Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Demon Clan Hunt in Crisis
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“Guess they came looking for me?”
“What else would it be? Of course they’re after you.”
Pang replied in a sullen tone.
“You still don’t know why?”
“How would I know that? You’re the one with the reason—figure it out yourself.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying because I have no clue.”
“Anyway, if we stay like this, they’ll sniff us out here too. For some reason, they can detect you.”
The ones who had killed the previous Demon Clan assault captains had all died to ambushes.
Even back then, the Demons had pinpointed and sniped the killers of their assault captains.
It was clear the Demons had some special way to track those who slew their own assault captains.
Geon-woo knew this well from repeated experiences.
“That’s a problem. If we die here, the losses won’t be minor.”
An avatar’s death penalty varied based on the degree of soul fusion.
The more souls fused, the greater the loss.
There were even rumors that fusing over 5,000 souls amplified the penalty further.
It wasn’t as extreme as shattering a soulstone like before, but it still came with penalties akin to losing game levels.
“So, you wanna run?”
Pang stared straight at Geon-woo as he asked.
His flat tone gave no hint whether he meant flee from the Demons or hunt them down.
But Geon-woo figured Pang would prefer hunting them.
In that regard, Geon-woo was no different from Pang.
“We need to head to the sanctuary for a safe logout anyway. But before that, we should give these bold bastards chasing me a taste of their own medicine.”
“Alright. Then I’ll scout some prey. Log back in six hours from now.”
Pang, grasping that “a taste” meant hunting Demons, plotted excitedly.
Since the Demons could track Geon-woo, log out first and return at the set time.
In the interim, Pang would line up some prey.
“Got it. Six hours. We’ll head straight out hunting when I log back in.”
“Yeah. Go log out. I’ll find some good ones.”
With that, Pang headed straight to the surface.
Geon-woo logged out, returned to his training chamber, and checked on Ilryeong and the Jiangshi refinement back on Earth.
* * *
Six hours later.
On the way out of the hideout toward the prey.
“You can’t communicate with Demons.”
“The Omniroad residents tried interpreting Demon speech too. But even among Demons, everyone hears it differently. For example, one person might hear the same phrase as ‘salkeh,’ while another hears ‘horo.’”
“Probably some system interference. Like how us users on the same side have no communication barriers.”
“Exactly.”
“By the way, why are you so set on capturing Demons alive?”
It was Pang’s question in response to Geon-woo’s request to capture Demons alive this time too.
Pang, unaware Geon-woo made living Jiangshi, naturally wondered.
“Demons have all sorts of research value, that’s why. And I said I’d sweeten the pot with extra souls based on capture value. It’s not a loss for you, right?”
“Well, true, but…”
Though suspicious, it was pure profit for Pang, no loss.
So he didn’t push back hard.
“They’re coming.”
Geon-woo halted while following Pang.
They were en route to where Pang said four Demons lurked, but Demon presences approached from ahead, as if coming to greet them.
“They’re here?”
Pang hadn’t detected them yet.
Even so, at Geon-woo’s words, he swiftly activated his unique ability to vanish into thin air.
He trusted Geon-woo’s detection.
“Yeah. This confirms it. The Demons have a way to track me. They can’t pinpoint me underground, but accuracy spikes once I surface.”
“Then the others from elsewhere are converging here too?”
“Yep. Which means we need a blitz at times like this!”
“Capturing alive will be tough then.”
“Try it—if it fails, just kill ‘em! Four of them!”
“Got it!”
Pang’s reply echoed from empty air.
Hidden, he darted toward the approaching Demons.
Geon-woo tracked the Demons and Pang via Ilryeong’s senses.
Ilryeong’s mirrored senses outstripped his own, so he borrowed them.
‘Ilryeong, let’s secure one alive for sure with Dokryeong. Kill the rest.’
= Leaving one to Pang?
‘Yep.’
= Understood. I’ll capture one with Sulryeong and Dokryeong, then swiftly handle the rest with Amryeong and Gungryeong.
‘Good! We attack right as Pang strikes.’
= Yes, my lord.
This time, Geon-woo stayed back.
Sulryeong’s spells would bind one Demon, Dokryeong paralyzing it.
Simultaneously, Amryeong would blink-strike one, Gungryeong unleashing a finisher.
Linked via Heart Spirit, Ilryeong read Geon-woo’s plan without words.
Slash! Crunch!
The fight kicked off as planned with Pang.
A massive serpent head materialized from thin air, swallowing one stealthy Demon whole.
At once, Amryeong blinked behind another, and Gungryeong loosed his bow.
Boom! Stab!
