Chapter 193
Chapter 193
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Even 13 Regressions is Bullshit
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The beautiful shaman of the Rat Clan, Soha of the Rat's Eye, approached.
"Grandfather. Why do you sigh so deeply?"
Sobaek gulped liquor down his throat and replied.
"Because I got caught up in petty grudges, I missed the hero who would take you as his mate."
"Grandfather. Talk of marriage is a bit sudden for this girl."
"Wolf Heart. If I'd known he had such spirit, I should've brought him here even if it meant handing you over and passing on the Rat Divine Technique."
Soha panicked as her clan's archenemy popped up in talk of marriage.
But she calmed her heart and replied.
"This girl's judgment of character may be lacking, but Gonghyeok is upright in nature and values the greater good over his own safety."
"Hmm. Indeed."
"If he lusted after fame and power, he would've broken away from the Hound Clan. Yet he stayed by the side of a powerless shaman and bared his fangs at our Rat Clan, the strongest of the southern tribes."
Soha knelt and raised her clasped hands in respect.
"What Grandfather regrets is a male with the spirit to uphold the clan alone, even unto death for a righteous cause. Even if he were swayed by wealth and power, wouldn't he cease to be the gallant 'Gonghyeok' that earned Grandfather's admiration?"
"...Soha. You're right."
Ser Shin nodded.
"Old age brings only greed."
It had been brief, but the Gonghyeok Ser Shin had met was a man who would scoff at any offer and send it packing.
Ser Shin severed his regrets and gazed toward the end of the wasteland.
'If I'd known he was blocking the way, I should've joined the clan directly instead of going around.'
Regretting his late rendezvous with the Hound Clan more than anything, Ser Shin stroked his beard.
At that moment, one of the successors shouted urgently.
"Elder Sobaek! Someone's appeared at the rear!"
"An enemy?"
"That's..."
The six successors all looked to the rear at once.
Atop a sand dune whipped by the wind stood a single figure.
A gray wolf holding a battered iron spear—Gonghyeok.
Ser Shin's eyes bulged.
"No way... he's alive!?"
"It might be an illusion or a human trap..."
"No. It's not. Nothing else shows in my eyes. That's Wolf Heart Gonghyeok."
No other traps appeared in Ser Shin's Heavenly Clear Eyes trait.
Seeing him trudge closer step by step, Ser Shin swallowed hard.
"To survive against those numbers... Unbelievable."
"What shall we do, Elder?"
Gonghyeok's body was covered in scorch marks and horrific wounds.
Ser Shin clicked his tongue at the wretched sight.
"Bring him quickly. Tend to him with care, without offense."
"Understood."
Two Rat Clan successors dashed out.
Ser Shin stroked his beard, inwardly cheering.
'Kekeke, just as I lamented their deaths, he arrives. The Rat Clan's great fortune, the southern tribes' great fortune.'
The Rat Clan had lost six successors in the past month alone.
A devastating blow to the entire clan.
'I must secure him somehow.'
Ser Shin glanced inwardly at his shaman granddaughter, Soha.
Beauty in spades, wits to match.
She was his one-of-a-kind treasure.
'I planned to marry her off to the next Guardian Spirit or Origin Spirit...'
Ser Shin made his decision.
'That Wolf Heart is worth giving her to.'
Instinct told Ser Shin that Gonghyeok's value went beyond that.
A pearl buried in sand, unseen—but spirit, skill, nothing lacking.
'I'll woo him slowly on the way back to the Twilight Legion's dungeon. Kekeke.'
As Ser Shin turned his head, feigning disinterest with a pleased smile, the two successors reached Gonghyeok.
"Are you alright, Gonghyeok?"
"Your wounds look severe. Let us help."
The wolf stood stock-still.
As they approached warily, the Rat Clan successor spoke awkwardly.
"I am Jangga, successor of the Rat Clan, Rat's Nose. We mean no harm."
"No harm?"
"We have no intent to harm you."
Gonghyeok nodded.
"I see."
Jangga's head split in two from the crown down.
Crack—
The weapon was a sharp sword in the Hound Clan's hands.
Gonghyeok counted.
"Seven."
"Eek!"
