I Became the Successor of the Martial God Chapter 173

I Became the Successor of the Martial God

Chapter 173.  

“Then, young master, as you said, I will hide this woman in Busan… as discreetly as possible.”  

“Haha! Hurry up and go!”  

“…I’m not sure if it’s possible, though.”  

Yoo Baek-jun entrusted Vivianne to Jeon Soo-yeon and the rest of the intelligence team.  

And overall management as well.  

Upon hearing that, Jeon Soo-yeon made a despairing expression before quickly sulking—an impressive sight.  

“How’s the situation within the intelligence team?”  

“Section Chief Lee Ja-yae finds Yoo Ji-woong’s disappearance suspicious and is investigating it. But…”  

“We’ll finish everything before that.”  

“Yes, I believe so too, which is why I’m not taking any special measures for now.”  

Jeon Soo-yeon carefully glanced at Yoo Baek-jun.  

“Um… young master. You’re going to Busan, right?”  

“Yeah, I should go now.”  

“You probably already know, but the faction under Yoo Tae-rang within the family is keeping a close eye on you. They’ll interfere with all their might.”  

Yoo Tae-rang had prepared thoroughly for the events about to unfold in Busan.  

He secretly deployed inspectors, set up all sorts of defensive facilities, traps, and even shelters.  

He had perfectly benchmarked what Yoo Baek-jun had done in Seoul and prepared accordingly.  

‘Not just that. The subordinates he planted in the family… will interfere with me.’  

Lee Ja-yae, planted in the intelligence team, would distort the information relayed to Yoo Baek-jun, and the Busan branch would likely refuse to cooperate.  

“…You’ll need to prepare thoroughly.”  

All the preparations Yoo Tae-rang had made would become obstacles for Yoo Baek-jun.  

Of course, he had no intention of just taking it lying down.  

“That’s exactly what I want.”  

Resolve the Busan incident.  

Once everything is over, next is Yoo Tae-rang.  

‘This suffocating family relationship…’  

It was time to end it.  

***

Yoo Baek-jun took out a secret manual.  

The secret manual he received from Seol Hwa-ryeon—Frozen Shattering kick.  

[Frozen Shattering kick (A, 1★)]  

―One of the Footwork techniques of the North Sea Ice Palace, renowned for its lethality.  

―Uses legs encased in razor-sharp frost to unleash fierce attacks. Can also shoot frost blades.  

Learning it wasn’t particularly difficult.  

After mastering the Frozen Shattering kick, Yoo Baek-jun slowly lifted his right knee.  

As he channeled magic, frost quickly formed on his right leg.  

Crrrack!  

He stomped the ground with his left foot, twisted his body, and violently swung his right leg.  

A sound like a blade slicing through the air rang out, leaving deep gashes on the wall.  

Immediately, he stepped forward with his right foot and slashed downward with his left.  

Krrshhk!  

A crescent-shaped wave of icy energy shot from his toes, splitting the wall apart.  

The power was considerable.  

“Oh…”  

―Growl…  

Both Yoo Baek-jun and Seol-yeong were impressed.  

It was a simple yet powerful skill. He especially liked that it required no casting time, making it perfect for ambushes.  

―Meow, grrr…  

Scratch, scratch, scratch.  

Seol-yeong, fascinated by the frost on Yoo Baek-jun’s leg, pawed at it.  

“Get away.”  

―Meow!  

“Hey! If you scratch me with your claws… Ouch, you little—!”  

Yoo Baek-jun forcibly pulled Seol-yeong away, who had taken a liking to scraping off the frost.  

If he hadn’t, his skin might’ve been peeled off.  

“Alright, time to sleep.”  

He forced Seol-yeong onto the bed, and the creature licked its paws.  

Yoo Baek-jun sighed and sat beside it.  

‘Now, let’s spend some points.’  

There was a trait he wanted to learn in preparation for this incident.  

Yoo Baek-jun opened The Book of the Martial God and flipped to the very last page—where the S-rank traits were listed.  

