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[Chapter 170]

[Falling Wings (5)]

Mana Management Organization headquarters.

Everyone in the Mana Management Bureau was busy grasping the war situation through telepathy coming in from various places.

It's as Ha-yang predicted.

The Great Toad Chiefs divided their army in two to invade Yongsan-gu.

Eun-ha was there too.

He looked over dozens of monitor screens while grasping the army's position appearing on the map.

Level 4 Samgakji Great Toad Chief.

They say the two army commanders appeared at Hangang Bridge and Banpo Bridge respectively.

It was as Jung Ha-yang predicted.

The reason the situation in southern Gangbuk reversed yesterday was because no one knew there were two Great Toad Chiefs.

But now we know there are two of them, and yesterday's surprise won't work anymore.

They probably know that too, and instead of gathering their army into one like yesterday, they tried to invade by dividing into two.

We perfectly defended Dongjak Bridge.

From their perspective, trying to recapture a bridge that's already perfectly defended would only result in troop losses.

So they'll come up from Hangang Bridge and Banpo Bridge on either side of Dongjak Bridge to invade Yongsan-gu.

They'll probably sense the mana of relics stored in the National Museum of Korea too...

Yongsan-gu is the most convenient location for creatures coming up from the Han River to make a habitat.

If they conquer Yongsan-gu and Jung-gu, they can open a path to Jongno-gu and secure their rear safely.

The Great Toad Chiefs coming up from the Han River had no choice but to invade Yongsan-gu.

Because the path from Mapo-gu to Jongno-gu is too far, and Seongdong-gu in the east has a narrower river width compared to other places.

Furthermore, they needed to move north to Jongno-gu and create a path for the army coming up from the Han River to head towards Jongno-gu.

That was the reason they had no choice but to invade Yongsan-gu.

"─Aren't you worried?"

It was then.

<Destroyer > Lim Chae-sung, one of Blaze Clan's Eight Jades who was on standby with Eun-ha, asked.

"About what?"

"Though it's Level 4, the fact that there are two army commanders is very significant. But looking at the Pandora Clan Lord's appearance... it doesn't seem like you're worried. Are you confident your clan members will take them down?"

Eun-ha must have looked strange in Lim Chae-sung's eyes.

Because Eun-ha was looking at the map of Yongsan-gu with a smile on his face.

Eun-ha shrugged.

"It's not that I'm not worried... But I believe my clan members can take them down."

"You seem to be confident in your clan members' skills."

"Of course. If not, would I be staying here?"

"But without the Pandora Clan Lord, won't they lack damage output to face the army commanders... I think it will be fine after hearing news about Pandora Clan this time too, but still, don't you think they're lacking the decisive blow?"

Eun-ha had a connection with Lim Chae-sung.

He had sparred with him before at the academy cultural festival.

So Eun-ha didn't mind Lim Chae-sung's attitude of asking without hesitation.

He didn't feel any malice either.

He opened his mouth.

"You don't seem to know, senior, but the damage output will be sufficient even without me. The result, well, we'll know tomorrow." "Is that so? Since you're so confident, you must have something. In that sense, if you subjugate them, how about a friendly exchange sparring match with Blaze Clan..."

"Yes, I'll refuse."

Eun-ha recalled his clan members who must be struggling to fight now.

They were excellent talents too, just overshadowed because of him.

They developed healing magic through antibodies too, so there was no need to worry much.

Even if something goes wrong─

─Yeon-hwa noona is there.

<Divine Spear>, currently <Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa will protect the clan members.

So he just needs to focus on taking down Caesar Hopper, not the clan members.

Right then─

"─Ye-gyeong appeared at Suyu Station in Gangbuk-gu! It's currently moving south towards Seongbuk-gu!"

""""...!!""""

Ye-gyeong appeared.

A Management Bureau staff member shouted, and Ye-gyeong's direction of movement appeared on the huge monitor.

"Then I should go now."

"So, it's turning our district into a wasteland now?"

<First Sword> Ji Yong-hyun.

Regulus Clan Lord Gu Yeon-su.

The two stood up.

Gu Yeon-su showed a fierce gaze at the news that Ye-gyeong had invaded Gangbuk-gu, which could be called Regulus Clan's jurisdiction.

He passed by with the Seven Lions.

Ji Yong-hyun followed behind them.

"Pandora Clan Lord." "Yes?"

Then, Ji Yong-hyun called Eun-ha.

Eun-ha, who was wishing them good luck like others, asked back when his name was suddenly called.

Ji Yong-hyun was looking at him.

"I look forward to it. Good luck."

"...Good luck to you too."

The Zenith Clan Lord spoke to him.

Eun-ha was bewildered watching Ji Yong-hyun disappear after leaving those words.

