Arena-Chapter 153 – Audience (Part 1)

Heising’s fists rained down while the female examinee had her hands on his shoulder and was sustaining their flight with her magic.

Their teamwork was better than mine and Cha Ji-hye’s.

Heising, who specialized in close combat, plus magic support? There couldn’t be a better suited combination.

On the other hand, we were at a disadvantage.

There was no way Cha Ji-hye, with her duel scimitars and whose specialty was close combat, could face off against Heising, an aura master.

Because of that, I was using my guns and fighting head to head with Heising while she supported me by attacking when she found an opening.

So in terms of synergy, we were of course at a disadvantage.

‘Continuing to fight this way is only disadvantageous to us.’

I didn’t see a way to get an easy victory and on top of that a lot of spirit summons was used getting rid of the zombies.

In addition to that, the opponents were undead, their stamina was likely to be infinite as well.

And if I wanted to seal the deal on this victory…

‘Then the person I should be targeting is that bastard under the sea.’

One of the 6 high priests, Allan.

If I can kill that man, Heising and the female examinee will stop moving too.

I came to that conclusion and I said to Cha Ji-hye.

“Stay away from me.”

Without any hesitation, Cha Ji-hye rode atop number one and backed away from me.

Naturally, Heising and the female examinee focused their attacks on me.

Kwaaaaang!

The whirlwind around my body splintered away after being hit with Heising’s aura fist.

Through a crack in the broken whirlwind, a flurry of Heising’s fists came through.

With both feet, I put all my might into kicking Heising in the chest.

Two strong gusts of wind came from my feet and pushed me and Heising apart.

After creating distance between us, I fired away with double guns.

Ta ta ta ta tang!

Heising protected himself using his aura and the female examinee used defense magic.

The bullets ripped through his aura shield but the female examinee kept stacking defense magic to keep them protected.

In that time, Heising came at me again and attempted to counterattack.

But I stepped back and drew the two people towards me. Lower and lower.

While fighting the two of them I got closer and closer to the surface of the ocean.

Then……

‘Now!’

I moved until Allan was right under my feet.

I had sensed Allan’s location with the guider skill.

“Sylph!”

-Meow!

Even without speaking, Sylph reacted and carried out my order.

Hwiiiiing!

With a strong wind, Sylph created an airtight box around my body.

Surrounded by this box, I headed into the water.

Dunk!

I raced towards the ocean floor while splitting the ocean apart.

Going through the deep dark of the ocean, I could make out the silhouette of a person not too far off, Allan.

I raced towards Allan.

Flustered, Allan tried to move out of the way but I was faster.

‘I’m coming for you!’

I rammed into Allan, forcing him into the box with me.

Then……

“You said it’s been a long time since you forgot the feeling of pain? I guess you won’t feel much if you burn to death?”

“……!”

I raised a flame and filled the box with it.

Allan protected himself by wrapping himself in his black cloak but I fired away with my double guns and broke through his defense.

And through the cracks of the broken cloak, I forced in the flames.

Hwa lu lu lu lu luk!

“Kuaaaaahhhk!” 𝗳r𝗲𝙚w𝐞𝚋𝘯𝚘ѵ𝗲l.𝑐oｍ

Allan screamed as he lit on fire.

At that moment, above Allan’s head, a black space reappeared.

And from within that space, all kinds of monsters sprung forth. They, too, seemed to be undead.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta ta tang!

Using my double guns to shatter to the skeletal monsters trying to come out, I continued to set Allan ablaze.

Hwa lu lu lu lu luk!

How much time passed this way.

Slowly, because of the fire, the oxygen within the wind box began to run out.

Pat!

And the black space Allan had opened, closed.

Allan was burnt to a crisp and I couldn’t make out his figure.

‘Is it done now?’

I decided to check Allan’s location using the guider skill.

I couldn’t sense him.

It could only mean that Allan no longer exists in this world.

Then that meant success.

That strange invincible bastard, I succeeded in killing him.

‘It’s starting to get hard to breathe, I should head back up.’

I came out of the ocean.

When I left the ocean, Cha Ji-hye flew to me on number one.

“What happened to Heising?”

“He left.”

“He left?”

He didn’t die?

“Yes, it looked like he didn’t know what to do and then the two of them left to somewhere.”

I got a foreboding feeling about that.

Wouldn’t it be normal that if Allan dies, the undead he created also die?

“It seems the undead with fake souls blown into them stay alive even when their creator has died.”

What Cha Ji-hye said was valid.

They looked like they didn’t know what to do and then left. I guess that could be interpreted as their creator died and they were free from his control.

And then.

Pat!

The exam door appeared.

“Summon board.”

-Name: Kim Hyun-ho

-Class: 40

-Karma: +600

-Mission: annihilate pirate army (achieved)

-Time limit: 129 days 17 hours

Cleared the exam.

I’m sure the real goal of this exam was the high priest Allan.

I did still have a nagging feeling because Heising and the female examinee have disappeared and this wasn’t completely finished but it didn’t seem to have that much of an effect on this exam.

We didn’t’ go through the exam door right away but rather returned to the uninhabited island instead.

We took off our synthetic muscle suits and put them in the virtual space. The rake eagles too were put in there.

“Shall we go now?”

At my question, Cha Ji-hye suddenly voiced a different opinion.

