Jeong Hyeon-a was steadily making her way toward the end of the second floor.
The farther she advanced, the thicker the mist became, and the greater the number of Nameless Ones that appeared.
Then it happened.
BOOM!
At the explosion that rang out from the distance, Jeong Hyeon-a immediately gave an order.
“Prepare for combat!”
And just as she also raised the Black Heaven Return-to-Origin Art and finished preparing to respond, “Wait, halt combat!”
Jeong Hyeon-a’s eyes widened when she recognized the person who emerged through the red mist.
“S-Sister?”
It was Ji Min-jeong. As Hanul’s only daughter and only child, her condition was quite poor.
“Wh-what happened? Where did you get hurt so badly?”
“Hyeon-a. It is dangerous… Run away at once!”
“That would be a problem.”
At the voice that came from behind her, Ji Min-jeong stiffened rigidly. Jeong Hyeon-a also sensed that something was wrong.
‘I did not even sense his presence?’
He had appeared right before her eyes, yet she had not noticed him at all.
Either he possessed some special technique that completely deceived one’s senses, or else…
“Everyone, deploy into anti-personnel formation!”
There was an overwhelming difference in strength.
“Girls raised in good families really do have a deliciously sharp bite, do they not? You do not know what makes them so satisfying to break, do you?”
When Jeong Hyeon-a met the eyes of the man with bizarre makeup, she felt as if insects were crawling down her back.
“We do not have much time, so let us finish quickly. It would be no fun at all if someone stole the new record from me again, would it?”
Those eyes, which seemed deranged from the start, could never have belonged to an ordinary person.
Jeong Hyeon-a immediately launched a strike.
The void of the Black Heaven Return-to-Origin Art surged toward the man. Even if he possessed fierce power, the force of return held by the Black Heaven Return-to-Origin Art was exceptional at neutralizing enemies.
Yet.
CRACK! CRACKLE!
Cracks began spreading through the black energy of the Black Heaven Return-to-Origin Art that Jeong Hyeon-a had created.
“Ah, that tastes wonderful!”
And the moment she saw the blue flames writhing beyond those cracks, she could only swallow a gasp.
BOOOOM!
The fist of blue flame that had swept away the void blazed like a shimmer of heat haze.
Jeong Hyeon-a crossed both arms to block the strike and felt a searing pain.
“You are…?”
At the same time, someone’s name flashed through her mind.
When one took successor lessons in a guild, one was naturally educated about persons of special concern.
There were the powerful figures currently occupying the highest ranks, as well as promising prospects who possessed such potential.
Among them were criminals who operated in the darkness, and it was not difficult for her to recall the murderer who wielded Blue Flame and had been placed on the wanted list in China at the age of seventeen.
“Ling Wehao!”
That had been a full ten years ago.
Since then, Ling Wehao had continued operating in the underworld and had occasionally caused incidents and accidents, accumulating a bounty.
Why in the world was a criminal determined to possess at least Gold Rank-level force here?
“Why else? To climb the Tower.”
Ling Wehao, chuckling, drew closer.
Ji Min-jeong launched a surprise attack, but Ling Wehao effortlessly deflected it and counterattacked.
Flames gathered in the palm he thrust forward.
“SSSST!”
Ji Min-jeong urgently twisted her body. Even so, she could not avoid it completely, so she quickly reached out and knocked it aside.
Watching Ji Min-jeong spring into the air and land again, Ling Wehao smiled lewdly.
“It may be a small country, but perhaps because she is the daughter of one of the Ten Great Guilds, she has spirit.”
Compared with China, South Korea’s Hunter forces were certainly lacking.
However, the Ten Great Guilds that South Korea boasted were prestigious guilds that would not be inferior even in any Hunter powerhouse in the world.
Even as he toyed with Hanul’s only daughter, Ling Wehao showed no fear whatsoever.
Was it simply because he was a mad criminal?
No matter how one looked at it, that did not seem to be the case.
“Everyone, charge! Ah…”
A sigh escaped Jeong Hyeon-a’s mouth as she tried to gain an advantage through numbers.
It was because she had discovered countless shadows drawing closer from beyond the red mist.
They were not Nameless Ones.
“Allow me to introduce them. They are my comrades.”
Criminals who had challenged the Tower’s trial alongside Ling Wehao.
Their numbers alone surpassed the current headcount of Garam, and each of them was aiming with Skill Books or artifacts at the ready.
“Try anything foolish, and you will be swimming in the blood and entrails of those things you call comrades.”
It was checkmate.
“What do you want?”
“It is simple. Fight me in a leader duel. If you defeat me, I will let you go without a word.”
It was the worst possible situation. They were surrounded by enemies, and the so-called condition was absurd beyond belief.
How could Jeong Hyeon-a, a rookie, possibly respond to an opponent who was at least a Gold Rank-level powerhouse?
“Do you mean it?”
“Of course.”
“Keep your promise.”
“Say that after you win, bitch.”
Even so, Jeong Hyeon-a stepped into the fight.
“Hyeon-a!”
“Well, I am merciful, so you can come at me too, girl. I am man enough to handle two women at once. Wahaha!”
Ji Min-jeong was overcome with humiliation and rage.
It was because she had thought she was luring him away for the safety of the clear party after the sudden ambush, only to realize that she had been driven like prey instead.
“Hyeon-a, I am sorry…”
“If you are sorry, focus. It is not over until it is over.”
A blue-green auspicious energy began settling over Ji Min-jeong’s body as well. It was the Verdant Soul-Requiem Art, the pride of the Hanul guild master.
Verdant Soul-Requiem was unleashed when one was driven to the extreme and prepared to risk death.
Fundamentally, among the Five Elements, the essence pursued by the energy of Wood was growth and recovery. But when it acted as a soul-requiem that regulated life, it became a weapon.
