Chapter 101: Blackmail (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 101: Blackmail (3)
Cr-crack! Rumble!
The sight of lightning surging in reverse was truly a spectacle to behold.
‘Controlling it is a struggle in itself.’
The power of the Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder—a secret technique of the Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method—was beyond imagination.
By channeling lightning through the sword via the Adaptation of Thunder Energy, one could unleash a discharge that inflicted wide-scale damage across a radius of nearly sixty meters.
‘Compared to my Master, who possesses the Dharma Tool Cheondun, this is a mere pittance.’
Of course, it was still formidable in its own right.
However, the wider the range, the more the electrical potency diminished. Those closest to the center took the full brunt of the devastating shock, while those further away had a slim chance of avoiding fatal injury.
—You calculated that well.
Every martial form has its purpose when used in the right situation.
Since the peerless masters had closed in while their subordinates surrounded me from a distance, there was no technique more suitable than the Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder.
Yet, the result was unexpected.
Even though I had adjusted the power to some extent, I had intended to kill them all. However, both my Qi sense and the sight of three figures emerging through the settling dust left me astonished.
“Ugh... argh...”
A middle-aged man appeared, his clothes scorched to rags by the electricity. Judging by his appearance, he was likely the man in the bamboo hat who had been provoking me.
He stumbled, vomiting blood repeatedly as if in excruciating pain. He looked around, his eyes widening in horror.
“You... you monster...”
The nearly two hundred men from the Strategist's Hall who had surrounded me were all down. Not a single one remained standing. A few bodies twitched, but those were merely post-mortem spasms caused by the electricity; they were all dead.
In the midst of his shock, the man gasped.
“Ha...”
He had realized the specific range of the Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder.
While some members of the Yellow Dragon Hall who had been knocked out earlier were caught in the blast, the majority of the unconscious survivors had been artfully excluded from the lightning’s path.
It had taken considerable effort to manage that level of precision. After all, if everyone died, there would be no one left to spread the rumors about the Golden Emperor.
The man spoke, his voice trembling with disbelief.
“We... misjudged you. Successor of the Sword Immortal? My foot!”
He seemed unable to contain his resentment, likely because he hadn't expected me to deal with them in such a manner. Regardless, he was as good as crippled now. He continued to cough up black blood, his energy depleting at a rapid rate. It was likely a side effect of the drugs.
The other two, however, were the real problem.
‘That regeneration is absurd.’
I had hoped the lightning would deal significant damage. Yet, the areas scorched and burned by the lightning were regenerating in an instant. For Seobok, it seemed the attack had been nothing more than a momentary flash of pain.
‘Tiresome.’
Even so, this was within the realm of my expectations.
The true issue was the former Alliance Leader, the First Sword of Wuhan, Baek Hyang-muk. I was stunned by his hair, which was now stained blood-red, and the soaring energy radiating from him. It was proof that he had reached at least the fifth stage of the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art.
“You’ve been diligently practicing the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art, I see.”
His natural martial prowess was already exceptional, but thanks to the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art—which pushed one's capabilities to their absolute limit—Baek Hyang-muk had managed to endure the Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder.
“Huff... huff...”
Sizzle!
As Baek Hyang-muk exhaled raggedly, sparks of lightning leaked from beneath his feet. He looked relatively fine on the surface, making me wonder if he had blocked it completely, but seeing him discharge the lightning that had invaded his body suggested otherwise.
Baek Hyang-muk straightened his posture and spoke.
“Seobok. Just a moment is all I need. Hold him down for just a moment.”
“Understood... Urgh!”
Seobok nodded in response but immediately grimaced. The veins on his forehead bulged, and he looked to be in immense pain.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man who was still vomiting blood shouted.
“Guh... Get a grip! If you don’t kill him, He will be furious!”
“He?”
Seobok clutched his forehead, staggering. Something was wrong. His eyes, bloodshot and frantic, fixed on me with a look of utter confusion.
In his agony, he stared at me and muttered.
“My Lord?”
At those words, the middle-aged man screamed through a mouthful of blood.
“What are you talking about?! He isn’t the Lord, he’s just an impostor! You have to kill him!”
“K-Kill him? But that man is the Lord...”
“I told you he’s not the—”
Slash!
“Ack!”
Before he could finish, I sliced his throat with a sharp burst of killing intent.
Looking at Seobok’s reaction, it seemed there was a glitch in the brainwashing of the Illusion Demon Poison. If this was a sign of him trying to overcome the brainwashing on his own, I couldn't let anyone interfere.
