Chapter 55: Triple Quad. The Correct Way to Handle an Ambush
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: Triple Quad. The Correct Way to Handle an Ambush
The moment his trembling hands pried open the box, Seo-un’s eyes landed on several secret manuals.
[Secret Manual: Plucking and Nourishing Art. A martial art that teaches how to absorb Yang energy during intimacy with a man. When used during a sexual encounter with a male...]
Thud!
Without waiting to hear another word, Seo-un slammed the manual onto the ground. As if that wasn't enough, he vigorously rubbed the hand that had held the book against his clothes.
Tilting his head at the unexpected reaction, Gi-chan picked up the manual out of curiosity, only to repeat Seo-un’s exact actions a second later.
"W-what is this?!"
"Exactly what it looks like. The secret technique of that Lustful Demon. If we had lost, you or I... we would have been in big trouble."
Seo-un caught sight of Lyle and quickly cut his words short.
Lyle looked at the two of them with a face full of curiosity, seemingly unable to understand what they were talking about. Gi-chan simply shook his head, shivering as goosebumps broke out all over his body.
Since they couldn't explain the sordid details to the young Lyle, the two of them checked the rest of the items in silence.
[Secret Manual: Gale Step. A lightness skill created by the warrior monk Hwagong of Daejeong Temple. It became known as a demonic technique after the temple was destroyed by Demonic Humans.]
[Secret Manual: Blood Bone Claw. The signature martial art of the Lust Demon Yu Ziyuan. It is renowned for its bizarre angles, achieved by training the range of motion in the shoulder and elbow joints.]
"It’s here!!"
A claw technique—the martial art with the best synergy for someone like him who had mastered the Boundless Fist. Moreover, it was the technique of that terrifying bastard, so he couldn't help but covet it. To have a much-needed lightness skill appear alongside it was the icing on the cake.
As Seo-un shouted while pumping his fist, Gi-chan’s eyes sparkled.
"Did you get what you wanted?"
Instead of answering, Seo-un handed the Blood Bone Claw manual to Gi-chan, who then passed it to Lyle.
"Hold onto this for now and add it to the inventory list."
Lyle, holding the manual, tilted his head after reading the item's description.
"I don't think I can use items like this..."
Gi-chan smiled at Lyle, who trailed off awkwardly.
"My main focus is magic too, but it's good to learn basic self-defense. You need to be able to survive even if you're left alone."
With those words, the manuals—including Gale Step—were added to the list and returned to Seo-un’s hands.
The moment he learned Blood Bone Claw and Gale Step, a notification rang out.
[You have learned Blood Bone Claw. If you learn the Blood Flower Pure Yang Art, the power of Blood Bone Claw will increase by 20%.]
The Blood Flower Pure Yang Art was undoubtedly the internal art of the madman he had just killed.
Even if it drops, I’m not learning that. If it conflicts with my Baekmu Juyeongong, I’m finished.
"Huh?"
Seo-un, who was mentally calculating the forms of the Blood Bone Claw flowing into his mind, turned his gaze toward Gi-chan.
"What is it?"
"This item is a bit unique."
Coming from Gi-chan, who seemed to know everything about items, Seo-un took the wooden box he offered with interest.
[Extreme Spirit Pill. An elixir that balances the energy within the body. If used when falling into Qi Deviation, it has the effect of stabilizing internal Qi and restoring balance to the mind and body to drive out the deviation.]
After hearing the explanation, Seo-un finally understood why that madman had only started running wild on the third day.
"It’s like someone handed that lunatic a gas canister."
"Pardon?"
Seeing Gi-chan’s confused expression, Seo-un explained the situation as he led the group to a new location.
Once he explained the Lust Demon's martial arts and his history, Gi-chan immediately understood why the Extreme Spirit Pill and that man were such a perfect, albeit dangerous, match.
"It was pure luck that we took him out this time. If we had to face someone like that later on..."
Seo-un nodded as he watched Gi-chan shudder.
If it were a powerful enemy like Nam Sa-gwang or the people who had ganged up on him in the first round, he could just put his life on the line and fight.
But he didn't have the slightest desire to ever fight someone with his purity on the line again.
*
They spent ten more days lying in ambush in the forest where the fierce battle had taken place.
During that time, they took down three more teams through surprise attacks. Now, the magnetic field had closed in to a precarious distance.
"I think we can move now, assuming there's no one behind us."
"Yes. Instead, there might be people lying in ambush ahead."
