Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Calamity
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[Kyyyaaaaaaaak-!!!!]
Upon hearing Baek Hyun's true identity, Son Mu suddenly let out a shrill scream, clutching his head with both hands and collapsing to the floor.
[Damn... damn it! Why in this life too do I have to encounter that demon?! Tujeon Seungbul, why must you give me such trials...!!]
"Uh... Son Mu?"
[Gaaah! Stay away, no...!! If you've lost that many times, you should know to give up!! Anyone else is fine, but not him! I'd rather fight the Heavenly Demon!! You can't beat the Sword God...!!]
The confident and imposing demeanor from just moments ago was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a pitiful sight.
Baek Hyun suddenly felt like the world's biggest jerk and quietly approached Maeng Yeon, whispering in her ear.
"Hey, what's wrong with him?"
"...It was a game for us, but reality for him."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, they had died and killed hundreds of times in the game, but for the summoned beasts, it was all real.
From their perspective, PvP must have felt like descending into a hell of slaughter.
"How many times did we meet in the game?"
"No idea, but adding it all up, probably hundreds."
"Win rate against me?"
"...0.73%."
"Yeah, enough to give anyone PTSD."
Facing the same opponent hundreds of times and losing that badly...
Even a noble-minded member of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts would naturally develop PTSD.
'That's not an embarrassing record at all.'
Even top rankers in the top 10 had single-digit win rates against him, and only one had broken into double digits.
It wasn't shameful at all to have a win rate close to zero against him.
"Anyway, that's not important right now. We need to find that scholar first. Why do you think I summoned Son Mu like this...?"
"Oh, no worries about that."
She'd already found him.
At that moment, Baek Hyun's playful eyes froze cold.
The scholar who had been stuck to the Vice Palace Lord's side vanished the instant combat began.
But when Baek Hyun had fully expanded his upper dantian earlier, he had pinpointed not only the Vice Palace Lord and the elephant beast's positions but the scholar's as well.
The reason he hadn't grabbed the scholar immediately was...
"He's hiding in a formation right now. Took a bit to find the life gate."
-Thwack!
With those words, Baek Hyun kicked a nearby loose stone.
It looked utterly ordinary, seamlessly blended into nature without any awkwardness.
However, just shifting that single small stone began to warp the surrounding space.
A cunning technique Baek Hyun himself wouldn't have detected without his upper dantian.
As the formation forcibly unraveled, the scholar with his hollow eyes soon emerged from the twisted space right before them.
-Clap clap clap
"Impressive as expected. I sensed something extraordinary when you defeated Black Ink Division Commander, but it seems even this hastily made simple formation couldn't escape your eyes."
Even with his superior brutally slain, the scholar applauded soullessly with hollow eyes, smirking mockingly at them.
Baek Hyun calmly drew his sword and spoke.
"If you'd hidden a bit harder, you might not have been found. Too bad."
"Yes, truly regrettable. I was just about to dismantle the formation enveloping this space... My lack of skill led to the death of such a talented division commander."
The scholar continued with eyes that showed no regret whatsoever.
"But thanks to that, I found an even more talented replacement. Not a bad outcome after all."
"Ha, are you seriously inviting us to join your organization? What a clown."
-Hummmm
Baek Hyun let out a hollow laugh at the scholar's shameless, absurd attitude and began properly circulating the One Yang Divine Art.
The meaning of openly using the One Yang Divine Art, which must never be revealed to anyone.
It was a vow to eliminate the foe before him, no matter what.
"What an intense heart method. A secret art left by a powerhouse who once dominated the world... Did you kill Black Ink Division Commander with it?"
Yet even as hot winds from the One Yang Divine Art buffeted his face, the scholar calmly analyzed the technique with unchanged demeanor.
"You two are truly remarkable talents. One single-handedly defeats an elephant beast and a division commander, the other wields a fearsome Monstrous Being at such a young age..."
"Allow me to make you a splendid proposal."
"Pledge loyalty to His Highness the Grand Prince. Though you've disrupted our plans, talents like you would surely be forgiven generously, even granted a division commander's position.
Considering your ages, you might rise to Crown Prince in the future... No, almost certainly. Isn't that glorious?"
Even as Baek Hyun radiated full killing intent, the scholar didn't blink, continuing his recruitment pitch. Baek Hyun feigned interest and withdrew his aura.
Crazy fools needed a good beating sooner rather than later.
But the problem was, this madman held precious information.
Info on the Crown Prince and Grand Prince—elusive figures they'd never even glimpsed before, locked in his head.
Originally, the plan was to subdue him without killing and interrogate.
But seeing those half-mad eyes, he clearly wasn't the type to crack under torture.
Better to play along and coax out the info.
Maeng Yeon caught on too, tacitly going along with Baek Hyun's act.
"You make it sound so tempting. Who's this Grand Prince? And what's a Crown Prince?"
