Chapter 143

“So you just granted that request?”

“Naturally, I received compensation. He permitted me to command his physical body for a hundred years.”

Lruyeh spoke as if she were proud of having closed a magnificent deal. From a Black Mage’s perspective, being able to wield the body of a Transcendent-Level Awakened for a hundred years in exchange for letting him participate in a single tournament was a massive profit.

During the conversation, a thread of mana approached, and a channel was linked with Lruyeh. As the only Transcendent-Level Awakened besides the Sword Immortal who knew my true identity, she seemed to harbor a bit of concern.

『Are you really going to do this?』

『This is a matter for which I have already made a Mana Oath. Not even you can bend my will on this.』

『…….』

『Don’t go silent on me. It’s scary because I feel like you’ll actually find a way around it.』

No matter how strict the conditions binding them were, as long as it was a mere contract and not a Blood Pact between an Archduke and a demon, there were ways. The basic framework for a contract to be nullified is a situation where one party becomes unable to fulfill the compensation they owe to the other.

Like a demon who promised to pass down insights into the Dark Arts losing their power and falling into a state where they live off Choco Pies. Or a Black Mage who promised to lead the Succubi squandering all the assets handed over by the Witches’ Council on buying disco balls and ending up penniless. The latter hasn’t happened yet, but it’s worth a shot someday.

Anyway, this case was the same. A prime example would be abolishing the Thunder Martial Arts Tournament itself; if the method to inherit the power disappeared, their contract would fail to be sustained and would shatter.

‘Of course, if that happens, the fact that the Thunder Immortal is rising as a corpse to try and kill all his descendants would be exposed to the whole world.’

Even if it were covered up, could they actually arrest Baek-seon—practically the only active Transcendent-Level Awakened showing her face in Seoul—on charges of desecration of a corpse and trespassing? How would the remaining power of the Thunder Immortal be inherited?

A fountain of problems like those would burst forth, so they wouldn’t be able to decide easily.

Of course, those were measures that Kang Nabi and the Kang family could take. If I stepped in, there was a much simpler and faster path that wouldn’t even require going that far. A way to simply nullify the contract with the flick of a few fingers.

Lruyeh knew that, which was why she didn’t want to get tangled up with me regarding this specific matter. She struck her fist against her palm with a clunky, acting tone and began backing toward the stairs.

“Ah, right! Come to think of it, it’s time for the Four Knights’ physical checkups.”

“Pardon?”

“You know the Special-Grade Monster Bellatrix was resurrected recently, right? Well, her main body in the basement of the Eternal Temple vanished, so I had to hastily plant the Dimensional Core that maintains the Gate into the Knight of Famine. Since then, he keeps malingering, saying his stomach hurts every night, so I booked a comprehensive checkup. I had no idea registration would take this long and totally forgot!”

Is she actually serious with this excuse…

“Anyway, see ya. Take care. Let’s meet at the arena next time.”

Before I could even respond, she leaned backward into the stairwell, turned into black smoke, and fled in an instant. All that remained were her rapid-fire words echoing and rebounding off the walls and ceiling of the emergency exit.

Kang Nabi stood there silently watching the display before finally letting out a single sentence.

“She’s gone.”

“So it seems. What do you plan to do now?”

“Things have gotten twisted, but I must do what needs to be done. I have no intention of giving up on inheriting the Thunder Immortal’s power.”

She couldn’t cancel the tournament itself, but she could intervene in the process. Kang Nabi said she would use her connections within the family to keep Baek-seon from being as active as possible. Kang Cho-won and Kang Ha-neul would surely cooperate once they heard the news. The Thunder Immortal was not a being that the three of them could defeat in simple one-on-one combat.

“My grandfather upheld the philosophy of ‘survival of the fittest’ and ‘destruction of the weak.’ His temperament was so violent that even when he was alive, he wasn’t a particularly respected figure. It’s unlikely any other supporters will emerge for him, so we’ll have to make use of our numerical advantage.”

Indeed, it seemed Lruyeh only put his name on the list so he could participate; she didn’t seem to have any intention of fighting for him personally. Since he had been robbed of the Thunder Immortal power that was supposed to be passed to a successor, he would be weaker than in his prime. If the three siblings cooperated, defeating him wouldn’t be impossible.

“Hayan, I have a request. Could you participate in this Thunder Martial Arts Tournament alongside my brother?”

“You mean Senior Kang Ha-neul?”

Kang Nabi nodded at my question.

“My grandfather’s goal is likely ‘pruning.’ He probably intends to reclaim his power and pass it on to a more ‘excellent’ descendant in a hundred years when his contract with Baek-seon-nim ends.”

To do that, he has to trim away the unsightly sprouts in advance. He’d keep the strongest one and maybe one spare just in case. For the rest, killing them upon encounter would be more advantageous for passing his desired “strong genes” to future generations.

In that case, the most dangerous person was Kang Ha-neul, the weakest of the three.

“He’s the type who won’t listen even if told not to participate because it’s dangerous. Please make sure he stays away from our grandfather as much as possible and gets eliminated at an appropriate time.”

“So you’re worried about Senior Kang Ha-neul.”

“I am not worried. It’s just that if another vacancy opens up in Division 3 now that the unit’s foundation is finally set, my overtime hours will increase. I’m just trying to prevent that.”

