Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: Hwang Gyu-seong's Rampage
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'Hwang Gyu-seong?'
Thump. His heart, which had remained calm even during the fight with Cha Min-woo, now pounded fiercely.
There was only one reason he could think of for Hwang Gyu-seong's name to come up at this moment.
He tried to grasp the situation by glancing at the chat. The viewers' attention had already shifted there.
The viewer count was dropping fast, but he couldn't care less right now.
To learn the details, Soo-hyuk asked,
"What's going on?"
A viewer's concise summary.
Before he could even say thanks, Soo-hyuk's mind reeled.
'Demons, and Gyu-seong?'
There had been rumors.
Twenty years ago, on the day Lee Soo-hyuk died. There was a traitor in Blue Eyes, and that traitor had joined hands with the demons.
It was an absurd rumor. Soo-hyuk didn't even need to verify it—he had been there himself.
So the truth wasn't about the rumor's validity.
It was why such a rumor had spread.
'They mixed truth with lies.'
There had been a traitor—that much was true. He didn't even need to reveal it to the world himself.
He couldn't silence everyone who was there twenty years ago, and the rumors had already spread subtly.
And given Kim Il-su's personality, he wouldn't have ignored it completely.
That was why.
Kim Il-su had spread the rumor that Blue Eyes' traitor had allied with the demons.
'To frame it on Gyu-seong.'
In fact, Hwang Gyu-seong had deep ties with the demons.
His mana uniquely resembled demonic energy, so the demons showed him favor.
"Sometimes I think that too."
It was something Hwang Gyu-seong had confessed one day, dead drunk.
"Maybe I need to change races to climb higher."
He couldn't imagine how much anguish Gyu-seong must have gone through to say that.
"I don't actually hate demons that much. Partly because I'm close to them, but also because whether it's them or us, we're all just killing each other. I see it as the same."
It wasn't wrong.
Players and demons killed each other. No—hunted each other.
Neither side was inherently more at fault; they simply existed that way.
In a word, Hwang Gyu-seong was neutral. Neither fully human nor demon.
Yet he lived as a human because he was in Blue Eyes.
Crunch—.
This thought was possible precisely because he knew that fact.
No one else in the world knew how close Hwang Gyu-seong was to the demons—only a handful of comrades, including himself.
And one of those few was Kim Il-su.
'Was it planned from the start?'
He'd thought Kim Il-su betrayed him and was using Hwang Gyu-seong to prepare a rebellion.
But long before the showdown began, they had set a trap to pin all the blame on Hwang Gyu-seong.
Cha Min-woo, who might explain what happened, had already been eliminated.
To talk to him, he'd have to finish the trial first—and that would take too long.
'No time.'
It was faster than expected. And the situation was the worst.
He had to end the preliminaries as soon as possible.
For the trial to end, certain conditions had to be met.
Either time runs out, or only the limited number of surviving players remains.
Dying right now wasn't an option.
Even if he did, he couldn't leave until the trial ended.
'I'll end it myself.'
Praying Hwang Gyu-seong held out until then, Soo-hyuk looked up at the spire's peak.
Rumble—!
Lightning and rain still poured from the sky.
The arena had turned into a battlefield from hell.
The spectators in the stands fled to avoid getting caught in the fight.
Spectating a brawl was fun, but few would risk dying pointlessly in a war.
Over a thousand rankers had formed a encirclement. Outside the arena, even more rankers had spread a dragnet.
Rooooar—.
The arena, blanketed in demonic energy, warped the sense of space. Some ordinary spectators, not players, choked and suffocated just from looking at it.
Hwang Gyu-seong's demonic energy was so overwhelming it could make one mistake him for the Demon King.
Only one person here could block him head-on.
Jin Do-ha, former Murim Alliance Leader and the Murim's Greatest Sword.
Shing—.
A blue flash streaked from his sword tip.
The blade sliced through the demonic energy and split the sky's clouds. Hwang Gyu-seong emerged from the demonic haze, charging straight at Jin Do-ha.
Whoosh—.
Clang—!
Fist met sword. The resulting shockwave reverberated, flipping the ground around them.
The screens broadcasting the match were already shattered.
This was no longer a showdown—it couldn't even be called one.
"You've improved a lot."
Grind—.
Sweat beaded on Jin Do-ha's forehead as he blocked the fist.
It felt like swinging a fist made of adamantium or millennia-forged steel.
Each punch was so threatening, laced with a chilling madness.
"I abandoned everything. Of course I have."
"So it seems. Teaming up with vile demons."
"No. That's not it."
Thud—.
Hwang Gyu-seong's other hand seized Jin Do-ha's sword.
In that instant, Jin Do-ha's hand unleashed a technique upon sensing the threat.
Shiiiing—.
The sword was yanked from Hwang Gyu-seong's grip. Jin Do-ha's blade traced a graceful dragon form.
The technique had forcibly escaped the grip, leaving the strike crude, but instinct told him it was dangerous not to.
