Episode 76
Iteun sprang out from within the crimson flames.
His entire body was covered in burns, and his hair was singed by the fire into curls.
“You son of a bitch….”
Iteun glared at Jeon with terrifying eyes.
Just as Jeon wore a robe made of Leviathan hide, he too possessed a hidden trump card.
An inner black suit worn beneath his completely burnt outer clothes.
It was a protective suit created by adding Neo Seoul’s technological prowess to the hide of an Ironclad Rhinoceros, said to boast defense ranked among the very best.
Its official name was Colrain No. 3.
It was in high demand for protecting its wearer from considerable physical and magical attacks.
However, because acquiring the hide of an Ironclad Rhinoceros was so difficult, the quantity produced was extremely limited.
For that reason, even in Neo Seoul, there weren’t many who possessed a Colrain No. 3.
Iteun had gone through great trouble to acquire and wear such a precious item. And the Colrain No. 3 proved why it was so expensive.
It protected Iteun from the super-high heat flames that could even melt iron balls.
If it hadn’t been for the Colrain No. 3, Iteun would have been melted down to his bones.
Jeon looked at the Colrain No. 3 Iteun was wearing with an expression of fascination.
“To think it’s still intact after flames of this magnitude; I suppose it’s made from demonic beast hide?”
“Now do you understand? As long as I’m wearing the Colrain No. 3, your flame magic won’t work on me.”
“Colrain No. 3? A product of Neo Seoul? Truly impressive.”
Jeon admired it sincerely.
The fireball he had unleashed just moments ago radiated such tremendous heat that it could melt most metals.
The fact that it had perfectly protected the wearer within such extreme heat meant that the Colrain No. 3’s defense was just that remarkable.
“Die!”
Iteun unleashed his telekinesis once more.
At his gesture, a streetlamp was ripped out from the ground.
The streetlamp split into thousands of pieces in an instant and flew toward Jeon.
“Let’s see you melt these this time too.”
Iteun’s eyes gleamed with killing intent.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
Shards of metal embedded themselves in the spot where Jeon had been standing.
Iteun had expected Jeon to be torn to shreds and sent flying, but there was no flesh anywhere that could be presumed to be Jeon’s.
Before he knew it, Jeon had used Sand Step to evade his attack.
Iteun’s eyes swept across the area, searching for Jeon.
In that instant, a chill ran down his spine.
‘Behind me?’
He hadn’t confirmed it with his eyes.
It was his instinct whispering.
In reality, Jeon was standing right behind him, watching with cold eyes.
“Fuck!”
The moment Iteun tried to turn around in haste, Jeon’s fist slammed into his abdomen.
Boom!
“Guh!”
The impact piercing through his abdomen made Iteun’s mouth hang slack.
Thanks to the Colrain No. 3, he hadn’t suffered any external wounds. But that didn’t mean he had been spared the impact.
The shock felt as though his internal organs were being crushed, and Iteun couldn’t gather his senses.
Jeon sent another fist flying toward Iteun’s head.
Crack!
“Hurk!”
Under the tremendous impact, Iteun’s head snapped around as though his neck would break.
The focus in Iteun’s pupils had already vanished completely. His consciousness had flown far away from the repeated blows.
Even without the Gauntlet of Superheat, even without using the Authority of Sand, Jeon was strong.
On top of having been harshly trained by Deiodeun, he had wandered the world for a full eight years, experiencing countless battles.
Through that process, Jeon’s hand-to-hand combat ability had risen by leaps and bounds.
Someone of Iteun’s caliber could be subdued with bare hands alone.
Jeon continued to attack Iteun’s upper body.
Crunch!
Cracks formed on the surface of the Colrain No. 3 from his relentless attacks.
This made it clear just how much defensive power the Colrain No. 3 possessed.
‘So its defense is roughly 50% higher than the original Ironclad Rhinoceros hide.’
The Ironclad Rhinoceros itself possessed tremendous defensive power.
Judging by pure physical defense alone, it was among the top ten demonic beasts active in the desert.
Being able to improve the defense by over 50% using the hide of such a creature was a feat that could be called tremendous technological prowess.
But it fell far short of Jeon’s standards.
If he had given the exact same materials to Keilli of the Morte clan, she would have enchanted it to increase defense by at least twofold and grant special abilities.
Of course, what Iteun was currently wearing was a mass-produced model, so it couldn’t compare to the craftsmanship of an artisan like Keilli.
This gave him a rough gauge of the level of technology Neo Seoul possessed.
Of course, judging solely based on the Colrain No. 3 was premature, but it could still serve as a benchmark.
He was now finished with Iteun.
Jeon brought his fist down with all his might.
Boom!
The Colrain No. 3 shattered into pieces, and Iteun convulsed violently like a demonic beast on the verge of death.
Jeon looked down at Iteun, sprawled out defenseless, and spoke.
“You know, don’t you? If you try to steal from others and fail, you have to forfeit your own life.”
“F……ck!”
Iteun spat out a curse feebly.
He couldn’t not know.
Because that was the law of the slums.
The weak die, and the one who survives takes everything.
It was the moment Jeon’s fist was about to slam down into Iteun’s face.
“Oh my, how hasty.”
A woman’s voice rang out, and then Iteun suddenly vanished.
Boom!
Thanks to that, Jeon’s fist only ended up smashing the empty ground.
Jeon turned around and saw a middle-aged woman dressed lavishly standing there.
He didn’t know what method she had used, but Iteun was cradled in her arms.
Jeon smiled.
“That’s a fascinating skill. Something like spatial movement? I know people who have mastered spatial-type skills are extremely rare.”
