Chapter 245: Star, the Four Overlord Conference (4)

Chapter 245: Star, the Four Overlord Conference (4)

“Urgghhh! They’re here...!”

Baek Gyeo-Ul was dreaming right now. Ever since he had merged with Bardiya, his other personality in his shadows, he occasionally had this dream of a man who resembled him—no, a man who looked exactly like him running away quickly.

The man was inside a forest that was far from normal, considering it was in the Imaginary Plane, a world of pitch-black shadow. Everything in it had no color except black or gray.

It was a hidden and shadow plane of Trailokya and the Six Paths, but the problem was that the people who weren’t supposed to be there were pouring into the plane. The bursts of <Starlight> were ripping the shadows in this plane apart. Nevertheless, the man continued to run to find the last hope even though his everything was getting destroyed.

“A little more, a little more...! If I get there, I’ll be able to find Twilight...!” The man muttered under his breath.

Twilight. The man kept repeating the name of Twilight.

‘Twilight.’ Gyeo-Ul repeated.

He really wanted to ask the man in his dream who Twilight was.

* * *

‘Is this the place?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

After following the GPS on his smartphone for a while, Chang-Sun stopped in front of an old house, his destination, on an ordinary street.

‘Yeah, I’m at the right place.’

Detecting the faint presence of people inside the house when he sharpened his senses, he quietly pushed the gate. It was left unlocked, so he opened it with ease. The first thing Chang-Sun saw was a front yard so unkempt it seemed people hadn’t lived here for some time. However, he could sense people quietly watching him from the darkness.

[The Authority ‘Monster Excursion’ has been activated, detecting hidden enemies!]

“Come out,” Chang-Sun said, but no one answered. “If you don’t come out, I’ll assume you’re trying to kill me.”

When Chang-Sun put his hand on [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], which hung on his belt, over a dozen people dropped down to the ground.

“Hmph...!”

‘Thumb Finger’ Wojtek, who was standing in front of the group, bit his lower lip. He did not like how the Crna Ruka assassins were tiptoeing around Chang-Sun.

“You don’t have to act that menacing, you know.” ‘Index Finger’ Hyacinth, who was also with them, glared at Chang-Sun. He seemed to have become more courageous since they were in the Crna Ruka’s safehouse in Frankfurt, which meant they were in assassins’ territory.

“Is that so?” Chang-Sun nonchalantly asked.

“Ye—!” Hyacinth abruptly stopped.

Slash!

Before Hyacinth could finish speaking, Chang-Sun slit his throat with [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth].

Thump―!

Hyacinth looked like he didn’t even know how he died.

“Didn’t I tell you to back out if you have a problem?” Chang-Sun tilted his head.

Thud.

Watching Hyacinth’s headless corpse fall to the ground, Wojtek’s hands faintly trembled. ‘... I couldn’t see anything.’

Wojtek didn’t even realize that Chang-Sun had unsheathed his sword. He had always believed that he had sharp eyes since he could follow Killer Overlord Czestochowa’s movements. However, he couldn’t even notice signs that Chang-Sun was about to attack.

‘He has gotten way stronger over the past several days!’

Chang-Sun disappeared after breaking through the trap of the <Purple Star Astrology>’s demonic beings. When Wojtek found out about it, he thought Chang-Sun was simply resting somewhere due to fatigue. However, it seemed Chang-Sun instead found enlightenment and reached a level that Wojtek couldn’t possibly reach.

‘Demigod... He’s at least as strong as a demigod, which is the Sword Overlord’s level. Shit! Then that means someone as monstrous as the Sword Overlord is right in front of us! Of all the people in the world, why did I have to be involved with him?!’ Wojtek cursed Czestochowa over and over again for messing with the tiger named Chang-Sun.

“Weren’t there three of you?” Chang-Sun asked.

“... If you’re talking about Vitus, he died trying to assassinate the Red Eagle Duke.”

“You all must have taken quite a lot of damage,” Chang-Sun said.

“Losing our Skills and Authorities weakened us, so that’s only natural.”

“I see.” Chang-Sun nonchalantly nodded.

After briefly biting his lower lip, Wojtek said, “... You said you’ll give us [Demon Faces] to recover our powers if we do as you said. Please keep your end of the bargain.”

“Let’s confirm that you’ve all done your job first.”

“Bring it!” Wojtek shouted as he quickly turned back, worried that Chang-Sun would go back on his words.

Wojtek’s subordinate opened the package wrapped in cloth that he had been holding cautiously, then showed it to Chang-Sun. The package was the head of someone who looked like he died in pain.

“This is the head of Constantine Brunnit, the Red Eagle Duke. Those packages over there are his minions’ heads.” Wojtek pointed at his other subordinates.

They opened the packages they carried, revealing the heads of their assassination targets.

“Thanks to Joachim Wolff and the Frankfurt Miracle, the people on the Red Eagle Duke’s side quickly lost power. Using the confusion of the moment, we were able to eliminate them. Only thirty percent of our people survived, though,” Wojtek reported.

Although Chang-Sun wasn’t sure what exactly the miracle was, he assumed it took place when Minerva appointed Joachim as her apostle.

“Thirty percent, huh?” Chang-Sun murmured.

“Yes, so please give us the masks. If you want, we will even swear our loyalty—!”

“Didn’t I tell you that I don’t trust criminals’ loyalty?” Chang-Sun interrupted.

“Then...!” Wojtek’s voice trembled a bit.

