Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Little Heavenly Demon, Peach Blossom Paradise (4)
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"Impossible."
The Golden Knight Order. A voice of despair burst from Lemon's lips.
"...What the hell is that guy?!"
He was clearly just a green rookie.
Far too young, a delicate-faced youth who looked like he'd only just dipped his toes into this world.
His skills were impressive enough to acknowledge, but they had plenty of hunters on par with him.
S-Rank Hunters.
A title reserved only for those who had survived countless battlefields.
Even the World Tree's knight order challenged for such ranks to prove their prowess, but it was never easily attained.
Lemon herself was one who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
...So why?
Lemon trembled as she stared at the two corpses sprawled on the ground.
Just moments ago, two near-S-Rank talents had fallen.
To that man of equal skill.
"Is that really power from a single body?"
"We definitely... cut off his arms."
Even Lemon's knights were losing morale.
He was overwhelming them.
The more they thought they could catch up, the more desperately they clung on, but there was no visible change.
Veterans among veterans.
Hunters who had lived for at least thirty years slaughtering monsters and ents.
They moved with perfect maturity, severing the enemy's tendons.
Both arms' tendons. One Achilles tendon.
Normally, that should have turned him into a helpless doll.
Yet the man moved as if nothing had happened.
Grotesque. Bizarre.
Even with blood pouring out, he remained unfazed.
His combat style was horrifically gruesome, too vile to even speak of.
Gouging eyes with two fingers. Piercing eardrums with a stolen sword.
No hesitation in those horrific acts.
-Woooong!
And what about his magic?
Whenever an opening appeared, he cast the perfect spell for the moment.
A being who shattered the common sense that martial artists couldn't use magic.
He even reverse-engineered spells to disrupt the other mages' focus.
As if flaunting his power.
As if deliberately stoking fear, heedless of his own wounds.
And it worked perfectly on the ragtag alliance.
"Kuh, heh. Uwaaaah!"
One hunter let out a half-mad cackle as he charged at the Little Heavenly Demon, spear gripped awkwardly to pierce his back—
But the Little Heavenly Demon moved faster.
"...Hup!"
His form flashed behind the man, kicking his back.
The moment the hunter lost balance and slammed into the ground, thorns erupted from the earth, impaling his entire body.
-Kwachik!
The sound of flesh embedding into thorns.
A single rose, thorns soaked in blood, bloomed forth.
Thorns from earth magic, transformed on the fly.
Such impromptu spell conversion was incredibly difficult.
It must have been a pre-prepared spell from before the battle.
Which made it even more problematic.
How many more cards did that man hold?
Despite equal skill levels, the patterns he could employ were on another dimension.
And the greatest gap between the Little Heavenly Demon and them was...
"...He doesn't tire."
No matter how much they slashed, he showed no sign of falling, his stamina bottomless.
Lemon gripped her greatsword tighter.
'If it were just bravado, that'd be great. But it doesn't look that way at all.'
Now she understood why he was called the Little Heavenly Demon.
An inexplicable pressure. Charisma.
The aura she'd felt from the crimson knight captain who'd attained the pinnacle of martial prowess, the imperial guard captain, the grand archmage, or even Association Chairman Mugung—it emanated from the Little Heavenly Demon as well.
...If they stayed like this, another transcendent being would emerge.
A figure all World Trees guarded against and opposed.
On par with the Wood Spirit King, or the Heavenly Demon and Mugung of today.
"Kuh."
They had to fell him here.
Gritting her teeth, Lemon shouted at the top of her lungs until her throat cracked.
"Reinforcements are coming!"
At her voice, light returned to the eyes of those who had been despondent.
They all had to die here if necessary to bring him down.
Her bright yellow hair whipped in the air as spirits clung to her body.
Liberation. Woodification.
The renowned Wood People present each drew upon their World Tree's blessings.
"...Lion Heart King."
Lemon, who had received salvation from the World Tree and honed her body to repay that grace.
Some ignorant humans mocked her as a nepotism hire, but no one could deny her skill.
She undoubtedly possessed fragments of genius.
-Ugrrrk!
Strength over intellect.
Iron armor sprouted scales.
Enormous tree branches extended from her shoulders like a lion's mane.
Righteous gold expanded with her mana.
'Liberation... only chosen kin can achieve it.'
If usable, one's power doubled.
Even among S-Ranks, the tier was different.
Lemon's bright yellow eyes began to flash with light.
-Shwaaa!
Torrential rain pouring down relentlessly.
The yellow glow reflected off the raindrops illuminated the surroundings.
A being that repelled evil.
The World Tree's sword she had wielded and polished for that purpose.
Lemon chanted a prayer aloud, as if overcoming despair.
"...O World Tree, please take him away and let us slay him."
As the woman's voice joined, the aura strengthened.
The Little Heavenly Demon's dead eyes turned to her for the first time.
"The glory of trees, the pride of Wood People. Even if broken, we shall not wither."
She gripped her greatsword with one hand.
"Devoid of glory, we become mere bonsai. Returning to a handful of soil."
The Golden Knight Order.
The order's elite warriors.
Clad in white armor with banners raised, the divine army spreading abundance.
Lemon stepped forward.
-Thud!
A footprint cratered into the ground.
Blue energy spread, drawing surrounding mana into her body.
Lemon's fierce eyes locked onto the man.
"......"
The clash was instantaneous.
From movement to closing distance, it took but a blink.
Lemon's sword shot forth with a whoosh, aiming to tear out the man's throat.
Mana rippled like waves along the blade.
Even dodging the slash, the man's body shattered.
-Kwachik!
The Little Heavenly Demon staggered back.
His torn shirt revealed his upper body.
