Chapter 298
Chapter 298
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 298
Chapter Title: Blood Chain Raksha
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Meanwhile, the man who had been shown to a different room from Hyeok Mulin sat quietly next to Cheon Sumyeong, waiting for someone.
He hadn't touched the banquet at all and spent quite a long time in silence before finally letting out a deep sigh.
"He truly isn't coming."
Since another seat had been prepared, he hadn't given up hope that Chwi Paegwang might show up eventually.
But even after a long time passed with no sign of him, he finally let go of his expectations.
Still, he didn't have the guts to ignore the leader's orders and go searching for Chwi Paegwang on his own, so all he could do was sigh in regret.
At that moment.
Pat pat pat―
The man turned his head at the sound he'd been hearing for a while.
The moment he saw Cheon Sumyeong, his eyes went wide.
"Elder! What in the world are you doing?!"
"Drinking, of course."
"No, that's not...!"
The man couldn't hide his fluster.
Cheon Sumyeong wasn't drinking from the bottles on the table meant for the banquet. Instead, he was casually opening and pouring from the fine liquors kept on the wall for display.
They were clearly on a whole different level from the banquet wines.
They were probably the prized collection Chwi Paegwang had gathered over his lifetime.
Yet he was opening them without a care, so the man stood there with his mouth agape.
"Care for a drink?"
"...No, I'm fine."
The man shook his head firmly in refusal.
If Chwi Paegwang saw this later, he'd be furious, and the man wanted no part of it.
"Tsk tsk. Such a timid young man."
"I-Isn't that normal? If the leader finds out we opened his fine liquors without permission, we won't escape his wrath."
"Then it doesn't matter at all. Tomorrow, there won't be anyone left for him to vent his anger on."
"Pardon? What do you...?"
He couldn't hide his confusion at Cheon Sumyeong's words, which made it sound like Chwi Paegwang's life ended today.
At that moment.
"You don't look well. Regretting that you have to stay here?"
"It'd be a lie to say I wasn't."
"Because you can't meet the leader?"
"That's part of it, but my biggest regret is missing the chance to meet Gu Mujon."
He'd heard rumors that Gu Mujon of the Saheukryeon would attend the Manju Great Night Banquet.
He wasn't sure if it was true or not.
But if Gu Mujon did come, he'd most likely join Chwi Paegwang at his table, which was why he so desperately wanted to sit with the leader.
But with no sign of Chwi Paegwang coming, his chance to meet Gu Mujon had vanished too.
And having somehow obtained a seat close by, the regret cut even deeper.
"I thought this would finally be my chance to meet Gu Mujon, but it fell through again."
"......"
Cheon Sumyeong slowly tilted his glass and posed a question.
"Why do you want to meet Gu Mujon?"
"To prove my skills and enter his service."
"Hahaha!"
Cheon Sumyeong burst into hearty laughter.
What a kid with big dreams.
His ambitions soared far beyond his actual abilities.
People like this usually met early ends in the martial world.
A rare few survived on sheer luck and grew stronger.
"Tell me your name."
"Woo Jukheon."
A new path. A new region. A new encounter.
To the man who would have been just a passerby in normal times but had now become a new connection, Cheon Sumyeong grinned.
"Congratulations. You've achieved your goal."
"Pardon? What do you...?"
As Woo Jukheon voiced his confusion at Cheon Sumyeong's cryptic words.
Clank. Clank.
A eerie metallic sound came from beyond the door, cutting him off.
It wasn't mere friction—it was like a massive, grotesque beast dragging its claws across the floor, weighed down by heavy bulk.
It pressed on the listener's chest, awakening primal fear, a sinister warning.
"No way..."
Woo Jukheon's face lit up with excitement as the sound grew closer.
Moments later, it stopped right outside the door.
Bang!
The door burst open, and they finally beheld the source of the noise.
"Ahh..."
A man whose head brushed the ceiling, forced to hunch.
He was a middle-aged giant whose frame made "hulking" seem inadequate.
His movements evoked an ancient mountain range shifting after enduring winds and rains for ages, or a massive golden guardian statue from a temple's depths coming alive.
His skin was weathered by sun and dust, crumbly yet tough as hammered steel armor.
The masses covering his arms, back, and chest weren't mere flesh.
They were muscles condensed with extreme power, bulging ruggedly as if ready to burst.
But what truly seized the gaze was his wrists.
More precisely, the iron chains bound there.
Each wrist bore shackles as thick as a grown man's thigh, grotesque and unyielding.
The chains, at least seven or eight feet long, dragged behind like two living steel serpents slithering across the floor with his steps.
Gulp.
Woo Jukheon swallowed dryly and slowly raised his head again.