“Still, putting you all under leashes is better than nothing.” Chang-Sun pulled out a mask and handed it to Wojtek.

The gloomy-looking swan mask looked somewhat ludicrous.

『It would be best to tell him the whole story now. It will be my first time meeting him, so let me do the honor.』

‘What are you going to do—?!’ Chang-Sun asked, unsure of what exactly Kali was trying to do.

[Your Subordinate ‘Kali’ has revealed herself!]

Without answering, Kali jumped out from the wide-open Changgwi Cave. At that moment, the safehouse’s door also opened, and Gyeo-Ul entered.

“Hyung...?” Gyeo-Ul looked confused.

Hearing the commotion outside, he decided to come out. However, he didn’t expect to run into Chang-Sun. His face brightened up, but Kali suddenly stood between him and Chang-Sun, thrusting her wooden staff toward Gyeo-Ul’s neck. Gyeo-Ul was surprised, but he still calmly drew up his shadows and deflected Kali’s wooden staff to the side.

Boom!

「You’re calm and collected! Very good. You have a very solid foundation, but...」

Kali wasn’t done. She turned and swung her wooden staff against Gyeo-Ul’s lower body, demonstrating her precise and exceptional techniques. While Chang-Sun had excellent combat skills, which he developed on battlefields, Kali was great at traditional martial arts and training people.

Whirl!

「... it’s too early to finalize my assessment of you.」

“... Hup!” Gyeo-Ul inhaled sharply.

Continuing this exchange of attacks with Kali made him feel as if he would use up his shadows. Hence, he instead covered himself with them. Even his Black Dragon Fang turned pitch-black as he thrust it forward.

[The Player ‘Baek Gyeo-Ul’ has activated the Trait ‘Shadow Play’!]

Boom, boom, boom!

As they clashed multiple times in seconds, Kali sharply assessed Gyeo-Ul.

「Balance, grip, footwork... All your skills are below average. It seems you tried to mimic Twil—Chang-Sun’s skills to improve those you lack. However, without a perfect understanding of what you’re trying to replicate, they will only become a problem for you in the future. You won’t be able to improve yourself enough to get out of Chang-Sun’s shelter. You lack stamina and are slow to learn, so how can you even think of mimicking Chang-Sun? If a sparrow tries to keep up with an eagle, the sparrow is bound to run into a problem one day. That being said, you are lacking in too many areas.」

Boom, boom, boom!

Gyeo-Ul actually couldn’t hear a word of what Kali said because he was too busy getting beaten up. Although he had initially managed to block Kali’s attacks several times, he was rendered helpless when she launched a barrage of attacks with her wooden staff.

Kali moved like a snake. Whenever Gyeo-Ul tried to attack her, she dodged, and whenever he tried to flee from her, she tenaciously chased after him, aiming for his vital spots.

Boom―!

Kali eventually struck the pit of Gyeo-Ul’s stomach with her wooden staff and unleashed an explosion. The attack destroyed half of Gyeo-Ul’s shining black [Shadow Armor] and sent him flying quite a distance away. It was a miracle that he even managed to last this long.

“Blarrghh!!!” Gyeo-Ul put his hands on the floor and vomited blood and everything in his stomach.

『Master,』Jin Prezia called, silently asking if it was okay to leave Gyeo-Ul and Kali like that. It seemed that working with Gyeo-Ul several times had made Jin care about him. Hence, he was bound to feel worried and confused. After all, Gyeo-Ul was getting beaten up without any explanation.

‘It’s okay.’ Chang-Sun shook his head.

『But...』

‘Kali must have a reason.’

『... if you say so, master.』

Jin didn’t argue further.

Kiyoo...

Even Cadmus became worried, which it expressed by howling quietly on Chang-Sun’s shoulder.

Tap―!

「I like one thing about you, though.」

Kali chuckled while looking down at Gyeo-Ul, who was coughing up blood.

「Your eyes are the same as your father’s.」

[A curtain of your <Darkness> envelops the area!]

[Separating the area!]

[All the Channelings connected to the outside world have temporarily been disconnected.]

Chang-Sun cut all the Channelings to the outside world as a precaution.

“... As I thought, you know my father,” Gyeo-Ul murmured.

Gyeo-Ul forcefully raised his head. Despite Kali’s slightly scrawny physique, she looked and was strong. For some reason, Kali didn’t look like a stranger to Gyeo-Ul.

「As you thought?」Kali tilted her head in confusion.「This is your first time meeting me.」

“I met you in my dreams.” Gyeo-Ul slowly stood up, wiping blood off his mouth using the back of his hand.

Although he was wobbling, his eyes were still glued on Kali.

「Dream?」

“Yes, my father was always with four people in the dreams, and you were one of them. And—!” Gyeo-Ul glanced at Chang-Sun, who was standing behind Kali, then turned his head back to Kali. “ Let me ask you one question... Who are you?”

Kali smirked and clasped her hands behind her back, her deep eyes reflecting Gyeo-Ul. At that moment, she didn’t look like a goddess of destruction. She was the great sage who cultivated in Himavat the snow mountain.

「From now on, I will be your teacher.」

“Teacher...?” Gyeo-Ul repeated blankly.

「Yes. I happened to be the martial art teacher to the other three idiots you saw in your dreams. Does that suffice as an introduction?」

Gyro-Ul’s eyes widened upon hearing Kali’s response. He swiftly turned his head to Chang-Sun. “The Twilight that my father kept talking about... was you, hyung.”