Chapter 584

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Chapter 584: Quagmire (1)

Planetary Court Quest: Balanced Fate.

It was a mission requiring Yeongwoo to meet his Planetary Promotion Exam peers—Prince Aldo, Amana, and Taru.

And it came with one special condition.

<Special> Must use a family-owned spaceship.

‘A ship owned by my affiliated family… They’d probably count the Earthship, but I’m not sure if they’ll acknowledge that I came here on it.’

Still, since most quests in space understood context, Yeongwoo figured that even meeting Amana here would probably count toward completing Balanced Fate.

And even if the quest didn’t clear immediately, he still needed to save Amana now if he wanted any chance later.

“Follow me. We’re saving that guy today, no matter what.”

When Yeongwoo said this while pulling out Bastard, Kejen couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.

—Why the hell is that brat doing something so unfitting for him… and all the way out here, too.

Then Kejen pointed at the nearby thugs—whose numbers were clearly increasing.

—This place is about to turn into a massive bloodbath. Getting out of here ASAP is the smart move!

“Then we should move even faster, shouldn’t we? We just have to find Amana and get out before it’s too late.”

Right after Yeongwoo said that, he kicked away a lizardman charging from the side.

Puh-erck!

“Really is a damn mess.”

Everyone in sight was grabbing anyone nearby and breaking into fights. And worse, the number was still growing.

If they stayed here too long, things would turn dangerous—just like Kejen said.

And now Yeongwoo also noticed people taking positions on nearby rooftops, some with bows and some with guns.

‘A little longer and bullets will start raining. Definitely need to move fast.’

There was no time left to think.

Yeongwoo rushed toward the direction Amana had been dragged.

“Seriously, these guys don’t care about money. They just want to fight, right?”

As Yeongwoo elbowed, shouldered, and kicked through the chaos, Kejen—following right behind—answered while twitching his beard.

—For now, yes. But a bit later, scavengers will show up—people who want to snatch items dropped in all this chaos.

Right as he said that, blood from somewhere splattered onto Kejen’s ear.

Splurt!

—Ack! It progressed to the next phase! Hurry!

“The next phase?”

—The fighting got nastier. A slaughter’s about to begin. Means the really strong ones are arriving!

And sure enough—the number of attackers suddenly increased.

Even Jeonggu, who was behind them, was now getting attacked occasionally.

“H-hold up! I’m not here to fight!”

After dodging a random golem’s punch, Jeonggu reflexively threw his own punch and knocked it down.

“…Huh.”

For the first time in his life, Jeonggu had punched an alien.

And—

“W-what the? I’m… actually kind of strong.”

Well, of course.

He had spent billions breaking through the limits of his species, and he’d fought with the owner of a Planetary Ship, gaining enormous growth in Prestige.

So some street-level thugs were nothing now.

But it didn’t last long.

—Here they come.

Kejen perked his ears the moment sharp presences flared everywhere.

Tsaaaat!

Someone’s blood burst high into the air.

The higher-level fighters had finally joined in—and the real killing began.

And around this time, Yeongwoo finally spotted Amana being overwhelmed by three attackers.

『Amana…!』

Holding enough force in his voice that it carried across the chaos, Yeongwoo shouted. Amana—and every nearby thug—turned to look at him.

‘Damn. That was a mistake.’

Unleashing a Prestige-loaded shout in a battlefield with nearly a thousand participants was basically begging for every eye to turn your way.

—What’s with that brat?

—Disrespectful little psycho.

—What’s that sword? Looks nice.

—Kill him…!

As expected, dozens of thugs who saw Yeongwoo suddenly charged at him with feral eyes.

—Y-y-you idiot!! I told you not to do that!!!

Kejen panicked and frantically searched for any possible escape route.

Meanwhile Jeonggu pressed his back against Yeongwoo’s and gripped his sword tight.

“Y-you get out of here! I’ll handle them somehow!”

Essentially Jeonggu’s last words.

But Yeongwoo just snorted and shoved Aratubank into Jeonggu’s hands.

Thud!

“Stop talking nonsense and hold the shield.”

Then Yeongwoo stretched Bastard to full length and unleashed a massive sweeping slash forward.

KWAaaaaaAAANG!!

