Chapter 180
At Hwangmyeong’s Mansion
Late at night, long after the Silver Tiger’s descendants fell asleep.
The White Tiger sat in the living room and looked at a hologram.
Students from Eungwang High and his friends were fighting against the crisis, yet he stayed here, unable to move.
Immediately after the collision of the two worlds, the White Tiger informed the heavenly god that he had lost his true name. The heavenly god, furious about the matter, branded the White Tiger as ‘Prisoner of God’ and locked him up.
He remains to be a protector of the Silver Tiger’s descendants and defender of the god, but he remained in the mansion as he could not go outside the ‘prison’ that the gods put him in.
…..Bark!
Shinsoo couldn’t stay still. Shinsoo hovered around and hung from the White Tiger’s leg.
Shinsoo seems to be curious if there’s any news from the others.
However, since no updates have been given yet, the White Tiger regrettably didn’t have any way to soothe Shinsoo’s worried heart.
“Why didn’t you see them off if you’re going to be so worried?”
Groan….
Shinsoo grumbled as if he was worried that he could not send off Jo Euishin, who was now facing a lot of danger.
The White Tiger coldly spoke.
“If you want to help Euishin, then you should recover all your strength in one day. With your condition right now, there’s no way you’d be allowed to leave here.”
After hearing what the White Tiger said, Shinsoo halfheartedly walked away with heavy footsteps.
On the day that Jo Euishin visited, he bought medicine pouches made by the Nok Clan, which were left unattended in the living room.
“Have you made up your mind?”
Bark!
At Shinsoo’s response, the White tiger started to open the medicine pouch and poured it all into a bowl. A poisonous scent poked at his nose.
Shinsoo stumbled and hesitated at first, but he blocked his nose and began to drink the medicine with a solemn face.
“That’s right, drink it all.”
It was not easy to withstand the taste of the medicine. Shinsoo had to stop drinking from time to time as he cried and picked his ears, or trembled with his tail upright.
White Tiger only watched him struggle and opted not to say any word.
After Shinsoo managed to finish all of the medicine, White Tiger gave him a piece of his favorite snack and patted his head.
* * *
The most powerful character that I had in my Player Identity skill was the White Tiger in the final chapter version.
As much as he was powerful, there are certain risks as well.
The final chapter version of White Tiger, where the ‘Heaven’s Wrath’ debuff disappeared, can only be used for three seconds.
In his normal form with the debuff, the character could be used for much longer.
But at least, it should be enough to deal with this Bear Clan.
Fwaaa!
The moon was exceptionally bright tonight, but the brilliant glow was dazzling enough to overpower the moonlight.
As the heavens granted me its permission, lights started to surround me.
“This… This light is heaven’s….!”
The right-hand man of the Bear Clan leader was shocked.
It was the first time he stopped in his tracks after the continuous heavy attacks he launched against me.
“T-there’s no way that the Gods would give permission, or even give orders, to a mere human! No, there’s no way that God can afford such a thing! Wait, is he of the royal lineage? Just now he was in human form, how can he suddenly have powers from the royal lineage?!”
His face gradually distorted.
“…No, this thing is not ‘impossible’ but the opposite of this thing has been possible already.”
’Impossible’? ‘Opposite of this ‘thing’?’
I heard some words that I couldn’t understand, but now is no time to ask about them.
‘I can just figure it out later on!’
Clash!
Shock waves erupted as the black teeth of the Sangbosimgeumpa and the sword of the Bear Clan clashed.
However, the shockwave emitted by his sword could no longer damage me as I was using the White Tiger’s energy wave.
Hit! Scratch!
Without any concessions, sounds of metal were induced between the Sangbosimgeumpa and the enemy’s sword.
My energy wave and the enemy’s are on par with each other.
‘At this rate, this should be enough to overpower him!’
I had no choice but to use only one hand since my other hand still supported Saeum of April.
I decided not to follow the voice of my weapon and its Hall of Grace and used the White Tiger’s power using only one hand.
At some point, I got sick of using only one hand to fight this enemy.
As long as I don’t fall behind in power, it’s likely that I will win.
Clash!
The Bear Clan person swung his sword with his right hand.
He made a fierce attack with his sword, but his cheek was scratched by the sharp wind produced by the clashing of my weapon and the blade of his sword.
Swing!
A drop of blood flowed down from his cheek.
He stared at the blood. It was the first injury that I was able to inflict.
And then, he rushed towards me with eyes full of anger and confusion.
I raised the Sangbosimgeumpa and blocked his strike lightly with the iron.
Clash! Clash! Clash!
The blades made a heavy sound as they clashed several times again.
I gradually narrowed our distance by swinging and hitting with my Sangbosimgeumpa, which felt way lighter than usual.
My field of view improved as I looked between the gap of the two blades which emitted flames.
“…I couldn’t figure it out quickly because your weapon is different. But there’s no doubt, that power belongs to the White Tiger!”
It seems like he knew the White Tiger and encountered him before.
Although, it would be odd if the right-hand man of the Bear Clan has never met the White Tiger in all 5,000 years.
“I knew it, there’s a bastard from the Tiger Clan who came in here…! But how come you’re using a pitchfork and not a sword?!”
It seems like he thinks that I am a descendant of the White Tiger.
He seemed very embarrassed that he could not recognize it right away.
“There’s no reason for me to answer you.”
“…I’ll make you open your cheeky mouth!”
He gathered energy wave as he fell from my provocation.
He was trying to destroy me at once by using his lethal swordsmanship skills.
In other words, instead of trying to get answers from me, he intends to just eliminate me completely.
Shaaaa…!
