Chapter 80
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: 78. Why Is the Ultimate Move's Name Lamb Skewers?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ping Tao boldly charged toward the boss room.
Teams 5 and 6 hadn't even arrived yet. What a foolhardy woman.
"Yeah, yeah. Give it your best shot."
She didn't get far before collapsing in a heap right in front of the boss room.
Without teams 5 and 6, the door wouldn't open.
That's the kind of idiot she was.
To put it simply, if you questioned China's dominance and treated her with a bit of disdain, she'd jump up like that. That was Ping Tao.
For example:
"If China is really that great, you can handle errands on a grand scale too, right? Go buy five smoothies."
"Hmph! As a citizen of the great nation, I'll show you how impressive I am!"
She'd go buy the smoothies with all the fervor of a proud citizen of the great nation.
Full of national pride, yet doing things that shattered her own self-respect. A simpleton through and through.
"She's so straightforward, that one."
Kotone made a face like she couldn't believe it.
"She's always had a bit of a ditzy side."
Choi Sia shrugged.
Come to think of it, when Choi Si-woo was busy bedding all the heroines, she must have seen him do the same with Ping Tao.
"Si-woo-kun—no, Si-woo-yang, do you know about Ping Tao?"
"Nah, it's obvious just looking at her."
"Ah, as expected of the Divine Sword."
Maybe because she was Choi Sia and not Choi Si-woo, she could say things like that so innocently.
No, if Choi Si-woo were here right now, he'd probably ignore the context and pick a fight with me. She seems pretty fond of me.
"By the way, Kotone-chan, what's your ability?"
She must have proven it to get into Hansung Academy.
Shinohara Yuzuki's power was the Heavenly Sword. I was curious how she'd faked her way in.
She probably gave President Ha Jung-seok an apology gift basket or something.
"Oh, I'm similar to Lady Shinohara, the family head."
"Similar to Lady Shinohara? So, Heavenly Sword?"
Shinohara Yuzuki's ability was the Heavenly Sword.
The power to freely control a thousand swords. Thanks to that, Yuzuki became the family head.
Those who couldn't become head became her retainers.
Shinohara Mariko was one of the clan members, serving as a retainer.
Yuzuki had nearly cleared a Hell-rank gate with her Heavenly Sword but ran out of strength and got rescued by Choi Si-woo.
This was probably before that event.
With Yoo Eun-ha still alive, who knows what'll happen to that gate.
"I'm the Hundred Swords."
"Ah, Hundred Swords."
She disguised it so casually. Even a hundred swords was insane. With just that, she'd be stronger than most Japanese hunters—or even guild masters from Yoo Jin-seok's generation in Korea.
"I control a hundred swords."
"That's impressive."
I could threaten her now that I know her identity and squeeze some benefits out of her, but that might cause problems.
I've got Yin Shu-ma for sleazy blackmail anyway.
For reference, Yin Shu-ma was trailing behind us from the corner, looking exhausted and wobbly. She seemed pretty worn out, but I'd grind her later.
And finally, teams 5 and 6 joined up, and with Ping Tao—who'd been stomping her feet in front of the boss room—leading the way, we entered at last.
"Come at me, Glass Duke! As a heroine of great China, I'll chop off that chicken head of yours!"
Honestly, Ping Tao was embarrassing to be around.
Her name, her hair—everything. Her looks were passable, but I already had plenty of flowers.
Kwaaaang!
Ping Tao's spear pierced straight through the Glass Duke's abdomen.
"Hm, her destructive power is something else."
Ping Tao was a hard worker.
She'd trained diligently under her constellation to reach this level.
She wasn't cut out for a title like Martial God like Han Su-ji, but her mana control within her body was exceptional—at least on par with, if not better than, Han Su-ji's.
She'd built that raw power purely through control.
Just swinging her spear around gave it destructive force on par with Reina's Spirit Arrows.
Unlike Reina, who borrowed spirit power for her arrows, Ping Tao achieved this solely through mana manipulation.
"Grrrrraaaah!"
The Glass Duke spread its glass wings, scattering feathers made of glass shards.
