Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: The Power of the Blood Jade
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-EEEEEEEEE
The tinnitus ringing in his ears hit the moment his submerged consciousness resurfaced.
Hyuk Ri-gwang grimaced and slowly opened his eyes.
His vision was strangely blurry, unfocused.
Amid it all, something endlessly red was scattering through the air.
He slowly shook his head and blinked a few times, his sight gradually sharpening.
Before long, he realized what the red was—droplets of blood.
And that one of the diners who had surrounded the Elder Council with him was the one spraying those droplets.
“Kraaaah—!”
“...!”
The scream piercing his eardrums drowned out the tinnitus and fully roused Hyuk Ri-gwang’s awareness.
At the same time, something roundish thudded down before him as he struggled to raise his torso.
His eyes met the round thing’s.
The mouth that had always chattered away so cheerfully gaped blankly, and the eyes that once sparkled with mischief had lost their light.
The guy who had just been grumbling about wanting to fight the Crouching Dragon Squad was now rolling on the ground, headless.
‘...Guess you won’t get to fight the Crouching Dragon Squad after all.’
Lost in the thought, he reached out a trembling hand to close those eyes. The moment the vacant pupils vanished beneath the lids, another scream echoed from afar.
“Ku, heuk...!”
The arm clutching a Nine Rings Saber separated from its body and flew off into the distance.
A diner stifled a groan and clutched the stump, only for a single sword to pierce his throat in one thrust.
“Gurgle...!”
Spitting a gurgling sound, the diner went limp and died.
As the sword that had propped up his weakening body was yanked from his throat, he collapsed to the ground.
Beyond him emerged a single demon.
“...Cheonsang.”
In the brief moment he’d lost consciousness, his son’s appearance had grown even more grotesque.
Eyes dyed entirely red, black sclera and white alike.
Lips torn into a grin as if he couldn’t contain his joy.
And above all, the blood-red aura enveloping his entire body.
He was no longer something that could be called human.
“Ku, kruk...!”
Another diner was bisected by Jegal Cheonsang’s sword, wrapped in blood-red aura.
Unable to stay still amid the continuing deaths, Hyuk Ri-gwang grabbed his own fallen saber nearby as a cane, vomiting a groan as he forced himself to his feet.
“Kuuhh—!”
At the sound, all eyes turned to him.
The diners’ faces brightened for a moment as they called out to him.
“Hall Master!”
But Hyuk Ri-gwang didn’t look their way, fixing his gaze solely on Jegal Cheonsang.
Seeing his father regain his senses, the son—what was so funny?—started giggling.
“Hee, heehehehe...! How did you wake up so soon? You could’ve seen all your uncles slaughtered if you’d held out just a bit longer.”
Calling the diners his uncles, yet declaring he’d slaughter them—Jegal Cheonsang.
Hyuk Ri-gwang’s face twisted as he gazed at his son, whose heart was already dyed in demonic hues. Belatedly, he took in the gruesome scene around them.
The Elder Council’s front courtyard was now blanketed in corpses and blood.
Of the diners who had come with him, about half were already lying on the ground, their bodies hacked to pieces.
“...I told you to fall back. Why didn’t you listen.”
Muttering in despair, his eyes suddenly caught sight of corpses that weren’t diners.
The elders of the Elder Council.
The ugly old men who, obsessed with power, had turned Jegal Cheonsang into this demon—their bodies were scattered here and there as well.
Noticing Hyuk Ri-gwang’s gaze on the elders, Jegal Cheonsang spoke in a still-laughter-tinged voice.
“You mean those guys? Nah, they were so noisy with their orders this and that. Seemed like they thought they were the best in the world, so I just cleared them out.”
Like he was talking about shoving trash aside—Hyuk Ri-gwang looked back at Jegal Cheonsang.
He stared at his son in silence for a moment, then began to gather his energy.
Jegal Cheonsang smirked faintly at the obvious intent in the fierce aura, offering low counsel.
“...Stop it. Even after seeing this, you’re still thinking of charging at me?”
As if to show the surroundings again, Jegal Cheonsang swung the sword in his hand wide.
“Behold the scene my newfound power has wrought! No one, no weapon could withstand my single stroke!”
It wasn’t mere bravado.
Indeed, none of the diners who had charged at him had withstood his sword.
Jegal Cheonsang’s blade, cloaked in blood-red aura, had sliced through steel swords and human flesh alike, as easily as cutting tofu.
“Father, you can’t beat me! No one in this world can beat me!”
“.......”
Hyuk Ri-gwang made no reply to the cry laced with ecstasy and some inexplicable earnestness.
From the moment he’d seen Jegal Cheonsang transformed in the Elder Council, he hadn’t spoken a single word to him.
Talking to his son would only make it harder to cut him down.
Lowering his upper body once more, Hyuk Ri-gwang prepared to unleash the Tiger Leaf Saber against Jegal Cheonsang.
