Chapter 141
It is a complete mess.
At first, Jae-Hyeok had never seriously questioned the school’s security forces. Even after the ambush on the Jaegyeong employees, Jae-Hyeok hadn’t doubted them because the perpetrator was quite obviously someone within the school; the armed forces defended the gate from outsiders, but they could do nothing about internal rot.
However, Jae-Hyeok's doubts rose after the beastmen had attacked, and he was even more convinced now after seeing the circus before him.
Is there really a problem with the gate defense?
Jae-Hyeok watched the guards struggle against the woman and shook his head. Had the guards done their job well, the intruder would never have reached so deep into Lion’s Castle in the first place. Then, the guards wouldn’t need to do crazy things, like riding arcane bikes down the school walkways to catch intruders.
It was said that none of the armed forces members were below B-class, and that they were the elite of the elite—a target of envy for players across the world. There were even students whose dream was to join the armed forces. However, the armed forces that Jae-Hyeok saw didn’t match the rumors.
Whether it was the Leech King going on a rampage; the tamed monsters attacking the employees of Jaegyeong Pharmaceuticals; or the beastmen destroying the Student Council building—the armed forces had always arrived late and only took care of the aftermath.
This caused Jae-Hyeok to wonder: Was the enemy deliberately avoiding the armed forces, or were the armed forces deliberately avoiding the enemy? Or, was it simple incompetence? Perhaps the armed forces were too busy fighting for profits to pay attention to security...
Finally, he had a chance to see for himself.
She is a tremendous master.
The woman in the hoodie and baseball cap was different from the intruders Jae-Hyeok had encountered before. Unlike them, she didn’t avoid the armed forces and attacked head-on. It was a bold move; there weren’t many guards, but Byeon Cheon-Ju was among them, and as a Guard Captain, Byeon Cheon-Ju was at least S-class.
Although Byeon Cheon-Ju looked at Jae-Hyeok like he were a bug, Jae-Hyeok knew his skills had to be the real deal.
This is also an opportunity to learn.
The real strength of S-class players wasn’t in their stats but in the ocean of combat experience they’d gained while reaching beyond level 100. This was their greatest strength.
Jae-Hyeok unknowingly clenched his fists as he focused on the battle unfolding before him.
He was impressed by the woman’s ability to link Skills. She avoided a sniper’s surprise attack before using a Skill mid-evasion to launch a counter.
Byeon Cheon-Ju’s response was also remarkable. Having understood the nature of the woman’s blood-colored mana, he used a defensive Skill to keep it at a distance.
The red mana crawled along the surface of Byeon Cheon-Ju's shield-shaped barrier, forming branching projections that burrowed.
Her mana has a blood-sucking property!
Byeon Cheon-Ju clicked his tongue. Mana with the blood-sucking property could drain life when touching the living and drain mana when touching a Skill or item.
“If I am right. You’re from the Blood Church!” Byeon Cheon-Ju said.
The Blood Church was a secret religious organization first founded in Japan. Its followers were maniacs who worshipped vampires as gods. It was said they all wielded blood-red mana, with the church elders possessing enough power to blot out the blue sky, just like this woman.
“I heard you have to consume human blood to turn your mana red.” Byeon Cheon-Ju spat. “Filthy fanatic, how dare you show your face here?”
“You managed to avoid fatal injuries. You aren’t weak. However, it is meaningless.”
The woman let out a cold laugh and looked behind Byeon Cheon-Ju at the guards who’d been wounded after failing to escape her initial magic bombardment.
Jae-Hyeok didn’t know the meaning of that laugh, but Byeon Cheon-Ju seemed to realize something as he shouted, “Cut off the wounded area now!”
The guards responded without hesitation.
A guard whose hand had been pierced, severed his hand at the wrist; another whose thigh was cut, slashed off his entire leg; and another who was pierced in the side, carved out a large chunk of flesh from his waist.
After removing the affected flesh, they all poured potions on each other.
