Chapter 291
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 291.
Amid the fiercely raging blizzard, Yoo Baek-jun revealed himself.
He held no weapons in his hands.
Clad only in an overcoat, he was practically unarmed. Yet, the pressure he exuded was anything but ordinary.
“Why is that monster here…?!”
Takuro gasped in shock.
Who could have imagined that man would appear here?
“Th-the family head of the Sword Saint’s Family?”
“If he’s the family head, he wouldn’t be alone!”
The mere sight of Yoo Baek-jun sent the hunters into a panic.
Some even began to scan their surroundings, wary of potential allies lurking nearby.
“M-Mr. Yoo Baek-jun?”
“…….”
Nagito called out the name of Yoo Baek-jun, who stood behind him.
With an expressionless nod, Yoo Baek-jun channeled magic into his fists.
Clank!
An Aura install materialized gauntlets around his hands.
“No! Don’t atta—!”
Takuro’s shout was cut short as Yoo Baek-jun charged forward.
A speed beyond what the eyes could follow.
Like lightning, Yoo Baek-jun’s fist slammed into Takuro’s abdomen.
Crackle!
“Guhhh—!”
Lightning erupted from his fingertips, electrocuting Takuro’s entire body.
His body froze momentarily.
Yoo Baek-jun twisted his torso and delivered a spinning kick to the back of Takuro’s neck.
“Ghk—!”
The leg, encased in ice, served as a brutal blunt weapon.
Unable to withstand the Frozen Shattering Kick, Takuro collapsed, and Yoo Baek-jun grabbed his body, executing the Tendon-Shattering Bone Crush technique.
“GAAAAAAAAH—!”
A blood-curdling scream echoed.
With his bones and flesh being forcibly separated, screaming was inevitable.
Takuro writhed in agony, and the hunters who witnessed it trembled in fear.
“Well, one down…”
Yoo Baek-jun, having literally shattered Takuro’s entire body, slowly turned around.
His icy gaze swept across the surroundings.
“Who’s next?”
Magical power surged violently.
A fierce blizzard raged, and a thick crimson mist enveloped the area.
Amid it all, razor-sharp plum blossom petals scattered like blades.
“AAAH—!”
“M-monster…!”
Screams erupted from all directions.
Nagito watched the scene with a dazed expression.
* * *
The situation was resolved before long.
Han Seong-ah and the swordsmen, who had arrived slightly late, dealt with the remaining hunters.
“What should we do? Kill them?”
“Hmm, that’s…”
Yoo Baek-jun glanced back. Nagito happened to be looking at him.
“Doesn’t seem like my call to make. What do you want to do?”
“…….”
Nagito clenched his teeth.
His eyes, filled with rage and bitterness, stared at those who were once his comrades.
“…This gate is a harsh place. It’s teeming with monsters everywhere.”
Like Seoraksan Mountain, the snowy fields of this gate were unforgiving.
Nagito had personally experienced just how merciless this place could be.
“No need to dirty our hands with these scum. Restrain them and leave them in the snowfields. The monsters will take care of them.”
“Will that satisfy you?”
“Yes.”
Nagito nodded.
Had it been Yoo Baek-jun, he would’ve slaughtered them all on the spot, but…
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’
The hunters were already severely injured from the earlier battle.
In their current state, they wouldn’t survive—they’d become prey.
“Instructor Han Seong-ah.”
“Understood. I’ll handle it.”
Han Seong-ah and the swordsmen led the screaming hunters away.
Only Yoo Baek-jun and Nagito remained.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence lingered between them.
Nagito was still in shock, while Yoo Baek-jun was trying to pinpoint the source of the déjà vu he’d been feeling.
‘Ah, right.’
After a brief moment of thought, Yoo Baek-jun chuckled inwardly.
‘No wonder I kept feeling this déjà vu—it’s similar to Yoo Baek-jun’s story.’
The early days of this body and Nagito’s current situation were eerily alike.
Betrayed by those he trusted, his life hanging by a thread.
Even the location was uncanny.
Yoo Baek-jun had been chased through snowy fields, and here they were again.
‘The only difference is that Nagito is a prominent successor.’
Yoo Baek-jun had been treated as an outcast, let alone a successor.
Compared to that, Nagito’s circumstances were far better.
‘Tch.’
Looking at Nagito’s half-dead face, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy.
Yoo Baek-jun sighed inwardly and began healing Nagito’s wounds.
“I told you before. Since I owe you, call me if you ever need help.”
“Ha… haha…”
Nagito forced a bitter smile.
“I never imagined you’d repay the debt like this.”
“I didn’t expect to repay it this way either.”
Honestly, he hadn’t even considered it a debt, so he never planned to call for help.
Yet here he was, receiving aid in such a manner. A wry smile escaped him.
“Thank you. If possible, could you also heal my other comrades…?”
“Sure.”
Yoo Baek-jun treated the other guild members with the medicine he’d brought.
Their injuries were severe, so they wouldn’t be moving anytime soon.
“How did you know to come? I did send a distress signal, but…”
“Got lucky. I happened to be in Wakkanai for business. Then I spotted some suspicious-looking guys.”
Of course, that was a lie.
