[Run.]
Even before Lee Sungmin moved, Kang Seok sent Lee Sungmin a mental message telling him to leave immediately.
The Spear King, took out a series of throwing knives from his spatial pocket and threw them up into the air.
Then he took out the two spears he had and started to rotate his body weight with them as he sent the flying daggers at Jehu.
Rotating his body, the Spear King, Kang Seok, swung the spears in his hands, with a violent and sharp turn.
BOOM!
Jehu’s face contorted in anger and moved his fists to meet the Spear King’s spears.
His scaly fists were wrapped in internal energy as he brought them forward to meet the spears and try to fend Kang Seok off.
The flying daggers came and pressured Jehu’s sides as he was focusing intensely to defend himself from Kang Seok’s bombardment.
Lee Sungmin’s jaw dropped in shock when he saw the two men from Beyond the Heavens, fighting each other.
In actuality, it was really just a one-sided beatdown of pressure from Kang Seok, as he swung time and time again at Jehu, pressuring him relentlessly.
Jehu was trying his best to defend himself from Kang Seok’s two spears that were threatening to end his very life if he defended inadequately.
[Why are you letting me go?]Lee Sungmin sent a mental message to Kang Seok.
[I promised to fight with you next time. I put it off because I thought you had a point, but this lizard bastard is trying to kill you and I can’t let that happen!!]
Although he had spoken like that, Kang Seok was actually inwardly delighted to fight with Jehu.
He had not yet dueled with Jehu, and was a fighting maniac. So the rare case where he had the justification and timing to duel with him was perfect.
Lee Sungmin couldn’t understand Kang Seok’s thinking in the slightest, but paid it no mind and ran.
It was an opportunity to also let Lee Sungmin grow to be a stronger opponent for him in the future. Kang Seok smiled like a child as he thought about the idea.
Although Jehu could see Lee Sungmin running away, it would be too challenging to prevent it regardless, as Kang Seok’s barrage of attacks were endless.
It was certainly like a walking human disaster. Kang Seok was considered the second strongest martial artist in their organization, falling only second to Musin.
“You crazy bastard!”
Jehu shouted in annoyance and frustration at Kang Seok, but was unable to do anything as Lee Sungmin ran away.
As Lee Sungmin departed, he still did not know why Jehu had randomly shown up here, but he no longer paid any mind to it, as he only had a short time-frame to flee and take Scarlett with him.
* * *
The Tower Masters had finally all regrouped. They frowned at the unfortunate news of their current numbers.
Most of their reinforcements had died. The silver lining among all this was that all of the Tower Masters had survived, but the entire magic corps that had come with them, had died.
It wouldn’t be too much damage if they looked at how many wizards had survived, but the damage was too much.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
Scarlett spat out in resentment.
“You kept saying it would be all right, that it was okay! Look at out numbers! We didn’t even see Kim Jonghyun’s face!”
Coooong! Coooong!
Vibrations could be heard swaying throughout the forest. Scarlett glanced in the direction of the sounds and spoke.
“Something seems to be happening, guys. We shouldn’t keep going for nothing and only die in vain.”
The subjugation was a complete failure. Everyone knew it. The Magic Corps were not the only one to face annihilation.
The Mad Dog Mercenary Corps, who came to support them per request, also suffered considerable damage.
But Doberman’s expression wasn’t too bad. His lieutenants, Shitsu and Husky, had died, and although all the other mercenaries had died, he, the leader, had survived.
Furthermore, it was not a losing business since he had established a connection with the Wizard Guild. The mercenary corps could be rebuilt anytime with his title as an SSS-Class Mercenary.
“What are you doing? You’re not going back? Do you want to stay here for no reason and get hit by a fire?”
Scarlett said, staring all the way at each of the Tower Masters directly in the eyes. In particular, it was the Green Tower Master she was looking at.
Scarlett was fed up with the situation and the ridiculous Oath she had pledged with the Green Tower Master.
At Scarlett’s fiery gaze, The Green Tower Master slowly nodded.
“The magic cast on the forest was due to the Magic of the Grimoire.”
The Green Tower Master glanced at Lloyd.