Getting hit by those would shred your flesh.
If it got too dangerous, Noah would block it from the control room, but with our current firepower, we could handle it.
In the original story, Choi Si-woo blocked them desperately with his Divine Sword. What about here?
We could probably manage. Plus, we had Shinohara Kotone this time.
She had a strong sense of justice.
The kind of woman who'd rush to the front lines to shield everyone from threats.
A perfect fit for the head of the Shinohara clan, known as the Shinohara Shogunate.
My prediction hit the mark. Shinohara Kotone stepped forward.
"I'll block them."
Hundreds of blades conjured from mana floated into the air.
They gleamed sharply, spinning to deflect the raining glass feathers.
Kagagagagang!
Those glass feathers were wave-level attacks.
When the Lily Guild first cleared this glass dungeon, one of their members, Yeo Re-in, died to them.
A fun thought crossed my mind.
I grinned slyly and said it loud enough for Kotone to hear.
"Wow, if Kotone-chan, retainer of the Shinohara clan, is this strong, how powerful is Heavenly Sword Shinohara Yuzuki?"
Kaduk.
The moment she heard me, Kotone slipped in her control, and a glass feather broke through.
Yuzuki was cute like that. She'd perk up whenever someone mentioned her name and mess up.
In that brief gap, me, Choi Sia, and Ping Tao knocked away the falling feathers.
"Hah, can't even block them properly and you act all high and mighty? That's why you Japanese are—tch!"
"What does nationality have to do with it here?"
Yuzuki—no, Kotone—glared at Ping Tao so pettily it made me want to pinch her cheeks, then readjusted her blades to block all the glass feathers.
With the hovering blades rippling like waves to swat them down, Ping Tao got her opening again.
"Urraaaah!"
Kwang!
With a wild shout, Ping Tao launched into the air and struck the Glass Duke's wing with her spear, skewering it like lamb on a spit.
One wing shattered halfway in an instant.
That made the feather wave much easier to handle.
"Grraaaaaah!"
The Glass Duke wailed, flapping its injured wing.
As expected of the heroine you meet in the China event—stronger than the Glass Duke, huh?
In the original story, you meet Ping Tao in the China episode after clearing the Glass Duke.
"Impressive. To reach that level with pure mana control."
Shinohara Kotone praised Ping Tao sincerely.
"We have someone similar—Han Su-ji."
"I'm not as dumb or brute-force as her."
No, obviously. But...
"You're a dummy in bed."
"No, that's... um."
Han Su-ji's face turned beet red.
Right. Compared to Ping Tao—who'd froth at the mouth over hate comments about China—Han Su-ji had basic knowledge and wasn't as rabid.
"Iyaaaaah!"
Suddenly, Ping Tao roared and struck a javelin-throw pose in midair.
"Oh, the legendary Meteor ultimate move?"
Its official name was Meteor Destruction Spear.
In the original, it was a spear powerful enough to destroy meteors, per Ping Tao's claims. But in Korea's later game communities, it became known as the "death spear."
With Ping Tao always looking like Chinese beer bait, it somehow evoked lamb skewers.
More like Lamb Skewer Spear than Meteor Destruction Spear, right?
"Meteor ultimate? You mean that one."
"Yeah. The Lamb Skewer Spear."
I said it half-jokingly.
It really looked like a skewer. Inspired by lamb skewers that pair perfectly with Chinese beer.
But what was funnier was Ping Tao as she hurled the spear from midair.
"Lamb Skewer Spear!"
? Was she crazy? Why was the skill name that? Actually "lamb skewers"?
Kwagwang!
Ping Tao's Lamb Skewer Spear shattered the Glass Duke completely.
Even though we'd downed the boss, Ping Tao's face was stiff.
No wonder. A one-shot dungeon boss kill with "Lamb Skewer Spear." Hilarious.
"Oh my, your name is Ping Tao, but your ultimate is Lamb Skewers?"
Kotone picked the perfect moment to poke fun.
"No! My ultimate is Meteor Destruction Spear!"
