The women I set free are obsessed with me

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The Mandate of Heaven.

It is the lifespan bestowed by heaven, the command given by heaven, and the fate decreed by heaven.

The will of heaven that mere mortals cannot defy.

That is the essence of the Mandate of Heaven.

Yuhwa, the Messenger of Heaven, possessed the Heavenly Eye that could read the Mandate of Heaven. When she focused her divine power, she could see the destiny bestowed upon her subjects.

For instance, the rise and fall of empires.

Or an impending death.

"You are destined to die soon."

Through Yuhwa's Heavenly Eye, Karami appeared shrouded in black—the ominous light emitted by those marked for death.

"Mastah gonna die?"

"Of course not. I think the old granny has developed dementia."

"Dementia?"

"It's when your mind gets all foggy and forgetful."

A heartwarming scene unfolded of a man patiently explaining to a child just beginning to see the world, reminiscent of a father and daughter.

But this very bond would hasten Karami's death.

"If you don't want to die, step away from the gumiho immediately."

While the Celestial Fox ensures the world flows according to the mandate, the gumiho does the opposite. The gumiho disrupts the Mandate of Heaven.

The moment one becomes entangled with a gumiho, mandates become distorted and the world plunges into chaos.

Yuhwa's prophecy was like a sealed fate.

Yet Karami smiled brightly.

"I refuse."

"Refusal is not an option. If you refuse, I'll take her by force. Ensuring the world flows according to the Mandate of Heaven, like clouds drifting with the wind—that is my sacred duty."

Yuhwa's aura descended heavily.

"What will happen to Rin if she goes to White Cloud Valley?"

"The world will regain stability."

"I didn't ask about the world. I asked what will happen to Rin?"

"The gumiho will live as she has until now. That is her mandate."

Oppressed by her own kind, scavenging for potatoes, eternally fleeing from yokai.

The world becomes peaceful as the gumiho bears all the misfortune.

"I still refuse. Peace obtained by shifting misfortune onto a single young fox is worse than no peace at all."

"To cling to such petty stubbornness even with death at your doorstep. I thought you were wise, but you're just a foolish child."

"I'm still better than you, who seeks to maintain safety through the sacrifice of the weak."

"The moment you experience the cruelty of the world, you'll realize how foolish your obstinacy was."

Yuhwa moved her hand, slowly raising her fingers.

"Try to understand my position. I cannot endanger the world just to give you an epiphany."

As Yuhwa's fingertips moved, the surrounding clouds began to slowly change shape.

As if gaining life, the clouds converged to form the shape of an enormous hand.

Karami tilted his head back to look up at the clouds. It was so massive that it cast a shadow over the entire area. The situation was clearly not good.

"Rin, let's run."

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

But even after passing through, they didn't return to the Celestial Pavilion's corridor. They were still trapped on the clouds.

"This space is created by my magic."

Yuhwa's voice echoed through the clouds.

Her authoritative tone sounded like a warning from heaven itself.

"I control this place at will. No matter how you try to escape, it's futile."

The cloud hand descended, pushing the air with a whoosh! The fierce wind, visible to the eye, pressed down on their bodies.

Rin bent her knees and crouched with all her might, compressing power in her legs.

Boom!

She kicked off, leaping into the air.

The cloud beneath her feet burst as if a bomb had exploded.

Flying in a straight diagonal line, Rin swung her tiny fist. But the result was far from tiny. The giant hand that collided with her fist exploded with a bang, scattering clouds like snow.

Yuhwa narrowed her Heavenly Eye as she watched.

"An extraordinary power."

Though born a gumiho, she was still only a three-tailed fox. This strength was excessive for one with just three tails. If she were to grow more tails here…

She must be subdued here and now.

Yuhwa closed her eyes.

She brought her hands together as if in prayer.

At that moment, the clouds began to ripple and transform countless times. As if responding to something, the clouds gathered and morphed into numerous hand shapes.

"Thousand Cloud Hands."

A thousand hands appeared in mid-air.

Like the grasping hands of the dead trying to drag souls to hell, the cloud hands spread their fingers and rushed towards the group.

"Mastah!"

Rin scooped up Karami in a princess carry and started running. Her short legs moved tirelessly.

Though Rin outwardly looked like an elementary schooler, she had three tails. The power she contained was on a completely different level from when she had just one tail.

Thump thump thump! She ran, kicking off the clouds forcefully. Behind her, clouds were swept away like an avalanche.

"What do, Mastah!"

"Well, that's the question…"

To recruit Yuhwa as Rin's magic teacher, they needed to pass the test she was giving them.

Befitting a game in the tycoon genre.

A test worthy of Yuhwa, the merchant group leader.

She didn't usually come at them so forcefully. This was unexpected. There was no way to escape from Yuhwa's home turf with Rin still at only three tails.

