[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 704: Karma and Retribution (1)
Shutting someone’s mouth.
For Yeongwoo, who had practically overcome countless hardships through nothing but the movement of his tongue, this was no different from taking a direct counter.
“Mmph, mmph……!”
Mohir’s physical strength itself was irresistible force, and with his mouth completely sealed shut, not even a single proper sound could escape.
‘Chairman……!’
No matter how great Dogo of the Hundred Thousand Sword Mountain might be, there was no way he could peer into the thoughts of someone on the opposite side of the universe.
“Ghk!”
As Yeongwoo merely groaned while pinned to the ground, Mohir soon raised his blade threateningly and spoke.
-Planetary Ship Lord. The very fact that you are a Planetary Ship Lord is astonishing. You are quite an interesting creature, but you must pay the price for your insolence.
“Mmph!”
-And that magnificent planetary vessel of yours, I shall be taking it. Perhaps all of this was merely a process meant to find its rightful owner, was it not?
As Mohir grinned wickedly, Yeongwoo tried to gather the last of his strength to counterattack, but it was useless.
Crunch!
As though he had anticipated it from the start, Mohir drove his knee down onto Yeongwoo’s wrist.
-Do not feel wronged, Planetary Ship Lord. You are merely being destroyed by one worthy of it.
He meant that he himself possessed qualifications befitting the slayer of a Planetary Ship Lord.
Well, wasn’t Mohir known as the strongest among sentient machines, as well as the winner of the swordsmanship tournament?
But.
‘Bullshit. I survived after meeting Phaemong! You think I’m gonna die to some machine like this?!’
The previous Planetary Ship Lord, Phaemong.
The records Yeongwoo had glimpsed through his duel with him were truly absurd.
「+1.1 from a duel with the master of a planetary vessel」
「+0.4 from a duel with a martial arts tournament champion」
「+0.2 from a duel with a second-class prison escapee」
「+0.2 from a duel with a special-class wanted criminal」
「+0.6 from a duel with an emperor slayer」
「+0.3 from a duel with a Dragon slayer」
「+0.5 from a duel with a myth」
「+0.2 from a duel with a galaxy conqueror」
Even if he didn’t know for sure, those records had to be comparable to the Chairman’s, perhaps even beyond them.
And the fact that Phaemong, another Planetary Ship Lord, had managed to accumulate such records also meant that Yeongwoo himself might one day become a giant of similar stature in the future.
So, in other words—
‘There’s no way I die here. If I was really destined to die this early, then Lemu would’ve already seen my future!’
As Yeongwoo shouted inwardly and unleashed his presence, his pupils once more turned golden and emitted waves in all directions.
KWA-A-A-A-AHT!
Then Mohir laughed as though amused and raised his blade high.
Swoosh.
-Learn this as your final lesson: there are things that cannot be accomplished through willpower alone.
And without hesitation, he brought the sword crashing down toward Yeongwoo’s neck.
KWAEAEAEAEAEK!
A vicious tearing sound split the air from Mohir’s blade.
Then finally, at the very instant the sword tip pierced into Yeongwoo’s neck—
KWAHT!
Along with a strange friction sound, Mohir’s body suddenly tilted violently to the side.
KRRRRRKKK!
As a result, the blade that had been lodged halfway into Yeongwoo’s neck tilted sideways as well.
“Khk!”
Yeongwoo coughed blood from both his mouth and neck as he rolled away in the opposite direction from Mohir, and in that instant, a newly cast pitch-black shadow swung toward Yeongwoo.
■ So it was you. The one who caused such absurd nonsense.
It was an entirely unfamiliar voice.
“……?”
Unable to answer because blood was pouring from his neck, Yeongwoo merely rolled his eyes toward the source of the voice, and soon a man with red hair entered his field of vision.
The man was bracing himself while pushing Mohir back with a single foot.
■ Ah, I suppose you’re in no condition to answer.
Jet-black skin contrasting with bright crimson hair.
And eyes that contained no pupils at all, filled entirely with white.
It was such an unfamiliar appearance that Yeongwoo had no way of guessing who the man was, and soon Mohir frowned and uttered a single name.
-Muro.
‘Ah.’
The moment he heard Mohir say that name, Yeongwoo instinctively realized it.
The person now standing imposingly right before him was none other than the one called the Greatest Sword of the Underground Layer.
“Kehk!”
Yeongwoo tried to say some kind of greeting, but with his neck still only half reattached, he couldn’t speak.
■ A regenerative type? To think you still haven’t died.
As Muro looked down at Yeongwoo with those completely white eyes, Mohir, who had seemed momentarily still, swung his sword toward Yeongwoo once again.
KWAEAEAEAEK!
He intended to finish the job.
Muro hurriedly thrust out his arm to block Mohir’s attack.
PAEAEAEAEANG!
The bracelet wrapped around Muro’s forearm collided with Mohir’s sword, unleashing an intense shockwave, and then Muro placed a hand on the sword sheath at his waist and warned him.
■ Next time, I will draw my sword.
-…What exactly is going on here? Is this bastard under your protection?
Mohir asked back as though he genuinely couldn’t understand.
And yet, despite that, he could not actually launch another attack.
Even Mohir, known as the strongest machine, had no desire to clash with Muro, the master of the Gray Zone.
‘No, what the hell is this all of a sudden? The tavern owner is barging in like this?’
Yeongwoo himself had no idea why Muro had suddenly appeared either.
Then finally.
Swish.
Muro raised a finger and pointed somewhere.
Specifically, toward the vacant lot near the entrance to “Muro’s Roar.”
■ Planetary Ship Lord. Quite an interesting status indeed. But that is not why I am protecting this one. You failed to block a certain variable.