Jangga's comrade, Seojak, tried to react swiftly.
If his limbs had still been attached to his torso, that is.
Crunch!
One kick shattered Seojak's upper body.
Arms and head flopped like a doll through the air, bereft of their trunk.
"Eight."
Ser Shin, lost in thoughts of the clan's future, turned at the odd noise.
Rat whiskers and rat heart charged at him together.
One alone might be manageable, but two—the Twelve Successors could slay even Heavenly Knights.
"Nine, ten."
Muscles pulped, bones burst.
Ser Shin faced successors exploding like shattered gourds.
The sword-wielding wolf calmly shook off the blood.
"Ten now. Two left?"
Demon contractor Necromancer King, Wolf Heart Gonghyeok, Savior Ju Gonghyeok.
The pure Ju Gonghyeok, feigning nothing, was strong.
Once he resolved to kill, they simply died.
Heavenly Knights' stats outclassed Ju Gonghyeok's by a wide margin—greatest at 5th grade (500), least near 2nd grade (200).
With stats over a thousand, eight avatars, and full-force weapon strikes.
They just had to die.
So the successors died.
"G-Grandfather."
Soha beside him froze, unable to react to the sudden carnage.
Ser Shin's face showed no change.
"What is the meaning of this."
"Such a thing."
A flash gleamed.
Slice—
Ser Shin's left whiskers fell.
Blood from granddaughter Soha's neck splashed the elder's face.
"Eleven."
Ser Shin stared blankly down at the sea of blood.
Eleven successors annihilated.
The Rat Clan's downfall was sealed in this instant.
"You bastard..."
Light slowly returned to Ser Shin's eyes.
"You're no beastkin."
The sword he wielded was familiar yet different.
Behind him loomed the humans' 'avatars.'
"You're the Necromancer King, and the Necromancer King was you."
Fragments connected in Ser Shin's mind.
Eight successors slain by him.
Three by the Necromancer King.
Totaling 'eleven.'
Clang!
Ser Shin blocked Gonghyeok's strike.
His hastily drawn staff quivered on the verge of splitting.
Ju Gonghyeok spoke coldly.
"Killing you outright feels off. Got anything to show?"
"Kekeke..."
Ser Shin laughed bitterly.
"All of it... just a fleeting dream."
Ser Shin could not endure the self from seconds ago, dreaming of the Rat Clan's future in delight.
He was no fortune, but a scourge.
A blade slitting beastkin bellies while hiding his identity.
And the Rat Clan merely the first target.
Crack—
The staff crumbled in Ser Shin's grip.
"Fine. Behold a millennium-old technique."
The blade within the staff drank deep of Sobaek's blood.
Small stature, short arms, thin bones.
The Rat Clan was unsuited for 'battle.'
Inferior physiques from birth compared to other clans.
To bridge that gap, the Rat Clan honed intellect.
The path to the 'Upper Dantian.'
'I cannot let the Rat Clan end in my generation. This bloodline of a thousand years must endure ten thousand!'
Rage at losing his clan and sublime resolve awakened Ser Shin's spirit.
The exalted mind twisted open the sealed path to the 'Upper Dantian' deep in his soul.
Shing!
The staff's blade scattered like mist.
The 'Rat Clan' had never wielded swords since ancient times.
Hidden within the staff were not blades, but fine needles.
Hair-thin needles hardened by inner energy, wielded as swords.
"Behold."
Twenty-second Ser Shin (Rat God).
Sobaek's blue eyes blazed.
"This is the Rat Clan's final secret art!"
Silver needles multiplied endlessly.
A handful cloaked Ser Shin's form, casting shadows over the wasteland's bloodsea.
Rat Divine Technique's ultimate secret skill.
One Hand Embracing Heaven, Eight Million Turns.
A single gesture coiling heaven eight million times—Ser Shin's final ultimate.
The sole frontal clash to slay a heavenly divine beast in the past.
Ser Shin's mental prowess, manipulating billions of needles via sword intent, was terrifying.
The silver needle wave engulfed Ju Gonghyeok.
One avatar manifested.
- A familiar technique.
[Avatar 『Hybrid Geo(SS)』 1st Ability 「Master of the Twelve Divine Techniques」]
A bizarre beast with horns.
