Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Facing the Mercenary King
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Fear, worry, anxiety, and the like toward the warnings.
Those weren't the emotions washing over him as the door creaked open.
[Expectation]
The heart-pounding anticipation of facing a true powerhouse.
That was the feeling surging through Yong-un amid all the warnings before meeting the Mercenary King.
Kiiiieek.
The stronger the aura prickling his skin with every inch the door swung open—a presence unlike any hunter he'd ever sensed.
His lips curled into a grin without him even realizing it.
He'd adapted to this world in many ways since returning to reality, but the hot blood of a martial artist who'd lived decades in the murim—and as a demon at that—couldn't be so easily quenched.
Thud!
With that, the door flew fully open.
Standing before the massive guild master's office was a familiar face greeting Yong-un with a serious expression.
"I'm Porter, vice guild master of the Mercenary Guild. Only the War God and Yong-un, please come up."
Yong-un's gaze didn't linger on Porter.
It locked onto the hulking man seated in the center of the wide-open guild master's room.
The Light of the Earth, the Mercenary King.
That was all that mattered.
And it wasn't just Yong-un.
The Mercenary King, too, wore a thick smile as he stared piercingly at Yong-un alone.
"What're you doing? Let's go up."
Finally, the War God shoved Yong-un with an impatient voice and ascended into the guild master's room.
"Mercenary King!"
It was because he wanted—no, needed—to see the Mercenary King even more than Yong-un did.
Yong-un, the War God, and his disciple Oscar entered the guild master's room.
Thud!
The door to the guild master's room slammed shut behind them.
"Hunter Yong-un? Take a look here too."
An unfamiliar voice called out to Yong-un.
When he turned, a stranger waved lightly in his direction.
As Yong-un's face showed no recognition, the man bowed his head in greeting.
"I'm William, vice guild master of the Mercenary Guild."
William's overt friendliness prompted Yong-un to return a slight nod.
William then levitated briefly before landing lightly in front of Yong-un.
"First off, I want to thank you."
"For what?"
"For letting us see our rotten... er, I mean, our guild master, after years without a peep from him."
William shot a glare at the Mercenary King.
The Mercenary King killed his blazing glare, coughed awkwardly, and averted his eyes.
"Ahem... hem hem..."
Called the black sheep of the Royal Class.
Even Ignito, another Royal Class, acknowledged him as an oddball.
Despite the weight of his name.
"I've been busting my ass running around all this time, so now I deserve a break, right!?"
The Mercenary King's demeanor seemed far removed from that of a supreme ruler reigning over the world.
"You rotten bastard!"
Even his relationship with his self-proclaimed subordinate, the vice guild master, felt off.
Thwack!
William's finger, wielding some psychokinetic skill, smacked the Mercenary King's forehead.
The two-meter-tall Mercenary King, built like the War God, floated up and crashed to the floor.
"Ack!"
A leader getting smacked by his subordinate.
An absurd hierarchy unseen even searching beyond the Heavenly Demon Cult to the entire murim—Yong-un's brow twitched involuntarily.
"How dare you hit the guild master!?"
The Mercenary King rose, rubbing his forehead.
His presence was undeniably intimidating.
His internal energy felt vast and overwhelming, nothing William could match.
But instead of bowing, William flicked his finger again.
Thwack!
"Ack!"
Only after the Mercenary King tumbled once more did William let out a deep sigh.
"You came here wanting to become Royal Class?"
That single question flipped the downed Mercenary King's aura in an instant.
Shhh...
From the fallen Mercenary King's body flowed a dark yellow battle aura, just like the War God's.
Porter hurriedly approached William, pressing a finger to his lips.
"William...?"
"I said it on purpose."
"Huh?"
As Porter looked puzzled, William shrugged with a grave expression.
"It's gonna happen eventually. Better to tie the knot before other stuff colors it, right?"
A smile spread across William's lips.
Porter, grasping the meaning, smacked his own forehead.
"Damn it. We're not ready!"
"Heh heh."
What were they talking about?
And why had the suddenly childish Mercenary King flipped like that?
As the atmosphere shifted wildly, Yong-un silently circulated his Crimson Heaven Demonic Energy.
And in the blink of an eye.
Vwooom!
"You said you're aiming for Royal Class?"
The Mercenary King appeared before Yong-un.
His eyes had changed 180 degrees from before.
'The eyes of a supreme being.'
Not the playful guy who got smacked by subordinates.
These were the eyes befitting a Royal Class, a king ruling the world.
Empty yet brimming with an unfathomable something.
Yong-un met those eyes straight on.
"I intend to become Royal Class."
"I see."
The Mercenary King, who had bent down to Yong-un's height, straightened up.
Then shrugged.
"Nah, give it up. You can't."
The Mercenary King's firm words stunned the War God, Oscar, and all the vice guild masters.
"If that black-and-red energy is all you've got, you can't become Royal Class. That's not what the world wants."
"Guild master?"
No duel, no exchange of blows.
Yet his decisive verdict left everyone baffled.
"Then send him back. I'm grateful you brought the War God."
The Mercenary King turned away without hesitation and walked toward the War God.
Many there shot Yong-un apologetic looks.
"See ya~"
As the Mercenary King waved and moved to chat with the War God.
"Then what about this?"
