Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: All Assemble Under Me
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“Haah…! Cough, cough!!”
Oxygen finally reached Cha Joa’s brain as she clutched her stomach and gasped for air.
‘I got slashed without even realizing it.’
What the hell just happened?
Her eyes twitched as she pieced it together step by step.
It was shocking and confusing on every level.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
Just two months ago, during the entrance reexamination, he’d been a mere level 10 kid.
Yet here he was, picking a fight with Noble.
What the hell was that power?
And what did he have to do with the Archery Club?
‘How did he end up coming to rescue No Jun-yeop with them?’
Cha Joa turned her gaze to Jang Yeon-ju.
The granddaughter of the Bow Saint, who could have been top of her year if she hadn’t stubbornly stuck to her talentless archery.
Cha Joa had figured there was no way she’d get involved, given the bad blood with No Jun-yeop.
But there she was.
With Kang Jae-hyeok leading the charge.
‘Damn it.’
She tore her eyes away from Jang Yeon-ju and glared at Kang Jae-hyeok again.
No matter how she sliced it, this cocky freshman was at the center of it all.
A lunatic who claimed to be the biggest beneficiary of the class system Noble had built over decades.
Hell, he even compared himself to an emperor.
‘They say the madness of someone with nothing to lose is the scariest.’
Exactly the type to avoid.
Deciding that dealing with Kang Jae-hyeok was a net loss, Cha Joa sorted her thoughts and spoke.
“Jae-hyeok… no, Young Lord. Looks like I didn’t grasp the situation properly. How about we talk it over from the top?”
She forced an awkward smile as she steadied her breathing and stood.
Her plan was to play along just enough to assess and prepare countermeasures.
The problem was—
“I told you to disband. What’s there to talk about?”
—Kang Jae-hyeok wasn’t the type to listen.
His guiding principle was conviction.
He was cut from different cloth than normal people who understood social structures and compromised.
Because he was noble.
“Noble is a scourge. Tolerating a group that acts on chosen-people bullshit is like ignoring cancer. Hell, what happens if your kind multiplies? You trying to drag Korea back to the Middle Ages?”
“That’s an extreme claim! And aren’t you the one rampaging under the Ducal House’s banner? You’re no different from us, yet you act like you’re the only enlightened one. Disgusting!”
“House Kang has no clout. What banner am I borrowing?”
Kang Jae-hyeok swept his gaze over the flushing, protesting Noble members and spoke bitterly.
“At least for now, House Kang is borrowing my clout.”
Which was why he had a duty to restore the house.
Click.
The Noble members flinched and stepped back as he sheathed his sword.
They’d just witnessed the might of Kang Family Iaido.
Kang Jae-hyeok nodded in approval at their reaction.
“Fear works best. Arrogant types like you only realize your mistakes after getting a taste of your own medicine.”
He’d thrown the ducal title in their faces to mock Noble’s ways and make them feel the oppression of class.
The violence? That was payback for insulting House Kang, and for kidnapping, imprisoning, and beating No Jun-yeop.
“It didn’t even hit!”
No Jun-yeop, grasping the implication, snapped back in outrage. Pointless.
Baek Do-jin eyed his blood-smeared state with pity.
“How bad did they beat you? You look ugly as hell.”
“Fuck off! Who’re you calling ugly!?”
Getting called ugly by Kang Jae-hyeok hadn’t stung as much.
A pretty boy like that probably saw most people as squid.
But Baek Do-jin? They were in the same boat, right?
‘No, I’m better off. I’m way taller.’
“Shrimp? You calling me short!?”
“What kind of coping is that, psycho.”
“Grrr!”
“Argh! You bastard’s biting! He’s biting people! Someone untie the rope…!”
“…….”
The Noble members’ attention shifted away from Kang Jae-hyeok.
Few students had the discipline to ignore Baek Do-jin and No Jun-yeop’s sudden freakout.
Only one.
‘The situation’s pretty unfavorable.’
Cha Joa alone stayed calm, assessing the field.
‘Losing the high ground hurts most.’
Noble had few members. Nobles were rare, and not all joined.
The remaining second-years totaled thirteen.
But each was top-tier in their year, with at least one retainer apiece.
Even factoring in Kang Jae-hyeok and Jang Yeon-ju, a full clash with the Archery Club was a sure win.
If the dozens of Archery Club members weren’t occupying the second floor with bows drawn, she’d have ordered a charge.
“Noble’s disbandment.”
She darkened the skin beneath her uniform like black ink.
