Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Uprooting the Pillar
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The hazy dust slowly began to settle.
The spectators, filled with curiosity, scanned every corner of the training grounds, which were still partially obscured by dust.
However, the training ground was so vast and their vision so clouded that they couldn't quite make sense of the situation.
Of course, it was a different story for the masters in the VIP seats.
They were looking precisely where they could feel energy on the training grounds.
Yet, they shared one thing in common with the general audience.
They couldn't take their eyes off the training grounds.
This was because the duel, which they believed would end in an instant, had dragged on, and what's more, they had felt the Sword Heavenly Pillar's energy gradually weakening from the midpoint.
Now that the situation seemed to be over, his energy couldn't be felt at all.
It was impossible not to be curious.
‘There’s no way a Pillar was defeated by a mere cadet…’
Everyone thought the same thing.
Thus, most of them anticipated the Sword Heavenly Pillar’s growth, not his death.
After all, for the energy felt during a duel to suddenly vanish, there were only two possibilities.
Either he was dead, or he had become strong enough to conceal his energy completely.
They leaned toward the latter, rather than believing the Sword Heavenly Pillar had been defeated and killed by Maeng Ak.
Of course, Maeng Ak's presence before the duel began was startlingly formidable.
But the fact that he was still a cadet made them bet on the latter.
The gap in experience was simply too vast for him to win against the Demonic Cult's greatest master, the Sword Heavenly Pillar.
And so, they waited with bated breath for the dust to clear completely.
The power structure of the Demonic Cult would shift depending on how much the Sword Heavenly Pillar, who would soon emerge from the dust cloud, had grown.
For this reason, not only the other Four Heavenly Pillars, but also the Guardians, the Elders, and even the Cult Leader watched the training grounds, their palms sweating.
However, their predictions were all utterly wrong.
For it was not the Sword Heavenly Pillar who emerged as the dust cleared, but Maeng Ak.
Gasps erupting from the audience proved that this unbelievable sight was reality.
“The... the cadet is alive!”
“The Sword Heavenly Pillar was defeated?!”
“Where is the Sword Heavenly Pillar?”
“Th-There! The Sword Heavenly Pillar’s corpse!”
Indeed, where one spectator pointed, lay the body of the Sword Heavenly Pillar, missing its head and an arm.
The martial uniform covering the body showed just how desperately he had fought before his death.
The silk, once bluer than the sky, was now soaked in dirt and sticky blood.
What was even more surprising was Maeng Ak's appearance.
In stark contrast to the Sword Heavenly Pillar's gruesome corpse, he was immaculate.
The only sign of a struggle was a slight tear in his cadet uniform, and his breathing was steady, suggesting he hadn't exerted himself much.
It was unbelievable.
The audience, and even the top masters in the VIP seats, could only stare at him in astonishment.
For a moment, silence fell.
*Creeak. Clank!*
Only the sound of the Black Plaque Sword returning to its place echoed across the quiet main plaza.
Just then, someone shattered the silence with a tearful voice.
“You bastard! What have you done to our Sword Heavenly Pillar!”
The cry, like a scream of despair, came from the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate's section in the VIP seats.
Everyone, including Maeng Ak, turned their gaze there.
There stood an old man with a white beard that flowed down to his chest.
He was the Sword Elder, the oldest of the three elders of the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate.
Not content with just shouting, he even used his movement technique to leap onto the training ground.
Judging by his movement technique alone, he was a master of at least the Transcendent level.
However, that was not nearly enough to even threaten Maeng Ak.
Unable to contain his rage any longer, he moved to draw his sword.
But someone from the VIP seats stopped him with a Lion’s Roar alone.
“Halt!”
At that single word, filled with profound internal energy, the Sword Elder stopped drawing his sword and coughed up blood.
It was truly immense power.
In terms of internal energy alone, this person was far superior to the Sword Heavenly Pillar.
Even Maeng Ak couldn't help but be impressed by that Lion's Roar.
To channel such immense power and target only the Sword Elder was something not even he could do easily.
That was why Maeng Ak, who hadn't flinched when the Sword Elder charged, instinctively turned his head.
