Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: The Guardian Approaches
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Seo Woo-jin's eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Do you know my name?’
Where had he heard it from?
After pondering for a moment, Seo Woo-jin chuckled.
‘Given everything I've done so far, it's no wonder my name has spread.’
Only three Apostles had directly clashed with him.
And they were all dead.
A considerable number of Dark Elves had perished as well.
At this point, it would have been stranger if they didn't know his name.
Though he had no idea from whom.
"I'm Seo Woo-jin, but who might you be?"
Seo Woo-jin asked.
He already knew the name.
What Seo Woo-jin was curious about was his true identity.
Judging from how he treated the others, he didn't seem to be an Elder.
But the aura emanating from him suggested his status was far from ordinary.
Tairon opened his mouth in response to Seo Woo-jin's question.
"I am Tairon. The ruler of this land you've invaded and the representative of the clan."
‘...So he's the clan chief.’
No wonder the demonic energy radiating from him felt so immense.
The clan chief's position seemed somewhat lower than the Elders', which was puzzling, but Seo Woo-jin brushed it aside.
Their hierarchy wasn't what mattered right now.
"Too late for pleasantries, I suppose."
Seo Woo-jin shrugged and glanced at the Elders.
The sound of grinding teeth reached his ears.
Grind—
It was the noise from Elders unable to contain their rage.
But Seo Woo-jin didn't even look their way as he asked,
"By the way, who told you my name?"
Seo Woo-jin narrowed his eyes.
Tairon offered no answer.
He simply glared at Seo Woo-jin in silence, his fighting spirit quietly burning.
"Sneaky bastard."
Seo Woo-jin grumbled.
He felt a little aggrieved that he'd answered while the other stayed silent.
He infused chaos energy into ‘Karaniel’.
Whoooong—
A deep resonance leaked out.
"I'll just capture him later and ask then. So, you gonna come at me or what?"
As Seo Woo-jin smiled and provoked them, the Elders' demonic energy erupted like an explosion.
They could no longer stand by and watch his actions.
"Slaughter the enemy!"
Craka shouted.
The forest shook.
"So it was that guy, huh?"
He sensed things that had been watching from the forest now swarming toward them.
The authority to control monsters and demonic beasts.
It belonged to that one.
"Leave the rear to me. It's getting boring just spectating."
"I'll leave it to you."
Briana stretched and charged toward them.
Kwa-gwa-gwang—!
He didn't need to look to know.
The God of Death had manifested behind him.
Seo Woo-jin withdrew his attention from the monsters dying without screams and beckoned to the Elders.
"Then let's get back to it."
Seo Woo-jin ignited his aura along ‘Karaniel’.
At that destructive energy, the Elders began unleashing all their authorities.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, darkness blanketed Seo Woo-jin's vision.
‘Blocking my sight?’
He couldn't see a thing.
But it posed no major issue for Seo Woo-jin.
Having ascended to the super-transcendence realm, he could perceive everything through his senses alone.
And besides...
‘Divine Dragon Eye.’
Activating the skill flooded him with information volumes incomparable to mere eyesight.
‘Behind.’
An Elder who had circled behind was thrusting a pointed sword.
‘I didn't sense any movement coming from the rear.’
It seemed he possessed an authority related to spatial translocation.
Seo Woo-jin extended a hand backward without turning.
Clang—!
The sword shattered upon striking his palm.
"Kek!"
In that split-second clash, the Elder vomited blood from the chaos energy that flowed in.
"Kill him! Make him regret setting foot on this land..."
"Shut your mouth."
‘Karaniel’ roughly cleaved the air.
A crude trajectory that hardly resembled a sword path.
But it was more than enough against his foes.
Puhwaaak—!
The shouting Elder's leg severed, blood spraying forth.
Sensing it, Seo Woo-jin frowned.
‘As expected...’
This time, it had precisely targeted his neck.
Yet the leg was what came off.
Just like before, someone's authority kept interfering.
Seo Woo-jin reached to grab an arrow aimed at his chest, then flinched and jerked his head back.
Swaaaaak—!
It had shifted from his chest to his brow at the last moment.
‘This is annoying.’
It wasn't critically dangerous yet.
He had no trouble fighting.
In fact, he could steadily inflict damage even if not killing outright.
But if it dragged on like this, he might end up in a bind, so he needed to eliminate the source first.
‘Find him.’
Seo Woo-jin maximized his ‘Divine Dragon Eye’.
Their breaths, gestures, even a single strand of hair.
He focused his mind to pinpoint the suspicious Elder the moment his senses distorted.
And at last,
"You, huh?"
Seo Woo-jin's gaze fixed on one side.
The recipient flinched, body stiffening.
Kwaang—!
His foot slammed the ground.
Seo Woo-jin's form exploded toward him.
"Stop him...!"
