Chapter 768: Episode 768

’Why is Professor Hongfeng here?’ The Student Council members seemed to have successfully evacuated her, but something about her was deeply wrong.

[It’s Mur’s dark magic,] Pier’s voice echoed in his head. [I smell the bastard. That woman is currently under Mur’s control!]

’What?’

Hongfeng’s unfocused eyes locked onto him. Simon almost called out to her, but he quickly snapped back to his senses. He was currently clad in Pier’s bone armor, draped in a heavy cape, and hidden beneath a helmet.

Right now, he was the 7th Legion Commander, ’Pion’. Borrowing Pier’s voice, which resonated directly with his thoughts, he spoke.

[We have no reason to fight each other,] a low, cold voice rang out. [Snap out of it. Hongfeng Tun Sokum Marlat.]

She remained silent, and her figure vanished without a trace.

Simon’s eyes widened, his heart sinking. He lost sight of her before he could even react. Pier, ever vigilant, seized control of the bone armor and wrenched the Greatsword of Ruin forward. Popping out of thin air right in front of him, Hongfeng struck the blade with an emotionless face.

A deafening boom echoed through the air.

Simon gritted his teeth. The impact distorted the very air, and the temple floor beneath his feet shook precariously.

’Ugh!’ A massive shockwave rocked his body, threatening to force his organs out of his mouth. Her black hair fluttered once, and she launched a vicious kick straight at the off-balance Simon’s head.

[Get a grip, boy!]

Pier manipulated the bone armor once again. Simon’s head jerked backward just as her leg swept past his eyes. A sharp screech rang out as her foot scraped across the forehead of Pier’s helmet. Had he been barefaced, his skull would have burst open, killing him instantly.

’Gah!’ If he lost focus for even a second, he would die. His opponent was the real Hongfeng. ’I need to focus!’

Taking a bold, wide step forward, Simon swung his greatsword to counterattack. She retracted her foot and stepped back, retreating to a safe distance before lightly bouncing in place.

He couldn’t let his guard down. That was merely a preparatory stance. An instant later, she rushed him, violently swaying her body from side to side and distorting the empty air. Simon firmly guarded his front with the greatsword.

’CLANG! BANG!’

Without even seeing the attacks, the greatsword absorbed heavy impacts from both the right and the left. Every single strike felt like a massive battering ram slamming into a castle gate.

’Remember!’ He couldn’t track her figure, but he caught a glimpse of her fluttering hair. Predicting her angle, Simon twisted his waist and swung the greatsword. ’The movements I’ve seen from her all this time!’

His counterattack, half a beat faster, proved to be the right answer; she stepped back to dodge the sweeping blade. Simon knew this because he had sparred with Hongfeng countless times.

Her habits, patterns, and tendencies—he engraved those memories firmly into his mind, bracing himself as she rushed in like a bullet once again. ’Not the front. The side!’ Recalling the techniques she had taught him, he boldly offered up his front, daring her to strike, and swung his sword to the right.

’CLANG!’

Correct. Halting her attack, she raised the back of her hand to block the heavy blade.

’Next, she’ll step back, but—’ Simon gritted his teeth. ’I need to stay one step ahead! I can’t give her any space!’

He was wearing Pier right now. He had to utilize that fact. Kicking off the ground with the ancient undead’s transcendent leg strength, he preemptively seized her blind spot.

He slashed the greatsword diagonally, forcing her to dodge into the air, then spun his body like a top, channeling jet-black aura into the blade. ’The entire space...!’ Just as Simon was about to unleash a devastating slash, she threw a flurry of punches in midair. Massive shockwaves crashed down from the sky like a storm, forcing Simon to hastily alter his sword path to cut through each one.

Invisible, sword-like cuts sliced into his skin through the gaps in the bone armor. Meanwhile, she landed safely on the ground and clapped her palms together. A low hum vibrated through the air.

’Something’s coming!’ In truth, she hadn’t even properly utilized Jet-Black Martial Arts until now. Breaking out in a cold sweat, Simon adjusted his grip on the greatsword’s hilt.

[What are you doing, boy! I can feel hesitation at the tip of your sword!]

’T-That’s because—!’ His opponent was Hongfeng.