Just as Baek Hyun baited him to draw out fragments on the Grand Prince and Crown Princes...
"...You two."
Have no intention of joining Parun Temple, do you?
The scholar pierced Baek Hyun's facade instantly with those hollow eyes.
Unlike his faint smile moments ago, his expression turned chillingly cold.
Baek Hyun, confident in his acting, faltered briefly.
-Stab!!
Without hesitation, the scholar plunged his finger deep into his own chest.
No more pretense in his demeanor.
Only pure 'madness,' stripped of its thick veneer of fakery.
"Why throw away such a once-in-a-lifetime chance? Truly regrettable."
-Crunch, cruuunch...!!
The gaping hole in the scholar's chest began devouring all surrounding energy like a monstrous maw.
His body rapidly disintegrated under the overwhelming force, yet he casually stepped forward and spoke.
"This is the 'Myriad Phenomena Devouring Formation' engraved on my heart. It literally consumes everything around it, culminating in a powerful explosion.
Costing my life, it packs quite the punch... But don't worry. The blast won't target you."
-Step
Uttering those eerie words, he stopped at a certain point.
Then, with a spine-chilling smile, continued.
"Did you know? This is the life gate of the formation hiding the Demon Subduing Hall."
'!!'
Only then did Baek Hyun grasp the scholar's intent.
Just as he'd dismantled the scholar's simple formation earlier.
No matter how sturdy, shattering a formation's core weak point—the life gate—collapses it instantly.
This grand formation was advanced, so even finding the life gate wouldn't allow normal destruction...
'But dumping that insane firepower on it... it'd shatter for sure.'
Baek Hyun bit his lip, eyeing the massive energy gathering in the scholar's chest.
No paltry protective technique of his could block that.
If that energy exploded right at the life gate—or even near it—the formation would crumble.
But an even bigger problem...!
"And I hear the Demon Subduing Hall summons a fitting Monstrous Being when infused with energy? If my explosion's shockwave reaches it..."
What kind of being would emerge, I wonder?
The moment the scholar finished...
"Son of a...!!"
-KABOOOOOM-!!!
The intense shockwave obliterated everything around.
The fierce battle raged in the outer regions of Starpoint Mountain.
To turn the disciples' living areas into a wasteland, Southern Barbarian Beast Palace had surrounded the area with massive numbers of venomous creatures and most of their warriors.
Starpoint Sect countered with their top forces—the Starpoint Three Swords—and every available fighter.
Despite the short preparation time, Starpoint Sect successfully repelled the massive assault.
However, as numerical inferiority wore down even their elites...
"Elder! The venomous creatures are retreating!"
"Southern Barbarian Beast Palace warriors are pulling back too!! The sect leader must have taken their commander's head!!"
Unable to endure the leadership vacuum, the enemy warriors launched a full retreat, seemingly ending the battle in Starpoint Sect's hard-fought victory.
"Huff... haa, are all the Third-Generation Disciples safe!?"
Whirlwind Sword Mu-jin, amid a mountain of venomous and spirit beast corpses, panted heavily while checking on the young Third-Generation Disciples.
Normally, in such large-scale battles, young disciples would be sent to safe branch families.
But this attack left no time for evacuation; they could only assign escorts and hide them in the safest spots possible.
It wouldn't be odd if some fell to escaped venomous creatures.
"Yes, some kids wanted to fight, but Hyun-gang managed them well. All safe."
"Heh... the little ones showed spirit. Good, Starpoint hasn't lost its future."
Mu-jin wiped blood and sweat from his body with his sleeve and gazed at Starpoint's mountain gate.
Though damaged and dirtied here and there, it stood firm.
Starpoint wouldn't fall to trials like this.
As Mu-jin smiled faintly and moved to check other disciples...
-Crumble
A spirit beast corpse, intact moments ago, suddenly collapsed.
Unsettling.
A minor anomaly easy to overlook, but sensing something off, Mu-jin reached out.
He soon identified the source.
Dry.
Freshly dead, blood shouldn't have dried, yet the corpse was parched.
And hot.
Like a rock baked under the sun for hours.
Feeling ominous, Mu-jin urgently scanned the surroundings.
"Ugh... my throat's burning. Water, Senior Brother, please."
"Huff... why's it suddenly so hot? It wasn't like this before..."
"Gah, my eyes feel like they're scorching..."
Over twice the usual heat blanketed Starpoint Mountain.
All water to cool it had dried up; even breathing felt arid.
Mu-jin knew this bizarre phenomenon.
No Starpoint disciple could be unaware of what it meant.
But precisely because he knew, he couldn't accept the current situation.
Now? In this era? That existence?
Impossible.
As Mu-jin pondered other causes...
"E-Elder... look, the sun...!!"
A disciple's urgent cry drew his gaze skyward.
And he witnessed it.
"Two... of them?"
Two suns in the sky.
The nightmare's return, beyond human power to endure.