Chapter 127
Wang Zhaoren and his assistant started to back off slightly when they came face to face with Gurakan. Wang Zhaoren, who had been glancing around for a while, picked up a stone that was on the ground and threw it toward a challenger who was fighting in the distance.
"Hey! What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me calling you to come here and protect me?" Wang Zhaoren shouted at the challenger.
As Wang Zhaoren continued to yell, the soldiers and Qualified around him recognized who he was. The challenger who was hit by the stone glared at him, face distorted with anger, then returned to what he was doing with a clenched jaw. However, some people, after a moment’s hesitation, moved to protect Wang Zhaoren.
"Nothing should get in the way," Lee Shin muttered as he saw the soldiers and the Qualified starting to move closer to help Wang Zhaoren.
The undead emerged from the shadows and formed a circle.
"Warrie, May, don't let anyone in," Lee Shin ordered.
"Yes, sir," Warrie replied.
"Got it," May replied.
Lee Shin had flung a few of the Qualified who were fighting against the Solo Digit demonic beasts away using Psychokinesis. He then observed Wang Zhaoren while riding his Skeleton Crow. However, there was no need to watch him for long.
"What kind of weakling is this? He has no fighting spirit at all!" Lee Shin shouted.
Rumble— Crack! Bam!
As a giant mace came swinging toward him, Wang Zhaoren, unable to dodge it, was hit. Despite being a Qualified with the White Pattern, he was no match for a truly powerful opponent such as Lee Shin. This was the moment where one could see the kind of battles he usually took part in–the easy ones.
‘He must have sacrificed his subordinates like disposable goods.’
Based on how Wang Zhaoren’s assistant abandoned him in a crisis and sought his own escape, it was evident what kind of person Wang Zhaoren was. His assistant had clearly experienced many more real battles compared to Wang Zhaoren, because he was able to avoid Gurakan's attacks one after another.
“Damn it! Please forgive me! I just did what I was told!" the assistant shouted in terror.
"How dare you say that! I raised you and gave you everything, and you betray me now?" Wang Zhaoren got up and shouted back in anger, albeit battered and bruised.
"Please, spare me! I know many secrets of China, and I can be of great use to you!" The assistant pleaded for his life.
"I know more! I have plenty of money and connections! If I leave this tower, my network will..." Wang Zhaoren 's words were cut short as Lee Shin interrupted him.
"Enough of this nonsense. If you have that time, find a way to kill him," Lee Shin said.
As if on cue, Gurakan charged at Wang Zhaoren and the assistant, his face contorted with rage.
“Shit!” The assistant tried to defend himself from the incoming mace using a staff he had been carrying, but it was useless against Gurakan's overwhelming strength.
“Keauggghhh—!” The assistant was struck down in an instant and his body bent over.
He collapsed. Meanwhile, Wang Zhaoren tried to make a run for it, but Warrie confronted him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Warrie asked.
Warrie blocked Wang Zhaoren’s path, but Wang Zhaoren made a thick barrier using his mana and charged forward.
"Move aside if you don't want to die!" Wang Zhaoren shouted.
"What a clumsy move," Warrie taunted him, eyes flashing red.
Warrie swung his sword and sliced through the center of Wang Zhaoren’s barrier with ease.
Swoosh— Bam!
The barrier cracked and then disappeared, leaving Wang Zhaoren defenseless.
“Huh? But how…?” Wang Zhaoren was stunned to see how easily Warrie destroyed his barrier.
Warrie grabbed Wang Zhaoren by the head and threw him toward Gurakan.
"You fool! You couldn't even run away properly," Gurakan sneered as Wang Zhaoren landed in front of him.
Gurakan approached Wang Zhaoren who was on the floor. Not far away, the assistant laid motionless on the ground. Gurakan raised the mace, which was bigger than the size of Wang Zhaoren’s body.
Thud—!
With a loud crashing sound, Wang Zhaoren was crushed by the weight of the massive mace. A deep crater was left in the ground. Zhuge Yun, who watched the scene from the top of the tower, called for his guards.
“Have all the Qualified with White Patterns deployed!” Zhuge Yun ordered.
"What? Who are you to give orders like th—" argued the high-ranking officer.
As the officer from Wang Zhaoren's faction tried to interject, Zhuge Yun looked at him coldly.
"Well, then, should Wang Zhaoren give the order? That person is no longer with us, as you can see," said Zhuge Yun as if he was frustrated.
"How dare you say that!” the high-ranking officer shouted, looking at Zhuge Yun with shock and disbelief.
Zhuge Yun folded the fan he had been covering his mouth with and swung it downward.
Rumble— Crack!
A lightning bolt fell from the sky following the trajectory of the swing. The officers of Bilone were surprised by the lightning bolt and looked at Zhuge Yun.
