Chapter 273
Chapter 273
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 273
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon's Soul
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Lee Soo-hyuk didn't know much about the Heavenly Demon's Soul either.
But he clearly remembered what Jin Ha-ryeong had said about it.
"It's the power to become the Heavenly Demon."
The power to become the Heavenly Demon.
If anyone else learned of that fact, they would covet it even at the cost of their life and soul.
From long ago until now, the name Heavenly Demon had been a symbol of such immense power. To players who pursued strength, the Heavenly Demon's Soul would be no different from a priceless treasure.
But what if Uncheon-geuk knew about it?
And what if Unhyang possessed the Heavenly Demon's Soul?
"No."
The corner of Soo-hyuk's mouth curled up.
"She didn't come with you."
As soon as Soo-hyuk answered the probing question, Uncheon-geuk turned his body.
"As expected, you're that streamer..."
"Don't get the wrong idea."
Tzzzzzt-.
Lightning boiled from Soo-hyuk's body.
"I'm not some novice streamer like you think."
Zzzt, chijijik-.
Soo-hyuk's eyes changed.
Black lightning flickered in one eye. In that instant, Uncheon-geuk saw a figure overlaying Soo-hyuk's form.
'Lee Soo-hyuk.'
He recalled the time long ago when they had met during the great showdown.
The first defeat he had ever experienced, and the overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
He had believed his sword would never lose to anyone, but that day's experience had become an indelible scar.
"You talk as if you're really Lee Soo-hyuk."
"Did you come to help the Poison King?"
Uncheon-geuk's lips twitched as if pondering Soo-hyuk's question before he answered.
"What if I did?"
"Then we'd have to fight."
"This is truly strange."
Uncheon-geuk tilted his head.
"There's no way you're the real Lee Soo-hyuk. So why are you trying to save Lee Hyo-min? Why are you moving with the Dark King?"
Crack, crackle-.
As strength entered his grip, Uncheon-geuk's finger joints popped noisily.
A sharp aura emanated from Uncheon-geuk's body, his piercing blue eyes flashing.
"And why the hell are you with my daughter?"
Confusion was evident in Uncheon-geuk's successive questions.
It was a natural reaction.
The streamer Lee Soo-hyuk and Blue Eyes' Lee Soo-hyuk looked similar but were completely different people. There was no connection between them other than sharing the same name and having obtained lightning powers.
Yet Soo-hyuk was sticking with Unhyang and moving alongside Ye-ryeong.
"Spit it out properly. What the hell are you?"
Soo-hyuk's lips curled up at Uncheon-geuk's reaction.
"...Mocking me?"
"No, it's just kinda funny."
Yeah, that's right.
He had known this was the normal reaction.
He must have been momentarily deluded because Gyo-seong had recognized him at once when they first met.
'He didn't say anything crazy.'
It was different from Si-woo or Ye-ryeong.
Unlike them, Soo-hyuk's corpse from that time had been publicly revealed to everyone, and above all, back then Soo-hyuk had operated with his face hidden behind a mask.
Even if he had that era's Lee Soo-hyuk's face now, it wouldn't serve as proof.
As for skill, it had regressed instead, so there was no need to mention that.
The only credible evidence was Ye-ryeong and Si-woo's testimonies.
"Well, even I think it's nonsense."
Shing-.
Soo-hyuk slowly drew his sword.
The Sacheon Tang Clan warriors who had been glancing at the two immediately reacted.
"If I were the real one, a guy like you wouldn't dare lift your head in front of me."
At Soo-hyuk's provocation, Uncheon-geuk's hand went to his scabbard. As he unleashed his presence, the ground trembled faintly, and the dark clouds overhead roiled fiercely.
Rumble-.
A faint thunderclap leaked from the dark clouds. Uncheon-geuk looked up at the sky and spoke.
"You're lucky. Or did the weather time this perfectly?"
On rainy days, and especially on days with thunder and lightning, Lee Soo-hyuk became particularly strong.
