Chapter 242. Screenplay
Min-Cheol, who lept into the air towards the castellan, fell onto the ground.
Mithrael had only turned around to leave.
He didn’t do anything other than that, and it wasn’t as if the remaining nobles had attempted to attack either.
Even if they did attack, Min-Cheol wouldn’t have been done in by them.
However, Min-Cheol groaned in a massive amount of pain and collapsed.
It was a situation that demonstrated the huge power gap between Castellan Mithrael and Min-Cheol.
A massive amount of blood spilled out from Min-Cheol’s armor.
Only the whites of his eyes remained, and even those eyes were soaked red.
Min-Cheol, who had never lost to anyone, had been taken down.
Min-Cheol groaned in pain loudly enough to pop a vessel on his neck and forehead.
“Urgh!”
“Was I unsuccessful at holding back my strength? I apologize.”
“Ugh…”
With that, the castellan left the estate.
The second oldest clone hurriedly ran towards Min-Cheol and began to heal him.
Like foxes trying to take charge after the tiger left, the nobles were all riled up to charge.
While Min-Cheol did not have a bounty like Barub did, the nobles still wanted to nip the bud so to speak because Barub still had told the nobles about him.
After all, they had no idea when Min-Cheol, who was stronger than them, would attack.
However, those who prevented such a thing occurring were the clones with the exception of the second oldest one.
While Min-Cheol did not explicitly command them to do so, they knew that they could get rid of the nobles.
Min-Cheol groaned in pain as if he would breathe his last at any moment.
Putting him behind, the clones charged at the counts and marquis.
It was to protect their main body and to grow both themselves and Min-Cheol stronger.
If they were just any old regular summons, they would not be able to think of such a thing.
The situation was taken care of in an instant.
The nobles stood no chance against the clones.
Butchering the nobles in a single strike, the clones returned and stood around Min-Cheol.
While the amount they could heal were far lower than the second oldest clone, they still had the same skills that Min-Cheol had.
Standing in a circle around Min-Cheol, they all used their own healing skills.
Since there was only a single target, it seemed as though Min-Cheol would heal at a rapid pace.
“Ugh…”
“Strange. Min-Cheol is not healing.”
“Idiots. Focus on healing!”
“What do you expect when it’s not working? Even Status Denial doesn’t work.”
“Damn it. It is strange. So much that it’s hard to believe that he was done in by a person or a monster.”
“Should we kill him and resurrect him?”
“You shouldn’t try to think, idiot.”
“…”
The one to nod in the middle of that, the youngest clone, slowly closed his eyes.
The healing from the clones continued.
To think that it was a wound that couldn’t be healed with Status Denial.
The clones couldn’t help but be puzzled.
All that they had managed to do was to heal Min-Cheol to the point where he wasn’t groaning out in pain anymore.
He still remained unconscious and his breath was shallow, as if nearly dead.
At this speed, they did not know how long it would take before Min-Cheol would fully recover.
The healing process was slow enough to raise suspicion.
It seemed as if Mithrael’s attack had the same ability as the Piece of Space and Time that Min-Cheol had obtained.
Specifically referring to the inability to heal debuff.
That was when the oldest clone spoke.
“With this, it’ll work.”
“I told you not to speak, remember?”
“…”
The oldest clone deflated at the second oldest’s remark, closed his mouth, and started to search through Min-Cheol’s pockets.
The item that he was looking for the King’s Marbles.
While there were only 3 left, when would be a better time to use this than now?
Realizing how serious that situation was, the oldest clone had remembered when Min-Cheol had swallowed a marble.
He had noticed Min-Cheol swallow those marbles each time that Min-Cheol had obtained a massive amount of power and felt his body go out of balance.
Finally finding the marble from the inside pocket of the armor, the oldest clone spoke with a bright smile.
“This. If Min-Cheol eats this, he heals.”
“Right… I saw it too. Hurry up and feed him.”
“As expected of the oldest. I am smart. Are you all stupid? Think for once.”
“I’m going to only let this slide once. Hurry up and feed him.”
“Eh… Feeding him now.”
The oldest clone opened Min-Cheol’s mouth and dropped the marble in.
Min-Cheol swallowed on reflex and it didn’t take long before he was able to recover at an astounding rate.
Normally, King’s Marbles would be able to heal 100% of the damage taken by the enemy.
However, it was not the case this time around.
It was only enough for Min-Cheol to regain consciousness and to stop the bleeding.
Barely able to raise his body back up, Min-Cheol leaned on a pillar.
With a deep sigh, Min-Cheol spoke in a whisper.
“He’s not human… He’s a monster.”
“Are you okay, Min-Cheol?”
“Are you alright?”
“Have to run…”
Min-Cheol did not reply to the clones inquiries.
While in the brief period of unconsciousness, Min-Cheol had seen something horrific.
And with that, he had developed a fear for Castellan Mithrael.
When he had lost his consciousness, he was wading in a deep darkness.
No matter how many times he closed his eyes and opened them again, or rubbed his eyes, there was nothing he could see.
It was a darkness so profound that it was hard to believe even with one’s eyes closed.
It was then. Seeing a blue light in the distance, he moved towards it without much thought.
While it hadn’t been that long since he was knocked out, it felt like a long time for Min-Cheol to walk towards the light.
