Chapter 168

"This is... a leaf?"

"Yes. It's an item that removes status conditions."

As the Sword King examined the leaf of the World Tree, he shook his head at Seong Jihan's words.

"Then I can't eat it now. I need to maintain this status condition."

"If it's a status condition..."

"The 'Obsession' status. The reason I came to know that Shizuru is alive is because of this. And..."

The Sword King extended his hand downward. At the spot he pointed to, Shizuru's mansion lay in ruins.

"I suppose this 'obsession' is why I'm here."

"What do you mean?"

"How do you think I came to Shizuru's mansion so soon even after being blinded?"

"Does it have something to do with ......obsession?"

The Sword King nodded.

"The other side is fine, but my anger only flared up when I looked in this direction, and when I got here, I realized it was Shizuru's house."

Obsession had become Shizuru's worst enemy.

"Let's get rid of Shizuru first."

"Yes. Thank you for the concern. Then..."

Swish!

The sword carrying the Sword King turned towards the rubble that was once Shizuru's mansion.

"Let's go down."

The Sword King landed first on the destroyed remnants of Shizuru's mansion.

"Ugh... Ugh..."

"What is this..."

Inside Shizuru's house, the servants who were employed and working were crouched, trembling.

Oddly enough, despite the mansion being almost in ruins, they looked unharmed.

"Are you okay? These people."

"They're fine."

"Yeah. It shouldn't harm civilians..."

Since the Hundred Swords that destroyed the mansion protected civilians, the situation turned out to be possible.

"Among you, there's no Shizuru... leave."

The Sword King, after reading the gestures of the people for a moment, ordered them to leave the house.

"Thank you!"

"Let's go quickly!"

"Uh, uh... I thought I was going to die!"

As soon as the Sword King spoke, people hurriedly got up to leave the house.

After disembarking from the lightning cloud, Seong Jihan watched this for a bit before asking Akari.

"Akari, is there a place to hide in this mansion? Even though the house is completely destroyed, I don't feel Shizuru's presence."

"...I remember there was an underground space in the annex where experiments were conducted. They tried to make me into a clone there as well."

"Okay, guide us there."

"Understood."

Akari, who had once been edited as Shizuru's clone, guided the way. Seong Jihan and his party quickly arrived at the underground room where Shizuru had been.

"There are multiple security measures..."

Looking at the massive thick door, Akari spoke in an exhausted tone, but

"We can just break it down."

"Yes, that's the simplest method."

To stop two world-class warriors, one door alone was not enough.

Crash!

After the door broke, what appeared was Shizuru, once again activating the Aegis Barrier, adopting a sturdy defensive stance.

"Wasn't that ring my sisters?"

"Sorry. I lost my mind back then."

"Sigh... Let's recover it again."

"Yeah. And bring that woman's head while you're at it."

Casually talking about bringing back a head, the two of them.

Hearing this from the other side, Shizuru hurriedly shouted.

"Wait! Let's talk for a bit!"

"Noisy."

Whoosh!

The hundred swords simultaneously flew at Shizuru, but

Boom! Boom!

"Hoho, it won't pierce through so easily this time. Because I 'edited' Aegis, you see."

"Really... It's annoying."

The Sword King growled in a murderous tone.

The supporting Gift 'Edit'.

Just what were the limits of this ability?

"Seong Jihan-ssi, what do you think of my SSS-rank Edit ability? I'll use it for you two from now on."

Shizuru smiled at Seong Jihan.

"How about forgiving me just this once in return?"

"Do you think I'd do that?"

"Though we started out adversely, in truth... no one has really suffered any harm, right?"

"Huh... No one suffered any harm?"

"Yeah, you're fine. Your niece is doing well too. Oh, right. The Sword King suffered some damage to his eyes, but with the Edit ability, damaged eyes can be healed."

As Shizuru kept blabbering.

"With your powerful combat strength combined with my supporting Gift, no forces in the world will be able to threaten us. Although we have been in opposition until now, if we change our thinking a bit, we can become irreplaceable allies."

Shizuru sent a seductive gaze towards Seong Jihan as she spoke.

Seong Jihan was flabbergasted.

'Is she trying to enchant me right now?'

