142 – The Tang of the Tang Family is Sugar Tang (#2)
After the purple nymph fled in a flash, the Tang family was finally free.
I had helped the people by driving out the horsehair worms wriggling inside their bodies. Every time I did so, the horsehair worms caught by Inoi had already filled a whole glass bottle.
“There is a first for everything—even for a nymph who uses this many ‘Shadow Horsehair Worms’! Their main diet is sugar and honey! They’re known to be difficult to handle due to their temperamental nature!”
Nymphs tend to easily befriend insects like bees and ants, but the ‘Shadow Horsehair Worms’ are difficult to handle due to their innate nature.
“Did you know that toxic nymphs easily befriend venomous creatures like spiders, snakes, and wasps? It’s true—it’s simply incredible!”
“Muheuheu, that Illinois doesn’t care about anything! Now that Illinois has freed the Tang Family, from now on, I demand an annual donation of 1.5 billion to the ‘Nymph Human Rights Foundation’!”
Whoosh.
Illinois raised her hands high and basked in the joy of liberation.
The members of the Tang family were extremely surprised and grateful to Illinois.
“One and a half billion a year? That’s more costly than that woman! Isn’t it like exchanging a fox for a tiger?”
“Shhh! Quiet! You know how good their hearing is!”
“Was what you just said correct? I, Illinois, am not a tiger but a toxic nymph! Now, let me educate you that freedom isn’t free! Let’s do it!”
Thuddudduddudduddudduddudduddu.
Illinois began to beat the members of the Tang family with her fists.
“Aaaaah~.”
Anyway.
In this manner, the Tang family’s building was cleaned out massively.
However, Mr. Tang Houlu, who had lost all his hair due to stress, was still worried.
“That brat won’t just retreat like this. He will definitely go to his villa in the Lim forest to prepare for revenge! He will definitely bring his ‘Lim bandits’!”
The toxic nymph had appeared to the Tang family about 10 years ago.
Back then, the nymph had declared, “Pay 1 billion annually!” and took over the Tang family.
Using the money gathered, the toxic nymph built a villa in the Lim forest located in Sichuan and fortified it by hiring soldiers.
Inside, they conducted numerous experiments on the opening and closing of cracks.
“It was careless of me not to be more cautious when Xiaoxiao brought Lim back ten years ago. All of this is indeed my fault.”
Mr. Tang Houlu choked back tears.
In the end, the problem wasn’t resolved just because the toxic nymph had fled.
“Where is the Lim forest in Sichuan?”
—
—
—
Hurry-hurry.
The toxic nymph fled as fast as she could.
When she arrived at the forest,
The Lim forest in Sichuan was a dark and eerie place.
“Hiieek…! This forest once again…! My master’s faucets, showerheads, water purifiers, and refrigerator were absolutely not something that could be taken away from me…”
The toxic nymph recalled the distant past when she had first landed in this strange land.
At that time—
People carrying torches had chased after her, trying to capture her, which made the nymph tremble.
After that, how much hardship had she endured to gain the peace she had?
Losing it all overnight was a terrifying experience beyond tolerance.
“In this situation, I must contact Core Sosohi!”
Swish.
The purple nymph raised her phone.
Sosohi owed this purple nymph a great ‘debt.’
It was an enormous debt that needed to be repaid for life—a debt of gratitude.
“Sosohi…! Please come to the Lim forest quickly!”
The purple nymph screamed into the phone.
As she walked, she eventually arrived at her villa located within the Lim forest.
The villa should have been filled with sports cars and various electrical appliances purchased over the years with the money she took from the people of the Tang family.
But—.
For some reason, this eastern-style villa was eerily quiet, with no signs of human presence.
“Where did all the staff and mercenaries that I personally handpicked disappear to? These kinds of jokes aren’t funny. Stop them immediately! Come out here right now! I will hire a lawyer for breach of contract!”
The purple nymph looked around the villa, which was now in a terrible mess, and felt extremely sad. Had everyone abandoned her and left?
But—.
Her sadness didn’t last long. She soon realized that something strange was munching on the sugar sacks in the villa’s warehouse—ag-zak, ag-zak.
Grrrrrr…
It was a snake.
It had ten eyes and more than five heads.
Its terrifying appearance startled the purple nymph.
“A demon…!”
