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Chapter 60
[Translator – Pr?ks]
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Chapter 60: The Heaven and Earth Net (4)
Unpredictable Variations
The decision to set traps instead of fleeing paid off handsomely.
As a result of the chained ambush, all of the Lee Clan’s warriors were swept away.
The fifty warriors who survived the trap met the same fate.
They may have been strutting around, but they had only captured one castle.
The remaining fifty were also not at the first-rate level.
When thousands of skeletons swarmed them, they struggled and died one by one.
The only one who was at the edge of the first-rate level, Lee Wonpyeong, was fighting a desperate battle with Seo Yerim.
‘Even so, I won’t be able to win.’
Seo Yerim was an opponent that even the elders of the three sects would have a hard time with.
At best, all Lee Wonpyeong could do was buy some time. She approached him and plunged her sword deep into his chest.
“Kuh-hak!”
In the end, even Lee Wonpyeong fell.
[Level Up!]
“Thank you for buying me time. I was able to level up once more.”
“I don’t know what the point is anyway. Even if I catch them, I hardly get any experience.”
She shrugged and said.
“So, how many levels have you gained?”
“I went from 130 to 135.”
“Five levels in one battle? Oh, that’s good.”
“It’s the privilege of being a Necromancer.”
Even the lowest-ranking warriors of the Lee clan were at least level 150.
It was no wonder that Kim Minwoo went on a rampage when so many of them were killed off in droves.
Seo Yerim, on the other hand, was different.
The more the level difference, the more drastically the experience points decreased.
Moreover, she was a high-level Awakened One close to level 400.
This meant that it would be difficult to gain even 1% experience by killing all the warriors. That’s why they had agreed beforehand to let her have the experience points.
That was why she had dragged out the time against Lee Wonpyeong.
‘And I farmed the skeletons too.’
Right after leaving the castle.
Kim Minwoo canceled most of the summons for the skeletons that had been roaming around.
Their positions were already known.
The reason for scattering them would soon lose its meaning.
In a few hours, the forces of the three sects would all be rushing towards this place.
Excluding about five skeletons from each group, he canceled the summons and called them all to him. As a result, their average level became 65.
Considering that the experience points were being divided among thousands, it could be said that the skeletons were also having a good time.
And then.
[Repeated battle experience further enhances the skeleton’s weapon skills!]
[Melee Weapon Skill has become E!]
[Melee Weapon Skill (E): All melee weapon damage is increased by 20%.]
‘That’s awesome.’
As their weapon skills increased, the skeletons also became stronger.
Then.
―Coo.
Whitey appeared.
It was also holding the corpse of Carrier Pigeon tightly in its mouth.
“Who does our Whitey resemble to be so clever? Did he take after his father?”
―Coo.
He gently stroked its head.
With this, the Carrier pigeon had also been dealt with, so the news would only be known much later.
‘I guess I should distribute the horses.’
Until now, it had been difficult to distribute the horses because the Lee Clan bastards were chasing them. Even if they were distributed, if they were caught up, the direction would be known.
But now it was different.
The pursuit team had all been swept away.
What if they distributed horses two to each and then used the Clone Technique?
‘They’ll be scratching their heads.’
They had been going straight up, but there was no reason they had to go that way.
From the pursuers’ point of view, they had to consider all possibilities.
The skeletons got on the horses happily.
“Let’s move.”
The skeletons, awkwardly balancing themselves, fell off their horses one by one. It was no wonder, since they had never ridden a horse before.
Well, what could they do?
“Tie each other up in a line.”
The remaining skeletons tied the skeletons that had gotten on the horses in a line.
This way, they wouldn’t fall off.
After cleaning up the battlefield to some extent, he looked at Seo Yerim.
“Let’s go.”
He galloped off on horseback.
* * *
The Sado Alliance Leader, the Heavenly Demon, and the Murim Alliance Leader.
The three masters did not move easily.
They simply stood firm in the very center.
The reason was simple.
If they went somewhere randomly and then heard news of their appearance from the opposite direction, it would be too late to go there.
But if they were in the center?
They might not be the fastest, but at least they wouldn’t be too late.
That’s why.
Soon, news of their appearance was received, and the three of them ran towards Hanlim Castle, their brows furrowed, sparing no mana.
The Lee Clan’s pursuit team.
The discovery of their traces and bodies soon followed.
The Murim Alliance Leader, who saw Lee Wonpyeong’s cold body, clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. He fell into a trap. All the horses fell over. Waiting in the night with chains. What a ruthless bastard.”
At that, Cheon Guyang chuckled.
“It wasn’t that they couldn’t be found in the first place. If they had concentrated and been careful, they wouldn’t have suffered such a big blow. It’s obvious. They must have fallen into it while chasing blindly.”
Baek Hakseong’s face hardened as he examined the fingers of the corpses.
