Chapter 705
Chapter 705
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 705
Chapter Title: Savior of the Academy
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We arrived in front of the rundown hotel.
For the past four days, I'd had Moca keeping an eye on that decrepit place. Once its occupant realized I'd uncovered his identity, he might drop everything and bolt.
But my worries turned out to be unfounded. The bastard stayed put, mocking my very existence as he carried on with his work.
He must be pretty damn confident.
And there was a good chance he wasn't working alone.
I tensed up, gripped my dagger, and stepped out of the car. Sara, reading my vibe, got out too, her face set in grim determination. In her hand was a rapier specialized for thrusting attacks.
"Yujin-nim, if it's this dangerous, shouldn't we request backup from the Association?"
Sara glanced at me cautiously. She'd sensed the eerie, unnatural aura hanging over the place.
"No. We can handle this ourselves."
"......"
For the first time, Sara looked at me like I was some cocky kid. She figured it was just bravado. Knowing full well how stubborn I could be, she gave up trying to talk me out of it, tightened her grip on her rapier, and positioned herself in front of me.
"But what's in that hotel? What did you see with your Spirit Eye?"
"Can't you tell? Feel the wind?"
"Now that you mention it, the wind here is unusually strong."
"All of Chicago's winds are flowing toward that hotel."
Her expression turned serious. If I was right, something unthinkable was happening in Chicago right now.
"Something to do with wind spirits?"
"Exactly."
I gave Sara a quick rundown of the situation. Her face grew stiffer with every word.
"Using wind to artificially create a spirit vein and corrupt spirits... This is no small matter. We should fall back and report to the Association first."
"I told you, the two of us are enough."
I headed toward the hotel. Sara, phone in hand, followed in a fluster. She'd probably sent a message to the Association anyway.
Ignoring my orders? Guess I'll have to discipline her with my dick later.
Whatever. It didn't matter.
Association heroes wouldn't show up instantly anyway. I'd just kill the guy within ten minutes.
First things first, tear down that barrier.
I had zero intention of stepping inside. I hadn't fully analyzed it yet, and who knew what other tricks he'd rigged up afterward. Better to smash his home-field advantage early.
"Moca."
"Kkuuuk!"
The summoned Moca materialized and shot into the sky. Her pure white body stood out even more against the dark clouds.
I channeled mana into Moca through our link. Pzzt-zzzt. Lightning crackled across her form.
Strike.
A massive bolt, empowered by Moca's strength, came crashing down toward the hotel. More precisely, toward the barrier overlapping it.
The hotel's walls shattered into pieces, and part of the barrier tore under the lightning.
Sara flinched.
A bone-chilling cold leaked from the ripped section of the barrier.
"Yujin-nim! This is...!"
"...Not enough with one hit, huh. Moca, again."
I clamped my mouth shut before finishing. The bastard himself had emerged from the tear in the barrier. An East Asian man with black hair. He scanned the surroundings with cold eyes through his glasses before fixing them on us.
"That all of you?"
"We know what you're up to here. Surrender. Drop to your knees and put your hands above your head."
Sara aimed her rapier at him and barked the order.
"Not cops, so Association, huh? Pathetic. Just two of you. And one looks like a kid. Nowhere near enough to stop me."
"We'll see if it's enough or not."
Kiiiiiing.
With a sharp whine, light gathered along Sara's rapier blade. She thrust repeatedly toward the man. Beams of light shot from the rapier, streaking at him.
The man pulled a fan from his pocket, snapped it open, and swung. A black barrier appeared, swallowing every light thrust whole. Like darkness devouring light.
"Pathetic."
He folded the fan and swung again. Darkness stretched from the tip like a whip, lashing out at me and Sara.
"Dodge!"
Sara shouted. Unnecessary worry. I'd been ready to evade the moment he folded the fan. The black whip slammed into the ground. Sara dodged nimbly on her own.
Too weak for an A-rank. More like B-rank, on par with Sara.
Which made his arrogance all the more suspicious. That kind of attitude meant he had something up his sleeve.
The fan? Nah. It's special, sure, but just a tool. No way the wind spirit's already corrupted, right?
Confirming I was keeping my distance, Sara pressed her attack more aggressively. Slashes of light flew at the man. He snapped open the fan. The whip vanished, and the barrier shielded him.
Got a rough idea of that fan's power now.
The fight favored him against Sara. Her ranged attacks bounced off, and closing in triggered the whip's wide, blindingly fast swings.
He's eyeing me while keeping Sara at bay.
He'd probably guessed I was a spirit user.
Moca. Lightning.
I pointed my index finger at him like a gun. Pzzt-zzzt-zzzt. Blue lightning gathered at the tip.
Moca and I unleashed our bolts simultaneously.
Too late to dodge. Sara had pinned down his movements perfectly. He opened his fan toward the sky, choosing to block the falling bolt from above rather than mine. He'd pegged the spirit's attack as the bigger threat.
Smart call. Moca's lightning, infused with spirit power, packs more punch than mine.
But that didn't make my bolt something to ignore.
