The Heavenly Slaughter Star
The Heavenly Slaughter Star.
Dang Cheol-ak, the young master of the Sichuan Tang Clan, had finally caught the tail of the poison creature after three full days of pursuit.
It would have been impossible without the Poison Falcon, a bird said to track a scent for a thousand li. Even switching horses on flat ground, the distance had barely closed.
Only after chasing it for so long did he realize the truth: what they were pursuing wasn’t a poison creature at all, but a martial artist.
Of course. For something as eye-catching as that massive monster to vanish in an instant, it would need a special trick.
They say there are sorcerers in the Western Regions. Maybe it’s something like the Blood Cult’s corpse puppets.
During the investigation in the slums, several people had witnessed an old woman and a young lady fighting. Now that they were almost upon them, climbing the mountain, two sets of footprints appeared.
He didn’t know how the pair who had been fighting ended up traveling together, but the situation was clear enough. Since the battle hadn’t resolved itself, they must have released the monster. That meant one of them was the sorcerer.
He had no idea of their exact identity, but this was actually better. Capturing a sorcerer made of flesh and blood was far easier than subduing a monstrous beast born of corpse poison.
Especially since the people here were more specialized in hunting than anyone else in the Central Plains.
The Sichuan Tang Clan—masters of poison and hidden weapons.
This pursuit team consisted of direct descendants and elite warriors from the infamous Tang family. Unless the opponent was one of the Ten Great Masters of the World, no human could escape their coordinated assault.
After confirming the Poison Falcon’s position, Dang Cheol-ak signaled the team to synchronize their timing.
Full Sky Flower Rain!
The moment the thought crossed his mind—
Shushushushuk—!
Daggers and arrows shot up simultaneously from every direction.
Of course, the real Full Sky Flower Rain was nothing this crude. It was a secret technique only his father, the Poison Demon, or the previous supreme masters of the clan could wield.
Kwajik—! Kwadeuk—!
Still, it was enough to pin the enemy down.
While the opponent was immobilized, the Tang pursuit team released poisonous smoke.
The toxin spread thick across the ground and, triggered by explosives in the sky, began drifting down slowly from above. Anyone who hadn’t achieved the Tang warriors’ level of poison immunity would have been instantly afflicted.
Even if they detoxify it later, they might end up half-paralyzed. But that’s still better than letting that pitch-black monster loose to tear the team apart.
Honestly, the memory of that brief glimpse on the street had been so shocking that he really didn’t want to encounter it again.
All they needed to do was capture the sorcerer alive and bring them back.
Dang Cheol-ak nodded to himself as he observed the situation from behind the pursuit team.
As the young master and a direct descendant, his value was considerable, so he had no choice but to stay back and protect himself. After all, superiors were supposed to simply watch while their subordinates worked hard.
Likewise, Dang Seol-ah—who had been dragged along against her will—stood beside him with a bored expression, grumbling.
“Ugh, I just want to go home already.”
“Just hold on a little longer. It’ll be over soon. We just need to collect the sorcerer from inside there.”
“Seriously, why do I have to go through all this? We haven’t been able to enter a single village for three days. Just camping out in the wild…”
…Well, that was because their domineering father had ordered them to chase the target, and they had to obey.
Their father, the clan head of the Tang family, was a thorough pragmatist. A cold-blooded man who would immediately cast out anyone who failed to produce proper results.
Still, it’s almost over now.
Dang Cheol-ak felt a sense of relief as he watched the scene unfold.
The enemy couldn’t escape. They would be flailing helplessly inside the poisonous smoke, and the warriors were already lying in ambush at the only viable escape route.
Yes. It was all over.
Just like his sister, Dang Cheol-ak—who had been longing for a warm room and a hot bath—smiled faintly as he watched the bird flying toward him.
…Poison Falcon, thanks to you, we can finally head back after three—
Crack—!
A sudden straight line appeared across the body of the Poison Falcon flying toward the smiling Dang Cheol-ak.
“Huh?”
He widened his eyes at the corpse of the bird of prey, split cleanly in half and falling to the ground.
What was that just now?
…Why did the Poison Falcon—?
As soon as the question formed in his mind, Dang Cheol-ak found the answer.
We’re fucked.
There was no way the Poison Falcon would split in half and die on its own. Someone had cut it. And that someone was quite skilled.
The moment Dang Cheol-ak lowered his stance, his sister Dang Seol-ah also gasped and ducked her head.
Swish!
