‘They moved quicker than I thought. Well, this is technically the right move.’ Chang-Sun unwittingly chuckled.
It hadn’t been long since Chang-Sun decided to wage a war against Heoju, but the White Tiger Clan members had already shown up. Chang-Sun didn’t expect Seo Jeong-Gwon himself to get him, though, considering Jeong-Gwon was the tenth-highest-ranking executive in the White Tiger Clan.
Although Chang-Sun was officially a White Tiger Clan team leader, the White Tiger Clan members only saw him as a low-ranking employee who joined the Clan a year ago. The White Tiger Clan also deeply valued its internal hierarchy. For those reasons, he thought they would intentionally disregard the fact that he was now a ‘king.’
“Lee Chang-Sun.” Jeong-Gwon looked serious for some reason. “Come with me.”
Despite Jeong-Gwon’s authoritative tone and menacing glare, Chang-Sun had a feeling that Jeong-Gwon was trying to coax him.
‘Is the White Tiger Clan trying to persuade me to stay in the Clan?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
Or…
‘Is he the one who wants me to stay?’
His reasons aside, Jeong-Gwon had always treated Chang-Sun with cordiality, which meant there was a chance that he still felt the same way toward him. Jeong-Gwon simply couldn’t let it show since his team members were watching him.
‘... They might be giving me a last chance or something.’ Chang-Sun quietly chuckled again.
The Raid Team Two members turned hostile, thinking he was mocking their team leader. However, Moon Yi-Byeol, their assistant team leader, held up her hand, signaling them to stand down.
The Team L members looked at Chang-Sun a little nervously. Although they knew very well how strong Chang-Sun was, a conflict against the White Tiger Clan couldn’t be taken lightly. Meanwhile, Woo Yeong-Geun quietly reached for his sword hung on his waist.
“Sure, I’ll go.” Chang-Sun nodded.
He thought about subduing the Raid Team Two members here but decided to play along instead. They were at the airport, which was a bad location to start a fight. Besides, he was curious about what their plan was.
‘I also need to get some answers anyway.’ Chang-Sun’s eyes gleamed sharply.
With a heavy heart, Jeong-Gwon nodded and turned in the opposite direction. “Follow me.”
* * *
Jeong-Gwon and Raid Team Two led Chang-Sun and the others to a big shuttle bus in the parking lot. The Raid Team Two members watched Chang-Sun very menacingly, seemingly intimidating Chang-Sun into answering whether or not he was courageous enough to ride it. Some actually provoked him out loud, but Chang-Sun paid them no attention and just got on the bus. Shortly after, Yeong-Geun and the Team L members joined Chang-Sun inside.
“…”
“…”
Suffocating silence filled the bus.
“Drive,” Jeong-Gwon said, gesturing with his chin.
The bus driver anxiously nodded and started the engine. Up until this morning, the bus driver had been happy to get a job with good pay. However, he realized now that today could be his death anniversary if things were to go wrong, so he couldn’t help but feel very tense.
Vrooom―!
“Where are we going?” Chang-Sun asked, not paying any heed to the tension in the air.
“We’re meeting up with Executive Director Oh.”
“This greeting seems too fancy.”
“I had to check.” Jeong-Gwon’s eyes turned sharp, making him look as if he was ready to bite off Chang-Sun’s neck any minute. “I heard what happened in Europe. It turned the Clan upside down. Why did you do it?”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You’ll have to narrow it down for me,” Chang-Sun nonchalantly replied.
Unable to take it anymore, Raid Team Two’s squad leader—their third-highest-ranking member—sprang up from his seat. “You better watch your mouth when talking to our team leader! Stop playing around!”
[‘Tiger Kill’ is spreading in the area.]
The group leader growled, wanting to kill Chang-Sun, and the other raid team members exuded [Tiger Kill] as well, pressuring Chang-Sun’s shoulders. It was as if tigers were baring their fangs all around him.
Even though the bus had become an inescapable tiger den, Chang-Sun just expressionlessly looked at the group leader. “Name.”
“What did you just say, you bastard?”
