Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Poison Witch
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Yong-un, who had briefly stepped away and returned, erased all the bloodstains scattered around the lawn and the unidentified arms and legs.
Afterward, sensing the presences of two people from the House of Ghost-Slaying Soul-Extermination, he entered through the front door.
Passing by the first floor where Cheon-il's room was located, he climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor.
He opened the door to Myung-su's room, which had a veranda.
"Can you control it?"
At Yong-un's voice, Cheon-il—who had gray skin and the bat-like wings unique to demons—nodded.
"Yeah.... It's all because of this guy."
Yong-un stood beside Cheon-il, who had transformed into a demon.
And on the bed in front of him lay Myung-su.
"Are you worried?"
"Yeah..... He tried to save me, but because of me...."
Cheon-il looked up with black eyes full of guilt.
Meeting the demon's black eyes, Yong-un smirked and gently stroked the head of the demon-form Cheon-il.
"Don't worry. He's just sleeping for a bit."
"Hyung....."
Only after Yong-un's firm reassurance did Cheon-il finally smile.
"I.... feel sleepy....."
Had he been forcing himself to stay awake until Yong-un arrived?
The moment he heard Myung-su was fine, Cheon-il smiled and collapsed to the side.
Yong-un supported the falling Cheon-il and nodded as he looked at his brother, who had instantly fallen asleep.
"You did well. Rest now."
Cheon-il's skin, which had turned demonic, began reverting to its original pale complexion.
With that, Yong-un carried Cheon-il to a bed on the first floor so he could rest comfortably and returned to Myung-su.
Tremble...
"You pushed yourself too hard."
Myung-su's hand, even in sleep, vibrated faintly.
Having expended both strength and inner energy simultaneously, his condition was beyond words.
But that didn't mean he'd lied to Cheon-il.
By the time Myung-su woke up, everything would be back to normal.
"A perfect pass as a One-Ghost Soul. You've won over the heart of the Returning Ghost Soul, after all."
Yong-un grinned deeply and raised both hands.
Thick demonic energy coiled around his outstretched hands.
"I'll give you a gift."
He placed both hands, infused with dense demonic energy, directly on Myung-su's head and dantian.
Then, closing his eyes, Yong-un began infusing demonic energy throughout Myung-su's body.
= = =
In the Garosu Guild's owned building.
Sword Tiger, who had been waiting for Yong-un inside, hadn't budged from his spot even though it was well past the promised time late into the night.
The Garosu Guild's casting director approached Sword Tiger.
"You're still here?"
"You've wrapped up everything and woken up, huh?"
Sword Tiger smiled at the familiar face.
The casting director pointed to the bandages wrapped around both legs and arms, smiling along with him.
"As you can see, I'm still in treatment."
"Good thing you're a hunter."
"I got lucky. Couldn't avoid nerve damage, but the initial response was good, and it went clean through, so it should heal naturally now."
Hunters' natural regeneration far surpassed ordinary people.
However, healing severed nerve bundles wasn't easy, even for hunters.
Yet the casting director's smooth recovery was purely thanks to Sword Tiger's influence.
"I heard you permitted potion use. Thank you."
Potion.
Even Garosu Guild, one of the Four Great Guilds, possessed only three vials of this miraculous elixir.
A treasure that could reattach severed limbs with just one vial and heal most wounds in seconds had been used on him. The casting director bowed deeply in gratitude.
But Sword Tiger shook his head at the thanks.
"Thank my master, not me."
"Pardon?"
"It's our guild's treasure, but he ordered its use. In the end, he's the one who saved you."
The casting director's surprised expression bloomed into a bright smile.
"I'll pass that along if I meet him."
"No need."
"But Mr. Yong-un being late for our appointment.... Nothing happened, right?"
Sword Tiger chuckled at the casting director's concern.
"If something happened to Master, it'd be beyond a natural disaster—humanity's extinction."
"Pardon? What does that—"
"Exactly, it's nonsense."
Worrying about Yong-un was absurd in itself.
Knowing his power better than anyone, Sword Tiger could only mock the clueless casting director.
They say even a tiger comes if you mention it.
As Sword Tiger mocked him, a voice sounded right beside him without any presence.
