Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: 드래곤을 유괴하다-212화
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Episode 70. At Breath's Reach, Seeping In (3)
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That day, only Yoo Ji-tae and Bom were in Room 301.
Yeoreum had gone to class early that morning.
Winter to elementary school.
Gaeul had gone out to the spirit cafe with her chick Piyung. Apparently, they brought spirits raised by other friends and played together there.
So even at lunchtime, Room 301 was deserted. The guardian had asked permission to head to the back mountain since the weather was nice and had been sent off. As befitting the Green Dragon's guardian, he loved being out in nature. He'd head to the foothills of the restricted area and soak it all in.
And Bom...
— …….
— …? …….
She seemed to be on the phone with someone inside the room.
Who could it be? Yoo Ji-tae didn't have the habit of eavesdropping on other people's calls, but given Bom's condition, he just wanted to catch her voice for a moment.
— Yeah. My husband loved it too. Every time I baked bread, he'd hover around me like I was a cat or something.
"Really? What kind of bread?"
A familiar voice. The tone of an elderly woman.
It was Ri-hwa.
Once he identified her, Yoo Ji-tae stopped listening. It felt like Bom was finally checking in that she was alive after ten days. That was enough.
So he spent the remaining time stepping into the Shallowest Abyss (S). Pale, translucent hands reached out and bent his wrist. It was a daily routine, so without any orders from him, the abyss's "hands" brought Jeong Tae-baek's corpse right to him.
He sat down in front of Tae-baek and placed his hand on the perfectly preserved child's body.
Then he circulated his mana, becoming one with the existence, and began untangling and removing the chimera fragments woven into it, one by one.
It was tedious, grueling work that demanded utmost caution.
The traces of the chimera were like hundreds of thousands of tiny fishhooks embedded in flesh. Even pulling out one required careful consideration.
The dead had no will, so corpses lost their mana. Jeong Tae-baek's body was no different. It was weak and fragile as a result. Even the slightest mistake could cause irreparable damage.
He was the only being on Earth capable of this task. Yoo Ji-tae moved his hands with deliberate slowness and precision.
It happened while he was removing a small chimera hair from the child's red pupils.
Clone No. 2's will echoed in his mind.
'Lo, Lord...! Big trouble!'
A few minutes earlier.
Clone No. 2 was around the 280th underground floor of the Southern Great Forest. A bit above the witch's 290th floor. Human-like demihumans were rare in the area, so he planned to hunt one down diligently, wear its skin, and head back to the witch.
A strong boy around fifteen that she'd approve of. Even reviewing Yoo Ji-tae's regression history, nothing like that had ever happened.
So Clone No. 2 hadn't seen this coming.
Clank...
Five Death Knights appeared ahead. Pitch-black heavy plate armor. Greatswords in their hands as tall as a person. They gleamed faintly, reflecting the scant light.
One among them was an Over Class high-grade Death Knight. A black iron helmet etched with gold. The equivalent of an SS-rank monster. Even a two-digit ranker would struggle in a 1:1 fight against this ultra-elite guardian.
They had Clone No. 2 surrounded on all sides.
"What the hell? You guys."
"Sorry, but you'll have to come with us to the master."
"Why me?"
"The master wants to see you."
"So what? That's her problem. I don't wanna go."
"We didn't ask for your opinion."
Clank— The Death Knights raised their greatswords into ready stances.
The Over Class's arm split open lengthwise. A complex mechanical structure emerged, soon transforming into a crossbow. The Over Class stood 3.5 meters tall. The crossbow was man-sized.
It looked just like a siege weapon.
At least a Level 3 artifact.
Cold sweat trickled down.
"You're insane... Is Valentine always like this? Hey, kidnapping a kid—are you a demon or what?!"
"Quiet—! You don't even realize what an honor it is!"
The Over Class leveled the crossbow at Clone No. 2.
"Answer. Will you walk?"
A massive, grotesque thing. A barbed arrowhead aimed at his leg.
