Chapter 466

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 466: Friend (3)

8 versus 1.

With such an outrageously unfair number, victory seemed certain—

Even against Emel, one of the Strongest Swords in the Lower Galaxy.

Yet the heads of the noble houses didn’t dare act rashly.

—You want us to fight together…?

—……

—W-Well, the thing is…

Even the families of the galaxy had a kind of social etiquette to maintain.

And the opponent was none other than Shirach, a prestigious house of the Lower Galaxy.

Joining the fight hastily just because there was a rare chance to attack a deputy-head of Shirach could bring devastating consequences.

These were leaders of houses that had lasted for thousands of years—they were nothing like the impulsive and unpredictable Yeongwoo, who came from a new power.

—You just don’t understand what Shirach is. We don’t want to deal with the dangerous aftermath.

Eventually, Bioto offered his honest opinion and stepped back, and the other leaders, with much to lose, didn’t budge either.

“What? You’re going to pass up on this golden opportunity?”

On the other hand, Yeongwoo, who had already clashed swords with Emel and shattered any chance of friendly relations with Shirach, had nothing left to lose.

“Then it can’t be helped. Guess we’ll just have all the fun ourselves…!”

It was an audacious line, unbelievable coming from a house that hadn’t even existed for a full day.

Then Yeongwoo raised his guard with Aratubank and charged, prompting Emel to lift both swords with a now serious expression.

He knew now—this opponent was not to be underestimated.

—…Insane.

Even with the Shirach name behind him, he was about to get beaten 7 to 1.

It was, quite literally, madness.

To make matters worse, the opponent was so brutish he had no respect for noble houses—and no fear either…

The kind of guy who would absolutely go through with beating up a deputy-head.

—…….

A strange fear began creeping up Emel’s spine.

In response, he clashed swords and shouted confidently,

—Come at me, you lowly…!

But his sentence didn’t finish.

「Hiyaaaak!」

Yeongtae had snuck around to the side and landed a low kick square into Emel’s thigh.

Thud!

—Guh! When did you…?

He had been distracted by the charging Yeongwoo in front.

Even so, it had only been a split second.

That was all it took for the attack to land.

And this wasn’t just a 2-on-1… it was seven opponents.

「Dieeee!」

From above Emel’s head came a fierce presence and a red flash of light.

—…?

Sensing something, Emel quickly looked up—

A crimson greatsword was already inches from his face.

Kang Hongtae was descending from the sky, swinging his blade with full force.

—Tch!

Startled, Emel raised one sword to block Hongtae’s strike—

But at that moment, three more presences appeared around him.

Tatatat!

It was Yeongwoo, Taejoon, and Song Jeongho—who had polymorphed into a human—launching simultaneous attacks.

—…….

What should he block first?

The confusion was clear on Emel’s face.

Then he made a decision.

Clang!

He blocked Yeongwoo’s attack with his remaining sword, twisted his body to narrowly evade Jeongho’s strike—

To Emel, the most dangerous one was Yeongwoo, who wielded a mythic weapon, followed by the resurrected Jeongho.

Which meant that Taejoon, the remaining attacker—

「Huh……?」

Wasn't anticipated at all.

Taejoon’s punch slammed into Emel’s back.

WHAM!

With a powerful impact, Emel’s body shot between Yeongwoo and Jeongho like a bullet.

And in that moment, Emel understood—

That none of Yeongwoo’s team’s attacks were to be taken lightly.

CRASH!

Emel tumbled violently across several dozen meters,

Then stabbed his sword into the ground to halt his momentum.

SLAM!

He quickly got back on his feet and resumed his battle stance.

「Damn… he’s still ready to fight?」

General Kim Younghyeom, impressed by the enemy’s willpower, stroked his whiskers with his front paw.

In contrast, Yeongwoo, unlike his confident friends, now looked slightly anxious as he stared at Emel.

“We’re at a disadvantage now.”

「What?」

“That guy is far beyond your level. Normally, just making eye contact with him would’ve made you all wet yourselves.”

「…What did you say?」

“But thanks to the buff, that reaction has been postponed.”

In other words, time was on Emel’s side.

Even with seven people attacking, the fight still wasn’t over—proving that Emel’s victory was inevitable based on sheer ability.

Yeongwoo suspected that even Taejoon’s hit that sent Emel flying had been half-intentional.

After all, now the distance between them had widened significantly.

And during the time it takes to close that gap again, a lot could change.

“Can you guys see a timer or anything in front of you? I’m not sure how much of the delay we have left…”

Yeongwoo murmured while gripping Bastard.

General Kim shook his head.

「Timer? I don’t see anything like that. Just the enhancement icon.」

“When that disappears, we lose. I’d say we have a minute, tops.”

「Then shouldn’t we attack quickly?」

“Exactly. We have to end this in the next two exchanges. Hah… If we just had eight… With eight people, I think we could’ve done it.”

Just as Yeongwoo muttered this despicable thought like the villain he is—

A strange presence began rising from the outskirts of Gwangjin District.

RUMBLE…!

“…What now?”

This wasn’t something Yeongwoo had calculated for.

The Strongest Swords of Western and Northern Seoul were now racing into Gwangjin, bringing mutated warriors with them.

