The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-192

BOOOOOOOM!

Like trees being swept up by a storm, the black wave destroyed and swept through everything in its range.

The manor had been split in half.

Well, maybe “split” wasn’t the most appropriate word to describe what had happened to the manor.

“Disappeared” was a much better way of describing it.

“Haah… Haaah…”

Marcelo’s subordinates began retreating in fear after witnessing something so absurd.

Fwip!

“Krgh…”

Fwoosh!

“Urgh…”

They were weak, defeated soldiers at best.

However, as they were members of the cartel, Yeo-myeong wasted no time in killing the remaining remnants.

By the time the dust settled, everything else settled alongside it.

“Let go! Let me go!”

“Shut your mouth, Marcelo,” said Yeo-myeong. “You’re free to talk more if you want to die faster, though.”

Noticing Marcelo attempting to flee while the twins were occupied, Yeo-myeong swiftly grabbed him and prevented his escape.

Marcelo had quickly realized that the twins would lose and had tried to slip away.

However, he had been caught by Yeo-myeong.

Even if it weren’t for Yeo-myeong, Seol was already aware of his presence, so Marcelo couldn’t have escaped. Regardless, his attempt failed.

“You bastards… You think you can just mess with us…? You’re walking corpses now.”

Yeo-myeong tossed Marcelo face-first into the ground before taking the item in his hands.

“This is my rightful reward and…”

“You bastards… Are you really doing this over just one fucking item?”

“One item? No, this is your punishment.”

Seol glanced at Karuna, who appeared lost in thought, and realized he needed a moment. Turning back to Marcelo, Seol walked toward him.

“...Hey,” said Seol.

“Y-You…!” shouted Marcelo.

“What do you know?”

“What are you… Las Cabras?”

“Yeah, those bastards who should’ve just been grazing on some grass.”

“Do you think I’ll tell you?”

“Nope.”

Marcelo’s eyes shifted back and forth. He paused for a second before continuing.

“I-If I tell you… will you let me live?”

“Of course not,” boasted Seol, calmly.

“Ptoo! Go fuck yourself, you…”

Marcelo thrashed around and reached for a weapon on him, but...

Slash!

Yeo-myeong swiftly cut Marcelo’s head off.

“How dare he…”

“He’s more tenacious than I thought,” said Seol.

"It's because he would have been killed by the cartel even if he somehow made it out of here alive. He knew that better than anyone, so..."

Karen slowly put Marie down.

Lower…

“Urgh…”

It seemed like Marie was waking up.

“Marie!”

[Intermediate Insight activates.]

[There are signs of poison.]

Seol quickly pulled out an antidote from his inventory and fed it to her.

“Urgh… it hurts…”

Seeing Marie waking up in pain, Yeo-myeong quickly supported her.

“Are you okay, Marie?”

“You’re way too loud right now… dumbass.”

Luckily, she didn’t seem to be at risk of losing her life at all.

Seol then carefully observed Karuna, who had just unleashed a massive attack.

‘It’s making me worry…’

Ur explained the situation to him from Seol’s shadows as if he sensed Seol’s thoughts.

- Don’t worry. It’s probably just the aftermath of him breaking through the wall that had been blocking him.

‘Isn’t that dangerous, though?’

- It could be... but we can do nothing about it. He'd obviously be shocked if something empty was suddenly filled in this entire time.

It was now clear that Ur had been aware of Karuna’s lack of ego.

- I’d gauged it before while testing your skills. Though his exterior seemed like a stiff doll, something was bubbling within him. If it manages to break down entirely, his personality might change quite a bit.

However, Seol didn’t worry too much about that.

Even if Karuna had become more violent than before, there was no way it would have compared to the Black Knight.

And even if he did, Karuna would undoubtedly return to normal.

Fwoooosh…

Contrary to Seol’s concerns, Karuna looked at peace.

He seemed satisfied, refreshed from letting all of his anger out.

In truth, Karuna’s action of absorbing the Black Knight was not the appropriate way to do it.

It was similar to how humans could eat lumps of metal to increase their weight, but they could never digest it, causing a whole other slew of imbalances.

Eventually, the growing anger within him ate away at his insides, particularly given he wasn’t the type to display his emotions.

But luckily… another variable had been included.

Resonance, a skill Seol had gained from Kiri, which allowed him to share his emotions with Karuna.

Seol’s cool, calm personality not only helped to quell some of the bubbling anger but also, at times, to remove it entirely.

That was how the anger brewing with Karuna managed to be expelled like this, instead of erupting inside him.

If it weren’t for Resonance, there would have been huge issues.

Though Seol had considered Resonance a weak skill, it had its uses.

Fwooooosh…

The black wave that destroyed the manor then began returning to Karuna.

