Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Terror (4)
When I opened my eyes again, all my wounds had healed. There was still some pain remaining, but it wasn't enough to prevent movement.
"Aren't you going to thank me?"
"I won't!"
"Fine, don't then."
At this level, I could endure and fight with all my strength. I seriously considered choosing the Witch as my opponent.
'My internal energy has recovered too.'
The emptiness in my dantian had completely disappeared. It was the effect of the ice bed. This had already been proven in the Ice Castle's training room. With the ice bed, the Witch's magic, and the recovery of internal energy all working simultaneously, the wounds healed at an unbelievable speed. In fact, except for my thigh, the wounds on my shoulder and forearm had vanished without a trace.
"You might as well open a hospital."
"Treatment is annoying."
Before I knew it, the Witch had appeared.
"Could you not respond to my soliloquies?"
"It's a soliloquy, but you're talking about me."
I couldn't win with words. I stopped the verbal sparring and went to the conference room. Knowing what had happened in the meantime, Jimun Seo-saeng had a haggard expression.
"We sank five illegal smuggling ships overnight."
Last night, at Jimun Seo-saeng's request, all fishing vessels that illegally invaded territorial waters were sunk.
—Absolutely do not approach them, and if they don't retreat after a warning, just sink them.
The Korean Navy followed Jimun Seo-saeng's instructions. Until now, naval gunfire against smuggling ships had been unprecedented. Because of this, the enemy couldn't offer any resistance.
—Please search at least 30 minutes after confirming the sinking.
In 30 minutes, much evidence would be lost. Still, he emphasized 30 minutes. Because he was confident that even the Magic Swordsmen wouldn't survive by then.
—Even after firing the naval guns, you must prepare firearms to stop anyone approaching.
The operation strictly followed these three rules. Thanks to that, five smuggling ships were sunk without casualties.
"Two ships had Magic Swordsmen aboard. The personnel totaled about 50."
Jimun Seo-saeng had transformed the decision I made into a perfect operation.
"So 150 Magic Swordsmen have been dealt with?"
"That's correct."
A maximum of 300 Magic Swordsmen. Half of them had disappeared. I wonder what expressions Kisan and Roltui are making.
"Shall we go finish this now?"
At the Witch's words, I nodded. So Iryeon and Cheong Ak-sal followed behind me. The Hundred White Blood Corps began guarding the main base and treating the wounded. Including me, the Witch and the two Protectors went to the magic circle where yesterday's fierce battle had taken place.
The magic circle was still there. The Witch had left one of the magic circles the Magic Swordsmen had crossed through. She cast magic on the remaining one for a long time. I practiced Qi Cultivation Technique for an hour to control my internal energy. And when I felt my body had become lighter, the Witch's actions stopped.
"It's done."
The magic circle was emitting white light. This was a plan we had prepared since executing the operation to block the Magic Swordsmen.
"Now we can go to those bastards' starting point."
She had reversed the role of the teleport. Now we could go to the place where the Magic Swordsmen had crossed over.
"They'll be prepared, won't they?"
"Reverse teleport isn't a common magic. I don't know if that hunchback thought that far."
I stepped onto the magic circle.
"I'll go first."
For safety, I stepped onto the magic circle first. The moment right after a teleport is completed is inevitably dangerous. I lowered my body as much as possible and began the teleport.
I concentrated all my senses to the extreme. Fortunately, there was no attack as I had feared. The place I arrived at appeared to be a forest in the middle of a mountain.
'That's why they couldn't find it.'
Even looking around, all I could see were high mountains. At least within my line of sight, there were no traces of civilization at all. There are plenty of such areas worldwide. It wasn't particularly strange.
While I stood guard in the surroundings, the remaining three arrived. The Witch immediately cast magic in front of her face. Then her pupils changed to a blue light. After surveying the surroundings with Detection magic, the Witch determined the direction.
"This way."
The Witch led first and the rest followed. We didn't go to the mountain peak but descended along the ridge. After moving for about 5 minutes through the dense trees, the Witch suddenly stopped moving. At the same time, something attacked us.
They were beasts. Because they swung their forepaws at tremendous speed, we scattered in all directions. And in the place where we had been, three bizarre life forms appeared. A tiger's body with a human face, fur bristling like thorns, and a tail resembling a rattlesnake.
Chimeras.
The sight of animals and humans mixed together made my stomach churn.
'So this was the reason they captured the reincarnators.'
The three Chimeras opened their mouths toward us. The human faces with lower fangs protruding outside their mouths felt agonizing rather than grotesque.
"I'll handle them."
Cheong Ak-sal said as he drew his dagger. If we wasted time, we'd lose the enemy.
"Move."
Leaving the Chimeras to Cheong Ak-sal, we moved again. The Chimeras rushed toward us, but Cheong Ak-sal blocked them. Leaving him behind, we continued moving when other life forms appeared. This time they were giant eagles with human arms. Where the feet should have been, there were human hands. Moreover, the head was in the shape of a snake.
We ignored them and kept running. Then the eagles increased to as many as 100. The eagles hiding in the forest all took flight at once and moved at the same speed in the sky as if monitoring us.
"Let's deal with them."
"Just gather them."
I nodded and climbed onto the trees. Then I leaped toward the eagles floating while maintaining their distance. It was an unreachable distance. I jumped knowing that. When I reached the highest point, the eagles gathered as if targeting prey.
