Chapter 182
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 182.
The floating island was bustling with rescue operations.
People using magic circles were instantly transported to the island, exhaling in relief.
“W-we’re alive.”
“What the hell is going on…?”
Who could have predicted that a zombie apocalypse would suddenly break out in peaceful Busan?
People with weakened legs collapsed to the ground.
“But… Why does my body feel so heavy?”
Those who had boarded the floating island were inexplicably exhausted, as if they were about to collapse at any moment.
“Huff… huff…”
“Why… Why does it hurt so much? My body….”
It wasn’t just fatigue from fleeing in a hurry.
This was different. More precisely, it felt like something inside them had been drained.
And it wasn’t just their imagination.
“It must be due to the magic circle Lord Yoo Baek-jun mentioned. Your life force has been greatly depleted, so you should receive treatment quickly.”
A voice as smooth as rolling jade reached their ears.
People turned their gazes toward the source.
“Everyone, please come this way.”
“W-wow….”
An elf woman with radiant platinum hair smiled as she welcomed them.
Her beauty left the crowd momentarily speechless.
How often would ordinary people get to see an elf, renowned for their beauty, up close like this?
“This way, please.”
“Come and receive treatment.”
Led by Delowin, the elves guided the people to a safe area and treated them.
The people followed them as if entranced.
“Humans, tsk tsk!”
“Leave them be, Bigtums. How often do you get to see an elf like that in a place like this?”
“Well, that’s true. Especially if it’s a pure-blooded elf!”
Bigtums, who had been watching, snorted.
Elves weren’t rare.
There were quite a few elves who, like Bigtums, had come to Earth long ago and adapted to modern culture.
The difference was that those elves had become so assimilated to modern life that they’d lost their edge.
You couldn’t expect the purity or refreshing aura that humans typically associated with elves from them.
“Ugh, elves! I don’t like ’em! But more than that, I hate those damn undead even more!”
“Right!”
Bigtums pointed at the sky.
The floating island wasn’t entirely safe.
Busan was teeming with flying undead, especially ghost-type monsters, and they were now targeting the floating island in swarms.
―Kyaaaaah!
―Give us your living flesh!
The magic barrier protecting the floating island had been shattered by Vincent’s attack, and the undead began pouring in.
Before the descending undead could even touch the ground—
Bang!
―Kyaaaak!
“Where do you think you’re reaching with those filthy hands?!”
Bullets pierced through their bodies.
Dwarves, heavily armed with equipment forged from black iron, stepped forward to block the undead.
In their hands were guns.
“Get a taste of modern firepower!”
“Kehahaha!”
The guns themselves were extraordinary, but the bullets were even more so.
They were anti-undead rounds, prepared in advance after receiving a tip from Yoo Baek-jun.
Even ghost-type monsters, immune to most physical attacks, couldn’t withstand the bullets and dissipated.
“Glacier, lend us your strength.”
“Thunderbird! Don’t let the enemies descend!”
And then there were the elves.
Led by Ignasil and Baimar, they engaged in battle using spirits.
Ice spirits erected massive barriers to block the undead’s descent, while lightning spirits soared above, attacking the enemies.
“Tsk, cooperating with those damn pointy-ears is pissing me off!”
“You’re one to talk…”
“Can’t you two stop fighting even now?”
Bigtums and Ignasil growled at each other face-to-face, while Baimar sighed deeply.
Why do they always end up fighting whenever they see each other ?
―Grrr! Raaah!
Seol-yeong also moved among the ghostly undead.
Yoo Baek-jun, anticipating the undead assault on the floating island, had entrusted it to Delowin beforehand.
As he had hoped, Seol-yeong effectively dealt with the undead using its by soul-manipulating abilities.
“Lord Yoo Baek-jun.”
Delowin, who had been tending to the wounded, looked toward the building where Yoo Baek-jun was.
She clasped her hands together in front of her chest.
“Please stay safe….”
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun and Yoo Kang-ho faced each other.
An uncomfortable silence lingered between them—calm, yet tense enough to explode at any moment.
Yoo Baek-jun was the first to speak.
“What brings you here?”
“That’s my line.”
“Well, I…”
Yoo Baek-jun glanced at the ceiling.
“I have things to do. Someone has to resolve the chaos outside, right?”
“Don’t make me laugh. A failure who couldn’t even foresee this properly claims to have a solution?”
“Couldn’t foresee it? Hmm…”
A vague smile played on Yoo Baek-jun’s lips.
“Do you really think I couldn’t?”
“You…!”
Yoo Kang-ho bared his teeth.
Kang Dae-sung, who had been listening nearby, widened his eyes in surprise.
‘Does he know how to resolve this crisis? Then… could it be that his foresight wasn’t wrong?’
Did he spread false information despite accurately predicting this disaster?
And if he had prepared this much without the Busan branch noticing, that meant he had accomplices within hiding the truth.
‘Lord Yoo Tae-rang underestimated him.’
Perhaps they had let their guard down, still thinking of Yoo Baek-jun as the person from their memories.
Kang Dae-sung’s expression hardened.
“Heh, whatever. None of that matters. I only have one goal. It’s always been just one!”
“Lord Yoo Kang-ho!”
“Shut up!”
Yoo Kang-ho shoved aside the swordsman trying to stop him and drew his sword.
“I’ll kill you. Right here, right now!”
With a burst of rage, Yoo Kang-ho lunged at Yoo Baek-jun in a surprise attack.
His figure vanished in an instant.
Trusting his instincts, Yoo Baek-jun lowered his stance.
Whoosh!
Yoo Kang-ho’s sword grazed over his crouched form. Without hesitation, Yoo Kang-ho used the hilt to strike at Yoo Baek-jun’s back.
