The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 215

Jae-Hyeok swung his sword and cut through several fireballs. A pressure wave ensued with his every swing—scattering the parted remnants of the fireballs and causing the encroaching blaze to flicker violently.

“How much longer?”

Jae-Hyeok’s expression was calm, but the fact that he’d asked the question betrayed nervousness.

Shinra Kyeong wiped his brow. “Exactly eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds before everyone’s detoxified—”

The mages shouted:

“Burn to death!”

“Our Eternal Flame will erase you from this world.”!”

Eternal indeed—no matter how many fireballs Jae-Hyeok scattered, there were more coming. Resources and cooldowns didn’t restrict the three zombie mages. Although blood and brain leaked from their orifices, a sign of severe magic backlash, their undead bodies were unfazed. They continued casting the same spell with no sign of stopping.

They were created for this purpose, Jae-Hyeok realized.

Unlike the clone that had invaded the Kang family, these clones were prepared to become zombies that endlessly spread fire. Their purpose from the start was clear—to burn the Shinra estate to the ground.

I have to eliminate them quickly.

Beads of sweat formed on the tip of Jae-Hyeok’s chin as he made a judgment.

As Ji Cheon-Myeong’s limp form had proven during the thunder tribulation, elemental resistances were crucial to players. The reason Jae-Hyeok could overcome the thunder tribulation was that he had high lightning elemental resistance, but the same couldn’t be said for his fire resistance. Were the flames to reach him, his end would be ugly.

“Cough, cough!” A Shooting Club member coughed up black blood, and his breathing quickly stabilized. The haze of divine power enveloping him disappeared as Shinra Kyeong dropped his hand. There were still twenty-three more people to go.

Shinra Kyeong said, “Kang Jae-Hyeok, detoxifying the poison and saving your friends are different matters. The Leadmond poison has already damaged their respiratory systems. If we stay any longer, they’ll succumb to the smoke—and we, the fire.”

Shinra Kyeong’s golden pupils flashed coldly. “It’s better to give up on detoxifying the rest.”

Jae-Hyeok, appalled, looked back at Shinra Kyeong, but what he saw only caused his expression to sink further.

The remaining twenty-three people who were still poisoned, writhing in pain, were all players from Guardian. Shinra Kyeong had clearly followed his own priority when healing.

“If I join the battle now, we might at least save our peers.”

Shinra Kyeong rose to his feet, his zweihander in hand.

“Make a choice. Fight with me now and save those we can, or hold out alone and lose everyone?”

Thump, thump, thump...

Jae-Hyeok hesitated. His heart throbbed in his ears as he wrestled with the choice before him.

Shinra Kyeong urged, “Hurry. The longer you wait, the fewer are likely to survive.”

What to do. What to do...

Jae-Hyeok considered it. Shinra Kyeong was right about one thing: if they joined forces now, they could break the stalemate.

Shinra Kyeong’s divine power was fatal to the undead. Jae-Hyeok would only have to open a path by dealing with the fireballs as they came, and Shinra Kyeong could handle the rest.

But divine power was not infinite.

Shinra Kyeong had already exhausted much of his divinity. He’d need time to recover his divine energies after making a move against the zombies, but by then, the poisoned Guardian players would’ve succumbed.

Sweat trickled down Jae-Hyeok’s temples as his jaw silently worked, as if to chew through the problem. He glared at Shinra Kyeong before whipping around and unleashing a typhoon of sword strikes, scattering the newest volley of fireballs.

“I need an answer,” Shinra Kyeong repeated.

In fact, he found the situation interesting. Jae-Hyeok’s family had been betrayed or ignored by each of South Korea’s greatest families, organizations, and institutions—while everyone else, from the ordinary public to unaffiliated players to small guilds, had followed suit. They’d all cursed the Kang surname.

And yet, despite this, Jae-Hyeok strove to protect the same people who had once spat his name, and—Shinra Kyeong glanced to the writhing Guardian players—the same people who had once sat idle while his family crumbled.

As far as Shinra Kyeong was concerned, Jae-Hyeok was as poised as his father was for being backstabbed. It seemed he hadn’t learned a thing.

But that could change.

The current situation placed Jae-Hyeok at a crossroads. Depending on the choice he made here, he could evolve into something greater.

Shinra Kyeong thought, Use this chance, Kang Jae-Hyeok. Use it to shed that useless warmth of yours. Forget about those ungrateful commoners, who will only lead you by the nose and turn on you when it’s convenient. Let them clean their own messes. With your talent, your gaze should be on the world at large, cutting down those who stand in your way, raising the honor of your family by my side—?

Jae-Hyeok abruptly stepped from the dining room's entrance into the blazing hallway.

Shinra Kyeong blanched.

Jae-Hyeok coughed and shouted, “I’ll handle the enemies. You focus on healing them...” Jae-Hyeok’s silhouette blurred in the haze. The loud snap of a burning support beam nearly drowned out Jae-Hyeok’s last word, making it faint, “Please.”

