The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 29

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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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The Neighborhood’s Strongest (29)
Whiiiiiiing……
Jang Ga-in rose on the wind, traced a sweeping sword dance through the air, then descended to earth, watching the breeze scatter slowly as he gathered his Internal Energy, his brow furrowing in puzzlement.
“I’ve reached the point where I can ride the wind with just the Wind Binding Technique alone now…… so why can’t I hear the spirit’s voice?”
Elder Elena and Elder Malata had both said that with this much Spirit Power activated by his Internal Energy, he could easily form a contract with an Intermediate Spirit.
“Just as Eldom said—maybe my attitude toward the wind is the problem? But I’m already doing my best to treat the wind gently, like a friend.”
Jang Ga-in pondered for a long time, and when no particular insight came to him, he sat beneath a tree’s shadow and began practicing the Energy Circulation Method.
While he was in the midst of the Energy Circulation Method, he felt the presence of Saber Tiger approaching from a distance.
‘Came late today—must have hunted pretty far out…… Huh? Why is that beast’s condition so weakened?’
Sensing that Saber Tiger’s vitality had become as feeble as a dying patient, Jang Ga-in stopped his Energy Circulation Method, quickly unfolded his cross-legged position, and stood.
He immediately activated the Wind Cloud Divine Technique, summoning wind to ride upon as he flew.
Dodging thick branches and cutting through thin ones with his sword, he arrived at where he felt Saber Tiger’s presence and saw the beast staggering, blood streaming from every part of its body.
“Saber! What happened to you? Where did you get beaten like this?”
Drawing near to examine Saber Tiger, Jang Ga-in noticed the Iron Thorn Collar he’d fitted around the beast’s vital neck was in tatters, and his expression shifted to one of disbelief.
“I was told that couldn’t be broken unless struck by a weapon imbued with Aura, since it’s made with steel mixed in…… What kind of monster did you fight to end up like this? Let me fetch Sairan. Stay here.”
Grrrrrowl……
Jang Ga-in summoned wind to make for Sairan, then froze.
Something ominous—a living thing bearing a sinister aura—was approaching rapidly from far off.
“Is that the one who attacked Saber? But what’s this aura? It feels similar to Demonic Energy……”
Activating his Aura Perception, he examined the rapidly approaching presence carefully and realized its aura was stickier and denser than any Demonic Energy he’d encountered before.
“But can a living creature even survive carrying an aura like that?”
In truth, even the Demonic Energy that accumulated during dark cultivation caused terrible side effects if it exceeded a certain threshold, and it could damage the brain severely enough to drive a person mad. Yet here was a living creature bearing an aura that exceeded even that?
Huuuuuung.
Jang Ga-in activated the Wind Cloud Divine Technique and drew his sword.
Keeeeeek.
Infusing his blade with Internal Energy and waiting, a troll covered entirely in gray fur emerged from the undergrowth.
“What! A troll? But why gray?”
Sairan had explained when Saber Tiger was eating a troll, so he knew that was what this creature was.
But this troll was different from that one—its fur color was different, and the aura it carried was different too.
The moment the troll spotted Saber Tiger, it charged at terrifying speed, as if reclaiming prey that had escaped.
Seeing this, Jang Ga-in also kicked off the ground and leapt up, swinging his blade toward the troll’s neck.
‘Judging by Saber’s condition, this isn’t something I can spare!’
Jang Ga-in swung his sword intending to kill the troll in one stroke.
The troll reflexively raised its arm to block the blade, but since the sword force was brimming with power, its arm and neck should have been severed in an instant.
Screeeech.
‘What?’
But he felt the blade cut through the troll’s muscle, only to scrape against bone without cutting through it.
‘W-what kind of bone is this hard?’
The arm caught in the arc of his swing was stopped by the bone and only partially severed, while the neck was merely grazed to a shallow depth.
‘Damn! This is ridiculous. Bone hard as steel…… So that’s why Saber ended up like this!’
Kraaaagh!
The troll let out a horrible shriek and swung its uninjured right arm at Jang Ga-in, who hung suspended in the air.
The moment Jang Ga-in felt his blade scraping rather than cutting through bone, he’d already anticipated a counterattack. He caught the incoming fist with his leg, redirected it with a pushing motion, and propelled himself upward into empty space.
After launching himself nearly twenty meters into the air and landing on a branch across the way, the troll kicked off the ground and rushed up the trunk at terrifying speed.
“This one’s completely different from the troll I saw last time!”
Jang Ga-in abandoned his initial confidence and focused, concentrating the Internal Energy flowing into his blade.
His understanding was still incomplete, so he couldn’t generate true Sword Force, but by condensing his power to the fullest, he could cut through stone as easily as tofu.
Shuaaaaaang……
He sidestepped the troll’s fist, which carried the force of a tempest, and kicked at its gaping maw to create an opening, then swung his blade toward its neck.
Squelch.
As the blade cleaved through the troll’s half-twisted neck, the severed surface exposed, and its back of the head and spine met. With one more swing toward the still-attached skin, the head separated from the body, which continued forward by momentum as blood sprayed from the severed section like a fountain.
‘Damn!’
Jang Ga-in cursed inwardly as he dodged the erupting blood.
Having severed the necks of many creatures before, he knew blood would spray from there. So he immediately pushed off the troll’s chest and retreated, but even so, the blood that sprayed caught the fabric of his pants.
Crack, thud.
The troll, its head and body separated, crashed through branches as it fell to the ground, and Jang Ga-in landed a moment later, brushing the blood from his pants.
“Huh? Why is this blood so hot?”
As he wiped the blood away, his skin stung as if he’d been scalded by boiling water, and his eyes widened.
Turning to look at the troll with its severed neck, he saw steam rising from the spilled blood.