Water, ink, blood, sweat, saliva—whatever.
She armored herself in Cha family mana that merged with liquids.
“Noble’s history dates back to Lion’s Castle’s founding. Even if we wanted to disband, the alumni wouldn’t allow it. Impossible. And you have no authority to order it anyway, Young Lord.”
Cha Joa looked at Jang Yeon-ju.
“Miss Yeon-ju, please rein him in. If the Young Lord keeps acting out, won’t it put your Archery Club in a tough spot too?”
A smile, but blatant threat.
Cross the line again, and the Archery Club—tied to Kang Jae-hyeok—would suffer with him.
“Better than Noble’s position, no?”
Jang Yeon-ju smirked, pulling the lollipop from her mouth.
Sky-blue hair and porcelain skin.
Candy-stained red lips punctuated her already dazzling beauty.
“…No need to worry about Noble. The alumni have our backs solid. Truth is, just the third-years on dispatch returning would wrap this up easy. Huh?”
Cha Joa, smug mid-sentence, swung her arm desperately.
Craaack!!
A heavy clash echoed, shoving her back several steps.
Without the preemptive mana armor, would her arm have broken?
The thought chilled her spine. She glared murderously at Kang Jae-hyeok.
“Ambushing someone mid-conversation isn’t very proper, is it? For someone claiming Ducal House heir and preaching honor, you’re no example.”
“Complain to the alumni or the seniors. People who whine just right get some pity play.”
“Whine…? You took my warning like that?”
“Oh, that was a warning?”
Kang Jae-hyeok, holstering the scabbard he’d used to smack her, tilted his head.
“How’s that a warning? Your alumni and seniors are farther than my sword.”
“…?”
What?
Cha Joa blinked in confusion, then paled.
Boom—!
Another heavy impact hit her body.
This time, no reaction.
A reverse blade slammed her gut at speed incomparable to the scabbard swing.
“Urk!”
Her mana armor might as well not exist.
Cha Joa dropped to her knees and vomited.
Today’s lunch splattered out.
Pain second; the humiliation burned her ears red.
‘Quick Draw…!’
She’d seen it multiple times today, yet couldn’t gauge the speed.
Physics-defying.
Quick Draw emphasized speed, sure—but this was excessive.
“Told you. My sword’s closer. Think threats about alumni or seniors will stick?”
“Maybe you don’t know my father’s name…”
“You.”
Kang Jae-hyeok cut off Cha Joa as she pulled the daddy card.
“Don’t you know my father?”
His cheeky expression vanished like a lie.
“Who the hell are you name-dropping to?”
“……!”
Cha Joa’s heart sank.
Staring into his pitch-black eyes evoked an abyss.
Fear surged.
Then fighting spirit boiled over.
“…Cocky brat! A relic’s son dares crush Noble and threaten me?”
Black Wind Cha Seung-min.
Cha Joa’s father was an elite hailed as the military’s heart.
A living powerhouse.
Leagues beyond a corpse like Yaksha—Korea’s future.
What the hell was that tone?
Shaaa!
Rage-filled, Cha Joa’s eyes glowed gold.
[Bloodline Skill: Ink Shadow]
The mana armor etched inside her uniform spread over her body.
Beyond tattoos—like she’d become shadow itself.
Kuuuwaaang!!
Terrifying aura rippled, shaking the entire Noble hall.
Cha Joa vanished.
A new crater scarred the floor where she’d stood.
Boom!!
An ear-shattering explosion erupted.
From Kang Jae-hyeok’s direction.
Her leg shot up, skirt ripping, coiling around his neck.
Slam!
Cha Joa sneered viciously and slammed her leg down.
To smash his face into the ground.
Thud!
But Cha Joa hit the floor instead.
“…?”
Cha Joa stared blankly upward.
The moment she puzzled at the unscathed Kang Jae-hyeok looking down.
“You stole Kang Hyeon-ah’s martial arts.”
His face loomed close.
“I get what kind of man your father is.”
“Guh…!”
The green scabbard symbolizing House Kang crushed her throat.
Cha family’s Ink Shadow—said to block shells.
Monstrous durability, but the wearer was still human.
Too much pressure, and the flesh gave.
She rolled back her eyes and passed out.
Kang Jae-hyeok averted his gaze from her, wincing at the stinging pain in his neck like a burn, and sighed.
‘Always useless, help.’
Thinking of the fool in prison soured his mood every time.
Frowning, he beckoned the stunned Noble members.
“All of you, assemble under me.”