Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Blue Bee Honey Temple (5)
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Joo Seol-ran stared at the screen with wide eyes in shock.
"What in the world is this..."
The hairy thug who'd made a bet with Si-woo was being chased by someone.
Mysterious assailants clad in black robes. They were the ones pursuing the hairy thug.
Si-woo narrowed his eyes.
'What the hell are those guys?'
He was caught in an instant and subdued. Even as he drew his sword and resisted, it was pointless. His blade snapped in half, and he was seized just like that.
'Sword aura?'
The man began stabbing the hairy thug. He precisely targeted non-vital areas with a skill that suggested he was well-practiced in torture.
The hairy thug begged and pleaded through his sobs, but it was all in vain. The man stabbed away with an impassive face.
Blood sprayed from all over the hairy thug's body until he finally became a corpse.
Dang Hwa-rin's face, as she watched the screen beside him, twisted in disgust.
"Ugh...! What the hell are those bastards."
A man in shaman robes standing off to the side pulled something out. It was a bell that glowed an unsettling blood-red just to look at.
He began shaking the bell. Then, something black emerged from the hairy thug's corpse and started getting absorbed into it.
It was a nauseating sight even through the screen.
"Blood Demon Bell!"
Joo Seol-ran, who'd been peeking at the screen, cried out. She forgot all about the drone's wonder and shouted.
"What's that?"
"Who knows where that thing crawled out from... It's a cursed object that kills people and absorbs their souls."
Apparently, it granted bizarre powers in exchange for souls.
"Hmm..."
The men picked up the hairy thug's corpse and headed somewhere.
Si-woo flew the drone quickly in that direction, and far off, some kind of structure came into view. It looked like an altar.
It was cleverly concealed in a spot that would be hard to find easily.
Chopped-up corpses were scattered everywhere, and they'd even piled them onto the altar.
Moreover, dozens of people had gathered, making the sight utterly exhausting.
"Ha..."
Investigation of Anomalies in Blue Bee Mountain Completed.
Si-woo checked his quest window.
Now that he'd spotted those guys, the quest to investigate the anomaly had cleared.
They looked plenty suspicious at a glance. It seemed like dealing with them would clear the next quest.
After some thought, Si-woo spoke to Joo Seol-ran.
"Can't you just report it to the Murim Alliance?"
Joo Seol-ran averted her gaze. She replied in a deflated voice.
"Haa... Even if I told them, they wouldn't believe me. I'm her bastard child, after all. Even if they did believe me, they'd just send a couple of low-grade warriors. Things only get moving properly once sacrifices start piling up."
Si-woo pondered her words.
Dealing with the altar would be tough and dangerous, but picking off a few stragglers seemed doable.
It was hard to tell precisely from the screen, but one looked first-rate, and the rest were nothing special.
"Then let's kill those guys and bail. If we snag that bell, even the Alliance has to believe us, right?"
Joo Seol-ran's expression brightened a bit.
"Ah...! Yeah. The Blood Demon Bell would be proof enough. Then the Murim Alliance would send real—"
Dang Hwa-rin cut Si-woo off.
"Hold on. Bail where? It'll cause a commotion, and we'll be hunted down in no time. Way too dangerous."
Joo Seol-ran answered.
"To the village. Cheongbong Village."
Dang Hwa-rin frowned.
"If we go there and those bastards storm in, the villagers get massacred?"
Joo Seol-ran shook her head.
"No, there's an incredible master there. We'd be safe once we reach it."
"A master?"
"Yeah. The Blue Bee Honey Temple has Elder Azure Moon. She's an absolute monster."
Si-woo tilted his head.
"You mean that big-chested nun?"
Joo Seol-ran shot him a chilling glare.
"How vulgar...! How dare you speak of her that way."
Si-woo chuckled and changed the subject.
"How strong is she? Strong enough to handle all those guys swarming in?"
"...You think they'd be skulking around like that for no reason? Even a hundred of those small fries wouldn't faze Elder Azure Moon."
Her confidence eased Dang Hwa-rin's expression a little. There was no time for more debate. Si-woo gauged the distance to their camp and racked his brain.
A quick ambush to take them out and escape didn't seem too risky.
"Anyway, let's deal with those bastards fast. It'll be a headache if they regroup."
"Hoo... Alright. But why are you helping me?"
From Si-woo's perspective, she was the one helping him, but no need to spell it out.
"I told you. I got a commission too."
She nodded, impressed.
"You have a real sense of justice. To fight scum like that over something like this."
"Ugh. Not at all."
Si-woo had zero interest in such tiresome heroics. The situation had just lined up conveniently.
*
With the drone hovering high in the sky, they had an overwhelming advantage in scouting.
The group approached the enemy. From a safe distance where they wouldn't be spotted, they observed the foes.
Sure enough, aside from the one first-rate guy, they were all nobodies.
Dang Hwa-rin grabbed a handful of throwing knives in each hand.
The moment the first-rate expert sensed something off and cocked his head...
-Shieeeek!
-Papat!
"Kuhuk...!"
Six throwing knives flew out at once. They struck vital spots on everyone except two.
Si-woo was briefly impressed by her skill.
But he tensed up at the sight of the unscathed first-rate warrior.
The man with the creepy bell and the first-rate warrior were unharmed. Their faces hardened menacingly.
Dang Hwa-rin clicked her tongue in regret. One of her knives had merely grazed the first-rate warrior's cheek.
Even in that sudden ambush, he'd protected the bell-holder. As expected of a true first-rate expert—far beyond what firearms could handle.
He bellowed in fury.
"How dare you...! Who are you!!"
