Chapter 768
‘Why is Professor Hongpeng here?’
The student council members seemed to have succeeded in rescuing her, but somehow her condition did not look normal.
[It’s Myurr’s sorcery.]
Feer’s voice resounded in Simon’s head.
[I can smell him. That woman is under Myurr’s control!]
“What?”
Hongpeng’s unfocused eyes gazed straight at them. Simon almost called out to her by title, but quickly realized his current state and snapped back to his senses.
He was wearing Feer’s Bone Armor, draped in a cloak, helmet upon his head.
Right now, he stood in the form of the 7th Legion Commander, otherwise known as Feon. With his thoughts synchronized, he borrowed Feer’s voice to speak.
[We have no reason to fight each other.]
A low, cold voice echoed.
[Wake up, Hongpeng Tun Sokum Marlat.]
“……”
She silently stared at Simon for a moment, then her figure vanished without a trace.
‘!’
Simon’s eyes widened, heart dropping into his chest.
Before he could react, she slipped from his vision. Feer directly moved the Bone Armor, thrusting forward the Greatsword of Destruction.
Suddenly, Hongpeng emerged from the front, her indifferent face swinging the greatsword down.
KWAaaaaAAAANG!
The sound was like a bomb detonating.
Simon’s teeth ground together. The very air warped, the temple floor beneath them quaking violently.
“Khhk!”
The impact rattled his insides as if his organs would burst out of his mouth. Her black hair whipped once through the air, then her leg lashed out toward his head, his stance broken.
[Focus, boy!]
Feer forcibly pulled Simon’s head back with the Bone Armor. Her leg slashed down with a shwiiiik! past just above his eyes.
A sharp kagang! rang out against Feer’s helmeted brow. If that had been Simon’s bare face, his skull would have split open.
“Khhhp!”
Even the briefest lapse in concentration would mean death.
This was the real Hongpeng.
‘I must focus!’
Simon boldly stepped forward and swung the greatsword in counterattack. She drew her leg back, retreating.
Tok, tok.
Keeping a wide distance, she bounced lightly on her feet a couple of times.
He couldn’t let his guard down, that was merely a preparation stance.
Then, her entire body blurred violently left and right as she charged, distorting the air.
Simon braced, holding the greatsword firmly before him.
JjaaaaANG!
KwaaaANG!
Blows hammered his blade from both left and right. He couldn’t even tell how she moved, each strike like a siege ram smashing down castle gates.
‘Remember!’
He couldn’t see her form, but caught the flick of her hair. Simon predicted her path, twisting his waist and swinging.
‘The movements I’ve seen from Professor countless times!’
Bwooooosh!
The faster counterattack forced her to leap back.
Simon knew, he had sparred against Hongpeng many times.
Her habits, her patterns, her tendencies.
He pressed those memories into his mind, bracing again against her bullet-like charge.
‘Not the front, the flank!’
He recalled the techniques she had taught him.
Abandoning the front recklessly, he swung his blade to the right.
Jjeng!
Correct.
She halted her assault, deflecting the greatsword with the back of her hand.
‘Next, she’ll retreat—but!’
Simon clenched his teeth.
‘I must be one step ahead! I cannot give her space!’
He reminded himself, he was wearing Feer. That awareness was vital.
Using Feer’s overwhelming leg strength, he kicked off the ground, seizing the space behind her.
Bwoooong!
He slashed diagonally, forcing her into the air. Then, like a spinning top, he whirled, channeling Darkness into the greatsword.
‘Slash through the very space itself…!’
Just as Simon prepared to unleash the strike—
Whooom! Hwoom! Whoom! Whooom!
She jabbed her fists repeatedly in midair. Enormous shockwaves rained down like a storm, forcing Simon to hastily divert his blade, slashing each one apart.
Pak! Pak!
Wounds split open across the gaps in his Bone Armor.
Meanwhile, she landed safely on the ground, clapping her palms together.
Woooooong—!
‘Something’s coming!’
Until now, she hadn’t even properly used Magical Combat.
Sweat trickled down Simon’s face as he tightened his grip on the greatsword.
