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Translator: uly
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Catching the Demon Assassin
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"Light and sharp. And it feels like there's poison melted into it too."
Geon-woo held a dagger in each hand and clashed their blades against each other, offering his evaluation of the dagger.
No game-like system notification appeared to say he'd become a user after entering Onviroad through the Ark Capsule.
All he gained was an intuitive sense of soul and solpi quantities.
In such circumstances, there was no way to read detailed information about the demon tribe's dagger just because he'd obtained it.
He was simply appraising it based on his past experiences traveling Onviroad.
= Judging by the strange energy flowing through it, it seems to have some special ability.
Ilryeong chimed in, mentioning the energy coursing through the dagger.
It was something Geon-woo had noticed as well.
"What, it's nothing special. When you inject mana, the dagger's cutting power surges dramatically. In our terms, it'd be like an ultra-vibrating blade?"
= Ultra-vibration... I understand what that means.
"But you can't keep the vibration effect going for long. It's meant to activate briefly in key moments. Beyond that, it doesn't work. Plus, you can't use it again until all the energy stored in the dagger is depleted. It's basically a cooldown."
= Even so, if it's the ultra-vibrating blade you described, my lord, wouldn't it cut through anything?
"Nah, it's not like it slices through similar-grade metal like butter or anything. Though it did pierce right through my mana armor and body without resistance."
= Did the ambusher use the dagger's ability?
"If he hadn't, would it have embedded that deep and gone clean through front to back? Mana armor aside, my body's pretty tough in its own right."
= Ah! I see.
"Anyway, this bastard's really good at hiding. I have no clue where he is."
Geon-woo gathered the two daggers into one hand and stood up.
He carefully rotated his injured shoulder to check its condition.
A satisfied grin spread across his face.
"Times like this really make me wish this was my real body."
It throbbed faintly, but Geon-woo could move his shoulder freely.
The puncture wound in his chest had already mostly healed as well.
The same went for his heart.
The heart pierced by the dagger had already fully regenerated under the effects of his jiangshi physique.
Of course, it had consumed a fair amount of jiangshi pure blood in the process, but that was no issue since he could recover it by circulating Gangsigong.
= My lord.
At that moment, Ilryeong called out to Geon-woo in a low, cautious voice.
'Found him?'
Geon-woo responded with his thoughts alone, without speaking aloud.
= Yes, my lord. It's quite a distance away. Up in the trees that way. About 40 meters.
Ilryeong pointed in one direction from in front of Geon-woo as she spoke.
But Geon-woo didn't direct his gaze where her finger pointed.
Instead, he extended the energy of the Heavenly Brain Divided Mind Spirit Dominion Art in that direction.
The Heavenly Brain Divided Mind Spirit Dominion Art was fundamentally a deep art focused on cultivating brain power, or mental strength.
It allowed one to divide that mental strength to control jiangshi and issue commands.
The higher the realm, the greater the mental strength became, increasing the number of divided thoughts for controlling jiangshi and enhancing control precision.
Being such an art, it inevitably had the drawback of not being suited for gathering internal energy.
That was why Geon-woo hadn't learned internal energy separately.
Ilryeong, once the eldest daughter of the Eonga family, had spent her time training in the family's jiangshi secret arts with almost no outside activity.
As a result, she had only mastered the family's secrets related to jiangshi and knew little of other martial arts.
She had no internal energy cultivation method to teach Geon-woo.
'This is when I really miss having an internal energy method. You said it's easier to sense presences around you with internal energy, right?'
= You may not have gained internal energy, but your mental strength has grown immensely, greatly amplifying the power of your special ability, perceptual sense.
Ilryeong was always sensitive when it came to the Eonga family.
She showed a dissatisfied expression at Geon-woo's lament over lacking internal energy.
'Tsk, who's complaining? I'm just saying it's a shame. I know it's presumptuous to talk about internal energy when I've only reached Eonga Jiangshi Gong.'
Geon-woo quickly soothed Ilryeong's mood.
= No, my lord. It would have been good if there had been a usable internal energy method. I merely regret my own lack of such knowledge.
'You have nothing to regret... Ah, it's moving!'
While conversing with Ilryeong, Geon-woo focused the energy of the Heavenly Brain Divided Mind Spirit Dominion Art on the assassin's location and finally detected the presence.
And right then, the assassin moved toward Geon-woo.
Shhreeek!
"Huh? What the—?"
But in that instant, the assassin's sword sliced through the air with a whistling sound, cutting Geon-woo's hair.
If Geon-woo hadn't urgently bent backward, his neck would have been severed.
= Phantom Shift!
Ilryeong gasped in shock at the sight.
"Nah, it's more like Blink."
To Geon-woo, the ability Ilryeong called Phantom Shift felt more like the super-rare unique skill Blink possessed by a tiny fraction of Ark Capsule users.
A superpower that instantaneously leaped through space to cover a set distance.
The demon tribe assassin had used a similar ability to attack Geon-woo.
If it was Blink, it was only natural that Geon-woo hadn't reacted to the demon tribe's initial attack.
Even now, despite sensing the movement and preparing, his hair had still been severed.
Without prior warning of the motion, he wouldn't have avoided injury.
In any case, he'd dodged the sure-kill strike, and the demon tribe assassin had revealed himself!
Geon-woo and the jiangshi immediately counterattacked.
Phewing! Slashslash! Shrieeek! Whoosh!
But the demon tribe assassin was no pushover.
The assassin twisted his body freely in midair, barely evading the jiangshi's attacks.
