Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Necromancer of the Sword Clan
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Shin Yu-hyun was in a foul mood.
In his previous life, Kim Sang-cheol had been one of the few people to help him, treating him like a son.
And yet, this guy was spewing such trash talk!
"What the hell are those bastards?"
"Guys from the Six Harmonies Spear Clan."
"Spear Clan bastards?"
Hearing Kim Young-jin's quick reply, Shin Yu-hyun glared at the men standing in front of the gate through the second-floor window.
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan, one of the Four Great Families.
They had expanded their influence with the Six Harmonies Spear Technique, which employed six forms in versatile ways.
The spear itself was a powerful weapon by nature, and the early forms of the Six Harmonies Spear Technique packed a punch.
Thanks to that, countless superhumans had flocked to learn the Six Harmonies Spear Technique.
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan accepted every superhuman who came knocking.
As a result, their numbers grew, but so did the trouble.
After all, it was a mix of superhumans with all sorts of personalities.
So it made sense that some of them would show up at Kim Sang-cheol's house and start causing a scene.
"Hey! Old man! Open the damn door already!"
"We'll smash it down!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan thugs pounded on the gate like they meant to break it down, their behavior growing more outrageous by the second.
They were probably acting even bolder because Kim Sang-cheol's house was in a remote spot, far from any neighbors.
"Should we call the cops?"
"Cops? What the hell good would that do?"
Kim Sang-cheol let out a hollow laugh at Kim Young-jin's suggestion.
In an era where superhumans and hunters ran the show, the police were little more than a formality.
Besides, these guys were from the Six Harmonies Spear Clan.
Calling the cops wouldn't make them bat an eye.
"Just wait a moment."
Kim Sang-cheol said to Shin Yu-hyun before heading outside.
He clearly planned to go out and deal with the Spear Clan thugs himself.
But would it really be solved just by Kim Sang-cheol stepping out?
"I'll come with you."
Shin Yu-hyun followed behind him.
Kim Sang-cheol looked surprised and waved his hands in protest.
"No need for that. Rest easy. I'll handle it."
"It's fine."
Shin Yu-hyun shook his head.
He didn't like these Spear Clan bastards making a racket in front of Kim Sang-cheol's house.
"And speak casually with me."
Shin Yu-hyun told Kim Sang-cheol, who occasionally mixed in formal speech, to treat him like an equal.
The man was older than him, a master blacksmith nearing legendary status in his craft, and above all, in his previous life, he had looked after Shin Yu-hyun and treated him like a son.
To Shin Yu-hyun, Kim Sang-cheol didn't feel like a stranger.
"...Thanks."
Kim Sang-cheol, who had been silent for a moment, bowed his head in gratitude.
He knew this went beyond just speaking casually—it was Shin Yu-hyun showing him kindness.
"Make me a good weapon later."
"Don't worry. I'll craft you something special."
Kim Sang-cheol smiled in response.
"But why are those bastards causing trouble here?"
"Ah, well."
As they descended the stairs from the second floor, Kim Sang-cheol let out a deep sigh at the question.
"They want me to hand over the house..."
"Pardon?"
"They said they're buying up houses and land around here to build something, and they're pressuring me to sell."
"They're telling you to sell the house?"
"That's right."
Kim Sang-cheol nodded once at Shin Yu-hyun's question and began explaining.
"A while back, the Six Harmonies Spear Clan started hounding me persistently to sell. But how could I? This house and forge have been passed down through generations."
Kim Sang-cheol's ancestors had been blacksmiths for generations, handing down the house and forge as their family trade.
How could he be the one to give it up?
"Besides, blacksmithing depends on the land. Our ancestors didn't pass down the forge here for no reason. It's on a dragon vein, so we can produce high-quality gear."
The forge sat right atop a dragon vein.
Thanks to that, they could draw on the vein's energy, boosting the chances of crafting masterpieces.
Occasionally, Kim Sang-cheol's gear even outshone equipment from world-famous master smiths.
The only issue was that hardly anyone knew about it.
He was a true hidden gem, buried in obscurity.
"That's not all. The Spear Clan bastards are trying to take the house and forge for free. Even if they offered above market price, I might consider it, but they lowballed us."
Kim Sang-cheol added with a displeased frown.
"House prices these days are insane..."
Property in the cities was ridiculously expensive.
Because major cities and metropolitan areas were safe zones.
Especially Seoul, Incheon, Suwon, and Uijeongbu—safe havens from magic beasts.
They had lower dungeon spawn rates compared to other regions and were decently far from beast-overrun territories.
On top of that, apartment prices had recently doubled or tripled.
"I see."
Shin Yu-hyun nodded as he listened to Kim Sang-cheol's story.
'So that's why they moved to Uijeongbu in my previous life—pressure from the Spear Clan.'
In his past life, the Kim family had relocated to Uijeongbu City.
It had to be because the Spear Clan was pushing them to sell.
Uijeongbu was cheaper since magic beasts occupied areas beyond the 38th parallel to the north.
By the time they finished talking, Shin Yu-hyun and Kim Sang-cheol had crossed the courtyard and reached the gate.
"About time you showed up."
"Took you long enough."
"Any later and we'd have smashed the gate."
As Kim Sang-cheol opened the gate, the Six Harmonies Spear Clan thugs swaggered in, tossing out snide remarks.
There were three of them in total.
All in their late twenties.
