Chapter 172 – Sword Immortal Returns

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The Sword Immortal’s live channel was going wild.

To the point that the server would crash from the flood of viewers.

To the point that access had to be restricted because there was no other choice.

The Sword Immortal was facing his finest moment.

Not as an immortal, but as a novice personal broadcaster.

The horde of creatures was nothing more than precious content.

What was so difficult about catching and beating up trash like this?

But if he caught them too easily, the dramatic effect would drop.

Every now and then.

“Hut!”

Barely dodging a creature’s attack.

“This!”

And making a fuss too.

To him, all immortal arts and martial arts were needed only for the smooth progress of the live broadcast.

The qi-guided phone was the same.

Roaming across the battlefield filled with creatures, on the ground, in the sky, coming closer if a zoom was needed, and moving farther away if he wanted to take in the whole scene.

“Good.”

It could not even be compared to a filming drone.

The video was also being saved separately on the phone.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s clones were useful supporting actors too.

When he thought about how he had once grappled with these fellows in a struggle over immortal peaches, he still did not like them all that much, but…

On the other hand, he also felt grateful because they were handling one axis of the content.

Also, exterminating yokai was the duty of an immortal.

Even if it was another world.

‘No. I already formed ties with Grand Hero Tae-ju, so how can it be called another world?’

But there was a problem.

“Hmm?”

In truth, the signal had been coming from a little while ago.

At first he had wondered what this was, but he soon realized.

‘Haa, it’s time to go.’

The feeling that this world, Earth, was pushing him away.

Along with the feeling that the world where he had originally lived was pulling him.

‘I interfered too much.’

This place too would have the order of dimensions.

He was a being from another world, someone who should not be here.

The time had come for the short amusement permitted by order to end.

Of course, he could refuse.

He had the ability for it too.

But he accepted it.

Because that was the natural order.

It was endlessly regrettable.

Would he be able to come again?

Before going, let him at least wrap things up neatly.

* * *

Tae-ju continued to pound the mirror gate with 100,000 hidden weapons moved by the Poison Spirit.

Tspiriiiiiiit. Papapapapapat.

The mirror gate was not bidirectional but one-way.

They could come out from that side to here, but they could not go from here into that side.

If they could go in, the hidden weapons too would have entered the mirror gate and vanished.

Jjaechaeng. Chaeng. Chaeng. Chae…aeng. Jjaeng.

Cracks began to appear in the large gate, and the sound of glass breaking could be heard too.

Because the creatures were being taken care of by the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s clones and the Sword Immortal, he could directly strike the gate.

Jjaeaeng, jjaeng. Jjaeng. Jjaeng.

The cracks grew larger and larger.

‘Now it will break soon…’

It was then.

Wooooooooong.

Srrrrrrt.

“What?”

The cracks on the mirror’s surface began to fill in.

The gate even grew a little larger.

“Phew…”

If this happened, it was hopeless.

It seemed a good hour had already passed since the gate had opened.

Creatures were still pouring out.

There was no worry about the Sword Immortal, but…

‘The duration of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s clones doesn’t have much time left.’

The clones would soon disappear.

The gate had also grown bigger, so the number of monsters coming out was gradually increasing too.

The Poison Spirit too was starting to run dry.

How long could he endure?

‘The gate absolutely has to be broken.’

Seeing that it had cracked, if he pounded it harder, it would certainly break.

So.

– Lord Sword Immortal.

Tae-ju sent a voice transmission to the Sword Immortal.

– Hm? What is it, Grand Hero Tae-ju.

– I think we’ll have to remove the gate directly.

– Aha.

The Sword Immortal nodded.

After all, the goal had been the broadcast.

He had done everything there was to do.

He had gotten more than enough footage too.

– Then let us break it quickly.

Swiik, swiiiik.

The Sword Immortal’s aura swords were laid sideways.

At the same time.

Pasut. Pasususususut.

Beams of light shot toward the gate.

Tae-ju’s hidden weapons joined in too.

Tspirit, tspiriiiit.

Jjaejaejaejaejjaeng. Jjaejaejaejaejaejaejjaeng.

