Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Blue Bee Honey Temple (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The severed arm flew off into the distance along with Yeomhwa, but it soon returned to Si-woo.
The monster growled warily at the red glow clinging to Si-woo's sword.
Thanks to Park Jin-su's lifetime of experience battling monsters, he knew exactly what to do.
'Start with the limbs.'
He abandoned any thoughts of going for a fatal blow right away.
- Whoosh!
A massive arm came crashing down like an iron club.
- Boom!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had hit. The sheer power of that strike sharpened his focus instinctively. Even without using acceleration, the monster's attack felt crystal clear.
He sidestepped one step and calmly swung his sword.
There was slight resistance, but he managed to sever one of its fingers.
A flying dagger shot in from somewhere and embedded itself in the monster's eyeball. It was Dang Hwa-rin's doing.
"Oh..!"
"Grrraaah!"
The monster, irritated by the dagger in its eye, dug it out without hesitation.
Its gouged-out eye socket was now empty. But flesh was already welling up inside, as if even the eyeball was regenerating.
The severed finger was doing the same.
"Damn.."
Si-woo circled the monster, pondering how to take it down.
- Thud! Thud!
Its attacks packed enough power to inflict fatal wounds with a single hit. Just the wind brushing his skin made his hairs stand on end.
He dodged by exploiting the blind spot where its eyeball hadn't regenerated yet, when Joo Seol-ran's voice rang out.
"Buy some time!"
She began circling the area, scattering embers everywhere.
He decided to trust her. Si-woo evaded the monster's strikes while slashing whenever an opening appeared.
Dang Hwa-rin hurled daggers nonstop, aiming to take out its remaining eye, but the monster desperately guarded that one.
'Swift (), Sharp ().'
Speed and keenness. Even its tough flesh and bones yielded to the blade infused with sharpness. It wasn't sword ki, but it was plenty sharp.
He circled the monster, hacking at its tendons and the ends of its limbs. With Dang Hwa-rin's daggers turning it into a pincushion, victory was only a matter of time.
'This thing's stubbornly tough.'
Regeneration was the issue. He'd severed its fingers dozens of times, but they kept growing back. And the regeneration seemed to be speeding up.
Si-woo lunged at an opening.
- Stab!
The sword buried into flesh and wouldn't advance further.
'It's gotten tougher?'
The monster wasn't just taking hits. Somehow, it was growing stronger. Regeneration was bad enough, but it was adapting too.
As Si-woo grimaced at the sudden resistance, a leg came flying at him.
He was about to use his remaining acceleration when he marveled.
- Boom!
A dagger intercepted the leg.
How could such a light dagger block an attack from that monster? It was astonishing.
From a glance, Dang Hwa-rin's face looked pale.
As Si-woo considered fleeing, Joo Seol-ran's voice boomed.
"It's ready! Get out of there!"
- KABOOM!
The moment she shouted, the scattered embers converged on the monster.
Each ember shot toward it as if guided by will. The incoming flames began incinerating the monster.
"Graaaah!"
The monster flailed its arms in agony.
Watching that, Si-woo paused. With his heightened focus, he could feel the surrounding energy seeping into Yeomhwa.
Yeomhwa had a property of coalescing.
'This could...?'
An idea for a new technique flashed in his mind, but he hesitated on whether to try it.
"Grraaack!"
The monster roared in pain, but its momentum remained fierce.
Burned flesh sloughed off only to regenerate repeatedly. Seeing that erased any doubts.
Joo Seol-ran glared at the monster, blood streaming from her nose.
Si-woo called out to Hwa-rin.
"Hwa-rin, can you pierce its forehead bone?"
"...I'll try."
She drew a greenish dagger and began focusing.
Even amid the chaos, faint heat haze rose from her half-closed eyes and the dagger.
Seeing that, Si-woo prepared.
Dang Hwa-rin's hand twitched, and Si-woo kicked off the ground.
'Sharp (), Flame ().'
The two attributes of Mixed Origin Qi began merging. He burned through his remaining acceleration.
The hazy dagger and Si-woo shot forward like beams of light.
The heat-shrouded dagger burrowed into the monster's head. Cracking sounds echoed as bone shattered.
Si-woo's sword followed. He realized this strike was an original move he'd created.
