The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-102

Chao’s desperate voice broke the campfire’s peace.

“Quickly! What are you doing?”

“If people are chasing you, can’t we just fight them? Why are we running away?”

Since Seol had no idea who or what was chasing her, he thought that this could be a good opportunity to learn about them and measure their strength.

‘There’s nothing to lose from learning about how strong they are right now. I have to clear the Adventure eventually anyway.’

Seol was confident in himself.

After all, he had three Legendary-rank summons with him.

Not only that, but when he considered his feats so far, he recognized that no one could come close.

His belief in himself became much more solidified after completely demolishing the Fire Altar.

He couldn’t lose.

That was the result of his cold calculations.

‘Not to mention the fact that I could just escape if things go wrong…’

It would be impossible for his powerful summons to not even be able to buy time for his escape.

So, that was the reason why Seol asked Chao to fight. He had considered everything.

However, the only thing he was met with was her incredulous look. She forcibly stood Seol up.

“Are you fucking stupid?! Are you trying to die? The people who are chasing me are Shadow Hunters!”

“Shadow Hunters?”

The Shadow Hunters.

Seol had heard about their faction before.

In Pandea, the World of Eternity, players could choose from many basic classes, but even more hidden classes existed.

And those hidden classes had differences that weren’t just through the difference in skills or stats.

For example, certain classes had Friendly Relations and Hostile Relations with the close and opposing factions of the world.

For example, Heretic Inquisitors held close relationships with churches but were opposed to an endless amount of cults. Magicians also didn’t have a good relationship with Mechanical Engineers.

Shadows Summoners were not an exception to this rule, they also had organizations that they had Hostile Relations with.

‘Shadow Hunters…’

They were a group that despised shadows, especially Shadow Summoners.

Most people in Pandea believed that extracting the shadows out of corpses to use them as subordinates was a cruel and atrocious dark magic.

However, most people simply scorned Shadow Summoners. Shadow Hunters hunted them.

This was the extent of Seol’s knowledge.

‘I’ve never run into them after all.’

As such, Seol had no idea what Shadow Hunters meant to the Shadow Summoners.

And because of that…

Chao’s excessive vigilance made Seol worry as well.

‘This… is likely dangerous.’

Chao then yelled at Seol once more.

“If you understand, run! Go west, I’ll meet you there! Well, if we can both survive…”

Seol ran without hesitation.

Not too long after, he heard someone shouting from a distance.

“The witch is running away! Get her!”

Seol realized that Chao’s pursuers were closer than he thought and ran without looking back.

Dash!

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Seol’s extremely high stats no longer made him look like a caster-type class.

Rustle…

Dash!

The way Seol ran through the grass made him look like a Dexterity-based class. Anyone who saw him now wouldn’t have assumed that he was a caster.

Seol was someone who always did what he had to do.

If he had to run, he gave his all in running.

Even as he was running out of breath, Seol kept running.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

Seol’s Constitution was similar to most Warriors or Knights now, so the fact that he was gasping for air meant that he had already traveled a considerably large distance.

“Gasp… Gasp… Guys…”

Fwooosh…

The night wind was strong.

Seol inhaled the cool air into his lungs, slowly returning to his senses.

“Gasp… Gasp… Where is everyone?”

Jamad and the Twin Knights.

He was with them in the beginning as he ran, but Seol couldn’t see them anymore.

Did they return to his Shadow Space?

Seol found it strange that they returned there without even saying anything to him.

Grrrrr…

Bark! Bark!

“Damn it.”

They were still chasing after him.

Seol had been running away from the sounds of hunting dogs from the start, and whenever he believed he had escaped them, he heard their cries not too long after.

It had reached the point where Seol was now beginning to suspect it was a spell.

‘I have to get rid of it.’

Since Seol had his summons, killing a hunting dog was nothing difficult at all.

Gloooow…

Seol began gathering energy into his hands while running.

Black energy concentrated in his hands before heading to Seol’s Shadow Space.

However, what came out wasn’t Karuna or Karen, or even Jamad. It was a message.

[You are within the influence zone of ‘A Place Without Light’.]

[You are unable to use Shadow Summon.]

“...What?”

- Are you fucking stupid?! Are you trying to die? The people who are chasing me are Shadow Hunters!

The reason that Chao quickly warned him…

- This Adventure is dangerous.

The reason that Seol was given this warning…

It became evident the moment Seol received this message.

“Fufufu… You should have just kept running away.”

Seol heard the pursuer’s voice from afar.

A siren lit up in Seol’s head.

‘This… is dangerous.’

Seol did not hesitate anymore.

If he was too slow to escape his pursuers, all he had to do was become faster.

Seol kicked the back of his left foot with his right foot.

Kick!

Boom!

[Escape From Danger activates.]

[Your movement speed massively increases for a short period of time.]

The Boots of Narrow Escape existed for moments like this.

Fwooooosh!

Seol was much faster than before. He was like an arrow flying through the forest.

He was so incredibly fast that the monsters Seol ran into couldn’t react as he breezed past them.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

Seol suddenly thought back to the past.

He recalled his first time in Pandea, before he acquired Karuna.

He cleared the ruins on his own with nothing to his name other than the knowledge of Pandea he held.

“Fuu… Fuu…”

And then, he acquired a powerful summon.

His victories continued.

He continued acquiring more and more powerful summons, and continued to get stronger.

But when he looked back on it now… he had been walking in circles.

Seol might have acquired powerful summons but he was still the same weak individual.

‘I… can’t do this with just Shadow Hand.’

Even considering plotting a way to defeat the Shadow Hunters right now would be complete lunacy.

Therefore, Seol simply continued to run.

His mouth felt completely dry. Seol wheezed for air with his dried lips.

