Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The City of the Fallen (5)
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***
The moment Yeomyeong caught the sword Seti had thrown and blocked the elf's ambush.
Creeeeak!!
The sound of their first clash rang out.
The muscles in Yeomyeong's body contracted all at once as he parried the strike, and the marble floor beneath his feet shattered.
But the elf's attack didn't stop there. His sword curved like a root, relentlessly aiming for Yeomyeong's throat.
Yeomyeong drew up his mana and tensed his shoulders.
The mana of the Wave Yang Art responded. A wave surged into the sword along his taut veins and muscles.
!!!
An immense shockwave erupted as sword met sword, but no sound came. The exploded mana had swallowed the noise.
Perhaps his eardrums had burst.
It didn't matter either way. Yeomyeong swung his sword, and the elf thrust his at him once more.
The elf's sword knew no beginning or end. Sometimes it traced straight lines, other times curves, flowing endlessly.
It was a familiar elven swordsmanship.
The exact same forms and trajectories that Rime, Ironmaw's guard, had shown him...
But the power infused within was different.
If Rime's swordsmanship was a pistol, the blade wielded by the elf before him was no different from a cannon.
That was the might carried in the sword, the result produced by the technique.
Shockwaves from the clashing swords pulverized the marble floor. Glass windows shattered, and cracks spiderwebbed across the pillars.
The entire restaurant building shook, screaming in protest, while the fleeing people let out even greater shrieks.
Yet the elf's sword failed to achieve its goal.
His blade, etched with red leaves, didn't sever Yeomyeong's throat—it merely left shallow scratches.
Why? The red-haired elf easily grasped the reason.
This guy already knows elven swordsmanship.
"...So I've finally found the culprit."
"What bullshit is that?"
Yeomyeong furrowed his brow. An out-of-nowhere ambush, and now something about a culprit?
"Deny it all you want—it's too late. You thief."
The elf said this as he unleashed his sword aura: the translucent aura unique to elves, brimming with pure mana.
Yeomyeong realized the elf was laboring under some misunderstanding, but he had no intention of talking it out.
Now that their swords were crossed, this was a matter to settle with blades, not words.
"Humans turn compliant after losing an arm or so. I hope you hold out a bit longer."
The elf sneered as he swung, just as Yeomyeong completed his ice spike spell. It happened almost simultaneously.
In the next instant, the translucent sword aura collided with the ice spike, filling the air with shards of ice. The elf's face registered surprise.
"...Magic?"
Yeomyeong was already moving. He dashed toward the outside of the building while firing ice spikes at the precariously leaning pillars.
Crack!
With a chilling sound, the pillars shattered, and the ceiling began to collapse.
The elf leaped outside as well, but waiting for him were the ice spikes Yeomyeong had laid out in advance.
"...Not bad for a thief."
He glanced down at the ice spike embedded in his side as he spoke. Yeomyeong lightly retorted.
"You're not bad for an assassin yourself."
A feral smile, a brief silence.
A bead of sweat trickled from Yeomyeong's forehead to his chin, and the moment it hit the ground.
The two scattered their sword auras simultaneously.
***
"Man, you live long enough, and even elves start ambushing you."
Joseph muttered as he watched Yeomyeong and the elf clash from atop a distant building roof.
Thanks to the fire spreading from the collapsed restaurant ruins, their fight was clearly visible even under the night sky.
"Any chance you've earned the elves' grudge somehow?"
Joseph's question was directed at Seti, dressed in black.
She had saved Joseph and the other restaurant patrons before trying to help Yeomyeong, but she couldn't find an opening to join the fight and was pacing anxiously.
"...I've only ever helped them, never done anything to warrant an ambush like this."
"That's... odd, then."
Joseph stroked his chin as he examined the elf's attire. Seti, eyes fixed on Yeomyeong, asked without looking away.
"I really have no idea why. Is it the tracking spell on the gold coins? Do they think we stole them?"
"No, it can't be that."
"..."
"The tracking spell on the gold coins is rudimentary. A greedy human mage might fall for it, but no way the Red Branch would use something that basic."
"...Red Branch?"
Seti turned to Joseph in disbelief, but he replied with utter conviction.
"Yes, that elf is definitely Red Branch. You think a weapons dealer like me can't tell them apart? I guarantee it—he's a big shot among the Red Branch."
Red Branch.
Seti recalled it was the name of the elves' special forces.
The ones who had vividly demonstrated just how terrifying superhuman guerrillas could be in modern warfare.
They had been the number one cause of death for CIA agents until the Malta Declaration banished all elven guerrillas from Earth.
Figures straight out of textbooks, now in Dreytorial... Well, no surprise there.
This wasn't Earth—it was beyond the dimensional gate.
'What... what should I do?'
Seti bit her lower lip.
Yeomyeong wouldn't lose, but the other superhumans in the city watching this fight were the problem.
The palace lords and their superhumans, and somewhere, the Korean government's Shepherds.
With so many variables—not just one or two.
Seti was at a loss.
Unarmed as she was, she couldn't just jump into a fight like that. It wasn't about skill; it was a matter of matchup.
'If only I had a hammer, I could create an opening...'
For now, all she could do was worry.
And when Yeomyeong and the elf vanished from sight, her worry peaked.
Unable to hold back any longer, Seti spoke.
"Joseph, you know our lodging? There's a chest of gold bars and a sack of coins there—go grab them now. Remove the tracking spell if you can."
