Chapter 252
Chapter 252
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 252
>Chapter Title: Nightmare (2)
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Dang Cheol-jin was a seasoned man befitting an elder of the Tang Clan.
Splash!
Even with his wrist severed, instead of screaming in agony or panicking, he flung the blood spurting from it toward the masked man.
But Dang Cheol-jin's quick thinking held little meaning.
As the venom-laced blood flew toward his face, Il-mok formed a sword barrier and easily blocked it.
In that interval, Dang Cheol-jin hurriedly stepped back, pressing the acupoint on his remaining hand to stem the bleeding from his wrist while bellowing.
"Dark Poison Squad's Squad One, the fleeing bastards..."
Before Dang Cheol-jin could finish his order, Il-mok, having stanched his own blood in an instant, charged at him again.
"Urk..."
Dang Cheol-jin desperately flung himself away from the even sharper assault.
The Four Evils Paths weren't a major concern for him, but out of pride as a so-called prestigious sect disciple, he barely evaded the strike with Nayrota Gon, a technique they typically avoided.
And the moment Il-mok moved to finish off the Tang Clan elder rolling on the ground.
"Elder!"
Those who had been spreading poison at the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave's entrance earlier hurled hidden weapons at him in unison.
"Tch."
Il-mok clicked his tongue lightly and veered his sword path away from Dang Cheol-jin, drawing a wide arc.
Sword energy riding along his blade formed a massive barrier, and the hidden weapons that struck it all fell powerless to the ground.
Ting, ting, ting.
Il-mok blocked the volley of hidden weapons without issue, but by then, Dang Cheol-jin had risen to his feet again.
Until just moments ago, when attacking the junior disciples, Dang Cheol-jin had seemed at ease, but now he looked no better than a Beggar Clan disciple.
The pain throbbing in his arm. The pressure of not knowing when death might come had him sweating coldly, his face twisted in fury.
'Damn it. If only I could use my poison properly.'
As mortal peril loomed, thoughts of injustice naturally surfaced in Dang Cheol-jin's mind.
The Tang Clan's symbol was poison and hidden weapons above all.
But in this battle, his poison had been all but sealed.
With the wind blowing toward the cave entrance, one misstep in deploying poison could turn an attack into suicide.
Moreover, most of his deadly poisons had already been expended while spraying the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave.
Tang Clan warriors could kill experts several levels above them if they could use poison, but conversely, with poison sealed, they were at a severe disadvantage compared to other sects.
While Dang Cheol-jin swallowed his regrets inwardly.
Slash!
The Dark Poison Squad members who had stepped forward to aid the wounded man began to be sliced apart one by one by the masked man's sword.
Amid that chaos, Dang Cheol-jin, as the leader, briefly turned his gaze elsewhere to survey the entire battlefield.
'Hurry and kill those greenhorns and come back.'
His eyes were on Dark Poison Squad's Squad One, who had detoured around the battlefield to pursue the junior disciples.
At that moment, arrows that had been flying from somewhere earlier came hurtling in succession.
Swoooosh!
"Gah..."
One Dark Poison Squad member who couldn't dodge had his back pierced, letting out a choked groan.
As if with clear intent, the arrows targeted only the Dark Poison Squad members who had broken off to chase the juniors.
Naturally, their pursuit slowed, and by the time the juniors had vanished into the underbrush.
Crack!
With a gruesome sound, dozens of black threads embroidered the air.
Those countless threads pierced through the bodies of Dark Poison Squad One's members, and the Tang Clan warriors run through dangled from them like bizarre puppets. As if marionettes.
'Threads...?'
Realizing the nature of the threads too late, Dang Cheol-jin followed their trajectory and found their wielder.
There stood a woman wearing a bewitching smile that even her mask couldn't hide.
'What in the world...?'
Why had someone of such skill hidden herself until now?
The moment that question arose in Dang Cheol-jin's mind.
Thud!
Slash!
"Arrrgh!"
Screams, explosions, and slicing sounds echoed from all directions.
They were all from the Dark Poison Squad members.
Turning toward the screams, Dang Cheol-jin took in the battlefield scene one by one.
There, a woman swung a spear in movements so dizzying they scrambled the mind.
There, a Taoist butchered Dark Poison Squad members with an ominous, swift sword technique.
There, a woman with red eyes and flowing red hair pierced a Dark Poison Squad member's heart with blood-red hand techniques.
There, a woman spewed yin energy from palms turned ghostly white, pressuring the Dark Poison Squad leader.
Having observed all their martial arts, Dang Cheol-jin finally grasped the truth.
"You vermin of the Demonic Cult!"
Right after Dang Cheol-jin's furious roar erupted.
Slash!
A chilling slice sounded right before him, cooling his rage.
Il-mok, having cut down the last Dark Poison Squad member blocking his path, approached Dang Cheol-jin with a sinister grin.
"You caught on quick."
"You Demonic Cult scum think you'll get away with causing havoc in Sichuan?!"
To Dang Cheol-jin's enraged question, Il-mok shrugged.
"Thanks to you, I think we will."
Poisonous fumes still swirled at the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave entrance. Even Il-mok, who had trained somewhat against poison at the Demonic Path Academy, wouldn't dare approach that close.
No one could come from that direction for a while.
