Chapter 71
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Ezold Trapped in the Time of Despair
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"But why all of a sudden... did Han Gyeol step up personally?"
"There was friction with Chairman Han."
Choi Si-jin shot to his feet as he spoke, peering around through the blinds before placing a small memo on the table.
"A secret retirement proposal from Han Ho to Han Gyeol at the Geoje Island villa...?"
"They must've judged him useless."
"It seems they determined he can't lead raids himself anymore and lacks the capacity to manage the guild headquarters."
"So the father-son feud has begun?"
"That's when Han Gyeol drew his sword, after agonizing over what impact this would have on us."
"Hmm..."
"So, Master, what do you think?"
"These materials that could serve as our justification... regrettably, they're a bit short of enough to push both father and son out, even with the Inex Gate phenomenon."
"Exactly. It's a global issue now... as much as it pains me to admit it... no one else has the leadership to stand at the forefront like Chairman Han."
"That's why they've been raising Han Gyeol so harshly all this time—to replace him."
"So now we have to choose. Which one to pull down first."
Everyone fell deep into thought.
They were managing the gate phenomenon and minimizing damage, but these pieces of evidence on Han Ho's immoral conduct could clearly provide crucial justification to oust Leader Han Ho.
In that case.
After pulling down Han Ho, the next leader to naturally rise would undoubtedly be Han Gyeol on the table for discussion.
But with Han Gyeol's true intentions revealed, the situation had plunged into a labyrinth.
In this scenario, removing both father and son carried the risk of every circumstance spiraling to its worst.
With the massive Inex Gate raids already failing for the third time amid a worldwide phenomenon, the world still needed a leader to tackle it.
That was the regrettable limit and reality—they couldn't cast out both Han Ho and Han Gyeol from leadership positions.
Publicizing the issue would surely draw blocks from those viewing the gate phenomenon politically.
"What if we push both aside somehow and make our Master the new leader?"
"As you know, after two failures on the Inex Gate, the international association won't welcome it."
"That applies to Han Ho too."
"My prediction is that with equal risk, they'll lean toward keeping the established leader."
"That makes sense."
"Is there any hunter under Chairman Han right now who's on Han Gyeol's level?"
"Not yet."
"Do you think someone who can surpass what Gyeol has achieved will pop up overnight?"
"But they're trying."
"Who?"
"Professor Colin Hurt."
"So that's why America's Taster went to Han..."
"Yes. It wasn't aimed at Han Gyeol from the start, but now that his true colors are known, filling Chairman Han's slots with our people seems the way to avert bigger risks."
Everyone nodded at Han Seung-woo's addition.
"What if Han Gyeol tells Han Ho about Lee Ru-ri's position...?"
"It doesn't matter if he does."
"Why?"
"Chairman Han won't trust Han Gyeol's words anymore."
After some key Light members returned to their seats, Kim Tae-woong, who was helping tidy the conference room, cautiously asked Han Seung-woo.
"But why won't Han Ho believe that Han Gyeol fella?"
"In a normal family, they might overlook a family member's flaws. But the Hans are different."
Yang Jeong-hyun smirked as she continued.
"That's the kind of person Chairman Han is. Being the child between him and Minje makes it worse. Sorry to say this in front of Seung-woo and Eun-woo, but the only child he ever truly cared for was Han Yu."
Han Seung-woo gave a bitter smile.
"Anyway, Ru-ri should be fine in this mess, right?"
At Yang Jeong-hyun's question, Choi Si-jin quickly checked the gate clear list.
"The signature for the last B-rank clear hasn't come in. Looks like she's hitting a snag here."
Lee Ru-ri slowly extended her hand toward Tiacl.
[S ― Tiacl of Blue Passion: The target's favorability can no longer be increased.]
"But can we all just go like this to another room connected to this place?"
―Of course. With our contract, the curse of bondage was lifted. Now we can go anywhere at your command. I thought you no longer needed our power since you always sent us back?
"I didn't know that. Anyway, the longer we stay here, the more worried the people outside will get. They definitely know which region's gate I'm in... Han Seung-woo must be tracking it in real-time, so we need to finish up and get out."
Lee Ru-ri shoved open the door to the boss room that Tiacl had been guarding.
The contractors followed behind her.
As they cautiously scanned the interior while walking, a familiar sound echoed from somewhere.
Ding―
"Huh? That's a grandfather clock chime?"
Ding―
"Two..."
Ding―
"Three..."
Ding―
"Four... Huh? Is it over? Four chimes... I've heard that somewhere... Right, gate break."
Basillahan was already mounted and leaping into the air, surveying the surroundings.
Suddenly, Zanierko seemed to sense something and swiftly wrapped his black hair around Lee Ru-ri.
Thanks to that, they narrowly dodged a massive magic orb charging from deep within the gate.
"Zanierko, thanks."
―Be careful. This one's stronger than us.
"Yeah, the rank's different. It was... Ezold, right? So it wasn't defeated back then."
Zanierko unwrapped his black hair from around her.
Lee Ru-ri extended her dagger hand toward the direction the magic orb had come from to check the monster's info.
[S(H) ― Ezold Trapped in the Time of Despair: Current Favor <0>]
"Guess I need to call Drayger too."
Lee Ru-ri took a slow deep breath, recalling scorching heat, then shouted.
"Manifest!"
