Chapter 131

KotB Chapter 131

Chapter 131: Sun Guild (End)

TL: Tay

Editor: Lesurous

However, it wasn’t like he could reverse it at this point .

“Are you not giving out the talismans needed to return?”

“It’s the trial of a low level dungeon . There’s probably many ways to return inside . However, if you want, I will give you one talisman that you can use to return by removing one of the C rank talismans I was going to give you . ”

When a mercenary asked, the manager who controlled the place responded .

Usually, when exploring this kind of trial, a return talisman would be given for safety .

However, there was a condition that it should be exchanged for the existing compensation .

“Eyy, is it necessary to do that for this kind of trial…?”

“In the case of level 3 dungeon trials, it’s obvious . ”

Obviously, only a few people made the trade .

As if it were nothing, everyone laughed and made their way into the trial .

Also, the world changed as 5 people, including Kim Taehwan, crossed the spotlight .

<You have entered the trial ‘Room of the Flesh Hounds’ . >

<Up to 5 people can cross at a time . >

<Hunt the flesh hounds and reach the end of the trial . >

“There isn’t much content… . ?”

“By the way, what is a flesh hound?”

“That’s a name I’ve never heard of before . ”

There were several monsters with similar names, but that was all .

There were no monsters with the name of flesh hound .

“I’ll take the lead . ”

At that moment, Kim Taehwan came forward .

Although he hadn’t been in the Underworld for long, he was a member of the prestigious Luminescent Guild .

In addition, he lived in an underground tunnel for a year and achieved some skills .

His level was sufficient to take the lead here .

Everyone knew him and did not object .

Survival .

Because they were mercenaries, there were no words that were as precious as the word ‘survival’ in unfamiliar places .

“Over there… what is your name?”

After properly positioning the mercenary troops, Kim Taehwan asked the man who wore full-body armor .

The man thought for a moment and took the furthest position at the back .

“Will you be okay?”

The rear-guard was as dangerous of a place as the lead . No, it was more likely to be more dangerous than the lead .

This was because most of the hidden monsters sought and approached at the back .

But the man did not answer .

A tacit affirmation .

However, if he’s like this, it was questionable as to whether he was really mute or not .

“If there isn’t a problem, let’s go . ”

But if he was truly a member of the Command Clan, Kim Taehwan didn’t have to pay him any attention .

And so 5 people started to make their way into the unknown trial .

The appearance of the flesh hounds were absolutely hideous .

The flesh of its entire body was covered with blotchy tumors that bulged out and there was a seam on each spot as if someone had contrived to put them together .

‘It’s close to a chimera . ’

Twooong!

Kim Taehwan’s shield shook greatly .

One flesh hound wasn’t much but they moved in groups of at least a hundred .

“Grawrrr! These sons-of-bitches want to die?!”

“Gyaaahh! My arm!”

The mercenaries violently brandished their weapons as they spoke harsh words .

But it was hard to block ten hands with one .

Occasionally they were unable to stop the flesh hounds from attacking them .

“I’ll stop it! Everyone to the back!”

Thud!

Kim Taehwan’s shield was embedded in the ground .

His unique Class, Guardian of Eradication!

It was time for him to exert the power he’d gained through the Shield of Eradication .

Shwaaanngg!

An intangible energy spread out in a straight line along the lines of the shield .

It was as if they were splitting the ground .

Then, even the flesh hounds were unable to cross the intangible line .

It had created an invisible wall .

Thump! Thump!

The flesh hounds threw themselves .

But the wall never broke .

The hounds studied each others’ faces and withdrew .

‘Do they have intelligence…?’

Kim Taehwan cast a surprised glance at the sight .

Soon after leaving, leaving only the bodies of flesh hounds, there were five people remaining in the vacant space .

“Euugghh… . ”

“You’re injured . Let me help, just endure this . ”

Kim Taehwan, who took out a compression bandage, wrapped the wounds of the mercenaries and used a red potion .

“Ta-Take it off . I’ll never repay you for the value of that potion . ”

But the mercenaries refused .

In the world of mercenaries, the concept of borrowing was rare .

If you were given, you had to compensate for it with something of similar value .

And potions were too expensive for common mercenaries to buy .

“I won’t ask you to repay it . If you don’t want to lose your arm, stay put . ”

“That, is it for real?”

“You should know well that I don’t lie . ”

“Eugh… . Fine . Do whatever you want . ”

After the mercenaries gave up, the rest went quickly .

