16. On the Main Avenue in Yeongdo, the Capital of Soboro County, Home to the Red Evil Mercenaries
On the main avenue in Yeongdo, the capital of Soboro County, home to the Red Evil Mercenaries—a massive explosion rocked the alley between buildings, sending a group of men scattering.
BOOM!!
"Gaaahhh…!"
The uniforms of those flying through the air belonged to the lord's soldiers currently guarding Yeongdo. At the same time, four figures burst out of the alley: one man, two women, and a young girl.
Yeah, who else could it be but us? Pretending we didn't know each other wouldn't help anyway.
Leading the charge was Bella, with me right behind her, followed by Cheong-ah, and Dina bringing up the rear.
Unfortunately, we couldn't just bolt straight away as we'd hoped and had to come to a halt.
"You're surrounded!"
"Surrender, you filthy scum!"
"You thought you could assault Jefferson—one of Lord Soboro's retainers—and escape unscathed?!"
I never imagined I'd hear lines straight out of some cheesy movie.
I let out a hollow laugh and scanned our surroundings.
"This is... way too many..."
"What do we do, honey?"
"Yeah, what now?"
The street was already packed wall-to-wall with soldiers—a wave numbering around 500 to 600. The avenue wasn't that wide to begin with, so it looked completely jammed. Spears aimed at us weren't in short supply, with shield-bearing soldiers up front for cover, swordsmen behind them, and archers further back. Sprinkled among them were what looked like knights.
Was it because of the recent civil war over succession? For a force stationed just to guard the capital—not the entire territory—they were unusually numerous. Even granting they were regulars, it didn't make sense to muster this many just to catch the four of us.
Clack-clack.
The soldiers advanced in unison, steadily tightening the encirclement.
...How the hell do we break out of this?
I couldn't just fire off explosive magic bolts here, either.
"What do we do? Can we escape from here?"
"Well, we could punch through if we tried. We don't need to take down every last one—just carve a path one way, that's easy enough, right?"
"Sure, but that's not the problem."
Unlike my fretting, Bella shrugged it off like it was no big deal. Cheong-ah chimed in with a negative nod, and Dina pointed at me in agreement.
"Exactly. Escaping ourselves is fine, but what about Yeonja?"
"...Yeah, that's the issue. My husband's too weak."
Hey, I can't help being weak. You think I want to be mana-less?
"Then stay back in bed."
"Hey, fuck off. This is no time for jokes."
Bella shot me a glare. Fair enough—no choice, then.
"Alright, then... maybe it's time to try that?"
I sighed deeply and asked them.
They all flinched, their eyes sharpening suspiciously.
"Huh? That? What's that...? Wait, Ian? Hey, no—don't you dare."
"Exactly, honey. Not that one. We agreed you wouldn't."
"Yeonja, this body will protect you without a single hair harmed, so absolutely not."
All three stared at me with pure worry.
The reason they fretted over me was simple: the magic stones we'd earned from our recent dungeon run, and the ability window messages that popped up with them.
Available Magic Stones: 25
Target registration possible.
4 stones: Upgrade Conductor ability.
5 stones: Acquire new Conductor ability.
7 stones: [Further system enhancements]
10 stones: Add system window function.
I'd spent 10 stones first on adding system window functions. From my gaming days as a kid, I knew dumping resources into these kinds of upgrades usually paid off big.
The new system wasn't bad—though for 10 stones, it wasn't amazing either. But it gave clear explanations:
Body - Sensory Exchange
Mental Cost: None
Lend your body parts to compensate for a target's missing ones.
└ Lent body functions operate at half capacity.
└ Cannot lend the same body part twice while in use.
└ Deactivates if Conductor loses consciousness.
* Lent body is reconstructed via magic stones, not removed from Conductor.
Body - Wound Healing
Mental Cost: 10
Heals target's wounds.
└ Conductor bears tenfold pain as backlash.
* Risk of Conductor death by shock. Use with caution.
* Upgrade with magic stones to reduce penalty.
