The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 289

Favors without rewards, this was the way of an aristocrat, and Jae-Hyeok had always lived accordingly. But...

“Know this, Kang-Jae-Hyeok is a blessing to humanity!”

The Thunder Emperor’s earlier words lingered in Jae-Hyeok’s mind. There was a warmth in his chest that the Firebird’s Essence couldn’t explain.

At the same time, he doubted himself.

Was he worthy of the Thunder Emperor’s care and protection?

It wasn’t that Jae-Hyeok doubted his talent or skill—but neither of those had anything to do with the Thunder Emperor. Were Jae-Hyeok to die here, the Thunder Emperor’s life in the US would continue unchanged.

So why, then? What did he have that was worthy of the Thunder Emperor’s care?

This... Jae-Hyeok touched his chest but ultimately shook his head. He’d always struggled when it came to accepting others' love. Now was no different, but it was a poor time to introspect.

Jae-Hyeok returned his focus to the battle between the Thunder Emperor and the Wilhelm.

It was a clash between transcendent beings at a level far beyond his own. Even hundreds of meters away, the pressure radiating from Wilhelm and the Thunder Emperor left Jae-Hyeok feeling suffocated.

Beams of lightning split the undead ranks asunder, eviscerating Wilhelm’s minions faster than he could summon more.

Jae-Hyeok was inspired by the sight.

This is what I should pursue in the future.

Thunderstorm, Shock Wave, Thunderbolt Whip, Thunder Wings—every one of the Thunder Emperor magics was shaped and cast through his thunder aura and boasted devastating power with sweeping areas of effect.

I should be able to cast magics with thunder energy, too. I just need to infuse and shape it with mana.

From beginning to end, Jae-Hyeok’s eyes remained glued to the Thunder Emperor. He realized he had much to learn.

Bone Gatling.

As the battle progressed, Wilhelm grew increasingly frenzied. Nonetheless, Jae-Hyeok was unbothered; Bellona’s group was thoroughly protecting his father, and he could jump in to help at any time.

But in the next moment, Jae-Hyeok's pupils shrank, and his initial composure vanished.

He saw it.

With every clash between the Thunder Emperor and the Wilhelm, the ambient mana churned with greater momentum. Gathering, condensing, and then...

“A gate!”

[An unexpected gate has occurred!]

[Beware of a monster wave!]

Thousands of monsters poured out from the gate, filling the night sky.

Jae-Hyeok regained his focus and attacked.

[A flymouse has been killed.]

[121,500 experience has been acquired.]

Is this SS-grade?

Though it was the first time Jae-Hyeok had heard of a “flymouse,” he could infer its grade from the amount of experience. Moreover...

[Iyarugt has consumed the soul of a flymouse.]

Iyarugt confirmed the monster type, and Jae-Hyeok’s brows rose. They’re demons?

"Kuaack!”

Screams rang out from the direction of Bellona’s group.

Unlike Jae-Hyeok, they recognized the flymice. Despite never having encountered them in the flesh, they, as high-level players in the American Association, were briefed on all monster and demon genealogy. Nonetheless, in actual combat, they fared far worse than Jae-Hyeok.

Knowledge was one thing; to be able to recall that knowledge—and even more so, to be able to act on it—was another.

The flymice were simply too fast; moving at speeds exceeding bullets, they surpassed the average speed of S-class players and pierced through trees and buildings as if paper-mache. Some players reflexively took up defensive stances, only to be pierced clean through by the flymice.

“You can’t block! Attack instead!”

The good news was that Bellona was there.

She cast an AOE Skill and slaughtered a swath of flymice. Under her lead, the American players came to their senses and coordinated a counterattack.

Kyak! Kayak!

Boom!

Kayak!

“It’s working!”

“Keep at it. Stagger casting for sustained pressure!”

Countless spells and Skills lit the night sky, and the swarm soon thinned.

Similar to humans, flymice lacked visible health points and died at the first vital strike. Thanks to this, flymice’s daunting numbers posed little issue in the face of large-scale, AOE attacks.

Grruk?

Just as things were turning for the better, the gate rippled, and beetle-like humanoids emerged.

A sharp-eyed mage at the back of Bellona’s group hollered, “Drultus incoming!”

“A drultus?”

Again, Jae-Hyeok had never heard of monsters.

First the flymice and now the drultus... Tsk. I sank so much money into Player Manager and unlocked most of its content, but I’m clueless when it counts. What a rip-off.

As Jae-Hyeok was clicking his tongue, Bellona’s group showed no confusion while facing the drultus.

“I sense no general-grade monsters.”

“Neither do I.”

“Good. Take formation and hold fast!”

At Bellona’s signal, the front damage dealers each paired with two tanks and spread out to encircle the drultus.

