Chapter 165 – Master and Disciple

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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At the underground bunker facility in the Sahara Desert.

Vincent Moretti was watching through a monitor the situation unfolding at Jirisan in Gurye, in the Samhan Empire.

He had separately received contact from Daniel.

That he had identified Kim Tae-ju’s location, and would soon carry out the mission.

This time as well, Vincent Moretti expected the dimensional-gate experiment to fail.

Kim Tae-ju too would end up merging with the same soul from another world.

Once the gate opened, there was no way to avoid it.

Not even Emperor Alex Caesar, who could be called the strongest on Earth, nor Trillian Lancer, the Sword Kaiser who was his same soul.

Kim Tae-ju would be the same.

No matter that he was a soul linker, could he be stronger than Trillian?

Soul linkers too were human in the end.

They could never break past that limit.

Just as in Moscow, a great explosion would occur,

and Gurye City would not leave behind even a trace.

As would Daniel and the drone, all evidence alike.

The drone’s filming had started.

It showed Kim Tae-ju subduing an elite demonic beast alive and dragging it in from up ahead.

‘He’s definitely a soul linker, then.’

How could an ordinary awakened capture an elite demonic beast alive? Even masters could not do such a thing.

And that was not all.

‘…Hm? How?’

He accurately pinpointed the position of Daniel, the golem whose sight had been distorted through optical camouflage and enchanted magic engineering.

‘Well, to that extent.’

He must simply be someone with sharp eyes.

And there was also the reason that the transparency function of optical camouflage was not perfect.

Daniel carried out his mission excellently.

He had approached close to Kim Tae-ju, and the dimensional-gate generator had activated safely as well.

‘It’s over.’

Now that bastard won’t be able to move even a litt…

“Huh!”

Vincent rubbed his eyes.

“Wh-what?”

Was this even possible?

He broke the restraint of the dimensional-gate generator through force?

It was not some simple mechanical device.

It was an artifact containing the essence of ultra-high magical engineering.

In terms of magic, it was high magic of at least 9th class.

“M-my God…”

Restraint was the dimensional-gate generator’s intrinsic function and limitation.

Because dimensional connection was made through the medium of the soul, it tightly bound even the flesh.

That was why, when the device activated, the target unconditionally could not move.

In a way, it was a flaw.

Because of that, Vincent too could not call Jacques Deluan over.

If he made a mistake, they might both explode together.

But what was that Kim Tae-ju?

To break so easily the power of dimensional restraint that was no different from 9th-class magic, perhaps even superior to it,

‘Has he gone beyond human ability?’

Moreover, he seemed even to know the result after the dimensional gate occurred.

The moment the mirror door appeared, he quickly escaped the area, and on top of that even shot down the ultra-small drone with a long-range projectile.

The video transmission was cut off.

From here on, there was no way to know what would happen.

A result that completely deviated from expectation.

Dangerous.

Did he choose the wrong target?

‘On the contrary, I’ve become the one in danger.’

That bastard would try to find him by whatever method necessary.

‘I have to prepare.’

If he had known he was this kind of bastard, he would never have sent Daniel.

‘How do I deal with this?’

Suddenly he grew uneasy.

Then a thought suddenly came to him.

‘…Could it be Drek Karax too?’

While serving as director of the Royal Crystal Research Institute, Vincent Moretti had been able to read all of the information collected by the European Imperial intelligence bureau.

When exactly had Drek Karax disappeared from Europe in order to carry out the ritual in Moscow?

‘It was right after Kim Tae-ju’s assassination in the Samhan Empire failed.’

One of Drek Karax’s close aides, Edward, and the demon-humans had died to Kim Tae-ju in Paju, and the two of them must have first met after that.

‘He must have recognized Kim Tae-ju’s abilities at that point.’

Only now did he understand.

‘The ritual’s objective had been Kim Tae-ju.’

In order to survive against him.

That was why he must have forcibly induced the Moscow civil war and carried out the ritual to become a Deus Lich by using human souls as sacrifices.

Vincent Moretti’s artificial heart pounded violently.

He felt uneasy.

He had a bad premonition.

Dying was secondary. What truly frightened him was that he might be unable to proceed smoothly with experiments from now on.

‘What do I do?’

Should he abandon the underground bunker?

If he abandoned this place, then where would he go?

At that moment!

Vincent’s consciousness was drawn away somewhere.

“Ah!”

An overwhelming sense of unification surged through him.

A familiar face came to mind.

‘Jacques Deluan…’

Inside the underground bunker of the Sahara Desert,

soul linkage occurred yet again between Vincent Moretti and Jacques Deluan, the same soul from another world.

* * *

Tae-ju was dumbfounded.

Someone really had come out from inside the mirror.

And on top of that, he had come rolling out.

A person he had met recently, no, an immortal.

Not on Earth, but in the Immortal Realm.

The moment he came out, he curiously poked the elite giant half-moon bear with his finger, the bear still unable to move due to the binding talisman and demon-repelling talisman.