The man's face held no expression.
His tightly pressed lips and unmoving jawline went beyond stoic to merciless, his pupils void of light like those of the dead.
Sensing something wrong in that unnatural visage, Woo Jukheon realized it.
This was the meeting he'd longed for his entire life.
Yet something was off.
This wasn't the reunion he'd imagined.
His excitement faded, replaced by deep fear and despair.
An indescribable pressure squeezed his heart.
His limbs trembled, and soon even breathing grew labored.
"Urgh..."
As Woo Jukheon groaned under the crushing weight.
"It's been a while."
The pressure eased at Cheon Sumyeong's voice.
Moments later, the man's soulless pupils slowly shifted.
Cheon Sumyeong, a faint smile on his lips, set down his glass and spoke.
"Blood Chain Raksha."
"Wha...?"
Byuk Jangho froze in place.
His heart didn't even have time to race in shock.
By the time he sensed Chwi Paegwang's movement, Hyeok Mulin's sword had already pinned it.
His delayed surprise came out as a yelp, and he stumbled back against the wall.
Chwi Paegwang, his twin blades crossed, soon turned his gaze.
"You blocked this."
Hyeok Mulin had precisely struck the point where the twin blades met, halting them with his sword.
No coincidence could explain it, so Chwi Paegwang tilted his head.
The winner of that contest mixed with combat had been some other old man.
He'd thought the guy was just good at drinking, but he'd hidden his skills.
No wonder he hadn't flinched during their talk.
"So you have some moves."
As Chwi Paegwang's lips curled while eyeing Hyeok Mulin.
Hyeok Mulin spoke leisurely.
"The leader of the Manju Association, no less. You hold your liquor poorly."
The three bottles he'd downed in a row.
He was like a completely different person now.
His rough tone and voice, bloodshot eyes, sagging flesh contrasting with bulging veins across his body.
The refined merchant vibe was gone.
Just a wild, drunken madman with his hair undone.
"Kuhahaha! You talk amusingly. I choose how I get drunk."
He was right.
After getting too drunk in the past, ordinary liquor no longer affected him.
Now, he only got drunk on specially infused wines—fiery, clear, and dark—drunk in sequence.
And that happened when he truly decided to kill.
Right now, unlike before drinking, his target had changed.
Not the brewer who'd rejected him, but this irritating, secretive man.
"As long as the rough parts stay attached, it'll be fine."
Chwi Paegwang had many questions about the suddenly appeared Hyeok Mulin.
He wouldn't kill him before answers, but losing an arm or two didn't matter.
Chwi Paegwang unleashed Gale Swift Twin Blades.
His twin blades whipped red sword energy in afterimages, slicing the air with razor winds.
Convinced they'd cleave Hyeok Mulin, he soon bulged his eyes.
Clang clang clang!
Hyeok Mulin parried only the real strikes amid feints, without overcommitting.
He'd completely read his blade art.
Huh.
Chwi Paegwang twisted his lips slyly.
Gripping his twin blades tight, he launched the next attack.
Flash Fang Blade.
Like a beast twisting its fangs to bite, the blades rode down both sides of Hyeok Mulin's sword toward his wrist.
The moment they aimed to sever it.
Whoosh!
Hyeok Mulin smoothly circled his sword in a ring.
As the descending blades faltered.
Shing―
Chwi Paegwang instinctively jerked his head back.
Almost simultaneously, Hyeok Mulin's sword grazed past his nose.
Hyeok Mulin spoke at the sight.
"Ho."
Drunk, his physical prowess, instincts, and aura had surged beyond compare.
Hyeok Mulin had seen many who fought drunk, but none showed such a drastic change.
As Hyeok Mulin eyed the transformed man with interest, Chwi Paegwang spoke.
"Where are you from? Did you infiltrate here to take my life?"
Take his life.
That hadn't been the initial plan.
After watching Sword Lord and Sword Sage's bout, he'd just picked him to test his heated skills.
But now, thoughts had shifted.
Chwi Paegwang had tried to kill Byuk Jangho.
The man who'd pledged his life to him.
So, a fitting response was in order.
Hyeok Mulin answered with his sword.
From his blade tip, Demonic Flower Gradual Bloom manifested a condensed black dot.
It pulsed faintly like a living heart, then slowly swelled into a pitch-black flower bud.
Shhhh―
It grew grotesquely fast yet eerily silent.
From a child's fingernail size, it soon filled the room.
Its edges bloomed petals that undulated like living lips.
Then, like a starving beast devouring prey, it contracted.
Crunch.
The massive demonic flower engulfed Chwi Paegwang in a flash, swallowing him into deep darkness.