Chapter 84: Righteous Hero Association-3
Chapter 84: Righteous Hero Association-3
Hwa Young-bin the Red Sunset Divine Sword, who had formed a curved single-file line, and the elite masters of the Ami Sect slowly approached Sa Won-yang.
Then Sa Won-yang, his smile now faint, once again formed orbs of internal energy in both hands and shot them out like lightning.
Shu-hak!
"Look out!"
"It's an Energetic Force orb!"
The orbs still possessed tremendous power and speed.
However, this time they could not be as effective as the first.
This was because those who remained were masters, each possessing at minimum seventy years of internal energy, and moreover, they were now tensed and had been bracing for this.
The women were urgently moving their bodies to evade the orbs.
As the orbs shot out with such effort sailed vainly through the air, Sa Won-yang's face had now become completely expressionless.
Seeing this, Gyeolhan Satae shouted mockingly.
"Demon Head! It seems you have no more tricks! Now it is the end for you as well!"
At Gyeolhan Satae's shout, the warriors of the Ami Sect regained a small measure of composure.
Now, a chance of victory seemed faintly visible.
But Hwa Yeong-bin was not of the same mind.
He instead swallowed dryly from tension.
This was because Hwa Yeong-bin, who knew this was Sa Won-yang, had heard well of what happened when the smile vanished from the face of the Small-faced Demon Lord.
With an expressionless face, Sa Won-yang slowly opened his mouth.
"You vermin-like bitches.... I tried to resolve this easily, but in the end, you have gone and troubled my lordship. Especially you, you bitch, I absolutely will not kill easily."
And he took one step forward.
In that moment, Hwa Yeong-bin shouted.
"He is coming!"
At the same time, Sa Won-yang's body shot toward the Ami Sect warriors.
His speed was astonishing.
Hwaak!
But the remaining warriors were not to be taken lightly.
The warriors on the side Sa Won-yang charged toward retreated straight back and firmed their defenses.
Simultaneously, Gyeolhan Satae and Hwa Yeong-bin, positioned at either end, were closing in from the sides and striking at Sa Won-yang.
Both Gyeolhan Satae's Formless Sword Technique, which seemed to attack by piercing through space, and Hwa Yeong-bin's Red Sunset Sword Technique, which unfurled a majestic crimson sunset, were immensely threatening.
The situation was as if Sa Won-yang had been encircled. Yet he let out a light snort.
"Hmph!"
Sa Won-yang spun his body on the spot like a top and lashed out with his claws.
Wiiiing!
Tuh-tuh-tung!
The strands of energetic force extending from his claws deflected the swords of Gyeolhan Satae and Hwa Yeong-bin to either side.
In that instant, Sa Won-yang charged again.
Pu-haak!
"Aaack!"
"Sect Leader!"
It did not take long for the bodies of the Ami Sect disciples standing directly before Sa Won-yang to be torn apart.
Moreover, this time he did not simply kill them.
Even after they died, Sa Won-yang was laughing like a madman and mutilating the two bodies.
"Kuahahaha!"
Chwaaak! Chwak! Pu-hwaak!
Blood and chunks of flesh sprayed in every direction around him.
"Ugh!"
"Th-that...!"
Those sickened by the sight could not even think of attacking him. Once again, they huddled together, left with no choice but to watch the scene with expressions of horror.
Then, Sa Won-yang, now drenched in blood from having shredded the two bodies to pieces in an instant, smiled again and asked.
"Do you still think I am finished?"
Hwa Yeong-bin and the disciples of the Ami Sect could offer no reply.
He was simply too overwhelming.
There was absolutely no sign of a path to victory.
***
Seonwoo Jin and Bi Sa-yeong, who had entered the main hall, searched the interior at maximum speed.
It was not that there were no guards inside, but fortunately, they were only small fry whom Seonwoo Jin could dispatch with ease.
The problem was that the kidnapped women, the whole point of the mission, could not be found.
They had combed from the first floor to the fourth, but it was the same.
Seonwoo Jin cried out as if in irritation.
"Damn, I was sure they would be underground, but there's no entrance into the basement!"
It seemed he had been mistaken after all.
Time kept slipping by, and at this rate, something terrible seemed certain to happen to Hwa Yeong-bin.
And if something happened to him, it would all be because Seonwoo Jin's own plan was wrong.
His heart only grew more and more impatient.
After a moment of deliberation, Seonwoo Jin finally muttered.