He peeled the talismans off and put them back on again, and even then the elite giant half-moon bear only trembled and could not even think of moving.

“…Sword Immortal-nim?”

At the voice calling him, he turned his gaze,

“Oh! Hero Tae-ju!”

Spat!

He ran over in an instant.

“H-how are you here?”

“Hmm, well, you see…”

Sword Immortal explained to Tae-ju the reason he had come to Earth.

It lacked a bit of order, but Tae-ju understood it well enough.

“So that’s how it happened.”

“I-I had intended to stay far away too, but then I missed my footing, and, hahaha…”

Had that really been so?

Still, it had almost become a serious problem.

What if Poison Immortal had been dragged into that gate instead?

And what if he had merged with himself?

Even Tae-ju had found it slightly difficult to break the restraint.

How many people would be able to break that sort of thing?

It was possible because it was he and Poison Immortal. It was not an easy power at all.

‘It’s fortunate I warned him in advance.’

However, a problem remained.

Even if he had crossed the gate and come here, how was he supposed to go back?

“Don’t worry. Well, when the time comes, I’ll probably return to the Immortal Realm.”

“Pardon?”

“As you know, my coming here wasn’t normal.”

“Well, I suppose that’s not wrong.”

“You can think of me as an alien existence on Earth. Meaning I shouldn’t be here. In terms of our world, it’s no different from acting against heaven. Hmm, I don’t know whether you’ve ever heard the term defying heaven.”

Defying heaven,

“…That’s a slightly frightening phrase.”

“Ei, it’s nothing much. Do you think this is my first or second time doing something like defying heaven? Going against heavenly mandate is something I’m used to. Hahaha.”

It did not seem like something to laugh about.

Even after mentioning defying heaven, he remained truly calm.

But it was not strange.

‘Rather, it’s just like an immortal.’

For these people, laws and rules existed to be broken.

That must also be why they were confined in the Immortal Realm.

“In any case, one way or another, I will return. Though I don’t know exactly when that point will be.”

“Ah, yes, that’s a shame.”

“Which is why,”

“Please speak.”

“Since I’ve come to Earth anyway…”

That was when it happened.

Basrak!

A familiar presence was felt from over there.

“Someone’s coming. An enemy?”

“No.”

It was a familiar presence.

It would probably be Jeong Yeon-hui.

Since he had said he was going to catch one elite demonic beast and still had not returned, she must have appeared out of worry.

“Shall I excuse myself?”

There was no real need for that.

That was because Jeong Yeon-hui too had a connection with Sword Immortal.

“It’s fine. However, I’d rather you not reveal only that you’re an immortal…”

“Hahaha, I have at least that much sense.”

“From now on, please speak casually. Informally.”

“Shall I?”

Soon Jeong Yeon-hui appeared.

“Chairman, I was waiting and wondering whether something had happened…, oh my?”

Her eyes turned toward Sword Immortal.

They gradually widened.

And for a while she said nothing at all, only stared.

The moment their eyes met, she knew.

The recorded video of the Demon-Subjugating Sword Art demonstration saved on her smartphone.

She had watched it countless times.

Several times a day.

Slow playback, fast playback, repeated playback, zooming in and out…

‘It’s him.’

He was dressed very differently from the figure in the video, wearing a stylish suit and shoes with short hair,

but how could she fail to know?

Jeong Yeon-hui was flustered.

What should she say first?

And how should she address him?

At that moment!

“Your bones and muscles are good.”

“Right?”

“And the sword that young lady is carrying also seems to be one I gave to you.”

“Ah! Come to think of it, I didn’t even ask permission first.”

“It’s fine, the sword found its owner. And she certainly has the qualities of a Sword Queen. It was worth teaching her.”

She realized it.

How she ought to address that person.

“M-master!”

“…Oh!”

Sword Immortal’s eyes sparkled.

How long had it been since someone had called him master?

‘A disciple,’

and on top of that, a disciple from Earth.

‘Is this also fate?’

So he looked at her and nodded with a warm smile.

“It is.”

“Ah!”

Jeong Yeon-hui was deeply moved.

Wasn’t that the same as saying he would acknowledge her as his disciple?

It truly was a fine scene, but…

Tae-ju stepped in and said,

“All right, all right, there’s no time for this right now.”

Looking at Jeong Yeon-hui.

“Yeon-hui-ssi.”

“O-oh, yes?”

What should he say about Sword Immortal’s identity?

Since he naturally spoke the language of the Samhan Empire from watching dramas, there was no sense of alienness either, so let him simply smooth it over.

“This person has lived in the mountains for a long time, so he currently doesn’t have any proper identity. He needs daily-life arrangements and a mobile phone activation as well, so…”

Jeong Yeon-hui understood perfectly.

“I’ll take care of that myself. I’ll contact the secretariat and create a suitable identity. I’ll handle it without any trouble.”