And like that, the Twin Knights had managed to break through their wall.

Fwoooooosh!

Black waves continued to surge back and forth from Karuna.

Though the energy had felt strong before, now it seemed so powerful that it was impenetrable.

Karen began to feel the aftermath as well.

“...What?”

She then erupted into flames.

[Twin Knights’ Connected Soul activates.]

[The two summons’ ranks are improved to Transcendent.]

[Your summons can now use all of their original strength.]

[Your summons have now attained the qualifications to become Great Generals.]

[Great Generals are able to walk their own paths.]

[Different skills will be improved based on the paths they choose.]

[Twin Knights: Karuna’s Soaring Moonlight has been improved.]

[When Soaring Moonlight is activated, it will now always be the Full Moon Stage.]

[Twin Knights: Karen’s Fire Flower has transformed to Burning Fixed Star.]

[Burning Fixed Star’s damage per spin is increased, and the created flames are greatly improved.]

[Twin Knights: Karuna’s Passive: Black Wave has been improved.]

[Black Wave now decreases more stats, and the slowing effect is increased.]

[Twin Knights: Karen awakens a new skill!]

[Twin Knights: Karen awakens Passive: Best Friends.]

[Twin Knights: Karuna's physical abilities are greatly increased.]

[Twin Knights: Karen's physical abilities are greatly increased.]

[Twin Knights: Karuna awakens Stand Alone.]

[Twin Knights: Karen awakens Stand Alone.]

[Connected Soul’s stat increases are active even when the Twin Knights are not summoned together.]

……

Seol read through the countless messages.

- They finally broke through their wall.

As Karuna underwent a change, so did Karen.

While it was certainly due to Connected Soul's effects, truthfully, Karen had been ready to grow long before Karuna.

When she finally escaped Jin’s shadows at Yognatun, she likely had been ready to climb to a higher level since then.

However, she was held back by Karuna, who wasn’t ready to ascend, so the moment he became ready, she improved together with him.

Seol skipped through the intuitive skills and focused on the more important ones.

[[Passive: Black Wave]

Passively emit a black aura that debuffs enemies, capable of stacking. Each stack of the aura decreases their stats by 1~3% and increases the slow effect. The effect can accumulate up to a maximum of 10 stacks. Upon reaching 10 stacks, enemies receive 20% more damage from attacks than usual.]

- How ridiculous…

- Karuna’s a monster now…

- 10 stacks = auto-win.

- He’s going to auto-win regardless…

[[Passive: Best Friends]

Passive: Sudden Appearance’s effect always activates, appearing in the creation you are closest to.]

- What the fuck does this mean?

- We have to know what Sudden Appearance does to understand it lmfaooo

- I’m sure it’s a good thing~

- It cost a bunch of skill points, so it better be good…

- Why did both of them rank up, though…

- What’s the Great General’s path???

- Idk either.

Seol knew the answer to his viewer’s questions about the Great General’s path.

They were new skills that knight classes attained upon reaching a certain level, determined by their inclinations.

For example, wearing heavy armor and wielding a shield would steer them toward the Path of Loyalty, while opting for a two-handed greatsword would guide them along the Path of Mettle.

‘I guess this will get naturally chosen later on?’

Just as Jamad became capable of using Primal Power after becoming a Great Shaman, they will also receive new skills.

‘Hm?’

After confirming his summons’ new skills, Seol noticed something on the ground by Karuna’s feet.

‘Isn’t this… their pocket watch?’

The pocket watch that stole Tarde and Noite’s lifespan.

It had somehow found its way into Seol’s hands.

“It was… a rather strange item.”

While a watch that stole its user's lifespan was eerie and strange, that wasn’t the important part.

The watch didn't merely steal the user's lifespan. It accelerated their aging process.

In other words, using this watch meant that the user's time passed by that much more quickly.

Seol was surprised by how an ordinary item like this could affect time in such a way.

Seol grabbed the watch.

Its glass face had a crack forming on it.

[[Pocket Watch of Inequality]

Quality: Treasure

Recommended Level: N/A

Weight: 0.1kg

Bonus Effect: When activated, the user's stats are drastically increased, but it causes them to age quicker for each second this remains active. As it is broken, it is unable to determine the extent of the user's stat increase or the rate of aging per second.]

[Intermediate Insight activates.]

[It seems like this item could only be used one more time.]

“...What?”

For now, Seol stowed the item into his inventory, while Ur gazed at the watch for a long while.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Luckily, Marie recovered quickly.

Not only did she possess a healing skill, but the poison impairing her movement before was also just an ordinary paralysis poison.

After the situation settled, Yeo-myeong came to Seol.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” said Seol.

“...It’s all thanks to you, hyung.”

