Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Became the Gallery's Only Reptile
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Up until now, Cheong had truly gotten angry a total of three times.
The first was when a tiger disguised itself as a human who oddly smelled like one of its own kind came looking for her.
The helplessness of the past, when she couldn't do anything about it.
Silpi and El probably couldn't even imagine how furious she had been with herself in the days following that incident.
She had even replayed the memory of that day over and over, recreating the technique the man had used.
And the second time was when she learned of Ceres's existence.
At the time, El still lacked the power to protect himself, so to shield Ceres—who couldn't defend against surrounding dangers—from other beasts, he often left the house.
Naturally, this meant less time spent with Cheong and Silpi, and Cheong felt jealous and angry, convinced that Ceres had stolen El away from them.
Of course, thanks to Ceres's wise handling of the situation afterward, their relationship wasn't hostile now.
The final third time.
The previous instances had all been anger mixed with self-loathing and jealousy, but this one felt like the most primal fury directed purely at an enemy.
An accident born from the worst possible timing, the kind that made her wonder if such a misunderstanding was even possible.
During El's process of becoming a divine beast, he shed his skin, creating a husk. Cheong saw it and thought El had died.
From her perspective, though, it was unavoidable—who could stay calm upon seeing their friend suddenly split open and die?
Kaduduk.
And now.
The situation that made Cheong angry for the fourth time had arisen.
Rage filled her blue eyes, which held the vast sky.
The target of her fury was the lord of the earth: the Earth Spirit King.
The Earth Spirit King, who had lost his right arm to Cheong, picked up his fallen arm from the ground and spoke.
-Overly aggressive.
"How dare you aim at someone in my presence."
Cheong had seen it clearly.
What the Earth Spirit King had tried to do to El.
If she hadn't intervened, El might have suffered an indelible, permanent wound in the worst case.
-Even as a divine beast, this is going too far!
-Your Majesty!
With the Earth Spirit King's arm gone, his two attendant high-grade spirits naturally panicked.
And Cheong bared her fangs at those high-grade spirits' auras, unleashing the massive emotion called rage without restraint.
"Come at me all at once, you rock hea—ugh!"
-Y-You! That's not something you say!
Silpi hurriedly covered Cheong's mouth and dragged her back.
I stepped forward to take her place, addressing not the high-grade spirit who looked ready to charge at any moment, but the Earth Spirit King silently watching us.
[Sorry about this. The kid's going through a sensitive phase right now, you see.]
-This isn't something you can brush off with an apology!
-Exactly! We must make an example!
I'd clearly spoken to the Earth Spirit King, yet the responses came from his escorts.
The Earth Spirit King shrugged theatrically, then gently placed his retrieved arm back in its original position.
Tsutsutsu.
New earth formed in the gap, reattaching his right arm in an instant.
Unless it's a special attack that blocks regeneration, a spirit's body can regenerate just like this.
That's why they're said to embody nature itself.
The wound on the Wind Spirit King back then was unusual; this is the norm.
[I'll talk to her separately, so how about we end this here?]
-Impossible.
[...Why?]
-That tiger divine beast took my arm. Ending it with just a scolding wouldn't balance the scales on our side.
[You regenerated it right away.]
-That's separate. We did nothing wrong and suddenly got hurt.
Well, that's true from a common-sense perspective.
But that only holds if they were completely innocent.
[You thought I wouldn't notice anything?]
Right now, there was something nerve-grating about them claiming cleanliness.
Kugugugu.
-Wh-What's that!
-The ground suddenly?
-...So it's not an ordinary imoogi.
The ground suddenly rose upward.
The Earth Spirit King immediately realized I was the cause and widened his eyes in disbelief.
Ignoring the familiar reaction I'd seen several times before, I dug out the section of earth that stood out from the surroundings and spoke.
[I treat you nicely, and you don't get it. Did nothing wrong? Then what's this?]
As I did, I released earth-attributed energy on the discolored part, dispelling the embedded mana and restoring its original color.
What was this? Simple: the Earth Spirit King had secretly infused his power into Paradise's land without anyone knowing.
He'd hidden it using the energy Cheong emitted while moving, but as someone with the same earth power, I couldn't miss it.
