Chapter 153: Chapter 153

“Cough!”

Blood spurted from Liandor’s mouth.

Even though he had defended his body with mana, it was completely pierced by Destruction.

He trembled but didn’t let go of his sword.

He glared at Jeong-hoon with bloodshot eyes, then lowered his head.

Jeong-hoon pulled Leviathan out of his abdomen.

Blood gushed from Liandor’s wound, and he barely managed to support himself by stabbing his sword into the ground.

Not kneeling was a warrior’s pride.

Even in death, he would die standing.

“I’ll heal you.”

[Uses Advanced Healing]

Jeong-hoon approached Liandor and cast healing magic.

Advanced Healing, upgraded to Unique.

As he repeatedly used healing magic, Liandor’s complexion gradually brightened.

The bleeding from his abdomen stopped, and his internal injuries began to heal slowly.

Liandor, whose flame of consciousness had been fading, quickly regained his senses.

“Weren’t you trying to kill me?”

“I thought I wouldn’t be recognized if I held back.”

“You’re a funny one. But how can you use healing magic?”

“That’s a secret.”

Liandor chuckled.

An exclamation mark blinked above his head.

[Quest Completed]

“Take them. I’ll give them to you as promised.”

Liandor took out two fragments from his pocket and handed them to Jeong-hoon.

“Thank you.”

Jeong-hoon received the fragments.

[You have acquired a Fragment of the Ancient Warrior’s Emblem.]

[You currently have ‘6’ fragments.]

[You can restore the Warrior’s Emblem.]

[Would you like to restore it?]

A new message appeared as he gathered six emblems.

‘Not yet.’

Jeong-hoon closed the restoration message.

If he restored it here, he wouldn’t be able to obtain the ‘Complete Warrior’s Emblem’.

So for now, he focused on healing Liandor.

Even though he had avoided vital points, it was not a light injury.

Perhaps that’s why he didn’t fully recover with just one healing spell.

[Uses Advanced Healing]

After a while of healing, Liandor was almost fully recovered.

“…I’m fine now, you can stop healing me.”

“Yes.”

Jeong-hoon removed his hand from his abdomen.

Liandor stroked his abdomen with his hand, still looking incredulous.

“Perfect… Such perfect healing…”

Compared to the priests in the Holy City, Jeong-hoon’s healing was superior to anyone else’s.

“Now that I’ve healed you, shall we go together?”

“Huh? Go together?”

“Yes. We’re going to meet Verd, the current head of the city.”

“…But why me?”

“Just accompany me. Then Verd will hand over the fragment without a fuss.”

“You’re a bold one… Alright. I want to see the fragment restored with my own eyes.”

Liandor readily agreed.

Even though the fragment was going to a foreigner, it was a fragment he couldn’t restore despite dedicating his entire life to it.

If he had died without restoring it, his regret would have been immense.

He wanted to witness the fragment’s restoration with his own eyes.

* * *

Verd was observing the foreigners’ visit to the Warrior’s Sanctuary.

“Hey there.”

At that moment, two foreigners spoke to Verd.

“What is it?”

Verd tilted his head in confusion.

These two hadn’t been in the Warrior’s Sanctuary for long.

In other words, they had bypassed all the other NPCs and come straight to him.

“Don’t you give us any quests or something?”

“Quests? Why should I give you quests?”

Verd frowned.

He couldn’t understand why he should give quests to these insignificant fellows.

“Are you playing favorites?”

“Favorites? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“No, it’s true. A few days ago, you took a user somewhere else.”

“Ah, you mean that.”

Verd nodded as if he understood.

And to get rid of these pests, he drew his sword from his waist.

The two users stepped back in surprise.

“Wh-what?”

“Why are you suddenly drawing your sword?!”

Why did he draw his sword?

The reason was very simple.

“If you can defeat me, I’ll give you a quest.”

Verd looked ready to cut them down at any moment.

“Sh-shit… We’re not doing it!”

“It’s dirty, we’re not doing it. Favoritism sucks.”

The users cursed and turned towards the other NPCs.

‘This is absurd. How could such lowly beings ever become warriors?’

Verd sheathed his sword.

After that, the foreigners didn’t approach Verd again.

A while later, his subordinate, Will, returned to the sanctuary.

“Captain. I have an urgent report.”

“What is it?”

“The bandits are helping the tenant farmers with their work.”

“Bandits… Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know the reason, but… Kukri, their leader, was among them.”

“Ha, that’s ridiculous.”

No matter how stupid they were, they had never done anything this absurd.

“So I looked into it further, and it seems Kukri is no longer their leader.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It seems the new leader ordered them to apologize to the tenant farmers and help them with their work.”

“And you don’t know who the new leader is?”

“No… I couldn’t find out that much…”

“I see.”

“If you give me time, I’ll find out who the leader is.”

“Alright.”

Will returned to his post, and Verd fell into thought.

Who could it be?

Who could control the bandits and make them do such ridiculous things?

It was almost like a sequence to eliminate the bandits.

‘Not bad.’

Verd also welcomed the disappearance of the bandits.

Those guys had been causing trouble since the time of the head before last.

They continued their banditry under the pretext of maintenance costs.

He hadn’t taken action to eliminate them because he lacked a justifiable reason, but he couldn’t help but welcome their self-destruction.

‘But there’s no news from the guy who went to find my master.’

The foreigner who brought the fragment of the Ancient Warrior’s Emblem.

He had promised to give him the one fragment he received from his master if he found his master and brought back two fragments within a month.

There was still plenty of time left, but Verd was confident of his victory.

“Verd.”

Speak of the devil.

The foreigner who had left to find his master had returned.

The corners of Verd’s mouth crept up slightly.

The fact that he had returned after only a few days meant that he had found nothing.

