Chapter 234
Chapter 234
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 234
Chapter Title: Teaming (5)
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Lee Si-heon and Taeyang faced each other.
"Wood Spirit King."
That one heavy word pierced right through him—the name.
Lee Si-heon, the successor to the Wood Spirit King. To him, it was a name he could never forget.
Infuriatingly tedious, and something that had absolutely nothing to do with him, yet it kept getting brought up.
Ever since he'd gained the Blessing of the Lewd Tree, back when he'd gone to the past, and even now.
It was purely his personal feelings, but it wasn't exactly pleasant.
He knew he had to use that power, but it wasn't one he liked.
Even as he poured his mental strength into resisting the Lewd Demon every day, this temperament wouldn't fade. The Wood Spirit King's power was playing a part in that.
There was no way it would improve.
He had to sleep with as many women as possible.
And make the trees submit to him, turning them into his own.
Those impulses were growing stronger these days.
Ever since returning from the past, there were times when his mind would grow hazy if he wasn't near certain people.
He hadn't said anything about it, but his sanity was fraying.
Lee Si-heon was aware of it. With a bitter expression, he stroked the collar of his shirt.
"That reaction tells me you know something."
Taeyang read Lee Si-heon's face and turned his body. His tone shifted.
His sun-tanned brown skin was etched with faint scars that weren't easy to spot.
They weren't sword wounds.
Scars from skin being torn in multiple directions and then healing. Marks from whips or torture.
"I know something. Why?"
Taeyang's face twisted into a smirk at the calm reply.
His eyes gleamed with some inexplicable ecstasy, and he looked incredibly excited.
And it was obvious he couldn't contain those emotions.
Even as he tried to maintain a solemn demeanor, it was clear.
"...What if I said there's someone who's inherited the Wood Spirit King's power?"
Si-heon fell silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Probably me."
He said it as if it were nothing.
Inheriting the power of that colossal figure, the Wood Spirit King, tossed out so casually.
Joy flashed across Taeyang's face for a moment, then he swept his hands up over it.
"Hoo, fuck. Finally..."
Taeyang spat curses as he vented his emotions.
The payoff after searching for Lee Si-heon for so long. How many years had it been?
His fingers brushed over Si-heon's mask through the gaps, then he continued heavily.
"Sorry about that. Got a bit excited."
"So what is it?"
"Basically, me and Aori came all the way here looking for you."
"I already knew that. Why?"
Lee Si-heon responded coldly.
The Wood Spirit King's power. Why had these people been searching for him?
And why had this power been given to him?
Taeyang steadied his heaving emotions and slowly spoke.
"All I know are stories. They said around this time, someone inheriting the Wood Spirit King's power would appear, so find that person and guide them."
Guide them.
Taeyang lingered on the word, then quietly added as if to dispel misunderstandings.
"Of course... if the one with the Wood Spirit King's power wasn't suitable, they said to take it. Ah, wait. Wait... Don't flare up with killing intent all of a sudden. I have zero intention of being hostile. Besides, I don't even think I could handle taking that power."
"Details."
"So... fuck, where do I even start explaining this?"
Taeyang scratched the back of his neck, his face twisting in frustration.
"Me and Aori aren't your enemies. As long as you prove you're worthy of that power. Anything... okay? I'll tell you everything."
"Prove?"
"Prove. Yeah, prove it. Fuck, these bastards explained it so vaguely that even Aori..."
Taeyang was frustrated inside. It was like being a weary sergeant stuck with a task he hated.
He couldn't figure out where to begin.
Then, suddenly, a good idea struck him.
Taeyang abruptly relaxed his hands.
"To put it simply."
For just a moment, hostility flickered in Taeyang's eyes.
"It's like this—"
A swift ambush.
A fist flying straight at him. For an academy cadet, the strike was undeniably fast and powerful.
-Whoosh!
Lee Si-heon dodged by tilting his head and stepped back simultaneously.
"All this teaming up this and that—I hate the idea of pretending to build rapport first, then stabbing you in the back while deciding whether to beat you or not."
You prefer it that way too. Si-heon narrowed his eyes at the unspoken question.
No need to rack his brain trying to read the opponent's intentions through conversation.
That was the intent, but it still grated on his nerves.
"Seoul Academy, Mok Taeyang. Did I introduce myself?"
Taeyang assumed a stance.
"No family name originally. Picked up as a kid and raised in an organization of only Wood Spirit King descendants."
"And?"
"That was my mission there. Someday the Wood Spirit King's successor would appear, so test them."
Thoughts cleared as he started swinging punches.
Wood Spirit King's descendants.
The Wood Spirit King had ravaged all sorts of trees and Wood People. His seed must have spread to women across the world.
Even if World Trees selected and rejected his descendants, some would have survived somewhere.
"No magic. Let's have a go."
But to Lee Si-heon, that wasn't important information.
What mattered was that someone who might know about him was right in front of him.
