Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Too Big a One Took the Bait
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“The bait’s been taken.”
“I knew they’d react that way.”
Geon-woo flashed a bright smile at Pang’s words.
Geon-woo had ignored the warning from the Tebrus Academy that had arrived not long ago.
No, he’d gone beyond ignoring it and pushed back hard.
He’d issued a statement that any artificial interference in the clinic’s operations was unacceptable, and that the Tebrus Academy’s demands were harming other members.
This left the Tebrus Academy unable to escape criticism for trying to exert external pressure on the free zone of Crosus.
On top of that, mentioning the Pheniel Family as a comparison point had become an issue, forcing Tebrus to express regret to the Pheniel Family and bow their head in humiliation.
Naturally, this made the Tebrus Academy view Geon-woo as a thorn in their side.
Of course, they probably never imagined Geon-woo had orchestrated the whole situation on purpose.
Who could have guessed that a mere small clinic would pick a fight with a massive power like Tebrus?
“Won’t this be dangerous?”
Olka, who had come to visit Geon-woo after a long time, asked with a worried expression.
Outwardly, she was pretending to have little interaction with him.
Instead, as they’d discussed beforehand, Geon-woo was providing special services only to those Olka sent his way, helping her out.
That’s why, upon hearing about the friction between Geon-woo and Tebrus, she’d come secretly to offer aid.
“If the academy head Rapin Tebrus himself steps in, maybe, but otherwise, no one from Tebrus is a match for me. You know that too, Olka, right?”
Geon-woo shot back with a confident look in response to her concern.
“Of course, Henesis’s [Growth] has an extreme advantage against Tebrus. But in that short time, for you, Geon-woo...”
“No need to worry. I’m fully prepared.”
Olka fretted over how much of Henesis’s mind power Geon-woo had mastered, but he showed unwavering confidence in his tone.
“The ones they’ll send are probably at most marquess-level. You can handle that much, Geon-woo. So don’t worry.”
Pang waved it off with a grin, as if it were no issue at all.
“On the contrary, they need to throw in enough force to feel excessive. That way, once this is over, our clinic’s reputation will soar accordingly.”
Geon-woo’s plan was to topple a strong foe and scatter the small fry.
Now, all that remained was luring them into the prepared battlefield and settling things.
“I’ll head out, so look after the clinic while I’m gone, Pang.”
“What’re you saying? These days, Illyeong and I have it all handled anyway.”
“Right, Illyeong, take care of things too.”
“Yes, my lord. Don’t worry and go about your business.”
“If you need anything, just contact me. I’ll rush right over.”
Finally, Olka handed Geon-woo a magical tool that could send an emergency signal.
Geon-woo took it and headed straight for Teopoli’s spatial transfer gate plaza.
* * *
Geon-woo used a long-distance spatial transfer gate from Teopoli to head to the southern undeveloped region.
The undeveloped areas, untouched by intelligent beings and rampant with monsters and magical beasts, spanned dozens of times the size of developed zones.
Among them, the place Geon-woo had chosen was the southern jungle region of Crosus.
This world was full of undeveloped zones called great forests, demon woods, or whatever else.
The Crosus southern region was famous for its jungle resembling a tropical environment.
Puhwahwahwak! Thud! Splash!
Zzzzap!
A magical beast surged from the water with its massive maw, swallowing a Royal Guard Jiangshi before vanishing, only for enormous sparks to erupt across the entire pond moments later.
The marsh jaw was generating electricity from underwater.
“Tsk. Keep struggling. Struggle all you want.”
Geon-woo clicked his tongue with a pitying expression from atop a tree overlooking the pond.
Of course, it wasn’t genuine.
He was just putting on a show because it was obvious the electricity the marsh jaw unleashed to attack the swallowed Gongryeong would be wasted.
In fact, Gongryeong had deliberately stood on a lotus leaf covering the pond to lure the marsh jaw.
In other words, the marsh jaw had bitten the prepared bait.
Zzzzap! Shhh!
Amid the rough vibrations and powerful sparks from the pond, Gongryeong emerged from the marsh jaw’s mouth, mission accomplished.
It had phased out through the beast’s belly using phantom form.
“Now just to reel it in?”
Confirming Gongryeong’s return, Geon-woo glanced to the side and asked.
Changryeong, perched on a nearby tree, hurled a harpoon-like spear into the pond.
Pwaeng! Pwaeng!
The rope connected to the spear went taut, thrashing wildly.
“Got it! Pull!”
At Geon-woo’s command, Changryeong and the other Royal Guard Jiangshi—Chunryeong, Gwonryeong, and the rest—began hauling in the rope.
Zzzap! Zzzaaap!
Splash! Splash! Chwaaaa!
The churning waves crackled with lightning sparks.
But the sparks’ power had weakened dramatically.
“Lucky it has that weakness where it discharges fully once and can’t for a while.”
Geon-woo muttered as the marsh jaw was slowly dragged toward the surface.
The marsh jaw’s lightning wasn’t mere electricity.
The electricity it emitted innately carried the energies of the mind powers [Stun] and [Burn].
Touch it unprepared, and your body stiffens before your cells ignite.
Sure, if you had a mind power to resist, you could endure, but combined with water, even the base current was no joke.
If mind powers canceled each other out, you’d take the full brunt of the secondary effects.
In that sense, the marsh jaw was no easy prey.
That’s why they first used Gongryeong to drain its electricity, then harpooned it to drag it out.