Ji Min-jeong’s hand movements became faster and more precise. The path her hands traced was like a tangle of intertwined roots.
Ji Min-jeong began binding Ling Wehao from every direction.
And without missing that moment, Jeong Hyeon-a condensed the Black Heaven Return-to-Origin Art and tried to strike Ling Wehao’s heart.
THUD!
‘It worked!’
Jeong Hyeon-a was certain. The sensation at her fingertips was unmistakable.
Ling Wehao was immediately pushed backward from the spot.
Ji Min-jeong pursued him.
As if that was not enough, the mana Ji Min-jeong had shot around Ling Wehao twined strand by strand, beginning to grow thick like a grove.
The second form of Verdant Soul-Requiem, Deep Forest Deployment, robbed one of the sense of direction and even caused hallucinations in bodily sensations.
If only Jeong Hyeon-a’s strike landed in that state, they might be able to overturn the battle.
“…Do you think that would work?”
But as though mocking Ji Min-jeong’s hopes, the Deep Forest she had deployed began burning away under the blue flames.
Their compatibility was far too poor from the start.
The difference in realm, the compatibility, and beyond that…
“You are already at your limit, are you not?”
It was undeniable that her ability was outstanding for her age, but in absolute terms, there was already a vast gap between them.
On top of the recoil from being countered by Blue Flame in the middle of deploying her attack, Ji Min-jeong had also exhausted all of her mana. Her body stiffened, making it difficult even to move.
“Poison…?”
“The world of combat is cold, is it not? Time cannot be turned back, so it is best to save it. Do not resent me too much.”
“Despicable…!”
“Thank you for the compliment, darling.”
Ling Wehao smiled and stroked Ji Min-jeong’s head as she stiffened from the poison.
“Wait just a little. Big brother will bring your partner over soon, all right?”
After spouting that vile sexual obscenity, Ling Wehao immediately charged toward Jeong Hyeon-a.
“Young Lady!”
“Do not move! I will deal with him!”
“Can you?”
Though she shouted with heightened spirit, Jeong Hyeon-a honestly sensed her defeat.
There was no way to face him head-on. Even her joint attack with Ji Min-jeong had failed overwhelmingly, so what method could possibly remain?
‘Damn him. No, perhaps this is for the best.’
She had been irritated, wondering where her so-called brother was and what he was doing, but perhaps it was fortunate that he was not here and at least one person might survive.
“Listen carefully to what I am about to say! Everyone…”
“You were going to tell everyone to run?”
THUD!
Jeong Hyeon-a’s knees buckled on their own as she blocked Ling Wehao’s fist, which carried overwhelming power.
Then came a mercilessly swinging foot. Just as Jeong Hyeon-a tried to twist her body somehow to avoid Ling Wehao’s attack, which came as if to shatter her ribs,
THWAAACK!
A sound like a drum being struck rang out. Jeong Hyeon-a could only stare blankly.
It was not a sound that came from her side.
It was the sound made when the clearly black-and-white sole of a three-striped slipper, its three lines distinct, struck the side of Ling Wehao’s face.
The man in a tracksuit and three-striped slippers, who had appeared abruptly as though he had used spacetime magic, used the force of his own flying strike to send Ling Wehao flying.
The force behind it was so powerful that Ling Wehao flew as if he had been struck directly by a cannon shell, then rolled across the ground.
“B-Brother…?”
In a way, he looked like a loafer wasting time in the corner of a room, but the grim aura he exuded through frost-edged eyes seemed to dominate this place.
“Stand back.”
Why did those words feel so reassuring?
“B-but…”
“There is nothing to worry about. I will take care of this quickly.”
Even though they were still surrounded on all sides, Jeong Hyeon-su did not appear shaken at all.
“You… son of a bitch! You attacked me from behind like a coward?”
“A sneak attack? Spare me. What kind of sneak attack appears openly from the front? It happened because you are an incompetent criminal bastard.”
Jeong Hyeon-su hurled rough words at Ling Wehao, the Tyrant Force Ghost in his younger days.
“Wh-what…?”
“Maybe a bastard who fools around instead of climbing the Tower like he should cannot understand human speech.”
“You damned son of a bitch! What are you all doing? Kill them all!”
With his pride thoroughly trampled, Ling Wehao spat fury and gave his subordinates the order to attack.
Yet.
“B-boss?”
“What, you bastard?”
“I-I think you should look over there.”
At his subordinate’s words, Ling Wehao turned his head irritably.
He thought it was nonsense, when even ripping that man’s head off and raping the wenches in front of him would not be enough.
“…?”
But Ling Wehao’s expression turned serious when he saw the countless shadows creeping in from beyond the red mist.
“What is that…?”
[2-1]
[2-2]
[2-3]
.
.
.
[2-396]
Unidentified grotesque figures with numbers reaching into the four hundreds engraved above their heads were charging in from every direction.
“Do you think you are the only one with subordinates?”
Ling Wehao felt his breath catch in his throat.
“Save the Young Lady.”
“Kill all those Chinese bastards!”
Not only that, but Hanul’s clear party, which had come searching for Ji Min-jeong, joined in as well. Ling Wehao and his subordinates, in turn, found themselves surrounded.
“You were the one babbling that this fight was a leader duel, were you not? Fine, come at me. I will do you the special favor of ripping your head off last.”
THUD!
Jeong Hyeon-su stamped down in a powerful step and began giving off a monstrous Tyrant Force.
That power was truly at a level above Ling Wehao’s.
Fierce blue flames surged from Ling Wehao’s body. Jeong Hyeon-su charged without hesitation toward those blue flames.
KABOOOOM!
A moment later, the two collided.