The other Elders tried to interfere, but their speed fell short.
"Got you."
Seo Woo-jin's lips curved into a smirk.
"How dare you!"
The target bellowed and raised his bow.
Judging no time to nock and draw, he swung it like a club.
"Slow."
Seo Woo-jin's ‘Karaniel’ descended like lightning from above.
It resembled Baek Si-woo's skill.
Craaaack—!
From crown to groin.
Split perfectly in two as he collapsed.
"Damn it, fall back!"
Someone shouted.
"Where to!"
The Elders tried to retreat, but Seo Woo-jin wasn't about to let them.
‘Karaniel’ danced.
Gray aura began filling the air.
Crack—split—clang—!
"Kaaaak!"
"Gek!"
Screams erupted amid sprays of blood.
With the sense-distorting Elder dead, ‘Karaniel’ severed the Elders' necks precisely as Seo Woo-jin willed.
Four Elders lay slain in an instant.
Only three remained.
"Oh? Now I can see."
Apparently, one of the beheaded had been blocking his vision, as light returned to his sight.
The first things in view were the Elders, faces drained pale blue.
Their eyes brimmed with terror, as if facing the Grim Reaper himself.
Seeing it, Seo Woo-jin realized anew just how much stronger he'd grown.
‘Before, even three of them would have been a struggle.’
One or two, he could manage somehow, but three would have been too much.
But now?
He overwhelmed all nine.
No need to even draw ‘Ruden Gard’.
Their attacks never so much as grazed him.
The fruits of surpassing level 100 and reaching super-transcendence exceeded his expectations.
A suffocating silence fell.
Not just the Elders—even Tairon, observing from the rear—shared the same disbelief.
"How can a mere Empire puppet..."
Someone groaned.
Seo Woo-jin frowned at the words.
"Who are you calling a puppet?"
He had come here of his own volition.
Purely to level up.
Not on Empire orders, nor manipulated by them.
His current ties with the Empire were strained, no?
‘Given the Emperor's actions, he's practically a potential enemy.’
Being labeled an Empire puppet soured his mood.
"Aren't you the real puppets? Trailing after a world-ender, committing every vile act imaginable."
"Shut that mouth!"
One Elder spat his rage at Seo Woo-jin's mockery.
"You shut up."
‘Karaniel’ traversed space, slitting his throat.
Pshuuuk—!
Blood gushed skyward.
An utterly unreal sight.
A Dark Elf Elder—chosen recipient of the Demon King's authority.
Sliced like an irksome fly.
For the Elders, who believed they could handle even guardians with their power, it was pure shock.
"What hypocrisy. You can insult me, but I can't fire back?"
Dealing with zealots was always infuriating.
They shut their eyes, plug their ears, and proclaim themselves the sole arbiters of justice.
"Enough. No interest in more talk—let's wrap this up."
Seo Woo-jin shook his head.
He knew arguing with them would just give him a headache.
Better to stick to the plan: level up quick and head back...
As he raised ‘Karaniel’, Seo Woo-jin's gaze shifted sideways.
"...What? More of you?"
He sensed presences approaching.
Around thirty strong.
Each radiating intense demonic energy.
"The Guardians are coming."
Tairon and the Elders, sensing it too, turned the same way as Seo Woo-jin.
‘Guardians?’
Seeing their delighted faces, Seo Woo-jin hardened his expression.
Warriors not far below the Elders in strength.
With thirty of them, their reactions were justified.
But that wasn't why Seo Woo-jin's face stiffened.
‘What the hell?’
Lagging behind the so-called Guardians.
Something emanated from there.
‘Strong?’
No—that word fell short.
Seo Woo-jin raised an arm to gauge it.
Chills prickled his skin.
The overwhelming aura from it had unconsciously heightened his tension.
"Seems like the Guardian of the Demonic Tree has shown up?"
Briana's voice came from behind.
Whirling around in startlement, he saw her standing composed—as if the recent battle hadn't happened.
But the vista behind her told a different story.
A canvas of hell.
Not a single monster or demonic beast Craka had summoned still drew breath.
All annihilated by Briana, not even proper corpses left.
Seo Woo-jin addressed Briana, whose face showed faint tension.
"Looks that way, huh?"
"Even charitably, he's no weaker than me. No way there's another like that here."
"True—with power like that, requesting the Grand Duke makes sense."
A monster beyond anyone but a guardian.
Seo Woo-jin stared toward the approaching nameless guardian, then suddenly asked,
"You said you don't know his name?"
The Empire hadn't either.
They'd only confirmed his existence.
"Right. With that level of strength, there should be records."
Briana nodded in reply.
"Well, the name doesn't matter."
Whether they could handle him or not.
That was the crux.
Glancing at Briana beside him, readying for battle, Seo Woo-jin tightened his grip on ‘Karaniel’.
‘This won't be easy.’