Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Spendthrift Necromancer (60)

Inescapable Net (4)

Variations on old exam questions were hard to predict.

Choosing to lay a trap instead of simply fleeing had worked beautifully.

The ambush with chains had wiped out the Lee Clan martial artists.

The same went for the fifty who had avoided the trap.

The Lee Clan might throw its weight around, but in the end, it controlled only a single city.

None of the remaining fifty were above first-rate.

Once thousands of Skeletons rushed them, they floundered and died one after another.

Only Lee Wonpyeong, who stood at the very edge of first-rate, was still putting up a fight against Seo Yerim.‘Not that he can win.’Seo Yerim was someone even Elder-class experts from the three great organizations would struggle against.

At Lee Wonpyeong's level, buying even a little time was the best he could do.

Minwoo approached him and drove his sword in deep.

“Guh!”

Eventually, even Lee Wonpyeong collapsed.[Level increases by 1!]

“Thanks for stalling him. Got another level out of it.”

“I barely get any experience from them anyway.”

She shrugged.

“So how many levels did you gain total?”

“Went from 130 to 135.”

“Five levels from one battle? Wow. Must be nice at your level.”

“Low-level privilege.”

Even the weakest Lee Clan martial artist had strength around Level 150.

With that many of them dying in a group, it wasn't strange that Kim Minwoo had power-leveled.

Seo Yerim was different.

Experience dropped drastically the greater the level gap.

And she was a high-level Awakened approaching Level 400.

Even if she killed everyone here, she probably wouldn't gain even 1% experience.

That was why they'd agreed beforehand to let Minwoo take the experience.

It was also why she had dragged out her fight against Lee Wonpyeong.‘The Skeletons leveled like crazy too.’Immediately after leaving the city.

He'd canceled most of the Skeletons scattered in every direction.

Their position had already been exposed.

Continuing to spread them out would soon lose all meaning.

Within a few hours, the forces of all three organizations would converge toward them.

Leaving around five Skeletons in each group, he canceled the rest and summoned them all back here.

Thanks to that, their average level had reached 65.

Considering thousands of them shared the experience, the Skeletons were enjoying the low-level sweet spot too.

And on top of that.[Repeated combat experience further improves the Skeletons' weapon skill!][Melee Weapon Mastery becomes E-rank!][Melee Weapon Mastery(E): Damage with all melee weapons increases by 20%.]‘Fucking sweet.’With their weapon mastery rising, the Skeletons had grown even stronger.

Then.―Coo.

Snowy revealed itself.

And it was gripping the corpse of a carrier pigeon tightly in its claws.

“How did my Snowy get so clever? Must take after Daddy.”―Coo.

Minwoo gently stroked its head.

Now that every carrier pigeon had been dealt with, word would take much longer to spread.‘Time to split the horses.’Until now, dividing the horses had been awkward because the Lee Clan was chasing them.

Even if Minwoo split them up, the enemy would discover the true direction the moment they caught up with him.

But things were different now.

The entire pursuit force had been wiped out.

If he split the horses into pairs and pulled the clone trick again?‘That'll give them another headache.’They were traveling mostly straight upward, but there was no law saying they had to keep following that exact road.

The pursuers had to consider every possibility.

The Skeletons climbed onto the horses together.

“Try moving.”

The Skeletons awkwardly tried to balance and promptly fell off together.

They'd never ridden horses before.

Nothing could be done about that.

“Tie yourselves to each other with rope.”

The remaining Skeletons wrapped ropes tightly around those sitting on the horses.

Now they wouldn't fall.

After roughly cleaning up the battlefield, Minwoo looked toward Seo Yerim.

“Let's go.”

They rode away.* * *The Unorthodox Alliance Leader, Heavenly Demon, and Martial Alliance Leader.

The three masters didn't move carelessly.

They simply remained positioned at the very center.

The reason was simple.

If they picked one direction and moved only to receive word that the fugitives had appeared in the exact opposite direction, they'd arrive too late.

But if they remained in the center?

They might not be the fastest, but at least they wouldn't be disastrously late.

That was why.

Soon, news arrived that the two fugitives had appeared.

The three burned Mana without restraint and raced toward Hanrim City at full speed.

It wasn't long before they discovered the remains of the Lee Clan pursuit force.

The Martial Alliance Leader clicked his tongue after seeing Lee Wonpyeong's cold corpse.

“Tsk. They fell into a trap. Every horse tripped. Stretching chains across the road at night and waiting for them…… vicious bastard.”

Gu Yangcheon snorted.

“It wasn't impossible to spot. If they'd concentrated and moved carefully, they wouldn't have suffered this much damage. Obvious what happened. They chased with their eyes rolled back and ran straight into it.”

The Unorthodox Alliance Leader's face hardened as he examined the corpses' fingers.

