Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.49 – The Most Dangerous Creature in the World...(2)
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Even in the sudden standoff, Lee Han didn't panic at all.
He had predicted this before even entering.
'Knew they'd show up for sure.'
The absurdity had started with the half-demons disguised as holy knights in the grand temple, so suspicious characters appearing now wasn't a huge variable.
Just one puzzling point...
"Hey, One-Eye, one question."
"Didn't you say you were the gatekeeper? Aren't you supposed to stop things like that from passing?"
A perfectly natural question.
He genuinely wondered how such creatures could be allowed in here, and even suspected that this One-Eye might be utterly incompetent.
"......"
"...This is insane."
"No, not you... Haa, whatever."
The key—in other words, the fact that those things had 'authority' to access the sacred items managed by the grand temple and had entered with it—that was the insane part.
In short...
'The temple bastards are openly in league with them?'
It was a situation that begged for curses.
"...When I get out of here, a lot of people are gonna get beaten."
Lee Han muttered with clear displeasure, and upon hearing him...
"If you get out alive, you mean."
"......"
"What? You think we're pushovers?"
"......"
"So arrogant. Well, you do have the qualifications."
A woman with strikingly pale hair and eyebrows smirked.
She looked beautiful at a glance, but her rigid facial muscles made her smile feel awkward.
Like she wanted to smile but couldn't quite manage it.
And Lee Han knew that smile.
...She had been his senior at his old workplace.
"No. 7..."
"You do know me? Jackpot, hehe! Oh, but a correction: I'm not No. 7 anymore. I'm the 7th Apostle now. Call me that, got it?"
"......"
"And hey, how's that guy doing?"
"...?"
"Don't play dumb... No. 8, that traitor—isn't he with you? Hehe, I'd love to see his face. He was such a cute kid back then. Wonder how he's grown up."
"......"
"Mind calling that little cutie over? Oh, better not lie. The [Prophet] already told us everything. That he's here."
"Ugh..."
"You won't sell out a comrade, right? He's got good friends, huhu."
"No, it's just..."
"No need for talk. ──Kill him."
Whoosh!
No sooner had No. 7—no, the 7th Apostle—issued the order than the half-demons charged. Lee Han felt utterly wronged, still at a loss for words.
What the...
'Why?'
She was right there but didn't recognize him—it was inexplicably frustrating. But with the half-demons swarming, he had no time to dwell on it and swung his sword.
Still, the lingering question...
'Have I changed that much?'
No. 4 hadn't recognized him either. Why?
...I don't look that different from when I was a kid.
He hadn't even hidden his identity, making it all the more aggravating.
"-He's strong, that knight."
The 7th Apostle shuddered at the knight's formidable power.
He was strong.
Immensely so.
Kwajik!
...Could a person's head shatter so easily?
And not just any person—a half-demon.
A typical half-demon was stronger than thirty grown men combined, and with their Fighting Techniques, mastery of various sword arts and knightly skills, calling them one-man armies wasn't an exaggeration.
Yet they were being crushed helplessly.
Not fifty—even a hundred couldn't handle that knight.
Overwhelming prowess and strength!
The 7th Apostle, Dina, nodded slowly.
"No wonder the 4th Apostle fell. We can't handle him."
She knew how he'd subdued the 4th Apostle in the tunnel, then killed the Black Moon's carefully nurtured half-demons and the giant mother worm.
And that he'd annihilated the mage tower too...
In conclusion, Dina assessed.
That knight was...
"...A monster."
Without Aura Users, no one could handle him.
However.
"Scared before even fighting?"
"11th Apostle..."
"Call me Yan now, Dina."
"Sorry, I'm still used to the numbers."
"Same here, no need to apologize."
The 11th Apostle Yan smirked as he approached, followed by the others chiming in.
"Don't worry too much, sis. We'll make sure you get out safe."
"And our goal isn't killing that knight anyway, right? Stick to the plan."
