Chapter 376: Dawn (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 376: Dawn (4)
Van Kruger quietly stared at the man blocking his path.
A brief silence hung between them.
“...What did you do with the Crow?”
“Who knows?”
Kang Hyun-woo wore a meaningful expression.
The conversation ended there, but as Van Kruger looked at the man who had blocked his attack, he was certain.
Lancelot, Tristan, and the Crow had all been defeated by the man before him.
His youthful appearance meant nothing.
Though he was a battered wreck, Kang Hyun-woo's aura, as refined and calm as a tranquil lake, was more than enough to put Van Kruger on high alert.
“Excuse me.”
“Eek?!”
Snatch!
Kang Hyun-woo seized the opportunity to pull Delia into his arms, putting distance between them and Van Kruger.
Held in the arms of a strange man without any warning, Delia let out a short scream and was rendered speechless.
She was too busy trying to hide her beet-red face.
Kang Hyun-woo set her down and checked her condition.
“Are you okay?”
As Delia met Kang Hyun-woo's piercing gaze, she couldn't help but nod.
Her entire body still throbbed with pain, but perhaps it was the relief of having someone to rely on?
For some reason, she felt a little better.
“Okay? I doubt it.”
Tap, tap-tap—
Kang Hyun-woo chuckled, tapping various points on Delia's body and striking her pressure points.
Soon, the bleeding stopped, and the pain began to slowly subside as if she'd been given an anesthetic.
Only then did Delia's expression finally relax.
“Drink this and rest for a bit. I'll be back after I finish this up.”
Taking the bottle of holy water, Delia stared blankly at Kang Hyun-woo for a moment.
But that moment was fleeting. She couldn't hide her bewilderment as he walked toward Van Kruger on his own two feet.
She was no medical expert, but she could tell that Kang Hyun-woo's condition was far worse than her own, not better.
Delia urgently tried to stop him, but her tongue felt stiff and frozen, the words refusing to come out.
Besides, she could barely muster any strength in her body.
All she could do was watch Kang Hyun-woo's back as he walked toward what seemed like certain death.
“...If I had known a monster like you existed, I would have planned this differently from the start.”
Van Kruger unleashed his killing intent toward Kang Hyun-woo.
But in its own way, this was a compliment.
It was a form of respect for the warrior who had single-handedly defeated three of Belmoras's apostles.
Despite this, Kang Hyun-woo showed no particular reaction.
He simply loosened up his body, took a stance, and slowly beckoned to Van Kruger with his fingers.
The Heaven-Shattering Demonic Sword was not with him.
After Talion died of old age, the sword had latched onto the corpse of its own accord and begun absorbing its demonic energy.
He didn't have the luxury of waiting around for it to finish.
Drip—
Kang Hyun-woo wiped the blood trickling from his lips with the back of his hand.
He felt like he would vomit a torrent of blood if he so much as opened his mouth.
The aftereffect of using the Void Energy twice in one day had brought an immense fatigue to his body.
If he hadn't stimulated his brain with his remaining magic power to induce an awakened state, he would have passed out long ago.
His internal injuries were that severe, and both his magic power and internal energy were hitting rock bottom.
And yet, strangely enough, the senses throughout his entire body were sharper and clearer than ever before.
BOOM!
Van Kruger kicked off the ground and charged toward Kang Hyun-woo.
Delia gasped at the incredible force of his advance.
To think she had tried to block an attack like that head-on... It was a moment of realization of just how reckless she had been.
But Kang Hyun-woo didn't retreat a single step.
The aura shimmering in his hands glowed with the same color as Delia's eyes.
Kang Hyun-woo skillfully executed Chin Na techniques, deflecting Van Kruger's fist to the side.
Hand-to-hand combat is composed of three basic elements.
Striking, deflecting, and grappling.
However, in a battle between masters who have surpassed a certain level, even this simple structure transforms into a psychological war with hundreds, even thousands, of possible outcomes.
Van Kruger viciously grabbed Kang Hyun-woo's hand as it tried to twist his arm.
Just as he was about to snap the arm, Kang Hyun-woo slipped from his grasp a step faster.
His movements were like those of a snake.
Seeing the unfamiliar movements, a deep curve formed on Van Kruger's lips.
