WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Returned as a God ◈
Chapter 113: Alliance, My Foot (2)
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In stark contrast to Kang Moonkook, who was reasonably easy to talk to, Jin Sangbyeok turned out to be a stubborn, immovable type.
The Hunters standing beside Jin Sangbyeok lunged at me as if they'd rehearsed it.
"You're..."
"Wh, what do you think you're doing?"
The one who blocked the coordinated attack wasn't me. It was Choi Jaebyung's shield.
"Good timing."
Kim Gangwoo's voice came through the private chat.
Kim Gangwoo was the one who'd sent Choi Jaebyung here.
Jin Sangbyeok drove his bastard sword into the ground and stared at me and Choi Jaebyung.
"Even with Representative Kang backing you, you'd better watch yourself."
"As a fellow Hunter of this guild, I'll say it plainly, Choi Jaebyung. Know your place."
"My place?"
"You're a Hunter under Raon Guild. I'm the vice representative."
Raon Guild had all kinds of rules and regulations.
The biggest one was its rigid chain of command.
Every guild had something like it, but Raon took it to another level.
Choi Jaebyung's rank inside Raon wasn't low by any means, but it wasn't high enough to let him refuse a direct order from vice representative Jin Sangbyeok.
Choi Jaebyung lowered his shield.
"So what?"
"So what am I supposed to do about it?"
"Hey, you're pushing this a little far."
At my remark about his attitude, Choi Jaebyung shrugged like it was nothing.
"Pushing what. I haven't pushed anything."
"Are you planning to defy an order?"
"Why don't you actually give me an order before talking like that, Vice Representative. As far as I recall, you've never given me one."
"That's because you... fine. Step aside. That's an order."
There was real weight in Jin Sangbyeok's voice, enough to show he hadn't reached the vice representative seat at Raon Guild on luck alone.
You know what?
Illegal moves, loophole moves, all of it takes skill.
A dumb guy gets caught the second he tries something illegal, and a loophole move looks obvious on him too.
Whether it's illegal or a loophole, you need something behind it to pull it off.
Someone with nothing can't do either.
I gripped the Sky Sword tight.
Jin Sangbyeok was right.
No matter how much Choi Jaebyung was Kang Moonkook's star pupil, he was still a Hunter under Raon Guild, which meant he had no choice but to listen to vice representative Jin Sangbyeok.
I wasn't interested in owing this guy any more favors than I already did.
The moment I took a fighting stance, the Raon Guild Hunters who'd pulled back went tense.
Something fluttered in front of my eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Even so, isn't this a bit much?"
"Unbelievable."
The Raon Hunters muttered one after another at the sight.
Jin Sangbyeok let out a sigh watching the cape drop to the ground.
I stood behind Choi Jaebyung and snickered at him.
Given how much more bad blood than good will I held for Raon Guild, this was pure entertainment.
"So you want to settle this without rank, just the two of us?"
"I didn't put it quite that harshly."
"Isn't that exactly what you're doing right now?"
Choi Jaebyung raised his sword, and tension crackled through the air.
"Didn't I already tell you I came here on Representative Kang's orders?"
"Let's hear exactly what order the representative gave, then."
"He told me to cooperate with Representative Park."
"And the result of that cooperation is you turning on your own chain of command? Hilarious."
Watching a family feud that wasn't mine was fun and all, but I didn't have the luxury of standing around watching it play out forever.
"Hold on, quit fighting and listen to me for a second."
"Nothing to say to you."
"This is my business."
"Your business, when you two started fighting each other? Get out of the way."
I shoved Choi Jaebyung aside and stepped forward.
I'd thought going around it diplomatically would work, but apparently I'd read that wrong.
"You. This situation probably isn't sitting well with you, but it's not like you didn't see it coming."
A guy who'd made it to vice representative wouldn't have walked in here without knowing there was friction between Aria Guild's masters.
"You took one look and figured it wasn't your problem, and just tuned it out. If they tear each other apart fighting amongst themselves and self-destruct, all the better for you."
There's only so much a company can run on the will of its representative alone.
And when that representative isn't someone who built the company from the ground up but got parachuted into the seat halfway through, it'd be strange if there weren't pushback.
I pointed at the huge cliff that had opened up at the peak of Yukbaeksan.
"We're headed there. No, we have to get there."
I had no idea how many monsters were still pinned down, but there was no way Jin Sangbyeok and his people were breaking through the god Beritaas's personal barrier and getting out on their own.
"I've got no interest in playing at being allies. Just cooperate. You don't want to die out here fighting monsters for nothing, do you?"
"I couldn't care less about that heretic over there, but I will be holding someone accountable for what happened here. I trust you're prepared for that?"
"That's Park Siyu's problem to sort out."
Not mine.
Jin Sangbyeok sheathed the bastard sword.
The Raon Guild Hunters beside him read the room and lowered their weapons too.
Thud, thud.
Jin Sangbyeok walked over, picked the fallen cape off the ground, and threw it at Choi Jaebyung.
Choi Jaebyung snatched it out of the air with one hand.
"Don't ever pull something like that again."
Choi Jaebyung nodded, looking sour about it, and pulled the cape back on.
Everyone's eyes turned toward one spot.
"That little rat."
Park Siyu and Jeong Choa had shown up.
I'd only just managed to calm vice representative Jin Sangbyeok down, and I really didn't want to watch another fight break out.
"Hey, this guy is..."
