Chapter 445
Chapter 445
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 445
Chapter Title: Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero (3)
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After Mok In-gwang joined the fray, the battle dragged on just a bit longer.
Thanks to that, Ha Seung-hoon got some extra real combat experience against a formidable foe, but regrettably, it didn't last much longer than that.
"Urgh! That damn old geezer..."
"Tsk tsk. I always told you to maintain your breathing. You keep getting swept up in your madness instead of listening, and that's why you end up like this. A weak-bodied fool like you—how long will it take to make you useful if you're this dense?"
"Comparing my human body to a yokai's... No, more than that, how can you say that to your disciple whose body's all mangled... Ack!"
"Hey now—your breathing's disrupted again? If you'd just listen to your master properly, you'd shake off an injury like that in no time. Your bloodline's thinned over generations, but there's definitely yokai blood flowing in your veins."
"Grit... You mangy mutt. Someday, I'll definitely..."
"Hah! See? What did I tell you? With that recovery rate, you'll be up in no time."
Mok In-gwang lay sprawled on the ground, twitching like a ragdoll—limbs twisted in every direction, organs damaged, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. Not a single intact spot on him.
Ha Seung-hoon watched the old man standing before him—one hand behind his back, stroking his chin beard—and his eyes gleamed.
'Raksha King, one of the top brass in Geum-o-do. Core figure of the faction made up of yokai excluding dragons, right? I'd exchanged greetings with Horus before...'
But Horus's connections were heavily skewed toward the dragons, so they'd never really talked one-on-one.
After all, even nominally bearing the name of the Imperial Dragon, he had no choice but to stay at the center of the dragon-led faction.
Of course, having weathered tough times together, the factions didn't outright feud. Still, even in the same class, cliques form between close friends and distant acquaintances.
Besides, the Raksha King hadn't sat out the final war to protect the now-masterless Geum-o-do.
"Grrr—grr! Damn it, why...!"
At that moment, a rough breathing sound from the side drew his gaze.
There lay a massive creature, writhing in a state no better than Mok In-gwang's. Gone was the natural-disaster-like rampage from before.
"Raksha King! You were supposed to be in the spirit world—why are you here? How'd you get here so fast?!"
"Heh, chalk it up to good luck. Though even without me, you wouldn't have escaped Geum-o-do's grasp easily."
"Don't make me laugh! If I'd had just a bit more power, if I'd had a little more time to devour that dragon child and grow stronger, surely..."
"Think what you want. You'll have a full millennium sealed in the Penitence Cave to ponder it alone."
"Kuh, no. I can't let it end like this!"
Do-ol thrashed wildly, desperate to escape.
Twisting his slowly regenerating body every which way.
But his resistance crumbled futilely the instant the old man uncorked the gourd at his waist.
"Uwaaaah—nooo—!"
Like being sucked into a black hole, his massive body stretched long and thin, pulled into the gourd.
The grotesque wail, equally elongated, only ended once the lid snapped shut.
'...Impressive.'
Ha Seung-hoon inwardly clicked his tongue as he watched the Raksha King casually secure the sealed gourd back at his waist.
Just when he'd thought it was truly the end, this man swooped in and turned the tide in an instant.
Even against another great yokai, the gap in their levels was starkly apparent.
'Well, he's top brass, so of course he wouldn't be weak. Sending Mok In-gwang first must've been part of his training.'
His gaze shifted to the man still cursing and twitching on the ground.
He could tell at a glance.
The madness ceaselessly circulating through his near-death body wasn't just repairing the damage—it was rebirthing it stronger than before.
'Similar to Hari's method. Though the base difference makes efficiency incomparable.'
Moreover, for someone with only a trace of yokai blood—essentially human—to survive a direct clash with a clearly superior great yokai would have honed his mind considerably, even if madness made rational thought difficult.
And that would serve as the crucial foundation for him to one day surpass the transcendent wall.
'Of course, I've grown from this fight too.'
Ha Seung-hoon took a light deep breath and looked inward.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 👤 Entity Name: Ha Seung-hoon 🔗 Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Great Spirit」, 「Insight」, 「Xenoglossy」, 「Subspace Storage」, 「Limit Break」, 「Mimicry」 ✨ Entity Traits: 「Spirit Body」, 「Heavenly Dragon Divine Art」, 「All Streams Return to the Sea」, 「Martial Extreme」, 「Versatile」, 「Comprehensive Medical Theory」, 「Field Cooking」, 「Array Compendium」, 「Gathering」 📝 Special Notes: Due to prolonged cognitive changes, entity name changed from ‘Hugo’ to ‘Ha Seung-hoon’. 「Martial Extreme」 allows smoother harmonization of heterogeneous martial principles. All actions receive additional growth bonuses from 「Growth Potion」 and Dragon God's blessing. Among the various traits he'd picked up during his time traversing the martial world, the new skill 「Martial Extreme」 stood out prominently.
He could instinctively sense it.
The moment he fully mastered it would be when he shattered the transcendent wall.
'Disappointing not to break through right now, but that's just how it is.'
This battle had yielded no small gains.
Early on, he'd barely clung to life by throwing everything he had at it. But by the latter half, he could even somewhat handle attacks infused with the great yokai's potent yokai energy.
Expecting to reach the transcendent realm off one fight would be greed incarnate.
Having all the pieces ready to transcend anytime now already exceeded expectations.
Which spoke volumes about the role of the 'Black Dragon Secret Letter'.
"Young Master Ha!"
As he sorted his thoughts—
A fresh floral scent suddenly washed over his face, followed by a soft, warm body burrowing into his arms.
