Disciple Of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 29

The Three Kings’ Disciple (30)

029

The chilling sensation of a blade against his neck.

Kang Cheol-woo was more on edge than ever before.

-Shall I tell you a way to survive?

So, this voice couldn’t be a lie.

It was definitely a voice he had heard before, the voice of that rookie from the Dark Shadow Guild.

‘Telepathy!’

Kang Cheol-woo’s eyes widened.

Telepathy was a technique similar to the message magic used by magic-type players, conveying meaning without speaking.

A skill exclusive to martial artists, requiring at least the level of an expert to use.

-You don’t have time to be thinking about that.

“I’ll ask one last time. Will you die?”

Lee Rowoon’s voice and Yuk Sagul’s voice echoed in Kang Cheol-woo’s mind simultaneously.

-If you drag this out, you’ll die. If you want to live, say this.

Lee Rowoon’s voice sounded like the whisper of a devil.

-I will prove that I am not a demon.

Lee Rowoon sent a telepathic message to Kang Cheol-woo.

After all, a clash with the Haenam Guild was inevitable for his own purposes.

He could have stepped in and handled it himself, but he intended to use them to minimize damage until he met Bondeno, given the special nature of the dungeon.

‘Now is the perfect time.’

A sacrifice magic circle.

To think they had prepared something like this.

This was probably the best move Bondeno could have made.

If so, they were no longer of any use.

‘Follow me closely. I’ll at least help you not die.’

The words Kang Cheol-woo had said to him.

Kang Cheol-woo was now risking his life to keep that promise.

‘I don’t dislike someone like that.’

So, he gave him a chance.

Whether he seized that chance was up to him.

“Answer me!”

Yuk Sagul’s shout.

“I…”

Finally, Kang Cheol-woo’s mouth opened.

“I will prove that I am not a demon.”

Smirk.

Lee Rowoon and Yuk Sagul smiled simultaneously.

“Yes, that’s right. Aren’t you all ultimately under the support of our Haenam? You’re fighting for the demons. I understand your cause of sacrificing yourself for that.”

Swish.

The sword that had been aimed at Kang Cheol-woo’s neck was finally withdrawn.

“Hurry and choose the targets. We don’t have much time.”

At Yuk Sagul’s urging, Kang Cheol-woo turned to look at the players.

Shudder, shudder.

The players were terrified, as if facing their impending doom.

Kang Cheol-woo only glanced at them for a moment before looking at Lee Rowoon.

It was as if he was asking what to do.

-Those who will ascend to the sacrifice magic circle.

Lee Rowoon said through telepathy.

-Send the Dark Shadow Guild.

“……!”

* * *

On the sacrifice magic circle, ten people stood.

In the center stood a man with a languid expression, Lee Rowoon.

“Sh, shit…”

“Why…”

Curses were heard from the players’ formation.

“Why isn’t it activating…”

The martial artists and players were far away, having set up a defensive line.

They were at the furthest point they could retreat to, as the walls had dropped and trapped them the moment someone stepped onto the sacrifice magic circle.

They watched the sacrifice magic circle, unable to hide their tension.

Ten people had ascended, but the magic circle still hadn’t activated.

Clench.

Kang Cheol-woo bit his lip.

“Why isn’t it activating?”

Yuk Sagul’s question.

“It seems… the sacrifice is insufficient.”

The sacrifice magic circle.

The number of humans that needed to make contact to activate it varied from magic circle to magic circle.

They didn’t even understand the magic circle.

They didn’t know how many sacrifices were needed to activate the magic circle.

“Then send more up.”

Yuk Sagul said as if it were the most obvious thing.

Crack.

Kang Cheol-woo’s molars made a chilling sound as he clenched his teeth.

Kang Cheol-woo looked at Lee Rowoon again.

-Send them up.

Clench.

-But.

The devil whispered.

How far should he trust him? Did he really have a way?

But they were standing on the magic circle themselves.

As if to say, ‘Can’t you trust me even after all this?’

-Send up those who must live.

“……!”