"The tables have turned."
Lyle, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up with a burdened expression.
"But... is it really okay for me to keep this?"
It was the Gold Scroll: Range Teleportation that had dropped a few days ago. It was a scroll that forcibly moved everyone within a 5-meter radius of the user.
"You have the lowest mobility among us. It's most ideal for us to cluster around you and use it in an emergency."
Lyle nodded with a tense face, as if he had been entrusted with a monumental mission.
"Shall we get moving, then?"
Looking at the map, the force field was circular. It would shrink toward a designated center every night at midnight, and the next safe zone was already marked on the map before the movement started.
In other words, the distance they had to travel could increase or decrease depending on where the center of the next magnetic field was.
Currently, the center was quite far away.
As if mocking the duo's prediction that it would shrink around boss monsters or buff monsters, the center was far from any major objectives. Though one objective was barely included within the boundary, the distant magnetic field forced the group to begin their trek under the starlit night.
They moved through the darkness for a long time, eventually crossing a plain with almost no cover. Due to the nature of survival games, moving through flat land with nowhere to hide was generally something to avoid, but the group had no choice but to push through.
A smile played on Lyle's face as he glided across the ground, balancing effortlessly on his air board.
I should definitely learn this.
The manual Seo-un had handed him—the introductory martial arts of the Heavenly Fallen Pavilion—had significantly boosted his physical control. In particular, his ability to maintain balance had improved so much that he felt no discomfort even while maintaining the air board at maximum speed.
They were exchanging messages via team voice chat while making eye contact when Seo-un suddenly came to a dead halt.
He didn't just stop; he threw himself to the ground and rolled.
Swish!
It was too dark to see clearly, but a black shadow seemed to fly past Seo-un’s body, narrowly missing him.
"Enemy!"
No sooner had Seo-un shouted than a surge of mana erupted.
"Iron Barrier!"
As Lyle shouted from atop his air board, a semi-spherical transparent shield formed in front of the rolling Seo-un.
Clang! Crack!
The moment several black shadows struck the barrier, cracks began to spiderweb across it. Lyle swerved his air board to a stop in front of the barrier and looked at Gi-chan.
"I can't see their position! It seems like a nearby ambush, but..."
The moment Lyle showed signs of anxiety, Seo-un stood up and walked out through the barrier.
Along with Hamit’s warning, Seo-un sent a message through the team voice chat.
A roulette wheel appeared before Seo-un as he stepped to the front.
Counter of Blazing Fire. If you successfully counterattack after dodging an enemy's strike, intense flames deal additional damage to the enemy.
The information about the skill instantly flooded into his mind.
Clang!
Even in that moment, a black flying sword came whistling in. Seo-un, who had no intention of just standing there, lightly swatted the flying dagger away with his fist.
"Come out. The four of you over there."
As he glared accurately in the direction where the enemies were hiding, three figures rose as if shadows were standing up. They instantly spread out into a line and charged toward the group.
Since they were maintaining a considerable distance, Seo-un threw a warning back to his team.
"Watch out!"
Unlike the usual pattern where mages engage in a magic battle from the rear while the front lines clash, these enemies charged in a one-on-one fashion. Seo-un, who had no way to draw the aggro of all three at once, dashed forward to finish his opponent as quickly as possible.
Clang!
His fist and a gently curved single-edged blade collided sharply. In that instant, the enemy's pupils dilated as Seo-un’s form seemed to split.
The assassin was flustered; he had never encountered an enemy who could divide into multiple forms right before his eyes.
Normally, Seo-un wouldn't easily reveal the ultimate technique of the Muryeong Phantom Step unless it was a decisive moment. However, the strength he felt from that single clash was no joke.
Having finally surpassed 500 internal energy after killing that crazy Lust Demon, he didn't have time for a probing battle against someone whose single strike made his fist throb.
You said there were four, right?
That was the reason he was rushing the fight. It was already unsettling enough that enemies specialized in close combat were sticking to his two companions, but the fact that one person hadn't even shown themselves yet felt incredibly wrong.
"There are four enemies! Don't let your guard down!"
At Seo-un’s shout, a flicker of agitation passed through the eyes of the man whose mouth and nose were covered by a black scarf.
"Detection magic?"
The man's peculiar voice, which sounded like metal scraping, grated on the ears.
Instead of answering, Seo-un charged at him with his clones, prompting the man to retreat significantly while throwing daggers.
Clang!
