Chapter 533

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Chapter 533: The Escapee (1)

‘Warden on duty……?’

He didn’t need to look back to know.

It meant a “fixer” had entered this underground cell block whose exits were all sealed.

Maybe that was also why there were no other guards here—to prevent unnecessary casualties.

Ssk.

When Yeongwoo finally turned his body with Bastard in his grip, Koatu’s voice flowed out from inside the cell.

-Do you think you’re the first?

“…Pardon?”

-The first to come for my money, I mean.

“Wait, there were others after me? Then why are you still in there?”

-…….

At Koatu’s silence, Yeongwoo realized he’d asked a dumb question.

“Ah. The Warden must’ve killed them all.”

No doubt that was also why the arrest squad hadn’t chased him to the bitter end.

Anyone above a certain level of threat had a special handler assigned to them.

“So if I beat the Warden, are you ready to pay the jailbreak fee?”

-I’d prefer you ask that again after you actually beat him.

Right about then, a monstrous presence swelled from the dim far side.

Kuuuuung!

The Warden was approaching.

-To be honest, I don’t expect this door to open. Farewell.

As Koatu ended with what sounded like a parting line, a huge silhouette emerged beyond the darkness.

Kuuung.

―Heh heh, what little gnat has come into this cesspit of his own accord.

The fixer in question, the Warden, was a giant five meters tall.

The black leather hood pulled over his head had three holes for eyes, but unlike a normal three-eyed being, their placement was strange.

Two eyes sat slanted on the left side of the face, and the third was far to the right.

‘A facial deformity? Or an entirely different species……?’

He clearly had issues—he even had a third arm.

That third arm sprouted up over his back.

“Even so, calling your own workplace a cesspit……? Sounds like your job satisfaction is low.”

Chwiat!

When Yeongwoo took a fighting stance, brandishing Bastard menacingly, the prisoners in their cells started pounding their doors in a clamor.

Thump-thump, thump! thump!

-Wooaah……!

-It’s startingggg!

-Hey, rookie! Run while you can!

-Kill the Warden!

Looked like, for them, this was a kind of periodic event.

Well, if you sit in a cell all day, boredom has to peak.

―Satisfaction? That’ll be rising any moment now.

Amid the prisoners’ thunderous racket, the Warden laughed wickedly.

Then the third arm rising from his back bent behind him and lifted a massive hammer from the floor.

―Soon enough, you’ll be part of this cesspit too.

As he said it, the Warden flexed, and all three forearms swelled with muscle.

Kududuk!

“You monstrous bastard.”

The prison’s chill atmosphere, the pounding of doors, and the brute bulk of a Warden who had crushed all prior challengers—together they made even Yeongwoo tense up anew.

Bluntly, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t end up like the others.

○ I’ve got a bad feeling. He’s not going to be easy.

Earth, too, sensed the ill omen and warned him.

‘There’s a reason they sent the Warden against a Myth-holder.’

But Yeongwoo had another trump beyond Myth.

It was none other than—

HwaaAAAt!

—his Prestige, which stood at a whopping level 48.

《Cut the crap and open the way.》

As Yeongwoo let golden light blaze in his eyes and spoke in a voice imbued with Prestige, the Warden actually flinched and hunched his massive frame.

As expected, he wasn’t of high status—his Prestige level was lower than Yeongwoo’s.

But only for a moment.

―Hmph, all the same, every one of you.

“What?”

―The things done by those who crawl in here of their own will.

A meaningful line.

It meant he’d met people with high Prestige before.

And if so—

“……!”

Just as Yeongwoo sensed something, someone shouted from a cell beyond the darkness.

-You idiot, don’t let your guard down! Prestige doesn’t work here!

A mechanical hum sounded from far up in the ceiling.

Wiiiiiiing……!

Some device had been installed to suppress Prestige across the entire underground block.

And then the Warden, half-kneeling, began to rise.

Trduduk.

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―Even the noble and renowned are nothing but lumps of filth down here.

‘Right. If you couldn’t suppress prisoners’ Prestige, you couldn’t imprison them in the first place.’

Yeongwoo had to admit he’d overlooked a prison’s special circumstances.

By then, fully freed from the influence of Prestige, the Warden straightened up and looked down at Yeongwoo.

Then, in a muddy voice, he offered final words.

―Now it’s time for you to kneel!

Hweaeeeaek!

The Warden’s huge body shot up into the black air in an instant.

“Uh?”

He’d never fought someone like this, so Yeongwoo, startled, pulled Aratubank close to his body.

‘Shit, one thing’s certain—I can’t just stand here like an idiot.’

So he chose to sprint toward where the Warden had been a moment ago.

For now, there wasn’t much space behind him.

Tatap!

As Yeongwoo finished his quick decision and dashed forward, a hair’s breadth later the sledgehammer crashed down where he’d been.

Kaaaaaaaaang!

The Warden, who’d hidden his body in midair, had thrown his hammer.

Then he dropped back to the floor and retrieved it.

―Bolder than I expected.

“And you’re too underhanded, aren’t you? Prestige is a hierarchy guaranteed by the universe.”

In practice, Yeongwoo had no shackles on, but he was facing the Warden as a prisoner all the same.

Maybe that’s why—

-Oh? The rookie’s alive!

-What the hell, Warden. Did you go easy on him?

-He survived the first exchange?

-He’ll be pulp within three, anyway.

Criminals throughout the block pounded their doors, throwing in commentary on the fight.

Usually the “event” ended with the Warden’s opening strike, but this time the match had gone into overtime.

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Yeongwoo, on the other hand—

“Whose side are these bastards on?”

