Tearing the Gate Apart - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 106.
The Final Moment.
Ha Gyeong abruptly stopped his attack.
It was because he sensed something fundamentally wrong in his opponent’s smile.
If he kept going like this, he’d hand the enemy a perfect opening for a counterattack.
It was dangerous, but Ha Gyeong trusted his instincts.
‘If things go south, I can always use the Tyrant’s Bracelet.’
But Blight Shaper didn’t attack.
He simply held his lips curled in an unsettling smile.
Ha Gyeong poked his opponent experimentally.
That instant.
Blight Shaper’s form suddenly twisted.
Into Rokan.
“Hey, bro. What would you do if I tried to kill you?”
“Looks like the illusion binding him didn’t fully break.”
“Yeah, something felt off. He just stood there dazed for a while, then suddenly rushed at me.”
“So Rokan is real?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
“I couldn’t tell even while watching all this. I should verify.”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ha Gyeong rapped his sword hilt against Rokan’s helmet.
Not with killing intent.
Just a light tap to be thorough.
But each strike produced only clear ringing tones.
Nothing seemed amiss.
Rokan, whose head bobbed with each impact, finally spoke.
“What the hell are you doing in the middle of a fight?”
“Ah, shame. So he really is real.”
“Why’s that a shame?”
“If he’d been fake, I could’ve just beaten him to a pulp right then.”
“Oh! That makes se—wait, that’s just an excuse to hit me, isn’t it?”
“How’d you know?”
“If you were really verifying, you’d have tapped once or twice and stopped!”
“Your instincts really are sharp.”
Ha Gyeong suddenly looked up.
He felt Blight Shaper’s presence from above.
The creature floated motionless in the air.
Both hands clasped together as if in prayer.
An unpleasant sensation crawled through his mind.
Grief Requiem had been dispelled—he realized this and
was attempting the technique again.
Hovering in the air like that, it was extremely difficult to attack.
Ha Gyeong locked eyes with Rokan.
“Should we try that thing again after all this time?”
“That thing?”
“Yes?”
“You know it, I know it—that thing. It’s definitely a thing. But I’m Korean and even I don’t know the slang for it.”
“Yeah, whatever. The word doesn’t really matter anyway.”
“Come at me all you want. I’m always ready.”
“That… don’t make that sneaky expression when you talk like that.”
“What’re you saying? Can’t you see the resolve in my eyes, bro?”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
Ha Gyeong nodded vaguely and stepped backward.
This old man was really spouting nonsense today.
He figured he’d need to give this some emotional weight to shut him up.
With a running start, Ha Gyeong accelerated sharply.
Thud-thud-thud!
Ha Gyeong’s movements were like streaks of light.
He’d pushed his physical abilities to their peak with vast quantities of Abyss Energy.
Soon he leaped lightly and planted his foot on Rokan’s shield.
“Here I go!”
Crack!
This time, he poured all his strength into it—unlike usual.
His body compressed momentarily.
But immediately, tremendous repulsive force surged up through his legs.
Ha Gyeong’s body shot through the air like a missile.
Whoooosh!
As he tore through the air, the distance between him and Blight Shaper narrowed.
Close enough that a sword swing could slice off the creature’s head.
He’d closed in to striking distance.
Ha Gyeong drew the Crimson Edge from behind his back.
Like a pitcher hiding a baseball until the last second.
A pale-white disc was already forming on his blade.
[Kindred Predation Skill target locked]
[Objective: Blight Shaper]
Shriek!
A 15-meter modified True Soul Slash tore through the void.
Blight Shaper’s eyes widened in shock.
It seemed like everything would end in a single blow.
But at the final moment.
That smile appeared on the creature’s lips once more.
—How foolish.
Whoosh!
With a deflating sound, Blight Shaper vanished.
What had been floating in the air was an illusion after all.
The creature had projected its presence here to bait Ha Gyeong’s attack.
‘But I already expected that much.’
This was the kind of opponent who reached into old memories to spin illusions.
It had hidden its true body.