"I have to go back. I have to return, and flee alongside Hwa Daehyeop...."
At that moment, Bi Sa-yeong grabbed his shoulder as if telling him to calm down and spoke.
"Calm yourself, Jin. I do not think you were wrong. I am certain this is the right place."
At Bi Sa-yeong's firm trust, Seonwoo Jin felt his heart warm for an instant.
But even so, he let out a small sigh.
Because while his friend's faith was of course utterly appreciated, at the moment, it seemed that he was indeed wrong.
He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"I'm grateful, but I don't think that's it this time. There's no basement here at all."
At that, Bi Sa-yeong looked around and spoke.
"It could be there and we just haven't found it. Could it not be hidden, like a secret passage?"
"...A secret passage?"
"Yes, the kind of secret passage that only Sa Won-yang knows about."
Upon hearing those words, several possibilities suddenly flashed through Seonwoo Jin's mind.
'Only Sa Won-yang knows? That could be it. Since this is the main hall, it's not like other warriors would never enter. If there really is a basement, he wouldn't have made the entrance on the first floor where any regular warrior, not just Blood Cultists, could walk right in.'
In that instant, the layout of the main hall he had skimmed over earlier surfaced in his mind like a picture.
This was thanks to the memory that had earned Seonwoo Jin the name of a prodigy.
'If it's a place convenient for Sa Won-yang to go, it would be near Sa Won-yang's room.'
The fourth floor, the third floor, the second floor, the first floor.
Seonwoo Jin began to mentally visualize the structure and dimensions of each floor he had hastily examined in three dimensions.
In his mind, the exterior of the entire building and its internal structure settled transparently into place. He arranged and compared the layout of the rooms and corridors on each floor.
Reaching this point had taken barely three breaths.
Seonwoo Jin was finally able to spot something within the mental building.
He spoke urgently to Bi Sa-yeong.
"Follow me!"
At that, Bi Sa-yeong grinned and followed after Seonwoo Jin.
"You found it! As expected!"
The place Seonwoo Jin had gone to was a large, rectangular pillar at the center of the building.
Seonwoo Jin tapped on it and spoke.
"This pillar was located right next to Sa Won-yang's room on the fourth floor. And...."
Tong! Tong! Tong!
He grinned and said.
"It makes a hollow sound."
Seonwoo Jin immediately used his sword qi to slice the pillar wall vertically and horizontally four times.
Then, a square section of the wall fell away, revealing a dark passage within.
It was a passage leading underground via a ladder.
"We found it!"
***
The situation for Hwa Yeong-bin, who was fighting the Small-faced Demon Lord Sa Won-yang, was extremely dire.
Only four of them were left alive now.
This was because not long after the earlier two had died, two more were slaughtered again.
Sa Won-yang, having torn the head off the Ami Sect disciple he had just killed, was tossing it into the air and catching it, giggling all the while.
"Now only four remain. It is almost a shame that this delightful time is drawing to a close. But...."
He said this while tightening his grip on the head he held, crushing it.
Peoseok!
"I suppose that is life."
Sa Won-yang, smiling brightly as he was drenched in white brain matter and blood, was a demon from hell itself.
Two of the Ami Sect disciples, now completely gripped by terror at the sight of him, were trembling visibly now.
Gyeolhan Satae was no different.
She was not trembling like the others, but the way her pupils shook ceaselessly showed that her fighting spirit had already been broken.
Glancing around at them, Hwa Yeong-bin recalled the words Seonwoo Jin had said to him.
'When the prospect of defeat becomes thick, you must absolutely flee.'
Perhaps now was exactly that moment.
Seonwoo Jin's words were clearly correct.
Gyeolhan Satae was a cancerous presence in the Ami Sect, and it was certain that her dying here would be a better outcome for the sect.
And as for the remaining two, they were merely followers of such a Gyeolhan Satae.
So, there would be no need to feel guilt about abandoning them and fleeing.
But Hwa Yeong-bin smiled dejectedly and thought to himself.
'I can't.'
He simply could not run away.
It was not because of Gyeolhan Satae or anyone else.
It was because of his own self.
For over ten years, Hwa Yeong-bin had never thought of himself as alive.
From the moment he had lost half of his own soul, there had been no reason left for him to live.
If there was anything left for him, who for so long was merely breathing while slowly dying, it was only to exact revenge for her.
So, to flee with the Blood Cult's Demon Lord who had caused her death standing before him?
Was it because he was afraid to die?