Well, she was a chaebol granddaughter. How could she fail even at that much?

“But may I ask Master’s honorable name…”

Sword Immortal answered.

“Dobin, I’m called Dobin.”

An appropriately fitting name.

“Yeon-hui-ssi, would you take this person and stay at our house for a little while? Please activate a smartphone for him too.”

“I’ll escort him at once.”

“Thanks. I’ll finish the experiment that was scheduled and then head back.”

People would be waiting.

He had to carry out the doping-potion experiment before going.

* * *

The experiment scheduled for today ended safely.

The result?

Did it even need to be said?

The twenty-man raid team composed only of junior experts cut off the breath of the elite giant half-moon bear with about one minute of the doping potion’s duration left.

Now let’s go see Sword Immortal.

But before that.

Tae-ju went to Kim Dong-hun at the TJ Bio Security Center.

While showing him the ultra-small drone recovered from Jirisan.

“What do you think, Dong-hun? Can you take this apart and investigate it?”

Kim Dong-hun examined the drone carefully.

“Ah, this isn’t my field, though? It’s a magic-enchanted tool. Look here. See the inscribed patterns.”

“Still, it has a lot of electronic parts in it. It has a communications device too.”

“What good does that do? It can’t even be dismantled.”

“You can’t even take it apart?”

“Usually magic tools are made so their internal devices burn up if you take them apart. Unless it’s the person who made it.”

This was troublesome.

He had been trying to trace where Vincent Moretti was based on this thing.

“But why the drone?”

“Ah, this thing was filming our experiment site in Jirisan. It looked like it transmitted the footage somewhere, so there was a possibility the experiment results had leaked…”

“Pardon? You should’ve said that from the start. In that case, there’s no need to dismantle the drone.”

“Hm?”

“In any case, you’re saying it was a place within Jirisan where a wireless signal could connect, right? Then there can’t be that many IPs that connected to wireless communication there.”

“Right.”

If footage shot by the drone was transmitted across the internet, there was no way it could fail to leave traces.

“…It can be done, but IP tracing is illegal.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Haha, in that case, just give me the exact location and time. Then I might be able to find where the footage was delivered. It’ll take a little time.”

He would definitely catch him.

That bastard had tried to carry it out even while knowing full well what result would come from souls merging.

Gurye City as a whole had almost vanished.

And was he the only soul linker?

Even now, they were exposed to danger.

As long as that bastard Vincent Moretti was alive.

* * *

In the Immortal Realm.

The immortals’ anger had still not subsided.

What a good opportunity it had been.

And Sword Immortal had just snatched it away for himself?

Truly, though he was the same sort of immortal, he had no sense of shame and was even detestable.

“Monopolizing it alone, visiting Earth alone, why not write a web novel making Sword Immortal the protagonist.”

“He doesn’t know what yielding means at all. He’s like some old geezer caked in greed.”

“He’s not Sword Immortal, he’s Greed Immortal.”

“Haah, I don’t know whether there’ll be another opportunity.”

“Do you think so? Is Hero Tae-ju a fool? Would he be tricked by the same thing twice?”

“He might let it happen on purpose.”

“If he did, then…”

“Ahem! Instead of relying only on Hero Tae-ju, we should find a path ourselves.”

Thus they all swarmed over to the Yellow Springs Realm.

They barged into the Hellfire Palace where Yama was,

“Say! Yama, what are you doing right now? We have something to say.”

“Ugh, I can’t breathe because of the smoke. Are you playing whack-a-mole?”

“If you keep smoking like this every day, your head will turn stiff.”

When the immortals burst in like a pack of dogs, Yama pressed his forehead with his hand as if he had a headache.

What was their problem this time, coming all the way here?

“All right then, what have you come for?”

The immortals, as if they had been waiting, poured out complaints one after another.

“Do you know where Sword Immortal has gone right now? He crossed the gate and went to Earth.”

“You wouldn’t even be able to guess who opened the gate. They say it was some mad scientist.”

“No, just any dog or cow can go around opening gates, so what exactly is our Yellow Springs Realm doing?”

“Do you have no ability? If it’s going to be like this, hand the Great King’s seat over to some suitable judge and step down.”

“If you can’t open one to Earth, then open one to that town or whatever it is, the Demon Realm.”

“Bet you can’t even do that.”

He truly had no idea what they were talking about…

If they had come to question something, shouldn’t they at least explain the preceding and following circumstances in detail?

But expecting that from immortals was the stupid thing.

‘It would be better to hear it from Poison Immortal directly.’

Just in time, the appointed hour had come.

Let me use this chance to slip away.

“Hmm, time has already gotten this late. It’s time for me to attend the representatives meeting, so I’ll be off. Feel free to enjoy yourselves.”

Suuuung,

Yama opened a door leading to the Celestial Realm.

“Y-Yama! Where are you going?”

“You have to answer before you go.”

“Catch him!”

Suuuk,

and then he crossed through the door.