Chapter 77
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Futile (2)
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*Fwoooosh!*
The cultists were dumbfounded by the immense demonic and sword energy erupting from the top of the hill.
Ma Dongpil, who had been staring blankly, quickly shouted.
“Third squad, secure the area! The Young Master is in the middle of a battle!”
“…Sir?”
They still didn't know the identity of the mysterious expert.
He realized his slip, but this was no time for explanations.
“Move quickly! Now!”
“Yes, sir!”
After giving the order to his squad members, Ma Dongpil hurried over to Juhwa.
“Are you all right?”
“Ugh, I'm fine.”
She tried to act fine, but she didn't look fine at all.
Not only was she bleeding internally, but fragments of uncontrolled demonic energy were leaking out of her. The fact that one side of her face was a mess was just the icing on the cake.
But Juhwa remained composed. The Third Young Master had appeared out of nowhere and annihilated all the monsters; she couldn't just lie there injured.
As she stood up with Ma Dongpil's help, Juhwa's expression darkened. She had spotted Yeon's corpse, which was just two legs.
Biting her lip, she shouted.
“Transport team, search the area! The goods we were transporting must be around here!”
It was a cold order, if one were to call it that. The bodies of their comrades were everywhere, yet she was telling them to find the cargo before collecting the dead.
But the cultists understood her. No, they didn't even need to understand.
They lived by orders and died by orders. They were cultists of the Divine Cult.
*Fwish! Fwish! Fwish!*
The Hall of Protectors cleared the area while the transport team cultists searched the surroundings.
“Huu!”
Juhwa bent over slightly. Her complexion was growing paler by the second.
Ma Dongpil took a pill from his robes.
“It's a Life-Sustaining Pill. Take it.”
“But that's...”
“This is no time to be stubborn. I can just get another one when I get back.”
Juhwa nodded.
“Thank you.”
There was no need for more words. She knew the gravity of the situation better than anyone.
Ma Dongpil stood guard over Juhwa, who quickly took the pill and began circulating her energy, while he watched the top of the hill.
*Flash! Flash!*
The red demonic light weakened. Seo Ryang had drawn his opponent farther away.
*'Damn it.'*
He was sure he'd heard the Young Master call out the opponent's name. But he had been so mesmerized by the Young Master's overwhelming aura that he couldn't remember it.
In any case, the man was clearly a formidable master. Just fragments of his aura were enough to make one's hair stand on end.
In other words, the Third Young Master had expended enough internal energy to kill all those monsters and was now fighting another powerful opponent.
And yet, here he was, unable to do anything but hold his position.
If he had his way, he would rush over there to help the Young Master, but he knew that wasn't what the Young Master wanted.
*'How infuriating.'*
As a protector, his skills were second to none. His abilities as a martial artist were also considered quite remarkable.
But what good was any of that? At a critical moment, he had failed to protect anyone properly. Far from protecting them, he had once again received help from the Young Master.
*Drip.*
Blood trickled from his tightly bitten lip. The unspeakable self-loathing almost made him unleash the demonic energy he had been suppressing.
He glanced down at Juhwa.
*'Hurry up and finish.'*
As soon as the situation here stabilized, he would rush to the Young Master's side. For now, all he could do was wait and wait.
* * *
*Fwoooosh!*
It wasn't that the amount of his internal energy had increased or his aura had grown several times stronger.
But Jeong Illyong could feel it. His opponent was completely different from before.
Above all, his demonic energy was entirely different. It wasn't a matter of concentration, but of quality.
It had been vicious before, but the demonic energy this young cultist was now emitting was filled with pure malevolence.
A dreadful demonic energy that seemed much closer to the very essence of the demonic, one that felt like it would shatter your mind just by facing it.
Jeong Illyong shouted.
“The Demonic Cult has created another absurd demon!”
“Shut up!”
*Wooooong! Wooooong!!*
The sound waves that spread out were so intense they felt like they would rupture his eardrums. It was a demonic roar that rivaled a sonic art.
*BOOM!*
Jeong Illyong's eyes wavered. The man shot forward from a standstill without any preparatory motion, making him flinch.
