Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 334
>Chapter Title: Dawn (3)
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A few days later.
Il-mok headed to the massive training ground located at the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, accompanied by his maidservants.
Because today, the contest to select the new Cult Leader was scheduled to take place there.
“Hurry and come over, little brother.”
When Il-mok arrived, his third senior brother, Seo Wan-pyeong, greeted him.
“I greet Third Senior Brother. I greet the Dark Shadow Hall Leader.”
Standing beside him was the Dark Shadow Hall Leader as well.
Turning his head to look to the side, on one end were his sixth senior brother, Jong-ri Chu, and the Missionary Academy Leader, Baek Un-hak, together.
‘No way?’
Feeling an inexplicable unease, Il-mok swept his gaze around and realized.
That all the heavyweights of the Demonic Cult had gathered here.
The leaders of each combat unit. The participants waiting in the center of the grand training ground for the contest, along with the Left and Right Guardian Lion Kings.
On top of that, the heads responsible for each institution of the Demonic Cult and the patriarchs of the Five Great Families.
Having confirmed all their faces, Il-mok realized.
‘So this is why the Demonic Cult falls apart after the Heavenly Demon ascends.’
It had taken nearly a month since his master, the Heavenly Demon, had ascended, for the ascension ceremony to conclude.
A few more days had passed with the preliminary screening period for the contest, and today it was finally set to begin.
Moreover, this contest wasn’t planned to end in just one day.
In other words, during that time, all the major institutions of the Demonic Cult would essentially halt operations.
Of course, the regular cultists in each institution were still handling their duties, but without their leaders, important or sudden matters couldn’t be processed.
And on top of that.
‘…If the Cult Leader fails to become the Heavenly Demon and gets replaced several times, all the pillars Master established would come crumbling down.’
Considering that the Cult Leader could change at any moment, it wasn’t for nothing that dark ages befell the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
If it were the old Heavenly Demon Divine Cult stuck in the glory of the past, maybe it would be different. But proceeding like this in the current era felt utterly insane to Il-mok in every way.
‘Tch. Traditions should be followed with discretion. What the hell is this mess? They’re not civil servants or anything.’
While Il-mok wore a bitter expression at the Demonic Cult’s pathetic reality, Seo Wan-pyeong looked toward the center of the training ground and asked.
“Who do you think has the highest chance, little brother? Speaking personally, I’d like for Eldest Senior Brother to inherit the Cult Leader position.”
At his senior brother’s question, Il-mok turned his gaze to the center of the training ground as well.
There, six people stood with slight intervals between them.
The Left and Right Guardian Lion Kings overseeing the contest.
The Dokgo Family Patriarch Dokgo Ryong, who had gone first in the screening.
The Great Young Master Wi Jin-hak.
And then the Demonic Path Academy Leader Yeom Ga-hwi and the Guyang Family Patriarch Guyang Pae.
In total, four demonic experts had entered the contest.
It was a meager number compared to the grandeur of a contest for the Cult Leader position, but there was a slight backstory to it.
Among the masters worthy of entering the Cult Leader contest, three had been executed while targeting Il-mok—a very minor detail.
The former Guardian Academy Leader, the former Lion King Academy Leader, and the former Elder Academy Leader Eung-bi had been such cases.
On top of that, thanks to Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang and Baek Un-hak losing interest in the contest, there were only four participants.
Il-mok, having examined the four participants, answered Seo Wan-pyeong’s question.
“I personally hope Eldest Senior Brother inherits Master’s position as well. But as long as whoever sits there is competent, I don’t really mind.”
Il-mok simply hoped that whoever took the Cult Leader position didn’t turn out to be some weirdo who ruined all the foundations his master had built.
Yeah. Ideally, someone like that geezer.
“Uhahahaha!”
Il-mok looked at Dokgo Ryong, who was laughing uproariously by himself on one side of the training ground, and felt a chill of foreboding.
His laughing demeanor and appearance radiated the exact same vibe as Dokgo Pae.