Blood dripped from the gash on his hand. Though it must sting, Hwang Gyu-seong continued indifferently.
"What I abandoned... were my comrades."
"How regrettable. A traitor to his comrades saying that."
"Traitor? Betrayal..."
Chewing over Jin Do-ha's words, Hwang Gyu-seong clenched and unclenched his wounded hand.
"Yeah. Maybe it's similar."
Swoosh—.
A technique flew from behind. Hwang Gyu-seong twisted, crossing his arms to guard as the sword strike rose from the ground to the sky, upheaving the earth.
Clang—!
Screeech—.
His clothes tore, revealing scars across his body.
Un Cheon-geuk, one arm dangling, unleashed relentless techniques at him.
"Now! Attack all at once!"
Lee Won-jae's shout.
Hundreds of rankers swarmed Hwang Gyu-seong at his signal.
Jin Do-ha was naturally among them.
'Even after twenty years...'
Too much had changed.
The Hwang Gyu-seong Jin Do-ha remembered was tough and manly. That personality reflected in his straightforward, destructive fighting style.
It wasn't much different now.
What had changed was the color.
'Feels like fighting the Demon King for real.'
Clad head to toe in demonic energy, swinging fists like a beast lost to reason.
Most skills couldn't pierce the demonic aura around him, and most defenses couldn't withstand his blows.
Overbearing, violent. And overwhelmingly strong.
Whoosh—.
Hwang Gyu-seong grabbed Lee Won-jae by the collar and soared into the sky.
As he tried to slam him into the ground, Un Cheon-geuk's sword sliced his arm.
Slash—.
A shallow cut. It didn't reach the bone, but enough to make him release Lee Won-jae.
Beneath the soaring Hwang Gyu-seong, hundreds of rankers lay in wait.
Hwang Gyu-seong looked down at the hundreds awaiting him and grinned.
"Dodge!"
Jin Do-ha yelled.
For a split second, he glimpsed the future unfolding behind that smile.
And as if to confirm his unease visually—
Instead of evading the rankers below, Hwang Gyu-seong plummeted like a meteor.
Whoooosh—.
BOOM—!
The arena floor cratered, debris flying everywhere. Rankers who couldn't dodge in time were shredded and pulped like meat.
"Jin Do-haaaa—!"
Hwang Gyu-seong's half-maddened roar shook the arena.
Who would believe he was poisoned by divine-grade toxin?
He faced hundreds of rankers alone, including himself, Un Cheon-geuk, and Lee Won-jae.
The thought of what he'd be like unpoisoned sent chills down spines.
Step—.
"Seems your target is me."
Jin Do-ha didn't dodge Hwang Gyu-seong screaming his name.
"Then I'll humor you."
He felt it clearly. Without the Hydra poison, there'd be no future chance to take this man down.
Flash—.
Jin Do-ha and Hwang Gyu-seong locked eyes, then vanished simultaneously. Lee Won-jae and Un Cheon-geuk looked up at the sky.
Clang—!
Fist and sword clashed like thunder overhead.
A dragon-patterned sword trail symbolizing Jin Do-ha's technique etched the sky, stained black by Hwang Gyu-seong's demonic energy.
Their exchange was swift and ferocious.
Jin Do-ha's full-power strikes sliced through empty spectator stands, carving layers deep.
Grind—.
Hwang Gyu-seong's palms clamped Jin Do-ha's sword. A cleaving blow, yet blocked again.
"You've walked the path of corruption like the Heavenly Demon."
"The corruption was yours."
"Ours?"
"Is corruption defined by whose power you use? Hardly. In my eyes, you're the corrupted ones—blinded by greed, coveting what you shouldn't."
Provocative venom, but Jin Do-ha remained composed.
When wielding his sword in battle, emotions vanished like ghosts.
"Justice is subjective by nature. I understand."
"Slippery tongue."
Thwack—!
Hwang Gyu-seong's kick slammed Jin Do-ha's gut.
Jin Do-ha raised his protective aura to minimize the impact, bracing for the follow-up.
But oddly—
"...?"
He'd expected an immediate attack, but it didn't come.
No.
Instead, Hwang Gyu-seong turned his back for the first time, raising his fist toward the arena exterior.
"What are you—"
The answer came instantly.
Hwang Gyu-seong smashed the ground with all his might.
Thud—!
The impact shook the earth, vibrations rippling through the arena.
Rumble—.
Groooan—.
Arena and stand walls crumbled. As rankers lost balance from the quakes, Hwang Gyu-seong shot forward.
It wasn't preparation for some technique.
His final choice was—
"Catch him—!"
"Hwang Gyu-seong's escaping—!"
Escape.
"What the..."
Stunned for a moment, Jin Do-ha hurriedly unleashed his lightness skill.
Letting Hwang Gyu-seong slip away here would be disastrous.
Facing him fully detoxed was tough even for the Murim's Greatest Sword, Jin Do-ha.
'Must catch him here.'
Chasing the distant figure, Jin Do-ha's eyes gleamed.
'No matter what.'