Spell Release 2
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you even truly disciples of Mount Hua? Allying yourselves with the Demonic Cult?!"
"Silence, Hwaseon. You are the worst traitor who sold out our sect. The enemy of my enemy can temporarily become an ally."
Myeong-seol's judgment was utterly rational. This was no ordinary disciple—an elder who had already stepped back from the front lines had turned out to be the sect's betrayer.
The Demonic Cult was not the priority now. They had made their lack of hostility plain, and it seemed the Demonic Cult itself owed Hwaseon a debt of sorts. A temporary alliance was more than justified. Naturally, Hwaseon ground his teeth. The Plum Blossom Swordsmen alone had been trouble enough. If Shin Gi-woon's party joined the fray, he would be dead long before Cheongung's forces arrived.
"Well then, since that's how it is… try withstanding our combined assault."
"You bastard!"
Hwaseon unleashed his sword aura. The unstable energy shimmered with a violet-purple hue. Myeong-seol's eyes trembled.
He finally understood what information this man had stolen when he betrayed Mount Hua.
Even a non-disciple would recognize it—Mount Hua's supreme divine art. The Violet Mist Divine Art.
"Hwaseon…! Have you truly been nothing more than a pride-less piece of trash all along?!"
"Pride can freeze and die. What pride is left in the current jianghu? Even the Martial Alliance is rotten to the core!"
"Shut that mouth! By the name of Myeong-seol, leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, I declare: from this moment, former elder Hwaseon of Mount Hua is our foremost public enemy. Capture is unnecessary—kill him!"
"Come and try, then!"
Hwaseon charged, violet-purple sword aura wreathing his blade. The Plum Blossom Swordsmen formed their sword formation as one. Yet the Violet Mist Divine Art stood above every other Mount Hua technique.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
"Gyaaah!"
"Fall back with the formation! Nothing good comes of clashing head-on!"
The Plum Blossom Sword Formation, already inferior, was nothing more than an egg before a boulder. The moment one formation broke, Hwaseon began to rampage in earnest.
With the Violet Mist Divine Art fully unleashed, Hwaseon's martial prowess was no longer merely Transcendent. He could now hold his own in a one-on-one against a Hwa-gyeong expert.
To stop him, Myeong-seol and five Plum Blossom Swordsmen charged together. A chaotic free-for-all erupted.
Shin Gi-woon observed the scene from a short distance away. This was Mount Hua's internal affair; he could not intervene aggressively. He saw no real reason to throw himself into the fight either. Reckless interference might only earn the Mount Hua disciples' resentment.
Orthodox sects handled their own business themselves. Shin Gi-woon intended to respect that custom.
Of course, if someone started dying, that would change. The thought had barely formed when the head of one Plum Blossom Swordsman pressing Hwaseon went sailing into the sky.
Shin Gi-woon's gaze flicked to Bi So-hyang. She nodded and drew her bowstring.
The string was empty. She closed her eyes, concentrated her energy, and formed an extremely small ring.
One of the ultimate archery techniques unlocked only upon reaching the Transcendent realm—the Formless Bullet.
TAAANG!
The Formless Bullet streaked toward Hwaseon. Caught off guard by the invisible strike, his stance broke. But Bi So-hyang's Formless Bullet was faster still—it punched clean through his left shoulder.
An opening. Myeong-seol surged with energy and drove Hwaseon into a corner.
A single Formless Bullet had properly cracked Hwaseon's defenses. His breathing grew ragged. Sword wounds multiplied across his body under the relentless pressure. Momentum seemed to swing toward Mount Hua.
At the same time, Shin Gi-woon turned away from Hwaseon. The approaching presence of the Cheongung forces felt murderously sharp.
There was no more time to focus on that fight. Their numbers did not exceed a hundred. The problem was their quality.
"They're pretty strong. Plenty of Peak experts, and a few Transcendents mixed in."
Shin Gi-woon gripped the White Fang Spear. He had no intention of using the All-Power Realm. He was curious how far full power would take him, but there was no telling how the Mount Hua people would react afterward. A large battle would only draw more troops down the mountain.
Wipe out the Cheongung forces, then escape Shaanxi in the brief window before Mount Hua reinforcements arrived. That was the plan for Shin Gi-woon's party.
"They're here!"
PA-PA-PAK!
Cheongung disciples appeared from every direction. Their attire was a shade too bright to be called pure black. The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, still locked with Hwaseon, froze in shock.
Shin Gi-woon moved faster than any of them.
"Huuuup!"
He drew a deep breath and thrust his spear. A spear swung by an Extreme Demon master was nothing short of a natural disaster.
In an instant, two Cheongung disciples' heads flew skyward. Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul entered the fray in earnest.
"Reform the lines and deal with the ambushers!!"
"E-Elder Hwaseon is fleeing!"
"Do not pursue! These ones are more urgent right now!"
