Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: N/A
Chapter Title: I'm Back
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"I'm back."
"Kara Clan Head... I never thought you'd betray us."
"Hmph! And you lot—going this far just to screw a guy who just turned adult? Does that even make sense?"
"W-what did you say?!"
The identity of the woman who rescued Lime and Jormungand from danger.
She was none other than Kara Ardri, the current Clan Head of the Ardri Clan.
'Damn... I jumped in thinking I could help, but this is a total backstab.'
He'd heard that Yongchan, hurtling toward Youngno, had been saved by Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon.
So when word came that she was showing up again today, he tailed her in secret—and the scene was pure chaos.
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon, the steadiest member of Princess Lee Seolgi's rescue party, was barely breathing. The rest of the party?
Princess Lee Gok was already sidelined.
Princess Lee Miran was trapped inside the domain somewhere, vanished along with the young Clan Head. And most shockingly, even she—one of the Ten Great Clan Heads—had no idea Clan Head Emma was this strong.
'Maybe it's good Yongchan didn't show... As much as I hate to admit it, our shot at winning is basically gone now.'
He figured the snake monster sprawled here could at least pull something off. But had she overestimated her strength?
Clan Head Emma took her down in the most pathetic way imaginable.
"Even so, it's still two against one."
"...!"
"Kara Clan Head, how long do you think you can last alone—especially while babysitting that summoned beast monster behind you?"
Had she shown up for nothing?
If she'd played dumb to the end, she could've slipped away unscathed.
But.
"Thank you! Clan Head Kara."
"Ha, fuck... seriously."
"...?"
To a man, you know?
A handsome younger guy several generations down the family line, acknowledging her as an ally—how could she just look away?
Besides, their odds weren't zero.
"You two done bluffing yet?"
"Huh?"
"Hah, hah... what?"
"You heard me. You've been grinding through brutal fights non-stop—you must be exhausted by now."
"!!"
For starters, Maya Clan Head would've been smashed to pulp by Jormungand if Clan Head Emma hadn't jumped in.
She'd escaped that doom, but the constant skill spam and wounds left her in serious shape.
Above all.
"Clan Head Emma... you look ready to keel over any second."
"...You slippery weasel."
"Haha. I'll take it as praise for now."
Emma Sarlmanu.
She and her equal, Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon, had burned their ultimate arts. She was basically a standing corpse.
Sure, she just looked sweat-soaked on the outside. But really, one good shove and she'd topple.
Still, as the strongest of the Ten Great Clans' heads, dropping her guard wasn't an option.
"Let's call it here."
"...What?"
Worn out as she was—with stuff to protect besides—Kara Clan Head had zero interest in tangling with two others.
She'd sparked this mess already. Now she was angling for a compromise, factoring in any other Clan Heads who might crash the party.
"If we three go at it, at least one dies for sure."
"Th-that...!"
"So what're you getting at?"
"Temporary truce. We all pull back. Even Clan Heads who've lived centuries hate biting the dust, right?"
Kara Clan Head forced a casual smile, trying to smooth things over.
But.
"Refused."
"?!"
"Hey..."
Emma Clan Head—barely upright—answered without a flicker of doubt.
"Maya Clan Head, don't buy it. We're way ahead."
"R-right?"
"Exactly. Can't you sense the other Clan Heads closing in?"
"?!"
The strongest for a reason?
Injured or not, she'd clocked it already. Emma Clan Head reset her stance and pressed on.
"This commotion? Three Clan Heads vanished? No way the others sit it out."
"H-ha, yeah!"
"Tsk..."
"But uh... other Clan Heads coming means... you know..."
"Yep. Split that hunter Yongchan among yourselves before handing him to Youngno."
"Damn! If it's a free-for-all, the exclusivity tanks...!"
Sure enough, three massive auras barreled toward them, just like she said.
Kara Clan Head clocked it. Proposal shot down anyway.
"Hoo..."
"?!"
"Guh...!"