There was more than enough reason to suspect some other trick.
That’s why he’d harbored doubt even as he attacked.
As Ha Gyeong fell, he activated Soul Stigma.
‘Where are you?’
Of course, there was still a chance this was also a fake.
But based on the pattern so far,
the transfer of presence wouldn’t be particularly fast.
Sure enough.
He sensed something directly behind where Dae Hyeonja stood.
Ha Gyeong twisted his body mid-fall.
“Hah!”
[True Soul Slash gains Projectile Reinforcement Effect]
Shwaaaack!
Released with his shout, the True Soul Slash doubled in size instantly.
A disc thirty meters in diameter pierced through space.
The transformed True Soul Slash flew at tremendous speed.
Dae Hyeonja’s face went ashen.
He must have thought he was the target.
But the moment of impact arrived.
The pale-white disc began to waver and shift.
It tilted vertically with a flutter
and grazed right past Dae Hyeonja’s side.
Immediately after, a deafening blast erupted.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
The transformed True Soul Slash was scorching the ground to nothing.
Ha Gyeong, who’d watched until the end, quickly flipped his body over.
[Crosswind activated]
[Two-stage rebound jump now available]
Thump! Click!
He landed and approached Dae Hyeonja.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes? Yes, I nearly died, but…”
“Good. Everything went according to plan.”
Just before releasing the transformed True Soul Slash,
Ha Gyeong had slightly angled his Abyss Energy flow.
To make the trajectory curve mid-flight.
Blight Shaper likely thought Ha Gyeong had fallen for the illusion.
Because he’d unleashed that enormous attack at Dae Hyeonja.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The collapse continued.
Dust clouds billowed up thickly.
Visibility was already poor because of the Abyss Fog.
Now sight became completely useless.
Still, Ha Gyeong stared at where the modified True Soul Slash had detonated.
‘It can’t possibly be over with just one hit.’
This opponent held a higher rank than any noble he’d faced before.
A Count-rank, no less.
He definitely survived somehow.
So he’d need to strike before the enemy could regroup and finish it.
Ha Gyeong stepped into the dust cloud.
Tss-tss-tss-tss-tss!
Pale-blue light gathered around him.
Dae Hyeonja was feeding support skills continuously.
Thanks to this, Ha Gyeong’s vision widened noticeably.
‘The buff is pushing the dust away. So that works too.’
The more he learned about this man, the more wondrous and mysterious he seemed.
Ha Gyeong gave Dae Hyeonja a thumbs up.
Then he entered the V-shaped ravine carved by the modified True Soul Slash.
Crackle! Crackle-pop!
Probably because of the overwhelming collision of Abyss Energies,
sparks were erupting everywhere.
Because of that,
Soul Stigma couldn’t help him pinpoint the enemy’s location.
Ha Gyeong opened his eyes wide.
‘If Soul Stigma doesn’t work, I’ll just have to search directly.’
He’d taken one solid hit.
The enemy wouldn’t be able to deploy another illusion soon.
But Blight Shaper was nowhere to be found.
Only ruined building debris scattered about.
Ha Gyeong tilted his head.
“He couldn’t have escaped already…”
Lunge!
At that exact moment.
Something came down on Ha Gyeong’s back.
He reflexively raised his left arm to block a chokehold.
But the problem was far worse than just strangulation.
Stab-stab-stab-stab!
“Ungh!”
Something sharp began stabbing frantically through gaps in his armor.
It wasn’t immediately fatal.
But searing pain shot through him as blood poured out.
Ha Gyeong immediately launched himself into the air.
“Haaaaah!”
When grabbed from behind, the most effective defense.
Simply drive backward with all his weight.
Putting full force into it.
Thud!
With a solid impact, the attack stopped.
The creature beneath Ha Gyeong took an enormous shock.
He quickly rolled to the side and got to his feet.
‘No need for the Tyrant’s Bracelet after all.’
A few stab wounds were healing remarkably fast.
Dae Hyeonja’s unending support was doing its work.
