Chapter 35: Banquet(4)
What just happened?
A cold sensation grips my throat. It’s being squeezed, and I can’t breathe.
Why, how did it come to this?
My thoughts race, replaying what happened in my mind.
A body clad in metal charges forward relentlessly. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t.
The combined attacks of Tenia and my mana couldn’t pierce Yoo Soha’s armor made of mana, not even leaving a scratch.
The ice barrier was no different.
B-rank—no, with a bit more effort, it could withstand even an A-rank beast’s attack—but Yoo Soha’s assault tore through it effortlessly.
It was impossible, and it shouldn’t have been possible.
More shocking than the choking was the fact that I lost without doing anything.
I grabbed Yoo Soha’s hands with both of mine, desperate to escape the suffocating grip.
But they didn’t budge. Whatever training she had undergone, Yoo Soha’s strength was so overwhelming that my feeble efforts were useless.
Then came her voice.
“You’re pathetically weak.”
A mocking sneer laced with contempt.
Hearing that sneer, I couldn’t hold back.
I struggled desperately to break free from her grasp…
“If you’ve lost, accept it gracefully. Why make it so pathetic?”
Thud!
A sharp pain surged through me.
Yoo Soha had slammed me to the ground.
The impact of my back hitting the solid marble floor made my vision go white for a moment.
“Urgh!”
“What’s this? You’re so weak there’s nothing left to do. To think you called me a half-baked nobody with skills like these?”
In my blurred vision, I saw Yoo Soha looking down at me.
She smirked, her eyes filled with contempt.
Rage surged through my mind.
Don’t look at me like that.
I pressed my hands to the ground, trying to spring up.
“Grr!”
A groan escaped as pain shot through my body. But I had to get up.
I couldn’t endure this humiliation.
I couldn’t lose like this. To a half-baked nobody without a guardian, I, with a guardian, couldn’t be defeated.
But in the end, I couldn’t stand.
The reason was simple.
Yoo Soha pressed her foot onto my stomach, putting her weight behind it.
“Gah!”
A horrific pain surged as my stomach was crushed, and I couldn’t get up.
And then I saw it.
The sneer, contempt, and disgust in Yoo Soha’s eyes, as if she were looking at a bug.
Yoo Soha looked down at Seo Euna writhing beneath her foot.
She felt absolutely elated. Words couldn’t describe how good it felt.
She pressed harder with her foot. Each time, grotesque moans escaped Seo Euna’s lips.
It was fun.
Like a toy that squeaks when you press it, Yoo Soha applied and released pressure repeatedly.
“Entertaining.”
Her mocking laugh echoed through the banquet hall.
“You went around gleefully calling me a half-baked nobody… and this is all you’ve got?”
Yoo Soha said, easing the pressure to hear Seo Euna’s response.
“Ugh…”
A wheezing sound came from Seo Euna’s lungs. Even with the pressure lifted, she couldn’t respond.
Of course she couldn’t. Yoo Soha’s words were the truth.
This was all she amounted to.
“Pathetic. You called me useless without a guardian? How’s it feel now? A useless person like you, with a guardian, losing to someone you called incompetent… how would you describe it?”
“…”
Seo Euna stared at Yoo Soha with hollow eyes. The venom she once had was gone.
Watching that venom drain away was oddly satisfying.
A sneer crept back onto Yoo Soha’s lips.
“Now, time to collect on our bet, right?”
“…Bet?”
At the mention of the bet, Seo Euna’s vacant eyes briefly regained focus.
“Yeah, the bet. The loser grovels and begs forgiveness, remember?”
“…Ugh.”
An indelible look of humiliation crossed Seo Euna’s face.
“You still have pride to cling to? Wow, that’s something. After losing this badly, isn’t it time to let go of that hollow pride?”
“Shut your…”
Seo Euna tried to snap back but couldn’t finish.
She hesitated, her face full of humiliation.
“Hurry up and grovel.”
Growing irritated with Seo Euna’s hesitation, Yoo Soha spoke forcefully.
Seo Do-hyun watched the scene with a heavy heart.
It was agonizing to restrain himself from rushing to save his daughter, thrown to the ground. Before being a guild leader, he was a father.
But he couldn’t stop Yoo Soha or pull his daughter out.
This was entirely Seo Euna’s doing.
Still… it was painful to watch his daughter be humiliated.
He spoke cautiously to Yoo Hyuk.
“…Isn’t there something we can do?”
“No. As I said, this is between those two kids. If we interfere, it’ll only make things worse. Chairman Seo, do you know something?”
“…What?”
“Why Hwanryeong left your daughter alone. I mean your wife.”
“…I don’t know.”
“Honestly, we had plenty of options. We could’ve escalated it to a guild conflict.”
Seo Do-hyun’s spine chilled at those words. Could any guild withstand Hwanryeong if they went all out?
No. Even Akwol, coveting Hwanryeong’s position, didn’t dare provoke them recklessly.