Moreover, Gongryeong had marked its vital spot inside the belly so Changryeong could strike from outside without piercing the liver.
Thudthudthud! Grok! Grok!
Dragged onto land, the marsh jaw snapped its jaws, emitting eerie sounds.
But it had no means of turning the tables anymore.
It could only suffer as Geon-woo dictated.
Swish! Slash!
The Royal Guard Jiangshi charged in and began dismantling it.
The most crucial part was the liver.
The key ingredient for refining Jiangshi, secured first and foremost.
Gongryeong had marked the spot precisely to avoid damaging it.
Even for a twenty-meter marsh jaw, the liver was huge.
But the pre-prepared storage box had spatial expansion, so it fit perfectly despite its small size.
After that, they gathered the lantern-like tentacles, the dark green gallbladder, the eye’s crystalline lens, and so on.
Hacking off large chunks of flesh from the remains wrapped up the hunt and cleanup.
Then, after leaving the pond and traveling a short distance—
Kwaaaaagwak! Kwarung!
A forty-meter diameter, fifty-meter tall pillar erupted beneath Geon-woo and his Royal Guard Jiangshi.
Geon-woo and the Jiangshi atop it all glared in one direction.
“Kraahaha! A bit late to notice us now.”
Swooo, swooo, swish swish!
A booming laugh mocked Geon-woo, followed by black lines slicing through the air, ripping open to reveal people emerging.
There were thirty-three in total.
Disciples of the Tebrus Academy, their dark brown robes embroidered with a black serpent with jaws agape on the chest.
They all stood on air, glaring down at Geon-woo.
“No point in tricks—tell the one still hiding to show himself.”
Geon-woo eyed the empty air beyond them, as if he knew the thirty-three weren’t all.
“Tch, not bad.”
Swooo!
The voice from the earlier laugh rang out, and an old man appeared holding a staff topped with a black skull.
“Black skull? Rapin’s direct disciple?”
Geon-woo deduced the old man’s identity from the staff.
“Kraahaha! Everywhere I go, this thing’s more famous than me. Yes, I am Marake Tebrus.”
Marake thrust his staff forward, introducing himself to Geon-woo’s remark.
Marake was Rapin Tebrus’s fifth disciple, his symbol that staff with the black skull head.
“More hospitality than I expected.”
Geon-woo shook his head slightly at Marake.
A direct disciple of Rapin meant duke-level strength.
‘I figured someone below direct disciple. This is overkill.’
The situation far exceeded expectations, putting Geon-woo on alert inwardly.
“Kraahaha! You look surprised.”
Marake laughed heartily, clearly pleased.
“No matter that you’re in Crosus, daring to provoke Tebrus like that—it’s incomprehensible.”
Marake spoke leisurely, as if Geon-woo were beneath notice.
“So, there must be intent behind that bizarre provocation. Piecing together guesses, I saw a slim chance you’d dug a trap instead.”
Marake glared at Geon-woo with a ‘how dare you’ expression.
“No idea where your confidence comes from, but maybe you have a hidden card—so we decided no fancy tricks. Hence, the relatively free me is here.”
He’d seen through Geon-woo’s deliberate provocation against Tebrus and come personally to counter it.
“Thorough.”
Geon-woo hadn’t expected Tebrus to go this far.
His stiff expression betrayed it.
“Did our academy’s history seem that easy? We built our current glory through all sorts of trials. You thought your shallow scheme would work?”
Marake sneered, oozing superiority.
“One duke-level, three marquesses? The rest regular disciples? No mind power users?”
Geon-woo assessed Tebrus’s forces amid the mockery.
Thirty-four including Marake, only four of whom could use mind power, Marake included.
Against that, Geon-woo had nine Royal Guard Jiangshi and five centurion commanders in his tattoo who could wield mind power.
Pure numbers favored him.
‘The White Guard Four Rivers aren’t even needed—we can hold our own.’
His Royal Guard Jiangshi were all living Jiangshi, capable of mind power.
If he could handle Marake, the Royal Guards alone wouldn’t be hopelessly outmatched.
‘But Tebrus’s real strength is numbers.’
Geon-woo shook his head inwardly, glaring at Marake.
He knew visible numerical superiority meant nothing.
“Kraaha. Sorted your thoughts? Then neatly end your life and become my retainer. Kraahahaha!”
As Geon-woo’s gaze hardened, Marake thrust his staff forward.
The other disciples followed, creating vertical black spatial rifts.
Crackle! Crackle!
Undead of all sorts poured from the rifts Marake and the Tebrus disciples had made.
Skeletons stripped to bone, ones with rotting flesh clinging, those retaining near-lifelike forms, amalgamations of multiple bodies.
Varied in appearance and state, but all united as undead.
Swish! Thud! Shoooo!
Most undead plummeted into the jungle from the rifts.
Some leaped through the air or floated up onto Geon-woo’s cylindrical platform.
“Where!”
Rumble!
Geon-woo immediately shifted the earth, shaking off the undead that had landed atop the pillar.
“Kraaha! Yes, squirm all you want. This’ll be fun.”
Marake burst into laughter at Geon-woo’s efforts, while the rifts continued spewing endless undead.
Those undead were climbing onto Geon-woo’s pillar.
Skeletal ones scaled the sheer dozens-of-meters walls like ants, flying undead swooping in.
In an instant, Geon-woo and his Royal Guard Jiangshi were buried under the horde.