Chapter 264: Southern Sea Demon Territory, Man Hak-sung-2
Chapter 264: Southern Sea Demon Territory, Man Hak-sung-2
Seonwoo Jin felt a twinge of regret.
It was regret that he should have ensured Jin So-eun could escape by any means necessary while the situation was unfolding.
Because Jin So-eun was deeper within the gorge carrying Myo A-ran on her back, Seonwoo Jin had also been unable to flee.
'I was careless. Should've planned more for the worst-case scenario... Gotta reflect on that. Not that it matters now, though.'
Having reflected on his past error, Seonwoo Jin gazed at Man Hak-sung approaching him and suddenly asked,
"Elder, what do you intend to do now? Without me, you would have no way to go to Haenam Island, would you?"
At those words, Man Hak-sung paused for a moment before snarling fiercely.
"You think I can't devour Haenam Island just because a brat like you is gone? It would have been the same with Jin Tae-do, even if it wasn't you. Besides, now that even he is gone, a place like Haenam Island can be conquered in no time."
He meant that it would merely become a bit more troublesome, but the outcome was already decided.
However, Seonwoo Jin shook his head in reply.
"You seem to be mistaken. Elder, you will absolutely never be able to obtain Haenam Island."
It was an exceedingly composed attitude and a definitive tone.
At his words, Man Hak-sung's eyes twitched and he let out a chuckle as he asked.
"I can't obtain Haenam Island? Why is that? Surely you don't mean to say it's because you won't be there?"
At this point, killing the boy was as easy as taking an item out of a pocket.
Therefore, Man Hak-sung decided to entertain the boy's little antics just a bit longer.
Then Seonwoo Jin shook his head and replied.
"It's not because I won't be there. It's because no matter how powerful you are, Elder, you cannot conquer Haenam Island alone."
"Mm? Alone, you say?"
Man Hak-sung furrowed his brow.
He could not understand what Seonwoo Jin was talking about.
The Four Evils of Daenam were all dead, but other subordinates were still present above the gorge, and there were still many subordinates remaining on Daenam Island itself—so why was he saying that he was alone?
Then Seonwoo Jin asked again.
"When you came here, how many subordinates did you bring with you?"
"Subordinates? Naturally, the finest elites as a single compa—...!"
It was then.
As he was answering Seonwoo Jin's questions without understanding why, Man Hak-sung sensed something in an instant.
He then whipped his head up to stare at the top of the gorge.
The single company of elite troops he had brought with him when coming onto land should have been there.
But the moment he saw them, Man Hak-sung realized immediately.
He realized that the ones now looking down at him from above were not his subordinates.
They were completely different people from the subordinates who had been there when he had descended.
"Those are?!"
Man Hak-sung glared wide-eyed at them, and upon discovering a familiar face among them, he could not help but cry out in shock.
"S-Saintess?!"
The face Man Hak-sung had discovered was none other than the Southern Sea Saintess, Si Seo-u.
That woman with a severed nose, a hideously scarred face, yet emitting a lustrous gaze could not be anyone other than Si Seo-u.
The very person who, alongside the Fujian Yong Family, had forced Man Hak-sung to remain trapped on Daenam Island had now appeared here.
It seemed that while he had been squabbling with the brats below, she had silently dealt with his subordinates.
Then the Saintess Si Seo-u replied.
"It has been a long time, Demon Sovereign. The Yong Clan waited for years to draw you out from Daenam Island, so it is astonishing to see you walk out onto the land yourself like this."
Man Hak-sung stared at her as if entranced.
Belatedly, he also recognized that the man standing beside her was Yong Woo-shin, the family head of the Fujian Yong Clan.
He murmured blankly.
"How on earth...?"
Then, snapping back to his senses, he looked at Seonwoo Jin.
Seonwoo Jin was currently crouching beside Ja Seong-jin-in's corpse, doing something.
Then, when Man Hak-sung's gaze fell upon him, he quickly retreated to where Jin So-eun was.
Even in that moment, Man Hak-sung could see one corner of the brat's mouth curling up sardonically as he looked at him.