"Don't scold my benefactor."
".....Master?!"
"Gasp!"
An appearance without a trace.
It happened every time, but Sword Tiger was shocked each time.
Think about it.
If a voice suddenly spoke beside you in an empty house, anyone would be startled.
"Why are you so late?"
Whether from growing accustomed to the surprise or not, Sword Tiger quickly composed himself and questioned the nonchalant Yong-un.
But that applied only to Sword Tiger.
The casting director stared at Yong-un like he was a ghost, unable to calm his pounding heart.
"I should've come earlier. Thank you."
The casting director waved his hands at Yong-un's words.
"N-no, thank you. You saved my life."
"Thanks to you, I saved my family. If you need my help later, come find me anytime."
"Th-thank you...."
The casting director bowed.
Yong-un intently watched as he bowed 90 degrees, exposing the crown of his head.
As the casting director started to lift his head, Yong-un turned to Sword Tiger.
"Did you recruit for the Demon Dragon Squad?"
"Ugh.... No suitable talent caught my eye. The training's so grueling. Few hunters have the grit to endure it all...."
"Isn't one right here?"
At Yong-un's words, Sword Tiger scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile, then widened his eyes in surprise.
Then, along with Yong-un, he looked at the casting director standing there dumbfounded.
"You don't mean.... this guy?"
"I heard from the Garosu Guild members who were with you then. That even after being run through by a sword, he held his post until the end."
The casting director stared at Sword Tiger, clueless about the conversation.
Sword Tiger usually wore a playful expression, but now his gaze at the casting director was different.
A charismatic look, like a general issuing orders to Garosu Guild.
Gulp.
As the atmosphere grew intensely serious, the casting director swallowed dryly.
He glanced back and forth between Yong-un and Sword Tiger.
And just as he nervously tried to back away and escape, Yong-un rose from his seat.
"Assign him to the Demon Dragon Squad."
Sword Tiger nodded with a bizarre smile at the words the casting director couldn't comprehend.
"I'll handle it right away."
"W-wait, Sword Tiger, what does that—"
Feeling an inexplicable unease, the casting director looked at Sword Tiger.
"Today's training is replaced by this. Tomorrow, I'll create manuals for the martial arts you'll learn and for the Demon Dragon Squad. As their captain, raise the Demon Dragon Squad yourself."
With those final words from Yong-un, he vanished from the spot.
"Sorry, I have urgent business, so I'll be going...."
The casting director bolted for the door and fled outside.
"The Demon Dragon Captain orders! Demon Dragon Han Jong-hyun! Stop right there!"
The casting director, not looking back as he ran, slowly turned at the voice from behind.
"Eek!"
"You met my eyes! Stop!"
And he had to face it.
The monster known as Sword Tiger charging with eyes ablaze.
= = =
"W-what do we do...."
"Quiet...."
In the Hanbit Guild office, dark and empty after everyone had clocked out.
A group of people had slipped in quietly, even disabling the intrusion alarms naturally.
Though the office was pitch black and invisible, they navigated it with uncanny familiarity.
They passed through many rooms without touching a single visible object and stopped before a small door.
"Use your skill to pick the lock."
"That skill is unique to me; it'll give us away...."
"Idiot, we wrecked all the CCTV. How would they know it was you?"
The hushed conversation ended in a loud bark from what sounded like a man.
Startled by the deep shout, the other man nodded and gathered mana.
"Got it. So be quiet."
"Hurry up. We grab it and bounce."
The man with mana placed his hand on the doorknob and chanted softly.
"Open."
Click!
The knob turned, and the locked door swung wide open.
"Done!"
All the intruders rushed into the room.
And as they stuffed items into their bags one by one.
A voice came from the wide-open doorway.
"Is it you guys?"
The startled intruders turned toward the voice.
Too dark to identify, they suddenly began counting the people there.
"Seven!?"
"Fuck, kill that bastard!"
Six had conspired and broken into Hanbit Guild's office.
At the unexpected seventh presence, the thieves raised mana and charged at the figure by the door.
Splat! Splat-splat! Splat!
Too dark to see what was happening.