“There were five carrier pigeons. Judging by the scent remaining on their hands, they even released them.”

“But if no message arrived…… they killed all five pigeons in flight?”

The Martial Alliance Leader's face hardened.

That wasn't something ordinary skill could accomplish.

Apparently, the fugitives possessed another hidden card.

“……

Seems so. But…… I can't tell how they did it.”

Gu Yangcheon frowned.

“Hey. He's your son, isn't he? You don't even know something like that?”

“……

Hah. That boy began acting as though he'd become a completely different person overnight. I'll be honest. I don't know much about him either.”

When Baek Socheon had gone to hunt the Human-Faced Spider.

Baek Hakseong had assigned an Elder to him, but the Elder hadn't followed into the mountain itself.

His role was to prevent interference before the party entered, not to assist with hunting the Human-Faced Spider.

The Alliance Leader hadn't wanted cheating either, so he'd merely ordered the Elder to watch them leave and return.

The mountain was the Human-Faced Spider's playground.

No lunatic would enter just to interfere with them there.‘……

Should I have had him follow?’If the Elder had witnessed them hunting the Human-Faced Spider, they would have reliable information on both fugitives now.

Only now did Baek Hakseong regret how little he knew about Baek Socheon and Choi Aeng-Aeng.

Baek Socheon was good with a sword and commanded the dead.

Choi Aeng-Aeng was a maid who was good with a sword.

That was all he knew.

Within that information, nothing immediately suggested a method capable of killing five carrier pigeons in flight.

Sword energy?

If they could shoot down five flying pigeons with sword energy, they were already at a realm comparable to the three leaders.

Impossible.

The people searching the surroundings gathered around them.

“There are no unusual traces besides horse tracks.”

“No carrier-pigeon corpses?”

“No, Alliance Leader. None were found.”

The three men sighed.

Tracking had become even more difficult.

If carrier pigeons could be intercepted, the chance of receiving information dropped drastically.

The only consolation was.

“At least this time there aren't forty directions.”

The groups had split twenty ways.

Exactly half as many.

Whether that was something to celebrate was another question.

Martial Alliance Leader Yang Jeonghak spoke grimly.

“……

For now, we'll need search teams covering every major road.”

“Yeah. If they're riding horses, there's no way they'll avoid being detected. But will search teams alone be enough? Look at this guy. Seems like that maid toyed with him.”

Gu Yangcheon pointed at Lee Wonpyeong.

Anyone could tell from the corpse.

He'd been a master at the edge of first-rate.

Not a trace of Mana remained in his body, meaning he'd fought with everything he had until completely drained.

And Baek Socheon had killed him easily with a sword.

It was obvious.

Those two were very strong.

“……

Then you're suggesting mobilizing the government too?”

“It's already been almost two days. Looks dangerous to me. They're riding horses, so they're preserving stamina too.”

“…….”

“What are you so afraid of? If all three of us demand it together, not just the emperor, even the emperor's grandfather would obey.”

“Hmm…….”

Yang Jeonghak hesitated.

It had been a long time since the government bowed its head to Murim.

But making it mobilize troops for a private matter was still rather burdensome.

Military authority belonged to the emperor, after all.

And Yang Jeonghak was the leader of the supposedly orthodox Martial Alliance.

His position differed somewhat from the unorthodox factions and Demonic Cult.

For one thing, the entire world would curse him to hell and back.

Worse, helping them in this matter actually harmed the government.

Murim had produced the strongest person every generation and beaten the authorities into submission.

Wasn't this simply a continuation of the same cycle?

Fortunately, Baek Hakseong voiced an objection in his place.

“No. If we're careless, the government might actually help those two instead. It could become an obstacle. With their temperament, they might even let them pass freely.”

“Ha! Let them pass? You think I, Gu Yangcheon, would tolerate that? I'll smash every last one of their heads.”

“……

Either way. Forcing the government to act too aggressively could backfire. Push someone too far and they'll eventually snap. Let's maintain only the blockade for now. It's not yet time.”

“……

Bullshit. What if they really escape while we're playing around?”

“It hasn't even been two full days. If we still can't catch them by tomorrow, then I'll seriously consider your proposal.”

“Fine, that's you. What about you, Yang Jeonghak? Don't tell me you're going to cast the lone noble vote against it.”

“……

We'll do as the Unorthodox Alliance Leader says.”

“Hmph! Fine. Then let's continue the pursuit.”* * *They rode onward.

Along the way, they encountered another search party.

Minwoo summoned Skeletons to grab the horses' legs.

The terrified horses went wild.

Seo Yerim's arrows pierced through the riders' heads one after another.

A massacre followed.‘They just keep coming.’Day three.

Security was tight, but they still managed to break through another city.‘I'm dizzy.’He had barely slept for three days.