Only then did Kang Cheol-woo realize what was about to happen.

He didn’t know how it was possible.

‘But those who ascend to the magic circle will surely live.’

And that choice was given to him.

“What are you doing!”

At Yuk Sagul’s shout, Kang Cheol-woo looked at the players.

Swish.

Everyone avoided Kang Cheol-woo’s gaze.

It was only natural.

Being called out now was like putting their heads on the chopping block.

“Kim Min-ho… go up.”

The first one he chose was a new player who had recently joined the Kyodong Guild.

He was just over twenty, and he had shouted that he would become strong like him someday.

Squeeze.

He could see Kim Min-ho clenching his fist tightly.

“What are you doing!”

At the martial artists’ shouts, Kim Min-ho, who had been frozen, began to move.

Kim Min-ho was soon beside Kang Cheol-woo.

“I, I won’t… resent you. I can’t promise.”

Kang Cheol-woo squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Damn it.’

He wanted to stop this dog-like behavior right now and unleash all his anger on Yuk Sagul.

But the result was obvious.

To die by their blades and lose everything.

If there was no way to survive, he might have done that.

‘I’ll trust him.’

If that devil’s words were true, then this method would be better.

Flinch.

Kim Min-ho, who had stopped in front of the magic circle, finally took a step.

Another weight of life was added to the magic circle.

The players activated their protection skills and items in front of the martial artists, preparing for the destruction to come.

The silence was so intense that the sound of sweat dripping could be heard.

“Haa…!”

Soon after, a gasp escaped.

“Sh, shit!”

The magic circle still hadn’t activated, as if it lacked sacrifices.

“H, hic.”

Kim Min-ho trembled as if he was about to wet his pants, trying to pass through the magic circle.

The will to escape from fear must have paralyzed his reason.

“Do you have to kill everyone?”

A cold voice stopped Kim Min-ho’s movement.

If he tried to pass through the sacrifice magic circle, the entire connection to the magic circle would collapse.

That explosion would be more destructive than the activation of the sacrifice magic circle.

“I’d rather…”

“Shut up and stand there.”

Kim Min-ho wanted everyone to die, but he stood still at Lee Rowoon’s cold voice.

“Next!”

At Yuk Sagul’s shout, the chosen ones continued to head towards the magic circle.

“……”

The first members of the Kyodong Guild who were chosen silently stepped onto the magic circle, sending resentful glances.

By now, nineteen players were on the magic circle.

Still…

“Why-!”

The sacrifice magic circle had not activated.

“Next, send them up.”

Yuk Sagul said with bloodshot eyes.

The call continued.

Weights were added to the magic circle one by one.

“Bastard.”

“I’ll curse you.”

“Do you think you’ll survive?”

They were pushed onto the magic circle by the martial artists, showering Kang Cheol-woo with curses.

It was only natural.

Kang Cheol-woo was pushing them into death while not going up himself.

‘How long will this go on…’

He couldn’t stop, even though there was no end in sight.

“Send them up!”

At Yuk Sagul’s shout, the players continued to ascend.

The last, thirty-eighth player, ascended.

They were all looking at one place.

“Hoo…”

The remaining two players.

Kang Cheol-woo of the Kyodong Guild and the old man who was the guild leader of the Gyeyang Guild.

Thirty-eight people had already ascended, and it wouldn’t be strange if the sacrifice magic circle activated at any moment.

On top of that.

-Thirty-nine.

Lee Rowoon’s voice said.

That the magic circle would activate when the thirty-ninth person ascended.

Kang Cheol-woo was now about to choose the last person who could live.

“You must have a reason.”

Kang Cheol-woo and Im Ha-soon, the leader of the Gyeyang Guild, had been together for a long time.

“I wanted to stand there a long time ago, so I’ll go now.”

Even before Kang Cheol-woo called his name, Im Ha-soon was heading towards the magic circle.

‘Yes, this is right.’

Kang Cheol-woo squeezed his eyes shut.

He had missed his chance to live.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed.

Even so.

‘I am not a dog, at least in this last moment.’