"...You planning to jump into that fight?"
"I'll watch for an opening. If I survive, meet me back at the sewer where we first met."
With that, Seti immediately unleashed the Flying Leg Art and leaped onto a building rooftop.
The city engulfed in flames was a hellish sight, but her eyes tracked only Yeomyeong.
'It's okay. The advantage lies with Yeomyeong.'
Seti bounded from rooftop to rooftop, crossing the city. She was following him to intervene if something went wrong...
The moment she arrived near the building where Yeomyeong and the elf were clashing.
The air split open, revealing a familiar girl.
Dressed in combat gear and laden with equipment, the girl was someone Seti knew well.
"...Neti?"
Seti rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things. But her little sister was still there—and she even spotted Seti and hurried over.
"Sis!"
"What are you..."
"I'll explain later. First, tell me what's going on. Where are we, and why the hell is my brother-in-law fighting an elf?"
The reunion was so sudden that Seti didn't even question the "brother-in-law" bit and dove straight into explaining.
This was the city of Dreytorial, and they'd been ambushed by an elf mid-meeting with a weapons dealer...
Despite the jumbled mess of an explanation, Neti grasped it perfectly.
"That elf's the enemy, and you're unarmed so you can't do anything, right?"
"...Spot on."
"Alright, then I'll get you a weapon first."
Neti immediately set down her gear and pulled out its contents one by one.
Assorted firearms and grenades, gloves made from elf hair, and...
A hammer head, iron shaft, and handle—parts for an assembled warhammer.
Clicking the three pieces together produced a massive warhammer. Neti handed it to her sister.
The familiar heft. Feeling it, Seti finally accepted that the sister before her was real.
And regardless of Seti's realization, Neti wove her spell deftly as she spoke.
"I'll pin the elf's ankles with telekinesis, so join up with brother-in-law in the meantime. We'll hit him with a three-way attack."
It was textbook tactics, but Seti shook her head.
"No, we can't give the elf any openings."
He was Red Branch. A guerrilla among guerrillas.
If victory seemed unlikely, he'd slip away immediately, leaving them to another blind ambush.
She decided quickly and acted fast.
"...Neti, remember that double barrage training we did before?"
The words "double barrage" furrowed Neti's brow. She glanced at the elf scattering sword aura in the distance.
"...Going for the one-shot kill?"
"That's the best option."
Seti spoke with finality, brooking no argument. Neti nodded and chanted her telekinesis spell.
The perfect spell for her, born without a talent for precise mana control.
As the spell completed, an invisible force enveloped Seti and yanked her high into the sky.
Soon enough.
Seti, now so high that Yeomyeong and the elf looked the size of palm prints, gripped her hammer tight.
‘Rainbow-Severing Lightning’
Lightning that could snap a rainbow in two. Seti drew up her mana and infused it into the hammer.
The moment Neti, spotting the brilliantly flashing hammer from below, released the telekinesis.
Lightning crashed down over the city.
***
The elf sensed something falling from the sky, but by then it was already right in front of him.
He had plenty of excuses.
He'd focused too much on the human before him. Blood from his side wound had sapped his concentration.
But excuses aside, his evasion fell short.
!!!!!
He avoided a direct hit from the lightning-charged hammer—but that was it.
The rooftop he'd been standing on pulverized into dust.
Debris sprayed into the air, and his footing lost, he plummeted.
If that had been all, the elf could have recovered easily.
But he had an enemy he'd been fiercely crossing swords with moments ago, and that foe didn't miss the chance—he'd been waiting for it—and charged.
Slashes!
A pale yellow sword grazed the elf's left shoulder, slicing cleanly through bone and muscle in a perfectly restrained strike.
Instead of screaming at his severed arm, he executed a landing roll to cushion the fall.
Thud! The impact hammered his lungs.
Blood surged up his throat, but the elf gritted his teeth and raised his remaining right arm to grip his sword.
Or tried to.
Before he could steady himself, the sword that had severed his arm now pressed gently against his throat.
"...To lose to a thief."
There was no injustice in being defeated by ambush. After all, he'd started the fight that way.
Feeling the irony, the elf looked up.
The golden eyes of the human pressing the sword to his throat held no thrill of victory or pride.
Just calm curiosity.
"Now, tell me why you pulled this shit."
It was a plain question for a victor, but the elf twisted his lips.
"...Shouldn't you know that better than me?"
The human, Cheon Yeomyeong, felt a flicker of annoyance. Did he need to cut off both arms to make him talk?
As he raised his sword again, the elf added with a sneer.
"Deny it all you want—it's useless. I can feel it even now."
"Feel what?"
"The World Tree mana emanating from your body... irrefutable proof that the World Tree Crystal those scum stole is in your gut."
"..."
"Human who defiled the World Tree. Even if you kill me, other elves will hunt you. As long as our Revolutionary Corps endures, you'll never sleep easy."
Yeomyeong was speechless at the voice so earnest it bordered on resolute. Could things get this twisted?
It was true he'd eaten a World Tree Crystal, but it had nothing to do with the one in this city.
The problem was proving it...
‘Prove what?’
He had no obligation to spare the elf who'd ambushed him or clear up the misunderstanding.
Even if it soured relations with the elves, anyone could see they were the victims here.
Ironmaw would understand.
'Kill him.'
The moment Yeomyeong moved to swing down.
An unfamiliar voice blocked his sword.
"I believe I can vouch for that young man's innocence."
***
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