Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: The Chieftains' Counterattack
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The Dragon God made the chieftains eat the meat of the guardian divine beast.
Thus, the chieftains gained a modicum of spiritual energy.
But it was leftovers from what the Dragon God had eaten, so acquiring true spiritual energy from it was no easy feat.
“To gain real power, does one need to kill an entire guardian divine beast’s worth?”
“No need to go far. It’s come right to us.”
The Dragon God pointed toward the entrance of the tent.
Pang!
A blade-like gust of wind tore the tent apart.
At the spot the Dragon God indicated stood a beast with a beautifully curved single horn.
“Guardian divine beast, Doseong!”
“You’ve already noticed.”
Doseong was a fully grown guardian divine beast left in the mortal realm.
The chieftains tensed up all at once upon his arrival, but Doseong paid them no mind and embraced the head of the fallen guardian divine beast on the ground.
“……How tragic.”
He gazed at the chieftains with a sorrowful expression.
“Such actions on your part will only breed sorrow. This fight holds no meaning.”
“Why not?”
“Surely you know. You cannot defeat me.”
The guardian divine beast spoke without a shred of doubt, as if it were the most obvious truth.
“Cheonggeuk was merely caught off guard. Your bodies are immature, and your minds are far from the ways of the divine. That is why we exist—to guide you onto the righteous path.”
“…….”
“I will speak to the Heavenly God about Cheonggeuk and the child’s deaths. So please…….”
Creeeeng—!
The tiger’s cleaver split the iron brazier in two.
“Won’t come to your senses, eh? This one’s mine to kill.”
“You sure you can?”
In response to the Dragon God’s question, the tiger bared his fangs.
“Didn’t I tell you? If you could do it, there’s no reason I can’t.”
“Lord Hutaero, please stop. My skills are lacking…….”
The guardian divine beast spoke with genuine sorrow.
“I cannot subdue you without harming you.”
“Tch tch. Looks down on us like we’re shit.”
Muscles and veins throbbed along the tiger’s forearm.
“You stronger than me?”
The tiger’s killing intent seeped thickly into the air.
The king of tigers, who had torn apart countless foes on past battlefields.
In the fierce eyes of the ferocious tiger, Hutaero, a chilling murderous glint flashed.
“You, really stronger than me?”
“This pointless fight must…….”
Hutaero’s massive cleaver scraped across the ground.
Its target: the guardian divine beast’s flank.
Kwaaaang!
A thunderous boom echoed.
Hutaero’s body tumbled several times before crashing into a nearby rock.
The guardian divine beast stood there, face stern, holding a fan.
The tiger’s cleaver had been effortlessly blocked by the slender bamboo fan.
“Lord Hutaero. Please take care of yourself.”
“Keuk kek kek. Yeah. Guardian beast shits. Gotta be at least this tough to strut around.”
Blood-soaked Hutaero grinned.
“Still, I’ll win.”
“Lord Hutaero…….”
Pang!
“Kaaaaah—!”
The tiger charged like a wild beast, body fully committed.
Thunderous booms rang out, blood flowed.
Fur was ripped out, scales scattered, shards of the shattered cleaver embedded in the rock.
The guardian divine beast was stronger than Hutaero.
In a normal duel, he could handle three like Hutaero without issue.
The fight between Hutaero and Doseong was like a fully armed soldier facing a sick man wielding chopsticks.
Only.
The soldier was a green rookie who’d never seen real combat.
The sick man was a natural-born killer who had slain dozens.
Splurt!
The ruined fan pierced straight through Hutaero’s palm and wrist.
His arm twisted grotesquely, shattered bone bursting out through the wrist.
“Kraaaaaah—!”
The tiger roared.
It was not a cry of pain.
It was a triumphant bellow at having disarmed his foe.
“Uoooooh!”
The tiger’s iron grip seized the divine beast’s single horn.
With his broken arm, the tiger smashed down toward Cheonggeuk’s face.
Puk!
First strike: the right eye. Next: the left.
The white-exposed arm bone pierced the guardian divine beast’s face repeatedly.
“Me! Me! Meeeeee!”