The mirror’s surface rippled as though waves were surging through it.

Jjiik. Jjijiik.

Large cracks formed at the edges.

Like a spiderweb, they became thicker and larger.

The number of magical beasts coming out also began to decrease.

In the end.

Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok.

Cracks spread over the entire mirror, and together with a dazzling light.

Hwaaaaaak.

That huge web of cracks shattered all at once and vanished in an instant.

Jjaenggeurang, wajangchang. Papapapapat.

* * *

Vincent Moretti was stunned out of his mind.

Kim Tae-ju and that old man too, were they both really human?

Those fearsome creatures had destroyed an entire dimension.

Because they were like mindless viruses that knew only destruction, even a world where ultra-high-level magi-engineering and magic had developed had collapsed helplessly.

And yet what was this?

Just the two of them, and this easily?

No, not two.

Those golden monkeys that had appeared out of nowhere.

Their number alone exceeded one million.

‘…As expected, Kim Tae-ju was the one who summoned them.’

Honestly, he had thought, how strong could monkeys be?

But that was a miscalculation.

They rushed at the creatures leaking outside like a swarm of ants, and by the force of numerical superiority tore them apart one by one.

Moreover, the large dimensional gate was slowly beginning to crack under Kim Tae-ju’s attacks.

It was made of energy, but the gate too was matter.

If external force was applied continuously, of course it would be destroyed.

Though the level of that force had to be enormously strong.

‘This is no time for this.’

Every attempt had come to nothing.

The soul-merging experiment, the opening of a dimension gate capable of bringing Earth’s destruction, and even the location of the underground bunker had all been exposed.

There had been no gain at all.

He absolutely had to flee.

Vincent began by clearing up what was around him.

At present, the number of subspace bags he had was about 10.

They were different from the ordinary subspace bags he had made and released into the world.

Their inner capacity was much larger than the ones he had made previously.

First he packed the golems.

Mainly the machine golems specialized in construction.

Because they were mechanical and had no self-will, they could enter subspace.

Along with all the materials, crystals, and experimental ingredients he had researched up to now.

He swept them all up.

As long as he had these, he could rise again.

He could build a new base in a quiet place.

That is, if he could escape from here.

‘Escape is possible.’

Right now those two were distracted dealing with the gate creatures.

He would escape through this gap.

First, after setting the underground bunker’s self-destruct system timer…

Chireureut.

His body turned transparent through the distortion of light from optical camouflage.

Various magi-engineering enchantment patterns were drawn on his body as well.

Creak.

Vincent opened the emergency exit leading to the surface.

Then he quietly moved in the opposite direction.

Because the exit was far from the mirror gate, and because it would be difficult to discover him in stealth unless one looked closely.

Vincent was confident.

If he entered Cairo like this, boarded a plane, and left?

They said information agents were spread all over the city, but bastards like that were not even a threat.

How were they going to catch him?

Just as he was thinking that.

“Ukkik?”

“…Huh?”

A single golden monkey suddenly blocked his way.

Then, scratching its cheek, it stared at him with curious eyes.

Could it see him?

In his transparent state, he should not be very noticeable even to the eye, so why?

The golden monkey suddenly poked Vincent in the face with a finger.

“This damn it!”

Patsutseuk.

An intense bolt of lightning erupted from Vincent’s body.

The Lightning Shock of magi-engineering, capable of electrocuting even an elite magical beast.

“Ukkya-ga-ga-gak!”

The monkey let out a monstrous cry and stiffened.

Psssss, its fur burning while giving off a scorched smell.

“How dare a mere monkey…”

Vincent kept moving.

But.

“Ukkik!”

“Ukkegek?”

“Kkeuk?”

“Kiak!”

Before he knew it, about 100 golden monkeys had gathered around Vincent.

“Heok!”

He had been caught again?

Grab.

One golden monkey grabbed Vincent’s arm.

“Y-you bastard…”

But before he even had time to cast Lightning Shock.

Hwiririt.

“Heok!”

He was lifted high into the air, then slammed into the ground.

Thud.

“Ack!”

And Vincent’s suffering began.