A powerful curiosity began to stimulate his combat instincts.
BANG, KABOOM, KABOOOM!!!
With overwhelming physical abilities that surpassed even Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table, and a tyrannical demonic energy, Van Kruger began to push Kang Hyun-woo back.
Clad in demonic energy and aura, Van Kruger's fists caused violent explosions with even a grazing blow.
There's a saying that skill becomes meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.
Kang Hyun-woo used the Chin Na he had trained in to deflect the attacks as best he could, but he couldn't avoid taking damage from the shockwaves of the explosions.
The accumulated wounds slowly began to increase.
After dozens of exchanges, Van Kruger instinctively felt certain of his victory.
Kang Hyun-woo was undoubtedly a powerful warrior.
At an age of no more than his early twenties, he had not only claimed victory against Lancelot and Tristan, who had made their names as Knights of the Round Table, but he had also defeated Talion, a being so mighty in his authority that few within Belmoras could face him.
But that was a result he couldn't have achieved without outside help.
An experimental subject created by the Papacy.
That was the conclusion Van Kruger reached as he observed Kang Hyun-woo.
Just as the high-ranking officials of Belmoras contracted with demons to gain authority and demonic energy, the Church also had many who contracted with angels to gain power.
The unsettling energy he had been feeling from Kang Hyun-woo was proof of that.
'Those bastards from the Church. I don't know what kind of monster they've created with their human experiments this time, but you've made a mistake.'
If he had been allowed to gain more combat experience and grow, he would have become a threat to Belmoras in the near future.
But appearing before him in such a battered state was nothing but reckless bravado.
THUD!!
Van Kruger stomped his foot.
A rough, unrefined energy vibrated through the ground, spreading out like a wave. The impact momentarily broke Kang Hyun-woo's stance.
He did not miss that opening.
Wooooong—
Space distorted and compressed around Van Kruger's fist.
An enormous storm of demonic energy rose from his fist and surged toward Kang Hyun-woo like a gale.
In a state where he can't even properly manifest his aura, he'll never be able to block this attack—
Van Kruger was certain of it.
But there was one thing he didn't know.
Fwoosh—
“?!?!”
A golden flash filled his vision.
Screeeech—
A brilliant, five-colored Dharma Wheel began to rotate counter-clockwise, causing space to distort in reverse.
Faced with this bizarre sight, the momentum of Van Kruger's outstretched fist diminished significantly, like rainwater being absorbed into the earth.
Daeil-yeorae-cheongwang-su (Great Sun Buddha Heavenly Light Hand).
Before Kang Hyun-woo, who was protected by the blessing of his title, demonic energy was less than a flickering lantern in a storm.
His fist, having lost all its momentum, was caught helplessly by Kang Hyun-woo.
Crack—
“Keuk?!”
The situation was reversed in an instant.
FWOOSH!!!
Black flames erupted from Kang Hyun-woo's palm.
The authority of the being who once roamed the battlefields as the strongest of angels had manifested.
As the heat of the black flames spread in all directions, Van Kruger's instincts began to sound an alarm.
Flick!
He threw all his strength into wrenching his hand free from Kang Hyun-woo's grasp and reflexively threw himself backward.
Seeing Van Kruger turn his back and flee so disgracefully, a sight unbecoming of his large frame, Kang Hyun-woo's face grew colder than ever.
“...The Cairo Terror incident.”
The Vajra Qi and the black flames began to burn fiercely, as if resonating with each other, their limits unknowable.
Kang Hyun-woo's raw, unrefined aura, with all his energy squeezed into a single point, was reminiscent of Lancelot's sword.
“57,341 people died because of what you bastards did.”
Kang Hyun-woo's killing intent was quiet, yet so intense it made one's skin crawl.
He swung his hand toward the hastily fleeing Van Kruger.
Geumgang-yeorae-hangma-sinjang (Vajra Buddha Subduing Demon Divine Palm).
—!!!!!!!!
The Buddhist divine power fell from the sky, revealing its overwhelming majesty as it descended upon the earth.
The massive palm slammed into Van Kruger, striking the ground.
The impact, like a bombing run, tore the earth apart, and a mound of dirt dozens of meters high erupted into the air.
It was a fleeting yet fitting end for the S-rank villain known as the 'Mage Slayer' for his power to nullify magic.
