Chapter 547
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 547
‘To think they'd bring blue swords... Are they trying to test if they're effective against the Red Administrator?’
Seong Jihan looked at the blue swords held by the hundred elves.
Low-grade blue swords that seemed to have less than 10% compatibility.
They probably brought them thinking it was fine if they were lost, given their poor performance anyway.
'If I destroy those here... the male half-elf corresponding to those swords won't be able to draw out blue swords again.'
Seong Jihan, who had directly experienced being a blue sword as Kim Jihun,
Could guess what impact it would have on the original body if a sword that went to the Hall of Swords were destroyed.
A blue sword extracted from the male half-elf's body.
If it was destroyed here, not only would the blue in the original body be destroyed,
But it would also deal a significant blow to the half-elf's body.
He wouldn't die, but he'd probably need to lie in bed for a while.
'Hmm... I could easily subdue the 100 swords themselves, but.'
That would delay the process of absorbing humanity's blue.
Although those 100 weren't good in performance,
They were still playing a role in absorbing blue in the Hall of Swords.
'For now, I should pretend to avoid them on purpose.'
He shouldn't interfere with the completion of the blue swords.
So Seong Jihan decided to avoid the swords when acting as the Red Administrator.
'Well then.'
Swish.
As he moved his hand once, another wave of fire appeared.
"Block it like before!"
"G-Good. The swords are effective!"
While the blue sword unit cheered as they blocked the flames,
Thud.
Seong Jihan took a light step.
Then,
"...Huh? Where did he go?"
"Be-Behind!"
"The Red Administrator has approached the World Tree...!"
The Red Administrator had suddenly appeared next to the World Tree.
He grabbed the sword floating behind his back and stabbed it into the World Tree.
As the World Tree was sucked into the sword,
[Eternity increases by 1.]
The Eternity stat increased.
'It's not a D-rank World Tree, so it still increases by 1, I guess.'
A World Tree that was relatively high-ranked, probably because it had a laboratory.
He finished the destruction while deliberately avoiding the blue swords.
Swish...
And as he immediately tried to disappear by opening a portal,
"You...! Stop!"
A high elf holding a blue sword charged at him with an angry face.
'Is it because he's holding a sword? He's charging alone.'
Originally, even a high elf would have been incinerated with just a finger flick.
'I let it slide because of the blue sword.'
Since he shouldn't destroy the blue severance tools, Seong Jihan was about to ignore it and enter the portal.
At that moment,
Flash...!
An intense light appeared from the high elf's blue sword.
And a powerful sword energy rushed towards Seong Jihan.
The high elf's all-out, decisive strike.
The blue sword energy weakened and disappeared instantly upon touching the Red Administrator's flames, but.
Swish...
The intense flames covering the Red Administrator's entire body momentarily faded.
Then,
"Ah...!"
The face of the Red Administrator, which had been invisible due to the fire until now, was slightly revealed.
"Did, did you see?"
"I saw. Only part of the jaw and mouth were visible, but..."
"Isn't that... the Blue Administrator?"
"Did the Red Administrator take over his body?"
The face revealed by the blue sword, although only a small part,
Was enough for the keen-eyed elf corps to guess the identity of their opponent.
Originally, the Red Administrator's form was that of a giant with hundreds of red eyes.
But seeing him walking around in human size,
There had been speculation that he might have taken over the Blue Administrator's body.
This time, the face revealed by the blue sword's energy added weight to these speculations.
"Although we lost the World Tree again... we gained quite a bit of information about the Red Administrator today."
"The fact that blue swords are effective was notable. Also, the Red Administrator deliberately avoided clashing with the swords."
"Yes. Report this to the superiors immediately."
"Understood."
"Today's events... might be a turning point in dealing with the Red Administrator."
Despite losing the World Tree they were supposed to protect,
The expressions of the elf corps were not too gloomy.
It seemed they had gained clues today on how to respond to the Red Administrator,
Whom they had been helplessly defeated by until now.
"Then, return as soon as the reorganization is complete."
And so, the elf corps returned with a surprisingly high number of survivors,
Despite encountering the Red Administrator.
* * *
Meanwhile,
'To think the red fire would disappear with that level of sword energy... Blue is certainly strong against the red.'
Seong Jihan, who had returned home, recalled the recent situation.
He had thought the blue sword's energy would naturally dissipate on the way because it was too weak.
But to think it would suppress the flames, even if only partially.
'I didn't really intend to hide my identity much. So it doesn't matter if it was partially revealed, but...'
If he had been worried about his physical body being discovered in the first place,
He wouldn't have just covered himself in fire like this, but would have transformed into a giant body.
'Anyway, now the alliance will surely believe I'm the Red Administrator who has taken over Seong Jihan's body.'
He wondered if they would come up with countermeasures to match this.
Seong Jihan smirked.
Whatever they do, it would be futile since the original is Seong Jihan anyway.
Sometimes, he might have to pretend to be affected by what they bring.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan entered Kim Jihun's body.