“Please, think carefully. Wang Zhaoren, whom you followed, is now dead and no longer with us," said Zhuge Yun with a smirk.
They were gripped with various emotions—shock, anger, and greed; and Zhuge Yun could sense them all.
"Do you want to take his position that bad? If so, try it. If Wang Zhaoren ended up like that, I wonder how you guys will end up,” said Zhuge Yun.
Despite his sharp words, they were unable to say or do any harm to Zhuge Yun.
***
‘Was Wang Zhaoren’s influence this strong?’
Lee Shin felt that the atmosphere of the entire battlefield had changed since his death. People had not been able to step forward because of Lee Shin’s presence, but now with the death of Wang Zhaoren, all the Qualified were wavering.
‘Nobody would have respected someone like him. That means, many of them were persuaded by him to join his faction.’
Lee Shin, who came down from the Skeleton, stood in front of Gurakan.
"Kheaaaa!"?Gurakan roared.
The grotesque cry echoed throughout the battlefield. Lee Shin called and gathered all of his subordinates who were scattered around him. In a moment, Lee Shin’s mana, which had been spread all over the area, returned to him.
‘Hmm… this should be enough.’
Summoning hundreds of undead and trying to fight at the same time not only interfered with Lee Shin’s concentration, but if everything was resolved like this, the challengers would not grow from this experience. Therefore, Lee Shin intended to defeat the Solo Digit demonic beasts, but leave the name-class demons and other demonic beasts for them to resolve themselves.
Ssss—
Lee Shin could feel the chill in the air. He quickly scanned his surroundings. A gentle breeze brushed against his skin.
‘This is…’
Lee Shin could not see or hear anything. He could only sense and infer that something was wrong with the mana wave of the atmosphere.
‘Is it over there…?’
Lee Shin activated his mana and made a shield in the air while letting his mana flow under his feet.
Crack— Bam!
Even though Lee Shin had frozen the ground, a black hand broke through and emerged from underneath. However, he had already anticipated this development. He took a small step back and dodged the black hand by leaning backward; but the hand changed its course and headed straight for his heart.
[Psychokinesis]
Lee Shin used his mana to grab the black hand. The fingers squirmed in mid-air and the sharp nails moved along, teasing him. The demon power emanating was beyond the level of an ordinary demon.
‘This hand itself is a Double Digit demon…!’
As Lee Shin was confident in his deduction, he put more mana into his Psychokinesis. At the same time, something unpleasant was riding the air currents and flowing toward him.
‘Is it poison?’
The one who released this poison was hiding in the darkness. Even though this poison might not be fatal, it was still enough to disturb Lee Shin.
[Flare Burn]
Whoosh!
Red flames, surging out from Lee Shin, spreaded in all directions and started to burn the toxic powder dispersed in the air.
Woong—
A heavy mace appeared through the smoke.
[Raise Ground]
Bam—!
As Lee Shin stomped his feet, the ground lifted along with his footsteps and knocked the mace away.
Crack—!
Lee Shin tore the black hand that he had been holding onto with his strength in half.
[You have defeated Velperk's Hand.]
[Your merit points have increased by 55,000.]
As soon as its dark red blood was scattered, it was engulfed in flames. Lee Shin, who threw Velperk's Hand over the towering flames, had a stiff expression.
‘Did they prepare this to greet me?’
In the time after Lee Shin briefly confronted Gurakan and then went away to deal with Wang Zhaoren, the response of the demons had changed. The appearance of Velperk’s Hand seemed like an attack that was prepared in advance.
Lee Shin frowned at the smoke that filled the surroundings. He sensed that what was blocking his view was part of the enemy's tactics and so he sent his mana out. His sharp senses gave him immediate information about his surroundings, even if he could not see anything properly.
He did not care even if he could not see anything. He was even fine with the demon power disrupting his senses. He was no longer tense in the face of such deterrence. Velperk's Hand was burning, and the stench made his nose itch, but he did not seem to care.
Lee Shin turned his head and saw a cat-like demon screaming, rushing toward him.
“Khaaak—!”
Its wicked claws were about to tear Lee Shin’s face, but he caught it with Psychokinesis in time, leaving it flailing in the air.
Woosh—
Suddenly, a dagger flew toward Lee Shin. He immediately made a shield of steel and the dagger slammed into it, making a fierce sound on impact. Lee Shin’s head was pushed backward.
The Solo Digit demonic beast, which had flown into the sky in the blink of an eye, was now laughing slyly as it twirled its long arms and legs. Threatening shock waves emanated from above. As soon as this demonic beast threw the cat demon at Lee Shin, he raised the shield over his head.
Bang—!