"Or lose both legs and get carried."
Clone No. 2 swallowed hard.
Clone No. 2 had never fought for his life before. But taking on all of them at once? He might have to risk it.
"O-okay..."
"Oh? Really?"
"Like hell! You bastards!"
The boy whipped around right after speaking. They anticipated the escape. The Over Class loosed its arrow. Thwung— Fast as a missile. It vanished from sight, then reappeared much closer. The boy stomped his first step hard, leaping high. The arrow grazed past by a hair's breadth even at close range, but the wind pressure wrenched his ankle.
"Catch him—!"
High in the air, Clone No. 2 took in the full view of the massive artificial garden on 'Underground Floor 280'.
Terrible spot. No flowing river. No cave to hide in. The forest trees all uniform in height. Nowhere good to dodge, no matter where he looked.
"Think you can get away—!"
With no choice, Clone No. 2 raised his hand. Subspace tore open, and a longsword slid out.
He'd been told to conserve power as much as possible, but now it was unavoidable.
For a bit of sympathy(?). Time to swing the sword.
What followed was a brutal fight lasting over twenty minutes.
One sword stroke exploded the forest. An arrow sheared off a hillside. When someone tumbled, dirt and sand billowed up like dust clouds, blanketing the sky.
Though limited to just 2% of Yoo Ji-tae's full power, Clone No. 2 held his own in raw combat prowess against the Death Knights.
Four were smashed to pieces in an instant, rolling across the ground.
And the last one. The moment he bashed the Over Class's iron helmet.
Thwung—!
"Urk!"
An incoming arrow slammed into his thigh. Felt like getting hit by a car. His whole body was shoved back dozens of meters in a flash.
Did the arrow embed? But the impact sound was off. Like a crunch... Where'd it hit? Looking down, Clone No. 2's breath hitched. The round bone between pelvis and thigh—the femoral head—completely pulverized. Shattered fragments tore through flesh, protruding out. Oddly, not much blood. A large bone shard had clogged the blood vessel entirely.
"......!"
He barely bled off the shock and planted his feet, but the wound screamed in agony. It hurt like hell. He nearly lost his balance and toppled.
Suppressing the tears welling up, as the clone clenched his jaw.
A chill crept up his nape. Clone No. 2 spun and swung his sword. From a rift in subspace he hadn't noticed, the witch's upper body protruded. Clone No. 2's strike was effortlessly parried by her hand.
The witch said she was lonely...!
Needed someone to talk to...!
Wouldn't hit me...!
A flash of resentment crossed his mind. Right then, Clone No. 2 cried out to his lord.
Big trouble.
The witch pressed in with a decadent smile, licking her lips. Pinned with no escape, Clone No. 2 made an extreme call.
"St-stop—! Don't come any closer!"
He shoved the sword between his legs.
"What do you think you're doing...?"
"J-just try it! Huh?! Come on! One step closer and it won't end well for you...!"
But the witch slowly raised both hands. And stopped right there.
Clone No. 2 panted heavily, putting distance between them.
Yet the witch's smile deepened.
"Baby. Put down that dangerous thing."
"Huff, huff..."
"If your precious little body gets hurt, it'd make this big sis feel all uncomfortable."
"......"
"Hmm? Calm down now. Can't act on impulse."
Her voice was like a mature nanny soothing a willful child.
After agonizing, Clone No. 2 finally spoke.
"If you touch me, our lord will come."
"What?"
"He's insanely strong. You might die."
"Oh? Hehe. Hihihi..."
The witch chuckled languidly.
Oh crap. Right—in some past loop, the threatened witch had offed herself without a second thought.
"N-no, then this...!"
He jammed the longsword between his legs again, but the witch slowly shook her head.
"Baby. You misunderstand me. I'm not interested in your body."
"What?"
"What I want is you. So young. So strong. The cute little you, just as you are."
"......"
