Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Spendthrift Necromancer (140)

Brand AmbassadorThe next morning.

Sword Immortal, Divine Spear, Poison Demon, Fist King.

Calling them wasn't difficult.

Neither was asking for the simple favor of sparring with Isabella.

Sword Sea Pavilion.

It had been a long time since he'd visited.

With Isabella trailing behind him, he headed inside.

All four Awakened were already gathered there.

“Thank you, elders. I really appreciate you arranging this so readily.”

“Minwoo, if it's a favor from you, we'll gladly do it.”

Sword Immortal answered on behalf of the group, smiling warmly at him. The other three old men reacted no differently.

Fist King rushed over in an instant and roughly pulled Minwoo into a muscular embrace.

“Bwahaha! You adorable brat! Thank you! Training has been so damn enjoyable lately thanks to you!”

“Elder, that hurts a little…….”

“Hey now. Why's a young man so frail? Want me to buy you some herbal medicine?”

The problem wasn't that Minwoo was frail.

Fist King's strength was simply ridiculous.‘What kind of strength is that without even wearing equipment……?’That was when.

Divine Spear restrained Fist King and spoke with dignity.

“I learned much thanks to you. At my age, I'd thought merely avoiding decline would be fortunate…… thank you.”

Even Poison Demon behind him was humming and nodding vigorously.

Judging by the atmosphere, all three elders seemed to have made some kind of progress.‘Makes sense.’Sword Immortal might have been the greatest, but the other three weren't far behind.

The difference was at most half a step. Even that small gap still meant they possessed talent capable of competing for the highest positions in the world.

And they'd heard a profound insight while already standing at that level, so it wouldn't be strange if they'd advanced afterward.

That had already been four months ago.

Sword Immortal had awakened the Mind Sword in only one month. Four months was plenty of time for the others to grasp something too.

Either way.

He'd gotten their numbers back then, but had little immediate use for them, so until now he'd only occasionally checked in and sent donations.

This looked like the perfect chance to make use of that connection.

He handed all four earpieces.

“This is…….”

“Something Ilseong developed. Put it in your ear and it should translate automatically.”

Isabella couldn't speak Korean.

At most, she was fluent in English as a second language.

All four elders had traveled abroad during their prime and knew enough conversational English to get by, but equipment was still necessary for smooth communication.

Naturally, Isabella wore a translator too. Minwoo introduced her beside him.

“You're all familiar with her, right?”

“Ah, I know her. Her name was…… Isa…… what was it?”

“Youngest, mountains have electricity these days too. Watch some TV once in a while. That's Ms. Isabella, isn't it?”

“Oh, right! Isabella!”

Only then did Fist King clap as if the name had finally come back to him.

“Ah, sorry, Ms. Isabella. I don't follow news from outside very much. I still use a phone like this.”

A tiny flip phone sat in Fist King's hand. It was so old it had become grimy with age.

“……

That's fine. But shouldn't someone like Fist King have plenty of money?”

“Money? I gave all that to the instructors to use. And this thing still works even if it's old. A phone just needs to make calls.”

“Ah. I see.”

Isabella nodded.

Then Sword Immortal stared between her and Kim Minwoo.

“So you want us to spar with this child?”

“Correct.”

“How skilled is she?”

That was when.

Isabella stepped forward.

“I haven't lost to anyone in my life. Not since I turned eighteen.”

“What a wonderful age.”

Sword Immortal nodded with satisfaction.

The other elders reacted no differently.

Apparently pleased by her youthful confidence, they all chuckled warmly.

“Please take good care of her. She's a little blunt, but she's a good person.”

“I think I understand. Very well.”

Minwoo looked at Isabella.

“Deal?”

“……

Fine. But it has to be the best.”

“Of course. Don't worry about quality.”

Because the battery they were about to produce would slap American companies back and forth across the face. With that, Isabella stepped forward.

“Do you have equipment?”

“Of course. We gave away some after retirement, but ours still puts most active Awakened's gear to shame. Want to fight with everything on?”

“My equipment is very good, though…….”

Fist King snorted.

“You worry too much, Ms. Isabella. We haven't lived this long for nothing, so don't worry. Then brothers, I'll go first?”

“Go ahead.”

Fist King stepped forward.

Equipment began appearing over his body one piece at a time. It was clearly lower quality than Isabella's.

Mostly Legendary.

At most one or two Ancient pieces.

The equipment-stat difference was overwhelming.

Even so.

The moment the fight began.

BOOM!

Fist King closed on Isabella first and threw a punch.

Kim Minwoo's eyes gleamed.‘Wow.’Fist King's Level was unquestionably high.He had easily surpassed 1,000.

He possessed numerous titles and Skills too.