I know he's not a talkative person, why is he specifically speaking to me?

<First Sword> Ji Yong-hyun's goodwill.

Eun-ha tilted his head even after receiving his goodwill.

Then Lim Chae-sung chuckled.

"Perhaps the Zenith Clan Lord also wants to spar with you..."

"Do you think the Zenith Clan Lord is like your Clan Lord?" "...I feel bad, but I can't refute because it's true, so I feel bad."

Spouting incomprehensible words.

Lim Chae-sung scrunches his face.

Eun-ha ignored him and waited for Caesar Hopper to appear.

And not long after─

"─Confirmation of Level 3 Caesar Hopper's appearance in the direction of Sindang Station, Dongdaemun-gu!! It's currently heading towards Jung-gu!"

""""...."""

Starting with confirmation of hopper-type monsters appearing throughout Gangbuk.

Finally, Caesar Hopper appeared.

Eun-ha placed his hand on his sword.

"Hey, it's time to work."

"Bibi?"

He wakes up Buldak sleeping on top of his head.

Buldak who was drooling and wetting Eun-ha's head opened its drowsy eyes.

"Wait, Pandora Clan Lord! Why are you going ahead!? Let's go together!"

"I'll go first and hold it down, so come quickly. Ariel."

"Oh! I'll go too!"

"Stop talking and get on. We're going to fly."

Coming out to the Mana Management Organization rooftop.

Eun-ha hugged Ariel who followed and exerted Buldak's power.

Familiar Transformation

Phoenix's Wings

☆

It was his own mistake.

If he hadn't been complacent while looking at the broader war situation that day, while facing the retreating Great Toad Chief.

Yeo U-bi wouldn't have been hurt.

"─Everyone on combat standby. Su-bin." "Just give the signal."

"Do it."

"Okay."

If she had died like that.

Ryu Yeon-hwa would have greatly regretted it.

But thanks to Eun-ha using an elixir to save Yeo U-bi.

Ryu Yeon-hwa was able to get a chance to make up for yesterday's mistake and get revenge for Yeo U-bi.

"─All of you die."

Raging Inferno

Becoming the leader leading the special unit.

Ryu Yeon-hwa gave instructions to Bae Su-bin.

Bae Su-bin activated the magic she had prepared as if she had been waiting.

Knowing where the battlefield would be, she could accurately target where the army came up.

Boom boom boom boom!!

A huge flame raced across the ground from her point.

The flame that split into dozens of branches swallowed the creatures in a sea of fire.

Boom boom boom boom!!

The magic didn't stop there.

Dozens of magic circles floated in the air above the burning flames.

The magic circles flashed.

Fireballs fell incessantly from magic circles that rose in various directions.

The Gangbyeon Expressway area hit by the bombardment was almost completely destroyed.

Nevertheless, people didn't panic and watched the army appearing from the smoldering smoke.

Gurgle gurgle

The number of creatures was endless.

Pain and fear were meaningless to those following the army commander.

Also, creatures kept coming up from the water surface.

They advanced.

The Great Toad Chief was at the front.

It was the start of full-scale war.

To this, Ryu Yeon-hwa─

─One-Shot Style, Ice Road

While entrusting command to Jin Seo-na.

She rushed towards the army first.

She who rode an ice road created in the air instantly landed in front of the Great Toad Chief.

Gurgle gurgle

The army passed by her.

The Great Toad Chief stopped.

There was a wound on its shoulder.

It was the one she fought last night.

Gueok guk gueok

Soon the army commander opened its mouth wide and put its hand inside its mouth.

It pulled out a spear glistening with saliva.

It grasped the spear and took a stance.

Clang! Thud! Whoosh!

It swung the spear heavily.

Ryu Yeon-hwa blocked and dodged its spear, and finally made it retreat.

It puffed up its mouth big.

Gueoook!!

"It's useless."

Poison attack.

Ryu Yeon-hwa who had been suddenly attacked like this by it yesterday was no longer flustered.

She manifested her internal mana.

The poison that came right up to her nose instantly froze.

Crash!

The ice shattered.

She pierced through the ice without hesitation to attack the Great Toad Chief.

It dodged the attack.

She took a step forward.

It stepped back.

She advanced further forward.

And she fell into the trap it had set.

Gurgle gurgle gurgle!

Before she knew it, she was isolated alone in the middle of the army.

This was the same pattern as yesterday too.

She who had inadvertently gone deep into enemy lines while facing it had to watch her troops get ambushed by the army that appeared from behind.

It was lack of experience.

No, it was her own mistake.

But there won't be a second time.

Ryu Yeon-hwa watched the swarm of toads rushing towards her and tapped the ground with her spear.

─One-Shot Style Extreme

North Wind Cold Snow

Ice particles flew.