On the opposite side, Jeong-hyeon, positioned far back, would signal if anyone approached.
"Damn it..."
Now fully grasping the situation, a deep shadow fell over Dang Cheol-jin's face.
Slash!
Il-mok's sword flashed in an instant, severing Dang Cheol-jin's neck.
As venomous blood spurted from the carotid artery of the severed head, Il-mok stepped back a pace to easily avoid it.
With the enemy leader dispatched, he turned to see the battlefield nearly cleared.
"You devil bastards!"
Whether due to Dang Cheol-jin's shout or realizing from the martial arts, the few surviving Tang Clan warriors spat curses.
Crack!
But it was meaningless clamor.
Right after eliminating all Tang Clan warriors. Dan Bin, still radiating a bewitching aura, approached and asked.
"What now?"
"Best to clean up the bodies first."
Answering thus, Il-mok pointed to the cave entrance.
"With all that poisonous gas anyway, tossing them in there should take care of the rest, no?"
At Il-mok's command, the group moved in perfect unison.
After several trips gathering the scattered corpses and hurling them into the cave entrance.
Just as they finished clearing all the Tang Clan bodies, a strange flow of energy suddenly emanated from all directions.
"!?"
The moment Il-mok sensed the anomaly and looked around in alarm.
Rumble!
The energy across the entire Baekhak Mountain twisted, enveloping those present.
* * *
Moments after the sudden energy wave wrapped around her body, Jeong-hyeon opened her eyes.
The sight before her was quite familiar. The Demonic Path Academy.
She had clearly been at the rear, sniping Tang Clan warriors while monitoring for approaching enemies.
Yet no question of why she was at the Academy now arose.
As if in a dream.
Then, Il-mok appeared in the distance.
"Y-Young Master!"
Gathering her courage, she called out to him, but was met with a cold face.
"I'm tired now too. No one in this world would bother with someone like you who can't even speak properly, Jeong Sojeo."
"!!!"
While Jeong-hyeon froze at Il-mok's curse-like words, he turned his back coldly without a hint of lingering attachment and left.
Her face drained of color, Jeong-hyeon couldn't bring herself to grab him and stood rooted to the spot.
Standing there dazed for a moment. This time, Baek Cheon appeared from the side.
"...W-what should I do now, Senior Baek?"
"I don't know what to do with you either, Junior Jeong."
"Pardon...?"
"I've taught you acting and vocalization for over a year now. Why do you show no improvement?"
"......"
"I can see why Young Master Il-mok abandoned you, Junior Jeong. You're hopeless. Don't come to me anymore."
"......"
With that, Baek Cheon too turned his back coldly and departed.
Why was this?
After years of effort, she had finally thought she could somewhat converse with people.
But after being discarded by those two, her mouth wouldn't open.
* * *
Before Jin Ha-yeon's eyes, who had forgotten she was in battle moments ago, stood Il-mok.
Not his usual listless, apathetic gaze, but one filled with disdain.
"Jin Sojeo, please leave now."
"Leave? To where?"
"Silver Shadow Pavilion or wherever. Go wherever you can. I no longer need you."
"......"
As usual, Jin Ha-yeon's expression hardened coldly, but it felt somehow different from normal.
As if reading her inner thoughts, Il-mok's lips twisted.
"So incompetent, yet what confidence do you have to serve me? You're nothing but a hindrance."
"...I shall take my leave."
Clenching her teeth in response, Jin Ha-yeon offered a final fist salute and turned away.
Strangely, after just a few steps, the scenery had completely changed.
It was a familiar place.
The abode of the Heavenly Demon, whom she revered as a god.
"Raise your head."
Unknowingly prostrating herself, she lifted her head at the Heavenly Demon's voice.
The Heavenly Demon, always lenient with his followers, now looked down at her with an icy expression for some reason.
"I've heard the story. Tch."
Clicking his tongue in pity, the Heavenly Demon berated her.
"Utterly incompetent. You're nothing but a parasite tarnishing our Divine Cult's name."
At the harsh rebuke from the being she served as a god, the yin energy coiled in her dantian began to twist.
* * *
What Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a saw upon opening her eyes was a dear sight.
Wind Rock Hall.
Her sole sanctuary in the clan, where she lived like an outcast.
"Seon-a."
Turning at the all-too-familiar voice, she saw the master of Wind Rock Hall.
Il-mok, who had gifted her that peace.
But his expression was different from usual.
The face that always smiled at her endearingly was now coldly frozen.
"Don't come here anymore."
"...Brother?"
"You're frightening now. How long do you intend to cling to me?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"You're suffocating. It means stay away from me now."
"How could you..."
It was the one phrase she dreaded most, one she'd occasionally heard in nightmares.
* * *
"Urgh."
As Il-mok groaned in pain as if trapped in a nightmare, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Hey. When the hell is this punk gonna wake up?"
"Wake him already."
And no sooner had the voices registered than pain struck his abdomen.
Thud!
"Gah..."
Clutching his stomach, Il-mok opened his eyes and immediately felt a sense of wrongness.
'W-we were just cleaning up bodies...?'
Why am I like this now, when I was at Baekhak Mountain?
The moment that question arose.
The man who had kicked his stomach grimaced and yelled.
"You lazy private! Gonna sleep forever? Huh? Wanna die?"
The man wore a military combat uniform patterned with the national flag.