Chapter 274
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: Lesson 53. Equivalent Exchange - 6
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—KABOOM!
The Rainstorm Sword, split into hundreds of blades, turned into a literal downpour and hammered the rear of the retreating Imperial forces.
—R-Run!
—No, it's too fast— Aaaargh!
If they had blocked it head-on, they would have realized that each individual blade didn't pack much power. But the routed soldiers, having lost their main force, lacked the ability to discern that. In the end, they had no choice but to offer up around a hundred more concepts to Ban Yu-won before they could escape.
Acquired Life 1,055, Body 855, Magical Power 1,117, Imperial Weapon Techniques 1,068, Standard Armaments 1,268.
Was it because the Empire's army had a unified system? There was something unique about the concepts harvested from them.
The concepts extracted from soldiers wielding various weapons—swords, bows, spears, axes, and more—blended together seamlessly to form Imperial Weapon Techniques. And the diverse weapons they used unified under the higher concept of Standard Armaments.
It was probably because the soldiers underwent the same training in the specific environment of the military, and their weapons were produced to the same standards.
Rediscovering the truth that the background before conceptualization matters when merging lower concepts into higher ones, he absorbed and internalized all the newly acquired concepts.
Life +15, Original Body +10, Original Energy +20. Artifact Origin Sword depth increases by 10.
All those concepts had shrunk to less than a hundredth—even a tenth—of their original size.
Still, by the system's standards, this meant his core concepts had risen by at least level 1, so he decided to be satisfied.
Back when his growth had stagnated, no amount of concepts made a difference. Compared to then, it was nothing short of miraculous.
"As expected of an A-rank dimension... it's different in every way... Huh?"
He evenly distributed the over-1,000 worth of weaponry concepts to the twenty-five Rainstorm Swords that had shone in this battle, then turned around. In the middle of the battlefield strewn with corpses and scrap metal stood Dokgo Yeon, rooted in place.
She had pulled her hand holding the short sword to her chest and closed her eyes, looking for all the world like she was praying.
Praying amid a field soaked in blood and death—it couldn't be more out of character for her.
Of course, in reality, she was just refining her unique martial art that grew stronger by accumulating death energy.
Ban Yu-won shrugged at Sellon's awestruck voice.
"She won't say, but she might be a year or so younger than me."
"Haha... Who would've thought Yeon would be this strong in a battlefield like this."
The other Rebellion members had performed admirably, but no one could keep up with Dokgo Yeon going all out. She had single-handedly cut down nearly 10,000 enemies with her death-infused sword—yet her clothes and even her face remained spotless, without a single drop of blood.
"Yeon?"
"Ah, Yu-won. Did you come to help?"
As Ban Yu-won approached and spoke, she slowly opened her eyes and gave him a gentle smile.
Startled by her alluring figure, he cleared his throat to hide it.
"I had a rough idea already. I just need to inject all this death energy filling the place into you, right?"
"Better hurry. It won't be long before it all disperses..."
Hadn't she said earlier that this world's energy was drawn toward death?
Her words were spot on. Concepts like magic power explosions from the clash between allies and enemies on this battlefield had been fatally amplified under the stars' influence, swiftly turning into death.
A thick, crimson, ominous concept formed from countless intertwined elements.
Of course, death energy couldn't accumulate forever. Soon after the battle ended, it would transform into other concepts and scatter. But Dokgo Yeon, who had produced all that death, and Ban Yu-won, who wielded concepts, could capture and hold it.
"S-So, how do we do it?"
"Hm? How did you do it with beasts or idiots?"
Dokgo Yeon blinked at Ban Yu-won, who was oddly tense.
When he explained how he'd altered Lucelle's internal concepts and intervened in Asha and the Dragon Slayer Sword's contract, she panicked and stepped back two paces.
"Wh-What— You don't need to enter me! ...Ah?"
Realizing her rushed words could be misinterpreted, Dokgo Yeon stomped in place from sheer embarrassment.
Her neck and face flushed bright red, as if she'd burst if poked.
"No, that came out wrong. I meant if you just gather the energy, it's not hard for me to take it in— No, really! You're the one twisting my words!"
"Is it my fault?!"
The cross in her eyes spun rapidly.
Afraid he'd fall under hypnosis if he stared, Ban Yu-won quickly smoothed things over.
"Yeon, calm down. As you said, your situation's different from those two. Holding hands should be enough."
"H-Hand."
But even that seemed far from simple for Dokgo Yeon.
After hesitating for a long while—worried the remaining battlefield energy would scatter—she finally extended her hand to him cautiously.
"It's not like it's our first time holding hands."
"A swordswoman doesn't give her hand easily."
"Okay, okay."
"You're too relaxed... it annoys me."
Carefully grasping Dokgo Yeon's pouting hand with both of his, he drew in all the [Death] concepts saturating the battlefield, refined them, and passed them on.
He had no intention of accumulating them in himself.
Someone who couldn't even handle the toy sword from the former Chancellor properly couldn't possibly endure death energy inside him.
"Haaa..."
No need for direct contact with internal concepts—just holding hands allowed the transfer to proceed smoothly.