"At least you knew I'm the Wood Spirit King's successor. Lucky. If you didn't, I might've had to kill you for real."
The playful tail end of his words.
I might have to kill you.
Those words carried weight.
As if to shut him up, Si-heon moved before Taeyang finished speaking.
-Tap.
Power surged through Si-heon's body, muscles swelling. He briefly unleashed even his status window limits.
His boosted physical stats were hard for any ordinary cadet to follow.
Charging in that state, one strike. He slammed his fist into Taeyang's face.
-Bang!
Taeyang desperately raised both arms to block. The unimaginable weight crumpled his stance, sending him staggering back.
Lee Si-heon dove into Taeyang's unbalanced guard.
-Wobble.
That was already the end.
-Crash!
He grabbed his opponent's neck and slammed him into the ground.
Legs straight, Taeyang's body spun a full circle like a wheel.
His body hit the floor without warning.
Lungs contracting in unprepared agony, a scream burst from his mouth.
"Gahk...!"
-Crack!
Taeyang's eyes widened. Ribs cracking. His pained grimace was a sight.
And it didn't stop there.
Reaching out, he gripped the opponent's throat like a chicken, twisting just short of snapping it. With his other hand, he formed a blade from thinly sliced mana.
"Seems like you're seriously misunderstanding something."
Right before thrusting the blade, he growled.
His voice was coldly sunken.
"Deciding who lives or dies isn't up to you."
Taeyang's eyes narrowed. Blood trickled from his nose bridge.
His lips trembled.
The punch had been strong, but it was fine.
He'd controlled the force so the others wouldn't hear.
"Wood Spirit King or whatever. I don't know who you are."
Evaluation?
Ridiculous.
"But you need to watch your mouth."
Did he expect no reaction to talk of killing?
As the saying goes, successor to the Wood Spirit King.
He'd faced assassination attempts before. Lee Si-heon's cold eyes fixed on his face.
Even hidden behind the mask, it showed.
Eyes that had killed dozens, hundreds of times.
Bone-chilling terror. An incredulous laugh formed on Taeyang's lips.
His grip tightened.
Breath caught, pulse racing with the feel. The sensation of near-death hands, and the limp cutoff of breath at the end. He knew both well.
"...Guh, geh."
Taeyang gasped raggedly, still staring at Lee Si-heon.
His gaze unchanged.
The veins bulging on his forearms slackened slightly. Air returned.
A voice like a dying man's leaked from Taeyang's mouth.
"Heh, fuck. I'm done for."
A somewhat comical remark. Paradoxically, it revealed Taeyang's character perfectly.
Lee Si-heon judged. Taeyang was the type who clung to no regrets in life.
Many among those he'd killed were like that.
In the battlefield of kill or be killed, minds broken, no expression change even in death.
But Taeyang was slightly different.
He had the face of someone from the gutters. Madness forged from experiences stickier than death.
Taeyang, who'd suffered since childhood.
Death was a constant companion. He'd endured pain equal to death implanting part of the Wood Spirit King's power.
Indifferent sex? Of course.
He'd done every petty, filthy thing.
Even a wretched specimen like Taeyang shuddered briefly at the terror before him.
"Okay. I admit... No, big bro. Give me a break now. I'll tell you everything."
Even signaling surrender, Lee Si-heon's face didn't soften.
He looked dizzy, far from adapted.
Just a simple sparring match did this—what would a real life-or-death fight be like?
He'd glimpsed the aura of the Wood Spirit King, who once nearly ruled the world.
Maybe he didn't realize now. Did he know he was making that face?
Not human.
Was the Wood Spirit King's power gradually shaping him into kingly material?
At first glance, his face had seemed playfully mischievous.
But when he threw the punch, it transformed in an instant.
Shedding the clumsy facade, revealing his true self.
Cold lips, eyes brimming with menace—enough to turn a fleeting thought into conviction.
Legs trembling, Taeyang's lips kept smiling.
Like a king.
Maybe that's what he thought.
"What do you want to know?"
At Taeyang's question, Lee Si-heon said.
"Everything."
Taeyang's body shook in acknowledgment.
For some reason, he answered without thinking.
That coercive force erased even the slightest doubt.
"Everything I know."
Taeyang laughed even on the verge of passing out.
"But... big bro. Can't you... heal me now?"
The fight's end. Taeyang begged feebly, head oxygen-starved.
In that moment, Lee Si-heon's expression began to soften.
As the battle ended, his face grew somewhat gentler.
The terrifying dread vanished. Light returned to those ghostly pupils.
Like attaching expressions to an emotionless wooden doll bit by bit. Si-heon, gaining humanity, stared intently at Taeyang.
His lips slowly curved up.
The open-bottom mask made his expression readable enough.
Taeyang read it.
No mercy—not even gruel.
He'd hoped shamelessly for a potion, at least.
Soon, Lee Si-heon's mouth opened.
"Just pass out, asshole."
"...Yes, sir."
As expected.
No mercy for those who'd picked a fight.