Chapter 129
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Driven into a Corner
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“You know I'm the princess of the Black Dragon Clan, right?”
“That's exactly why I'm asking—how is a princess who's nothing more than a figurehead this strong?”
From his overwhelming level of 97 to his cheat-like unique skill 『Rule of Law』, and even the murder techniques honed in real combat.
Bellos was undeniably a powerhouse, equipped with everything.
Even among grand duke-level players, few could stand against him.
So why was he the one being overwhelmed?
Li Chingwei wore a peculiar expression as she listened to Bellos, who furrowed his brow in utter disbelief.
“You really don't know anything about our Seven Dragon Society, do you?”
“What are you talking about? 『Health Insurance Act, Enacted』.”
“Exactly what I said.”
Bellos shifted the law book from his limp right hand to his left, flipping open a page to begin healing his wound.
Li Chingwei gestured again, sending dark energy toward him, and calmly asked,
“No matter how ignorant you are about our Seven Dragon Society, you must know the origins of psionics, at least?”
“Isn't it the power derived from those primitive lizards you worship?”
“Primitive lizards... You have quite the amusing way of referring to our progenitor.”
“What, does that piss you off?”
Boom!
Despite his injuries, Bellos effortlessly dodged the dark energy and sneered.
Insulting dragons was blasphemy to the Seven Dragon Society itself.
Most clan members would fly into a rage, vowing to exterminate the offender's entire family.
“No, no reason to get mad. The expression's a bit crude, but it's true—our progenitor was indeed a reptile from before the creation of the world.”
But Li Chingwei didn't rage.
She simply fired off another dark energy with perfect composure.
Her reaction was so nonchalant that even Yuna Kyung—and Bellos himself, the one who'd insulted her—stared in disbelief, nearly getting smashed by the attack.
“Anyway, as you know, psionics originated from the power our progenitor bestowed upon humanity.”
“So what? 『Human Rights Protection Act, Enacted』.”
“It's simple.”
Rumble!
Bellos blocked Li Chingwei's dark energy with a barrier conjured from another page of his book.
She spoke to him evenly.
“It means even the warriors of our Seven Dragon Society can't attain the true essence of psionics.”
Psionics was originally the power of dragons.
Humans weren't meant to wield it.
That was why the seven dragons created the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Arts.
To 'remodel' the human body through training, making it dragon-like enough to acquire psionics postnatally, if only a little.
However, it still didn't grant the true power of dragons.
“No matter how great the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Arts are, they have their limits.”
The Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Arts remodeled the body, but learning them imposed an enormous burden.
Ordinary humans could master only one.
And the psionics built from relying on just a single art were woefully inadequate compared to those of the seven dragons.
It was like forcing a machine with seventy-two gears to run on one—the performance would never be complete.
“Our Seven Dragon Society worked tirelessly to overcome that limit, and that's how numerous prestigious clans were born.”
Thud, rumble!
By refining the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Arts.
Reducing the burden with elixirs and secret arts.
Thickening dragon blood through marriages.
Over the past several centuries, the Seven Dragon Society had tried every trick to surpass human limits.
And those who achieved some success became known as prestigious clans, rising to dominate the society.
“But in the end, no major breakthroughs.”
Still, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Despite centuries of research and tens of thousands of sacrifices, they couldn't grasp psionics' true essence.
A caterpillar rolling around stayed a caterpillar.
Psionics, being the power of dragons at its core, was simply too much for the human species.
“Yet, generation after generation, our Seven Dragon Society has produced those who could attain that essence.”
Crackle!
Was it the barrage of dark energy?
The moment Bellos's barrier finally shattered.
Li Chingwei glided like a ghost over the black mist on the floor, closing the distance to Bellos in an instant.
“Seven exceptions who inherited our great progenitor's blood, unbound by the limits of the human species.”
“『Witness Protection Act, Enacted』.”
Bellos split into five, scattering in all directions.
Though intangible illusions, they looked indistinguishable from the real thing—but Li Chingwei didn't bother dispelling them one by one.
Instead, she pursued one Bellos in a flash, slamming a palm into his back with a sly smile.
“Guess who they are?”
Bellos spun, blocking her palm with his law book, brow furrowed.
Not because she'd instantly spotted his real body, nor from the shock that rattled his organs despite the block.
He'd finally grasped the point of her story.
“You don't mean...”
“Yes, exactly.”
The warriors of the Seven Dragon Society couldn't attain psionics' essence because they were ultimately human.
But the society had exceptions.
Born with vast psionics.
Mastering the Seventy-Two Dragon Martial Arts—lethal even for one art—without strain.
Instinctively grasping psionics' essence from birth, they were called Heavenly Martial Bodies or Heavenly Dragon Bodies.
