Chapter 145
Chapter 145
The Watcher (1)
'...Did they really know we were coming?'
Gong Sun-beon observed the two men radiating extraordinary energy and thought to himself.
No, that couldn't be.
He had cast his spell so meticulously that even the notoriously sharp-eyed Black Serpents wouldn't have noticed.
How could these bastards possibly have detected his power...?
"Hah, finally we can cut off this disgusting spell."
Swish!
Mumyeong and Se-woon simultaneously slashed the empty air behind them with hand blades infused with their energy.
Though the space had appeared completely empty—
"Kgh!"
Gong Sun-beon winced, a pained groan escaping his lips.
Shockingly, both men had severed the transparent threads of his tracking spell with their own inner energy.
The backlash of forcibly breaking a curse always returned to the Dark Sorcerer who cast it, hence the pain.
Which meant they had indeed been aware of the spell placed on them.
For a fleeting moment, Gong Sun-beon wavered—but quickly steeled himself and shouted,
"Prepare for battle!"
At his command, dozens of Heaven-Piercing Gang sorcerers moved in perfect unison.
Fortunately, because they needed to retrieve the stolen goods at all costs, they had brought far more forces than usual.
Numerical superiority was firmly on their side.
"Shall we make a bet, disciple?"
"Sure. Whoever kills more wins."
"If I win, you'll throw in an extra pair of Twin Serpent Blades?"
"Hmm, I'll think about it."
What the hell is wrong with these guys?
Even in such a disadvantageous situation, the two were joking around as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Their nonchalance left Gong Sun-beon utterly speechless.
He could acknowledge that they had some skill, given how they'd broken his spell.
But did they truly feel no fear facing Heaven-Piercing Gang—one of the Five Evils upholding the Evil Faction and the foremost power in sorcery?
Srrrk!
Then, the enemies drew their weapons.
One wielded the Twin Serpent Blades, their edges gleaming lethally.
And that arrogant upstart—
"Threads? Wait, don't tell me you're—!"
Shwaaak!
Se-woon's hands were now clad in gauntlets unlike anything Gong Sun-beon had seen before.
From their tips, black threads shimmered brilliantly under the light.
Thud-thud-thud!
The moment Se-woon released the power of the Ink Blood Art, his face reverted to its true appearance in an instant.
The moment they saw it, the Heaven-Piercing Gang sorcerers gasped in recognition.
"The Blood Thread Divine Artisan!"
"Tang Se-woon!!"
After the shocking revelation that Tang Se-woon had become the Black Night Duke's master—and that he was the one forging Divine Artifacts—his epithet had evolved from the "Fourfold String Monarch" to a new title.
The foremost Divine Craftsman who wove threads dyed in blood.
The Blood Thread Divine Artisan.
As everyone reeled from the unexpected appearance of the Tang Clan's heir—
"Don't falter! He's nothing but a dying cripple anyway!"
Gong Sun-beon shouted to bolster his subordinates' morale.
Having extracted all information about the Sichuan Tang Clan from Juk Seong-ja during their meeting, they knew Se-woon was on the verge of death from overusing his innate energy.
"What are they talking about?"
"Ignore it. If they want to underestimate us, who are we to refuse?"
"Hoho! Well said, disciple."
Of course, it was a complete misunderstanding—but Se-woon had no reason to correct them.
Whoosh!
The moment their exchange ended, the two surged forward like lightning.
Not even the sound of footsteps echoed, yet their movements were blindingly fast.
The Heaven-Piercing Gang sorcerers hastily formed hand seals or pulled out talismans, each unleashing their own dark arts.
"Arise and slay your master's enemies—Flame Moon Specter!"
"By the decree of the law, act swiftly! May the tendrils of darkness bind their feet!"
"Tear them apart, Wind Shackles!"
A sorcerer's battle was fundamentally different from that of a martial artist.
Sorcerers were divided into three distinct categories based on the nature and type of power they wielded:
Boom! Crash!
The first to strike was the Flame Moon Specter—a towering inferno in the shape of a giant—swinging its fist at Mumyeong.
Whoosh!
Mumyeong narrowly dodged the flaming hammer-like blow—
"One-Point Kill."
Splurch!
Kaboom!
His Twin Serpent Blades crossed in an X-shape, sinking into the Specter's chest like wolf fangs.
For a moment, a gaping hole was torn through the Specter's torso—
"...!"
But as if mocking Mumyeong, the wound regenerated instantly.
Crash!
Boom—!
The Specter's fiery fist sent Mumyeong flying back.
"Die!!"
"We'll finish him!"
Four or five Enforcers immediately lunged after Mumyeong.
Se-woon, however, couldn't assist him.
"Kill that bastard first!"
"Pour every ounce of your power into him!!"
Because a literal barrage of curses was raining down on Se-woon.
Though he excelled in battles against multiple opponents, it seemed impossible for him to properly retaliate.
And for good reason.