“What is your name?” Chang-Sun repeated.
“Did you go nuts or something? Why do you keep speaking nonsense—!” The group leader walked out to the aisle, anger clearly evident on his face, when he stopped abruptly.
Stab―!
“H-huh…?” The group leader gasped in confusion when his neck started to sting.
However, he couldn’t speak or even think. After all, his head had already been severed from his body and had dropped to the floor.
Splash!
“Sae-Min!”
“You crazy fuck!”
“How dare you—!”
The raid team members looked shocked. They didn’t expect to be attacked this easily or that the attack itself would take place inside the bus. They soon pulled themselves, however, and grabbed their weapons. They also exuded [Tiger Kill] at its strongest output.
“Sit,” Chang-Sun said.
Booom!
At the same time, Chang-Sun exuded a much more ruthless aura, ripping their [Tiger Kill] to shreds and almost crushing their shoulders.
Urgh, keough, argh… The raid team members ended up kissing the floor, groaning, but the pressure still intensified so much that blood dripped from their noses and mouths.
[Your ‘Inferno Sights’ have been activated, watching your enemies!]
Woosh!
As navy-blue flames lit up in his eyes, Chang-Sun looked at each of the raid team members, his legs still crossed in his seat. He had practically subdued them all using only his aura.
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ nods and says that violence is the best way to silence those who are noisy.]
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ snorts sarcastically and says that it’s surprising to see idiots still making meaningless efforts.]
…
[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ nods in contentment and says that she expected such a response from her husband candidate.]
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ complains to her mother about why she is still talking like that!]
…
[A total of 179,992 Celestials are looking forward to seeing your next move!]
He had almost 180,000 viewers now, which was an indication of how much the <Heaven> Celestials were interested in Chang-Sun’s journey. The fact that Chang-Sun had parted ways with Heoju could be interpreted as Chang-Sun starting his war against the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials in earnest. A human going up against the <Stars>. Chang-Sun reminded the <Heaven> Celestials of ‘someone.’
“Urggghhh!” Meanwhile, Jeong-Gwon had also been subdued by Chang-Sun’s ruthless aura, but he managed to resist despite being brought down to a knee and clenching his teeth so hard that it looked as if they were going to be shattered any minute. The bulging veins in his eyes popped, making Jeong-Gwon shed blood tears, but his sharp, menacing eyes were still glued to Chang-Sun.
“Are you… going to… become our enemy… after all?!” Jeong-Gwon yelled.
“After all, my ass.” Chang-Sun’s sneer got louder.
The bus was crossing an overpass now.
Chang-Sun continued, “All of you had been my prey from the beginning.”
“…!”
“Ask Heoju if I’m lying.” Chang-Sun shrugged.
Jeong-Gwon’s fists trembled. Heoju was the real name of the White Tiger Clan members’ Guardian, but they always used their Guardian’s divine name to refer to him, not his real name. A Celestial was too supreme for mere followers to use their Guardian’s real name. Nevertheless, Chang-Sun referred to their Guardian as Heoju, showing his lack of intention to stay as a member of the White Tiger Clan.
“I harbor no grudges against you. Your wishes aside, I got this far thanks to the White Tiger Clan. I don’t really care that all of you are demonic beings,” Chang-Sun said.
It wasn’t as if Chang-Sun liked demonic beings or was siding with them. Demonic beings were surely irredeemable trash, but Chang-Sun believed that he had no right to criticize them since he also resorted to several morally wrong methods in Arcadia. However, it was a totally different story if the demonic being was his enemy.
“So I’ll make you a proposal instead. Seo Jeong-Gwon, become my subordinate,” Chang-Sun offered.
The Team L members looked at Chang-Sun in surprise, realizing why Chang-Sun had readily gotten on the bus, which was no different from a cave filled with tigers waiting to eat him.
Yeong-Geun’s expression turned grim, unable to understand why Chang-Sun would make a demonic being his subordinate. From an ordinary person’s perspective, a demonic being was a despicable criminal whom no one should get close to.
Yeong-Geun’s train of thought was soon interrupted.