Man Hak-sung asked him with an expression of disbelief.
"Could it be... was it you? Did you lure me in from the very beginning just for this?"
At his question, Seonwoo Jin gave a slight bow and smiled faintly.
What that expression meant could be understood without needing to answer aloud.
Man Hak-sung's face contorted more and more, and then he roared toward Seonwoo Jin.
"You bastaaaaard!"
But it was before he could lunge at Seonwoo Jin.
Someone dropped down into the space between them.
It was the woman with the hideously scarred face, the Southern Sea Saintess Si Seo-u.
Thud!
Her face looked even more ghastly seen up close.
Where her nose had been cut, her nostrils were exposed like a skull's, and the scar marks all over her face had left her skin a mottled red, grotesquely distorted.
In that face, like a demon from hell, only her two eyes shone with a lustrous light.
She spoke to Man Hak-sung in a serene voice.
"I am very pleased to meet you, Man Hak-sung, but it seems you are not pleased. To show such anger toward the young master who arranged this fine meeting."
Her voice was so calm and benevolent.
It was a gentle voice entirely at odds with her ghastly appearance.
As Si Seo-u landed inside the gorge, Man Hak-sung instinctively turned to look behind him.
Because the thought occurred to him that if she was on the inside, he could flee toward the outside.
However, the entrance of the gorge was already blocked by Yong Woo-shin, family head of the Fujian Yong Clan, and the elders of the Yong Clan.
And the family head of the Fujian Yong Clan, the Heavenly Righteous Hero Yong Woo-shin, was a master counted among the highest ranks even within the Thirty-six Stars of the World.
Man Hak-sung could not help but realize that he had now become a rat trapped in a jar.
He was now experiencing exactly what Jin Tae-do had gone through just moments ago.
It could only be described as utterly absurd.
Meanwhile, at the same moment, a person and a beast landed beside Seonwoo Jin like streaks of light.
One of them was a welcome face he had not seen in a long time.
"Ku-hehehehe! How do you like this big brother's skills?! I timed it perfectly, didn't I?!"
He was none other than Seonwoo Jin's sworn older brother, the Red Sea Child Jeung Chil.
Back when Seol Pung had gone to the Anti-Hyeongsan Association, Jeung Chil had headed to the Fujian Yong Clan at Seonwoo Jin's request. He had now returned after splendidly carrying out his mission.
Seonwoo Jin greeted him with a bright smile.
"Yes! Brother! It was absolutely perfect timing! You've worked hard!"
The reason Seonwoo Jin had deliberately made the declaration that he would seek refuge with the Demon Sovereign was to draw Jin Tae-do out from Haenam Island.
It had been a lure tactic—by feeding information that Inparang, who knew his shameful secret, was not returning to Haenam Island but instead siding with his greatest foe, the Demon Sovereign, forcing him to come out and capture Inparang himself.
At the same time, it had also been to draw out the Demon Sovereign himself, who had been trapped on Daenam Island due to his standoff with the Saintess.
And both of these lure tactics had succeeded brilliantly.
'But even if we succeeded in luring them both out, there were still a few problems.'
The biggest problem among them was that even if both were drawn out, they would not be able to make Jin Tae-do and Man Hak-sung mutually destroy each other.
The Demon Sovereign Man Hak-sung was simply too great a figure for someone like Jin Tae-do to contend with.
So, in order to counter him, Seonwoo Jin had decided to also draw in the Southern Sea Saintess, Si Seo-u.
And the key to that, thankfully, had been provided by the Hengshan Sect.
Since there had been intelligence that they had dispatched the Six Harmony Swordsman, Pa Cheon-jo, to attack the Fujian Yong Clan, Seonwoo Jin had asked Jeung Chil to deliver that information, build trust first, and then bring them here.
Furthermore, the one who had guided them precisely to where Seonwoo Jin was, ensuring they were not late, must undoubtedly have been the Black Leopard Sak-wol, who had been sent ahead yesterday while he had entered meditation.