A fierce wind was blowing before she knew it.

In an instant.

The cold air that spread from her center froze the entire area into an environment where sprouts could never grow again.

Gurgle! Gur...

Crash!

A world where snow and wind blow.

Those creatures that had entered her world had their feet frozen by the intense cold.

When they forcibly tried to move their feet, their bodies were helplessly cut off like glass fragments breaking.

The cold air then covered and froze those who fell to the ground like that.

The more the monsters resisted, the more the cold air shattered their bodies.

Gueoook...

"It's better not to move. If you don't want to see your feet cut off like those guys."

That place was her world.

In a world where snow and wind blow fiercely, the only person who could move freely was her.

The Great Toad Chief was no exception.

Its feet were frozen too.

──!!

It swung its spear with difficulty.

But as time passed, it had to feel pain as if its lungs were freezing.

The endless falling cold stole its strength.

Snow piled up on its body, making it heavy.

Gueok, gurk...

Eventually, covered in snow, it stabbed its spear into the ground to avoid falling.

It lost the strength to move.

By then, the army nearby was all frozen.

─One-Shot Style Extreme

Dragon's Scales

All monsters in the winter world stopped their life activities.

Ryu Yeon-hwa gripped her spear.

The fluttering snow became sharp blades and swept through the area.

──!!

The sound of ice fragments breaking.

When the snow and wind cleared, there was nothing left in that place maintaining a form.

☆

Yeo U-bi was hurt trying to protect him.

Yu Nam-hoon was greatly shocked.

What shocked him even more was that he alone was safe despite being hit by its poison too.

Gift <Detoxification >.

A gift that neutralizes poison.

His gift even had the power to neutralize the poison of a Level 4 monster.

So Yu Nam-hoon despaired.

If he hadn't been careless.

If he had known about his gift.

Yeo U-bi wouldn't have been hurt.

"─It's coming."

"Yeah."

If Eun-ha hadn't happened to use an elixir to save her.

Surely he would have fallen into despair and tried to sell his soul to the devil to kill it.

Fortunately, Yeo U-bi survived.

Nevertheless, Yu Nam-hoon kept the evil-filled emotion he felt then.

He nodded at Han Chang-jin's words and looked down at the army commander creature coming up from Hangang Bridge.

─Thousand Steps

Bombardment from Casters and Rangers.

The army disintegrated.

As their formation collapsed, Han Chang-jin rushed ahead before anyone else.

No, there was one more.

Thousand Steps

Pandora Clan Sub-lord Mok Min-ho.

Han Chang-jin exchanged glances with him who stuck close to his side.

What the two were aiming for was it.

They avoided the monsters rushing in and leapt at the Great Toad Chief.

Whirlrl

It pulled out the spear it was storing in its stomach.

It tries to take the initiative by moving quickly despite its large body.

But the two didn't panic and split left and right simultaneously the moment it swung down its spear.

The Great Toad Chief rolls its eyeballs.

It chases Mok Min-ho.

It instantly closes the distance by jumping up with its large body.

Binding Wisp

Mok Min-ho immediately deployed magic.

He activated binding magic timed with its jump down.

Of course, it being Level 4 easily broke the binding magic.

But it couldn't ignore a few seconds.

Mok Min-ho dove inside.

The Wall Breaker

A trajectory that soared from below to above.

The spear it was holding split in two.

It rolled its eyeballs.

Apparently it couldn't accept the reality of seeing its spear split in half.

But that was only for a moment─

"─Kuk...!!"

It didn't cling to its weapon.

It swung the two split spear shafts and pushed Mok Min-ho.

Mok Min-ho gritted his teeth.

It stuck close to prevent him from widening the distance.

Eventually it puffed up its mouth big.

Gueeek

Poison attack.

Just when his sword got stuck to the spear shaft due to the sticky saliva.

It tried to spit out a viscous liquid.

Min-ho looked straight at it while focusing on detaching his sword.

Because Han Chang-jin was preparing for its attack from behind.

─Spider Web Control

...Ruruk...!?

Gift <Access >.

A gift that interferes with the opponent's mana.

He sealed the Great Toad Chief's movements with mana threads wrapped around his fingers.

Not only was its magic interfered with, but the creature's mouth was blocked by Han Chang-jin's threads and it ended up swallowing its poison back.

Right at that moment─

─The Wall Breaker

Mok Min-ho swung his sword.

The creature's body was covered in sticky saliva.

That reduced the impact of the attack.

But it was meaningless before Mok Min-ho's gift.

Gift <Cutting Principle>.

Mok Min-ho, confident in his sword, cut the creature's stomach.

──!!

It went berserk.

Poison gushed from its stomach.

He who narrowly avoided the poison attack retreated.