At most, he'd dozed off briefly while on horseback.

If he hadn't been an Awakened, he'd have already passed out.

Still, there was one fortunate thing.[Progress: 96%][Remaining Distance: 4%]

They were almost there.‘The search parties helped a lot.’The enemies coming from ahead weren't that strong.

But their horses were fresh.

An endless supply.

He'd used them to create more confusion for the pursuers.

He'd also gained quite a few levels.

In just one day, he'd reached Level 145.

That was how much fighting they'd done.

The problem.

Was the chilling message that had appeared once their progress exceeded eighty percent.[Progress exceeds 80%!][Your destination is revealed to the Martial Alliance Leader, Heavenly Demon, and Unorthodox Alliance Leader!][The government begins intervening!]

From that moment onward, government soldiers began swarming them like dogs.‘Fortunately…….’They didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about stopping them.

More like going through the motions.

They'd pretend to block the road for a bit, then scream, Aaargh, retreat! and clear the way.

Sometimes they'd see the fugitives and simply let them pass.‘Emperor, nice.’Apparently the emperor wanted them to escape as far away as possible.

It was incredibly fortunate.

If the soldiers had seriously blocked the road, Minwoo doubted they'd have progressed another 5%, never mind 16%.‘Guess he had a lot bottled up.’Normally, they'd be terrified of the consequences and fight desperately.

Apparently this emperor had accumulated plenty of resentment toward Murim.

Coo!

Snowy flew over and folded one toe.

Minwoo looked toward Seo Yerim.

“Bad news.”

“How close are they now?”

“About one hour.”

“……

This is insane.”

“Tell me about it.”

They were going to be caught.

He could roughly see how things would unfold.

He'd expected this to some degree.

There was no way they'd clear the Gate without encountering the three old monsters even once.

Sure enough.

“You're not about to collapse yet, right?”

“……

I can endure.”

“Take potions. Then let's get off and run.”

Horses were transportation meant to conserve stamina.

At full speed, Awakened were faster.

They didn't have much stamina left, but they needed to gain even a little distance.

Final sprint.

Minwoo and Seo Yerim began gulping down potions recklessly.

All stats increased by 50, movement speed rose, their bodies grew lighter…….

Potions costing over a hundred million won per bottle disappeared one after another.

Every form of doping was poured into their bodies.[You have consumed too many potions in a short period! Overload occurs!]‘Not enough.’Even now, his stats remained far below Seo Yerim's.

The three old monsters had probably begun running at full speed too.

They would encounter each other in less than an hour.

This wasn't enough to resist them.‘Then I have to gamble.’Life was all about one big bet.

His Strength and Agility were currently in the high 400s after one round of doping.

He pulled out every Strength and Agility potion.

The other stats no longer mattered.

He needed to raise these two as high as possible.

Until when?‘At least 800 each.’Only then would he have any chance of buying time against those old monsters.

He drank another round of enhancement potions.[You consume Strength Enhancement Potion(Highest-Grade)

!][You are in an Overloaded state! Stacking effectiveness decreases by 50%!][Agility Enhancement Potion…….][You consume Strength Enhancement Potion(Highest-Grade)

!][You are in an Overloaded state! Stacking effectiveness decreases by 50%…….][Agility…….]

Seo Yerim stared in horror as Kim Minwoo chugged potions recklessly.

“Are you insane? You'll get addicted! You could cripple yourself for life!”

“I still have to do it. Otherwise those old monsters will cut me apart.”

He kept drinking.

Overload.

Potion effectiveness dropped by 50%.

Something that normally raised a stat by 50 would now raise it by only 25.

And it pushed him rapidly toward addiction.

What happened if addiction hit?

Potion effectiveness plummeted permanently.

For life.

Withdrawal symptoms came as a bonus.

He'd become addicted once during Death Lord's Trial.‘That time I had a fake body, so it didn't matter.’This was his real body.

That was why, under normal circumstances, Minwoo never drank more potions once he entered this state.

It was insane.

But right now.

It was time to do something insane.

Time to spin the Russian roulette wheel.‘If there's a bullet in the chamber, well, life gets a lot harder.’Still, gambling was far better than being helplessly cut down.

After drinking five Strength and five Agility potions.[You have consumed too many potions in a short period! Potion addiction…….][Title, ‘Live for Today,’ activates!][You resist Potion Addiction!]

His anti-addiction title activated.

He drank another ten.

Five of each.[You have consumed too many potions in a short period! Potion addiction…….][Title, ‘Live for Today’…….][You resist Potion Addiction…….]‘One more time.’He drank another ten, five of each.[Title, ‘Super Lucky Guy,’ activates!][You resist Potion Addiction!][You have resisted addiction three times!][You have acquired the title, ‘Insane Gambler’!]

Lucky.

Now this was getting fun.