“There were five Carrier Pigeons? Judging by the smell left on their hands, they were even blown up.”
“But if no news came back… did he really catch all five of the flying Carrier Pigeons?”
The Murim Alliance Leader’s face hardened.
It wasn’t something that could be done with ordinary skills.
It meant that he had a trick up his sleeve.
“…I guess so. But… I don’t know what he caught them with.”
At that, Cheon Guyang narrowed his eyes.
“Hey. It’s your son, isn’t it? You don’t even know that?”
“…Ugh. That bastard acted like a different person in an instant. To be honest, I don’t know much about him either.”
When he went to capture the Human-faced Spider.
He had assigned an elder to him, but he hadn’t followed him into the mountains.
That was because his role was to prevent interference before entering the mountains, not to help hunt the Human-faced Spider.
The Sect Leader also didn’t want any foul play, so he only told him to watch over them on the way there and back.
The mountains were the Human-faced Spider’s playground.
There would be no crazy bastard who would go in there to interfere.
‘…Maybe I should have had him followed all the way there.’
If he had seen them hunting the Human-faced Spider, he would have been able to get solid information about the two of them.
As it was, he was now finding it frustrating that he didn’t have enough information about Baek Socheon and Choi Ang-ang.
Baek Socheon was good with the sword and handled the dead. Choi Ang-ang was a sword-wielding maid.
That was all the information he had.
At least within that range, there wasn’t much that came to mind as a way to hunt the flying Carrier Pigeons.
Flying sword energy?
If he could catch five flying Carrier Pigeons with that, it would mean he was already at a similar level to them.
It didn’t make sense.
The personnel who had been searching the area gathered around the three people.
“There are no special traces other than horse tracks in the area.”
“Were there no bodies of the Carrier Pigeons?”
“Yes, Leader. I didn’t see any.”
The three of them sighed.
This made tracking them even more difficult.
The fact that the Carrier Pigeons were blocked meant that the chances of the news being delivered were also greatly reduced.
The only good thing was that.
“At least this time, it’s not forty directions.”
A group divided into twenty branches.
They had been cut in half.
He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
Alliance Yang Jeonghak said with a stern face.
“…We should spread out search parties all along the roads for now.”
“Yeah. If they’re riding horses, they can’t help but get caught. But will search parties be enough? Judging by the tracks, it looks like this bastard and that maid were playing with them like toys.”
Cheon Guyang pointed at Lee Wonpyeong and said.
“You can tell just by looking at his body.
He’s a top-notch swordsman.
He must have fought with all his might, because there’s barely any mana left in his body.
That means he was completely drained of mana after fighting that bastard.
And Baek Socheon had easily killed him with a sword.
It’s obvious.
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
“Those two are pretty high level.”
“…Then shall we move the troops as well?”
“It’s been almost two days already. In my opinion, it’s a bit dangerous. If we ride horses, we can conserve our stamina too.”
“…”
Yang Jeonghak thought about it.
It had been a while since the government had bowed to the martial arts world, but it was quite a burden to move troops for personal reasons.
After all, the right to command the troops belonged to the emperor, didn’t it?
Moreover, he was the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance, which was a faction in its own right.
Their stance was a bit different from the Unorthodox Alliance or the Demonic Cult.
For one thing, it was basically a given that they would be cursed by the common people.
In fact, helping out in this matter would be a disadvantage to the government.
They kept losing to the strongest person who was born, and wasn’t this just an extension of that?
Fortunately, Baek Hakseong took the opposite stance instead.
“No, the government might even help them. It could even get in the way. If anything, those guys might just let them pass by.”
“Ha, let them pass by? Do you think Cheon Guyang here will just sit still? He’ll smash all their heads in.”
“…Anyway. Actively moving them could have the opposite effect. If we push them too hard, they’re bound to get angry. Just maintain the blockade for now. It’s not time yet.”
“…Damn it. What if they really escape?”
“It hasn’t even been two days yet. If we can’t catch them by tomorrow, then we’ll have to seriously consider it.”
“That’s all well and good, but what about you, Yang Jeonghak? You’re not going to be the only one to oppose it, are you?”
“…I’ll do as Baek Hakseong says.”
“Huh! Good. Then let’s just go after them.”
* * *
They galloped on horseback.
Along the way, they encountered another search party. Kim Minwoo summoned a group of skeletons and held the horses’ legs.
The horses, startled, reared up.
Seo Yerim’s arrow pierced the rider’s head in an instant.
A massacre ensued.
‘This is endless.’
Day 3.
The security was tight, but they managed to break through one more city.
‘It’s a mess.’
He had barely slept for three days straight.
At most, he had only dozed off for short periods on the horse.
Even so, he was an Awakened, so he was able to endure it. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have already passed out.
But there was one thing he was grateful for.
[Progress: 96%]
[Remaining Distance: 4%]
It meant that they were almost there.
‘The search parties were a big help.’