Blinding his vision, binding his feet, burning his blood, corrupting his mind—
Like the gates of Pandemonium had swung open, every manner of grotesque curse descended upon Se-woon like a summer storm.
Perhaps as a result—
Shwaaak.
Thud.
Se-woon's threads, woven as densely as a Human-Faced Spider's web, tangled with the Wind Shackles cast by the Dark Sorcerers—
Then fell limply to the ground, their power lost.
'Got him!!'
Gong Sun-beon inwardly cheered.
They had successfully cornered both men.
'As expected, the rumors of the martial world are never to be trusted!'
All that nonsense about him being the closest among the younger generation to joining the ranks of the Ten Great Masters—what a joke.
Now, he would deliver them a gruesome end.
Just as he indulged in that delusion—
KABOOM!
"Gyaaah!"
A deafening explosion and horrific screams overturned the battlefield in an instant.
Whoosh!
"Aaaagh!!"
"H-hot! It burns!! Aaaah!!"
The mysterious explosion came from the Flame Moon Specter detonating.
Without warning, it had swollen grotesquely before erupting at the center of the Enforcers fighting alongside it.
As flames engulfed them, the Enforcers' bodies were reduced to charred husks.
Scorched in unbearable agony, they rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the fire—but these were no ordinary flames. They couldn't be put out so easily.
"A-ah..."
"Ugh!"
Another sorcerer attempted a water spell, but the Enforcers were already blackened like charcoal.
"Seven down already!"
Mumyeong laughed cheerfully.
Having assassinated countless dangerous sorcerers under the Silent Gate's commissions, he knew exactly how to deal with familiars.
His One-Point Kill hadn't failed.
He had embedded explosive energy inside the Specter like poison—
And detonated it when the greatest number of enemies were clustered together.
"Gyaaah!"
"My legs—my legs!!"
The pained screams came from the Dark Sorcerers who had been firing curses from the rear.
Their ankles severed, exposing raw bone and flesh, they foamed at the mouth as they writhed on the ground.
Shwaaak!
At that moment, the threads that had seemed lifelessly scattered suddenly retracted perfectly back into Se-woon's gauntlets.
Gong Sun-beon's eyes trembled violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
'The threads I thought had been severed when his energy faded... coiled back like a hunter's net!'
Like the maw of hell swallowing sinners whole—
The fallen threads had abruptly constricted, slicing through the sorcerers' ankles.
Then, Se-woon unleashed dozens of threads once more.
Still stained red with blood, they enveloped the space where the panicking sorcerers stood—
Shwaaak!
Squelch!
This time, they cleanly severed not legs—but necks.
Thud-thud-thud!
Corpses with bulging eyes collapsed in grotesque heaps.
Se-woon's lips moved.
"Eight."
"...Damn, you're more competitive than I thought."
W-what in the—?
Gong Sun-beon couldn't hide his bewilderment.
And for good reason.
In just a few moves, Se-woon and Mumyeong had slaughtered nearly half their forces.
"W-what is this...?"
"The Blood Thread Divine Artisan...!"
Though they still held numerical superiority, the morale of Heaven-Piercing Gang's forces had visibly plummeted.
Gritting his teeth, Gong Sun-beon made a decision.
'Dammit, I didn't want to leave traces...!'
But he had no choice.
Even if it risked attracting the Black Serpents' scrutiny—
He had to summon his strongest familiar.
Whoooosh!
Gathering his immense energy to its peak, Gong Sun-beon began forming hand seals.
"O entity born of raging demonic flames, devourer of human life and death—"
Squelch-squelch!
Blood abruptly gushed from the ground, forming a sinister magic circle that radiated malevolent power.
From within it, a crimson glow pulsed as something ferocious slowly emerged.
Gong Sun-beon was a Spirit Handler.
But unlike the lowly sorcerers who controlled mere Flame Moon Specters, his power was on an entirely different level.
Were it not for the current Heaven-Piercing Gang leader's overwhelming might—
Gong Sun-beon would have long since taken his place.
And now—
True to his epithet, the "Nine-Fox Illusionist," a nine-tailed fox materialized on the battlefield.
Keeeee!!
"Ghk!"
"Ugh!"
With just a single roar, the Heaven-Piercing Gang sorcerers clutched their chests, overwhelmed by the fox's ghostly wail.
Gong Sun-beon coldly regarded Se-woon and Mumyeong.
"Begging won't save you now. Before the might of the Nine-Tailed Fox, you shall suffer for eternity."
He spoke with absolute confidence.
Summoning his ultimate familiar was as good as declaring victory.
But—
Even as the fox radiated malice rivaling the Four Fiends, Se-woon showed not an ounce of fear.
Instead—
Pfft.
"...!!"
He reacted with sheer disbelief.
Se-woon's lips curled into a cruel smirk as he mocked,
"Aren't you ashamed?"
"...What?"
"Aren't you embarrassed, parading around some measly fox spirit as if it were a Celestial Fox?"
"...!!"
Bewilderment flashed in Gong Sun-beon's eyes.