“Urk! Kk…….”
Nasal skin flew off, tongue snagged and torn by bone.
Flesh and debris splattered as the once-beautiful divine beast’s face turned to ragged cloth.
“Me! Me! Me! Stronger than youuuu—!”
Unsated, the ferocious tiger roared, bit into the nape, and yanked out the spine whole.
Savage hunt. Frenzied feast.
Crunch, crunch.
Watching the beast gnaw the spine to bits, the remaining chieftains realized how to fight the guardian divine beasts.
‘Madness answers reason.’
The chieftains returned to their tribes.
To hunt the guardian divine beasts remaining there.
“Gone, huh.”
Gitan muttered bitterly, gazing at the tent where the children had departed.
“Hide well so no one sees you. Stay healthy.”
The guardian divine beasts, sensing their kin’s deaths through divine senses, scattered and fled in all directions.
But most chieftains had acquired spiritual energy one way or another.
In the eyes of the chieftains who had gained divine senses, the path to the heavenly realm came into view.
Clad in the same worn armor from twenty years ago, they gathered.
“Everyone. Got your one move ready?”
“Of course.”
The warriors nodded at the Dragon God’s question.
The state of their armor mattered not.
They were the crystallized essence of strife, forged in centuries of war.
The ideal warriors their ancestors had striven to become.
“Let’s go.”
“Victory, or death.”
Words were brief.
A heavenly battle no warrior in history had ever known awaited them.
“You’ve come.”
Opening the heavenly gate revealed the guardian divine beasts.
Dazzling armor, gleaming blades.
The weapons the divine beasts wielded were exactly as taught by the mortal chieftains and warriors.
The cat sneered at the sight.
“Hng~ Lord divine beasts. First time seeing you in armor? Looks mighty awkward~”
“It may seem lacking to you, but we’ve prepared in our own way to welcome you.”
The divine beasts bowed their heads sadly.
“With our mistake igniting your heartfire, it’s only right we bear it.”
“Thanks for thinking so kindly.”
“So, how do you plan to greet us?”
The white-furred sheep with twin blades slung across its back asked suspiciously.
In response, a staff-wielding divine beast stepped forward and cupped his fists in salute.
“We seek a fair duel. I shall lead.”
“One-on-one duel? Sounds good.”
Chaeng!
The sheep drew its twin blades instantly.
“Sheep God, head of the sheep tribe, Takjun.”
“Guardian divine beast born and raised in the Yuan tribe. Byeolgeum.”
The Monkey God rubbed his temples in annoyance.
Unfazed, the Sheep God lowered into stance.
“I’ll take your head painlessly, fledgling.”
“…….”
The first duel ended.
Byeolgeum pulled the sword from his thigh and said,
“Next.”
The Sheep God lay sprawled, body a mangled wreck.
He spewed bloody foam but still clung to life.
“Really looking down on us.”
The horse head stamped furiously, rage boiling over.
Kung—!
A massive hoofprint scarred the heavenly clouds.
“Next is me. Horse God, Masong.”
The horse head glared at the guardian divine beast with burning eyes.
“Guardian divine beast Byeolgeum. Even if you show mercy, I’ve no intention of sparing you.”
“No matter.”
Byeolgeum raised his staff.
“As you follow the laws of strife, we merely follow the heavenly way.”
“Merciful to a nauseating degree.”
Paang!
An invisible swift front kick.
Crack—the sound rang out as Byeolgeum’s right arm went limp.
“Then get trampled under our cruel hooves and die.”
The horse tribe’s leg strength was incomparable to any beast.
The Horse God’s mighty kicks poured down like a storm.
“Next.”
The matches continued.
Byeolgeum could barely stand, yet his eyes burned fierce.
The tiger bristled his fur.
“Damn these bastards! I should…….”
“Calm down, Tiger God.”
The dragon blocked the tiger, who seemed ready to charge out.
“Your fallen comrades aren’t weak. That Byeolgeum is one of the strongest among them.”
“That’s why I’m going!”
“Your opponent is elsewhere.”
The Dragon God pointed to the divine beast, the Heavenly God.
“You’ll need your strength for that one.”
