Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: ACT.42 The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend? (2)
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“Let me ask you one thing.”
Xie had vanished without even sticking around for the item distribution, so it was just me and Hwang Chan-jin left to bicker over the loot.
A sudden question popped into my head, and I voiced it.
“If you had killed Ignis the normal way and only gotten one elixir, what was your plan for this guy after giving it to your sister?”
“I had the Sa-jin-cham-sa-geom back then.”
“But without using the elixir, you would have had to face all six phases.”
“I would have fought as hard as my sister’s life was worth. And her life is worth everything—I would have burned everything I had.”
Hwang Chan-jin delivered the line without so much as a blink.
Most people would be embarrassed after saying something like that, but he showed no sign of it.
“…Now that’s some serious brotherly love.”
“You may be proud of me.”
*Why would I be proud of you?*
He looked pleased with himself, as if he truly was admirable.
He’s definitely become more expressive since Hwang Yu-jin’s condition improved.
“Your sleight of hand, on the other hand, is nothing to be proud of.”
“…You saw?”
“The hand is not faster than the eye, Kim Se-hyeon.”
Hwang Chan-jin glared at my hand with eyes as cold as ice.
Another stack of Disaster Eater had pushed my total agility past 100.
But at such close range, it was still hard to move past the detection of his mana.
Hwang Chan-jin narrowed one eye.
“You don’t have to resort to that. Your contribution was the greatest, so I’ll give you the first pick.”
“In that case, this one…”
The moment I grabbed an item, Hwang Chan-jin’s hand swiftly covered mine.
His grip was immense, pinning my hand in place.
*...This bastard.*
“What happened to the guy who said he’d give me first pick?”
“This is something I need, so the situation has changed.”
His face must be made of iron, not skin.
I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so shameless in my life.
It wasn't impossible to pull my hand away if I used my strength, but...
“What do you need this for?”
“I’m giving it to Yu-jin.”
The look in Hwang Chan-jin’s eyes as he said that was so gentle that I slowly withdrew my hand.
Hwang Yu-jin is friendly toward me.
Plus, she’s a talented rookie supporter who has Hwang Chan-jin’s full backing.
I had no objection to her getting stronger.
“Kim Se-hyeon, what will you choose?”
“Well…”
There wasn’t much among the dropped items that I needed for myself.
I had no reason to change my weapon, and while accessories were an option, there wasn't anything that stood out.
What I needed most right now were elixirs, anyway.
Ah, that reminds me, I need some gear to block the penalty from Jo Min-ah’s Soul Flame.
Otherwise, there was a chance Jo Min-woo could get hurt because of ‘Flame Resonance’.
The Disaster of Defiance should have dropped a wide variety of items. I wonder if there’s anything suitable here.
“How about this?”
“…That’s a gourd. Why are you giving me this?”
“It’s not just any gourd. It’s a gourd that produces an infinite amount of wine if you wish to drink from it. And the wine is fantastic. I’m not much of a drinker, but even I can enjoy a drink from this.”
[The ‘Devil Who Mocks the Heavens’ eyes sparkle as he licks his lips.]
Hwang Chan-jin said, turning the gourd over in his hands.
*Was there really a drop like that?*
If it gave some kind of buff, maybe, but according to Hwang Chan-jin, all it did was produce infinite, tasty wine.
Since it had no other function, it was useless for strategy, which was probably why I hadn’t remembered it...
“Ah.”
An idea struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I quickly snatched the gourd.
“Hm? What’s this? Acting all uninterested, but you were curious after all?”
“No. I just figured out how to use it.”
There was a significant time gap between when I’d completely forgotten about this item’s existence and when I learned about the place I needed to go to later.
It’s no wonder I hadn’t connected the two.
*This will be more than enough.*
A problem I’d been mulling over was now solved.
This could fill that missing one percent perfectly.
***
*Crash!*
A flowerpot hit the floor and shattered into pieces.