Toward the VIP seats, where the Lion's Roar had come from.
There, surprisingly, sat the Great Elder, who bore the moniker "Mad Demon."
The Great Elder, perhaps thinking the Lion’s Roar wasn't enough, furiously rebuked the Sword Elder.
“You cur! How dare you lose control of your emotions and run wild! Intervening in the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon's test without the Cult Leader’s permission!”
He mentioned the Cult Leader, speaking as if he were expressing anger on his behalf.
But in truth, it was nothing more than a deception.
There was another reason.
As if to prove it, the Mad Demon shifted his gaze from the Sword Elder to the other high-ranking members.
‘I have to establish control from the outset. With the Sword Heavenly Pillar dead, the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates’ power has weakened, and the power structure will change. That brat is not to be touched by anyone, at least not until our Council of Elders has seized full control!’
He conveyed his inner thoughts clearly to the high-ranking members through his blazing eyes.
‘If you intend to harm Maeng Ak now, you’ll have to go through me first,’ he was saying.
To him, Maeng Ak, who had no backing yet, was his only chance to gain justification.
‘First, I must make that brat the Young Cult Leader. Then, under the Council of Elders’ control… no, under my control, I will seize the main cult.’
Though he seemed to be acting for Maeng Ak's sake now, the Great Elder, just like the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates and the Cult Leader, was only thinking of using him.
However, there was no way Maeng Ak, who had been through thick and thin, wouldn't know that.
After hearing the Great Elder Mad Demon's words, Maeng Ak opened his mouth.
“As the Great Elder said, please see this test as just a test. Of course, there was a small accident, but please consider it a failure of a junior to control his strength. I meant no harm to the Sword Heavenly Pillar. So, please, do not be angry.”
To tell them not to be angry after felling the pillar of a Gate was a blatant provocation to the now leaderless forces of the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate.
However, because of the Great Elder's stern warning, no one dared to speak rashly.
But then, Maeng Ak continued, completely upending the situation the Great Elder had arranged.
“However, I am not unaware of your grief. Therefore, I shall give you a chance. For the next quarter of an hour, anyone who comes up to this training ground and challenges me, I will accept, no matter who it is.”
“This is an outrage!”
At such arrogant words, the Sword Elder, who had been forced to keep his mouth shut, erupted in anger once more.
But this time, the Great Elder couldn't intervene.
It was an affair Maeng Ak himself had initiated.
‘That untamable brat… I can’t get a read on him at all. I’ll have to tighten his leash one day.’
All the Great Elder Mad Demon could do was inwardly suppress his frustration. For him, who wanted to make Maeng Ak his puppet, this situation was as displeasing as it was for the Sword Elder.
But Maeng Ak didn't have the time to care about others' feelings.
The Sword Elder before him was already charging as if to kill him.
“Vengeance for the Sword Heavenly Pillar! Hyaaa!”
The Sword Elder, an elder of the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate, also charged, unleashing the Azure Demon Sword of the Heavenly Pillar.
But contrary to his will, he couldn't easily cut down Maeng Ak.
The Sword Heavenly Pillar's sword, which had reached the pinnacle of the Azure Demon Sword, couldn't even touch Maeng Ak; there was no way a mere elder's sword could.
The Sword Elder was not unaware of this fact.
No, he knew it all too well.
But he had no choice but to charge.
Because Maeng Ak was still a cadet.
After today, he wouldn't be able to touch him until he left the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon.
Not with the Great Elder Mad Demon watching with his sharp eyes.
And if time passed and he did emerge from the Divine Hall, he would surely be an even greater monster, impossible to handle.
Regrettably, the only chance was now.
Right now, when Maeng Ak himself had refused the Mad Demon's protection.
Honestly, he wasn't entirely without confidence.
He thought the Sword Heavenly Pillar must have depleted some of Maeng Ak's stamina and internal energy.
But his opponent was more of a monster than he had expected.
*Thwump!*
“Your title of Sword Elder is a disgrace.”
The opponent before him was a young man, young enough to be his grandson, yet he had blocked his life's ultimate technique with such ease.
