Chapter 240
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 240.
The desert city, Amirst.
Also known as the flower that blooms in the desert.
Upon entering the gate, Yoo Baek-jun arrived in the city and was about to enjoy a peaceful moment...
“Th-the heat… The s-sunlight…”
—Myaaaah….
But that didn’t happen.
Unfortunately, Yoo Baek-jun and Han Seong-ah didn’t arrive directly in Amirst.
The place they reached after entering the gate was the middle of the desert.
“M-Master… This place… can’t be too far from the city, right…?”
“No, it seems pretty far. There’s no sign of life or even a path.”
“I see……”
Plop.
Han Seong-ah melted limply.
Her appearance was so disheveled that it was hard to imagine her usual self.
‘It’s disgustingly hot.’
The heat was incomparable to Seoul. At least it wasn’t humid, but the temperature was unbearably high.
Han Seong-ah and Seol-yeong, unaccustomed to such heat, were melting away.
“…….”
Yoo Baek-jun looked at them with pity. Why were they suffering like this?
“Hey, why are you holding back your abilities?”
Yoo Baek-jun summoned a Cold aura.
Much weaker than usual. Soon, a refreshing coolness began to spread around him.
“Haaaah……”
—Unyaaaah….
Color returned to their faces.
“I get Han Seong-ah, but you. You’re someone who can control ice—why are you suffering like an idiot……”
—Kk, kkeuung.
Seol-yeong, seemingly too exhausted to respond, burrowed into Yoo Baek-jun’s clothes.
A heavy weight.
A sigh escaped his lips.
“Are you a tiger or a pig?”
No answer came.
Clicking his tongue, Yoo Baek-jun glanced around.
“Master, how do we get to Amirst from here? Don’t tell me…”
Yoo Baek-jun had arrived at a spot quite far from Amirst.
Which meant one thing.
“We walk, obviously.”
“Ah, aah……”
They had no choice but to trek all the way to Amirst on foot.
Hearing this, Han Seong-ah’s face twisted in despair.
“What’s the big deal? This isn’t your first time marching like this. You’ve wandered around Seoraksan Mountain until you were sick of it.”
“M-Master… Seoraksan Mountain and a desert are a bit different.”
“How? Both make your feet sink deep.”
Yoo Baek-jun stomped the ground.
The desert sand swallowed his feet, just like the snow of Seoraksan Mountain had.
“N-no. It’s… the heat. This level of heat is unimaginable in Seoraksan Mountain, Master.”
“Think of it as summer training.”
“Ack, aah! Masteeeer!”
Yoo Baek-jun dragged Han Seong-ah along. Of course, he had no intention of crossing this harsh desert on foot either.
“It should be around here.”
“Around here…?”
Nothing but desert surrounded them.
Yoo Baek-jun carefully examined the ground, then summoned lightning into his palm.
With a swing of his arm, a massive bolt struck the ground ahead.
Kwaaaaang!
Silence returned.
Han Seong-ah was puzzled, while Yoo Baek-jun waited patiently.
A moment later.
Shoooooo!
“That sound!”
A massive whirlpool-like shape appeared in the sand, and from it emerged a giant lizard-like creature.
No, to be precise, a monster resembling a cross between a lizard and a turtle.
Han Seong-ah gripped her sword.
“Master, it’s a monster!”
“Yeah, I lured it here.”
“You lured it? Why…?”
The creature’s name was Kodogo.
Its eyesight was poor, but its hearing was unnervingly sharp.
They usually lived beneath the desert.
“I need money.”
“Money?”
Considering what lay ahead, a certain amount of funds was necessary.
The Kodogo was a powerful monster, feared by the people of the desert.
Naturally, the byproducts it produced could be sold for a high price.
“There’s probably a leader nearby. Let’s do some monster hunting for old times’ sake.”
Yoo Baek-jun began the hunt.
* * *
Hunting Kodogo was simple.
The creature relied almost entirely on hearing, so all that was needed was to keep disrupting it.
Boom! Kwaaaang!
—Ssssss…!
Like this.
Yoo Baek-jun continued striking the Kodogo with lightning to disorient it.
Then, as it flinched from the thunder, he closed in.
“Han Seong-ah!”
“Yes!”
Han Seong-ah’s ghost sword pierced the Kodogo’s body, and Yoo Baek-jun finished it off.
If severely injured, the creature would try to escape underground, so restraining it beforehand was necessary.
The ghost sword was perfect for that.
“How many is this now?”
“Around 30, I think.”
“Hmm……”
Yoo Baek-jun collected all the byproducts.
Kodogo hide, bones, shell, and magic stones.
All of which could be sold for a high price in Amirst.
“It’s about time for it to appear……”
But what Yoo Baek-jun sought wasn’t just these.
Something far more valuable.
Grrrrrrr!
“Master! An earthquake!”
Right on cue, the ground shook.
The earth trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and the sand turned into a quicksand-like hell, swallowing everything.
“Han Seong-ah, footholds.”
“Please call them ghost swords…!”
Han Seong-ah hastily created ghost swords to serve as stepping stones in midair.
Yoo Baek-jun, standing beside her on the swords, gripped his Thunder spear.
And in that moment.
—Kaaaaaaah!
An enormous monster burst forth from the center of the sandy hell.
