novelraw Chapter 21 : Raiding the Elixir Field (3)
Chapter 21 : Raiding the Elixir Field (3)
“Intruder! There’s a thief in the elixir zone!”
A martial artist’s urgent shout echoed through the reception room of the Geummun Merchant Guild’s branch.
“What?! The their?”
Geum Dunbok, an elder of the Geummun Merchant Guild, raised his voice, momentarily forgetting who was in front of him.
“Well… it’s estimated to be about ten roots.”
“You incompetent fools!”
Geum Dunbok was furious. Even if the number seemed small, each and every one of them had been cherished and raised for years. Even ten roots was an amount that would fetch tens of thousands of nyang.
“The enemy?”
“We don’t know their identity yet. They’re inside the formation, and the mountain keeper in charge of the east is currently searching.”
“The east?”
Geum Dunbok’s expression crumpled. The eastern peak was the area where the Medicinal Divine Herb, one of only two in the elixir zone, was located.
But it was not appropriate to bring up the matter of the Medicinal Divine Herb in front of a guest.
That fueled Geum Dunbok’s anger even more.
“You idiots! You mean you were robbed even with a formation?”
“Well, the formation didn’t activate…”
“What do you mean by that?”
A low voice cut in at that moment. Only then did Geum Dunbok realize the presence of the guest in front of him and ask for his understanding.
“I’ve shown you an unsightly scene, Protector Jangyeo. Please excuse me, as the situation is what it is.”
“It’s fine. If it’s a formation problem, our Zhuge family will have to respond as well.”
The large man who waved off the cupped fist gesture was Jangyeo. But contrary to his words, his mood was not good.
‘Of all times for something like this to happen, when I’m in charge.’
The formation of the Geummun Merchant Guild was one of the places that the Zhuge family maintained and repaired. No matter how many formation masters the Geummun Merchant Guild hired, they couldn’t compare to the formation masters of the Zhuge family.
But now that something had happened, he didn’t know how the Geummun Merchant Guild would react.
Although the Zhuge family was the best when it came to formations, it wasn’t as if they had no competitors.
If things went wrong, he might lose an important client.
Jangyeo asked the martial artist again.
“So, the scale of the enemy?”
“W-well. According to the reports so far, it’s said to be one person.”
“What?”
To break through a large-scale formation of that level and steal elixirs, there would have to be several high-level formation masters.
But just one person? It didn’t make sense.
‘An opponent who is good at hiding.’
Jangyeo judged so. It was more logical to think that way.
“A fearless bastard.”
Muttering so, Jangyeo shot up from his seat and looked down at the martial artist and ordered.
“Take me to the scene.”
* * *
When Jangyeo arrived at the scene with the formation masters of the Zhuge family, the martial artists of the Geummun Merchant Guild were already standing there, blocked by the formation.
“I’d like to hear an explanation of the situation.”
“The formation itself has changed, so we can’t enter.”
Jangyeo’s brow furrowed at the explanation of the Geummun Merchant Guild’s formation master.
Not being able to pass through the formation meant that the other side had taken control of the formation.
“So he’s no ordinary guy.”
Jangyeo placed his palm in the air. Then, along with a crackling static electricity, he felt a repulsion.
If a martial artist below the first-rate level tried to force their way in, they would suffer internal injuries.
‘Since they wouldn’t destroy the large-scale formation from this side, have they entered a siege? How cunning.’
A formation is not all-powerful. Because it has to meet tricky external conditions, it can be neutralized from the outside like demolishing a building if you spend time and money.
The problem, in this case, was that the value of the formation itself was much greater than catching the enemy.
“How troublesome.”
Usually, it takes an astronomical amount of money to create a large-scale formation like this.
But to demolish a formation just because of a criminal who stole a few elixirs was like burning down a thatched house to catch a single flea.
Jangyeo, who had finished his calculations, opened his mouth.
“Call the family’s formation masters. We’ll have a formation battle.”
There was only one option he could choose. To take control of the formation and hunt the enemy from within.
It was a judgment made under the calculation that if they simultaneously sent in martial artists to subdue them, it would be their victory.
