The Divine Twilight’s Return

ft waist, trembled faintly at a strangely precise moment.
Previously, it had never shown any reaction no matter how roughly Chang-Sun swung it, but it suddenly began reacting as fiercely as a child throwing a tantrum.
Was it because the sword of Ou Yezi the Divine Blacksmith, who had been known as the rival of Taotie the Devil Blacksmith, had awakened?

Whoosh!

Gradually, the raging firestorm of magic within Chang-Sun subsided, and his magic integrated circuit stabilized.
He was unsure whether it was because he had finished absorbing the Jigwi’s fire, or because he had unsealed the [Yuchang Sword], or both; regardless, the previously overheating magic circuit was slowly cooling down.
Likewise, his vastly increased pool of mana began to calm down; where it had once resembled an ordinary river, now it was closer to a vast lake.

[Magic: 221 (+60)]

Chang-Sun’s Magic stat had been 76 while he was in the Level 30 range, but the confluence of multiple incidents had nearly tripled that value.
He had absorbed the Jigwi’s fire, strengthened the [Fire of the Eight Trigrams Brazier], and continuously eaten Crying and Laughing Flowers, rapidly increasing his mana.
By any standard, his Magic stat was now extremely high, befitting the wizard-type class ‘Rune Master’.

Chang-Sun grinned in satisfaction as he looked at his Magic stat..

* * *

『Shit…! I can’t believe he took out the Jigwi before us.
I knew the Tyrant was insanely good, but this doesn’t make any sense!』

『What should we do?』

『I don’t know.
It’s going to be tricky now that things have turned out this way, seeing as we can’t just bury the incident.』

While watching Chang-Sun slowly catch his breath, the two instructors massaged their temples as they quickly exchanged telepathic messages.
They were actually more like guards than ordinary instructors who were assigned to teach trainees; their task was to secretly watch trainees and prevent them from entering the Clan’s ‘research facility’, while looking for ‘ingredient’ candidates.

Previously, the two had received an order from their superiors at the research facility.

『Kill the Jigwi.
It seems the person carrying the [Dream Sphere] got killed while collecting the Berserk Flowers… Dammit, why did the training exercise have to take place at a time like this? Eliminate the Jigwi by any means necessary.
The [Dream Sphere] can’t end up in the wrong hands.
Scour the nest just in case.』

When they had first received the order, they had been incredibly dumbfounded, as the Jigwi was known as the ruler of the ‘Black Blood Mountain Range’ among the instructors.
They were supposed to avoid encountering it at all costs; a Jigwi was too difficult to approach, as it was a boss monster that could cause forest fires and droughts wherever it went.

To make matters worse, one of their own had been killed by such a monster while carrying the [Dream Sphere].
There was no way he could not know the importance of the [Dream Sphere], so how had he gotten himself killed while wandering around without a care? Of course, the dead man had likely not expected to die; still, the instructors burned with anger, as they still had to clean up his mess.

Despite the two instructors’ reluctance to follow their orders, they had no choice, as the secret of the [Dream Sphere] did not belong to the Clan alone.
If its existence were ever revealed to the public, they would also be executed as accomplices.
However, the Jigwi, the only creature that could know the whereabouts of the [Dream Sphere], had suddenly died right before their eyes.

The two instructors had two choices left: Retreat, or scold Lee Chang-Sun and Baek Gyeo-Ul.
It seemed Chang-Sun and Gyeo-Ul had been chasing after the Jigwi for a long time, but the instructors had no way of knowing whether the two had acquired the [Dream Sphere] or seen traces of it in the process.
Although the instructors could ask them leading questions, they had a feeling that Chang-Sun and Gyeo-Ul would not fall for it.

『There’s no other choice.』

One of the instructors gave his companion a serious gaze.

『What are you planning?』

The other instructor asked him a question.

『Let’s attack them.』

The first instructor spoke decisively.

『…What?』

The second instructor was surprised, turning to look at the first one before continuing.

『Won’t this be difficult? He didn’t just extinguish the Jigwi’s fire, he absorbed it! How are we supposed to subdue a guy like this?』

Even for instructors and rankers, the Jigwi’s Eon Fire posed a great deal of trouble; it would take three or four instructors to even have a chance of killing it.
That was why the instructors had avoided the Jigwi.
Thus, it was absurd for two of them to even consider subduing someone who could wield the Jigwi’s fire.

『No, this is actually a perfect moment.』

The first instructor continued to insist on the plan, undeterred.

『What?!』

The second instructor protested.

『Look at them.
They’re tired after fighting the Jigwi.
Even if Lee Chang-Sun absorbed the Eon Fire, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s tired.』

The first instructor gestured toward Chang-Sun with his chin.

The second instructor then began to calmly observe Chang-Sun, seeing that he was breathing quietly with his eyes closed.
The sword that had released a stream of fire was nowhere to be seen, leaving only traces of ash and smoke around Chang-Sun.
Using such a powerful fire-type skill had no doubt taxed Chang-Sun’s body a great deal; he seemed to be recovering from fatigue.

Although Gyeo-Ul remained in decent condition while guarding Chang-Sun, he also looked tired due to the fatigue he had built up after chasing the Jigwi relentlessly for four days.
No matter how skilled the two were, it seemed as if they could no longer do much.
On top of that, the two instructors were powerful enough to pursue the Jigwi on their own.

『…You’re right.』

The second instructor nodded.

『So let’s just subdue them and ask them about the [Dream Sphere].
If they can’t tell us anything useful, we can just feed them to some animals.』

The first instructor offered up a suggestion..

『It’s a shame, considering how much hope Executive Director Oh had for him.』

The second instructor added a remark.

『That’s the price of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.』

The first instructor responded coldly.

After discussing what to do next, the two instructors prepared to move.
However, they were soon forced to stop.
The hot air that remained as a result of the Jigwi’s fire drained away quickly, replaced with the cold, sharp air of the battlefield.
Worried that Chang-Sun and Gyeo-Ul might have caught onto their plans, they turned to look, but the two men were still standing in the same place.

‘There’s someone else here!’ the two instructors thought, simultaneously coming to the same conclusion.
They looked back toward the direction of the cold wind, and were met with the sight of three people emerging from the rough thicket with cunning, demonic smiles.

“Hehe! I never expected to catch two big fish—no, is it three big fish?”

“It’s three.
We found Lee Chang-Sun, the Jigwi’s treasure, and the White Tiger Clan’s hounds.
It’s basically a gift bundle.
We don’t have any birthday boys today, do we?”

Yang Shin-Hae, Park Gi-Pyo, and Bae Woo-Gyeong, the three demonic Players from the Highoff Clan, had appeared.

1.
As a reminder, this is an alternative wuxia/xianxia term for ‘beast cores’ that contain a monster’s cultivation, like the Sarira of Fire.
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