SMH 145

Chapter 46 – The Magic Scholar who Fled (4)

TL: Boko

Editors: Frost, StellarRain

Sung Joon quickly entered the mansion. The guards patrolling the vicinity greeted him as well.

Sung Joon roughly nodded his head as a reply and gathered Zelos, Jung Chul, Shin Chul, and Jang Hoon together.

Fortunately, they hadn’t been attacked when Sung Joon called them.

They had noticed the defensive spells that Zelo’s had placed all over the mansion and were adjusting their plan accordingly.

“Is Russia gunning for you again, Sung Joon?” Jang Hoon asked. Like always, he skipped the pleasantries and asked straightforwardly. Sung Joon liked that about him.

“No… they are different this time.”

“If they’re not from Russia, then where are they from? How dare they attack you…”

Jang Hoon was infuriated, as though they were attacking him. Sung Joon didn’t reply immediately; instead, he gazed at Zelos. Jang Hoon didn’t notice, but Zelos,who felt Sung Joon’s gaze upon him, lowered his head and his lips slightly budged.

“I apologize, Sir Kang Sung Joon.”

It was message magic. Because Sung Joon was incapable of using such magic, he didn’t reply. Instead, he drew his sword and turned his attention to Shin Chul.

Shin Chul, feeling his gaze upon him, raised his radio and spoke.

“I’ll tell the guard team.”

“They’ll probably know, but try to keep it discreet.”

If Zelo was correct, then there was a high possibility that the Empire sent either the Pan-Dimensional Task Force or its special forces.

And because these forces specialized in ambushing their opponents, once they saw the guards’ movements change, they would know that they’ve been discovered.

“I’ll give them the order.”

Shin Chul brought the radio to his lips. Eventually, the guards began to discreetly set up defensive formations. However, just as Sung Joon had expected, this was their enemies’ forte.

They were still stealthed, but because they had already taken every possible situation into account, they didn’t even make any signals and moved with perfect order into their ranks. It seemed like they had set the time for the attack, as they didn’t make the first move.

Rishubalt reported this fact to Sung Joon.

“They’re moving. Get ready to fight.”

Sung Joon commanded everyone. There were guards on every rooftop and guard tower with machine guns at the ready.  

The guards sported uneasy expressions and struggled against their fear. Then, Sung Joon moved his eyes busily and surveyed his surroundings.

‘Around fifty of them…? There’re more than I expected…’

They weren’t just pursuers. They might’ve gotten reinforcements, as their numbers were quite high. Considering the fact that he sensed a significant amount of mana, there were several powerful foes mixed in within the group.

“I’ll go scout out,” Rishubalt said, and Sung Joon slightly nodded his head. Rishubalt returned within three minutes of scouting.

“I was able to see around ten who weren’t stealthed. They are a mixed force that consist of the Pan-Dimensional Task Force and the Empire’s special forces. And it seems like the special force’s Ghost Squad and Executive Squad have come as well.”

The special force’s Executive Squad was responsible for handling the Empire’s internal affairs. It seemed like the matter of Zelos was still considered an internal affair.

‘The Executive Squad came over here too…? There’s no way they’ve come just for Zelos…’

Whilst organizing his thoughts, Sung Joon furrowed his brow. It wasn’t easy to cross over through a warp gate. Though Zelos was a talented Mage, there was no way that they would send the Executive Squad just for him.

“Magic response! There are several stealthed forces approaching,” Shin Chul reported. He noticed them due to Zelo’s detection magic circle that he’d installed near the mansion.

“I’ll active the defensive magic circles now.”

As soon as Sung Joon nodded his head, Zelos drew his mana. The magic circles all around the mansion activated by the mana and unleashed elemental magic spells.

“Ugh!”

“AH!”

The enemies were swept away by the fire, and their hearts were pierced by ice spears. Those struck by the magic screamed in agony and fell.

The others moved hastily to evade the magic, but because of that, their stealth was released.

The guards poured a barrage of bullets onto them with their machine guns, but most of them were able to dodge the gunfire much too easily.

“Concentrate fire!”

One of them lost their lives due to concentrated fire, but the others got over the wall and entered the garden. The Ghost Squad took the vanguard, as they specialized in ambushes and infiltration.

They were discovered because Sung Joon’s presence detection was abnormal, but they usually wouldn’t be discovered this easily.

Swish! Swish!

“Ugh!”

“AH!”

The Ghost Squad at the forefront threw their weapons at the guards, burrowing deep into their bodies. With one simultaneous throw, five guards, including two D-rank Hunters, were weakly fell to the floor. It was a superb throwing technique, so it wasn’t easy to dodge.

“Healing Spray!”

Because not all of them had died, Sung Joon used his ‘Healing Spray’ on the collapsed guards.

He saw two of the guards’ bodies rise and fall once the white sphere that came from his left hand reached them.

However, the Executive Squad that had followed behind pierced their necks with daggers and finished them off.

Sung Joon was astonished by their cruelty. They ensured one’s death in the midst of battle when a Healer was present.

“It’s alright if the garden gets damaged a little, right?”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as you kill our unwanted guests.”

As soon as Shin Chul heard Sung Joon’s response, he finished casting a large-scale spell. Dozens of ice shards poured from the sky, right on top of the assassins’ heads.