It was an attribute of the Lightning skill, not something human. Therefore, the streamer Lee Soo-hyuk, who possessed the same skill, would be the same.
The overwhelming power he had shown in the preliminary rounds of the great showdown had intrigued even Uncheon-geuk.
Whoosh-.
At that moment, dark green smoke billowed from the guest hall where the Tang rebel army had been, rising into the sky.
The image of Choi Mu-gyeol, who had gone with Tang Yun-do, flashed in Uncheon-geuk's mind.
"So the Dark King is here too."
Kim Ye-ryeong and Lee Soo-hyuk were moving together. The Dark King's skills were beyond doubt, but they had made a reckless choice.
"You knew what this place was when you came. Do you know who's there?"
"No clue."
"Well, I suppose so."
The Poison King and twenty high-rankers were no small force. Even if Kim Il-su was there, escaping alive would be difficult.
On top of that, Kim Il-su had prepared Uncheon-geuk as an additional card. It might have been overkill, but seeing the unfolding situation, it seemed typical of Kim Il-su.
But unlike Uncheon-geuk's thoughts, Soo-hyuk had no particular worries.
"Kim Il-su, that bastard's lost a lot of his edge too, they say."
Soo-hyuk didn't share Ye-ryeong's concerns.
"Did you really think guys like you or the Poison King could stop us?"
Their eyes flashed as they glared at each other. Before long, Sacheon Tang Clan warriors had swarmed in, surrounding the two.
"Clan Lord! Step back!"
"He's suspicious. We'll take him into custody."
The Tang Clan warriors who had rushed over moved to protect Uncheon-geuk.
Uncheon-geuk glanced at them, clicked his tongue briefly, and spoke in a displeased tone.
"I talked too much."
Shing-.
Uncheon-geuk drew his sword.
And at that moment.
Splat-.
Among the Tang Clan warriors surrounding him protectively, a bright red line was drawn.
Whoosh!
With a single sweep in all directions, blood fountains erupted upward. Uncheon-geuk didn't dodge the spraying blood but took it on his body.
Useless things. Soo-hyuk shook his head as he watched Uncheon-geuk mutter through pursed lips.
'Right. He's that kind of mad bastard.'
You couldn't judge Uncheon-geuk by appearances.
Beneath the handsome features of the tall man lurked a tyrant who regarded human lives like ants. He divided the world into what he needed and what he didn't, treating objects and lives the same.
And right now, Uncheon-geuk deemed the Tang Clan warriors unnecessary.
Flash-!
Suddenly, a brilliant flash poured before Uncheon-geuk's eyes.
Boom-!
Tzzzzzt-.
Uncheon-geuk blocked the lightning shot from the swung sword, his feet sliding back. His crimson eyes pierced through the light to glare at Soo-hyuk.
"Are you angry about your allies' deaths?"
"Who are you to decide my enemies?"
The Tang Clan warriors didn't appear as enemies in Soo-hyuk's eyes.
They weren't proper opponents, and the lower warriors were just following orders from above. They had no agency.
Soo-hyuk didn't consider the Tang Clan warriors—who didn't know the meaning of the fight or their opponent's identity—as enemies.
"Stop the nonsense and focus on me."
Tzzzzzt-.
Enveloping his body in dark blue electricity, Soo-hyuk took a bold step toward Uncheon-geuk.
"Or I'll cut your head off soon enough."
The guest hall, corroded by the Tang rebel army's poison, creaked perilously. The Poison King and the other rankers scanned for Ye-ryeong's hiding spot, opening their senses wide.
Crack-.
Finally, the guest hall's ceiling collapsed.
As if on cue, Geom Mu-rin moved first.
Shuuuuaak-!
He swung his sword at the falling debris. Sparks flew from the tip of Geom Mu-rin's blade, which seemed ready to slice the wooden chunks like tofu.
Clang-!
That was the signal flare.
