Chapter 102

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 102

Chapter Title: Corpse Collection (1)

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"Jake!"

Della cried out to the fallen Jake as she hurled a cloud of poison mist toward Joo Tae-ho.

Meanwhile, Lydia stared at the unexpectedly unharmed Joo Tae-ho, racking her brain for what had happened.

"Ah! That guy must've cured Joo Tae-ho's curse!"

Lydia hadn't pieced it together right away because she'd fast-forwarded the scenes from her usual [Memory Observation] several times over.

In that accelerated footage, all she'd caught was the healer reviving Kang Ju-young and pulling out some weird paper for her to sign.

"The healer fixed Joo Tae-ho's curse?"

"Probably. That's why Kang Ju-young dragged the healer here."

In the meantime, Brian activated his innate ability.

Brian charged straight at Joo Tae-ho.

Joo Tae-ho flicked his sword a few times to dispel Della's poison mist, then turned to face Brian.

"An innate ability that transforms the body itself, huh."

The moment he saw Brian barreling toward him, Joo Tae-ho instantly recognized the ability.

Innate abilities that altered the skin or the entire body like Brian's were more common than most people realized.

Slash—

Joo Tae-ho casually sliced right through Brian's steel-transformed body without a second thought.

Thankfully, Brian had backed off on a hunch after hearing Joo Tae-ho's words, avoiding being cleaved in two.

"You actually cut my body..."

"No matter how tough your body is, think it's tougher than a dragon's?"

Flash!—

At the same moment, Lorella summoned one of her favorite monsters.

Unlike the expendable ones she'd tossed out earlier, this was a beast she reserved for true emergencies like this.

Kieeeek!—

A dark crimson oval portal spat out a monster covered head to toe in blue scales.

Standing about three meters tall, it was a humanoid beast with a lizard's head, gripping an ice axe and shield in its hands.

"Oh. A Cold Lizardman."

Joo Tae-ho identified Lorella's summon at a glance.

It was a rare breed, even among S-rank gates.

And "rare" here meant exceptionally unique—and far stronger than standard monsters.

"Kill that old geezer."

"...She's been calling me 'old man' nonstop."

He hadn't heard that term until the dragon's curse struck.

It was over ten years ago now, so it made sense, but Joo Tae-ho still felt a faint twinge of bitterness.

"Guess I'll have to chug a potion or something."

Kieeeek!—

In any case, the Cold Lizardman obeyed Lorella's command, lunging at Joo Tae-ho and swinging its massive axe.

Clang!—

Joo Tae-ho parried the axe blow. The Lizardman countered with precise, methodical movements.

It used its shield to check Joo Tae-ho's sword while steadily probing for openings with axe swings, kicks, and tail lashes.

"Hoh. You trained the monster? It's way better than your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠average hero."

Joo Tae-ho noted that a rare monster from an S-rank gate trading blows like this outclassed most heroes.

In truth, its stats held up against any S-rank hero, living up to his words.

"Lorella, nice work. Let's pull back while we have the opening."

"Pull back? You have any idea how much I invested in that thing?"

Della pleaded to retreat, leaving Jake's corpse behind, but Lorella shot her down.

The Cold Lizardman alone had cost a fortune in training, plus the axe, shield, and armor.

And if it died too, Lorella's power wouldn't even qualify as S-rank anymore.

"Is this the time to dig in your heels? You wanna die too?"

"If we drop Joo Tae-ho here..."

Slash!—

Right then, Joo Tae-ho ended the game, cleaving the Cold Lizardman in a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single stroke.

"Think you can escape? Not a chance."

"Damn it."

Della vented her frustration at the hopeless mess where nothing went right and pulled out her deadliest poison.

Her innate ability, [Poison Collection], let her store any poison in her body and even mix them at will.

"Die!"

Tiny droplets launched from Della's hand rocketed toward Joo Tae-ho—but not a single one made contact.

Splash—

The droplets veered sharply off course, as if smacked by some invisible force.

Della clocked it immediately: same as when Jake got sliced first. She guessed at Joo Tae-ho's ability.

"Some kind of protection?"

"Curious about my innate ability? Guess I hid it pretty well."

Joo Tae-ho kept his ability under wraps around people, especially Villain Alliance types.

Plus, it was tough to spot with the naked eye, so even when he'd used it before, no one pinned it down exactly.

"I'll let you in on it this time. My innate ability is..."

Della caught the pause and yelled,

"Dodge!"

