Chapter 107: With Poison, Control Poison (1)

A hearty voice boomed across the obsidian mountains.

[To summon Us at the climax of such a delightful banquet! How disappointing, Warehouse Keeper!]

A grizzled old general, evoking the image of a tiger, stood tall on the obsidian peak.

Ornate iron armor and helmet.

A white beard fluttering in the wind.

Piercing eyes and gleaming pupils.

The founding monarch of Joseon, Taejo Yi Seonggye, had manifested in the present world.

Shin Sodam swallowed dryly.

“How could this be…….”

She looked down at the doppelganger sprawled on the ground.

A pitch-black arrow embedded dead-center in its forehead.

At that moment.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble—

The doppelganger melted into a translucent silver solution.

Instant death.

A single arrow had slain the doppelganger outright.

And not just any—it had perfectly copied A+ rank No. 6, Crimson Mage Tower Lord Shin Sodam!

But what truly stunned her was something else.

The black aura swirling around Yi Seonggye.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble—

Shin Sodam recognized its nature immediately.

That’s black mana!?

No doubt about it.

Someone had summoned Yi Seonggye from the afterlife.

Using black magic that had been completely lost in the hidden world, the Lokpia Continent!

Sweat trickled down Shin Sodam’s cheek.

She had once read a tome on the Lokpia Continent acquired in a dungeon.

The book’s title was The Lineage of Black.

Most pages were lost or damaged, leaving little readable content, but among them were records of black magic from that era.

‘Necromancy is the foundation of black magic. But fully summoning a soul requires 7th-class proficiency.’

In other words, the one who summoned Yi Seonggye was a 7th-class black mage.

At that instant.

Whoooosh— Whoosh— Whoooosh whooooosh— Whoosh!

Intense sounds of slicing air rang out in succession.

Thick black arrows, like harpoons, blackened the sky.

Yi Seonggye began drawing his bowstring with ferocious momentum.

And then.

Twang— Twang twang twang twang— Twang twang twang twang twang—

Black mana arrows rained down like a storm.

They moved like living organisms, targeting only the doppelgangers with unerring precision.

Doppelgangers toppling one after another.

Each pierced through the forehead by a black arrow.

But—

Clang! Clang clang!

Some doppelgangers blocked Yi Seonggye’s arrows.

Lee Geuk and Cheok Junseong.

Their doppelgangers had slashed the black arrows aside.

Soon after, flower petals manifested above the two doppelgangers’ heads.

Humm— Humm— Humm— Humm—

Shin Sodam knew what they were.

……It even copies mana cultivation techniques? That’s impossible.

A technique that amplified mana to its limits through cycles of emission and absorption.

The secret arts of Lee Geuk and Cheok Junseong—the number of petals indicated the technique’s mastery.

Lee Geuk manifested four petals, Cheok Junseong just one.

Each petal boosted mana by about 25%.

It had the drawback of short duration, but while active, it granted destructive power several times greater than before.

Sure enough.

Clang— Clang clang— Clang!

The doppelgangers of Lee Geuk and Cheok Junseong deflected the arrow barrage entirely.

Up, down, left, right.

Clang! Clang! Clang clang! Clang!

Arrows flying from all directions were cleaved away without a millimeter of error.

In response, Yi Seonggye bellowed.

[Hey there, Duke Cheok! Lend Us a hand!]

His voice echoed thunderously from the peak.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

A black silhouette began scaling the peak at blinding speed.

It soon landed before the doppelganger of Cheok Junseong.

A long-haired warrior in pitch-black armor—Cheok Jungyeong.

A sturdy frame covered in lean muscle.

In his hand, a single-edged sword without a crossguard.

Soon, Cheok Jungyeong assumed an iaijutsu stance.

『Goksan-Cheokga Style, Form 1: Iron-Cutting Flash』

Slash—

The sound came first, followed by a slender line tracing through the air.

Black light flashed.

Space itself was being bisected.

At the same time.

Crack—

The doppelganger copying Cheok Junseong staggered and fell.

Its body cleaved diagonally from waist to shoulder.

Even with the mana cultivation technique active, it couldn’t react.

Watching the scene, Cheok Junseong muttered in a daze.

“That technique…….”

Soon, Cheok Jungyeong sheathed his blade and turned to Cheok Junseong.

The two stared at each other in silence.

Finally, Cheok Jungyeong spoke.

[The lineage endures. That’s enough.]

Cheok Junseong staggered to his feet and said,

“Who the hell are…….”

But before Cheok Junseong could finish—

Cheok Jungyeong dissolved into shadow and vanished.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

Yi Seonggye stood before Lee Geuk.

Between them lay the doppelganger mimicking Lee Geuk, collapsed.

Its left side riddled with sword wounds, its right pierced by dozens of black arrows.

Soon, Yi Seonggye chuckled heartily.

[Hah! Seeing such a distant descendant grown so mighty…… It doesn’t feel half bad.]

Finally, Lee Geuk spoke.

“By any chance…… Are you King Taejo?”