Ha Gyeong extended the Crimson Edge, aiming for his opponent’s throat.
The now-mangled Blight Shaper growled.
—How… how did you know? How is one fool never fooled?
“It was so transparent I nearly yawned.”
—What?
Blight Shaper couldn’t hide his shock.
Of course, Ha Gyeong’s instincts weren’t quite as good as his opponent assumed.
He’d only detected it thanks to Soul Stigma.
He’d nearly fallen for that first fake, hadn’t he?
Ha Gyeong swung his blade without hesitation.
Slash! Rip!
A Zardor Empire noble’s body is a mass of Authority granted by the Emperor.
As long as the head remains intact, it won’t die even if cut apart.
It was safer to thin them out beforehand.
Blight Shaper shrieked in horror.
—Stop! You lunatic!
“Why not swing weapons at enemies?”
—Well, I…
“I know your kind well. Confuse with words, wait for a moment of carelessness, then try to turn things around, right?”
—…
Blight Shaper fell silent under Ha Gyeong’s words.
He’d struck the exact nerve.
Ha Gyeong then grabbed the creature’s head.
He separated it some distance from the mangled body.
Now it shouldn’t be able to cause much trouble.
Ha Gyeong activated Soul Stigma.
‘I can feel it. They’re still fighting.’
His teammates were in combat with the Core Guardian.
They’d started much earlier than him, yet the battle was still deadlocked.
The balance of power seemed well-matched.
Time for interrogation wouldn’t be plentiful.
Ha Gyeong thrust his blade before Blight Shaper’s eyes.
“Answer my questions honestly and I’ll let you live.”
—How should I believe that?
“Look at Rokan. I keep my word.”
—If you’ve just captured him and are making him obey, I’ll have to decline.
“That’s nonsense. I told him to leave on his own—he stayed of his own free will.”
—Really?
“Do I look like someone whose life is built on lies like yours?”
Under Ha Gyeong’s calm answer, Blight Shaper’s eyes wavered.
The successful precedent of Rokan seemed to tip the scales.
His heart was leaning toward belief.
Sensing his moment, Ha Gyeong immediately unleashed a barrage of questions.
“I’ve explored the Bottomless Abyss quite extensively. But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find your main base.”
—The main base?
“Zardor Empire. As barbaric as that country might be, there’s gotta be at least one city, right?”
—That’s amusing. The Bottomless Abyss is merely one of our colonial planets.
“Rokan didn’t say anything like that.”
—Hah! That fool has never even set foot on the Empire Homeland.
“Why not?”
—Count-rank creatures are born on colonial planets and granted Authority. That’s all they are.
“And you?”
—Of course I’ve been to the homeland.
“Where is it?”
—I don’t know. The Empire is always moving.
Ha Gyeong’s heart began to race faster.
He was finally approaching the truth of this infernal crisis.
Masking his excitement,
he continued with another question.
“All right. So how do you enter the Empire Homeland?”
—You think I’d reveal classified intelligence?
“Refuse and you die.”
—Damn! You’ve got me cornered.
Blight Shaper hesitated.
Revealing the homeland’s secrets would earn him severe punishment.
But he didn’t seem eager to die.
As his deliberation lengthened, Ha Gyeong summoned Rokan.
“Hey!”
—What?
“This bastard won’t answer. I already carved off a chunk of his torso—go eat some.”
—Really? Yes-yes-yesss!
Rokan’s buttocks wriggled as he flew over like a madman.
He then seized Blight Shaper’s leg and began to devour it.
Crunch-crunch!
Rokan’s body growing bigger and bigger.
Watching this, Blight Shaper’s face went deathly pale.
—Crazy! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!
“Better hurry. Or he’ll eat everything.”
—Damn it all! The Empire Homeland is…
Blight Shaper paused.
Then, squeezing his eyes shut,
he began to speak with great difficulty.
—It’s already in this vicinity.
“…!”
Gate Torn Open
Author |
Morae Tob
Publisher |
(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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G720:N+A063-20260306112
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Submissions |
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No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without written permission from (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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