[Successor of the Death King (S)]  

―You have become the successor of the infamous Death King.  

―All necromancy-related skills gain increased power, spirit energy consumption is greatly reduced, and traits/skills related to undead under your control are upgraded.  

―Using the Death King’s dominance, you can subjugate ownerless undead and even those with owners.  

―Necromancers instinctively follow you.  

―Due to the Death King’s influence, you are now incompatible with divine power.  

“Ugh, disgustingly long.”  

Yoo Baek-jun swiped the message away. Why was there so much to read?  

‘Well, it’s S-rank, so it’s expected, but still.’  

The Successor of the Death King.  

A legend of the Halpeon Continent—though more of an infamous one.  

In the distant past, he led necromancers against a nation’s oppression, amassing an army of undead and overthrowing the country.  

‘For an S-rank, 3,000 points is cheap.’  

There was a reason for that.  

―Incompatible with Divine power.  

A single line, but the penalty was stronger than one might think.  

First, he couldn’t receive divine healing.  

If someone tried to heal him with divine power, his body would sizzle and burn.  

Second, he took additional damage from divine-based attacks.  

‘Just thinking about it makes my chest tremble.’

Effectively, he’d be treated like an undead.  

That’s why an S-rank trait was available for just 3,000 points.  

Still, the advantages were clear.  

With the Death King’s dominance, he could steal undead controlled by enemies.  

(Though the cooldown was weekly.)  

‘With this ability alone, I can cheese a few dungeons.’  

Even the dungeon he needed to visit to purify the Demonic sword Grandal could be trivialized.  

Plus, there were events tied to the Death King.  

‘The key to easily clearing the ‘Night of Death’ event. The point cost is high, but there’s no reason not to learn it.’  

It was worth the price.  

Of course, Yoo Baek-jun had zero intention of actually practicing necromancy, so it felt slightly wasteful.  

“I’m not a mage, and training both spirit energy and mana at the same time is too exhausting.”  

The time investment would be extreme.  

Frankly, it’d be better to recruit a necromancer like Noel and use them instead.  

‘But well… if I experience events tied to the Death King, I can change this trait later.’  

And into a higher-grade one at that.  

There were regrets, but to overcome his current predicament—and for the sake of future trait upgrades—it was worth the investment.  

After learning the skills and traits, Yoo Baek-jun checked his status window again.  

Specifically, his traits.  

―Vitality Surge (B+), Magical Blood (A), Venom Blood (A), Ice Blood (A+), Blood of the Battle Demon(A)  

“……”  

To summarize his current state:  

Blood flowing with venom, saturated with magic, frozen yet boiling.  

Yoo Baek-jun stared at his finger before biting it lightly to draw blood.  

―Growl…?  

Seol-yeong looked at him like he was insane. 

Its eyes seemed to scold him as if to say ‘Why are you suddenly doing this?’ 

A drop of blood fell from his finger.  

“…Just blood, right?”  

―Lick…  

It licked the blood once.  

Nothing seemed off.  

“Whew, thank goodness.”  

In the game, it hadn’t been a problem.  

No matter what bloodline traits he stacked or how he mixed them, nothing went wrong.  

He’d briefly forgotten this was reality now.  

“Good.”  

Yoo Baek-jun stood up.  

“Time to lay the groundwork.”  

There was much to do.  

***

Summer was approaching.  

With the increasingly hot weather, more people were visiting Busan for tourism and the beach.  

Which meant the Hunter Association was preparing for the frequent Gates that appeared near the shore during summer.  

“……”  

“……”  

There were people walking through an underground passage.  

Beneath peaceful Busan, deep underground, a group of robed figures moved silently.  

“This way, Mr. Park Cheong-mun.”  

“Right.”  

It was the Cult of Resurrection.  

Park Cheong-mun led his followers underground, inspecting something.  

“How’s the state of the magical circuits?”  

“Perfect. They’re layered redundantly, so even if some break, the device won’t malfunction.”  

“Good. And the device…?”  

Creak.  

Park Cheong-mun opened an old iron door.  