*'Fast!'*
*Whoosh.*
Seo Ryang's left hand cut through the air. It was an upward palm strike from a low stance, the Adamant Palm of the Heaven-Lifting Technique.
*Riiip!*
He tried to dodge, but the blow was too fast and powerful. The sleeve of Jeong Illyong's robe was torn to shreds.
*Fwoosh!*
That wasn't the end. He spun his body and kicked out, his flexibility truly dazzling.
A moment's carelessness and he would be thoroughly disgraced. Jeong Illyong focused his internal power into his feet.
*FWOOOSH!*
His body was pushed straight back. He intended to catch his breath before re-engaging.
Just then.
*'…!'*
His opponent's body scattered into afterimages.
*'A Body Flicker Technique?!'*
No. The speed at which the afterimages dispersed was too fast for that.
But it was undoubtedly a movement so incredible that it momentarily brought that level of skill to mind. Jeong Illyong sharpened his energy sense.
*'Above!'*
*CLANG!*
Not even sparing the time to lift his head, he raised his sword to block.
*'Hmph!'*
His joints creaked. The dense true energy that supported his old, frail body was nearly thrown into disarray.
*'This bastard?'*
A vein bulged on Jeong Illyong's forehead.
It had been over thirty years since he had shifted his focus from martial arts to politics.
Aside from a brief skirmish a year ago, it had been more than two decades since he had experienced real combat. And that time hardly counted as real combat, as his enemies had been caught in an inescapable trap.
Even so, he was a Great Elder of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. It made no sense for him to be struggling like this against a mere up-and-comer, no matter how unexpectedly strong he was.
*KRAANG!*
With a powerful stomp, his white sword spun like a windmill.
*CL-CL-CLANG!*
Countless clashes of saber and sword.
Jeong Illyong's sword pointed upward.
*BOOM!*
Seo Ryang's body spun wildly as he retreated. A small hole had been pierced through his robe.
“So you dodged that.”
Jeong Illyong's gaze turned cold. He no longer underestimated his opponent as a 'mere' young master.
*Sssshhh.*
Seo Ryang, who was about to charge again, hesitated. A white mist had suddenly enveloped Jeong Illyong's body.
The mist was emanating from Jeong Illyong's sword, the White Crane Sword.
*'Sword Mist?'*
It was a technique that created a defensive barrier around the body by turning sword energy at its peak into fragments.
However, it didn't just serve a defensive purpose. Because they were fragments of sword energy, not simple internal power, they could also be a potent attack.
Jeong Illyong spoke in a grim voice.
“I didn't want to go this far, but.”
*Whooosh.*
As he slowly stirred his sword, the Sword Mist rippled along with it.
It was a truly beautiful sight. But the killing intent imbued within it was as sinister as a viper's fang.
“Now, die—”
*BANG!*
Seo Ryang charged forward.
Jeong Illyong was furious. Being attacked for no reason was infuriating enough, but this brat was just too damn rude.
He was charging in before an elder had even finished speaking.
“You insolent whelp!”
*FWOOOOOSH!*
The white Sword Mist shot towards Seo Ryang.
It wriggled forward with incredible speed, like an innumerable swarm of insects moving faster than arrows.
*Grip!*
Seo Ryang's hand tightened on his great saber.
*Cr-crackle!*
Crimson-black Dark Lightning engulfed the entire massive blade. He swung the saber with that same momentum.
*KRAAAANG!*
Seo Ryang coughed up a mouthful of blood.
A thirty-jin heavy saber had clashed with a longsword weighing less than five jin, yet it was Seo Ryang who took the damage.
His enlightenment surpassed Jeong Illyong's, but the power accumulated in his body was still inferior.
But Seo Ryang wasn't flustered at all.
*BOOM!*
A look of shock appeared in Jeong Illyong's eyes.
The Sword Mist that should have swallowed and ground his retreating opponent to bits had been scattered. It was an explosion created by the Mountain-Shattering Force of the Heaven-Lifting Technique.
*Whoosh!*
Seo Ryang emerged through the thick dust.
His eyes gleamed like a ghost's, and a hellish saber wind raged from the great saber held in both hands.
“You!”
