Chapter 64 Are you kidding me?

I head over to where the monster fell. There it is—its “Magic Core” lying on the ground. After checking it...

SSR

Gains the speed of a god.

Seems to allow increasing the Agility stat up to five times. I return to where I came from...

"Gojo..."

Wang walks toward me, leaning on Liu’s shoulder.

"Did you... defeat that monster... the 'Leader'?"

"Yeah... it's over now. All safe."

Wang’s face relaxes.

"Gojo... you’re strong. I never thought you’d get this strong... How the hell did you get so powerful!?"

"Thanks to you."

"Huh?"

"I saw you using Qigong Martial Arts. I took it as a reference. Without that, I don’t think I could’ve gotten this strong in such a short time."

"...I see..."

Wang looks down, his expression complicated.

"But I can’t do Martial Arts anymore... I lost both arms. I wanted to be a strong martial artist like you... and now, as the 'Vermilion Bird' Leader... I’m done."

"I’ll fix your arms."

Liu shakes his head at me.

"Healing Magic’s already been cast. Blood’s stopped, wounds sealed. That’s all I can do!"

Of course, that’s true for most people. But not for me. I step closer to Wang, raise my hand.

Warm golden light pours over Wang’s body. Wang and Liu stare, stunned—this is something they’ve never seen before.

"Complete Healing !"

The light fades. Wang’s arms are whole again—just like before.

"My arms... they’re back!? Can you really do something like this!?"

I smile back...

"Haha... incredible. You’re the strongest 'Monk' in history."

We regrouped with the "Suzaku" members and all descended the mountain together. The number of monsters had dropped dramatically compared to when we arrived. When we reached the foothills, Wang called out to me.

“Gojo, I’ll be reporting your defeat of the ‘Leader’ to the Chinese government! You’ll go down in history as the hero who saved China!”

Wang said it with a grin, but Liu cut in sharply.

“Wang, this was a raid carried out by ‘Suzaku.’ It wasn’t just Gojo’s achievement.”

Wang’s eyes widened in shock.

“What are you talking about? The ‘Leader’ was taken down by Gojo alone! Not by ‘Suzaku’! Isn’t it only fair that he gets proper credit?!”

“If you report this to the government, they won’t accept it. It’s an issue of national honor. Gojo may be sorry, but this result belongs solely to ‘Suzaku’!”

Wang grabbed Liu by the collar and shoved him forward!

“Liu! Are you serious? How could you say something so lacking in pride?!”

Liu looked straight into Wang’s eyes, calm and quiet.

“I want to let the ones who died… die as heroes.”

Wang froze. No words came out.

“I asked Gojo just now. I asked him to do it… He agreed. I know it’s shameless! I don’t care what people say… but still…”

“I’d be grateful too. Wang, I don’t want the spotlight. Just… do it this way.”

Wang clenched his fist. His hand trembled, just slightly…

“Fine. Gojo, I owe you. If you say so, I’ll follow.”

Wang’s expression tightened, as if swallowing something hard. He stared at me with absolute seriousness.

"Gojo, come to China! With your kind of power, you could ask for anything—reward,待遇, you name it. China’s got economic strength, and fewer 'catastrophes' than Japan. Conditions should be perfect."

He really means it... but I shook my head and answered.

"Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’m not doing this for some payoff..."

I can’t just serve one country’s interests.

"…I see… That’s too bad…"

Wang looked down, a little sad.

"I’m going."

"...Back to Japan?"

"No. Got somewhere else to go."

"Ah… You’ve got a mountain of debt to me. I’ll repay you—I promise!"

"Yeah, I’ll be waiting. See you again."

And with that, we parted.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

China, Anhui Province — Huangshan—

Rugged mountains painted a breathtaking scene. And there I stood, atop one of them.

Forgot, but slaying the Chimera locked my "Monk"职业 board at max... checking it—

Monk Lv99

[Profession Skills]

Qigong Martial Arts Rank B → A

Acquired "Magic" Enhancement Magic (I) ×2

Qigong Martial Arts reached Rank A… That power saved my life.

"Alright… Now what do I do with this guy…?"

Hovering above my head, circling with a flickering blue flame, was the firebird—Phoenix.

Unlike the Chimera, this one was spotted instantly with Thousand-Mile Eye. Can’t just let it go… can I?

But I can’t just knock it down either... If I’m gonna seal it, could I trap it in that frozen pocket dimension? Huh... thinking it over, something started spinning right above me.

“Are you messing with me?”

I mutter, and the phoenix descends straight in front of my eyes. It folds its wings, tilting its head down like it’s bowing. What the hell…?

“Wait… could it be… you actually wanna come with me?”

I have no idea what spirits are thinking—hell, does it even have a brain? Back before, “taming” only worked after defeating the target.

Can I even do it like this? Still, gotta try.

“Tame!!”

A magic circle appears right beneath the phoenix, glowing fiercely—then the bird dissolves into light particles, vanishing completely… I check my listboard. There it is. Phoenix’s name, real and solid.

Seriously? It actually worked? Wow… the threat in China’s gone. Now—what’s next?

My gaze lands on the mountains of Huangshan… and beyond them… Russia. Damn.