A mixture of strong winds and energy wave started to saturate the Bear’s sword.
I listened to what the Sangbosimgeumpa said, but I didn’t take an active defensive stance.
“Do you think the White Tiger can easily repair me if one of my teeth falls off?!”
At the peak of the energy wave’s upheaval.
I didn’t let the opportunity pass as I immediately used the White Tiger’s skill.
<Using Character’s Skill, ‘Glare’>
As I used the skill ‘Glare’ while in the form of Jo Euishin, a notification saying <Skill ‘Glare’ Activated> appeared. Energy wave started to pool inside my eyes.
Kwaaa!
My eyes turned into a pure white color and I was able to capture the prey.
The time I experience while using this skill is exceptionally slow.
‘So this is the power of Level 10 Glare…’
Its power wasn’t even comparable to its lower-level versions.
After I was able to stop the careless Bear’s movements, his vital point was clearly displayed in front of my eyes.
“W-what kind of Glare skill is this…!”
He wasn’t able to move further because all of his energy wave, which was also supposed to protect his body, was concentrated in his sword.
Anyone who previously fought with a Tiger Clan member would know to keep in mind the possibility of them using the Glare skill, but this enemy wouldn’t have thought that I would be using Glare skill at the level of a mythical Tiger.
“Eeuuuk..!”
His movements slowed rapidly because he took the full damage of the Glare skill with his body.
Now I had a choice to make.
Should I bury my weapon deep into his vital point?
Should I use the special skill that the White Tiger uses to hunt members of the Bear Clan, ‘Bear’s Claw’?
If I use the skill ‘Bear’s Claw’, the time frame where I can utilize my ‘Player Identity’ skill would significantly decrease. However, it wouldn’t be a bad choice if I wanted to make this battle more interesting.
‘So many things to take into consideration. Should I kill him right now, or wait until he opens his mouth?’
The Sangbosimgeumpa was right in front of the opponent’s neck.
As if it was prepared to launch, the weapon responded to me with a buzz.
The opponent gritted his teeth as he sensed the high-density energy wave suddenly forming at one of the ends of my weapon.
“Surrender your weapon.”
“Euuk, ha! It’s not only your eyes, but you’re very similar to the White Tiger that has already fallen…!”
It was not wise for him to run his mouth off like that.
He’s not called ‘The Right Hand Man of the Bear Clan Head’ for no reason. He held onto his weapon until the end.
As soon as my skill was released, I could still see his willingness to launch an attack even though he was already severely injured.
“Keuuh! What do you think you’re doing!? I won’t surrender my weapon!”
What do you mean ‘what do you think you’re doing?’, of course I’m releasing my weapon to kill you.
He survived a hit from my weapon’s blades so I bet even if I hit him once more, he’s not going to die immediately.
It was time for me to launch my attack.
And then, a golden flash caught my eye.
Boom!
A golden light meandered fiercely and swallowed the opponent’s right arm.
“…..!”
His clothes remained intact, but there seemed to be blood rushing along his crushed sleeves.
His sword fell on the ground because of the arm that was crushed. The energy wave condensed in the large sword started to scatter around.
“If you don’t want to surrender your weapon, then I’ll take your arm instead.”
I saw golden eyes and shining hair glow amid the dark night.
It’s Hwang Jiho.
“Y-you…!”
“Long time no see, Shapeshifter. I see you’re not only shameless, you’re fearless as well as you went straight into battle without knowing how many people you’re going to face. You’re still using a sword and impersonating the White Tiger? Were you trying to kill this student with that lousy impersonation?”
Judging from the opponent’s gaping mouth, it seems like he didn’t know that Hwang Jiho was a part of the youth retreat.
To be fair, it wouldn’t really make sense that the head of the Tiger Clan, who was indifferent about the outside world, would cosplay as a student.
“That kid is not a mere disciple of White Tiger. He can only be defeated by a mere human if one tries continuously.”
“Human? You think this is a human?!”
“The sound of this bear’s barking is very unpleasant.”
Hit!
The golden light crushed the bear’s left foot next.
Just as Hwang Jiho intended, it made the bear shut his mouth.
The pretense of the Shapeshifter was obvious as he tried to suppress his screams and put up a front even though he lost an arm and a leg.
The bear could not open his mouth anymore and just proceeded to stare at Jiho with hateful eyes.
‘But the word ‘Shapeshifter’ has another meaning!’
It was ridiculous to even attempt to impersonate the White Tiger.
The swordsmanship of this person was terrible compared to the seasoned skills of the White Tiger, who he once battled in the Hall of Grace.
There’s no similarity between them except for a sword.
It’s disappointing that the White Tiger wasn’t personally present here. If only he wasn’t a Prisoner of God, he could’ve taught this guy a lesson himself.
‘I could’ve defeated him myself even if Jiho didn’t arrive.’
As I was having those thoughts, Hwang Jiho already knocked out the Bear through a radical method using his spell to suffocate him.
After the bear completely fainted, he released energy wave and stopped bleeding, perhaps through the use of a pre-conditioned recovery item. That drew sharp attention from us.
Hwang Jiho confirmed that the opponent’s right arm and left leg stopped bleeding.
Jiho spoke.
“…Let’s join Red Tiger, Kim Shinrok, and Yoo Hui’s dragon.”
Hwang Jiho used his spell to drag along the bear as we walked ahead.
“Jo Euishin, we need to have a conversation after this ends.”
“…What kind of conversation?”
I knew what he was about to say, but still I opted to ask.
“I’m talking about the Heaven’s Light that came down unto you from the sky and the strength that you were able to borrow from the White Tiger.