From beginning to end, the guard’s movements were stiff and unflinching.
As a fellow crazy person who repeatedly summoned tribulation on himself to train his comrades, Jae-Hyeok couldn’t help admiring their courage.
I don’t fully understand why they did that, but with their mentality, they can’t be incompetent.
It seemed the armed forces always arrived late to incidents because they didn’t consider the students important. Jae-Hyeok’s thoughts turned bitter.
Just then—
The woman who had been calmly holding back over ten guards suddenly stiffened. Then, she started trembling.
What type of Skill is that?
Jae-Hyeok focused even more. He was looking forward to seeing what type of overwhelming power this mysterious Blood Church woman would show next, and how Byeon Cheon-Ju and the Guards would face it.
“......”
There was a tense lull as everyone waited, guards raised.
Jae-Hyeok gulped nervously. It was like watching an old movie stand-off: the longer the confrontation between the woman and Byeon Cheon-Ju dragged on, the more tense the atmosphere became. It really felt like a clash between masters.
Seconds, then minutes ticked by. Eventually, Byeon Cheon-Ju couldn’t stand it and opened his mouth. “What are you trying to do? Why are you staying still?”
The woman, Roxanne, snorted. “I should ask you that. What are you waiting for? I’m not the one in a hurry.”
Although Roxanne’s words were harsh, she was still shaking. She felt like she was dreaming. How is the Yaksha here?
Glance...
Glance...
Roxanne moved her eyes as secretly as possible.
Thanks to the shadows cast by her hat and hood, she could observe the black-haired boy standing behind the Guards without being detected.
I’m not seeing things; He’s really there.
The boy’s face was just like the Yaksha’s. No, on closer look, there were some differences. His overall features were thinner and more beautiful compared to the Yaksha's. His physique was also much slimmer.
Most importantly... he is completely sane.
If the boy were really the Yaksha, he would’ve already gone into a frenzy. Roxanne wouldn’t even have had a chance to speak before her head spun to the ground.
Thinking of this, Roxanne got hold of herself. This boy couldn’t be the Yaksha. Right. He also looks too young. I scared myself over nothing; the Yaksha is already brain-dead.
Roxanne recalled a rumor and examined the boy with new eyes. So this is the Yaksha’s son?
She vaguely recalled hearing about the youngest son of the Yaksha. He had been level 10 when first appearing in front of the world a few months ago. But aside from the initial story in the news, no one had mentioned him since, and Roxanne herself wasn’t interested, so she’d forgotten about it until now.
Another reason she’d jumped to conclusions was that she was in Lion’s Castle, a place filled with so many factions and hidden pieces that anything might happen. In her panic, Roxanne had wondered if perhaps Seol Su-Ah had some means of killing the Yaksha and resurrecting him in his younger form. In hindsight, it was an absurd thought—there were countless gates and treasures in the world, but she’d never heard of a way to bring back the dead.
Yes, it was all a misunderstanding. She’d allowed herself to be overwhelmed by horrible old memories. Even now, he haunts me. Roxanne laughed in dismay.
“You think this is funny?” Finally, Byeon Cheon-Ju moved.
He summoned eight magic shields and sent them flying forward as he kicked off the ground. The shields blocked Roxanne’s vision while he closed the distance and swung his heavy sword.
Roxanne easily defended. Threads of red mana she spread out like a spider’s web, blocking all of the shields as well as Byeon Cheon-Ju’s sword. Then, she activated her Blood-sucking Skill and absorbed all of the mana in the sword and shields.
Byeon Cheon-Ju was unruffled. He let go of his sword and flew through the gaps in the red mana to grab Roxanne’s hood.
“You are greedy,” Byeon Cheon-Ju mocked. He knew the weakness of the Blood-sucking Skill. Absorbing a large amount of mana at once would take time to digest. During that time, if she tried to take in more mana, it would lead to overflow and cause serious internal injuries. That was why Byeon Cheon-Ju had unleashed so many Skills at once.
