Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 37: Heavenly Gate Sect (1)
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Dokgo Yul's expression as he glared straight ahead was truly terrifying.
The piercing gaze from his single eye made one's legs go weak just from meeting it, a nightmare for his enemies.
"Engaging in such petty tricks."
The swordsmen surrounding him flinched at his low mutter.
"You won't be going back alive."
The enemies' pupils shook in panic at the stern declaration.
Even though they prided themselves as great experts.
Even though they had him thoroughly surrounded in numbers.
It felt as if the blade of the reaper was already hanging over their necks.
'The situation isn't good.'
The leader of the betrayal squad leading the ambush thought.
'I need to boost morale.'
Fortunately, someone stepped forward first.
"One-Eyed Divine Sword. Even though you've gained quite the reputation—"
The speaker's words did not continue.
Slash!
In the instant his hand moved, a lightning-fast strike erupted, slicing open the man's chest.
"What the—"
All they had seen was the flash of sword light.
Slash! Slash!
That alone birthed three deaths.
"An unbelievable swift sword!"
They had barely caught the glint of sword light.
Even the leader of this assault squad, said to be the strongest here, struggled to follow the sword shadow with his eyes.
'A hero's fame in the martial world is never unfounded.'
His judgment had been a mistake.
'It wasn't a tiger cub not yet fully grown.'
It was a fully matured tiger.
A monster with wings sprouting from its back, ravaging heaven and earth.
Swoosh!
The price of that mistake was grim.
Whenever the One-Eyed Divine Sword brushed past, comrades split apart along with their weapons.
Slash! Clang!
The battle had barely begun, yet their painstakingly gathered elites were melting away.
'A dog's death. Forget the awakening stones or whatever—fall back and regroup.'
The leader had even given up on fighting.
He despaired from the bottom of his heart.
He considered turning tail and fleeing, but even that proved difficult.
Rumble——!
A heaven-shaking roar echoed from beyond.
'The ground... it's shaking?'
Rumble rumble rumble.
The earth was vibrating.
Crack!
The forest of towering ancient trees shook violently, then whipped about like weeds caught in a shockwave.
What appeared next was a massive dragon of flames.
Roarrrrr!
A fire dragon that devoured everything emerged amid flashing light.
Rumble rumble rumble——.
At the same time, the trees tossed by the gale turned to ash heaps in an instant.
The fire dragon, fattened by devouring them, twisted its massive body in a coil.
Rooooaaar——.
A truly overwhelming sight, as if a heavenly fire dragon had descended to earth.
"Flame Light Blade Demon. Damn it."
Seeing it turn a small forest to ashes in an instant drained the strength from his legs.
If even the squad leader with the highest loyalty to the organization felt this way, the reluctant underlings were beside themselves.
'If even that monster joins in, it's truly over.'
'I have to risk it and run.'
'If I delay, even the chance to flee will vanish.'
They instinctively knew they weren't even expendable fodder against these transcendent powerhouses beyond human limits.
"Everyone, evade!"
But their judgment came too late.
Kaboom!
The moment the flames erupted again and struck the rear of the encirclement.
"Argh!"
"Aaaah!"
Comrades melted by the heat turned to ash with final screams.
"Damn."
In that instant of cursing, Dokgo Yul, with his deadly glare from that single eye, vanished.
And what appeared was a beautiful silver line.
'Where?! Where did he...'
The man rolling his eyes frantically realized his chest burned like fire.
Splatter!
Amid the rising blood mist from his chest, the man realized.
'What a ridiculously fast sword.'
His final thought as he collapsed.
After the battle ended.
Crunch. Crunch.
As they advanced through the former forest now turned to pitch-black charcoal, they spotted someone waiting atop a relatively intact rock beyond.
"Ma Daehyeop."
The Flame Light Blade Demon, Ma Gil-sang, shook his head.
"Quite the bunch. I can't even remember the last time I unleashed Flame Dragon Emergence."
Flame Dragon Emergence.
The fiery dragon from earlier?
Dokgo Yul filed away that bit of information on the Flame Light Blade Demon in his mind and asked.
"Enemies enough to draw out your true strength, Ma Daehyeop. Where did such people come from?"
"Who knows. Not certain, but there's only one suspect."
"Mangcheon Society."
"Right. Some odd ones were mixed in among them."
Heh.
Ma Gil-sang let out a light chuckle, his face turning fierce.
"Didn't expect anyone to challenge me with Sun Flame Finger Gong."
"To charge the master of the Flame Dragon, pinnacle of Yang-type arts, with Sun Flame Finger Gong—no, utterly absurd."
Wasn't it like a firefly charging the sun?
Ma Gil-sang shook his head.
"Not bad skills."
He pointed to his own sleeve, charred black.
"Enough to give me a meaningful impact."
"Is that so?"
"Fire gets devoured by greater fire. Made it easy to handle them."
Even in victory, Ma Gil-sang's expression wasn't pleased.
"There were more than one or two rare experts in the martial world. Hard to believe they can churn out ones like this endlessly."
Makes sense why Elder Beggar has been working so hard.
"We must stay vigilant. Even more than now."
"Agreed. I'll send word to the Chief Supervisor as soon as we return."
They were discussing the aftermath when.
"Squad Leader Instructor!"
An instructor came running from afar.
"What is it?"
"A message from the instructors out on the Murim tour."
News of recent demon attacks flowed from the instructor's mouth.
Ma Gil-sang's face darkened as he listened.
"What a coincidence."
To reach out for the Divine Martial Murim Tour at the exact same time we were ambushed.
The instructor clasped his fists and asked.
"The damages aren't light. Should we push ahead with the tour like this?"
"Hmm."
Ma Gil-sang fell into thought.
