Chapter 413
Chapter 413
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 413
Chapter Title: Spectacle (2)
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Do Jung-gwang turned a sneer toward the In King, who had been cleaved in half and met his end.
"You're messing around."
No sooner had he said it than Namgung Yun steadied his staggering steps, supporting him.
"Senior Brother!"
Having lent one shoulder to Do Jung-gwang like that, Namgung Yun swung his sword as he retreated.
Slash!
Slaaash!!!
And he fixed his gaze on the central battlefield.
A sinister energy still clustered there, but he could see the necromantic formation that Eon Yong-un occasionally deployed hanging in the sky.
'...He's holding out well.'
At that moment, Do Jung-gwang spoke up.
"Hoo. I'm in no shape to help like this, so you go on ahead."
Namgung Yun pretended not to hear as he struck pressure points on Do Jung-gwang's body.
Pop. Pop.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
"What the hell are you doing right now...?"
Ignoring Do Jung-gwang's words completely, he called over the nearby bandits.
"Since Senior Brother is injured, we're thinking of moving him to the rear. Could we ask for your cover?"
With that, he hoisted Do Jung-gwang onto his back and broke away from the front lines, dashing off until he spotted a large tree stump, where he finally set him down.
"......?"
He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it in Do Jung-gwang's hand to staunch the blood seeping from his side.
"???"
Do Jung-gwang, who had instinctively accepted Namgung Yun's gesture,
stared at the white handkerchief—edged with gold embroidery that was utterly out of place amid the blood-soaked battlefield.
Suddenly, a sense of reality hit him, and he furrowed his brow.
"What the fuck is this shit?!"
"Please stay put here for a bit."
"This isn't the time to be playing the gentleman—ugh."
Namgung Yun replied calmly to Do Jung-gwang, who winced in pain.
"I understand how you feel, Senior Brother, but for the sake of your men, please rest here just for a moment."
"What kind of nonsense is... Leaving behind my lifelong trusted blade and my subordinates to sit back here—how is that thinking of my men? Where does that twisted logic come from?"
"The blood spilled today demands its due price."
"......"
"This battle will end somehow. Afterward, there will be talks of losses and the future. Do you plan to let a mere bandit leader or Green Forest bandit represent us there?"
"......"
"It'll make all the difference in heaven and earth."
"...Not surprisingly from the Namgung family young master. You're damn good at pulling out justifications."
"I am the Namgung family young master. So, Senior Brother, the future King of the Green Forest, just staunch that wound. I'll go fetch Dang Ok-gi."
With that, Namgung Yun straightened up, scanned the battlefield, and dashed off toward one spot.
Do Jung-gwang alternated his gaze between the departing Namgung Yun and the handkerchief in his hand, muttering under his breath without realizing it.
"Damn righteous folk—eight out of ten are tasteless, but there's always one like this... That's why I hate them."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, Dang Ok-gi was fighting alongside No Sam and Yin Xia Lian's unit, with Yin Ha-seong and Wu So-rung, against the Flat Heaven Black Horse Army led by the Ox King.
This unit's goal was to pin down the Ox King and his demon subordinates, preventing them from interfering in Eon Yong-un's battle.
Thus, rather than annihilating the enemy, their aim was to maintain formation.
"I keep saying it! Don't get reckless! If you dive too deep into their gaps, we can't save you!"
As Yin Xia Lian raised her voice,
Namgung Yun dashed in and joined their ranks.
"Dang Ok-gi! There's a patient over there who needs your eyes."
"Kek! Of course there is! You think injuries are rare? Can't you see how tight this fight is?!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
To Namgung Yun's words, Dang Ok-gi continued without even turning her head, hurling the hidden weapons she had just drawn at the enemy.
"Eon Yong-un told me and So-rung to pull the wounded to the rear and tend to them, but things are urgent here too, so we're fighting like this! Plus, Eon Yong-un's side feels off!"
"I know. But from what I saw, he's savable. And from a broader perspective... thinking of the world, he's important."
At Namgung Yun's unusually flustered words,
Yin Xia Lian spoke up.
"Who is the patient?"
To Namgung Yun's response,
"Senior Brother Do Jung-gwang."
As No Sam, who had been unleashing palm strikes in all directions, muttered with a complicated expression,
"...That bandit boss."
Yin Xia Lian spoke again.