“Die! Blood demon!”
Byeon Cheon-Ju grabbed Roxanne by her thin neck, squeezing and thrashing until her hat and hood were flung off.
Roxanne met Byeon Cheon-Ju’s eyes calmly.
“You... ” Byeon Cheon-Ju almost threw a fit when he saw her face. “I wondered who the young master you were talking about was. It turns out you’re involved with the Baus family!”
Byeon Cheon-Ju was filled with extreme rage. As a member of the Association, he didn’t care much about Lion’s Castle. However, he had no intention of silently watching as foreigners ran wild in South Korea. It was a matter of pride.
Veins popped out on Byeon Cheon-Ju’s neck and forehead as he squeezed with all his strength. Roxanne’s delicate neck began to twist slowly but surely. Byeon Cheon-Ju could feel her spine flexing. But before anything snapped, the spider-web-like mana threads around Roxanne changed into blades that slashed at Byeon Cheon-Ju.
Byeon Cheon-Ju dropped Roxanne and summoned his sword and shield. He blocked the blades, but in that moment, countless red threads rose from the ground and encircled him. Byeon Cheon-Ju turned Weary—his limbs grown heavy. He swung his sword to cut through, but it was useless. Before Byeon Cheon-Ju could swing again, the red threads had woven into a complete red sphere, so dense that it looked like an oversized marble.
Roxanne dusted off her jeans. “You’re no better than a wild boar. Just stay here for a while.”
Bang!Bang!Baaaaang!
As Byeon Cheon-Ju went on a rampage inside the sphere, Roxanne flew in the direction of the other guards.
“In small battles, it is easier to take out the small fries before the leader.”
Roxanne dove into the group, and it looked like a bomb went off. With every punch or kick, the energy released from Roxanne’s body rolled off in waves, sending even nearby guards flying. This was the result of an overwhelming stat difference.
Even the most well-trained of guards had no response to an S-class player. Blocking caused injuries, and they were too slow to dodge. Moreover, any attempts at counterattacking were effortlessly stopped by her. The guards were pushed around like leaves in the wind.
Glance.
As Roxanne dismantled the guards, she also kept an eye on Jae-Hyeok.
The son of the Yaksha... Should she kill him? No matter how insignificant he was, it was better to avoid future trouble, right? Roxanne quickly came to a decision: she would finish off this young guard in front of her and then go kill Jae-Hyeok.
Suddenly, a sword appeared in front of her eyes. She threw her head back and raised her hand, catching the blade inches from her face.
Roxanne looked back at Jae-Hyeok with big eyes. The boy was in the pose of a sword draw. He was leaning forward with legs bent—one hand holding an empty scabbard, the other outstretched before him.
His appearance, his stance, and even the look in his eyes were all reminiscent of the Yaksha.
“Are you really...?”
Roxanne’s heart pounded as she looked between the hwando and Jae-Hyeok.
Then, she took a breath.
This kid has to die. Otherwise, he’ll definitely become a disaster. Her eyes went cold, and with a squeeze of her fingers, she snapped the hwando in her hand.
A terrible killing intent spread out from Roxanne, unlike anything she’d shown when fighting Byeon Cheon-Ju. Even the Guards found it hard to breathe.
“You, die.”
Baaaang!
A torrent of blood red mana erupted from Roxanne, painting the world around her crimson as she shot toward Jae-Hyeok at blinding speed.
[Kuhahahat! Aren’t you the foolish girl who goes around sucking blood despite having no fangs?]
Suddenly, a voice that was far from human echoed loudly in people’s minds. It wasn’t through their ears but directly into their consciousness.
“Ugh.”
“Keok!”
The power laden in the voice caused the already injured guards to suffer internal injuries and start bleeding.
Roxanne, whose aura seemed like it could pierce the sky, also staggered back.
Suddenly, a fissure split the earth, and purple light shone from its depths.
Named Death Knight Theodore had arrived.