[What are you doing, boy! I feel hesitation in your blade!]
‘B-but!’
The opponent was Hongpeng.
Her radiant smile flashed in his mind. How could he so easily cut down the benefactor who had lived alongside him at school, teaching him countless techniques?
Koo-goo-goo-goo-goo!
A darkness on an entirely different scale surged from her body.
Simon realized what technique she was about to use.
<Dark Robe>
Black fabric wrapped her like a second skin, an outfit crafted for absolute mobility. A woman cloaked in murderous intent stood before him.
[Escape the demonic grip, Hongpeng!]
Simon too shouted as he thrust the greatsword forward. The power of the Ancient Undead, Kal, imbued itself into the Greatsword of Destruction, twisting it into a sickly green glow.
If this fight continued without retreat, one of them truly might die.
[Focus…! Huh?]
Simon gasped unconsciously.
One of her savagely distorted pupils had shifted, turning into the gentle eyes of the Hongpeng he knew.
“Thank you.”
Her voice echoed.
“For pushing me so far that I had to use Dark Robe.”
Suddenly, Hongpeng sat cross-legged upon the ground. The Dark Robe wrapped around her writhed downward, spreading into the shape of a circle.
No—not a simple magic circle. It was a Law Circle, a formation used by only a handful of Magical Combat practitioners.
Sitting in its center, Hongpeng weaved her arms in dazzling movements before clapping them together once more. Then she drew in a deep breath.
The sorcery of Myurr that had been engulfing her slowly began to wash away. With a tearing shriek, it dispersed, thinning more and more.
Simon also sensed Maelyn’s Darkness retreating along with it.
“I…”
Her other eye began to return to normal.
“…am not so weak that I can be controlled forever.”
Fwaaaaaaah!
The last of Myurr’s spell burst out of her body. The power that had been inhabiting her was so immense that it looked like a colossal black typhoon ripping itself free.
Even Feer chuckled in astonishment.
[Khuhuhu! She’s the first to ever break free of Myurr’s influence on her own!]
Her body possessed incredible resistance, hardened through endless training until no outside force could easily subjugate it. Rising slowly, she stood tall once more.
‘Professor Hongpeng…’
Simon approached with a face full of emotion. But her eyes narrowed, and her stance sank warily.
Realizing his mistake, Simon slung the greatsword over his shoulder to signal he had no intention of attacking. When he stopped in place, she finally opened her mouth, speaking in broken continental tongue.
“I have heard of jou. The eztremely ominous Darkness that makes one's body tremble.”
Her lips moved faintly.
“Jou are the cunning Commander of the 7th Lezion.”
[……]
“In Keyzen, they commanded us—capture you, no matter the means.”
Simon raised his head and spoke with Feer’s voice.
[Then you mean to stand against me and my Legion.]
It was a bluff.
Truthfully, he had no other Ancient Undead or army—only Feer. But he had to appear formidable. He put extra weight into the word “Legion”, trying to sound menacing.
“Depends on your purpose. If your Legion has come to seize that accursed Sin of the Dead, Myurr…”
Her eyes widened.
“…then I will cooperate. To protect my homeland, my people, and my grasslands, I would even join hands with a demon.”
‘A demon, really? That’s harsh.’
Simon grumbled inwardly. Still, she hadn’t suspected his true identity.
He decided to play the role of a ruthless commander even harder.
[Myurr is mine!]
Even Simon thought Feer’s voice sounded terrifying. Lowering his tone as much as possible, he spoke with heavy intimidation, enough to make even Hongpeng flinch.
This might even become fun.
[Reveal his location to me! Do so, and no one on these grasslands will bleed!]
“I do not know his location.”
Hongpeng shook her head.
“But I know he is plotting something here. First, let us stop his plans and—”
–Hahahahahahahaha!
Their conversation halted instantly. Laughter thundered through the temple.
Simon gripped his greatsword tight, tense. Hongpeng’s sharp eyes swept the surroundings.
[It’s no use.]
Gwoooooooh!
Both Simon and Hongpeng turned their heads at once toward the source of the Darkness.
‘That one…’
The former general of the 7th Legion, Myurr, revealed himself high above.