"So come on over, no worries. I'll heal that leg."
Her sweet voice soothed his ears.
No...
But it felt like a lie somehow.
— For now, do what the witch says. And demand some proper distance yourself.
The lord's instruction arrived right then.
'Lord... I'm scared...'
— It's fine. I'll watch over you. No need to worry. If it goes south, I'll release the Archduke's Shadow (SS).
'Understood!'
The lord's watching over me!
That thought eased Clone No. 2's fear.
He exhaled to steady himself and spoke up.
"I have a condition."
"Go on."
"We each make one request. For something we need. Or I'll bolt."
"And if I refuse?"
"If it's too much, sure."
"Hm... All right. Let's do it."
Silence. They mulled over their requests for a moment.
The witch spoke first.
"I'll heal you, so sit on my lap."
Crazy... She's serious!?
But no word from the lord. Meant it was okay.
He swallowed dryly. Heart pounding like mad.
"My request: Don't touch my body."
"Got it."
"Y-you promised not to touch, right?"
"Yes, yes."
Only then did Clone No. 2 approach cautiously. His mangled leg wouldn't cooperate, forcing a constant limp.
As he drew near, a massive rose bloomed beneath Valentine's legs, unfurling like a bed. The witch perched there, waiting.
"Oh dear... Must hurt terribly."
"Don't act all pitiful! You're a demon! Who do you think did this to me?"
"I sincerely apologize. I've hurt you."
"Damn..."
"Didn't think you'd resist so hard... Let sis apologize again."
Clone No. 2 sat sideways on her lap, tense but careful.
The witch was enormous. Made him feel like a kid. As her hand extended to his pelvis, a gentle warmth flowed out, mending the shattered bone.
Clone No. 2 struggled to keep his wits. Her body pressed against him everywhere. That faint floral scent was overwhelmingly sweet. Nothing major, but the stimulation was intense.
The healing progressed, the leg bone knitting back together. Astonishing recovery magic.
Minutes later, she spoke.
"Baby."
"Yes?"
"Shall we do our second 'requests'?"
"...Fine. But I go first this time."
Clone No. 2 blustered to seize the initiative. The witch just gazed at him fondly.
"Tell me what you need besides your body."
"Good. But first, talk with me."
At breath's reach,
the witch made that demand.
"......"
Watching the situation unfold, Yoo Ji-tae rubbed his temples. He'd just returned to Room 301.
This was getting exhausting.
There were two reasons he couldn't let the witch have his body.
One was her scent—more addictive than any aphrodisiac.
The other: every time, she'd siphon away his mana's origin. A trait of the abyss lord she was contracted to.
The witch wasn't a demon.
But she was akin to a disaster-grade one.
A human like quicksand.
The regressor pondered.
Brute force would just snap her neck.
Mental domination powers wouldn't work either.
In other words, she was special precisely because she was that strong—and exactly what Yoo Ji-tae was after.
The witch had no attachment to life. Couldn't threaten her with death.
No loved ones. Couldn't take hostages.
To break the impasse, he'd have to persuade her somehow with words and actions.
But verbal persuasion? Not his forte.
He couldn't even reconcile two bickering little girls. That was the regressor's reality.
Click...
Right then, Bom opened the door and stepped out.
She peeked around cautiously before spotting Yoo Ji-tae.
For now, while the witch healed Clone No. 2, there was a breather. Yoo Ji-tae approached her.
"Feeling any better?"
Bom shook her head. Her eyes were on his, but they seemed fixed on something farther away.
"Then why'd you come out so soon."
"......"
No response from Bom.
"Or... did you see something?"
Bom fiddled with her hair, which hung down to her chest. Her gestures were distracted. Her gaze even more so. He couldn't pinpoint why, but she seemed embarrassed somehow.
Soon, in a small voice, she asked,
"Shall I help...?"
Help with what?
Then it hit him.
Come to think of it, was there anyone who handled guy-girl stuff as well as this kid?
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