The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 259

Like an ember in the wind, the crystalline heart flared red before quickly catching fire. It then sank into Jae-Hyeok’s chest.

[Absorbing the Firebird’s Essence.]

Jae-Hyeok’s eyes were calm, free of even a flicker of worry.

Were it anyone else, perhaps they would’ve carried doubts. After all, absorbing an unknown and mysterious power could pose certain risks. High-level players, especially, tended to be the least willing to gamble with misfortune.

The reason was simple.

The greater a player’s power, the more they had to lose in acting recklessly—and what could be more reckless than absorbing the essence of a mysterious, supposedly divine being?

Of course, Jae-Hyeok didn’t have this worry.

The root of fear was ignorance, and though Jae-Hyeok had never met a divine being, this also wasn’t his first time hearing of them. Both the Reinhardt farmers and the Lord of the Twilight Kingdom had spoken of gods.

Most importantly, Jae-Hyeok had long confirmed the existence of at least one god after inheriting Iyarugt and speaking with Elder Song.

Thought his name was yet known...

An aura lingered on both Iyarugt and Peak Sword’s Scabbared, an aura that was at once endlessly deep yet infinitely faint...

Paired with the story of Peak Sword serving a god, Jae-Hyeok was sure that what he’d sensed was traces of a god’s aura.

With all these experiences, Jae-Hyeok felt no fear toward divine energies.

[A great vitality now dwells within you!]

It really does feel like having two hearts...

Jae-Hyeok sensed the crystalline core within his chest, and he found that its energies aided in the circulation of his blood and mana, while also nourishing his flesh and dantian.

[Health increased by 10%.]

[Mana increased by 20%.]

Jae-Hyeok summoned Alus’ dagger and cut the back of his hand; at least, he tried. He pushed with increasing force, but the skin refused to break. The muscles in his forearm were visibly flexing by the time a trickle of blood welled up beneath the dagger’s tip.

In a matter of moments, the blood coagulated, and the wound started to heal.

Paired with his high Stamina stat, his durability had truly taken a comprehensive leap. He was that much closer to being totally impervious to blades.

Moreover, with the qualitative change to his dantian, his mana capacity had also increased significantly. His current capacity and recovery rate were sufficient to cast both King Roar and Two Scythes—and to continue doing so indefinitely each time the cooldown ended.

Hell Sword remains costly, but now, at least I won’t be totally exhausted upon using it.

For Jae-Hyeok, a refractory period of mana exhaustion had always been par for the course when using Hell Sword. But with his expanded capacity, he’d finally removed this critical weakness.

Most importantly...

[Firebird’s Essence.

A feather from the Bow God’s companion phoenix. Contains the purest vitality.

*Infuse mana into the feather to nurture vital essence.

* Special abilities awaken as your vital essence grows.]

The Firebird’s Essence held infinite potential. There seemed to be no limit to the amount of vital essence he could nurture, meaning it was only a matter of time before he accumulated enough essence to heal his father.

“I can feel the difference in your aura. As expected of a divine energy. Now that you’re new and improved, what do you say? Want to go a few rounds with me?” Theodore offered with clear interest.

“Forget it. The yard’s ruined enough as is.”

Even with the Forebird’s Essence, Jae-Hyeok knew he fell short when compared to Theodiore. Last time, Jae-Hyeok had leveraged Theodore’s carelessness temperament and the power of Iyarugt’s inheritance Skill contest against Theodore. But such tricks wouldn’t work twice, nor would Jae-Hyeok want them to.

Unlike Jae-Hyeok’s, Theodore’s Hell Sword was born of its enlightenment into the way of he sword. That was the mark of a true warrior.

Jae-Hyeok had resolved himself to reform his own Hell Sword until it was truly his. Only then could he proudly defeat Theodore.

“Is it too soon?”

Theodore seemed to sense his intent.

“I believe in your talent. When the time comes, the next time we cross swords seriously will surely rattle the heavens themselves! Kekeke!”