Whoosh!—

Joo Tae-ho blasted forward at blinding speed. That's when it happened.

Slash!—

No sword swing. In one instant, Della, Brian, Lydia, and Lorella were all carved open.

With all the villains slashed in a heartbeat, Joo Tae-ho walked over to the slowly crumpling Della and revealed his ability.

"Invisible Blade. Hope that makes a nice parting gift for the afterlife."

The range was five meters, but it shredded anything inside without fail—practically unbeatable in a one-on-one.

"Now for the ones rampaging around the school grounds."

Joo Tae-ho trusted his fellow instructors and the guards.

But with villains scattered everywhere, the cadets could be in real danger.

'And if there are casualties...'

The moment he thought to ask Kang Ju-young to summon the healer,

"All done?"

"Hm?"

Joo Tae-ho whipped his head toward the voice that appeared without warning.

He was poised to strike in an instant—but relaxed once he saw the face.

"You. When did you get here?"

There stood the healer he'd literally just been thinking about.

I'd been chatting with Lee Seojun on the uninhabited island when I dispatched a clone to scout the school.

If things got dicey, I figured I'd morph it into a disposable form and crash the party—but surprisingly, they had it handled.

"They're holding up better than I expected."

Lee Seojun, hovering in the sky alongside me, peered down and nodded.

"The combat instructors are all A- to B-ranks, so yeah. That S-rank monster's a handful, but backup's inbound soon."

Sure enough, a bunch of reinforcements poured through the main gate just like he said.

"See? Backup's here."

With their arrival, the monsters started dropping one by one under coordinated attacks.

And Lee Seojun could tell exactly who'd invaded just from the monsters swarming the Hero Officer Academy.

"Monsters mean Lorella tagged along for the assault."

"Lorella?"

"Yeah. Lorella Lutz. They call her the Monster Queen. Fitting nickname—she's got an innate ability to dominate monsters."

I filed away the new Villain Alliance name from Lee Seojun and scanned the school again.

Over fifty monsters were tearing things up down there. Not a bad power on paper.

"The ability itself seems solid."

"It's top-tier in practice too. Think about it—all those people tied up just blocking one Lorella."

If she was the one who'd unleashed that horde, it definitely ranked high-tier.

Then I noticed the monsters dying off one after another and had to ask Lee Seojun.

"Those monsters. Not summons, right?"

"Nope. Gate monsters. Lorella dominates them, stores 'em in some pocket space, and pulls them out when needed."

"Even just controlling S-rank gates or higher boss monsters would make it pretty damn good."

"Exactly. But bosses aren't easy to wrangle, so no need to worry."

"Worry about what."

As someone who'd soloed S-rank gates in a few hours flat with my Destroyer class, it was small potatoes.

Lee Seojun nodded, figuring I'd see zero value in monster domination anyway.

"Not much use for someone like you, Lee Seongmin."

"Nah. So where's this Lorella who popped the monster?"

I figured she was near the Dragon Heart, but Lee Seojun spotted her first and pointed.

"Lee Seongmin. Down there."

The spot he indicated was the bamboo grove in front of Joo Tae-ho's old house.

I could see Joo Tae-ho had just sliced someone down.

"...Jake?"

Incredibly, Joo Tae-ho hadn't moved a muscle, but Jake's body split open and he dropped dead.

"Five meters? That's how he got Jake."

"Yeah. Side note, but pointless here—the blade's power scales with whatever sword he's holding."

A better sword meant a deadlier invisible slash.

"And looks like Jake, Della, Brian, Lydia, and Lorella are all clustered there."

"All Villain Alliance goons?"

"Yep. The same crew that hit Shin-hwang Corporation before."

While Lee Seojun and I talked, Joo Tae-ho tangled with a monster.

Then he one-shot the thing and wiped the Villain Alliance crew in a blink.

"Like you said, Joo Tae-ho can throw down."

"He's gotta be top ten in the world."

I was quietly impressed by the "top ten" bit and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyed the dead villains.

'Should I snag those bodies?'

Villain trash—might as well put 'em to use for this world and the next.

'Lorella's ability looks decent enough.'

Not for the S-rank gates popping up now, but if unmeasurable gates showed later, dominating their bosses could be handy.

I mulled it over, shifted into healer mode, and spatial-jumped behind Joo Tae-ho to collect the corpses.

Flash—

"All done?"

"Hm?"

I asked, and he spun around, face full of surprise.