He blocked two daggers, but three clones vanished. Recognizing the real body that had blocked the daggers, the man engaged again, swinging his single-edged blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The man's footwork was swift. And...
This attack pattern.
It was familiar. It was an attack pattern very similar to the assassins he had met in the first round. Attacks swung with every ounce of strength, carrying a lethal resolve in a single blow.
There was no way an attack swung with full force wouldn't leave an opening, but Seo-un couldn't easily reach out. If the opponent managed to endure his counter, his own head might be the next thing to fly. He was being drawn into a life-or-death exchange of single-hit kills.
Once again, the man's blade came plunging down from above.
Grimacing, Seo-un stepped half a pace forward and thrust his fist out to meet it. He felt the man's momentum as he slashed down without a hint of hesitation.
Seo-un’s forward-thrusting fist suddenly arced upward.
An uppercut.
And not just a practical uppercut, but an exaggerated one resembling a Rising Dragon Strike, rising to meet the falling blade.
And then came the Spinning Strike.
Clang!
The thick blade let out a wailing sound as it was pushed back. Even most experts would have their weapons knocked away, unable to withstand the force of the Spinning Strike, yet this blade, pushed back only about five centimeters, came falling down again.
Kaier's Barrier.
As he barely twisted his body, the man's blade grazed his arm, tearing a long strip of his sleeve. If he hadn't used Kaier's Barrier, it might not have ended with just a slight graze.
The moment Seo-un took another half-step forward, his tightly clenched fist flew open. His fingers curled the moment they unfurled. His hand, mimicking the talons of a bird of prey, flew toward the opponent at a bizarre angle.
As I thought, he knows martial arts.
The movement the man used to dodge the claw technique smelled of a martial artist.
Clang, clang, clang!
The man hurriedly retreated, but he couldn't escape the grasp of Seo-un, who was unleashing the Blood Bone Claw. He raised his blade repeatedly to block Seo-un’s bandage-wrapped hands, but the attacks came from increasingly unimaginable angles, cornering him.
Swish, swish, swish!
If it hadn't been for the sharp skewer thrusting in from the side, the man's neck would have been torn apart by Seo-un’s grip within three moves.
Seo-un retreated after smoothly dodging the sudden, decisive attack from the iron skewer. He crossed his arms and snapped his wrists, glaring at the new arrival.
"A Cloak of Stealth, I see."
It was a possibility he had kept in the back of his mind ever since he realized he couldn't detect any presence.
As if frustrated that his decisive attack had failed, the man tried to blend back into the darkness, but Seo-un charged first.
Clang, clang! Rip!
Blocking the blade and the iron skewer with his Blood Bone Claw, Seo-un finally succeeded in damaging the cloak and stepped back to regroup. With the cloak torn, the man glared at him with eyes full of fiery rage.
I know that feeling well.
But to use an item well, one had to have an understanding of that item. It was the man's fault for not being careful while using a fragile cloak in the middle of combat.
The two men overlapped their forms and charged at Seo-un in a line.
Clang!
Blocking the blade, he lunged with his Blood Bone Claw toward the man's neck. At the same time, he didn't lower his guard against the other man who would surely launch a surprise attack.
"Ugh!"
The moment his fingertips narrowly grazed the man's neck, the man clutched his throat and stumbled back. As the Counter of Blazing Fire skill activated, the scarf covering the man's face caught fire. He hurriedly tore it off and glared at Seo-un.
Seo-un’s gaze became busy, searching for the man who had vanished rather than the one stumbling while clutching his neck.
"Argh!"
Turning his gaze toward a heavy groan, he saw a man who looked exactly like himself stabbing Gi-chan in the back with an iron skewer.
Startled, Seo-un rushed toward Gi-chan. Fortunately, Gi-chan had twisted his body to avoid a fatal wound and unleashed powerful lightning magic around him, forcing the two enemies facing him to retreat.
As Seo-un approached quickly, Gi-chan retreated in high alert.
Only then did Gi-chan lower his guard, pressing his hand against his bleeding side. Seo-un handed the only Intermediate Recovery Scroll to Gi-chan, whose face was rapidly turning pale, and kept a wary eye on the two enemies.
Now, even the injured enemy had joined in, making it a 3-on-2 situation, while Lyle and another enemy were fighting fiercely some distance away.
Having been fighting in the dark, Gi-chan hadn't been able to broaden his field of vision and had allowed a surprise attack from an enemy who had instantly transformed into Seo-un.