"You're safe! Oh, thank goodness! I shouldn't have put you in danger again because of me...!"
Before he could respond, a petite woman flung herself into his embrace, looking up at him with teary eyes.
She'd been through such mental torment that even though the fight hadn't been long, her body still trembled finely.
'No, maybe too much happened in that short time.'
Ha Seung-hoon gave a wry smile and patted her shoulder.
"I told you I'd be fine, didn't I? With the dragon child kidnapped right in their front yard, there's no way Geum-o-do would sit idle. All I had to do was buy time until reinforcements arrived."
"But... even so, you're hurt this badly...!"
Her face crumpled again as she carefully stroked his battered form, pouring in the Dragon God's holy power.
His 「Spirit Body」's regeneration had already healed most wounds, but the torn clothes and bloodstains painted a vivid picture of his suffering.
"...I've owed you again."
She whispered softly, gazing at the scars of the desperate struggle.
It had happened before, and now again—kidnapped solely for being the 'dragon child', only to be rescued by him. The gratitude weighed heavily.
She might not even be alive now without him.
"Young Master Ha, I..."
Biting her lip, she looked up at him with emotion-glistened eyes.
His face was smudged with sweat and dirt, but she didn't notice.
Thump—thump—
Her pounding heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Suddenly aware of it, her cheeks flushed crimson.
And as she drew a deep breath to continue—
"Hey, Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero. Time to head back. Oh! And Master wants a quick chat."
Mok In-gwang, now able to stand somewhat, limped over and clapped Ha Seung-hoon's shoulder.
Having fought a strong foe together, his attitude was markedly more casual—whether from camaraderie or respect for his strength.
"And you, Jeon Je-ga girl. With what happened at Mo-san Sect too, Master's inviting you straight to Geum-o-do's main headquarters in the spirit world. Your whole group."
The spirit world existed in this one's reverse side, so entry/exit points mattered little, but using the designated gate at Mo-san Sect made it easier.
Emphasizing it wasn't for just anyone, he smirked.
"Lucky you. I'm jealous. Took me until recently to even get clearance. Master must really like you guys."
"An honor. But are you alright? You should rest more..."
"Heh, this is nothing. I'm fine, fine."
Mok In-gwang shrugged off Ha Seung-hoon's concern with a grin.
"......"
Meanwhile, Jeon Je-ga Hye-mi shot him a sharp glare, eyes narrowed at the mood-killer's interruption.
Sharp as she was, one glance at the chuckling old man shaking his head from afar and the smirking disciple told her everything.
Her lips twitched before blooming into a radiant smile as she approached.
"Mok Swordmaster, you still look unwell. Let me take a look. Dragon arts have healing powers too."
"...Hm? Well, sure, works for me."
"Seeing you hurt after coming to help breaks my heart. Come on, this way."
"Alright, let's see what you... Grk!"
Her holy power surged into him, kickstarting regeneration at dozens of times normal speed.
His cells convulsed visibly throughout his body.
Normally, pain relief would be included—but.
"Oh, skipping stability for max efficiency causes some pain as a side effect... But a great hero like you won't mind, right? Full power in one go?"
"Urgh—you rotten..."
Barely standing on his wrecked body, he collapsed like a bird shot from a slingshot, shuddering uncontrollably.
But the effect was undeniable.
His mostly human flesh—with just a hint of yokai blood—began recovering at unnatural speeds.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Told you to stay put. When will you fix that nasty temper?"
The distant Raksha King clicked his tongue softly, stroking his lush beard.
Glaring at his pathetic disciple, who had finally foamed at the mouth and passed out.
"Hm, still, recovering this fast means we can resume training right away. No need to ease up. Kahahaha!"
Satisfied, he nodded vigorously with a broad smile.
For the record—
The raksha, one of Geum-o-do's yokai affiliates, had once been called 'malevolent spirits'—not exactly known for good tempers.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Capturing and sealing Do-ol didn't mean the incident was fully resolved.
It dawned on them that his outburst had created plenty of work for Geum-o-do too.
'Thinking about it, it was never just a human-side issue from the start.'
Reconciliation was a grand undertaking for all.
With world reconstruction just getting underway, they needed to preempt any further problems.
'Horus holds considerable sway in Geum-o-do. We can use that to rein in the yokai somewhat.'
Most surviving yokai were under the largest faction, Geum-o-do, but that wouldn't last.
Many had joined out of necessity for survival, like Do-ol.
With the Demon Cult eradicated and safety secured, those no longer needing to watch their backs would act freely soon enough.
'Everyone's still on edge. If a big incident sparks now...'
They'd taken measures to minimize conflicts, but nothing was perfect.
A small friction reigniting war would spiral uncontrollably.
'Can't let that happen. Got enough on my plate ahead.'
The Greater Spirit World arc was wrapping up post-major events.
Karma steadily accrued from stabilizing the world—no desire to stir chaos now.
Thus, Horus enlisted the other Five Dragons' aid to keep things quiet, overhauling systems to leash rogue yokai.
Too busy to even show for Ha Seung-hoon's group's visit to Geum-o-do.
He was monitoring live through one of the parties' eyes anyway.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Specific conditions have been met. Privilege 「Imperial Dragon's Orb」 begins to react. So he couldn't help but be startled by the sudden popup.
"Huh? Out of nowhere?"
One day, when Avatar Ha Seung-hoon, dragon child Jeon Je-ga Hye-mi, and their group visited Geum-o-do.
The privilege he'd forgotten about after earning the 'Final Imperial Dragon' achievement—unsure how to use it—finally made its presence known.