“Ha. Ha. Hahaha…!” Jeong-Gwon suddenly burst into manic laughter. The pressure on him made him pause often, but he didn’t care.
“Hahahahaha!”
Jeong-Gwon’s loud laughter echoed throughout the bus, shaking it, and Chang-Sun just looked at him with emotionless eyes. Jeong-Gwon abruptly stopped laughing again. His eyes had become so red that they looked as if they had been that way all this time.
“I’m a tiger. Have you ever seen a tiger yield?” Jeong-Gwon growled.
“That’s a shame,” Chang-Sun said, flicking his fingers to fire a lightning bolt to the middle of Jeong-Gwon’s forehead.
“Team leader, get back!” Yi-Byeol drew the sword hung on her waist and swung it upward.
She moved so fast that it was as if she wasn’t affected by Chang-Sun at all. She also started to exude ghost energy.
[The Hohwan Mama rages!]
Booom!
Yi-Byeol used [Tiger Chaos] with her sword, hitting the bus ceiling. The shock caused the bus to wobble on the road, making it seem as if it would run into a guardrail. Meanwhile, Jeong-Gwon moved very swiftly for someone so bulky, leaping out of the bus through the hole in the ceiling.
Pzzzzz!
Chang-Sun was going to strike Jeong-Gwon with a whip made of the lightning energy he drew up, but Yi-Byeol launched herself toward him, deflecting his <Dusk Lightning> again.
Kyaaaah―!
The collision between Yi-Byeol’s ghost energy and Chang-Sun’s lightning energy produced a loud howl.
[The Hohwan Mama intensifies!]
“You…” Chang-Sun’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Yi-Byeol.“... are a Gildal.”
A Gildal was the human weapon that Executive Director Oh had been trying to create using the [Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan]. Chang-Sun had been assuming that the research on Gildals was incomplete, but it had seemingly been finished while he had been away. Perhaps Yi-Byeol was the completed version of a Gildal.
Chang-Sun didn’t notice it when he first met a Gildal, but since his Divinity had gradually increased since then, he could now know for sure.
『This is…!』
『That’s Saratina’s power… Our sister must be in their hands and is being exploited for this.』
Yi-Byeol’s ghost energy was tinged with Ithaca’s scent, but her scent was so distorted that it was nothing like the original. Hence, Yi-Byeol’s energy was only left with insidious evil energy and wicked demonic energy.
Chang-Sun had to retrieve Ithaca’s power no matter what, so he couldn’t just leave Yi-Byeol alone. However, she wasn’t the only one who was charging at him now. Yi-Byeol’s explosion attack seemed to have been some sort of a trigger, seeing as how the air around the Raid Team Two members noticeably changed.
Krrrrr.
They were even drooling, a sign they had lost their rationality.
Pzzzzzz….!
“So all of you…” Chang-Sun stood up from his seat. “... are Gildals, huh?”
Rumble―!
Chang-Sun unleashed a burst of <Dusk Lightning> energy, dyeing the world purple.
* * *
At the same time, the Team L members quickly sprang into action. Shin Geum-Gyu cast magic spells to prevent the explosion from affecting the urban area, and Shin Eun-Seo brought the bus driver out of the bus. At the same time, Hye-Bin faced Yeong-Geun.
They saw Jeong-Gwon flying up to the sky, Chang-Sun going after Jeong-Gwon, and Yi-Byeol and the Raid Team Two members trying to stop Chang-Sun. Chang-Sun’s purple lightning energy spread all over the place. Lightning bolts then struck straight down to the ground, destroying the road.
Woosh, woosh, woosh…!
Amidst the clouds of dust, a several-meter-tall purple Giant stood up. The lightning energy around it turned darker, eventually becoming black. At the same time, the Giant slowly raised its head and roared as if it had come alive.
Roooaarr!
Like a lion warning a group of tigers, the roar overwhelmed the battlefield and created a sonic boom so strong that it shook the sky. The asphalt roads wobbled and shattered.
[The Player ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ is dominating the battlefield!]
‘They moved quicker than I thought. Well, this is technically the right move.’ Chang-Sun unwittingly chuckled.