While Il-mok shook his head, something seemed to have finished preparing, and a change came over the training ground.
The Great Young Master Wi Jin-hak and Guyang Family Patriarch Guyang Pae stepped aside, leaving only the Left and Right Guardian Lion Kings, Dokgo Ryong, and Yeom Ga-hwi in the arena.
It seemed Dokgo Ryong’s laughter hadn’t been from joy at fighting first.
No sooner had Wi Jin-hak and Guyang Pae withdrawn than the Radiant Left Lion King infused his voice with inner energy and shouted toward the audience.
“Then, we shall now begin the deathmatch to select the new Cult Leader!”
Right as his shout ended, Dokgo Ryong swung his massive sword and charged at Yeom Ga-hwi.
Boom!!
Dokgo Ryong’s massive sword, which had rushed in with a near-ambush speed, was already enveloped in sword energy.
The Cult Leader contest was, as the Radiant Left Lion King had said, a ‘deathmatch.’
There was no rule mandating killing the opponent, but it meant killing was fine.
Fitting such rules, Dokgo Ryong and Yeom Ga-hwi unleashed lethal strikes brimming with killing intent one after another, aiming for each other’s vital points.
Boom!!
Yeom Ga-hwi’s Shura Blood Fist created afterimages like a three-headed, six-armed demon swinging six fists at once with tremendous speed.
And Dokgo Ryong’s Dokgo Giant Sword relentlessly clashed against those afterimages, smashing them with brute sword force.
‘Hmm. I didn’t realize it back when I was at the Demonic Path Academy, but Leader Yeom is certainly seasoned.’
Il-mok easily grasped the flow of exchanges between the two masters.
Yeom Ga-hwi used his qi with his speed fist that left afterimages to avoid directly clashing with Dokgo Ryong’s massive sword.
The three-headed, six-armed afterimages that Dokgo Ryong shattered with his massive sword every time were all fists created using qi.
No direct clash between fist and massive sword had occurred yet.
From Il-mok’s observation, it seemed because if they collided head-on, Leader Yeom Ga-hwi would lose in a contest of raw power.
Though Yeom Ga-hwi displayed skillful play leveraging his strengths and covering his weaknesses, Dokgo Ryong was just as seasoned.
Dokgo Ryong maximized the advantages of his powerful sword. He only blocked dangerous attacks aimed at vitals while gradually cornering Yeom Ga-hwi.
It wasn’t just defense. He handled offense and defense simultaneously. It was common for him to deflect incoming qi aimed at vitals and still have enough leeway to target Leader Yeom Ga-hwi.
And not with reckless direct strikes at vitals, but by slowly herding him, leaving no escape.
Perhaps to counter this, Leader Yeom Ga-hwi seasonedly mixed in feints to threaten Dokgo Ryong and force him back.
“Uhahaha! Predictable tricks!”
But Dokgo Ryong didn’t fall for Leader Yeom Ga-hwi’s feints easily.
‘…If that Dokgo Pae grows, will he end up like that?’
His mad laughter and charging style were no different from Dokgo Pae’s, but in finesse and seasoning, comparing them would be an insult—the levels were worlds apart.
‘Well, they look the same on the surface.’
Since he was only blocking potentially lethal attacks to corner Yeom Ga-hwi, Dokgo Ryong’s appearance was a mess.
His hair was disheveled, his clothes torn or burst in places, and blood seeped from the rips.
Yet he kept bursting into insane laughter amid it all, making him look like a complete madman to anyone watching.
In contrast, Yeom Ga-hwi, true to a seasoned master, showed no hint of panic on his face even as he gradually fell into a disadvantage.
Because of these contrasting sights, many spectators mistook Yeom Ga-hwi for having the upper hand.
Those who saw the truth, including Il-mok, numbered fewer than ten.
After pressing Yeom Ga-hwi while enduring minor injuries for a while.
The moment Dokgo Ryong deflected Yeom Ga-hwi’s speed fist and took a step forward again, Il-mok instinctively realized.