However, even though the flesh hounds were gone it wasn’t safe .

“To have searched only this much is enough, isn’t it?”

“If I’d known this would happen, I would have taken the talisman . ”

They had troubled expressions .

The intensity of the trials were greater than he thought .

However there was no way to return right away .

Live or die, first he had no choice but to explore more trials .

Rumble rumble rumble!

There was the sound of countless footsteps in the distance .

Everyone knew what that sound meant .

“Crazy! They brought their comrades!”

“Fuck!”

What was originally one hundred turned into a good five or six hundred .

Whereas only five people were gathered here!

“Everyone back! Go back to the starting point!”

Kim Taehwan reluctantly yelled .

Before long they turned around and started fleeing .

Swoosh .

Only, one man walked towards the hounds .

When he raised his sword, flames rose from his body .

Roar!

Right away a strong wind blew around the man’s body .

The flames quickly spread and devoured the flesh hounds in an instant .

Slaaash!

That was not all .

Dozens of ice spikes were formed in the air when the man swung his sword .

Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

The ice spikes created powerful explosions when they hit the floor .

Kkiking! Ggegaegaeng!

The flesh hounds screamed .

Overwhelming .

They simply weren’t his opponents .

“…… . ”

Everyone was looking at the scene in awe .

After this, the order of their formation changed .

As if he already knew the way, the man moved through the ordeal without hesitation .

‘Who the hell is he?’

Of course, it was the question everyone had .

His main skills seemed to be at least 300 .

With that amount of power, he would be treated as an elite even in a major guild .

‘Command Clan… . . ’

The Command Clan wasn’t a guild, but it was one of the Five Great Clans .

If he was an elite of one of the 5 Great Clans, there was nothing strange about him exerting this much power .

Thump!

Clackack!

Eventually, after breaking the marble-shaped ‘nucleus’ that was placed at the end, the trial ended .

<Trial, ‘Room of the Flesh Hound’ has been excellently fulfilled . >

<Amazing achievement!  A random B rank talisman has been given to the 5 persons who solved the trial . >

“B Rank!”

“Shit, did they really say B rank?”

The mercenaries grinned widely .

If you received a decent, useful B rank talisman, it was possible to buy a small house on the outskirts .

If it was a B rank talisman with a good ability, you would be able to afford a bigger house .

Normally, 5 lower level talismans were equal to one higher leveled one, so it was no different from receiving 5 C rank talismans .

Afterwards, when they escaped the trial with broad smiles, the manager looked puzzled .

“O-ho! Did you break the trial?”

“We were lucky . ”

“No . It was because your skills are outstanding . Hmm… . Can you explain the situation inside in detail?”

The manager seemed quite interested in this part .

Why was he?

The manager seemed to have some sort of position within the Sun Guild .

However, he personally recruited mercenaries and tried to listen to their stories to learn more about this trial .

It wouldn’t have been simply for entertainment .

‘What should I do?’

In order to explain, it was inevitable that the man from the Command Clan would be revealed .

The manager could change his attitude when he realized the man had unusual power and was from the Command Clan .

However, since it was true that they did receive help, the words didn’t easily fall from their lips .

“I’ll explain that . Hehe . ”

At that moment, a mercenary soldier came out .

“Really? Give it a try . ”

“So . It was the trial called the Room of the Flesh Hound . That guy Kim Taehwan did a great job there . Let me tell you in detail……”  

The mercenary appropriately mingled the truth with lies and concealed the man’s identity .

With a little more time, Kim Taehwan realized the man’s intentions .

‘Aaah’ .

It meant he would continue to have team-play with the man .

For them, the man seemed to be a rookie that was just strong, and unknowing of the ways of the world .

‘Since I got a B-rank talisman, I’ll take this guy with me and reap more benefits . ’ These were his thoughts .

‘I want to know a little more too . ’

Kim Taehwan condoned it .

He also wanted to learn more about the man’s identity .

“… . And that was how we were able to get out of there safely . All thanks to Kim Taehwan’s help . Haha!”

“That’s impressive . ”

The manager’s eyes lingered on Kim Taehwan .

“I was lucky . ”

“Luck . Luck, you say . In that case, I would like to give you more work… . What do you think?”

“By work, you mean…?”

“Recently, similar things continue to happen in the Great City . Our Sun Guild intends to fix this problem . Perhaps the Luminescent Guild will concur on this part . ”

“I understand . I’m willing to take care of it . ”

Kim Taehwan nodded his head .

