Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Cleaving the Plasma Sphere
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shwaaaaaak!
Just like that, Lee Seol-ri's plasma sphere was sliced clean in half.
"N-No way!"
Lee Seol-ri cried out in disbelief at the sight.
Until now, no one had ever dodged her Plasma Air Blaster—let alone split it in two head-on.
Yet the useless trash from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan, Shin Yu-hyun, whom they'd dismissed in reports, had just bisected her plasma!
"What the hell? He split it in half? How in the world...?"
Jin Won-ho's face twisted in shock as well.
He had once researched ways to counter Lee Seol-ri's ultimate technique, the Plasma Air Blaster.
But he'd concluded it was impossible to break.
No superhuman, no matter how adept at handling mana, could shatter a plasma sphere with just a single sword.
And the Plasma Air Blaster had one particularly annoying trait.
If the plasma became unstable, it would explode immediately.
But the halved Plasma Air Blaster didn't detonate right away.
The two pieces shot past Shin Yu-hyun's sides, flying far behind him.
And then.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
A massive explosion rocked the area well beyond the base camp.
Fwooooosh.
The blast was powerful enough to send gale-force winds sweeping into the base camp.
"Ngh..."
At that moment, Shin Yu-hyun staggered, slamming his demon sword Ignis into the ground and dropping to one knee.
Compressing black flame to momentarily generate a plasma blade had put an enormous strain on his body.
His entire body ached like he had severe muscle cramps, and his head spun as if he were drunk.
He wanted nothing more than to collapse right there, but he leaned on Ignis to hold himself up.
"M-My Plasma Air Blaster..."
Lee Seol-ri stared in hollow despair. Her trump card, her ultimate technique, had flown off so pointlessly.
"You little monster."
Jin Won-ho scowled, glaring at Shin Yu-hyun.
His instincts told him something.
Shin Yu-hyun would become a threat to their organization.
They needed to nip this in the bud now.
With that thought, Jin Won-ho gripped his black greatsword.
But then Choi Jung-hoon stepped in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing? As long as I'm here, don't you dare lay a finger on even the hem of his robes."
"Tch."
Jin Won-ho clicked his tongue.
Choi Jung-hoon, the vice hall leader of Black Tortoise Hall standing before him, was a low-rank 5-star powerhouse.
Stronger than Jin Won-ho himself.
But with Lee Seol-ri, they could overpower him.
However.
'She still can't move.'
Jin Won-ho glanced at Lee Seol-ri.
Having poured all her mana into her ultimate technique, she could barely twitch a finger.
No different from Shin Yu-hyun's state.
The situation was unfavorable for Jin Won-ho. He couldn't take on Choi Jung-hoon alone.
And if they dragged this out, reinforcements from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan might arrive.
'If only we'd at least destroyed that thing...'
Jin Won-ho eyed the crystal device with regret.
It was one of the organization's key secrets.
The thought of it falling into the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's hands made his face twist.
'I'm gonna get chewed out big time when I get back.'
Still, it was better than being captured by the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan.
And at least they'd taken care of Sasaki Shiro, preventing any leaks of their secrets.
There was no reason to stay any longer.
"We'll call it a day and retreat."
"You barge in here like dogs, and now you think you can just leave? You think I'll let you go?"
Choi Jung-hoon glared at Jin Won-ho with icy eyes.
He was just as furious.
His subordinate had been brutally tortured by Sasaki Shiro, and these fools had dared to target someone from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan.
He intended to make them pay.
"No need to look so bummed. We'll see each other again soon enough."
With that, Jin Won-ho pulled a small crystal shard from his pocket.
"You bastard!"
Seeing this, Choi Jung-hoon charged at him, assuming Jin Won-ho was up to some trick.
Flash!
In that instant, a burst of white light erupted from Jin Won-ho.
"A flashbang?!"
Choi Jung-hoon shielded his eyes and shouted. He hadn't expected a flashbang here.
"See you later."
But contrary to Choi Jung-hoon's assumption, it wasn't an ordinary flashbang.
The flash was merely a side effect.
What Jin Won-ho had used was a teleportation crystal.
Shuk!
In the blink of an eye, Jin Won-ho hoisted Lee Seol-ri over his shoulder and vanished.
"Damn it!"
As Jin Won-ho and Lee Seol-ri disappeared before his eyes, Choi Jung-hoon ground his teeth.
But he quickly turned around.
Vowing that next time, he wouldn't let them off easy.
"Hall Leader!"
Choi Jung-hoon rushed to Shin Yu-hyun, who was propping himself up with his sword, looking worried.