Unlike other clans with mere traces of dragon blood, these seven descendants carried the purest dragon lineage, closer to dragons than humans in essence.
“Being a princess of the Seven Dragon Society also means being its strongest warrior.”
“......”
Bellos finally understood.
The seven princesses weren't mere figureheads with good bloodlines.
They were the reason a cult-like group had evaded subjugation for centuries, the force that let them dominate the world's shadows.
Binding the clan through sheer power.
Ruling enemies with terror.
The pinnacle and ultimate weapon of the Seven Dragon Society.
One of those seven rulers was the girl smiling playfully before him right now.
And her declaration to kill him was no bluff.
“......I'm screwed.”
Boom!
“......Old man, didn't you say you were gonna kill me?”
“I did.”
“Then why are we just playing hide-and-seek?”
She'd been thrilled for a real fight, rampaging with excitement.
But thanks to the black mist filling the area, Yujin had smashed another priceless sculpture instead of flesh and blood, and she grumbled in dissatisfaction.
The culprit behind the mist, Youin, paid it no mind.
He simply hid in the fog with the Dark Dragon Squad, replying calmly.
“I haven't found a way to kill you yet. No need to waste energy needlessly.”
“No way! No matter how disadvantaged, we fight fair and give it our all! That's the Sword Master spirit, right?”
“The Sword Master spirit...?”
At that moment.
Youin wore a strange expression.
For any other clan, maybe—but for the Black Dragon Clan, who specialized in schemes and contracts, viewing sneakiness and cunning as virtues, preaching fairness was baffling.
No, something in her words caught him.
“......It seems you have some misconceptions about Sword Masters, miss.”
“Huh? Misconceptions? About what?”
“Sword Masters aren't beings who fight fair even when disadvantaged. They're beings who make fighting fair disadvantage everyone else.”
“Isn't that the same thing?”
“No. A very big difference.”
Youin gave a wry smile.
Truth be told, it wasn't her ignorance's fault.
In the Heroes' Age, before players existed.
Sword Masters were absolute beings no one could oppose, so they preferred charging head-on.
Smashing everything directly solved most problems.
But Youin countered for one reason.
He knew.
“Sword Masters can use assassination, ambushes, or stratagems as needed.”
“Doesn't sound like any Sword Master I'd know.”
“No, there is one.”
How mistaken it was to think Sword Masters only fought head-on.
How terrifying a Sword Master who used any means could be.
As one of the rare survivors who'd faced the Seven Dragon Society's uprising and lived, he continued softly.
“At least one—the most cunning and crafty Sword Master.”
“Oh yeah?”
Intrigued by the new info, her excited expression lasted only a moment.
Yujin hoisted her guitar high and shouted cheerfully.
“Doesn't matter! I'm fighting head-on anyway!”
Whoosh!
The guitar swept ferociously toward Youin's voice.
Its momentum was so vicious that the wind pressure alone whipped up a gale in the lobby.
“Do as you please. We'll fight our way.”
But the guitar missed Youin and failed to dispel the mist.
Instead, a dagger from the fog embedded in Yujin's body, creating an opening.
Of course, with near-immortal vitality, she ignored the wound and kept rampaging—but that was it.
Against Youin and the Dark Dragon Squad, who meticulously avoided direct clashes, she could only flail futilely.
“Old man, keep this up and I might bring the whole building down?”
“If you can, be my guest.”
Annoyed by the hide-and-seek?
Or bored?
Even as Yujin threatened the Leviathan's safety, Youin didn't twitch an eyebrow.
He just replied evenly.
“If you can escape the Great Black Heaven Soul Vanquishing Formation we've deployed.”
Of course, Youin was confident.
It was impossible.
Among the seven clans of the Seven Dragon Society, each born with different psionics, the Black Dragon Clan specialized in mental resonance.
Mind control, illusions, stealth, telepathy.
They excelled at shadowy maneuvers but were the weakest in direct combat among the seven.
That was why they specialized in plots and intrigue from the start.
But they had one strength surpassing the others: formations.
Secret arts that maximized mental resonance for body-like coordination, amplified psionics through resonance, and produced special effects.
The Great Black Heaven Soul Vanquishing Formation was one such.
A fearsome lost formation that could trap even tens of thousands of troops wandering in the mist until death.
With a sect-level master like Youin leading the Dark Dragon Squad in the Leviathan, it was airtight.
Ten monarchs might escape.
But even an immortal like Yujin would now just thrash alone in the formation until she withered away.
'This might actually be dangerous?'
Like prey watching a spiderweb.
Feeling the sinister killing intent rippling in the black mist, Yujin grinned wider.
But Yujin, trapped in the formation.
And Bellos, cornered by Li Chingwei.
Neither knew the truth.
That the one truly most cornered was someone else—prey to some mad dog's hunt.