Chapter 400
Chapter 400
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 105
>Chapter Title: Grand Sorcerer Myeong-ryul (4)
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-Tatata-tak!
“Haa...”
Sensing the change in breathing from his back, Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang spoke up.
“Are you awake?”
In response to his question, Mo-yak, who was being carried on his back, replied.
“You set aside an excellent lightness skill like the Clear Water Crossing Step and instead... Of course I’d wake up carrying on like this.”
“If I ran with the Clear Water Crossing Step, the high-speed movement would make it hard for you to breathe.”
“...Should I thank you for that?”
“Now that you’re awake, focus on your energy circulation again. I stopped the bleeding, but your qi is still badly disrupted.”
Mo-yak nodded at Na Yul-ryang’s words, then quickly added.
“Wait... You stopped the bleeding? Does that mean you didn’t handle the task yourself?”
“Jang Neung-ak said the elders’ hall would take care of their side, and the main branch is prepared as well.”
“What about Lady Wi So-yeon?”
“Seok Moon Valley Leader Yeon Baek went personally to fetch her, so unless there’s some major variable, he’ll bring her back.”
He had sent Yeon Baek, one of the Four Valley Leaders.
However,
“Young Master! ...Cough, cough.”
“Keep your voice down.”
“Cough, cough... Instead of wasting time treating me, you should have gone after Lady Wi So-yeon yourself—or at least the Dark Clan. Even if not the former, we agreed before I lost consciousness that I’d secure the latter...”
“We did agree. You said the Leader’s secret would be in the Dark Clan’s manor.”
“And you know that, yet...”
“For the Dark Clan, Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak went personally with his disciples and a few close aides.”
“Oh?”
At those words, a glint appeared in Mo-yak’s eyes.
“Even if it’s an empty house, they’d leave some capable guardians for anything important. That’s why I sent the Thunderbolt Fist King.”
Mo-yak’s eyes showed a hint of relief at his explanation.
Na Yul-ryang’s judgment had been correct.
The elders’ hall had ordered them to secure the youngest disciple Wi So-yeon and bring her to the main branch somehow, but that was what they wanted.
What mattered wasn’t the youngest disciple Wi So-yeon—it was the Leader’s secret.
The secret that Mok Kyung-un had brought from the Dark Clan after completing his classified mission would be the truly vital card.
And yet, the elders’ hall hadn’t mentioned it to them.
That meant they intended to secretly seize the Leader’s secret for themselves.
“...Still, if you’d gone with the Thunderbolt Fist King instead of treating me, it would have been easier to obtain it.”
“It doesn’t matter. And if Mok Kyung-un survives in the manor, securing the main branch takes priority over the Dark Clan.”
“Young Master!”
“Be quiet. And... you’re more important to me.”
At his words, Mo-yak looked flustered before her face flushed red.
A man usually so cold and emotionless sure knew how to say such things.
Unconsciously, Mo-yak leaned against Na Yul-ryang’s back.
-Mungkul!
Since he’d removed her upper garments to treat her wounds, even the bandages pressing against her chest had been loosened.
In truth, she was a woman.
Mo-yak’s parents, from a minor sect, had hoped she would marry into a prominent sect to benefit their family rather than seeking fame herself.
But Mo-yak wanted to forge her own destiny.
Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang had accepted her aspirations without ridicule or hesitation.
That was why she had resolved to devote everything to serving him.
Pulling her head away from his back, Mo-yak said in a soft voice.
“I’m just a card on the path you wish to tread, so please don’t worry about someone like me and value yourself more.”
“Shut up.”
“Haa. So stubborn.”
But she didn’t dislike it.
As Mo-yak softened her expression and leaned back against him,
-Pung! Pung!
Red signal flares—bursting like fireworks—lit up from the direction of the main branch, not far away.
‘!!!!!’
Mo-yak’s face hardened at the sight.
There was only one meaning to those red flares illuminating the inner fortress skies.
“Young Master?”
“...I saw it too.”
Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang’s expression, staring at the flares, was far from normal.
* * *
At the same time.
The Dark Clan manor.
Intruders had entered this place, where over eighty percent of the forces were absent.
They were Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak, along with his capable outer hall leader and guard warriors among his aides.
At Won Byeong-hak’s side was Mu Jang-yak, whom he had taken as a disciple from Blood River Valley a few months prior.
Originally planning to take Yeon Mu-ung from the secret scriptures hall, he had instead accepted Mu Jang-yak, who had reached the peak of supreme mastery with his exceptional talent.
As Won Byeong-hak wished, Mu Jang-yak’s talent was second to none.
Moreover, the origin of his innate martial arts was quite remarkable: his Right Fist Left Palm technique derived from the Progressive Sect’s Twin Hand Protector Palm, allowing one to wield two martial arts alone—a supreme skill requiring a unique heart method that split the mind and corresponding talent.
Having mastered this technique, Mu Jang-yak had reached the early stage of transcendent realm in mere months.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he fully grasped his master’s techniques and broke through the wall.
‘All this child needs is varied experience.’
More real combat meant easier enlightenment.
That was why, though he cherished him, Won Byeong-hak kept him close for battle experience.
However,
“Master. That noise from over there since earlier?”
“...I see.”
Won Byeong-hak had also heard screams.
Coming from their target location—what could be happening?
They had confirmed the Dark Clan’s forces had departed before entering.
It couldn’t be that they’d returned already, and no one else should be entering, so what was this?
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
They hurried toward the presumed location of their objective.
But then,
-Goooaaaaah!