Just as he felt like he was being toyed with, Maeng Ak sent a heavy fist of energy flying toward his abdomen.
‘I-I’m going to die…!’
It was a trajectory impossible to dodge.
At this rate, a large hole would surely be blown through his stomach.
‘Is this what death is like? …Did the Sword Heavenly Pillar also depart this way?’
The Sword Elder, even in the face of death, thought of his master, the Sword Heavenly Pillar, and squeezed his eyes shut.
It was then.
“First Elder, get a hold of yourself! We will join you!”
Just before he was struck by Maeng Ak, the other two of the three elders from the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate barely blocked the fist energy and joined the fray.
As soon as the Sword Heavenly Pillar's death was confirmed, they had gone to lock the gates to prevent other factions from snatching their livelihood.
Of course, that was just a temporary measure, so they had to hurry.
“First Elder, we don’t have much time.”
“I understand…”
The Sword Elder read the urgency in the second and third elders’ expressions.
Although they had jumped in to save him in a critical situation, he could feel that they didn't have much time to spare either.
‘This is all because of that bastard!’
The Sword Elder glared at Maeng Ak with murderous intent, just as Geom Cheon-ha and the Sword Heavenly Pillar had.
‘He is truly a mortal enemy. The Sword Heavenly Pillar was one of the five pillars supporting the Demonic Cult, and at the same time, the pillar supporting the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate. And yet he dared to harm such a person…!’
Thanks to Maeng Ak, the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate was now on the path to ruin.
He couldn't guarantee victory in this battle, but he had no choice.
He had to eliminate this enemy quickly and help the second and third elders with their task.
Then, at the very least, they could prevent the annihilation of their Gate.
“From this moment, the second and third elders will join me in dedicating our lives to punishing our Gate's enemy!”
At the Sword Elder’s cry, the second and third elders responded by igniting their sword energy.
All three of their swords shone with an azure light.
“Hyaaa!”
They simultaneously, and with swift precision, aimed for Maeng Ak’s vitals.
The combined attack of three Transcendent masters who had been together for decades was as fierce as the Sword Heavenly Pillar's sword aura.
But unfortunately for them, their opponent was too strong.
Just like the torrent of the Sword Heavenly Pillar's aura, which had shone so brightly it seemed it could split the very sky.
The three elders' combined attack was scattered without a trace by a single sweeping blow from Maeng Ak.
“What is this…!”
And like their master, the Sword Heavenly Pillar, they had to face a powerless death.
*Splat!*
Starting with the First Elder's chest at the forefront, the other two elders also felt the pain of their bodies exploding.
The pain was deep, but brief.
Because death came that quickly.
“……!”
At the astonishing and gruesome sight, those with weak stomachs turned away, while the strong could only gape in shock.
It was a combined attack from three Transcendent masters who had trained together for decades.
Even a master of the Enlightenment Realm would have to be prepared to lose a limb.
But Maeng Ak had shattered it with his bare hands.
They hadn't seen the fight with the Sword Heavenly Pillar because of the dust, but this was different.
It was the moment Maeng Ak’s overwhelming power was proven before everyone.
No one could easily recover from the shock.
Only the person responsible, Maeng Ak, could act as if nothing had happened.
“Hmm, the quarter of an hour is almost up… Any more challengers? Don’t bother me later, come out now.”
He held up his right hand, from which blood dripped, to his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
As if searching for prey.
Even those who had initially disliked Maeng Ak were now busy avoiding his gaze.
Among them, the ones who were most pale were, of course, the Three Phoenixes and One Dragon, excluding Geom Cheon-ha who had been carried to the infirmary.
*Gulp.*
They silently prayed that Maeng Ak would not turn his gaze below the training ground.
Of course, not everyone was terrified.
Some inwardly acknowledged Maeng Ak as a new rival, some sharpened their blades of revenge, and some praised his overwhelming martial might.
“How boring.”
As the promised quarter of an hour passed, Maeng Ak began to descend from the stage.
He felt he had more or less achieved his goal.
But just then, someone called out to stop him.
“Cadet number 1390, Maeng Ak, heed my command.”