Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Martial God (39)
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Having no internal energy didn't mean one couldn't unleash martial arts.
Ak Muyoo, who had skipped over a whole zhang, planted his feet on the ground and thrust his spear downward.
Puk!
It was yet another proof that Ak Muyoo was a powerhouse built like an ox. Even without internal energy, relying solely on muscular strength, the spear plunged halfway into the sand. As it bore in relentlessly, about four chi deep, he felt it pierce through something heavy and substantial.
He twisted his wrist mercilessly, then yanked it out with all his might.
Chwak!
Sand stained red followed the spear, gushing up into the air.
Chak!
Ak Muyoo bent at the waist, propping himself with his left arm on the ground, stock-still. The spear remained horizontal in his right hand. In that position, he scanned the sandy floor. Right above the sand, a taut tension on the verge of bursting hung like fog, mingled with thick killing intent.
Tuk!
A few grains of sand shifted before his eyes.
'There!'
Ak Muyoo sprang up and charged straight ahead. He dashed a zhang without hesitation, then thrust his spear forward. There was no one in front of him where he stabbed.
'Why?'
Luha watched Ak Muyoo with a puzzled expression.
It was right then.
Puaak!
An assassin who had been lying in wait amid the sand burst forth. The moment he revealed himself, he thrust his weapon.
"......?"
The assassin's eyes widened.
The enemy wasn't approaching—only the spear tip was coming at him.
'He knew I'd leap up and waited...'
Puk!
The spear tip plunged into the assassin's dantian.
Puaak! Puaak! Puaak! Puaak!
Assassins erupted from four spots simultaneously. That was when Luha loosed her bowstring.
Twang! Twang! Twang! Twang!
Four arrows sliced through the air in succession, embedding into the assassins' bodies. Those who had leaped fell back down.
Puaak! Puaak! Puaak! Puaak!
More assassins sprang up again.
Four of them this time, surrounding Ak Muyoo. The distance between them and Ak Muyoo was close enough to strike with their weapons.
Ak Muyoo stabbed his spear into the ground there and gripped a dread hook in each hand. The assassins thrust their weapons at him. The weapon each assassin held was three chi long and about the thickness of two thumbs. A blade midway between sword and awl, called a "thin slayer."
A bluish glow leaked from the tip of the thin slayer, as if coated in poison.
He stepped back with his right foot, twisting his body sideways while sweeping up the dread hook in his left hand. The dread hook dug into the assassin's armpit.
Once embedded, the dread hook sliced through muscle and bone. Ak Muyoo twisted his wrist sharply in that state.
Udeuk!
The instant all the assassin's movements halted, he righted his twisted body. He yanked out the dread hook in his left hand while swinging the one in his right horizontally.
Saak!
The dread hook raked across the assassin's torso.
The assassin's back split open horizontally. Like a felled tree, the upper body pitched forward. He grabbed the assassin's waist with his right hand, yanking him back while lunging ahead. As he shot forward, he thrust the dread hook straight out.
Puk!
The dread hook pierced the assassin's heart. He twisted his wrist and kicked out with his right foot.
Swik!
His form retreated at tremendous speed.
It was a movement too fast for the naked eye. Sand grains floated around his feet, and sweat and blood droplets that had been falling hung motionless in the air, vibrating. He had entered the superhuman realm.
Once in the superhuman realm, he grew even faster.
As he retreated, he whipped the dread hook behind him.
Saaak!
The dread hook moved several times faster than his footwork.
Phantom Flash.
The first of the first six forms in the Illusion Demon Twelve Forms, a technique of the Hidden Heaven.
He hadn't only trained in Mad Thousand Blood Steps all this time. He had diligently practiced the Hidden Heaven's Illusion Demon Twelve Forms as well. With no internal energy, what caught his eye was speed. Among the twelve forms, the first—Phantom Flash—was the ultimate technique harnessing extreme velocity.
Of course, with internal energy added, it would be stronger, but even speed alone produced considerable power.
Hwiik!
The last assassin's thin slayer shot toward his neck. The dread hook in his left hand quickly traced a half-circle.
Tuk!
Just before the thin slayer reached his neck, the wrist was severed.
Before the severed hand hit the ground, the dread hook in his right hand swept from the left side of the assassin's neck to the right. The neck split open like a crocodile's maw, blood spraying out.
The blood drenched Ak Muyoo's body.
Ak Muyoo didn't dodge the blood. No, he had no room to dodge with other foes charging in.
Puaak! Puaak! Puaak!
From below where he stood, enemies leaped obliquely, creating pits. Ak Muyoo rolled forward, escaping the pit.
As he rolled, he released the dread hook, then sprang up swinging it.
The iron chain and dread hook together spanned five and a half chi, his arms four chi, totaling nine and a half chi of murderous weapon tearing through the air.
Peok!
The assassin's head was sliced diagonally from the left temple to the right jaw. The severed portion floated lightly upward.
Peok!
The dread hook swung with his left hand plunged into another assassin's jaw. It carved straight through the face and burst out the crown. The assassin's face split left and right like a fish gutted to remove its innards.
Pivoting on his extended left foot, he spun backward while sweeping his right arm horizontally.
The space the dread hook traversed was cleaved top to bottom. An assassin's neck lay in that space.
The dread hook's blade sank halfway into the right side of the assassin's neck. It sliced across the protruding Adam's apple, the tip carving the back of the neck.