Take away Iyarugt’s inheritance Skill, and perhaps Jae-Hyeok would’ve lost, but what about several months from now? What about a year?

The first time Theodore had met Jae-Hyeok, Jae-Hyeok had been a newly awakened brat, yet over the course of mere months, he’d already gained enough power to push back, trading blow for blow with it.

This was the sort of talent that would make even ghosts and gods shudder. This was also the reason Theodore had never once thought to betray Jae-Hyeok.

At this rate, the day wasn’t far off when Jae-Hyeok would be teaching it a thing or two.

The twin lights in Theodore’s eyesockets flickered imperceptibly.

When that time comes, I might consider staying by your side forever.

***

“Who was that yesterday? Was it really China’s Phoenix?”

It had been several days since Da-Hee, Hae-Rin, Yeon-Ju, Jun-Yeop, and the others had arrived at the Kang mansion for special training. They’d all rushed over at the time. After all, the chance to learn Kang-style martial arts from Kang Hyeon-Ah herself was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Of course, their first day of training had been a rude awakening from their initial excitement.

In comparison to Hyeo-Ah’s methods, the training they’d undergone at the Shooting Club under Jae-Hyeok was like a walk in the park.

Physical torture was one thing, but Hyeon-Ah would even make them sit and face a wall for hours on end, day after day...

Hyeon-Ah aptly called this training “Wall-Facing,” a time in which they were supposed to reflect on their earlier physical training. But after hours of staring at the same place on the wall, the urge to doze, look away, or whisper to their neighbors occupied their every thought.

Normally, Hyeon-Ah would watch them like a hawk—the rhythm of her boots while pacing the wall’s length perfectly enforced her zero-tolerance policy for slacking.

However, yesterday, just when they had resigned themselves to another day of mental torture, Hyeon-Ah had abruptly cut their training short before hurrying upstairs.

Sensing something wrong, they had naturally followed, only to come across the unbelievable scene of Chen Dian confronting Jae-Hyeok.

At the time, they could hardly believe their eyes. The Phoenix was a pillar of strength and prosperity in China. Tales of his powers made him more myth than man.

“Do Chinese people have no shame?”

Even more shocking had been Jae-Hyeok’s blatant disregard for Chen Dian—rather than a respected dignitary from a foreign country, Jae-Hyeok had shown no qualms about treating him as a thief, shooing him from his property like some rat.

For a long while, the youths had been frozen in fear.

Was this how Jae-Hyeok would die?

Would they wake tomorrow to find that a war had broken out between Korea and China?

They had such thoughts.

But miraculously, Chen Dian had apologized, mentioning his relationship with the Yaksha before leaving on his own.

Thinking back, there could only be one reason for someone as lofty as Chen Dian to spare Jae-Hyeok.

“Jae-Hyeok’s father... I mean, Duke Kang must’ve been a really great person.”

“Yes, I’ve been feeling that a lot lately. It is hard to believe we once called him a traitor.”

“Everyone in the country was like that. Sigh. How much of a mess is Korea...”

“Well, less so now. If Jae-Hyeok hadn’t exposed all of Ji Cheon-Myeong’s crimes, Duke Kang’s merits would still be languishing in the dark.”

“In any case, no use dwelling on the past. I’m sure Eldest Young Miss will want to make up for yesterday’s shortened training. Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

Unlatching the door, the youths stepped into the dawn-lit garden.

Or so they thought.

“What the...”

Was this a dream?

The beautiful gardens, carefully tended day and night by Butler Hwang, had been reduced to a wasteland.

The flowers were gone; the trees, black; and smoke and ash hung thick in the air.

Hae-Rin was the first to come to her senses.

“Was there a fire?”

Butler Hwang appeared then. He came around a massive mound of fresh soil, wearing a large sun hat and pushing a wheelbarrow.

“Ehh. There was a small fire, but don’t worry. I’ve won international landscape competitions. With old man’s miracle hands, I’ll have this garden flourishing within a few days.”

“A... small fire?”

Everyone took in the barren expanse with open mouths.