Karami offered a clear answer.

"We're screwed."

"What's that supposed to mean, Mastah! We gonna die at this rate!"

"We won't die. It's just that Rin will have to say bye-bye to me and live in White Cloud Valley. Eating potatoes."

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Rin tried to dodge the cloud hands while carrying Karami, but it only delayed the inevitable. In the end, they couldn't break free with no escape route.

Whoosh.

A hand shot out from the clouds and grabbed Rin's ankle. Rin tumbled down, and Karami was thrown off, rolling across the clouds.

"Eek!"

Rin kicked up her leg, trying to shake off the hand, but in that moment of vulnerability, more hands piled on top of her.

No matter how much she kicked and swatted, the endless onslaught of clouds formed a large mound. Trapped inside, Rin couldn't move an inch.

When all the hands finally dispersed, Rin was bound by the clouds. She glared at Yuhwa with fierce eyes.

"Eeeeek! You're not a granny! You're an evil witch granny!"

"Say what you will. I'll gladly accept that level of criticism."

Before sending the gumiho back to White Cloud Valley, she needed to revert her tails to their original state. But first, she had to remove the shackles on her soul…

What an extraordinary magic.

Yuhwa attempted to remove the shackles, but they wouldn't budge. They were so tightly bound that only the one who placed them could remove them.

Yuhwa shifted her gaze to Karami. She didn't restrain him like Rin, since he had no apparent abilities.

"Remove them."

"And if I refuse?"

"If you refuse, you can just stay still. I'll remove them myself."

"How will you…"

Suddenly, Karami's focus blurred.

This was Yuhwa's mind control.

A technique so basic for foxes that it was almost embarrassing to call it magic. Bewitching people was a fundamental skill for foxes.

Karami would probably cough up blood if he realized he'd fallen for a thousand-year-old granny's trick, but at least that wasn't happening now.

Yuhwa entered Karami's spiritual world.

She could see it.

The chain connecting him to Rin.

All she had to do was command Karami's consciousness to undo it.

His mana is pathetically low, yet this is truly fascinating. Where did he learn such a thing… Hm?

She saw another chain. It seemed he had formed a master-slave contract with someone else besides Rin.

To think such a man had slaves.

There must be some unfortunate circumstances.

How pitiful.

She might as well free them both while releasing Rin.

The moment Yuhwa touched the chain.

Fwoosh!

Huh?

Her consciousness was pulled along the chain as if being sucked into a vortex.

Yuhwa's consciousness arrived in another spiritual realm.

A universe filled with shackles, countless bits of knowledge scattered like the Milky Way, massive Grim Reapers standing guard,

And.

"How dare you—"

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

"—touch the symbol of Master and I? A mere messenger of heaven?"

Currently, Yuhwa was in a state similar to astral projection. She had no physical form.

Yet the girl was clearly glaring at Yuhwa. An unfathomable hostility was directed at her. So immense that it was difficult to maintain consciousness.

"Who… who are you?"

"I am Master's eternal slave. For daring to touch Master's mind without knowing your place, even as a fellow witch, I cannot forgive this."

The witch passed judgment.

"You are sentenced to immediate execution."

A massive Grim Reaper swung its scythe.

Yuhwa's body wouldn't move.

In that instant, the word Death dominated her mind, and then—

Crack!

Yuhwa resisted with all her spiritual power, barely managing to break free by dispelling her technique.

"Huff, huff, huff."

Yuhwa staggered, gasping for breath. Her complexion was as pale as someone who had just narrowly slipped from Death's grasp.

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

"Hm?"

Karami's consciousness returned.

His eyes focused after blinking a few times.

What the hell, I feel fucking awful.

His mind was hazy, and before him, an old woman was panting, drenched in sweat. An indescribable feeling of utter shittiness washed over him.

If possible, he wanted to take out his brain and wash it right away.

Bang!

Meanwhile, as the power maintaining the Thousand Cloud Hands weakened, Rin instinctively released her spiritual power. The cloud hands burst and evaporated all at once.

"Grrrrrr."

Rin glared at Yuhwa with murderous intent, taking on a beast-like posture. Scarlet spiritual energy blazed around her like fire.

She kicked off with her hind legs and pounced on Yuhwa.

"Ugh."

Yuhwa, still not fully recovered, collapsed weakly. Rin firmly grasped her arm, her heterochromatic eyes flashing as she bared her fangs.

As if she might tear out her throat at any moment.

"Don't kill her, Rin. She's going to be your teacher."

Karami looked down at Yuhwa, who was face-down on the ground, with a relaxed expression, his hands behind his back.

He wasn't quite sure what had happened, but the old lady must have overexerted herself and suffered the consequences.

In any case, all's well that ends well.