The Edit ability was certainly a tempting talent. Considering the fate that Earth would face after the tutorial.

It might be better for humanity to keep that and make use of it.

However,

'I just have to work harder.'

Rather than keeping that dangerous woman alive for the sake of the Gift, it was better to work harder. Seong Jihan resolved to be more active in BattleNet activities.

"Brother-in-law, dispose of her quickly."

"Good. I was waiting for that anyway."

The moment Seong Jihan's reply ended.

The hundred swords rained down towards Aegis.

Thud! Thud!

Although Aegis had been reinforced, when the Hundred Swords of the Sword King fiercely struck, it quickly started to crack, signaling the beginning of its destruction.

"How unfortunate... Hoho."

Yet Shizuru watched this leisurely.

"Then, Let's hope we don't meet again."

Just like when she escaped from the Sword King previously, she took out a teleport necklace.

"Where do you think you're going!"

The Sword King hastily struck Aegis, but

Flash!

Shizuru escaped before the reinforced Aegis could shatter.

Simultaneously,

Boom!

The giant supercomputer nearby emitted light and started to explode.

Boom! Boom!

A fairly powerful explosion, as if it was amplified by her Gift powers.

But the target wasn't the two warriors.

"The sword prison might melt at this rate!"

It was the top Japanese players that the Sword King had captured in his sword prison as hostages.

Even if she made the computer explode with her Gift powers, Seong Jihan and the Sword King could block it.

The reason was to eliminate the hostages, so the JSDF special forces who were unable to intervene currently due to the hostages would be able to take action.

"This fire... won't go out easily."

"I'll help too."

The stubborn flames that seemed tailored to the Sword King's swords only extinguished one by one after Seong Jihan stepped in to help as well.

"I didn't expect Shizuru to try to kill the hostage.."

"She probably aimed to get the special forces involved after the hostages disappeared. Then it would be you versus the special forces."

If the hostages disappeared and the Sword King's side clashed against the Japanese special forces, The casualties would undoubtedly have been enormous.

Despite choosing this method, it was probably to enable her own escape more smoothly.

"She really only cares about herself..."

"Even if a million people die, as long as she survives, she would readily take that path. That's the kind of woman she is."

Hearing Akari grit her teeth from behind, the Sword King nodded.

"Yeah. Shizuru is that kind of woman. So, this time, we must eliminate her. About Korea... I'll have to return a bit late. Sorry Jihan, but you'll have to head back first."

Until Shizuru is eliminated, the Sword King has no intention of going back to Korea.

He said it with an apologetic tone to Seong Jihan, but...

"No, I'll help too. We have to completely unroot this issue."

"Don't you need to level up now during this important period?"

"I can rest a bit."

Seong Jihan, who had originally planned to remain in Platinum until December anyway,

Decided to postpone leveling up for now and focus on eliminating Shizuru first.

"What about the Korean national team?"

"We won't make it to the Champions League this season anyway. All because of someone."

"C-Cough. That's true... But what about Seah?"

"Hayeon is looking after her. No need to worry."

"Hayeon is...? Then I can trust her."

Knowing Hayeon well as a former member of the Korean national team, the Sword King nodded.

"Okay. Please help me. Let's eliminate Shizuru this time."

"Yes."

"Well then..."

The Sword King turned his body to face the four cardinal directions after exiting the basement.

Then, he gazed intently to the west.

"That way."

"Do you know it that well?"

"Yeah, when I look in that direction, my anger flares up."

The status effect 'Obsession' provided real-time information about Shizuru's location, even though she had used teleportation. It continued to show its effects.

"Let's go."

With a face full of determination, the Sword King set off first.

* * *

A week had passed since Shizuru's mansion was destroyed.

-Where are Seong Jihan and the Sword King? I can't tell since their BattleTubes are off.

-Dunno. Last time there was a pic of them in Nagoya, but there haven't been any reports recently.

-I heard only 3 hostages are left now...

-The rest were released. Would be a pain to chase them while being chased.

Perhaps because they moved too covertly,

There were only unsubstantiated rumors about Seong Jihan's group's location online.

Nothing was known for certain.

Conversations only occurred when the hundred swords were occasionally witnessed.

