Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: To Move Forward Without Regret (2)
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Damho's retina captured the image of Namgung Chang. The face reflected there was dyed in shock.
‘Did he eavesdrop on the sound transmission?’
No matter how great the master, eavesdropping on sound transmission was impossible. That was Namgung Chang's common sense.
As if to resolve his doubts, Damho opened his mouth.
“I spent a very long time in that underground space. It's a truly horrific world where not a single ray of light enters. But do you know what's funny?”
“…….”
“In that place, even the smallest sounds ring out enormously. A single drop of water falling crashes against the walls, amplified dozens or hundreds of times. You can't even imagine how agonizing that is.”
Damho's voice was extremely low, his pronunciation slurred. Yet, strangely, it rang crystal clear in everyone else's ears.
“Imagine it. Every moment you're breathing and living, that noise never stops for an instant. How does that sound?”
“…….”
Namgung Chang couldn't utter a single word. A bizarre sensation gripped his entire body, telling him he must not open his mouth.
Even then, Damho's words continued.
“You'd go mad in less than three days. I nearly did. I was on the verge. So, do you know what I did? I plugged my ears with mud. But the sounds still wormed their way in.”
No emotion colored Damho's voice. Yet, people sensed an inexplicable desperation woven into it.
A chill ran down their spines, as if iron were scraping right by their ears. But no one could tear themselves away from Damho's voice. It was as if massive shackles bound them, rendering them immobile.
“I must have spent about a year like that, out of my mind. But here's the amazing thing about the human body—it started adapting at some point. I stopped hearing sounds I didn't want, and even the tiniest sounds I wanted rang out loud and clear.”
“So…… what are you trying to say?”
“Are you asking because you don't know?”
Damho stared straight at Namgung Chang. A trickle of cold sweat ran down Namgung Chang's back.
‘He heard that?’
He couldn't have imagined a warrior capable of intercepting sound transmission. That meant his intentions had been seen through completely.
A cold glint began to flicker in Namgung Chang's eyes.
That Damho could intercept sound transmission was certainly unexpected. But his mental fortitude wasn't so shallow as to waver at this.
“You think that pathetic excuse will absolve you of touching the Namgung Clan?”
“Absolve?”
“The Namgung Clan never forgives those who harbor grudges against us. Begging for mercy now is pointless.”
“Do I look like someone begging for forgiveness to you?”
Damho's lips curled upward. Anyone with a shred of perception could tell it was a sneer.
Namgung Chang was sharper than most. His face hardened rigidly.
“Enough insolence. It's not too late even now. Cut off your right arm. I might show some mercy then.”
The thirty warriors of the Golden Sword Squad surrounding Damho exuded sharp auras. But Damho paid them no mind.
He raised his right arm.
The calluses embedded in his fist were so thick they resembled jade.
“Cut it off if you can. But you'd better brace yourself. I'll cut off your head. Without fail!”
As Damho's words ended, the air in the area grew chillingly cold.
“Urk!”
A stifled groan escaped the Golden Sword Squad.
They were overwhelmed by the murderous atmosphere pouring from Damho and the rippling ferocious energy.
His words seemed infused with the power of speech itself.
It felt as though what he declared would inevitably come to pass.
That eerie sensation made Namgung Chang shudder.
Without realizing it, Namgung Chang shouted.
“What are you Golden Sword Squad idiots doing? Subdue him already!”
At his cry, the Golden Sword Squad sprang into action.
“Subdue him!”
Golden Sword Squad Leader Namgung Jungmun moved first, bellowing the order.
Shreek!
From his hand unfolded the Namgung Clan's sword art, Flash of Lightning Thirteen Sword Thunders.
That was the beginning.
The Heavenly Wind Thunderbolt Sword, passed down only within the Golden Sword Squad, erupted from all directions. Like dozens of bolts of lightning crashing down, thunderous sword qi surged toward Damho.
“Huh?”
Choyeoun, witnessing the scene, let out a startled gasp.
The Golden Sword Squad was an elite force even among the Namgung Clan. Their combined technique boasted such overwhelming power that even Choyeoun couldn't claim he could handle it lightly.
The situation was hurtling toward the worst possible outcome.
Though Namgung Su had started it, the Namgung Clan wasn't the type to quibble over such details. Yet Choyeoun couldn't just stand by and watch his friend clash with the Namgung Clan's warriors like this.
Becoming enemies with the Namgung Clan was tantamount to becoming enemies with all Five Great Clans. If that happened, Damho would have no place left to stand in the world.
‘How do I resolve this?’
He resented Damho for clashing with the Namgung Clan without any plan. But he wasn't so lacking in loyalty as to abandon a hard-earned friend.
Suddenly, Choyeoun's gaze turned toward Oh Gunui.
Oh Gunui, Hai So Wol's private tutor and an elder of the Hainan Sect. He was watching without intervening.
‘Maybe him?’
That was when Choyeoun was racking his brains.
Kwaang!
“Guh!”
A massive boom rang out, and someone was sent flying backward. Blood streamed from his head as he lost consciousness—it was a Golden Sword Squad warrior.
The Dragon Cloud Sword that had been his pride lay shattered. His left arm and chest were mangled as if smashed by a giant hammer. It was the Wall-Shattering Blow.
Kwang! Kwang!
Thunderous roars followed in succession. Golden Sword Squad warriors were flung in all directions.
“Damn it!”
Golden Sword Squad Leader Namgung Jungmun's face twisted horribly.
Ziiing!
The Dragon Cloud Sword in his hand wailed. He had barely blocked Damho's strike, but his entire arm went numb, unable to hold the sword.
Namgung Jungmun finally switched the sword to his other hand.
