Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Every Encounter Has Its End (1)
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Drip, drip!
Red rain poured down.
The scattering red rain dyed the Overlord Stronghold in a vivid crimson. To an outsider, it might have looked like a dreamlike, breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, a Dark Ghost's body exploded into pieces. The shattered flesh and blood splattered across the other Dark Ghosts, staining their bodies red.
It was enough to shake any ordinary martial artist, but not a hint of fear showed on the Dark Ghosts' faces.
They were Dark Ghosts who had lived in hiding for the past thirty years. They were prepared to throw away their lives for the glory of the Demonic Cult.
"Die!"
They attacked Damho, heedless of their own lives.
Crash!
One more Dark Ghost lost his life to Damho's strike. Still, they showed no signs of faltering.
*We must kill him.*
*If we let him live, he'll become a major threat to our cult.*
A man like Damho never forgot a grudge.
No matter how small, he remembered it to the end and only felt satisfied after exacting revenge. He had that spiteful temperament.
The Demonic Cult and Damho had already forged a deep grudge. If they let him go now, the repercussions would be endless.
Knowing this all too well, they unleashed their martial arts with everything they had. They poured out the ultimate techniques they had secretly honed for thirty years without restraint.
Forces capable of wiping out three or four mid-sized sects in a single night were going all-out against Damho. Because of this, wounds were gradually accumulating on Damho's body, even though he deflected most attacks with his Golden Turtle Shell.
Crack!
The Flying Death Spike blew off the head of a martial artist charging at the front.
Damho's body leaped into the air, his right foot tracing a bizarre curve.
Crunch!
The Bullet Demon Kick pierced through his opponent's chest.
It wasn't over.
Damho landed and seized the next opponent's collar without a moment to breathe.
"Wha—what?"
The opponent's body shot into the air like it had been caught in a whirlwind.
Then came the reversal. Head and feet flipped.
It was the Earth Shaking Strike.
Splat!
The opponent's head smashed like a watermelon against the ground. His body thrashed upside down for a moment before collapsing limply.
Slash!
In that interval, Damho took a sword slash to his side. But he didn't stop. It was merely a flesh wound.
It didn't hinder his movements at all.
The Three Strike Cannon Shadow Fist sank three Dark Ghosts charging from different directions.
Corpses piled up at Damho's feet.
One, two—they steadily increased, soon forming a mound, with pools of blood gathering on the ground.
Damho advanced, drenched in the Dark Ghosts' blood. At the end of his path stood Yuncheong.
At this moment, Yuncheong's face was unpleasantly contorted.
The Dark Ghosts he had painstakingly raised over thirty years were crumbling helplessly before Damho.
The Dark Ghosts surged toward Damho like a black tidal wave. But even their relentless assault couldn't halt his advance.
Damho was the sword cleaving through the wave.
Already, over fifty Dark Ghosts had lost their lives to him. Drenched in their blood, Damho's appearance was so horrific it would haunt anyone's nightmares.
"Y-You bastard!"
If he lost any more Dark Ghosts, forget conquering the Green Forest—he might not even preserve his own life.
Yuncheong realized it was time for him to step in.
"Haaah! Blue Chain Killing Wind!"
One of the Demonic Cult's secret arts, the Blue Fiend Demonic Art, unfolded.
Blue energy blades flew toward Damho.
The moment Damho executed Charge Step to evade the energy.
Grab!
Suddenly, three Dark Ghosts seized Damho's arms and legs.
"We're going together, Fist Demon!"
"Eternal sacred flame of eons! Protect us."
The voices of the Dark Ghosts holding Damho brimmed with blind fanaticism.
In the Demonic Cult, death was not an end but a beginning. There was nothing to fear.
Dying for the Demonic Cult was eternal glory, a path to paradise even in death.
Damho saw the madness in their eyes. An ordinary person would have been overwhelmed by their blind zeal.
But this level of fanaticism had no effect on Damho.
Damho drew his arms to his chest. The two men gripping them were dragged along.
Boom!
The energy struck right after. Damho had used the Dark Ghosts as shields.
The Dark Ghosts hit by the energy exploded into chunks of meat and flew off.
Damho kneed the head of the Dark Ghost clinging to his leg.
Crush!
The Dark Ghost's head shattered like tofu.
Damho kicked the headless body away.
Whoosh!
The body flew through the air. Yuncheong was there.
"Urk!"
Even the cold-hearted Yuncheong couldn't help but flinch as the corpse of a subordinate he'd shared thirty years with came flying at him.
Yuncheong gritted his teeth and swung his palm to swat away the Dark Ghost.
Boom!
His single palm strike burst the corpse.
Damho, bathed in the Dark Ghost's blood, resembled a blood demon.
He never let any Dark Ghost that charged at him live. The Dark Ghosts attacked desperately, but the gap in skill was too vast from the start.
They had trained for decades in seclusion, but fearing exposure, they had never once used the Demonic Cult's martial arts in real combat. Thus, there was an indescribable awkwardness in their movements.
In contrast, Damho had used his martial arts countless times in real battles.
His Lone Shadow Style had grown stronger through combat, with no hesitation in shedding blood.
"How is a cripple...?"