It hadn’t been long since Chang-Sun decided to wage a war against Heoju, but the White Tiger Clan members had already shown up. Chang-Sun didn’t expect Seo Jeong-Gwon himself to get him, though, considering Jeong-Gwon was the tenth-highest-ranking executive in the White Tiger Clan.
Although Chang-Sun was officially a White Tiger Clan team leader, the White Tiger Clan members only saw him as a low-ranking employee who joined the Clan a year ago. The White Tiger Clan also deeply valued its internal hierarchy. For those reasons, he thought they would intentionally disregard the fact that he was now a ‘king.’
“Lee Chang-Sun.” Jeong-Gwon looked serious for some reason. “Come with me.”
Despite Jeong-Gwon’s authoritative tone and menacing glare, Chang-Sun had a feeling that Jeong-Gwon was trying to coax him.
‘Is the White Tiger Clan trying to persuade me to stay in the Clan?’ Chang-Sun wondered.
Or…
‘Is he the one who wants me to stay?’
His reasons aside, Jeong-Gwon had always treated Chang-Sun with cordiality, which meant there was a chance that he still felt the same way toward him. Jeong-Gwon simply couldn’t let it show since his team members were watching him.
‘... They might be giving me a last chance or something.’ Chang-Sun quietly chuckled again.
The Raid Team Two members turned hostile, thinking he was mocking their team leader. However, Moon Yi-Byeol, their assistant team leader, held up her hand, signaling them to stand down.
The Team L members looked at Chang-Sun a little nervously. Although they knew very well how strong Chang-Sun was, a conflict against the White Tiger Clan couldn’t be taken lightly. Meanwhile, Woo Yeong-Geun quietly reached for his sword hung on his waist.
“Sure, I’ll go.” Chang-Sun nodded.
He thought about subduing the Raid Team Two members here but decided to play along instead. They were at the airport, which was a bad location to start a fight. Besides, he was curious about what their plan was.
‘I also need to get some answers anyway.’ Chang-Sun’s eyes gleamed sharply.
With a heavy heart, Jeong-Gwon nodded and turned in the opposite direction. “Follow me.”
* * *
Jeong-Gwon and Raid Team Two led Chang-Sun and the others to a big shuttle bus in the parking lot. The Raid Team Two members watched Chang-Sun very menacingly, seemingly intimidating Chang-Sun into answering whether or not he was courageous enough to ride it. Some actually provoked him out loud, but Chang-Sun paid them no attention and just got on the bus. Shortly after, Yeong-Geun and the Team L members joined Chang-Sun inside.
“…”
“…”
Suffocating silence filled the bus.
“Drive,” Jeong-Gwon said, gesturing with his chin.
The bus driver anxiously nodded and started the engine. Up until this morning, the bus driver had been happy to get a job with good pay. However, he realized now that today could be his death anniversary if things were to go wrong, so he couldn’t help but feel very tense.
Vrooom―!
“Where are we going?” Chang-Sun asked, not paying any heed to the tension in the air.
“We’re meeting up with Executive Director Oh.”
“This greeting seems too fancy.”
“I had to check.” Jeong-Gwon’s eyes turned sharp, making him look as if he was ready to bite off Chang-Sun’s neck any minute. “I heard what happened in Europe. It turned the Clan upside down. Why did you do it?”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You’ll have to narrow it down for me,” Chang-Sun nonchalantly replied.
Unable to take it anymore, Raid Team Two’s squad leader—their third-highest-ranking member—sprang up from his seat. “You better watch your mouth when talking to our team leader! Stop playing around!”
[‘Tiger Kill’ is spreading in the area.]
The group leader growled, wanting to kill Chang-Sun, and the other raid team members exuded [Tiger Kill] as well, pressuring Chang-Sun’s shoulders. It was as if tigers were baring their fangs all around him.
Even though the bus had become an inescapable tiger den, Chang-Sun just expressionlessly looked at the group leader. “Name.”
“What did you just say, you bastard?”
“What is your name?” Chang-Sun repeated.