Her hair was a mess, her unkempt skin clearly showing the damage.
Still not satisfied, the succubus slammed both hands on the table.
“No, it can’t be. This can’t be happening...!”
The succubus gritted her teeth.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! Kim Se-hyeon! That damned human! All because of that one human!!”
*Was I complacent? Careless?*
This wasn't an issue on that level.
His growth rate was extraordinary, and no matter what she tried, he was like a monster who always found a way to counter it.
Even her plan using Jeong Su-ji, which she had been so confident would put him in a dilemma, had passed without causing Kim Se-hyeon any harm at all.
Now, she had no strength left to do anything more.
“Yes, it’s because of that human. If he just disappeared, I could once again, I could once again receive Lord Asmodeus’s favor...!”
“I already gave you a chance.”
“Ah, Lord Asmodeus!”
The succubus’s eyes lit up.
*This is my chance.*
*My last chance to crush that human, Kim Se-hyeon.*
The succubus prostrated herself on the floor.
“Ah, my noble and beautiful lord. Could you not bestow upon me a sliver of your mercy? One time. If you would just give me one more chance…”
The succubus couldn’t finish her sentence.
Her entire body turned to pink dust and vanished, leaving only an essence of energy behind.
“I don’t give another chance to a child who has failed twice.”
*Swoop.*
Asmodeus took a light breath, and the essence that was once the succubus was absorbed into her mouth.
“Did that child say something like this too?”
Asmodeus gave a meaningful smile.
“He really is an interesting child.”
***
After the items were distributed, Hwang Chan-jin shot off like an arrow, saying he was worried about his sister.
I took some of the loot, claiming it was Xie’s share, but he didn’t seem to care much.
One for his sister, and two for himself.
Everything else was mine.
Of course. I had no intention of actually giving anything to Xie.
“Most of this is useless to me, though.”
I examined the information on each item one by one.
Most were B-rank, with the occasional A-rank mixed in.
Since the ‘Baekhon’ that Hwang Chan-jin took was the only S-rank item, he probably gave up on a lot of other things to compensate.
I let him have it willingly since I planned to make use of him later, but should I have pushed for more?
*Well, it seems he didn't know about this, at least.*
I picked up a B-rank item that looked like a staff.
The item was called ‘Tide of Specters’.
With a bit of work, it transformed into a different S-rank item. It was the true reward for defeating the Disaster of Defiance.
[Phew. It's finally over.]
Besial peeked out, looking exhausted but refreshed.
“How did it go?”
[I dropped all the evidence I gathered at once. The devil in China was referred to trial. The succubus, who was implicated as an accomplice, skipped the trial and was summarily executed.]
*Summary execution?*
I expected she’d be punished immediately, but this was harsher than I thought.
She was already demoted to a lower rank, so with a heavy punishment on top of that, she won’t be able to interfere with me anymore.
[To be honest, it was a little weird. Asmodeus apparently annihilated the succubus with her own hands. It’s rare for a monarch-class devil to get personally involved like that, especially to destroy one of their own subordinates. You didn’t see it, so you wouldn’t know, right? I just happened to see it by chance, but after she annihilated her, she ate the remaining soul... that lump of energy, like it was a tasty snack, and then wiped her lips with her finger. It was so creepy.]
“Asmodeus annihilated the succubus herself? Why would she?”
[That's what I'm wondering. Why?]
Besial tilted his head.
*Perhaps.*
It was highly likely she was cutting her losses.
Since Asmodeus herself had ordered the succubus, she was destroying all the evidence with her own hands.
I couldn't rule out that possibility.
She might have even let Besial see it on purpose to make it seem like it wasn’t intentional.
[By the way, what’s that?]
“An item that dropped from the Disaster of Defiance.”
[Then it’s a piece of gear imbued with divine power, however faint. The shop would probably buy it, right? Even if they don’t pay much.]
“It’s not that they ‘don’t pay much,’ it’s that they pay ‘very little.’”