Even though he should’ve been getting closer to the light with each step, it felt as though the distance refused to close.
A long time had passed in Min-Cheol’s mind and then the light in the distance disappeared.
Suddenly, the same light flew up into the sky and spun many times before crashing down towards him.
Min-Cheol was blinded for a brief moment due to the sudden bright light, and it was quite a while before he was able to open his eyes again.
What appeared before him was a dragon letting out hot steam through their nose.
It was a type of dragon you could easily find in fantasy movies.
The dragon was half translucent and glowed bright blue all over.
Min-Cheol was able to tell without much difficult that the dragon was Mithrael.
Due the overwhelming size and power, Min-Cheol lowered his head as if surrendering.
It was obvious because he had defeated Min-Cheol in a single hit without moving in the slightest.
It was similar to how Barub had tasted a humiliating defeat before to Millions.
Before Min-Cheol regained his consciousness, the dragon’s Hell Breath covered Min-Cheol.
An extreme amount of pain embraced him all over, but he was able to snap back to reality with the King’s Marble the oldest clone fed him before long.
The mental shock was far greater than anticipated.
Not only had he lost his will to fight, but he had been swallowed by fear after all.
Min-Cheol moved his hands with great difficulty to tear the Return Scroll, heading back to the inn where no one would be present.
****
Refusing to eat or drink, Min-Cheol laid in bed for 3 days.
Dan and Audu were standing next to him, guarding him from possible threats, but they were unable to speak to him at all.
He shuddered like someone who had lost their sanity and seemed to have nightmares every day.
His body and face became noticeably skinnier with each passing day.
The clones that he did not dismiss also guarded him as well.
The clones also did not have a need for food or water as well.
They did not leave even once and kept focusing on healing him.
They had used all of the remaining King’s Marbles on Min-Cheol, but they had been unable to heal him fully.
During that time, Barub had defeated all of the remaining marquises.
Starting from the day Barub had started causing trouble, the situation had been concluded before the sun had risen back up.
The only one remaining was Castellan Mithrael.
It seemed that the castellan was allowing Barub to roam freely.
It was almost as if Min-Cheol’s inability to fight and Barub’s growth were part of script that Mithrael had created.
Comparing the amount of power both had obtained so far, Barub was overwhelming stronger now.
To be precise, Barub had become far stronger by defeating the remaining marquises.
However, Min-Cheol would probably hold out for a bit by using his clones.
Still, the clones could not be summoned back for a certain period of time if killed, so if Barub targeted the clones and took them out to have a 1v1 with Min-Cheol, it was obvious that Barub would win.
Min-Cheol had no time to understand the situation he was in with the mental shock he had received though.
No longer were the thoughts of Barub, the celestial plane, and the bet between the two of them in Min-Cheol’s head.
However, Dan was aware.
He knew that Barub’s was stronger than Min-Cheol at this point.
Min-Cheol had been always full of spirit and boldness.
In Dan’s eyes, his actions embodied justice and were without hesitation.
He always won and was without indecision to the point where it could be mistaken that Min-Cheol enjoyed battle.
Dan had only seen such a side of Min-Cheol so far.
However, Min-Cheol was broken to the point where you could call consider him useless.
The person he had trusted and followed had fallen from grace.
Filled with frustration and regret, Dan yelled with anger at Min-Cheol.
“Master. Are you going to keep this up? You have to do something!”
“…”
“Barub already have defeated all the marquises and are way ahead of you. It’s a real possibility that Barub will challenge Mithrael soon!”
“Mi-Mithrael… That’s not a person.”
“What are you saying over and over again? Ugh… I think I’m about to lose it. Really. Please get up already. Please!”
“…”
“Are you going to lose to Barub and stay still after being defeated by Mithrael? Are you planning to give up everything?”
“Dan. Please stop. Don’t you think that the shock he received must be immense if he’s acting like that?”
“I’m aware too. That’s why I’m even more frustrated! Master is not that type of person. He’s the type of person to shake off the dust and stand back up to prepare for a counterattack!”
“I know how you feel. However, let us wait a couple more days before seeing how it’ll go. I also have nowhere to go without him. I had turned my back on the nobles in the hopes for a new world, betraying them in the process.”
“…”
“I have also become as frustrated as you. So please be patient a bit longer and wait. Don’t you know better that he’s not the type to fall here?”
“Ugh… Damn it!”
Min-Cheol’s two compatriots were now in quite the difficult situation.
Following him, they had turned their backs on everything to try changing the world.
That meant that they had nowhere to return now.
However, Min-Cheol, the person who was the heart of the plan, had completely given up.
The two of them believed in Min-Cheol and only wished for him to get back up on his feet.
After all, it wasn’t as if there was anything else they could do.
Dan traveled towards the castle with frustration in his heart.
It was to find out about the atmosphere and information on the castle.
It was also to see if Barub had done anything rash and to see if Castellan Mithrael had done something in response.
The energetic crowd at the castle’s entrance and the lively markets within the castle had lost their enthusiasm.
It seemed that they were struggling to get used to the world that changed so rapidly overnight.
Sparse were people on the castle’s streets, with everyone hiding inside the stores and homes to peek out and observe what was going on.
It seemed true that the castellan and Barub hadn’t done anything new as of yet.
It happened as Dan was passing by the stores.
“Seems you’ve lost your owner.”
“…”