At his appearance, the silver waves halted on all sides.
Whirr—
Needles touching Geo's aura trembled and froze midair.
The silver wave surging at Ju Gonghyeok resembled a statue.
Soon, the wave moved again.
In the opposite direction.
Screee!
The silver torrent raged back at its master, Ser Shin.
"Urk! Such!"
Ser Shin focused his spirit with all his might, reclaiming needle control.
Elder Sobaek Ser Shin could not comprehend the moment.
'How can a human wield my technique?'
Before Ser Shin's thoughts could continue, golden radiance shone.
Angelic wings sprouted from his shoulders.
- Name's Geo? Some no-name war god?
- Show me how that famed technique handles!
- Grrr...
Three gods lent power to Geo.
[Avatar Summon 4/4.]
[Hybrid Geo(SS) 3rd Ability 「No Beat」 activated!]
[Asura King(SS) 3rd Ability 「Eight Directions Defense」 activated!]
[Thunder God Zeus(SS++) 2nd Ability 「Argos (Flash)」 activated!]
[Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Six-Eared Macaque(SSS) 3rd Ability 「13,500 Catties Ruyi Jingu Bang」 activated!]
[Four Gods Synthesis - 「Asura God Fist」]
Crack!
Eight holes pierced the silver wave.
Beyond it, a golden colossal fist rent Ser Shin's flesh eight times.
"Gah! Ack!"
Unlike prior syntheses, Ser Shin had no time to respond.
Three or four-plus god syntheses induced even momentary delays in Ju Gonghyeok's 'techniques.'
More gods meant greater power, but harder to land.
- Need more practice on finesse, but it's not hard.
The gentle war god Geo bowed his head.
Just as Ra-Djehuty(SSS)'s 2nd ability 'Omniscience Magic Tome' assisted Ju Gonghyeok's spells, war god Geo optimized skills and secret arts.
Eliminating wind-ups, minimizing synthesis time.
Geo's 「No Beat」 shone brighter at higher levels.
"This aura..."
Tenacious life force.
In Ser Shin's eyes—chest and head barely intact—something gleamed.
His beheaded granddaughter Soha's corpse.
The 'Rat's Jade' holding the Rat Clan's ancestral spirits shone brightly and rolled toward Ju Gonghyeok.
Ju Gonghyeok picked up the tumbling jade orb.
[『Hybrid Geo』 Ancestral Spirit Absorption – 「Rat's Jade」]
[11 more until acquiring 『Guardian Divine Beast Geo』 and trait 「Unreal Martial God(SSS)」]
[Completion of Rat Divine Technique rises. Can now imbue greater power.]
The ancestral spirits within the jade orb were sucked into Geo.
Ser Shin glared at Ju Gonghyeok with his dying breath.
"So it was the hybrid's aura, just like a century ago..."
"You know too much."
Crunch
"That's why you die."
Gonghyeok had targeted the Rat Clan first not merely for tormenting Kisua.
Sobaek Ser Shin, the southern tribes' eldest.
He knew far too much.
As long as he lived, Gonghyeok's plans could not come to fruition.
[Ser Shin kill confirmed!]
[Demon Realm Quest 「Exterminate All Twelve Rat Clan Successors」 completed!]
[Cluesti's Demon Army issues rewards. (Quest creator: Heavenly Knight Lilianne).]
- Green coins: 1,100
- Red coin: 1
Successor rewards: green coins.
Yet Ser Shin warranted a single red coin.
Not for his personal worth.
But for his symbolic stature as a clan leader—and potential if properly raised.
'Past floor 40, so Christina, Edgar, Ha Yeonsi, or Soma Sangai would net a red coin each.'
Ju Gonghyeok generated an electromagnetic field, gathering the fallen fine needles into one hand.
Focusing his mind formed them into a blade instantly.
The Rat Clan's heirloom SS-grade treasure, Ciliary Blade.
"If you'd inherited the ancestors, we could've had a real fight."
Clan leader inheritance boosted all stats and perfected traits and skills.
But the Divine Realm War for inheritance was still far off.
And ruining that war was Ju Gonghyeok's goal.
"Alright then. Time to rescue the princess in peril."