She accepted the influx, circulated her martial art, stacked it layer by layer within her, and let out a strangely languid sigh.
This energy could casually blow off an arm if it even twitched slightly. Yet the two handled it stably, concentrating the battlefield's death into a single point and transforming it into usable energy under martial control—a feat even a constellation couldn't easily mimic.
"—That's it. Can't take more."
Dokgo Yeon opened her eyes and declared. Ban Yu-won nodded and dispersed the remaining energy.
The oppressive pressure that had weighed on their shoulders just from approaching was gone; a peaceful atmosphere now lingered over the battlefield.
"Whew... I expected it, but still."
"Looks like it worked out well."
Dokgo Yeon shook her head at Ban Yu-won's question, as if it was ridiculous.
"Beyond expectations. The environment and your help were perfect. It made the wall blocking me crystal clear..."
"Wall?"
"Don't worry about it. It's not something solved overnight... More importantly, Yu-won, you did great in this battle."
Ban Yu-won played along with her obvious topic change.
"Yeah, I've done plenty of one-on-one fights, but commanding an army was new. Seemed to mesh well, though."
"If your control was a bit freer, I might've been outdone."
"No way I'd surpass a master like you..."
"Again with that."
Her eyes sharpened at "master." She reached out and pinched his lips.
But Lucelle, appearing beside him, swatted her hand away and pulled him into her arms.
"Dokgo Yeon, no matter how much you like him, bullying him constantly is too much."
"Bullying? He started teasing me first... Ah."
She trailed off, realizing something, her face turning beet red as she released his lips and backed away.
Lucelle looked displeased despite protecting him.
"Acting all innocent like a pubescent girl... I saw you two holding hands the whole time."
"That was to help with my martial art training..."
"Using martial arts as an excuse to hold hands? Definitely puberty."
"Puberty?"
At that moment, the real pubescent girl appeared behind them.
"What were you talking about without me? Puberty? At our age?"
"Ah."
Asha tilted her head, oblivious to the Rebellion members' stares zeroing in on her.
"Why're you looking at me like that?"
"Shall we head back? This should convince even the Demon King to listen to our senior."
"Sure."
"Yu-won, no matter who the opponent is, I'll protect you—just stay by my side. Got it?"
"Guys? Why're you ignoring me?"
Having reaped all they could from the battlefield, they returned. Shati, Mira, and Aire—who knew their abilities well—greeted them calmly. But Cron alone gaped like when he'd first seen Shati's authority.
"H-How did you handle blood magic power...?"
He addressed Dokgo Yeon, who had dominated the battle.
Given how she'd read, manipulated, and ultimately absorbed the battlefield's energy, it was understandable to mistake it for blood magic power.
"You only see what's on the surface. Do you even know the magic power you wield is like unrefined explosives?"
Dokgo Yeon scoffed and mocked him... but Ban Yu-won spotted an unnatural fervor in Cron's eyes toward her and smacked his forehead.
"Master's gone and done it again."
"You, come here."
Missing Cron's change, Dokgo Yeon thought Ban Yu-won was just teasing and finally imposed her punishment.
Ban Yu-won suffered, but to Cron, it looked like proof of their intimacy. His glare filled with even greater hostility.
Freed from Dokgo Yeon at last, Ban Yu-won pouted at Shati.
"Senior, do something about your brother."
"Why? I'm thrilled to finally escape that obsession."
"Demons live up to their name."
"Just meet the Demon King, and we're done. Don't sweat it."
But no.
The price for annihilating the Human Empire's army wasn't the Black Magic Soldiers the Demon King had promised Shati. Instead, it was his direct elite force, poised to suppress them.
Any naive hope that, as Shati's father, he wouldn't harm them shattered in that instant.
"I hoped it was a bluff, but it's real."
Only after they were surrounded by hundreds of Evil Ones did the Demon King appear. The first impression? He was enormous.
His skin was clad in dark chitin armor, his eyes blazing with blue ghostly fire.
One hand gripped a greatsword of bone, the other an ice-forged shield. Just as his son had fixated, he stared intently at Dokgo Yeon.
"The world of martial origins, Murim. I heard it was isolated. To think a fool clueless enough to escape it and crawl here actually exists."
"What?"
"For countless ages, we've used blood magic power and suffered its curses... With you, we can finally escape those side effects and grow even stronger."
Who would've thought Cron's odd attitude earlier was foreshadowing this!
"...Senior?"
Ban Yu-won reflexively stepped between the Demon King—spouting knowledge of Dokgo Yeon's home dimension—and her, blocking the line of sight while shooting Shati a look that screamed "handle this."
"Ha."
She sighed, stepped forward, and slammed her royal scepter into the ground—thud.
"Demon King, cut the crap and hand over the troops."
"Of course I'll keep my promise, my daughter. But I don't recall it including not touching your companions."
"Ah, right."
Poisonous intent filled Shati's eyes.
Dreadful concentrations of annihilation magic power gathered in her scepter—
The next moment, a man cloaked head to toe in black robes materialized in the air.
It was Mumyeong.