Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The Berserk Fox
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"What are you?"
The woman tilted her head slightly, and her jet-black hair cascaded like silk.
Not a single strand was tangled; it was brushed to perfection, gleaming like satin.
"How does a newbie who's only been enrolled for a few months pull off that kind of speed?"
Her crimson-painted lips moved gracefully.
She exuded elegance and gentleness in every way.
But the stench of blood was overwhelming.
It was an intense blood scent, as if etched into every cell of her body.
'Does she kill people like it's breakfast?'
Did the world really need a murderer like this?
Ordinary people would have felt a strong sense of revulsion or fear toward her, harboring such doubts.
But Jae-hyeok felt nothing of the sort.
He had killed assassins to survive, and he was in a position where he had to eliminate his enemies for revenge—his future might prove even more brutal than this woman's.
He glanced up.
Jae-hyeok's gaze shifted to the top of her head.
Fox ears stood erect there.
'Beastkin.'
Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop.
And beyond them, those aiming at Master Song to harm House Kang's interests.
Jae-hyeok didn't care if she was a murderer or whatever.
She was just someone he had to stop.
One of them might die—he accepted the situation with that thought.
"You're no ordinary kid."
The woman's expression turned icy in an instant.
"You're a boring type. What a waste of a handsome face; you probably don't have any fans... Huh?"
Her grumbling eyes widened.
"You... your breathing's already steady?"
When he first arrived at the scene.
Jae-hyeok's breath had been ragged, right up to his throat.
Blood dripped steadily from his ten ragged fingers.
It was easy to guess he'd scaled the outer wall of the student council building to the 13th floor.
Climbing a sheer, flat surface with no handholds, using just his bare hands?
It must have been grueling.
And yet he'd recovered already?
His stamina was no joke.
"The power in your sword too... Your overall stats are A-rank?"
"..."
The thick-browed boy, standing there like a bundled scarecrow, doubted his ears.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
He knew the name of the boy who had just burst in and saved his life.
As a member of the student council, how could he not know the son of Yaksha, the protagonist of the enrollment re-examination fiasco?
'That kid who was only level 10 back then has reached A-rank?'
Was that even possible?
Of course not.
Even Amelia from England, who monopolized the first clear rewards of Gates and set the record for fastest leveling, took six years to hit A-rank.
'It must be his skills.'
The media was hush-hush about it for some reason.
But the prevailing theory was that Kang Jae-hyeok had awakened his family's bloodline skill.
A ducal house bloodline skill, no less.
It wouldn't be strange if it temporarily boosted stats.
'So that's why he can do ultra-high-speed Quick Draw—it's the buff effect.'
There was no player in the world who could gain dozens of levels in just two or three months.
That obvious common sense blinded the thick-browed boy with prejudice.
He hadn't placed high hopes on Jae-hyeok.
He just felt pity that his lifesaver was about to die.
"......"
Meanwhile, Jae-hyeok remained silent.
He let the fox beastkin's words go in one ear and out the other as he assessed his condition.
He'd rushed to the scene after hearing the sudden explosion.
The student council building was in horrific shape.
Explosions on each floor had blocked the stairs, making internal entry take far too long.
That's why he'd scaled the wall.
'Good thing I've trained my climbing.'
The experience of scrubbing protest graffiti off the estate walls as a kid had paid off.
Without that knack, he wouldn't have reached the 13th floor so quickly.
'Though I'm exhausted.'
He'd barely caught his breath, but his stamina was definitely drained.
To begin with, his ten fingers were badly wounded.
He wanted to douse them with potion right away, but...
"......"
The fox beastkin's yellow eyes pierced him like lightning.
He sensed she'd pounce at the slightest rash move, so he couldn't pull out a potion carelessly.
'She's insanely strong. I can't show even a single opening.'
The reason Jae-hyeok had climbed to the 13th floor was that the explosion here had been the biggest.
Half the rooftop was gone, sparking all sorts of wild imaginings.
Had Jang Yeon-ju and No Jun-yeop, fleeing intruders up here, already fallen to the beastkin? Worst-case scenarios like that.
"Look at you all tense. So cute, I wanna eat you up."
The fox beastkin curved her eyes into crescents and licked her lips.
At the same time, her long black hair fanned out.
She'd moved without warning.
Her body shot toward Jae-hyeok, her backdrop the night sky.
The illusion came from her long black hair spreading out, nearly touching the ground.
Spash-!
Jae-hyeok's backdrop was the moon.
The instant he gripped his hilt and drew, the flash formed a crescent.
Creeeeong!!
The night sky shook.