—glared at the rows of cells to either side and reset his stance.

The Warden clearly wasn’t ordinary, but he didn’t feel overwhelming either.

Truk.

Then the Warden suddenly lowered his posture and planted his thick arms on the ground.

‘…A charge!’

Sensing what would happen next, Yeongwoo raised Aratubank on a diagonal just as the Warden kicked off and lunged.

Kududududuk!

A truly blistering rushing attack.

As soon as Yeongwoo came into range, the third arm swung the hammer in a great arc.

Baaaaaak!

‘Damn.’

Sensing an absurd level of killing intent, Yeongwoo clenched his teeth and thrust Aratubank forward.

Hwaet.

And the first collision erupted.

Kuwaaaaaaang!

The shockwave between hammer and Aratubank shook the entire underground block, and the prisoners scrambled to see how the challenger had fared.

-…Is he alive?

-Rookie?

-What happened?

The answer came in Yeongwoo’s shout.

“Sword Mountain, summon……!”

Having blocked the Warden’s attack, Yeongwoo immediately summoned the One Hundred Forty-Four Sword Mountain.

Kwajack!

The air split and his blades poured out; the Warden muttered, troubled.

―Of all things, the Weapon Catalog.

For the first time, he took evasive action.

Kwaaat!

He left Yeongwoo right in front of him and pulled his body forward, almost pitching himself away.

“Hold it!”

Yeongwoo hurled Bastard after him so as not to let him escape.

Swaeaeaeaeat!

Bastard, shot like an arrow, pierced the right thigh, then, thanks to Yeongwoo’s “sword-ability,” ripped back out of the floor.

-…Sword-ability?

The Warden even recognized the 5th-tier collection effect of the Weapon Catalog.

For a monster buried in a “cesspit,” his erudition wasn’t bad.

Yeongwoo crooked his index and middle fingers, ordering Bastard to harry the Warden.

“What, feeling like you finally met your match today?”

By this point, the prisoners were starting to realize something big was happening.

-Wha… what’s going on there.

-Don’t tell me the Warden’s losing?

-What’s going on outside?

-The rookie’s still alive?

They even stopped pounding their doors.

Everyone pressed their ears to focus on what was happening outside.

And then—

Kakang! Kaang!

Fending off the frenzied Bastard with his hammer, the Warden finally let a weak line slip.

―Listen, these men are vicious criminals. They must be isolated.

It was as good as admitting the tide had turned against him.

So the instant that line left his mouth, every prisoner in the underground cell block shouted in a frenzy.

-W-what?

-The Warden has been beaten! He’s done too!

-Let us out, quick!

-He’s losing?

And at last—

Swaeaeaeaeak!

Bastard, carving mad slashes, finally broke through his guard.

Tchak!

It sheared deep across the left shoulder.

―Urgh……!

With black blood, a groan leaked from under the Warden’s mask, and Yeongwoo called out the “Fifth Sword.”

Paaat!

「The Fifth Sword」 – Legendary One-Handed Sword

【Lightning Resistance +25%】

【Lightning Damage +25%】

【Lightning Step】

Then, with Lightning Step, he dove straight into the Warden’s reach.

Chwichiiiit!

【Lightning Step】

|Dash quickly forward, becoming temporarily immune to lightning damage.|

―You little…!

Seeing Yeongwoo flash into his chest, the Warden hurriedly swept his right arm to grab him.

He couldn’t swing his hammer—the sword-ability driving Bastard was too relentless.

But this was exactly the situation Yeongwoo wanted.

“Summon Sword Mountain.”

When Yeongwoo called the Sword Mountain from just below the Warden’s chest, the air tore and a storm of blades poured down.

Kuwaaaaaa!

Aimed right at the back of the Warden’s neck.

―W-wait!

Sensing much, the Warden glanced up with all three eyes—just as a hundred blades pinned his body and drew gouts of black blood.

Kwa-kwak, kwaat!

And finally—

Swaeaeaeaeat!

Waiting outside the Sword Mountain, Bastard traced a blood-red arc and slit the Warden’s throat.

Piaaak!

Already in rags, the Warden’s body shed its head, and a massive shadow crashed across the floor of the underground block.

Kuuuuuuung!

The Warden of the Black-Iron Prison had fallen.

-Oh……?

-Did that just—

Who knew the Warden’s presence better than the prisoners right here, who’d felt it all through their confinement?

So the moment his hulking body hit the ground, deep silence fell over the hall.

Half couldn’t believe it and kept their mouths shut; the other half were saving their voices for what would happen next.

And finally—

Puhk!

Yeongwoo, pinned beneath the torso, shoved the Warden aside and stood up.

“At this point, we can add ‘jailbreak’ to the family business list.”

He looked around at the still-locked cells.

‘Where do I start opening? Letting everyone out would be madness, wouldn’t it?’

As Yeongwoo muttered in his head, Earth chimed in.

○ No, per the deal you just take Koatu—are you planning to open other cells too?

‘Come on, good things lead to more good things. Wouldn’t it be nice to bring a few more clients?’

○ You don’t even know their charges—how can you let them out on your own?

‘Fair.’

As Yeongwoo nodded, partly convinced by Earth, a small presence stirred on his forearm.

-Chiit!

It was the “Serpent of Greed.”

「Serpent of Greed」 - Epic Compass

【Always looks upon what is precious.】

‘Huh? The snake raised its head. What’s this about?’

○ …What?

‘Hold on.’

When Yeongwoo flicked the arm bearing the snake, the little guy turned its head the other way from the motion.

It was clearly staring at a specific point.

And that was—

‘What the. That cell up ahead. Whatever it is, there’s something precious in there.’

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