The 6th Apostle and 5th Apostle, in turn.
Hearing them, Dina couldn't help but smile.
"...Right, yeah."
Their purpose wasn't to win.
She'd ordered the fifty half-demons to kill, but the hidden intent was...
'Block him with your lives.'
It wasn't without cost—the resources and time to raise them—but...
"Necessary expense, right?"
She smiled cruelly.
Kwajik!
'Ah, this?'
Kuung!
'...Hmm.'
Kwaduduk!
'Am I getting toyed with right now?'
Lee Han beat, bashed, and slashed the assailants without hesitation, but his brow furrowed.
He hated this situation.
'I'm being led around.'
To a third party, it looked like he was dominating, but as the one fighting, he loathed it.
Two main issues.
First...
Kwaduk!
'Speed.'
His punches weren't landing fully.
Normally, they'd pierce the enemy's side, but now they only caused serious wounds. One-hit kills had become two- or three-hit necessities.
'...The air's heavy around me.'
A minor error from the holy relic's intense pressure bearing down on him.
He could endure it, but it hindered fighting. A 0.5-second lag kept occurring, forcing extra strikes and spiking his stress. Mental strain drained stamina and focus worse than physical exertion.
"......"
Seogeok!
'You tell me now?'
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
No wonder they moved so nimbly...
"Huu!"
But he didn't snap at One-Eye.
No point—it wouldn't change anything.
Besides, he'd endured such pressure and stress hundreds of times on the battlefield.
Meaning...
Kuung!
"Kwaaaak!"
"...There we go."
Given time, adaptation came quick.
A half-demon charging at him exploded from the back, and Lee Han gauged his power output now that he had a satisfying strike.
...But just as he adjusted...
"For our god...!"
Whoosh!
A half-demon charged without hesitation—nay, heedless of life—tears of blood streaming down as it rushed him.
Lee Han thrust his sword straight at it, and it...
Puuk!
"??"
...Offered its chest willingly, and even impaled...
Kwaaak!
"Heh, hehehehe!"
"......"
...Gripped the blade and hilt, laughing madly.
As if there was no escape.
...Yes, that was the second thing he hated.
These guys.
'Aren't they afraid to die?'
Brainwashed? Or utterly devoid of humanity?
Unable to win fairly, they didn't hesitate to sacrifice one as bait.
Any means to beat him.
Paat!
Seeing the sacrifice grab his sword, the half-demon horde charged.
To seize the opening for a strike.
But.
"-Why split up?"
Lee Han had zero intention of playing along, deciding to vent his frustration in that instant.
Whoosh!
"!!?"
"If you wanted to hold me, you should've used Thousand Jin Pull at least."
Wagjak!
Lee Han wrenched the wrist and hilt gripped by the gleeful half-demon with brute force—pure brute force—and then...
Wooong!
Plum Blossom Sword
Sword power surges with enhanced vibration! Petals bloom explosively with unprecedented force!
The sword vibrated massively, unleashing power as it turned red.
Puhwaaak!
Sword force-laden plum buds scattered like blooming flowers.
Petals exploded like fireworks, unleashing greater power than ever!
Plum Blossom Sword.
Not just any—compared to before, its grown might was worlds apart.
And so—
Saak!
Petals pierced the charging half-demons' necks and chests.
Seogeok, seogeok, seogeok!!
Sliced their weapons like paper.
Chungkeong-!
The next instant, shredded them to pieces.
People probably didn't know human bodies and weapons could be cut like colored paper.
But witnessing this, they'd know—bodies could be sliced cleanly.
...Though the downside...
Jureureuk...
...Was that the paper's color was only red. A huge problem.
Tuuk.
The spent sword force turned to dust and vanished, hilt to sand, leaving one rolling hand on the floor.
"Lucky."
At least a hand remained.
Wagjak!
Lee Han crushed the remains—sans hand—like paper and advanced.
Still plenty of paper left to shred.