Mental Cost: 30
Grants target a barrier blocking incoming attacks.
└ Conductor suffers tenfold shock and pain proportional to blocked attack.
└ Deactivates if Conductor loses consciousness.
* Risk of organ rupture from intense pain/shock.
* Ruptured body auto-heals once Conductor recognizes battle end.
Current Barrier Capacity: 500 SP per target
* Upgrade with magic stones to increase capacity.
Mental Cost: 30
Enhances target's physical abilities.
└ Post-battle, Conductor suffers triple muscle pain used by target.
Current Max Boost: 2x
└ Deactivates if Conductor loses consciousness.
* Upgrade with magic stones for higher boost/reduced penalty.
Mental Cost: 10
Boosts one of target's senses by 2x.
└ Conductor's senses halve as cost.
Current Senses: 1
└ Deactivates if Conductor loses consciousness.
* Upgrade with magic stones for more senses.
Now the explanations were far more detailed. I learned the penalties of my powers—and that Protection barriers had a total capacity limit. Makes sense why Cheong-ah's shield shattered against that Death Sorcerer's attack in the dungeon last time.
Though, shouldn't this info have been there from the start? Whatever—given how unhelpfully vague the ability was at first (not even explaining activation), this was par for the course.
Whoever summoned me to this world and gave me this goddamn user-unfriendly power... if I ever find them, I'll punch 'em right in the gut. Just once. Swear to god.
With 15 stones left, I prioritized upgrades. The detailed status let me target specifics now, so I boosted Protection for my most precious people—upping it from 500 SP to 700 SP.
What's SP stand for, anyway?
Down to 10 stones. No need for target registration. Upgrades now cost 6 stones each, new abilities 7.
I picked a new ability. And the one I got was...
Mental Cost: 300 (Max)
Boosts all Conductor authority performance globally.
Grants all Conductor authorities to target(s).
Current Boost: 2x
Conductor penalties rise min 3x, up to 5x.
└ Temporarily removes unconsciousness deactivation penalty.
Authority Overload. A batshit insane power. Doubles all my enhancements—fine so far. But the penalties? Triple to quintuple? Every time I look at it, I swear it's laced with malice to wreck my body.
When I first got it, I explained it to the others. They freaked at the death/permanent injury risks... while I felt oddly unfazed. Maybe I'm just getting used to the pain from using my powers lately.
Anyway, feels like we'll need this someday.
"This'll come in handy eventually, right?"
I recalled the Death Sorcerer fight. Dina ended up overwhelming him after powering up via me, but when Cheong-ah's shield broke instantly... that scared the shit out of me.
"We won't always move as four. Sometimes it'll be just two of us... might as well test it now."
"Pfft, whatever. Even if I go down, I'll protect you—so don't," Bella snapped before I could finish.
Cheong-ah and Dina's eyes said the same. No budging.
"Fine... if you insist, I'll hold off."
"Smart choice, honey."
"Then Yeonja stays with the shrew this time. This body and the beast will break the path."
"Me and you?"
"Scared you can't keep up?"
Dina's taunt made Bella shrug.
"Worried the brat can't keep up with me."
"...Hah. Bet, then? Who clears first."
"Ooh, love it. Stakes?"
"If this body wins, one week alone with Yeonja."
For reference, Dina's "sharing a bed" means just using my arm as a pillow. Nothing else.
Bella grinned and nodded.
"Deal. I win, I get Ian for a week."
"...Uh, ladies? My say?"
Perfect time to test it, too. What a shame...
> Activating DIVINE AUTHORITY - AUTHORITY OVERLOAD
"...Huh?"
"Honey? What's wrong?"
"Nothin', just..."
As I tried to explain—
Flick. Vision darkening.
"Honey...? Honey!"
"What the—Ian?! What's happening?!"
"Yeonja?!"
Their voices echoed as my mind went black.
> Draining ALL Conductor mental power.
Goddamn this bullshit power—now it's activating on its own whim? Fuck my life.