There was no more regret.

The moment the last person, Im Ha-soon, stepped onto the magic circle…

“Prepare!”

Now, only the martial artists remained, preparing to block the explosion.

“……”

But in the awkward silence that had fallen over the passage, nothing was happening.

“Why?”

Kang Cheol-woo said with a blank expression.

-It seems it was forty. What are you doing?

In the center of the magic circle, Lee Rowoon seemed to be chuckling.

-Come up.

Kang Cheol-woo was dazed.

“What are you doing?”

Yuk Sagul pushed Kang Cheol-woo’s back with his scabbard.

“Go up. I won’t forget your cause.”

Kang Cheol-woo opened his eyes as he was pushed by the scabbard.

He didn’t know what was going on anymore.

He was resigned to whatever would happen.

Unlike the others who had hesitated to move, except for the Dark Shadow Guild, Kang Cheol-woo approached the magic circle without hesitation.

“So, it ends up like this.”

Im Ha-soon’s voice was filled with anguish.

“Damn it.”

Those who had cursed Kang Cheol-woo turned their heads away, unable to look him in the face.

Thinking it was truly the end, Kang Cheol-woo stepped onto the magic circle.

Whoooooooom!

A bright light began to permeate the magic circle, which had never changed before.

“It’s activating! Prepare!”

Yuk Sagul shouted and swung his sword, creating a sword barrier.

The other experts also maximized their protective energy, preparing for the explosion.

The explosion would come from the magic circle.

That explosion was…

Kwakwakwakwakwakwang!

It started from the passage.

* * *

“Cough! Cough!”

An explosion of a scale completely different from the magic circles they had encountered while passing through the dungeon.

It was an explosion that wouldn’t be strange if the dungeon itself collapsed.

“A, alive… Cough! Are we alive?”

The players who had stood on the magic circle coughed in the smoke, their faces filled with disbelief.

Even though their bodies were scorched and covered in soot.

“W, we’re alive!”

They were alive.

“What happened…?”

“The explosion came from the passage!”

Indeed, it was just as they said.

A massive explosion that could have destroyed the entire dungeon.

It had erupted from the passage, not from the magic circle.

As if to prove that fact, the place where the martial artists had been standing was completely destroyed, filled with only debris.

And scattered pieces of flesh.

“H, how…”

Kang Cheol-woo also muttered in disbelief.

A proposal he had accepted, thinking there was no other way.

And it wasn’t a devil.

“I said I’d tell you a way to survive, right?”

At the languid voice, Kang Cheol-woo quickly looked at the source of the voice.

He was surrounded by the Dark Shadow Guild members, standing without a single speck of soot on him.

“Useless actions.”

“It is our role to ensure that no harm comes to you.”

They muttered words that made no sense.

“D, did you know…?”

Kang Cheol-woo said to Lee Rowoon.

That the explosion of the sacrifice magic circle would occur from the passage, not from the magic circle itself.

“If you think about the axis and shape of the magic circle, its three-dimensional form, it’s easy to understand. The sacrifice magic circle is like that, if you try to pass through it, it goes berserk and collapses, right? It’s connected to the passage of the magic circle. The wall that blocked the retreat when you stood on the magic circle is proof of that.”

It was incomprehensible.

“W, was forty people the sacrifice too?”

“That’s not it.”

Lee Rowoon tapped the floor with his foot.

“I modified it a bit. I can’t draw or activate magic circles right now, but I can tamper with the modifications. The original activation condition of the magic circle is one sacrifice.”

Everyone who was listening to Lee Rowoon’s words was sweating cold.

If that was the case, then the moment someone stepped onto the sacrifice magic circle, everyone in the passage would have been blown to pieces.

“H, haha…”

Kang Cheol-woo laughed as if he had lost his mind.

-39 people, 40 people.

What was that all about?

In the midst of relief, emptiness, and confusion over this unbelievable event.

Thud thud thud!

The debris piled up in the passage began to shake.

“Youuuu!”

A shout that sounded like another explosion echoed from within.

Bang!