Drayger burst from a crack in the gate floor, and at the same moment, Ezold's magic orbs began flying in madly.
"This guy's bad news!"
Lee Ru-ri hurriedly cast heals toward the contractors, whose stamina had been whittled down blocking Ezold's magic orbs up front.
Once Tiacl confirmed his stamina somewhat restored, he summoned a small Tiacl and sent it flying to pinpoint Ezold's location.
―Hee hee! Fun!
The little Tiacl fluttered after Ezold.
Zanierko protected the little Tiacl from Ezold's magic orbs with his black hair.
"Where's it hiding?"
Four more grandfather clock chimes rang out, and the gate's lighting grew even dimmer.
"It's getting darker."
Drayger summoned his Drayger legion and ordered them to spew fireballs without using dark mana.
The Bewitched Draygers' fireballs flew haphazardly to the opposite side, faintly revealing Ezold's form.
―If we don't do this right, we could get hurt.
Drayger snorted hot breath as he spoke.
"Everyone, be extra careful. I boosted our stats with mana stones, but oh, I forgot the buffs."
Lee Ru-ri quickly cast Superhuman Strength and Radiance, maxing out the contractors' stats.
"This button Professor Park gave me... will it work on you guys too?"
―I don't know what it is, but trying it will tell us.
Lee Ru-ri pressed the camouflage button Park Joo-hyung had given her.
―Kraaaaaargh!
Drayger roared in excitement at his skyrocketing stats.
―Impressive. What is this power?
"It's not your real stats going up. It just reduces the intimidation from stronger foes like us?"
―That's plenty.
"We've got its position now. Shall we hit it properly from our side?"
Basillahan charged full speed toward Ezold on horseback first.
Zanierko lightly deflected the interfering magic orbs with his black hair.
The little Tiacl fluttered around Ezold, struggling to mark its heart.
"Tiacl, you could do fire attacks too, right? Does controlling the little one mean you can't?"
―As if.
"Then can you make the little Tiacl breathe fire?"
Tiacl pondered briefly.
―Never tried.
"Want to use my dark mana for it?"
―Oho, sounds fun.
Tiacl yanked in Lee Ru-ri's dark mana.
Then he chanted something toward the little Tiacl.
Boom!
The little Tiacl unleashed flickering black flames toward Ezold.
"Not bad."
―Fun. Can I use more?
"Go wild."
Tiacl summoned more little Tiacls and bombarded Ezold.
Drayger, after his dark mana refilled, blackened the Bewitched Draygers and ordered dark orbs at Ezold.
Basillahan hurled his spear without missing a beat, summoning thousands of blades targeting Ezold's heart.
At that instant, the little Tiacl marked the heart Basillahan had sniped with a red seal.
"Got it."
Tiacl slowly chanted.
―Fall.
―Kraaaaaaargh!
Thud!
Ezold's body, hidden in the darkness, collapsed limply.
Whoooosh―
"What was that? Huh? Why are we suddenly back here...?"
―Trapped in time, it seems.
"What does that mean?"
Ding― Ding― Ding― Ding―
"The bell again. But when did you guys get back here?"
―We've returned to the past, just moments ago.
"The past?"
Looking around, Drayger was gone.
"Drayger's really not here. So Ezold can rewind time over and over?"
―Can't say exactly. Only way is to try again.
Basillahan mounted and leaped into the air first.
Zanierko shielded Lee Ru-ri from incoming magic orbs again, and she shouted as something dawned on her.
"Manifest!"
But Drayger didn't appear.
"Only we from the moment we first entered are trapped here."
―Then Drayger...
"Means he's outside this trapped time?"
―We need to figure out what this space that imprisons us looks like.
Zanierko drew heavily on Lee Ru-ri's dark mana, spreading his hair everywhere.
Tiacl used it to infuse Zanierko's hair with flickering black flames.
Ting!
"Pleasing sound."
―We're trapped in a fixed space.
―Then just break it.
Basillahan charged to the aerial limit on horseback, hurling his spear fiercely.
Tiacl summoned little Tiacls, scattering them everywhere.
Zanierko kept shielding Lee Ru-ri from the magic orbs.
Ting!
Clang!
Kack!
Krunch!
After quite a while of Basillahan and Tiacl probing and attacking the space's boundaries, a crack formed where Basillahan's spear lodged deep.
Zanierko swiftly poured his hair through the crack, prying it wide.
Drayger yelled from outside the crack.
―You're all too slow! Step back!
At Drayger's words, everyone dodged through Zanierko's black hair gaps.
The Drayger legion unleashed dark orbs at the slight crack.
Crack.
Craaaack!
The orbs' power made the crack crumble wildly, shaking the gate floor beneath Lee Ru-ri's group violently.
―What are you doing? Get out!
Basillahan mounted Lee Ru-ri and leaped out the crack.
Tiacl used his little Tiacls to transport himself and Zanierko out.
"Drayger! You okay?"
―Leaving me alone with that lunatic!
Drayger huffed.
"Lunatic?"
―The one we took down was an illusion. Look there!
Where Drayger pointed, a colossal Ezold—at least five times the fallen body's size—glared at Lee Ru-ri's group in attack stance.
―Those magic orbs were just child's play. It's so huge, impossible to dodge!
No sooner had Drayger spat irritably than a gate-filling massive magic orb shot toward them like an arrow.