Chapter 651: Black snow (4)

A long time ago, the Mythical Tiger Clan left its name in history.

Hwangho, the head of the clan and the guardian of their territory stayed in this land without being limited in strength or disappearing against the will of god.

Hwangho was able to use alter egos as granted by god.

Since he can use the land’s earth power, Hwangho was the number one being in Eungwang District to be worried about.

He was the strongest piece among the allies.

The most important thing that Jo Euishin was concerned about while preparing for Christmas was how to hide Hwangho.

— If it works out as I think, you won’t have to come forward.

Jo Euishin said so as he asked Hwangho to leave alter egos on every gate of the school.

— As long as my plan hasn’t failed, please keep standby.

Hwangho listened to Jo Euishin.

So he kept waiting and watching while Eungwang High faced a great crisis.

The boundary was broken and he had to see countless people of royal lineage tarnish Eungwang High and the students who fought against them.

Hwangho had to endure greatly as his senses were accumulated while watching everything inside and outside the school.

When Jogangryeob appeared with his army, Hwangho thought that it was time for him to step up.

However, even that was addressed by the arrival of Jecheondaesung, another measure prepared by Jo Euishin.

When Jecheondausung received the miracle of his superior beings and eradicated the cold air, Hwangho no longer had room to intervene.

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As such, Hwangho was able to secure a one-on-one confrontation with the Cow Clan without being exposed prior.

Hwangho looked at the head of the Cow Clan with contempt.

‘I wouldn’t have let the traitor run wild if Jo Euishin hadn’t suggested it.’

Deep inside, he wanted to cut off all the limbs of this traitor and put him in the abyss.

However, if things went according to Hwangho’s will, the immediate crisis might be over but they won’t be able to counter the enormous malice that stood behind the traitor.

Hwangho chewed up his pride as he suppressed the impulse to kill the traitor before him.

If Eunho had planned the entire operation, he might be able to do what he wanted to some extent, or at least prevent some people of royal lineage from stepping over their sacred territory.

Although Eunho did nothing to achieve that purpose, he would’ve been considerate of the Tiger Clan’s dignity and Hwangho’s feelings.

However, Jo Euishin completely took into consideration only the safety and future of the people inside.

— For the Black Screen, you’re probably the most difficult opponent to deal with. We have to think about the future and move carefully.

Jo Euishin was looking straight at Hwangho, and it seemed that the future that hadn’t come yet was already being reflected in his eyes.

Christmas is just one of the events that the Black Screen prepared for.

Not all their pieces were destroyed, and there were still many problems to be solved.

According to Jo Euishin, although there was a great sacrifice in PMH’s First Christmas Scenario, the Black Screen wouldn’t have achieved its full will because of student resistance and outside intervention.

Therefore, the First Christmas Scenario is actually a failure on the part of the Black Screen, but nevertheless, incidents continued until Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain, the protagonists of the game, reached their senior year.

To put it simply, the failure of the Black Screen this time does not mean that they have completely been defeated.

Jo Euishin made a plan with that assumption in mind.

— If the Black Screen knew that you didn’t go abroad as they expected, they’d try to get rid of you instead of lure you somewhere else.

The tigers who heard Jo Euishin’s reasoning admired him deeply.

Jo Euishin wasn’t simply saving Hwangho as a reserved force.

It was to keep all his pieces safe and lure the opponent into moving as he desired.

As Hwangho admired Jo Euishin, the latter said some hurtful words albeit without malice.

— I want you to still look negligent to them.

He has become somewhat negligent in the present.

He tasted the price, but he felt a guilty conscience when Jo Euishin said it so openly.

In any case, the plan prepared by Jo Euishin was all right, and now the head of the Cow Clan was barely hiding his agitation as he looked at Hwangho.

He was pretending to be calm, but all kinds of questions were pouring out of his head.

‘Why is Hwangho here? Shouldn’t he have left Korea by now according to plan?’

Although Hwangho was in the appearance of a teenager, there was no way the head of the Cow Clan wouldn’t recognize him.

His golden beast-like eyes, his arrogant tone, and his fierce power.

In a single glance, the head of the Cow Clan recognized Hwangho.

‘Why is he wearing a school uniform? Was he hiding among the students? Did he put himself here since his main body is outside Korea?’

No matter how much the head of the Cow Clan tried to hide his thoughts and emotions, Hwangho saw right through him and laughed.

“Your questions are of no use. You’d better start begging for your life instead.”

The golden particles surrounding Hwangho increased.

The energy waves were smeared with a sharp intent to kill.

‘He wants me to beg for my life when he doesn’t even want to kill me easily.’

Hwangho’s energy was fierce, but the head of the Cow Clan didn’t feel the intent to give in.

He has already accomplished the task he received.

He will achieve his goal if he returns safely, so there is no reason to fight Hwangho.

‘I covered my face and hid my energy waves. There’s still a possibility that Hwangho thinks I’m just a regular intruder.’

The head of the Cow Clan hid himself thoroughly, leaving behind any weapons that could link to his identity.

He could reveal himself if he spoke or engaged with Hwangho.

Instead of talking, the head of the Cow Clan flew to get out of Mt. Cheonik.

Hwik!

As soon as the head of the Cow Clan jumped up, his shadow shrunk as if it crumpled.