The creature, freed from Han Chang-jin's binding, screamed and thrashed about madly.

Mok Min-ho prepared for the next attack and─

─Mana Crasher

Yu Nam-hoon rushed in.

He attacked the wound area Mok Min-ho had created while taking the poison the Great Toad Chief spat out.

Gueoooook!!

His sword stuck in the creature's flesh.

It won't come out.

But Yu Nam-hoon circled around the creature without retreating.

It was truly a dogfight.

The creature's poison didn't work on him.

Yu Nam-hoon used his gift to persistently draw the creature's aggro while dealing minor attacks.

Mana Crasher

There's nothing to be afraid of.

He climbed up its back and then rolled off.

He soaked his body in the muck.

It didn't matter to him as his whole body was already covered in black saliva.

And again─

Mana Crasher

Yu Nam-hoon avoided its spear shaft and stabbed his sword into the wound area.

It spat out poison with a splat.

Yu Nam-hoon, not minding the poison falling on his head, put strength into the sword stuck in the creature.

Crunch

Such a sound was heard.

Something was crushed.

Now it tried to push him away.

It tried to pull out the sword stuck in its stomach.

And at that moment─

─The Wall Breaker

From behind the creature.

Mok Min-ho delivered another strike.

☆

At first, he intended to help.

Though Cha Eun-woo had developed healing magic through antibodies, they still had to be careful of the creature's poison.

So Han Chang-jin planned to block its movements to counter its poison attacks.

That won't be necessary.

But he withdrew his threads.

With just his brief cover, Mok Min-ho was handling the Great Toad Chief without hesitation.

After exchanging swords with it a few times, he had grasped its movements.

When it was about to shoot poison, he would widen the distance and retreat, then look around at the war situation.

And in that gap, Yu Nam-hoon jumped in and distracted the Great Toad Chief.

"Then I'll just provide cover occasionally and deal with these guys."

It's truly a dogfight.

A tactic of charging in without regard for one's body.

The tactic that would have been dangerous for Yu Nam-hoon alone was contributing to lowering the Great Toad Chief's health as Mok Min-ho caught the timing from behind.

Han Chang-jin watched the army closing in around them after seeing the two's battle.

Goblin Sword Dance

Han Chang-jin took out five daggers and threw them into the air.

The daggers that rose spinning into the sky immediately followed the threads he created and attacked the army.

However, the attacks were shallow.

They didn't inflict much damage on those with thick skin.

But as time passed, the army suddenly began to collapse.

"...The swords Eun-ha gave are good. Seeing that they get poisoned even from shallow wounds, when they should be at least Level 6 monsters."

Artifact Five Claws.

It was an artifact Eun-ha had given him the day monsters invaded Seoul.

Daggers that inflict status effects when wounding the opponent by flowing mana.

The five daggers each caused different status effects like deadly poison, paralysis, sleep, hallucination, blindness, etc.

Those creatures that collapsed on the ground had fallen victim to Five Claws' magic.

Thud! Pshew!

However, they weren't dead.

Han Chang-jin quickly finished off those collapsed on the ground.

Then he flew the five swords to use magic on monsters that looked dangerous.

"It should be enough to help prevent monsters from going to those two. They're fighting so quickly it's a bit awkward to jump in..."

Han Chang-jin smiled bitterly.

As Yu Nam-hoon moved quickly to draw its attention, Mok Min-ho swiftly swung his sword at the creature.

Then Yu Nam-hoon dug into the wound to show how terrifying persistence can be.

Watching them calmly respond while draining the Samgakji Great Toad Chief's health.

Han Chang-jin provided cover from afar, occasionally inflicting status effects on the Great Toad Chief.

Others seemed to think the same, as Supporters healed the two, and Rangers and Snipers provided covering fire while the two rested.

And so─

─It's over.

Mok Min-ho delivered the final blow.

The battle was calm, persistent, and tenacious from beginning to end.

There were no surprises.

The Great Toad Chief had to fall to the two's swords, unable to do anything about the people attacking from afar.

"Pandora Clan's Mok Min-ho and Yu Nam-hoon took down the army commander!"

""""...!!""""

Finally, it collapsed with a thud.

Mok Min-ho cut open the fallen creature's heart area with his long tongue out, and pulled out the mana stone for all to see.

Mok Min-ho shouted at the top of his lungs.

Yu Nam-hoon shouted after him.

The news the two shouted spread instantly across the frontline, raising people's morale.

The army that lost its commander disintegrated, and people's spirits were ignited.

""""─Pandora Clan took down the army commanders!!""""

That day, news spread throughout Gangbuk that Pandora Clan had taken down two army commanders.

Not only Mok Min-ho and Yu Nam-hoon's fame.

But also the achievement of <Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa who subjugated a Level 4 monster alone.