He took a long graze across the chest from Seomryeong's blade kick, but it was a minor wound.
Geon-woo and the other jiangshi failed to even graze a single hair.
The assassin's movements were that fluid and swift.
But Geon-woo and the jiangshi's counterattack lasted only a moment.
Sst!
The assassin melted back into the air, vanishing once more.
"Blink again?"
Geon-woo muttered as he glanced around.
But his panicked appearance was mere acting to mislead the foe.
Amid the chaos, Sulryeong—guided by Geon-woo's will—unleashed sorcery in one direction.
Srrrrk! Ssruk! Krududuk!
Ma-cha! Na-hu-ro-ja-ni-ra! Ta-ri-ba!
Then, about 30 meters to Geon-woo's right, tree branches, roots, and trunks suddenly grew wildly.
They tangled together, binding and dragging out the invisible demon tribe assassin.
The demon tribe assassin had fully blended with his surroundings upon blinking, slipping from sight and perfectly concealing his energy.
But since Geon-woo had already pinpointed the location, he couldn't evade Sulryeong's sorcery.
At that instant, Sulryeong was strongly linked to Geon-woo via their spirit bond, making her no different from another Geon-woo.
That was how she could immediately deploy her superpower toward the demon tribe assassin Geon-woo had detected.
Phewing! Shrieeeeek! Thunk!
The moment the demon tribe assassin was entangled and pinned by the tree trunks and branches, Gungryeong's arrow flew true.
It pierced the assassin's chest dead-center.
Kraaak! Ta-ke-ja! Aaaagh!
The arrow-struck demon tribe assassin screamed in agony.
But by then, the other jiangshi had already rushed in to restrain his limbs.
Gwonryeong and Dokryeong each grabbed one of the demon tribe assassin's arms and dragged him down from the tree.
Ssangryeong stepped forward then, crossing her two swords like scissors to threaten the assassin's neck.
= You're taking him alive?
Ilryeong's eyes widened at the sight.
"A guy who doesn't even speak our language, so no interrogating him. But he's prime material for making a jiangshi. Plus, I remember you saying there was something worth trying if we had a live demon tribe member."
= Ahh! Thank you, my lord.
Ilryeong bowed her head, unable to hide her gratitude at Geon-woo's words.
"Make a good one."
Geon-woo spoke nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal, finding Ilryeong's reaction burdensome.
= I will definitely create a jiangshi superior to this one. Believe in me, my lord.
Ilryeong prostrated herself in midair, her voice brimming with resolve.
Geon-woo glanced at her, then directed Dokryeong to inject paralyzing poison into the demon tribe assassin's body.
The assassin promptly lost consciousness and went limp.
"You'll try something when you wake up, but you won't get the chance to revive. You'll go straight into the stone coffin for jiangshi refinement."
Geon-woo muttered down at the fallen demon tribe assassin.
* * *
Most demon tribe members were bipedal humanoids.
The one Geon-woo had just captured fell into that humanoid category as well.
Unlike humans, though, it had bull-like horns and a face like an insect-reptile hybrid.
The insectoid traces in their appearance were a common trait among all creatures and demon tribe members.
It stemmed from their origins as bug-type creatures.
= Judging by the horns, it seems connected to Helparis.
Ilryeong remarked while examining the fallen assassin's face, and Geon-woo nodded.
Demon tribe members typically had insect-reptile hybrid faces, but each group had slight distinguishing features.
The group Helparis belonged to was characterized by bull-like horns on their foreheads.
Other demon tribe groups had compound insect eyes, antennae on the forehead, vertically slit reptilian pupils, mouths split into three or even five parts, and so on.
Their differences allowed identification of affiliations.
Geon-woo knew dozens of such groups alone.
This one clearly belonged to the Helparis tribe.
"Out for revenge, maybe?"
Geon-woo speculated, considering the assassin's link to Helparis.
= It is odd for a demon tribe member to ambush you alone like this, my lord.
Ilryeong seemed to think the same—this wasn't a normal situation.
And rightly so, for the demon tribe cherished their bodies immensely.
They preferred fighting through creatures rather than directly.
For one to personally attempt assassination was unheard of.
It couldn't be ordinary.
"It was dead set on taking my head. Didn't care about the jiangshi at all."
From what Geon-woo had seen, the demon tribe assassin had a clear target.
Kill Geon-woo, no matter what.
= It might have come specifically for you, my lord. The Helparis connection supports that.
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. But why? What's so special about killing me once?"
Ark Capsule users mostly revived even after death.
Killing a user held far less value than killing an Onviroad native.
= Still, wouldn't it mean avenging Helparis?
"I don't know demon tribe customs or mindsets well, but they didn't strike me as the type to obsess over tribal revenge."
= Even so, Helparis wasn't an ordinary demon tribe member...
"Yeah, no answers there either. Let's just say it raises suspicions that the Helparis group is targeting me. That'll do for now."
= Understood... Yes, my lord.
"Hmm, then let's at least prep this guy and put him in the stone coffin for now. We'll do the full refinement after clearing out the infected horde."
= Yes, my lord.
Geon-woo summoned his perceptual sense and dove underground with the jiangshi.
In the time it'd taken to capture his demon attacker alive, infected horde members had flooded into the forest.
He had underground hideouts prepped throughout the forest before attacking the infected village.
Without sorcerers interfering, slipping underground was simple.
Even if sorcerers discovered the hideouts, he had multiple escape routes prepared before they could cast spells inside.
Geon-woo planned to place the ambusher demon tribe member into the stone coffin for jiangshi refinement there.