The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 245

Chapter 245
S-class...
Only those with exceptional luck and exceptional talent had a chance of achieving it—possess both, and a young genius may reach S-class within a single decade of grinding S-grade gates; but lack either, and one could spend decades of arduous grinding and never reach level 100.
For this reason, it was common sense that young players were lower-level. This wasn’t discrimination or prejudice but a widely accepted statistic.
Jae-Hyeok, however, flew in the face of this logic.
[You have defeated the Twilight Orc Chieftain, Daruchan!]
[Your level has risen by 5.]
Not five months after awakening, Jae-Hyeok had already risen to level 126.
Such was the result of killing higher-level monsters and players alike. For him, every week was a struggle to survive. In such an abnormal environment, Jae-Hyeok wasn’t surprised by his abnormal growth.
Even so, looking back at his myriad System achievements, there was no pride; Jae-Hyeok only felt wistful—if not for his father’s fall and his duties as an aristocrat, Jae-Hyeok would’ve preferred a normal life over his abnormal power.
Iyargut flickered across Jiang Lei’s throat, from which blood gushed wildly.
Jiang Lei’s eyes bulged as his mouth worked silently, his voice drowned by the blood filling his lungs.
After Daruchan’s death, rather than focus on Jae-Hyeok, Jiang Lei had prioritized killing the other orcs. After all, Twilight Orcs were a rich source of experience, and based on Jiang Lei’s past hunting experience, killing multiple of them in short order might earn him an achievement.
In comparison, Jiang Leu had felt no rush to kill Jae-Hyeok.
The other players were under Sima Zhao’s watchful eyes, while Jae-Hyeok himself was trapped within the crush of orcs with nowhere to escape—given this circumstance, Jiang Lei had taken his time killing orcs as he’d searched for Jae-Hyeok.
Once found, he’d thought that killing Jae-Hyeok amid the chaos would be a simple matter.
Instead, however...
Jiang Lei had found Jae-Hyeok seemingly distracted, but when he’d streaked over with his blade in hand, Jae-Hyeok had leaned aside, dodging his thrust with lightning speed before surging forward and delivering a blinding slash to his neck.
From Jae-Hyeok’s actions, it was evident that he wasn’t exhausted at all.
How is he not tired after using that powerful Skill earlier? No, even if he is fine, how is he so fast, and how did he sense me coming?
Jiang Lei’s thoughts were a mess of questions, but one was most pressing:
And when the hell did they team up?
Not far away, the other players had covered their mouths with their arms, while with their free hands, they repeatedly stabbed or cast spells on Sima Zhao, who stood trembling in a slowly rising cloud of smoke.
It was clearly poison.
None of Jiang Lei’s subordinates had such an ability, so that could only mean that Jae-Hyeok had done it, having cooperated with them to launch a joint attack.
Seeing him struggling to speak, Jae-Hyeok said, “It’s the shadows.”
Jae-Hyeok paused, watching with interest as Jiang Lei regenerated his windpipe. The blood flowing from Jiang Lei’s neck moved in reverse and was refined into blood energy, supplementing the process. Then he continued, “Everyone’s shadows are projected on the rockfaces. See how they grow, shrink, and move left and right? With that, it’s easy enough to know where people are and what they’re doing—after I found you and traced your shadow, I’ve been keeping an eye on it.”
“?”
What is this bastard saying?
Jiang Lei’s eyes betrayed his confusion. What kind of absurd explanation was that? However, when he shifted his gaze to the rockface behind Jae-Hyeok, his face twitched.
They were faint, but he could indeed see dancing shadows.
Large and small rock formations—the grey bedrock rose like sheer mountains on both sides of the village, forming a canyon that funneled moonlight from the three moons overhead, the combined light of which was brighter than that of Earth’s moon on even its brightest night. Because of this, everyone’s shadows faintly stood out on the shadowy grey rocks.
Of course, seeing shadows and interpreting them were different matters.
The shadows cast on the jagged bedrock were twisted and uneven. Moreover, the shadows of the orcs and players were constantly merging and unmerging. To keep track of which shadows correlated to who seemed an impossible task. At least, Jiang Lei couldn’t do it.
“Stop bluffing.”
Jiang Lei’s swordsman Profession only granted one point of Insight per level, but even so, he was a level 151 transcendent with countless achievements to his name—earning him a whopping 210 points in Insight.
“Even those old monsters with an Insight close to three hundred wouldn’t be able to make out the shapes on rockfaces. How could a brat like you possibly do it?”
“......”
Jae-Hyeok closed his mouth.
In fact, he had 340 points in Insight, but there was no need to beg anyone to believe him. Still, seeing Jiang Lei’s disbelief, Jae-Hyeok was overcome with emotion.
I’ve come a long way...
