Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: The True Masters Emerge
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Even though each of us was handling one opponent apiece, Jeong Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah were more than capable of dealing with Lee Ha-yoon and Seok Jo-heum.
Now I had joined the fray. This was the kind of situation where you couldn't lose even if you tried.
"Anyway, Seo Sin-cheol's a vegetable now, and without any more intervention, he'll croak on his own."
The gear they'd prepared with such ambition couldn't withstand my soul and shattered into pieces.
To put it simply, every lottery ticket those Dangun descendants had targeted and scraped together here came up bust.
Truth be told, it had never been a high-odds gamble to begin with. When the plan fails completely, special forces have one set duty left.
"Go on and kamikaze yourselves like the old Imperial Japanese Army."
"You fucking prick, even your metaphors—!"
Seok Jo-heum flared up in an instant at my words. I figured he would. It was a line I'd carefully chosen from my repertoire of surefire rage-bait.
Blinded by fury, Seok charged me recklessly, swinging his sword without a care for defense.
"Whoa, check out our fanboy's eyes rolling back."
I blocked his swing effortlessly. In the meantime, Jeong Oh-hoon fired a mana blast at Seok. He retreated in a hurry and mustered his mana to tank the explosion.
Jeong's follow-up attack was somehow blocked by the shield Lee Ha-yoon conjured.
"Hey, those pimples on your face are spreading worse by the second."
The bark sprouting across Lee Ha-yoon's face was spreading further. It looked like the owner possessing her body was getting impatient to take the wheel personally.
"Shut... up."
She spat the words and dry-heaved. Mixed in with the vomit were hard wooden chunks, leaves, and even flower petals.
"Oh my. A human puking up leaves—now that's thesis material right there."
Seok Jo-heum's condition didn't look normal either. His form kept flickering in and out—fading then sharpening. No way he was doing that on purpose.
"I won't say you ended up like that from chasing easy power."
I swung my spear wreathed in Paradox Flame. The hastily formed shield held for a moment before igniting and crumbling away.
That's too cruel.
"... ."
Lee Ha-yoon tilted her head up and fixed her gaze on me.
The voice was different. It wasn't coming through her vocal cords.
"Hey, first time meeting. Mind sharing a name?"
Lee Ha-yoon was done for. Her body's owner had finally stepped in out of frustration, so per their contract, she'd lost control permanently.
Lee Ha-yoon's body had deformed beyond recognition. Her legs, now fully tree-trunk-like, had already rooted deep into the ground.
And all around, countless plants and trees sprouted wildly.
"What a mouthful for a name. No way it'd fit on a tombstone."
I twisted my body aside and blocked a blade thrusting from behind.
A ghostly figure stood there, its presence so faint it was barely detectable. Its hazy form kept vanishing and reappearing.
Seok Jo-heum had handed over control too. I stared at him for a long moment, then grimaced.
"What the hell is this now? Total bullshit. Jeong Oh-hoon, Han Sang-ah—don't block that ghost's attacks. Dodge every time."
Han Sang-ah piped up at my order.
"Why? His body's tough-looking, but his attacks seem weak."
She had a point. The ghost's raw attack power was pathetic—like a civilian wielding a kitchen knife at best.
"He attacks your past."
The instant you fail to dodge and try to block or tank it, his strike leaps back through time.
"Put simply, it's like stabbing a newborn baby with a kitchen knife."
Civilian-level knife strike? Doesn't matter. That's still a one-shot kill on an infant. You have to dodge those attacks.
Even I'd be in danger if hit. I'm human too—I have a past, including times when I was pathetically weak.
Stab that frail past self with a knife, and I'm done. No coming back from that.
What do you do when it jams a blade into the neck of your newborn self crying for its mom? Can't block it unless you time-travel right alongside it.
"Thanks for the flattery."
I replied calmly, tensing my body as I eyed both foes.
The dilemma now: use the tattoo or not? I could probably wrap these two up in five seconds flat—seven at most.
I could kill them here. Even if they're just borrowing bodies, the tattoo would take out the real owners too.
But what would that really accomplish? Shortest cooldown's five months; longest, seven. I'd have to wait that out to recharge.