“You’re back?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any more hints. I don’t know where my master is either.”

“What? What do you mean?”

The foreigner tilted his head in confusion.

Verd looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“You came back because you didn’t find anything. If you’re trying to play some tricks, you better stop.”

“No. I already found him. And I got the fragments here.”

The foreigner showed two fragments.

Verd’s eyes trembled at the sight of the fragments.

How did he find his master, who was in seclusion, in such a short time?

And he even got the fragments?

While Verd was confused, an old man in his early 80s entered the sanctuary, leaning on a cane.

“Will, it’s been a while. Can you move aside a bit so I can enter?”

“M-Master Liandor?!”

The place was in an uproar at Liandor’s appearance.

The former head, who was said to be in seclusion, had appeared at the Warrior’s Sanctuary?

Ignoring their gazes, Liandor approached Verd.

Verd also had a surprised look on his face.

“M-Master…? What brings you here?”

“What brings me here? You made a promise, didn’t you? That you would give one fragment to this person if he found me.”

“…You really gave the fragments to a foreigner?”

“Yes.”

Liandor nodded.

“…Let’s move somewhere else first.”

There were too many eyes watching, so it was impossible to have a conversation here.

* * *

This was the second time he had entered Verd’s quarters.

“I haven’t fully recovered, have I? My body feels a bit stiff.”

Liandor groaned, tapping his back.

“Oh, come on…”

“If you hadn’t stabbed me in the stomach, I would have been fine. Oh…”

“Yes, I’ll heal you, so please stay still.”

[Uses Advanced Healing]

Jeong-hoon used Advanced Healing on his back.

Verd’s eyes widened at the sight of the healing.

“Healing…?”

“Yes. Isn’t he a perfect guy?”

“…Just who are you?”

“Hahaha! You’re truly my disciple. You react the same way I did.”

Liandor burst into laughter, pleased with Verd’s reaction.

Jeong-hoon, who had been waiting for the right moment, immediately got to the point.

“I won the bet. Hand over the fragment as promised.”

“…Before that, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“How did you persuade my master?”

His master had dedicated his entire life to restoring the fragments.

He couldn’t believe that his master would hand over the fragments to a foreigner so easily.

There must be another reason.

Jeong-hoon didn’t answer, but Liandor did instead.

“He got stabbed in the stomach.”

“Excuse me…?”

“I just wanted to test his skills a bit, and he stabbed me in the stomach.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Verd jumped up from his seat.

“I thought I had to do that much to be recognized.”

Jeong-hoon said nonchalantly.

“He’s right. That’s why I acknowledged him and handed over the fragments.”

Liandor nodded in agreement.

“Master! How can you agree with him?!”

“A warrior’s battle is a matter of life and death. His actions were justified.”

“…”

“So, hand over the fragment as promised.”

“…Are you satisfied with that, Master?”

It was as if he was willing to throw away his entire life dedicated to restoring the fragments.

Verd couldn’t understand Liandor.

“My disciple, do you think I could restore these fragments?”

“That’s…”

Verd couldn’t speak.

His master had only found three fragments.

The possibility of restoration was close to zero.

“Can you take out the fragments you’ve collected for a moment?”

Liandor asked Jeong-hoon.

“Yes.”

Jeong-hoon took out six fragments and placed them on the table.

Verd’s jaw dropped at the sight of the six fragments.

“S-six…?!”

“If you just hand over the one fragment you have, I can restore it perfectly right away.”

At the mention of restoration, Verd looked at Liandor with trembling eyes.

“You know why I gave them to him.”

Excessive greed only leads to disaster.

Liandor was content just to witness the fragments being restored.

Verd couldn’t object any further at his master’s serious gaze.

“…Alright.”

A red exclamation mark blinked above his head.

[Quest Completed]

Verd brought a golden box from the corner of his quarters.

It was a special box that only reacted to the owner’s mana, as initially set.

As Verd channeled his mana, the lock on the box released.

Inside, there was one fragment of the Ancient Warrior’s Emblem.

He took out the fragment and placed it on the table.

With this, all seven fragments were gathered.

[You have acquired a Fragment of the Ancient Warrior’s Emblem.]

[You currently have ‘7’ fragments.]

[You can restore the Complete Warrior’s Emblem.]

[Would you like to restore it?]

Alright.

With seven fragments gathered, he could now restore the Complete Warrior’s Emblem.

‘Restore.’

Upon selecting restore, the fragments began to glow and merge.

The merged fragments became soft like slime and wriggled.

“Gasp!”

“I-is it being restored?!”

Liandor and Verd couldn’t take their eyes off the restoration process.

The wriggling mass of fragments soon transformed into the shape of an emblem, and then the light faded.

[Complete Warrior’s Emblem]

-Type: Material

-Grade: Unique

-It is the complete Warrior’s Emblem.

Jeong-hoon picked up the restored emblem.

[You have acquired the ‘Complete Warrior’s Emblem’.]

Success.

He had successfully restored the Complete Warrior’s Emblem.

Now he had four Complete Emblems.

Adding the Emblem of Extreme Patience, he had a total of five.

[NPC Verd’s trust has greatly increased.]

[NPC Liandor’s trust has greatly increased.]

Additionally, by perfectly restoring the emblem, Verd and Liandor’s trust increased significantly.

[All NPCs in the City of Warriors acknowledge the user ‘Hoon’.]

[You can now receive quests from all NPCs in the City of Warriors.]

With this, he could now proceed with the Relic content.

Normally, he would have to visit the City of Martial Artists first, but Jeong-hoon chose the City of Warriors not just for the emblem.

‘There’s a very good relic there.’

The relic that James Marcus took in his previous regression.

He planned to intercept that relic, which had not yet been revealed to the world.

———