Right after the Tang siblings lowered their bodies, the tree behind them was sliced cleanly through.
Sword wind.
It was an advanced technique that launched sword strikes from a great distance. But even then, there had to be limits—this level of range was practically cheating.
Dang Cheol-ak glanced at the fallen tree, then looked forward again and shouted.
“They’re coming!”
Kwaaang—!
As warriors from the Tang clan were sent flying by an old woman from the northwest, a woman appeared right in front of them.
“Hahahahahaha!!!”
Jet-black hair and blood-red eyes. A face full of laughter, and a sharp Western-style blade rarely seen around here. Her body looked so slender one might wonder if she could even swing a sword properly, but she dispelled that doubt by slashing in a single motion.
────Jjeoeoeoeok.
A single swing cut an elite Tang warrior clean in half at the waist. Beyond the collapsing corpse, the woman’s face appeared, wearing a cruel smile.
“Ugh!”
Startled, Dang Cheol-ak pulled out hidden weapons from his sleeve and hurled them.
Unlike the half-hearted throw he’d made earlier while muttering about Full Sky Flower Rain, this time his hands carried the true essence of throwing techniques.
The enemy was right in front of him. If he didn’t kill her immediately, his own life would be in danger.
Shuriken, daggers, throwing stars, chain sickles.
Dang Cheol-ak threw them one after another, gradually increasing the distance.
His sister Dang Seol-ah had already climbed a tree at some point and was scattering poison needles with her hands.
Shushuk— Shushuk—!
They poured down like rain toward a single target.
Most opponents would panic at hidden weapons flying from multiple directions and fail to dodge at least one. Even if it wasn’t a direct hit, the slightest graze would spell victory for the Tang clan.
Because every weapon was coated in poison.
But the woman charging toward them was clearly abnormal.
Clang clang clang clang—!
With mere tilts of her blade tip, she deflected every hidden weapon. She also dodged the poison needles by slightly tilting her head or using footwork, all while cutting down the Tang warriors rushing to protect the direct descendant.
She continued advancing, closing the distance.
Shocked, Dang Cheol-ak practically fled as he became certain.
…She was on a completely different level.
At the very least, a peak-level master standing at the wall of limits.
No, that’s definitely Supreme Peak!
In that case, hunting was out of the question. The smart move was to run away immediately.
He didn’t know if she was comparable to the Ten Great Masters, but she was clearly just below that tier.
However, running right in front of such a high-level expert was practically impossible.
By the time Dang Cheol-ak tried to climb a tree like his sister, Liz was already right in front of him.
The young master of the Tang Clan panicked at the appearance of the murderous woman and drew his sword. He barely managed to block the incoming blade’s trajectory.
Kwaaaaaang!
Watching his own sword fly away in an instant, feeling the wide-open gap at his chest and arms, Dang Cheol-ak sensed his death approaching.
A sword. A sword was right before his eyes.
A bloodthirsty blade that would slice his life in two.
The moment Dang Cheol-ak faced his life flashing before his eyes, Liz was also certain of his death.
Once I kill this guy, I’ll just take care of the bitch on the tree shooting those needles—
────Full Sky Flower Rain.
If not for the sudden downpour of hidden weapons raining down like a storm, she would have driven her sword in.
Sensing the unusual energy contained within the barrage, she narrowed her eyes and immediately kicked off the ground.
Drrrrrrrrrrk!!
Each sharp projectile that struck the ground sounded like a woodpecker pecking at a tree.
But there were so many of them that the forest echoed as if thousands of birds were hammering the earth.
With every step Liz took, countless hidden weapons fell behind her, decorating her trail.
Some landed ahead of her, but each time she accelerated even more, turning the attack into a chase that could never quite catch her.
Just as she grew somewhat accustomed to the barrage chasing her from behind and raised her senses—
A man dropped down from the tree she was about to pass.
“Huh?”
Liz’s eyes widened.
It was an unexpected position, but the aura radiating from the man before her was far more tremendous than she had anticipated.
The clan head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the Poison Demon Dang Cheol-hwi, laughed wildly in midair and shouted.
“So you’re the treasure!”
At the same time, he thrust out his palm.
────Asura Poison Palm.
A single strike containing extreme poison that would spread to the opponent’s very marrow upon contact.
Facing the hand wreathed in pitch-black energy, Liz also thrust out her own palm.
A hand brimming with vicious demonic energy and blood-red fluid—the very hand of a mad demon.
Kwaaaaaaaaang——!!
In that instant, the palms of two devils collided.