Yong-un slowly drew the Demon-Slaying Sword, unleashing the violet energy that widened Ignito's and Spellro's eyes.
The pinnacle of the manual crafted by the Heavenly Prodigy.
Fwaaaah!
The pinnacle devoured the Crimson Heaven Demonic Energy, surging up the Demon-Slaying Sword in a flash.
The violet blade of the Demon-Slaying Sword accepted it, birthing a sharp, tower-like sword aura of purple above.
"Does this change things?"
Creak.
The Mercenary King's steps toward the War God halted.
He hadn't even looked—just sensed it—yet his feet stopped as if blocked by something, slowly turning back.
Now facing Yong-un, the Mercenary King.
"........."
Something had changed in his eyes, now fixed on Yong-un.
Bang!
Boom!!!!!
No more words.
Instead, the Mercenary King's fist clashed with Yong-un's Demon-Slaying Sword, igniting a duel without preamble.
Thud! Boom!
"Has everyone evacuated?"
A massive crowd had gathered before the Mercenary Guild's enormous castle gates.
More precisely, all guild members and executives had evacuated outside.
"Yeah, looks like it."
Porter nodded at William's words.
No matter how much mana he used for his skills, no more guild members emerged.
Boom!!!!
Rumble rumble crash.
From the castle's peak—which they'd been watching—explosions of mana had been crumbling the structure nonstop since the evacuation began an hour ago.
The black-tinged yellow battle aura of the Mercenary King and Yong-un's violet pinnacle wove through countless stone shards into everyone's view.
"Monsters."
That was William's first word after finishing the evacuation and beholding the scene.
"Agreed..."
Everyone nodded in assent.
Monsters.
Nothing else could describe this duel.
A clash between absolutes who lacked confidence even in blocking a single strike.
Boom!!!!
Another fierce mana explosion burst from the gaping hole in the castle's summit wall.
All who witnessed it gaped, silently watching the endless duel.
A fight between supreme powers they couldn't stop or interrupt.
"Sigh, if only the castle comes out intact..."
Vice guild master Porter, in charge of finances, kept sighing as he watched.
The yellow battle aura like the War God's wasn't threatening.
But the true power of a Royal Class—the dark yellow one—was different.
Blunt yet sharp.
The instant it touched, it felt like it'd pulverize and cleanly sever the spot.
But that wasn't its only oddity.
'I see why they say Royal Class are bizarre, peculiar beings.'
Even with the Demon-Slaying Sword's blade...
The Mercenary King's dark yellow energy didn't vanish easily.
Ignito's flames and Spellro's ice were simple to slice and dispel with the pinnacle-infused Demon-Slaying Sword.
Yet the Mercenary King's energy regenerated its flow instantly after being cut, resuming its assault.
As if it were another sentient being.
The Mercenary King held the edge with this unique energy, but Yong-un had one more card.
And that move flipped the atmosphere entirely back to Yong-un.
None other than.
The Heavenly Prodigy's manual—its supreme technique.
'Ultimate Heaven-Cleaving Sword.'
A sword art that cleaved the heavens themselves.
It sliced and obliterated even the Mercenary King's energy in one stroke.
"What is that?"
The prolonged battle halted.
The Mercenary King's face was etched with shock, utterly unprepared for his energy's annihilation.
Yong-un lowered his Demon-Slaying Sword in sync with the paused assault.
"Ultimate Heaven-Cleaving Sword. A sword art."
The Mercenary King pondered briefly.
"Sword art, huh... You sure?"
"A technique performed with the sword. It's a sword art."
Swish.
Hearing Yong-un's reply, the Mercenary King abruptly withdrew all his energy.
Then stared straight at him.
"Looks like you don't get it yet. That answer alone proves you're different from the other Royal Class."
Different? How?
Yong-un's eyes filled with questions.
The Mercenary King suddenly sat cross-legged right there mid-fight.
"I heard you met other Royal Class before."
"I met those guys, Ignito and Spellro."
"Then they must've told you to come see me. Right?"
"Ignito said there's another way to become Royal Class and recommended you."
"So you heard that too."
The Mercenary King propped his elbow on his thigh and rested his chin.
"Ever met that guy?"
An out-of-left-field question from the Mercenary King.
But it instantly recalled Ignito's similar query.
「Don't know? No one's come to you? That shady bastard.」
Shady bastard.
No matter how Yong-un racked his brain, no such figure came to mind.
"That guy?"
He gave the same response as to Ignito.
The Mercenary King suddenly chuckled.
"You really don't know. Heh, this is fun."
Ignito, now the Mercenary King.
Both knew something Yong-un didn't, furrowing his brow in irritation.
"Who is he? Do all Royal Class know him?"
He tossed out the question to shake off the nagging ignorance.
But the Mercenary King's next words drew Yong-un closer to the underbelly of this wretched reality.
"Everyone knows him. You have to meet him to become Royal Class."
"...?!"
Royal Class reigning as kings of the world.
They all had to meet someone?
Yong-un's eyes widened.
Savoring the reaction, the Mercenary King grinned.
"You've definitely met him. That power you have—only Royal Class who've met him possess it."
Swish.
Ignoring Yong-un's shock, the Mercenary King stood.
With an amused look, he extended his hand toward Yong-un.
"Curious? Then take my hand. I'll tell you everything I know."