Finishing his sentence, Seo-un pulled a Plasma Orb from his subspace and threw it toward the sky. The orb rose high and turned into a sphere of brilliant light, illuminating the surroundings.
"Foolish! Are you trying to draw attention?!"
"I might draw some eyes, but I can't afford to lose this fight."
These were bastards accustomed to wearing pitch-black clothes and hiding in the shadows. He couldn't fight them in the dark.
"Lyle! Watch out for their ambushes! They have a technique to transform into our likeness!"
Understanding the warning, Lyle nodded and moved his air board skillfully. A frantic chase was unfolding as Lyle fired magic while retreating, and the enemy tried to catch and kill him in one go.
Gi-chan’s eyes sparkled at the mention of "that."
In an instant, Seo-un dashed forward, splitting into multiple forms and lining up.
"Don't worry about the clones! Just watch out for the real one!"
The moment they shouted and charged, a bolt of lightning fired by Gi-chan flew toward the back of the Seo-un running at the very rear.
Zap, zap, zap!
Chain Lightning spread out, biting the tails of the clones. Ultimately, while the clones vanished, the Chain Lightning also reached the enemies who had entered the range.
The moment one of the combined techniques they had created during their mountain training was unleashed, the panicked enemies were paralyzed as their bodies stiffened from the electric shock.
In that moment, Seo-un, who had surged into the middle of them, roared.
"Kuaaaaaaaa!"
The moment they heard that roar, a notification rang in the enemies' heads.
[Ding! Your physical defense decreases by 10% due to the soul-shaking resonance.]
With Gi-chan approaching while raining down magic with lightning-clad hands and Seo-un overwhelming them with his clones and his roar, the enemies were killed without even being able to mount a proper counterattack.
Crunch!
As soon as the head of the man who seemed to be the leader was crushed, Seo-un and Gi-chan ran after the receding Lyle.
The man fighting Lyle, who had already realized his comrades were dead, was fleeing for his life. Unleashing Gale Step to its limit, Seo-un instantly pulled away from Gi-chan and overtook Lyle.
Rip!
The moment the Blood Bone Claw grazed the waist of the fleeing enemy, the man’s thoracic vertebrae snapped. He collapsed, rolling violently.
"Cough!"
Seo-un stepped on the head of the man who was trying to look up while coughing up blood, taking him out without further pain, and then looked back.
"Is everyone okay?"
Lyle had blood seeping from shallow cuts all over his body, but he nodded bravely. Gi-chan, who arrived a bit later, answered while catching his breath.
"Phew. It would have been dangerous if not for Kaier Earth. Seriously, you suddenly attacked me, Hyung, and I almost died."
"I didn't expect transformation techniques to pop up either."
The group opened the appearing boxes, grabbed the items roughly, and quickly returned to the spot where the three boxes were waiting.
"Uh...?"
Just as he was about to open a box, Lyle stumbled and collapsed.
"What...?"
Gi-chan was speechless as he saw Lyle's entire body stiffen like a board. Despite this, Seo-un only rummaged through the boxes.
"Hyung?"
"Wait."
Seo-un, who was haphazardly digging through the three boxes, threw a bottle to Gi-chan.
[Death Strike Faction's Paralysis Antidote. An antidote for the paralysis poison manufactured by the Death Strike Faction.]
"A paralysis poison came out of the box earlier, so I had a hunch, and it turns out he was hit after all."
When they fed the antidote to Lyle, he jumped up as if he had never collapsed.
"Gasp!"
"Are you okay?"
"Yes! How...?"
As Lyle looked ready to pour out questions, Gi-chan handed him the antidote bottle, and Lyle understood the situation at once.
"It's all experience. Be careful from now on."
Lyle nodded vigorously. The three of them quickly farmed the items scattered on the ground.
[Skill Book: Mimicry. A secret skill of the Death Strike Faction that allows the user to transform into an opponent for a short time through observation and study. Duration: 5 minutes.]
In the end, the only useful items were the paralysis poison and the Mimicry skill.
"This could be incredible if used well."
"Indeed. There will be a time when it's used for something important."
"You should learn this, Hyung."
Seo-un’s eyes gleamed as he watched Gi-chan toss him the skill book.
"Are you trying to send me into the lion's den?"
"Honestly, you can achieve the highest efficiency with it compared to us."
Since it wasn't wrong, Seo-un wiped the mischievous look from his face and learned the skill.