Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: Dragon's Stomach Cave (5)
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The prisoners from the Dark Shadow Cave charged in, tearing through the Underworld bastards like a lion attacking a pack of hyenas.
*Crack. Thwack!*
One swung a massive stone saber, shattering his enemy's weapon and bones simultaneously.
*Stab, stabstabstab.*
Three weaved through the gaps, piercing the enemies' bodies with a sharply honed stone awl.
“Hyaaah!”
Four and Five provided backup, swinging thick stone staves.
Four's staff techniques were particularly noteworthy; as he swung his staff, shouting about reaching nirvana, one could even sense a profound depth in his forms.
However, the one who stood out the most was Two, who kept his distance and threw rocks.
“Hup!”
*Thwack! Thwack!*
His stone-throwing was so precise, it was unmistakably Yang Gang's Shooting Star Pellet Strike.
‘Yang Gang, you idiot!’
What are you doing, teaching the Green Dragon Hall's throwing arts to prisoners...
In any case, the prisoners from the Dark Shadow Cave overwhelmed their enemies with the martial arts they had honed over the years.
But that didn't last long. The enemy leader and his officers stepped forward to block their path.
“Today will be the last day for the Dark Shadow Cave.”
“Did you eat something rotten? Since when does some Underworld trash dare to run its mouth?”
Meanwhile, with the Dark Shadow Cave joining the fray, the pressure on me had lessened considerably.
I didn't miss the opportunity and launched a counterattack.
“Hup!”
I didn't know who he was, but I grabbed the calf of the man in front of me and twisted it a full 180 degrees.
“Gyaaaah!”
At the horrifying scream, everyone's eyes turned to me.
*Thud, crunch!*
As I stood up, my fist smashed into the enemy's face.
“Come on, you bastards.”
And so, the second round began.
I kicked out, breaking a leg bone.
I drove my fist in, shattering a jawbone.
*Grab. Snap.*
“Gurgle.”
I seized a man by the neck and broke it in one swift motion.
“Hoo.”
‘At this rate, I think I can take them all down.’
After dealing with about ten more, I was able to approach the man Five was fighting from behind.
*Shove.*
“Ugh!”
I gave his back a light push, throwing him off balance. Five's stone staff came down and crushed his skull.
*Swoosh! Crack!*
“Gaaah!”
Five quickly moved to my side.
“Are you alright?”
“How did you know to come here?”
*Thrust!*
He stabbed an approaching enemy in the solar plexus and said.
“How could we not know with all this commotion? Let’s go, for now.”
“Go? Go where?”
“We have to return to the Dark Shadow Cave!”
“Don't worry, just watch. I'll clean this up in a second.”
I wasn't the same person I was just moments ago.
I could feel the War King Ki circulating vigorously through my body, accumulating energy.
Just as I was about to unleash the War King Thirteen Strikes and wipe them all out.
*Waaaaah-!*
From both sides of the cavern, enemies with menacing auras appeared. Over a hundred of them.
“Wow…”
There was nothing to think about.
Time to run.
*Thump.*
I quickly activated Flying Heavenly Wind to dash away and shouted.
“One!”
Hearing my call, he pulled back.
I slammed my shoulder, now carrying immense momentum, into the side of the giant One had been fighting.
“Keuk!”
He gasped for breath, but he didn't lose consciousness.
*Thwack! Powpowpow.*
I unleashed the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes, infused with inner force, and shattered all of the giant’s ribs.
“Grrrk.”
The giant collapsed, coughing up bloody foam.
I immediately shouted.
“Run!”
“How can we leave you behind, brother?!”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Of course I’m coming with you!”
This isn't some movie.
“Ahem…”
He blushed and ran toward the Dark Shadow Cave. Two, Three, Four, and Five quickly followed him.
“Hup!”
I hammered the pursuing enemies with the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
“Gak.”
“Gwek!”
As I took down five of them, I turned around.
