Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 50
>Chapter Title: Jo Tae-cheong (4)
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Near the ceiling, Yeo Su-rin stuck out her tongue from the entrance of the round smoke portal that hung open.
She never imagined this would actually work.
When she first heard Mok Kyung-un's plan, she thought the man was insane.
"You want to go back to him? Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Are you crazy? We barely escaped, and now you're saying you'll walk right back into his hands? If he catches you this time, you could die."
The Three-Eyed, known as the Heteromorph Relic.
The number of sorcerers who had died by his hand was too great to count.
Yet this man wanted to return to such a monster? He was clearly out of his mind.
"Even if I die, I won't hold it against you."
"That's not the point! I went out of my way to save you—do you think I'd just stand by and watch you throw your life away like that?"
"But if we miss this chance while his food spirits aren't around, it'll be even harder to kill him later."
Mok Kyung-un's words genuinely worried Yeo Su-rin.
Did he really believe he could kill that monstrous freak?
If it were possible, the Three-Eyed would have been dead long ago.
"Please, just go."
"If you're not going to help, I have no choice but to go alone."
"Are you... threatening me right now?"
"Threatening? I just said I'd go by myself."
"That's a threat. You're preying on my soft heart."
"Not quite."
"Ugh, you're infuriating."
Yeo Su-rin clicked her tongue.
Two peak yokai-level heteromorphs guarded the outside.
If she left now, those two yokai might tear this man's body to shreds and devour him.
Ignoring it felt unbearably nagging.
"Aargh! I should have just walked past earlier. Why did I save a stubborn fool like you?"
"You never know."
"Know what?"
"If I succeed in killing the Three-Eyed, your master's concerns will be resolved, and you won't have to hide here surveilling anymore."
"You're awfully confident."
"You don't know until you try."
Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly.
Seeing him like this made her blood boil.
Why were men so insistent on tasting shit before knowing if it was shit or gold?
Yeo Su-rin shook her head.
"Fine, do whatever. Die if you want. I'll bet on you failing and coming back crying in regret."
"And if I succeed?"
"Huh?"
"What then?"
Why was he so confident?
Did he have some hidden trump card?
"Sigh..."
She stared at Mok Kyung-un before pulling something from her bosom.
It resembled the treasure artifacts on her index and middle fingers.
"What's that?"
"If you succeed, I'll give it to you."
"You had two?"
"No, this is a spare my master gave me in case I lose the main one."
"A spare?"
"Yes. It can only be used once. But it opens a door anywhere within two hundred paces."
"Oh?"
"Feeling greedy now?"
"Who wouldn't?"
"You're honest. Anyway, succeed, and it's yours."
It was a simple spare treasure artifact meant for emergencies, usable only once.
If this man actually killed the Three-Eyed, she wouldn't need to surveil per her master's orders anymore—no more risks.
She grabbed Mok Kyung-un's sleeve.
"If you want it, then succeed. I saved you for a reason—I don't want to watch you commit suicide."
"For you, I'll make sure to succeed."
"Greed makes you sharper, huh? You're one of a kind. Sigh. So, what's the plan? I won't help if it puts me in danger."
"Just open the entrance for me."
"Huh?"
"Exactly when I give the signal, open it at the spot I specify. Then close it right away since it's dangerous."
"That's really all?"
"Yes."
What was he thinking?
Was that really enough?
She couldn't help but wonder.
But then,
'He knows martial arts?'
That was something Yeo Su-rin hadn't anticipated at all.
She had assumed Mok Kyung-un, skilled in barrier arts and spells, was a sorcerer like her.
His martial prowess exceeded all expectations.
She'd heard only highly advanced martial artists could fling sharp sword energy from afar.
Yet Mok Kyung-un could do it.
'He's not a sorcerer—he's a martial artist?'
Even his mid-air flip and landing showed he was far from ordinary.
What was this man's true identity?
Did he master both barrier arts and martial arts?
That's when Mok Kyung-un looked up at her.
She clicked her tongue at his gaze.
'He wants it.'
Yeo Su-rin instantly knew why he was looking.
This was a life-or-death gamble if he failed, yet he hadn't forgotten.
He really wanted it.
"Impressive. Very impressive."
She reached into her bosom and pulled out the spare treasure artifact.
She glanced at Jo Tae-cheong, who staggered and collapsed.
Even for a top sorcerer with a heteromorph relic, with his third eye not yet open and a shortsword buried deep, death was inevitable.
"Here."
Whoosh!
Clack!
Mok Kyung-un caught the spare ring artifact she tossed.
His face was masked with black cloth, but the corner of his mouth curved up.
Even if usable only once, it was valuable enough.
He had to kill the enemy anyway—this was a nice bonus.
Mok Kyung-un looked through the smoke door in the ceiling.
"Not coming?"
Yeo Su-rin peeked out at his question.
"He's definitely dead, right?"
"..."
That's when Cheong-ryeong sighed.
-Why the sigh?
-That wench just jinxed it.
"How?"
-Remember this: after fighting an enemy, never say things like 'he's dead, right?' or 'got him?' It's best to avoid them.