The drultus’ tiny eyes betrayed no sign of recognition or animosity, but when the first group of Americans neared, the nearest drultus lunged toward them. Its scythe-like pincers cracked the air like a whip as they closed on its target, yet what followed was not the spray of human gore, but the deafening resonance of metal on pincer as the tanks—one bearing his shield to the left and the other bearing his shield to the right—wrestled against the drultus’s pincers.

“Now!”

“On it!”

The damage dealer advanced and plunged her spear into the monster’s exposed mouth.

Kieek.

The drultus’s inner jaw moved, and the spearwoman’s face paled.

“No good!”

The tip of her spear shattered against the monster’s jagged rows of teeth. The drultus shook its head with a sound that was almost like laughter. It widened its pincers and reared up before sweeping down in a brutal arc. The player’s pupils shrank to pinpoints as a single thought flooded their minds—

Death.

“True Draw—Annihilate.”

Everyone’s vision flickered red, and the drultus stumbled back, now missing a pincer. A string of sonic booms rang out.

With a backhand to the chestplate and a kick to a shield, Jae-Hyeok sent the tanks flying backward.

“Thunder God—”

With a shove, Jae-Hyeok sent the spearwoman bouncing after her companions.

An instant later, the enraged drultus was on him. Brandishing weapons, it raised its four limbs high before commencing a storm of wild strikes.

Jae-Hyeo met each with his scabbard. Every strike came faster than the last, and each collision sent Jae-Hyeok’s hair whipping and his ceremonial robe fluttering.

Watching this scene, Bellona and the rest of the American players were as if they’d fallen under a spell; no one blinked as the truth of Jae-Hyeok’s killing the Sword Master fully set in.

Kiyaaaaah!

Seeing its counterattack fail, the wounded drultuse let out a high-pitched screech. The drultuses in the backlines, as well as those currently engaged in battle, all stopped and turned to Jae-Hyeok.

Jae-Hyeok rested Iyarugt on his shoulder.

Sigh. This’ll take a minute.

......

......

After reducing the drultuses to remnants, Jae-Hyeok left the rest for Bellona and chased after the Thunder Emperor to support him.

As he hurried toward the street, he sensed a building's sword aura, and his brow furrowed. That...

Yaksha Style-Thunderclap.

Boom!

...Isn’t that one of Father’s strikes?

Jae-Hyeok realized it then: the reason the Thunder Emperor had spoken in his defense, the reason the Thunder Emperor had fought to defend the Kang family mansion...

The Thunder Emperor admired his father.

Jae-Hyeok flashed past the front gate then and tore down the street. Though he never slowed, he repeatedly swept his gaze over the ruined street. The more he did, the more certain Jae-Hyeok grew: The Thunder Emperor and Father are the same. They care about the same things.

Despite the elephant’s rampage, there was not a single casualty among the civilians.

He’s a true aristocrat, dedicated to guarding the weak.

Just then, Jae-Hyeok rounded the street corner, and his eyes widened.

“You think you can afford to play with swords and monsters after challenging me? You’re either wildly arrogant or have lost your mind. Either way, you’re unfit to live.”

The Thunder Emperor half knelt with a bone lance through his chest as Wilhelm pressed a bone blade to his neck.

“Whatever your mental flaws, worry not. I will make you perfect.”

Wilhelm drew back his arm, raising his bone blade high.

Jae-Hyeok moved desperately.

No—he’s too far away!

One second was like ten years. The world shrank until there was only the Thunder Emperor and Wilhelm in Jae-Hyeok’s eyes.

Faster, I need to go faster...

The ambient mana trembled, and a memory resurfaced in Jae-Hyeok’s mind—he recalled fighting the Minister of Agriculture; he recalled the moment the Thunder Emperor had granted him...

Thunder Wings.

A pair of wings spread out from Jae-Hyeok’s back. And with his next step, he appeared before Wilhelm.

Clang.

“The one unfit to live is you!”

...It was still midsummer. Cicadas cried out as it neared dawn, and most youths of Jae-Hyeok’s age were in the throes of sleep, hard work the furthest thing from their minds. Meanwhile, Jae-Hyeok—

Slash!

...Before the citizens of Seoul, Transcendent Wilhelm fell to his knees, while his head flew in a whirl of blood.

In less than one month, since the start of summer vacation, Jae-Hyeok had become a National Treasure candidate, a National Treasure, and earned a place among the contenders for World’s Strongest.

Ba-dum!

“That... cough! No...”

The Thunder Emperor stared up at Jae-Hyeok with an expression of utter disbelief.

Ba-dum!

He recognized the red sphere that Jae-Hyeok had pulled from his own chest.

It pulsed like a heart.

“Not me... cough! The Yaksha...!”

Firebird’s Essence...

A burning source of vitality—one that had absorbed the power of Qilin and the Sword Master, and even Wilhelm—seeped into the dying Thunder Emperor.