"Gaaarghhh!"
Struck by my lightning, he screamed and dropped to one knee. White steam rose from his body.
Scratch the B-rank assessment. This guy's C-rank.
A real B-rank wouldn't crumple from a single bolt. I approached with my dagger reversed, aiming to slit his throat.
"...Who the hell are you?"
He stared straight at me and asked.
"And who the hell are you?"
"I am Wang Xian of Guirak Valley."
"What?!"
My advance halted.
Guirak Valley.
A faction somewhere in China. It shows up in the original story—one of the world's most dangerous villain groups. Even Gumok Church doesn't mess with Guirak Valley lightly.
"Guirak Valley?! Oh my God! What are you doing here?!"
Sara cried out in panic, practically losing it. She had every reason to. Guirak Valley had a reputation like the plague.
But Wang Xian ignored her completely, glaring only at me.
"Those golden eyes... Spirit Eye, huh."
"Figured it out just from the eye color?"
"A spirit user's signature gaze. Only an idiot wouldn't recognize it. I know what you are now."
I didn't flinch. Even exposed, Guirak Valley couldn't touch me right away. Not in Korea either. They were busy building power, and they couldn't ignore Sung Ha-ri or the True Spirit Cheng Family behind me.
"Jealous."
Wang Xian reached up and adjusted his glasses.
"Without these specs, I'm blind to spirits and familiars. But not you. You see spirits and everything else. I'm Jealous. Truly envious of your talent."
"......!!"
An ominous aura rose from him. I jumped back in shock. Way too potent for me to handle.
"Yujin-nim!"
Sara leaped in front of me, rapier at the ready.
Wang Xian glanced at us, then pulled a golden bell from his pocket. He shook it.
Ting. A clear chime rang out. Whatever his plan, the pure tone distracted me for a split second.
"Come forth. Kill them all."
Corpses burst from the barrier behind him. Pale-skinned, eyes flashing white, they scattered everywhere. Over a hundred of them.
Zombies... no, kiangshi.
Some charged us. Sara blocked in front of me, fending off four at once. They weren't ordinary kiangshi, but her light affinity countered them well. I slipped behind her, avoiding the fray. Their physical stats outclassed mine anyway.
And above all, I only needed to kill one guy.
Wang Xian! The bastard's fleeing! Moca!
Moca pursued Wang Xian, who rode a kiangshi. It ran on two legs, yet somehow outpaced a bike as it sped away.
Moca, body slam.
Moca spread her wings wide. Pzzt-zzzt. Lightning enveloped her.
Like a launched cannonball, Moca hurtled at Wang Xian. Right before impact, he hurled his fan. It exploded in black force, shredding one of Moca's wings.
Damn it. Should've pushed harder and finished him earlier.
I recalled Moca.
"Kkuuk... kkuhk..."
She whimpered in pain. I fed her the spirit orb I'd prepared for emergencies. Her torn wing regenerated quickly, but she still looked too battered to move right away.
"Yujin-nim! Are you hurt?!"
Sara, having dispatched the four kiangshi, knelt and checked me over.
"I'm fine. More importantly, you told the Association, right?"
"Ah..."
Her face paled as she fumbled for her phone. Nearly a hundred kiangshi were scattering across Chicago. The city was about to become hell for a while.
But what about the wind spirit?
I left Sara to her frantic call and stepped into the barrier. Icy cold hit me, making my body shudder. I glanced at the talismans stuck to the walls and headed to the center.
The wind spirit was still bound. Unlike before, its form wasn't unstable. Instead, black masses clung to it, holding its shape.
Almost fully corrupted. What now?
Smashing the barrier might free it, but it wouldn't revert. I'd just unleash a monster.
Kill it for good karma points?
Not fully corrupted yet, so who knew.
After a moment's thought, I pulled out a spirit orb. Maybe it could restore the wind spirit.
Kaaaaaaaah!
The wind spirit reacted violently to the orb.
"You want it too, huh. Here, have one. Eat up."
I tossed it over. A black maw formed and gulped it down.
I watched expectantly.
Wind whipped fiercely around the spirit. I shielded my face and kept my eyes on it. The spirit grew larger.
Not reverting... it's worsening.
Full corruption. The barrier's talismans tore away in the gusts. The barrier crumbled. Sensing danger, I backed out. I had no way to kill that thing right now.
"Yujin-nim! What the hell is happening?!"
"The corrupted wind spirit's breaking free."
I stared tensely at the hotel. Worst case, I might have to summon Yuria here.
Kaboom!
The barrier shattered, the old hotel collapsed, and the wind spirit emerged. No—demon spirit now, since it was corrupted.
The demon spirit hovered over the ruins. It resembled a small black beast, its entire body a ceaseless whirlwind.
"Oh my God..."
Sara gasped. The power radiating from it was insane. She raised her rapier in front of me, but her hands shook.
The demon spirit eyed me. But it neither spoke nor attacked. Instead, it shot into the sky.
-I'll kill you! Wang Xian!!
The demon spirit soared through Chicago's skies, hunting Wang Xian.