Chapter 236
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 236.
Leaving Chae Jeong-jun behind, Yoo Baek-jun descended the mountain with the others.
Yoon Song-ha followed closely behind him.
“Thanks, I owe you one this time.”
“Yeah, as long as you know.”
“…….”
Her expression turned peculiar.
“Don’t people usually say something humble in situations like this? Like, ‘It’s nothing,’ or ‘Don’t mention it’… something along those lines.”
“Do I look like the kind of person who’d do that?”
“Hmm, I guess not.”
He was only ever humble when it suited his needs.
Yoo Baek-jun stretched his arms.
“You can handle the rest, right? The guild leader’s been thrown in jail, and the troublesome ones were dealt with earlier.”
“Yeah, they’ll be stuck in prison or the hospital for a while. In the meantime, we’ll… completely dismantle the Golden Lion Guild.”
“You’re ruthless….”
Yoon Song-ha looked at him with a tired expression.
“But are you sure it’s okay to talk about this? He’s Baek Jang-hyeon’s closest confidant.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
She seemed uneasy about whether Chae Jeong-jun was someone they could speak so freely in front of.
But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he’d go around talking about it anyway.
“Anyway, since we’ve driven a wedge into Deputy Chae’s heart, that wedge will create cracks in his loyalty. And….”
In truth, Chae Jeong-jun had visibly wavered after hearing Yoo Baek-jun’s words.
Originally, he had followed Baek Jang-hyeon’s will, but now his thoughts were changing.
“If the right opportunity arises, that wedge will make him change his mind completely.”
There were things that had been building up over time.
The incidents in Seoul and Busan, and more recently, the Jeju Island Gate.
Chae Jeong-jun was one of the people in the Association who had witnessed Yoo Baek-jun’s actions from the closest vantage point.
‘Baek Jang-hyeon… Watching him crumble from within would be quite the spectacle.’
He couldn’t help but want to see that miserable sight as soon as possible.
“Ah, here you are.”
“Huh?”
A man with a noticeably round belly suddenly approached him.
The middle-aged man who had been attacked by Song Tae-yeon earlier and collapsed to the ground—or rather, pretended to collapse.
“Hoho. Long time no see, Yoo Baek-jun. I believe this is the first time since the succession ceremony that day.”
“Huh? Who are you again?”
“Hmm? You don’t recognize me?”
The man acted as if they knew each other, but Yoo Baek-jun had never seen his face before.
Both of them tilted their heads in confusion.
“Uh, have we met before?”
“I’m the guild leader of White Wolf, hoho.”
“Huh……?”
That man didn’t look like a typical neighborhood uncle before, did he?
As Yoo Baek-jun looked puzzled, the man finally realized something was off.
“Oh dear, how careless of me. I forgot about this.”
The uncle let out a hearty laugh and then pulled at his own face.
The skin peeled away, revealing his original face underneath.
“I figured I’d need to hide my face when dealing with Song Tae-yeon. So I used an item.”
Only then did the White Wolf Guild leader Yoo Baek-jun knew reveal himself.
Just moments ago, he had been an oddly inconspicuous neighborhood uncle.
Now, he looked like a solemn executive from some corporation.
“Now I recognize you. Long time no see, Guild Leader Kang Seok-gil.”
“Indeed. I’ve been meaning to visit you several times, but we’ve been so busy ourselves….”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
The two exchanged warm pleasantries.
Kang Seok-gil regarded Yoo Baek-jun as a benefactor and always treated him with the utmost respect.
To the point of being burdensome.
“Once again, we’ve received your help. You’ve already done us a great favor with the assets before, so I’m ashamed.”
“I also received help during the civil war, so let’s just call it even.”
Yoo Baek-jun tried to brush it off, but Kang Seok-gil had no intention of doing so.
He subtly probed further.
“Still, we’ve received too much help to just let it slide. Is there anything we can do for you?”
“Anything you can do….”
Yoo Baek-jun and Kang Seok-gil’s eyes met, their gazes intertwining.
Yoo Baek-jun could read what the man before him was thinking.
He smirked.
