The Freed Slaves Are Obsessed

Destiny 

Destiny is the lifespan bestowed by heaven,

the command issued from heaven,

and the fate decreed by heaven.

It’s the will of heaven, impossible for a mere mortal to defy.

That’s what Destiny is.

Yuhwa, the celestial emissary, possessed a clairvoyant eye that could read destinies. By staring intensely at her subject with divine powers, she could see the destiny decreed upon them.

For example, whether they’d rise or fall.

Or if death was approaching soon.

"You're destined to die soon."

With her clairvoyant eyes, Yuhwa saw that Karamir was shrouded in black. It was the color that foretold imminent death.

"Will you really die, Master?"

"No way. The old lady must be getting senile."

"Senile?"

"It means her mind is starting to slip."

It was a scene of a father patiently explaining things to a child who was just learning to see the world.

Heartwarming, almost like a father and daughter.

But ironically, it only hastened Karamir's death.

"If you don't want to die, let go of that fox spirit immediately."

If the celestial foxes let the world flow according to destiny, fox spirits did the opposite. They disturbed destiny.

The moment one got entangled with a fox spirit, destinies would twist, and the world would plunge into chaos.

Yuhwa’s prophecy was as certain as a fixed future.

Yet, Karamir smiled brightly.

"I decline."

"There's no declining. If you refuse, I'll take her by force. Like the wind carrying the clouds, it is my duty to ensure the world flows according to destiny."

Yuhwa's aura grew heavy, pressing down.

"If Rin goes to White Cloud Valley, what happens to her?"

"The world will regain stability."

"I’m not asking about the world. What happens to Rin?"

"The fox spirit will continue to live as she always has. That is her destiny."

To be oppressed by her own kin, scavenging for potatoes, and fleeing from monsters—a never-ending cycle.

The world would find peace by having the fox spirit bear the burden of misfortune alone.

"I refuse once again. Peace gained by thrusting misfortune upon a young fox isn’t worth having."

"Despite death looming over you, you persist in your pitiful stubbornness. I thought you were wise, but you're a foolish child."

"I’m better than someone who seeks security through the sacrifice of the weak."

"You’ll realize how foolish your obstinacy was once you've tasted the world's cruelty."

Yuhwa moved her hand, raising her fingers slowly.

"Please understand, I can’t put the world at risk just to teach you a lesson."

At the movement of Yuhwa’s fingers, the clouds around them began to shift shape.

They gathered into the shape of a massive hand, as if they had gained life.

Karamir looked up at the sky, his neck craned to its fullest. It was enormous enough to cover the entire area in shadow. The situation was tense.

"Rin, let's run."

The two immediately bolted toward the door they had entered through.

But even as they passed through the door, they didn’t end up back in the Cheonsangru corridor. They were still on the clouds.

"This place is shaped by my magic," Yuhwa's voice echoed through the clouds.

The majestic voice was like a warning from heaven.

"This is a space I control, so no matter how much you run, it’s futile."

The cloud hand dropped, pushing the air around it with a whoosh! The violent gusts pressed down on them.

Rin crouched down, compressing strength into her legs.

Poof!

She leapt, the clouds beneath her bursting as if a bomb had gone off.

Rin flew in a straight line, swinging her tiny fist. The result was anything but tiny. The giant hand that collided with Rin’s fist exploded, the clouds scattering like snow.

Yuhwa squinted her clairvoyant eyes.

"That’s no ordinary power."

Though she was born a fox spirit, Rin was still a three-tailed fox. For a creature with only three tails, that was an overwhelming force. If she grew more tails here...

She must be subdued now.

Yuhwa closed her eyes, clasping her hands together.

At that moment, the clouds began to ripple, morphing into countless shapes as if responding to some unseen force. They coalesced into thousands of hands.

"Thousand Cloud Hand."

A thousand hands floating in the air, reaching out like the grasp of the dead to drag them into hell, as they spread out to engulf the pair.

"Master!"

Rin hoisted Karamir into her arms like a princess and started running, her short legs moving rapidly.

Externally, Rin appeared no more than an elementary schooler, but with three tails, her power had taken on a different dimension from when she had just one.

She kicked off the clouds powerfully, running with such force that the clouds behind her scattered like an avalanche.

"What now, Master?"

"Hmm, indeed."

If Yuhwa was to be Rin's teacher in fox magic, they needed to pass her test.