No choice—strike first to win.
Faking a sigh, she loosed a poison-laced breath at the two Clan Heads ahead.
"Toxicity!"
"Pointless, Clan Head Emma. Think your homemade poison beats the Ardri Clan's ancestral brew?"
"Gah?!"
"Ugh... can't... breathe!"
They let their guard down—and swallowed Kara Clan Head's breath whole. Black blood spewed from their mouths as they crumpled.
Maya Clan Head, poison-weakest of the bunch, foamed and blacked out on the spot.
"As expected of Clan Head Emma. Injected your own venom to build tolerance, eh?"
"Hah, hah...!"
"But how long? Like I said—your attribute tricks can't top my poison-tuned arsenal."
Ardri Clan.
Assassin lineage. They reworked their bodies—limb by cell—into living venom, generation after generation.
Clan Head Kara Ardri took it furthest.
If she willed it, her footsteps or exhaled breath turned lethal toxin on contact.
"True... Ardri blood owns poison. Even you, loaded with attributes, can't hack it..."
That potency overwhelmed even Emma Clan Head's attribute-saturated frame.
But only that.
Swish.
"...Huh?"
Ultimate spent, battle-worn—she should be spent.
The sense Kara Clan Head got first sighting her shaky stance? Wrongness.
'...What?'
Should be a walking corpse by now.
Yet her body's aura? Pure, untamable tenacity.
"Elasticity... viscosity... density...!"
"In-sane!!"
That wrecked shell, forging a domain where supersonic blurred to snail-slow. Emma Clan Head.
Kara Clan Head—stunned—hoisted her arms. Next instant.
Boom!
"Gah?!"
Body-shattering cost be damned.
Human cannonball incarnate, Emma Sarlmanu arrowed obsession's shaft—smashing the verdant poison princess flat.
Kara Clan Head rocketed back, splashing into Lime's gooey bulk for a soft landing.
"Ah, thanks, Miss Slime."
"Yeah... so what now with her?"
"......Beats me."
Meanwhile, Emma Clan Head—down to one knee on dirt.
But her lips curved in a grin.
Because.
"You look rough, Clan Head Emma."
"Never pegged Clan Head Kara for a traitor..."
"Eh, I knew."
Time's up.
Game over—like a buzzer. Three more clans' heads touched down around them.
In front of the Andong Kwon Clan gates.
The Korean Hunter Association's final stand—gathered to battle Youngno.
Those unbowed by monster might, loyal to Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon to the last. Staring at Yeouido Island nearly in Busan, they reeled in shock.
"Crazy..."
"What is that?"
"So... Branch Chief failed after all?"
One mission.
If the male hunter deep in Andong Kwon Clan's underground didn't escape in her three-day absence.
Rescue him, life be damned.
But Yeouido Island—meant to halt way earlier—was nearly at Busan.
Truth hit hard.
This instant, every plan—done.
"Failed...? Im Eonnyeon?"
"D-don't be ridiculous! Can't quit now!"
"Right! We've still got our job!"
Yeah—even endgame, the quest Branch Chief left them.
Scheduled dawn. No Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon. All Hunter Association forces at Kwon Clan stormed the grounds.
"Yongchan! You okay?!"
"Branch Chief said mid-layers hit upper difficulty!"
"Means a handful of B-ranks can pull him out safe!"
Kim Yongchan—ghost for two days straight.
Chasing leads, they hustled under Kwon guidance to the deep cavern below...
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
The Black Portal—open over a decade—thrashed wildly.
Like it hurt.
Screaming death-throes, form crumbling, shrinking fast.
Then—pop!
"Phew... that was rough."
"""!!!"""
Conquered clean—the portal winked out.
And there, cradling a sleeping blonde with pointed elf ears...
"Th-that's...?!"
"A previous Kwon Clan Head...?"
A man—beard and locks jungle-thick in two days flat.
A male hunter whose mere backside could stiffen any woman's clit on sight.
"Huh? Who's there?"