-A variable……?
Still unable to hide his confusion, Mohir looked toward the place Muro was indicating, and soon he had no choice but to let out a low groan.
Because standing there was a Salzeo partially concealed beneath an invisibility cloak.
-The Salzeo clan.
Only now did Mohir realize that the other presence he had faintly sensed while attacking the Planetary Ship Lord earlier had belonged to a Salzeo, and he closed his eyes for a moment.
■ That one entered my establishment seeking someone capable of resolving the problem. Carrying just a few coins, no less.
Clink.
As Muro spread the oil coins resting in his palm while saying this, Mohir let out a hollow laugh.
-You moved for nothing more than that petty pocket change?
■ Of course not. What I agreed to receive was the goodwill of the Salzeo clan. Therefore, this business can effectively be considered a request commissioned by a Salzeo.
-……!
Salzeo.
At the mention of that famous family name, not only Mohir but even Yeongwoo widened their eyes.
“The goodwill… of the Salzeo clan?”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
As Yeongwoo barely managed to force out the words through his still blood-soaked throat, Muro turned his gaze toward him once more.
■ So you’ve recovered enough to speak already. At least you won’t die.
Then Muro gestured toward Dots Salzeo over in the distance.
■ Hey. Take your kidnapper away. I have fulfilled your request, so I shall now engrave the promised mark.
Then he snapped his fingers, and immediately a strange symbol was engraved onto Dots Salzeo’s forehead.
-…Ugh!
Dots deeply furrowed his brow as though the process had caused considerable pain, but once the symbol was fully engraved, he carefully approached Yeongwoo.
Mohir immediately released a murderous aura, but Muro stepped between the two sides with his own body.
Then he addressed them both.
■ One hour, Planetary Ship Lord. Leave my territory within one hour. During that time, I shall have a drink with Mohir.
Looking at it another way, it meant that after one hour had passed, even if Mohir resumed the pursuit, Muro would no longer interfere.
“One hour? You’re obviously planning to squeeze an absurd amount of money out of the Salzeo clan, yet you’re being awfully stingy.”
■ Welcome to the Underground Layer.
Muro kicked Yeongwoo lightly as a substitute for a greeting before turning around, and upon seeing that, Mohir immediately tapped his wrist and activated a timer.
Click.
[59:58]
-This is the time you have remaining.
Soon, even Mohir turned away, and Dots Salzeo, who had been maintaining a moderate distance, pulled his invisibility cloak back over his head and helped Yeongwoo to his feet.
-Damn it. The money you gave me was pocket change after all.
“Obviously. More importantly, how did all this happen? How did you buy that guy off? And why did you come back here?”
As Yeongwoo asked while staring at Muro’s retreating back, now already far away, Dots glanced behind him.
-I didn’t come back. I never ran away in the first place.
“Why? I told you to run.”
-Run? To where?
“What?”
-Do you even know where we are? This is the Underground Layer of the Black Zone. Without even Subua anymore, where exactly am I supposed to run here?
“So you just crawled straight into that tavern?”
At Yeongwoo’s question, Dots nodded.
-Yeah. They say every form of goodwill is accepted here anyway. So I decided to try spending the coins you gave me first… and if that didn’t work, I figured I’d try selling the goodwill of my family.
“Your family’s goodwill?”
-Everyone here is targeting me. Which means everyone here also acknowledges the prestige of the Salzeo clan, doesn’t it? Then why would there be any reason I couldn’t sell my family’s goodwill?
“Hah.”
At the unexpectedly bold statement, Yeongwoo unconsciously let out a hollow laugh.
Though he only had one arm left, a Salzeo was still a Salzeo after all.
“You basically gambled with your life.”
-My life was already in danger from the moment you came looking for me on my planet. And after arriving here, even more so. So I merely chose the lesser evil.
Rather than getting captured again by one of the Underground Layer’s villains rotten to the core, he had decided instead to save Jung Yeongwoo, the kidnapper whose intentions at least felt certain.
“Why am I the lesser evil?”
-Because you’d choose to sell me to my brother rather than kill me. At the very least, I trust your vulgar determination completely. And besides…….
“And besides what?”
When Yeongwoo asked that, Dots Salzeo hesitated briefly before speaking with difficulty.
-…Anyway, you told me to run away.
“Well, obviously. Better for at least one person to survive than for everyone to die together.”
-I don’t know whether this is the right thing to say, but… anyway, I was a little grateful. Whatever your reasons were, you still tried somehow to keep me alive.
“Ah.”
At that, Yeongwoo tried to say something but instead closed his mouth and merely nodded.
“So a kind of ‘retribution’ came back around.”
-What?
“Nothing. Anyway, it’s true that I survived thanks to you, so I suppose I should do my best to fulfill my role as your kidnapper.”
At the same time as saying that, Yeongwoo threw Bastard toward Sevio, who had been quietly preparing to escape from the corner.
“No chance. You’re not running away. Have you ever seen a catalog abandon its owner and flee?”
At that, Sevio looked down at his toes, which had narrowly escaped being sliced off, and bared his front teeth.
-Is this really the time for you to be worrying about me? If you fail to disappear within an hour, then not only you but even I, for merely being with you, will be killed. So wouldn’t it be best if we parted ways now?
“One hour? That’s plenty of time to finish everything and get out of here. Besides.”
His body having already recovered considerably, Yeongwoo pushed himself upright and pointed toward a silhouette beginning to emerge in the distance.
It was none other than their assigned guide, Yenta, rushing toward them in a panic.
“Now we’ve got a guide again too. Once he learns there’s a time limit, he’ll guide us with everything he’s got. Because if he’s even slightly late, he’ll really die.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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