Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Crossroads of Revenge (5)
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***
“....”
The Player couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
Frowning deeply as if unable to comprehend, he alternated his gaze between Iron Dung Beetle and his sword.
“What the fuck…”
Muttering as he fiddled with the sword. He seemed lost in a whirlwind of wild imaginings in his head, gnawing on his lower lip.
It was the raw shock of having his swordsmanship stolen right before his eyes.
Iron Dung Beetle seized the opening, circulating mana through his body to regenerate his wounds.
Blood stopped flowing first. The bullet holes sealed shut, and the sword cuts knit back together.
Overwhelming regenerative power.
As the Player’s face twisted even further at the sight, the fully regenerated Iron Dung Beetle drew a long, deep breath.
Huu—
Mana realigned with his restored body, and the milky sword aura intensified, illuminating the sewer.
Sword aura clearly superior to the Player’s, by anyone’s measure.
“Shall we start over, Player?”
His golden eyes turned icy cold as he gauged the distance to the bastard. Close enough for one Flying Leg Art to ram a blade into his throat.
—Kill.
Killing intent whispered in his mind as he watched the Player subtly backpedal.
—Hack off his limbs, slit his gut and yank out his entrails, stomp his corpse flat.
Quickly and brutally, just like he’d done to his family.
Iron Dung Beetle agreed but held firm to his reason. Now was the time to keep his blade’s edge ice-cold.
No telling when another chance like this would come.
If he slipped up here and let the bastard escape, it’d mean a long, drawn-out manhunt ahead.
So…
‘I’ll kill him right here.’
With that brief resolve, Iron Dung Beetle kicked off the sewer floor.
Tadak!
Wave Yang Art mana layered over his feather-light steps, closing the gap to the Player in a flash.
The milky sword aura-sheathed blade sliced through the sewer air.
Boom!
Swords collided, their matching auras churning wildly as if about to shatter. The one giving ground was the Player.
Not just a question of raw power. Every time the same sword forms unfolded, Iron Dung Beetle’s blade traced its path a beat ahead.
Infuriating for the Player. To end up on the receiving end of the exact techniques he’d used to hound Iron Dung Beetle moments ago.
But unlike the Player, drunk on toying with his foe, Iron Dung Beetle had one sole purpose.
Murder.
The instant the bastard showed a gap, Iron Dung Beetle’s sword plunged into his thigh.
A long gash down the right leg. He barely saved the bone from severing, but toppling off-balance was inevitable.
Iron Dung Beetle pressed the advantage, flicking his sword upward.
The Player reflexively blocked with his sword—but that proved his undoing.
Iron Dung Beetle had been gunning for his hand from the start.
Spurt!
The right hand clutching the sword severed clean off, blood erupting like a geyser.
Milky sword aura gleamed in eyes tangled with panic and agony.
Iron Dung Beetle didn’t waver, slashing down toward the bastard’s neck.
But in the next breath, the guy’s left hand conjured a magic stone from thin air.
Flash!
Light exploded from the magic stone, engulfing his body.
Tears of the Mountain cleaved empty air just as the teleportation glow rocketed beyond the sewer.
Unfazed, Iron Dung Beetle unleashed Flying Leg Art to give chase.
No chance of outpacing teleportation on foot, but…
‘Plenty to cut off his next play.’
Spot on. When the bastard rematerialized, the gap between them was under ten meters.
“Fuck.”
The Player yanked out another magic stone and teleported as Iron Dung Beetle bore down.
Flash!
Again and again.
Countless teleports, but no time won to staunch the blood or set up his next move.
“Crazy fucker!”
Whose stamina would give out first—his or the magic stones’.
Reeling from the unanticipated war of attrition, the Player ground his teeth.
Teleport stones this rare, pissed away like trash.
‘Fuck, thirty seconds was all I needed…’
Burning through more stones, the Player racked his brain.
But no solutions surfaced, try as he might.
Not a single strategy guide in his arsenal covered a lunatic copying techniques live.
‘What now? How the hell…’
As the Player mulled that and reached for another stone.
Crack!
An ice spike hurtling from the far sewer pierced his left hand.
“Aaack!”
Magic stone tumbling to the ground, Iron Dung Beetle’s hate-twisted face and milky sword aura closing fast.
The instant the Player squeezed his eyes shut on instinct.
“Kyaack!”
Pind erupted from the sewer wall. The hulking monster hurled itself at Iron Dung Beetle.
Slash!
Iron Dung Beetle cleaved it in half on reflex—but that was just the opener.
A-ooo-ooo!