“As you know, the Hunter Association has been attacking the Sword Saint’s family lately.”
“Indeed. I expected something like this from Baek Jang-hyeon.”
“Right. Well, I could take on the Hunter Association alone, but….”
That would be far too inefficient.
“It wouldn’t hurt to have allies willing to move together.”
There was an easier path than fighting alone—no need to take the hard road when a smoother one existed.
Yoo Baek-jun glanced at Yoon Song-ha.
“With Yoon Song-ha as a mediator, I think we could form a trustworthy alliance with the White Wolf Guild.”
“Hey, am I some kind of object?”
Yoon Song-ha, who had been listening nearby, protested, but no one paid her any attention.
Kang Seok-gil cleared his throat.
“Ahem, if this goes through, it would mean we’re once again indebted to you….”
Though they were considered the spiritual successors of the Golden Lion Guild,
White Wolf was still a newly established guild.
Having a solid backer like the Sword Saint’s family would only benefit them.
“We’d be honored to accept.”
The two shook hands.
* * *
Song Tae-yeon and the Golden Lion Guild members were arrested and taken away by the Hunter Association.
Yoon Song-ha followed them, saying she wanted to see Song Tae-yeon locked up.
‘Can’t be bothered to go watch.’
Yoo Baek-jun sank into the backseat of the limousine returning to the family.
He figured Chae Jeong-jun would handle things well on his own.
—Growl.
“There, there….”
Seol-yeong, who had been waiting for Yoo Baek-jun’s return, was sitting there.
The creature stretched out its front paws.
Tap, tap—poking Yoo Baek-jun.
—Meowrr!
“Ow! That hurts, you brat!”
Huff!
The pokes grew stronger until Seol-yeong started swatting at him with its paws.
Seemed like it was protesting being left alone in the car.
“Hey! It wasn’t even that long!”
—Grr… Hmph!
“No, you’ve gotten bigger, and carrying you around in my clothes is a pain now… Ugh!”
Whack! Whack!
The force of the paws grew increasingly powerful.
The once scrawny creature had plumped up lately from eating well. Maybe that was why.
—Bad human! Bad human!
“Ow! How many times have I told you not to call me that… Damn, that hurts!”
The punches had gotten noticeably stronger.
As Yoo Baek-jun struggled to block Seol-yeong’s blows—
“…How heartwarming. You two always seem so close. It makes me happy.”
“What kind of nonsense… Gah!”
Min Yi-jae, sitting across from him, smiled contentedly as he spoke.
To Yoo Baek-jun, it was absurd, but Min Yi-jae meant it sincerely.
“Well, isn’t there a saying? ‘The closer you are, the more you fight’….”
“This isn’t fighting—it’s a one-sided beating, dam— Ow!”
—Mrrowrr!
Calling this ’close’ when it hurts this much.
Yoo Baek-jun shoved Seol-yeong toward Min Yi-jae’s face.
The creature’s paw swung at the perfect moment, striking Min Yi-jae square in the face.
“…Guh!”
Min Yi-jae’s face twisted in pain.
He touched his stinging cheek and stared at Seol-yeong’s paw in surprise.
It hurt more than he’d expected.
“For something that looks as cute as a cotton ball to pack this much power….”
“You only understand once you’ve been hit.”
—Huff!
Seol-yeong, finally appeased, plopped down onto Yoo Baek-jun’s lap.
Yoo Baek-jun let out a sigh of relief.
“I thought my face was going to fly off. A normal person could’ve been seriously hurt….”
“But it’s smart enough not to do this to ordinary people.”
“…So it only does this to you?”
“…….”
Yoo Baek-jun fell into a gloomy silence.
“…Anyway, never mind that. So, what did you want to talk about? You didn’t just hop in the car for no reason, right?”
“Right….”
Min Yi-jae rummaged through his coat and pulled out a few documents.
“I looked into what you asked….”
“What, Stagglers?”
“Mhm.”
Yoo Baek-jun had asked Min Yi-jae to investigate the villain organization, Stagglers.
When it came to investigations like this, no one could match Min Yi-jae.