“We still have 129 days left.”

“Yes.”

“Then during that time can’t we do something else?”

“I’m sure that’s possible.”

As long as there was time limit remaining, whether you return right away or stay a while longer was completely up to the examinee.

“Then I wonder if with the time left we can train the rake eagles some more to let them grow.”

“Ah!”

I was in awe.

Why didn’t I think of that?

The rake eagles still had a lot of growing left to do.

Through the growth acceleration skill I mastered, they can grow up to three times their normal size.

Then in preparation for the next exam, it would be beneficial to let them grow while we have some extra time.

On top of that, there was no one on this island!

This vacation spot belongs to Cha Ji-hye and I alone.

“Sounds good. Let’s do that.”

And that’s how our relaxing vacation started.

We had plenty to play with. A laptop and smartphone with solar batteries.

In case of a situation like this, I had downloaded a bunch of games on the laptop.

At times I played games like crazy and at other times, Cha Ji-hye and I rode the rake eagles and enjoyed a date flying in the sky.

How much time passed I wonder.

Approximately a months’ time had passed.

“Beeeek!”

Number three, who was much larger than before, screeched.

I thought someone else had appeared so I sent Sylph to scout and it was none other than the Deport harbor’s battleships.

‘Regiment Commander Ajen sent them!’

The battleships’ course was to the pirate archipelago.

Regiment Commander Ajen was probably worried about our safety and sent them to scout.

“What is it?”

Asked Cha Ji-hye.

“It seems that the navy from the Deport Harbor has been dispatched to see if we’re safe.”

“We should go by once.”

“Let’s.”

First, we left the rake eagles to stay on the uninhabited island and we used Sylph to cross the sea.

We could see the battleships heading for the pirate archipelago.

“That battleship in the center is probably the flagship.”

“Wow, you can recognize that? You really were a soldier.”

At my compliment, Cha Ji-hye replied flatly.

“I just used the guider skill to find which one Regiment Commander Ajen is on.”

“……”

Anyway we landed on that battleship.

As the two of us suddenly came down from the sky, the soldiers on the battleship were taken by surprise.

“Who, who are you!” 𝗳𝘳𝒆𝘦𝑤𝐞𝚋𝗻𝚘𝘷𝘦𝙡.𝑐𝐨𝘮

“Don’t move!”

They surrounded us with their weapons at the ready.

But some of the soldiers recognized us.

“Ah, our hero!”

“It is the hero, baronet Kim!”

“They are the heroes who got rid of the pirates. Put down your weapons you idiots!”

Just like that, the tension dissipated and after the uproar, Regiment Commander Ajen appeared.

“So you were safe!”

“Yes, same for you guys as well?”

“Nothing other than a letter that a new consul has been appointed. But what in the world happened?”

I told him the results of the last fight.

He may discover the remains of the zombies so I told him the truth about fighting the dark magician too.

“It’s not enough that you completely mopped up the pirate archipelago, but you fought a great black magician and won at that!”

Regiment Commander Ajen’s face was filled it awe and admiration.

Anyway, at my words that the pirate island was cleaned up, Regiment Commander Ajen let out an order to the fleet to withdraw.

I refused Regiment Commander Ajen’s offer of a grand banquet and we returned to the uninhabited island.

And then a month passed and I got a call on the transponder.

It was Odin’s number.

“Odin?”

-Hyun-ho!

It was Marie, loud and welcome with a lively voice.

Odin must have quickly stole it back because I soon heard his voice.

-Have you been well?

“Yes, we’ve cleared the mission and are resting up before we return.”

-I see.

“Ah, and we got rid of one of the 6 high priests, Allan.”

-The great magician I heard you guys dealt with was one of the high priests?

“Huh? You’ve heard news of us?”

-Don’t even say that. Your name is being mentioned all over Arena right now. The political world is on fire trying to figure out who this Baron Kim is.

“Really?”

-You drove back the pirates that the Aman Kingdom couldn’t lay a hand on and even got rid of that Heising who had an evil reputation. And not long ago you alone annihilated the pirate archipelago?

“Yes but I didn’t know the rumors had spread already.”

-Thanks to the radios. A Nordic exam group member who was in the Aman kingdom heard the news and spread the word far and wide. Thanks to that, I heard about you and wanted to give you a call too.

A foreigner from a different world. I felt amazed that I was known wide and far here in the Arena,

I wonder if I could get some high position somewhere like Odin because of this.

-Anyway, if you killed a high priest, then you, Kim Hyun-ho, are probably closer to the exams’ ultimate goal more than anyone else. But that means you are that much more a target so please be especially careful.

“Of course, don’t worry.”

-Ha ha, actually the real reason I called wasn’t about this and I ended up saying a bunch of nonsense. If you have the time, could you come by this way?

“Why?”

I didn’t want to.

I wanted to play here longer with Cha Ji-hye.

Odin’s request that would cut my vacation here didn’t sound too pleasing.

But at Odin’s next words, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

-The Arend royal family wishes to see you. A while ago, I had an audience with the royal family and talked about many things and you came up as well. I think they want to give you a title of nobility and land.

“Really?”

-Someone as strong as you, you will be able to get at least to the title of Count or Earl. As for land, taking into account your relationship with the elves of Brown Mountain, it will probably be an area close to that.