After firmly clasping hands with Jeung Chil, Seonwoo Jin stroked Sak-wol's head, who stood beside Jeung Chil, and said.
"Thank you too, Sak-wol. You did really well."
Only now could Seonwoo Jin truly feel at ease.
It had been a plan with absolutely no guarantee that everything would fall into place on time, even though he had laid out the broad strokes.
He had been forced to rely on improvisation for many parts, and because of that, there had been plenty of dangerous situations.
But in the end, the plan had all come together.
He had leaped over every one of those obstacles and succeeded in every part of the original scheme.
For Seonwoo Jin, it could not have been anything but an immensely refreshing and gratifying outcome.
That was the moment.
From behind Seonwoo Jin, a sudden thunderous roar burst forth.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Startled, he spun around to look, and saw that the clash between Ma Gyeong and Seongnyeo was laying waste to the cliffs on both sides of the gorge.
The two monsters had begun their fight.
Kururururung!
This gorge was far too narrow a place to contain the battle of those two.
It seemed the whole thing might collapse at any moment from the tremendous shockwaves.
Seonwoo Jin-i shouted urgently.
"Let's go up to the top for now! Quickly!"
Then, taking Myo A-ran from Jin So-eun and securing her on his back, he glanced briefly at the six harmony swordsmen who were standing there in a daze before immediately launching himself up the cliff.
Pabak! Pabak!
At that instant, the cliffs on both sides of the gorge let out a scream-like roar and collapsed inward.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
"Dodge!"
It was a disaster.
The cliffs on both sides were crumbling from the top down, closing in like a lid being shut.
It was an emergency that would have buried even the average master alive.
But fortunately, Seonwoo Jin and his companions were no average masters.
Search the whole world and you would find few masters of the movement technique as skilled as Seonwoo Jin and Jeung Chil, and Jin So-eun, having learned the movement technique from that very Seonwoo Jin, had recently reached that realm herself.
Moreover, the agility of the Black Leopard Sak-wol, a spirit creature and fierce beast, was not so far behind as to be outdone by even Jin So-eun.
Dadadadada!
The group began to sprint vertically up the cliff face.
Then, as the cliff began to collapse, they darted back and forth between the two walls of the gorge like flying squirrels, dodging the falling rocks and heading for the top of the ravine.
"Heave-ho!"
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
Shattering the rocks at the top of the nearly sealed gorge in a single blow, Jeung Chil was the very first to land safely above the ravine.
Then, following behind him, Sakwol and Jin So-eun were able to reach the top of the gorge.
Seonwoo Jin, who had been tailing them to be prepared for any contingency, was the last.
Kukukukukung!
After they had made it up, the gorge collapsed entirely and was buried completely.
It was a spectacle of a magnitude almost impossible to believe was the aftermath of a clash between humans.
Jin So-eun, staring blankly at the buried gorge, suddenly asked with a look of worry in her eyes.
"Lady Seongnyeo is still down there. Will she be alright?"
At that, Jeung Chil snorted and answered.
"Hmph! As if monsters like those would die from something like this...!"
That was the moment.
Kwaaaaaang!
With an earth-shattering roar, a section of the collapsed gorge suddenly exploded like a volcano and shot upward.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Wha, what is it?!"
The group could not help but be shocked.
But what came forth with that volcanic eruption was not lava.
It was the two people, Seongnyeo and Ma Gyeong.
Seongnyeo's sword and Ma Gyeong's fists and legs were exchanging offense and defense at a speed barely visible to the eye, soaring up into the sky.
Kwang! Kwa-kwa-kwang! Kwa-kwang! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
It was a tremendous fight.
Every time the two collided, enormous explosions and blasts erupted outward.
Watching the sight, Seonwoo Jin let out a hollow laugh.
Even though Seonwoo Jin-i had now reached a level where he could vie with the Thirty-six Stars of the World, to his eyes, those two still seemed like beings living in a completely different world.
It was, frankly, almost like a natural disaster.
Seonwoo Jin-i, who had been watching them with a weary expression, hurriedly shouted.
