Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: After All, You Just Need to Capture the Spirit Body
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Crunch! Graaah!
The Behemoth monster was the size of five large elephants smashed together.
It walked on four legs, with a body blending elephant, hippo, rhino, and buffalo features, topped off by a snake-headed tail.
But this Behemoth freak's ability was turning the ground into a swamp or hardening it solid.
It made the earth under the Jiangshi's feet slosh like quicksand, then lock it rock-hard in a simple pattern.
Anyone on the receiving end got their movements restricted at key moments.
In the end, one Ten-Man Captain Jiangshi's leg sank into the Behemoth's swamp, and when the ground hardened, a Hydra monster bit down on it.
The five-headed Hydra freak had a sea anemone-like body, so its mobility was slow.
But those five heads sat on stretchy necks with insane elasticity, letting them strike at blinding speed within range.
The moment the Behemoth alternated swamp and solid ground to hinder the Ten-Man Captain Jiangshi, one Hydra head snapped it up.
"How do we deal with that?!"
Paeng freaked out at the sight of the Jiangshi chomped and crunched by the Hydra, turning to Geon-woo.
"Tch, what else? We cut our losses."
Geon-woo scowled and made the call at Paeng's question.
Before that Jiangshi got totally pulverized in the Hydra's jaws, he recalled its Jiangshi Spirit.
Whooooom! Whoosh!
The instant Geon-woo willed the recall, a translucent spirit rose from the Jiangshi's body in the Hydra's mouth.
"What is that? Isn't it a Bune tribesman?!"
R Leatroit shouted in shock at the translucent spirit emerging from the Jiangshi's body.
Meanwhile, the freed Jiangshi Spirit flew through the air and vanished into Geon-woo's body like it was absorbed.
The spirit had settled into the soul terminal created by Yultren's engraving technique.
Kurrarararar! Fwoosh!
But while Geon-woo recalled that one Jiangshi Spirit, the monster he'd dubbed Fake Dragon bellowed and unleashed a flame breath.
The dragon beast looked just like the Western dragons from myths.
And fitting its looks, it could spew flame breath.
Fwoooosh! Fwoosh!
"Damn it!"
Even Geon-woo couldn't hide his alarm this time.
Five Jiangshi got engulfed in the dragon's flames.
But that wasn't all.
Kwaaaang!
A 7-meter bipedal freak with two heads.
The thing Paeng called Twin-Headed Ogre roared, and the nearby Jiangshi froze stiff.
Psssh! Shhh!
To top it off.
The eye-only monster Big Eye used its power.
Its eye flashed gray light, and the hit Jiangshi turned to stone, frozen like a statue.
In that instant, all the close-range attack Jiangshi were done for.
The survivors unscathed were just the long-range Gungryeong and Sulryeong, plus Gongryeong who'd dodged via phantasm form.
Boom! Kaboom! Pow pow pow! Thud!
The monsters hammered the stunned Jiangshi with finishing blows.
Jiangshi half-melted by flames and those rigid from the ogre's roar got tossed around by the monsters' attacks.
But the worst off were the ones petrified by Big Eye.
Crack! Crrack! Crumble!
The petrified Jiangshi shattered under the monsters' strikes.
The others needed a few hits to fully break, but petrified ones crumbled in one or two.
"Geon-woo! What now? They'll all die at this rate!"
Paeng sensed the tide turning hard against them and yelled for Geon-woo.
"Whew. Yeah, this is way out of left field."
Geon-woo hadn't expected the monsters to be this tough.
He'd figured Jiangshi could hold their own even against Onblood's master.
Getting pushed back by just six freaks like this?
"No choice. Can't let losses pile up any more, or it'll bite me in the ass."
Geon-woo decided he couldn't just watch anymore.
He immediately ordered Ilryeong.
*Ilryeong, subdue it.*
= Yes, my lord.
At Geon-woo's command, Ilryeong slapped the prepared talisman onto the possessed demon's forehead from atop its head.
Slap!
"Urk? W-what the hell?"
R Leatroit realized something was wrong in that moment.
He felt his soul, possessing the human body, getting bound by something.
"W-what is this? Let go! Let me go! Release me!"
R Leatroit flailed wildly, twisting the body every which way.
But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't stop his soul from being yanked out of the possessed body.
"What the? Why's it going nuts?"
Paeng's eyes went wide at the sight.
He glanced back and forth between Geon-woo and the possessed demon.