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
"Ugh..."
Kim Jihun's body was quite lacking compared to the original.
Moreover, this body felt stiff all over, probably because it had only been sitting on the bed watching TV.
As he got up lightly from the bed and was stretching,
Zing...
A green portal opened in the air, and an elf appeared.
"Hello, Mr. Kim Jihun."
Governor Mia said her successor would come; was that who was here now?
Although appearance-wise, there was no difference from Mia; all elves looked the same but.
'Not a high elf. The power is weak.'
There was a clear difference in power compared to Mia.
Moreover, unlike the governor who had lively facial expressions,
This opponent seemed robotic.
"Are you... Mia's successor?"
"Yes. I am the escort dispatched this time."
"Um, your name is...?"
"I have no name. Please just call me Escort."
"Ah, I see..."
"Then, I will start my duties now."
The elf then came behind Kim Jihun and stood still.
Unlike her predecessor, she didn't say a word,
Just standing behind and staring at him continuously.
'Well, whether it's the previous one or now, they're both openly monitoring.'
At least Mia was friendly, telling him to speak comfortably and such.
This elf was just silently watching without saying a word.
Still,
'Since it's not the governor but a regular elf, I can use the Red authority without worry.'
Unlike with Mia, it seemed there would be no problem manipulating information with this one.
He would play along for a bit, then apply manipulation.
"I'm going to order some food. How about your meal..."
"It's fine. Please consider me as not here."
"Ah, I see."
Seong Jihan ordered delivery and then opened his smartphone.
Then,
[Elves escort half-elves]
[A total of 10 elves attached to the 1st place in compatibility]
[Is Kim Jihun the starting point of the escort system? Elf secretary spotted at the Daegi Guild]
Unlike when the governor came to monitor Kim Jihun alone,
News that elves were escorting male half-elves had already spread widely.
'It was good to make the 1st place get attention. As many as 10 are attached.'
-Wow, how can purebloods escort a half? The world's gone mad.
-But was Kim Jihun really the first to be escorted?
-Yeah, the sighting at the Daegu Guild was the first.
-Now don't try to secretly take pictures behind male half-elves. Your camera will be broken.
-For real, the elf escorts just mercilessly break them. I saw someone's arm get broken, too, when they tried to hide their phone...
-But even the escorted halves seemed to be walking on eggshells. lol
-Of course they would, it's pureblooded elves...
Despite the elf escorts being dispatched not long ago,
People's reactions were already pouring in.
It seemed the other elves were all robotic like this one, too.
'But can this one do everything Mia used to do?'
Although the surveillance was annoying, Governor Mia would open portals or exempt him from Hall of Swords summons.
He wondered if this current elf could do all that, too.
Seong Jihan cautiously asked the other party.
"Um... I have a question."
"Please speak."
"The previous escort elf used sleep magic... is that possible for you? And she also exempted me from Hall of Swords summons."
"Sleep magic is possible, but the latter is not."
"Ah... then how about moving through portals...?"
"That's not possible."
"Oh, I see..."
There was a lot that couldn't be done.
Indeed, the governor's performance was better than mass-produced elves.
When he slept, he would be dragged to the Hall of Swords without fail.
'Come to think of it. Didn't the governor say she was meeting Seah today?'
She definitely said she'd rent out the entire restaurant at Sword Palace to meet her.
He should listen to what they were talking about.
Seong Jihan looked at the elf escort.
Unlike Mia, this elf never spoke first.
When he would be with this one, it shouldn't be a problem to leave for a bit while letting her watch TV.
"Um, I'm going to watch some TV..."
"You don't need to ask permission for every little thing."
"Ah. Okay."
So after setting Kim Jihun to watch TV,
Seong Jihan slipped out and went to the restaurant on the lower floor.
'They said they rented the whole place... There's no one except in that room.'
Swish.
In the place he moved to inside the restaurant, searching for Yoon Seah,
"...An urgent report just came in."
Yoon Seah with a serious expression, and Governor Mia,
Were looking at one screen.
On it,
Lips and a jawline slightly revealed from within the flames,
Were displayed in close-up.
'They've already reported what was revealed by the blue sword earlier.'
It just happened, but
The sharing speed was quite fast.
Seong Jihan thought this as he listened to what the governor would say.
"This appearance... doesn't it resemble the Blue Administrator?"
"It does. It's certainly similar to uncle."
Yoon Seah kept touching the screen with trembling eyes as she said this.
"Could it be... that the Red Administrator has taken control of uncle's body?"
Yoon Seah bit her lip with tears welling up in her eyes.
It was a performance giving her all, completely unlike someone who knew exactly who that was.
"Nothing is certain yet... but we are considering that possibility highly."
"...Why are you showing this to me?"
"Arena Owner. Won't you cooperate with us?"
As she said this, Governor Mia pointed at the screen.
"To find out if the Blue Administrator has been completely taken over. Or if we can still save him... Let's investigate this together."
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]