Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 018
Chapter Title: White Flame Baek Jincheon (2)
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"Park Chunduk Academy."
No sooner had Kim Gunja finished speaking than
Kwaaaang—!
an enormous roar erupted, and a massive sandstorm engulfed the vehicle. The surroundings plunged into darkness in an instant.
"What the...!"
The safety agent let out a frantic shout,
Keiiiik—!
and slammed on the brakes.
The vehicle came to a halt.
Through the dark sandstorm, a blue mass hurtled forward, crashing repeatedly with booming explosions.
Kwaaang! Kwaang!
Han Juyeong, focusing mana in his eyes, peered through the swirling sand and spoke up.
"It's Jin Garyul and Sin Yeji."
The safety agent nodded in agreement.
"Looks like they were in the middle of a duel around here, and we got caught up in it. We'll take a detour."
"Hold on."
Kim Gunja stopped the safety agent from turning the wheel.
"......?"
"Sorry, but could we watch their duel for a bit before moving on?"
Kim Gunja knew why Sin Yeji had challenged Jin Garyul, so he couldn't just pass by.
Besides, what Jin Garyul had said during their first clash kept nagging at him.
— I didn't expect to run into someone like me here.
— Where are you from, bro? Russia? Japan?
The guy seemed to be hiding something important.
'It's a test, and there's a safety agent here, so nothing major should happen...'
But thinking back to how he'd tried to slash his own arm out of nowhere made it hard to just drive past.
So he was using spectating as an excuse to keep an eye on things.
With another safety agent and Han Juyeong there, he wouldn't pull any other stunts.
"Spectating...?"
"Please."
"Hmm."
The safety agent looked troubled at Kim Gunja's polite request.
The test was nearly over anyway, so a short delay wouldn't matter.
But lingering here and causing issues would mean he'd take the blame, which was uncomfortable.
Han Juyeong stared at Kim Gunja for a moment before chiming in.
"Senior. I ask you too. Watching an A-rank duel up close is a huge learning opportunity."
Senior.
The safety agent gave a wry smile at Han Juyeong's words.
With both of them asking so earnestly, he felt petty for worrying about liability.
"Alright. But we'll keep our distance just in case."
Kim Gunja thanked the safety agent and Han Juyeong.
That's when the vehicle maintained a safe distance.
One of the clashing figures slammed into a sand dune with a thunderous boom, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
As the haze settled, Sin Yeji staggered out from within.
Her body was encased in a translucent mana barrier. Han Juyeong's eyes widened at the sight.
"This is ridiculous..."
A sigh-like groan escaped him.
It was inevitable.
The mana wall around Sin Yeji was structured like Diamond's molecular form.
Uncannily similar to Han Juyeong's unique trait.
"Does that even make sense? She only glimpsed it briefly during a hunt, and now she's using it so naturally?"
How stunned must he be to grab the person next to him and ask.
Kim Gunja had only one response.
"You'll get used to it soon enough."
He replied calmly to the excited Han Juyeong, drawing from his own three months of experience.
"No, this isn't something you just get used to!"
It felt like his pride had been stolen.
That's why he was so outraged.
But Kim Gunja focused less on that and more on the fact that Sin Yeji had taken an attack.
'Yeji with the Demon Eye took a hit?'
Demon Eye Sin Yeji.
For her, with eyes that peered into mana, "unexpected attacks" didn't exist.
It was only natural.
Just by looking, she could grasp mana's properties, power, emission paths, directions, and speeds. Failing to predict anything was absurd.
'Unless she closes her eyes or the opponent's ability vastly outclasses hers.'
The most awkward ability for mana-based Awakeners.
That's why Sin Yeji shone even more against fellow Awakeners than monsters.
She had to.
She'd instantly recognized the danger of Heaven-Shattering Sword and pinpointed countermeasures.
Yet reality proved otherwise.
Red liquid trickled along her jawline, dripping onto the sand.
'Even Yeji took an attack—and got wounded.'
Despite using Demon Eye and Han Juyeong's unique trait.
An unimaginable scene was unfolding right before their eyes.
"Time to admit it? You're no match for me."
Jin Garyul smirked from atop the opposite dune.
Sin Yeji growled at his words.
"Don't make me laugh! Just because you landed one hit..."
"The point is, even one hit means Demon Eye didn't work."
"It was a fluke!"
The blue glow in Sin Yeji's eyes intensified.
She focused harder on Demon Eye, but her expression soured more with each passing moment.
Jin Garyul's mana blended seamlessly with the surroundings, its flow incredibly faint.
Like a chameleon.
Impossible to read precisely.
Her inner turmoil showed on her face.
"You're weird."
"Haha, excuses now...?"
Before Jin Garyul could finish,
the sand around Sin Yeji clumped into beads that shot toward him like bullets.
Hundreds of blue orbs formed a barrage like Cremonoa exploding, leaving no room to dodge.
But,
Kiiiiii—!
a dolphin-like high-frequency screech burst from Jin Garyul's mouth forward.
The orbs disintegrated back into sand before touching him, scattering away.
Shock flashed in Sin Yeji's pupils.
"......Mana resonance via vocal cord mutation too?"
"Keep going? You might get seriously hurt this time."
Sin Yeji muttered in dismay at Jin Garyul flashing his yellow eyes and extending long claws.
"How many body mods does that freak have?"
It wasn't a simple animal trait.
At first, she'd pegged it as lizard among animal traits—not wrong.
But the issue was it didn't stop there.
His body could harden like a rhino's, unscathed by most attacks. Gorilla-like strength sent shocks past mana walls.
Cat-like agility, now claw mutations.
'Total cheat!'
Animal traits enhanced body mods and animal abilities, but limited to one species.