“Ugh!”

“AH!”

A few of them fell, but the others got over the barricade and charged.

The Hunter guards charged, but the high tier A-rank second class assassins led at the vanguard. There weren’t any first class assassins, but most of the Hunters guards were between E-rank to C-rank, so they were no match for them.

“Let’s go.”

Even the automatic turrets that had come out and fired were destroyed in an instant. Sung Joon gave Jang Hoon an order and charged out first. He was originally going to focus on defending the main building, but their defense lines were falling way too quickly.

“Don’t worry too much! There are still a lot of defensive spells left!”

Zelos used his mana to activate the defensive spells.

Kwang!

With a boom that could shake both heaven and earth, there were explosions everywhere. In an instant, the second-class assassins that made up the infiltration team were completely annihilated.

“Though it’s kind of loud,” Zelos added. Before the resulting dust from the explosions could subside, the infiltration team got in. There was even a first class assassin mixed in.

“I’ll take care of that bastard!”

Jang Hoon charged like a ferocious tiger. He had sensed the presence of a powerful foe: the first class assassin. He closed the distance instantaneously with high-speed movement and raised his aura-clad greatsword.

‘I can block it,’ the first class assassin thought and raised his dagger. His dagger was likewise clad in aura and he thought he could defend against his strike, but Jang Hoon had struck much quicker than he had anticipated.

“N-No! Ugh!”

He had succeeded in defending himself, but he couldn’t protect himself against the tremendous force behind the greatsword and was flung far away. Then, flames rained from above his head.

“AH!”

Because he was sent flying, all his bones were completely shattered and he was unable to avoid the magic.

He was hit by the fire shower and was swept away by the flames. He was burnt to death.

“The Team Leader was killed in one hit?”

“Everyone be careful! They have a powerhouse over there!”

They had probably checked the mana responses before they attacked, but the assassins were still flustered, likely because Jang Hoon and Shin Chul’s abilities and senses were far greater than they had anticipated.

They looked to be reorganizing their ranks, but Sung Joon seized that opportunity and attacked first.

“Ugh!”

He decapitated the closest assassin. The other assassins turned their gaze towards where they heard the scream, but by then, Sung Joon wasn’t there anymore.

Sung Joon continuously used his high-speed movement. He didn’t need to use all his strength. Whenever he swung his sword, an assassin’s head would roll onto the floor.

“S-Shit!”

The dust hadn’t even subsided. The second team didn’t know what was going on inside and continued to push on through.

They soon lost their lives to both Sung Joon and Jang Hoon’s blades. The second team consisted of mostly those who were weaker than the first team.

“You’ve taken care of them all. No one escaped,” Rishubalt reported.

“‘They’ll die in battle’, huh…? The Emperor’s teaching is still the same.”

Sung Joon shook his head and muttered in a low enough voice such that only Rishubalt could hear him. It was in line with the Empire’s philosophy, which treated its soldiers as expendables.

He suddenly thought that perhaps this ideology of not retreating, even in an extremely unfavorable position was what made the Empire strong.

“Absorb.”

“There’s no change in your synchronization rate.”

‘Absorption’ was the most important step following a battle, so he never forgot to use it. As soon as he absorbed the assassins’ mana, Rishubalt immediately reported on his synchronization rate. Unfortunately, the enemies’ levels weren’t high enough, so his synchronization rate didn’t change.

“The army has arrived.”

The Guard Team Leader, Kyung Min, approached him and reported. The army squadron and the Armed Policemen had arrived too late, but because they had taken care of the ambushers so quickly, there was nothing for them to do. What’s worse, the clean up was taken care of by men in black suits that Jung Chul had called.

“I’ll take care of the bodies.”

“I believe it’ll be faster if we identify them though,” an agent from the national intelligence agency refuted. However, Jung Chul spoke with a firm expression.

“This is what Mr. Kang Sung Joon wants. We’ll quickly take care of it ourselves.”

“If that’s truly what you want… then I understand.”

South Korea knew that the U.S. was helping Sung Joon. Therefore, they probably thought that the U.S. was helping him with this.

It grated on the national intelligence agency’s pride, but there was no helping it. After all, it was true that the Central Hunter Bureau was much more competent than them.

Sung Joon looked around pissed off. Money wasn’t the problem, but it would take some time to restore the garden. And Zelos came to his side.

“Whenever Sir Roukel experienced something like, he would always seek revenge. What about you, Sir Kang Sung Joon?” Zelos asked. Sung Joon smirked.

“I’ll obviously get my revenge. Since it’s about time I open an Awakening Dungeon,” Sung Joon replied, and Zelos smiled. Sung Joon had already explained the Awakening Dungeon to him.

He hadn’t told him about his synchronization rate, but he did tell him that the Awakening Dungeon would open whenever he reached a certain level.

“It will be a bloodbath.”

He couldn’t hold back his joy. Though he had crossed over to Earth, it had been a hard life, running away from the Empire’s special forces whilst studying warp gates.

“I’ll kill them all.”

Sung Joon’s eyes were overflowing with killing intent. He hoped that the Awakening Dungeon would open in a place where he could inflict severe damage onto the Empire.