"What's wrong with that?"
-From this seat's long experience, such nonsense invites bad omens...
Splatter!
Before Cheong-ryeong could finish, Jo Tae-cheong's body—shortsword still in his head—shot upright as if lifted by unseen hands.
'!!!!!!!!'
"Watch out!"
Yeo Su-rin hastily formed a simplified hand seal with her left hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Lin! Bing! Jie! Zhen!
'Divine Hammer Strike Barrier!'
She thrust her hand out, and a massive pillar of conjured force—like a great beam—slammed down on the upright Jo Tae-cheong.
It looked ready to flatten him.
Crack!
But it shattered into an X-shape before touching him.
'Gasp!'
What was happening?
The force pouring from Jo Tae-cheong defied imagination.
It was an eerie, evil aura unbelievable for a human.
Thud!
Jo Tae-cheong then extended his left hand toward Yeo Su-rin.
Her body on the ceiling began pulling toward him involuntarily.
"Persistent."
Swish!
In that instant, Mok Kyung-un deployed his Bright Moon Over Clear Water Step, appearing before him to slice off the left arm with Demon Instant Sword.
But then,
Roooar!
Dark shadows blanketed everything, freezing Mok Kyung-un in place.
All senses vanished again, leaving only his consciousness.
'!?'
In this state, he saw Jo Tae-cheong's bizarre condition.
Eyes rolled back, shortsword in forehead—he was as good as dead.
How could he move like this?
He didn't even seem conscious.
Then.
Crunch! Crunch!
Jo Tae-cheong's cheek split, revealing something within.
A wounded eyeball.
Its center was gouged, black blood oozing out.
'No way?'
Jo Tae-cheong rasped in a hoarse voice.
"You damn human, daring to stab my eye?"
His voice brimmed with rage and murder lust.
Mok Kyung-un inwardly marveled, consciousness alone alert.
Stabbed eye, sword through brain—yet alive. No longer human.
No wonder they called it a heteromorph relic.
"I'll make you feel the same pain."
With that, Jo Tae-cheong snatched Demon Instant Sword from Mok Kyung-un's grip.
As he grasped the hilt,
Flinch! Tremble!
His wounded eyeball quivered.
"This sword...?"
A spiritual energy from the hilt invaded his consciousness. Jo Tae-cheong tried to drop it.
That moment.
Slash!
"Gah!"
In a flash, Jo Tae-cheong's head flew off.
The interference disrupted his force momentarily.
Mok Kyung-un seized the chance.
As sensation briefly returned, he severed the neck.
"You really drew the short straw."
He'd had his chance to kill, but grabbing the demonic sword for revenge backfired.
Thud!
"Ack!"
Yeo Su-rin fell from the ceiling, landing hard on her butt, bewildered.
"Ow, my butt! Wh-what happened? Eek!"
She couldn't hide her shock at Jo Tae-cheong's severed head.
What just occurred?
Time had frozen for her alone, then resumed.
Like the flow had snapped?
Cheong-ryeong clicked his tongue.
-Truly grotesque. Stabbed in the core of his energy source, brain pierced—yet he revives.
Its vitality was heteromorph-level, beyond human.
But now decapitated, revival was unlikely.
So he believed—until strange events unfolded in the severed head.
Drip! Drip!
The third eye, veins bulging.
Unlike the dead flesh, it held ego.
'Damn.'
A clear blunder.
When senses were stolen, the body was as good as gone—he should've finished it without worrying about backlash.
The cursed demonic sword ruined it.
This head alone couldn't do much.
Pretend dead, wait, find new flesh—that was the play.
'I'll remember you.'
Voice memorized, face unseen.
Once new body secured, kill without fail...
Crunch!
In that instant, the head exploded underfoot—Mok Kyung-un stomped it.
"Ew! What are you doing?!"
"Making sure."
Horrified, Yeo Su-rin averted her eyes from the gruesome scene, protesting. Mok Kyung-un ignored her, grinding relentlessly.
Crunch! Crunch!
"Hm?"
He reached into the mangled mess, extracting something.
An eyeball.
'Y-you bastard!'
Veins throbbed wildly on it.
Mok Kyung-un smirked at the eyeball.
"I suspected as much. You're an independent entity separate from the corpse, huh?"
The eyeball concealed its inner turmoil.
This punk saw through its nature.
Sorcerers never noticed—yet this nobody exposed it?
Gnash!
Fine then.
You spotted me—impressive—but you made one mistake.
You should've avoided direct contact.
Spurt! Spurt!
Veins burst from the eyeball, burrowing into Mok Kyung-un's fingers.
'Now, seize your body... Agh!'
Sizzle! The invading veins dissolved.
'P-poison?'
The eyeball was dumbfounded.
It meant to infiltrate blood and nerves through the skin.
But his blood was poison incarnate.
The venom surging back was excruciating.
Grind! Grind!
The eyeball convulsed wildly.
Yeo Su-rin gaped.
"Th-the eyeball's shriveling up in agony!"
[Chapter 50: Jo Tae-cheong (4)] End