“If the blood is that hot—nearly boiling—wouldn’t the brain literally cook if such blood circulated through the body?”
Puzzled, Jang Ga-in approached the troll and touched the blood with his hand to check its temperature, but the blood itself wasn’t actually that hot.
He could sense that the sticky Demonic Energy dissolved in the blood carried Heat Toxin, which made his skin burn and sting.
“If the Demonic Energy is thick enough to feel sticky like this, does it naturally carry Heat Toxin?”
If something carries Heat Toxin like this, wouldn’t it be impossible to survive? Or had the body adapted to endure it?
It seemed to defy common sense.
Growl…….
While Jang Ga-in was still puzzled, examining the Demonic Energy, Saber Tiger—bleeding heavily—stumbled over to him sideways.
“Right, now’s not the time to be studying Demonic Energy. Stay here for a moment. I’ll go fetch Sairan and be right back.”
Growl.
When Saber Tiger nodded as if understanding, Jang Ga-in hurried toward Louta Village and returned with both Sairan and Elder Elena.
He’d gone to fetch Sairan, but the two of them were together, so they came as one.
When Jang Ga-in arrived at Saber Tiger’s location, he wore a baffled expression at the sight of the beast—its chest half torn open, its snout caked with blood from chin to throat.
“Saber, you didn’t actually eat this troll’s Inner Core, did you?”
Purr, purr.
While Saber Tiger made satisfied sounds, Jang Ga-in drew closer to the troll and peered into the gaping hollow of its chest.
Where the heart, liver, and lungs should have been inside the shattered ribs, there was nothing but emptiness.
It had consumed not only the Inner Core but the entire viscera.
Jang Ga-in turned to Elder Elena and Sairan with a worried expression.
“As I mentioned on the way here, the Demonic Energy this troll carries is unusual, and I suspect it may be a Demonic Beast from an age long past. But since Saber seems to have eaten this troll’s organs and Inner Core—will he be alright?”
At Jang Ga-in’s question, Elder Elena paused to consider before answering.
“Animals instinctively know what they can and cannot eat. And if it weren’t safe to consume, the beast would likely have spat it out after a single bite.”
“Ah, you’re right. So if it was worth eating, he ate it.”
“Yes. And this troll is not a Demonic Beast—it’s Demonic Energy-corrupted. In other words, it’s a Variant.”
“A Variant?”
“Occasionally, among monsters, you find those corrupted by Demonic Energy. When corrupted, they become extraordinarily violent and powerful, as if driven mad. But after sufficient time passes, the newfound strength persists while the madness fades, and they become Variants—beasts that even hunt predators superior to themselves.”
“Ah! Then since Saber ate the organs and Inner Core of this troll, which contained Demonic Energy, couldn’t he also go mad?”
“It’s possible, yes. But since the energy passed through the troll’s body first, it may have been purified to some degree.”
“Purified?”
“It was purified once as it passed through the troll’s body. How much of it was purified, I cannot say.”
“I see.”
After hearing Elder Elena’s explanation, Jang Ga-in gazed at Saber Tiger, whose belly swelled like a tadpole’s.
“Perhaps because he ate it not long ago? He seems fine for now.”
“First, I’ll begin treating Saber. And since the Spirit Healing Art is largely effective at neutralizing Demonic Energy, there’s no risk of Saber going mad.”
“That’s a relief. Thank you for your help.”
When Elder Elena placed her hand on Saber Tiger’s wound, Spirit Power gathered and white light bloomed.
Saber Tiger had received similar treatment several times before, so he closed his eyes and accepted the healing.
And while the treatment continued, Jang Ga-in unfolded his Aura Perception and observed how the sticky Demonic Energy inside Saber Tiger’s belly transformed.
‘Elder Elena’s power truly does more than just heal wounds—it’s neutralizing the Demonic Energy in Saber’s belly too!’
Since his own Wind Cloud Divine Technique’s Internal Energy cultivation method likewise served to neutralize Demonic Energy, Jang Ga-in nodded as he predicted the changes to come.
‘That beast might become stronger than an Ogre!’
After Elder Elena finished the treatment, Jang Ga-in could sense that Saber Tiger’s aura had grown far more formidable.
“A calamity turned to opportunity—what fortune!”
When Elder Elena withdrew her hand, Jang Ga-in asked a question that had been nagging him.
“Elder, how do you suppose this troll became corrupted by Demonic Energy in the first place?”
“It’s hard to say. It might have been exposed to Demonic Energy over a prolonged period. Or perhaps the Demonic Race or a Demonic Beast directly injected the energy into it. Alternatively, it could have consumed another monster that had recently become corrupted. There may be causes I haven’t considered either.”
“To find the true cause, I’ll need to investigate the place where this troll was first found.”
“Most likely, yes. In any case, something related to Demonic Energy was near the troll and influenced it, leading to its corruption.”
“Then once Saber recovers, I should suggest we return to the location where we first encountered the troll.”
“Ah! When you go, please take Sairan with you.”
“Why? It could be dangerous.”
“With you present, how could it be dangerous?”
“But the one who corrupted the troll might be the Demonic Race or a Demonic Beast, and you said those are extraordinarily strong, didn’t you?”
“No matter how strong they are, as long as they’re not numerous, they’d be no match for you.”
“But they could be numerous, couldn’t they?”
“If there were many, the forest nearby would already be in chaos.”
“That’s true. Still, is there a real need to bring Sairan along?”
“In case you engage the Demonic Race or a Demonic Beast and become corrupted by Demonic Energy yourself, having Sairan at your side means she can treat you before any mental affliction takes hold.”
“Ah, if that’s the reason, I understand. I’ll bring Sairan along.”
Jang Ga-in believed his Wind Cloud Divine Technique made corruption unlikely, but he agreed nonetheless—one could never be too careful.

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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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