“It’s clearly been proven that Kim Jonghyun has successfully interpreted the Grimoire’s magic and can use its spells. There is no way to possibly compare human magic to the level of Demonic and arcane magic of the Grimoire.”
“You mean we should leave him alone?”
The White Tower Master spoke up with an anxious expression. Sung Ki-Jang, who had a tired expression, opened his mouth.
“He even summoned the Demons.”
“So what can we do? Shall we all sacrifice our lives to stop Kim Jonghyun? And we should all go and die together? I don’t want to die a dog’s death. And there’s no guarantee that we can even kill Kim Jonghyun and take away the Grimoire just because we’re going to give up our lives as collateral.”
The White Tower master and Sung Ki-Jang shut their mouths. Seeing the silence, Scarlett proceeded to speak.
“We should go back and regroup. We can wait for the next opportunity that arises, other than that, there’s no reason we should jump in and kill ourselves like this.”
Scarlett put strength in her voice and locked gazes with the Tower Masters once more.
“And so what if Kim Jonghyun had interpreted the Grimoire’s magic. We still have the Weiss, don’t we? We can go back and interpret the Weiss’ magic if we put our heads together on it.”
The words moved the other Magic Tower Masters, but they quickly realized that even though they were the owners of the Magic Towers, they were not the representatives of the Wizard Guild who could make that type of decision.
The representatives of the Wizard Guild were elderly men who were now retired from active service.
They were the greatest and most powerful wizards the Wizard Guild had.
“The first thing to do is to persuade those old men.”
Lloyd sighed and spoke. Those other than the upper echelon of the Wizard Guild, did not know that there were more powerful wizards than the Tower Masters. It was common knowledge to the public that the Tower Masters were the strongest Wizards the Guild had to offer, but it was not the truth.
The public was only half-right and half-wrong. It was true that the Tower Masters were incredible wizards within the Wizard Guild, but that did not mean they were the most powerful Wizards.
Even the oldest among the Tower Masters, the Green Tower Master, was like a child in front of those elders.
“For now…… let’s back off. The Red Tower Master is right. If we stay here any longer, we’ll all die.”
When Lloyd spoke, Scarlett felt relieved finally. The Green Tower Master also nodded in approval of Lloyd’s words.
While retreating to leave the forest, the Wizards encountered the warriors of the Murong Family and the Murim Alliance’s reinforcements.
Tang Ah-Hui and Chigweol had both left the forest earlier. Tang Ah-Hui had fled, while Chigweol used the excuse and false basis of being ordered by the Lord of the Murim Alliance.
Thanks to this, the Murim Alliance’s warriors, who had been abandoned, had been following the Murong Family for orders, as the next line in superiority was Murong Dae.
“Are you heading out of the woods?”
Lloyd nodded to the question asked by Murong Dae.
“The original subjugation failed. We’ve already made considerable sacrifices, but we’re trying to get out of this forest to reduce further sacrifices.”
“Didn’t you meet the Ghost Spear?”
Kim Jonghyun’s life was no concern to Murong Dae. He looked straight at Lloyd and asked the question. Lloyd frowned at the question.
“We didn’t.”
“Are you not lying?”
Murong Dae asked the question once more. He knew there was some kind of connection between Lloyd and Lee Sungmin, so he was being openly suspicious of Lloyd.
Lloyd’s eyebrows wriggled in disdain at Murong Dae’s questioning.
Although Murong Dae was the Patriarch of the Murong Family, one of the 5 Great Families, Lloyd was the Gold Tower Master. In terms of prestige and merits, he did not fall short in any category when compared to Murong Dae. This was why he felt rather angered at Murong Dae being so overbearing towards him.
“Are you doubting me?”
“The Gold Tower Master, didn’t you agree that you have been acquainted with the Ghost Spear?”
“Don’t bring your struggles within the Murim Alliance and 5 Great Families to me as a Tower Master of the Wizard Guild and argue morals with me.”
“My daughter is dead.”
In the eyes of Murong Dae, a faint fury was contained in them.
“You’d better watch your words.”
“It’s you, not me, who should watch what you say.”
Lloyd didn’t back down and replied to Murong Dae’s inappropriate words. The tip Lloyd’s golden hair started to tremble and flutter with the mana in the air.
“Turn over the Red Tower Master.”
