Chapter 324: Battle for a Spouse (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 324: Battle for a Spouse (2)
Ruuumble!
Teresa channeled her mana.
It was a terrifying aura.
Teresa was already formidable under normal circumstances, but now, with everyone's mana sealed, her strength stood out even more.
Gulp.
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
Unsealing one's mana required one million Coins or an equivalent item.
'Looking at her, she must have unsealed at least the third stage...'
There had to be an incredibly big spender among the viewers in Teresa's stream.
Or perhaps Teresa had spent her own savings to buy the unsealing items.
Whichever it was, this was dangerous.
"You'd better stay still. If you resist for no reason, you might end up as a groom missing an arm or a leg. Well, I suppose that would have its own charm, though."
Teresa let out a strange smile.
Hearing her say such chilling words so casually made his skin crawl even more.
At that moment—
Boom!
Teresa kicked off the ground, closing the distance in an instant.
The tip of her sword pointed directly at his left chest.
Right where the 'Rose of Eternity' was.
Whoosh!
'At this rate, she's not just trying to take the rose—she looks ready to slice my shoulder clean off.'
Jinhyuk instinctively threw himself to the left.
With his abilities sealed, he had to rely purely on his reflexes.
But.
Teresa's left hand moved like lightning.
Just as he barely managed to slip away, a pale arm grabbed Jinhyuk's tuxedo.
"Got. You."
Teresa's lips curled into a smirk.
"Urgh!"
To think such terrifying strength could come from such a slender arm.
He couldn't break free.
It seemed his stats had been nerfed along with his abilities.
"Fufu. Don't resist. Honestly, aren't I a pretty good catch? Good family, great public image, beautiful. Plus, every single day with me will be exciting."
"You sure have a lot of nerve saying that. Aren't you going to be incredibly embarrassed once this corruption wears off? I highly recommend preserving at least a little bit of your original personality's dignity."
"Hmph. Well, that softie might kick her blankets in embarrassment later, but I don't care. I'm the type to act first and regret later."
Teresa reached out without hesitation.
But right then—
"You! You-you-you-you! Get your hands off him! Take your filthy hands off him this instant!"
Alice appeared, looking more furious than ever before.
Her voice trembled with rage.
Her crimson pupils and bristling silver hair made quite an impression.
"That power... You. Just how many stages of your seal did you unlock?"
Teresa's eyes narrowed.
There were ten stages of seals restricting their abilities.
Teresa had sold a holy-attribute ring to unseal up to the third stage.
However, the aura radiating from Alice right now was far beyond a mere stage three.
Alice spoke as if she were stating the obvious.
"I whaled on all of them."
-RewardMaster: All of them?
-Park Jong-hoon: You mean she unlocked all 10 stages?
-ftd: Wait, 10 stages... crazy. That requires over 30 million Coins? She whaled that much?
A massive uproar erupted among the watching viewers.
They couldn't help but be shocked.
The prices of the various items sold during this event were all absurdly high.
Everyone assumed they were just listed at ridiculous prices to generate hype for the event, and that no one would actually be able to buy them.
-npu3: Did she use a Coin dupe glitch or something? Does that even make sense? I saw the Empire and Murim gave full support and barely managed to unlock stage 7?
-liron3333: Wait, hold on. I don't think she just unsealed her mana. Look at that. Look at the map in her hand. Do you see that?
At someone's comment, everyone's eyes turned to Alice's hand.
-Choi Kang-ta-jang: Gasp! I know what that is. It's that item listed at the highest price. The one that costs 100 million Coins. Someone actually bought that?
-cjm1: Wait, she burned 100 million Coins just to go on a date with Jinhyuk? Is this real life?
-FP: I checked the transaction history. She traded a relic from the 20th floor for it. It's a shield with 300,000 defense.
-Siltak-i: The best armor currently registered on the Tower of Trials auction house has 70,000 defense. This is insane. Truly insane.
-Chris: Top, mid, and bot are all shaking with awe.
The chat window exploded.
'Did that stupid vampire really go as far as to buy a relic?'
A faint blue energy could be seen rising from the map held in Alice's hand.
While low-grade maps only tracked the lingering traces left behind by a target...
...the map Alice bought allowed her to track the target's location in real-time.
To pour such an absurd fortune into a special item that could only be used within the event... He really had no idea what she was thinking.
'Is she... actually in love with me?'
Jinhyuk tilted his head.
No way.
She was probably just exceptionally possessive and obsessive.
After all, some of the rewards offered in this event were things missing from Alice's collection.
"A mere brat shouldn't butt into where adults play. Go over there and stuff your face with those dumplings you love so much."
"W-Who are you calling a brat, you stupid Saintess?!"
At the word "brat," Alice completely lost her mind.
And the result...
...led to a disaster that could only be described as a catastrophe.
[Alice activates her unique holy spear, 'Revelation of Genesis'!]
A crimson ring manifested behind her back.
The absolute relic of judgment was unleashed.
"Hey... if you pull that out here...!"
Jinhyuk shouted, but it was already too late.
All moisture in the air evaporated, and the clouds lost their shape.
A violent gale whipped up from her fully unfurled wings.
"I can tolerate anything else... I really, truly can..."
Ruuumble!
