Ch.46Illegal Transaction Site Is Dangerous (2)

“…What are you people?”

Jackson’s eyes were filled with confusion. Looking at the wedge pattern engraved on his wrist, he changed his expression to a cold one and asked me.

“So my activities have all been known. Who’s backing you?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

I took out my medium from my pocket and summoned the Skeleton Masher, Phantom Wolf, and the newly created Revenant.

“What orders did you receive? What’s your purpose?”

“……”

Does he really not know? I glared at Jackson, trembling with anger.

“You, you suspended it.”

“What?”

“You suspended my game account!”

Hearing those words, Jackson furrowed his brow, making an expression as if he wasn’t sure if he understood correctly.

Then, as if deciding he had misheard, he asked again.

“What orders did you receive?”

“Nothing like that.”

I calmed my anger, steadied my breathing, and calmly declared war.

“You killed my account, so you’re just going to die too.”

“…You’re not in your right mind. Are you saying you confronted me for such a trivial reason?”

Boom.

Jackson raised a sharp blue sword in one hand and summoned a shield in the other.

He must have had some artifact engraved with spatial magic.

“I’ve been checking for presences around us for a while now, but I haven’t found any reinforcements. What are you thinking?”

“Why would I need that?”

“You’re just a C-rank nobody. I really don’t understand the current situation.”

Tilting his head, Jackson eventually took a combat stance and continued speaking.

“Well, this might be a strategy to buy time. I’ll quickly deal with both you and your master, then leave promptly.”

BOOM!

Crack!

CRASH!

As Jackson kicked off the ground, the surface caved in with a tremendous noise.

It was an unbelievably fast speed. In the process, his attack completely destroyed the Masher and the Revenant.

In an instant, Jackson approached me and launched a sword strike, saying:

“Nothing special.”

Slash!

Splash.

However, my form that was cut by the sword melted away immediately. As Jackson frowned, I spoke from where I was sitting on a tree nearby.

“Your field of vision isn’t particularly wide.”

“When did you…”

I jumped down from the tree and corrected Jackson’s statement that had been bothering me.

“For your information, Song Hayeon isn’t my master but my disciple.”

“I see… So C-rank is just your cover identity? I’m becoming more curious about who’s backing you.”

To Jackson’s words, I spoke once more.

“I don’t have anyone backing me.”

“……”

“I never needed that in the first place.”

From his earlier charge, I had roughly gauged Jackson’s specs. And as I always say, when someone hiding reveals themselves on the battlefield, it’s only because they’re confident in victory.

Having assessed him, I looked at Jackson and uttered meaningful words.

“Death Knight or Dullahan.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’ll turn you into whichever you prefer.”

It was clearly an insult. Jackson twisted his expression and readjusted his grip on his sword and shield.

“You’re digging your own grave.”

Crackle.

Whoosh.

Jackson’s entire body was enveloped in yellow magical energy and began to emit small amounts of steam.

He had activated all his enhancement skills.

In response, I also brought out my trump card to end this.

“Book of Death.”

Whoosh!

Rustle!

It had 21 pages. What was contained within was the spider nest of Arachnian Penelope, the apex predator that ruled the forbidden area in the Kesetl region, commonly known as the Black Forest.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Crack.

The summoned spider nest took root, turning the surrounding ground black, and soon the cocoon at its center split open, revealing something with the face of a beautiful woman.

Its arms and legs were human-like, but on its back were three pairs of eerie legs like wings.

Crack.

“I see you, my Lord.”

Crack.

Crack.

After noisily moving her joints for a while, Penelope eventually settled down and spoke again.

“Is it really you, my Lord?”

“You can tell by looking.”

“You’ve become quite cute.”

“……”

“I apologize. Was that inappropriate?”

Penelope tilted her head without changing her expression.

She was a being who didn’t really understand human emotions to begin with. Seeing that blank face, I couldn’t even muster the energy to get angry and just sighed.

Originally, I wanted to summon Hans, the Dullahan zombie, to pit against Jackson, who was called the Tireless Warrior, but fighting that way would take more than 30 minutes, let alone 10, to reach a conclusion.

Therefore, I summoned Penelope, who was Jackson’s perfect counter, for a quick battle.

“Kill him within 7 minutes. Try not to damage the corpse too much.”

“I will obey your command.”

Step.

Step.

Penelope began approaching Jackson with her characteristically mechanical eyes.

And slowly, she extended her hand covered in spider webs.

#

Jackson had been clever since childhood. He was especially confident in his ability to detect danger, which was unrivaled.