- Swift Advance Strike: Razor Flame
His sword, wreathed in red haze, streaked like a comet and pierced the monster's forehead. The fastest thrust he'd ever unleashed—an ultimate swift sword.
- Crunch!
- Thud!
Half the monster's head sheared off. Si-woo soared through the air and landed.
The monster's belated swing smashed empty ground.
Yeomhwa flickered at the cleaved section.
Even the mangled head began regenerating.
'Not enough..?'
The head had sealed shut completely. Yeomhwa was buried in flesh, out of sight.
Despite losing half its head, the monster staggered to its feet. Joo Seol-ran's flames, which had engulfed its body, were dying out as she vomited blood.
"Cough..!"
Madness gleamed in the monster's remaining eye. It looked ready to pounce on Si-woo any second.
But
"Kuhh..."
Instead of a roar, only a hollow wheeze escaped its gaping maw.
The monster's knees buckled as it charged Si-woo.
- Crash!
It flailed as if grasping at the air and collapsed. Dust billowed from its massive body.
Flames erupted from the back of its head.
Yeomhwa began consuming the monster's body from within. Joo Seol-ran muttered unwittingly.
"What is that flame..?"
An eerie fire she'd never seen before. It was burning a monster that even her Phoenix Unit techniques couldn't touch...
The creature twitched for a long while before turning to ash. Amid the remains lay shattered black mana stones and an orb.
Si-woo scooped them up and said to the two women. It had taken longer than expected—others might catch up.
"Let's bounce."
A man sipped from a liquor bottle in a space littered with mangled corpses. Despite the bodies everywhere, he looked bored.
It had been two months since they'd set up their ritual site here. At first, his men had been disciplined, but time had made them lax.
Hiding in these barren mountains without women was torture. Then someone came running up.
"Division Leader! The ritual master's been taken down!"
"What..?"
The subordinate quickly explained.
A surge of energy erupted from the man, who had been leisurely drinking. The thick stench of blood mixed with the sharp reek of alcohol.
He expelled the liquor from his system and rose.
"Damn it... Who the hell is it? Such a pain..."
He cursed the bodyguard who'd become a corpse. The ritual master was at fault too—bringing just one guard because it was a hassle. Weakling deserved it.
The subordinate fidgeted before the laid-back leader.
"Uh... Division Leader, they're heading to Blue Bee County. Our men are pursuing, but they might be too late."
"Hah! Just raze that backwater village to the ground."
"But... higher-ups said absolutely not to enter Blue Bee County..."
"Tch. So what if there's one old Taoist? Blue Moon Hermit? If she crosses me, she'll be my cumrag. Hah! Might as well grab her and use her as a toilet."
He grinned sleazily. With that confident declaration, he vanished from his spot.
Then he began pursuing Si-woo's group.
He raced through the forest, stepping on scant branches.
At tremendous speed, the distance closed in moments. He overtook his ahead subordinates.
Three fleeing figures came into view.
*
Si-woo hardened his expression.
They were almost at the village, but they'd been caught. Sword ki flew in from somewhere, blocking their path.
- Kaboom!
The road crumbled, forcing the group to evade and slowing them drastically. The path was sealed in an instant.
'Shit. Sword ki?'
Someone capable of casually unleashing a Peak Realm technique at minimum. A high expert descended like he was flying and blocked the way.
He landed without kicking up a speck of dust despite his speed, glaring coldly at the group.
Assessing their levels, he scoffed incredulously.
"You vermin dare...!"
Si-woo sized him up, but couldn't gauge his realm. Despair crossed the group's faces.
'Damn it.'
He stood arrogantly, showing no openings. Dozens of thugs soon caught up from behind.
The man blocking the front nodded curtly. Arms crossed as if too lazy to lift a finger, he barked.
"Capture them alive."
"Yes, sir."
Dozens of warriors charged with fierce auras. Excluding a few at the edge of second-rate, they were all first-rate.
As Si-woo racked his brain on escaping reality, a cold voice echoed from above.
"Haa... What's this racket in the middle of the night..."
The quiet voice rang clearly in everyone's ears. The arrogant man's face stiffened.
Forcing his tense body to relax, he spoke in a trembling voice.
"...I'll hold them off. Retrieve the divine relic."
The Blue Moon Hermit descending from the sky sneered at him.
"Heh... Arrogant fool who doesn't know his place."
- Hum!
Blue moons rose all around the dark night sky.