There was no reason to chat with men about to become corpses.
"Tch."
As Si-woo's group charged without a word, the shaman-robed man glared murderously.
"You'll suffer even in death!"
He began shaking the bell.
-Jangle! Jangle!
An eerie bell toll rang out alongside a sinister aura. The group reflexively tried to resist, but it was futile.
-Thud
The women collapsed to the ground, breaking out in cold sweats and mumbling strange words.
"Ah, no...!"
"Hic...!"
Si-woo grimaced at the sight. Unharmed himself, he couldn't understand what was wrong with them.
The bell-holder was just as baffled. His mutter carried over faintly.
"How is he unaffected by the Phantom Spirit Sound...?"
'Phantom Spirit Sound? An illusion, huh.'
Si-woo roughly grasped what was happening.
Their levels weren't much—one first-rate and the rest small fry.
So the plan was to ambush and wipe the underlings, then gang up on the first-rate with all three of them for an easy win.
But that bell sound had thrown everything off.
The first-rate warrior drew his sword and advanced on Si-woo.
"A little torture and he'll spill everything. I'll handle him."
Si-woo stared calmly, deep in thought.
'Can I win?'
Should he flee to another world right now, power up, and come back?
'One strike.'
If he couldn't kill with one sword stroke, he'd bail back to reality.
Si-woo heightened his focus.
Sword aura gathered on the opponent's blade. He advanced freely wreathed in it—a mark of a considerable expert.
'Acceleration, Swift.'
The acceleration skill he'd stolen from Gal Sang-in depleted by more than half.
The world began to slow. Even in this slowed world, the sword aura on the first-rate warrior's blade rushed toward him swiftly.
In the decelerated world, only Si-woo and his foe moved normally.
Si-woo stepped into a stance. Mana and internal energy boiled through his body. No time to flee—he hurled himself at the sword aura.
His opponent's face slowly wrinkled in frown. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
The foe's sword, cloaked in fierce sword aura, shifted aim. Not at his arm, but his neck.
They targeted each other's throats at similar speeds. Even though the opponent twisted his blade mid-motion, he was faster.
Si-woo's head should have come off first. Normally.
But the incoming arm halted for a split second. Blocked by a blue barrier conjured from thin air.
That was enough.
His foe's head flew through the air, eyes wide with shock.
No sword aura needed to sever a human neck.
-Splash!
-Thump.
The head spun, spraying blood everywhere, before hitting the ground.
The bell-holder, who'd watched with arrogant composure, went wide-eyed in disbelief.
"H-How...!"
Si-woo felt a twinge of regret over that last strike.
One more step, and he could've won without using Han So-young's barrier from the mana core.
But with an enemy right there, no time to dwell.
"What the hell are you!! Illusions don't work on you...!"
The bell-holder stumbled back, his arrogance melting into terror.
Si-woo advanced with sword raised, pointing at the women behind him.
"Release them right now. Unless you want to die."
"W-What...! N-No. If you let me go, those bitches will be trapped forever—"
Si-woo's face hardened at the fool's drivel. Words wouldn't get through to him.
"Just die. I'll figure it out. Actually, maybe killing you releases them? Nah?"
"Gasp...! N-No. If I die...!"
Panic crossed the man's face, and Si-woo steeled himself. If the illusion didn't lift, he'd farm karma to fix it.
"Just die."
As Si-woo closed in, the man backed away and fell on his ass.
"Ugh..."
He squeezed his eyes shut and raised the bell high.
-Stab!
The bell pierced his heart. The handle was needle-sharp, making it possible.
Blood poured from his mouth as he impaled his own heart, yet he laughed.
"Cough...! Heh heh... Lord Blood Lord..."
Whatever that was, Si-woo couldn't let the enemy get their way.
His sword lopped off the man's head.
'What the.'
Yet not a drop of blood flowed from the neck.
The red stump turned white. Blood seemed to congeal somewhere, limbs paling from the extremities inward.
Si-woo frowned and swung. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't leave it.
He slashed the body to shreds, but at some point, his sword halted.
The blade, buried in the heart area, was gripped by writhing flesh. A disgusting sensation traveled up the hilt to his hand.
-Slash!
Si-woo kicked the gut hard and yanked his sword free.
The body—or rather, lump of flesh—on the ground began to twitch.
As Si-woo glared at it, a voice came from behind.
"Ugh... W-What...?"
Hearing Dang Hwa-rin's pained, trembling voice eased his mind a bit. The illusion had lifted.
'Killing him released it, huh.'
At least that was fortunate, but the twitching flesh looked far from normal.
'Mind Flame.'
Si-woo thrust with his red-glowing sword tip. The Mind Flame burrowed into the flesh, incinerating it amid a foul stench.
-Grroooarrr
A grotesque sound emanated from the mouthless lump.
-Crack
The flesh split open, and a massive arm burst forth.
It was unbelievable that such a huge monster emerged from that small lump.
A humanoid abomination over four meters tall, skinless and horrific. Raw red muscle and veins exposed.
"Kwaaaagh!"
It glanced at its burning arm and tore it off without hesitation.
-Sizzle
-Boom!
The hurled arm smashed dozens of trees. It was as long as Si-woo was tall.
Insane strength.
And the severed arm was slowly regenerating.
"Holy..."
A monster with overwhelming power and regeneration.
The skinless beast roared in a nightmarish voice.
"Groooaaarrr!!"
Its roar unleashed an air blast. Terrifying presence, but seeing the torn arm gave Si-woo hope.
Tearing it off meant the Mind Flame worked.
Si-woo gripped his sword.