Yeongwoo, who’d been refraining from killing due to fear of building karmic debt, finally began fighting for real.

“Raaaagh!”

In an instant, an eight-meter radius was filled with dismembered corpses.

And when Yeongwoo looked ready to swing again, the surrounding thugs actually backed away.

They’d realized a monster normally appearing only in the late-stage bloodbath had arrived early.

And thanks to that, Amana—freed from her beating—stared in shock.

—W…what did you just do?

She couldn’t believe the pile of bodies before her.

As the sacred guardian of Planet Sutral, Amana was a strict pacifist.

They’d even clashed over this once at the promotion grounds.

But Yeongwoo calmly walked toward her.

Thud.

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He kicked aside the corpses blocking his path.

“What do you think? I saved your life.”

—B-but…

“No, aren’t you the one who messed up? Why’d you come to a place like this? Should’ve stayed on your holy little planet.”

The Black Zone wasn’t exactly Yeongwoo’s home turf, but compared to a do-gooder like Amana, he was practically a local.

“Let’s get out of here first. Take us up—fly.”

When Yeongwoo pointed upward, Amana looked somewhere completely different.

—B-but those guys… they still owe me money…

“You catch them and they still won’t have a single coin on them. Your item—did they steal it?”

At his question, Amana pulled out a small stone she had kept under her wing.

Ssssk.

It shone with a pearly, mystical glow.

—What the—don’t tell me that’s Selulite?

“Selulite? What’s that?”

—A special mineral. Also called ‘the Stone of Merit.’ It forms very, very slowly only on the ritual altars of merit-cultivators.

“What, like holy relics forming outside the body?”

Either way, it was something that existed only on the merit-cultivators’ home planet.

“Is it expensive?”

—Obviously. Especially in a place like this—you’ll never see it for sale.

Kejen added that if she had listed it for sale through the official trading system, far more dangerous people would have shown up.

Ironically, the only reason she encountered small-time crooks was because she’d tried selling it naïvely on the street.

—Those guys who claimed they had no money were probably petty thieves. This brat’s insanely lucky.

While Kejen said this, a huge uproar erupted behind the thugs surrounding them.

The real players of the Free Trade District had arrived.

—Hurry. Even you can’t fight the local bosses all at once.

Since Kejen said it that seriously, Yeongwoo decided to retreat.

“Amana, I’ll take care of that item for you. Just take us and fly—now!”

When Yeongwoo pointed Bastard at Amana’s throat, she straightened her rumpled feathers and frowned.

—You’ve gotten a lot more vicious since I last saw you.

“In the Black Zone, this is what counts as being a gentleman. Quit talking and spread your wings.”

Yeongwoo grabbed the Golden Goblin and Kejen, then gestured to Jeonggu.

“Dad, hold onto the end of her wing.”

“What…?”

“No time—just do it!”

Under Yeongwoo’s urgency, Jeonggu awkwardly grabbed Amana’s wing, and a white wind-ring wrapped around them all.

—But where should I go? I don’t know the geography here.

Kejen immediately pointed north.

—That way. Fly as high as you can, and you’ll see a house with a white roof. Head there.

It was probably Kejen’s hideout.

Yeongwoo tilted his head and asked Kejen.

“Why’re you suddenly polite to her, you rat?”

—Well… merit-cultivators used to be my best customers.

Meaning he scammed plenty of their naïve kind in the past.

—And she looks wealthy, doesn’t she? Hehehe.

Kejen let out a sleazy laugh.

Soon after, Amana launched upward with everyone in tow.

Fwooosh!

The moment they rose, bullets and arrows shot toward them—almost like people had waited for this.

Yeongwoo swung Bastard and deflected them all.

“This place is insane. You really can’t afford to stand out here.”

—It’s not that they can’t fly. They stay on the ground because they don’t want to get shot.

Amana then glided toward the direction Kejen indicated and pointed with her beak.

—White roof… that one?

Indeed, a house with a lone white roof stood out.

Kejen nodded.

—Yes. That’s the house of the strongest person in this district.

“What? Not your hideout?”

Yeongwoo blinked.

Kejen pointed to the house next to the white-roofed one.

—My hideout is right next door to the local strongest guy.

“Oh, hiding under the lamp—the safest spot, huh.”

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