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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: A Demon Race Assassin Appears
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= Gungryeong! Sulryeong!
Amidst this, Ilryeong stayed back and separately called out Gungryeong and Sulryeong to secure command.
In response, Gungryeong and Sulryeong put some distance between themselves and Geon-woo's group up ahead, beginning to provide cover from the rear.
Gungryeong fired arrows, while Sulryeong used her newly acquired skill.
Ku-ra-ra! Ka-ru-ra, Po-ra-chi-ku-ra!
Ma-ta-do-cha Bu-ke-do-chi-ra!
As Sulryeong unleashed her shamanic spell, a commotion erupted atop the stockade.
Sulryeong was a jiangshi refined to enhance mental energy rather than physical prowess.
That was why she had primarily absorbed the corpses of shaman-type creatures, and in that process, she had finally succeeded in gaining a supernatural ability.
The tree roots and vines sprouting from the stockade right now were the direct result of that ability.
She had used a spell that rapidly grew the roots and vines of trees and then manipulated them to bind and entangle enemies within range.
Geon-woo had initially been disappointed that the hard-earned ability from Sulryeong was just a crowd control skill, but once he realized it was a wide-area CC that could affect a broad range, he was reasonably satisfied.
Even if it lacked lethality, the ability to throw a large group of enemies into chaos was incredibly useful.
Ku-wa-wa! Sal-ke-ra! Ja-sa-i-ra!
As Gungryeong's arrows picked off their comrades and part of the stockade fell under Sulryeong's ability, the infected began to grow agitated.
And then some of them leaped down from the stockade, charging toward Geon-woo and the jiangshi.
It was a glimpse into the incomplete dominance of the higher infected.
Keu-wang! Kwa-jik! Sal-ke! Ja-sa-i-ra!
The beast infected jiangshi charging ahead tangled in an instant with the humanoid infected creatures bursting out from the stockade.
Peo-beok! Kwa-jik!
An infected creature whose arm had been bitten by a beast infected smashed the beast's head with an axe.
Seizing that moment, another beast infected tore into the infected creature's throat.
But the beast infected that had bitten the throat also had its own neck severed by another infected creature's attack.
From that sight, Geon-woo could clearly gauge the power gap between the beasts and the first-stage shed types.
The infected creature whose throat had been bitten was staggering back to its feet without dying.
But in that instant, Geon-woo and the jiangshi joined the fray.
"Cha-ah!"
Seo-geok! Seo-geok! Tsu-ri-rit! Seo-geok!
Geon-woo's sword danced through the infected horde.
No matter how the infected tried to block the blade, they couldn't keep up with its speed.
Geon-woo wielded his sword freely, leveraging his superior physical abilities.
He avoided clashing with the infected's weapons as much as possible, slashing at whatever came within reach.
Teo-eung! Kwa-jik! Seo-geok! Peo-beo-beok!
Around Geon-woo, the six jiangshi rampaged in their own ways.
Ssangryeong and Seomryeong were fast, Sunryeong and Changryeong were heavy, and Gwonryeong was relentless.
Keu-a-a-aak! Kya-a-a-a!
The remaining one, Dokryeong, spewed poisonous mist from her entire body, poisoning the infected.
It wasn't a poison strong enough for instant death, but one that caused immense agony when inhaled along with the air.
The moment it was breathed in, combat effectiveness plummeted, and the victim writhed in unbearable pain.
Dokryeong thrust her hand into the body of a poisoned infected and absorbed its energy.
Dokryeong created poison by absorbing necessary components from creature bodies.
She would simply extract acidic fluids from the enemy's body and spray them back, or sometimes combine various components to produce nerve-paralyzing toxins.
That was Dokryeong's ability.
Byu-ji-ra? Teo-reo-rik-ta! Pa-al-la-ju-ra!
Kal-la! Ja-ra-bu-ra-na! Ka-ho-sa-dal-lan!
As dozens fell in an instant, the infected's momentum crumbled sharply.
Catching his breath briefly, Geon-woo sneered at them.
"Your tongues are lolling out—looks like the excitement's worn off, huh? What, wanna call it quits here?"
A short breather.
In the meantime, the jiangshi absorbed energy from the dead infected bodies.
When the jiangshi were weaker, they had to feed directly to gain energy, but now they could absorb it just by being nearby.
Of course, it couldn't compare to directly consuming blood, flesh, and bone, but they could passively siphon energy like this.
It wouldn't immediately become jiangshi blood, but over time, it would gradually restore their jiangshi blood energy.
Huuu-uuu-uuung! Huuu-uuung!
"Uh?! Dodge!"
At that moment, a heavy whoosh came from the stockade, followed by several dark red clumps flying toward them.
Geon-woo sensed them and shouted, hurling himself aside.
Peo-beo-beo-beong! Peo-be-beong!
Right after, where Geon-woo and the jiangshi had been, came the sound of leather waterskins bursting, splattering dark red clumps everywhere.
Chi-ji-ji-ji-jik! Chii-i-i-ik!
Pushe-she-she-shi Hwa-reu-reu-reu-reuk!
But then strange phenomena occurred where the dark red clumps landed.
First, the spots they hit began to melt slowly, then rapidly corroded after a few seconds.
Dead bodies, armor, metal weapons, soil, and even stone—all corroded away.
But that wasn't the end.
Once corrosion had progressed to a point, flames ignited there.
"Ah, those filthy bastards. How many of them can use that?"
By then, Geon-woo had already evacuated the impact zone with the jiangshi.
His eyes quickly scanned the top of the stockade.