“Damn bastards. This goddamn martial arts world.”
It's the same crap everywhere I go.
At this point, I really have to wonder if I’m cursed by a demon god.
It was frustrating and infuriating, but the most important thing now was to escape safely.
Mixing Flying Heavenly Wind into my steps, I overtook the group.
Over a hundred enemies charged, blocking our path.
Just by their appearance, I could tell they were from the Ten Demon Alliance and the Southern Heaven Palace. One group looked like Uyghurs, the other like the Miao.
“One!”
“Speak!”
“Just hold them off! I’ll clear a path.”
These were men who had risked their lives for me. I had a duty to get them back safely.
*Sizzle.*
The War King Ki, bypassing my blocked Ki Sea point, gathered at my solar plexus.
The mass of energy was much larger than before.
Of course, it still wasn't enough to spam Explosive Death Force.
Considering the number of enemies, it was wise to avoid techniques that consumed a lot of internal energy.
With that in mind, my choice was.
*Boom!*
The War King Thirteen Strikes.
The forms were identical to the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
However, the more inner force I infused, the faster and more powerful it became.
To prepare for a long fight, I unleashed the War King Thirteen Strikes with a minimal amount of inner force.
Even so, it was not a speed that a human without internal energy could display. Nor was it a speed that someone without internal energy could block.
*Whap! Thwack! Thwack!*
The enemies were struck down before they could even lift a hand or foot.
Breastbones shattered, necks snapped, and knees were crushed.
As the pained screams continued, the enemy's attacks began to focus on me.
“Huuup!”
*Boom!*
I unleashed the War King Thirteen Strikes again, pushing deeper into their ranks.
“Support him!”
I heard One's shout, and I could feel the prisoners of the Dark Shadow Cave sticking close behind me.
“Hoo, hoo.”
I started to get out of breath.
By using a minimal amount of internal energy, the strain on my physical body had increased.
But.
‘I can do this.’
It had been a long time since I had pushed my body this hard, so rather than feeling tired, I felt a sense of enjoyment.
It was like my brain was releasing dopamine.
As I steadily dealt with the enemies and moved forward.
*Swoooosh.*
I heard a sound like falling rain, and then something felt strange.
The enemies' movements started to look slow.
‘The 'Zero Zone'?’
It was like something straight out of a racing story.
And I soon figured out why.
Ocular arts.
In my fight with Baek Mu-ha, I had faced the fastest sword in the martial world.
By mobilizing my ocular arts and instincts to their fullest to dodge his blade, I was able to evade his sword by the latter half of the fight.
At the time, I thought it was because my eyes had gotten used to it, but now I saw that wasn't the case.
The more one moves, the stronger one becomes; the more one fights, the stronger one becomes.
By using my eyes while fighting, my ocular arts had improved.
‘I can see it.’
I could see every piece of information: the enemy's gaze, the twitch of their muscles, the waver of their weapons.
Based on this gathered information, I found the most efficient path and attacked the enemy.
*Pow!*
“Keck!”
It took about fifteen minutes.
I reached the edge of their encirclement without being hit even once.
Just as I was about to make a final spurt.
“Get out of the way!”
I saw a boulder, at least a meter in diameter, flying toward me.
If I were alone, I would have had plenty of time to dodge, but I was worried about the men behind me.
“Hup!”
I slammed my fist, infused with inner force, into the rock.
It was a miniature version of Explosive Death Force.
*Boom.*
The rock shattered into dozens of pieces, shooting out in all directions.
Screams erupted from all around, and the path ahead cleared.
“Run!”
*Rumble.*
The five prisoners from the Dark Shadow Cave ran past me.
I turned to look behind me, and the enemies didn't dare to charge.
They were afraid.
To them, a man shattering a solid rock with nothing but his physical body and no help from internal energy was an incomprehensible feat.
“What are you all doing?! After them!”
“Kill… him!”
Despite the shouts from behind, the enemies hesitated.
