Chapter 165

Boom! Boom-!

Shizuru clenched her jaw as she looked at the Battle Net connector, which seemed like it would burst at any moment.

'It won't last long.' She would've placed more features on the connector if she knew something like that was going to happen. She'd added a forced logout in case the Sword King's abnormal status weakened during a game, but that was all.

She thought she had complete control of him, after all, so she'd decided not to waste her Gift on the Battle Net connector. It looked like that was a mistake on her part.

'There's only one thing I can do if I want to Enchant him again…' She needed to release the Enchantment and Obedience effects she'd placed on many key Japanese political and business figures, and then she'd have to concentrate most of her Gift on the Sword King.

She quickly made a list in her head of who to keep and who to release.

'I'm going to keep the Prime Minister and the CEOs…'

In the end, she released Enchantment on everyone, save for a few key figures, and then she took a deep breath. She was certain she could sway the Sword King again with the power she had left.

BOOM-!

The Battle Net connector finally burst, and the Sword King slowly emerged with a strong killing intent.

"Ugh… You… Who are you?" he asked her.

The Sword King was speaking Korean, unlike the Japanese he'd spoken under her control.

"Don't you remember me…?" Shizuru responded in fluent Korean, which she'd learned while trying to seduce the Sword King.

"Who are you?"

'I'm glad.' It looked like the Sword King had forgotten everything due to JiHan's strange trick inside the game. If he'd kept his memories, then she would've been killed instantly.

Fortunately, that gave her plenty of opportunity to use Enchantment. She slowly walked toward him with a sad look on her face and took a handkerchief from her clothing.

"JiHan sent me," she said, using a familiar name to get him to lower his guard.

"JiHan…"

"Yes. I'm supposed to rescue you from Japan. Many, including people from the National Intelligence Service, are doing their best," she calmly said as she approached.

"Wh-why… am I in Japan…?"

"That's because…" Shizuru closed the last bit of distance and hugged the confused Sword King. "It's simple. It's because you love me so much."

Then, she used Enchantment, Dependence, Obsession, and every abnormal status effect in her arsenal all at once.

"Ugh… Y-you… You were the cause!" The Sword King quickly tried to pull away from her, his eyes wide in shock. His expression was full of anger at first, but that quickly faded as he noticed Shizuru's beauty.

'It worked.' She gave him a triumphant smile. He could resist for a bit, but it was the end. He was only a man, after all.

"Ugh… You bitch! Gan Jiang! Mo Ye!" He summoned his swords and unleashed a strong Sword Ki toward Shizuru. If she weren't a player, she would have been cut apart in an instant, but she didn't seem afraid of his attack.

"Aegis."

Whir-!

A huge shield formed around Shizuru's body, and the rainbow-colored barrier deflected the Sword Ki.

"The A-Aegis Ring…" The Sword King's eyes widened in surprise. "Why do you have it?" It was a ring he had obtained from Battle Net that was capable of summoning an absolute shield, 'Aegis', for five minutes. It originally belonged to Sung Ji-ah, his wife.

"Ah, did this belong to your ex-wife? You gave it to me as a proposal gift. Fufu. Don't you remember?"

"Sh… Shizuru…!!"

"You're the one who gave it to me. Why are you angry? Seriously." Shizuru made good use of it. "Come back to me, Ryuhei."

The Sword King's expression stiffened upon hearing that name, and he recalled how much she'd whispered that name to him as memories of making love to her and being her willing slave flashed through his mind.

"Ha… haha…" He loosened his grip on his sword. As a man, it was impossible to defy Shizuru's beauty. That was simply a man's nature. The anger in his chest faded, and he began to long for her instead. He wanted to stay by her side. As his feelings changed, he began to give up on resisting.

Swoosh—

'This…' A strange, foreign energy began to stir within him. Though his mind almost gave in for a moment, he managed to return to his senses.

- I'll raise Sae-ah like my daughter…

He remembered what Shizuru had said to him in the past.

