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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 25: Grant Mercy, Let Me Join His Side at Once! (4)
"Wow! Puppy!"
Despite the growling, sharp teeth, and fierce glare that could strike fear into anyone, she clapped her hands together like she had found an adorable puppy.
"Let's be friends, doggy!"
Kraaang!!!
Unaware that the creature harbored hostile intent toward her, she stretched out her hand.
The War Wolf lunged at her, ready to bite it off.
It was an attack without a moment’s hesitation.
Even though it was a lower-level spirit, it wouldn’t be taken down that easily.
Still, with how completely defenseless she was, no one could have argued if she had been hurt.
Chomp!!!
The sharp teeth dug in with lightning speed and looked as though they were about to shred Areum's tender flesh.
Chomp!!
"Uwah... uwah."
But the creature’s sharp jaws didn't manage to bite her hand.
Or rather, it did bite, but something was off with the sound.
Screeeee!!!
Was this what it felt like for a child to bite into a rock while eating?
The War Wolf staggered backward, howling in agony.
Its jaw trembled violently, as if the shock had rattled the nerves in its teeth so badly that it couldn’t recover.
At the same time, tears began to well up in Areum’s bright, glistening eyes.
She looked utterly devastated.
"Sniff... sniff... the puppy bit me..."
She shouted sorrowfully, then burst into tears.
"Waaaah!!!!"
At her loud sobbing, two or three more War Wolves appeared from nearby, but Areum didn’t seem to care.
She collapsed to the ground and wept, pounding the dirt.
Strangely, the hand that had just been bitten showed no injury.
It was perfectly fine, as if an egg had been thrown at a rock.
"Waaah!! I just wanted to pet it! Hic! Hueeuuuung!"
Was she really that heartbroken over being bitten?
In the first place, those creatures teeth had no chance of damaging her body, which could pulverize solid concrete walls with a single charge.
Besides, among F-rank monsters, War Wolves were only notable for their aggressiveness.
They weren’t actually that dangerous.
Pounding the ground in frustration, Areum puffed her cheeks in a pout.
Then she shouted toward the gathering War Wolves.
"Oppa said bad kids should be punished!"
Yeonwoo had never said anything of the sort.
Areum was just making it up to suit her narrative.
"I’ll punish you!"
Thud!!
The moment she finished speaking, the other War Wolves charged in, leaving no opening.
But their attacks never reached Areum.
Something bound their legs before they could even get close.
She puffed out her cheeks.
Then she stomped her foot hard, and the ground beneath the War Wolves legs transformed into a kind of swamp.
Though it was a small area and lacked strong suction, the more they struggled, the deeper they sank under gravity.
"You’re getting punished underground!"
Areum shouted in a shrill, offended voice.
Screeeeee!!
The beasts howled in terror to survive, but they were already halfway sunk.
Soon, their heads vanished beneath the surface.
Watching the War Wolves disappear as if stones had been tossed into water, Areum tilted her head.
"Hrm... but puppies can’t breathe underground..."
Do you know the saying that innocence is more terrifying?
She was a living example.
"Hehe, who cares! Doggy! Areum’s coming to get you!"
Areum’s eyes never left the spot where the War Wolves had vanished.
Tapping her lips with her index finger like she was pondering something, she soon disintegrated like powdered stone and disappeared into the ground.
Moments later, the quaking ground settled.
Where Areum and the War Wolves had vanished, shimmering cores began to appear one by one.
They had died, leaving only their cores behind.
The cause of death was likely intense pressure and suffocation, but there might have been more to it.
Still, it was strange.
They had died underground, yet their cores appeared aboveground.
That was definitely odd.
But Areum wouldn’t know that.
What was certain was this:
Using Yeonwoo’s inexhaustible spirit energy, she could reshape the terrain at will.
And that made her the War Wolves apex predator.
There wasn’t a trace left where Areum and the War Wolves had been, except for the cores.
***
“-Warning. A massive amount of Yeonwoo's spirit energy has been used.”
"Yeah, that was more than I expected."
Apparently, Areum had wandered off and encountered some monsters.
The amount of spirit energy that had been drained in an instant was more than ten times what Yeonwoo’s old lowest-ranked spirit, the gnome, used to take.
Any spirit summoner dealing with low-rank spirits would have run dry from just that.
The only reason Yeonwoo could endure it so calmly was because of his absurdly high reserves of spirit energy.
‘‘But low-rank spirits should have a clear limit to how much spirit energy they can draw at once.’’
Low-rank spirits are limited in how much energy they can receive from their summoner at any given time.
That’s the same for intermediate or high-rank spirits, there are boundaries.
But Areum, despite being just a gnome, was drawing energy like an intermediate spirit.
As if she had no idea how much energy should be used and was just using it recklessly.
He’d have to investigate further while moving.
Was Areum just abnormal, or was she somehow affected by Yeonwoo’s own spirit energy?
This was a first, and hard to judge.
If Areum was indeed a special case, then if she ever became a Spirit King... the power she would wield could be terrifying.
The mutant fox, the party had first encountered had been taken down without issue.
Yeonwoo had been holding back his power, using it to practice mana control.
When the creature was finally defeated and Hyunsik suggested a break, Yeonwoo had wandered a short distance to scout the surroundings.
Then suddenly, a massive amount of spirit energy had surged toward Areum, catching his attention.
It wasn’t a bad thing.
Whatever happened, he just needed to gather spirit stones without drawing attention.
"Mr. Hyunwoo, it’s dangerous, so don’t wander too far."
"Got it."
As Yeonwoo returned, Hyunsik laughed heartily and greeted him.
In contrast, Choi Siyoung and Ahn Sunhee avoided eye contact with Yeonwoo, who now had his robe’s hood pulled up and gave off a more ominous vibe.
Though the party leader had welcomed him, the women seemed uneasy about adventuring with a man whose face they hadn’t even seen.
Besides, with the robe’s silhouette, Yeonwoo looked downright shady.
He could also cast low-level facial distortion magic to prevent recognition.
To them, he was just a creepy looking guy sticking close to their leader.
“-There are many recorded incidents of accidents in the field. They should be more grateful to their savior, not suspicious like some selfish jerk.”
Sensing their wariness, Mulhoe spoke up, but Yeonwoo said nothing.
Hyunsik, who was acting as Yeonwoo’s face, didn’t hesitate to speak, but the others weren’t so subtle.
"Don’t mind them."
He didn’t care what they thought anyway.
"Sorry?"
Perhaps he had muttered too loudly.
Hyunsik glanced at him and asked, and Yeonwoo slowly shook his head.
"Nothing. I was talking to my navigator."
"Ah, got it. Well, I think we’ve rested enough. Let’s get moving again."
From the way Hyunsik balanced rest and hunting, it was clear he had done this a lot.
Though they were F-rank now, they’d soon reach E-rank and shed their newbie status.
They must have cleared fields like this several times.
Confidence was good medicine but arrogance could be poison.
He hoped, given their otherwise likable nature, that it wouldn’t come to that.
Since the field was small and of low difficulty, there was little risk of massive monster spawns or out-of-spec enemies.
After they downed one more mutant fox with ease, the party grew more confident.
Even the two women, who had been tense earlier, were now chatting comfortably with Hyunsik.
But their laughter didn’t last long before it turned into stunned silence.
All thanks to the mess Areum had made.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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