Jeong Illyong swung his sword again. It was his ultimate art, the White Mourning Sword Art.
*Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh!*
Seo Ryang's torso and shoulders were covered in blood. He had been hit before he could even unleash his saber art. That was how fast Jeong Illyong's sword was.
*Whoooooosh!*
Still, he did not retreat. The wind gathering from all directions was drawn into his great saber.
A sense of urgency flickered across Jeong Illyong's face.
Seo Ryang grinned, revealing blood-stained teeth.
“Die, you son of a bitch.”
*KRRRRRUMBLE!!*
The Six-Fold Hell Wind, unleashed in a single breath, swept away all the sword energy of the White Mourning Sword Art.
It didn't end there.
*FWOOOOSH!*
Following the hellish saber wind came a pillar of fire from the Eight Hot Hells, engulfing the heavens and the earth.
The searing-hot great saber became a fire dragon and swept towards Jeong Illyong. It was the manifestation of the Nine Hells Calamity Saber Art's second stance, the Ultimate Avici Saber.
For a moment, Jeong Illyong's eyes widened.
*'This saber art?!'*
He had definitely seen this saber art somewhere before.
Martial arts that could actually form high-temperature flames were extremely rare.
No matter how great the saber art, one couldn't even attempt it without enough internal power to generate such heat.
The red saber energy and the white sword energy clashed head-on.
*KRRRRUMBLE! BOOOOOOM!*
A massive pillar of fire, along with black smoke, soared high into the sky.
That was when something strange happened.
*Cr-cr-cr-crack!*
In an instant, frost covered the ground.
Where the high-temperature flames had disappeared, biting-cold ice flowers took their place. The true energy spurred on the rush of cold air, and in a flash, the surrounding temperature plummeted.
The third stance of the Calamity Saber Art, following the Six-Fold Hell Wind and the Ultimate Avici Saber.
The Great Crimson Lotus of Screaming Blood, containing the chill of the Eight Cold Hells.
*'Gah!'*
Jeong Illyong's face turned red. He was mustering all his strength, raising his internal power to block the cold.
*Crumble, crumble.*
Parts of his clothing disintegrated. The chill he had failed to block completely had seeped in and damaged them.
*WHOOOOOOOSH!!*
In that instant, a bone-chilling wind blasted him from the front.
The end of the Eight Cold Hells, the Wind of Death from the Great Crimson Lotus Hell, rushing forth with formless saber energy.
A look of urgency crossed Jeong Illyong's face. He had blocked the internal injuries from the chill, but he never expected such an attack to follow immediately...
*'…!'*
In a split, split second.
A corner of his mind flashed, creating a scene.
The traces of a merciless saber wind that had swept a radius of over a hundred feet.
The trees turned to ash, and the countless weapons of martial artists charred black and stuck to the ground.
And beyond that, a procession of countless corpses, frozen solid as if preserved in perennial snow.
He recalled his own image, pushing through that living hell to finally cut off a man's leg.
And he remembered the saber energy of a freezing wind, just like this one, raging from the dying bastard's blade.
*'This is the saber art that bastard, the King of Slaughter, used?!'*
The Righteous Heaven Alliance's worst secret weapon, who had assassinated all sorts of masters under the Alliance Leader's command.
He suddenly remembered the words the young cultist had spat at him.
- Give me back my leg, you motherfucker!
Jeong Illyong's eyes shook violently.
*Rumble!*
The ground where the Great Crimson Lotus of Screaming Blood had passed was frozen solid and violently shattered.
“Hah! Hah!”
Seo Ryang gasped for breath. It was an attack with only thirty percent of the power he had in his prime, but it was enough to sweep away any ordinary master without leaving a shred of flesh.
*Ssssss.*
A white chill swirled around the hill.
*Crack!*
The sound of ice breaking came from within the chill. It was Jeong Illyong.
“You... what is your identity?”
Jeong Illyong's figure was slowly revealed.
His frozen, crumbling upper garment fell to the ground in pieces.
His firm torso, belying his age, was etched with red saber wounds here and there. The wounds were frozen, so no blood flowed.
“Just who are you to be using that bastard's saber art?”
Seo Ryang smirked.
“Is it finally coming back to you?”