He’d come to Wakkanai knowing this event would unfold.
Unaware, Nagito marveled.
“Amazing. It feels like fate. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead.”
Nagito repeatedly expressed his gratitude, vowing to repay him somehow.
He even asked Yoo Baek-jun to speak casually, as formalities felt burdensome.
No reason to refuse.
“So, what happened? Weren’t those guys your guild members?”
“Yes, they’re from Mikazuki Guild. But they follow my younger brother… Toma. Traitors.”
Nagito gritted his teeth.
“They came here intending to kill me from the start. And I… foolishly trusted Toma.”
“What about the gate raid?”
“Failed. They betrayed us mid-fight against the boss monster. We were attacked from the front by monsters and from behind by traitors…”
No way to withstand that.
“The boss monster fled, and the traitors abandoned the raid. Probably… an escape gate opened nearby.”
If a raid on an Entry-type gate fails, the gate is liberated, and monsters flood out from within.
There’s only one way to avoid that predetermined outcome.
‘An artifact.’
A one-time-use artifact for escaping gates exists.
Exceedingly rare, so acquiring or using it isn’t easy.
‘But for a successor like Nagito raiding a gate…’
Seems the traitors took the artifact Nagito had.
For the record, the Sword Saint’s family doesn’t have such artifacts.
Their motto is survival of the fittest and the strong devouring the weak—a madhouse of a family.
No way they’d keep life-respecting artifacts around.
‘Bunch of lunatics.’
If you fail, just die.
The sheer malice in their philosophy made Yoo Baek-jun click his tongue.
“Things are seriously messed up.”
“Yes… I think I know why. Takuro said something. ‘If you become guild master, we’re dead.’”
Nagito was aware of unresolved issues within Mikazuki Guild that even his mother couldn’t address.
But the darkness ran deeper than he thought.
“If we return now… it’ll play out exactly as those bastards feared.”
“Oh…”
A venomous glint flashed in his eyes.
Nagito scanned the surroundings.
“I left markers on the way. Following them will lead us to the gate. The problem is…”
“There’ll be guards.”
“Yes, those who want me dead. They won’t leave until they see my corpse.”
The traitors’ goal was to kill Nagito and install the second son, Toma, as the next guild master.
If Nagito doesn’t die, their entire plan falls apart.
“On the flip side, we know where the enemy is.”
The escape gate’s vicinity would be swarming with traitors.
“Simple, then.”
The solution was straightforward.
“Kill them all and go back.”
“…Huh?”
Nagito was taken aback by Yoo Baek-jun’s blunt answer.
But Yoo Baek-jun was dead serious.
“No loose ends if we wipe them out. I hate leaving problems unresolved.”
Coincidentally, this was a snowfield.
A place as brutally cold as Seoraksan Mountain.
And in such a place, Yoo Baek-jun’s condition was at its peak.
* * *
Hours after treating Nagito and the other wounded, Yoo Baek-jun and the group set out.
Though not fully recovered, they couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
“Thank you again. Even using such precious medicine… I feel much better.”
“Yeah?”
A foreseen situation.
Yoo Baek-jun had prepared various medicines before coming here.
Thanks to that, Mikazuki’s guild members were in much better shape.
“Yes, the effects were remarkable. Did the Sword Saint’s family make them?”
“Hmm… no, I made them.”
“Huh?”
Nagito’s eyes widened.
He assumed a professional alchemist or pharmacist had made them, but hearing Yoo Baek-jun did it himself was surprising.
“Had to learn all sorts of things to survive. This way?”
“Ah, yes. Correct.”
The snowfield was crawling with monsters.
Their attacks would’ve been troublesome for ordinary hunters, but now, they were meaningless.
“You fight incredibly well.”
“Lots of experience.”
“Wow…”
Fighting in snow was practically the Sword Saint’s family’s specialty.
Though many monsters attacked, none could even approach Yoo Baek-jun before falling to the swordsmen’s blades.
“I feel like we’re imposing too much… I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Ah, there is something I’d like to ask…”
Yoo Baek-jun glanced at Nagito.
The corrupted dungeon beneath Wakkanai—where a powerful boss monster was sealed.
If that monster were released, this entire area could be destroyed.
‘No sane person would agree to that.’
Hence, he needed to leverage the debt.
“…Let’s talk about that later.”
They’d arrived near their destination.
A towering ice wall stood before them, with a hole carved into it.
“That’s the passage we came through. The boss monster is beyond it.”
Beyond the wall lay a vast forest, with a monster den at its deepest part.
The boss monster guarding it had fled, and now Mikazuki’s traitors occupied the area.
“…….”
Yoo Baek-jun expanded his Magical power, sensing presence nearby.
Just as Nagito said, numerous people were beyond the wall.
And not far from them, monsters lurked.
“You said you were attacked from both sides?”
“Yes, there was no time to react.”
Fighting monsters head-on while allies-turned-traitors struck from behind—
No way to counter that.
“Then let’s return the favor.”
“Huh?”
Yoo Baek-jun pulled out Seol-yeong, who had been snoozing in his pocket.
―Kyafuu… kyafuu…
“Time to work.”
This little one would be of help.