“Wh-what is that?”
Won Byeong-hak’s outer hall leader, Woo Neung, couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
And rightly so: in the rear garden stood a grotesque, massive being with horns on its head like a dragon, red fur all over, and a body blending dog and ox.
It was so enormous they had to look up.
This colossal entity was none other than the demonic beast Al-yu, Mok Kyung-un’s spirit beast.
“Grraaah.”
“Haa... haa...”
Around the demonic beast Al-yu were several masked warriors, their appearances horrific, the surroundings a nightmare.
Purple smoke drifted about, with countless bodies melted into gruesome shapes.
That purple smoke seemed to be acid.
‘What in the world?’
It was clear that being wasn’t a mere beast but some yokai.
Why was such a yokai in the Dark Clan, fighting unknown masked intruders?
Could there be others besides them targeting what Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang had ordered?
As he puzzled over it,
“Leave these to me.”
-Kiririk. Do as you please, human.
Mu Jang-yak’s eyes widened.
Had that monster just spoken?
As he found it too bizarre, a shadow-like figure appeared before them.
-Sruk! Tak!
It was a youthful-looking young man.
Yet he stood slightly hunched like an elder, gripping a snake-headed staff in one hand.
The young man smiled and addressed them.
“You all seem to have come to take that old woman as well.”
“...”
At those words, Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak’s expression grew strange.
Unaware why, his outer hall leader Woo Neung aimed a fist at him and demanded.
“Speak. What is that monster, and who the hell are y—”
-Ttak!
“Urk!”
Before he could finish, Woo Neung’s head was struck by the staff, and he collapsed with a dying scream.
“Young man, how rude.”
‘!?‘
Won Byeong-hak’s aides were stunned by the instantaneous strike.
Mu Jang-yak, now his disciple, was equally shocked.
‘This guy... strong. Too strong.’
Merely swinging a staff once, but Mu Jang-yak, at early transcendent, instinctively knew the young man was unfathomably powerful.
Glancing at his master confirmed they shared the sentiment.
-Kwag!
Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak clenched his fist, gathering qi as he spoke.
“...Who are you? I’ve never heard or seen of a master like you in the Dark Clan.”
“Hohoho. As expected of one of the Heaven-Earth Society’s Five Kings. Not one of those fools even bothered to check me.”
‘Old man?’
Had he just called himself an old man?
His speech and voice did carry age.
This face oddly mismatched the voice—perhaps a human skin mask?
As that thought crossed his mind,
The snake-headed staff thrust suddenly toward his face.
‘Huh?’
-Chaang!
In that instant, Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak swung his fist upward with full power.
He deflected the staff upward, but the shockwave sent him flying back over ten paces.
-Chwarararararak!
Not one or two paces—even his lord, at the peak of transcendent nearing the wall, was pushed back ten paces. His aides were aghast.
What was this man’s identity?
They hadn’t realized yet, but he was Gu Yang-so, the Eightfold Poison Snake Staff, one of Mok Kyung-un’s subordinates.
Active mainly in the Western Regions, he lacked the Eight Stars title, but his martial prowess matched Thousand Poison Hand Dang In-hae.
-Kwag!
Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak ground his teeth.
With the Dark Clan’s forces depleted, he’d thought it an easy task, but variables had arisen.
The bizarre yokai, and this enigmatic snake staff wielder—both monsters.
‘...Rushing in could lead to disaster.’
Should he retreat?
Or fight despite the risks?
As he pondered in that instant,
-Piung! Pung! Pung!
Bursting sounds from the main branch direction painted red flares across the sky.
Thunderbolt Fist King Won Byeong-hak’s pupils trembled at the sight.
‘Emergency... muster? No way? The details clearly...’
* * *
-Kung!
A true stomp downward.
The shockwave rippled like waves, and dozens of incoming warriors clutched their chests, spewing blood before collapsing on the spot.
“Gah!”
“Keuk!”
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
At the sound of them falling, Grand Sorcerer Myeong-ryul muttered in disbelief.
“Heaven... Demon?”
He had thought the report he received was exaggerated.
But how could this be?
Even if the Leader, one of the Six Heavens, acted, could one stomp fell so many so easily?
A voice came from behind his bewildered self.
“The area around us is cleared now.”
-Himkit!
Startled in that moment—lost in thought, but when had he approached without a sound?
Grand Sorcerer Myeong-ryul swallowed dryly without realizing.
-Gulp!
Even fused with the demonic beast Yu-al, growing stronger, once gripped by tension and fear, it wouldn’t subside easily.
Smiling, Mok Kyung-un asked him.
“What was that you just said?”
At the question, Grand Sorcerer Myeong-ryul’s breathing quickened slightly.
If his guess was right, this guy was definitely...
“You... you... could it be...”
“Could it be what?”
“...”
With his back seized, words wouldn’t come.
It felt like he’d uncovered this man’s great secret, making him hesitant to speak rashly.
Of course, Mok Kyung-un didn’t care at all.
Rather,
“Your heart’s pounding wildly. Afraid?”
“...”
“Interesting. Fear... If using that title intimidates your side more, it wouldn’t be bad to use it.”
‘What is he talking about...’
-Kwag!
“Guk.”
-Kung!
Mok Kyung-un gripped the back of Grand Sorcerer Myeong-ryul’s neck, forcing him to his knees, then whispered lowly into his ear.
“Yes, I am the Heavenly Demon.”
‘!!!!!!!!’
-Pung! Pung!
No sooner had the words ended than the sky was coincidentally blanketed in red flares.