The assassin's head whipped sideways and dropped with a thud. He stepped forward again with his left foot, then swept his left hand upward from low right to high.
The dread hook slipped under the assassin's swinging weapon and slammed into the right flank. From there, it rose to the left shoulder, diagonally bisecting the torso.
Though their necks were severed and bodies rent, the assassins didn't scream. Like soulless killers under orders to murder, they rushed at Ak Muyoo.
Ak Muyoo was the same—no words escaped him.
With cold eyes glaring at the foes, he swung his dread hooks. At times unleashing Mad Thousand Blood Steps, at times Beast Blood Demon Art, at times Phantom Flash.
As time passed, the speed of Ak Muyoo and his dread hooks accelerated further.
Sand grains that had merely floated at first now chased after him. They turned with him, flew when he swung his arms.
The dread hook was a venomous serpent bristling with poison.
It slipped exquisitely into blind spots, severing obstacles. If an arm impeded, it lopped the arm; if a leg blocked, it severed the leg.
The instant a foe with severed limb hesitated, he yanked another dread hook, gripped the handle, and split the head. Releasing and retrieving the dread hook was as swift as swinging it.
It was as if the chain and dread hook had become extensions of his arms. As his movements quickened, the number of slain assassins multiplied.
Ak Muyoo kept his stance as low as possible against the enemies. Sometimes on two feet, sometimes adding arms to crouch beast-like. Even prone, he swung the dread hooks to hamstring foes or shatter their dantians.
Piiik!
A flute sound echoed from somewhere.
At that, the assassins leaped into the air all at once.
Peok! Peok! Peok!
They quickly vanished into the sand.
Ak Muyoo hurled the spear he had planted aside toward Ak Gun-eok.
Ak Gun-eok's group had retreated to one side. Ak Gun-eok caught the flying spear.
Having thrown the spear, Ak Muyoo tucked his dread hooks at his waist and flattened himself like a lizard.
He pressed his body as close to the ground as possible, moving slowly. His movement mirrored a lizard's gait: left arm and right leg extended forward together to plant, then right arm and left leg.
Currently, he was executing Six Senses Heightening.
Six Senses Heightening, paired with Beast Blood Demon Art, elevated all bodily senses to their limits. With it active, he could sense surroundings through his skin.
Ak Muyoo crept slowly, then halted at one spot and stood.
'If I don't know where they're hiding, I lose—but if I do, I win.'
The difference between ambush and surprise attack. Enemies hidden in sand were ambushing; striking their backs was a raid. He drew the dread hooks from his waist into both hands, then leaped with full power.
Peok!
The moment his feet slammed into the sand, assassins erupted from all directions.
Shuk!
Ak Muyoo swiftly hurled both dread hooks. As the chains straightened, he spun in place at terrifying speed. His body turned first, arms following.
Saaaaak!
The dread hooks linked by arms and chains whirled ferociously, cleaving space top to bottom. And the waists of those who had leaped into the air.
Chak!
Ak Muyoo flattened again.
Tuk! Tuk-tuk-tuk! Tuk-tuk! Tuk!
The bisected corpses finally thudded to the ground. The sand turned red in an instant.
—Jeok Yeomcheon is closing in.
Gun Cheokjeon's transmission reached him then.
Ak Muyoo turned.
Just as Gun Cheokjeon said. The distance to Jeok Yeomcheon was rapidly narrowing. He raised his right arm high, then brought it down forcefully forward. A hand signal to charge at full speed.
"Haa!"
"Taha!"
Gun Cheokjeon's group whipped their camels' necks with reins. The camels bolted forward as one. As they ran, Luha ran with them. She pulled Ak Muyoo's camel along too.
Puaak! Puaak! Puaak!
Those hidden in the sand sprang up en masse, attacking Gun Cheokjeon's group.
"Taha!"
"Chaha!"
Gun Cheokjeon's group bellowed, swinging their weapons.
Chang! Chang!
Clangs of clashing weapons rang out, and three assassins crumpled. Blood poured from the necks of the fallen. But those emerging from the sand weren't all. The remaining five dove at the three.
Twang-twang-twang!
Luha released her bowstring, and five arrows tore through the air in succession.
Puk! Puk-puk-puk! Puk!
The five froze in place, then plummeted. As comrades fell, other assassins shot forward. Blocking their path was Ak Muyoo charging from the flank.
An assassin thrust his weapon at Ak Muyoo.
Chaang!
He parried the weapon with his dread hook, shoving it left while circling along the assassin's arm. Behind the assassin now, he swung his left dread hook.
The back of the assassin's neck split wide, blood spurting.
Shuak!
A weapon shot toward his arm. He twisted sideways, hurling the dread hook.
Puk!
The released dread hook plunged into the assassin's face. At that instant, a thin slayer shot toward Ak Muyoo's waist.
Ak Muyoo met the assassin's eyes.
A cold smirk of assured victory etched the assassin's face.
"You're pathetic."
He smashed down with the dread hook anyway.
Peok!
The assassin's thin slayer pierced toward Ak Muyoo's waist.
"Hk!"
The assassin unwittingly groaned. His thin slayer hadn't penetrated Ak Muyoo's torso. No, it barely entered before stopping.
'P-Protection?'
Peok!
In that moment, the dread hook crushed the assassin's skull.
"Keurk!"
The assassin screamed.
"Halt!"
A shout laden with internal energy boomed across the battlefield.