Muscles on his chest ripped open, spurting blood.
He still stared at Lemon.
She couldn't stop here; convinced of it, Lemon pressed the attack.
Closing in again with a downward strike.
"...Kraaap!"
She shouted a kiai from her lips.
Beyond battle fatigue, the pressure was unbearable; screaming cleared her mind.
The knight's sword dance.
The Little Heavenly Demon moved.
-Kwachik!
Penetration.
The unavoidable slash pierced his shoulder blade.
Joy briefly lit Lemon's face.
'...Straight to the heart like this.'
But only for a moment.
Blood trickled down the blade flat from her scabbard.
The sword wouldn't budge. The Little Heavenly Demon gripped it.
-Ssssk, shuk.
Sounds of muscles parting and blood draining.
The man took a step forward.
Not minding the blade grinding flesh, widening the wound.
His darkened face closed the distance.
-Bang!
A fist slammed into Lemon's abdomen.
Black mana pulverized her scales outright.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Heavenly Demon Divine Art · Second Form: Myriad Layered White Petals White petals scatter, pulverizing the entire body. Ruthless and thorough.
White petals seemed to scatter. It battered her entire body.
Thoroughly and viciously.
"Kuhahah...!"
Her lungs constricted, blood-mixed breath spurting out.
Mana swept through her body once.
Magic?
Whether unconscious or deliberate.
Her mana core clogged, deprived of power, Lemon's armor pieces fell to the ground one by one.
Her knightly valor faded in a single blow.
"...Ah, uh. Urk."
Her vision dyed red.
The man reaching for her.
Suddenly, he shoved Lemon aside and snapped his head to dodge arrows flying from the surroundings.
-Kwang! Kwang!
Kicked in the chest, he tumbled to the ground.
Lemon looked down at her abdomen, feeling her innards twist.
"...What is this."
Blood-soaked.
It burned so fiercely she couldn't use mana.
Looking back at the Little Heavenly Demon in disbelief, he was now locked in fierce combat with late-arriving hunters.
Dodging attacks, spinning once to kick a head.
The hunter's skull caved in.
He evaded a back ambush, snapping another fallen enemy's neck with his foot.
Black mana flickered repeatedly at the Little Heavenly Demon's fingertips, ever-changing.
Like viewing flower petals.
"...Hoo."
A sigh escaped the man's lips.
His gaze turned to the horde of hunters descending from Do-won.
Thirty-three.
The number of hunters he had felled so far.
Even a monster accumulated wounds.
The blow from Lemon was healing noticeably slower.
If they kept pursuing relentlessly, they could kill him.
Hope began to bloom on the hunters' and knights' faces.
-Chijijik.
Then, the radio crackled.
A voice from a corpse's pocket echoed across the battlefield.
-...Support. Please.
The inevitable call for reinforcements.
But the other info sandwiched in between.
-The Little Heavenly Demon... is not just one.
Shared via squad radios, the info hadn't reached many.
The voice was faint; only a few could make it out.
"What?"
The man's head snapped around.
His reaction was unnatural.
*****
Do-won's summit.
Even the deepest part of the mountain range couldn't fully escape the raid.
"...P-Please, just spare our lives."
A slaughterhouse.
Market fruits rolled on the ground.
Merchants preparing breakfast swallowed tears, begging for mercy.
Unlike the original assassination target of the Little Heavenly Demon, this was civilian massacre.
Trudging through rain-mixed mud, a hunter muttered.
"They say the Little Heavenly Demon appeared below."
"Fine by me. Handing over the cult leader's head is enough."
Each led a guild or boasted top forces therein.
A battle against all of Do-won.
Capturing leaders would turn it all into their merits and careers.
The Heavenly Demon raiding below?
Good news for the detachments striking the heart.
Over five S-Ranks among them.
Monsters bloated with overconfidence, acknowledged by the era.
"And grabbing that old man's daughter? Jackpot. The rewards will be sweet."
Huang Do-rang and Baek Do, was it?
Whether beheading or enslaving, either way, it'd fetch a fortune.
"...Guess we won't be friends."
Of course, some drew swords purely for justice.
But assuming those grudge-holding against the Heavenly Demon were mostly good folk would be a mistake.
"Why, disgusted? Heh. We're just following the gods' word. These scum are traitors."
Forces that turned their backs on the world.
Their path was becoming clear.
But was this truly right?
Some hunters' eyes reflected pity.
Bitter smiles and resignation.
Knowing it wasn't right, they still drew swords and joined in.
Lest they end up like Do-won's folk for turning blades on gods.
Rubbish mingling with S-Rank pretenders.
Some saw themselves that way.
"Don't wanna do this crap again."
Yet they had to.
Steel. Jeong Ho-mun ultimately drew his sword.
A man evaluated as near-transcendent even among S-Ranks.
He too was one who had to kill the Heavenly Demon, willing or not.
Threatened by World Tree graces or fanatically devoted believers.
Of course, some truly upheld benevolent World Trees.
History's events were mostly cesspools of good and evil mixed.
-Kwaaaang!
The roof collapsed.
An A-Rank hunter's neck half-severed, his corpse rolled across the ground.
Jeong Ho-mun and the hunters' eyes widened at the black-clad woman glaring furiously.
"...You bastards."
Eyes flashing serpent-like with rage.
Her killing intent made bodies shrink.
Cheon-do.
Pure black mana pierced the sky.
A power unmistakable at first glance.
The Heavenly Demon's ability.
"Why, why..."
Torn sleeves revealed blood-red arms.
Her hands, gloveless and barefoot like red gloves, dripped with blood.
"Little Heavenly Demon."
The words burst from the hunter who saw her.