"No life is more or less valuable. But at the end of this fight we started stands the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. The key is enduring it with minimal losses... The name King of the Green Forest can greatly aid in wrapping up this slaughterhouse and heading to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains."
As Dang Ok-gi shot back,
"Then I'm out?"
Three figures were visible rushing from the riverbank.
The strike team members forming the unit raised their voices all at once.
"So-jin? So-jin is here!"
"Ha-buk Kwon-woong is too!"
"Not the disciple... it's So-cheon?!"
Yin Xia Lian, relieved at this, said to Dang Ok-gi and Namgung Yun,
"You two can go without worrying about this side."
Shortly after the two departed,
The arriving reinforcements disrupted the Ox King's formed lines as they joined up.
No Sam busily unleashed palm strikes and said to Eon Jeong-ung,
"This isn't the time for pleasantries. Is the vacated spot okay?"
"Yes, Senior Brother. Thanks to the Hao Clan Lord's resourcefulness, the dockside has some breathing room."
Wu So-rung asked the newcomers about the whereabouts of two people out of sight.
"Where are Little Brother Eon and Brother Jang-ho?"
Peng So-jin and Peng So-cheon spoke in turn.
"Just in case, we left Yong-myeong and Jang-ho behind."
"But I came instead! Alone, I can make up for both of them!"
Yin Ha-seong chimed in.
"Brother So-cheon, since two are missing, to replace them you need to cover for three."
"Ah?"
It was then that Yin Xia Lian's eyes gleamed as she stared at the demons.
"It seemed impossible for us alone to break the Flat Heaven Black Horse Army and take the Ox King, so we focused on holding them. Now we can change plans."
To her words slipping out, Eon Jeong-ung replied with a hardened face.
"That's why we came too."
Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Society's forces opposing the Ox King began a full offensive.
Pierce! Pierce!
Pierce pierce pierce!!!
Peng So-jin's chain formation, with the disciple of Gong Son Mu-gyeol now joined, spread its wings even more sharply.
Claaang!!!!!!
Through the gap created by Peng So-cheon's bellowing blade strike, Wu So-rung and Yin Ha-seong leaped in, unleashing lightning-fast sword strikes and thunderbolt-like lightning arts respectively.
Added to that was No Sam's Anti-Dragon Palm extending from his palm heart.
Boom! Boom!!
Boooom!!!
Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Society's waves of attacks truly began.
Among them, the pair most bewildering the demons was Yin Xia Lian and Eon Jeong-ung.
Groooar.
The Jade Maiden Sword executed by Yin Xia Lian, combined with the Piercing Yin Finger Technique, was the ultimate counter to the Blood Cult's demons.
And with Eon Jeong-ung's Eon Family Fist, mastered in the Art of Heavy Hand Techniques, added in,
Boom! Kaboohm!!!
Kaboooom!!!!
From the Demonic Cult's perspective, they were a nightmare matchup in themselves, and the two's coordination left no gaps.
Even Eon Jeong-ung himself chuckled wryly as he unleashed his fist power.
"Didn't you say you've only properly held a sword for two years now, Lady Yin?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes."
"Heh heh. Even swinging your own sword properly isn't easy, and this is your first time matching with me, yet you support the Eon Family Fist to bring out its power. A once-in-a-millennium prodigy."
To Eon Jeong-ung's words, Yin Xia Lian gave a dry smile.
"With Young Master Eon here, such words embarrass me. And though it's my first time matching with the Family Head, thanks to Young Master Eon's relentless... foresight, I've matched with Little Young Master Eon many times."
After felling the charging demons for a moment,
Finally, they reached the Ox King.
The Ox King's swinging fists carried intense blood energy and a brute force that could crush a man like mud.
"I shall drag you all to the afterlife!"
Screeeeech!!!
However, the moment they clashed like this,
Their side's fight was as good as over.
It had to be that way.
Claaaang!!!
Starting with Peng So-cheon blocking the Ox King's brute-force strike without giving an inch,
The Eastern Orthodox Society's experts, spread out in all directions, pressed in with their ultimate techniques.
Clang! Claaang!!
Claaaang!!!
In an instant, the Ox King's steps grew unsteady.
Krraaash—
Slipping through the chaos while dodging Yin Xia Lian's frost-scattering sword,
Eon Jeong-ung's full-power fist shot toward the Ox King's chest.
Thud thud thud th iiiud!!!!
The moment a dull sound rang out and the Ox King's eyes rolled back,
"Guh."
