Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Advancing Forward to Avoid Regret (3)
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Damho's eyes were dark. And silent.
The moment murderous intent began to dwell in his utterly serene pupils, they transformed into a ferocious typhoon.
That was exactly what was happening now.
“Gasp!”
O Guni gasped as he witnessed the unbelievable sight of the killing intent in Damho's eyes turning into a typhoon.
Flash!
Damho unleashed a charge.
His target was Namgung Chang.
He was still alive, still breathing.
He would absolutely cut off his breath.
That resolve radiated alongside Damho's aura.
“Madman!”
O Guni swung his sword in shock at Damho's momentum.
No matter the reason, he couldn't allow Namgung Chang to die by Damho's hand here.
Beyond their personal ties, Namgung Chang was a key figure essential for forming the Martial Alliance.
O Guni unleashed the Haenam Sect's secret sword art, the Sea Dragon Slaying Sword.
Clang!
Damho's fist clashed with O Guni's sword.
“Urk!”
A stifled groan escaped through O Guni's gritted teeth. It was just a clash with a fist, yet his entire body rang as if struck by a massive boulder.
What shocked O Guni most was that Damho's fist, which had met his sword, was unscathed.
‘How can human flesh...’
But he had no time to ponder the reason leisurely. Damho's next strike was already flying toward him.
O Guni hurriedly executed the third form of the Sea Dragon Slaying Sword, Crimson Glow Soul Severing.
Whoosh!
In an instant, sword energy resembling a red sunset glow swept toward Damho.
O Guni thought this strike might not injure Damho but could at least force him back. However, Damho's reaction surpassed his imagination.
Instead of dodging O Guni's sword, Damho leaped straight into his guard. At this rate, O Guni's sword would strike Damho's shoulder directly.
“Gasp!”
Cho Yeonun unconsciously clenched his fist. Even to his eyes, Damho looked to be in danger.
But in that moment, something unbelievable happened.
Ting!
O Guni's sword, reaching Damho's shoulder, glanced off at an angle. The Golden Turtle Shell had been activated.
O Guni's eyes widened at the sight of his sword being deflected.
It wasn't just any sword—it blazed with sword energy. Its cutting power and sharpness surpassed even the world's famed blades.
Yet Damho had deflected that sword energy with his bare body. For O Guni, unaware of the Golden Turtle Shell martial art, the shock was inevitable.
Having deflected O Guni's sword, Damho burrowed into his chest.
Damho and O Guni's gazes met. The distance was a mere foot—close enough to feel each other's breath.
O Guni smelled the fishy stench from Damho's breath.
The breath of death exhaled by beasts that lived by devouring the living.
Grab!
Damho's two hands seized O Guni's collar.
O Guni twisted his body to shake off Damho's hands, but it was futile. Damho's sturdy arms clamped his neck like steel tongs.
“Guh!”
O Guni's mouth gaped open unwittingly.
In that instant, O Guni's body was yanked into the air. Damho had unleashed the Earth Heaven Strike.
His body and legs flipped positions, and O Guni plummeted headfirst toward the ground at blinding speed.
Countless warriors had fallen helplessly to the Earth Heaven Strike before. Yet O Guni proved he was a warrior on another level by switching his sword to a reverse grip and stabbing at Damho's side.
Swoosh!
O Guni believed Damho would release his collar at this point. But Damho was no ordinary warrior. He was a being beyond common sense.
Damho twisted his side slightly. O Guni's sword grazed past harmlessly.
Excruciating pain ripped through his mind. But Damho's expression didn't change as he slammed O Guni down.
Boom!
“Urk!”
A stifled groan burst from O Guni, smashed headfirst into the earth.
He couldn't fully evade the Earth Heaven Strike, but by a hair's breadth, his shoulder had hit the ground instead of his head. Had he not wounded Damho's side, it wouldn't have ended like this.
Chills ran down his spine.
It wasn't just the pain of his shoulder feeling shattered.
He had never seen a warrior like Damho before.
It wasn't merely because his martial arts were strong. There were plenty of strong martial artists in the world.
But he had never encountered someone as relentlessly obsessive and blindly single-minded as Damho.
Once Damho set a goal, he disregarded everything. He never looked back.
Petty calculations didn't exist in his mind.
He moved solely for one clear objective.
Killing those he deemed enemies.
Namgung Chang had been marked as Damho's enemy.
The fact that Namgung Chang backed by the vast Namgung Clan didn't register in Damho's head. He didn't even consider how harsh his life would become after killing him.
A being purely forged from killing intent.
‘Madman!’
Damho leaped over the fallen O Guni and charged toward Namgung Chang. O Guni hastily rose to grab him, but it was already too late.
Swoosh!
With terrifying speed unbelievable for a limp, Damho raced forward. Over a dozen living Golden Sword Squad members stood to block him.
The faces of the Golden Sword Squad warriors darkened in despair as they faced Damho closing the distance in an instant with his savage momentum.
They had never imagined a warrior like Damho existed.
The name Namgung Clan, which would normally be a sturdy shield, felt more hollow than ever.
Damho's black pupils were fearsome.
Those utterly ferocious black eyes— if they turned on you, it felt like your heart would drop.
They desperately hoped those eyes wouldn't fix on them, but they knew better than anyone how futile that wish was.
The oldest among the Golden Sword Squad warriors shouted.
“We must protect the elder! Block him with our lives.”
“Yes!”
They answered habitually, but suddenly a thought crossed their minds.