Since there was no point in arguing with Lloyd any further, Murong Dae cut straight to the point and looked at Scarlett. Scarlett smirked at Murong Dae and quipped at him.
“What’s this old man talking about?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Lloyd also replied along with Scarlett, allying his words with hers. But, Murong Dae did not back down.
“If you keep the Red Tower Master in custody, the Ghost Spear will definitely re-appear. We may have each other’s motivation, but it’s more important for me to avenge my daughter.”
“So…… are you asking me to hand over the Red Tower Master over to you?”
“I won’t do her any harm. As long as you let me take care of the Ghost Spear, I’ll ensure to…….”
“Quit barking like a dog.”
This time an unexpected voice sounded out. It was the Green Tower Master. He strode forward with his tired-looking face nowhere to be seen, and a face full of anger apparent on it.
A short staff was armed and at the ready as the Green Tower Master strode right on up to Murong Dae.
“You’ve been looking down on the Wizard Guild for quite a long time now. Do you think we’re cowards who hide ourselves in our towers, turn over pages of books, and write letters like old fogies?”
The Green Tower Master’s voice was full of irritation.
“Murong Dae. Can’t you be conscious of how rude your behavior is right now? If you want to ask us for something, you should officially go through the process that everyone else has to, and negotiate with the Wizard Guild directly. What kind of blatant disrespect is this?”
“You old Green bastard…”
At the words from the Green Tower Master, Murong Dae cursed him openly and grated his teeth while he moved his hand over to the hilt of his sword.
The other warriors of the Murong Family, who had survived, also followed their Patriarch’s will and placed their hands by their swords.
The other warriors from the Murim Alliance, who had been abandoned by their leaders, hesitated briefly before following suit, since Murong Dae was now formally in charge of them.
Eventually, they also had weapons in their hands.
“If you continue to not cooperate……I could be much ruder.”
Murong Dae eventually snapped and gave up on the pretenses as he openly threatened the Green Tower Master.
As soon as Scarlett, who was full of irritation from Murong Dae’s blatant disrespect and mockery even, was about to say something, the Green Tower Master raised his hand to stop Scarlett from speaking.
“If you think we’re going to step back from your threat, you’re mistaken.”
Scarlett had no choice but to be a little embarrassed, because she didn’t believe the Green Tower Master of all people would stand up for her like this. She was forced to rethink her evaluation of him at that very moment.
But her shock didn’t stop there. It wasn’t only the Green Tower Master that had stepped up. Lloyd was completely furious and was pulling up his golden mana around his body, and the White Tower Master, as well, had stepped forwards with a furious expression.
In this situation, the only neutral ones were Sung Ki-Jang and the few surviving mercenaries.
“You’re forcing my hand here…”
Murong Dae murmured.
Shing!
As soon as his words trailed off, Murong Dae’s sword was pulled out. The sword, which was drawn with incredible speed, shot forwards directly at the Green Tower Master who was right in front of him.
The green matapju tried to summon a defense spell quickly, but Murong Dae’s sword was quicker as it drew a line of blood across the Green Tower Master’s throat.
“Crazy bastard!”
Scarlett screamed. The Green Tower Master stumbled backwards… but for some reason he wasn’t worried.
Blood was gushing from his wound on his neck, and he was spitting out blood… But he then spoke calmly.
“Indeed, you are a crazy bastard.”
Then, suddenly, the wound that not even an elixir would be able to cure, healed in an instant.
The Green Tower Master gazed at Murong Dae, spitting out the blood from his mouth. The magic of the Green Tower Master was particularly unique. He was chasing the secret of immortality and was doing so through perfectly humane means.
Although he could not revive the dead to life, or achieve immortality, he was the closest man to ever approach the boundaries of life and death in such a way.
“It wasn’t too late before, but it is much too late now. Your stupidity and your barbaric acts have placed the Wizard Guild in an awkward position before, but now you are making blatant enemies of the Wizard Guild with this.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Murong Dae saw the neck that was half-severed re-attach itself to the Green Tower Master’s body, but was not surprised in the slightest.
“It doesn’t matter to me, since I could give less of a shit about all of you dumb wizards.”Murong Dae spoke as his voice and face turned cold.