That was not something Hwa Yeong-bin was capable of.
Fighting the demon heads of the Blood Cult was the only thing he could do for her, the woman who had died, after he had lost his reason for living.
If he could not even do that, there was no need for him to remain alive.
Nor was he the least bit afraid of dying.
He had not felt truly alive for the past ten years, so what reason was there to suddenly feel fear now?
Hwa Yeong-bin steadied his sword blade again and stoked his will to fight.
His eyes, having resolved himself to death, burned crimson.
'I will die here today. And I will go to meet her!'
It was just as Hwa Yeong-bin was igniting his fighting spirit in this way.
"Eit!"
Pa-bak!
A completely unforeseen event occurred.
Gyeolhan Satae had suddenly flung herself backward.
The startled disciples of the Ami Sect cried out.
"Sect leader?!"
"Saje?!"
They could not believe their own eyes.
Their sect leader and saje... was abandoning them and fleeing through the dark sky.
The act was enough to make even Hwa Yeong-bin, who had just fiercely stoked his fighting spirit, wear a momentarily blank expression.
But it seemed there was exactly one person within the grounds who had anticipated her action.
That was the Small-faced Demon Lord Sa Won-yang.
He burst into a wild laugh and said.
"Kuahahaha! Just as I expected!"
Gyeolhan Satae had now become incapable of any other thought.
The sight Sa Won-yang had shown her was so terrifying that she could endure it no longer.
It did not matter if she abandoned all her followers and returned to be confined in the Thunder Prison.
She absolutely did not wish to die here.
She felt that this moment was her last chance to flee.
The Ami Sect disciples would be too weak, but that fool Hwa Yeong-bin would be able to buy her a little time.
Gyeolhan Satae deployed her lightness arts as if her heart would burst.
The mere fact that she was distancing herself from that terrifying monster brought a smile unbidden to her lips.
Now, she alone was going to survive.
"Uheuheuheuheu!"
It was then.
Turning her head back with a chill, Gyeolhan Satae discovered Sa Won-yang's energy sphere blazing with light as it flew fiercely toward her.
"!"
The startled Gyeolhan Satae immediately twisted her body in mid-air and dodged it.
Hwi-ik!
Watching the energy sphere pass beneath her by a hair's breadth, Gyeolhan Satae was able to smile again.
'I dodged it! Now, no more...!'
That was the moment.
The energy sphere that had been passing directly beneath her suddenly exploded.
Kwaaaaang!
"Aaaack!"
In a completely unforeseen turn, Gyeolhan Satae was caught defenseless in the explosion.
Her vision went white and a ringing sound of 'Wiiiing.' filled her ears.
By the time Gyeolhan Satae came back to her senses, her body had fallen to the ground and was tumbling senselessly across the dirt.
Still, because she was a master approaching the transcendent peak, she did not lose consciousness as Bi Sa-yeong had before, yet she still could not easily regain her senses.
It was just as her tumbling body stopped that Gyeolhan Satae remembered the fact that she had to get up and flee again.
With a desperate heart, she struggled to lift her body which would not move well.
"Qui, quickly, I must flee...!"
But what met her eyes when she raised her head was the brightly smiling face of Sa Won-yang.
The terror-stricken Gyeolhan Satae screamed.
"Aaaack!"
Pu-hwa-ak!
Gyeolhan Satae's scream and Sa Won-yang reaching out his hand to tear off both of Gyeolhan Satae's shoulders happened at the same time.
"Kkuaaaack!"
The scream of terror immediately changed into a scream of agony, and at that moment, Sa Won-yang mercilessly tore off her legs as well.
Chwaaak!
"Aaaack! Aack! Aaaaack!"
Gyeolhan Satae rolled her eyes back as if her mind had flown away and began to scream ceaselessly.
Sa Won-yang looked down at her with a face full of rapture.
"Good. Very good. There is nothing as electrifying as the scream of an orthodox faction whore who has shown her true base nature. Be grateful. For the sake of hearing this scream, I shall not kill you for a good while."
A woman whose limbs had been torn off, screaming like mad, and a blood-soaked old man looking down at her with a bright smile.
It was a sight too horrible to behold.
Trembling as they watched him, two Ami Sect disciples convulsively launched their bodies and began to flee.
"Aaaack!"
"Save me!"
But there was no way they could succeed in an escape that even Gyeolhan Satae, who stood at the threshold of the transcendent peak, could not accomplish.
