Chapter 190
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Clan's Treachery
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"I'll ask just one more thing."
"Excuse me! Miss! Big Brother can't keep talking right now because of the poison! Please stop..."
"Macheon, was it? What kind of relation?"
Cheonryeong's face clouded with confusion at the sudden question.
"My little brother. A good little brother."
"Why did you turn such a brother into that?"
At the follow-up question, Cheonryeong fell silent.
"Please stop. This is going too far into rudeness."
"Did you two do that to him?"
"How could that be!! After sending him to the elders because there was a way to cure Cheon-i's incurable illness, that's how he ended up!"
"Hmm..."
Luna nodded as if she roughly understood.
"Is the reason you came here because of that child?"
"I can't answer that."
"Then we're done."
Luna stood up without any lingering attachment and turned away.
"It's best to let the dead go."
"Cheon-i isn't dead."
"The little brother behind you doesn't seem to think so. If that's the case, then so be it. I'm just repaying a debt, so don't worry about it."
Repaying a debt?
With those words, Luna indifferently left them behind.
After she departed, a short while later.
Hwaryeong, who had been maintaining the formation from behind, spoke up.
"Big Brother, do you still trust the clan?"
"What choice do we have?"
"I told you before. I can't sense the scent of a living person from Cheon-i."
"It's just a feeling, isn't it! Do you want to believe your little brother is dead?! I saw it. The moment Cheon-i briefly came to his senses and called me 'brother'!"
"Do you think my heart is at ease?! But seeing you, Big Brother, tied to Cheon-i and doing things you shouldn't, that's even more painful!! I'm sick and tired of this reality!!"
"Cheon-i is alive! If there's a way to restore him, I'll do anything. Understand?!"
"You're a fool! Big Brother! The clan's elders are just using Cheon-i as a weapon! And you as a hunting dog... Why won't you see it?"
In the midst of their argument, the two sensed something off.
Cheonryeong was currently afflicted with an extreme virulent poison.
It was such a vicious toxin that once contracted, it required immense effort to detoxify, and if mishandled, one would die in agonizing pain.
Yet at some point, that poison had completely vanished.
Hwaryeong hastily unwound the bandages from the stump where Cheonryeong's arm had been severed.
"My god..."
The symptoms that should have been grotesquely bulging with purple veins had all disappeared.
Proof that the poison had been fully neutralized.
But the astonishment didn't end there.
"Ugh?!"
"Big Brother?!"
A pure white light began to shimmer from his severed arm, and a miraculous phenomenon unfolded.
The arm, severed and shredded by Macheon, was regenerating within the light, returning to its original form.
"..."
Cheonryeong blankly moved his now-perfect arm.
"The... arm..."
From forearm to wrist, to fingers.
He muttered as he stared at the arm that looked as if it had never been injured.
"My god. A truly perfect arm. This is..."
"Just what... is that miss's true identity?"
The only one who could answer that had already left.
At that moment, people from the clan arrived to find the two.
"Young Master Cheonryeong, Lady Hwaryeong."
"What is it?"
Cheonryeong suppressed his complicated emotions and asked.
"We've come to relay the elders' orders."
Their tone was polite, but their demeanor was highly overbearing, and their attitude toward the clan's young master and lady was chillingly cold.
"Once the dungeon expedition enters from Bata, Sir Bachen of Coral and numerous others will follow immediately to trigger the penalty."
"What? What does that... You're saying you'll assault the rift?"
"Of course not. You just need to hold at the rift's entrance. The monsters in the rift will take care of them. Young Master and Lady, join the elders in massacring Bata's camp, then rendezvous afterward."
Even Sword Master-level experts found a penalty-activated rift dangerous.
Cheonryeong and Hwaryeong's faces hardened at the words.
"Are you telling me to intimidate and swing my sword at people who haven't even trained in martial arts?"
"It's the elders' council's command. Obey. Don't you need to save the youngest young master?"
"Since when did the Sacheon Clan become so unhesitant about such filthy schemes! The symbol of harmony and peace!! Aren't you ashamed?!"
"Giving up now? Do as you wish. But if so, whether we awaken Young Master Macheon's ego as the elders' council decided will be reconsidered."
At those words, Cheonryeong clenched his fist so hard it seemed it would shatter. Hwaryeong didn't hide her fury.
"Filthy bastards. You've ruined the clan's heir to that extent, and you stand so proud?!"
"Young Master, and Lady."
They smirked.
"Do you still think the Sacheon Clan belongs to you two? You should know your place while we treat you as the previous family head's heirs. Of course, don't worry about manpower. Reinforcements are already en route."
The Sacheon Clan, once like a home to the siblings, had long since turned into a demon den after the previous family head's death.
I couldn't miss that our opponents were scheming in their own way.