[Ahem, ahem.]
Besial cleared his throat and avoided my gaze.
There was no reason to sell it to the shop when I could make a significant profit trading it to other players.
“Besides, I’m going to break this.”
[Huh? What? Break it?]
*CRACK!*
I slammed the staff onto the ground, shattering it.
[Aargh, you psycho! Why would you break something so valuable?!]
*Why?*
Because it gets better this way.
*Thud. Clatter.*
The ornament that had been attached to the end of the staff rolled to my feet.
[Eh, what’s this? The ornament came off separately. Is it a ring?]
“This is the real item. The staff was just a disguise.”
I brushed the dust off the ring, which was set with a faded jewel.
[Ring of Heroic Spirits (S)]
A ring that seals the power to contain a mighty soul. No one knows what kind of soul will be contained within. It could be a hero who protected people from monsters, a conqueror who ruled a continent, or a swordsman or mage who reached the pinnacle.
[What is this? You destroyed a B-rank item and it became an S-rank? Is this a scam?]
“The item was the one pulling the scam. It was an S-rank disguised as a B-rank.”
[...Why does that make sense?]
“And while it says ‘mighty soul,’ most of them are duds. Just as the description says, it could be a hero or someone who reached the pinnacle, but it could also be the soul of someone who just lazed around at home and died an unremarkable death. There’s no item more like a roll of the dice than this.”
[But it said ‘mighty soul.’]
“It can *contain* a mighty soul, not that it *only summons* mighty souls.”
Besial slapped his forehead.
[This thing is S-rank? If the shop sold something like this, it would never sell.]
“That’s not true. If you get a really strong soul, you can become unbelievably powerful. And for certain souls, there are ways to increase the summoning chance.”
[Ooh. You know your stuff.]
“Most importantly, it’s a key item for clearing the Disaster of Solitude.”
I slipped the ring onto my pinky finger.
It was a little loose, but it shrank and adjusted to a perfect fit.
*Originally, you're supposed to use this to summon the soul of Aira and learn her swordsmanship.*
But the Disaster of Solitude itself is already defeated.
Which means I’ll have to use it for something else.
[Can it only summon souls that were on Earth?]
“From all dimensions. No one knows whose soul from which world will appear.”
You can receive training from the summoned soul, and if you pass a final test, you can even obtain the unique power that hero possessed.
In reality, the former was practically mandatory because of the Disaster of Solitude.
But now that I’ve already defeated the Disaster of Solitude, maybe it’s possible to summon a truly powerful soul.
*...I can't just summon one recklessly right now.*
***
With Seon Woo-jin, the one who had been instigating the conflict, dead, it became easier to intervene in the matter between Bonghwang and Shaolin.
Originally, my goal was to keep them fighting to weaken the Chinese factions as a whole.
Since Xie belongs to Salvatio, Bonghwang could also be considered part of Salvatio’s forces.
Weakening Bonghwang meant weakening Salvatio.
The impact might not be huge, but it was better than nothing.
“Fine. I’ll do as you say.”
However, since Xie was being so obedient, I changed my approach.
Bonghwang would apologize and compensate Shaolin, and the two would form an alliance.
Shaolin was satisfied with just getting the manufacturing manual back and accepted no other compensation. They expressed their gratitude to me for mediating the situation peacefully.
They also promised to repay the favor in the future.
“…She’s being surprisingly obedient. Was she always like this?”
“Y-you saved my life! This much is only natural!”
*No need to shout.*
I scratched my cheek.
“I agree with her words. In the end, it is as if you saved all our lives. Furthermore, you helped us smoothly retrieve our sect’s treasure. We cannot possibly take this debt of gratitude lightly.”
“Amitabha,” muttered Master Jinhyun, the current guild master of Shaolin, giving a short bow.
“Therefore, I would like to make you a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“I wish to pledge that from this day forward, Shaolin will be your eternal ally.”