Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Departing the Demon Territory for the Free Zone
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Jumper teleported the group through space.
“Eek?!”
“No way, just here?!”
Originally, Jumper had planned to skip past the path blocked by the count’s army and transport them all the way beyond the territory’s border.
But the spot where Geon-woo and his group now stood was right behind the count.
They had leaped over the blockade, sure, but only about a hundred meters.
“Grab them!”
Even so, it was enough to startle Count Perben, whose blockade had been breached.
And in that moment, the path Geon-woo’s group chose was clear.
“Run!”
“Scatter!”
“Uwaaaah!”
At Geon-woo’s shout, the entire group bolted toward the border of Count Perben’s territory.
“You think you can escape my grasp?!”
But Count Perben had no intention of letting them go easily—not even a fingernail’s worth.
In a frenzy, he swung the spear with its crimson crystal blade through the air.
Woooooong! Wooong!
As the count’s spear traced bizarre lines through the empty air, mana gathered, forming eerie patterns.
“Damn it!”
Geon-woo, sprinting toward the territory border, suddenly felt a crushing pressure bearing down on him.
The patterns the count had conjured with a single swing took effect immediately.
“Grab them!”
“Kill them!”
“Waaaaah!”
As if time itself had slowed only in that spot, Perben’s knights and soldiers charged at Geon-woo’s group, whose movements had grown sluggish.
“Ignore it and keep running!”
Geon-woo issued the order, then urgently unsummoned the jiangshi on the far side of the army and resummoned them here.
Kakakang! Kang! Pubek! Puck!
Tadang! Kkakak! Whoosh! Pubang!
The Baiindae Molti jiangshi erupted into existence from thin air, blocking Count Perben’s army.
“Hurry!”
But the jiangshi couldn’t hold all the knights and soldiers forever.
Everyone in the group knew that.
Geon-woo urged them on as he dashed forward again.
Count Perben’s debuff spell still tormented the group, but this was their best option right now.
“Damn it! Get out of my way! Move, I said!”
At that moment, Count Perben found himself in a bind from the coordinated assault of Geon-woo’s elite guard jiangshi.
His mind raced, but the elite guard jiangshi threw themselves at him recklessly, disrupting his movements.
The problem was that Perben belonged to the Asmodai race, which excelled innately at magic.
The Asmodai race boasted superior magical prowess but lagged behind as warriors.
He couldn’t ignore the elite guard jiangshi’s attacks to focus solely on Geon-woo’s group.
Not even a count could shrug off their strikes with his physical abilities alone.
“We’re almost there!”
Geon-woo encouraged the group.
Not far off stood pillar-like markers on either side of the road.
Geon-woo recognized them as the border stones marking Count Perben’s territory.
Once they crossed that line, Perben wouldn’t be able to pursue them anymore.
“Stop them!”
Kurrrrrrr!
Perben’s bellow echoed from behind, and suddenly the ground ahead erupted, forming a wall of earth.
A mere three meters high, made of dirt no less.
To the naked eye, it seemed like a joke compared to the group’s capabilities—a pathetic obstacle.
But Geon-woo and the others realized it was anything but simple.
Its visible form was merely symbolic.
The earthen wall embodied a will to block access, to prevent crossing, to contain something within—an unbreakable barrier of intent.
Count Perben had played his trump card.
“Geon-woo! What do we do?!”
Pang called out to him in a panic.
“Follow me!”
Without hesitation, Geon-woo charged forward.
He hurled himself straight at the overwhelming aura emanating from Count Perben’s wall.
Kwadudududuk! Kwadududuk!
The instant Geon-woo threw himself at the earthen wall, the ground before it surged upward, forming an arched bridge that spanned to the other side.
The arched bridge had pierced through the unbreakable will Perben had imbued in the wall.
“Whoa!”
“As expected of the leader!”
“Impressive!”
Pang, Muhammad, and Cheon Su-wan all exclaimed in admiration.
The three of them recognized that the arch Geon-woo had created had pierced part of the intent Perben had infused into the wall.
“Let’s go!”
Unfazed by their awe, Geon-woo led the way onto the arched bridge.
At the top of the bridge, he turned to glare at Count Perben.
“Not a bad trick from a pest like you.”
In that moment, Count Perben stood rooted in place, glaring back at Geon-woo as if he had no intention of attacking further.
At the same time, Geon-woo’s jiangshi were disengaging from combat and withdrawing swiftly.
“It won’t take long. Tell Shepalt to wash his neck and wait.”
“Khahaha. Sounds good. I’ll make sure to pass it on.”
Count Perben burst into laughter at Geon-woo’s words.
The 72 clans under the demon race helped or competed with each other as needed anyway.
From Perben’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad thing if the marquess of Helparis, Shepalt, ended up with a thorn in his side.
“And you’d better remember this.”
But Geon-woo’s follow-up warning made Perben’s expression harden.
“That might be a problem. I’m showing some consideration here, you know.”
“Consideration for a pest? Who’d want that crap?”
“Hmph!”
Perben snorted at Geon-woo’s retort, but it didn’t sit well with him.