Zombies and Pinds swarmed from the darkness beyond, piling onto Iron Dung Beetle.
Dozens by eye alone.
The sewer crammed full in seconds. Ecstasy washed over the Player.
I’m alive.
He slammed his left hand to the ground, smashing the ice spike.
Searing pain flared, but adrenaline surging through his skull and raw terror of death kept him moving.
Clang, clang!
Fingers freed enough after pulverizing the ice, he fished a shimmering red potion from his ‘Inventory’.
The very second he pressed it to his lips.
Comet-bright light burst from the Sword of Dawn.
***
Moments after Dawn and the Player vanished into the sewer depths.
The Saintess eyed approaching Seti—especially the limp Jeon Yun-seong she dragged by the scruff—and asked.
“D-Did you kill him?”
Jeon Yun-seong dangled motionless. A corpse to any onlooker.
The Saintess looked mildly rattled at her classmate’s death, but Seti shrugged it off.
“Nope.”
“Looks dead as hell though…?”
“Short of yanking his spine, this won’t do it.”
To prove her point, Seti chucked Jeon Yun-seong into the sewer corner.
Saintess checked him out—and damn if he wasn’t breathing. Gunshot wounds even knitting slowly.
“Regeneration like crazy…”
Lacking next to Dawn, who tanked dragon strikes, but leaps beyond human norms.
Wasn’t this bad back at Superhuman Olympia?
‘One more round before he stirs?’
Fiddling her revolver mid-ponder.
Seti shouldered a dwarf-height hammer—chest-high on a human—and spoke.
“I’ll back up Dawn as-is. Keep watch here.”
“Huh? Solo?”
“…This tight sewer? Extra bodies just waste space.”
As Seti bolted toward Dawn’s path, Saintess snagged her skirt hem.
“…Take me too.”
“No.”
Stone-cold no. Saintess wavered, glancing from Seti to Iron Miri to Jeon Yun-seong.
Seti prodded.
“No emotions. Only I can match Dawn’s pace, that’s why me. You babysitting these two’s optimal…”
“…Jeon Yun-seong can handle himself.”
Saintess jabbed a thumb at Iron Miri, who’d stared distantly silent till now. She finally turned.
“Don’t like that setup either.”
“…Huh?”
“Don’t wanna be stuck here alone with him.”
Saintess muttered “Oh, Five Gods” and swept back her snow-white hair.
“Why hate it? Any sharp eye sees he’s sweet on you.”
So quit tailing Dawn and scram—unspoken, but it echoed in her ears.
Iron Miri cracked a wry smile.
“Still, an American’s a stretch…”
“…What’s American got to do? You anti-Yank?”
“Yup. Obviously.”
“…?”
“I’m an elf.”
Bombshell confession. Saintess’s eyepatch twitched. Frown city.
“El… huh? Elf?”
Iron Miri skipped words, tucking hair behind her ear. Illusion magic hiding it fizzled, baring her true ears.
Long, sharply pointed—not human at all.
“You… for real?”
Saintess tongue-tied, Iron Miri drew a tiny wand from her bosom and added.
“And you or Seti don’t need to rush to Iron Dung Beetle, either.”
“…”
“Got bigger fish.”
“…Say what?”
What outranks Dawn right now?
“Over there.”
“There?”
“Feel the mana.”
Iron Miri pointed opposite Dawn’s exit.
Past zombie and Pind corpse heaps in the sewer gloom.
Ominous dark ahead, Saintess instinctively flared mana, sharpening her senses.
Eyes shut, tuning in—she snagged peculiar mana.
Pure stuff, nothing like the sewer’s warped sludge.
Familiar vibe. Where from?
Saintess memory-digging, Seti piped up first.
“…Dimensional gate?”
Click. Saintess realized: matched the personal dimensional gate mana from Earth arrival.
‘But dimensional gate mana here, why…?’
Question brewing, a prior precog flashed: her and Seti sucked into mystery gate with Dawn.
Thought future altered… but if it flagged this instant?
Dread knifing her gut, Saintess eyed Seti.
Seti halted mid-stride to Dawn, glaring into mana-thick dark.
Mulling, she paused a beat, then turned to Iron Miri.
“…You’re tracking Dawn’s status live, right?”
Iron Miri flashed a cryptic smile.
“That obvious?”
“…”
Lost? Saintess blinked blank, but Seti pressed on.
“How’s… the guy holding? We… need to bail him out?”
“Yeah. No help needed from us.”
Ironclad certainty. Seti soft-sighed, regrabbing Jeon Yun-seong’s scruff.
“Then… mission locked. Move. Dimensional gate.”
***
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