“……!”
“Preserve your power until the end.”
“Then I’ll stay put.”
While the fidgety tiger held back, a tiny rat stepped forward.
“Chieftain of the rat tribe. Rat God, Sochan.”
“Byeol, Geum.”
Needles riddled Byeolgeum’s body.
“Guardian divine beast indebted to the cat tribe, Yosun.”
The Rat God unleashed all his hidden weapons and was toyed with one-sidedly.
“Hmm…… Ox God, Obang…….”
Yosun’s shoulder and chest were pulverized from a single blow.
“Jeokgon hyung! Remember me from the pig tribe? I got fat while only I survived!”
Outmatched in raw power head-on, the Ox God conceded defeat himself.
“Chicken head! Chicken God, Gyeokso!”
The divine beast Namgok laughed as he collapsed, shredded by swift swordplay.
“Guardian divine beast who learned a trick from the sheep tribe, Bombi.”
Bombi’s flashy twin blades tore the Chicken God’s wing joints.
“Heh heh, this one’s Snake God, Sia. Head of the snakes.”
Cunning snake—no child’s tricks worked on it.
“Guardian divine beast Jeoldoo. I’ll fight as taught by elder Obang.”
The sturdy Jeoldoo’s defenses wore the old snake down until collapse.
“There’s a limit to stubbornness~”
The cat licked her claws atop Jeoldoo, whose skin had been peeled entirely.
Next opponent approaching, Gitan closed his eyes.
Despite witnessing several bloody bouts, the guardian divine beast boldly declared,
“Disciple carrying the lineage of the rogue Gitan! Guardian divine beast Gilran!”
Gilran crossed his iron gauntlets and bowed.
“Please, one bout…….”
“Graang~”
Lightning-fast, the cat god’s heel crashed onto the kneeling Gilran’s head.
And……
A scream erupted.
“Kyaaaaang!”
The cat god limped back.
Her calf was shredded by six blade sheaths.
Kang!
Gilran clashed his iron gauntlets and bowed again.
“One bout. Please.”
“Grrng…….”
The match ended swiftly.
As the cat god collapsed absurdly, the wild boar shot to his feet.
“Kuheok! I’m going! Itches too much! Huuk! Can’t stand it!”
Boar God Jeokgon charged with his massive bulk.
“This body is! Pig head! Jeokgon!”
“Guardian divine beast Gilran! One bout, please!”
Gilran met Jeokgon’s ferocious charge without flinching, unleashing fierce blows.
The Monkey God clicked his tongue at Gilran pressing the attack seamlessly despite the vast size difference.
“Properly trained one. Not like those half-assed scavenger divine beasts—worlds apart in practice time.”
“Stronger than Byeolgeum?”
“Probably. Match over.”
“Kuaaaaaah!”
Blood drenching his body, surrounded by a sea of gore, Jeokgon swung his iron mace relentlessly.
“Kuheok! Kuheok! Still can! Fight!”
“Then. My apologies.”
Kung!
The Boar God’s wrist severed, the heavy mace crashed to the ground.
Weaponless, the boar tried to bite with tusks, but his head smashed into the earth, ending it.
“Guess I’m up.”
Monkey head,ushan, slowly walked out.
Western duelist, Ushan.
Wandering warrior roaming the plains in search of the strong.
Half the chieftains here bore scars of defeat to him.
More than enough to face the unscathed Gilran, who had felled two.
Yet someone blocked Ushan’s path.
“He’s my opponent.”
Wolf head. Gitan.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Not ‘yeah’…… you’re weak?”
Ushan narrowed his eyes.
“You, who didn’t kill a young divine beast for its spiritual energy, gonna beat that guy?”
As the Monkey God said, Gitan hadn’t absorbed spiritual energy by slaying a young divine beast.
He possessed only the tiny amount given by the Dragon God.
Yet Gitan nodded.
“Was hesitating till now, but he’s mine to face.”
The Monkey God shrugged at the response.
“Fine. Your own pup, so I get it. Do as you like.”
“Thanks, Monkey God.”
Gitan donned his iron gauntlets and faced Gilran.