But Yuhwa wasn’t supposed to go all out like this. This wasn’t anticipated. With only three tails, Rin couldn't escape Yuhwa’s home ground.

Karamir responded clearly.

"This is bad."

"What do you mean, Master? We’re going to die!"

"We won’t die. It just means that Rin will have to stay in White Cloud Valley, eating potatoes without me."

"Noooooo!"

Rin dodged the cloud hands as best as she could, but it was only a matter of time. Without an escape route, they couldn’t get out.

Swoosh.

A hand emerged from the clouds, grabbing Rin's ankle. She tripped, sending Karamir sprawling and rolling through the clouds.

"Ugh!"

She kicked her leg to shake off the hand, but more hands piled up over her in an instant.

No matter how much she kicked and punched, the cloud hands kept coming, forming a large tomb around her. Trapped within, Rin couldn’t budge.

When the hands finally dissipated, Rin was bound by the clouds. She glared daggers at Yuhwa.

"You're not just an old hag, you’re a witch hag!"

"Say whatever you want. I can take that much criticism."

To send the fox spirit back to White Cloud Valley, her tails needed to revert, and the shackles on her soul had to be removed first...

'This is no ordinary magic.'

Yuhwa attempted to undo the shackles, but they didn’t budge. They were tightly bound, only releasable by the one who had cast them.

She turned her gaze to Karamir. Without any abilities, he was easy to subdue.

"Release her."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then stay put. I’ll undo it myself."

"How could you possibly..."

At that moment, Karamir’s focus drifted.

It was Yuhwa’s mental domination at work.

A skill that was almost embarrassing to call magic. Bewitching people was basic fox lore.

Karamir would surely cough up blood once he realized he’d been fooled by an old hag. But for now, that wasn’t his concern.

Yuhwa entered Karamir’s mental world.

She could see it.

The chain linking him to Rin.

All she had to do was command him to release her.

‘His magic is pitifully weak, yet this is intriguing. Where did he learn this... hmm?’

She noticed another chain. He’d bound himself not only to Rin but also to someone else.

To be enslaved to such a man...

There must be a tragic story behind it.

How pitiful.

Might as well free Rin and this other one too.

The moment Yuhwa touched the chain—

Flash!

‘What?’

Her consciousness was sucked into another mental realm along the chain.

An endless cosmos, shackled like a prison.

Vast knowledge scattered like the Milky Way.

Enormous death spirits guarding it.

And then—

"Dare you."

A girl in a maid outfit stood at the center of the universe.

"Touch my master’s mark? A mere heavenly errand girl?"

In her current form, Yuhwa had no physical body.

But the girl’s gaze was undeniably directed at her, a chilling hostility bearing down with overwhelming force.

"Who... who are you?"

"I am my master’s eternal servant. To touch my master’s mind—regardless of being a witch—is intolerable."

The witch passed judgment.

"Your sentence is immediate execution."

The colossal death spirit swung its scythe.

Yuhwa couldn’t move an inch.

In that split second dominated by the thought of death—

Snap!

Pouring every ounce of her power into resistance, Yuhwa barely broke free from the spell.

"Gasp, gasp, gasp."

Panting and staggering, Yuhwa’s face was as pale as if she’d brushed with death.

Though less than ten seconds had passed, it felt like an eternity. She was drenched in cold sweat from head to tail.

"Huh?"

Karamir’s consciousness returned, his vision focusing. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

'What the hell, why do I feel like absolute crap?'

His mind felt foggy, and he saw the old lady sweating and gasping. An indescribable disgust overwhelmed him.

If possible, he wanted to pull his brain out and scrub it clean.

Boom!

Meanwhile, as the Thousand Cloud Hand weakened, Rin instinctively released her yokai power, evaporating the cloud hands all at once.

"Grrrr."

In a beastly stance, she glared at Yuhwa, ready to pounce. The red yokai energy around her blazed like fire.

Rin kicked off and lunged at Yuhwa.

"Guh."

Still reeling, Yuhwa fell helplessly. Rin grabbed her arm firmly, her heterochromatic eyes gleaming as she bared her fangs.

As if ready to sink them into Yuhwa’s throat.

"Don’t kill her, Rin. She’s supposed to be your teacher."

With hands behind his back, Karamir looked down at Yuhwa, lying on the ground.

He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it seemed the old lady had overexerted herself, failing to act her age.

In any case, if things went smoothly, all would be well.