Screech! Thud!
Grah! Splatter!
Keeek!
The cloaked Demon couldn’t dodge Amryeong’s dagger to its back.
It died, yielding neck and heart.
Gungryeong’s arrow, charged with Jiangshi blood qi, pierced another hidden Demon’s chest, pinning it to a massive tree.
Rustle! Crackle! Slither!
Boom! Grah! Splatter!
Thunk… Thump!
The last Demon, entangled in Sulryeong’s animated vines and branches, fell to Dokryeong’s grasp.
Dokryeong pressed a venom-laced hand to its crown, injecting paralyzing toxin it couldn’t resist.
‘Dokryeong’s too valuable to waste.’
= Worry not, my lord. Extracting the blood core for living Jiangshi refinement will transfer most of Dokryeong’s abilities.
‘I know. You said we’d move it to that Demon body we used blood on before?’
= Yes, my lord.
‘But eventually, we’ll need user living Jiangshi. That’s what I hate wasting.’
= Ah, I hadn’t considered that far ahead. My apologies, my lord.
‘Well, as you said, if we swap to user and Demon living Jiangshi, Dokryeong and Amryeong can be last. Anyway, another easy win.’
Seomryeong and Ssangryeong finished off Amryeong and Gungryeong’s targets, while Pang’s black serpent head crunched its Demon mouthful.
“By the way, I said capture if possible.”
“You know how much it thrashed inside? If I’d let go, it would’ve torn free.”
“Yeah?”
“Too risky to capture. Looked like a physical brute. Tch!”
Pang clicked his tongue in regret.
He’d griped about capture, but it profited him more than kills—so he lamented the miss.
Geon-woo didn’t dwell on the dead Demons.
He’d weighted capture and kill at fifty-fifty, so kill was fine.
“No special abilities this time, huh?”
Pang sidled up to Geon-woo, who raised dirt mounds into coffins, eyeing the corpses.
“They got suppressed instantly. Maybe no chance to use uniques.”
Geon-woo had the Jiangshi load the Demon corpses and paralyzed one into stone coffins atop their shoulders.
“Gives me chills every time. Those black bastards shouldering coffins.”
Pang shuddered theatrically.
“Quit yapping and move. The Demons are all converging here.”
“Right. So we bail now?”
“Wanna go another round?”
“Feels like we’re leaving a bad taste.”
“About twenty left, by your count.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s enough we’d be the ones burying bones here. Plus, one you said even you couldn’t handle solo?”
“Better to retreat then?”
“Mercs who misjudge advance or retreat don’t survive.”
“True. Let’s go.”
Pang agreed to quick withdrawal at Geon-woo’s words.
But by then, Demons were closing encirclement from all sides, leaving no escape—they didn’t know yet.
* * *
“What of Helparis’s seal?”
“We dispatched knights again.”
“Two failures! What happened?”
“Their group’s no pushover. Plus, the seal-bearer detects knight stealth, foiling ambushes.”
“So you prepared countermeasures this time?”
“Fear not, Young Lord. This time we’ll surely…”
“No! I must go myself.”
“Young Lord, no! You personally?”
“The seal in my hands grants full command. Without it, we’re mere puppets, withering away!”
“…But losing you too dooms our clan.”
“Without the seal, doom awaits anyway. We stake our lives now. I go.”
“…As you will, Young Lord!”
In the Demon Clan command post directing the Omniroad invasion, the Young Lord, dreaming of domain revival, made his resolve.
The seal lost with Lord Helparis’s death.
Without it, no command authority—only downfall loomed.
“Let’s go!”
The Demon Young Lord mobilized all remaining forces beyond dispatched knights for seal recovery.
* * *
“What’s this?”
“We’re screwed.”
“You said just over twenty, tops.”
“Yeah, definitely…”
Pang’s voice trailed off weakly.
He’d scouted just over twenty Demons.
Four down recently, so not over twenty left.
Yet the encircling Demons neared fifty.
“Two giving off creepy auras. One of these the one you mentioned, Pang?”
“Nah, not this strong.”
“Then the lesser ones. Three of those. Wow, this is bad.”
Three at Pang’s ‘can’t guarantee win’ level, two far stronger.
But even regulars posed threats.
Without ambush or advantage, couldn’t one-shot them.
Two would be tough, three near impossible.
They had ten tops; Demons fifty?
Hopeless fight.
No—defeat and death were certain.
“What now? Any way out?”
Pang asked Geon-woo.
“Bolt’s the answer, but doubt it’ll work.”
Geon-woo spoke, promptly opening an underground escape with earth arts.
Burrowing down.