Even so, the Fist King Minwoo knew had never been so skilled it looked as though he'd reversed his age.

His very foundation had changed.

There was no other way to describe how violently Fist King was now overwhelming the fight.

Powerful pressure from the opening instant.

Isabella's eyes narrowed slightly.

She seemed startled that things weren't proceeding as expected.

“Nice movement!”

Fist King, by contrast, sounded openly impressed. Even with all of Isabella's S-rank Skills activated, he was visibly gaining the upper hand.

Divine Spear and Poison Demon watched calmly from the side.

A world beyond the physical plane.

After hearing Sword Immortal speak about it, all three had spent every single day contemplating and agonizing over the subject.

Once they grasped even the slightest clue.

Their skill had advanced by leaps and bounds, as if they'd shed an old skin.

Fist King was the living example.

“……

I'll take this seriously now.”

Isabella's gaze turned cold.

Brilliant light immediately erupted around her body. Item effects and SS-rank Skills activated.

She was using everything.

Fist King's expression turned serious too. There was a heaven-and-earth difference between Isabella using her equipment advantage and Isabella not using it.

An Awakened at Fist King's level obviously knew that.

“Then I'll get serious too.”

Isabella nodded.

The instant her figure disappeared.

BOOM!

An explosion thundered.

Then.

“Cough!”

Isabella staggered backward, coughing up blood.

Her brow furrowed as though she'd witnessed something impossible.

When she'd approached Fist King at high speed.

A chill had run down her spine, and she'd activated every defensive Skill she had.

It had been pure survival instinct.‘My defense should have been perfect…….’Yet without his fist even directly touching her body, an enormous impact had slammed into her abdomen.

A terrifying strike powerful enough to break through every defensive Skill she possessed!

It was impossible to understand.

Especially because she'd activated all of her equipment too.

In this state, there wasn't anyone in the world she would confidently say could stop her easily.

Yet she'd been suppressed.

If Fist King hadn't reduced the force at the last moment…….‘That would've been a fatal wound.’Her item effects would've prevented her from dying, of course.

But that was how dangerous the attack had been.

“……

What was that just now?”

“Ah, this? Mind Fist

. A fist of the mind. You're pretty good yourself, Ms. Isabella. Made me use even this.”

“A fist of the…… mind? Is it a Skill?”

“Hard to say whether it's a Skill. It's a little subtle. Either way, sorry, Ms. Isabella, but this knowledge is expensive. I can't teach you anything.”

“……

Then who can teach me?”

“Well. You'd have to ask the original creator.”

Fist King's gaze shifted slightly.

Kim Minwoo stood where he was looking.

“……?”

Isabella blinked.‘Original creator?’Was he saying Kim Minwoo had taught Fist King that Mind Fist?

It made no sense.

She had learned yesterday that Kim Minwoo's ability was impressive.

But the technique Fist King had just shown…….‘It's on a completely different dimension.’Calling it merely a Skill felt absurdly inadequate.

How could Kim Minwoo teach something like that?

And if he possessed enough mastery to teach it, why hadn't he used it in yesterday's spar?

“Does it perhaps require an enormous amount of Mana?”

“It does require Mana. But not so much that it's unusable. You can adjust it.”

Then shouldn't Kim Minwoo have used it too?

Under Isabella's curious gaze, Minwoo scratched his cheek. He had a rough idea what she was thinking.

But what could he do?

This body had catastrophically little talent for learning anything.

He'd swung a sword half to death all this time and still hadn't generated even a single basic Skill.

Silence lasted briefly.

Then Isabella approached him.

“I want to learn too. Mind Fist. What do I have to give you?”

Going home?

That idea had already vanished from her mind. Hearing even a single passage about this thing called Mind Fist was far more important than training alone.

For herself.

And for her homeland of France.

“Haha! Very aggressive. But learning that won't be cheap.”

The other three elders nodded along with Fist King's words.

They were performing the role of shills brilliantly.

An unexpected razor-sharp kill pass.

Only a fool wouldn't use it.

Kim Minwoo stared at Isabella. Giving an answer the instant someone asked was the work of an amateur.

A true master…….

“For now, focus on doing your job as brand ambassador. I'll contact you in a few days. Then, if you'll excuse me.”

First, he had to let her simmer until she was properly cooked.* * *“If there was one thing our Nine Dragons Guild lacked, it was Highest-Grade Elixirs! But thanks to the President's grand decision, we too have secured access to those powerful elixirs! Today, Nine Dragons Guild will travel to Korea and receive Highest-Grade Elixirs, and once again show everyone how we've changed through friendly competition with Ilseong Guild…….”

Countless cameras flashed alongside the Nine Dragons Guild Master's impassioned declaration.

A fiery speech.