-Oh, the hundred swords appeared in Osaka!

-The sword bombardment started then stopped again.

-So Shizuru slipped away again?

-Ugh, she's really good at escaping, lol.

-Does she have infinite teleportation?

A hotel in Hiroshima city.

Shizuru, who had reverted to her original plain face, inadvertently shouted as she read the online comments.

"These crazy bastards... How far are they gonna chase me?!"

Seriously, Don't Seong Jihan and the Sword King have anything better to do?

Isn't this going overboard?

Shizuru gnawed on her nails in frustration.

"...This is getting really dangerous."

Shizuru's teleportation necklace was originally limited to short distances. However, it had been specially modified to escape from the Sword King, and the cost of this modification was substantial. Shizuru had invested numerous Akashic Pages and a significant portion of her editing abilities.

The escape opportunity she had earned at such great cost was a one time use.

Despite the resources spent to obtain this escape opportunity, it had been used 30 times in the past week alone.

"If I teleport from here again... I'll have to undo too many enchantments..."

The enchantments she had placed on influential people in the Japanese government was already more than 70% released. The only ones left were the Prime Minister and other crucial figures.

At that time, a call came in from the Prime Minister.

-Um, Miss Shizuru... Are you alright?

"What are the special forces doing? Why do they keep hesitating and not mobilizing?"

-We did mobilize, but the opponent is moving too discreetly... It's difficult to pursue. Additionally, there are still three hostages in the facility, so we cannot attack recklessly.

"Three! You could just ignore those three and push forward!"

-Those three are the most important players...

"Ha, I'm the highest Gift-ranked person in Japan! Not just SS-ranked, but the highest! Instead of favoring me so much, why are you letting these reckless people roam freely?"

-I-I'm sorry.

"Figure out something right away!"

Unlike usual, Shizuru lost her composure. With numerous escapes in recent times, her calmness was gradually disappearing. As time passed, and the Akashic Pages dwindled, she felt her influence in Japan, which she had built up, crumbling away. She couldn't remain as composed as when she first escaped.

"At this rate... I'll have to leave the country."

She caressed her teleport necklace.

No matter how she thought about it, teleporting around Japan like this was meaningless.

Because the Sword King would tenaciously continue pursuing her.

'Alright. Let's concentrate the power and go to America. I still have plenty of GP.'

Crossing the ocean and fleeing from the Sword King's relentless 'obsession' seemed like the only way. If she flew far enough, he might not follow. Despite Shizuru being pushed to her limits, she attempted to use the teleportation necklace to cross the Pacific.

However...

'Is modifying it for this distance... too much after all?'

The Pacific was vast. Even with all the resources she had, the necklace couldn't be modified to cover such a great distance. The original distance limitation of the necklace was short, so the effects didn't match the resources invested.

But

'I should be able to reach Guam at least...'

She felt she could somehow reach Guam, which was America's territory.

Once there, she could take a flight to the mainland.

"Edit."

As Shizuru made up her mind, she began editing the necklace. However, in the midst of her editing,

Crash!

The hundred swords made a surprise attack through the hotel window.

The Sword King's group was gradually quickening their pursuit speed.

"Ah, seriously... Teleport!"

Shizuru urgently initiated teleportation using the edited necklace.

Splash!

However, where she teleported to was not Guam but underwater.

"Ugh... I absolutely... can't die..."!

Perhaps due to rushing the edit, she hadn't set a proper landing point. Tasting the salty water entering her lips, Shizuru grit her teeth.

'I've come this far already.'

'I can't die such an ignoble death in the sea.'

'I have to... survive...!'

Desperately struggling not to die in the water, Shizuru believed that if she could get out of here somehow, there might be a way to survive.

"Heuk... heuk..."

Despite being tossed by the waves, she used all the items she had prepared in her inventory, hoping that once she got out of the water, there might be a way to live.

"Hah... Hah..."

With her utmost effort, she miraculously managed to reach land.

"Phew... Phew..."

It was done.

She had come out of the water, so now she could survive. As the editing ability recovered, she planned to use it again to somehow make her way to America.

She was brimming with hope,

"That's where you were."

However, the most unwelcome voice in the world reached her ears.

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