Her brightly smiling face flickered in his mind. How could he easily cut down a benefactor who had spent so much time with him at Kizen, teaching him countless techniques? Jet-black aura on a completely different level from before surged from Hongfeng’s body. Simon realized exactly what technique she was about to use.

’Black Clothes’

Black fabric wrapped around her like a second skin, forming a garment extremely focused on mobility. A woman draped in immense murderous intent stood before him.

[Break free from the demonic grasp! Hongfeng!] Simon shouted, thrusting his greatsword forward. The power of the Ancient Undead ’Kal’, who dwelled within the Greatsword of Ruin, imbued the blade, distorting it with a sickly green hue. If they fought like this, holding nothing back, one of them might truly die.

[Snap out of—! Huh?]

Simon let out a gasp of surprise. One of her fiercely distorted eyes had shifted back into the innocent gaze of the Hongfeng he knew.

"Thank you," her voice rang out. "For puzhing me hard enough to uze the Black Clothez."

Suddenly, Hongfeng sat down cross-legged. The Black Clothes she wore squirmed and descended to the floor, taking the shape of a magic circle. No, to be exact, it wasn’t a magic circle. It was a ’Dharma Circle’, utilized only by a small number of Jet-Black Martial Arts users.

Sitting in the center, Hongfeng waved her arms in dazzling motions before clapping them together once more. Then, she took a deep breath.

With that, Mur’s dark magic that had been encroaching upon her slowly began to wash away. It let out a tearing scream before scattering, the dark energy gradually fading. At that moment, Simon also sensed Meirin’s jet-black aura.

"I..." Even her other eye slowly began to return to normal. "I am not weak enough to be controlled by otherz all thiz time."

Soon, Mur’s dark magic completely left her body. The sheer scale of the technique that had dwelled within her was staggering; it looked as if a massive black typhoon was escaping her physical form. Pier, who had been watching, chuckled in amazement.

[Kuhehe! That woman is the first to break free from Mur’s influence with her own power!]

Her physical body possessed an incredible resistance. Through relentless conditioning, she had forged a mighty vessel capable of withstanding extreme external assaults. Having driven Mur out, she slowly stood up. ’Professor Hongfeng.’

Simon approached with a face full of relief. However, she lowered her stance, glaring at him with high vigilance. Realizing his mistake, Simon rested the greatsword on his shoulder to show he had no intention of attacking. When he stopped in place, she opened her mouth to speak in her clumsy Continental language.

"I have heard about you. An extremely ominouz jet-black aura that makez the body tingle."

Her lips parted.

"Zo you are the new commander of the 7th Legion."

Simon remained silent.

"Kizen ordered uz to capture you by any meanz necezzary."

Simon lifted his head and spoke with Pier’s voice.

[Then do you intend to stand against me and my legion?]

It was a bluff. Honestly, he didn’t have any other Ancient Undead or an army right now—all he had was Pier—but he had to pretend to be as imposing as possible. He put extra, intimidating force into his voice when pronouncing ’legion’.

"That dependz on your purpoze. If your legion came to take away that curzed zin of the dead, Mur..." Her eyes narrowed sharply. "I will cooperate. To protect my hometown, my people, and the grazzlandz, I would even join handz with a demon."

’A demon? That’s a bit harsh,’ Simon grumbled timidly to himself. Fortunately, it seemed she hadn’t noticed his true identity at all. He decided to lean even further into his bloodthirsty Legion Commander act.

[Mur is mine!]

Pier’s voice was terrifying even to Simon. Spitting the words out as deeply and overbearingly as possible, even the great Hongfeng seemed to flinch. He felt like he might actually start enjoying this.

[Tell me his location. Do so, and no one on the grasslands will shed blood!]

"I alzo do not know hiz location," Hongfeng shook her head. "But it iz certain that he iz plotting zomething here. Firzt, let’z ztop hiz planz together..."

[Hahahahahaha!]

The conversation between the two instantly halted. A massive burst of laughter echoed throughout the entire temple. Simon tensed up and gripped his greatsword, while Hongfeng scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes.

[It is useless.]

A low rumble shook the ground. Simon and Hongfeng simultaneously raised their heads toward the source of the jet-black aura. ’That guy is...’ The former captain of the 7th Legion, Mur, revealed himself high in the air.