His son’s face twisted at the sight of his father, then quickly regained composure.
“...So you’ll deny me to the end, then. Fine. Then I won’t see you as my father anymore.”
The ferocious aura pouring from Jegal Cheonsang crushed Hyuk Ri-gwang’s own, bearing down on him.
An aura so overwhelming it felt like it would choke the breath from him and pin him in place.
Yet strangely familiar.
Where had he felt this before?
Racking his memory, Hyuk Ri-gwang soon realized it resembled the sensation from his spar with Jaseong.
No, not just similar—this was far more intense.
Back then, his body had reacted first and evaded the aura.
‘...Sorry. Looks like I’ll have to leave the rest to you.’
Thinking of Jaseong with a wry inner smile, Hyuk Ri-gwang kicked off the ground with a deep sigh.
A charge resolved for death.
Faced with Hyuk Ri-gwang’s hurtling form, Jegal Cheonsang swung his sword.
At a speed incomparably faster than before.
-Puhak-!
“...!”
Hyuk Ri-gwang’s left shoulder was deeply gashed mid-charge.
Gritting his teeth against the searing pain that followed, he swung his saber at Jegal Cheonsang’s chest—around the Blood Jade.
Intending to carve out the surrounding area if he couldn’t destroy the Blood Jade itself.
But,
-Kaang!
“...Ha.”
It was blocked.
His final strike, infused with all his power, was halted by the blood-red aura cloaking Jegal Cheonsang’s body.
No matter how much strength he poured in, the saber wouldn’t advance another inch.
Seeing this, Hyuk Ri-gwang let out a hollow laugh—just as Jegal Cheonsang’s sword descended toward his head.
-Swaaak!
“Hall Master—!”
Desperate voices calling his name rang out.
The surviving diners charged in unison to save Hyuk Ri-gwang.
But it was already too late.
He’d meet his end before they arrived.
‘So save yourselves.’
Clutching the impossible plea, Hyuk Ri-gwang closed his eyes and awaited the death approaching before him.
But reality betrayed his expectations once more.
-Kagang!
In a way slightly different from when he’d seen Jegal Cheonsang fully transformed.
“...The guy who was all excited about opening your sect’s gates, what’re you closing your eyes for?”
The sharp clash of metal struck his ears, followed by a voice from right beside him.
Hyuk Ri-gwang’s eyes snapped open in shock, and before him unfolded the sight of two lights colliding.
A slender thread of blue light standing firm against the blood-red aura that could cleave anything in the world.
The one wielding that light was the man who had defeated him for the first time in his life.
“You....”
Jaseong shot a sidelong glance at the dazed Hyuk Ri-gwang and grinned fiercely.
*
The moment a massive roar echoed, I instinctively knew the worst had happened.
The ritual to let Jegal Cheonsang absorb the Blood Jade had completed.
And that meant it was time for me to move.
“...Hwa-ryun.”
“Go. We’ll handle things here.”
Hwa-ryun nodded without any back-and-forth at my call.
As we nodded to each other, an irritating laugh wormed into my ears.
“Kuahaha—! Finally, finally it’s born! The strongest warrior in Je-gal Clan history!”
The Je-gal clan head, who had been flustered just moments ago, seemed convinced the aura had come from Jegal Cheonsang and was now beside himself with joy.
Ignoring his infuriating antics, I said to Je-gal Geun-yeong.
“Branch head, I’m heading to the Elder Council. Give that bastard a smack in my place.”
“...Leave it to me.”
Passing by Je-gal Geun-yeong, whose face was set hard, I raced toward the Elder Council.
“H-Halt!”
One of the Crouching Dragon Squad tried to block my path upon seeing me bolt somewhere, but he couldn’t match my full-speed sprint.
Rushing like an arrow to the Elder Council, the situation was already a total mess.
Dozens of bodies lay in pieces on the ground, and at the chaos’s center, a white-haired man scattering blood-red aura was mid-swing, bringing his sword down on Hyuk Ri-gwang’s head.
Seeing not just the white-haired man’s body but his sword too cloaked in blood-red aura, I immediately drew my sword and unleashed Sword Flower.
Leading with the single beam blooming from my blade’s tip, I charged in and blocked the blood-red sword aiming to split Hyuk Ri-gwang’s head.
-Kagang-!
The colossal force—the first I’d felt since debuting in the martial world—nearly buckled my knees, but I barely held.
The blade halted a mere paper’s thickness above Hyuk Ri-gwang’s head.
In this dire moment, I asked with effort, seeing Hyuk Ri-gwang still had his eyes shut.
“...The guy who was all excited about opening your sect’s gates, what’re you closing your eyes for?”
Only then did Hyuk Ri-gwang open his eyes, widening them hugely upon seeing me.
“You....”
I’d prefer if, instead of dazedly calling my name, he backed off a bit.