“So what you’re saying is, if he dies, you won’t be able to sleep at night.”

What a wonderful display of sibling love. They say a great father doesn’t have a cowardly son, and these descendants of the Thunder God, born with the blood of wolves, were looking out for each other like a pack even while pretending they weren’t.

Digestion really needs to learn from this. Having ditched the other tentacles and escaped to Europe all by herself, I, as her master, can only let out a deep sigh.

“Just leave it to me. I’ll make sure Senior Kang Ha-neul doesn’t get even a second of glory in this tournament—I’ll keep him tied down tight.”

“Thank you.”

Deciding to deal with that brat later, I changed my plans and resolved to enter the tournament directly to assist Kang Ha-neul. It would be a disaster if he went on a rampage like usual and ended up dead. If I could backstab the others while his older brother and sister were busy draining their strength against the Thunder Immortal, even Kang Ha-neul might have a shot at winning.

As I accepted the request, she pulled out her smartwatch.

“Are we becoming friends?”

“I’m only doing this because it’s necessary. I’ll handle the registration, so make sure you show up once the date and time are set.”

As soon as she added me, her profile popped up on the screen. More than anything else, her rank caught my eye.

“High-Level?”

“Don’t go spreading that around. Especially keep it a secret from my brother.”

Was she barely twenty? Kang Nabi was younger than both Yoo Se-byeol and No Yeon-hwa, and the Special Unit was practically her first job. If Kang Ha-neul found out about this, he might actually die of sheer frustration. Since she might actually win instead of Kang Cho-won, I’d better stay on her good side.

I reached out and shook hands with the future commander of the Counterintelligence Unit.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“Ah, yes.”

A sharp sting of static electricity shot through me. Despite that, Kang Nabi gripped my hand even tighter. Inside my sleeve, Mala-nim writhed in agony from the repeated shocks.

Just as I felt a surge of unease, Kang Nabi raised her smartwatch with her other hand. She connected a call to Commander Ha Yeri and said:

“Commander, I found Agent Sae Hayan in Yeouido as per your notice. I am currently apprehending him to return to the unit—Mmph! Mmph!”

“Wait, wait a minute!”

I frantically covered her mouth.

“Weren’t we on the same side?!”

“Not exactly ‘the same side,’ but close enough until the tournament is over.”

“Then why are you selling me out?!”

“That’s because…”

Hesitating for a moment at my question, Kang Nabi returned to professional mode and spoke.

“Things have gotten twisted, but I must do what needs to be done.”

“Wait, did you always have eight fingers?”

“I lost one more a few days ago.”

“And what’s with that face? The tournament hasn’t even started, but you already look like a defeated soldier.”

“Mind your own business.”

The day of the Thunder Martial Arts Tournament.

I boarded the bus with a massive pout on my face. With only four fingers on one hand, it was hard even to hold onto the handle properly. As I stumbled, Kang Ha-neul clicked his tongue and let me grab onto his spear shaft for support. He had that personality—always giving people a hard time while secretly worrying about his unit members.

“So, are you living with eight fingers now?”

“No. They said if it falls off again while healing, it’ll be hard to reattach, so I’m planning to stick it back on after the tournament is over.”

“Where is it now?”

“My finger? Probably in Commander Ha Yeri’s desk drawer.”

Fortunately, because it was cut relatively cleanly for a heavy sword strike, they said it could be fixed this time. It’s not like I’m a lizard growing back a tail or something. It didn’t feel great having a finger cut off every time there was a crisis, but since I saw the look of genuine panic on Ha Yeri’s face, I decided to let it slide this once.

Thinking about it, I had teased her a bit too much lately. While I was making a vow to limit myself to exactly three teases a day, the bus entered a forest as dense as a pack of bean sprouts. Signs indicating private property were posted here and there.

“I thought I’d been all over the outskirts of Seoul since joining the Special Unit, but this is my first time here. Was there always a stadium in a place like this?”

“I heard it’s a Gate.”

“A Gate?”

“You’ve been in plenty of them, haven’t you? Something like the Necropolis.”

This tournament was being held in a Gate owned by the Thunder Immortal’s lineage. Since there weren’t many places in South Korea where numerous Awakened could fight—aside from natural fortresses like Cheonsan—it was a reasonable choice.

“It was originally supposed to be a tournament format, but the content changed due to certain circumstances.”

“Is that why they told us to pack backpacks?”

“Exactly.”

Battle Royale Survival.

The core of the competition was to find narrowing safe zones in a canyon where lightning struck incessantly amidst wind and rain, until only one final survivor remained. Since Kang Nabi and Kang Cho-won would move to find the Thunder Immortal as soon as the match started, we planned to hide in a safe place for as long as possible. Above all, survival was my specialty, so I was confident.

“But how do you know all this? The details were supposed to be a secret until right before the match. Do you have a source?”

“It’s the result of thorough preliminary research.”

I didn’t tell Kang Ha-neul that the Thunder Immortal had returned as a corpse. Knowing his personality, he wouldn’t run away even if his opponent was a Transcendent-Level Awakened.

“Just follow me and you’ll be able to win.”

“Bullshit. I’m not following you; you’re following me.”

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

“Get moving.”

Getting off in the forest, we had our identities verified by the waiting guides and stepped into the Gate. The moment we crossed the threshold, the deafening sound of continuous thunder tore through our ears.