“You know quite a lot. It’s not my skill; I’ll just say it’s thanks to an item.”
“Might I know which item?”
“You really are a young master brimming with curiosity. You know, don’t you? That trade secrets aren’t to be exposed carelessly.”
The middle-aged woman smiled bewitchingly.
Her name was Eiba.
She was one of the four confidants that Goran boasted of, and the madam of the pleasure district.
She was Iteun’s lover. Therefore, she was more sensitive to Iteun’s movements than anyone else.
Eiba stroked the face of the unconscious Iteun and spoke.
“He was a man with nothing to look at save his face, and yet you went and ruined him like this. You don’t seem to fear the consequences.”
“Is there anything to fear more than death?”
“A young master without fear, I see. Well, I suppose that’s why you dared try to kill him, but….”
She smiled no longer, nor did she make a bewitching expression.
She looked at Jeon with a face like an emotionless doll.
She continued speaking.
“I’ll withdraw for today.”
“Who said you could leave?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not asking for your permission.”
In an instant, Eiba’s form rippled like a wave.
“Mirror Image?”
Realizing the identity of the magic Eiba had cast, Jeon sent flames flying.
Fwoosh!
An enormous flame swept through the spot where Eiba and Iteun had been.
But the two were no longer there.
They had escaped after beguiling him with Mirror Image.
Jeon scratched his head and muttered.
“Well now, it seems my sense of tension vanished just because I got some rest.”
This was something unthinkable before he had entered Neo Seoul.
A moment’s carelessness in the desert was directly linked to one’s life.
Because of that, he had never let his guard down for a single moment.
But it seemed he had unknowingly grown lax while resting in Neo Seoul.
Blaming himself for being deceived by something as simple as a Mirror Image, Jeon moved his feet.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t give chase, but the efficiency would be too poor.
“I’ve beaten the hunting dog, so its master will step out, won’t they?”
Jeon shook his head slightly and entered the building.
Arriving in front of his home on the eighteenth floor, Jeon smirked.
There were traces of someone trying to force the door open.
The door that even an Awakened couldn’t break opened smoothly the moment Jeon touched it.
Only Jeon could freely come and go from this place; it was not permitted for others.
Jeon took off his robe and sat on the sofa.
The red neon signs visible outside the window stimulated his eyes.
Jeon gazed at the scene for quite some time.
* * *
Yusehui sat deeply buried in a chair, her legs crossed.
It was only natural for anyone to have an object they were attached to.
For her, it was the chair she was currently sitting in.
It was a chair made over a hundred years ago.
An antique from before the Earth turned to sand.
The chair’s leather was worn out, and the springs had rusted, creaking with every movement.
But to Yusehui, that sound was as comfortable as a lullaby.
The sight of a beautiful woman with red hair clad in pure white leather, tapping her foot with her legs crossed, was inevitably captivating no matter who saw it.
But Yusehui herself paid it no mind, lost in her own world.
It was quite some time before she opened her closed eyes.
“It’s hard, so hard!”
Yusehui let out a sigh.
The master of the Dokkaebi Market was a position with an overwhelming number of things to consider.
Having to protect numerous merchants and respond to external threats, she couldn’t help but become cautious.
Just last night, an incident had occurred in the Dokkaebi Market.
It was a minor fight between merchants, but Yusehui couldn’t let it slide easily.
“These cases have been increasing a lot lately. It feels like there’s some kind of stress factor at play….”
It wasn’t that she had no inkling of what it might be, but she had to be careful.
“My lady!”
At that moment, a large man dressed in black appeared.
It was Black Lion, Yusehui’s bodyguard.
At Black Lion’s appearance, Yusehui let out a low sigh.
If it was enough to interrupt her musings, it was clearly no ordinary matter.
“Ha! What is it?”
“The movements in Sinchon are unusual.”
“Goran?”
“Yes! Iteun has moved.”
“Isn’t Iteun Goran’s secretary?”
“That is correct.”
“Why did he?”
“He went to find that man.”
“Speak plainly.”
“Jeon! The man my lady has also seen.”
At Black Lion’s answer, Yusehui furrowed her brow.
It was not to search her memory.
Rather, it was because the name was vividly etched in her memory.
“The man who entered the Alligator Den to find a mana generator, right? Why would Goran go after that man?”
Yusehui tilted her head.
No matter how much she thought about it, there was no point of contact between the two.
Though Goran was the ruler of Sinchon, he didn’t pick fights without reason.
“What? Is there a circumstance I don’t know about? Why did Goran go after him…. So, what was the result?”
“Iteun nearly died.”
“Are you certain?”
“It is said that Eiba barely rescued him when he was on the verge of being killed by Jeon.”
“Is that true?”
“It is certain.”
“That’s insane! Iteun is someone who can still be called a strongman in the slums….”
Yusehui was genuinely impressed.
Since she was in the same Sinchon, she knew Goran and his confidants’ combat strength better than anyone.
That was precisely why the news that Iteun had been beaten was all the more astonishing.
Yusehui asked Black Lion.
“How do you think Goran will react?”
“Since there are still confidants remaining, I do not think he will move personally, but….”
“If he moves personally, hell will break loose once again.”
Yusehui’s voice was low and grave.
During the time when countless organizations sprang up, Goran subdued numerous competitors with his own power and became the ruler of Sinchon.
Yusehui knew all too well what terrible things had happened back then.
“Why did it have to be him of all people….”
Yusehui sincerely felt sorry for Jeon’s predicament.
In her eyes, it was as if she could clearly see his cruel end.