*
Delia, who had been thrown back by the aftershock of the Buddha's Divine Palm, struggled to her feet.
She was speechless at the sight that unfolded before her.
The beautiful garden of the Winchester estate was gone, and in its place was the clear imprint of a massive palm.
At the center of the mark, which looked as if it had been left by a giant golem, lay a corpse that was barely recognizable.
Near it, she saw a familiar figure.
“H-Hyun-woo!”
Delia rushed toward Kang Hyun-woo.
Thanks to the acupoint treatment, she felt no pain even when moving frantically.
As the thick dust settled, Kang Hyun-woo's back came into view, his entire body a tattered mess.
But his body was swaying precariously, as if it had reached its limit.
Seeing this, Delia immediately threw herself forward to catch him.
Thud!
“H-Hyun-woo! Are you okay?!”
Covered in dirt, Delia looked at Kang Hyun-woo.
But Kang Hyun-woo, cradled in her arms, gave no response.
He had simply collapsed with his eyes closed.
At that sight, Delia's face turned paler than ever.
Of course, he wasn't dead or unconscious.
He simply didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.
His magic power and internal energy were completely depleted, and his body was torn to shreds like a rag.
The app's buff was slowly restoring his magic power, but that didn't mean his torn muscles, fractured bones, and ruptured organs were healing.
Just as he thought he wanted to just sleep for a while...
Chuuup—
“?!”
He felt a soft, moist, and strangely familiar sensation.
Barely managing to open his eyes, Kang Hyun-woo's vision was filled with the sight of Delia carefully pressing her lips against his.
In that moment, his mind was thrown into chaos.
Before he could even process what was happening, something flowed between his lips.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
'...Holy water?'
A faint divine power was spreading throughout his body.
Only then did Kang Hyun-woo realize that the liquid flowing down his throat was the high-grade holy water he had given Delia earlier.
And naturally, he understood her intention.
She must have thought he was unconscious and was trying to feed him the holy water mouth-to-mouth.
'...Should I just stay like this?'
It definitely wasn't because of any ulterior motives.
It was still true that he could barely move a finger.
So, wouldn't it be okay to rest like this for just a little longer before getting up?
'...After all that hell I went through, a little break should be fine.'
Having finished rationalizing, Kang Hyun-woo quietly closed his eyes and focused on the sensation on his lips.
But in that instant.
SQUEEZE!!
“?!”
A silent scream erupted from Kang Hyun-woo's mouth.
An immense pressure was crushing his chest.
“Hyun-woo! You have to wake up!!”
Having grown up in the countryside without a single hospital, Delia had been lectured about first aid since she was a child until her ears bled.
Naturally, she was also familiar with CPR.
Thump, thump, thump!!
“One, two, three, four, five!!”
Delia pressed down on Kang Hyun-woo's chest with all her might.
Thanks to her, Kang Hyun-woo, with his broken ribs, had to experience hell for a while.
He wanted to stop her, but his body wouldn't budge, and only the sound of air escaping his lips could be heard.
*
The House of Winchester began when the first Duke of Winchester, Merlin, built his estate in Avalon.
As a family established within a Gate rather than on Earth, they were known among the nobility as the most reclusive of houses.
Above all, over the course of nearly several thousand years, secrets unknown even to the royal family had steadily accumulated within the Winchester estate. Among them was one secret that no one must ever know.
Dozens of spires were built within the estate.
In just one of them, there exists an entrance leading to the underground of Avalon.
An endless spiral staircase, over a hundred layers of multiple barriers, and hundreds of golems created by the hands of successive Winchester dukes.
Once one passes through all of that, they finally reach a vast, hollow cavern.
“...Found it.”
Tristan stared blankly at the scene before him, as if possessed.
Normally, this was a space only those of the ducal bloodline could enter, but the small compass in his hand had made it possible.
A holy relic from Italy that allowed its owner to ignore all types of barriers and formations to reach their desired destination.
With a madness-tinged expression, Tristan reached out his hand toward the dark, ink-colored orb before him.
The moment his hand, filled with filthy desire, touched the orb—
—!!!!!!!!
An indescribably ominous and wicked energy began to blanket the underground cavern.
Wriggle—