The guys in front were low-level.
But they were riding horses that were fast as lightning. There was an infinite supply of them.
This caused some confusion in the pursuit.
He also raised his level a bit.
He was now at level 145, which was a lot in just one day.
That meant he had fought a lot.
The problem was.
The fact that a chilling message popped up as soon as the progress exceeded 80%.
[Progress has exceeded 80%!]
[Your destination will be revealed to the Murim Alliance Leader, the Heavenly Demon, and the Sado Alliance Leader!]
[The government will begin to intervene!]
From that moment on, government soldiers began to swarm in like a herd of cattle.
‘The only good thing is that…’
It didn’t seem like they were actively trying to stop them.
They were just milling about.
Pretending to stop them a bit, then going “Whoa, run away,” and giving way.
Sometimes they even let them pass by without even looking.
‘The emperor is nice.’
It seemed like they wanted them to run away from here.
It was a real blessing.
If the soldiers had actively blocked their way, honestly, they wouldn’t have been able to go even 5%, let alone 16%.
‘I guess they’ve accumulated a lot of resentment.’
Normally, they would have tried to stop them out of fear of the aftermath.
It seemed that the current emperor was very angry with the martial arts world.
—Coo!
Whitey that had flown in as it folded its toes once.
Looking at Seo Yerim, he said.
“I have some sad news.”
“How much has the distance narrowed?”
“He says it’s about an hour now.”
“…That is crazy.”
“I agree.”
They were going to be caught.
The outline was roughly visible.
It was something they had expected to some extent.
They couldn’t have cleared the gate without meeting the three old men at least once.
Of course not.
“You’re not going to pass out yet, are you?”
“…I can hold on.”
“Let’s drink some potions and run on foot.”
Horses were a means of transportation to conserve stamina. If they ran at full speed, the Awakened would be faster than horses.
Even though they didn’t have much stamina left, they had to widen the distance even a little.
Last spurt.
He swallowed potions indiscriminately with Seo Yerim. All their stats increased by 50, their movement speed increased, their bodies felt lighter, and…
Potions worth over billions of won disappeared in an instant.
All kinds of doping went in indiscriminately.
[You have consumed too many potions in a short period of time. Overload is coming!]
‘Not enough.’
Even so, his stats were still far lower than Seo Yerim’s. The three old men would probably start running at full speed too, so they would probably meet them in less than an hour.
With this, he won’t be able to resist the three old men.
‘Then I have to walk.’
Life is one shot.
Right now, his strength and agility were in the late 400s after taking one round of doping.
He took out all the strength and agility potions.
The other stats were enough for now.
He had to raise these two as much as possible.
By how much?
‘At least 800 for both.’
He needed that much to buy time against the old men, whether he could stall them or not.
He took another sip of the doping potion.
[Strength Enhancement Potion (Supreme) consumed!]
[Overload state! Overlapping effect reduced by 50%!]
[Agility Enhancement Potion…]
[Strength Enhancement Potion (Supreme) consumed!]
[Overload state! Overlapping effect reduced by 50%…]
[Agility…]
Seo Yerim, who watched Kim Minwoo gulp down the potions indiscriminately, was terrified.
“Are you crazy? You’re going to get addicted to that! You’ll be a cripple for life!”
“I have to do it. Otherwise, I’ll be sliced up by the old men.”
He kept drinking the potions.
Overload.
The effect of the potion is reduced by 50%.
That means he would only get 25 points instead of the 50 he was supposed to get. He would also quickly become addicted.
What happens if you get addicted?
The effect of the potion is completely reduced.
And that’s for life.
On top of that, there are withdrawal symptoms.
He had been addicted to potions once during the Death Road test.
‘I was a soulless body then, so it was okay.’
But now it’s a real body.
That’s why he didn’t drink potions in this state unless it was absolutely necessary.
It was crazy.
But it was time to do that crazy thing.
It’s time to play Russian roulette.
‘So what if there’s a bullet? I’m just going to end this miserable life anyway.’
At least gambling is much better than being sliced up without any power.
And just as he drank five bottles of strength and agility potions each.
[You have consumed too many potions in a short period of time! Addiction to potions…]
[The effect of the title, ‘Live Only Today’, is activated!]
[Resisting potion addiction!]
The potion addiction resistance title effect went off. He drank another five bottles, making it ten bottles in total.
[You have consumed too many potions in a short period of time! Addiction to potions…]
[The title, ‘Live Only Today…’]
[Resisting potion addiction…]
‘Just one more time.’
As he drank another five bottles, making it ten bottles in total.
[The title, ‘Super Lucky Guy’, is activated!]
[Resisting potion addiction!]
[You have resisted addiction three times!]
[You have acquired the title, ‘Crazy Gambler’!]
Lucky.
‘Now I’m feeling a bit more motivated.’
[Translator – Pr?ks]
[Proofreader – Pr?ks]
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