As the group helped each other recover, the rescue team from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan arrived.
A dark night.
In the luxurious living room of a high-rise hotel, a man stood by the window, gazing out at the city below.
Under the inky night sky, the endless lights of the skyscrapers stretched out like a breathtaking vista.
"Hm. It failed?"
The man, dressed in a bathrobe and sipping wine, stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The Crystal Mind Control Project.
A secret plan to manipulate all sorts of magic beasts.
As part of it, they'd targeted the nest of the 3-star dungeon, Arachne's Lair, for an experiment.
The main goal was to test if they could mind-control a 3-star boss magic beast.
If successful, they planned to give the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan a good thrashing.
But not only had they failed to confirm the results, all personnel involved had been wiped out?
"Interesting. To think lowly humans would interfere with my plans."
The man smirked.
He hadn't expected the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan to respond so swiftly.
By the plan, they should've had at least one more day.
'Too bad we couldn't verify the experiment results. One more day, and we would've known.'
On top of that, the failure cost them several Ironclad Unit executives and members, and the crystal device fell into the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan's hands.
But the man didn't care.
"Failure is just part of experimentation."
On Earth, they called failure the mother of success.
He liked the expression.
As it said, failed data paved the way to success.
"We can just recruit more manpower."
To them, humans were nothing more than expendable creatures.
Replacements were plentiful.
And even if the crystal device went to the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan, it didn't matter.
'I wonder if they'll even understand it.'
A sneer curled his lips.
The crystal device was beyond current Earth's humanity; its principles were incomprehensible. Earth's tech was at least a century behind.
And...
"This is only the beginning."
The man smiled enigmatically at the window.
Beyond him, on the central table in the living room, sat rows of mysterious crystal devices of unknown purpose.
Several days had passed since the Arachne's Lair dungeon incident.
Shin Yu-hyun had been swamped with cleanup.
He had to report everything that happened in the Arachne dungeon to the clan, and with casualties, he was summoned here and there. He also made sure to visit his mother and ease her worries.
Though busy, he noticed a shift in the clan's atmosphere.
When he passed through Black Tortoise Hall, clan members now bowed their heads in greeting.
Before, they had ignored him completely.
'Not bad.'
Shin Yu-hyun smiled inwardly.
The clan was starting to acknowledge him, bit by bit.
He welcomed the change.
It warmed his heart and brought a sense of peace he'd never felt in his previous life.
'I half-expected this.'
In Arachne's Lair, he'd confronted the Ironclad Unit executives and saved the Black Tortoise Sword Division members.
Their attitudes were bound to change.
He'd gradually revealed his strength within the clan, and saving near-death comrades was the clincher.
Plus, the youngest, Choi Seung-hyun, and party leader Lee Dae-young had praised him.
As a result, Shin Yu-hyun was now highly respected in Black Tortoise Hall.
'But the road ahead is still long.'
His goal wasn't just clan approval.
Earning their recognition and trust wasn't hard.
Show strength, rack up achievements and fame, and extend a hand first.
Like saving Lee Dae-young and the Black Tortoise Sword Division this time.
'The real issue is what's coming next.'
Shin Yu-hyun recalled the fight with the Ironclad Unit executives.
Setting aside Sasaki Shiro, Jin Won-ho and Lee Seol-ri were no pushovers.
'I need to get stronger.'
To counter them, he needed at least 4-star rank.
'Come to think of it, she said I could find Shuv once I hit 4-star.'
He'd asked Dia about Shuv, one of the Seven Arcs, but she wouldn't say where.
Just that he could seek at 4-star.
She was right; he needed 4-star.
To handle Ironclad Unit execs and meet the Seven Arcs.
At 4-star, he'd gather soul points to upgrade his skeletons too.
'The Black Tortoise Sword Division needs strengthening too.'
Black Tortoise Hall's combat unit, the Black Tortoise Sword Division.
But the incident showed their skills were lacking.
Any other sword hall would've at least alerted the clan to the Ironclad Unit's raid.
The Black Tortoise Sword Division hadn't even fought back.
They lagged behind other halls.
'Ways to strengthen them? A few come to mind.'
Shin Yu-hyun smiled inwardly.
Strengthening them would earn their trust too.
But first.
'It's about time for that incident.'
After the Ironclad Unit raid, an event that shook South Korea would occur.
The incident where Incheon Airport was reduced to rubble.
"The Incheon Magic Beast Landing Incident."
A dungeon stampede that could wipe out a city, depending on scale.