A passionate embrace with President Li and cheers from the people.

After the grand showmanship ended.

President Li Zemin approached the Nine Dragons Guild Master.

“Since things have come to this, squeeze out every last thing you can. Understood?”

“Yes. I'll do my utmost.”

“You learn as much as you can too, Liang Xiaojun.”

“I am grateful for the President's boundless grace!”

Liang Xiaojun bowed deeply.

Around ten Nine Dragons members were heading to Korea. Five of them would actually receive training.

Normally, low-Level Liang Xiaojun would never have been included in this delegation.

But things were different now.

Nine Dragons Guild's prestige had fallen after the King-of-the-Hill Match.

Meanwhile, Liang Xiaojun had broken France's record and risen as a new source of hope among the Chinese public.‘We'll need to use him well for a while.’If they wanted to soothe public sentiment and show that Nine Dragons Guild remained healthy, they needed a new star player.

Liang Xiaojun fit the role perfectly.

So what could they do?

They had no choice but to spend one of their five cards on him.‘Still, it's not a loss.’The Gate Contest?

Low-Level Awakened participated in that too.

They could raise Liang Xiaojun and still use him plenty.‘And he reads the room quickly.’China's hero, this and that.

Talk like that might have swollen most people's heads, but Liang Xiaojun was different.

He had become even more cautious and restrained, keeping himself thoroughly bowed before the President.

His family had apparently continued living quietly as well.

At least the man knew his place.

For the time being, he was worth raising.

And even if he eventually entertained different thoughts.

Nine Dragons Guild's surveillance network was everywhere.

If they wanted, they could probably report the exact number of hairs on Liang Xiaojun's body.

Nine Dragons Guild boarded a private jet and departed for Korea.

Naturally, they received nothing resembling Isabella's welcome.

They probably wouldn't have under normal circumstances either, but things were even worse now.

Relations between Korea and China were already poor.

On top of that, Nine Dragons had suffered a crushing defeat against Ilseong Guild, the guild mocked as Korea's eternal fifth place.

Both governments had publicly talked about reconciliation and improving relations.

The emotional rift between the populations, however, remained deep.

Whoooo…….

The airport was quiet.

After unloading their luggage, the Nine Dragons members waited.

Hong Tao looked over everyone with a resolute expression.

“For China's sake, we must learn even one more thing. Sleep on brushwood and taste gall! Burn those words into your minds again and again!”

“Yes!”

The Nine Dragons members answered with gleaming eyes. The damage had already been done.

At this point, even if they had to lick Kim Minwoo's gallbladder, they needed to learn every last thing possible.

Only with strength would they have any options later.

Before long, several vehicles approached the Nine Dragons delegation.

“Get in.”

The members quietly boarded.

The vehicles headed directly for Ilseong Training Center.

A bodyguard wearing sunglasses spoke.

“Go inside. Young Master is waiting for you.”

Hong Tao nodded on behalf of the others.

Their primary schedule was to remain at this Training Center for several days while receiving intensive instruction and Highest-Grade Elixirs.

After that, they'd face Ilseong Guild in another King-of-the-Hill Match.

The ten Chinese members entered the center.

Before long, they saw Kim Minwoo.

“You've come a long way. Welcome.”

Kim Minwoo greeted them with a warm smile.

That was when.

Kim Minwoo and Liang Xiaojun.

Their eyes met.

Messages appeared before each of them.

Before Kim Minwoo.[You have discovered your first Follower. How you choose to use him is entirely up to you.]

That message.

And before Liang Xiaojun.[The loyalty buried in deep slumber blazes to life. You are prepared to follow Him.]‘……

Huh?’Kim Minwoo tilted his head at the completely unexpected situation.

Then.

Thud!

Liang Xiaojun dropped to his knees.

At that very moment, he couldn't control the emotions boiling inside him like an active volcano.

His hands trembled violently.

Countless memories continued surging over him like a tidal wave.

Memories of following behind a being whose great knowledge he worshiped.

He was a great ruler.

He was a great creator.

He was a great avenger.

And he was a fallen ruler.

And Liang himself was…….

A follower who had endlessly yearned for him.

Even when everything collapsed, shattered, and scattered.

When told it was not yet over, he had resolved to endure even an age-long wait.

He had waited for what felt like eternity.

A vague faith that it wasn't the end.

Yes.

It truly had not been the end!

He understood instinctively.

The Death Lord.

What kind of existence that name referred to.

And exactly who stood before him now.

They were unquestionably the memories of some other, unknown existence.

Yet he couldn't reject their infusion.

It felt as though he had become one with the person inside those memories.

His vision blurred.

Before he knew it, two streams of hot tears were running down the cheeks of the kneeling Liang Xiaojun.