“Did you go nuts or something? Why do you keep speaking nonsense—!” The group leader walked out to the aisle, anger clearly evident on his face, when he stopped abruptly.
Stab―!
“H-huh…?” The group leader gasped in confusion when his neck started to sting.
However, he couldn’t speak or even think. After all, his head had already been severed from his body and had dropped to the floor.
Splash!
“Sae-Min!”
“You crazy fuck!”
“How dare you—!”
The raid team members looked shocked. They didn’t expect to be attacked this easily or that the attack itself would take place inside the bus. They soon pulled themselves, however, and grabbed their weapons. They also exuded [Tiger Kill] at its strongest output.
“Sit,” Chang-Sun said.
Booom!
At the same time, Chang-Sun exuded a much more ruthless aura, ripping their [Tiger Kill] to shreds and almost crushing their shoulders.
Urgh, keough, argh… The raid team members ended up kissing the floor, groaning, but the pressure still intensified so much that blood dripped from their noses and mouths.
[Your ‘Inferno Sights’ have been activated, watching your enemies!]
Woosh!
As navy-blue flames lit up in his eyes, Chang-Sun looked at each of the raid team members, his legs still crossed in his seat. He had practically subdued them all using only his aura.
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ nods and says that violence is the best way to silence those who are noisy.]
[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ snorts sarcastically and says that it’s surprising to see idiots still making meaningless efforts.]
…
[The Celestial ‘Primordial Evil Dragon’ nods in contentment and says that she expected such a response from her husband candidate.]
[The Celestial ‘A Good Season to Hunt’ complains to her mother about why she is still talking like that!]
…
[A total of 179,992 Celestials are looking forward to seeing your next move!]
He had almost 180,000 viewers now, which was an indication of how much the <Heaven> Celestials were interested in Chang-Sun’s journey. The fact that Chang-Sun had parted ways with Heoju could be interpreted as Chang-Sun starting his war against the <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials in earnest. A human going up against the <Stars>. Chang-Sun reminded the <Heaven> Celestials of ‘someone.’
“Urggghhh!” Meanwhile, Jeong-Gwon had also been subdued by Chang-Sun’s ruthless aura, but he managed to resist despite being brought down to a knee and clenching his teeth so hard that it looked as if they were going to be shattered any minute. The bulging veins in his eyes popped, making Jeong-Gwon shed blood tears, but his sharp, menacing eyes were still glued to Chang-Sun.
“Are you… going to… become our enemy… after all?!” Jeong-Gwon yelled.
“After all, my ass.” Chang-Sun’s sneer got louder.
The bus was crossing an overpass now.
Chang-Sun continued, “All of you had been my prey from the beginning.”
“…!”
“Ask Heoju if I’m lying.” Chang-Sun shrugged.
Jeong-Gwon’s fists trembled. Heoju was the real name of the White Tiger Clan members’ Guardian, but they always used their Guardian’s divine name to refer to him, not his real name. A Celestial was too supreme for mere followers to use their Guardian’s real name. Nevertheless, Chang-Sun referred to their Guardian as Heoju, showing his lack of intention to stay as a member of the White Tiger Clan.
“I harbor no grudges against you. Your wishes aside, I got this far thanks to the White Tiger Clan. I don’t really care that all of you are demonic beings,” Chang-Sun said.
It wasn’t as if Chang-Sun liked demonic beings or was siding with them. Demonic beings were surely irredeemable trash, but Chang-Sun believed that he had no right to criticize them since he also resorted to several morally wrong methods in Arcadia. However, it was a totally different story if the demonic being was his enemy.
“So I’ll make you a proposal instead. Seo Jeong-Gwon, become my subordinate,” Chang-Sun offered.
The Team L members looked at Chang-Sun in surprise, realizing why Chang-Sun had readily gotten on the bus, which was no different from a cave filled with tigers waiting to eat him.
Yeong-Geun’s expression turned grim, unable to understand why Chang-Sun would make a demonic being his subordinate. From an ordinary person’s perspective, a demonic being was a despicable criminal whom no one should get close to.
Yeong-Geun’s train of thought was soon interrupted.