It was a demon.
Why was a demon, a creature living in the crack, here in this villa?
The purple nymph soon found out the reason.
In the center of the villa,
In a large garden-like space, a round dimensional crack had appeared, and snakes were pouring out of it.
And she could roughly guess why there was a crack in the garden.
“I, this master’s hard work of hundreds of years turns to nothing? Unacceptable! You beasts, disappear now! Be gone! (Drinking sound)!”
The toxic nymph shouted at the snakes.
However, the snakes began to recklessly destroy the villa and eventually launched an attack towards the toxic nymph.
–Shaaaaaat, shaat!
“These beasts… They’ve gone mad!”
The state of the snakes was strange.
They seemed to have lost their minds and were running rampant.
“Their madness isn’t normal…”
It seemed that someone had artificially made these ‘Fire Snakes’ go berserk. Who, for what purpose, would do such a thing?
At that moment, the nymph thought about Haildo and his group of nymphs.
“No, those people definitely wouldn’t do such a thing…”
The personally met Haildo was indeed a nymph-friendly person.
Such a person wouldn’t intentionally do evil things just to torment the nymphs.
Kuuuung!
Right then, a huge tremor was heard.
Looking around, she saw something large and terrifying emerging from the crack and heading towards the villa’s garden.
The creature had 18 eyes.
9 heads.
Its scales looked as hard as steel, and from its 9 mouths, glowing fluorescent poison dripped, corroding and dissolving everything it touched on the ground.
Extreme poison.
The pinnacle of toxins that could even kill a god.
The nymph immediately identified the terrifying large snake.
The snake of Hero Killer.
Also known as the ‘Hydra’, it was a monstrous creature.
“Hieeeek…! I must flee!”
Swish.
The nymph chose to run without looking back.
But her steps weren’t falling easily.
“….”
If this monstrous Hydra were to rampage into the world, surely something terrible would happen.
That would mean she wouldn’t be able to eat her favorite Tang Houlu or Basikir honey candy anymore.
—
—
—
“I heard that the Lim forest is known to be a nymph-friendly forest… I never imagined it would be this eerie…”
Nymphs’ forests were generally bright and hopeful.
Forests where squirrel beasts played and honey ants went about here and there.
However, Sichuan’s Lim forest was filled with dampness, mysterious fog covered the ground, leaves had withered as if it were winter, and the vegetation was drying out.
“Muheuheu, it’s a forest where Banshees might live…! By the way, Banshees are the ghosts of fairies. When a fairy dies with resentment, it becomes a ghost called a Banshee!”
Banshees are also known as ‘Bansinoi’. They are ghosts of fairies who like to yell loudly at other people’s houses.
Even after death, as ghosts, nymphs seem to enjoy making noise at other people’s homes. How nostalgic.
“…Wait a moment…”
Seo Ye-rim’s steps gradually slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop.
Calming down to read the atmosphere, Seo Ye-rim spoke.
“I sense the aura of a rift nearby. It’s a T-ranked rift.”
Seo Ye-rim was an S-ranked in Korea and among S-ranked fighters had one of the highest T-tier rift clearance records.
So, her sensing this was undoubtedly true.
Tang Xiaohai, however, asked puzzled:
“Didn’t we receive any warning today?”
Before a T-rank rift opens, a warning message is sent to residents of the area—something common in today’s world.
If there’s a rift opening without a warning, the options narrow considerably.
An Anomalous Rift.
This phrase referred to the unexpected opening of disasters.
“This Inoi also emerged from such an anomalous rift…! When I think about it now, it was quite a chilling moment…”
Nymph Inoi was a friend who had escaped from an anomalous rift.
The squirrel beast Kkungkkungi and honey ants Ahn Ahn also likely settled into the 21st century in a similar manner.
Nevertheless…
More often than not, what bursts forth from anomalous rifts are mostly terrifying demons.
“If something emerged from a T-tier anomalous rift, that itself is already a calamity…”
In Korea, it’s a principle that S-tier ranked fighters immediately exterminate T-tier rifts before their dimensions become unstable.
If too much time passes and the beasts inside break out, it would lead to a disaster so horrific it would be insufficient to call it merely a calamity.
In fact, the “LA Incident” when an A-tier rift collapsed in the USA was a highly dangerous event that is still talked about several years later.