If this work was important, he wanted to move from the centre and have his skills recognized .

Since the Sun Guild was managing the problem on their own, it surely would be inconsequential .

It was worth getting directly involved .

The man was capable of breaking through the hard trials on his own .

Thanks to him, the work was incredibly easy and the mercenaries who were with him were almost sitting on gold cushions .

“This is really insane . If this keeps going well, I can retire . ”

“Exactly . I would also be able to get a small store in the centre!”

“That black warrior is a perfect lucky charm . ”

The soldiers looked at the man in full armor that they called the ‘black warrior’ .

They had dealt with five trials .

It had only been a month .

During that time, they had received huge rewards and were agonizing over how to use them .

Of course, through that their guard increased .

There were people who would attack them seeking to steal their compensation .

There were signs that they were trying not to be too close to each other .

This job, it was unusual . The Sun Guild was using mercenaries even though they have the manpower to handle it without being disadvantaged .

However, Kim Taehwan hardened his expression .

They had already completed five trials but everyone wasn’t happy .

First, there were lots of chimera type monsters in all of the trials .

They were similar in goals in that the trial ended when the ‘nucleus’ was destroyed .

Like a Box of Trial, someone seemed to have made these trials on purpose .

Such suspicions arose .

“When I return from this one, I’ll look for a woman first . ”

“I want to soak my body in hot water . ”

Their last trial took place on the outskirts of the Great City .

They were returning to the Great City after finishing the trial .

Just imagining things after returning seemed to relieve fatigue .

But there were people who blocked them .

“…… . Who are you?”

Kim Taehwan went ahead and spoke .

They were dressed in orthodox costumes and wore animal bone helmets .

They were exactly ten in number .

“You were too cocky . The Death God is angry . You must pay with your life . I, under the name of Hyungbish . ”

An awkward way of speaking .

A man who looked like their leader raised a small dagger .

Then, he drew the dagger across his wrists . There were countless stab wounds on his wrist .

Chwaak!

When the blood gushed out, it sprayed onto the ground .

Rumble!

A short moment later, the blood swelled up beneath the earth and level 5 monsters burst out .

“Jiangshi [1]……! The Command Clan!”

All of the five spirit  monsters were jiangshi .

They also were very dark in colour .

Kim Taehwan immediately recognized that they were Command Clan elites .

‘So you have something to do with this!’

It was a gut feeling, but he was almost certain .

The fact that the Sun Guild was moving all its troops was related to the Command Clan!

“It’s the black jiangshi . The birth of the Great One . They are the followers who will become the foundation . ”

The man, Hyungbish was confident .

If it was five black jiangshi, they were strong enough to defeat the mercenaries and be unharmed .

Even Kim Taehwan knew that .

He’d never personally dealt with a black jiangshi, but he knew what he’d heard when people spoke about the Command Clan .

―If you see the Command Clan’s black jiangshi, don’t look back and run away! No matter who it was .

It was said to be that strong .

“Everyone, draw your weapons!”

Kim Taehwan shouted urgently .

* * *

Snap .

The thread was broken .

“Muyoung, why do you do that?”

Muyoung turned his head .

An elegant girl .

She was dressed in an all-white dress and was sitting on top of the castle while drinking tea .

Muyoung shook his head .

“You’re as taciturn as ever . Indeed, you probably hate having a conversation with someone like me…… . ”

The girl grew sulky .

Pat .

Muyoung put his hand on the girl’s head .

“It won’t be good to stay with me . Are you really okay? Right now the guild is in a total emergency . Because Alexandro went missing . ”

Muyoung nodded .

The girl smiled .

This place was the Sun Guild’s main castle .

The girl was Alexandro’s seventh daughter .

She had no power or strength, but she was the perfect girl to use as a shield if something was to happen .

“Thank you . If anything happens I’ll at least protect you . If my marriage is successful… . . it will definitely be possible . ”

The girl sighed .

Muyoung removed his hand .

The girl showed slight disappointment, but it couldn’t be helped .

After this he looked down from the castle .

‘The clone’s senses have been cut off and finally the informant has appeared . ’

Right now he was concerned about other things than the girl .

The clone burst . And the clone’s memories came into his mind in detail .

‘The Command Clan . ’

The corner of Muyoung’s mouth twitched .

The ones who interfered with the work this time .

The clone he’d dispatched after earning Hamel’s Rune Ring for more gains finally had them by the tail .

[1] TL/Editor’s Note: Jiangshi is a kind of Chinese hopping zombie…