As most of the fighters' attention focused on the Ox King,
Figures rushing from the riverbank leaped toward the spot where he had fallen.
Leap! Leap!! Leap!!
Wu So-rung, spotting it first, urgently shouted.
"Dodge—dodge!"
As the Eastern Orthodox Society's warriors backpedaled in unison at her words,
Two of the charging demons burst their meridians.
Boom!!
Booom!!!
And seizing that gap,
One of the non-self-destructing demons hoisted the limp Ox King.
The demon's face sizzled as if cooked, but Eon Jeong-ung's siblings instantly recognized him.
"Serpent King!"
As the detachment gripped their weapons anew and regulated their breathing against the new foe,
Leap!!!
The Serpent King slipped away with ghostly footwork.
And dashed toward the center of the battlefield.
"I... I think I could chase him. Should I go after him?"
"...His movement technique is one thing, but you alone couldn't handle him, So-rung. It sure looked like that old Serpent King. Sisters, I didn't see wrong, right?"
The remaining members spoke in confusion.
"It was the Serpent King. Looks like some survived the belly explosion site."
As Eon Jeong-ung clenched his fist and furrowed his brow,
"But if he's fleeing, why bother with the Ox King's corpse? We didn't hold back, so he must be dead."
Yin Xia Lian gazed at the central battlefield, where sinister energy overlapped with Eon Yong-un's ritual formation, and said,
"We should head there ourselves soon."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Groooar—
To the sight of Jin Gok-ryang absorbing cultists like disposable inner cores and hurling blood rings at us,
"Rise!"
I countered by raising the battlefield corpses and hurling them at Jin Gok-ryang.
After doing this for a while,
Master shared his thoughts.
- From what I see, he doesn't particularly cherish his subordinates... So why resort to this now? If he'd done it from the start, things might've been different.
'I'm wondering the same about you, Master. He's on our side, right? Why worry about that Gok-ryang bastard?'
- Even now you twist it against me. It's not worry—I'm saying, on the big picture, what's his scheme!
'I was just asking, why get defensive? Well, there are probably reasons...'
One was ambition.
Becoming a pillar shaking the world and toppling Hyeok Ryeon-gang of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains wasn't a solo job.
'The Star Absorption Great Law is a demonic art that absorbs others' vital energy like that, but ultimately, without circulating it, it can't become true power. The burden on body and mind is immense.'
Even for a great demon head like Jin Gok-ryang, already in qi deviation, piling on more strain wasn't easy.
'That's why he's fighting like this.'
The volatile power would dissipate over time, and he was reducing his own forces.
Dragging it out favored the righteous side.
Moreover, this battlefield was paradise for a necromancer, a total misstep for Jin Gok-ryang.
Screeeeech!
At that moment, a group of forces from the side charged with clear killing intent.
"Everyone, evade!"
And sure enough,
Demons arrived with the Serpent King carrying what looked like the Ox King on his back, charging at us and bursting one by one.
Boom! Boom!!!
Boooom!!
To counter, we spread protective sword veils, widening the encirclement tightening around Jin Gok-ryang.
In the meantime, the Serpent King placed the Ox King before Jin Gok-ryang and knelt.
"Your subordinate's support was insufficient, leading to this. I tried to save at least part of the cult... but it seems impossible."
"It looks that way to me too."
"For the great cause of Blood Flame Under Heaven, to return the Jin family's grudge to the Hyeok family and the world, Lord Cult Leader, you must survive."
"If we survive, another chance will come. I once lived under Hyeok Ryeon-gang's feet... But for that, Serpent King, your sacrifice is needed."
"Yes. That's why I retrieved the Ox King's corpse. Take even this one's power... and escape this place."
As their brief exchange ended,
Jin Gok-ryang's hands unleashed the Star Absorption Great Law toward the Serpent King and Ox King.
Rooooar—
Immense energy gathered in Jin Gok-ryang's body, and vicious killing intent spewed toward us.
Whether from the needle-like prickling on our skin or the cruelty of sacrificing his closest aides,
The Wudang Taoists cried out in unison.
"...Demon of the world."
I gave a light smile,
and Master asked.
- They all call him a demon, and it seems spot on, so why smile?
'Master, how did I come to use the Blood Ancestor Technique?'
- By absorbing primal blood in Shanxi. ...No way, you can absorb primal blood energy if you want?
'Yes. So now, I'll suck Jin Gok-ryang's blood dry.'