With an A-tier rift collapse, many people were injured; what would happen in the case of a T-tier rift collapse?
“Let’s hurry!”
I spurred my group onward.
If we dilly-dallied and something calamitous occurred, it would be terrible for all of us.
While proceeding toward the villa, Tang So-hae suddenly covered her nose.
“Kyurrr… What is this overwhelming poison smell…?”
The land, shrouded in purple mist, had its eastern-style walls and roof eaves corroding and dissolving.
The floor was sticky and slippery.
With this horrific scene, Inoi commented immediately:
“I can hear the singing of the nymphs…! This is the song of the ditchwater…!”
“Indeed, Illinois clearly hears it too…! Someone is definitely singing the song of ditchwater within the fog!”
Was it a trap set by the violet-hued nymph who fled earlier?
Before we could ponder on that, we entered the garden of the villa.
There, we found the rift entrance emitting intense lightning and a nymph singing before it.
“Hey! Nymph! What are you doing? Could it possibly be that you opened this rift?”
Seo Ye-rim yelled in fury.
But it seemed as if the nymph understood the situation promptly.
“It’s apparent that this nymph sister is singing to block the rift…! She’s preventing something terrifying from the inside from coming out!”
“We must help right now!”
Pop!
Inoi and Illinois joined in the nymph’s song.
Do-lang, do-lang, ditch water…
As the nymphs started to sing, the rift entrance began to shrink with a fizzling sound.
I watched this scene in astonishment.
“Could the nymph’s songs actually be able to close a rift?”
A new effect I just learned.
Of course, up until now, there haven’t been any nymphs who sing at a rift entrance!
If this were true, it would truly be an amazing discovery!
However—
–You foolish nymphs. Do you think you can stop me with something like this? I am the king. I am fire. My breath is power and authority itself…! I am immortal…!
Something was chuckling creepily and began squeezing its body out of the rift aperture.
It was the head of a snake.
But it was colossal, each head as large as a calf.
-Kruunggg…
Kkungkkungi bristled instantly.
Even the usually docile honey ants like Ahn Ahn and Bang Bang began fiercely on guard.
“Kkungkkungi, push it back!”
-Kkungkkung…!
Pop!
Kkungkkungi leaped and slammed into the snake’s head.
-Phaang!
-Khahaha…! That tickles!
But the snake’s head didn’t appear to have taken any damage at all.
Its scales were as hard as rocks, making physical impact attacks ineffective.
Then, let’s switch tactics!
“Attack, Ahn Ahn!”
-Zzigii…!
Shak!
Ahn Ahn’s sharp horn cut through thick steel plates with ease as she charged at the snake.
The snake’s head was cut off with a swift sound.
But the problem arose as a similar head rapidly regrew from the severed neck.
Rapid Regeneration.
Tension arose with that powerful ability as Seo Ye-rim humphed in a condescending manner.
“Talking snakes, huh? I’ve seen all sorts of wonders in life. Though I was told to behave when in China, that doesn’t apply now.”
Shwift!
Seo Ye-rim stretched her hand towards the rift entrance.
“Flaming Inferno!”
Kwa-a-a-ah!
Searing flames shot out from Seo Ye-rim’s hands, causing the giant snake heads the size of calves great distress.
-Grrraaaak…! What is this fire…! I can’t bear it…! What kind of woman is this…! Never heard of a woman like this…! This terrible woman…!
Shwift!
Unable to endure the pain, the snake’s head receded back into the rift, similar to a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
Fair enough.
Seo Ye-rim’s burning torment was undoubtedly the worst among biological pain.
And Seo Ye-rim’s flames boasted formidable firepower capable of taking down fire giants of Múspellheim, which even burn magma.
It was fire that could burn fire itself.
“You madwoman…! May you be cursed…! You witch…!
“What is this brat? Hey! You! Come out here!”
Shuuuuung!
Enraged, Seo Ye-rim stormed the rift, ready to start a big fight, but the rift had already closed completely.
Illinois suddenly raised her hands high.
“We have defeated the Hydra! No other nymph could have achieved this feat! We even got its head!”
Swoosh!
Inoi pointed to the head that Ahn Ahn severed.
It twitched, twitched—just like a flounder—quite a surprising sight indeed.