The shield shook as it stopped the dagger, which then fell and stabbed into the ground. However, to assume that there was only one attack from the enemy was hasty judgment.
Bam—! Bam—! Bam—! Bam—!
The one who rode on the eagle-like demonic beast attacked Lee Shin in the sky, firing shock waves one after another. On the ground, daggers were being thrown at Lee Shin from various directions.
[Shield]
With a delicate control of mana such that nothing could even come near to him, as well as an excellent combat sense that accurately predicted the trajectory of incoming attacks, Lee Shin blocked all the attacks without a single mistake, in a precarious situation where a wrong judgment at any moment would spell his ruin.
‘Are they trying to tire me out?’
The poison continued to flow into the space, and the enemies attacked relentlessly from a distance. Gurakan swung his mace, looking for a weak spot to strike. At least two Demon Corps consisting of name-class demonic beasts were targeting Lee Shin.
‘I would say, this is rather good.’
Lee Shin liked this situation, because he could handle all the enemies in one spot without having to search for them elsewhere.
"If this is all you have, is it my turn now?" Lee Shin muttered.
He was only murmuring with a small voice, but to the enemies, it sounded as if it had been spoken right into their ears. Lee Shin shot black mana into the clouds.
[Dark Thunder]
Lee Shin stared at the demon power that began to loom in the darkness.
Baaaam—!
Black lightning struck from the sky, flashing over the battlefield, and loud thunder roared in all directions. The shock waves that were directed toward Lee Shin disappeared without a trace due to the lightning strike, which then scattered in several directions, spreading across the ground.
The movement of the demons slowed down due to the lightning that filled the space. At the same time, Lee Shin made fast motions with his fingers, as if he was unraveling tangled threads.
Pizz—
A demon, who fell to the ground having been hit by the dark thunder, looked at Lee Shin with his limbs twisted. Mana gathered around its mouth as it supported its body on his face. When Lee Shin noticed it, he gathered up the lightning energy flowing through the ground and shot a thunderbolt at it.
Pizz—!
Even while being electrocuted, the demon fired a shock wave as it crawled on the ground.
‘Wait! This is...!’
The humans and demons that filled his surroundings disappeared into the darkness and the shock waves that had been directed toward Lee Shin also vanished into the darkness. The next moment, Lee Shin looked down at his palm.
.
Darkness was gradually consuming his body from his fingertips.
Lee Shin tried to inhale deeply through his nose, but there was no smell. He could not hear any sounds or feel anything with his sense of touch. He tried to generate mana, but he could not feel any sensation. As soon as he realized that something was wrong, a system message appeared in the air.
[The Nightmare of the Dark is trying to invade your consciousness.]
[You became immune to it.]
The darkness that had filled the surroundings disappeared in an instant, and a demon with a large blinking eye on its round body appeared in front of Lee Shin.
‘Montblanc...!’
Suddenly, several arms sprang out of the round body and stretched toward Lee Shin. He had just realized that his abilities had been nullified. At the same time, Lee Shin realized that a thick wave of power was approaching him fast. He opened his eyes wide, made a shield in the air with his left hand, and shot a thread of mana with his right hand to match the movements of the attacker.
Baaam—!
The shield Lee Shin had created instantly dispersed on the first impact, and as the shield shattered, he created another shield simultaneously. Toward his right, the black mana he conjured wrapped around Montblanc‘s arms that were swinging around.
Swoosh—!
Dozens of arms were pulled out of the round body of the one in an instant. Nevertheless, Montblanc only blinked his eyes as if it was no big deal. Smoke began to emerge from the holes where the arms had been. Lee Shin immediately pulled out Martyr from his waistband and swung it toward the demon.
‘Kill it.’
- Yes, master.
Woong— Swoosh!
Kieeeeek!
The creature who had shown no reaction even when his arms were ripped off let out a scream for the first time. The body, which was bigger than Lee Shin, was cut in half by Martyr.
This demonic beast was Number 3, Montblanc. Lee Shin was aware of his special ability, but he did not expect Montblanc to infiltrate into his consciousness. It was a considerably dangerous ability, an unbelievable power, even after considering the limits.
‘On the other hand, his physical ability seems much weaker than the other guys.’
It would be easier for those who used divine power to try killing him.
‘Has his ability also developed due to the power of the devil?’
Lee Shin, who was organizing his thoughts about the guy, grabbed Martyr and swung it using divine magic.
[Boulet]
Golden divine power collected at the tip of Martyr’s sword. A golden line made following Martyr's swing in the air flew and wrapped around Montblanc.
- Now is the time!
[Blitz Gun]
Baaam—!
The thunderbolt that extended from Lee Shin’s palm burned Montblanc down.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m