- In Japan.

'She's also targeting Sae-ah…'

Though she'd said she would raise her like her own daughter, it was clear that Shizuru just wanted to bring Sae-ah to Japan to lure in JiHan. Once she succeeded in capturing JiHan, then what would happen to Sae-ah?

She'd be discarded if she were useless, and she'd end up a slave like he was if something could be squeezed out of her.

"Ugh…!" He couldn't let that happen. It was already enough that he had fallen, so he couldn't let his daughter suffer the same fate.

He looked up at Shizuru. She was so attractive that it soothed his anger, but…

'That's right… Being able to see her is the problem.'

Swoosh—

The Sword King raised his swords.

"You're quite rebellious. I'm going to scold you later," Shizuru said from the safety of Aegis's shield, but her expression quickly changed when she saw the Sword King turn his sword toward himself.

To be more precise… he turned the points of his swords toward his eyes.

"W-wait…!" she yelled.

Stab—!

Without hesitation, the Sword King cut his own eyes out.

Blood flowed from Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.

"How refreshing…" the Sword King said, and a chilling killing intent flooded the area again.

"Y-you… Have you lost your mind?" Shizuru asked in a trembling voice.

The Sword King laughed. "Yes, I've lost my mind."

[Enchantment has failed.]

[Dependence has failed.]

[Obsession has succeeded.]

Shizuru's eyes widened. Obsession had succeeded, while Enchantment and Dependence had failed?

'This is the worst…!'

"Hmm… My brother-in-law said he would acknowledge me as Sae-ah's father if I brought him your head."

Swoosh—

He slashed Gan Jiang in a horizontal line, and an intense explosion, even stronger than before, followed.

BOOM-!

Maybe it was because he'd cut off his vision, but the Sword King was finally able to unleash his anger toward Shizuru.

"I don't agree with him," he said. "I don't deserve forgiveness. Besides… When I'm done with you, there won't even be a body to bury."

Ssss…

Gan Jiang and Mo Ye started emitting intense Sword Ki, and the Sword King's killing intent soared.

"You see, Shizuru? I can't leave even a trace of you behind, or else I fear you'll regenerate. Yes. I'm going to tear you apart. I'll turn your bones into dust… That's what I want."

Thanks to Obsession, the Sword King's murderous intent toward Shizuru kept growing stronger. Shizuru had no choice but to admit that her plan had failed.

The problem was…

BOOM—!

'Aegis will break at this rate…!'

Rather than worrying about Enchanting the Sword King, she had to worry about her own life first.

'I would've just released Enchantment on everyone and secured the Sword King if I knew this would happen!'

She hadn't used her full potential on the Sword King because she wanted to keep some people in check and was regretting her choice. She needed to escape.

'But there must be a way… If I lose the Sword King here, it's over… Maybe I should release the Prime Minister and try again?'

She hesitated for a moment, but…

PAF-!

"Agh…!"

Aegis's shield exploded, and she came to her senses as the Sword Ki grazed past her face.

Crack. Crack-

Cracks started to appear on Shizuru's face. Feeling her face breaking, she gritted her teeth.

"My face…!"

"Don't worry. That's the first thing I'll tear apart."

Whoosh-!

More Sword Ki flew at her, and Shizuru hurriedly reached for her necklace before her body was wrapped in light and vanished.

Flash—!

Since her face had been shattered, she abandoned any lingering regrets she had and used her teleportation necklace.

The blind Sword King clicked his tongue as he felt Shizuru's presence vanish.

"Haa… So she ran away. She really treasures her body…"

How many items did she have to protect herself?

"A… Are you okay?" Concerned about the continuous explosions, a Japanese staff member entered to see what was happening.

"E… Eek…!" He collapsed upon seeing the Sword King bleeding from his eyes. To be more precise, rather than the blood, he was scared of his killing intent.

"Oh…" The Sword King, upon feeling the man's presence, made a chilling smile.