His years of patience and hard work had paid off. Knowing how unreasonable the world could be, Jae-Hyeok felt even more grateful. It wasn’t a normal life, but at least he could protect the things he cherished.
“Are you smiling?”
The faint smile on Jae-Hyeok’s face made Jiang Lei angry.
“Are you proud that you were lucky enough to counter me once? One strike isn’t enough. I have this great power! You will need to strike me ten, no, a hundred times!”
The pools of blood scattered across the battlefield rose into the air as streams, flowing around Jiang Lei and converging into glowing crimson spheres.
“This is where you’ll be buried. At least, until I clear this gate!” Upon clearance, dimensions would erase monster and player corpses alike. Korea’s first true genius in decades would die in the Twilight Kingdom, never to be found again.
Thinking as much, Jiang Lei realized he could violate and mutilate Jae-Hyeok to his heart’s content, and no one would be the wiser. Even if they doubted him, without evidence, Koreans would be forced to swallow their doubts.
Heheh. Even if they wanted to do something. By then, they’ll be busy bowing to China.
“Your fate was decided from the moment you followed me.”
The dozens of small, red suns hovering around Jiang Lei started to rotate slowly. Their brilliance lit the entire gorge in a crimson light.
“This will be your hell.’
Jae-Hyeok’s eye twitched. For him, daily life was hell, not some flashy lights.
He shook his head.
“Who knows? Hell can’t be so gorgeous.”
“You keep talking nonsense. You really won’t back down even with your words!”
Jiang Lei roared as he stomped on the ground, causing the red world around him to tilt dramatically. It felt as if the earth and sky had been reversed, a bizarre effect created by the light-bending blood suns trailing after him.
He’d unleashed his original Skill: Blood Jade Tyrant Sword.
This ultimate move combined his strongest sword Skill with his new blood magic. Jiang Lei took great pride in this original Skill, convinced that the fusion of these two immense powers rendered him invincible.
However, in practice, the illusion cast by the blood suns had a wider reach, and so arrived earlier than Jiang Lei’s sword. For Jae-Hyeok, that was plenty of time to adapt.
Farmer’s Step.
The world spun around Jae-Hyeok, but his footwork—trained in the depths of
real
hell—kept him as stable as an old pine.
Jae-Hyeok gripped Peak Sword’s Scabbard in one hand and leaned. The moment Jiang Lei neared, there was a familiar flicker of red.
Jiang Lei’s sword slipped from his hand, while his head departed from his body.
The dozens of blood suns that had been trailing behind Jiang Lei flew past Jae-Hyeok harmlessly, dissipating as they went.
[Player Jiang Lei has been killed.]
[Your level has risen by 3.]
[Amazing achievement!]
[You have killed a player stronger than you without suffering injury.]
[All stats have increased by 2.]
[The Skill “Two Scythes Block a Cart” has leveled up.]
[The Skill “The Unbroken One” has leveled up.]
“Even a Blood Church member will die when their head is cut off.”
Jae-Hyeok smiled confidently. Then he glanced past Jiang Lei’s rolling head to look at the nearby rockface.
The swaying movements of the shadows had changed from before. Now they were clumped behind and to his side, steadily expanding.
He warned, “Don’t act rashly. I have no intention of hurting you as well.”
“......!”
At Jae-Hyeok’s words, the Chinese players creeping toward Jae-Hyeok froze.
Does he have eyes in the back of his head?
Defeating Jiang Lei wasn’t just luck?
They were the same players who fronted the ambush on Sima Zhao the moment they spotted him staggering in the smoke.
They were assassins by Profession, belonging to the Black Dragon Guild’s elite. What they lacked in raw power, their Professions more than made up for in terms of aura concealment, a talent they’d planned to use to ambush both Jiang Lei and Jae-Hyeok in the midst of their fight.
Yet before they could get close, Jae-Hyeok had killed Jiang Lei in a single exchange before immediately turning his attention on them.
Just as the two Chinese players were sweating, Sima Zhao shouted behind them.
“Black Dragon was deeply involved in the death of the Yaksha! Cooperating with them is the same as holding hands with the man who killed your father! My hand! Hold my hand!”
Jae-Hyeok frowned and turned his head. The first thing he saw was the backs of the two Chinese players’ heads.
A breath ago, they had been nervous and alert against Jae-Hyeok. Now, they were exposing their backs without the slightest sign of guarding against him.
Jae-Hyeok looked past them, and his eyes immediately widened.
“You won’t regret it if you join forces with me!” Sima Zhao confidently proposed.
Shockingly, his head and body lay in separate places. An axe was buried in his skull. And a spear jutted from his chest, seemingly through his heart.
However, he was still alive and talking.
“Grant me the chance to proclaim to you the greatness of God Katz and the Blood Church!”