"Club Sandai."
Ultimately, the source of that black ore was the Erosion Core rooted in Israel—these bastards' base that's been pissing me off for ages.
A creaking sound rang out as the tree-thing slowly raised its hand.
"God? More like demon."
Even as it spoke, alien vegetation pulsing with potent life force kept sprouting, turning the area into a jungle.
The ghost spun the sword in its hand.
"You're no gods."
I've met one for real. Calling you lot that cheapens the title. Still, they weren't foes you could take lightly.
I planted the spear tip in the ground and ignited Paradox Flame. Black fire spread like wildfire, blanketing the earth. The otherworldly plants pulsing with vigor began to wilt and shrivel.
"If scraps like you are gods, then so am I."
The tree nodded at my words.
Sure enough... the gear Seo Sin-cheol used must've been crafted by one of them. At the same time, the ghost beside it dipped its head slightly.
Suddenly kissing my ass. We're here to kill each other anyway.
"No need to know."
Understanding and restraint are separate. You can bind a power you don't comprehend—just like caging a wild beast without knowing its mind.
No point dragging this out... I turned to Jeong Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah.
"Like I said, be extra careful with that ghost's attacks."
Get hit, and you're dead. No questions. Jeong's attacks were reliable hits; this was a guaranteed kill. The upside? Dodging was a breeze, whatever the cost of that power.
As long as we stayed sharp and avoided mistakes, none of us were green enough to eat one.
The two nodded gravely.
"Why does shit always twist like this whenever I try to do something."
I'd just come to Africa to off one pleasure-killing pirate wannabe. Now here I was, facing down these things.
I dodged the ghost's sword swing and slashed at the plants sprouting from the ground. Cursed, venom-laced Paradox Flame made them wither fast.
Han Sang-ah gripped her sword and spun, slicing through the growth like a weed whacker.
"Woo yeah."
Jeong Oh-hoon pulled a flamethrower from his subspace and hosed the area.
"Infinite."
The plants showed zero signs of slowing their growth or spread. Felt just like summer weeding—cut 'em down, and they sprang right back endless.
And even amid our nonstop clearing, the regrowth sent vines and roots snaking out to bind us.
Get caught, and the ghost swings. Dodging in place would be tough—you'd have to block. Which meant death.
"Damn it, can't get close at all!"
The thick foliage acted like walls defending their master while creating perfect hidey-holes for the ghost.
It kept popping out from the underbrush for attacks before vanishing again.
This was why tank-assassin duos were always a pain. If the tank was just a meat shield, you could ignore it—but these plants were no joke.
I dodged the ghost's sword for a counterthrust, but its form blurred, and my spear passed harmlessly through. Unlike Seok's version, this intangibility lasted ages.
Jeong Oh-hoon fired a mana bullet right into its head like he'd been waiting. Thwack. The ghost glared at him, unscathed.
Pathetic attacks, tanky body.
"Harvest?"
The voice droned on relentlessly, each word chipping away at my skull with a growing ache. Definitely beings beyond human ken.
Since they were just borrowing bodies, it wasn't the skull-splitting agony of those purple bubbles from before—but the pressure built steadily, relentlessly.
"Can't you leave a spot for us on that blank canvas?"
The back-and-forth dragged on. Priority one: take out the tree nonstop churning out more trees.
I could manage without tapping the tattoo's power.
"You two, hold the line."
I barked the order and charged the writhing, living tree.
The tree darkened to black. I swung my spear—and it felt like hammering steel. Hardened to hell.
"All of you. Burn."
I pulled back the Paradox Flame devouring the ambient life around me and unleashed it forward at the trees. Searing black hellfire gaped wide and swept them up.
Another swing, and they cleaved like vines before a sharpened machete—slowly parting a path.
Layer upon layer of trees contracted like living things, trying to reseal the way to their core. But the Paradox Flame had spread plenty.
Hundreds blocking my path were easy enough to hack through—but I had to hurry. With no suppression on growth, Han Sang-ah and Jeong Oh-hoon were in real danger.
Just a bit more. Faster.