Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 250

* * *

“Return my daughter, you cowards!”

“Even if you’ve gone senile, there’s a limit, damn it! Why are you looking for a daughter we’ve never even seen here?!”

Yoon Doohwa, the head of the Mount Hua Sect, shouted angrily. A blade wrapped in purple qi struck out without pause. That madman. He was supposed to be dying back in the Thousand Mountains, yet time had only turned him into an even greater monster.

“I’ve never even seen your daughter!”

“Of course not. Do you think I raised her so preciously just to let her fall into the eyes of a wastrel like you?!”

“Damn it, you came charging in and demanded we hand her over out of nowhere, so I asked!”

“Ara-ya! Where are you!”

Joo Gugok’s voice thundered across the arena.

That monster!

Yoon Doohwa looked around.

It had started with a handsome, unknown martial artist. Anyone could participate in the Murim Alliance’s Zhengwu Tournament, but there was a condition that one must possess at least twenty years of internal energy. In other words, it was a festival only for those from the Nine Sects or the Five Great Families. When a man suddenly appeared and defeated all the rising talents, they had felt both unease and hope about his identity.

There was no way someone from the unorthodox or demonic factions would appear alone in the heart of the Murim Alliance headquarters, so they assumed he must be the disciple of a hidden master.

‘No, even so, no one in their right mind would show up in the middle of enemy territory with their hair loose!’

But he did.

“We came to find one person.”

“Who did you come to find?”

“My fiancée.”

The crowd fell silent. He already had his fiancée beside him, didn’t he? Not only was he searching for another woman while keeping a beauty worthy of being called the most beautiful in the world at his side, he had caused this chaos in the middle of enemy territory just to find one woman?

“I cannot return until I reclaim Joo Ara, daughter of the Demonic Sect.”

“Who is that?!”

Waaah!

Among the crowd gathered to watch the tournament, figures dressed in black suddenly surged out. Before anyone realized it, elite forces of the Demonic Sect had taken over the center of Luoyang.

“Demonic Sect Leader! Do you truly intend to shatter the peace of the Central Plains that has lasted for thirty years?!”

“My daughter!”

“This is Luoyang, the land of the orthodox sects! You’ve appeared with a force of this size and disrupted the Zhengwu Tournament, your intentions must be evil!”

“Ara-ya, where are you! Your father is here!”

“Evil intentions…”

“Our Ara, how frightened you must have been! Don’t be afraid. Your father will kill them all!”

“Intentions……”

Shaolin and Wudang blocked their path, but they avoided fighting.

‘The Demonic Sect is avoiding a fight?!’

These were people who shouted that fighting was everything, who would rather die than avoid a battle. Yet they ignored the orthodox martial artists entirely and headed in one direction.

“The Elite Dark Corps is trying to enter the headquarters! Stop them!”

“We must stop them!”

The sect leaders of the orthodox factions who had gathered for the Zhengwu Tournament took charge of confronting Joo Gugok of the Thousand Mountains and Dang Miyeon, the One-Horned Witch.

Yoon Doohwa realized that the Young Sect Leader, Sa Yihyeon, had disappeared at some point.

“Give me back my daughter!”

“I told you already! We don’t know your daughter!”

* * *

Ara ran without thinking.

The moment she left the annex, the sound of weapons clashing reached her sensitive ears. Her heart pounded violently.

‘These crazy people! Of all places, why come here!’

This was the center of Luoyang.

No matter how strong they were, this was not their stronghold in the Thousand Mountains. Above all, the numbers were different. Even an elite force had its limits as long as they were human.

Even if she went, there would be nothing she could do.

Ara had a large amount of internal energy and excellent agility, but her actual combat ability was only at the level of a second-rate warrior.

Even so, she couldn’t stop her feet. How could she stay still when the people she loved were in danger? Ara pulled up her sleeve and wiped away the tears that had risen.

Dad. Mom.

And Sa Yihyeon.

– Master. Shouldn’t you run?

“I’ll just check that they’re safe and then run!”

They were strong, so they would be safe. They must have done something like this because they were confident they could escape safely no matter what happened.

But after three years of seeing how strong the Murim Alliance was, Ara couldn’t suppress her anxiety.

– What if Sa Yihyeon recognizes you?

“I’m disguised right now. He won’t recognize me. There’s no way he would…”

Noyi had nothing to say.

Ara held her breath as well. From the second-floor corridor where she stood, she could see the first-floor hallway below. A black cloak fluttered. It was a woman’s cloak, the one Ara had once wrapped around Jae Nabi. It seemed the couple shared their belongings well.

It was the first time she had seen Sa Yihyeon in a long while.

His pale face, his frighteningly neat features, and his cold eyes made her heart freeze. Ara stopped walking and lowered her head, just like any other maid would.

– Master. Run.

Sa Yihyeon is still there.

– Master. Run…

The voice cut off with a thin sound. Noyi? Startled, Ara, who had been holding her breath, quickly lifted her head.

A pale face was right in front of her. Gentle lips formed a beautiful smile. As Ara swallowed and tried to step back, a large hand covered her eyes.

“Found you.”

My love.

You can’t escape now.

—IF Story: Martial Arts AU, End

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