The tour was already delayed.
After all the preparation, starting with ominous events left a bitter taste.
"Have to call it off, regrettably?"
For the students' safety, an unavoidable choice.
As Ma Gil-sang pondered, his gaze fell on Dokgo Yul's hardened face.
'Right. This guy's here.'
The one more passionate about the Murim tour than anyone.
Best to hear his opinion before such an important decision.
"Instructor Dokgo. What's your take?"
"It's a tour we've finally started. Tucking tail at ill omens will just make us a laughingstock in the martial world."
"Unexpected answer. Aren't you the one who cares most for the students' well-being?"
"Once they've set foot in the martial world, they can't walk only safe paths."
"Harsh, but true."
As he thought Dokgo had such a ruthless side, another line followed.
"That's the peril of the martial world. As adults, we stand ahead and shield them."
"Haha. So we'll end up busier, eh."
Reading the warm consideration, Ma Gil-sang made up his mind.
"Right. Can't easily back out of a decision made."
"How about changing the format of the tour a bit?"
"Got a good plan?"
"Well, you see..."
Ma Gil-sang nodded readily at the explanation that followed.
"Send a carrier pigeon to the Chief Supervisor."
Nangong Yun-ho was quite flustered as he stepped out of the room.
"Did you see? That's the guy."
"The student who caught the Silver Moon Bandit, right?"
"A student caught the freak who even took down a senior instructor."
"Student? He's an assistant instructor, isn't he?"
"Student or assistant, same difference."
The stares and mutters clinging to him the moment he exited.
Unaccustomed to attention, Nangong Yun-ho found it deeply uncomfortable.
'Should I just go back to the room?'
He even debated it briefly.
'No, quit it.'
Pretend not to notice, and it'll die down soon enough.
But even as he crossed the garden and corridors, the attention only amplified.
"Oh. My mistake."
"Are you okay?"
"Mind if I talk to you a bit?"
Girls subtly bumping into him or striking up conversations forced Nangong Yun-ho to sweat bullets for a while.
He was free of the stares only upon reaching the annex.
The cat abode specially opened by the Myo Jin Sect Leader for the little heroes.
Inside, a guest was already there.
"Finally here?"
"Tan."
It was Jegal Tan.
As always, dangling jerky to barter, Jegal Tan approached with a cat in his arms.
"What's wrong? You don't look well."
"Well, you see."
At the words that followed, Jegal Tan spoke in a sigh-mingled voice.
"Can't be helped. You'll have to endure it a bit longer."
"Ugh. Not good."
"Seems demon freaks are popping up everywhere, causing a stir. Expect crowds for a while."
"Makes sense, but it's more than a little inconvenient."
Overhearing it, somehow Jegal Tan spilled even the Murim Alliance and academy's inside stories.
Meow~
"Whoa there."
As he yielded the top of his head to a cat climbing his shoulder, Jegal Tan continued.
"Not just that. The academy's apparently promoting the Myo Jin Sect story big time."
"Myo Jin Sect? Why?"
"Because they handled the demons faster than anyone."
The Silver Moon Bandit, no less—the one who wounded a senior instructor and fled not long ago.
"The academy's comrades banded together to avenge that prior defeat. Pretty good story material, right?"
"True enough."
Cats hung from both arms.
With claws out, scraping sleeves and dangling, he bent his arms to give them footing, and they scurried up to both shoulders, loafing like bricks.
"Can't avoid the stares for a while."
"How about enjoying the attention this time?"
"Not for me."
I'm used to life as the Ghost of Bronze Hall.
Mreeeow~.
With a weird cry, the cat that devoured the jerky leaped from Jegal Tan's arms.
"Ah... gone."
Jegal Tan, reaching into empty air, turned to Nangong Yun-ho and said.
"For someone not used to attention, aren't you blooming with popularity?"
Nangong Yun-ho sighed deeply at the cats already encircling him.
"Whether human attention or winning cats' favor, I'm equally unaccustomed to both."
Jegal Tan smacked his lips enviously.
The leisurely chat time.
"What the— so annoying!"
Ended with a shout.
Baek Ri-seol, stomping in, glanced back and huffed.
"What are those failed life experiments?"
"Sister, calm down."
The noisy arrivals were a glamorous beauty and a cute girl.
Baek Ri-seol and Moyong So-hye.
The cats fleeing at their appearance clearly displeased Baek Ri-seol, her discomfort growing.
"This one or that one."
"What happened now?"
"Where do those wonder faces with eyes nose and mouth get off—"
From her outpouring of frustration, it seemed she'd suffered much the same as him earlier.
The difference: her flashy looks and Baek Family prestige drew even more approaches from the opposite sex, making it the worst.
"If they'd just shut up and leave."
"Seems your icy attitude draws them in more."
Baek Ri-seol grimaced at Moyong So-hye's explanation.
"Insane bunch. Go strip naked and charge the North Sea Ice Palace or something."
Covering her mouth mid-rant, Baek Ri-seol glanced around.
Only one reason for her to react like this.
'Looking for the instructor.'
Realizing no need to mind surroundings, she snapped curtly.
"Where's the instructor?"
"Beats me. I don't know either."
Baek Ri-seol turned, saying sweetly with a smile, "Tall as a pole and utterly useless, huh."
It stung a little.
"If Instructor, probably with Instructor Yeo Mae-hong."
"Right. This morning, I saw him dragged off by the ear by Instructor Yeo."
"What the hell did the instructor do!"
To Jegal Tan explaining to her, baffled at time alone with an outsider woman.
"Apparently pulled another unreasonable stunt."
"Ah."
Short explanation, but Baek Ri-seol seemed to accept the situation.
His instructor authority must have plummeted badly.