Hwirit. Peok. Hwiririt. Thud.

Slammed into the ground, sent flying, grabbed again and slammed down.

The golden monkeys played with Vincent like he was a toy.

* * *

The mirror gate had broken.

The faucet had been turned off.

The creatures that had been pouring out like floodwater were gone now.

What remained was cleaning up the leftover creatures.

Hudududududuk.

Rain fell.

A splendid silver downpour imbued with lethal poisonous qi.

He spared neither immortal qi nor poisonous qi.

The hidden weapons pierced through the creatures’ bodies like guided missiles, then rose up again.

Pupupupupupupupuk.

It did not even take ten minutes to clean everything up neatly.

There were no corpses left either.

Because the moment they died, they scattered like ash and vanished.

Magical beasts at least left byproducts and crystals.

“It’s over.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“What do you mean, for something like that…”

But the Sword Immortal’s expression did not look good.

“Is something wrong?”

“…It’s nothing. It’s just time for me to go back.”

“Pardon?”

Tae-ju could see it too.

That the Sword Immortal’s body was gradually turning blurry.

“Uh…”

It was sudden.

To think the time to part would come right now, of all times.

Tae-ju had not thought the Sword Immortal would remain on Earth forever, but now that the time had actually come, there was no helping the regret he felt.

“You should have stayed and enjoyed yourself more, but because of me…”

“Eoheo! I’ve already enjoyed myself to my heart’s content. I have no regrets.”

“Hahaha, really?”

“…Well, it’s not as though I don’t feel a little unfinished, but.”

“When you go to the Immortal Realm, please give my regards to the immortals.”

“Naturally I should. Ah! The motorcycle I bought and left in the Baekdu Hotel parking lot…”

Pat.

The Sword Immortal vanished without a trace.

“Ah!”

So he had really gone.

Honestly, he felt sorry.

The Sword Immortal had come from the boring Immortal Realm to Earth, and yet instead of letting him rest at ease before he left, Tae-ju had mobilized him for the dirty work of handling the mirror-gate creatures.

Let him wrap things up now.

Tae-ju turned his eyes toward where the golden monkeys had gathered.

‘Vincent Moretti…’

Even while he was breaking the mirror gate, he had noticed that bastard trying to escape.

So he had sent the clones.

“Ukkigigigigik!”

The monkeys came running to Tae-ju with Vincent Moretti held above their heads as if presenting spoils of war.

Some of them had even brought along the belongings the bastard had been carrying.

They looked like subspace bags…

“You all worked hard.”

“Kigigigik!”

At that moment.

Pangpang, papapapapapapang.

The golden monkeys vanished too.

‘They’re all gone.’

Had an hour already passed?

So the only ones left on the battlefield were Tae-ju and Vincent Moretti.

“Keoheok! You…”

It looked like he had been badly roughed up.

Arms and legs bent the wrong way, exposed wire coating between them, and white metal revealed through skin peeled away in places.

This bastard too was a robot.

No different from the fellow named Daniel.

“A-are you going to kill me?”

“Depends on the situation.”

“Heuheuheu, I see. But think carefully. I’m a great magi-engineer. More useful than you think…”

Tae-ju reached out a hand to Vincent Moretti.

Sseut.

‘As expected, he goes in.’

He knew it.

‘Should I take him back out?’

Sseut.

“Heok! Y-you, wh-what… what did you do to me!!!”

Sseut.

And he put him back in again.

He was thinking of sending Vincent to the Immortal Realm too.

That would be better.

Let him disappear from Earth altogether.

He was someone the European Empire was searching for too.

If they learned that Tae-ju had Vincent with him, would they stay quiet?

It could easily develop into a national dispute.

‘By the way…’

The 10 subspace bags lying on the ground.

What might be inside them?

He was looking forward to it.

Because they were the belongings of an enchant magi-engineer.

‘I should inspect them once I get home.’

Tae-ju took out the Ten-Thousand-League Flying Sword and climbed aboard.

Swaeaeaeak.

In the direction opposite Cairo, because he could be noticed, he also attached a transparency talisman.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang.