So what? She messed up herself and now she's furious.
"Then why'd you call it Lamb Skewer Spear?"
"Because that bitch Yoo Eun-ha suddenly yelled 'Lamb Skewer Spear'!"
"A martial artist should focus during battle. You got distracted listening to me, messed up, and then parroted 'lamb skewers' from the side? How simplistic can you be? So childish and naive."
"What did you say? Let's settle this as reps of China and Japan!"
Shinohara Kotone sneered, and Ping Tao shot back, fuming.
What simpletons. Really.
But did she even need to shout the skill name?
I'd made my own weird move, Apocalypse White Flame Bomb, but lately I'd been wondering if yelling the name was necessary.
"Wow, even the Chinese ones are strong."
"Yeah, makes me feel small in Class A."
The four non-heroines were sinking into self-doubt.
With these high-level overseas transfers, the regular cadets would feel the gap.
To get in, you needed alternative paths. Yin Shu-ma was originally a hunter too. Hunters in a cadet academy? That's just civilian slaughter.
Thinking about it, why were hunters at Hansung?
It wasn't to raise the level—it just crushed the cadets' competitive spirit. Something felt off.
And that beer girl wasn't even hiding her power.
Because of the Sins? Even so, tone down the civilian slaughter.
I could expose Shinohara Kotone, blackmail her, and reap benefits, but if she had a deal with Ha Jung-seok, it'd blow up.
Otherwise, why would Yuzuki, the Shinohara head, send "Kotone" undercover to Hansung?
Screw it all.
Should I just yell,
'Apocalypse White Flame Bomb~!'
and lob it at the Blue House?
Little dragon drops a cute nuke on the Blue House!
No, can't. Class A is all heroines except those four anyway, so who cares. Class B onward has normal numbers.
Whatever, they'll drop out on their own.
They were extras without much screentime in the original anyway.
Fine. But I'm a kind dragon. I know how to comfort girls like this.
"You guys, she's the weird one. Don't feel too defeated."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Look, she's from China originally. A famous one at that. You should be proud to be in the same class as her. Means you're on her level too."
Huh, two guys and two girls in that group?
Looking closer, the teams were mixed two guys, two girls.
Looks like couple vibes. NTR potential?
"No, Yoo Eun-ha, you can't say stuff like that."
"For the girls, some comfort at a motel tonight. Ow!"
"Aren't you embarrassed in front of Reina?"
I was in the middle of seducing when Reina poked my side.
"What does Reina have to do with this?"
"You need to be a mom your kid won't be ashamed of!"
"Why bring up misunderstandings?"
"Yoo Eun-ha, you're no different from those married women pretending to be virgins and cheating. How can you, with me as your proper wife and our mom!"
"I'm not married in the first place. Ah, don't grab my ears!"
That's what I mean. Reina's not even my kid,
"Kikikigik!"
The Glass Duke—which should have been dead—made a sound like nails on a chalkboard.
"See? Get serious. It's not over yet."
"Ah, phase 3."
No dungeon clear notification popped up.
I remembered the Glass Duke had three phases.
After you down it, tiny glass dukes burst out like spiderlings from its body.
In the original, Blazing Bat threw Choi Si-woo and the heroines into the glass dungeon considering their levels, but they got screwed in phase 3.
You had to catch all the spiderling-like spawns.
And they flew around headbutting everything. Problematic.
Kiririring.
Soon enough, as I thought, baby glass dukes spread out disgustingly from the Glass Duke's body like spiderlings.
"I could just burn them all."
I glanced at Kotone.
With her Hundred Swords, she could wipe them out in seconds.
"Oh dear, Eun-ha-yang. Can't you show off your own skills this time?"
"Getting salty all of a sudden?"
Because of what I said earlier?
"No, just curious."
"Sure."
Got to live up to expectations. I drew my sword, wrapped it in white flame, and swung at the baby glass dukes.
Hwarrrrrruk!
White flames flowed from the blade like water, spreading slowly at first, then filling the boss room in an instant.
The countless baby glass dukes hovering near the ceiling were swallowed by the white inferno.