Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: The Demon Dyes Mount Hwasan with Blood (2)
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Dust clouds of gray smoke rose thickly from the collapsed Green King Hall.
The scene revealed amid the gray dust was utterly devastating.
The warriors who had deployed the Corpse Demon Iron Chain Formation lay dead, their bodies pierced by fragments of shattered iron chains. Dozens of them had been slaughtered in a single blow by an attack utilizing rebound protective qi.
“Cough!”
Hwang Kyungmun spat up blood.
His face had drained to a deathly white.
Rebound protective qi boasted terrifying power, but it demanded an enormous expenditure of internal energy in return. It was no simple technique that could be unleashed even after being poisoned by Lung Blood Powder and Scatter Energy Toxin.
Yet Hwang Kyungmun had no other choice.
The price of using rebound protective qi had emptied his energy reserves. He no longer had any strength left to resist the Scatter Energy Toxin.
“Urgh!”
His hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
“Kuuk!”
“Damn it! That was close to death.”
At that moment, warriors began rising from the ruins here and there.
They were the leadership, like Jo Yunsan and Yun Chung. In the moment of crisis, they had desperately flung themselves backward, barely saving their lives.
They were awed by Hwang Kyungmun’s strength.
Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined he could unleash rebound protective qi even after being poisoned by Lung Blood Powder and Scatter Energy Toxin. It was a feat beyond comprehension.
But Hwang Kyungmun’s condition was far from good.
“The old tiger has finally lost its fangs.”
Hwang Kyungmun barely held himself upright, using his sword as a crutch. Cutting him down now would be easier than flipping a hand.
Jo Yunsan approached Hwang Kyungmun with a smug smile.
“Total Branch Leader.”
“You bastard!”
“You’ve worked hard all this time. I’ll send you off painlessly on your final journey.”
Hwang Kyungmun ground his teeth at Jo Yunsan’s mockery.
He tried to muster his internal energy. But his dantian had been empty for a while now.
Drip, drip!
Deadly black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Jo Yunsan raised his nanga saber, aiming at Hwang Kyungmun’s neck.
“Your precious daughter, whom you cherished so much, will soon follow you. So don’t feel too aggrieved. Heh heh! Of course, I’ll have my fill of fun with her first.”
“You...?”
“That girl was mine from the start. You stole my possession.”
A streak of madness flickered across Jo Yunsan’s face.
“I won’t let you get away with this. I’ll tear you to a thousand, ten thousand pieces.”
Hwang Kyungmun clenched his teeth and forced himself to stand. But Jo Yunsan merely looked at him with a mocking sneer.
Hwang Kyungmun was a tiger without fangs. Even if he had a bit of strength left, it didn’t matter. There were plenty of men here willing to lay down their lives for him.
“Your era is over. The Green Forest craves a new hero. And that hero is...”
“Not you.”
A stranger’s voice cut in.
At the cold, emotionless voice, Jo Yunsan felt the blood in his veins freeze instantly.
Jo Yunsan whipped around. A familiar man was walking toward them.
“You’re Kwon... ma?”
It was Damho.
The moment Damho appeared, the air around them grew chillingly cold. The smiles vanished from the faces of Jo Yunsan, Yun Chung, and the others.
Jo Yunsan asked,
“What happened to Left Divine Pillar?”
“What do you think?”
“No way?”
Damho gave no reply. At that, all color drained from Jo Yunsan’s face.
Damho looked at him and smiled.
“You still haven’t remembered, have you.”
“You bastard... What grudge do you have against me...”
“You must have lived carefree all this time. Or maybe your memory’s just not that good.”
Damho walked toward Hwang Kyungmun.
Overwhelmed by his presence, Jo Yunsan and the others stepped back hesitantly.
In particular, the terror Lee Gaheun felt was beyond words. She pissed herself without realizing it.
Seeing Damho again revived the humiliation and fear she had felt that day, fresh as ever. Her entire body shook like an aspen leaf.
Yun Chung furrowed his brow at the sight.
‘This is bad.’
The numerous warriors present were all overwhelmed by the presence of a single man, Damho. They couldn’t bring out their full strength like this.
Yun Chung’s lips moved silently. He was sending a transmission to someone.
Jo Yunsan pressed his sword to Hwang Kyungmun’s neck and shouted,
“Come any closer, and the Total Branch Leader’s life is forfeit.”
“You were going to kill him anyway.”
Jo Yunsan was at a loss for words.
Boom!
In that instant, Damho kicked off the ground.
His body shot toward Jo Yunsan like a battering ram.
“Kuuk!”
Jo Yunsan didn’t even dare swing the nanga saber at Hwang Kyungmun’s neck; he hurriedly retreated.
“Stop him!”
Jo Yunsan’s subordinates rushed to protect him.
Swoosh!
Sharp sword qi and saber qi flew toward Damho.
In that moment, Damho’s body shuddered faintly. His shield had deployed.
Ting, ting, ting!
The sabers and swords clashed against the shield and bounced off all at once.
At that instant, Damho’s palm struck the empty air. It was a Single Palm Barrier that shocked the air’s currents.
Craaaack!
“Kuuk!”
“Huurgh!”
Jo Yunsan’s subordinates vomited blood from their seven apertures and collapsed.
Beyond the falling men, Jo Yunsan’s shocked face came into view.
Damho launched himself into the air.
“Grit! Damn it.”
Gwak Sam, the chief of Baeknok Branch, threw himself at Damho to block him.
No matter the situation, Jo Yunsan was their linchpin. If Jo Yunsan fell, today’s grand undertaking would fail, and they’d have no place in the world.