Yet Jin Garyul mocked that rule, bolstering multiple animal powers.
The answer was clear.
"You're not animal-type—you're ability-type unique trait, you cheater!"
Jin Garyul grinned at Sin Yeji's shout.
"Who knows? Jokers can be anything. But is that important now? We have spectators—let's wrap this up."
Sin Yeji flinched at "spectators."
She'd been so fixated on Jin Garyul she hadn't noticed.
Her gaze turned to the vehicle.
Locking eyes with that uncle—Kim Gunja—she whipped her head away.
'Damn, embarrassing...'
She'd picked Jin Garyul for proper revenge.
Not going her way was one thing, but showing an ugly side too.
She felt like drowning in a puddle from frustration.
"Giving up?"
Sin Yeji bit her lip at Jin Garyul's taunt.
'I really didn't want to use this.'
Anyone else's power, maybe.
But using it without permission? Gross.
Still, better than losing.
"Don't make me laugh. Think I'd surrender from one weak tap?"
She roughly wiped the dripping blood with her hand and began channeling mana.
To recreate the strongest technique she knew, seen dozens of times.
The mana in Sin Yeji's circuits shifted from blue to red.
Jin Garyul frowned.
"Tch, if you want total humiliation..."
His words cut off.
Hairs stood on end across his body.
He crouched low, a beastly growl escaping his throat.
His contracted pupils fixed above Sin Yeji's head.
There,
a massive sword formed from sand.
Not blue, but condensed red mana.
Ugh, Sin Yeji spat up blood.
"Such a disgustingly brute-force way."
Grumbling, she glared confidently at Jin Garyul.
She couldn't replicate the subtle sword arts fully.
So she extracted only what she needed.
Maximizing destructive power and speed—her version of Heaven-Shattering Sword brimmed with Level 6 mana force, humming deeply.
"Try blocking this too, you bastard."
The resonating red greatsword shattered into hundreds of blades, raining down on Jin Garyul like a meteor shower.
#
It was pandemonium.
All filming drones vanished into the sandstorm.
The vehicle would've flipped too.
If not for Han Juyeong.
"You alright?"
After the aftershock passed, Han Juyeong erected a mana wall.
The delta-shaped area behind him suffered minimal damage.
The moment Yeji attacked, he'd dashed out faster than the safety agent to counter.
Reliable.
Kim Gunja already grasped why Defenders were essential.
"Thanks."
"No problem..."
"Impressive. Even for A-rank, I've never seen mana output like that."
The safety agent's tongue-click left Kim Gunja's mind complicated.
'Heaven-Shattering Sword...'
Not perfect.
But the meteor-like blade barrage unmistakably mimicked Heaven-Shattering Sword's First Form: Single Flash.
'Geniuses are real geniuses.'
Even incomplete and seen many times, she'd emulated its essence.
Worrying for Jin Garyul now.
He wasn't dead, right?
Kim Gunja's eyes narrowed ahead.
As sand settled, the scene revealed made him mutter,
"...Jin Garyul?"
Uncertainty gripped him.
The others seemed much the same.
"...Body mutation?"
"I... I don't know. But that's not just body mutation..."
The safety agent swallowed "it's too monstrous."
That alien it was.
At the center of countless craters.
Jin Garyul crouched, his body half-human, half-beast in extreme mutation.
Scales covered his skin; his face protruded like a lizard's muzzle, barely human.
No animal trait allowed such grotesque transformation.
Exhausted Sin Yeji murmured uncertainly.
"...Homo, nculus?"
Under doubtful gazes, Jin Garyul rose.
And,
———!
Neither human, beast, nor monster.
The "thing that was Jin Garyul" howled otherworldly and lightning-charged at Sin Yeji.
Too fast to evade.
She formed a diamond wall desperately, but,
Kwajijik!
"Kyaa!"
The overwhelming force shattered it, sending her body flying back.
Thung! Thung! Kwaaaang!
Bouncing across sand several times, she crashed into the opposite dune.
Her limp body suggested unconsciousness.
No longer a test.
The safety agent overseeing their duel intervened.
"Examinee Jin Garyul! Duel's over! So..."
His words halted.
Srrip.
Jin Garyul's claws bisected his head into thirds.
The headless body crumpled, spraying blood.
The rampaging Jin Garyul's power had surged beyond reaction—even for the safety agent.
Reptilian eyes devoid of reason turned to the fainted Sin Yeji.
Claws dripping green fluid poised sharply, he lunged again.
Han Juyeong and the safety agent rushed, but distance and speed outpaced them.
Anticipating horror,
a fierce heatwave blew.
And there he was.
White Flame Baek Jincheon.
"Disgusting. A mere lab rat walking my turf."
Burn.
A casual flick.
Jin Garyul's limbs ignited in white flames, crumbling to ash.
——!
Thud.
Torso-only Jin Garyul thrashed, screaming in terror.
Even mindless, fear filled his eyes.
As overwhelming might and presence stunned all,
Baek Jincheon chin-nodded the safety agent.
"Ah...!"
As the agent approached to capture Jin Garyul alive, Kim Gunja fought to suppress his right arm's trembling.
Since Baek Jincheon appeared, Ma Ilcheon's right arm burned like fire.
The heat peaked as he incinerated Jin Garyul.
Then, their gazes met—Baek Jincheon's and Kim Gunja's—and explosive alerts rang out.
Sync Rate's influence?
A near-unconscious response.
His right arm raised the hilt-only sword toward Baek Jincheon.
Baek Jincheon's lips curved faintly at the sight.
"And what does that mean?"
His hand rose slowly.
As if ready to turn one or two arms to ash, depending on the answer.