[You spirit kings clearly agreed not to interfere here. So what was that?]
-What is it, Earth Spirit King? Did you break our rules?
At my words, the Water Spirit King—who had been spectating—suddenly erupted in anger.
He was so furious that the humidity spiked noticeably.
-It was just an unconscious leak of power. Like how the humidity rose from your shout, Water Spirit King.
-You call that an excuse?
-I'm the aggrieved one here.
Aggrieved, my foot.
The Wind Spirit King I met before had a decent personality, but why was the Earth Spirit King acting like this?
Even the Earth Spirit King from Jijiyong's modern perspective was just curt, not this brazen.
-There's a reason.
[And yet you dare claim we did wrong by suddenly hurting you?]
He was underestimating us too much.
Look at him even now.
Explaining it away as a misunderstanding to the Water Spirit King without sparing us a glance.
-Father.
[Enough. Ceres, this isn't something to overlook lightly.]
Ceres tried to step in, having guessed what I intended, but I firmly shook my head.
We couldn't tolerate this level of disregard.
Otherwise, our voice would naturally weaken in future meetings.
To strongly assert Ceres's presence in this conference, we couldn't back down here.
[Guess we looked that much like idiots.]
So I'd demonstrate our power decisively right here.
To make it crystal clear, one strike. One strike to show something.
'But I can't attack the Spirit King.'
Despite devouring spirit medicines diligently, my total power still lagged behind theirs.
His position was an issue too.
No matter how displeased I was, he was a Spirit King.
Misstepping could get us marked by the other arriving Spirit Kings.
'So target the escorts, not the Spirit King.'
The two high-grade spirits guarding the Earth Spirit King.
They were still glaring at us with hostility, so I'd handle them decisively.
[Cheong.]
"Yeah!"
Cheong responded immediately to my call.
A glance showed Silpi clutching her head in pain.
She'd probably flicked Silpi's forehead on her way to me.
[I want you to take on one high-grade spirit.]
Silpi didn't look ready to attack another spirit—even a high-grade one—despite the attribute difference.
Keter was still too weak for them, so Cheong was perfect for attacking a high-grade spirit alongside me.
[One strike. Finish it in one. Can you do it?]
"Of course. I'll kill it dead."
[Good. This time, killing is fine.]
-No, killing would be a big problem!
Silpi was silent.
This wasn't the time for her to butt in— just watch quietly.
[I'll take the left.]
"Got it!"
We had to end it in one strike.
To that end, I first poured out about half my power to form a barrier preventing interference with our attacks.
With other Spirit Kings possibly arriving mid-way, I used all attributes I could handle.
Tsutsutsutsu.
[Here we go.]
"Got it!"
As the barrier completed, we prepared our strikes.
I opened my mouth on the spot, dumping and compressing all remaining energy, while Cheong charged forward, supporting her right fist with her left in the classic punching machine stance.
-What is that?
-You! Can't you stop!
My first roar erupted here.
But we had no intention of stopping.
Who told them to act like that first?
Our full-power attacks were about to hit the high-grade spirits.
Something broke through the barrier and intruded.
Pakang.
-This is dangerous.
-Agh! What a mess right as we arrive!
-Nice to see you after so long, but looks like greetings will have to wait.
-What the hell is going on here!
-Block it! Keep the damage from spreading!
"Grandpa! Grandma! Please calm down!"
-Cheong! El! You lunatics!
This was a barrier made with about half my energy.
No particular weaknesses since I used all attributes, so how?
...Well, with the Earth and Water Spirit Kings, the newly arrived other Spirit Kings, plus Keter and Silpi all intruding, no wonder it broke so fast.
I accepted it immediately.
But this pisses me off a bit?
No, even so, ganging up like that to block isn't right.
Especially Keter and Silpi.
Whose side are you really on?
-...Ah... Ea...sy... now...
I glared at Keter and Silpi, who had helped block our attacks, feeling a strange sense of betrayal, then instinctively turned at an inexplicable sound.
[...Cheong, did you say something just now?]
"Huh? No, I didn't say anything."
That's weird. I could've sworn I heard something.