An explosion sounded behind his back as he flew away.

It was the sound of the underground bunker exploding.

* * *

Immortal Realm.

Spat.

The Sword Immortal revealed himself in the front yard of the multiplex.

“A familiar ceiling… no, sky.”

Even though he had just returned, he already missed Earth.

‘Is no one here?’

In any case, he had to deal with the aftermath.

‘They must be very angry…’

It was then.

One immortal staggered out from inside the multiplex.

“Hm? It seems I’m very drunk. Why do I see that disgraceful attention-seeking immortal?”

It was the Drunken Immortal.

After glaring at the Sword Immortal while narrowing his eyes as much as possible…

“…Huh? It’s real?”

“Haha, greetings, Drunken Immortal.”

The Sword Immortal gave a return greeting with a warm smile to the fellow immortal he was seeing for the first time in a while.

“I’ve returned.”

Even a drunkard was nice to see after so long.

But.

“What kind of bullshit stunt is this? Returned, my ass!!!”

Then.

“Everyone, come out and see!!! It’s the Sword Immortal! The Sword Immortal has come!”

Hearing the Drunken Immortal’s shout, the immortals came pouring out of the multiplex in a rush.

They were like the creatures that had come out of the gate.

“The Immortal Realm’s representative attention-seeker is here?”

“Where is he? …Oho! I’ve waited for this day.”

“L-look at how greasy his skin is!”

“A model case of slyness.”

“Does no one have a mat? We must roll him up at once.”

“Ban him from the multiplex!”

“What about the smartphone? That should be suspended too.”

The Sword Immortal broke out in a cold sweat.

As expected, the reaction was not good.

What should he do?

There was no helping it.

“…Keoheok!”

With a short scream.

The Sword Immortal clutched his chest and collapsed.

“Well now?”

“My, my?”

“All of a sudden?”

“Put on a show, put on a show!”

“Your acting is terrible.”

“If you were going to Earth, you should have gone to acting school while you were there.”

“Why? Why not roll around on the ground while you’re at it? Just like that time you went to Earth before.”

Despite the immortals’ heated criticism, the Sword Immortal took out a smartphone with trembling hands.

It was the phone he had brought from Earth.

“Heok, th-the final video, p-play it… keuk!”

“What is it?”

“What else would it be? It looks like he wants to brag again.”

Tang Gun-ak, who had come upon hearing the news, took the smartphone from the Sword Immortal.

“Give it to me. Let us have a look.”

Tang Gun-ak opened the smartphone and played the final video saved in the album.

The immortals crowded around with curious eyes.

“…This?”

“Hooh?”

“Is that not that gate? It’s quite large.”

“Heo, grotesque yokai came out of that door?”

“Those bastards deserve to be torn to death! Why on Earth did they come to Earth?”

“What about Grand Hero Tae-ju? Is he safe?”

The Sword Immortal nodded grimly.

“Grand Hero Tae-ju fortunately suffered nothing. I exerted myself desperately…”

“What are you talking about? Desperately? Do you think we’re fools?”

“It’s obvious you’re joking around.”

“For someone desperate, your camera work is no ordinary thing. You floated it in the air. An attention-seeker stays an attention-seeker.”

“Well, would you look at him putting on airs? It’s disgusting.”

“It feels like he wants praise, but no chance.”

“This is clearly for saving face.”

On the other hand, Tang Gun-ak looked satisfied.

Still, he had gone and done something.

If he had simply gone and fooled around doing nothing, Tang Gun-ak had been prepared to make him pay the price.

“What about Vincent?”

“Th-the monkeys, I c-confirmed that they caught him. Keuk, a-ah, Grand Hero Tae-ju p-probably caught him.”

“Is that so?”

“I-I suffered s-so much catching those things…”

“Hmm, you worked hard. There’s no need to play up your pain, so get up now.”

“Th-then?”

“You did well. Now that you’ve returned, rest well.”

The Sword Immortal grinned and sprang right up.

“Heuheuheu, I have recovered just now.”

Since the Poison Immortal had acknowledged him, there was no need to mind the other immortals’ reactions.

Now all that remained was to brag.