“You called?”
Soon, eight formation masters belonging to the Zhuge family came to Jangyeo.
It was a composition of two first-class formation masters and six second-class formation masters.
Considering that even a third-class formation master was a talent who was treated well in any castle, they were considerable high-level forces.
‘This is more than enough.’
Jangyeo looked at them and gave an order.
“First, open the life gate of the formation. Analyze the formation.”
““Yes!””
Soon, they stood in front of the formation and began to analyze it, each taking out their own artifacts. They were astonished.
“This is…!”
“No way.”
What unfolded in the place where they had barely looked inside the formation was a scene of chaos.
Whirling streams of water and the martial artists of the Geummun Merchant Guild being swept away by them.
They were moving to avoid the relentless onslaught.
“Don’t scatter!”
The mountain keeper who was at the forefront said to the martial artists of the Geummun Merchant Guild.
Just as they were about to avoid the rushing streams of water again, a gloomy mist settled, and the puddles of water that had pooled up to their ankles were filled with yin energy and instantly froze.
“Prepare for impact!”
But before the mountain keeper’s words could even finish, a lightning strike that had occurred beyond the mist traveled up their legs.
Crackle!
A few of the martial artists collapsed with their eyes rolled back from the shock that came with the flash, and the mountain keeper also gathered his stiffened body and glared beyond the mist.
He never thought they would be pushed back this much. An enemy that was completely invisible and the endless traps of the formation.
He couldn’t believe it. To think that they would be threatened this much by just one person.
“I should have killed him then.”
Missing the first shot was a regret that would last a thousand years.
Woooong-
The mountain keeper gritted his teeth as he looked at the formation that was churning again.
* * *
“They’re holding on quite well.”
Meanwhile, I, who had induced this situation, changed the arrangement of the jade stones as I looked at the martial artists who were still alive.
The offensive so far was a feint, and the real thing was something else. A maze formation.
They didn’t know it now, but they were circling around one area.
‘I’ll just let them exhaust themselves and self-destruct.’
Just as I was about to prepare for the next offensive, I felt a sensation caught in the formation.
‘Are they finally moving?’
The guys who had been approaching the formation and trying to figure out the inside until now had finally started to interfere with the formation.
‘First, block the infiltration. And fix the front line.’
A formation is like a game of Go. If someone places a stone on a formation that has built a house, you have to take back the control of the formation that is passing to the other side.
I first observed the opponent’s movements.
The enemy was infiltrating the formation based on the water-attribute energy, which is easy to absorb from one side.
‘They’re doing it by the book.’
Like in Go, they first make a move that can gently penetrate the surroundings. And when their own foundation is built up to a certain extent, they move as if to press.
Of course, I wasn’t just watching either.
I first threw two jade stones imbued with earth-attribute mana and at the same time, I imbued the formation with wood-attribute mana to block the opponent’s energy.
Since I had made the earth-attribute elemental magic’s presence faint at the same time, the opponent would think that I was responding with the wood attribute, which is its opposite, as per the book.
As I thought, the opponent imbued the water energy with yin energy and froze the wood energy that was absorbing it.
“They’re pretty good.”
After making them respond with wood by using water, counterattack with ice. It was a counter that was prepared, knowing how this side would come out from the beginning.
Curious about the opponent, I slightly opened the formation with magic to let their voices through.
It was extremely difficult to implement with a formation, but it was a kind of trick that could be easily done with magic.
To use an analogy, if the other side had to lay down telephone lines, prepare a communication repeater, and then put a speakerphone between the sender and receiver to implement a telephone within the formation, this side could eavesdrop on the opponent with a Bluetooth earphone taken out of a magic pouch.
‘If you’re so unhappy, become a mage.’
As I thought so and listened outside the formation, I soon heard the enemies’ voices.
“We did it! We’ve succeeded in neutralizing the outside of the formation. We will now begin infiltration and pressure.”
As I eavesdropped on the formation master, who seemed to be briefing on the scene, a laugh escaped me.
“To say you’ve neutralized it just by freezing it…”
I muttered in a cynical tone, perhaps due to the effect of [Arrogant Young Master].