“…Right. I guess some stragglers were bound to show up today too.”

Because the scuffle with Bioto was broadcast across the entire planet this morning, even the Strongest Swords of Seoul would know that the heads of the noble houses were in Gwangjin District.

And yet, they were still barging into this mess.

This meant only one thing — dealing with a ninth-day mutant was just too much to handle.

In fact, there were three dropouts today.

Eunpyeong, Mapo, and Seongbuk.

"Hey, Yeongwoo!"

"Help us ou— huh?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

The Strongest Sword of Seongbuk widened his eyes when he saw that not only were the house heads present, but also six mutants had already descended onto the field.

But then, a bigger problem emerged.

The presence of the mutants trailing behind suddenly intensified.

Fwoosh!

"Huh? What’s going on?"

"If it’s not just me… their movements—"

They had definitely gotten faster — and the Mapo swordsman's thought was no illusion.

As soon as the group entered Gwangjin District, the mutants following them began to be affected by the “First Calamity.”

「Oh, power… it’s overflowing!」

「What is this place?」

The moment the mutants stepped into Gwangjin District, they felt their combat power surge, and their eyes flared wide open.

And all of this—

—……

—was putting immense pressure on Emel, who was already in a 7-versus-1 duel.

To him, it now looked like it would soon become a 10-versus-1 fight.

—Where do these things keep coming from?

Since Emel wasn’t familiar with Earth’s circumstances, he could only assume that these lowly creatures would keep getting reinforced.

So he had no choice but to lift his gaze into the air.

Whoosh!

He stretched his right arm straight up.

Seeing this, Maon suddenly sat up from where he’d been leaning on the sphere.

—Hey, 07! Call off your subordinates! This insane fight ends now!

"What are you talking about? It’s not the end of the fight—it’s just beginning. Isn’t it about time you upheld your oath?"

When Yeongwoo instead demanded Maon’s participation, the old house head twisted his jaw in frustration.

—The young lord… is requesting the clan’s decisive weapon. If that is used, this will no longer be a duel.

Yeongwoo frowned deeply.

"If it’s not a duel, then are you saying it’ll become a war?"

Of course, Emel’s position wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

Shirach, after all, had reigned as the strongest house in the lower galaxy for hundreds of millions of years.

To have that reputation sullied by some newly-risen house was unacceptable.

Then Maon stepped out into the center of the battlefield, brushing past the other heads.

—If we act now, we can avoid the worst-case scenario! Pull back your forces!

Even as he said this, three newly appeared mutants were getting closer and closer.

Maon had astutely realized that Emel’s summoning of the clan’s ultimate weapon was driven by the steadily increasing number of mutants.

"What about mutual defense?"

—I’m already upholding my oath with you.

This was Maon's way of saying that trying to stop this fight was, in fact, the best form of “defense.”

—Defeating the young lord won’t equate to defeating the entire Shirach. It will only bring about greater disaster.

If the young lord were taken down here, the next battle would be against the whole of Shirach.

And Maon had deemed that possibility the worst case.

"Oh? So if you joined the fight, we could defeat that guy?"

Even in this chaos, Yeongwoo picked up on the hidden meaning behind Maon’s words.

Maon tightly shut his eyes, then suddenly twisted his upper body in a wide arc.

"……!"

Startled, Yeongwoo instinctively raised Bastard to strike.

KAAANG!

A harsh grinding sound rang out from right behind Maon.

"Huh!"

In that brief moment, Emel, who had retrieved the clan’s ultimate weapon, swung his sword at Yeongwoo — but Maon managed to block it just in time.

CRACK!

Just one meter from Yeongwoo’s forehead, a massive navy-blue greatsword and Maon’s mechanical arm were locked in a struggle.

‘Whoa, that’s… Shirach’s ultimate weapon?’

Now seeing it up close, the so-called ultimate weapon of Shirach was a strangely curved, enormous navy-blue sword.

In truth, it looked less like a sword and more like a thick segment cut from a giant tree root. Embedded across the wide blade were gleaming white orbs.

—…Maon.

Emel glared at the eldest among them with a furious expression.

Maon, looking at his mechanical arm being slowly pushed back, muttered in a low voice.

—As expected of Shirach… My arm’s about to break.

—…….

It was practically a threat.

On the surface, it would seem like the young lord of Shirach had inflicted harm on the head of Tisef.

In other words, it was a warning — don’t escalate things any further.

—Is this really worth it?

Emel's voice was still cold and murderous.

But Maon still had a faint trace of a smile.

—Oaths cannot be measured on a scale.

A true oath is something that is upheld unconditionally, without calculating its value.

This was his way of saying that his intervention was unavoidable.

—You’d best plan for the future. This planet is far too messy for a proper, honorable duel.

“A planet too messy.”

At the rather odd phrase, both Yeongwoo and Emel tilted their heads in confusion.

And just then, something strange happened in the sky over Gwangjin District.

Fwoosh!

As if a giant lens had been placed in the air, the space itself distorted.

"Huh……?"

Even seeing it with his own eyes, Yeongwoo blinked in disbelief.

Then, Earth — which had been silent for a while — spoke to him again.

○ The time has come.

‘…Time for what?’

○ Your father-in-law is on his way.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]