‘How?’
Boom!
As if to prove their doubt, one warrior ahead was blasted away as a mass of blood and flesh.
The blood of their comrade splattering everywhere looked strangely beautiful.
Boom!
But as thunder rang out again and another comrade became a bloody mess, that beauty turned to terror overwhelming them.
“Argh!”
“S-Spare me!”
Screams and wails erupted everywhere.
It was a惨 spectacle unworthy of the Golden Sword Squad, the elite carefully selected from the Namgung Clan.
“This... can't be!”
Namgung Chang's face crumpled in horror.
A beast from hell was rampaging. Proud Namgung Clan warriors were dying to the beast.
Breathing grew difficult in this hellish scene he had never imagined.
“Huff! Huff!”
He panted raggedly.
His chest tightened. His face turned deathly pale.
Boom!
Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar echoed, incomparable to before, and four more Golden Sword Squad members were pulverized beyond recognition, flying in all directions.
Now, nothing stood between Damho and him.
Namgung Chang felt cold.
Goosebumps rose as if standing naked in the middle of a snowy plain.
Damho was charging.
Eyes gleaming with killing intent.
Black robes fluttering in the wind.
Everything felt terrifying.
‘Is this the end?’
Despair washed over him.
It was frustrating to die without realizing the grand dreams in his heart, but there was no helping it.
If he had known the Damho his nephew had made an enemy of was this monstrous, he never would have touched him—but it was too late for regrets.
Damho's figure rapidly enlarged. Suddenly, two familiar silhouettes blocked his path.
“Stop, friend.”
“Stop it.”
Clang!
They blocked Damho's strike in Namgung Chang's place.
“Urk!”
“Ngh!”
The ones groaning stifledly were Cho Yeonun and Hae Sowol. They had taken the blow meant for Namgung Chang.
The ground where their feet stood was deeply gouged.
Cho Yeonun's face twisted, and Hae Sowol wore a frustrated expression.
Even after dispersing the impact with their secret techniques, their shoulders ached and chests heaved.
Just imagining a direct hit from Damho's fist sent chills down their spines.
At the intervention of the two, Damho's eyes burned even fiercer.
“Will you block me?”
“Whoa, whoa! Calm down, friend.”
Cho Yeonun hurriedly raised his hands to placate Damho. But Damho's savage gaze showed no sign of fading easily, sending chills through Cho Yeonun.
Those ferocious eyes seemed to say that no justification would spare even him. No matter how many times he saw them, they never grew familiar.
O Guni, arriving late, aligned shoulders with the two.
Three renowned masters of the martial world united to stop Damho. His presence was that overwhelming.
Hae Sowol overcame the pressure and spoke.
“Young Hero Dam... I understand your anger, but how about stopping here?”
“Why should I?”
“Great Hero Namgung has important work to do.”
“None of my business.”
Damho's voice was utterly cold. Even the north sea's chill winds wouldn't feel this frigid.
Hae Sowol shuddered momentarily.
Damho took a step forward. Immense pressure bore down. The aura emanating from Damho himself overwhelmed her.
‘What in the world?’
He looked only five or six years older than her. Yet the energy from Damho couldn't possibly belong to someone his age.
At this level, he was in no way inferior to Haenam Sect's leader, Neung Cheonwol.
‘Perhaps...’
Hae Sowol swallowed the rest.
Even imagining it was frightening.
No words seemed to reach Damho. But they couldn't back down like this.
They had to prevent the worst—Namgung Chang dying by Damho's hand.
Cho Yeonun stepped forward.
“Friend.”
“......”
Cho Yeonun's gentle voice rang in Damho's ears.
Damho silently gazed at Cho Yeonun. Cho Yeonun gave a bitter smile.
“Great Hero Namgung is absolutely necessary for the world. He can't die yet.”
“......”
“If you still consider me a friend, please step back just this once. It's my first and last request as a friend.”
“Hyung!”
This time, even Bang Jinbo stepped up.
Bang Jinbo shook his head. This had all happened because of him. But he didn't want things to escalate further.
“Hyung, please.”
O Guni, Hae Sowol, Cho Yeonun, and now Bang Jinbo—all stood to block Damho.
Their anxious gazes fixed on him. The complex emotions in their eyes held Damho back.
Damho pushed past them toward Namgung Chang.
Cho Yeonun reached out but hesitated. Bang Jinbo had grabbed his hand.
Turning, he saw Bang Jinbo quietly shaking his head.
Damho crouched before Namgung Chang. Their gazes met at close range.
“I want you to never give up, you know.”
“What?”
“Attack me, keep attacking. Cling desperately. I'll kill you all.”
“Ugh!”
“Keep dying like that, and eventually you'll wipe out every life in the Namgung Clan.”
Namgung Chang's mind went blank.
Damho's words carried weight. Listening made it feel inevitable.
His limbs trembled like aspen leaves.
Namgung Chang lacked the courage to meet Damho's eyes. He bowed his head, avoiding them.
Watching this, O Guni shook his head.
‘That's spiritual murder.’
Killing isn't just severing breath.
Destroying will, collapsing the mind, annihilating the personality— that's murder too.
An incomprehensible sound escaped Namgung Chang's lips. His legs gave out, and he collapsed in place.
Damho rose, leaving Namgung Chang behind.
Namgung Chang's pant leg was soaking wet. Everyone knew what that meant.
All turned away, ignoring Namgung Chang.