In the meantime, another three or four Golden Sword Squad members were crushed by Damho's hands and collapsed.
Kwang!
“Kraaak!”
The one rolling on the ground with a wretched scream was the Golden Sword Squad's youngest, Namgung Segyeong. His torso was nearly torn in half, as if mauled by a wild beast.
Fortunately, he still breathed, but he was as good as dead. Even if he survived, he'd never function as a human again.
Damho had done that to him.
“You ruthless bastard.”
In that instant, Damho's gaze turned toward Namgung Jungmun.
Ohsso!
Namgung Jungmun felt an inexplicable sense of crisis and hurriedly leaned back.
Chwihak!
Damho's elbow grazed past Namgung Jungmun's face. A chunk of flesh tore free from the elbow's path, and a fountain of blood sprayed upward.
“Kraaak!”
Namgung Jungmun screamed involuntarily.
Half his face was ripped away, exposing raw red flesh. Reeling from pain he'd never felt before, he staggered.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Damho's kick and a surge of intense energy enveloped him.
It was the Bouncing Demon Kick.
Kwa-jik!
Damho's foot punched a hole through Namgung Jungmun's chest.
“Guh!”
Namgung Jungmun clutched his chest and staggered back. Where his heart should have been, a hole gaped through to the space behind.
Damho leaped over Namgung Jungmun's crumbling, sandcastle-like body.
Damho charged in a straight line.
In his sight appeared Namgung Chang's face, drenched in shock.
The Golden Sword Squad was the Namgung Clan's pride, nurtured with utmost care. It wasn't an organization meant to crumble so futilely. Thus, the shock Namgung Chang felt was beyond words.
‘Where did a monster like that…….’
Namgung Chang's body trembled.
He too had mastered the Namgung Clan's martial arts to the peak. But his opponent was a monstrous being who had neutralized the Golden Sword Squad in an instant.
Tremble!
His body shook without his control.
The fluttering black robe, the scattering black hair.
Between them, emotionless black pupils gleamed.
It felt like a massive battering ram charging at him—Namgung Chang's eyes wavered.
‘He was clearly limping…….’
Such doubts suddenly arose.
By then, Damho had closed in to Namgung Chang's chest.
Shiiiaak!
The strike that demolished great walls, the Wall-Shattering Blow, flew forth.
Namgung Chang dodged in terror. But Damho's movements were far faster than his reaction.
The fist unclenched in midair and seized Namgung Chang's right arm. Then it twisted.
Kwaduduk!
“Kraaak!”
A scream burst from Namgung Chang's mouth amid agony unlike any he'd known.
But Damho's assault didn't end there. His hand turned into a blade and chopped toward Namgung Chang's neck.
He intended to sever it outright.
In that moment, Namgung Chang recalled Damho's words.
About cutting off his head……
Damho was keeping his promise.
Namgung Chang couldn't even dream of evading and squeezed his eyes shut.
Cheeeeng!
Namgung Chang cautiously opened his eyes. There stood a familiar back.
“Gunui.”
Blocking his path with the presence of a massive whale was none other than the White Mirror Swordsman, Oh Gunui.
Oh Gunui gave no reply. He couldn't.
Ziiing!
Just blocking Damho's strike had numbed the hand gripping his sword. But he betrayed no sign of it, opening his mouth with a composed expression.
“That's enough.”
“They came at me first.”
Damho's breathing hadn't quickened in the slightest, as if his furious movements had been nothing.
It felt like facing a beast that would never tire, no matter how far it ran.
‘Was there someone like this in the martial world?’
Generously estimating, he was barely in his early thirties. Achieving this level at that age was unbelievable in itself.
Damho's expression remained ice-cold. But Oh Gunui, facing him, could sense it—the terrifying killing intent lurking within.
‘They called him the Fist Demon…….’
Since entering Honam Province, the rumor he'd heard most was about the Fist Demon.
The limping warrior who brought death.
At first, he'd scoffed.
His preconception was that one with a broken physical balance could never reach the pinnacle. So he'd dismissed the rumors as exaggerated. But the man before him was real.
The rumors didn't even capture half his true nature. The aura and killing intent Damho emanated now was the most terrifying thing Oh Gunui had ever encountered.
It was like standing before a volcano spewing lava. Once it erupted, no one could stop him.
Just then, Namgung Chang regained his senses and shouted.
“Kill him, Gunui!”
Poison laced Namgung Chang's voice. But beneath it lay unmistakable fear.
Namgung Chang feared Damho. He was lashing out to shake it off, but Oh Gunui knew how futile that struggle was.
Oh Gunui looked at Damho.
“Will you withdraw? If you do, we'll consider everything that happened here as never having occurred.”
“Who says I will? He's an enemy of the Namgung Clan!”
Namgung Chang bellowed from behind. Oh Gunui turned.
“Chang, I have no confidence in subduing him for certain.”
“Gunui.”
“This isn't a proposal for his sake. It's for yours.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have no confidence in protecting you from him completely.”
“That can't…… be.”
Namgung Chang's eyes twitched.
The Oh Gunui he knew never showed weakness before an enemy. Yet here he was, uttering such words with the foe right in front of him.
‘Is he that strong?’
Namgung Chang's face paled.
If Oh Gunui couldn't handle him, no one here could deal with Damho.
“Chang, let's set aside enmities for now. Don't you have bigger matters?”
“Urk!”
Namgung Chang clenched his teeth, unable to reply. But Oh Gunui took it as assent.
He looked at Damho.
“Will you withdraw now?”
Oh Gunui believed Damho would heed him. This was a major concession from both him and the Namgung Clan.
But Damho's response far exceeded his imagination.
“Why should I?”