That’s why the moment he met Song Hayeon at the trade site, he realized he was being played on someone’s chessboard and immediately chose to flee.

‘The item is regrettable, but given the situation, it’s likely fake.’

Just as he was about to escape, an unexpected interference appeared. It was Baek Eunha.

‘He possesses quite a high-grade artifact.’

That meant the entity behind him also possessed equivalent power.

However, even after testing the waters through meaningless conversation with Baek Eunha, he couldn’t sense anyone new approaching. Only Song Hayeon, whom he had seen earlier, was following.

‘…What’s going on?’

If it was just those two, he could handle them in less than three minutes. That’s why Jackson couldn’t understand the current situation.

They seemed to be hiding some tricks, but they would be meaningless before him, an A-rank hunter with a superior title.

However, the moment Baek Eunha took out the Book of Death and summoned Penelope, Jackson felt that something had gone terribly wrong.

‘This energy is…’

He could tell even though no attack had been made yet. The opponent was not ordinary. It clearly possessed power of at least A-rank or higher.

‘That level of power and intelligence. Could it be a high-level undead?’

Jackson had seen a high-level undead before. A Death Knight summoned by a man who was considered strong even within his group.

And the sensation he felt from his opponent, though somewhat lacking, was not much different from that time.

‘…Dangerous.’

He knew its might well.

Moreover, even if he wanted to escape now, his retreat was blocked by some artifact.

The strategy Jackson quickly devised was to engage moderately and then take the opportunity to eliminate Baek Eunha, the summoner.

‘Unfortunately, I’ve dealt with summoner types more than enough.’

And in reality, it was quite an effective method.

Rustle.

Just before the fight began, Baek Eunha suddenly hid inside the cocoon that Penelope had torn out of, which was unexpected.

Seeing this, Jackson felt a sense of futility and involuntarily shouted words of criticism.

“Such cowardice…”

[Weren’t you the one who called summoners vile creatures who hide behind their summons? Why act surprised now?]

The restored cocoon appeared to have considerable durability at a glance.

In a situation where Jackson’s strategy had been foiled, Baek Eunha merely muttered in an annoying voice.

[If you’re upset, you should do it too.]

“Tch.”

He was truly a petty fellow.

Jackson had no choice but to activate his skills and engage in a direct confrontation with Penelope.

BOOM!

Slash!

Slash!

CRASH!

‘She can’t be stronger than that man’s undead anyway. If I can drag this into a long battle!’

From Jackson’s perspective, Baek Eunha seemed like a skilled necromancer, but appeared much inferior compared to the man he had seen before.

However, such thoughts were shattered just two minutes after clashing with Penelope.

Slash!

BOOM!

‘What, what kind of movement is this.’

It was incomprehensible to Jackson.

The power he sensed from Baek Eunha was clearly at most barely B-rank, yet the undead before him possessed strength above average even among A-ranks.

“God of War’s Strike!”

Slash!

Whoosh!

Stab.

Using a skill, he managed to cut off one of the legs on her back, but Jackson had far more wounds.

He was completely outmatched in terms of skill.

CRASH!

Boom!

‘She’s strong!’

How could such a weak master produce such a powerful undead?

The situation was so unbelievable that it felt somehow unfair.

However, Jackson still had something to rely on.

After all, his title as the Tireless Warrior wasn’t just for show.

Whoosh.

Sizzle.

‘…If this drags on, victory will ultimately be mine.’

Feeling his healing power increase as his wounds accumulated, Jackson wore a triumphant smile.

Just then, Baek Eunha, who was inside the cocoon, spoke again as if he had forgotten to mention something.

[Oh. By the way, she has poison too.]

Simultaneously, purple stains suddenly appeared all over his wounds, and the healing power that had been enveloping his body began to dissipate.

Whoosh.

Hissss─!

“Argh!”

Thud.

Feeling his entire body suddenly overcome with weakness, Jackson helplessly collapsed.

‘Cough! This, damn…’

The opponent was completely toying with him. Realizing this fact, anxiety began to grow in Jackson’s eyes.

“…Who, who are you?”

Whoosh.

Thud.

“Well, you should have avoided doing regrettable things.”

Baek Eunha, emerging from the cocoon, began to approach Jackson leisurely. There was no hesitation in his actions, no sense of crisis. It was truly the appearance of someone confident in their victory.

Slide.

Eventually arriving in front of Jackson, Baek Eunha bent his knee to match eye level and asked again with an overbearing smile.

“Death Knight or Dullahan.”

“Ugh!”

“Have you decided yet?”

It was the moment when an inescapable death sentence was being passed on Jackson.