Beyond it lay a vast cavern, glowing ominously in violet light.  

“Magnificent.”  

His gaze fell on the cavern floor.  

Complex magical circuits and devices pulsed with eerie light, all leading upward through the ceiling to the building above.  

“We’ve constructed a city-wide magic circle. It will absorb the life force of everyone in this area and use it as fuel to summon Thanatos.”  

“Of course, that life force will…”  

“Yes, it will all converge here, to Haeundae.”  

A super-wide-area magic circle.  

Created solely to summon Thanatos.

Park Cheong-mun gritted his teeth.  

“A shame. If we’d had more time, we could’ve sacrificed the people of Busan directly instead of just their life force.”  

“Yes, if not for the traitors…”  

“No matter. We’ll just kill them ourselves and offer them as sacrifices to Thanatos.”  

A smile crept onto Park Cheong-mun’s lips.  

“They should be happy to be sacrifices for such a noble cause.”  

“Yes.”  

A fanatical mindset.  

Anyone else would’ve called them insane, but everyone here was the same kind of fanatic.  

“……”  

Park Cheong-mun stared at the magic circle.  

The circle that would bring calamity—countless deaths—to Busan.  

Though many had died, he could feel the plan’s success drawing near.  

‘Vincent will be pleased.’  

That thought brought him the most joy.  

Park Cheong-mun had worked solely for his faith in Thanatos and loyalty to Vincent.  

“Good. In two days…”  

He smiled faintly.  

“We will bring death to this land.”  

***

“……”  

At the Busan branch of the Sword Saint family.  

On the highest-floor terrace, Yoo Tae-rang looked down at the city below.  

People walked by, oblivious.  

“Fools.”  

To Yoo Tae-rang, who knew what was coming, their carefree demeanor was laughable.  

He turned away.  

“You’re saying a calamity will soon occur here?”  

“Yes, that’s correct.”  

Behind him, Im Woo-do knelt respectfully. Beside him, Choi Gun-woo did the same.  

“‘Soon’, you say. No exact timeframe?”  

“Nothing that specific… but likely within this week.”  

“Yoo Baek-jun said that, huh.”  

Yoo Tae-rang’s expression, already cold, grew even frostier. A chilling smile touched his lips.  

“Whether his foresight is real is uncertain, but we can’t outright dismiss it.”  

“Given how he predicted the Seoul incident…”  

“So it’s credible enough?”  

Im Woo-do nodded.  

Yoo Tae-rang clicked his tongue and glanced at Ha Yeon-jeong, who sat on the office sofa.  

“What’s Yoo Baek-jun doing now?”  

“Lee Ja-yae is watching him. He’s currently resting at the family estate.”  

“How leisurely.”  

Yoo Tae-rang scoffed.  

“That’s not real leisure.”  

“Right. He must be plotting something. Since he foresaw the Busan incident, he’s definitely prepared.”  

Ha Yeon-jeong glanced at Im Woo-do.  

“He requested cooperation from the Busan branch, right?”  

“Mhm. For now, we’re pretending to cooperate with Yoo Baek-jun.”  

“Make sure he doesn’t suspect anything. When the calamity hits, ignore all of Yoo Baek-jun’s requests and only assist Yoo Tae-rang.”  

“I know. Choi Gun-woo is already handling it.”  

“Choi Gun-woo…”  

Ha Yeon-jeong’s gaze shifted to him.  

She’d heard he was exceptionally capable—the de facto leader of the Busan branch.  

“We must ruin all of Yoo Baek-jun’s plans. You know how to do that, right?”  

“Yes, everything’s in place.”  

“Good.”  

Things were progressing smoothly.  

The thought of bringing Yoo Baek-jun down in Busan made her heart race.  

“And keep Yoo Kang-ho on standby.”  

Yoo Tae-rang spoke slowly.  

“Just ruining his plans isn’t enough. Ideally…”  

His expression turned even colder.  

“He should die here in Busan.”  

Choi Gun-woo shuddered.  

The words were so icy, it was hard to believe they were about his own brother.