Chapter 326: Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (4/10)

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (4/10)

The temple of the Seven Demon Kings.

He had never seen anything related to them after the Monkey King's Palace, so he couldn't help but be surprised.

"You?"

Anastasia and Freesia must've felt something as well because they turned back to look at Yeon-woo. Freesia's gaze was especially locked onto Yeon-woo, as if she had discovered something unexpected.

However, Yeon-woo didn't have the mind to worry about them.

'Boo.'

「Yes. Sir.」

[You are sharing the vision of Boo (Soul of the Witchdoctor).]

Different vestiges began to flood his mind.

-Blood Sword! This is enough with your acts.

-Damned bastard. Escaping all the way here?

-It won't go according to your will anymore. I'll avenge the grudges of my comrades.

'Kahn?'

The first thing he saw from the vestige was Kahn.

However, he was different from the Kahn Yeon-woo knew. The Kahn in Yeon-woo's memory always had a relaxed smile on his face, but in the vestige, Kahn had ice-cold eyes with a violent aura lashing around him.

He had so much blood on him that his armor, clothing, and even the sword he was holding was dripping blood.

Blood Sword.

No nickname suited him better.

The players circled around Kahn had enmity and wariness in their eyes.

'What happened?'

Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes.

From what he knew so far, Kahn had moved in secret all this time. Yeon-woo thought the Devil Army had ordered him to do so.

However, the enmity of the players in the scene seemed abnormal. They appeared to be looking at their enemy. It was a murderous aura that couldn't be summoned on impulse.

As if proving their relationship, Kahn snorted at the other players.

-How funny.

-What?

-What kind of.....!

-You guys are like me. And what? You want to avenge your comrades? How about being more honest to yourselves?

Kahn raised a corner of his mouth and held out his hand. A shining gold piece of metal rested on his palm.

-You guys just want this.

The chests of the players around Kahn trembled. Through their clothes, a ray of golden light was shining.

Urrrng, urng—

The golden pieces all woke up as if they wanted to become one.

'Pieces of the Ruyi Bang!'

Yeon-woo was silently shocked, looking at the pieces of metal Kahn and the other players had.

'Was he hunting descendants of the Monkey King all this time?'

Kahn's Ruyi Bang piece was noticably bigger than the other players. There was no way he had found a piece that big, which meant that he had taken pieces from other descendants.

Yeon-woo also had a piece of the Ruyi Bang, but he hadn't met any descendants of the Monkey King yet. He thought there were two reasons why that was the case.

There weren't many descendants yet, or they had created a secret society among themselves.

It seemed like both were right.

-Then let's begin.

Kahn took back his Ruyi Bang piece and kicked off from the ground. Blue aura whirled around him like a tornado and created a giant storm.

Kwakwakwang—

'And the 72 Bian.'

It seemed like Kahn had learned the 72 Bian in the Monkey King's Palace and made it his.

Then, the scene changed once again.

After the rough fight, Victoria appeared, holding the Adamantine Nova preciously in her arms. She looked around with sad eyes and disappeared through a portal again.

The vestige ended there.

Yeon-woo swept up his hair. His eyes were dark. All kinds of thoughts ran through his head.

"Did you see something?"

Anastasia asked with her pipe in her mouth.

Yeon-woo nodded silently, looking at the smoke that was spreading around them.

"The Five Mountains of Penances."

* * *

Pat—

"Chase him!"

"He's currently injured. He can't be far! Don't lose him!"

"We can't let others get him! The Magic Tower has to get him!"

Countless players and clans were chasing after one person in the wooded forest and green mountains.

The Mountains of Penances. It was a difficult stage because all senses would be blocked, but they seemed unaffected.

The person who was avoiding their chase was.....

Kahn.

Just how much blood had he spilled? Footprints of blood were left wherever he went.

'Just a little. Just a little more.'

Kahn clenched his teeth.

'If I do just a little more, I can find Doyle.'

* * *

[This is the 20th floor, the gate of 'The Five Mountains of Penances.']

The moment Yeon-woo arrived on the 20th floor, he could feel that something was different in the air.

A heavy and simmering air. Goosebumps rose along his skin just by breathing it in.

It was the same feeling as when he was back in Africa. Yeon-woo made sure he was on the right floor.

There were multiple player bases along the mountains and hills.

There were thousands of players. And all of them were quite skilled.

It was a sight that Yeon-woo would never have imagined he'd see on the 20th floor. Wondering what was going on, he looked back at Freesia.

However, Freesia was silent, with a calm look in her eyes. He couldn't see her face because of the mask, but the moment he saw her tranquil eyes, he realized something was definitely going on.