"You think I'd start this without prep? Who do you figure's controlling those six monsters? That possessed demon, right?"
"Yeah, makes sense."
"So I prepped to take him down. Turns out possessed bodies are sitting ducks for soul attacks."
"For real?"
"Well, it's not some system skill—it's a special method I know."
"That thing you mentioned to Baylor before? The soul-ejecting talisman or whatever?"
"Something like that. Neuron Age can't mass-produce 'em yet, but this version's stronger."
"Whoa, you pull that off with just one?"
Paeng gaped at the demon tribe spirit now yanked out translucent from the possessed body.
Kurrara! Kuaaa! Sssit!
Meanwhile, the six monsters that had been teaming up on the Jiangshi turned on each other.
"What now? Why're they fighting?"
"No demon control anymore, duh."
"But they ignore the Jiangshi and go at each other? Makes sense?"
"Why not? Instinct to take out the biggest threats first over small fry."
"Oh, yeah, that tracks when you put it like that."
"Pull the Jiangshi back for now. Deal with those first."
Geon-woo withdrew all the Jiangshi and glared at the demon tribe spirit pulled from the possessed body.
"Scrawniest demon I've seen yet?"
With some breathing room, Paeng sized up the demon spirit from beside Geon-woo.
Among monsters, it'd rank goblin-tier.
Puny build, head comically oversized.
Its bug origins showed in the exoskeleton traces on limbs and reptilian scale remnants on its face.
- What is this? What's happening? Graaaah!
R Leatroit snapped out of the shock of ejection and screamed at Geon-woo.
But Ilryeong's subjugation art slammed in, wracking his spirit with agony.
= How dare you show such irreverence to my lord!
Ilryeong barked right in R Leatroit's face.
Ilryeong was still forearm-sized spirit form, so Paeng couldn't see it.
*Ilryeong, subdue him for now. And those light clumps in the monsters—you can extract 'em, right?*
= Yes, my lord. That light's basically a spirit body. Of course I can pull it out. But...
*The main factor making the monsters? That's the tough part, huh?*
= Yes. I haven't fully grasped that yet... My apologies.
*No worries. We might get answers from that demon's memories.*
= True, but he looks pretty useless. Way too scrawny, right?
*He'll have knowledge in that head instead. Might be more valuable.*
= Yes, we never lack for Jiangshi Spirits to possess bodies anyway.
*Right. First, clean up the monsters before they turn on us.*
= Yes, my lord. Right away.
Per Geon-woo's order, Ilryeong zipped around slapping talismans on the monsters' heads.
The effect was dramatic.
All six monsters froze mid-motion in an instant.
However.
"Hmm, can't extract the spirits?"
Pulling the light clumps from the six monsters' bodies failed.
= Ah, this is bad...
Ilryeong peeked at Geon-woo's reaction, flustered by the unexpected snag.
"Hmm."
"What? What's up? Why'd they stop dead?"
Paeng, spotting Geon-woo's hardened expression, took it as his shot to ask.
"Tried pulling the monsters' spirits. Failed."
"Like with the demon?"
Paeng jerked his chin at R Leatroit.
"Yeah."
"Why? What's the issue?"
"Not sure. Probably 'cause the spirits aren't pure."
"Not pure?"
"Something's mixed in. It's light-clump but has some material properties. Likely something blended into the souls—that's the problem."
"Psh, who cares? They're stopped. Just beat 'em to death. Why hold the Jiangshi back?"
"Sigh."
"Why the sigh? And that look? What? Why stare like that?"
"What's the rush to kill 'em? That's not the point."
"Then? What? What's so important?"
"Funny now?"
"Situation's wrapped, right? Just cleanup left."
"Sure, let's say. But I've got stuff to do, so don't interfere—go hang back."
Geon-woo shooed Paeng away and focused on Ilryeong.
*Monsters won't stay pinned long?*
= Yes, my lord. Subdued the spirits, but since I couldn't extract 'em, there's a limit.
*Gotta interrogate that guy quick then. Decide what to do with the monsters after.*
Geon-woo eyed the pint-sized demon spirit.
= You're right, my lord.
*First, use Jiangshi to hit their vitals. Prep for one-shot kills if needed.*
= Smart.
*Jiangshi on that. Now him—turn into a Jiangshi Spirit.*
Geon-woo directed his Elite Guard and Hundred-Man Unit Jiangshi to ready killing blows on the monsters, pointing at R Leatroit's spirit.