A creature nearly three times the size of the already large Kodogo.
“There you are.”
The Kodogo leader.
It had emerged to avenge its fallen kin.
‘Little does it know this will be its grave.’
Preparations were already complete.
Clutching his Thunder spear, Yoo Baek-jun channeled his magic, and lightning coiled around him.
The unleashed power of the Thunder Monarch.
“Haaah!”
Yoo Baek-jun unleashed the Thunder dragon.
A technique he had used countless times before.
But this time, the lightning dragon’s form and power were unlike any before.
—Kyaaaaaaah!
The colossal lightning dragon spread its maw and lunged at the leader.
It aimed straight for the heart. The Kodogo’s armor-like hide could withstand most attacks, but…
—Kahak!
The enhanced Thunder dragon tore through it.
In an instant, it pierced the hide and speared the heart within.
A gaping hole was left in the Kodogo’s body.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
What followed was a swift conclusion.
Han Seong-ah restrained the fleeing leader with her ghost swords, and Yoo Baek-jun delivered the final blow.
Thud!
The leader collapsed.
To Yoo Baek-jun, its massive corpse was like a pile of gold.
“Good, let’s gather all of these.”
“Master, look around!”
Yoo Baek-jun turned.
Several Kodogo had surrounded them.
Han Seong-ah tensed, but there was no need.
“…Huh? They’re not attacking.”
“It’s their nature.”
The strongest Kodogo becomes the leader, and the others obey it absolutely.
If the leader dies?
They acknowledge the one who killed it as the new leader and adopt a docile attitude.
‘Normally, they wouldn’t accept me as leader since I’m a different species.’
This time was different.
Yoo Baek-jun used Overwhelm.
An overwhelming pressure weighed down on the surrounding Kodogo.
—Sssss….
—Sssssk….
Trembling in fear, they bowed their heads.
They had submitted.
“Seol-yeong, translate. Tell them to wait here until I give orders, and you—come with us.”
—Myah, nyaa nyaa nyaa… Kyaaoo!
“…Is that really translation?”
Han Seong-ah stared incredulously as Seol-yeong flailed its paws while ‘translating.’
But surprisingly, it seemed to work—the Kodogo began burrowing back into the sand, leaving one behind.
“It… actually worked?”
“Hop on.”
Yoo Baek-jun and Han Seong-ah climbed onto the Kodogo. Seol-yeong scampered up its shell and perched on its head.
“This’ll make things easier.”
The Kodogo began moving.
Yoo Baek-jun lay back on its shell.
* * *
From the moment they mounted the Kodogo, their desert journey became incredibly easy.
Thanks to Yoo Baek-jun’s Cold aura, the heat was bearable, and riding the Kodogo meant no walking.
“…It’s a bit boring, Master.”
That was the only downside.
The desert offered nothing to see.
Occasionally, monsters appeared, but they fled at the sight of the Kodogo.
“Are we on the right path?”
“No, this isn’t a path.”
“Huh? Then why…?”
Yoo Baek-jun narrowed his eyes.
Something began to appear in the distance.
“W-waaaah! A monster!”
“I-It’s a Kodogo!”
People.
But not ordinary ones—they were emaciated and exhausted, likely stranded in the desert for a long time.
“Let’s rescue them.”
Yoo Baek-jun dismounted and reassured them.
They were merchants.
“Y-you tamed a Kodogo? Is that even possible…?”
“Thank you, Traveler from another world. Without you, we’d have starved out here.”
“Get on for now.”
The merchants awkwardly climbed onto the Kodogo.
“It… won’t eat us, right?”
“It won’t. How’d you end up stranded?”
“That damned guide!”
One merchant exploded in anger.
The desert was vast, and navigating it required guides.
But their guide had abandoned them and fled.
“So we were stuck. Lost a lot of goods too… And we have to open shop for the festival soon.”
“…….”
Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes gleamed as he listened.
“Would you be interested in buying some goods? I’ve got byproducts from hunting Kodogo.”
“Kodogo! Let’s see.”
The merchant’s face lit up as he inspected the items.
Their expressions brightened.
“The quality is excellent. Kodogo parts are rare—these’ll fetch a high price. You’re selling to us?”
“If the price is fair.”
“Hmm, well……”
After some deliberation, they made an offer.
Yoo Baek-jun mentally compared it to what he’d get in Amirst.
“Considering our situation and that you saved us, we’re offering far more than usual.”
“You wouldn’t get this much in Amirst.”
They weren’t wrong.
It was an incredibly generous price. Yoo Baek-jun nodded in satisfaction.
“Deal.”
“Phew! You’re a lifesaver in more ways than one.”
The merchant sighed in relief.
They offered lodging in Amirst’s finest inn if he had none.
No reason to refuse.
“Master, is there a reason you’re so fixated on gold?”
“There is.”
Yoo Baek-jun hadn’t hunted or saved the merchants out of kindness.
He had a purpose.
“We’re going to a casino.”
“A… casino?”
The flower that blooms in the desert.
Amirst’s other name. The reason for it?
‘Because beneath Amirst lies a luxurious secret casino.’
That casino held the key to clearing this gate—and was also the stage for several events.
“War funds are always welcome.”
Yoo Baek-jun hummed a tune.