A careless swipe from a tiger’s paw would sweep away insignificant creatures.
“Then why?”
“I said it was because you apologized, didn’t I? Of course, that’s part of it. Is it easy for a guild leader to bow to a mere team leader? But that wasn’t the only reason.”
“…?”
“Because that’s our way of teaching.”
“Teaching… you say?”
“Yes. When you’re at the top, you meet all sorts of people. Those who mock, deceive, or insult you behind your back aren’t few.”
“…True.”
Seo Do-hyun had experienced it himself and nodded.
“You have to learn to deal with such people yourself. If someone helps, it won’t do. If I stepped in, would Soha grow? Or would she become dependent on me?”
“…She’d become dependent.”
“Soha might not, but it’s better not to leave even a sliver of that possibility.”
“So you left it alone?”
“Exactly. Look. She’s splendidly punishing the one who insulted her. It’s not a pleasant sight for you, I’m sure.”
“…”
“What can you do? It’s the price your daughter pays for running her mouth. Accept it.”
Yoo Hyuk’s sharp gaze fixed on Seo Euna and Yoo Soha.
He continued, keeping his eyes on them.
Seo Do-hyun, trembling, looked at Yoo Hyuk.
Yoo Hyuk gave him a warning look.
“Don’t interfere in the kids’ fight. If you do, things will only get messier. One warning: if you step in, I’ll make Taehwa pay for every insult Soha has endured.”
“…”
“You know what’s happened to those who crossed Hwanryeong. Be grateful it ends here.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
With those words, Seo Do-hyun fell silent.
“What are you waiting for? Grovel.”
Yoo Soha’s commanding voice rang out toward Seo Euna.
Biting her lip, Seo Euna slowly rose from the ground.
Did she really have to grovel? The thought crossed her mind.
But there was no way to change the situation.
No matter how much she racked her brain, every option only seemed to worsen things.
Finally, with a resigned expression, Seo Euna knelt at Yoo Soha’s feet and pressed her forehead to the marble floor.
Yoo Soha looked down at her with satisfaction.
“Now, list your sins. You know what groveling means, right? Taking responsibility for your wrongs and awaiting my judgment. So, tell me your sins, and I’ll decide your punishment.”
“Calling you a half-baked nobody without a guardian, insulting you behind your back as insignificant…”
The specific insults Seo Euna had hurled at Yoo Soha began spilling from her mouth.
“For insulting you as incompetent… I apologize.”
With a deeply contorted face, Seo Euna confessed her wrongs to Yoo Soha.
“Hmm. Sounds like you were pretty jealous. To go so far to tear me down.”
Yoo Soha let out a hum and brought her shoe right in front of Seo Euna’s face, still pressed to the marble.
“Lick it. That’s my judgment. Isn’t it fitting for someone as pathetic as you?”
Seo Euna’s expression crumbled. Meanwhile, Yoo Soha’s face was clear and radiant.
Finally, trembling, Seo Euna licked Yoo Soha’s shoe.
A pitiful sight unimaginable for an heir of one of the five major guilds.
But it was only natural.
All of this stemmed from the trouble Seo Euna’s words had caused.
As soon as Yoo Soha’s judgment was complete, Seo Do-hyun grabbed his daughter’s arm and left the banquet hall, bringing the event to a close.
With an utterly delighted expression, Yoo Soha roamed the hall before getting into the car with her sister.
As soon as they were in the car, Yoo Danha spoke to Yoo Soha with a smiling face.
“You really made a spectacle.”
“It’s what I love.”
“Yeah, you ended it in true Soha fashion.”
“Hah.”
Yoo Soha let out a silly laugh.
“Seo Euna probably won’t show her face in public for a while.”
“Probably. No way she would after that.”
“So… next is North Korea, right?”
“Yup.”
“Be careful.”
“I’ll handle it, don’t worry.”
As soon as Yoo Soha arrived at Hwanryeong headquarters, she got out of the car.
“Phew.”
It had been a satisfying day. Yoo Soha thought so.
The feeling of washing away all her past grudges was, without a doubt, the best.
Seeing her contentment, Eclipse asked something he’d been curious about.
[Soha.]
“Yeah?”
[Can I see what you just did as a form of arrogance?]
“Exactly. Like I said before, my idea of arrogance is… loving myself more than anyone else. That’s why I can’t let anyone who insults me get away with it. So I crushed her. To make sure she never dares show her shameless face in front of me again.”
[…Arrogance is loving yourself more than anyone else… I see.]
“Well, that’s just my take. Everyone’s concept of something can differ. Someone else’s arrogance might be different. Eclipse, your arrogance might be different from mine too.”
[Right. That makes sense.]
Eclipse nodded.
“Let’s head back. There’s nothing major until the North Korea expedition, so we need to prepare thoroughly.”
[Got it.]
The sound of her shoes clicking felt especially lively today.