But Yoo Baek-jun retreated before the blow landed.
“Grah!”
Yoo Kang-ho unleashed the Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique.
Countless sword energies shot toward the retreating Yoo Baek-jun. As Yoo Baek-jun dodged and blocked, Yoo Kang-ho closed the distance again.
Then—
“I don’t… need this anymore!”
He threw away his sword.
Instead, he clenched both fists and drove them into Yoo Baek-jun’s torso.
His fists had turned pitch black.
“Ugh!”
Boom!
A punch aimed precisely at the ribs.
The moment Yoo Baek-jun blocked it—
Kwaaaaang!
“Hng…!”
A surge of dark energy erupted from the fist.
Yoo Baek-jun barely managed to block it by manifesting his own energy, but his palm tingled from the impact.
Yoo Kang-ho laughed maniacally and stomped the ground violently.
Thud!
The floor caved in as dark shockwaves spread outward.
“Die… I’ll kill you!”
The force shook Yoo Baek-jun’s body.
Yoo Kang-ho exploited the opening, relentlessly pressing his assault with furious punches.
The barrage was so fast it left no room to breathe.
Even Kang Dae-sung was impressed, and Yoo Baek-jun seemed wholly focused on defense.
Of course—
‘Just taking hits isn’t my style.’
He had no intention of not fighting back.
Whoosh!
A chilling aura erupted from Yoo Baek-jun’s body. Planting his feet firmly, he locked onto the incoming attacks.
And then—
“…!”
He began countering every single one.
Boom!
Yoo Baek-jun’s fist clashed with Yoo Kang-ho’s. Their energies—holy and demonic—collided and intertwined.
Fist after fist, the clashes continued.
Kwaaaang!
Finally, their energies detonated in an explosion, sending both flying back.
Yoo Baek-jun recovered first.
His figure blurred as he executed Heavenly thunder, and in an instant, he drove a fist into Yoo Kang-ho’s solar plexus.
‘Damn, he’s tough.’
His fist stung from the impact.
Yoo Kang-ho’s body, reinforced with demonic magic energy, was as hard as steel.
Yoo Baek-jun leaped up and struck Yoo Kang-ho’s torso with the Flame kick technique.
“Guh…!”
It had an effect.
But not as much as he’d hoped.
Yoo Baek-jun distanced himself.
“You damn… trash!”
Yoo Kang-ho’s eyes turned blood-red. He seemed to have lost all reason to rage.
Noticing this, Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes gleamed.
‘Should I provoke him a little more?’
The more agitated his opponent became, the more advantageous it was for him.
Yoo Baek-jun spoke slowly, tauntingly.
“Oh my. What happened to your sword, brother?”
“I threw it away! I don’t need it anymore!”
“And replaced it with demonic techniques, I see.”
Yoo Kang-ho sneered.
“That pathetic, weak sword technique from a family that never acknowledged me—I don’t need it! This demonic power, this strength is what made me strong!”
“Oh, really? But for all that talk, it doesn’t seem all that impressive.”
“Don’t… piss me off…!”
Yoo Kang-ho’s eyes darkened entirely.
The whites turned black, the pupils turned white—an eerie inversion that unsettled anyone who saw it.
A crimson-black aura began rising from his body.
“No, really, think about it. You abandoned the sword techniques you trained your whole life for a few months of demonic techniques—how strong could that possibly be?”
“Grr… ugh!”
“Wait, no, that’s not it.” Yoo Baek-jun smirked. “You never trained seriously in the first place. Would a failure like you even have mastered the sword properly?”
“Graaaah!”
Yoo Kang-ho roared and charged like a beast.
His clawed hands, now elongated like blades, slashed toward Yoo Baek-jun. The energy imbued in his nails was anything but ordinary.
Kaaang!
“Hmph!”
But that wasn’t all.
As Yoo Kang-ho approached, Yoo Baek-jun felt as if his own magic was being drained.
And it wasn’t just his imagination.
‘So he learned a magic-absorbing type of demonic technique. Annoying.’
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue as he dodged, continuing to taunt while maintaining distance.
“I heard you’ve been desperately trying to win Father’s favor lately. But do you really think that’ll work? Not after abandoning the Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique.”
“Shut up!”
Yoo Kang-ho’s body was transforming.
The crimson-black aura enveloping him began consuming his form.
His arms, the first to change, now resembled a monster’s.
The rest of his body followed suit.
He looked more like a demon than a human.
‘He’s getting faster.’
His physical speed had increased drastically.
Maintaining distance was becoming difficult.
“Even if you grow stronger using demonic techniques, who’ll acknowledge you? Do you think the family will accept that?”
“You’re the one who drove me to this!”
“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”
“Yes! You… you!”
Yoo Kang-ho’s hands burst into flames.
The demonic energy turned into crimson fire, forming a massive serpent that lunged at Yoo Baek-jun.
“If it weren’t for you… I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
“How pathetic. You don’t even realize Yoo Tae-rang’s been using you.”
“Die! Just die!”
Yoo Kang-ho charged like a wild beast. Watching him, Yoo Baek-jun briefly pondered.
‘He’s even more unhinged than I thought.’
He’d expected Yoo Kang-ho to be somewhat unstable after learning demonic techniques and consuming harmful elixirs.
But this was extreme.
‘He’s practically a beast now.’
An idea flashed in Yoo Baek-jun’s mind as he countered the attacks.
‘Vincent’s probably protecting himself with annoyingly thick barriers.’
But if he could use Yoo Kang-ho properly…
‘Let’s lure him.’
To the rooftop.
Time to make him clash with Vincent.