"It's dangerous here too! Let's pull back further!"
The moment he spoke, the group flung themselves away from the battle of Seongnyeo and Ma Gyeong, putting distance between them.
Explosions and blasts continued to erupt behind their backs.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Seonwoo Jin's party descended completely to the base of the hill where the gorge had been, and only halted their steps after retreating another dozen or so jang from there.
When they turned around, Seongnyeo and Ma Gyeong were continuing their fight, steadily demolishing the hill.
Every time Seongnyeo's sword traced a line, the rocks split apart with tearing cracks.
Every time Ma Gyeong unleashed a fist or kick, the rocks shattered, turning to sand.
At the sight of the two of them fighting as if they intended to turn a massive hill into a flat plain, the party could do nothing but stare in awe.
Seonwoo Jin-i, who had been watching them blankly for a moment, abruptly came to his senses and asked Mukrang.
'Old man, who do you think will win between those two? I can't gauge victory or defeat at all.'
At that, Mukrang let out a thoughtful hum for a moment, then replied.
- It's certain that they are nearly evenly matched. If the fight is to be decided, it will be by mere luck, or the very smallest of margins. But precisely because of that, I can't help but think it would be better for you to intervene. If that one called Ma Gyeong were to win, would that not become troublesome?
'Uuum.'
Seonwoo Jin was troubled.
It was certainly true that if Ma Gyeong won, things would be difficult.
No, not just difficult, it was certain that the lives of everyone here would be in danger.
But....
Sticking his nose into the fight between those two was just as troublesome.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Watching them pummel a mountain into rubble in real time, Seonwoo Jin gulped.
'You're telling me to get between those monsters?'
Just the thought was terrifying.
Of course, Seonwoo Jin did pride himself on having raised his level considerably in the meantime.
But looking at them now, he couldn't help but feel the bitter truth to the bone: no matter how big an ant grows, it's still just a bug.
It was then.
A slight change occurred in the fight between Seongnyeo and Ma Gyeong.
Ma Gyeong, who had been exchanging blows at a storm's pace, suddenly wrapped his body in protective strong qi and charged straight at Seongnyeo.
"Huaaap!"
Kwaaaaaang!
A body slam that launched his own mass like a cannonball. It was a similar attack to the one he'd used earlier to punch through the six harmony swordsmen and kill Ja Seong-jin-in.
Faced with that brute-force attack, Seongnyeo had no choice but to be pushed back.
At that, Seonwoo Jin's expression hardened.
'That?'
To Seonwoo Jin's eyes, Ma Gyeong was not simply charging in recklessly.
He was probably trying to use his weight difference to his advantage.
Since their martial prowess was evenly matched, he was actively trying to use the physical conditions of his own large, male body as a weapon.
Suddenly, Mukrang's earlier words came to mind.
'He said that if the match was to be decided, it would be by luck or the very smallest of margins, right?'
For some reason, it felt ominous.
One might think such a thing is meaningless in a battle between masters, but doesn't the difference in physical condition often act as a major variable in matches between opponents of truly similar skill?
Perhaps in their bout, it could also prove to be an insurmountable gap.
Seonwoo Jin gritted his teeth hard.
It seemed he would have to take some kind of action after all.
"Miss Jin, would you guard Miss Myo alongside Sakwol? I'll go over there with brother Jeung for a bit."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
"Huh? M-me? Y-you're not saying we're going in there together, are you?"
Jin So-eun accepted the situation immediately, and Jeung Chil was horrified.
It seemed he found the idea of going into the battleground of those monsters utterly unthinkable.
At that, Seonwoo Jin-i spoke to Jeung Chil.
"Then you just stay here, brother. Your younger brother will go alone."
Upon hearing those words, Jeung Chil's face crumpled hard.
He, the sworn elder brother, stays put while only his sworn younger brother Seonwoo Jin leaps into danger?
There could be no persuasion in the world better suited to move Jeung Chil.
In the end, he could do nothing but cry out with a tearful face.
"I'm going! I said I'm going! I'll go, alright?!"