“Ha. Ha. Hahaha…!” Jeong-Gwon suddenly burst into manic laughter. The pressure on him made him pause often, but he didn’t care.
“Hahahahaha!”
Jeong-Gwon’s loud laughter echoed throughout the bus, shaking it, and Chang-Sun just looked at him with emotionless eyes. Jeong-Gwon abruptly stopped laughing again. His eyes had become so red that they looked as if they had been that way all this time.
“I’m a tiger. Have you ever seen a tiger yield?” Jeong-Gwon growled.
“That’s a shame,” Chang-Sun said, flicking his fingers to fire a lightning bolt to the middle of Jeong-Gwon’s forehead.
“Team leader, get back!” Yi-Byeol drew the sword hung on her waist and swung it upward.
She moved so fast that it was as if she wasn’t affected by Chang-Sun at all. She also started to exude ghost energy.
[The Hohwan Mama rages!]
Booom!
Yi-Byeol used [Tiger Chaos] with her sword, hitting the bus ceiling. The shock caused the bus to wobble on the road, making it seem as if it would run into a guardrail. Meanwhile, Jeong-Gwon moved very swiftly for someone so bulky, leaping out of the bus through the hole in the ceiling.
Pzzzzz!
Chang-Sun was going to strike Jeong-Gwon with a whip made of the lightning energy he drew up, but Yi-Byeol launched herself toward him, deflecting his <Dusk Lightning> again.
Kyaaaah―!
The collision between Yi-Byeol’s ghost energy and Chang-Sun’s lightning energy produced a loud howl.
[The Hohwan Mama intensifies!]
“You…” Chang-Sun’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Yi-Byeol.“... are a Gildal.”
A Gildal was the human weapon that Executive Director Oh had been trying to create using the [Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan]. Chang-Sun had been assuming that the research on Gildals was incomplete, but it had seemingly been finished while he had been away. Perhaps Yi-Byeol was the completed version of a Gildal.
Chang-Sun didn’t notice it when he first met a Gildal, but since his Divinity had gradually increased since then, he could now know for sure.
『This is…!』
『That’s Saratina’s power… Our sister must be in their hands and is being exploited for this.』
Yi-Byeol’s ghost energy was tinged with Ithaca’s scent, but her scent was so distorted that it was nothing like the original. Hence, Yi-Byeol’s energy was only left with insidious evil energy and wicked demonic energy.
Chang-Sun had to retrieve Ithaca’s power no matter what, so he couldn’t just leave Yi-Byeol alone. However, she wasn’t the only one who was charging at him now. Yi-Byeol’s explosion attack seemed to have been some sort of a trigger, seeing as how the air around the Raid Team Two members noticeably changed.
Krrrrr.
They were even drooling, a sign they had lost their rationality.
Pzzzzzz….!
“So all of you…” Chang-Sun stood up from his seat. “... are Gildals, huh?”
Rumble―!
Chang-Sun unleashed a burst of <Dusk Lightning> energy, dyeing the world purple.
* * *
At the same time, the Team L members quickly sprang into action. Shin Geum-Gyu cast magic spells to prevent the explosion from affecting the urban area, and Shin Eun-Seo brought the bus driver out of the bus. At the same time, Hye-Bin faced Yeong-Geun.
They saw Jeong-Gwon flying up to the sky, Chang-Sun going after Jeong-Gwon, and Yi-Byeol and the Raid Team Two members trying to stop Chang-Sun. Chang-Sun’s purple lightning energy spread all over the place. Lightning bolts then struck straight down to the ground, destroying the road.
Woosh, woosh, woosh…!
Amidst the clouds of dust, a several-meter-tall purple Giant stood up. The lightning energy around it turned darker, eventually becoming black. At the same time, the Giant slowly raised its head and roared as if it had come alive.
Roooaarr!
Like a lion warning a group of tigers, the roar overwhelmed the battlefield and created a sonic boom so strong that it shook the sky. The asphalt roads wobbled and shattered.
[The Player ‘Lee Chang-Sun’ is dominating the battlefield!]