Yuncheong could hardly believe the scene before him.
Everything he had painstakingly built was collapsing because of Damho.
Fist Demon.
Now he understood why "demon" was in Damho's moniker.
Damho was a fiend risen from hell.
Starved for blood, he tolerated nothing blocking his path.
Through his blood-matted hair, black eyes gleamed. Those pitch-black eyes, devoid of emotion, were truly terrifying.
"Ugh!"
A groan escaped Yuncheong's lips unbidden.
Until now, only one being had ever made him feel fear.
Kang Wi, one of the Demonic Cult's Four Great Generals.
Kang Wi had a primal aura that instilled fear regardless of martial prowess.
Yuncheong had thought no warrior possessed an aura surpassing Kang Wi's. But the aura emanating from Damho before him far exceeded it.
Tremble!
Goosebumps rose on his skin, and his body shook involuntarily.
Regardless of martial skill, he was cowed by Damho's presence.
The surviving Dark Ghosts stood before him.
"Leader, flee!"
"We'll hold him off."
They instinctively knew their power alone couldn't stop Damho.
He was a being on another level.
*'At least one of the Four Great Generals or Seven Great Demons would be needed to face him.'*
The Four Great Generals and Seven Great Demons were the Demonic Cult's pinnacle warriors.
They rarely appeared in the martial world, but when they did, they brought calamity.
The Ten-Li Death Zone at Mount Socheon, who had annihilated the Murim Alliance's pursuit teams, was one of the Seven Great Demons.
The Dark Ghosts rated Damho as their equal.
Anyone with even faint knowledge of the Four Great Generals or Seven Great Demons would have been shocked.
Boom!
Damho's single strike pulverized three or four Dark Ghosts into meat and sent them flying.
Despite slaying countless foes, no fatigue showed on Damho's body.
"Urk!"
In the end, Yuncheong chose to flee.
Humiliating as it was, now was the time to bide his time.
The remaining Dark Ghosts attacked Damho en masse, and Yuncheong turned to run.
Rumble, boom!
At that instant, a massive explosion rocked the Overlord Stronghold.
The shock reached Yuncheong's back.
*'What the?'*
Something had happened. But he didn't dare look back. Turning would mean seeing Damho's blood-smeared face staring at him.
Drip, drip!
Chunks of red flesh rained down around him.
His heart sank.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust slammed into his back.
Yuncheong instinctively ducked. Something grazed his spine and the back of his head.
"Urk!"
A burning pain like fire made him scream.
When he looked up, Damho was already in front of him.
After blasting the Dark Ghosts away with Lightness Skill Wall, he had used Charge Step to catch up, then unleashed Blood Heaven Kick on Yuncheong.
Yuncheong barely dodged, but traces of Damho's foot remained on his back.
His clothes were torn, and the flesh blackened and dead. He had saved his life by a hair's breadth.
But Yuncheong's crisis wasn't over.
Whoosh!
Damho's fist whipped out like a lash. Single Sun Strike.
Yuncheong hurriedly circulated his Blue Fiend Demonic Art to protect himself. But Damho's fist curved in at an impossible angle and smashed his shoulder.
Thud!
Yuncheong's body lurched.
Another Single Sun Strike flew in. Yuncheong raised his power in desperation and blocked with his forearm.
Bang!
The impact felt like a sledgehammer blow, jolting his body violently.
His face crumpled, unable to maintain composure amid the excruciating pain.
Damho's Single Sun Strikes came relentlessly.
The same technique, the same trajectory.
"You're underestimating me?"
Yuncheong bellowed.
Though he cut a sorry figure, he was still a master who could emit energy.
Yuncheong tried to summon his energy for protection. But before he could fully circulate it, the Single Sun Strike landed.
It looked light at a glance, but immense inner force was packed into each Single Sun Strike. Each hit disrupted the energy Yuncheong struggled to muster.
Blood spurted from his nose, and bruises rapidly spread across his body.
Unable to endure the pain, a gap opened in Yuncheong's guard.
Screech!
The Bullet Demon Kick shot in.
Thud!
"Graaak!"
Yuncheong let out a guttural groan as the Bullet Demon Kick hit his abdomen. Then Damho's knee smashed into his face.
Yuncheong collapsed without even screaming.
Damho grabbed his collar and yanked him up.
Their eyes met.
Terror filled Yuncheong's eyes as he stared into Damho's pitch-black pupils.
In dealing with Yuncheong, Damho hadn't used any ultimate techniques. Just the combination of Single Sun Strike and Bullet Demon Kick had toppled an absolute master.
"Break your limbs and grind your bones to dust?"
"Th-That..."
Crunch!
Damho seized Yuncheong's arms and twisted. As his mouth gaped in agony, Damho's right foot shattered both knees.
Thud!
Yuncheong crumpled as his knees exploded. But he couldn't even sit comfortably. Damho yanked him up by the collar again.
"Y-You... devilish bastard!"
"Yeah, that's me."
"You'll be cursed."
"I'm counting on it."
Damho hoisted Yuncheong into the air and slammed him down. Earth Shaking Strike.
Boom!
Yuncheong's head shattered on impact with the ground.
His body thrashed briefly before collapsing.
Silence fell over the hall.