"Good. There are plenty of hostages here."

* * *

= Korea has won the first two matches…!

= With the Sword King away, the Japanese team couldn't stop JiHan!

= What happened to the Sword King…?

The game between Korea and Japan went in an unexpected way.

After the Sword King logged out, Japan was left with no one capable of defeating JiHan, so they ended up helplessly losing.

'Haa… I can't believe it.'

Despite having won two consecutive times, JiHan looked upset. He'd been so close to feeding the leaf to the Sword King, and couldn't believe Shizuru had interfered again.

'What else can she Edit…? To think she'd be able to Edit even a Battle Net connector… How troublesome.'

Shouldn't it be ranked 'EX' instead of 'SSS'? JiHan regretted not having fed the Sword King the leaf straight away.

'I wonder if my brother-in-law is being Enchanted again…' It seemed that his only choice was to become stronger and go directly to Japan. Considering the Sword King's skills, he believed he'd be able to suppress him once he reached Diamond and his Martial Soul reached 200.

When that happened, he'd be able to force-feed the leaf to the Sword King and vaporize Shizuru.

JiHan ground his teeth.

"J-JiHan… Are you okay?" Coach YeongJun cautiously asked.

JiHan was in a low mood despite having easily won two games against the formidable Japan, and the coach was able to roughly guess why.

'It must be because of the Sword King. I feel like JiHan did something…'

From the coach's point of view, it was fortunate that they'd been able to get an easy win in the Korea-Japan match, but he realized something else was on JiHan's mind.

"If you're not feeling well, you can rest for the next game," the coach said.

"No. We have to crush those guys." JiHan stood up. Rest? There was no way. He had to crush them with all his might.

"O-okay…" Coach YeongJun tried to maintain a calm expression, but he couldn't hide his excitement. He wasn't sure if Korea could beat Japan without JiHan, but there was no need to worry if he participated.

'You're a blessing.'

Thus, the next round took place.

= The next match is 'Train'.

= Everyone's attention isn't on the map but on whether the Sword King will participate or not.

= Yes. As you can see from the initial match's replay, the conversation between JiHan and the Sword King seemed very meaningful. It's like the Sword King didn't remember anything!

= Hmm… Maybe… Was some kind of brainwashing undone?

= We can't jump to conclusions yet… but JiHan… I'm not sure what he's done, but he's amazing… It looked like he was being overpowered at first!

= Now that I think about it, his sword's explosion might have been intentional!

= Anyway, if the Sword King won't participate… I believe we can have high hopes for Korea.

The commentators' voices were filled with excitement. They'd initially believed Korea would lose when the Sword King was overpowering JiHan, but it looked like a three-to-zero victory was becoming a reality.

- Ah. Seriously… What's going on?

- Did the Sword King really return to his senses?

- The Japanese players look very nervous. The arrogant attitude they had before is nowhere to be seen, hahaha.

- If the Sword King joins our team, we'll sweep everyone away, hahaha. Please, return to your senses, old man.

The chat, rather than being interested in Korea's 2:0 victory, was in complete chaos over the Sword King.

- JiHan! We, the Sword King Fan Club, knew you'd do something!

- Is the Sword King Fan Club still around?

- They were the ones who bad-mouthed Sung JiHan the most. How shameless, hahaha.

The Sword King Fan Club had been cheering for the Sword King while keeping a low profile, but if the Sword King returned to his senses thanks to JiHan's efforts, they could operate openly again.

- Sung JiHan! Sung JiHan!

- Please, save the Sword King!!

They were suddenly supporting JiHan, whom they'd once heavily criticized, and then, just five minutes into the Train match…

= Huh… JiHan's attack still hasn't reached them, but…

= The Japanese players are being logged out…!

After the Sword King was logged out in the starting match, the other players on his team were forced out during the Train match.

"Huh? Wh-what?"

"Why am I being logged out…?!"

The situation was unprecedented.