“They seem to be seriously mistaken.”
The opponent soon began to melt the water-attribute energy that had been frozen in the formation by using yang energy.
The wood-attribute energy that had been infiltrated by the yin energy had already scattered long ago, so the water energy that the opponent formation master had spread began to penetrate the edge of the formation.
However, this was my aim.
I released the energy of the earth-attribute jade stones I had thrown in advance and recalled a scene from a game I had played as a child.
‘Trap jade stone, activate.’
“What?!”
Then, a flustered voice came from the other side. It was probably because they felt the water attribute, which should be moving forward, being sucked in somewhere. Earth absorbs some water.
“Is it wood? No, earth attribute? With just this…!”
Still, to notice it right away, he was quite skilled.
However, the part where he rated it as ‘just this’ was disappointing. Even though earth was the opposite of water in terms of the five elements.
‘It’s not just that.’
Water flows along the ground. Usually, in that process, it carves the ground or breaks down dikes, but conversely, the direction of the water can also be bent.
“Huh?”
Just like now. I had thrown a total of two jade stones. One was hard earth, and the other had a dull earth property.
‘Water flows to the softer side.’
That meant that it had become quite tricky for the guy to handle the water-attribute energy. As if the water was being guided and flowing in a dug ditch.
“Why is this?!”
‘Too late.’
If he had noticed earlier, he would have gathered the water energy or concentrated it at one point to break through, but the opponent had already spread the water energy here and there in the formation to break through the wood energy.
That was the losing move.
“A thin stream of water is just a brook.”
The water energy began to spread in several directions, and following the stage I had prepared, it pooled in some places and scattered in others, gradually losing its power.
“I can’t believe it. What in the world…!”
The astonished voice of the opponent, who had lost control of the formation in an instant, leaked out.
Since I had created a maze in one part of the formation using the water energy that the guy had been using as his main, it would be difficult for the enemies to infiltrate that way for a while.
In terms of Go, a large group had been created.
“I… lost.”
The guy outside the formation, who was admitting his defeat with a dazed voice. At the same time, I began to block the formation coming in from another direction.
‘It’s like a simultaneous Go game against several people.’
Of course, it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t respond. On the contrary, most of them were easier than this guy.
To the point where there were numerous formation masters who had their control taken away in vain before I even took out the trap jade stones.
Of course, this was largely thanks to the overwhelming talent of [Absolute Magic].
Originally, even just imbuing a jade stone with one elemental attribute was something that required enormous effort and mastery.
The enemies probably never thought that I could conduct a formation battle so quickly and continuously like this.
Just as I had blocked the last formation master’s infiltration.
“What do you mean by that? You can’t interfere with the formation? Is this all our family is capable of?”
A voice that was somehow familiar came from beyond the formation.
‘What is this?’
After pondering for a moment, I realized the opponent’s identity in an instant and my eyes widened.
‘Jangyeo?! Why is that person here?’
That person was the man from the Zhuge family I had met just a short while ago, Jangyeo.
After finishing my reasoning in a flash, I lightly clicked my tongue.
“Don’t tell me, this place was under the jurisdiction of the Zhuge family.”
The place Jangyeo had mentioned he would visit before was this place. No wonder the formation was so elaborate.
‘This is bad.’
I slightly gathered my eyebrows.
A blood relative of the Zhuge family had robbed a formation of the Zhuge family. If I get caught, it’s the end.
If it were an unrelated situation, I would have at least been able to negotiate a ransom with my family’s influence when I was caught, but if a situation like this overlaps, there’s none of that.
Excommunication from the family and execution as an example would be waiting.
‘What a harsh fate.’
Even if I stayed still, I would wither and die, and even if I tried to do something, it was only things like this.
But it can’t be helped. If I’m going to die anyway, I have no choice but to do my best.
“In the end, there’s only one thing I have to do.”
To escape safely without my identity being revealed. I pulled my mask up further and gripped the jade stone in my bosom.
At that moment, Jangyeo’s voice came from the other side.
“Move aside. I will move myself from now on.”
At the same time, the formation churned.
(End of Chapter)