‘He’s caught.’
Proving Il-mok’s prediction, for the first time since the deathmatch began, Dokgo Ryong’s massive sword clashed head-on with Yeom Ga-hwi’s right fist.
Boom!!
In just one exchange, Yeom Ga-hwi was pushed back a zhang, blood already pooling at his mouth.
As Yeom Ga-hwi swiftly adjusted his internal injuries and tried to unleash another fist,
Dokgo Ryong’s massive sword was already at his throat.
“Move even a little, and I’ll take that head.”
“…I concede defeat.”
Replying to Dokgo Ryong’s warning, Yeom Ga-hwi spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Damn it.”
It wasn’t a curse from the defeated Yeom Ga-hwi.
Glancing over, Baek Un-hak was staring at the training ground with a shit-eating expression.
Having heard the voice just like Il-mok, Dokgo Ryong turned his head and sneered mockingly at Baek Un-hak.
For a very brief moment, Baek Un-hak and Dokgo Ryong glared at each other in a battle of auras.
The Radiant Right Lion King stepped between them and spoke to Dokgo Ryong with an impassive expression.
“You have another deathmatch next, so how about getting treated in the medical quarters now? Leader Yeom of the Demonic Path Academy, please return after treatment as well.”
Thanks to the Radiant Right Lion King’s mediation, the tense atmosphere quickly settled.
Even though it was a deathmatch requiring no intervention mid-battle, the reason the Left and Right Guardian Lion Kings remained in the arena as overseers was precisely this.
They weren’t there to prevent deaths during the deathmatch. They stayed to stop anyone from interfering in the deathmatch or anyone nearby from getting hurt in the aftermath.
After Dokgo Ryong and Yeom Ga-hwi headed to the medical quarters, the second deathmatch began.
Wi Jin-hak and Guyang Pae. Their martial arts were somewhat familiar to Il-mok as well.
Wi Jin-hak’s Explosive Demon Net Sword Art went without saying.
He’d nearly been sent to the afterlife by that sword art before.
Of course, Wi Jin-hak’s realm had advanced since then, so its power and precision differed from back then.
As for Guyang Pae’s Demon Spirit Severing Flash Blade, Il-mok was somewhat familiar with it from seeing it used by the Guyang Clan or Black Tiger Unit Leader Guyang Hyeok.
Watching the clash of these two familiar martial arts, Il-mok thought.
‘Curiously similar flow.’
The Demon Spirit Severing Flash Blade emphasized speed and連撃.
The Explosive Demon Net Sword Art boasted explosive power using fervent yang qi.
It naturally evoked the previous deathmatch’s Shura Blood Fist and Dokgo Giant Sword matchup.
But similar only in broad strokes. The detailed flow of battle was entirely different.
Wi Jin-hak wasn’t swinging his sword while laughing like a madman like Dokgo Ryong.
“Haat!!”
The intense fervent yang qi surging along Wi Jin-hak’s swung greatsword spread wide instead of focusing on one point, pressuring Guyang Pae.
In Guyang Pae’s case, he unleashed successive quick strikes with the Demon Spirit Severing Flash Blade, punching holes through the all-encompassing fervent yang qi to block it.
Just like when spectating the previous deathmatch, Il-mok was soon fully focused on this one.
He scrutinized the flow of battle, grasping the true intent behind each technique they unleashed.
Every single step. Minute movements and the direction of their eyes. Even the tiniest changes in the qi flow created by the two masters.
Countless feints and truths intertwined within, and not a single feint was executed sloppily.
Before he knew it, deeply immersed in the two masters’ spar, Il-mok imagined with each exchange how he himself would respond.
Just like in the previous deathmatch, he spent a long while observing their martial arts and seeking solutions.
While watching the duel of masters he couldn’t have even dreamed of facing just a few years ago.
A thought suddenly surfaced in a corner of his mind.
‘Feels like I could give it a real fight?’
Now, it seemed within reach.