Yi Seonggye eyed Lee Geuk intently.

[Heh heh, what a twist of fate. Upon closer look…… You take after Banggwa quite strikingly.]

Yi Banggwa.

The second son of Taejo Yi Seonggye and the second king of the Joseon Dynasty, Jeongjong’s given name.

Lee Geuk’s pupils trembled.

“Wha…… What is…….”

The battle-hardened veteran who never lost composure in dire straits.

The one who always maintained equanimity, no matter the situation—he showed bewilderment for the first time.

Just then, fragments of dark clouds drifted toward the A+ rank hunters.

The same happened beside Shin Sodam.

But the dark cloud heading her way bore a passenger.

[Come aboard, milady.]

A middle-aged scholar covering his mouth with a folding fan painted with plum blossoms—Yi I.

Dressed in a blue hanbok and black gat, Yi I addressed Shin Sodam.

[Milady, might you be of the ‘Pyeongsan Shin clan’?]

“Uh…… How did you…….”

Yi I replied not with words, but a smile.

Then he extended his hand.

[Step up. It’s about time.]

Shin Sodam boarded the cloud in a stupor.

It felt surprisingly firm, unlike its appearance.

The other A+ rank hunters boarded the ink clouds one by one.

Shin Sodam scanned her surroundings from atop the cloud.

Where is he? Where the hell…….

A black mage who commanded bizarre figures.

Only one person came to mind.

The man Shin Sodam had desperately sought.

The one who had demonstrated his power at both the Lethe Tower and the Korean Peninsula Relics Exhibition.

And.

That, that bastard…….

The guy who seemed to have done something to her in the Lust Section.

Cha Hasang.

But she couldn’t spot him anywhere.

Instead, something odd caught her eye.

“What…… is that……?”

Shin Sodam spotted a black form floating in the sky.

An ink cloud as if plucked from a sumi-e painting.

Black mana rippled around it.

At that moment, someone rose on the ink cloud.

Black hair fluttering in the wind, skin gleaming porcelain white.

A female swordsman gripping a greatsword larger than herself in one hand.

A+ rank No. 12, the Sword Ghost of Ravianglily.

At the same time, Shin Sodam reached a conclusion.

No way—that guy’s……!?

Sword Ghost.

A swordmaster wielding black magic.

Now she understood why this unheard-of newcomer had suddenly joined the A+ ranks.

He has a skill for commanding ghosts. Indeed, that’s why he’s the Sword Ghost of Ravianglily.

The skill he’d shown before clearly rippled with black mana.

So what the hell was Cha Hasang?

Had it all been a misunderstanding?

But Shin Sodam failed to notice.

Cha Hasang, sitting right beside the Sword Ghost of Ravianglily.

Atop the ink cloud drifting through the dizzying heights.

I gazed at the shadow knights and thought,

They’re way stronger than I expected.

The shadow knights had effortlessly subdued doppelgangers rivaling A+ rank hunters.

Compared to when I first summoned them, they’d grown leagues beyond.

Probably the influence of the warehouse.

The shadow knights had tirelessly explored the Observation Zone day and night.

In the process, they’d constantly absorbed the black mana within the warehouse.

Just then.

Zing—

I felt a gaze like needles pricking my skin.

Down below, Maslow—seated on his obsidian throne—stared right at me.

Soon after.

Crunch—

Maslow plucked out a fistful of fur.

Thousands of hairs scattered on the wind.

Pop! Boom boom! Boom boom boom! Pop~!

Crimson-furred clones burst from the cumulonimbus clouds.

Memories flashed of the time I’d poured everything into taking down just one.

Now they were filling the corridors like a flood.

The A+ rank hunters’ sighs mingled with their voices.

Shin Sodam bit her lower lip and muttered,

“Those Association bastards. Even with every A+ rank hunter, it’d be touch and go…….”

Even amid that, Maslow’s clones surged forward like a tidal wave.

The surroundings were blanketed in red.

At that moment, Cheok Junseong and Yi Seonggye flew to my side.

[Ha ha ha ha— Swarming like ants, aren’t they!]

Yi Seonggye laughed boisterously, clapping my shoulder.

[I can loose as many arrows as needed, but wouldn’t a more effective measure suit better, Warehouse Keeper?]

I nodded.

“I was just thinking of a perfect one.”

The clones scaling the peaks.

Soon, they began using each other as ladders, surging upward.

I looked at the clones and said,

“Alright, set the coordinates and…….”

-Ding-dong!

<Received ‘Open’ command.>  

<Opening Morgue’s Magical Warehouse.>  

The warehouse door began to creak open.

A portal to subspace, yawning from the sky toward the ground.

At the same time.

Gush whooooosh—

Pristine white forms poured from the fully opened warehouse.

Maggots.

Not one or two, but a legion numbering in the hundreds.

The maggots spilling from the warehouse began devouring Maslow’s clones.

Maggots and clones tangled in a writhing melee.

I looked down at the spectacle and said,

In the exact same words Maslow had used.

“……Now, kill each other.”