“The first one to charge is guaranteed a trip to the afterlife.”
“...Hmph.”
“Tsk.”
The ones who were about to rush forward stopped in their tracks.
*Smirk.*
I gave the enemies behind me a smirk, then immediately entered the Dark Shadow Cave.
“Phew… I almost died.”
This underground prison was certainly action-packed.
***
We had made it back to the Dark Shadow Cave safely, but it was too early to let our guard down.
Even though I had worked hard to thin their numbers, there were still close to a hundred of them.
However, according to One, the giant whose ribs I had crushed was the leader of the Underworld group, so it didn't seem likely they would attack immediately.
Alliances are usually slow to act, after all.
That gave us a brief moment of respite.
“I’m sorry, everyone. You all nearly died because of me.”
I started with a preemptive apology.
It's human nature that even if someone has done wrong, they can't stay angry if they receive a sincere apology.
“It’s fine, Chief.”
“As long as you’re unharmed, Boss, that’s all that matters.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Same here.”
“This was bound to happen anyway, so don’t trouble your heart over it, Chief Brother.”
Five, Four, Three, Two, and One all said it was no big deal, in that order.
Looking at them now, they seemed like really kind guys. It was hard to believe they had committed serious crimes.
I decided to reinvestigate their cases as soon as I got out of here.
‘If they were framed, I’ll have to clear their names.’
After all, I was an Outer Hall Squad Leader with a very sharp eye for people.
As I nodded to myself for a moment, One asked.
“By the way, what were you doing out there? They wouldn’t have come at you like that for no reason…”
“Nothing much, just wandering around here and there.”
“Wandering around?”
“It's just... something.”
“Tell us properly. We need to know what’s going on, don’t we?”
“Hmm…”
I couldn't easily answer One’s question.
‘Should I reveal the secret of the underground prison like this?’
But these were men who had risked danger to protect me.
The least I could do was tell them the reason. It was just common courtesy.
“Alright, I’ll tell you. Here’s what happened…”
I explained to them what kind of place this underground prison was and what might be hidden here.
The expected reaction was obvious.
They would laugh at me, asking what kind of foolish nonsense I was spouting.
‘A pioneer must grow amidst ridicule.’
Didn't even Galileo, who claimed the Earth was round back in the day, get ridiculed by his fellow astronomers?
After I finished my explanation, I waited for the teasing comments, like, ‘Hey, Chief, what kind of ridiculous story is that?’ ‘How could a divine supreme art possibly exist in a prison like this?’ ‘I didn’t take you for such a delusional person.’
But the prisoners of the Dark Shadow Cave just gaped, unable to say a word.
‘What? Are they goldfish?’
Why are they suddenly gaping like that?
After a moment, One and a few others showed signs of panic.
“Wh-wh-where did you hear that information?”
The only one who seemed calm was Three.
“…”
No, on closer inspection, he had fainted.
In any case, I couldn't understand why they were reacting this way, but it wasn't the right atmosphere to ask.
“Excuse us, but could you give us a moment? We have something to discuss amongst ourselves.”
“...Alright.”
As One requested, I went into my roughly 180-square-foot room and thought about what to do next.
“Hmm…”
The biggest problem now was that three factions were hostile towards us.
If I let them be, it would be a major obstacle to my search.
“This won’t do.”
I decided to crush them.
The method wasn't difficult.
I had the SSS-rank divine supreme art, the War King Arts.
If I focused on accumulating ki like my life depended on it for about ten days, I should be able to gather enough internal energy.
‘You’re all dead.’
Just as I made my decision, I heard One’s voice.
“Chief Brother, you can come out now.”
The problem was.
“Guys, I've been thinking. If you can just buy me ten days... Huh? What's with you all?”
The prisoners of the Dark Shadow Cave were waiting for me, each with their weapons drawn.
“We have something to ask you, brother.”
“Wait.”
What is this, a sudden game of truth?