This was the pest who had broken through the wall infused with his own prestige.
The moment the arched bridge formed atop the earthen wall, Perben had no choice but to revise his assessment of Geon-woo upward.
Using aura or mana was for amateurs.
The next level was infusing willpower.
Only those who could wield it properly could hold their heads high in this world.
Yet the wanted fugitive he’d dismissed as a pest had reached that level.
It meant the opponent was no pushover.
That was why Perben abandoned any thought of pursuit to the end.
Pushing too hard for Shepalt’s reward could backfire and cost him dearly.
He’d framed halting his attack as a gesture of consideration, only to get scolded for it.
“Here, take this.”
Realizing he needed to smooth things over with Geon-woo, Perben pulled a plaque from his bosom and tossed it.
The distance between Perben and Geon-woo was about three hundred meters.
But the plaque Perben threw crossed that gap in an instant, landing right in front of Geon-woo.
Snap!
“What’s this?”
Geon-woo caught it effortlessly.
“It carries my intent for reconciliation.”
Perben replied.
Geon-woo examined the plaque and nodded.
Then he addressed Perben.
“I’ll decide how to deal with you based on what’s written here.”
“At least you’re leaving room for that. Good luck.”
With those words to Geon-woo, Perben turned and vanished amid his subordinates.
“What just happened?”
Pang, who had nearly descended the arch bridge, climbed back up to ask.
“He knew he’d lose us anyway. Realized I’m not easy prey, so he changed his tune.”
Geon-woo answered, then scanned the surroundings and sighed.
The number of Baiindae jiangshi had dwindled significantly.
“That’s a big loss. What now?”
Pang, guessing his thoughts, slyly grabbed Geon-woo’s arm.
“It’s fine. I can scrounge materials to make more jiangshi somehow. The real issue is brewing the elixir for jiangshi refinement.”
“Is that so?”
“It costs a fortune more than you’d think.”
“Then our top priority’s set, right?”
“Hm?”
“We gotta make money. To rebuild the Geon-woo jiangshi.”
“I’ll do my utmost to help.”
“Whatever you need, just say the word.”
Muhammad and Cheon Su-wan stepped up at Pang’s words.
They knew they bore significant responsibility for the jiangshi’s heavy damage.
Plus, the jiangshi were their shields too.
“Let’s move for now. We’ll check what’s on this plaque while we go.”
Word of what happened here would already be spreading among the demons.
Especially fast among the high nobility, so Shepalt might even be heading this way.
If Shepalt wasn’t restricted by power limits, he could fly here instantly from anywhere upon hearing the news.
Even without the skill himself, a marquess would have plenty of underlings who could.
Escaping demon territory as quickly as possible was priority one.
As far away as they could get.
* * *
“Phew, found it at last.”
“What? For real? Geon-woo, really?”
Pang rushed over, beaming, as Geon-woo opened his eyes from his cross-legged meditation.
“Full speed, it’s three or four hours away. Enough to reach a village. If Jumper teleports us to that ridge over there, we can make it in under an hour.”
Geon-woo said, gazing in one direction.
“This world really is vast.”
Muhammad, listening among the group, spoke with a weary expression.
And no wonder—they’d escaped Count Perben’s territory four days ago.
Since then, they’d run straight forward, back turned to the count’s lands, without spotting a single soul.
The buffer zone between demon territory and other realms had turned out wider than expected.
“According to the info Perben gave, we should’ve run into locals here within a day.”
Geon-woo hadn’t suspected the information on Perben’s plaque was faulty.
He couldn’t fathom that info given to curry favor would be wrong.
“We might’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.”
Cheon Su-wan cautiously suggested at Geon-woo’s words.
“We’ll confirm at the village. If his info’s solid, this area’s a true neutral exchange zone.”
“Neutral exchange my foot—it’s a cesspool where all sorts of races mingle chaotically.”
“Cesspool’s a bit harsh. More like a world for society’s misfits, right?”
“Mr. Ivan, it’s not that simple.”
“Then what? How would you put it?”
“Even so, it’s a power bloc rivaling all demonkind combined…”
Jumper, who’d chimed in, shrank back under Ivan’s fierce glare.
“Either way, it’s an ideal situation for us, right, Leader?”
Cheon Su-wan asked Geon-woo then.
“Definitely. Like a free zone of sorts. And surprisingly full of money-making opportunities.”
“If you’ve got the skills, sure.”
Tucker muttered glumly in response.
Proud as he was of himself, Tucker had felt his inadequacies keenly since arriving in this dimension.
Admitting he was only knight-level among demons was deflating.
So he figured he’d be useless in their destination too.
“No need to get down. Unlike Earth or Onbiroad, this place has way more paths to climb up. Just grab the chances.”
Geon-woo encouraged Tucker and turned to Jumper.
“Jumper, you can get us there?”
“Of course. Preparing now.”
Jumper nodded confidently at the ridge Geon-woo indicated.
It was a bit far, but being useful like this thrilled him more.
Meanwhile, Geon-woo ordered all jiangshi to head near the village, then they leaped through space via Jumper’s completed ability.