Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Necromancer of the Sword Clan
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Jin Won-ho, hoisting his black greatsword high, charged straight at Lee Jin-gyu.
"Uwaaaah! Stay back!"
Lee Jin-gyu desperately pumped his legs at the sight of Jin Won-ho barreling toward him. Fortunately, his stiffened body finally loosened up, letting him turn tail and run.
But Jin Won-ho was faster.
In the blink of an eye, Jin Won-ho's black greatsword came crashing down toward Lee Jin-gyu's back.
Clang!
"Hngh!"
Lee Jin-gyu screamed and collapsed to the ground.
Thankfully, the black greatsword had been blocked by the barrier generated from his coat.
Tzzzzzt!
But Jin Won-ho pressed forward, pouring strength into his black greatsword.
The blade's sharp tip began to bore into Lee Jin-gyu's barrier bit by bit.
"N-No!"
Plopped on his butt, Lee Jin-gyu stared in despair at the black greatsword sparking as it slowly pierced through.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Jin Won-ho furrowed his brow and hastily leaped back.
Right after.
Shwoooosh!
Where Jin Won-ho had stood, a red sword gleam wreathed in black flames sliced through the air.
"Wha? Huh?"
Caught off guard by the sudden turn, Lee Jin-gyu blinked in shock at the scene before him.
And there, a man in a black coat had appeared out of nowhere, his back to Lee Jin-gyu.
"H-Hall Leader?"
It was none other than Shin Yu-hyun.
"You okay?"
"Y-Yes!"
Lee Jin-gyu nodded vigorously at Shin Yu-hyun's question, his voice thick with gratitude. Once again, Shin Yu-hyun had saved his life.
In response, Shin Yu-hyun glared at Jin Won-ho standing before him.
"Didn't expect more executives to show up."
Shin Yu-hyun hadn't taken his eyes off Jin Won-ho since appearing in front of Lee Jin-gyu.
The man looked ready to pounce the instant he glanced away.
"So this is the trash from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan?"
Jin Won-ho stared at Shin Yu-hyun in astonishment.
This wasn't the Shin Yu-hyun from the intel he knew.
If he hadn't reacted to that chilling killing intent aimed at him, he'd have taken a fatal wound.
"Looks like Sasaki Shiro already bit the dust."
Having confirmed Sasaki Shiro's corpse inside the base camp—his head blown open—Shin Yu-hyun frowned.
He'd planned to pry info on the Iron Transformation Group from Sasaki Shiro, but someone had silenced him already. Annoying.
"We don't leave loose ends. All you bastards need to die."
"Give it a shot if you think you can."
Shin Yu-hyun snorted derisively at Jin Won-ho's words.
With two more people showing up to spill the beans in Sasaki Shiro's place.
In fact, Shin Yu-hyun was planning to capture these two alive.
Jin Won-ho's face twisted in disbelief at Shin Yu-hyun's cocky demeanor.
"You really the trash from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan? Guess I'll have to rough up our informants when I get back."
"If you can get back, that is."
Shin Yu-hyun curled his lips into a smirk.
They might've come into Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan territory as they pleased, but leaving? Not so much.
Especially after barging in like mud-legged thugs and killing clan members.
"Brat's got a mouth on him, full of spirit!"
Boom!
Jin Won-ho struck first.
Kicking off the ground with tremendous force, he hurtled toward Shin Yu-hyun at blinding speed.
Clangclangclang!
Soon, Shin Yu-hyun—Body Strengthening Technique active—and Jin Won-ho clashed.
The Invisible Archer and the Black Knight.
Unlike the mad-doctor researcher Sasaki Shiro, these two were masters of combat.
Especially Black Knight Jin Won-ho, who pushed Shin Yu-hyun back with his monstrous strength.
"Ngh!"
Shin Yu-hyun let out a short grunt as he parried Jin Won-ho's onslaught.
The black greatsword swinging in with overwhelming power was incredibly threatening.
Clang! Claaang!
Each time the black greatsword met Demon Sword Ignis, sharp metallic rings echoed alongside bursts of sparks.
But Shin Yu-hyun didn't give an inch, deflecting Jin Won-ho's strikes however he could to hold his ground.
"Deflecting my attacks?"
Jin Won-ho looked incredulous.
Until now, he'd crushed foes with raw power.
But Shin Yu-hyun's sword was tricky. The impacts didn't feel solid when their blades met.
Because Shin Yu-hyun wasn't blocking head-on—he was redirecting.
'Tough one.'
Still, all Shin Yu-hyun could do against Jin Won-ho was endure. The man was a mid-4-star powerhouse, after all.
Kreeeeeen!
And that wasn't all.
Invisible Archer Lee Seol-ri was aiming an unseen bow at Shin Yu-hyun, entering attack mode.
"Hall Leader!"
But then, Vice Hall Leader Choi Jung-hoon burst into the base camp.
'Good timing.'
Crashing through the tattered tent into the base camp, Choi Jung-hoon instantly grasped the situation.
Black Tortoise Sword Division members sprawled on the blood-soaked ground.
The man in the black suit attacking Shin Yu-hyun.
And finally, the woman in the black hooded coat.
"Stop right there!"
Choi Jung-hoon charged at Lee Seol-ri, who radiated an ominous aura.
"Tch."
Lee Seol-ri swung her aim from Shin Yu-hyun to Choi Jung-hoon.
Pheeeew!
"Whoa!"