Please... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Shinra Kyeong heard no anger or blame in Jae-Hyeok’s tone. There wasn’t even panic, only the calm certainty of someone having made up their mind.

“... Why?”

Why go that far?

Shinra Kyeong was dumbfounded. Jae-Hyeok had already suffered several burns. His fire resistance was clearly low.

Why? Why throw away your precious life to save them?

Shinra Kyeong couldn’t understand it. One Jae-Hyeok was worth more than tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of guild members.

“Haha! Look who crawled out. It’s the brat from the Kang family!”

“It feels a bit unfair, like hunting a rabbit.”

“At this rate, we won’t even have to do that much.”

The three zombie mages joked among themselves. They were clearly pleased, and it was no wonder why: Jae-Hyeok had survived the attack on the Kang estate, but had crawled all the way to the Shinra family to end up right back in their hands. Now, he was even charging into the fire on his own.

“Kang Jae-Hyeok!”

Shinra Kyeong couldn’t stand it. Forget it. I’ll save that idiot first. He won’t be happy, but I’ll deal with the consequences later...

Shinra Kyeong took two steps before someone grabbed him by the ankles.

The short-haired girl, Da-Hee, said in a trembling voice, “Leave him... J-Jae-Hyeok asked you... save them...”

“You clearly don’t understand your place. What right do you have to force him to sacrifice himself?”

Shinra Kyeong glared down at Da-Hee. He kicked one ankle free, but Da-Hee just grabbed his other ankle with both hands.

Shinra Kyeong’s disgust grew. “You’ve benefited from his friendship. Now you’re eager to push him into the abyss. Are you even human?”

“Shut... up! I’m not pushing him. I’m trusting him. Because we’re friends, and because I respect him, I have to trust him.”

Da-Hee adored the aristocracy. Ordinarily, she didn’t even dare to make eye contact with Shinra Kyeong at school, but now she glared with reddened eyes.

“He’ll be okay... He has to be okay...”

“......”

Shinra Kyeong realized it then. Da-Hee was a sword genius, someone who’d been tempering her heart and blade since her earliest years. But right now, her hands trembled around his ankle.

“... Let go.”

Shinra Kyeong felt resigned as he saw the tears welling up in Da-Hee’s big eyes.

“I’ll indulge you just this once.”

Shinra Kyeong glanced at the blazing hallway.

It’s too late anyway.

Jae-Hyeok had gone in too deep. Even if he chased and treated Jae-Hyeok now, he continued burning until he dragged him out. Moreover, Shinra Kyeong himself wouldn’t be safe.

Now that it was like this...

I’ll just do as he says.

The best thing he could do now was to grant Jae-Hyeok’s request. That way, Jae-Hyeok could focus on the battle without any distractions.

“Chae Da-Hee, if you have the energy to cry, then you have the energy to get up and help me.”

“... Yes!”

***

This is too easy. Stupid brat.

The zombie magicians squinted through the smoke and laughed when they saw Jae-Hyeok’s figure collapse.

In fact, they hadn’t been as relaxed as they seemed. Jae-Hyeok’s swordsmanship had exceeded their expectations. His blocking the doorway and constantly breaking their spells had nearly pushed them to the brink. If the stalemate had gone on much longer, the durability of their undead bodies would’ve run out.

Thankfully, Jae-Hyeok charged into the flames.

Stupid. He must’ve grown anxious with his friends poisoned and tried to force a way out.

For the Baus family, humans were a resource that could be used alive or dead according to convenience. From their perspective, players who clung to affection at the cost of themselves were the most foolish sort. They were also the easiest to deal with.

One of the zombie mages chuckled.

“The poison was an expert move. We had him dancing in the palm of our hand.”

Another nodded. “No matter how talented or skilled he was, like so many others, affection shackled him. Dealing with him was as easy as dealing with those around.”

“Heh. Shedding sentiment—that’s true transcendence.”

“Did you forget already?”

Suddenly, the flames filling the hallway were blown apart. A wide yellow-red crescent of sword aura swept through the three still-smiling zombie mages. Their heads came away from their bodies.

Jae-Hyeok withdrew his sword and straightened. His charred skin was black and scaled, and as he adjusted his posture, sections fell off to reveal the salmon-pink, weeping flesh beneath. Iyarugt, meanwhile, had achieved a gruesome fusion with Jae-Hyeok’s hand, his melted skin joining them like solder.

Nevertheless, Jae-Hyeok’s eyes shone.

Iyarugt sizzled with thunder energy.

As it happened, even slashing at flames could trigger Thunderbolt Sword.

“This is the second time you’ve lost to me,” Jae-Hyeok declared, exhaling a chest full of black smoke.

“Honorless animals.”

[Your level has risen by 12.]

[You have risked your life to repel formidable enemies.]

[Legendary achievement!]

Centuries ago, Peak Sword had wielded Iyarugt to protect the founder of the Shinra family, and now Jae-Hyeok had done the same. Engulfed in a pillar of warm light, it was as if the heavens themselves were showering praise.