“I get the sense that you’ve changed quite a bit.”

“Huh?”

“In a good way.”

“Ah… R-Really?”

In truth, his skills and aura really were completely different from before; Seol hadn’t been lying to him.

‘I felt it before too, but… he’s really grown.’

Scratch…

Yeo-myeong scratched his head in embarrassment.

“It also seems like you’ve been through some things as well,” added Seol.

Nod…

Yeo-myeong behaved sincerely with Seol, like a child trying to impress their older brother.

Seeing that, Seol smiled.

“But you’ve definitely grown. I’m happy.”

Smile…

The corners of Yeo-myeong’s mouth kept twitching, unable to hide his happiness.

Bam!

“Argh!”

Marie poked his side with her elbow.

“You’re acting like an idiot, Yeo-myeong.”

“Yeah?”

Marie then looked at Seol.

She clearly didn’t fully understand the situation right now.

She couldn’t comprehend why, while she was knocked out, Marcelo’s gang had been annihilated and vanished from Azelphog.

“Summoner… a summoner…”

“What is it, Marie?”

“He was a summoner?”

"Ah, hyung? Yeah. You read with me the letters that Noeul sent, didn’t you? The part where she questioned how a transferee cleared the labyrinth, thinking it was a lie."

“The flagellant?”

“Yeah, him! Hyung, that was you, right?”

Nod.

Seol nodded in response to Yeo-myeong’s question.

Marie’s eyes were widened with shock.

“Y-You really cleared the labyrinth?” asked Marie. “What was it like?”

“Well…”

- What do you think? It was fucking hell… (while smoking)

- Don’t even talk about it! (while drinking)

- I don’t think she wanted an answer like that…

- Wait, this is a huge problem! She’s so curious she’s going to get heartburn! Someone call 911!

Marie then unloaded questions onto Seol as if she were interrogating him.

“Then how many points do you have?”

Such as questions like that.

“11 million? Why didn’t I notice… How? No, seriously… how?!”

- Haha… The labyrinth didn’t even give that many points, either~

- You can stop now~ I’m getting embarrassed~

- A lot more happened than that, though~ I guess those rumors didn’t spread yet~

Marie then nodded to herself.

“I see. No wonder Yeo-myeong was going on and on about you… I didn’t know you were someone like this…”

- Yeo-myeong’s shoulders = Everest.

- Mountaineer: Wtf I thought this was a mountain. This was just someone’s shoulders?

- He’s so proud of it LMFAOOO

- My brother’s cooler, and stronger, and faster than your brother!!!

Yeo-myeong then asked Seol a question.

“Hyung, did you, by chance… see me fight?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Ah… So you didn’t…”

He appeared to be sinking into despair, clearly saddened by the fact that Seol couldn’t watch him fight.

“But… I can clearly tell how much you’ve grown. Right, Karen?”

Disinterested in their conversation, Karen responded to Seol while petting Koko.

“Why do you keep calling—Huh? Yeah… you did. You were sloppy before, but I can tell you’ve hardened yourself up a bit.”

“I-I intentionally picked out the difficult missions. I knew I had to train my body, but I thought I needed to train my mind as well…”

Yeo-myeong’s transformed demeanor flashed through Seol’s mind.

His merciless, cold methods… His ability to quickly make decisions…

‘I guess it’s fine, though, since he still retained his positives.’

“Seol!” beamed Marie. “What do you plan to do now? If you haven't chosen your next Adventure yet…”

“I’ve already decided on my next few Adventures.”

“I see…”

Marie’s shoulders drooped, clearly sad that she couldn’t go on an Adventure with him.

After promising to see Yeo-myeong again in Azelphog after this Adventure, Seol left the manor and went to his accommodation.

* * *

A few days later, Seol was waiting to be transferred to his next Adventure.

It had been a long while since Seol could lazily wait for his next Adventure to begin. It was because he hadn’t been able to start his adventures when he wanted to.

Now, after receiving the compass from Lian, Seol began his search for his pieces.

And obviously, the most important thing when you start something new is how you start it.

Seol's absence before heading to Marcelo’s manor was also due to his preparation for his next Adventure.

“I knew it; the arrow’s pointing toward Gollun.”

- Gollun?

Ur was confused, it was his first time hearing that name.

Seol laughed in response, glossing over it.

Glooooow…

After being surrounded by light, Seol was transferred into a damp cave.

Fwoosh…

Seol then lit up a torch he had prepared beforehand.

Squinting, he looked around the cave.

‘I don’t… particularly have good memories about this place.’

[You begin your next Adventure.]

[Your 25th Adventure is starting.]

[Adventure 25. Grave Robber’s Tomb]

……

This cave... was where his piece, Gollun, the Grave Robber, met his end.