Each had a spear slung across their back.
Shin Yu-hyun frowned at the sight.
Coming to such a remote place with weapons on blatant display.
Shin Yu-hyun's group hadn't brought theirs. They'd left them in the car's storage.
Though Shin Yu-hyun had hidden a few in the shadows just in case.
The Spear Clan could have done the same, but they flaunted their spear blades openly.
Half threat, no doubt.
'Total thugs.'
Not just that—their cocky strut screamed street gangster.
"Old man, just sell the house already."
"You should listen while we're being nice."
"How long you gonna keep wasting our time?"
As Kim Sang-cheol opened the gate, the Spear Clan thugs strode into the courtyard like they owned the place.
"I already said I'm not selling!"
Kim Sang-cheol told them firmly.
The thugs sneered.
"We're from one of the Four Great Families. You keep this up, nothing good comes your way, old man."
"Guess words aren't getting through your thick skull."
"Hey, step aside."
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan thugs cracked their necks and started threatening him.
Then, the biggest and meanest-looking one, Choi Hyuk-jun, turned around and said,
"People never learn unless you show 'em. Words are wasted."
He kicked up his leg and slammed it into the gate.
Activating Body Strengthening Technique as he did.
Boom!
"Gasp!"
The steel gate ripped off its hinges and flew outward.
It crashed onto the street with a heavy thud moments later.
Having demolished the steel gate, Choi Hyuk-jun turned back to Kim Sang-cheol.
"Sell while we're asking nicely. Next time..."
"Next time what, you son of a bitch?!"
At that moment, Shin Yu-hyun surged forward from behind Kim Sang-cheol and swung a fist at Choi Hyuk-jun.
With Body Strengthening Technique active, of course.
Thud!
"Guhk!"
Caught off guard by the surprise attack, Choi Hyuk-jun couldn't react in time.
Shin Yu-hyun's fist sank into his solar plexus.
His body floated briefly in the air before he clutched his gut, dropped to his knees, and collapsed.
"You bastard, what the hell?!"
"This guy's lost his mind!"
The other two distorted their faces and yelled at Shin Yu-hyun's sudden assault on Choi Hyuk-jun.
They reached for the spears on their backs.
That's when Shin Yu-hyun shouted,
"Don't move! Unless you want your heads rolling."
"What the—"
One of them, Lee Seok-jin, furrowed his brow and lunged at Shin Yu-hyun—then froze mid-motion.
The other did the same.
"W-what the hell is this?"
The two thugs stared in shock, unable to advance.
At some point, ten saber-wielding skeletons had appeared, blades aimed at their throats.
They instinctively raised their hands, spears still untouched on their backs.
"What? Why are there skeletons here?"
"Skeletons that strong...?"
They stood frozen in panic. The aura from the skeleton sabers was no joke.
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan intruders were mid-3-star at best.
Shin Yu-hyun, meanwhile, was nearing upper 4-star.
Every night before bed, he meditated with the Chakra Cultivation Method and trained his various skills, swordsmanship, summoning magic, and more.
All mana usage honed his chakra.
Thus, his chakra had risen.
His summons, the skeleton sabers, were closing in on upper 4-star as well.
Naturally, the Spear Clan thugs felt intimidated by them.
"You bastard! Know who we are? Six Harmonies Spear Clan, one of the Four Great Families! You think you can get away with this?!"
"You'll regret messing with the Six Harmonies Spear Clan!"
Ignoring the fallen Choi Hyuk-jun, the other two glared at Shin Yu-hyun with fury.
How dare this fool touch members of one of the Four Great Families.
But Shin Yu-hyun just smirked and tossed back,
"Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Shin Yu-hyun, direct lineage of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan, in charge of Black Tortoise Hall."
"W-what?"
"H-Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan?"
They flinched in shock at his words.
But quickly scowled and shouted,
"No way a direct heir of the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan is in a dump like this!"
"A necromancer claiming to be Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan lineage? You think we're idiots?"
They stared at him in disbelief.
They clearly didn't know much about Shin Yu-hyun.
Well, low-level Spear Clan grunts wouldn't have intel on him.
"And Black Tortoise Hall? That's the dead-weight division in the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan that can't do shit, right? I heard their hall leader was a total incompetent back in the day."
No, their info was just outdated.
They knew old rumors.
'Dead-weight division, huh.'
Shin Yu-hyun grimaced inwardly.
This gave him a glimpse of how much Black Tortoise Hall had been mocked during his incompetent days.
And these guys must have heard rumors from when he first became hall leader.
"Take a look at this."
Shin Yu-hyun showed them the emblem on his sword.
"T-that's...!"
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan thugs' eyes widened in shock.
"The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's emblem?!"
Each clan had a symbol representing them.
The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan was no exception.
Having their emblem meant one of two things.
Either he was telling the truth.
Or he was a suicidal lunatic.
Clans prized their honor and didn't forgive imposters.
Especially since Shin Yu-hyun had engraved the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's symbol on his weapon and was showing it to Spear Clan thugs.
If it was fake, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan would tear this young man apart on sight.
No sane person from another clan would engrave the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's emblem and claim direct lineage.
"He's really a direct heir?"
"Why's a Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan direct heir here?"
The Six Harmonies Spear Clan thugs gawked at Shin Yu-hyun in disbelief.
And to them, Shin Yu-hyun said in a low voice,
"You've brought a curse upon yourselves."