But then…

Grrrrr… Bark!

Again.

It was the same barking sound that Seol had gotten sick of.

“Hahaha… you’re a good child, aren’t you? Since it’s my first time seeing you, I’ll hunt you later. Do you know where the woman you were with went? Where is Mirei?”

Seol thought he had misheard it.

‘Mirei? Did he just call her Mirei?’

The name of the woman Seol had been with was ‘Chao.’ However, the hunter was searching for ‘Mirei’.

Despite the confusing situation, the name ‘Mirei’ was not all too unfamiliar to Seol.

‘Mirei! Mirei, the Expelled!’

She was a woman who had been chased out of Gregory’s territory.

Also, she was not just one of Gregory’s many disciples. She was one of his three most beloved disciples.

‘She’s Mirei, Gregory’s 3rd disciple!’

Seol couldn’t help and instinctively looked in the direction of the person who mentioned Mirei.

Seol’s Eyes of Perception then saw him and his information.

[[Malacus, the Blind]

Rank: Heroic

Estimated Level: 20~24

Malacus hunts Shadow Summoners due to his conviction that using shadows is wrong, stemming from the misfortunes he experienced as a child.

He travels with his trusty hunting dog, Dir, and together, Malacus and Dir are nightmares for Shadow Summoners.

Basic Skills: [Track Footprints 1], [Wild Vision 1], [Neutralizing Shot 2], [Realized Pain 1], [Nocturnal 2]

Unique Skills: [Beast’s Sense of Smell 2], [A Place Without Light 3]]

‘A Place Without Light, so it was because of that.’

Bark! Bark!

Despite the confusing situation, Seol looked for his only way out of it.

Obviously, it was to run away.

“Give up, child. You’ll only make it more painful. Simply hand over your head to me, Malacus, obediently.”

Seol did not respond to Malacus at all and simply ran away. It was obvious that talking to him would never lead to Malacus sparing his life, only wasting his energy.

But then… Seol had an eerie feeling and twisted his body.

Fffft!

Something scratched by his earlobe.

It was clear that it was an arrow.

[You are affected by Malacus's Neutralizing Shot.]

[Ring of Grace activates.]

[It deflects the Curse of Neutralization.]

“Oho! You had something like that up your sleeve? Still, there won’t be a next time.”

Grrrrrrr…

“Dir, bite his neck.”

Bark!

Bark!

From the darkness, a large boar… no, a large black hunting dog the size of a boar sprinted out.

‘This… might be a bit difficult.’

Seol hadn’t given up, but it was clear that blocking the dog’s attacks without taking damage would be impossible. Seol decided to allow some attacks as long as the dog could not reach his neck.

Seol resolved himself. The moment Dir ran in, Seol used one arm to protect his neck.

He was prepared to lose an arm in the worst-case scenario.

But then…

Thud!

With lightning speed, someone ran to Seol’s side and kicked Dir away.

Whimper… Whimper…

“Fufufu… as expected from you, Mirei. I’ve been looking for you for so long.”

“Argh… I’m so tired of this. It’s so annoying. I’m getting sick of my popularity now. Still, you can’t hang on to me like this. I’m not into old men like you.”

“Hahaha, child. It seems like Mirei has saved you.”

“You already spilled everything? You’re as boring as ever, Malacus.”

“Did you think you could hide forever, Mirei?”

Chao… no, the mysterious woman had saved Seol.

“Chao, did you lie to me?”

“Haha, sorry about that. Still, I didn’t trick you intentionally. You were the one who came looking for me and pestered me.”

“Mirei… If you’re Mirei, then doesn’t that make you Gregory’s 3rd disciple?”

“Yeah, it seems like you already know a lot about me. Then you must also know that I was expelled by him, right?”

“I do.”

“Haha… What are you going to do, Malacus? I got my identity revealed because of you. I lost all of the mystery surrounding me.

Fffffft!

Malacus fired an arrow as an answer instead.

Ffft!

And Mirei grabbed the arrow like it was nothing.

“Something like that won’t work on me.”

Seol was in awe, but he had just as many questions.

‘Is she really a summoner?’

A summoner grabbing an arrow that a hunter shot with her bare hands? Something was definitely off.

“Look back at yourself, Mirei. The way you… the other hunters will be arriving here any time now.”

“Oh no… I’m so scared… But unfortunately for you… I haven’t just been playing around either.”

“What?”

Snap!

Swoosh…

As she snapped her fingers, a black fog grew.

[Mirei used Black Fog.]

“Oh no… Black Fog! You still had some left? Do you think I’ll lose you?!”

“Haha, you are going to lose me though. After all… all of my smell and sounds will vanish unless I’m close to you.”

“Damn it!”

Fwoooooosh…

Thanks to it, Seol could also hide inside the fog.

Mirei placed her index finger on her lips, signaling Seol to stay silent. They then carefully left the area.

However, as they were leaving, Malacus shouted something into the fog. It was something for Seol.

“Child, you are being tricked by that wolf.”

Seol wanted to tell him to shut up as he already knew that, but saying anything would waste the Black Fog. As such, he silently continued to walk away.

“She’s deceiving you! How dare she! How dare she fool a human?!”

What was he talking about?

Mirei’s face grew stiff.

“She’s already dead! Mirei definitely died! I-I saw my arrow pierce through her chest!”

Seol couldn’t understand the ridiculous nonsense Malacus was saying. However, he felt something as Mirei’s grip on his arm tightened.

‘Her body… is black?’

Her hands were darker than Yeo-myeong’s, not to mention her neck, which Seol could barely see between her hood, was pitch black.

Malacus shouted at Seol once more.

“She’s a shadow! She’s already dead!”