A Calamity Fire beyond imagination swept through.
The surroundings were dyed so completely in crimson that even the viewers couldn't see what was happening.
"But I will never yield this, even if it kills me!"
Her voice carried an unshakeable resolve.
Not to be outdone, Teresa also pushed her own abilities to their absolute limit.
[Teresa activates 'Blessing of the Stars'!]
"I have no intention of yielding either."
Blaze!
Black starlight enveloped Teresa's body.
This was pure madness.
The sheer mana emitted by these two insane monsters caused the entire pavilion to shake violently.
But just before Jinhyuk could get caught in the crossfire—
Slip!
He felt a soft touch wrap around his waist.
"Master Jinhyuk!"
Andrea, with her nine tails, held Jinhyuk tightly.
"Andrea?"
"We're escaping. Hold on tight!"
Having partially transformed into her beast form, Andrea activated the power of her Fox Bead.
* * *
They ended up quite far away from the pavilion.
On the way, they had encountered noble ladies of the Empire with eyes like beasts of prey, and young ladies of the Murim whose eyes burned with life-or-death determination.
"Oh my. That flower on your chest looks so lovely. Shall we go somewhere dark and secluded to have a little chat?"
"Hohoho. Do you really think I'd do anything to you? I'm just purely curious about Young Master Kang."
This was why Coins were terrifying.
They had drastically strengthened even the fragile ones through items.
It was a relief Andrea was with him, or he would have been caught red-handed.
"Pant, pant, pant."
Jinhyuk panted heavily.
It had been a long time since he had run using nothing but his raw physical stamina.
"Catch him!"
"Where on earth is he?"
"Why is this location tracking magic so painfully slow? Argh! This is so frustrating!"
"Father should have spent money generously at a time like this. At this rate, someone else is going to snatch him away."
The voices of countless women still echoed from beyond the alleyways.
If he got caught, forget the rose—they would grind his bones to dust.
"Thanks, Andrea. Thanks to you, I can finally catch my breath."
"Hehe. I got praised."
Andrea smiled brightly.
Right. There had to be at least one pure soul like her.
Seeing her help him so selflessly made him think that maybe he hadn't lived his life completely wrong...
...or so he was about to think.
Hm?
But why did it feel like they were cornered in a dead end?
Andrea smiled sweetly as she blocked the only exit.
"Master Jinhyuk. Do you remember back then?"
"An... drea?"
"When you first saved me from the psychiatric ward. I really thought a prince on a white horse had come for me. Before that, I thought my life was destined to be either sacrificed or discarded as a consumable."
"Right. I'm really grateful you remember it as a fond memory, but... could you step aside for a moment?"
"That's why, this time, I've decided not to just yield to the older girls. I'm going to be a little greedy too."
[Andrea activates Lv.11 'Seduction of the Nine-Tailed Fox'!]
Her nine tails swayed gently.
As if he were looking directly at Medusa, his entire body's senses grew sluggish.
'A mental... attribute attack.'
This was bad.
Getting hit by this while his barriers and other stats were sealed...
Jinhyuk writhed, trying to break free.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't resist the skill with his bare body.
"Hehe. Even you can't do anything under these restrictions, Master Jinhyuk."
Andrea took a step closer, one pace at a time.
One of her tails brushed against his cheek.
Andrea's hand reached for the rose.
'Is this the end?'
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
Thud!
"Ah...?"
With a dull thud, Andrea's body stumbled heavily.
The ones who appeared behind her were...
"My lord. Forgive us for our delay."
Wolyeong, and...
"I have no idea how much longer I have to keep cleaning up your messes."
Cheon Yu-seong.
"How did you guys get here?"
Jinhyuk's eyes widened.
Cheon Yu-seong glared at Jinhyuk with utter disgust.
"Don't play dumb. Didn't you ask Master to make me participate in this battle? Just what kind of blackmail did you use to make Master force me into this place? Tell me the reason right now!"
Now, now. Blackmail?
What a nasty way to put it.
"All I did was offer to hand over the camera I installed in your room in exchange for using you as a bodyguard."
Cheon Yu-seong studying medicine.
Cheon Yu-seong practicing his swordsmanship.
Cheon Yu-seong sleeping in his teddy bear pajamas.
He had simply offered to hand over the footage he had diligently recorded.
"Do you call that an excuse, you absolute bastard?!"
Shring!
Cheon Yu-seong began to draw his sword halfway.
However, perhaps remembering the warning he had received from the Soul-Chasing Shadow, he couldn't bring himself to draw it completely.
"There we go, good boy. See? Even you wouldn't dare disobey your master."
Sending a telepathic message to the Soul-Chasing Shadow right after the battle began had paid off.
Now that he had two reliable allies, he should be able to survive the mid-game.
At least these two had no intention of stealing the rose.
"My lord, it would be best to move to another location first."
"Indeed. I already have a few places in mind."
As long as there were people like Alice and Teresa who possessed location-tracking items, staying in one place was dangerous.
His only option was to keep moving and buy time.
Just a little longer.
He just needed to hold out a little longer.
Once one more condition was met, he would be able to take control of the entire board and shake things up.
But right at that moment—
Step.
A new set of footsteps echoed from the alleyway.