Heavenly Dragon Force.
I shattered the body of the eagle that approached first with a leg technique. The moment I dealt with the eagle that approached first, a cloud filled with cold air formed in the sky. The cloud instantly swallowed the eagles and turned into ice chunks that fell to the ground. The fallen ice shattered into pieces and the eagles could no longer move.
The eagles weren't the end. From squirrels with scorpion tails to poisonous lizards disguised as grass launching surprise attacks.
"They've made a dungeon."
The Witch said with a full sneer.
"I'll open the path."
So Iryeon stepped in front of the Witch. Then she deployed the Geumgang Divine Art and began running in a straight line. Trees broke and poisonous insects rushed at her, but they couldn't pierce So Iryeon's skin.
Iron Skin.
With magic added to her already tough skin, her body literally became a weapon. It felt like carving a straight road through a dense forest. Thanks to that, we comfortably ran to the target location.
The place we arrived at was a natural cave created in the middle of a cliff.
"Is it there?"
The Witch nodded. Just as I was about to jump down, strange cries were heard again. This time they were people. But in the place where both arms should be, there were giant snakes. Three in total. They were clearly using footwork techniques. And a bird making bizarre sounds appeared in the sky. These also had human forms, but where arms should be, there were wings attached. They seemed to be magicians rather than martial artists.
"They made them thoroughly."
Martial artists with snake arms. Magicians with wings. There were five of each, ten in total.
"Go ahead. I'll deal with them and follow."
The Witch said. Since there were flying magicians involved, it seemed better for the Witch to handle them. I grabbed So Iryeon's hand and jumped toward the cliff. I had done this before in my previous life to catch divine beasts. So Iryeon and I set our direction diagonally and ran down the cliff. The moment we lost balance, we drove our fists into the cliff. Using my body like a rope, So Iryeon moved forward and drove her fist into the wall again. Repeating this process, we safely landed at the cave entrance.
The cave entrance was large enough that if three people passed through together, they would touch the walls. I took the lead and entered the cave. Maintaining distance from So Iryeon, I listened to the sounds inside. Concentrating on the flow of energy and sounds, I entered the interior. Before long, sounds were heard from inside the cave. It wasn't a distant location. I signaled to So Iryeon with my eyes, then burst toward where the sound was coming from using Yongcheon.
When the narrow entrance ended, intense light was felt first. The interior was in the form of a natural cave artificially expanded. At the edges of the cave, human and animal body parts that had been cut and torn were scattered in disarray, and the floor had turned red due to dried blood. This place, with an area rivaling the lake park at the Heavenly Demon Cult's main base, appeared to be an operating room for the Chimeras. Magic circles were drawn so densely on the floor and ceiling that there wasn't a gap to be found, making it dizzying just to look at.
"Keuheuk."
An unpleasant breathing sound was heard. Fifty Magic Swordsmen were glaring at us. Since they had already lost their reason, words wouldn't get through anyway. However, I had to confirm another danger.
"Strike from the rear."
So Iryeon and I split and ran in both directions. She knew what to do without needing an explanation. So Iryeon and I set out to find another passage. Then we saw a small space on the opposite side of the entrance.
'They escaped.'
That space was empty. There were utensils of unknown purpose, and chaotic magic circles were also drawn. After confirming there were no other dangers, So Iryeon and I simultaneously rushed at the Magic Swordsmen.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
So Iryeon, who had been suppressing her anger, went first. She ignored all dangers touching her body and bounced all the Magic Swordsmen with her charge. Thirty Magic Swordsmen rolled on the ground, and among them, five had broken bones with their bodies twisted. While So Iryeon definitely drew their attention, I quickly moved using Yongcheon and burst the heads of five.
'She's pushing herself too hard.'
Even with Iron Skin, So Iryeon was much rougher than usual.
'I might as well use this.'
I was trying to ambush them by following behind as before when the ones I had feared appeared. Three shield soldiers. They stood blocking So Iryeon.
Kwaang!
'Huh?'
The shield soldiers were sent flying into the air by So Iryeon's charge. I didn't miss the opportunity and leaped into the air to burst the shield soldiers' heads. Then I drove Falling Dragon Fist straight down from midair.
'They're weak.'
They're weaker than the ones that attacked Korea.
'Either they're not fully completed, or they're completed but weak ones.'
The real battle began then. The Magic Swordsmen who had gathered together to create a shield finally stopped So Iryeon's charge. From that impact, the chest bones of three were completely shattered, but dozens of swords also pierced So Iryeon's body. However, not a single sword pierced through So Iryeon's skin.
At that moment, a cool breeze blew from the cave entrance. The breeze soon became ice awls and fell above the Magic Swordsmen's heads.
"Fall back!"
At the Witch's cry, So Iryeon and I ran to the cave entrance. The Witch caused an ice storm throughout the entire cave. The Magic Swordsmen's shield was torn apart in an instant, and their movements began to slow.
"Now."
The Witch said. It seemed impossible to completely freeze the Magic Swordsmen. So So Iryeon and I focused on targeting the heads of the slowed Magic Swordsmen. The Magic Swordsmen's heads exploded like firecrackers. Unable to cast other magic while blocking the Witch's magic, they couldn't stop us.
'There are no reincarnators.'
As expected, the ones remaining were weak.
"Keep three alive."
At the Witch's request, we dealt with all but three.