He was draped in a crimson robe, making no attempt to show any other part of his appearance. Only two glowing eyes flashed brightly from within the dark hood.

[I didn’t expect you to break free so easily, but it matters not. I have stalled enough time, and all preparations are complete.]

’What?’ Simon’s gaze shot toward the top of the altar. The blazing flames had been extinguished at some point.

[Reveal yourself, Serpent of Calamity.]

A violent tremor tore through the earth. The temple, this city... No. The entire grasslands began to quake. Simon felt a distinctly unnatural movement from the very temple he was standing on.

’CRASH!’

An indescribably massive snake head smashed through the roof of the temple and burst into the sky.

’CRASH! BOOM!’

Likewise, colossal snake heads erupted from other nearby temples. And far beyond this city, from the ruins of an ancient metropolis, even more serpentine heads reared up.

’Just what is going on?’

"Could thiz be..." Hongfeng’s pupils trembled. "Kundar Hydra!"

Simon had heard of it before as well. The Kundar Hydra was a monster that had annihilated several cities across the continent. Hongfeng had gained her fame and her position as a Kizen professor precisely because of the anecdote where she strangled a hundred-headed Kundar Hydra to death.

[It is not something on the level of a Kundar Hydra,] Pier denied it. [The Eildar Hydra. He actually managed to summon his worst minion to the grasslands.]

The ten heads that had burst out across the grasslands waited with their jaws wide open, as if ready to devour the high heavens. Hovering high in the air, Mur spread his arms.

[Since it is a newborn entity, it starts with ten heads, but as time passes, it will multiply to a hundred heads like the Kundar Hydra.]

The corners of his mouth curled up.

[Now, this region is mine.]

The temple floor shattered as Simon kicked off and threw himself forward. His body surged like a thunderbolt, crossing the vast distance to reach Mur in an instant.

[Mur!]

From right above Mur’s head, Simon raised the Greatsword of Ruin. Beneath the hood, Mur’s glowing eyes flickered.

[Is such a greenhorn Yona’s replacement? Pier.]

[Haaaaah!]

Simon swung his greatsword with enough momentum to split Mur’s head in a single strike, but before the blade could connect, a snake head lunged from behind and rammed into his body.

’Gah!’ The serpent carried Simon along as it charged in a straight line, eventually slamming him into the wall of a nearby temple. With a deafening roar, the massive stone structure crumbled down. The snake’s head plowed through the rubble and slammed Simon’s body into the ground.

A thick cloud of dust plumed into the air.

Having embedded Simon into the earth, the snake slithered back up. Simon, clad in Pier’s armor, lay collapsed in the middle of a massive crater. ’Damn it!’ This was bad.

His body wouldn’t move from the sheer shock of the impact. The Hydra stretched its jaws wide open, preparing for its next attack.

Hongfeng flew in like a missile, striking the Hydra’s head with a devastating kick. The massive creature tilted off balance before collapsing and smashing into a nearby temple. Landing lightly on the ground, Hongfeng looked back at Simon.

"Are you okay? Commander."

[This is nothing.]

Feeling embarrassed, Simon forced strength into his trembling legs. Just as they had barely repelled one, another snake head turned toward Simon and Hongfeng. Its massive jaws, looking as if they could swallow the world, opened wide, preparing to spew venom from its maw.

[It’s the Hydra’s Poison Breath! Dodge, boy!]

However, Simon still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock and couldn’t stand up completely. Just as he made up his mind to cut the breath head-on with the Greatsword of Ruin, someone with a similar build to Hongfeng leaped out in front of him.

The Poison Breath hit the newcomer dead on. However, the moment the lethal venom touched them, it turned mushy and dripped down powerlessly like melted gum. The figure who had blocked the Eildar Hydra’s poison landed smoothly on the ground. ’Could it be!’

Simon’s eyes widened intensely.

Dark brown hair, similar to Hongfeng’s yet distinctly different. An outfit consisting of a long coat and bandages.

"My little cutie said he was visiting my home, so I thought I’d drop by my hometown for the first time in a while to cause a scene, but—"

Flashing her jagged, shark-like teeth, she looked back at the two of them.

"What’s all this about?"

Hidden beneath the helmet, the corners of Simon’s mouth rose in pure joy. ’Professor Byulya!’

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