Myeong-seol ground his teeth. To lose a fish already in the net like this. Enemy numbers roughly a hundred. With them pressing in from all sides, the only way to avoid being hunted one-sidedly was to consolidate at the center.
"Watch my front for me."
"Wh-What?"
"Focus!"
Bi So-hyang slipped between the Plum Blossom Swordsmen and nocked an arrow. Recognizing a master archer, they moved as one into a protective formation around her.
PI-PI-PI-PING!
Bi So-hyang's archery had reached the realm of the divine. Every time she loosed an arrow, an approaching ambusher's head was pierced through.
Even simple motions carried astonishing internal force. Her martial prowess was overwhelming for her age.
Alongside her, Myeong-seol made a decision. They had joined hands with the Demonic Cult for now, but the moment this fight ended they would turn blades on each other. Wouldn't it be wiser to thin their numbers by even one more person? The thought had just crossed his mind when—
"Kneel, you lowly unbelievers."
TU-DU-DU-DU.
A voice rolled out, and an irresistible force of compulsion seized the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Bi So-hyang barely resisted, yet for an instant her knees buckled. That fleeting gap was all the Cheongung disciples needed.
"Tch!"
Bi So-hyang did not go down easily. The enemy had already closed to a range where her bow was useless.
She discarded the bow and drew a hidden weapon from her robes. An enemy with a hole through his skull toppled.
At the same moment, someone wreathed in rising darkness lunged at Bi So-hyang. She could not react.
His palm darkened her vision.
"Not a chance!!"
KWAAAAANG!
Before that palm could touch Bi So-hyang, Shin Gi-woon's spear—having already read the situation—struck first.
The man of rising darkness spun midair and lightly touched down.
Shin Gi-woon asked,
"You. What the hell are you supposed to be?"
"So you are the spearman who has been dismantling our palace's grand design of late?"
"Grand design, my ass. That's rich coming from bastards who plant spies in other factions."
"True enough."
KUGUGUGUGU.
The mysterious man spread his energy. Shin Gi-woon frowned. This aura… it was nowhere near Transcendent level.
The enemy was a Hwa-gyeong master. A master so skilled that even his approach had gone unnoticed.
Shin Gi-woon swept the surroundings with his eyes. Bi So-hyang had steadied herself and was loosing iron arrows at the Cheongung disciples. Sama Yul used the terrain to rapidly thin their numbers. The problem was this man.
The unprecedented energy he radiated forced every Plum Blossom Swordsman to their knees. Shin Gi-woon's party, by contrast, could resist to a degree.
To call it merely a difference in realm felt wrong. He concluded it was a difference in the arts they cultivated.
Orthodox and Demonic Cult martial arts differed at the root. The Battle Demon Divine Art that Shin Gi-woon practiced was no exception.
No matter the gap in realm, it made no sense that even Myeong-seol—leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen—could not so much as twitch a finger. Their internal arts must be fundamentally opposed.
He might have to reveal the All-Power Realm. If he did, he could not leave the Plum Blossom Swordsmen alive. And the escaped Hwaseon was another problem.
Shin Gi-woon: So-hyang, Yul. Drop everything and chase Hwaseon. Capture him if you can, but if it looks like it'll cause a big scene, kill him and return to the Cult immediately.
Bi So-hyang: And you?
Shin Gi-woon: I'll kill this man. Someone like him has to hold a high seat in Cheongung.
Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul scanned the area, then set off after Hwaseon. They recalled the Jamma Cave incident, yet Shin Gi-woon was already an Extreme Demon master. There was no way he could not escape alone. Of course, this was also a matter of hierarchy—his rank stood higher than either of theirs, so they obeyed.
Once Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul left, the man who had been silently gathering his energy finally spoke.
"Even now, if you break your spear and join the palace, I will forgive you."
"Hey. You like dumplings?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I asked if you like them."
Shin Gi-woon began drawing up the internal force of the Battle Demon Divine Art as well. The man narrowed his eyes for a moment, then spoke with open disbelief.
"Dumplings are the food I hate most in this world. Whenever I see someone eating dumplings, I want to kill them."
"…Is that so?"
KWAAAAAA!!
Shin Gi-woon explosively raised the energy pouring from his body. The corner of the man's mouth twitched ever so slightly, and the oppressive force crushing the Plum Blossom Swordsmen lessened a fraction. With a face full of killing intent, Shin Gi-woon declared,
"I want to kill anyone who hates dumplings. I've got a lot of history tied up with the things."
"How unfortunate—"
SWAAAAEK!
Before the man could finish, Shin Gi-woon hurled his spear.
The spear flies true, seeking the enemy's life.
Yet the man deftly avoided the spear and drove a palm strike forward. Shin Gi-woon opened his palm toward the spear; through the principle of remote object control, the returning White Fang Spear deflected the man's palm.
At the same moment Shin Gi-woon's eyes turned blood-red, and the man's body was completely swallowed by darkness—
KWARRRRREUNG!
A collision powerful enough to bring Mount Hua itself crashing down erupted between them.