The attack that had just flown in was a technique occasionally used by shaman types among the second-stage shed creatures.
A ranged area attack with tremendous power.
However, it had the weakness of being slow enough projectiles that you could dodge if you spotted the signs.
Hadn't he just heard the sound and evaded it?
But what if he hadn't dodged?
"It wouldn't have melted my armor completely, but the damage would've been significant. Burns for sure."
Geon-woo spotted a few suspicious infected atop the stockade and scowled.
There were probably around ten shamans in that village.
And about four of them seemed to have mastered that spell.
"You bastards! Let's make that our greeting for now."
Confirming the threatening spell attack, Geon-woo decided to pull back for the moment.
This assault had just been a probing skirmish.
= My lord, I've ordered Gungryeong to prepare a sniper shot. We'll target the shamans.
At that moment, Ilryeong's report came into Geon-woo's ear.
Geon-woo nodded toward Gungryeong and Sulryeong in the rear, then separately sent his will to Dokryeong.
Dokryeong picked up a severed infected head rolling on the ground and gripped it with both hands.
After injecting it full of poison, she passed the head to Gwonryeong, who hurled it toward the stockade.
Puhwak!
The flying head smashed into the top of the stockade and burst, releasing gray smoke in that instant.
Keu-a-a-ak! A-a-ak! Kke-e-e-ek!
Dokryeong's poison seemed to be the agony-inducing kind again, as screams like entrails being ripped out echoed from the gray smoke.
In response, several infected atop the stockade moved.
Infected wielding staffs, axes, banners, and such began chanting spells.
The shaman infected used spells to blow away the gray smoke Dokryeong had created.
Confirming that, Geon-woo glanced at Gungryeong.
Hwi-ri-rik!
Tteu-deok! Ppu-deu-deu-deuk!
Right after, Sulryeong cast her spell atop the stockade, and the next moment, Gungryeong—who had fully drawn her bowstring—loosed a single arrow.
Kwae-e-e-e-e-ek!
The sound of the arrow whistling through the air rang out.
But by the time it reached Geon-woo's ears, the arrow was already exploding the head of one infected shaman atop the stockade.
Peng!
The shaman, with everything above the shoulders obliterated, flailed its limbs as it collapsed.
Then, an enormous roar erupted from deep within the village beyond the stockade.
Ku-a-a-a-a! Sal-ke-ra! Ja-sa-pi-a-ke-rak!
Ku-ra-ra-ra! Sal-ke! Sal-ke-rak!
Waa-a-a-a!
Immediately after, the infected atop the stockade leaped out en masse, charging forward.
At the same time, the stockade gate swung open, revealing large mid-sized infected.
"Whoa! They're seriously pissed now?"
= My lord, for now...
"Yeah. Let's pull back."
Geon-woo led the jiangshi away even before Ilryeong's advice.
But the moment Geon-woo thought he'd shaken off the pursuit by delving deep into the forest with the jiangshi...
Hwi-ik! Pu-uk! Pu-uk!
"Kuhk! Keuk!"
Suddenly, a shadow materialized from empty air behind Geon-woo's back, stabbing daggers into the nape of his neck and his back.
The first strike precisely targeted the back of his neck, and the second dagger pierced through his back and out his chest.
= My lord! It's a demon race member!
Ilryeong recognized the assailant's identity and screamed.
Hwi-ik! Teo-deong! Wi-rik! Shi-shi-shik!
The next moment, the jiangshi rushed at the assailant to protect Geon-woo.
But the assailant vanished without clashing with the jiangshi.
As a result, the jiangshi's attacks merely clawed at empty air.
"Kuh-uh!"
Geon-woo staggered under the jiangshi's guard.
Two daggers were still embedded in his body.
At the very least, the moment he sensed the first attack, he'd twisted to avoid offering his full nape.
The narrowly dodged first dagger had deeply gouged between his neck and shoulder.
And in the split-second that followed, the second attack landed—regrettably, one he couldn't react to in time.
The first dagger's deep stab into his neck and shoulder had briefly stiffened his body, even if only for an instant, leaving him unable to evade.
The assailant had clearly planned for that, striking without missing the brief opening, driving the second dagger through Geon-woo's back, piercing his heart, and protruding from his chest.
= My lord!
Ilryeong flew desperately toward Geon-woo.
"Kwiik! I'm fine! Gwonryeong, pull out the daggers!"
Geon-woo grimaced and yelled at Gwonryeong beside him.
But Gwonryeong had already read his will over his voice and was in the midst of extracting the two daggers from his body.
Pu-uk! Pu-uk!
"Kra, fuck! That hurts like hell."
Teol-seok!
The moment the daggers were pulled free, Geon-woo spat a groan-laced curse and collapsed in place.
"Haa, that Eighteen Feet Kick bullshit! If I weren't a jiangshi body, I'd be dead. Ow, shit!"
Geon-woo grumbled roughly with his mouth, but even sitting on the ground, he heightened his senses to the extreme.
He was certain the ambusher wouldn't just leave like this.
= Are you alright?
Ilryeong flew in front of Geon-woo and asked.
"My heart hurts a bit, but I'm good. These daggers must be high-quality."
Geon-woo extended his hand to Gwonryeong, taking the two daggers as he spoke.
= They're from a proper demon race member, so of course.
"Well, yeah."
Geon-woo nodded at Ilryeong's words.
When you got down to it, demon race members were superior specimens among creatures, equivalent to nobility in human terms.
In the ranking of Onblood residents, they were at least viscount-level at minimum.
It was only natural for such a being to wield better gear than lower-class creatures.