But as the number of shadows dwindled, the remaining thieves sensed something wrong.
It didn't last long.
"What the—!"
The six shadows reduced to two.
The noisy thieves' voices vanished.
Only the voice of the unknown seventh shadow remained.
"We have much to discuss. Follow me."
"W-what...."
Before they could panic, all seven shadows vanished from the Hanbit Guild office.
= = =
Thud.
"Warp...?"
One of the thieves from the office looked around in disbelief.
Deep darkness blanketed a mountain interior.
The rustle of leaves in the wind reached their ears.
A chilling aura permeated the dark woods.
"If not warp, it doesn't make sense...."
The six thieves tensed, scanning their surroundings.
Their eyes adjusted; faint friend-or-foe identification was possible in the dark.
Glancing at each other, the thieves gathered mana to find who had warped them here.
"Is it you guys?"
A voice came from atop a large rock between trees.
The thieves flinched and focused there.
"You're the ones who raided Cheon-il's house with that Tae-jong bastard?"
They scowled at the intruder's following words.
In response, the figure on the rock stood.
Moonlight filtered through leaves, illuminating his face.
The moment they saw it—
Tae-jong's teammates couldn't hide their shock.
"Y-Yong-un!?"
"Guess so."
Yong-un's form blurred and vanished from their sight.
And with that, screams echoed through the deserted mountain trail.
= = =
The blade of judgment grazed their bodies.
One or two turned to dust with each scream.
They tried raising mana to block, but the result didn't change.
Two gone, and fear etched into their minds.
Two more gone, fear giving way to despair crushing their hearts.
The remaining one gone.
Death stirred their souls.
"P-please... spare me...."
The last survivor dropped to his knees, wetting his pants.
Thud!
As his turn came and he gave up everything—
Yong-un gripped his head hard.
His head yanked back, Yong-un's face drew close.
"Eek!"
"The poison you used on Cheon-il. Where'd you get it?"
Unlike the death he expected, at Yong-un's question, he barely held onto sanity.
"T-Tae-jong! Brother Tae-jong got it!!"
"Where did he get it from?"
"P-Poison Witch! From the Poison Witch!"
"Where do I go to meet the Poison Witch?"
Amid the frantic exchange—
The thug's instincts kicked in.
'Can't detox the poison?'
That's why he wasn't killing him?
Seeing a chance to negotiate, the last survivor clammed up.
"Thinking of upholding loyalty?"
"No! I have no intention of loyalty whatsoever. Want to know?"
At the change in tone, Yong-un smirked at him.
"Irredeemable thug, huh."
"You can't detox it, right? I can get the antidote! I know the Poison Witch's location!"
Strength entered his voice.
Thinking he could live, his tears stopped.
Yong-un smirked and whispered in his ear.
"Who said I can't detox it?"
"B-but that's the Poison Witch's poison—impossible to—"
"If you want confirmation, I'll share a bit."
His eyes bulged.
Yong-un looked at him and extracted the Poison Witch's vicious poison from Cheon-il's body, injecting a portion into him.
"N-no! Urk-eughh!"
Blackish-green poison energy raced through his meridians.
Heaving dryly, he suddenly spewed blood—pffft!—his face turning blue.
"P-please.... Pffft!"
Thud!
Yong-un's palm struck the dying man's abdomen.
A shockwave burst through his back, expelling the blackish-green poison into the air.
"The Poison Witch's location?"
Freed momentarily from pain, the man wept weakly.
"S-Sadang Station... Exit 2.... Go there...."
"I see."
Yong-un nodded and stood.
Raising crimson demonic energy, the man's body turned to dust like the others.
"Sadang Station Exit 2."
Yong-un smiled faintly.
Absorbing the writhing blackish-green poison into his hand, he gazed at the bright moon overhead.
"Poison Witch.... It was you, giving the same poison to both Cheon-il and my father?"
Clench.
Having finally found the poison's source, Yong-un balled his fist.
With a burst of demonic energy, he vanished into the dark mountain night.
The seismic shift in Korea's hunter world that everyone anticipated.
It was unfolding slowly, very slowly, unbeknownst to all.
Because of the dragon named Yong-un that had risen its body.
Slowly.