The Poison King drew his hidden weapons, and the surrounding rankers moved in unison.
"Over there!"
"I see it too!"
Sword Saint Hwa Mu-jin's sword and Blade Sword Emperor Pae Woo-do's blade cut through the air.
Clang! Sparks flew once more. Hwa Mu-jin and Pae Woo-do exchanged surprised glances.
The sparks had come from a different direction. As if there weren't one but two people in the darkness, two daggers and a sword clashed.
"It was definitely this way..."
Puk-.
In the momentary confusion, a slender dagger protruded from Pae Woo-do's head.
There was no time to comprehend the situation. Before they knew it, Ye-ryeong had embedded the dagger in his back.
And in that brief interval.
"Move!"
Geom Mu-rin shouted at the nearby Hwa Mu-jin and swung his sword.
"[Iron Lion Severing Heaven Sword]"
⟨ Iron Lion Severing Heaven Sword ⟩
With the technique, an iron lion cleaved the heavens. Geom Mu-rin's unique martial art, which earned him the moniker Iron Lion, unfolded.
The guest hall's ceiling fully crumbled, leaving claw marks shaped like a lion's on the overhead clouds.
Geom Mu-rin had no doubt this strike would critically wound Ye-ryeong. He had unleashed his ultimate technique from the start to avoid underestimating the Dark King.
But that was Geom Mu-rin's mistake.
"Cough!"
Instead of a woman's voice, a man's choking cough came from close by.
Turning his head, he saw Hwa Mu-jin collapsing with a pierced heart.
Swoosh-.
That was when the Poison King made his move.
He had waited to pinpoint Ye-ryeong's location. If the revealed opponent was Ye-ryeong, he was confident.
The poison permeating the Sacheon Tang Clan gathered into the collapsed guest hall.
The Poison King wore gloves made from the scales of the Dark Extreme Poison Serpent. Even for the one called Poison King, controlling such extreme poison barehanded was no easy feat.
"You won't even have time to feel pain!"
Whoooosh-!
Jet-black dark clouds swirled violently in the Poison King's hand. Watching, Cheol Mu-rin cried out in disbelief.
"Hey, Poison King! This side is...!"
His words didn't finish.
"[Myriad Poisons Cloud Sea]"
⟨ Myriad Poisons Cloud Sea ⟩
Whoosh-.
The cloud engulfed the entire vast area without room to escape.
A massive poison cloud of ten thousand toxins enveloped Cheol Mu-rin.
Cheol Mu-rin hurriedly tried to protect himself with his sword, but it melted like ice in lava, his flesh and bones turning black and seeping into the ground.
"...!"
The rankers lucky enough to be near the Poison King and avoid the cloud watched the scene in shock.
In an instant, a third of the vast estate vanished.
Even witnessing that, the Poison King laughed. He inwardly deemed Kim Ye-ryeong foolish for turning the Sacheon Tang Clan into a battlefield.
"What a pity, Dark King."
His eyes took in the dark green molten land swept by the Myriad Poisons Cloud Sea.
Somewhere in there, Kim Ye-ryeong's corpse must have melted away.
Trembling with victorious ecstasy, the Poison King sneered.
"If the stage weren't here, it could have been a finer match. What a foolish choice."
The leisure of the victor?
The Poison King clasped his hands toward where Kim Ye-ryeong might be and bowed slightly.
"It was a splendid match."
"Bullshit."
The startled Poison King whipped his head around.
Soon, his eyes widened in shock. Kim Ye-ryeong had closed in right before his nose.
"H-how?"
The surprise didn't end there.
His gaze shifted to the corpses under Ye-ryeong's feet.
There was more than one. Blue Zone high-rankers Devin and Brood, and Murim Alliance high-ranker White Tiger of the Soaring Dragon Unit.
"Now, choose."
Standing atop all those corpses, Ye-ryeong offered one last mercy.
"Shall we continue the fine match?"