Moreover, I'd caught onto their plans using the undead.
That's why Coral and the Eastern Continent side were outwardly pretending to withdraw and prepare, but it was obvious it was all an act.
And yet, my lack of reaction was a personal preference.
I've learned recently that even if you're going to rampage, it's best to keep at least one insurance policy.
"I was worried you'd just charge in and cut them down like with Tibel."
"That time, it didn't matter anyway."
To be precise, Melissa being threatened irked me so much I acted without thinking ahead.
"Arsha, if you keep eating ice cream until late, your teeth will rot."
"Mmm..."
Melissa patted Arsha's back while holding the sleepy girl, who was rubbing her eyes, in her arms.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Proceed with the scouting as planned."
"What if they trigger the penalty?"
"I'll stop it before it becomes a problem."
"Ah. Then it's fine."
Worst case, I could just go in myself.
Melissa shrugged as if it no longer mattered.
A rift dangerous even for Sword Masters?
Unfortunately, that didn't apply to me.
"Still, the people staying here could be threatened, so Luna, could you guard Arsha's side?"
"If they attack this way, I block it?"
"Yeah. Harming Arsha is impossible anyway... but I can't let her get shocked needlessly."
Luna alone was more than sufficient for defense.
They thought they were moving stealthily with their preparations, but the problem was that we already had full intel on it.
At that moment, a maid entered the tent.
"Young Master."
"What is it?"
"A guest has come to see the two of you at this hour."
Before she finished, a girl in flowing Eastern Continent-style robes walked in with light footsteps from behind.
A modest height of about 160 cm, with a refined beauty typical of the East.
Her black hair neatly braided screamed high-born lady.
The girl who had suddenly challenged me to a spar during training to test my strength, deploying a formation.
"Allow me a formal introduction. I am Hwaryeong, young lady of the Sacheon Clan."
"Why are you here?"
Melissa asked sharply, on guard, as if ready to cut her down any second.
It couldn't be helped. Weren't we in this situation because of them?
Hwaryeong remained silent for a moment before slowly lifting her bowed head.
"I have urgent information for the young lord."
"We're done. We have nothing to discuss with your lot..."
"Melissa."
The one stopping Melissa was none other than Luna.
She spoke calmly with a detached gaze.
"Why not hear her out?"
"You trust them?"
"Can't trust the Sacheon Clan, but those siblings are a bit different."
Luna's eyes see things a little differently from ours to begin with.
It was unexpected for Luna to take her side, but Melissa knew and trusted Luna's insight well.
"If you say so, it's worth believing..."
"So, what is it?"
She had come specifically for me. I asked in Melissa's stead.
Come to think of it, her actions had many incomprehensible parts.
Coming to find me, needing to confirm something from me.
"Just now, the clan's orders came down to Big Brother and me. Once the rift scouting begins from Bata, an ambush is planned."
This woman.
Was about to spill Coral and the clan's plans to us.
She glanced around before snapping open the fan in her bosom with a shk!
A formation deployed around them.
Melissa, not knowing what it was, instinctively drew her sword.
"Calm down. It's a sound-blocking spell."
"Sound-blocking spell?"
"A soundproof barrier."
"Ah."
Melissa sheathed her sword.
Arsha, who had been dozing off with nods, widened her eyes in surprise at the sudden event.
"Uh... um. Arsha, you got startled? Sorry."
"I-It's okay."
Leaving Melissa, who hugged and patted Arsha, I asked.
"Please speak."
"Currently, the Sacheon Clan and Coral side plan to artificially trigger the penalty during tomorrow's rift scouting."
She explained Coral and the Sacheon Clan's scheme to us.
It wasn't false bluffing.
It matched exactly what we'd confirmed.
"I have no intention of trading this information with you, young lord. I simply wished to build some trust with you."
"Earlier, you came at me like you wanted a real fight."
"I had to verify the rumors. With no second chances for me, I had no choice but to be rude."
For what reason exactly?
She soon knelt before me and bowed her head low.
"Hey, what are you..."
"Please... I beg you. Help my Big Brother and me escape the Sacheon Clan's grasp."
A plea for asylum?
They could just leave on their own, so why ask for help...
There must be a reason they couldn't flee now.
Something to block their sudden defection.
The Sacheon Clan, one of the Eastern Continent's great houses.
A prestigious righteous (zhengdao) family, the Sacheon Clan held considerable prestige.
But now, the clan had apparently become a collective madhouse of demons.
"Originally, my father prioritized peace and harmony in the clan. But right after Father passed in some accident, the elders' council that seized control completely transformed the clan."
While Cheonryeong and Hwaryeong were away from the clan on a pact mission, they secretly and gradually took real power.
And once they had it all, they bared their fangs.