With Jae-Hyeok’s abilities, how could any natural fire have the chance to grow so out of control?

No, maybe it’s possible.

After all, hadn’t they also failed to notice it yesterday? Following Hyeon-Ah’s training, they all slept like the dead. If that were the case for them, then how much more so was it for Jae-Hyeok?

From the candidate exam to storming the Association; from storming the Association to breaking into a military prison; from breaking into a military prison to clearing the Twilight Kingdom gate...

Jae-Hyeok had been running around nonstop since the start of vacation; it was no wonder he’d slept through last night’s fire.

“We will help too.”

Now’s our chance to do something for Jae-Hyeok.

Thinking as much, everyone rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward.

“Butler Hwang. Master is complaining that you are slow.”

Suddenly, a two-meter-tall giant appeared and snatched Butler Hwang’s wheelbarrow.

The children stared in a daze as it hefted the wheelbarrow full of dirt over one shoulder. It had to weigh hundreds of kilograms.

“...D-death knight?”

The black armored skeleton with blazing purple eyesockets was none other than Theodore.

“That ice statue yesterday...!”

Da-Hee paled. “Y-you’re the one from that time...!”

As a Class A student, Da-Hee had been among those who’d encountered Theodore in the snow biome. Back then, her homeroom teacher had nearly died, only managing to pull through thanks to Jae-Hyeok’s potion.

“S-state your purpose!”

Theodore looked at the girl who was about to draw her sword and shrugged.

“Ask Butler Hwang.”

With that, Theodore vanished, kicking up a wind as it repeated in the distance, where it began shaking the dirt from the wheelbarrow.

Meanwhile, Butler Hwang cleared his throat.

“Well, you see, he may look a little scary, but this big fellow serves the young master. Apparently, they exchanged pointers at Lion’s Castle, and the young master won his loyalty.”

“Eek?!”

“C-crazy! Is it possible to tame a Named monster?”

“Even a death knight...”

“As expected of my future husband.

“Hye-Ji, wake up already.”

The others could only express their admiration, but Jang Yeon-Ju’s focus was elsewhere.

“Why would he need that much soil? I don’t think he’s planning to just spread it over the burnt grass...” she muttered.

As the granddaughter of the Bow Saint, she’d grown up frequenting sprawling gardens and knew a thing or two about plants. The carbon left from fires was actually beneficial for the next generation of plants. So adding a light layer of topsoil for aesthetics would suffice.

“That— ”

“Wow, so the Death Knight’s friendly? You know, I’ve never seen purple mana before, and it's so thick! I’m gonna go say hi.”

Before Butler Hwang could say anything or do anything, the group of youths took off, leaving a cloud of soot in their wake.

“T-this...”

Butler Hwang was helpless to stop them. Every one of Jae-Hyeok’s friends had grown strong enough to be considered an ace in Lion's Castle.

As they neared Theodore, the youths gradually slowed to a halt, their eyes glued to the massive, six-foot deep hole the Death Knight loomed over.

“That’s!”

“P-Phoenix!?”

Within the pit, three bodies half-covered in dirt lay side by side.

The children looked incredulous as they checked the faces of the corpses.

Meanwhile, Jae-Hyeok stabbed his shovel into the ground and stretched. On a fold-out table nearby, Jae-Hyeok’s phone played the news:

“Several sources say that China’s dignitaries are causing a disturbance at Baekje Hotel. The dignitaries claim that several of their National Treasures, including Phoenix Chen Dian, have gone missing. This has put the police in a difficult situation...”

“......”

“......”

Everyone except Jae-Hyeok and Theodore plopped to their knees, pale-faced.

***

At the same time, in China.

“Chen Dian is missing? With Yuan Bo and Song Wei as his escorts, what is there to worry about? Combined, there’s no way Korea could or would dare to harm them... What? They’ve also gone missing?”

Black Dragon’s second-in-command, a young woman who’d been acting as de facto chairman since the Qilin went into seclusion, frowned after hearing her secretary’s report.