‘His unique ability is just overpowered.’
How could anyone keep up with a guy who could turn invisible and phase through walls?
The problem was that he used that ability to scare people.
“Yeah, just like you said, they’re preparing some suspicious stuff. Magic interference devices, magical restraints, things like that….”
“Magic users preparing that kind of thing? Weird.”
“And also….”
Yoo Baek-jun skimmed through the documents Min Yi-jae handed him.
One thing stood out.
“This is….”
“…The Magic Tower’s golems.”
Stagglers’s hideout was filled with massive golems.
Ones he’d seen before.
“These are the golems from the Great Invasion. And they’re made using the formula I provided… Stagglers has these?”
“Yes. And it seems Stagglers modified them. Look….”
Min Yi-jae pulled out a tablet and played a video.
“Hmm….”
The footage showed the golems from earlier.
Stagglers’s mages stood facing them.
What are they doing? he wondered—until—
Boom!
The mages began unleashing a barrage of spells at the golems.
A near-saturation level of magical attacks.
Enough that a normal golem wouldn’t stand a chance.
But then—
—Experiment successful… Hehe, hahaha!
“They withstood it.”
Surprisingly, the golems in the video endured the magical onslaught.
Yoo Baek-jun’s expression turned cold.
“This is dangerous.”
“I thought the same….”
The formula Yoo Baek-jun provided created golems with strong anti-magic properties.
But they weren’t invincible enough to withstand attacks of that magnitude.
“They must’ve modified them. The question is, how?”
The only way this was possible was if they enhanced the anti-magic capabilities through modifications.
But how?
Simply changing materials wouldn’t grant that level of resistance.
“There’s one possibility.”
If it was possible, then—
“The Black Shadows. They’re connected to them. I’ve seen evidence of Stagglers receiving help from them….”
“Those guys.”
It had to be them.
Stagglers was ultimately made up of Magic Tower outcasts. They didn’t have the knowledge to modify golems to that extent.
Someone must’ve helped them.
‘If it’s the Black Shadows, it makes sense.’
They were a villain organization directly tied to the final boss of Part 2.
If they received help from that final boss to enhance the golems, it wasn’t surprising.
“What if, by some not-so-coincidental chance, these golems ended up inside the Magic Tower…?”
Min Yi-jae looked at Yoo Baek-jun.
“And what if these golems suddenly turned hostile toward the people of the Magic Tower? What do you think will happen, Min Yi-jae?”
“A massive disaster… And since they look identical to the Magic Tower’s golems, no one would be able to tell the difference….”
“Right, exactly.”
Unless they knew how to counter it, being caught off guard by such an ambush would result in near-catastrophic casualties.
And there was someone who wanted exactly that.
‘Professor Harun of the Ice magic Department.’
The fact that the golem formula had leaked meant there was a traitor within the Magic Tower plotting rebellion.
That was him.
‘Harun, who’s always hated the Magic Tower, is collaborating with Stagglers to overthrow it.’
Moreover, many within the Magic Tower disliked Jin Seo-yeon.
Compared to the previous Tower Lord, Jin Baek-cheon—a transcendent figure—Jin Seo-yeon had many shortcomings.
Did the Tower Lord’s position have to go to their child? What if someone more capable took over?
‘These damn factional disputes….’
If they gained the support of those factions, overthrowing the Magic Tower might succeed.
If their plan worked, they’d collapse the Magic Tower and thoroughly eliminate its existing members.
That would be—
‘The Fall of the Magic Tower Event.’
The event Yoo Baek-jun had been wary of.
With the Magic Tower—a powerful ally—gone, Jin Seo-yeon, a Hunter of immense strength, would become a Calamity-class villain.
‘No matter what, I have to stop this.’
Considering future events, Jin Seo-yeon was an indispensable ally.
Yoo Baek-jun sighed.
This was going to be a pain.
He couldn’t help but sigh again.
And one more thing—
‘The Evil Dragon is starting to move.’
The thought of the final boss of Part 2 beginning to stir…
“Sigh….”
He just couldn’t hold back his sighs.