Sa Won-yang glanced at them, clicked his tongue, and fired another energy sphere.
"Tch. Where do you think you're going?"
Shu-hak!
The two fleeing in terror could not perceive the energy sphere flying at the speed of a ray of light.
Sa Won-yang did not doubt for a second that it would strike their backs.
But Hwa Yeong-bin was there in the meantime.
"Hap!"
At some point, Hwa Yeong-bin had launched his body and was bringing his sword down upon the two energy spheres that were piercing the void.
As the crimson sword qi rent the air, a magnificent sunset glow spread forth.
Peo-peong!
"Kkeu-euk!"
Hwa Yeong-bin was sent flying backward the next moment.
Only by spinning his body several times in mid-air was he barely able to regain balance and land on the ground.
It was an incredible repelling force.
But Hwa Yeong-bin, who immediately raised his head, saw the smile fading from Sa Won-yang's expression and gave a fierce grin of his own.
He had succeeded in changing the direction of the energy spheres.
The Ami Sect disciples, who were fleeing mindlessly, had already moved quite far away.
With fiercely blazing eyes, Hwa Yeong-bin spoke.
"I will let nothing go according to your will."
At that, Sa Won-yang, who had briefly become expressionless, brightly smiled again and retorted.
"You've been wearing a boring expression for a while. It would likewise be a pleasurable task to make your expression like this bitch's."
Sa Won-yang roughly sealed Gyeolhan Satae's acupoints with finger wind.
His words about keeping her alive seemed to be sincere.
Then, flinging himself toward Hwa Yeong-bin, he roared.
"See if you can endure it!"
The sight of the small-statured Sa Won-yang pouncing like a ray of light was reminiscent of a venomous wildcat.
Facing his tremendous speed, Hwa Yeong-bin gritted his teeth and immediately unfolded his sword defense.
It was the Mountain Crimson Cloud Screen, the defensive technique of the Red Sunset Sword Technique.
The crimson sword qi, like a sunset glow, became a hazy curtain and covered Hwa Yeong-bin's front.
But Sa Won-yang burst into a wild laugh and charged straight over it.
"A sword barrier! You are better than the Ami Sect leader! Kihahahaha!"
Covered in energetic force and enlarged like a giant's hand, Sa Won-yang's palm struck down directly upon the sword barrier.
Peo-eong!
"Keuk!"
Hwa Yeong-bin was helplessly flung backward.
It was an immense, colossal strength.
"Kuahahaha!"
Sa Won-yang did not stop.
He pursued the flying Hwa Yeong-bin and continued to unfold his onslaught.
Peo-peo-peo-peong!
"Kkeueu-euk!"
The battering that seemed haphazard at a glance was hammering Hwa Yeong-bin like a storm.
Hwa Yeong-bin was somehow bringing his sword up to block, but far from launching a counterattack, it was a struggle just to keep holding onto his sword.
The sword was vibrating as if alive, trying to escape his hand.
At that moment, the sight of Sa Won-yang pulling his arm back with all his might entered Hwa Yeong-bin's eyes.
The concentrated energetic force had expanded his small hand to a crimson mass like a giant's.
Just as Hwa Yeong-bin's surprised eyes widened greatly, Sa Won-yang swung it with all his strength.
"Uhahahaha!"
Peo-eong!
Pa-sak!
"Kkuaaaack!"
Hwa Yeong-bin's sword shattered into pieces, and his body ricocheted like a bullet from the impact.
It was fortunate that the sword had held out until the very end, sparing his body from a direct hit.
Watching Hwa Yeong-bin plummet to the ground with ferocious momentum and roll across the floor, Sa Won-yang burst into a wild laugh.
"Kuahahaha! Say it again once more like you did before! Kuahahaha!"
At that, Hwa Yeong-bin, who had collapsed on the ground, staggered as he rose to his feet and retorted with a difficult smile.
"Nothing... will I let go according to your will."
His sword was broken, and his body was trembling violently from the tremendous shock, but Hwa Yeong-bin's eyes alone held the same distinct gleam as before.
Then, the laughter slowly vanished from Sa Won-yang's face as he saw that look in his eyes.
"I am curious to see if you can keep showing that look in your eyes even after all your limbs are torn off and your tongue is cut out."
Then, like a wild beast, he prepared to fling himself at Hwa Yeong-bin again.
It was then.
Someone flew in and cried out.
"Magun, elder! A great calamity has befallen us!"