“Die, you ghost-like bastard!”
Gwak Sam swung his saber with all his might. Saber qi gathered along its edge.
He figured this one strike might not kill Damho, but it would at least force him back.
‘Just make him retreat once. Then we’ll find a way.’
So he poured his energy into the saber without holding back.
Ziiiing!
His saber let out a resonant hum.
Clang!
But the hum didn’t fully ring out. Damho’s hand had seized it.
Damho, who had used Silver Net Hand to grab the saber, squeezed. The blade snapped in half.
Damho jammed the broken blade fragment into Gwak Sam’s forehead.
Stab!
“Gaaah!”
Gwak Sam’s eyes bulged as he toppled backward.
“You demonic bastard!”
Jo Yunsan trembled with rage and mustered all his internal energy.
There was no retreating now.
If he couldn’t repel Damho, he had no future left. Only evil remained.
He channeled energy into his nanga saber.
Chiiiik!
Fierce saber qi erupted from the nanga saber.
The flickering qi soon solidified into a clear saber form, extending half a zhang in length.
“It’s saber gang!”
“Whoa! The chief has unleashed saber gang!”
The Black Water Branch warriors who recognized it cheered.
Saber gang, the symbol of absolute powerhouses. Jo Yunsan had been hiding his true achievements all this time.
Jo Yunsan poured every ounce of his energy into this single attack.
His instincts whispered to him.
He had to fell Damho in one blow. Fail, and there would be no second chance.
Chiiiik!
The saber gang descended toward Damho as if to cleave heaven and earth.
In that instant, Damho’s form blurred. His signature shield deployed, and the saber gang struck his body directly.
KABOOM!
An explosion rang out, jolting Damho’s body.
A fountain of blood sprayed from his shoulder. Muscle tore open, exposing raw red flesh.
The excruciating pain nearly ripped his mouth open. Yet Damho didn’t utter a single groan.
He fed his rage with the pain.
This much was nothing.
Damho smiled. The sight terrified Jo Yunsan even more.
“Uwaaaah!”
In that moment, Damho rammed into Jo Yunsan with his torso.
BOOM!
Jo Yunsan’s body flew backward.
Fortunately, he had circulated his energy to protect his body at the moment of impact, avoiding severe injury.
Jo Yunsan tried to stay calm and rational for a counterattack.
But then Damho’s fist smashed into his pelvis. It was Bone Shattering Fist.
Crunch!
“Gaaaaah!”
Jo Yunsan’s mouth gaped open unwittingly.
A pain on a whole different level pierced through his body. He didn’t need to look to know.
His pelvis had been utterly crushed.
The numbness below his waist confirmed it.
As Jo Yunsan’s body crumpled, Damho’s fist slammed into his side.
Crack!
His left ribs shattered entirely.
“Kaaaaak!”
Jo Yunsan’s agonized scream echoed through Baekwang Branch.
Unable to endure the horrific pain, he collapsed to the ground.
Only then did Damho stop.
Blood streaming from his shoulder stained his body red, evoking the image of a blood ghost.
Damho glanced at his torn shoulder. The muscle gaped open to the bone—a grave wound. Yet he felt nothing, as if it were someone else’s body.
Damho flexed his torn shoulder. The hideous gash contracted, stemming the flow of blood somewhat.
It was Damho’s unique method of staunching wounds through muscle contraction.
“T-That...?”
Yun Chung stammered at the unbelievable sight.
Damho didn’t spare Yun Chung a glance. His eyes were fixed solely on Jo Yunsan.
“Guuuuh!”
Jo Yunsan’s face twisted like a demon’s from the effort of enduring the pain. Seeing it, Damho smiled.
“Looks good.”
“What grudge do you have against me...”
“You still haven’t remembered to the end. I figured as much.”
“You...?”
“It’s fine. You’ll remember now.”
Damho pulled something from his bosom.
It was a porcelain jar the size of a child’s fist.
Rustle!
When Damho shook the jar, a strange sound emanated from within. Jo Yunsan shuddered with a chill for some reason.
He didn’t know why. His body reacted before his mind could.
“I prepared this just for you.”
“Kuuk! What is that?”
“Curious?”
Damho’s lip curled up. Jo Yunsan’s expression hardened further.
He wanted to run.
He wanted to flee this place even a second sooner. But his legs wouldn’t obey. His shattered pelvis.
Only then did Jo Yunsan realize his predicament.
Damho squatted down in front of him, meeting his gaze.
Tremble!
Jo Yunsan’s body shook.
Damho slightly uncorked the jar. Something small crawled out from inside.
The creature with six legs and tiny antennae was an ant.
Having been trapped inside for so long, it shook violently upon emerging.
Damho placed the ant on Jo Yunsan’s cheek.
“W-What?”
“It’s a Hell Blood Ant. A nasty one. One bite, and you’ll wish you were dead.”
Crunch!
In an instant, the Hell Blood Ant bit into a wound on Jo Yunsan’s cheek.
“Guuuuh!”
Jo Yunsan shuddered. The bitten spot swelled up, accompanied by an unbearable itch.
Damho opened the jar a bit more. Dozens more Hell Blood Ants crawled out and climbed onto Jo Yunsan’s body.
“N-No!”
Jo Yunsan’s eyes widened.
In that moment, dozens of Hell Blood Ants bit into him all over.
“Uwaaaak!”
Jo Yunsan writhed. Indescribable pain surged alongside the intense itching.
Damho stared down at him impassively.
“Oh, that scar on your cheek. I made that. Twenty years ago...”
“T-Then?”
Only then did Jo Yunsan remember Damho.