Startled by the invisible arrow hurtling toward him with ferocious momentum, Choi Jung-hoon flung himself sideways.
Shwoosh!
The unseen wind arrow grazed past him.
"Invisible arrows, huh?"
Choi Jung-hoon scowled at Lee Seol-ri.
She wasn't thrilled with the situation either.
"Why's the Black Tortoise Hall's Vice Hall Leader here?"
"None of your business."
Choi Jung-hoon shot back with a cynical smile.
Utterly unlike the friendly grin he usually gave Shin Yu-hyun.
This smile was chilling enough to make anyone shiver involuntarily.
"Hall Leader! Vice Hall Leader!"
Then Lee Dae-young and Kim Hyun-seok rushed into the base camp.
"Don't come in!"
Choi Jung-hoon shouted urgently at their arrival.
But it was too late.
'No way!'
Jin Won-ho and Lee Seol-ri spotted the crystal devices Lee Dae-young and Kim Hyun-seok were carrying.
"Lee Seol-ri!"
"I know!"
At Jin Won-ho's call, Lee Seol-ri pulled back from Choi Jung-hoon.
Jin Won-ho likewise retreated from Shin Yu-hyun and moved toward her.
As if to protect her.
Kreeeeeen!
'What the...?'
Shin Yu-hyun read their intent. Lee Seol-ri's invisible bow was trained on the crystal device.
"Vice Hall Leader!"
"Got it!"
At Shin Yu-hyun's shout, Choi Jung-hoon lunged at the nearby Lee Seol-ri.
He'd caught on to the plan.
Meanwhile, Shin Yu-hyun—close to where Lee Dae-young and Kim Hyun-seok stood—sprinted toward the crystal device.
"Where do you think you're going!"
As Choi Jung-hoon closed in, Jin Won-ho predictably blocked his path.
"Out of my way!"
Choi Jung-hoon met Jin Won-ho's charge with his longsword at the fore.
In that moment, Lee Seol-ri finished nocking her arrow. Her shots combined mana and air, and she could loose multiple at once.
Ping! Shwooooosh!
Finally, invisible arrows launched from her hands.
Though unseen, their whistle gave them away.
'At least three.'
Shin Yu-hyun now stood in front of Lee Dae-young and Kim Hyun-seok.
He couldn't pinpoint the exact count, but his superhuman hearing picked up at least three incoming arrows.
'No choice but to block them.'
Even now, the invisible arrows sliced through the air toward him with shrill shrieks.
Shin Yu-hyun thrust Demon Sword Ignis forward, sighting down its tip.
Fwoooosh!
Then Dark Soul Blaze erupted from Demon Sword Ignis with tremendous force.
Filling the space ahead of him completely.
Splurt!
In that instant, a hole pierced through the black flames ahead.
A gap in the black flames.
'Now!'
Shin Yu-hyun swung Demon Sword Ignis at the opening.
Clang!
With a sharp ring, an invisible arrow slammed into the ground.
Splurt!
Next, a hole tore open in the black flames to his upper left.
Clang!
Shin Yu-hyun whipped Demon Sword Ignis around, batting away another invisible arrow.
The moment an arrow breached the flames was a mere fraction of a second.
But Shin Yu-hyun never missed it.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
In less than three seconds, he'd deflected five arrows.
"Insane... Impossible."
Lee Seol-ri, watching from afar, felt crushed.
The Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's trash—the guy who couldn't even open his energy gates until recently—had blocked every one of her prized invisible arrows.
"Fine, then block this too!"
Kreeeeeen!
Her pride wounded, Lee Seol-ri glared daggers and channeled all her energy to empower her invisible bow and arrows.
Jin Won-ho shouted in alarm.
"Hey, you crazy? You gonna fire that here?"
"Don't stop me. It's too late now!"
A massive vortex of mana swirled around Lee Seol-ri's hands.
No, the air itself whipped into a tornado around her, and she compressed it within.
Air compressed to ultra-high pressure turns ultra-hot, and infusing it with mana creates plasma, if only briefly.
Green plasma orbs formed in Lee Seol-ri's hands.
Plasma Air Blaster.
The Invisible Archer's ultimate technique.
Thwuck!
Moments later, a green plasma orb spewing ultra-hot flames shot toward Shin Yu-hyun.
The plasma orb incinerated everything in its path.
Watching Lee Seol-ri compress air into plasma, Shin Yu-hyun thought.
'Could I do that?'
If she could make plasma by compressing air, why not compress black flames?
With that in mind, while Lee Seol-ri formed her plasma orb, Shin Yu-hyun focused Dark Soul Blaze on Demon Sword Ignis and compressed it.
Possible because he could manipulate black flames at will.
Fwoooorosh!
Vast quantities of black flames converged into Demon Sword Ignis, compressing tightly.
The flames burned fiercer than ever, radiating black light.
Zzzzzing.
How much time passed?
Demon Sword Ignis's red blade was now coated pitch-black.
Dark Matter Plasma Blade
Black plasma shrouds Demon Sword Ignis like a lightsaber with a jet-black blade of light.
"Whatever you're doing, it's too late!"
Having unleashed Plasma Air Blaster, Lee Seol-ri brimmed with confidence.
Her plasma orb truly incinerated all in its path as it flew at Shin Yu-hyun.
Touch it, and nothing—not even ash—would remain.
The eerie green plasma orb was now right before Shin Yu-hyun's eyes.
There, he exhaled deeply and raised Ignis high.
Then, he quietly brought it down toward the oncoming green plasma orb.