The shockwave from Jae-hyeok's Quick Draw clashing with the fox beastkin's sword made her black hair billow.
"Ahaha! Fun!"
Kwang!
The moon fell.
With a flick of her wrist, the fox beastkin tilted her sword, sending Jae-hyeok's curved blade earthward along with it.
"Shed some blood! Make me bleed too!"
The excited fox beastkin's eyes gradually turned red.
Her berserker constitution was kicking in—the longer the fight, the stronger she got.
Kwaaaaaang!!
Amid several exchanges, her thrust sword sent Jae-hyeok flying into the wall.
He stopped backpedaling only when his back hit it, then lowered his gaze.
The green scabbard that had blocked the last strike now bore a massive crack, stinging his heart.
Seeing House Kang's symbol ruined like this never got easier.
"Quick Draw is your main thing, but using the scabbard as a shield? How's that work?"
Quick Draw.
The name itself meant a technique of 'drawing' the sword.
"Without a scabbard, Quick Draw is half-useless."
The fox beastkin looked regretful.
Stabbed gut or lost scabbard.
She'd forced one of those choices, yet played innocent.
It was deliberate.
She acted knowing her loathsome demeanor would rattle her opponent's composure.
Clang!
Jae-hyeok discarded the scabbard.
The cracks had widened until it snapped in half—no salvaging it.
"Hehe, don't give up just 'cause you can't use your prized technique?"
A flush rose to the fox beastkin's cheeks.
She thrilled at the thought of splitting that handsome boy's head and bathing in his clear brain matter.
Kwang!
Chaeng, cha-cha-cha-cha-chang!!
The fox beastkin's attacks grew bolder.
She unleashed swordsmanship without even regulating her breath, aiming to add more wounds to Jae-hyeok's body.
Jae-hyeok countered as best he could with [King's Roar] and [Two Scythes that Halt the Chariot].
[King's Roar]
Lv.1
Emits the innate presence of a king, briefly instilling fear in the target.
Applies to up to 3 targets; success rate rises the lower the target's level or total stats compared to the caster.
Cooldown: 10 minutes
The skill dropped by the Troll Lord was powerful.
It made the much higher-level fox beastkin flinch in fear for even 0.1 seconds.
Thanks to that, Jae-hyeok landed several counters.
"Kyahaha!"
The fox beastkin didn't mind at all.
She reveled in it, climaxing with every slash.
Moments later.
Her eyes were fully crimson.
Thanks to Jae-hyeok fighting surprisingly well even without his scabbard, several berserker class passive skills had activated.
[All stats slightly increased due to prolonged combat.]
[Wounded. Attack power rises.]
[Inflicted wound. Attack speed rises.]
...
...
Woooong!
The buzzing grew louder.
The jet-black aura coiling around the fox beastkin's sword grew far more ferocious.
It looked less like a sword now and more like a club.
"Good... Now it's time for the real hunt."
She licked the hand smeared with Jae-hyeok's splattered blood and bid farewell.
Her eyes no longer held Jae-hyeok.
She gazed at the door behind him, imagining the adorable new prey she'd meet descending the stairs beyond.
"Bye. Thanks."
Shwaaaaak!
The fox beastkin's overhead slash came with utterly different ferocity than before.
"Ah...!"
The thick-browed boy sighed.
He pitied Jae-hyeok, soon to have his head burst open.
At least he felt less guilt, since he was next to die anyway.
He couldn't find any way out of this.
Jae-hyeok was different.
Creeeong!!
[Heavy Moon]
The round blue shield that withstood even an ogre's attack blocked the fox beastkin's strike.
Spin-
Jae-hyeok released the shield and rotated in place.
His right hand—torn, fractured, crushed—still gripped House Kang's curved sword.
'So that's your final move.'
Beyond the slowly falling shield, the fox beastkin's eyes curved sharply.
A last desperate gambit where failure meant death.
Plenty of reason to tense up, to err.
She spotted the 'flat' of the curved sword flying at her nape and pitied the boy anew.
It'd make a fine drinking story for a few days.
'To err at the end like that. Poor kid.'
His mangled hand must have lost sensation.
That's why he botched his chance to slit my throat.
Puk-!
In that frozen moment.
The fox beastkin vividly felt the chill touch her nape.
The flat, not the edge.
It couldn't even scratch her skin.
"...Bloom."
Until Jae-hyeok recalled the image of <Iyarugut>.
"What..."
Puhwa-hahaha-hak!
The fox beastkin couldn't even scream.
A transparent red sword with 'double edges' cleaved her throat.