As the man died, Seobok turned his head and glared at me.
“Seobok. Wake up. They are poisoning you with Illusion Demon Poison and using you.”
“Using me?”
“Are you really going to let yourself be used like this?”
At my words, Seobok’s face contorted, and he roared at me.
“N-Nonsense!”
With that shout, he lunged at me. I suppose it wasn't something that could be resolved with just a few words.
Seizing the opportunity, Baek Hyang-muk also kicked off the ground and thrust his hand toward me. Determined not to be caught off guard again, he swung his fingers in a sword-gesture, unleashing a crescent of crimson killing intent that threatened to cleave me in two.
‘Single Stroke Cleave.’
It was the Single Stroke Cleave of the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Sword. To be able to perform such a feat with just his fingers... he truly was a remarkable man.
But it wasn't something I couldn't block.
Clang!
I parried it with the Evil Connection Sword. In that split second, Seobok threw a punch at me. I caught it with my left hand.
BOOM!
The force of the punch was so immense that a violent shockwave erupted around us. I tried to sever his right arm with the Evil Connection Sword.
Swish-swish-swish!
In that instant, Baek Hyang-muk closed the distance on my right and unleashed a flurry of sword techniques. A combination of eighteen forms targeted my vital points.
“Seize him!”
Grip!
At Baek Hyang-muk’s cry, Seobok grabbed the blade of the Evil Connection Sword with his left hand, even as his right arm was being sliced. Furthermore, to prevent me from dodging the sword strikes, he unleashed a kick toward my ribs so fast it left afterimages.
It was a strategy he could only employ because he trusted his own regeneration. Baek Hyang-muk relied on that trust to continue his assault.
“Impressive.”
However, such tactics only work when the opponent is of similar strength or only slightly superior. Even if they had enhanced their capabilities with the Blood Heaven Great Achievement Art and possessed absurd regeneration, the gap between them and me—now that I was drawing out my full power—was stark.
“What?!”
As I shifted the hilt of the Evil Connection Sword, Seobok, who was gripping the blade, was dragged along with it.
“Oh no!”
Thud-thud-thud!
Before he could let go, Seobok was pierced by four of the forms from Baek Hyang-muk’s own sword technique. Baek Hyang-muk tried to shift his footwork and change his technique to compensate, but I was faster.
‘Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method, Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder, 2nd Form: Blooming Lotus.’
Cr-crackle!
Sword shadows of lightning spread out in all directions like a lotus in full bloom, engulfing both of them.
Baek Hyang-muk tried to create a defensive shroud by coating his fingers in crimson killing intent, but it was futile. Both Baek Hyang-muk and Seobok were sent flying by the invading lightning.
Zap! Sizzle!
Arcs of electricity traced their paths as they were hurled back.
“Urgh!”
Baek Hyang-muk broke out of the trajectory, performed a recovery roll, and immediately transformed himself into a metaphorical sword, attempting to cut through the lightning to reach me again.
“Wait, what?!”
However, the more he tried to cut the lightning, the more it branched out like complex tree roots, spreading even finer until he was caught like a fly in a spiderweb.
‘Reverse Heaven Lightning Thunder, 4th Form: Linked Wide Lightning Net.’
It was a form designed specifically to trap an opponent. The Great Dao Heavenly Thunder Sword Method was originally created to deal with entities beyond the human norm or powers that exceeded standard scales, such as Dharma Tools. That was why my Master had told me to refrain from using it unless absolutely necessary.
Slide.
In the blink of an eye, I shifted my position and appeared before Seobok, whose right arm had almost completely regenerated. Upon seeing me, Seobok desperately threw a punch. I slightly twisted my upper body and lightly severed his elbow.
Slash!
Seobok, his arm severed once more, shouted at me.
“It’s useless!”
He seemed to have grown accustomed to the pain. He didn't even flinch as his arm was cut off, instead launching a palm strike with his other hand.
In that case, let’s change the approach.
“Let’s see if you can come back even if your head is cut off.”
“What?”
Schwing!
Without a moment’s hesitation, I decapitated Seobok. The members of the Martial Alliance would be swarming here soon; I didn't have the luxury of playing with him indefinitely. If I couldn't turn him back to normal, killing him was the only answer.
Yet, shockingly, Seobok’s head, which had fallen to the ground, blinked its eyes and tried to shout something at me. No sound came out because his vocal cords were gone, but he was still conscious.