He wore only a crimson robe, showing nothing else of his form, save for two blazing eyes shining from within the hood.
[I did not expect you to break free so easily. No matter. Time has been bought, and preparations are complete.]
‘What?’
Simon’s eyes flicked to the top of the altar.
The roaring flames had already gone out.
[Reveal yourself—Serpent of Calamity.]
Koo-goo-goo-goo-gooooo!
The temple, the city—no, the entire plain—began to quake violently. Simon felt unnatural movement beneath the very temple he stood upon.
Kwaaaaaaang!
The temple’s peak shattered, and from it erupted the indescribably massive head of a serpent.
Kwaaaaaang!
Kwoooong!
Nearby temples also burst open, serpent heads rising.
And far away, beyond this city, ancient temples of other cities likewise birthed monstrous heads.
‘What is happening…?’
“This can’t be…!”
Hongpeng’s pupils shook.
“Kundar Hydra!”
Simon had heard of it too.
The Kundar Hydra was a monster infamous for destroying entire cities. Hongpeng’s fame, and her eventual position as professor of Keyzen, came from the tale that she strangled a Kundar Hydra of one hundred heads to death.
[Not a Kundar Hydra.]
But Feer denied it.
[This is the Eildar Hydra. He has summoned one of the worst lieutenants here on the grasslands.]
Across the grasslands, ten heads burst forth, gaping at the skies.
Above, Myurr spread his arms wide.
[A newborn—beginning with ten heads. With time, it will multiply into a hundred, like the Kundar Hydra.]
His lips curled into a smile.
[This land is mine now.]
Thoooom!
At that instant, Simon kicked off the temple floor, his body exploding forward like lightning.
In a flash, he closed the vast distance, reaching Myurr.
[Myurr!]
From above Myurr’s head, Simon raised the Greatsword of Destruction high.
Beneath the hood, Myurr’s glowing eyes flickered.
[So this brat is Yona’s replacement, Feer?]
[Haaaaaah!]
Simon swung, ready to split Myurr’s skull in one blow, but before the strike could land, one of the serpent heads slammed into Simon’s body from behind.
“Khhhk!”
The serpent carried him straight forward like a battering ram, crashing through the walls of a nearby temple.
Kwooaaahhh!
The massive structure collapsed with a roar. The serpent’s head smashed through, hurling Simon into the ground.
A thunderous crash exploded, throwing up a choking cloud of dust.
Sssssss—
The serpent withdrew, leaving Simon pinned in the crater’s center, still clad in Feer’s armor.
“Damn it!”
This was bad.
His body refused to move from the impact. Above him, the Hydra’s massive jaws gaped, readying to spew poison.
Jjaaaaaang!
But Hongpeng flew in, her kick smashing into the Hydra’s head. The massive beast reeled, staggering before collapsing against another temple, shattering it.
Thud.
Landing lightly, Hongpeng turned to look at Simon.
“Are jou all right, Commander?”
[This is nothing.]
Simon forced strength into his legs, embarrassed, as he rose.
Ssssss—
No sooner had they brought one down than another serpent head turned toward them. Its jaws opened wide as though to swallow the world, venom gathering at its maw.
[It’s the Hydra’s Poison Breath! Dodge, boy!]
But Simon still hadn’t recovered enough to stand fully. Just as he resolved to cut it himself with the greatsword—
Whooom!
Someone of similar build to Hongpeng leapt in front of him.
Pwaaaaooong!
The Poison Breath struck full-on—yet when it touched, it slackened, melting away like softened gum, dripping uselessly.
The one who had blocked the Eildar Hydra’s venom landed gracefully on the ground.
‘No way!’
Simon’s eyes sharpened with sudden strength.
Dark brown hair, not quite like Hongpeng’s, but close.
A long coat, bandages wrapped around her body.
“When my little cutie said he was coming home, I thought I’d drop by my homeland and stir up some trouble—”
She bared her jagged, triangular shark teeth in a grin, turning to face them both.
“So what the hell is going on here?”
Behind his helmet, Simon’s mouth curved up in joy.
‘Professor Belya!’
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