Freesia had a knowing mien about her.

"Bian Studies."

She spoke suddenly.

Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes.

"What's that?"

"The area of Bian is the greatest among magic, spells, alchemy, and charms. It is the path to become a divine 'good' being. Because it's also called a 'mysterious field of study,' some people call it 'Strange Studies.' In fact, many players want to learn Bian."

Yeon-woo realized what Freesia was trying to say and widened his eyes.

"You're correct. Bian Studies has appeared. The discoverer is Blood Sword Kahn. And right now, rumors of it have spread, which is why many groups are fighting over it."

"......!"

Yeon-woo whipped his head towards the direction of the mountain.

Bian Studies. There was no doubt it was the 72 Bian. Yeon-woo already knew that Kahn was using the 72 Bian. But he had been found out and was being chased by other players?

Something was off.

'Why now?'

Did something go wrong while he was fighting with the many descendants of the Monkey King? There was no way that everyone here was a descendant of the Monkey King.

"And the clans' reasons for it is the slaughter of Blood Sword."

"Slaughter?"

"Yes. Recently, the Blood Sword attacked a clan called the Krasien Family. Not only did he kill the adults of their clan, he even killed their children and the cattle. Many players are furious because it was such an atrocious act."

Yeon-woo knew the Krasien Clan well. They were an affluent family based on the 41st floor.

Their ancestor had been a player, and they were now natives who influenced other players.

He had attacked such a place?

According to Freesia, the people chasing after Kahn were those who witnessed the destruction of the Krasien Family.

Allied forces of the Krasien Family and those involved with them were chasing after Kahn while desperately trying to get revenge.

Moreover, one lucky descendant of the Krasien Family who had survived put a hefty bounty on Kahn's head.

Players began to chase after Kahn like sheep.

-And what? You want to avenge your comrades?

Yeon-woo thought of the vestige that he had seen in the temple of the Seven Demon Kings. The multiple players who had been furious at Kahn, and Kahn, who had laughed coldly at them.

"Of course, it's not just the revenge of the Krasien Family that's motivating them."

In the process of running away, Kahn had shown the many skills he was hiding. Of them, Bian Studies had stood out. It was the 72 Bian.

"Players who couldn't grow anymore or wanted more strength found their new goal. And they even have a reason for it, too."

Freesia's words trailed off.

"Right now."

Her eyes pierced through Yeon-woo's mask.

"The Blood Sword Kahn is the common enemy."

Her gaze was asking as Yeon-woo was going to do next.

Kahn was in danger.

However, Yeon-woo was rushed for time with his business in Tartarus. She was asking whether he would focus on creating Kynee or help Kahn, who he had been searching for all this time.

If he helped Kahn, he might become the common enemy as well, and there would be problems with carrying out his plans.

"Did you..... already know?"

However, because he couldn't make a hasty judgement, he glared at Freesia with malice.

"From when I delivered the letter."

Freesia nodded.

Yeon-woo clenched his teeth. That meant Freesia had just been watching everything despite having known the entire situation. She probably even knew why Victoria had disappeared, but she hadn't said anything. Anastasia bit down on her pipe with an annoyed face, like she was familiar with Freesia's attitude.

"You b****."

She was a businesswoman down to the bones.

Yeon-woo didn't say much and raised his hand.

"Nike."

Blue Holy Fire flared up and Nike appeared, flapping his wings.

'I'll leave it to you.'

『Okay okay!』

Nike soared up to the sky, flapping his wings. Yeon-woo could see Nike's vision through their connection. Nike's senses were better for searching for someone than his Consciousness.

"Are you going to save Kahn and Victoria?"

Freesia looked at Yeon-woo with a strange look.

"I've experienced a similar situation in the past. But there was only one decision I could make back then as well."

Yeon-woo thought of when Kahn and Doyle were being held by Arangdan. There was only one choice for him.

His brother said that he was his hero. He wanted those words to hold true even now.

If he left Kahn behind and chose Kynee to save his brother, would his brother be happy after learning what happened?

He didn't think so.

He had to save both his friend and brother.

"I see. So that is your answer."

Only

Freesia seemed to be smiling strangely for a moment, but Yeon-woo didn't notice. He was looking down at the mountain through Nike's shared vision.

On the second mountain, a cliff was crumbling with a rough explosion, causing a landslide.

'There!'

"There!"

Anastasia must've felt the same thing because she turned into a Gumiho and began to dash in that direction.

Yeon-woo spread his wings of fire and quickly followed.