‘Wow...’
This truly was immortality. If this man had been born with such natural talent and had dedicated himself to martial arts, would there have even been a way to oppose him? He didn't die even when his head was removed.
Wriggle, wriggle!
What was even more astounding was that blood vessels, bone, and muscle were rapidly sprouting from the severed surface, attempting to regrow his body. It was a truly nonsensical phenomenon.
As the area from his neck to his chest began to regenerate, his voice became audible.
“I told you it’s useless. I cannot die.”
Right. That must be why even the Golden Emperor could do nothing more than imprison him.
‘Ah!’
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind. I once again severed Seobok’s rapidly regenerating neck. Seobok glared at me as if to say it was futile, but I reached out and used Void Object Retrieval to pull a sword hilt rolling on the ground into my hand.
‘What are you trying to do?’
His mouth moved, forming the question.
“What am I doing? This.”
Thwack!
I drove the sword straight into the back of Seobok’s head. Seobok’s head trembled violently from the pain. Then, his expression shifted to one of pure bewilderment.
‘!?’
The body that had been regenerating so rapidly just moments ago had slowed down significantly, recovering at a snail's pace.
“Ha. It works?”
I remembered when a blade had been lodged in the head of the Ghost-Slaying Fist Demon, Jang Mun-ryang. At that time, his body hadn't regenerated. Though Seobok’s regenerative powers were far stronger and more illogical, I had driven the blade into that exact spot on a whim, and it had worked.
‘This should be enough.’
I grabbed Seobok’s head and channeled cold energy using the Snow Drinking Finger’s cultivation method.
Crack-crack-freeze!
The extreme cold caused his head to begin freezing over. Once the layer of ice was thick enough to completely trap his head, I pulled out the Bottomless Pouch from my robes.
Then, I stuffed his frozen head inside.
‘See you later.’
Tucking the pouch back into my robes, I turned around to see Baek Hyang-muk—who was currently purging the lightning from his body—staring at the scene in utter disbelief. He was the only one left.
As I approached, Baek Hyang-muk let out a hollow sigh. He seemed to have realized that the situation was beyond his control.
“...Now I see why He was so intent on killing you.”
It was a bit late for such realizations. The choice had been his to make, and he was simply paying the price for it. Baek Hyang-muk looked at me intently before suddenly baring his neck.
“Please, let it end with my head.”
I frowned at his words.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Though my reputation is not what it once was, taking the head of this old man who led the Alliance for so long will be far more effective than killing hundreds of others. Please, show mercy to the rest.”
Is he pretending to be righteous now? Or is there truly a reason behind this?
“I don’t understand you.”
With his neck still bared, Baek Hyang-muk replied.
“What use are excuses? I only hope you realize that I, too, had no choice.”
“No choice, you say...”
I looked at him and brought the edge of the Evil Connection Sword close to his throat. A little pressure would take his head, yet Baek Hyang-muk accepted it as if he had no lingering attachments.
I spoke.
“What if you were given a choice that could undo all of this?”
At my question, Baek Hyang-muk looked up at me in confusion. His gaze seemed to ask what I was plotting.
Looking down at him, I curled the corners of my mouth into a smirk and whispered something.
As I did, Baek Hyang-muk’s expression slowly began to crumble.
*
The main headquarters of the Martial Alliance.
Someone rushed frantically into the Vice Alliance Leader’s office.
“Vice Alliance Leader! It’s a disaster!”
Ardent King Hegemon Jin Gyun, who had been quietly drinking alone, asked in confusion.
“What on earth is the matter?”
“The... the Hall Master’s Hall in the inner city is under attack by a man with a golden eye!”
“What?!”
Vice Alliance Leader Jin Gyun bolted upright. He reached out, and his signature weapon, the Rending Saber, which had been leaning against the wall, flew into his hand.
As Jin Gyun hurried out of the office, he questioned the warrior who had brought the report.
“What are the casualties?”
“The Yellow Dragon Hall, led by Hall Master Moyong, has been nearly annihilated, and the surrounding halls seem to have suffered heavy damage as well. But there is something even stranger...”
“Stranger?”
“Well, that is...”
“What is it? Stop hesitating!”
“...I cannot be certain if it’s true, but they say a man who looks like the Blood Demon is fighting alongside the Lesser Sword Immortal against that intruder.”
“What?!”
Jin Gyun froze in his tracks.
What kind of nonsense was this?