to escape pursuit for a while and reached the entrance of the Hwan Kingdom. The long river entered his view. It was a river that was so big that it was hard to tell the end.

Gasp... gasp...

There was a large ship waiting at the dock, but Grid wasnt confident about getting on it. The people on the ship were more likely to be enemies, and he had neither experience in steering a ship nor moving one. Eventually, Grid started paddling a small boat.

Dont worry, I will take you to Mount Bukdu.

Grid mentioned the place where he met Blue Tiger in the future and reassured the young blue tiger. Unfortunately, Grids heart was also beating fast. Grid himself was trembling with fear and other physical reactions. It couldnt be helped.

Tremble tremble.

It was because Pagmas physical strength was inferior from Grids current perspective and it had reached its limit. His rowing hands started to slow and his trembling arms and legs were out of control.

Tung!Tutong!Tuong!

Drumming sounds rang at the dock and a huge ship departed. The ship was several times faster than Grid rowing alone and caught in an instant.

Disgraceful guy!Garams angry cry echoed through the mountains and river.

Dozens of arrows filled the sky.

Shit!

Grid naturally didnt give up. He intercepted the flying arrows using Link and Wave. Then the subsequent arrows were blocked by the fusion skill, Wave Link. However, he didnt have any sword techniques left that could directly deal with Garam.

How can this unqualified guy dare to leave? You betrayed us to save a young beast!

It was a reasonable accusation from Garams point of view. Garams sword aimed at Grid was filled with real killing intent.

Danger...!

It was the moment when Grids gaze followed the sword that was going to pierce his heart...

The world turned black and white and stopped. No, it was more accurate to say that time had stopped. Garam was frozen just like this and the sound of bells was heard from behind Grid, who was too scared to breathe.

Why did you save it? In a world where everything had stopped and even the sound disappeared, only Grid and Chiyous voices were heard.

Then should I just watch? Grid replied.

You dont have the power to save it.

I had to fight to know that.

You wouldve died in one second.

You dont know that.

The breaths of the blue dragon, white tiger, and black tortoise. Grid had three skills that hadnt been used yet. He had planned to stop Garams strike with the White Tigers Breath then shock the river with the Blue Dragons Breath to make him faint. He would use this opportunity to move the boat and try to explore new possibilities by using a single dance with the Black Tortoises Breath. Well, there was no guarantee this would work.

A smile appeared on Chiyous indifferent face. I like the tenacity and spirit used to develop the sword dances so far when it was just a means of directing the ritual.