The next moment, it appeared like a swan, completely different from the shadow of a cow.

‘If I run away like this, then the Tiger Clan might conclude that the intruder is a bird. Or they might be distracted and investigate royal lineages related to swans or…’

However, the next moment, all hopes were shattered for the cow.

Hwangho spoke coldly as if he expected the move.

“That’s your transformation technique, Uma. You turned into a swan even when you ran away from Jecheondaesung.”

Fwaat!

Hwangho clapped once and the gold boundary that had melted in the sky appeared again.

The blinding gold wall stood in the way of Uma.

Hwangho spoke to Uma, who was stranded and left flapping his wings because of the obstruction.

“You already turned into a swan. Will you turn into an eagle owl next?”

Uma was astonished.

And then, he was belatedly enlightened.

There was no doubt now that the Tiger Clan knew from the start that the Cow Clan were the traitors.

And it was clear that Hwangho knew that he was coming.

Hwangho was there to hold Uma himself.

“And then you’ll transform into a white crane next. When you know that you can’t escape to the sky, you’d turn into a roe deer…”

Swan, eagle owl, white crane, roe dear…

All of them were animals that Uma used to escape from Jecheondaesung.

Whatever he would turn into, Hwangho seemed ready to deal with.

‘But as long as Hwangho is a tiger, there is something that I can do!’

Uma recalled when he ran away from Jecheondaesung as a tiger.

But, as if he knew what he was thinking, Hwangho spoke again.

“You turned into a leopard and shook off his pursuit when Jecheondaesung turned into a tiger.”

At the exact same moment, Uma transformed himself into a leopard.

Hwangho held a golden rod in his hand as he spoke to Uma.

“Perfect, I use the same weapon as Jecheondaesung that brought you down. And I am a tiger. Do you want to try me? Will you be able to escape from this body as a leopard or not?”

Hwangho’s eyes burned golden after he finished talking.

At the same time, he kicked the ground and rushed toward Uma.

The latter, who was still in his leopard form, started running to escape.

It was the second time he was hunted by a tiger.

He was defeated by Jecheondaesung, but not when he was in the form of a tiger.

With that hope, Uma ran with all his might.

“But unlike Jecheondaesung, my power is different.”

Instead of wielding the rod, Hwangho developed a boundary in the air.

Then, the light of the boundary began to spread along the ground.

When he saw light coming from the ground, Uma mindlessly knew that he had to avoid it.

‘Earth power! It’s over if I get caught in this!’

It’s not as good as to make him feel relieved, but the light from the ground wasn’t earth power.

It was all from the boundary developed by Hwangho.

As the Guardian of this territory, Hwangho had the power to protect this land.

“I won’t let your dirty feet keep stepping on our sacred territory.”

Uma’s feet stopped.

The whole ground was covered by the boundary and he had nowhere to step on.

If he moves, he will be bound by Hwangho’s boundary.

Hwangho was already close by.

“Legends say that cutting Uma’s throat is useless since it will grow back again. Should I try cutting it now?”

Hwangho’s energy waves and magic actualized into a huge blade that threatened to cut Uma.

Uma hurriedly transformed back and held dual swords in his hands.

Shwing!

The dual sword, which faced the soldiers of heaven, collided with the golden blade wielded by the Guardian.

‘There’s nothing I can do. I need to use earth power now!’

Teok! Wooooong…!

Uma stepped heavily on the ground as he shed energy waves and felt the veins on the ground.

He expected the twisted leylines to pour out earth power in response to him.

But the ground didn’t budge.

That’s when Uma realized that something was going wrong.

‘Don’t tell me they failed!’

Recalling the number of people sent to disrupt the terrestrial lines, Uma couldn’t believe it.

Observing the scene, Hwangho narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“Seeing that you tried to use the terrestrial lines, you must have no idea what’s happening. Do you know what the snow falling down now means? Where the hell have you been? Well, it’s a place where the view can’t be seen from Mt. Cheonik so… you must be deep inside the mountain.”

Uma realized that Hwangho wasn’t just playing with him with ease.

Rather, Hwangho was trying to extort information from him.

Uma realized the difference in power from Hwangho.

It was impossible to face Hwangho’s power head-on alone.

‘I didn’t want to use it in a place like this.’

Hwangho felt a sense of incompatibility the moment Uma made up his mind.

A heterogeneous energy wave was then felt from Uma.

At that moment, Hwangho recalled his conversation with Jo Euishin.

— About the cows, I think it’s either Apis’ incarnation or Uma.

— Uma is the head of the Cow Clan, so it must be Apis.

Upon hearing that, Jo Euishin looked visibly deep in thought.

— Uma is the head of the Cow Clan?

— That’s right.

As if something was bothering him, Jo Euishin’s voice lowered.

— I’ve seen the head of the Cow Clan use his power in the game but… it was a power that had nothing to do with Uma.

Even before Hwangho’s recollection was over, the energy waves radiated by Uma spread under the ground.

Hwangho felt the danger and hurried away.

With Uma at the center, the vegetation at Mt. Cheonik lost its life and began to dry up.

It was the exact power that Jo Euishin mentioned.

— From that power, I thought the head of the Cow Clan was the Bull of Heaven from Mesopotamian mythology.

Seeing the power cause famine, Hwangho asked in a shout.

“Why are you using the power of Gugalanna, Uma!”