"Anyone with a brain wouldn't try to start a fight in this situation."
I'd actually been about to start one.
Choi Jaebyung and I both turned to look at Representative Jin Sangbyeok at the same time.
Jin Sangbyeok's face went red, and he cleared his throat.
"I was only checking your reaction."
"Come on, Vice Representative. I saw you swing that sword at Hangyeol, I saw the whole... step on my foot and I won't let it slide. These shoes were expensive."
Choi Jaebyung ducked his head and pulled his foot back.
I wasn't exactly fond of Jin Sangbyeok, but I could kind of see the position he was in.
Park Siyu raised a hand near his ear and gave Kim Gangwoo some instruction.
Before long, the status window chimed.
['Jin Sangbyeok' has joined the Aria Guild (Black) comms room.]
"You're only inviting me alone to the comms room?"
"You're not alone, are you?"
Jin Sangbyeok's gaze shifted to Choi Jaebyung.
"I didn't realize you were counting that one in the headcount."
"Heretic or not, he's still part of the family."
To anyone who didn't know better, that would've sounded like a pretty loyal thing to say.
Well... I guess it's not entirely untrue.
Jin Sangbyeok's version of loyalty and decency ran pretty far from what most people would picture.
Thankfully Jin Sangbyeok let it go, taking it as a joke.
A deep rumble rolled through the sky, and black storm clouds swept in.
The clouds circled a single spot over and over, like the eye of a typhoon.
Something burst out from among them.
Long and massive, it slammed down into the ground hard.
The earth shook violently, like an earthquake had hit.
The stretch of ground it swept through was reduced to scorched earth, and the shockwave was strong enough that even the tree I'd been leaning against had half its roots torn out of the soil.
"Wh, what is that?"
Choi Jaebyung was gripping the same tree I was.
Before long, the thing sank fully into the ground.
"Why the hell is that thing here?"
Choi Suhyun's voice came through in my ear.
The body slowly emerged from between the black clouds.
Kraaaaaaaaagh.
Once it had fully landed, the creature let out a massive roar.
Its long, sprawling body carried dozens of legs.
Its face bore a dragon's shape, with four snakes jutting out from either side like horns.
Two pairs of black wings burst through its spine and flapped.
Smaller than Yeongno, but its presence carried no less weight.
"Hresvelgr."
I'd suspected it the moment I saw the tail, and seeing the whole shape now confirmed it. This was Hresvelgr without a doubt.
Known as the corpse-devourer, Hresvelgr could be found in places like graveyards, battlefields, or cursed land.
"Why is that thing here?"
"Damn it."
Aside from me, the ones who reacted to Hresvelgr were Park Siyu and Jin Sangbyeok.
"Hresvelgr was the boss of the dungeon Yu Chaeyoung failed to clear. There's actually a saying that the great disaster back then only stayed contained to Eunpyeong-gu because the boss, Hresvelgr, never showed up."
Even without the boss showing up, the incident from back then had caused enough damage to earn the name the great disaster and stay in people's mouths ever since.
The snakes fused to its face turned down toward where the group stood.
Dozens of beams of light shot out from the snakes' open mouths.
The Hunters scattered back, each looking out for their own survival.
I jumped as high as I could manage.
Fwoosh.
Where the light had struck, the ground turned black.
The blackened patch spread outward little by little, swallowing up any living thing nearby.
Right in the center of that blackened ground, Jeong Choa appeared, wearing a white T-shirt and sweatpants.
Choa brushed the dirt off herself like it was nothing.
For a moment her arm went black, then returned to normal.
"What did she do?"
Jin Sangbyeok, who didn't know Choa's ability, muttered like he had no clue what he'd just seen.
Even knowing she'd come out unscathed after taking a hit, I hadn't expected her to just walk into an attack like that head on.
Well... guess that's just how she is.
I climbed down the tree hanging off the cliff.
Choi Jaebyung drew his bastard sword.
"We'll handle that one."
"I'm counting on it."
At Park Siyu's answer, sounding like he trusted Jin Sangbyeok, the Raon Guild Hunters raised their weapons too.
Choi Jaebyung, watching the scene, hesitated.
"Get lost."
"You don't have to tell me to get lost."
"Vice representative's orders."
Choi Jaebyung brushed the dust off the rose pinned to his cape and turned his back.
The instant we put distance between us, a massive knight appeared where Jin Sangbyeok had been standing.
Jin Sangbyeok's transcendent form.
A red light shot toward the towering dragon-knight.
Jin Sangbyeok swung his bastard sword, and the knight's sword sliced through one of the snakes on the creature's head.
Some of the dark red light that hadn't been fully blocked shot toward me and the others.
I threw my hand out first.
The mana surging from my hand collided with the light, and it vanished.
The anti-magic field burned through a lot of mana, but the effect was solid.
"It kind of hurts watching you keep taking hits for me."
Choa didn't answer. She just sped up and moved toward Park Siyu.
I knew exactly why she kept trying to take those attacks on purpose.
That's just what Origin Recovery does.
Guess you could call it brutal.
Watching that small back of hers, I couldn't help worrying sometimes.
"I know."
At my signal, Park Siyu swung his Light Saber.
The dagger cut clean through a few nearby trees along with it.
Between the severed trunks, Yu Seyeon stepped into view.
Not yet.
An extremely sharp edge of mana came surging in.
A gray blade shot forward in a straight line, aimed at Choa's throat where she stood on a branch.
"Choa!"
Footnotes:
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